The Love Movement
We are starting a movement, centered around love to help raise the vibration of this beautiful planet.
You can expect to hear casual conversations and interviews with some amazing people as we chat about many topics all centered around three main pillars:
Loving Yourself: Explore practical tips, personal stories, and scientific insights on self-love.
Loving Others: Hear inspiring stories of kindness, empathy, and connection. From random acts of love to deep friendships, we celebrate the beauty of human bonds
Loving the Planet: Dive into discussions about environmental consciousness, sustainable living, and our responsibility to care for our beautiful home. Discover how self love extends to nurturing the Earth and creating a more compassionate world.
Tune in to “The Love Movement” and be part of a global shift toward more love, understanding, and positive change.
The Love Movement
Ep 9:Community, Fitness and Cultivating Gratitude with Dan Archibald
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Dan Archibald, a personal fitness trainer and good friend of Brian and Brittany from PEI, Canada. Dan shares how his passion for fitness started and why he is so passionate about it today, many years into his career.
The episode takes you through community and mental health, revealing how connections built within gyms and beyond can shatter barriers and unite individuals. We delve into the authenticity and human connection fostered by genuine interactions, emphasizing the irreplaceable value of showing up as your true self. Dan's insights remind us that supporting one another enriches both personal and collective well-being.
We also explore the fine balance of disciplined nutrition and the joy of indulgence, encouraging listeners to make mindful food choices that honor their health journey.
Through personal anecdotes and discussions on everyday movements, Dan underscores the importance of embracing a lifestyle centered on positivity, joy, and gratitude. By choosing love and kindness in daily interactions, we can inspire our communities and set an example for future generations.
Tune in to discover how small acts of positivity can light up our lives and those around us, spreading love and gratitude in the most profound and simple ways.
Connect with Dan via social media @dg_archibald50 on instagram
you're listening to the love movement with your hosts britney and brian johnston.
Speaker 2:We're starting a movement centered around love to help raise the vibration of this beautiful planet.
Speaker 1:That's your vibe. Hang out with us as we chat about many topics all centered around three main pillars Loving yourself, loving each other and loving the planet. So if you're ready, let's jump in here we go.
Speaker 2:Okay, welcome to the Love Movement episode nine. I'm super stoked today to have my buddy, Dan Archibald, on the podcast. So Dan is. I think he's the first person I thought of.
Speaker 2:So, when we started, when we somehow got this podcast going and I'm like, hey, we get to interview people, I was like Dan Archibald instantly, and so I'm going to tell you a little bit about Dan. So Dan lives on PE pei, so he's east coast of canada. We're on the west coast of canada, so he's living on the on the other island. Um, he's originally from texas but he's got jamaican roots, so you know, he's this like super chill dude, right. Uh, he's got a beautiful family, uh, wife christine, uh, daughter pri Priya and his son Merrick, and he's a fitness coach. So he's got his own studio. It's called the Den and I think it's just outside your window, there in your backyard, right.
Speaker 2:So Dan has worked with a lot of pro athletes, some of which you know I'm not going to drop any names, but he's trained some big names. He works with a lot of youth. He's trained people from all different ranges, all different ages and all different abilities, and he volunteers a ton of his time. So this past summer he's actually presented with the first ever Ernie Heckbert Award, and this goes to someone who shows a lifelong passion for fitness and the fitness community, and when I seen that he got that award. I was like man. No other person deserves that more than him.
Speaker 2:So the reason I wanted to have Dan on the episode and the reason he was the first person I thought of is just how he is with his family and how he carries himself in the world. He's very, very well respected and well liked by everybody. He's very, very well respected, um, and well liked by by everybody. He's very loving, uh super passionate about what he believes in. Um and when, when he speaks, he speaks with such a deep wisdom and grace from like a place of no judgment. Um, his words are insanely impactful. So you got to live up to that today, okay, dan are insanely impactful, so you got to live up to that today.
Speaker 2:Okay, dan, no pressure, no pressure. Wow. What I love is he's always if you, if you're on his social, which we'll share his social socials later, if he's cool with that, but he's always. He's always displaying how much gratitude he has for life and his day and all the little things, and when you read his post you just like can't help but but feel good. Um, so bro is just an absolute blast to be around and he's overall gem of a human and I'm really grateful that I can call you a friend. So welcome to the love movement, dan.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you guys for having me. Wow, I do not know if I can live up to that intro man. If you just be you, me.
Speaker 2:Wow, I do not know if I can live up to that intro you just be you, no pressure.
Speaker 2:You just be you and we'll get exactly what we need here. So I want to go a few different ways with this. I want to talk a little bit about your family. I want to talk about fitness and just kind of how it relates to living a life of love and gratitude. So let's talk about fitness. So you're the king of the den and so how'd you get into fitness and how has you know, love for yourself or love for others played a role in in that?
Speaker 3:Well, I kind of missed as short as possible. I got into fitness because my older brother was into fitness and we're only two and a half years apart, but he was my hero growing up. I clearly want to do everything big brother did and he got into fitness super early and I just kind of followed into his footsteps. And that's where my initial start into fitness came from. And then it just blossomed into my own passion and it just became something that I fell in love with. And it was just blossomed into my own passion and it just became something that I fell in love with and it was just been a part of my life ever since.
Speaker 1:Love that Do you feel like, as it's evolved over the years? Like, has there been a level of, I guess, trying to weave love into, into fitness? Like, is it people you know, people that are fit? Do you feel like there's that level of like self-love, because why are there people that don't care about fitness, like I? This is just a thing I think of, but I'm curious what your stance is on that.
Speaker 3:Okay, that's very broad.
Speaker 2:Yes, take that wherever you want.
Speaker 3:I feel like it's I likened onto like having children, and we discipline our children because we love them. It's not a lack of love for our kids why we discipline, why we tell them no, why we have consequences for their actions. It's not because we hate them. It's not easy. You would know both parents. Sometimes it's a lot easier to just let it go and be like I'm not disciplined. This is like let it fly. But you know that your child will be better off in the future by how you raise them now. So you do the hard things, you have the hard conversations. You say no, you you try and line up things as best as you know how it's for them, because you know that it's not just about you and your comfort level in the house right now, that eventually, when they are aging and growing out, that you know that that's going to follow them for the rest of their lives and that's going to be ingrained in them. And that's why I look at fitness is now like it's evolved in my mind, because a younger guy was just like my brother's huge and jacked and he's awesome and I want to be like him and I want to work out too too. I didn't always love it that way, but I loved it more and more when I when I realized that this is something that I want for me, this is something that I want for later on in life. And it's always evolving. My love for fitness is ever evolving and changing and moving and it's one of those things where I just like I see people.
Speaker 3:I had my kids late in life. I'm 44 years old and my oldest is eight and my youngest is four. So I didn't have my kids young and I don't want to be that guy who's 50 that can't get out of his chair and play with his kids because he's out of shape and walking upstairs is hard and you know that kind of thing. So it's definitely changed. I still like to go beast mode and I still like to go hard in the paint and I still train hard, but it's not the same drive. It's not because I want to look pretty. It's definitely because I want to do this for as long as possible and hopefully be around and be healthy for my grandkids when they come.
Speaker 1:I love that you said that, because I've been feeling this too with myself. I don't know if it's like a thing around 40 where suddenly it becomes less for vain reasons why you're working out and more for just health, like exactly what you said being able to walk up the stairs and get out of bed and do the things. And same with us having Marty later in life and now living on Vancouver Island. There's all these hikes Like I want to be able to do these hikes with him when he's in his twenties and not be like sorry, I can't go, my knees hurt or whatever. So like working out comes from a different place of of me loving myself enough and loving my son enough and Brian enough that I want to take care of myself. You would always say what Jim Rohn said.
Speaker 2:Well, I, yeah. So Jim Rohn, one of my favorite quotes I heard he's like you take care of you for me and I'll take care of me for you. So it takes. So it's not like a selfish thing. You're doing it for someone else because you love them, because you want to be around longer, like just think about you know when, as we get older, do you want to be the sick person that the other person has to take care of? Are you gonna, you know, leave this planet early because you haven't taken care of yourself, and now you've left the other person lonely, like without you? So it's just like one of those things where you take care of yourself and love yourself because you're we want to be there for the other person. You want to show up as your past. Right, that's kind of how I yeah, I look at it, yeah 100.
