Podcast Transcription: Success Story: How a 47-Year-Old Broker Shed 20lbs, Supercharged His Business & Became a More Present Dad—All in 3 Months

Ted Ryce: Hey, what’s up, Trevor? Thanks for coming on the show today and sharing your story.   

Trevor: Yeah, no problem.  

Ted Ryce: So let’s jump right in. First, can you introduce yourself? Can you talk about the amazing transformation you had, how much weight you lost, what your body fat changed to, anything else that you want to share with people listening, and then we’ll dive into how all that happened.   

Trevor: Sure. Quick introduction: Trevor. I live in Portland, Oregon, just have one of those epiphanies where I felt like it was time to get my butt back in shape. And my wife had been listening to your podcast for quite a while, and she turned me on to it. And it took a few months. And I finally got back from a trip and said, you know, it’s time for a change about 180.  

And I think at the time, I was right around 200 pounds. I didn’t feel like I was “overweight”, but I wasn’t sleeping as well, a lot of stress. I still worked out a lot, and certainly wasn’t seeing the results from all the time I’d put in, in the gym. And so, you and I started working together just over four months ago, and went from around 200 pounds down to a low of 176 and a half, about 180 right now. But that’s putting on some muscle back on, like we talked about.   

So, in all honesty, it’s a complete body transformation. That’s obviously great. That part of it. But the other part that people don’t probably give enough credit to is just how much better I’m sleeping, how much, I’ll just say, less stress in my life, I’m able to deal with it more. And I just feel better and more productive at work. I’m leaner. I feel great. And that’s probably the best thing I’ve gotten out of it.   

Ted Ryce: You feel great. That’s the best thing. Yeah. I mean, we kind of tell a story about oh well, it’s just the weight, it doesn’t really matter. It’s more superficial. But what would you say to that?  

Trevor: Well, yeah, I mean, again, I truly believe that once you go through the process, and if you really stick with it, you will have less stress. Even if you have the same stresses, you just deal with them better. So maybe it’s not less, it’s just the way you deal with them. The other thing is just for me, as you remember, Ted, I wasn’t sleeping very well.   

And I think losing as much body fat as I did, has really helped my sleeping. And the nutritional aspects of what we do, yeah, it can be hard at the beginning, but it becomes a lot easier and it becomes kind of your way of life, so to speak. It’s not a chore. It’s sustainable.   

And I think that’s one of the big keys as well. I think I went from over 18% body fat down to 12%. And that’s a pretty big change. And that was only in about two and a half months. And so I’ll be curious to see where I am today. But it’s been a fun transformation.   

Ted Ryce: All right, so tell me, what does someone really need to transform?  

Trevor: What does someone need? Well, I would just say there’s a couple things. One, you need the motivation. It has to come from within yourself. You know, you’re a guide, hell of a guide, but you’ve got to decide that this is something you want, a journey you want to embark on.  

And number two, I think you got to be...I don’t think you have to be a total introvert. But you’ve got to be able to put your earbuds in and do your workouts on your own. If you do them with somebody, that’s fine, but I think you can get distracted. So I just, you know, for me, it was more focusing on getting my workouts done. And I mean, you told me--you’d go, “Man, you know, get some good books on tape.”  

Because when you’re doing the elliptical for 45 minutes or an hour and you’re only at, you know, your heart rate’s at 110 to 120, you ain’t--it doesn’t feel like you’re getting much of a workout. But that first part of the program, especially for me. That’s when I, you know, I burned so much fat and then was able to build a muscle after that. So that was the big turning point for me, you know, that I say I had no problem doing that because you start seeing results. For me, it was pretty quick, as you know.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah. Yeah. And so people need to have the…. It’s true. I’m a guide. I can’t do it for you. Like, I literally cannot come and eat the food or work out for you. So you need the motivation and you need to be focused when you’re in the gym. Yeah. And what else?  

Trevor: Yeah, I mean, I think it also helps to have support at home, or somebody else like that, that is there kind of just, you know, maybe they’re not part of the program, but they’re on the same page and you know, they’re encouraging you to keep going. I mean, it not that the first couple months were--I don’t want to say they were tough, but they were different, right? So it’s a change and you have to make a change.  

