Mark Harbert’s 80-Pound Transformation on the BBHC Program – 100% Health Restored!

Yep. Okay, cool. Mark Harbert, you've been on our program for almost a year. Well, on and off, you're probably about 6 months of a year you've actually been with me as a coach, and the other 6 months you've been doing it on your own. You're, uh, yeah, you're one of my favorite clients. You know, you, you, you always work so hard at it. You're so diligent. You're very sane about, you know, going about this thing. That's why I thought it would be good to do a podcast with you because, you know, you'd give a good, honest view of what this program's about. Yeah. So why don't you, like, take us through, you know, what life was like before you started with Best Body Health Coaching? You know, what were you like, like physically, mentally, emotionally? You know, what was going on for you there?

So Great to be here, Nick. I love you, man. Like, we've become good friends through this process too, which I think is so, so good. But so for me, like, life before, honestly, I'm an entrepreneur, so I'm very driven to succeed. I do online marketing. And the thing with online marketing, as great as it is, you end up sitting here at a desk all the time working on a computer. And I always knew, like, I need to do something to address my weight. And one day I stepped on the scale, and for lack of a better way to say it, I pretty much shit myself. I couldn't believe how much I had gained. Like, I don't know how else— I mean, I was 310 pounds, and I knew my weight was up there, and I kind of avoided getting on the scale because I just didn't want to see it. And so And I tried so many different other things, different, you know, programs, diets, supplements, all that stuff. Like, I've tried it all. Like, you're not talking to anybody who hasn't tried that. And, and then I was like, okay, I need to figure out something. And then, you know, the good Lord, one day I come on Facebook and my friend Leah, um, she's on there and she's sharing on Facebook how she's doing this fast and how she's lost all this weight. And I immediately reached out, like, what are you doing? She's like, oh, I connected with these really cool people in South Africa. And I'm like, introduce me right now. Like, I need something. And so anyway, that's where we met. And, but really the truth is like, I was taking naps every day. Like I was like, my energy was just not there. It's hard to be focused. Um, and when you're really like trying to accomplish something, it sucks the energy from you. Yeah. What energy you do have, and so for me it was you know I got I had to do something.

So did you find did you find that it was affecting your your ability to to create and and do business?

No question, like no question. Like you know it just created almost like a lazy mindset. Like I'll do something later, or it's just hard. You know when you're when you're you're overweight, you're not really like. I mean, it just affects your your brain. The brain's cloudy. You know, sometimes you just don't feel like doing something. Dude, I hardly take naps anymore. Like I don't. I mean, occasionally I'm like, oh, you know, I'm gonna lay down for thirty minutes, and while I'm laying, I'm gonna scroll through TikTok, and so I don't need to sleep.

You know, so. But yeah, I know. And it's funny. You know, I mean, I've I've been down that road myself. I mean, I never got. Ultra heavy, but I got I you know I got myself quite out of shape at one point, and it was very like out of character for me to be like that. And you know it was there was a period about fifteen years ago where I also looked at myself, you know, and I was like, "What the hell are you doing here?" You know, like I I hadn't been active for months, and I remember sitting at my desk eating a chocolate bar, thinking like. this has got to end, you know. And, and it was literally the last bit of sugar that I, that I ever ate.

Yeah.

So, um, well, that I know of at least. And, um, yeah, and, and it does it, it like, you know, every part of my physical activity, which I had always been my entire life, and just like kind of drifted away in this, and this, this unhealthy lifestyle that crept in slowly but surely, you know, like you say, you sit at a desk, you know, I was, I was doing recruitment at the time. I used to have a recruitment company and, um, same thing, you know, you sit at your desk, you're working in front of a computer all the time, and eventually you just can't get yourself motivated anymore. And a screen is not good for you either. You know, when you're sitting in front of a screen, it does something to you.

Yeah.

Yeah. So, so then, you know, what happened when you realized, okay, hang on one second, I've got to, I've got to turn this around and start, and start reeling it back in.