Speaker 3:I had this conversation with a client yesterday. We were joking around and I was like christine finds this morbid, but I was like I hope one day, whether I'm 90 or something, that she scurries out to the gym to find me and I'm keeled over, dead on the deadlift rack because I was in the deadlift and I peaced out. She's like that's more of it. I was like I don't want it to be where I'm in the bed and I can't wipe my own bum. I'm going to be, I'm going around doing life, and then I was just gone.
Speaker 2:And he's grinding right to the bitter end.
Speaker 3:To the bitter end, and that was it. When I was done, I was like I don't throw shade at anybody that's in those situations. It's tough, right, to watch people in wheelchairs or have very limited mobility, but every fiber of my being desperately does not want that, because I do see 90-year-old people still going for 10K walks every day, which is crazy right, like that's nuts, that I want that Like, and I just want to go. I don't want to be forgetting who I am, or not knowing my family or or all the things that come along, that they're actually finding more and more correlation between Alzheimer's and your and your health. And it's not just oh, you just get it, because you get it, it's because of the practices and things that you do while you're alive that bring these things on. So I've become way more intentional with those things, with those things in mind, than just like, oh, I want big muscles.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, exactly. Or as a girl like I just want to be skinny as ever, you know, it's like for such different reasons as you age. Now this is my next question. Some people think, like if they've never been fit their whole life, maybe they're 50 or 60, 70.
Speaker 3:Is it ever too late to start on that journey of fitness? Never, never too late. I've had people start in their late forties and fifties and some of the crazy videos you might see me posting are 52 year old lady deadlifting 300 pounds I see, and it's like like wow, yeah yeah, and it's just like what?
Speaker 3:and it's just like this. It doesn't make sense to them, like I just started this a couple years ago, three, four, five years ago like how am I able to do this? I'm stronger. They often tell me like 50 year old me would absolutely beat the snot out of 30, and I love that. I was just like, yeah, you're right, it's like I feel better and move better and I'm like 50 year old me would absolutely beat the snot out of 30 year old me, and I love that. I was just like, yeah, you're right, it's like I feel better and move better and I'm stronger than I've ever been in my life, and I love that. Going to me and coming to the den, that hasn't been just, oh, you have to do these things. You have to be super strong and deadlift heavy. I have people that have no interest in any of that stuff, but they still come to me because they want just.
Speaker 2:I want to be fitter, I want to be healthier, I want to be. I just want to. I want to be happier. Yeah, so you've created a pretty amazing community there at uh, in in the den, I see you post all the time. You got a whole bunch of different groups of people. How has community played an impact on on your clients and just how the overall vibe of everyone there, like how do they feed off each other?
Speaker 3:It's incredible. One of my favorite things to do is before one of my big classes is to walk into the room and go over and just putter in the corner and set up the camera because I usually have it live streamed to a couple other people who can't be present of the camera because I usually have it live streamed to a couple other people who can't be present and just to sit there and listen and listen behind me and just hear the chatter and them laughing and exchanging stories of their life and just interacting. And what are you doing later this week or how was your weekend? Or are we getting together for this? And I love that. It makes me feel like these are my cubs, like this is my family, like these are my people, and I love seeing them just interact and integrate. And people from totally different walks of life just like coming together and in the den, it's all, it doesn't matter, right, it's all, it's just one, we're. We're the lion's den and I just love. I love that that's so special.
Speaker 1:community is everything, and I think when people sign up for things like that, like what they're doing with fitness, they don't realize what they're signing up for, whether it's that or a business or whatever, like I feel like that's similar to what I do too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think just being around people that are different and being able to build relationships with them, I think it just gives you a sense of like we're all different but we're all actually the same and it just it takes walls down, even outside of the gym right.
Speaker 3:Well, it takes walls down and puts you on a different level and I don't mean a different level is then higher than someone else a different level of understanding that I don't have to compete with you. I can encourage you and we can encourage each other, and I can celebrate your successes without feeling bad about the fact that, well, I can't pull as heavy as you or maybe or maybe I haven't lost as much weight as you are. I don't look like you, it doesn't matter Like. I hear them all encouraging each other and it's like when you find that level of positivity and you can probably see it in Arbonne, when I see Christine interacting with people of all different levels and never once have I heard her throw shade. Like I live with her.
Speaker 3:I hear the worst than the best and I don't hear her throw shade at people who are doing better than her or have more or whatever. It's just encouragement coming and going. And the people that she has connected closest to, like Katie Carter and Laura Murphy and Kate, are the people that radiate that positivity. You that radiate that positivity back and forth that you can connect without, when you've learned to connect with people and learn to be inspired by them and not be envious of them. Your life gets better, your situation gets better.
Speaker 1:Isn't that in itself a way to like raise the vibration on the planet? Is just like cheering each other on, being there for each other and, yeah, yeah, not being like jealous and envious and just almost trying to put someone down because you don't have what they have. Mel robbins said this quote years ago. She was like you can't be jealous of something you don't want, and so maybe that's where, like in our community, within arbonne, where christine and I are, which is how you guys met on an incentive trip, um, back in the day. You know, that's, I think, the inside joke that will never die, it's the best.
Speaker 1:but I just feel like, yeah, we create that community that is just like a rising tide lifts all boats and no one's in competition with each other, and that's why we can all have our own levels of success, and like we're all in different seasons of life. You know know, like Christine's over there rocking the kitchen, like my gosh, if I could do half the things your wife could do in the kitchen, you'd be happy.
Speaker 3:I'm slowly watching my wife turn into Laura Ingalls every time I turn around. I'm like you are one step away from bloomers in a little flowery dress. I'm like. I love it she'll come in like I'm saying I'm planting garlic this week. I'm like, are you now? I'm gonna come home and find a goat one day. I'm like so we're doing goats now are we?
Speaker 2:I've always wanted to go. Goat is in my future, for sure goats grabbing goats.
Speaker 1:Do you want to talk about?
Speaker 2:um this? Um, I do. But while we're on this topic, okay, what was the topic we were just talking about? I don't remember. We're talking about a lot of topics, um oh yeah so having a community, yeah, so a lot of people, if okay, here's where I want to go with this. How does it? How does this help your, your mental health? So, having a community of people versus trying to go through life by yourself, do you think, um, mental health is is affected by having this?
Speaker 3:of course it is okay, of course it is.
Speaker 3:We got to see it actually displayed firsthand through covid, when people were literally cut off from their communities, what it did to them, true and we take it for granted because we're so connected through our phones and so connected through everything that we just take it for granted what personal contact actually does for the human body, what it means, why I'm not going to sit here and say I'm so special with my fitness and stuff. Why do people still come and see me face to face? They could literally ask me for a program and do it on their own. One of the main reasons is accountability. They know that if they pay for it and they are coming, that they're going to come and show up. And another one I've had so many people tell me for their mental health. They come in because they want that conversation, they want to interact with me, they want to feed off of me or release things off of me or release things.
Speaker 3:And when you talk about community on a whole, when people try to isolate themselves, and sometimes that's caused by different things in their life, right, like people that they've trusted have hurt them, and then they get closed off and different things that happen in their life that can seriously affect them. So not everybody's just oh, you're just crazy, you're closing yourself off. There's things that literally make people do these things right and experiences, but it's not healthy and I look forward to it. I genuinely look forward to my Mondays when I know I get to start all over again and see different people and mine is such rapid fire that by the time I get to lunchtime, that's my lunch hour alone. It's mentally exhausting in a good way, but still mentally exhausting because I've seen the first six hours of my day have been six different people or six different groups, and I'm interacting and pouring into each one and my interactions are genuine. And I get to the lunch I'm like, okay, I did a little bit of a break and then I dive back in and I get fulfilled, too, from from people too. It's not all just people. I always say people always say you're like a physical hairdresser. I come in and dump all my problems on you while I'm doing my squats and I'm like, yeah, but I take from people too. I glean so much from these individuals that pour into me as much as I'm pouring into them that it's been an amazing experience. But yes, community, huge for your mental health, and it's definitely been.