And so for me it was really helpful having my wife, obviously listened to your podcast for years and she kept telling me that this is something I think you should do and you would be successful and it’ll help you on, you know, guide you on the right path. And she was awesome through that process. So that was probably the other big key.  

Ted Ryce: How’d she help you though?  

Trevor: You know, she’s eat healthy her your whole life. So it was more just...For me, I mean, there’s such subtle changes. I used to always get, you know, I call it a Ruben sandwich with fries if I went out. Because I went to the gym. I was like, “Well, I could burn that off at the gym,” or, you know, I’d get the ribeye steak, you know, garlic mashed potatoes and so, loaded up, right. I just don’t make those kinds of decisions anymore.  

And if I want to have a sandwich like you and I talked, I get like a half a sandwich and I’m at, you know, through this process, I don’t need to eat as much. I’m not as hungry and I still put on tons of muscle. Do you know what I mean? I mean, that’s the change, is like, you don’t...I always told myself I grew up and people said I was so skinny, you know, and then I was like, “I need to bulk up.”  

And I thought the way to bulk up was lift weights, lift heavy weights. Eat a lot, get a lot of calories, and I’ll be fine. Then I hit my forties and that’s not sustainable. And the correct way to do it, and the more my wife kept telling me is like, “You’re doing it wrong, you’re doing it wrong.” But, you know, sometimes it’s good to have an outside person helping you as opposed to your spouse.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah. So, motivation, being able to stay focused, especially when you’re in the gym. And then what else? Like, how do you handle the social situations? Do people pressure you to eat or drink? I mean, you were just talking about how, you know, what happens and how do you deal with it.  

Trevor: Yeah. The social part is, you know, I think that’s the toughest. I’m sure you have a lot of clients like mine. You know, what I found is now I can go out and have a couple drinks, and you know, you space it out over a long period of time so that’s not as big of an issue. You just, and I will tell you, I mean a soda water with a lime, it looks like you’re drinking a vodka soda.  

You know, I mean, that’s just… because if you’re in those work settings, it is really tough. And the other thing is, when they keep filling your wine up at a dinner, you just got to put your hand over the glass. You kind of got to know how much you’re consuming because it can get away from you pretty quick.  

And the other thing is, I didn’t drink for a while when I started this thing. And I didn’t miss it and I just told people, “Hey, I’m on a bit of a health kick,” and you kind of get a free haul pass and then, you know, now it’s like, “Hey, you know, you need to put on weight. Look at you, you’re skinny, you know, come on, what’s going on?” And I still, you know, I’m like, “Hey, I still have a glass of wine, you know, I still do this stuff. I just don’t... I mean, I don’t consume like I used to, and I’m much more aware of what I’m putting in my body and I think tracking all that stuff, and I’m very religious about doing that.  

You know when you’ve had a--and you’ve eaten too much or drank too much. And I’ve found for me, what works is if I do have one of those days where I do, you know, now I’m up to 2200 calories a day. So if I go 24 or 25, which has happened a few times. The next day I can easily go to 1600 or 1700 and offset it, right? And I mean, it works. I don’t, you know, it’s obviously not sustainable if I do that every single day at 2500, 2600 calories.  

But if I go the next day, like come back from a work trip after going out to eat every single meal, which is, by the way, it’s really tough. I get it. But then you come home and you just got to-- you just kind of get yourself healthy again. And I’m always surprised by how quick I go back. Right.  

You know, I mean, and the other thing is, I mean, kind of on tangent, but like breakfast, I’ll do the-- I have oatmeal and a side of fruit. Very easy, you know? And you look at everyone else having their bacon, eggs, hash browns, and they’re just crushing 1200 calorie breakfast. And you’re sitting there just like, and it’s--I feel better, you know? And I remember eating those things.  

That’s what I used to do on those business trips, you know? And then there’s a buffet. I just skipped the buffet because I know what’s going to happen if I go to the buffet. I’m like, “Oh, I want to try that, want to try that.” You know, next thing you know-- and then you’re eating when you’re not even hungry.  

And so that’s the other thing is, you know, it’s portion control too, you know, weighing your food at the beginning and now I have a really good idea of how much I’m eating and I don’t even need…when I got that big bowl of oatmeal yesterday, I ate about a third of it. You know, I ate the whole thing of berries, but I don’t need to eat... 

Ted Ryce: You were somewhere like at a hotel and ordered oatmeal?  

