Matt Dropped 40 Pounds For A Life Well Lived - 125

Welcome everyone to Driven for Health and this is episode 125. Big big another big episode here and I have Matt. Matt and I have been working together for a couple months now and he is a family first guy and that's something that's really important to me. He's a husband of 31 years. He's got four kids.
They're a little bit older than mine. His are in the 20s. Mine are in the teens now. So he's already lived my life and the craziness of and we've commiserated on all that. and also loved and felt so blessed, too. He is a business owner. He's done entrepreneurship. He's been around the block more than a few times. We'll talk about managing those challenges as well. He loves to travel.
I'd get pictures from here at this football game and and over here doing this thing and then going down there and hanging out on the beach and such. And that is a really important part of the undertone of Matt and to live a life well-lived. And that's when he first brought that up to me in our very first call.
I'm like, "Yes, this is what I want. Let's live life as we go." Because life is a journey, not the destination, as Aaron Smith says. So, welcome to Ty for Health, Matt. Thanks for coming. >> Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks, Brad. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now, what were some of the big things that we were able to accomplish like as far as the actual results go? Everyone always was like, "How much weight did you lose?" All this stuff.
What happened? >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, for me it wasn't as much just losing weight. Um, it was coming up with an approach, a simple approach to be specific to do it. Um, I track everything in my life to down to the spreadsheet level. And for some reason, uh, when it comes to eating, I don't like doing that. I don't like doing the macro thing.
I don't like having to count count. So, for me, it was, uh, the big win is that I've got an approach. It's simple and it travels with me everywhere I go around the world and all the different places I've been. Um, and it's and it's straightforward and I don't have to overthink it. And so you helped me create a uh an approach to nutrition that wasn't um uh you was 20 years in the military, so it wasn't a military approach.
It was something that I you worked with me and what that's what I liked about most is that it was something that you worked with me to make it mine, not just a generic off-the-shelf, you know, Yeah. >> approach. So >> super important and that's definitely it. I love this saying. I call it the long-term bias approach is what we do in two weeks.
we do in two months, we do in two years. And that's from the get-go, and that's exactly what we're able to create here as well. What did the physical body change like? What were those results as far as they go? >> Yeah. So far, um, it's interesting. I always had I'd never had a problem with the movement side. So, I love to exercise my >> love moving.
>> So, so that was not the issue. Um, I I dropped 40 pounds, um, so far. And, and what I like about it, it didn't have come off like overnight. It's a slow progressive and and and it's a marathon for me, not a sprint. And so, I mean, if I wanted to starve myself, I could do that. I'm fairly disciplined.
Um, and and and I that's not what I wanted. I wanted to live a life well-lived, like you said earlier. And I wanted to enjoy certain things. I can be specific about what I like to enjoy. And you worked with me uh to help create a plan that would allow, I mean, not stupidity, [laughter] not just plowing through cakes and cookies all day long, but something that was was was allowed me to do things I truly loved.
and I had to drop some things that were bad habits and just nice to have. So, um yeah, so I've lost weight and it and I continue to lose weight. I feel great and I haven't lost any strength. Um I don't, you know, push-ups, sit-ups, all that stuff, pull-ups, actually. I've gotten better at pull-ups. Um you know, by dropping 40 pounds, that helps when you're not hanging on a bar with >> So anyway, so so net everything's positive.
>> Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. Well, let's talk about some of the day-to-day life, the busyiness. So being an entrepreneur, you track numbers and you travel a lot and and so let's talk about some of those things of how busy you are because every single person I've ever worked with is all capitals.
Bus sy. Yeah. So for me um because I'm busy and bouncing around with different businesses and different um travel uh uh and I love you mentioned earlier I love sports. So, um, you know, I love going to games and stadiums and college football in particular, but all pro sports as well. So, so it's it's busy and and I think, um, >> navigating that where you have all the temptations of, you know, beer and food and nachos and stuff.
Um there there are there are ways to to get around that that are less harmful with while still allowing you to enjoy it. Not to not have to be that person who's saying, "No, I'm not I'm not eating a hot dog today because I'm I'm crazy into this health thing." And so so you can and I did it quietly. Nobody even knew I was doing it, frankly.
So it was >> um I didn't pull out charts at dinners and start tracking stuff. I just I just quietly did my thing. um passed on the rolls for example and overindexed on protein and and good veggies and and again next thing you know it it just started to work. >> Yeah, definitely. And and that's a huge little thing that Matt just pulled out there is we want to do this quietly.
We want to do this incognito or I always joke being in quotations a diet ninja in a sense. No one should know that you're doing this. you're just making these lifestyle choices and behavior changes over time consistently and repeatably around things that you can commit to doing. So passing on the bread basket for a lot of people that can be an easy win to cut out one 400 calories at a meal, but you also enjoyed having some wine and such.
