Podcast Transcription: Success Story: Dean's Lasting Transformation: The Key To Breaking Free From Yo-Yo Dieting And Achieving Sustainable Weight Loss Results

Ted: Hey Dean, great to see you man. It's been such a long time and thank you for coming on the show and sharing what it's been like since you joined the program back in 2020. 

Dean: Hey, Ted, thanks for having me. 

Ted: Yeah, and just to share with people, this is our first conversation since we worked together in 2020 and you went off after the program and now it's the first discussion that we're having with all the things that have happened post COVID.  

And I'm just curious, could you remind me what were the circumstances when you initially joined the program? What made you join, if you remember, and talk a little bit about your results during the program. 

Dean: Sure. So, I mean, the biggest decider for me was COVID actually, to be honest. I mean, my weight was always kind of, you know, I had yo-yo weight, basically. I would gain, I would lose, gain, lose, but I really needed to get a better grasp on my weight.  

You know, I had been listening to your podcast for a while already, so I already was incorporating a lot of the things you were talking about, and stuff. But I think what really did it for me was COVID because, you know, obviously it's March 2020, the world is ending. I didn't want to be one of those people that would end up in the hospital. 

And I recall I was going for a walk in the neighborhood and I heard one very well-known functional medicine doctor who mentioned that the majority of people that ended up in ER, that he admitted into ER, were obese or had metabolic diseases like diabetes and gout and whatnot. 

And I think for me that that's what did it, you know, and then, ironically during that time, I think you had this, 10 day challenge, I think you did on Facebook and stuff which I got on and I liked your message and stuff. So, then that's why we, you know, that's when we had that discovery call and, you know, I saw you were a fit for me, I was a fit for you. 

So, you know, and the rest is history. So it was a good, it was, I think, you know, one of the best decisions I took in my life because it's one of those things that it's a lot of work, but you know, the results, it's an investment for your life. I mean, if I wouldn't have had lost those, I think when I started your program, I think I was about 25 or 30 pounds heavier than I am today.  

And I mean, who knows what I would have had in terms of diseases or maybe I would have been on medication now. Thankfully, I'm 48. I'm on no medication. I have great mobility. I do sports. For me, being on that program with you allowed me to continue aging in a very healthy way. For me, that was gold. 

Ted: Yeah, thanks for sharing. And I remember parts of our conversation, you were already tracking your nutrition with My Fitness Pal, if I remember correctly?But, you kind of hit a wall with it and what we ended up doing for you was we showed you what you were missing in terms of getting results with fat loss and we also revamped your workout. What else do you remember? 

Dean: Yeah, it was, I mean, obviously the gyms were closed. So at least here, locally, you know, everything was locked down. So, you know, I was, there was no, you know, hockey, I couldn't play. So, it was just basically walks, you know, so there's only so much you could do with a walk.  

So, but then you got me into the bands and that was great because, and I still use the bands religiously today, four times a week because I'm a busy professional and for me, taking the time to go to the gym, you know, getting ready, going there, coming back. I mean, it's easily an extra two, three hours out of my day, you know, that I waste, you know.  

Whereas the bands, I go in the basement, they're there. I do my workout, I feel great after, and I see the results. So that was probably the main thing I took out of your program. It was the bands and the exercises you taught me.  

I'm still doing some of the exercises that you taught me back in the program. And obviously I've increased the resistance quite a bit since then. But so yeah, that was one, I think my biggest takeaway in terms of physical and in terms of the exercise. 

I think from, and you said it in the program and in the beginning, weight loss is majority a mind game. And that's something that I took away from the program. One of the things you mentioned to me was, there's certain days that you just don't feel like doing anything, but just do something.  

So, there are days when I'm obviously, you know, it's, I'm not, you know, it's just I'm not there, but I'll go for a walk. I'll take my dog for a walk. I'll go, you know, get my 70,000 steps and at least, you know, I'm ahead more than I was yesterday, you know, so it's baby steps.  

It's the things you do every day, you know. So that was one of the things that, during your weekly coaching calls, you would constantly profess and, you know, it stuck with me and it's a good takeaway I took from the program. 

Ted: Fantastic. And what I love about this, I think this is the first time I've had a client who it's been three years since we work together. And one of the dirty secrets about the body transformation business is that a lot of the 12 week transformations, and I have clients like this too, I'm not saying that, you know, I don't, I have clients where we've extended the program now, we make it longer than three months, but there were people who kept falling behind and so they would join a program like mine and then create a transformation because it's not that hard if you're highly motivated to create that change.  