Trevor: Yeah. With a, you know, client breakfast thing. I just don’t eat.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah. Yeah. It’s portion control. But how do you manage the times where you want to eat something?  

Trevor: Yeah. Okay, so if I want to have an ice cream or something some night, right? A lot of it is kind of planning for that. Or, you know, for me it’s like, I want to make sure I’ve saved enough to have dessert. Like, you like your pastries, right? So, you know, hey, we all got, you know, so... This is the thing, if you allocate your calories appropriately, you can do that. I don’t ever feel like I’m missing anything, you know, if I want to have a few french fries, I still do have a few french fries, I just…  

I mean, I remember I used to eat the whole freaking plate of french fries. I just can’t believe I used to do that. You know? I mean, I really did. It was not, and like you said, I wasn’t like fat when I joined this thing, but I was almost pounds heavier than I am today. You know, and I worked all the time and I just, you know, I kept actually putting on weight.  

So, you know, that changed. Just little changes like that. You know, my kids, I don’t eat the end of my kids’ food anymore, you know what I mean? They’ll get a cheeseburger and eat half of it and they go, “Dad, you want it?” I’m like, “No.” Even though I look at it like, “That cheeseburger looks really good,” but I don’t...I’m not hungry. I’ve already eaten. You know what I mean?  

But those are just as simple, simple things you can do. You know, it’s discipline. And also eating a little bit slower. And I used to just kind of--I’m always in a rush and where all these, you know, type A personalities, got stuff to do, so eat your food and then you’re, you know, you eating fast and then you don’t necessarily feel full.  

So it was the slower I eat and I take some time and I’m like, “Hey, you know, I’m actually feel great.” You know, I’m done. I’m done eating. I don’t need to eat anymore. I don’t eat anymore when I’m full. And I know I used to do that.  

Ted Ryce: Mm-hmm. And so you make it sound like you never overeat though. Well, you said you have 2,500 calories, something like that, on a few days, 2,600. But when you overeat, I know you bring it back, but –  

Trevor: Right.  

Ted Ryce: You ever plan like, “Hey, I’m...?” like, right now I’m in Paris or Could we use an example of when you’re on vacation, what’s the system? What’s the Trevor’s system on vacation? 

Trevor: Yeah, I mean, or give you a great example. Like, we went into the sushi place in Dallas and it was an awesome, awesome place and we did omakase, you know, so they just kept bringing stuff out, you know, that’s just a, you know, kind of chef’s choice kind of thing. And then you’re just sitting there just--and you don’t really know how much you’re eating. And it tasted really good.  

And that’s when I plugged it in. I was like, “Holy crap. That was about, you know, , calories that I consumed over the day.” Right? So, then I got home. I was like, “I just got to take it easy,” you know? And I just ate smarter, you know? And eating at home is easier, so don’t get me wrong, it’s just, you know, that’s how I’ve always done it.  

On vacation, I just make sure that I usually don’t...As you know, I kind of--I like my protein shakes in the morning and I might have a light breakfast, like an oatmeal and fruit, but that’s really it. And it’s just a little bit, just sustain myself. And then I’ll have a decent lunch, usually a salad with chicken. And then if I go out to eat, I like to go out and have a nice dinner.  

And if I do those steps, I’m usually able to eat pretty much whatever I want at dinner. I mean, not french fries and cheeseburgers every night, but do you know what I mean? That’s how I do it on vacation. And if my wife wants to have a margarita by the pool, I can have a margarita by the pool, right. It’s not like I don’t do that stuff because I still enjoy that. She and I like to have a drink and sit and laugh and that’s part of, you know, and she’s, by the way, very healthy too.  

So it’s just, that works for us. It’s kind of the budget, right? That’s how I’ve always looked at it, it’s just a budget. And I think anyone who’s kind of in this program has probably looks at, has got to be similar to me and looking at everything like that.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah, for sure, right. It’s the economics of fat loss.  

Trevor: Yeah. 

Ted Ryce:  It’s like you want to have tasty food, you want to eat a lot of it, but there’s a cost to that. The cost is, its high calories.  

Trevor: Yep. Yep.  

Ted Ryce: And so the low calorie food doesn’t taste as good, but it’s what allows you to balance the budget so that you’re able to have the, I forget what you called it, but the “All you can eat Chef’s Choice.”  

