Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 1560: Woke Fitness Is Making You Fat & Unhealthy

Episode Date: May 24, 2021

In this episode Sal, Adam & Justin discuss how “woke” messaging with respect to fitness and obesity is not only disempowering, but is destroying health. The scary direction our culture is heading when it comes to diet and exercise. (1:53) The challenge with obesity. (9:20) Is the mainstream fitness industry to blame for this woke movement in the space? (11:46) Why Woke Fitness is Making You Fat & Unhealthy. (15:45) #1 – Your health is YOUR responsibility. (17:16) #2 – Obesity is NOT a disease. (24:12) #3 – Love is NOT a feeling, but an ACTION. (28:27) #4 – Obesity is NOT healthy. (39:04) #5 – You are NOT obese because of your genetics. (48:35) Related Links/Products Mentioned May Specials: MAPS Aesthetic & the Extreme Fitness Bundle 50% off!  **Promo code “MAYSPECIAL” at checkout** Visit Drink LMNT for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! Five myths about obesity Mind Pump #1527: The 3 Step Solution To The Obesity Epidemic Is The Fitness Industry Full Of Lies? - Mind Pump Blog Mind Pump #1480: How To Find Peace & Meaning Amid Chaos With Bishop Robert Barron The Key to Fitness Success is Self-Love – Mind Pump Blog Mind Pump #1465: The Truth About Health At Every Size How Your Genetics Influence Your Muscle Building Potential – Mind Pump Blog Mind Pump #1322: What’s Your Real Muscle Building Potential? (And How To Get There…) Mind Pump Podcast – YouTube Mind Pump Free Resources People Mentioned G O R D A [she/they] (@fiercefatfemme)  Instagram Bishop Robert Barron (@bishopbarron)  Instagram

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, MIND, with your hosts. Salda Stefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. You just found the world's number one fitness health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Okay, this episode is fire. So in this episode, we talk about how woke culture is probably making you fat and unhealthy. It's now permeated the fitness industry and there's some philosophies now surrounding obesity

and fitness and health that's damaging. It's actually quite damaging. You know, all of us made our careers working with people like this. We're very empathetic to the situation. You're going to like this episode and believe me, when you listen, you'll hear exactly what we mean, how we communicate these things, and you'll hear our experience working with this situation quite a bit. Now, this episode is brought to you by our sponsor,

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And our extreme fitness bundle is 50% off. You can go learn more or just sign up at mapsfitinistproducts.com. Just use the code MaySpecial with no space for the discount. All right, guys, I want to bring something up right now that I think needs to be talked about. Is this like a come to Jesus for somebody? No, there's this new kind of like segment of the fitness industry that's starting to gain some traction.

I'm starting to see articles written in this fashion or with this kind of philosophy or belief system around fitness and health. It's starting to creep into what we do. What I mean by that is at first it was kind of small and like nobody cared. But now it's getting a little bit more mainstream, and I think it's very dangerous, in the sense that it's not gonna help anybody. It's actually gonna hurt a bit.

It's so serious where you're going. Yeah, so there was this article that was in the Washington Post. In fact, I did a post about it on my Instagram. It's called Five Myths About Obesity. Oh yeah. Okay, and- Stirred it up a little bit with that. And I read it, and it's, I couldn't believe, It's called Five Myths About Obesity. Oh, yeah. Okay. And turn it up a little bit with that.

And I read it and it's, I couldn't believe, I mean, part of me is like, I can't believe what they're saying. The other part of me is like, okay, well, this is just kind of, the direction that it seems things are going. So I'll tell you a couple of things. I'll read a couple of things so you guys can hear, you know, kind of get an idea. So one of the myths that they put in there,

I think it was the first myth, if I'm not mistaken, is that obesity results from lifestyle choices. So that's a myth. According to this, that's a myth. That's a myth. That's a way that can happen. Yeah. According to that, and it says in this article, and again, this is what makes it so dangerous, is they position it like it's science and like, this is the, right? But here's part of that segment. Says most up-to-date research indicates that the causes of obesity are complex and cannot be explained solely by choices, by solely by calories in and out based on diet and exercise. Calorie absorption or energy derived from consumed food varies among individuals and is determined

not only by portion size at meal time but by factors such as gut microbes, hormones, digestive enzymes, and nerve signals. When it comes to burning calories, metabolism is a major player, and there is growing evidence that genetics, sleep deprivation, medication, stress, and even the environment, a person was exposed to in utero, can contribute to unhealthy weight gain. So there's that part, right? You had to love that right there. Let's throw some buzzwords around. So I sound like we know we're talking about

the virus. Well, it sounds like to me. And a lot of the stuff that they're saying is also choice, right? Hormones, my hormones are off. Well, your lifestyle affects that quite a bit. Digestive enzymes, microbes, a lot of that is your lifestyle. Well, and here's where an article like this probably

goes viral is that everything they're saying is not true, either, right? of that is your life. Well, and here's where an article like this probably goes viral is that everything they're saying is not true either. Right? Yeah, it is complex. Yeah, it is complex. All those things do affect it, but to just discount that your choice and your behaviors have nothing to do with it is. Right.

It takes the responsibility part out. Yes. So here's another part of it, right? Here's another myth. And I think this was number three, right? This is the myth that they put Diating an exercise will reverse severe obesity. That's a myth apparently And now now in any and this is something we talk about. Well, okay. Yeah, again I'm gonna play like them. So why you do this? I'm gonna be pretty like them

It's failed, right? It's failed for the last three decades in a row We've been trying to we've there's hundreds there's thousands of diets out there There's thousands of programs and routines out there obesity continues to be on the rise therefore if that's supposedly is the answer It's not work. That's what makes it so dangerous what makes it so dangerous is it'll take some truth And then they'll twist it in a way that absolves everybody of any empowerment right can play this game So here's what they say in there there's growing evidence that diet and exercise alone are and then they'll twist it in a way that absolves everybody of any empowerment. You can play this game. So here's what they say in there. There is growing evidence that diet and exercise alone are ineffective at decreasing and maintaining

a lower BMI, particularly for people with severe obesity, defined as BMI of 40 or more. In fact, weight loss causes hunger to increase in metabolism to slow down, which can lead to weight regain. Most of the contestants on the biggest loser have ended up gaining a significant amount of weight back. Which we've talked about. So this makes me, I'll give you an example of what they're doing, right? So we have a door to our studio and we can go in and out.