Speaker 3:One of the things that has driven me to keep being passionate about my business is that I get to. I know I'm connected to people and when I get messages and I'm not trying to brag, honestly the messages that mean the most to me are not that, hey, I lost the weight. Or hey, look at my new PR are the messages I got from my mom, who was like you literally saved my daughter's life. We've taken her to psychiatrists, psychologists, we've had her on meds. The one thing that made a change in her life was coming and spending time with you and I will pay anything to keep her coming and being in your company and doing whatever it is you guys do in that gym. It's the first thing I've seen actually work. You guys do in that gym is the first thing I've seen actually work.
Speaker 3:And I've gotten a few messages like that from parents that are like I don't understand why you have such a connection, but you do, please, and thank you so much for working with my child and connecting with my. I just I really don't want to sound like I'm bragging on myself, but I've gotten so many of these messages that I save. I screenshot them and save them in a folder in my phone where I look back and I can read through those and every time I feel like it's a bit much or I'm getting tired. I read through those and I'm like the things that you're doing, archibald, does matter, and they're the things that I'll never post on Facebook, like look at this message or whatever. Right, but it's for me, it, but it's for me. It's encouraging to me to keep driving and to keep my character strong and to keep pouring into my community. Sorry, that was long-winded, brian.
Speaker 1:I love that. I have chills. That was so good. That's amazing, you know what's funny that you brought that up. Well, first of all, can I ask how old would these kids be that you're working with? What would be the age?
Speaker 3:Anywhere from 14 to 18.
Speaker 1:Okay, working with like what would be the age? Um, anywhere from 14 to 18. Okay, because there's a huge and I don't know if it's related to covid and the lack of connection, like you were talking about that. That age bracket is really struggling and I just had a conversation with this with a friend recently and I'm just like I feel so desperate, like I want to help this friend's daughter, basically, and how how could I do that? I didn't even fitness didn't even cross my mind, like movement. Brian always says movement is medicine 100%.
Speaker 1:You know, with you having a bad back, I have a bad back, Like we know. When we don't move our bodies, we feel like I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm 80. Same here, yeah, and I just that. Never even crossed my mind to even think of that, but I feel like that's huge, dan, and that obviously gives you purpose and fulfillment and so much more than, like you said, the PRs and the weight lost, like you're giving people their life. That's a huge honor.
Speaker 3:Well, I feel like through the conversation that they come in, it's awkward. It's like who's this big black guy and okay, and they're quiet and I act. I don't know, when I talk to people, you'd probably you will. Same way I act with you guys. It's like I'm loud and belligerent and just like blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like we should be more quiet and I'm just like laughing at my own jokes better about themselves and I'm celebrating their stuff.
Speaker 3:And then all of a sudden, randomly, we're talking about stuff and something slips out from there and I'm like, yeah, and then just it's so organic that it's never forced and it's just things can spiral and pinwheel from there. And it's like you know, and it's just also me being intentional with keeping abreast of current stuff. So when they bring up an artist or something, I know who it is. Like I'm old and I get it and I tell them all this time I'm an old man, but I know who. Like what's going on with the Kardashians and Travis Godden? Like I, I keep abreast of the issues. Once something pops up like I, you know what I mean. Like I can actually be actually half relevant to what the conversation is.
Speaker 1:I can actually half relevant to what the conversation is.
Speaker 3:I can count on you to send me any real about justin bieber or?
Speaker 3:kardashian, so I thank you for that, but I feel like they feel they feel heard, right, yeah, like they can say something. And it's not like we're talking about my stuff in my gym. It's like I have superhero stuff plastered all over. It's like my gym looks like a 14 year old decorated it and it's like it's me and I don't care if you like it or not. There's going to be Superman over here and some superhero stuff over here and some. This is just a random smattering of stuff. It doesn't look like it's a high class, high end performance gym and it's just I don't know. Yeah, it's me, it's me and it's not me trying to be like I'm trying to show them I'm hip and young.
Speaker 1:I'm not hip and I'm definitely not young, but I can still relate and connect with them on on that level, just that I am aware of the stuff you're going off with or, and I feel like you're so right, yeah, like nothing replaces human connection. Um, and I think people kind of got a little bit I don't know social, more social anxiety during the pandemic, for for sure, when we just were isolated. I even felt that in myself between having you know our son and the postpartum business and being in that season of life where people just weren't together. Yes, you could gather online and do things like that, but just nothing replaces human connection. I had an event here at my house last night and I just I couldn't even go to sleep and I woke up early and I couldn't go back to sleep. And I woke up early and I couldn't go back to sleep because I'm in so much gratitude for the connections, the community, the people like sharing space, sharing energy.
Speaker 1:I'm not that excited when I do Zooms. I'm grateful that we can be on Zoom and talk island to island across Canada, but would I rather see you in person on an incentive trip, like we usually see you at? Yes, because then we can hang out and like that energy. That's why we love you. That's why we love you.
Speaker 1:That's why, like you were the first person, brian thought of my friend Lindley. She always says, you know if Taylor Swift I'll use because she's relevant with her concerts right now. But it's like, would you rather go to the Taylor Swift concert if you're a Swifty or just be like, no, I'm good, I'll watch it on TV? Of course you'd go. So I feel like there's always, no matter what we've gone through, no matter the level of social anxiety you believe that you have, you'll always feel good when you get around other human beings and share space and share energy. And that's probably part of your superpower, because I feel like people just feel like that when they're in your presence and you're able to make that level of an impact on these young kids that they'll take with them for the rest of their life.
Speaker 2:Like. That's everything. I think a really good lesson is that is when you, when you show up with your true, authentic self, it gives other people permission to be them their true, authentic self. Because if you're showing up and you're not being you, the other person isn't going to be them and no one's getting the full version of anyone and the world is just blah, so true yeah, yeah, and I, I 100 believe that and that's so true.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, and I, I a hundred percent believe that and that's why I made the comment before and I've said it before in posts. Um, if you don't genuinely care about people, maybe fitness isn't the right Avenue, or being a fitness trainer isn't the right Avenue. It's like why would you go into childcare if you don't like kids? Why would you go into nursing or doctor If you don't like people? If you don't like kids, why would you go into nursing or doctor if you don't like people? If you don't have a genuine heart for it? I mean you can think like this is a good way to make money, but if you don't really have a genuine love for it, you shouldn't.
Speaker 3:And my thing is, it's people first and fitness. So if you come in for fitness and you're clearly just been crying in your car, we're going to talk, are you OK? I just didn't car. We're going to talk, are you okay? I genuinely care about you, like you're one of my people. What is going on? And sometimes it takes a good 30 minutes before we even lift a single weight. Sometimes a single weight's not even lifted, but at that time that's what they needed, because I genuinely care and it's not well, let me act like this so I can get this, so I can make money.
Speaker 3:It's I genuinely love and care about the people that I work with and I think it has given me the majority of my success. People might say I can tell you honestly, 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt, the majority of my success has come from everyday folk that I've worked with, not from working with the captain of the Maple Leafs that helped, but from other people going and other parents, like that parent that wrote me and telling other parents I don't care, send your kid to dan. I have drummed up so much more business from parents and other people sending people my way than I've ever gotten from. Oh my goodness, he trains the captain the maple leaf like it's. It's crazy and I would have never thought that 15 years ago right, because that was obviously a massive deal like training him.
Speaker 2:So yeah, you said you have a really big servant's heart. Yeah, and I think anyone who has the people that have the most impact in the in this world, they they chase service before money, but money usually follows as a result of just of just serving it's part of what our mentor taught us years ago.
Speaker 1:he always would say like everybody is out chasing money. But yeah, you have the equation backwards Chase the service how to help people and naturally money will chase you instead of you chasing it. Because then it's like you're spending your whole life chasing money and still feeling like out of alignment and like you're not even doing something that's giving you value or meaning. You know, because people might think on the surface oh, I sell Arbonne. I barely talked about the products last night at this event. Like I talk about the people, the community, the culture, the energy and some of the messages I got after that event too. It's like, oh my God, how do I have these incredible people in my life? And it's because I'm chasing service, not just like what can I sell? I don't even care if I sell anything, you know, just like you might not lift a weight with a client If they're having a hard day, you're having a conversation with them. It's like what do they need? How is it about them? I love that.