Well, you know, I mean, part of it was too, like, all my clothes that used to fit me weren't fitting me anymore. I'm, I'm like this close to going to a triple XL shirt. I'm like, this is, this is screwed, man. Like, I got— like, to me it was like, this is crazy. Like, I can't, you know, like, I, I don't know, I just— to me I was like, this is not— now I'm wearing an XL. And this is actually big on me. I'm not quite to it yet, but you know, to an L. But it's like that's that's pretty significant, you know. And when I started seeing my closet full of all these old clothes that I couldn't wear anymore, now I'm getting rid of clothes that are too big, which were ones that I couldn't fit in a year ago. I now they're too big for me, you know. So yeah.

And now I mean if you look at if you look at where you were then and where you are now, I mean it's eighty pounds. Lighter at this point. I mean, you have been even a little bit further down than that, and and you know kind of crept around that area. Yeah. You know, I mean, do you? I mean, and and it's also within a short space of time, so it must be pretty fresh in your memory, like where you came from and where you are now. You know, it's not like it happened over a few years, and you know you can't really like differentiate.

Yeah, and you know, I mean. I think now that I've lost so much, I'm just very motivated to stay where I'm at. Or not necessarily, I still want to lose. I've still got more to lose, but I don't want to— my goal, obviously, I'm not going back. I've worked hard over the last year and a half, whatever, to get rid of this stuff. And so, for me, there's a huge motivation to stick with it. And I, I think too, and I, this is something too, I'm about to turn 52 this month. There's a big like misconception that I even bought into as well. Well, I'm just getting old, you know, I guess that's part of it, you know. And that, yeah. And the thing was is that where it really started to shift for me, and this is a little bit before I started working with you, when I started to realize like I need to stop making excuses, and is I went to this marketing event and I was there and I was talking to a friend of mine and she She's a real big biohacker. She like, you know, she's she's hit her 40s and she's all about, you know, figuring out how to be healthy and all that. And I made the statement. I'm like, oh, we're just getting older. She goes, every single biohacker on earth would would refute what you just said. And in my head, I'm like, she's right. I'm making a dumbass excuse. You know, like, because you're getting older doesn't mean you have to like, you know, become this decrepit old person. You know, and I think that for me was kind of a. Beginning of starting to go, you know, I need to stop with the dumb excuses, even though I'm you know fifty years old, and you know so that was a big part.

Yeah, I mean that that is something that I mean you know as you get older your body does change. There's no doubt about that, but that's still no excuse. You just need to, like you say, be a biohacker and and and find out okay so how do I still keep my body in shape? Like you can't you can't be going out. Like you were in your 20s, you know, eating pizza and burgers, and and then still losing like two pounds overnight, you know. And and now you you know you just look at them and you start putting on weight. So you have to change. Yeah, you have to do something because hormones are different. And you know, so so it is you know like I was lucky. It was it was my early 40s where I where I really realized hang on a second. You know, I've got to do something about it. And I think that's probably. About the right age that if you haven't, if you haven't noticed already, you need to start doing something about it, like 40 to 50, you know, otherwise it might just get too far. I mean, I have a lot of clients that come on our program and because they've just been eating rubbish, like for so long, yeah, it's like almost irreversible, you know, and it's, and it's their guts completely ruined and You know, where guys like you, you're not like that. You know, you've obviously caught it just in time and, and also done a great job at bringing it back. What was the hardest part about that first 60 days? Like, did you, did you run into anything there that like where you felt, oh my God, I don't know if I can do this, you know?

Yeah, that especially like the first few days, my wife and daughter didn't want to be around me. I was a, I was an ass. Like, I mean, I don't know how else to say it, but I was not Fun to be around, you know, because you're kind of—I'm not gonna—I mean, I—it's definitely not easy. Like you have to really decide that you want to make a change. I'm a firm believer in that, but I knew I needed to, and I knew I wanted to. And I think the biggest, the hardest part for me was the reflex to go snack. Like I—I'd be sitting here, and like involuntarily, I'd get up to go like this, and I'm like. What the heck was that? Like, and I would catch myself, you know, and it was like, um, so yeah, I think that's the hardest thing is breaking the habit. I almost think that snacking and eating is just as habitual as smoking cigarettes. Like, honestly, it's the same reflex that most people have that smoke, you know.