Unfortunately, if we're talking about, well, where are they three years later? And thankfully I have enough people now. I've been doing this for long enough. I have enough clients like yourself who've come back and shared with me either, you're the first one who coming on the podcast, but I've had clients tell me, Hey, listen, I'm still more or less where I was with you at the end of the program. 

And you've tried things before, you said you've yo-yo'd. Why was it different with working with me? What do you feel was the game changer that allowed you to be more or less at the same weight, same body fat, great mobility at 48 years old, three years after we ended up working together? 

Dean: I like the structure you put on the program. So, you got me on the app. So obviously, I was tracking on certain apps on my phone and stuff. But let's say, putting it on an app and having that, I mean, you're accountable for your results, right? So, I'm the type of person that when, I mean, everybody needs an accountability partner for everything, right?  

To a certain extent, you know, a coach or, you know, just somebody there to push you, you know. And that was one of the things that I appreciated. I don't think in the program I never really fell back. I mean, I think there were certain weeks where maybe I wouldn't lose as much as I wanted to and stuff, but I think I was pretty much on a constant decline. But I know that if ... 

I did see other people in the program that were a little bit struggling. And I saw you were there and you were there to give them a hand. And also, one of the things you did was you encouraged us to also help our peers in the program. And I think that was good because sometimes hearing the same thing from a coach, I mean, even though it's the truth, sometimes it doesn't stick.  

But when you hear it from other people who are in the same boat as you, sometimes it sticks a bit better. You know, so I think that was good about the program. So, for me, that was, I think the structure was good. 

I would say also, I mean, it was, you know, I guess psychologically it was like a reset, it was time zero, you know, this is from, you know, I don't care about what happened in the previous 10 years where, you know, my weight was fluctuating up and down.  

This is the first day of the rest of my life in a sense, this is the first, this is a new program. I'm going to, you know, take it for the next three months, see where I go. So, for me it was, you know, mentally, I just forgot about everything that happened before and let me learn the right habits and take everything day by day from that moment on. 

So, I think for me, I think psychologically that was good just to kind of do something different and yeah, and it worked out pretty well. 

Ted: Yeah. So, what I hear you saying is the structure of the program, especially during the calls where we talked about concepts, but also the fact that in the group in particular, where you're hearing people's challenges and one of the things that I've heard from clients about the group as a coach, I don't want to say I want to hear like, Oh man, no, you're so amazing. And the information you share is so amazing. You know, I'm kind of there and I'm doing my best, but interestingly enough, a lesson for me has been clients, when I say, okay, well, what's the biggest takeaway from the group? Like, what are you getting from it that is transformative for you?  

And what they say is what you just said, Dean, I hear other people, I think my life is the busiest life on the planet. And I think my challenges are just my challenges. Nobody else understands what I'm going through. But when I listen to everybody else, the challenges, the details are a bit different.  

Some people have three kids or two kids or one kid or four kids, but the story is the same. Everybody's busy. Everybody's trying to figure out how to put this into their life and everybody has challenges doing it. And so, it's interesting you say that was the biggest, one of the biggest takeaways for you as well. And then what you said, and I love this, is you came into my program with a clean slate. 

You said, okay. I've done some things before, I learned some things, but none of it ever stuck with me. But this time I'm going to take it to the next level. Can you say specifically what was, can you talk a little bit more about that? What was the mindset shift? Because maybe this is some gold here for someone listening who maybe they've been struggling with some yo-yo and then what you're going to say right now could potentially take them to the next level with the next program they try. Can you talk a little bit more about the mindset shift? 

Dean: Well, for me the biggest shift was, on social media, I follow a couple of pages of yourself obviously and also other fitness specialists and coaches and stuff. You only hear the success stories, right? So, people are only going to post the success. And it's like that with everything, right?  

On social media, people are only going to show you the good moments, you're never going to see all the challenges they have in the background. You tend to have this mentality after a while that it's only me that's struggling here, you know, but then when you get on these calls and you realize that, you know, Jane, you know, came home and her house was flooded and she's not in the mood of working out today and or, you know, something happened at work and she came home and she's emotionally eating or, you know, so you hear all the same stories.  