So, we can't have wine and the bread basket, too, because all of a sudden, too many calories are coming from those type of food sources that uh it's pretty quick to have those things start pulling us away from what our our goals are as far as any just calorie management in general, right? One turns into three rolls and you got butter, next thing you know, it's like 600 calories just from the bread basket.
So, [snorts] >> Right. >> Excellent. Excellent. Now with so we travel I would get a bunch of pictures from you either on a beach or in a football stadium and all. Now what were some of the go-to thoughts, patterns of behavior that continue to mold and and you into a new body and lose this weight? >> Yeah.
So um so a couple things that come to mind right off the top um is you know knowing that you're going to be tonight I'm going to a concert. So I knew that yesterday. Okay. I knew that the day before. So leading into that, I overindex steps. So I I went on a >> six mile rock instead of a four mile rock. And so so today I I put a little extra in into the workout.
Um so so thinking about the fact that I know at this concert I am going to do quote unquote bad things. Um but I'm going to enjoy myself. I don't want to. So So I I think about that today. I think about that tomorrow. And so planning and not overplanning, not overthinking it. Just simply knowing that and then leading into it again overindexing protein really really trying to pass on the breads and the sweets and all that stuff and really just eating healthy cleaner um but you know leading into it um also helps um me kind of prepare. So so so
that's some one of the techniques that you kind of got me thinking about is um you don't have to and and you don't have to give up everything. Now try not to eat 15 piles of nachos. you know, that's also just smart, but but I can still enjoy what I want without and and wine. You talked about wine. I love wine.
Um, you know, knowing that if you're going to have a couple glasses of wine with a meal, you better you better, you know, really really pass on the on the bread. And so, so just being thoughtful and intentional about what you're putting on your plate, what you're putting in your mouth.
And that doesn't mean just at the meal, but it's maybe the day before and the day after is something you kind of taught me. >> Yeah, definitely. I am a huge fan of what we call middle gear mentality. And I say it frequently and a lot of guys are in stuck in that all or nothing approach. You can't have carbs or you can't eat because you're fasting all day or something or you get into these got to eat chicken, broccoli, and rice from the 1980s or something.
And and we don't have to do that. Once we have education around our nutrition, then what Matt is sharing is this middle gear mentality which allows you to make active choices around what you want to experience while still working toward your goals. Super duper important with a business, with kids, with travel, with all the daily responsibilities that Matt has.
He has to find that give and take in this relationship with food so he can improve that relationship and be able to be good. The other thing that I really enjoy is practicing MBF, call it moderation, balance, flexibility. Those are always built into everyone's life because we're all human. We're all going to in quotations mess up and or have a little too much fun on the 4th of July as it just came and went here as of this recording.
And that is really important so that you can go enjoy the experiences but then again not have to say overdo it and work extra extra hard to burn off those calories there. Now what were some of the process that you tried before that that still unfortunately didn't lead you to where you wanted to to be at? Yeah, I mean I probably tried it all keto and Weight Watchers and all that stuff.
And what I realized was um a couple things. One, >> it felt generic, you know, it felt um it didn't feel tailored to me. So So and I'm I'm not anti- AI and Google and all that stuff, but it just didn't seem like it was meant for me. And then when I had questions about you, you're and everyone has an opinion about this. So good example that I use with you is Diet Coke.
I like Diet Coke, right? And some people are frankly over the top about you can't put any diet coke in your mouth. You you'll die tomorrow. And so so it was interesting having that conversation. You'd also send some information to support your points. You're clear about not being a doctor. You're a health coach, you know, coach. But um and then that helps though because you're not trying to oversell it, but also you're you're giving some real studies that talk about, you know, the good, the bad, and the ugly of everything. in in moderation. You know,
don't drink 55 cans of Diet Coke a day, but but if you want to have one or two, if that's a nice way to kind of >> crave the sweet, you know, that that's that. So, that helped me a lot. And so, the programs I tried, um I did the fasting, the intermittent fasting, um all that stuff. And it just it wasn't working.
Um and not that I'm not disciplined, I was I'm pretty disciplined guy, so I would definitely try it. Um it just it wasn't working for me. And so, um, and then I I will say having like an accountability side of it, too, like checking in, you know, whatever is periodically that helps because then, you know, don't want to let let you down because not to mention I'm paying for it.
Um, so it was it was that whole process kind of really clicked for me. >> Yeah, that's excellent. And sciencebacked information implemented into the easiest way possible. That's definitely what I'm always looking at and understanding. Okay. Is there a PubMed researchbacked peer-reviewed study that supports the claims that I'm making because I most importantly don't want to show up on the internet and some people start using me as reaction videos, [laughter] right? Like, oh my gosh.