Trevor: Yeah. The omakase. Yeah. Yeah. You just...And like you always say, you know, have that once a week kind of cheat meal. Right. And I mean, that’s kind of the way I look at that. But my cheat meals now are a ribeye steak with, you know, I mean, I look at, you know, you go to Ruth Chris, or you know, the Ringside or some steakhouse, and you look at this stuff and you’re like, “Holy crap, that’s calories in a steak.”  

You know, those are just decisions. You just, you know, if you want to have a little bit of it, have a small bite of someone’s ribeye if you still want experience it, but just don’t order the whole thing. Those are just the simple changes that I made you. You can have a filet mignon and it’s 600 calories, but it’s, you know, it’ll fill you up and it’s high protein and it’s low fat. Lower fat, I should say. 

Ted Ryce:  Lower fat.  

Trevor: Yeah.  

Ted Ryce: And so like with the workouts, how many days per week in the gym lifting weight. And how many days per week doing cardio have you found, like, is your magic combination?  

Kl.Yeah, You know, we started, it was a little...I’ve really gotten into it, like the program the weight program you gave me. And so now I’m prob... I’m two on, one off.  

Ted Ryce: Two on, one off.  

Trevor: Yeah. And I’ve stuck with that for the last four or five months and it really works for me. Today’s an off day for. And so I’ll do my elliptical for 45 minutes or an hour. Often, I walk the dogs and just do a huge walk in my neighborhood for an hour and get my heart rate up a little bit, you know, and that’s kind of my cardio. Or I’ll go play basketball with my son or I’ll play tennis and do those kinds of things on these days. And sometimes I’ll do-- I mean, I walk almost every day with, so, I mean, I still do that stuff. That’s just part of like, my lifestyle. 

Ted Ryce: Which you’re two days on with weights, and then you take a day off and you either do cardio or walk the dog or play basketball with your son or play tennis. And then how many steps are you averaging per day?  

Trevor: I average between 14,000 and 15,000.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah, that’s a lot of steps. I mean, that’s what--I got 15,000 steps today and I feel like I walked a lot. How do you get that exercise? I walk 17,830 already, because I’m Paris, man. You know? Yeah. How do you keep your step count so high?  

Trevor: So I don’t have a job where I just sit at the desk all day. So I get that that makes it a little bit easier for me. I’m constantly on the go. I’m probably only in the office a few hours. So I’m walking buildings. I’m just constantly on the move and I kind of move around even when I’m on calls often. It’s amazing how many steps you put in just doing that, just getting yourself in a habit of not, you know, we have sit/stand desks, but I put a headset on and I start, I just kind of roam, you know?  

And I think about it a lot. Like I got to my hotel the other day and I had 45 minutes till my first meeting in Dallas, so I just went and started walking around the city. You know, and then I got, you know, I did a minute walk, you know, and Oura ring tells you exactly how many steps you did, which--and I was like, “Well, crap.” I mean that.  

So I consciously try to, instead of like sitting down and having a coffee, maybe I’ll grab a coffee and then just go for a walk. Those are just ways that I’ve done it. It’s just kind of, get creative and get your steps. Because I do look at that. Like yesterday because it was, you know, just getting back, I did 10,000 steps, but today I’ve got a crazy day and I’ll probably do to 50 to 60.  

Ted Ryce: Mm-hmm. Gotcha. Yeah. I think people underestimate the power of steps. I’ve been eating, like, I have not been strict. I shared three croissants— 

Trevor: Three!  

Ted Ryce: --this morning, So I ate one and a half this morning.  

Trevor: Yeah.  

Ted Ryce: And then I shared two, and I wasn’t responsible for the second one. I did... I was responsible for me eating them though. And so I shared then two. And you know, she’s super fit, but... 

Trevor: Yeah.  

Ted Ryce: So anyway. Yeah. But I’ve been doing, not quite that, today was unusual.  

Trevor: Yeah.  

Ted Ryce: And I haven’t had anything else except a bowl of oatmeal. And also my time’s coming to an end on Sunday, so that’s not [inaudible 16:05] on Sunday. Yeah. But I haven’t...I still see the veins in my shoulders and, you know, still see that. How do you handle travel, the working out while traveling? Is it just the steps? Do you still stick with the two days on, one day off? What do you do?  