Speaker 2:Uh, let's talk about your daughter. Priya is always in the gym with you working out. She's eight and, yeah, she's eight, and she's been doing it for years. Good, yeah, she's eight. Like, how do you think you think? Uh, parents, like kids, are always watching. They're always no matter what you think, they're always watching, they're always listening, they're always repeating things that we say. Our mindsets are going into them. Um, I feel like how you are as a dad, as a husband, um, it's, it's just an, it's an energy, and you can feel it when you talk about your family, when you read your posts and you see your messages. How does that, how does how you carry yourself, work into your kids, I guess?
Speaker 3:It's everything. Priya started fitness because of COVID and when I had to get booted out of the gym and came home and she'd always talked about it and done little silly things here and there. But when I started doing the lives on Facebook every night, so when COVID originally started I was like I didn't care. I was like I'm not going to charge money, I'm not going to have a private group. This is going to be open fitness classes on my actual facebook page and whoever wants to join in. People told me that sometimes they just joined in just to sit and watch and to look at other people type in.
Speaker 1:yeah, I've done it guilty, guilty as charged, but I don't want to work out and people felt connected.
Speaker 3:Right, they could still connect and go into comments and still like connect. And she used to come and sit on the staff and her little she had this little tutu that she would wear all the time. And then one day she's like, can I do it with you? And I was like, absolutely. And so she got her little one pound dumbbells one evening and she was sitting there beside me doing it while I was doing the live and it's never changed. And then it turned into well, I'm in my garage now. It's just like, can I come out and work with you? And I was like, yes, you can, and she'd come out and do the classes.
Speaker 3:And now she does the classes every single class, like she was in class last night and she just always comes in and asks permission, daddy, am I allowed to come out? And I'm like, yes, you, merrick's not the same. Merrick actually doesn't ask or anything and he has no interest. He loves to play and run around and he loves going to the gym with Christine and just running circles and doing stuff. So if it's going to happen with him, it's going to happen as organically as it did with Priya, because Priya was just. I want that. So for her birthday I bought her a little pink barbell and her own little clips and she was so excited, like I got my own barbell what an example to set like she would never do that if she didn't see you doing it all the time.
Speaker 3:No, no and I realized that and I just I'm forever thankful for the community that I also have that. Once he's in there, I'll turn over and I talk about the murmur and like puttering in the corner and listening to people behind me, and I'll hear her asking them and talking to them like a grown woman, like well, how was your weekend and what are you up to? And they're asking her questions and she's having these little conversations with her friends and she's like, yeah, sherry said this, or Courtney said this, or Katrina said this. I didn't see Katrina last night and I was like you know you're eight and these women are like 40.
Speaker 1:I may probably love that too, like I just think that's so. That's so cool. What a good example, oh you want to talk.
Speaker 3:You want to talk about. My heart swelling is listening to then cheer her on and randomly in class like you got it for you and they're like cheering her on and she's doing her thing like it's.
Speaker 1:That was like my heart every time it makes you wonder what she's going to end up like doing or being because that, if that's such an interest, for at such a young age, like, who knows, raising a little olympian of some kind there yeah, who knows.
Speaker 3:And then again same breath. She's always like following christina around in the kitchen and I was like, are you going to be a little house in the prairie? Are you, you going to be Olympian crazy.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I love that.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about nutrition a little bit. How do you view nutrition? And just like loving, throwing love to your own body? There's a lot of junk food out there. There's a lot of. It's Halloween today. Yeah, today's Halloween. There's a lot of. There's a lot of junk food out there. There's a lot of it's Halloween. There's a there's a lot of, yeah, today's Halloween. There's a lot of choices and you know, when I go grocery shopping and I look at someone's cart, I don't want to judge, but I can see like, okay, well, but you're judging, that person is not making the best choices from themselves. So maybe there's you know, maybe they just don't love themselves as much as they should, they don't realize this amazing body that they're carrying around and they're not serving it.
Speaker 1:They're treating it like a garbage can.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's. It's sad to see everyone can. You know they can do their own thing, but I know for me. I know what I want to put in my body. You know 98% of the time I'm going to treat it well body.
Speaker 3:You know 98 of the time I'm gonna treat it well.
Speaker 3:I I 100 agree with you, brian, but I sympathize with both sides because I am a foodie at heart. I am. I am a genuine, deep love for food and flavors and all the bad stuff. So the weight when I home I'm pretty, pretty disciplined because I'm home, I mean my 30 second commute to the office and back. I'm not driving past restaurants and stuff we don't eat out. We cook and eat at home.
Speaker 3:All of our meat is locally sourced, grass fed from a local farmer. We actually will get half a cow and use only that meat we don't buy from the grocery stores. Same thing with our vegetables are from local farm. We actually will get half a cow and use only that meat we don't buy from the grocery stores. Same thing with our vegetables are from local farms. We're very lucky that it's a small enough area that we can have access to all of this stuff Less pesticides, less things in the meat, like we know exactly what we're putting into our bodies is so important to us. But my wife will Christine will tell you every single time she like we'll get to a resort and she'll be like Dan. I'm like woman. I know I'm going to feel horrible, but I'm going to eat everything at that buffet.
Speaker 1:I am, so you and I got judgy pants over here. Who's trying not to judge me? He's judging because he would not eat the shit at the buffet that I'm going to eat. You're going to eat, so like, thank you for saying that.
Speaker 3:Good question that I'm going to eat. You're going to eat, so like. Thank you for saying that Good question. There's a reason why my body fat is exponentially higher than Brian's.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, it's like we were just in Costa Rica and I go around with my plate at this amazing buffet and I'm like banana raisins, nuts, a little bit of eggs and maybe a mangosteen I think was something. It was like a couple little things. I'm like I don't want any of that other stuff because I just don't want to feel like crap today.
Speaker 3:I know and I'd pass by and I'd boop you on the nose and tell you you're cute, and then I'd go to Brittany and be like let's get that pastry over there and I'm like yeah. On the next side of trip we'll sit together and Christine and Brian get healthy meals and I feel half guilty because of my wife's Crohn's. She doesn't have that option. Right, she has zero. She bites you. She does not have that option Like she will absolutely feel like garbage within seconds of eating that stuff.
Speaker 1:That's probably the difference, Brian. I feel like you're on the verge of like having like something like that.
Speaker 2:You actually really feel crappy.
Speaker 3:I can eat it and just and just feel tired, like I feel fine, my guts are fine. Yeah, I just shouldn't debate that same here. I'm just lethargic, like I find myself, like I'm usually a night owl at home and when we're on vacation, that's like seven, eight o'clock and I'm like oh, like what is happening, because, yeah, some people have health issues, like christine, where they simply cannot do that, or like I mean you weren't diagnosed celiac, but I feel like you kind of were at some point or I don't know at one point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, gluten really affected me and then you just knew, like, okay, well, if that affects me, I'm not going to eat that. But some people will literally get a diagnosis and go and eat fast food right, right.
Speaker 3:That's this, that's um, that's that ties right into to big pharma. Don't open this. Can with me?
Speaker 3:I feel like we need to open this can but, like, when you talk about like people, just like and I, I understand there there's two different ways doctors go about it. When you go into a doctor's office and it's like I'm going to make money from this because these are the people that are feeding me, so I'm going to write you these prescriptions. And then there's doctors that genuinely care, but they know that you're not going to care, so it's like I'm not going to fight with you over this and have you coming back worse and worse here. Just take these pills, take these prescriptions. Like I feel like both are just kind of washing their hands, but one's like definitely financially motivated and the other one is like I know I can tell you that you're killing yourself doing this and you're not going to listen, so you may as well just take these meds and try and combat it as best as possible, because you're not going to make that lifestyle change, and I understand it. Like, because you have people who are like you need to make some life changes and I've talked to people like that and they're changed nothing.
Speaker 3:I refuse to change anything. I'm going to eat what I want and live how I want to live, even though they know they feel like absolute garbage and that they're slowly killing themselves, and I feel like I don't want to make excuses, but I also don't want to be cold hearted. So when I'm talking to a new client, I was like I understand, I'm a foodie, you think it's easy for me You're looking at me. Well, it's easy for you. It is not easy for me. Working out is easy for me. I love it. I like feed off it, I look forward to it, I get excited for it. Not eating the things that I want to eat is not fun. I enjoy what I do eat. I enjoy the healthy foods I put in my body, love it, but I also love me some junk.