Absolutely, you know, and you start, you start thinking it's part of you, you know, it's part of your character, it's part of your operating basis, you know, and it wasn't always. That's the funny thing. I mean, if you think back to when we were kids, you know, you could run around all day and you'd have to be called in to have a meal, you know, it's like you literally were never hungry and we were all slim and lean and yeah, and it was, it was, and also the food was a lot better then and that's also the problem now and And also, the reason why people do so much snacking is because they—the food is engineered that way. You know, yeah, it's it's not a key food. Almost some people never even have real meals; they literally just snack all day. You know, and that's the most unhealthy thing. Well, okay. So what? Sorry, yeah, go.

I wanted to say one thing too. Like that really hit me with you know what you just said about how the food is engineered that way. Because I actually, I think I even sent you this, but I found this article on how food companies do research trying to find the bliss point of food. And it's where the perfect combination of fat, salt, and sugar hit, where it makes people want more of it. And I read about studies that Dorito had done to try to, you know, get that perfect combination of salt and fat. Yeah. And inside of their their products, so you crave more of it, and yet it does nothing to give your body any nutrition.

You know, and I mean yeah, I mean Doritos is specifically guilty of that. I mean, you open a bag of Doritos, man, you're gonna finish it. You know, you're not gonna you know you're not gonna have a few. You know, and and and they and they taste like they they taste like there's nothing wrong with them. You know, like oh, there can't be there can't be anything wrong with these. You know, and you're just like shoveling them in. 100%. And, um, yeah, so, all right. And then, and then, you know, at what point did you realize, okay, hang on a sec, this is actually working, this is actually working, it's not like something I'd done before? You know, what was that?

So I would say probably after like the first 2 weeks after I, I had dropped 10 pounds really quick. And I think maybe in the first 2 weeks I'm like, okay, I'm on to something here, I can do this. My body was beginning to adjust That first week was tough. Second week, still hard, getting a little easier. But I think, you know, once I start— my body started acclimating to not snacking and just eating, which I've been pretty consistent with, just no more than 2 meals a day. Very rarely I'll have a third one, uh, but even now, like, I typically don't always eat breakfast. Sometimes I do. I'll have breakfast, lunch, and then I'll have maybe a little small cucumber salad for dinner and just something very small. But I— my body is so used to, like, I can typically go at least, you know, one meal a day if I wanted to, you know. Um, but the thing is, is that the body starts to make the shift and it's just a— it gets a lot easier. The first 2 weeks are the hardest, but once you break through that, it gets a lot easier.

Yeah, and like, like, like the way you are now, do you ever go hungry with your one or two meals a day? I mean, do you? I mean, here and there you get hunger that kicks in because the body, you know, it does certain things, stress and all that kind of thing. But generally, do you find that it's easy to go because there's not really that much hunger or cravings or anything like that?

Yeah, and honestly, like, I've learned a lot about myself too, that even if I, I want to eat something I'll ask myself, am I actually hungry or is this just like an emotional thing? Like I'm stressed out, I want to get some dopamine hit, you know? And I, and I'm starting to like ask myself that more and more and I've understood more about my own eating habits, you know?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It does definitely go that way. I mean, I, I, me myself, first of all, I, I don't, I don't ever get hungry. I mean, you know, I can do a 5-day fast and I know you've done a, a, a lengthy fast as well.

Yeah.

And at a point, I, I don't know the difference anymore. Like, I don't know the difference whether I'm eat— whether I need to eat, whether I don't need to eat, you know. It's just like your body is— it's, it's actually a wonderful thing, you know. I've been— I do all sorts of experiments on myself before I ask any of my clients to do it, you know. I'm like the little guinea pig, you know. And I've, I've gone out and I've, I've ridden You know, 100 miles at race pace on my bike, and I haven't eaten for 2 days before that, you know, and I've done totally fine on it, which just proves that your body is storing that amount of calories. You know, there is— it is available. But when you're eating junk, it's not— you don't have that amount of calories available to you. You know, it just like gets used up like this, and you're not in a fat-burning mode. So it's never going to work. Yep. Okay, cool. And then how did you find like the coaching? Well, I mean, that's probably the fundamental part of this program and the successful part of this program is that there's somebody there who's on the other end. And I think it's not a lot of people that can do this kind of coaching. There's a lot of different kinds of people and people get kind of cranky when they haven't been eating. So, you know, how did you find that? Did you feel that, like, your coach or me handled that properly with you or handled it well?