Like, well, I don't want my that's not how I want to gain popularity in a sense of people, you know, saying, yeah, this sounds good, but there's no truth to it. [laughter] Like I I I have peers that are this one guy named Allan and he just does a really great job supporting all his information with peer-reviewed backed journal studies.
And then when we hear something, hey, your body's craving meat, well, you're missing this type of vitamin. There's no supportive evidence to claim that. And so that's really important to note that that might just be your feelings. Your in quotations body craving some food or sodium doesn't necessarily imply that there's any relevance to it.
It's just you're looking humans can create bias any which way they want. You're looking for something salty. So >> right. >> All right. Excellent. Now let's jump into the life well-lived. That is huge important to me. I personally want to live, live, live, live, die. I want to leave a legacy that I was a healthy pet person that my kids looked up to and modeled after my behaviors around especially taking care of themselves, but also I try and be a great husband and a great father as well.
That's important. I'm a human, so I do mess up here and there or whatever. I get a little grumpy sometimes, but uh that that's important to me. So share what that is to you. >> Yeah. So for me and I kind of pulled in different aspects of so for me a life well live to help define it is there's seven domains of happiness and one of them is health and fitness and so so that's one of them and and I think you said it earlier and I totally agree there's got to be a balance there so another domain is work so you know there's nothing wrong with work but if
you work too much and you focus on any one domain well that can then get things out of balance family is one of them friends is one of them having fun ironically is one of them >> um and so it's interesting sometimes people you especially people who are kind of a type and hard hard chargers sometimes forget to have fun and so you don't want to get to 60 70 80 and realize wow I didn't do the things I want to do and um and then it's too late and and and I think you I've said heard on some of your podcast where you know
the body does age you know everyone loses against father time but but can you make yourself in a better position to enjoy those later years that also was for me something that that is part of that life well-lived and um and travel is part of it so part of our fun is in travel and seeing things. So, um that lifestyle lift thing really really is important because and it and it changes and it evolves.
And so, I sit down with my wife, we walk daily. Um we have talks all the time about this and then and and and goals change as they should. And so we're always kind of and but we've used that framework that that notion of life well-lived and making sure that we're doing things with intentionality and and again your your program the health part is one of the hardest ones I think for people too just to to try to be fit and and not just you know losing weight is great but you want to be strong and and have the strength to do to support
things. So, um, but yeah, Life Well Live for me is really about those seven domains, keeping them in balance, keeping them in check, knowing that, like you said, we're all humans, we make mistakes, giving yourself some grace, but, um, but but keeping that focus. >> Yeah. I love it. I love it. And I I got to participate in that white life well-lived as well, seeing pictures of you literally having fun and enjoying yourself and still having success.
And that's where I like to say thread the needle and and figure out, okay, who is this person? What do they care about? Why do they care about it? What's important? And how do we get them to their goal line? What success looks like for them? And for Matt, he enjoyed some veno.
He enjoyed travel and going places and going to a concert and enjoying those things. And that was super important. So, I had to make sure that I worked with those guidelines so that he could continue doing it, right? that long-term bias. What we do in two weeks, we do in two months, we do in two years, so on and so forth. Now, what was the the biggest challenge like when we first got going? I think I remember someone called you out a little bit.
There's a nice little gentle call out like, "Hey, we need to get the body in gear here along with these other domains." >> Yeah. Um I you the biggest challenge was just I I I was living having too much fun I think you know and so it was um you know just not keeping that that that balance and and so even though >> some of the stuff isn't rocket science duh don't put a cake in your mouth.
Don't don't but but it's it's it's just not having that intentionality. So for me it was that that that really being focused on on on driving down and and and really making it a priority. Um, especially, you know, I had a close friend who who who got diagnosed with stage four cancer and it and it really resonated with me that, you know, like we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow and you don't want to worry about it necessarily either, but but but certainly you don't want to let let things slip. So, um, for me it was a
kind of a couple things coming together and and and and that really kind of motivated me to kind of to to kind of get get off the get off the get on track. Yeah. Get get moving. >> Yeah. And dropping 40 pounds statistically puts you in a significantly less category to have heart disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol issues, these things that body joint issues, all of those things are really going to slow down your life and even shorten it quite a bit because it's just an unhealthy state to live in. And
finding that balance back to more of a normal body weight and and healthy food and all that stuff. So good. Now, if someone's listening in and they're just not sure where to start or I literally had a guy today that signed up for the call to rise 100 day fat loss challenge, he couldn't trust himself.
He tried so many times to lose the weight and do these diets and all this stuff, but this was actually the first time he's actually getting coaching and support to learn how to do this properly. like what would you tell someone listening in to help them encourage them to take better care of themselves and take the next step? >> Yeah, for me I mean again the reality is obviously there's a cost to it.