Speaker 2:And the fact that I don't have access to it. You can make some unhealthy things actually pretty healthy and taste pretty good. These days doesn't all have to be you can.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's, that's at home. Like if you ever watch me in the morning, I'll get up and I'll have. This is literally what I do in the mornings.
Speaker 2:First thing I get up in the morning, come downstairs 5 am this is a question I actually was gonna ask you, so let's, let's hear it, so let's go.
Speaker 3:I go greens, gut health, mushroom glass of water down that and I wait like 15 minutes. Putter around wash dishes, do laundry. Yes, I do the laundry and dishes in my house.
Speaker 1:Good for you.
Speaker 3:And then I set up and I was like, okay, then I take my pre-workout and fizz. I put them together, I put the pre-workout and the fizz together in a glass and I down that and out the door. There's no food in my system at this point, it's just the greens and the fizz. I get about a couple workouts in, usually the first one with the first client, the second one around 9, and then around 10 am I have my shake. My Arbonne shake will have coconut water, two scoops of the Arbonne powder, gokshudu powder, which is a mushroom, fenugreek I'm drawing a blank now moringa powder, just some things for antioxidants and things to help support like naturally support your testosterone and things for me, and I'll have those in there. Glucosamine and, uh, collagen. That's my shake for the knee. Shake it up, down it yep, and then I'm back out.
Speaker 3:Um, when I come back in at noon very heavy carnivore where it's like I'll grab a package of like the grass-fed ground beef and I'll have. I'll grill it up. Half goes to the kids, I get half a pound to myself. I'll pair that with a couple of eggs and maybe some sweet potato. That's lunch and then I'm good to go. Evening is sometimes what I cook, and sometimes whatever Christina would have cooked for the kids Sometimes like sourdough pizza or shepherd's pie or whatever she's experimenting with that day chili or stuff and then I do that. Um, I'm also a big snacker, so that's probably also why I'm not as shredded as brian that I love to eat throughout the evenings. I'm that dude that I'll eat perfect up to about nine o'clock and then between the hours of nine and midnight I can put me away some calories.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad I'm not alone.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's like I could eat. So it's like I transform like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and I'll just rip through covers and consume calories.
Speaker 2:I really have to hold myself back. He's a snacker.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm a big snacker, but also I'm an big snacker, but I'm also I'm an idle snacker. If I'm bored, I'm like, oh, let's watch this show. What kind of cycle watches the show and doesn't have someone to snack on?
Speaker 3:exactly how so as much as as much as this is like, or I tell people so I identify with them and tell people I get it. This is not just me being pretentious, like, just eat healthy, I get it. You are addicted to the things that you're addicted to, like we have been sold things in our society and whether you want to call the food industry and big pharma, and when you watch about funding and where they're getting their money from and who's funding what and who's like, there's a whole whole that's a whole different podcast to uncover of what's actually going on with that stuff. But so, in light of that, I do get it and I'm sympathetic towards it because I understand, because when I go home to Texas and I know that none of the stuff I'm going to be good, I'm going to be calling your brother like Merry Christmas with a Chick-fil-A sandwich.
Speaker 1:Chick-fil-A the best oh that's good though. I think having that compassion for your clients, though, makes sense, because I just even feel more like heard from you than you, because he's so judgy with the food like, and I'm like you where I just like it's like. I say to him well, I guess it's because I'm a girl and I have hormones like you. Don't get it. Like, I want the gravy. Can I just have a bun like, an actual bun with the gravy, like at every Thanksgiving, easter, christmas, like I don't care for three meals a year, Mr Puppy Pants.
Speaker 3:But what helps me throughout the year, brian, is the fact that, because Christine does have Crohn's and because, like Merrick has sensitivities, merrick takes after his mom. Priya has iron belly like her dad's, you can have whatever, but because Christine is the primary provider with the food in the house, like there's no junk in the house, so during the back and forth, it's like throughout the week, I feel good. I also know that I'm working out three, four times a day. Half my workouts are lifting incredibly heavy weights and like bludgeoning my body to death. The other half are high intensity where I'm like pushing my cardio and I know that if I eat bad fuel, that is, it's going to absolutely affect that and it's going to I'm going to feel like garbage. Yeah, so my 90 10 rule is probably 90 good fuel and then the 10 on the weekend. Every now and again I'll deviate, but throughout the my general I just understand that, at 44 years old and to keep myself feeling how I do, that these are the things I have to do.
Speaker 3:Back when I was 41 and we were in Texas, I had my testosterone tested because I'd never had it tested before and it came back and I don't remember the exact numbers, but the lady behind there was reading it out to me. She's like you have the testosterone levels of a healthy 25 year old male, wow. And I was like, thank you. I turned to Christine. Of course, yeah, I'm like, oh, she knows. Seriously, it comes from all the working out and spiking my testosterone levels, naturally through working out and through how I eat, and my system runs extremely well. I've never been on any prescription medications, except for isolated incidents like when I had surgery on my knee or anything. So I don't have anything prescription medicines in my closet and I used to think this is just whatever. And then when I started asking people, I realized that 90% of everybody walking around is on prescription 40, who's 40 plus for something, for something blood pressure or heart or something. And I'm like, oh so I'm the oddball that doesn't have to take meds.
Speaker 2:We're also oddballs.
Speaker 1:Yeah we are. I heard a very, very sad statistic from just a health practitioner that I know from Saskatchewan and she said that they're trained in like pharmaceutical sales reps. Apparently the goal, the goal, is five by 50. They want everybody on five medications by the time they're 50. And again it's like money driven. Let's stop masking everything with a drug and start doing things that you can help yourself with, like eating healthy 90% of the time and moving your body.
Speaker 3:But to all your listeners, google it. You just Google chronic diseases. What percentage of chronic disease is preventable through diet and exercise? And Harvard studies and other studies will come back, but no matter the study it's either. The lowest I've seen is 70%. The highest I've seen is 90. It's preventable. So literally 70% to 90% of the stuff that people are going to hospitals for chronic diseases anyway are preventable through diet and lifestyle.
Speaker 3:And it's not even you have to beast mode like Dan and eat like Brian. It's literally walk four times a week for 15 minutes and don't eat pure crap. 24 seven.
Speaker 1:Yeah, literally.
Speaker 2:That was another one of my questions I had is like what is um the minimum that you do a day, or people should be doing a day, like if they're just for time what what can someone do if they're just like hey, I got 20 minutes today. Um, what should I be doing to you know, In terms of movement, In terms of movement, just to like love my body a little bit?
Speaker 3:Right, calisthenics. So if you have 20 minutes and the best you can do is go for a walk, go for a walk. Go outside, cold, hot, whatever I hate the cold, but go go outside, get some pressure into your lungs and walk. If you are able to squats, push-ups, hip hinge, there's hip hinge, there's squats and there's push pull. So those are your basic movements. Every pushing movement works your chest, shoulders and triceps. Every pulling motion works biceps and back. Squatting hits your quads, hamstrings and glutes and h hamstrings and glutes, and hinging hits hamstrings and glutes. But those are the most basic things that you're going to need through life. Sitting down on a toilet, standing up, reaching for things, pulling things Like those, like four basic movements are needed for just longevity and quality of life.
Speaker 2:I don't want to live long.
Speaker 3:I want to live quality when my quality of life. I don't want to live long, I want to live quality when my quality of life is done. I want to be done too. I don't want to be like I said. I said if I can't want my own arse, I want out you know it's funny.
Speaker 2:In in japan a lot of their tables are on the ground. They're this far off the ground so they're getting up and down like 40 times a day. And there's people that are 90 years old. They're getting on the ground like no big big deal Cause that's their every day you ever seen them like in the Asian culture.
Speaker 3:They just squat right down like a baby and they just like sitting on the side of the road and that deep squat and you're like I do that every morning. Every morning I'll like sit there and I'll like squat deep because even with my bad knees and both surgically reconstructed I still have that range of motion where I can sit like pretty much like an old Asian guy. Me too, man, I pop in there and I just kind of hold it for a few minutes and then okay, just to keep that range of motion and that mobility. I don't ever want it to be a liability and I can't help certain things. My knees are never going to be 100 like I correct them, um, but I know people see the videos and they're like that's not true. I was like no, I'm just very controlled with what I do and I'll do what I can with what I got and that's what I encourage people when they come to me.