And if I want to open the door from the inside, I have to open, I have to pull it in, right? But let's say I go and turn the door knob and push, and then I just keep pushing, and then I come back and be like, doors are broken. Doors don't work. Doors don't work, you can't go from one room to another without a door.

So I'm wrong. Yes, so they're not wrong in the sense that the biggest loser people gain their way back, and they're not wrong, that we're failing, right? Yes, yes. But it's not because diet and exercise are ineffective. It's because the wrong approach with diet and exercise, which I mean, we built our entire podcast off of that,

you know, lead to this kind of thing, right? So, and then one more thing that's kind of a part of this culture that we're starting to see now, start to permeate the fitness industry. So it kind of sounds like it's not related, but it is. So there's this page on Instagram, and I don't know this person. They might be a very nice person.

I have no idea who they are, but I got tagged on their thing, and then I looked in their posts, and I couldn't believe some of the stuff that I was reading. Her name is, she seems like she's smart. This is the name of her Instagram, fierce fat femme, that's the name of it. Fierce fat fam, Thamespelled, F-E-M-M-E, right?

Okay. And there's a post that says, not finding fatness attractive is not just a preference. It's fat phobia. So that's it. She can't have preferences anymore. Yeah, now, can you, now okay. And then on the whole thing, I'll read some of this.

It's like, I read this and I was like, what? 3000 likes. This is a woke fitness, bro. That 100%. In woke fitness is here. What? It's a high-diology. Yes, so, and I read now, here's, listen to the first part of the post-cernied that,

if you're only dating or fucking or being attracted to a certain look, there's a good chance that you're participating in a harmful ideology. Wow. The excuse of saying that I'm just not attracted to fat people is over and done with. What does that statement even mean? Why are you not attracted to fatness? Is it ready for this? Is it systemic ideologies and biases? Is it

anti-fat stigma? If we aren't attracted to our own fatness, we should be asking why. These questions deserve some clear introspective reflection in time to chew on. And then it goes on into more, more and more fun. Now, was that an article two or you just reading a post? No, that's her post. But she's got a lot of followers. I mean, that, what I just read right there, and there's more to it, and it gets way crazier, and I don't feel like going into it, 3,000 likes.

It was 3, 3000 people that read that and we're like, yeah. Well, there was a few people I saw, not very many, because I thought the way you presented your post was perfect and clear, but you did, you know, ruffle a couple of feathers. I did see some people on there that, yeah, you're not a mental expert.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I want to be really clear, you know, all the three of us built our career around our passion for helping people. And, you know, we all trained a lot of people who struggle. I mean, the majority of the people that I trained struggled with obesity and I have a lot of empathy for that struggle. It is hard.

It is not easy. And all people deserve dignity and respect. I don't care if you're obese or thin or an alcoholic or whatever. Of course, if you treat people terribly, you steal from them. You hurt people. That's a different story. But if you have your own struggles and we all have them, by the way, and here's a challenge with obesity, obesity is so visible, right? You can't necessarily see someone struggle with their own relationships or maybe their finances or maybe another substance because you can't really tell. But somebody that struggles with food and activity and body image issues and the obese,

it's very visible, it makes them easy to target. You can be a functioning alcoholic and people not even know, but you can't be a functioning food addict and people not know. Yeah, people will see it. And then they're easily targeted and people are often very mean and cruel. And I'm so opposed to that. I think that's terrible.

And that only contributes to the problem. So I have a lot of empathy, but also what doesn't help the situation is to lie about it. And tell people, So what doesn't help the situation is to lie about it. And tell people, you have no responsibility in this. This is not your fall and it's great, you're fine, it's all awesome. There's no issues with how you're doing.

The irony for me is I feel like a society has tried really hard to base it more around scientific principles. And it feels like we've completely started to move away from that and disregard empirical data and scientific practices that are sound because now it doesn't fit our personal narrative of what I want personally. Yeah, totally. It's almost like what you're trying to do is you're, and it's a very effective strategy. Like if you take, I mean, look at my kids, for example, but if my son starts to flunk out on his classes,

and I sit him down and I go, listen buddy, it's not your fault. This is not, you know, you did nothing wrong, even though I know maybe he was lazy, didn't study hard or whatever. Don't worry, you know, you have no responsibility in this. Just, and you're awesome and this is great and don't worry about it. I am be setting him up for failure. By the way, even if it was hard for him, the way I would tell him is,

I know it was a struggle, I know it was hard. Here's the reality, it's no one's responsibility but yours. You have to do something. That whole message of struggle, like we know the value of struggle. We know that the journey is everything that you know, you go in through that struggle is where you learn everything and how you're able to handle any kind of challenge that's presented to you and it's just, you know, like to avoid it completely is just like disingenuous. Well, I do blame us for this new woke culture.

I really do. I think that we have failed the fitness space for so long at helping people. And I would argue that many of the people in the fitness industry are more motivated to have success personally and build their business and make money than they are truly after helping people.

And that has been the way for the last few decades in the fitness space. And so we have failed the masses at truly helping them get to the root cause of problems like this. So that's why articles like this and people can come out and make this case is that truly helping them get to the root cause of problems like this. So that's why articles like this and people can come out and make this case is that look it. Here's all the research to show that we've known about diet,

we've known about exercise, we've known about all these things, we've got all these professionals that are helping supposedly all these people, but they're really not helping all these people. So it's just abandon it. Well, yeah. I mean, now that's not me defending this idea of no personal responsibility. Well, you're actually taking some responsibility. Well, yeah. I mean, now that's not me defending this, you know, idea of no personal responsibility.

Well, you're actually taking some responsibility. That's right. I feel somewhat responsible for this, because I feel like this is a response to us not doing a good job. I agree with you, because I think mainstream, when I say mainstream, I mean, the one, the segment of the fitness industry in space, that's like popular, right? So if you look at like, there's, there's a, by the way, I'm biggest loser. Yes. Like most trainers, most personal trainers who've been doing it for a while, in gyms and in studios, sincerely care and do a damn good job. Yeah, and giving a good message. Probably nobody knows who they are. That's right. That's the thing. When you look at the popular trainers, the ones that,

the household names, the celebrity trainers, when you look at the popular workout programs, the ones that sell, you know, half a billion dollars of these workout programs, workout equipment, you know, this workout pill, the diet pills, like that's the mainstream side of the fitness space. They have totally failed and they've sold it the wrong way, they've communicated the wrong message, actually they've fed into the wrong things. They've fed into these insecurities. Totally.