It's the same things that I go through. Because I'm an emotional eater as well.  

So, you know, it's something I have to constantly work on. So, it's nice to hear that people have the same struggles as you, you know, so that you have more self-compassion towards yourself after, because then you know that you're not alone. You know, there's sort of people on the same boat as you. You know, so for me, I think that was a big thing in the program that I realized, you know. 

Ted: Yeah, fantastic. And when you talk about emotional eating, how has it changed for you since the program? And did we help you with anything specific with it, or how do you experience it now and deal with it now versus before? 

Dean: Okay, so quite honestly, I mean, during the program, obviously, I would say, for me, anyways, whenever I started a new habit, obviously, there's that period of great motivation where, you know, you do stuff, you know, but it gets to the point where the motivation goes down and you need discipline.  

And that's where, and obviously that probably happened after the three month mark, to be honest with you. Because obviously, three months it's, but you say your program is longer now, but three months, you know, 12 weeks, it's enough time for a change but also takes a while for the brain to follow.  

So, after a couple of weeks, I noticed that obviously the motivation went down, I needed discipline. So, you're asking me how I dealt with the emotional part. I did some work on myself in the sense that I realized that there were other needs in my life that weren't being addressed. Would lead to my emotional needs. 

So, the emotional eating was not a, obviously it was an effect of a cause. So, I worked on that myself, so that helped. And also, I learned different techniques to go about it. Let's say, I know today that I will feel better, if I have a bad day, I will feel better if I go out for a run or go out for a walk or do something productive than hitting a bag of chips.  

So that's one thing that I learned. I displaced my emotional eating to something more positive. I'm not always successful, but at least it's something that's helped me through the years to kind of manage the emotional eating.  

Ted: Yeah, thanks. Thanks for sharing that. And one of the, so we do things quite differently now in the program. And one of the things that we do differently is addressing what you're saying right now.  

What you just said was, Hey, it was transformative three months, but I started realizing I needed to work on myself in some other areas because that was the root cause of emotional eating. And until you deal with that, you're just addressing the symptoms.  

And right now, one of the things that we do, I'll share it to you like this. I had a client, Cindy, shout out to you, Cindy, if you're listening to this. And she was deciding whether to continue with the program or not. I believe we ended up working for, I believe eight months together in total. And she was deciding whether to continue or not. And I said very simply, Cindy, it's cool if you don't want to continue, but if you don't continue with me, invest in yourself in some other way.  

That could be a couple's retreat. It could be, you know, she's doing well through her relationship. She's retired, traveling the world, but there is no into, there is no one and done with personal development. 

And if someone's struggling, and I love that you mentioned this, Dean, because if you're struggling with food and it's coming, it's emotional eating, and it's coming from the structure of your business because you're not running it in a way that is less stressful, you're not delegating or hiring the right people or whatever it is.  

There's no diet or exercise that's going to cure your emotional eating. Likewise, if you're struggling with some emotional issue with relationships or like me, I went and did a retreat recently where I was doing some deeper work on some of the things that I've been through in my life and without, and now I'm, because I'm an emotional eater too, right?  

Now I'm having less cravings, less response to a reaction, to the stresses in my life and just feeling more at flow. But there's no diet and exercise program a for that. And so sometimes you have to do deeper work and we end up referring people to other experts or even meeting with them in person. We do retreats now.  

So, I love that you mentioned that, man, because it's something that I don't think anyone talks about, hardly anyone at least, talks about, in health and fitness and there is no solution, there is no diet or exercise solution for that. Anything more that you want to add?  

Dean: Yeah, no, it's like you said, I mean, it's, for me, you know, managing my, not only my weight, but just my body in general, it's a total mind game. It's incredible. I mean, the amount of resistance that one could have, just in taking care of your, of your body, you know, cause obviously it's strenuous, right? I mean, it's not, you know, I always feel better after a workout, but getting to a workout sometimes is tough. 

And that's what I love about taking care of one's body. It teaches you resilience. It teaches you skills that not only use with taking care of your own self, it's your whole life, your relationships, your career and stuff. It teaches you discipline. So it's a constant... I'm in this for life, you know, this is a constant personal development thing. So it's, yeah. But it's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful journey, a journey, you know, I hope I never get to the destination, you know, there's always more to learn, you know. 