Yeah. I mean, like, you're like, um, like the daily check-ins that I had with you were vital. Like, I, I know myself and I know, like, I've hired coaches for business so many times. I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on coaches. For business, you know, over, over the years. And I'm like, why do I think that I could do this health thing on my own without hiring somebody to help me? And so for me, it was like just a, you know, it totally made sense to do that. But I found the, the accountability was the crucial part. It helped me in business. I remember the first time I hired a coach, uh, for my business, and I remember like it was a stretch for me to hire somebody, but I didn't use that. And this is why I think, you know, my, my mindset helps me when I, when I really put something into it. I didn't— it was stretching me. It was real, quite honestly, it was more than I could afford at the time. But I was like, I used it as fuel to like create and really like push myself harder to get where I wanted to go. And I, that's my biggest thing is like, you know, you're never going to, um, regret having a coach with something. And I think with health, it's vital, man. Like, you know, we, it's so easy to go like, you know, have a piece of cake or something and nobody's watching. And I told you like 2 weeks ago, I had a piece of chocolate cake. I felt like complete and utter crap. After I ate it, and I'm like, I gotta tell Nick. I have to tell him, you know, so he knows. And I did. I it was great going down. Regretted it about 15 minutes later, and my whole body felt this almost nauseousness. I've never felt that before. You know, I used to eat sugar all the time, and I never felt like that. It's because my body was just so acclimated. Now it's not.

You know? Yeah. Absolutely. Your body, your body doesn't process that kind of thing anymore. You know, it's completely changed. And yeah, you know, and I think what also people don't realize is, which were what I went over with you with as well, was, you know, they don't realize what it does to your, to your numbers, you know, your, your, your blood count numbers. And, and when you, when you cheat on a, on a, when you're really, really healthy and then you cheat, and that has a massive effect on you as opposed to your body has, um, kind of evolved into a machine when you're eating junk.

Yeah.

You evolve into this machine that kind of just resists all nutrients and anything, you know. So it, it has a different kind of effect on you, you know. But when you're really in tune and you're, you know, your cells are all sensitive, and then you put that stuff into your body, your cells freak out, you know. It's just like everything just goes haywire. Yeah. All right. And then, um, so, so how's your BMXing doing now and your exercise? I mean, I mean, have you been more active in that area in general? Yeah, absolutely.

Um, I've been doing some spinning classes this last week. I haven't been able to go because I've got family and some stuff in town, but it absolutely has helped me. Um, you know, I used to do You know, when I was in my 20s and teens and 20s, I was very much active in BMX freestyle. I used to ride the ramps and all that stuff. I, I don't try to do that stuff like I used to, uh, because it was about 2 and a half years ago, even when I was kind of a big boy, I was out there and I fell and fractured my elbow. And so at some point you hurt yourself enough, you kind of get a little squiddish about doing it. But I, uh, I still love to get out and ride my bike. I'm in the process of actually building a new bike right now. But the truth is, like, it's kind of opened that door to really get passionate again about it, which I've always loved it. But now it's like I really want to get out there and start doing the tricks again like I used to, like I was when I was 15.

Oh, man.

And, you know, I have a whole bunch of friends too that we're in our 50s and 60s. I know guys in their 60s that are still riding their bike. It's what keeps them young. I mean, I'm watching them like, dude, you're 60 years old and you're crushing it. Like, I'm watching these guys and they're better than they've ever been, you know? And, and it inspired me, you know?

Yeah, totally. So, I mean, obviously, you know, carrying 80 pounds less, yeah, you know, that, that's gonna make it a whole lot easier, you know?

Yep, absolutely. That's a small Yep, I hear you. Yep. Yeah.

All right, and then let's, let's have a look at like someone who's, who's watching this now and they're sitting on the fence. Now, if you had to say something like really meaningful to this person, they're like, yeah, you know, I've seen all these programs and there's a lot of junk on TikTok and Facebook and Instagram and all of these platforms. And this, I don't want to get involved in something like that. Yeah. What would, what would you, what, what, what could you say that's meaningful to someone like that?