And these woke people now are picking up on it. They're realizing it. Like, oh, we've been fed a bunch of lies. Yeah, it doesn't work. And peddled a bunch of shit and this is the response to that. Now, I don't agree with it. Right. And I think it's an over correction.

Yes. Completely wrong. I totally see that. But I't agree with it. Right. And I think it's an over correction. Yes. Completely wrong. I totally see that. But I also, I understand. I understand because we have, we've failed them for some of the decades. Right. Yeah. It's a loud response to that. Like it's not working. What you guys are pushing on, it's isn't working. And so, you know, now it's just like even more necessary that they get truth to get presented. Right. Okay. So go to the, oh, the biggest losers, a great example, okay. We've talked at nauseam, the methods are wrong, it's gonna cause the weight gain,

it's gonna slow down people's metabolism, hammer the hormones, doesn't address the cause of anything. We've talked about that at nauseam, but here's what really used to bother me about that show. You'd watch the show and you'd see Gillian Michaels blasting this obese person on a treadmill. Get up lazy.

You got a fucking, now they're doing it not for the person, it's for the audience. And then you have people watching TV like yeah, fucking hammer that lazy person. Yeah, they deserve it. I know it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's pretty disgusting actually. It's terrible, right?

And, but that's the mainstream. And then you have other trainers, and this is the minority, not the majority, but there are a minority of trainers that actually believe that. They're, they're fit, they look good mainly because they're insecure themselves. They have their own body image issues. So then they get someone who hires them and they're like, this is what works for me. Yeah. Hate yourself.

Yeah. Do nothing but work out. Yeah. Like, eat like a motivation hype. Yes. And then that results in more problems. So I'm so glad you said that Adam, because this was, this was actually our goal when we started Mind Pump was like, we need to like reverse this or get to the point where maybe

we become mainstream. So at least where the counter can have a conversation around. Yes. So we could be the counter and all that. Well, and as far as a conversation, then I would let can have a conversation around yes, so we could be the counter And as far as a conversation then I would let's have a conversation around why this you know woke fitness is gonna be unhealthy Right now first thing I want to do is I want to dress that that girl's post which is silly people have their own Preferences because they're attracted to what they are and what they're not and it's none of your damn business Yeah, it's that your damn business. Could you imagine a guy by the way? Let's just reverse us

Imagine if a guy was at a club, and he was talking to a girl, and he's like, hey, you wanna like, let's go hook up or whatever, she's like, no, leave me alone. And he's like, ah, it's because you don't, you know, like, and he uses the same tactic, like a creep, you know what I mean?

Oh, you must not be into guys then. You're like, creepy, oh well, you gotta like, creepy guys. Yeah, we're like, we're humans too. That's silly, people are attracted, what they're. Yeah, we're like, we're humans too. That's silly. People are attracted to what they're attracted to. It's not fat phobia or whatever. Anything that appears to be, by the way,

says evolutionary, unhealthy. Tens, people tend to be unattracted to. That's just whatever. But people have their preferences. I don't care. Not to mention most, I think most surveys even show that like guys like curvy, thick or thick or women. Most guys don't like their women buff and lean in their

eyes. And there is a market for that. You know, it's like it's just have a blanket statement that everybody needs to like the same thing is ridiculous. Yeah, that's ridiculous, but that's also a part of this whole like, you know, kind of woke, you know, fitness movement. And then the other part homogenize everything. Yeah, and the other part of it is it's not your responsibility.

It's not your fault. It's everybody else's fault. And there's nothing you can do that'll change it. And loving yourself means being this way. This is all totally false. Totally false, right? So let's start with the first thing that I think is counter to this kind of like woke fitness message. Number one, at the end of the day, ultimately, your health is your responsibility, no one else's. It's your responsibility. And the sooner you realize this, the better off you are. Now, this doesn't mean that you can solve

all of your health problems. That's right, and it doesn't mean that not some people that have more challenges than others. Right, but at the end of the day, you are the only, that's your body, it's your health, it's not anybody else's responsibility, it's not anybody's responsibility to pay for your health, to tell you what to do, nobody's forcing things

into your mouth or forcing other situations. And I know there's some situations that are far more challenging than others. Obviously, if you grow up in a household where you learn to eat a particular way, well, the challenge is now kind of deconstructing that behavior and that's a very challenging thing to do. It's extremely hard to do.

But at the end of the day, the only way that you'll ever, first of all, it feels empowered. You're empowered when you realize it's your responsibility. You don't feel disempowered. Even, you know, they've done studies where they've actually put people in cages and they've given them a sense of autonomy and then they've had people in cages and they make them feel like they have no control whatsoever.

The people who feel at least some sense of autonomy, far better off mentally, far better off, in fact. Yeah, the health mark is way better. In fact, when you read books on POWs who are like their trap forever, they say... The ones that have the hope and stuff. Yeah, you gotta give yourself that sense of okay, at least I can control this. And this is my responsibility with my attitude. And I can at least, you know, do these things. And they do much, they fare much better because here's a deal.