Speaker 3:It's like you don't have to do all the things you see everybody else doing. You may not be able to do deadlifts because you're back. You may not be able to do deadlifts because you're back. You may not be able to do X, Y, Z. I will find what you can do and we will do that to the best of your ability and we will get you moving and maybe down the road. Your body will be healthy enough to do the other stuff Maybe not, but do what you can with what you got. I always say that Do what you can with what you got.
Speaker 1:Write that one down.
Speaker 2:That's so true, so what I do like a minimum every day. I do 50 push-ups, I'll do some sit-ups. I got, you know, chin-up bar downstairs, so if I'm going past it I'll just go crank out like 10, 15 pull-ups or chin-ups. I just try to do like not every day I can do a big workout, I can't. I'm not always able to go ride the bike, so I want to do something. So I started always able to go ride the bike, so I want to do something.
Speaker 2:So I started doing like years and years and years ago I started doing something I didn't know it was called neat, which is non-exercise athletic thermogenesis, which is just things that you do during your day that might raise your heart rate a little bit, get the muscles moving, but you're not going out of your way to like do an exercise. So if I'm going up the stairs, I'm not just going up the stairs, I'm like running, springing up the stairs. You know, if I'm in the kitchen making dinner, I might be sitting there or standing there doing stuff and I'm doing, um, uh, like calf raises, leg raises just standing there, just doing, just doing little things all day.
Speaker 1:He's like I'm gonna have a shower and suddenly he's doing 50 push-ups. First it's like I have to. I need, like okay, my workout clothes, I need to get my pre-workout, I need to have an hour, and then my mindset is like a lot of time, so I do nothing. So like the fact that you do that and you always try to get me some something's better than nothing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like if we're going to get groceries, 100 instead of. Instead of carrying the groceries like this, I'll carry them in a position where my muscles are flexed and I'm going to get a burn just walking to the car. Just stupid little things all throughout the day. Park, far away, walk farther yeah. I'll park far away.
Speaker 1:Never takes an escalator or an elevator.
Speaker 2:It's just all these little things and there's more things than that, but it's not. I just do them now without thinking, and it's just part of my day and I get exercise in just like that.
Speaker 3:That's more feasible than what I do. Brian, that is more feasible and more realistic and more feasible than what I do. Not everybody's going to come into the gym and want to pick up 500 pounds.
Speaker 3:I take pride in that that I'm that strong. I'm a strong dude, bro. But it is more feasible when I'm talking to people in a daily balance, like when I read the statistic and I might get this wrong. So you could again Google might have to fact check me that going for a walk for 15 minutes three to four times a week lowers your rate of heart disease by 40% 40% with 45 minutes of work in a week. Are you kidding me? That is how how much we are craving movement. That just going for a walk for 15 minutes three to four times a week lowers your rate of heart disease and heart risk that much, that is insane. So you add that up with just doing okay. Well, what if I did five days a week in a 20-minute workout? Oh my word, the statistics are crazy. Like it changes so much. Your mobility improves and your heart improves and your lung capacity for your lungs can improve. It's crazy how little it takes to get a lot, and not everybody wants to look like the front cover of men's health or women's health and not everybody is competing for something.
Speaker 3:I deal with a lot of athletes so when I'm talking to your average person and they're getting down on themselves and I've had people come in. I've had some of my clients come in and they're just like, oh, I'm just like. Oh, look at me. And they like, pinch your little roll or something. I'm like, okay, you're 50, tell me how many of your friends look like you and can do what you do? And they're just kind of smart and I'm like that's right, zero, zero. I was like if you go out to a fight with your other 50 year old lady friends, you'd kill them all. And they're just like go laugh. And I was like bodies be flying. And I was like but my point being is that we get so hyper-focused, we're focused on just being the best self, and like we're such we're, we're our own worst critics and we forget sometimes to stop.
Speaker 3:I'm like this with myself too. I've had times where I'm just like, okay, I'm in bulking season, like right now I'm in bulking season, I'm lifting super heavy, I'm eating a lot of calories, I'm loving this season right now. And then, if we go somewhere, though, but if we're ever on the beach, if we were in costa rica, I'd be telling christina like, tell, tell them, I'm an accountant, I look good for an accountant. Like, don't tell them, I'm no trainer, but so that's. I mean, we're so hard on ourselves but it's not just about the aesthetic and it's like doing things like what you're doing, brian, and I see your family going for hikes and just the fresh air and being in nature and grounding and going and walking and circulation. Do you know how many people like are my age at 44 to 50 that make old man noise when they get up? You know exactly what I'm talking about yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:It's just, it's like I don't want to be that person, I want to keep movement. So my goal isn't to get people to be beast mode, my goal is to get people just move, because the more you do that stuff, I've actually had more than a few of my clients come back and say I was able to come off this medication and they took me off of this. And I'm like just through moving and watching a little bit what you eat, like didn't even take away all their treats, just like maybe stop this, maybe stop that and move a little bit more, and all of a sudden life-changing, like complete life change, without just a little bit and I feel like everybody should just try it.
Speaker 1:Like, if you're gonna live a whole life grunting to get off the couch and, you know, feeling not as good as you can feel, just try implementing some of these things that maybe you've heard on this podcast already for like 30 days and see if it makes a difference, because otherwise you're just going to keep living the rest of your life like the way you think it has to be, which it doesn't have to be like that. You know some people that are like I have a lot of friends right now, for whatever reason, they're in their 60s and some I just feel like they're so young at heart. It's their mindset, it's how they move their body. Like I'm in my brain, I'm like there's no way you're in your 60s. But then the next person can be just like they think they're so old, they don't, you know, they don't move because they're just getting so old and it's like how, how is this a mindset thing, like what is happening here?
Speaker 3:And I think I think it is. I think it is because when I real the funniest part to me is that I don't think I look young. I don't do very much for my face and I have my wrinkles and I don't. I don't think I look like a young man. But I'll be working with some of these kids and they'll be talking to me about something and then I'll mention my age and I'm like, ah, stop this, I get off my case, I'm 44. And they'll be like what? And they start laughing. They're like, no, I'm like, yeah, I'm 44. They're like, no, I'm like, yeah, I'm 44. And they're like, well, how old do you think I was?
Speaker 3:I was like I don't know mid thirties and I started laughing and I realized that A I have young kids, so it just so, if their parents are my age, they expect my kids to be their age, so that makes me look younger. B their parents or their dads do not move and look like I do. So their parents or their dads do not move and look like I do. So automatically. It's just like you don't look like your dad, your dad, my dad's, your age, you guys do not look the same. And my energy and just like always teasing them and joking around and just being like I guess like a kid on cocaine, I don't know, but it's just like I was like. I was like I should probably grow up at some point, but I don't, I don't want to, you're young. I was like I should probably grow up at some point, but I don't want to.
Speaker 1:No, you're young spirit, alive, like I, just yeah, that's what I think, what everybody loves about you, and I think we get the same comments often.
Speaker 2:Oh, all the time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think people, they get older and they think they should act different, but in reality there's still a little kid inside all of us that wants to get out and play and, you know, express themselves. I'm really good at that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you are, but that's why we connected. It was just like I think we need to be besties.
Speaker 1:Like the movie brothers, like we just become best friends. That was awesome.
Speaker 2:I love when you guys see was like someone else is gonna do.
Speaker 1:I love when you guys see each other in the flesh. I'm like get the camera out it's big bro hug coming up. They love it.
Speaker 3:Oh, it's so good it's all new like mash a day, because who does mash a day happen. I was like oh, he likes foolishness, does he? That's my guy, he's about foolishness I'm about foolishness.
Speaker 2:I can be serious, but I also like to like to have fun. There's just uh, I feel it just brings a life is too short a youthfulness, a lightness to to everything, and I think other people feed off the energy. You know when, when you act like that so just positive vibes. So with you, like you always have this positive vibe about you. How always have this like essence about you. How always have this like essence of gratitude about you all the time. What inspires that?
Speaker 3:honestly, um, a large part of this. My faith, um, uh, I'm a believer, I'm a christian. I put my faith in christ. I believe in jesus, I literally believe in what his word says, and when you actually believe those things and you understand that you're given so much in life.