Trevor: I went, you know I’m a gym rat like you. You and I talked about this, so I went and I looked at the hotel gym and it wasn’t going to work for me. And on my walk, I walked by a gym. I walked in, it was the Dallas Cowboy theme, you know, Dallas Cowboy Fit Gym or something. 

 And so I went in, they’re like, “Yeah, you can get a 24-hour pass for 20 bucks,” and I was like, “Done.” So, I went in and I do my full workout. If I’m checking a bag, I always bring my bands. But like, this was not a--this was like a, you know, two night, like in and out kind of thing. I was like, “God, I don’t have enough room for my band.” And I knew I could find. So that’s… 

When I was in Europe, you know, I had the bands, I had the little -- most of the hotels had a small gym, so I would take my bands down there and, you know, kids would be asleep and whatnot, and I would just go down and get a quick workout. And that’s the thing, like when I traveled, I didn’t do as extensive a workout as I, you know, obviously do at home. But like you said, as long as you’re just keeping it up to some extent.  

I feel better when I do it now. Like if I miss a day for--and I have, by the way, everyone’s going to miss a day or two, but I like, oh, my body’s like, “You need to get in the gym.” You know? I mean, and I don’t--and by the way, I followed you about that boxer the other day, and I was going to meetings, but I don’t feel sore all anymore. Yeah. 

 Like when I would morning -- and I always put hard on my workout, like I don’t... I push myself. I don’t go easy when I’m exercising, you know? But I don’t wake up and go, “Oh my God, that was such a hard workout. I’m so sore. I can’t move.” Because I know that’s not, and I used to do that, right? I used to wake up and be like, “Oh shit, God. That was not what I wanted.” And now I wake up and I feel good, which means I actually succeeded in my workout. That’s the way I look at it. So I’m right there with you.  

Ted Ryce: And so let me ask you this. And then let’s wrap things up here. But if you had something to say to someone who was just starting this program and wanting to get to maybe not quite your level or maybe to your level, or maybe not quite, but close, what would you say to someone? What do you wish you would’ve known or what would you say to someone?  

Trevor: That’s a great question. ,I guess what I would tell people, and this is no BS, is that I didn’t actually think it was achievable, right? I mean, I went into this thinking like, I’m going to-- I know I can lose some weight. I think I can probably improve my workouts. I did not think I would look the way I do today at 48 years old. So I would say to somebody, it’s achievable, it’s possible. It’s, if I can do it, I think anybody can.  

I honestly believe that. I mean, I’ve worked out my whole life, you know, high school, college, sports, the whole deal. But it works. You just have to be committed to it. And I think you set up a really good support system. So there’s people that can, you know, that you can go to and ask questions. You got people like me in it that have done this now for-- what am I? 10 months? You know, so I don’t, you know, set your goal and you might be surprised, you might actually surpass it.  

Ted Ryce: Wow. Powerful. Yeah. That’s the number one thing that I hear, is like people don’t believe it’s possible.  

Trevor: Yeah.  

Ted Ryce: Right. People don’t believe it’s possible and it totally is possible. It’s kind of like, you know, I don’t know what type of financial goal you would equate it to, but it’s an achievable goal. A lot of it’s just the mindset and also having strategies. Or I would even ask you, what would you say it is? What... Why didn’t you believe it’s possible? And then now it’s like, oh, well this is easy to maintain?  

Trevor: Yeah, well, I got... I mean, because I will tell you, it does feel pretty easy for me to maintain now, and I’m knock-on wood, but I feel like I’ve kind of got it. You know, I think you see, you know, a Men’s Health Magazine or you get these popups that show like, you know, in 60 days, you can look like Arnold Schwartzenegger and da-da-da-da, and there are, you know, all this kind of BS. So you kind of...I’m always one of the skeptical people.  

You know, it’s like, “All right, those guy’s going to get me a six pack? We’ll see, you know, he knows how to do this. All right.” You know, and I get made fun of now that like, “Hey, you’re almost with a six pack. That’s crazy.” You know? I mean, so I guess like, it’s totally, That’s why. And I think every... You have a right to be skeptical, except you have real world examples of people that have done it. So if they can do it, why can’t you? I guess that’s my... That’s what I’ll leave you with.  

Ted Ryce: Thanks so much, Trevor. That was amazing, man.