Even if you believe your health as your responsibility and doesn't fix anything, just feeling that is empowering and is better for you, then feeling like you're at a control and everybody else controls your health and has nothing to do with you. So it is your responsibility, accept it, not saying it's easy, but accept it. If my health is poor, it's my responsibility to see

if I can help myself, figure this solution out or find the solution, or seek help, or seek help or research and find these things out. I've had clients where they've had to go from doctor, I mean, very challenging situations, where they've had to go from doctor to doctor to doctor to like, for years to figure out what the hell is wrong with them, but they never gave up because they're like,

this is my responsibility, it's my health. And then eventually a couple of years later, found out that there was a weird genetic issue that could be solved by supplementing with the particular amino acid or whatever Yeah, and it's solved, you know There's not just gonna like fall on your lap. It's just not gonna work out like that You got to really like take ownership responsibility of yourself and in your own efforts in that direction And that's just the bottom line. Yes. Why do you think this this argument is so appealing to people? It's always appealing for somebody to say you're absolved of responsibility. It's very

appealing, right? Like, let's say you know, you went bankrupt or you broke a law, you went to jail or the market's fault. It's this fault. Yeah, yeah. It's easy to point the finger. Yeah, like because you, because accepting responsibility feels hard and it feels like, because accepting responsibility feels hard and it feels like, oh man, if I do that, now I have to admit that I played a role in that and that's tough, but I promise you, on the other end of that, is way better than saying,

it's nothing's my responsibility. But it totally is, I mean, think about kids. Like, by the way, the things that work on kids, it's oftentimes the same thing with adults. Like like imagine if you have kids in front of you and you just keep telling them that That's not your fault. I don't worry. This is it's totally not your fault None of this stuff is your teachers fall. Yeah, it's the school's fall. It's everybody else's fault Yeah, why won't anybody play with me? I have no friends, you know, and it's like listen You're a jerk.

It's those parents that raise these kids at a rate and these fucking articles. Those are the parents that, bro. That's exactly what they're chasing back. That's exactly what that's, you are, I mean, that is a very true statement. Like think about the whole, like every kid gets a trophy when you're playing a game.

Do you know what important it is to know to lose? Yeah. When you're a kid. Yeah, yeah. It's not, it hurts, your kid cries, it sucks. Whoa, that is an important lesson to learn because life is gonna hand you shit like that all the time. We're not all built the same.

Yeah. You know, and it's okay. And that's the thing, celebrate diversity. I celebrate all the time that there's differences in everybody. And that should be more elevated than, you know, cut down. You know, my Godson is in a Montessori school and they were, I was talking to my... Oh, Montessori?

Oh, it's not Montessori. Yeah, Montessori, I think. That's it. Sorry? Yeah. Of course I fucked it out. Montessori, not sorry. Sorry, that's right, Montessori school.

And they were telling me like the way they teach play and what they call it work. And they separate them in groups. And they actually, I thought that she doesn't like this is why she was sharing with me. She goes, the kids don't have to share if they don't want to share. They're allowed to say, I'm not done with it.

I'm in my personal space. Beautiful. And other kids can't come in and can't do that. No, I don't know if that is beautiful. To teach them that they don't have to share and play and not have to go through the challenge of working it out with a kid. And so I've talked to Jessica about this.

Yeah, okay, good. So, okay, so, sort of cut you off. I think you tell your kid, you don't have to share, but here's what's gonna happen if you don't. And then they see nobody wants to play with them. Exactly. Yeah, nobody wants to share their toys. They gotta find out the consequences of that.

Yeah. And this is where it's like the mandating of the, you know, the teacher like, or the parent is, oh, you have to share. You always have to give away your stuff. And, you know, it doesn't allow them to be an individual that can discern, you know, like, I don't want to do that. So, you know, but they don't learn what happens as a result of not sharing. Yeah. Totally. It's like when you're forced your kid to say sorry. Yeah.

You know, I mean, say sorry. What does it mean if they get their, if they're forced to say it, right? But then they have to learn the consequences of those types of action, just like losing in a game of basketball or soccer or something like that, like, or getting a bad grade on a test. I've had this conversation with my kids where they'll get a test back and it comes back. My daughter, especially, she's very competitive, very like I need to do a good job.

She'll get a test back, be very upset because it's not the score that she wanted. And I'll say, well, what do you think you could have done to get a better grade? And I did work real hard. I know you did, but do you think does anything you could have done to get a better grade? And I did work real hard. I know you did, but do you think there's anything you could have done to get a better grade?

Do you think you might have done better if you studied harder or did it a little longer? And we've had these conversations. And I tell her, you might not want to do those things. It might be too much time, in which case that's fine. But if you're upset, you need to understand, maybe there was something you could have done to change that, and that just empowers you as an adult,

I think, especially when you learn that as a kid. The next one that I think is important to understand is they're starting to define obesity as a disease. I think that's a mistake, because that moniker comes along with the no responsibility behind it, right? Like I was born with this disease. Like it's a, you know, it's a disease. You know, it's not my fault type of deal.

That's the problem I have. And I know what they say, obesity is a disease because it impairs your movement and it affects all these other things. Definitely contributes to disease, but obesity in and of itself, I don't think is a disease. And I think that's not a smart way to present it to people. Well, it's just, it's just a small percentage of population, too, that I have like these,

like a one off situation where they, they have this, this gene that makes it extremely difficult for them. And you're lumping the masses into that group. Because that's the thing that's so hard with this. Is there exceptions to the rule with everybody that we're talking to? I think there's always gonna be an exceptions rule. There's always gonna be somebody that has something that isn't something they can control.

But when we speak to the masses like this, to say, oh, we can't say that everybody can control this one situation. Therefore, everybody gets to be excused of the responsibility. That's the real danger as part of this. I think you can be very empathetic and understanding that there are people out there that have certain conditions

and challenges that they can't do anything about. And it's unfortunate and it's unfair. But because that half of a percent of the population that might have that condition or that situation, now we're gonna write articles and we're gonna promote a message out there that gets the whole masses to believe, like, oh, I think I'm that person.

It just seems like another way to diffuse or defer the responsibility back on. I can actually have a handle on this. I can control my lifestyle habits that will reflect a healthier version of myself versus I have a disease that was passed on to me. And so I just eat this way because that's part of who I am.

Do you remember when this game traction like when they started saying that? Because it wasn't that long ago. It wasn't. And here's the problem with it is that let's say you have a disease. Now health insurance treats you for that disease in a particular way.

Your employer treats you a certain way because you have a disease. So maybe you get more time off, you get, you're excused from doing certain things because of this disease that you have. So when you label just obesity as a disease, now you can, by the way, and here's the thing, this is actually quite true.