I'd say that was me a little over a year ago. Same thing, same attitude, same way of thinking. I've tried everything else. You're just down. And the truth is, I don't know how else to say it, who gives a shit? Do it. Like, I mean, I, I, if I can give anybody tough love on Nick's behalf, I, I'm telling you, these guys, they know what they're doing. Nick has changed my life. That's why he's become such a great friend, because not only has that a great impact on me, but you have to decide, like, are you going to continue to make excuses? I don't know how else to say it, because I made every excuse in the book until I finally said enough's enough. I stepped on the scale. Do you want to not just survive, but do you want to thrive? And I, I don't want to just survive. I watched my dad, you know, his health decline over the last 10 years of his life. Just, you know, every year it got worse and worse and worse. All kinds of things where ended up having all kinds of, you know, heart artery issues and all kinds of things. And my brother and I have had deep talks that we don't want to go down that road. My brother's, you know, he's, he's pretty thin and he's, you know, really gotten himself healthy too, and he's in his late 40s. But my message to you, if you're even thinking about doing this, like, why do you even have to think? Like, just do it. I understand that, you know, you— we've tried all those other things. I get it. And it kind of gets to a point where it's like, do I want to try it again? That's the— that's— I think that's the mark of somebody who is made for greatness, is you, you fail over and over and over and over, but you just keep getting up. And to me, like, yeah, what other choice do you have? Do you just want to rot in the chair, and or do you want to you want to thrive? And I mean that with all the love in my heart. I'm just passionate that you know this is this has helped me in in so many ways. I can't even can't even begin to to say it. I mean, it's just I can't there's not enough words to describe how grateful I am that I did this program.

Oh man, that's so good too, man.

I was jaded too, so I get it.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, and I think, I think also one of the differences here is that— and I was, I was thinking about this the other day, in fact, about this program versus others, you know, and it's not a calorie counting program. Like, it may sound that way because there's intermittent fasting and this kind of thing, but it actually isn't a calorie counting program.

Right.

The calorie counting program is— are those programs that give these people those losses. You know, you're constantly hungry. You're constantly hungry. You're constantly forcing yourself not to eat. And it's something that you could probably keep up maybe a month, a month and a half. You know, then you're like, man, I cannot— I can't do this anymore. You know, I'm going down to Burger King, you know. And I think that's where this changes is there's actually a lot of food on this program. You know, when you start off, you eat, you know, and then it gradually gets less as your body Starts to you know starts to adapt to this. Yeah. But it but it's like you really just have to change what you're eating. It's not about eating less. You know, in fact, I've had some people that have come on our program and said, "I can't I can't eat or I can't eat this much food." Yeah. It's like too much. You know. So yeah, I mean that's the that that's I think is is is what is what people need to realize about. a program like this is that you're not gonna go hungry, you know. And they were, yeah, here and there you got to push it, you know, and you gotta like kind of, okay, so I'm gonna go hungry for a morning and skip breakfast and try this intermittent fasting thing. Yeah, but that, that actually kicks in very quickly, and it— you feel so much better when you, when you're, when you get into intermittent fasting.

It's like, I love fasting. And you know what, maybe a month and a half ago I did a 7-day water-only fast. Yeah, never in a million years would have ever thought I could do it. I honestly, I got to day 7 and mentally I wanted some food. I was like ready to have some food, but I know I could have gone longer because my body had adapted. But dude, I have never felt like a million bucks like I did at the end of that 7-day water. I freaking I felt like a sexy beast. You know, my body felt great. And, and I, and I think, and even my wife was like, oh, I don't even know how you could do that. And I would tell people like, I could never do that. I'm like, I would, I thought the same thing. But the thing is, is as you begin to do the, this program that Nick and his wife and what they do, you really, your body changes and you start to realize that You're you have more control over what you do and your behaviors than you think. And but yeah, so is I think you know all the education too of learning like what goes on in the stomach, you know the microbiome and all the stuff in the stomach. That's where a lot of the cravings are coming from. And once that begins to change, those cravings go away. You know. Absolutely.

That's what I also wanted to um. What I what I wanted to ask you was, you know, so you got a lot of the education on the program. I mean, I I send you little videos or these advice letters and give you little pearls of wisdom in a in a WhatsApp message or whatever. But you you you found that you wanted to also look into this yourself, you know? Yeah. And and you found Dr. Berg and you find other guys and. know, you, and you, and you kind of find, you know, one or two, like, really trustworthy sources of information on this, you know.

Yeah.