So I'm sure some people are like well geez I can do this on my own try it on my own and I I think the way I I look at is think how many how where you spend your money and and and and is it worth spending it on yourself to get fit and healthy. So that that's the first challenge I think that a lot of people probably I had it for a while too.
thought I could do it myself. Like I said, thought I was a disciplined guy. >> Um and and and and then after I got past that cost thing, it was gosh, it really is helpful to have someone you can bounce it off and and I liked our approach where frankly it was on the phone. It wasn't face to face. So So like I could be honest and vulnerable with you and you know I don't know you that that well.
It's like you know I don't even know where you live frankly. And so it helped it helped be um very open and and and I could just go uncut with you. Um, so, so I think for me it was I get why people don't necessarily want to, you know, do the coaching, but um, but for all the things in your life that you, why, why wouldn't you? Um, you know, in hindsight, it's like, oh boy.
And if if you can have someone, especially the way you're approached, and I didn't I didn't look at a lot of other coaches, I went right to you, but you really did tailor it to me. And I can't say how important that was for me because um, if you would have started telling me I got to go out and start doing, I don't know, things I don't want to do, >> tracking your food, right? That was one of the first things in the beginning you said is like I I can't track my I'm tracking all these other numbers in my life like food and can't do it.
>> Well, I tried it too. I actually did the My Fitness you talked about what you know my fitness pal I think was a free one. >> Yeah. Yeah. Right. >> And and I found out I I I was eating less than according to the app less than 2,000 calories a day but yet I was still gaining weight. Didn't make sense. So I don't even think they're accurate.
So So having so spending a lot of time tracking stuff that is you're guessing more more times especially I do like to go out to eat a lot and travel a lot. So, you know, you can't just pick up a package and read the calories on it when you're at a restaurant. It's you're trying to make So, having ways to look at a plate and, you know, quarter of the plate is X and quarter of the plate is Y.
Um, just those techniques really help. So, so, so I'm probably not answering your question real well here. I I was >> You are You actually are because a lot of guys will come in like, do we track calories or what do we do? How do I eat food? And well, we have to teach you a process and a system of approach. And being a business owner, you understand systems and processes to get say key performance indicators, those KPIs to get the ROIs.
And that's what we set you up with. I like to act as a trusted advisor. And that's exactly what you got out of me, right? Is like, okay, this guy is aligned with my goals. He is knowledgeable. He's supportive. He's there when I need him regardless of whatever state or country you're in. and we can engage and help you understand what the the answer is to this question that you have.
What is the next best thing you can do right now in this moment to move toward your goals and and keep making progress? And if we get stumped, then you and I have to figure out, okay, we're going to roll our sleeves up. Why are we stuck here? And not everyone loses weight consistently and reliably. And weight loss is not linear, people.
It does go up and down, but we want the trend to go down over time. And we have to just come together. If there is say a in quotations a plateau or something, it's just usually past behaviors of the week or two dictate why they are not moving forward. They're just not in a calorie deficit. So we have to understand why and help the person understand that so they can make forward progress.
So you did amazing. You're you're an ideal client. I love working with you. I'm so appreciative for you coming on today to share your story to help motivate other people because this your story is the the common story that I work with that you've been working hard, you raised your family and all of a sudden you're like, "Wait a minute here.
My belly is past my toes and this is not a good look, feel, or energy that I want for who I am as a person." Especially when you talk about those domains. You are not well-rounded. I mean, I guess in the middle you're wellrounded, but that's not the the wellrounding you want. So, >> for sure. >> Excellent. >> Well, I thank you so much, Matt, for coming on and sharing your wisdom, our process together.
I super appreciate you've been able to do that. I hope that someone listening is motivated and inspired and you hear your story inside Matts. And if you do, then take some action at the very least. Listen to my podcast. There's so many that tell you exactly what to do. But if you do need that extra support, accountability, and direction, then that's what I'm here for.
I'm the trusted guide to lead you through this health journey. And that's what the call to rise is. It's 100 day fat loss challenge. We have five pillars that we work off of your identity, identifying with who that person is you actually want to be seen as and have as a legacy. We've got the forge, which is your exercise and movement.
We've got the fuel, which is eating the right foods at the right time in the right amount. We've got the code which is your mindset and get to think differently, see things through different lenses and perceptions. And the last one is the brotherhood. You got me as the lead and you have other guys going through this situation because it's this is unfortunately it's normal between 40 and 60 is a grind for aging parents, aging kids, aging responsibilities of life.
and it's all get you get lost in the middle of it and you just you don't want to wake up when you're 60 or something and realize wow I I should have paused and slowed down and taken care of myself and that's what that is. If that interests you, the calltorise.com, check it out.
Matt, thanks so much again for having you. Appreciate your hard work, effort, focus, and your fun that we're able to have together is wonderful. Thank you so much. Thanks. Thank you, Brian. Appreciate it. Bye-bye, everyone.