You can be obese, and although being obese by itself is less healthy than not being obese, all other things being considered, you can still be obese and not necessarily be unhealthy, super unhealthy, like you can be fit and fat, right? Now again, if you're fit and lean versus fit and fat, the same individual is probably healthier being fit and lean. But you can be overweight, have a high BMI,

and not have diabetes, not have blood, you know, bad blood lipids, not have, you know, cholesterol issues or blood pressure issues. Well, those are all the physiological things. There's mental things too. In relationships and, you know, financial health, there's other things that encompass health. So you could have all those other ones,

you check in the boxes on that, but you carry a little extra body fat. Right, so my point is like just because your BMI is high, now your employer says, oh, this person has a disease, even though that disease, obesity itself may not necessarily impair you with other stuff. Now obesity leads to diseases, and that's a totally different story, but just saying obesity itself is a disease, is a problem and what will start happening is that people who are obese will start getting treated with particular privileges that people incentive for people to have this stuff. Right.

And I mean, to your point of being excused from things, I think that could kind of go in hand with this in terms of even physical education. Well, I don't like it. I want to sit this out because my disease makes me feel like my heart races too much. And I feel dizzy. And so I'm just not gonna do this activity at all

because of my disease. The next point that I think of is this whole self-love movement has gone, I feel like, extreme. So twisted. Yeah, they twisted it. Like it's become this like, okay, we cannot love ourselves and then also be able to say, I'm not taking care of myself.

Correct. You can't, why can't you do that? Why can't I say that? Hey, I love who I am. I love everything about myself, but I also know I've been making some bad choices. I haven't been taking good care of myself. And because of that, my body and my health reflect it.

Yeah, I remember when we interviewed Bishop Baron and he talked about the, like what love was and he says a lot of people think love is a feeling. He goes, love is actually an action. It's how you treat, like, you know, you have family members that you don't always feel love for. Sometimes you may not actually like them, but you choose to do things for them,

to be there for them because you're doing the action of love, right? Real love is hard and tough. It's nothing easy about real love. I think every parent understands that. Every parent knows that. So it would be like me being like, you know, I'm a cocaine addict.

Why are you cocaine addict, Sal? I'm loving myself right now. Like you're actually not loving yourself, right? It feels good to do all that cocaine, but you're not loving yourself, right? I would just feed my kids jelly beans all day. You know, like I just, that's what they want. So give it to them.

Right. Why should I do any different? Like what, why should I have barriers? Why should I create, you know, like healthy habits and things for them to abide by? They're gonna fight me on it and they do fight me all the way through, but why should I stick to the fight?

Dude, I had a client once, very successful whose son started to getting, having, developing issues with drugs. And eventually, and it was very tough for her. She's like, I had to cut him off because I had to create a, like a bottom for him so that he could start to figure out otherwise I was supporting him by having him live with us and giving him you know money and paying for things and It actually helped the kid finally seeked out therapy and you know helped himself out But she had to do what they call tough love right she had to love him enough to do the thing that was very challenging Real love is is real. It's it's it's you know, you can say to yourself

Look, I do love myself. I don't always act like I do, though. Like, I definitely do things that are, that are not taking care of me. You know, sometimes I, I drink too much or I'm not active and I can feel it in my body and my joints and I'm not really caring for my, and by the way, that's okay. We don't always care for ourselves perfectly all the time. I'm, I'm in fitness space, I can tell you, I don't do that all the time, but it have to be kind of real

about it. What they did is they took this self-love acceptance message and they twisted it to where, you know, doing whatever you want or whatever it feels good, that's what it is. Doing whatever feels good means that self love. So even though it's causing severe obesity, it's causing my health to decline, my mobility, I can't move like I used to, I don't feel good,

my sleep is affected, whatever. Well, that's me loving myself. It's actually not, you're not actively loving yourself when you're doing that. You know, I mean, Justin brought out the jelly beans and things and giving the kids a they want, which sometimes I feel like that's kind of a hard comparison to draw for some of these people that are trying to figure this out. And as we're talking

about it, the first thing that comes to mind that I think relates to this the most or where I struggled with something very similar myself. For a long time, up into my late 20s, I would bail my mom out and my family out financially. So if you got behind on bills, this or that, and they were family, right? We're family, I love my mom, I would never, I would love my sister and brother, and I would get them out of it.

Like, you know, they're behind on this, they're behind on that, like catch them up, and then it was just, and that's been a part of my life since I was a young kid. I've been helping out financially since as long as I could work and make any money. And I remember I was training a client one time that was a psychologist and he was talking to me about, and I was struggling. And I would, you know, talk to him.

We had a good relationship. I would vent about it like, I, you know, Like, I just did this for my mom and this, then I see her go out and she does this and does that. He goes, you know, Adam, I know you think that you giving her money is because you love her, but you need to reframe that. And he goes, if you really loved her, you would say no. And I was like, well, that's not how she makes me feel. She makes me feel if I say no, I'm the worst son.

I was like, well, yeah, it's hard, you know, but you continuing to give her money and bail out all the time like that is you're actually crushing and you're actually hurting her more. And so I had to reframe the way I looked at it. And I tell you, it was the hardest transition ever to go, of course, you know, and say that.

So I know that there's people that are in this position, right? It's very hard when you're in this situation to be able to say that to yourself and to do that. But again, to the sales point of that's attributing it to the feeling only. You know, love is the feeling of it, because it does feel good when your kids are excited

about giving their treats. Like, oh, I'm giving them love, oh, give me a hug. And they're much more likely to respond that way versus giving them something that they're, you know that their body's gonna benefit from it, but they're gonna have all kinds of pushback. And we're always, I mean, again, it's a difficult thing because sometimes you want that.

Like, I want, I seek that out, I want to hug and I want to have everybody happy and in good mood. And you know, and it sucks to be able to be the person that does apply the tough love. But then, you know, there's, of course, there's a balance there as well. So you got to recognize that. Yeah, love is not always easy.

No, it's hard. I went through the same thing. I went through what you're talking about Justin. After I got divorced, you know, and then we did this kind of dual custody thing, right? Where the kids are half with their mom, half with me. Whoa, boy, did I struggle with that? Because of the, I wanted them just to be happy, right?