And, um, I think what happens with probably 80% of our clients is that they, they want to learn more about this because it's actually a fun subject. Yeah. Like, knowing how your body works and, and why it does this and why it does that and why you have a piece of chocolate cake and it makes you feel like crap now that you're healthy, you know. It's like all of these things, it's like, it's an interesting subject and it Yeah. And it should be, you should be as interested in this as you are about your, your muscle car, you know, or whatever it is that you're into. It's like, you know, you want to know everything about making your muscle car go faster, you know, or have more power or, you know, twist the gearbox or whatever it is. And it's the same with, in actual fact, even more so with your body, because, you know, you, you've got to keep this thing in a, in a high performance condition, you know. And if you do, life is great, man. I find that you have so much attention on the body and on food when you're unhealthy. And when you're healthy, like, I hardly ever worry about my health. And maybe it's to my detriment, I don't know. But I hardly ever worry about my health. I never worry about getting cancer. I never worry about heart attacks, or I never worry about anything like that. You know, it's like, if I am probably the least likely to have any of that happen to me, you know. And if it does, well, then it does, you know. I've done everything. I've given myself the best fighting chance to not have that happen. Yeah. So yeah, okay, Mark, I really appreciate you coming on our podcast. I really love you very much. And when I'm over in the States, which won't be too long from now, I'm planning a trip. Oh yeah, we got to get Yeah, I've gotta, I've gotta come out and see you. So, so keep your sofa ready with the blankets. And I'll, yeah, I'll just make— although winter's approaching here, isn't it? Oh well, I don't mind winter.

That'll be good. I have one more thing to say too. One more thing to say too. And like, I just want to say that to the people watching this, like, seriously, what have you got to lose except the weight, the sickness, the disease, all that stuff? Obviously, I'm not making any claims. Nick's not making any claims. But the truth is, I'm telling you, like, stop trying to talk yourself out of it. I think, and I just want to say one last thing too, that you said, people go out there and they hear all this conflicting information. You got the plant-based diet and you got this diet and the Southwestern diet and all these other things. Like, what the heck? And the truth is, I see this in business also, is that when people are confused, It's because they're listening to too many voices. I listen to you and I watch Dr. Berg because you said I trust Dr. Berg and I watch it. And even when I watch his stuff, I'd still run it through you to make sure that this was, you know, and so for me, like, take the leap, like, stop wondering and start doing. Like, it's time. It's time. So 100%.

And that's, that's my purpose in life. I found my purpose in life with this is getting people to that point where they, where it becomes a lifestyle for them, where it jolts them out of that lifestyle that they thought they could never get out of.

Yeah.

You know, and then the mindset starts shifting. And it gets into this new mindset of health and fitness. And it's, and it's such a fun game to play. You know, it really is. I love it, you know, and, and I, and most of my clients, I mean, obviously you get some guys who, who can't stick to it. They love sugar and carbohydrates too much, but most people get into it and they, and they really run with this, you know? And I mean, I, I had a guy, I don't know if you saw that post that I put on Facebook the other day. There's a guy that I don't even know. It was a client of mine who said, watch Nick's videos. Yeah. And this guy was— he must have been 380 pounds, this guy. And he's like half the size now just from watching the videos. You know, he just made a decision and did the thing. And that, that like, I— that was one of the biggest wins I've ever taken in this whole thing that we've been doing. You know, it's like, you know, you— it affects people so positively, you know, and, you know, they can play with their grandkids and they, you know, it's just like everything gets better.

Life gets better. You said it, like it really is a decision, period, end of story. Like that's what it is. If you're not like, and that if you really want to succeed at this, you have to decide that you want to succeed at it because just going half-hearted ain't going to cut it. It's not about, it's really not about the program. It's about the decision. The program is just the vehicle to get you there. And but the program is completely necessary. It's a necessary part of it. Yeah, you know.

Yeah, that's what I always tell people. You don't date this program; you got to marry it.

So I got to put a ring on it, man. I have to say this, and we can end it. But I had one goal when I started this program, and as crude as it may sound, it was I really wanted to look down and see my penis again. Like I wanted, I wanted the gut gone. And when everybody's like, "What's your goal?" I'm like, "That's my goal." And everybody would always laugh. I'm like, you think it's funny? I want to see my junk. Like, I can't see anything with the gut here, you know. So anyway, cool, Mark.

It was good chatting to you, and we'll be chatting again soon.

Yeah, for sure, man.