Speaker 3:I've gone through some wild stuff, like we've talked, and I know your stories is wild. You have no reason to be as happy as you are. Either of you, neither of you have any reason to be as joyful and sweet and loving as you are. You have every excuse in the world to be bitter. People. Right, you really do, and you have to show you've chosen joy and that's why, when it comes to something like love, I choose love.
Speaker 3:Love is not always a euphoric feeling. I think we equate so much of that because Hollywood tells us that's what love is, that euphoric, like Twitter-pated feeling, and that's part of it and I love that. My wife can still make my heart flutter and whatever. But through the grind times when everything is just heavy and hard, I know I've chosen to love her and she's chosen to love me. And because of that choice and because my allegiance is to God and God has told me that I'm to love my wife more than myself.
Speaker 3:That is what I do and I can pull joy from that, like I, I. I. I pull so much joy that when I get up in the morning and I'm dragging and I'm thinking about stuff and I'm like, okay, it's 5.00 AM and I go down and I was like I don't clean the kitchen because I know she's going to give me a shout out on Instagram. I clean the kitchen Cause I'm like she's going to come down and get the red kids ready for school, so I want it spotless, so she doesn't have to come down and worry about anything and I can bounce out. And it's a great, it's an act of love and every day I choose that I can do small things to show my wife I love her, besides telling her I love her and giving her a kiss or giving my kids kisses and hugs, which I do every single day drives Priya nuts now because she doesn't like kisses anymore, merrick loves them.
Speaker 3:Don't say that. I know, I know it breaks my heart like it's disgusting, but Mary's all like America's daddy. But I get to show them every day like how I treat their mom, like when they see like they never hear me disrespect her, call her names, snap at her, grumpy with her. They've seen us have disagreements like every single couple will have, but they've never seen me be disrespectful in that and they know that the one thing that they can do to get daddy upset is to disrespect mom. It's like daddy doesn't disrespect you and you're not disrespecting her either. And they know that that's not a line you cross.
Speaker 3:But that's how I was raised in my house. The cardinal rule the worst thing you could do is disrespect mom, because daddy would lose his mind and it was like you. Never. That woman does so much for you and we never understood when we were younger just how much. And you look back now and we're like, oh my gosh, she was insane like the stuff she did. And I understand now why it was like you, never, ever, and that's. I realized that. That's why I treat Christine the way I do.
Speaker 3:And so when you guys are modeling this lifestyle for Martin, he's going to be such an amazing human being and, through all the frustrations and the growing pains and being a parent which is tough like, he sees genuine love between you. And then he sees you interact with all your girlfriends and you don't think he sits there and watches that daddy's always coming and serving and looking after mommy with those things and has a serving heart for his wife. It's not about like I don't want the boys to think I'm a simp or whatever. I could care less. That woman is my girl and she's having a nice evening with her. I'm going to go and I'm going to make the drinks and the snacks and serve and show my son this is how you take care, this is how you take care of your people, this is how you be a man and look after your people and that's going to stick with him and I want my son to see that and I want my daughter to see that. That this is how you treat so any other guy that comes with anything less they're going to have to deal with black up, but also you're going to know that I deserve better than this. My daddy never did that to my mom and my daddy never treated me that way. So I'm not accepting any of this foolishness and I'm praying and hoping that she makes good decisions in that way, because I'll go to jail. No, but that's a long-winded answer. I'm sorry that's very long-winded, but that's.
Speaker 3:It's just everyday choosing joy. It's everyday choosing joy. And there's things that happen, like last year this time.
Speaker 3:I can remember coming back from the Bahamas and heading straight to Texas because my dad was sick and I did not know that that was going to be the last I ever saw of him and that he was going to pass away. And then I look back at COVID and everybody losing their minds about how hard it was and us peacing out for six months and going and spending time. I did not know that those moments were going to be the last moments my kids had quality time with their grandparents. I didn't know, but we lived in that moment and we accepted it, and it was one of those things that I could have been upset. I could have complained every day Excuse me, I could have complained every day, but I chose to show my kids we're happy, we're with family, we choose joy, we choose happiness.
Speaker 3:I feel like it affected their mental health that they didn't have all the heaviness a lot of their friends had back this way and I feel like the way we modeled our lives around that and, like I said, how I treat their mom, it always baffles me when couples don't realize that kids are not stupid and they know that that's supposed to be the most important person in your life and you treat her like garbage. Everything else is fake, like if that's how you treat your my mom, your wife, then everything else is fake, every everything else is fake. And kids are also great for keeping you in check because when other people come around they will not lie to you, right, daddy?
Speaker 3:told mommy this it was like, right, kids is the note builder? Yeah, but I just I just in my mind. Sometimes it's a practice you have to give yourself and you just like working out every single day is not yeah, I love it, but I know I'm gonna feel better after every single day is not like happiness and like jumping to the roof and whatever. But I also know that finding joy in those moments and sometimes it's 90%, whatever I'll find that 10% and hang on to it and that's what I will focus on and that's how I start my day.
Speaker 3:And I said to Christine the other day she was saying something to me like are you going to the dentist? I was like, yeah, my tooth hurts. And she's like, did it just start hurting? I was like, no, it's been for a month, it's like a month. And I was like, yeah, it's like I didn't know. And I was like I didn't say anything. I was like I should have gone a bit more smart, been a little bit smarter and gone.
Speaker 3:But I was like I just don't, I don't complain, I can focus on little things. There's always aches, pains, financial stuff, like there's always something to complain about, and some people find those things and choose to focus on that and it robs their joy. And some people find the good and choose to focus on that, and even when you have periods of your life where you're going through stuff. One of my favorite Bible verses I don't have the actual verse with me, but I remember the words and it says pain and suffering may endure through the night, but joy comes in the morning. And it says pain and suffering may endure through the night, but joy comes in the morning, and I have that implanted on my heart. Joy morning always comes, nights, terrifying sometimes and hard and tough to deal with. You just got to hang on until the morning because joy comes in the morning. The sun always rises and I live that and that's why I love sunrises. Every morning I'm there with my little camera, like I like my 100 are.
Speaker 2:I see so many sunrises Every morning. I'm there with my little camera. I 100% see so many sunrises in PEI. I could send you sunset on the West Coast.
Speaker 3:But I love it. That to me, is like look at there, that's joy, that's happiness, that sings to my soul. And I didn't mean to get all philosophical, but that's literally honestly how I look at it, because my life is not perfect and there's things that I wish was better, whether it's physically or financially or whatever. But my life is good and I have much to be happy about and I have good people in my life and that's why I think I gravitate towards people like you. I meet a ton of people and there's a lot of people in my circle, but my inner circle is very, very, very tight and I don't just say this, but there's very few people I lend my extra time to. I will give bread to whoever needs bread, but to the people that I consider my closest, that I want to spend time with, that I yearn to spend time with. That I want to have in my circle is very, very tight and it's not based off status or oh, you're famous, want you in my circle, or oh, you have money, so I want you in my circle.
Speaker 3:I know people one of my closest friends, actually, I just found out handles ryan reynolds money, so he was talking to me about meeting with him and stuff and I was like you think you'd mentioned this to me before and just like kind of chuckled and like had golf with morgan wallen the other day and like like this guy is connected. But I asked him one time I'm like you have had so much success in your life and you've done so much and I'm like you're worth ridiculous amounts of the people you're connected to is like why are you still messing with me? And he says the people that I know are genuine are the people like he tells us to me and it's you're one of the good ones, brother, and to me that's a better compliment than anything anybody could give to me that, that you could tell me something like that.
Speaker 3:And I was like, okay, well, you're a good one too, because it I've met a ton of people that have money there just for lack of a better term assholes, and I have nothing. I I haven't, I don't care, I don't care. Like you have money. Good for you, good for you, buddy Bye.
Speaker 3:And I think the beauty of also having my studio is that I can control my vibe. I can control the energy that's in there. So, as much as it's like six days a week, a lot of hours, I can control who's in there and who's taking from my time, who my kids are on. My kids pop out all the time to see people and I have full control over that. My kids pop out all the time to see people and I have full control over that. So, all in all, whether it's the passing of my dad or people being sick or a toothache or whatever, I have so much good. I will never focus on that stuff and rant about that kind of stuff. I will always appreciate what I've been given and we all go through hard stuff every last one of us but we also all have the choice to fight through it, have good people in our circle who we can reach out to, who can help us and I said my faith and my family and friends and I'm good, I'm good.