Because we just got divorced, now they got to live in two houses and feeling really bad about that for them. And I just wanted them to be happy. So for like a year, whatever they wanted, they got. I'd buy them shit, they eat whatever they want. Like it's fun time all the time. And then after a while, I really think like,

this is not, this is just me wanting them to feel good, but I'm not really helping them by doing it. That's not what real life is about. And I'm not really acting like I love them. I'm just acting like I'm afraid that they'll have bad feelings, which really wasn't good. It was a big, it was a very challenging struggle. I'll tell you what, this point about self love was,

this is what I focused on the most with my clients who were challenged with obesity, because this was the most important one. This was the one that if we could figure out, and oftentimes we did, especially later on my career when I got much better at communicating this, once we figured it out, what naturally happened is people naturally developed a sense of balance, right?

Because if you really love yourself in the truest sense, in the hard sense as well, then, and let's say you're obese, what you're probably gonna do is most of the time, you're probably gonna have tough love with yourself, with your diet, right? Because you're used to eating in particular way. Maybe this isn't true for everyone,

but let's just say maybe food is your comfort for you. It's how you deal with, let's say, stress or bad feelings, so your food has become kind of a drug. This is quite common. And so now you have to have this tough love with yourself and say, this way that you make yourself feel better, we're gonna have to take this away for a little while and it's not gonna feel good.

Oh, that's really, really hard, right? So most of the time you'll probably do that. But then if you're actually loving yourself in the true sense, the occasional moment will come up where you'll be like, okay, I have been taking care of myself. I have been eating in a way that cares for my body. It's been very difficult. I've been doing this now for two months.

My sister's coming to visit tomorrow, I haven't seen it in a while. She makes this incredible chicken pot pie that we used to eat when we were kids. And you know what, this day, what's healthy for me is to connect with my sister. We're gonna eat the chicken pot pie, we're gonna have a glass of wine, and you get this natural balance.

And what doesn't happen is a binge. The binge doesn't happen because the binge comes from false self love where you finally go off this diet because you're like, I can't take anymore, right? And then you go way off in the wrong direction. Well, you have to address, and I think you do it so well, self image versus body image, because this is where I think people get hung up here. You think they think the two. Yeah, it's right. They think to the same thing. Yeah. No,

yourself image is like, am I a person worthy of being taken care of? Am I human worthy of some dignity, some respect? Or, you know, I have some good qualities to me. I'm not a bad person. Body image is just objective. I look in the mirror, I'm short, I'm tall, I'm hairy, I'm bald or fat. Or I'm overweight.

And I haven't been taking care of myself. Or I'm underweight because I haven't been taking care of myself. Or my digestion is off because I haven't, that's objective, but that doesn't define who you are in terms of yourself. I can look in the mirror and say, you know, man, I've been not taking care of myself with food. It's been not really good.

That doesn't make me a bad person. Geez, for fuck's sake, like, we all do shit to ourselves. That isn't good. So you need to have empathy with yourself and forgive yourself. And that's important because if you don't, then you'll end up hating yourself through food,

which looks probably the way that you're eating now if you're struggling with this. So you need to forgive yourself like, okay, like, be empathetic, like, okay, I know it's hard. This has been tough. I haven't been taking care of myself. I'm a good person. That's the difference.

It's not, oh my God, I don't look good. I'm a bad person. I don't deserve care, love, or any of that stuff. When you confuse self-image with body-image or self-image with other objective things, then you really have a problem. Then it becomes a real big challenge for you. I used to tell my clients to look at it and just say,

instead of looking at, oh, I'm fat or this is that. Look at it, like, well, I've been really enjoying myself lately. I've got a lot of stored energy, you know? Like, that's how I would tell them to communicate. It's put it to use. Well, instead of it being like negative, like looking at yourself in the mirror, going like, I'm fat or, you know,

or on these things, it's just like, wow, I've been really enjoying myself and I've got all this extra stored energy that I need to put to use, you know? So reframe me even how you look at it. Absolutely. The next one, this is an important one now, is that obesity, this is the objective scientific,

100% truth, is not healthy. Okay, now that doesn't mean that you can't have okay health and be obese. This doesn't mean that you can be lean and have poor health. Of course, you can be lean and have. This time it's been under attack, I feel like the most. Yes. What it means is all other factors controlled,

all other factors considered, you know, if I took somebody who was healthy lean and I just added 50 pounds of body fat on their body. So everything else is the same. They just have an additional 50 pounds of body fat. Their health has become worse because of that extra body fat. So lots of body fat, very inflammatory on the body.

It's a hormone-sensitive tissue. Obviously adds non-functional weight to your body, meaning I'm now 50 pounds heavier, but it's not 50 pounds of functional muscle. It's not working for me, yeah. Yeah, so my joints are being worn out, that kind of stuff. Now, this is another one that I'm gonna take

the stance that it's our fault again. So, and I really, I really didn't realize how much this was our fault until I got into the competing space. Because these are, when you look at that, that little bubble of people, right, that 1% that get on staging a beat, these are, they are the representation of the magazines. So, if the TV stars, the magazines, right, that 1% that get on staging a beat. These are the representation of the magazines.

So if the TV stars, the magazines, like, the sexy, hot, fit and healthy, that's right. They are the ones that are on all the magazine covers that everybody talks about, that have millions of followers on social media. They are a representation of the fitness space right now. And until I got into it, I did not know just how unhealthy they were.

And so I can't blame this woke fitness culture right now for taking the stance about being able to be obese and still unhealthy because if you compare them to those people, there are a lot. In fact, I've probably met more obese or very overweight people that are actually even healthier than these. Yeah, that portrayal is what they're getting. That's what they're looking at in terms of, okay, if I have to really work on myself,

I gotta get myself to this kind of condition, this kind of shape. I've seen what they do. I'd see, they bring the bags with them everywhere. They're neurotic about it. They don't want their relationships, they're neurotic about it, like they don't, like, their relationships suffer as a result of it, like all these types of things, very, very visibly obvious, and, you know,

somewhere along, you know, the spectrum, we're just skipping right past all these, like, normal people. I don't even know if it's very visibly obvious, because I was fooled by it, you know? Yeah, I know that, and we can make the case that all these people are addicted to working out, but they can also make the case that they just love what they do, right?

So that's not a good enough case for me. Where they fall short is all the other parts of health, right? The being so self-absorbed, being massively insecure of that's what really drives them, having terrible relationships, abusing drugs to get to that point. I mean, so many other markers that tell you how healthy you are or not are so out of whack, yeah, they have this one in place, the exercise and diet restriction.