Speaker 2:If.
Speaker 3:I never eclipse where I'm at financially right now. I'm good. I live the rest of my life because I'm happy.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so powerful, dan, and like it just goes to show that everything is a choice. It's a choice to see how you view things, and you can either be the victim or you can find the gratitude and the joy. I love everything that you said.
Speaker 2:There's always, as Napoleon Hill said, a seed of equivalent advantage in every adversity. So, no matter what is going on, there's always something good you can find out of it. Even if it's a small thing, there's always something good to be found, 100%.
Speaker 1:And I feel like that's a definite way. Everything you just described is like a way to love yourself, to love each other and honestly to love the planet, like just having that. Imagine if more people in the world thought that way and looked at life through that lens that you do, how much you would raise that vibration of the planet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're raising the vibration of the people in your circle, the people that have access to you, a hundred percent. That's why I wanted you on here, because, uh, we need you to raise the vibration of everyone that we know too. So I love it. Yeah, thank you for coming on here.
Speaker 2:Um, I don't know if I have any other questions, maybe what? What can someone do on a daily basis maybe you answered this somewhat to to show love and appreciation and raise vibration around, and what's like a couple little things someone could do find one thing you can do for someone else and do it.
Speaker 3:Um, it is so simple, but the joy you get from watching someone's expression genuinely change and smile is it's like there's no, there's no match for it. Even something small doesn't have to cost money, doesn't have to. But when you do something for someone else and it's almost selfish that you know I'm sitting there, I love Christmas and I love when someone opens the gift and they're just like and they love it, and you know they love it Is that not the best feeling, isn't it just like?
Speaker 1:oh.
Speaker 3:Now think about doing that on a daily basis. I literally will pick up my phone in the morning when I go out to the gym and take my picture of my sunrise or whatever, and then I'll just find one random person to write and like, hey, I was just thinking of you, hope your day is going well, love you, man, peace or piss bumps or something like that. Send it off and I'd be like you were thinking of me. Oh, my gosh, this is the best message. I needed that this morning and to get that back, and it's completely random and I'm like you were thinking of me. We haven't talked in a few weeks. Like what? And it's just little things like that, like stupid things, like being in a store and seeing marty mcfly and being like I'm getting that for my boy.
Speaker 1:He loves that he wanted to actually he's like. I want to see my marty mcfly little statue it's so true because when you sent that, I was like, oh my gosh, like he saw, this didn't just like send a pic and say this is sweet, like you got it and sent it to us. I couldn't believe that it's still having an image I mean
Speaker 3:so impact. I love that and that's what I mean. So something small a note, something that doesn't have anything to do with you, that you're actually just giving it to someone else. Or I saw what you did. Or liking someone's picture and telling them like that's amazing or just whatever, just something you would be fine with. The more you give us, the more you get. Like I said, it's like that feeling on Christmas watching someone flip out over something. You got them and you know it's genuine. You can have that little bit of that feeling almost every single day.
Speaker 2:And it'll raise your vibration.
Speaker 3:It doesn't cost you anything.
Speaker 2:It doesn't cost you anything, not a thing. It's like a flame doesn't lose anything by lighting another candle. Right, it's the same.
Speaker 3:Right, 100%, 100%, 100 percent that's so yeah that would be the one thing that you could do and it takes no time 20 seconds, I mean. We can get on there once. Cat videos all day long or beaver videos and I'm guilty because I do love you some stupid videos. But in between that, just sending someone some encouragement or knowing that someone's going through a hard time, and just like saying like hey, I'm just thinking of you, man, like stay strong and just let's. It's just I don't know. There's something when someone sends me that message that makes me like you were thinking of me. I have a friend here that he's a good 15 years older than me, but he'll send me random stuff like that all the time. It's like I passed by your property today instead of lights on in your gym, and it brought me joy to know that you're in there helping someone right now. Wow.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 3:I'm just welling up inside. I'm just like if he thought it. But he took the time. He could have just been like that's awesome and kept on his way and I would have never gotten the joy of his moment. And he got the joy of it like huh, but he chose to share it with me and then I got to benefit from it and it made my day and I think so many times we have those things where we could tell someone that, or someone you walks in.
Speaker 3:I was like you do something with your hair. That looks awesome, love it. Okay, grab the weights. And I passed by and you can just tell it like like yeah, you're looking good. Or like hitting one of the guys, the guys would come in like boy, I tell you've been really new. Grab an arm like boy, you're getting beefy. And just like, just little bits you can give to people, just like you're trying and you're working and you think that no one notices you and you're going through life like and you think that no one's and someone just gives you a little tiny and you have no idea it could be a compliment that they just like yeah, I know, I'm awesome, go on their business, or it could mean the world to them.
Speaker 3:And you don't know, but you just spread enough of those seeds because something's going to catch. All right, something is going to catch. Not every seed blooms into a massive tree, but something's going to catch. You spread enough of those seeds around, something's going to bloom and you're going to get something beautiful.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. You know those little things that I've been doing. I wish people happy birthday all the time on Facebook, but I don't send them just like on their wall. I'll literally message them. I'll send them a funny GIF and like hope you have a super, epic, amazing day, like something like that. But it's personal. I look forward to your messages. Every year it's always a new GIF every year. I look forward to it.
Speaker 2:You're on my Facebook. You probably got a message from me, so there's that. And then the last couple weeks I started thinking of, uh, somebody just just like you said, like a random message, and I I would think about this person for like a week and I was like, why don't I just send them a message? So I sent a few people these different messages and they reply. They're like oh my god, thank you so much for that. Like that was amazing. I was like, oh easy, it was so easy. And then, and then like if you're out at like a grocery store or something and someone's helping you, and so I was just saying thank you, I try to say I appreciate you, man, or I appreciate you so much, or you know something like that, and it just makes them feel like felt.
Speaker 1:You've always been so good at acknowledging people too and like, yeah, I think what does rita davenport say? Everybody has an invisible sign on their forehead that says make me feel important, make me feel special, try to smile at people I like that. I like that we think the thoughts all the time but like do you say the thing you're thinking? That could just really brighten someone's day but even to your own spouse.
Speaker 3:How many times do I pass by and I'm thinking oh, she's looking good today and just don't say anything? And I was like why wouldn't I go over and tell her she looked good?
Speaker 2:today like yeah man even just like walk through the kitchen a little slap on the ass like hey, I see all that.
Speaker 3:That's. That is sign language at the highest level.
Speaker 2:My friend, you're speaking black language right there that palm to booty is the best compliment you can get from a brother you guys kill me oh, man, uh, I just want to say how much I appreciate you taking the time to come on here and share some of your, your love for life, with everyone.
Speaker 1:And, uh, just I appreciate you I think a lot of listeners are going to get so much from this episode and just implement even the little things that you've shared, whether it's through fitness and nutrition or how you can, you know, spread love in the day like it's going to help a lot of people, so thank you for being here and having this convo any any last uh thoughts you want to leave a listener, or or they can connect with you maybe Just through social media.
Speaker 3:I'm sure Brian will toss up my shoulders on there, brian and Brittany, but I was actually pumped to do this with you guys because I have so much respect for both of you and I don't fake stuff. I can't fake like, oh, I can't wait to see you. I don't have those connections with other people. Why is it that, from day one, puerto Rico, what? 10, over 10 years ago, 12 years now, there's 20.
Speaker 2:Long time ago.
Speaker 3:Long time ago that it's still that genuine, because I don't have time for foolishness and, like I said, even if you're not in my inner circle, if you need my help, I will pour from my bucket. But I look at it this way I have a well that I want to pour into people and I will always pour into as many people as I can, but I'm very careful who I let dip into my well, because one drop can poison the entire thing. So y'all are in my well. I'll just say that like I know nothing, but goodness has added to that well to be poured back out to other people. So I was actually really honored that you asked me to be on here and then it was just an awesome opportunity to have a conversation with people that I love talking with anyway.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I agree, I love that. I appreciate you so much. Thank you for being here, dan, and for all of your kind words and wisdom.
Speaker 2:It was so good, yeah all right, everybody, go out there and spread some love. Connect with dan. Tell him how, uh, how you've, uh, how dan has impacted you. Shoot him a message, tell him it'll fill, it'll fill up his bucket a message yeah all right, stay awesome everybody later.