They've got that one in place, but all the rest, and I'm sure people that are writing these articles are woke. They woke the fuck up and they saw they went, oh my God, I've met enough of these knuckleheads. And I've got this left group of friends that there's 10 of these bodybuilders and then I have my right obese friends. And you know what, when I hang out with my fat friends, they actually have a better balance of life

and they actually have a better relationship with money, better relationship with their partner, better relationship with their family, you know, have better balance in their life, better, I mean, you start seeing them, you go like, whoa, okay, whoa, obese can be healthy. It could definitely be healthier than the people right now that we've been praising as the healthiest in the space.

Yeah, no, that's a good point. If you look at all of the representations of health that we have in mainstream media, what is it? It's professional athletes, it's models, right? Good-looking, sexy people. You don't see a single gray hair on any woman over the age of 30 and any of these models or fitness professionals. Everything looks perfect, they're sculpted, they're shredded, there's, you know, Photoshop, plastic surgery, whatever. And so we look at them and we think, those are the representations of health, they're not. You know, I remember years ago, I'll never forget this,

my early in the fitness space, when I started working the fitness space, I was, you know, I thought that, I thought that it was athletes that were professional athletes, that by the way, professional athletes are not the healthiest. They're extreme performers and oftentimes, their lifespan is shorter than the average person because of it. But I thought pro athletes the healthiest, models healthy, fitness, you know, fanatics, these people in magazines, super healthy. I'll never forget,

there were two people in particular that really shattered my mind with this. There was this guy that came in once and he was older gentleman. I couldn't really figure out his age. He looked like he was in his 50s when he came in. Grey hair, great posture, really nice skin or whatever. He wasn't overly muscular or super shredded, but he looked very fit, very healthy. He would come in and he was part of that 6am crew. When you rent a gym, the people that work work out the more things are the most consistent.

They always show up at the same time. So any time I was in there at 6 a.m. to audit the front desk or because we were having a closeout or whatever, I would see this guy. He'd come in. And I used to watch him work out. I remember looking and I'm like, man, that guy looks amazing. For being 50 something years old, he looks incredible.

I'll never forget one day, brought his card in. I scanned it, looked at his birthday, and I stopped him when I did the math. Oh, see Camira said, when's your birthday? I'm like, is he using someone else's membership cards? What I thought, he tells me the date, and I'm like, you're 74 years old. He goes, yeah, I'm like, hold, I said,

can I shake your hand, I shook his hand. And he tells me a story of how he, Jacqueline was somebody he followed, and he exercised. And he's like, yeah, I never abused drugs or alcohol, and just something I really enjoy. And, you know, I've done this for, you know, most of my lifeised and he's like, yeah, I never abused drugs or alcohol and just something I really enjoy and I've done this for most of my life and I remember looking and I'm going, wow, that's what healthy looks like.

I don't think he'd ever be on a cover of a magazine, but that's what healthy looks like. Then it happened again later on where there was this woman that would come in and work out and I don't know if you guys ever saw her. She was at Santa Teresa and she would come in the morning and she was like five, three long silver hair. So she's like total gray hair.

And she'd work out and she looked just very healthy and vibrant, very vibrant, energy, whatever. And I remember thinking, what an attractive older woman. She was also in her 70s when I met her and started talking to her. Same thing. She's like, oh yeah, you know, I just, this is just, I love being healthy.

This is a part of my life. She wasn't, oh yeah, you know, I just, this is just, I love being healthy. This is a part of my life. She wasn't a fanatic, whatever. And remember realizing like, healthy looks like that. It doesn't look like the extreme stuff that we see all the time. Now the problem is also, I definitely blame the fitness industry for feeding that, but also blame the consumer because you bought,

you wanna buy the super sexy fake looking person, right? We know, we know what sells. What sells is the extremes. And we've lived through that over and over again. And to sort of get people to understand that that isn't an extreme is a battle in itself. And we've been so polarized on different ends on anything that we, you know, any industry, I think, like they understand that to show something that's way more extreme is shocking and that's going to get a lot more people to buy the magazine.

Yes. And there's a range of what. That's why I don't know if we ever win this. Yeah, I don't think we'll ever show like just a portrayal like you're described. We got to do, we got to do a better job. You know, I still don't get a sell it better than they do. I mean, that's hard. I mean, there'll always be, I think, a space for mind pump

as far as a business because of that. There's a lot of people that want to learn or want that. So I think we're okay, but as far as changing the whole industry, like, of course, we thought we might do. A lofty goal. Yeah, a lofty goal. I don't know, you know? And when I think that when you're bringing up stuff

like sports, that's a great example. Like, you know, the truth is, most people don't care that they're all stairrooted up. Most people don't care the cork in the bat or doing these crazy things because we wanna see that. We wanna see as freakish and as crazy. And body buildings, another example of that.

Look at how it's pushed the envelope to these just unnatural unhuman monsters, but we still watch. We still want to be it. We still want to see it. We're still intrigued by it. Even if we all, but there's not a lot of people that go like, I would want to look like that. A very small percentage say that, but yet we all want to watch. Yeah, and I remember reading the lifespan of a professional football player for the first time. Yeah, 55. Yeah, I'm like, what? Super depressing. Look at the lifespan of a pro NBA player. It's also lower than the average, you know, you know,

lifespan. And by the way, health looks good in person. Maybe not always in magazines and stuff. And there's a spectrum of that, right? Healthy people have stretch marks. Healthy people are not super shredded often times. Healthy people don't look like bodybuilders or models oftentimes. Sometimes they're leaner, sometimes they're a little heavier, sometimes they're more muscular,

sometimes they're less muscular. But there is a spectrum within that. But what typically is not in that spectrum is obesity. Obesity, all things being considered, is just worse for you. Now, you can still be generally healthy in B.O.B.s, but if you were that same health or all those other factors are the same, and not obese, your health would be better and your risk factors for disease and stuff like that would be lower. Now, the last one, and this one is just,

it's, we have to talk about this all the time, and that's that obesity is, it's not because you're genetics. Now, there are very small rare cases where this is the case. But for the vastment of 99.9% of us, it's not your genes. We didn't evolve with obesity. Obesity was non-existent, you know, hundreds of years ago.

It's actually a relatively new modern thing. You can see the number of obese people, how much it's exploded since life has become so sedentary and since especially- It's also attacking the opposite person, right? It used to be a rich thing. It used to be a thing that- Very true.

When you were very wealthy, you had the luxury to buy that kind of food and eat that much food. So you're the only people that could get fat. That's right. And everybody else was barely enough food to get by. Well, now it's the complete opposite. You're right.

Now obesity affects the poor much more. By the way, it's not because they don't have access to necessarily to good food because believe it or not, they're even with processed foods. There are ways you could treat yourself in a way that doesn't cause obesity. It's mainly an education issue. When people who tend to be wealthier,

they tend to learn this kind of stuff and learn and see how to do it. And I know this, I've worked in these situations, I've gone to schools, I've volunteered. The kids just have no idea. Oh, this is chicken. It's a bucket of Kentucky fried chicken. I thought that was healthy.

The vegetables come from ketchup. Yes, yes, yes, yes, so. That's a real thing. That's right, but genetics are not the cause. The reason why you see obesity in families isn't because of the genetic, by the way, you go back with the generational behaviors.

It's behaviors. You learn how to eat, you learn how to treat yourself, you learn how to be active, by the way, you grow up. And by the way, this is almost as hard as having genetics that make you obese, which like I said, are extremely rare. It's almost as hard. You can't change your genetics.

It's impossible, right? It's so hard to change behaviors that you grew up with. It's so hard just to recognize those behaviors. I remember when I realized that my family yelled all the time. I remember, it was like a sh, like what? Nobody talks this way. I would have friends come over for dinner and then I remember them to get uncomfortable.

I'd be like, what's going on? I'd be like, why is everybody yelling? I recognize the state of my Italian friend, I go stay in his house and first thing in the morning, ah, I jump out of bed. Yeah, and I remember thinking like, oh wait, this is just the way I was raised. Yes, normal thing.

It's hard work. It's like stereotypes with food. Like Indian people eat Indian food, Mexican people eat Mexican food, Chinese people eat Chinese food. It's like you take any of those people and you raise them in a different country and they eat that food.

You're right. And it's not because of their race, they eat that type of food. I remember having to try to explain that to clients. It's like you have learned to love all those foods. And you can re-teach yourself to like other ones. And you can break that cycle. It's not, you're not born with it.

It's not in your race. You've been developed. Some people have insects. Yeah, that's exactly. Yeah, and in fact, if you take people who are healthy and fit and lean and they live in like some of these like blue zones where people live a long time,

and you follow their kids. Let's say somebody, you know, you have someone right now that's living in Sardinia. This is one of the world's blue zones where people live a long time. And then they have a kid and their kid moves to America. That kid now has the same percentage chance of becoming obese as every other American.

Even though they grew up in this area where everybody's super healthy, and I know this scientist have studied this because they said, is it genetics or is it lifestyle that's making these people so healthy? And they always come back and say, it's the lifestyle. It's not, I mean, you take people from Okinawa. You take people who have descendants from Okinawa

who grow up in America, and they have the same chances, especially as the generations keep going as you become more and more and more part of this, whatever this culture is that tends to cause obesity, you see it become much more prevalent. So it's not a genetics thing at all. And yes, genetics play a role, I want to say this too. Genetics play a role, but here's the fact about genetics. So what, you can't change it, you can't control it, why are we focusing on that? Right. Not to mention too, the grass is always green on the other about genetics. So what, you can't control it, why are we focusing on that? Right.

Not to mention too, the grass is always green on the other side with this genetic argument too, because there are people that are born with typically a faster metabolism or they would fall in the semano type of like an ectomorph body type versus a mesomorph or an endomorph type of body type.

So, but here's the thing, if you're an ectomorph, so you're the really skinny body type, but that's your genetic, your genetics, or, you know, your body was more likely to be that way. You have a much harder time building muscle than the person who's the endomorph. An endomorph that can build muscle easily or can actually potentially speed their metabolism up faster.

So, yeah, they might have a hard time burning, manually burning fat, and so there's a little more challenge there, but then they have the advantage of being able to build muscle, which then also can, turn, can speed their metabolism. Well, I'll take it a step further. Let's say you are that ectomorph that has a tough time building muscle. You just don't build muscle very easily, or not like your friend who's this genetic freak

in this mesomorph or whatever, that builds tons of muscle, but you stick to it, you train yourself, you learn, you figure them. You as the act of morph, you probably will know how to build muscle more effectively than your friend. That came to them easily. I don't think I would have been as good of a trainer as I became if I was super genetically gifted. I'll be honest with you.

A lot of stuff I had to figure out for myself too, because it was really hard. Muscle and fitness didn't come easy to me. It was something I had to really work hard towards. So there's definitely, you know, pluses and minuses. But at the end of the day, here's the bottom line. There's a choice that you have to make in life. And that's this. Look, you can either choose to focus on the things that you can't control, or you can choose to ignore those things and focus on the things that you can control. Now, does that guarantee you success? Does that guarantee you're going to win everything you try or guarantee that you're going to make tons of money or, you know, look super awesome or whatever? No, it doesn't guarantee any of those things. But the odds that you'll do those things

are far higher when you focus on the things you can control and ignore the things you can't. So if you want to look at it like it's gambling, what are my odds of being successful at whatever I do, what are my odds that I fail at everything that I do? The odds are far greater when you accept what you can't control and focus on what you can. Look, if you like Mind Pump, head over to mindpumpfreed.com. Check out all of our free content. We got tons of free stuff that we give people.

It's really great. And again, it's free, it's awesome. You can also find all of us on Instagram, so you can find Justin at Mind Pump Justin, me at Mind Pump Salon, Adam at Mind Pump Adam. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Superbundle at MindPumpMedia.com The RGB Superbundle includes maps and a ballac, maps performance and maps aesthetic. Nine months of phased, expert exercise programming designed by Sal Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels and performs.

With detailed workout blueprints in over 200 videos, the RGB Superbundle is like having Sal and an adjustment as your own personal trainer's butt at a fraction of the price. The RGB Superbundle has a full 30-day money bag guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at MindPumpMedia.com. If you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five-star rating and review on iTunes and by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support, and until next time, this is Mind Pump.