Ted: And I remember our earlier conversations when you joined the program, you're already a fan of personal development and reading books and doing other things. And what would you say would be your biggest piece of advice to someone who is trying to break that yo-yo cycling?  

Dean: First thing it's the self-compassion aspect of it. I mean, you're not alone. There's a lot of people that are struggling just like you and I find that alone is for me anyways, it was, it was enough for me to keep myself from making the change that I wanted because I thought it was, like I was climbing this huge wall, but you know, you have to remember that there's you know, everybody has their own struggles. I would say the next big piece of advice I would give is don't sweat the bad days. There's going to be good and bad days. There's going to be those days that you're not going to want to do much for yourself.  

Certain days you're going to eat not as good as you'd want to, but those are really drops in the bucket in the end.  

So that's one of the things that I had to shift my mindset on is I'm a perfectionist. So if... if there would be one day where, or let's say two days where I, you know, my diet just wouldn't be there, my nutrition wouldn't be there. I would, before I would have let things kind of continue because, you know, there's no point in getting changing now because, you know, the past two, three days I've been, I haven't been eating well.  

So, you know, but it's, you know, those two, three days, in this span of 10 years, it's just, they're meaningless. It's not the... you're not going to gain your weight on those one or two days that you eat, you don't eat your best. You're going to gain weight if you eat three months, four months of let's say bad nutrition. And likewise, I mean, to improve yourself, it's not going to be that one workout that is going to make the difference, it's going to be a series of good workouts. So it's those compound effect or atomic habits, I think, like there was a book that somebody wrote about that.  

Those are the things that are going to make you improve yourself. Not only from a weight loss perspective, but even a personal development perspective. It's the small things you do every day.  

So, I would say to whoever is struggling, just start small. Just today. Do something good for yourself, do something positive for yourself, and that's contagious. It's going to make yourself want to do better tomorrow and the day after. I think you got to start somewhere and live in the present, you just got to start somewhere. 

Ted: Thanks so much, Dean, because like you said earlier, they can read James Clear's Atomic Habits, or they can listen to my podcast, but we're talking, we have this thing, well, I'll just say it like this. I have a financial interest of being in shape all the time. 

Just like James has a financial, it's like, it's his business to be very regimented and habit oriented because he's built his whole business on it. And, you know, and so when you come on your, if I remember correctly, you're an engineer, you also are a pilot. You do a whole bunch of cool stuff.  

And so, hearing it from you, who's not a fitness professional, you know, it can sometimes, you know, mean the world to someone. So, thanks for sharing. The last question I would, or I guess second to last question I would ask is, how has your life changed for the better as a result of getting this handled? Not just with my program, but the work that you did after to where you have this locked in to where you're the same weight three years later. How has your life changed as a result of that? 

Dean: It's, you know, I feel so much better than I did 10 years ago, let's say. I mean, after, you know, I always think of your program as kind of a gave me the license to learn. So, after I had the tools that I needed, I started to pay attention to my diet, being more mindful of the foods I eat, I realized that whenever I eat sweet potatoes, I guess I must have an allergy to it, but my pack would freeze up, and my joints would hurt. 

So, I started to play around with that. I started to remove it from my diet, put it back, and I realized that was the problem. So. I removed that, you know. I paid attention to a bunch of other stuff in my health that, you know, I was more mindful of basically what I put in my body. And I would say that, I mean... You know, it's my life is, I mean, I always, I always think of the, you know, you have this exercise at the beginning of your program, the heaven and hell exercise, right?  

I still, yeah, I still read it sometimes and the other day I found it and I read it and I read the hell part and it's true. I mean, you know, it's, I remember writing, you know, waking up in the morning and my back is stiff and, and my joints hurt and I come downstairs and I don't, you know, so today when I, you know, and I read the heaven part and a lot of it matches where I am today, you know, and it's amazing because, you know, thankfully I'm not on any medication.  

Thankfully I don't have any medical conditions. I, you know, I don't have to make time to go to a hospital or a clinic to take care of myself. You know, it's, for me, it's, you know, it just... being on this development, personal development with respect to my body, it just, I would say, I mean, for me, it's just the absence of disease that for me is gold. 

You know, I want to age gracefully. I want to continue to do the things that I'm doing today when I'm 70 or 80 or 90, you know. So, for me, that's super important. And I mean, it's the science is there, right? If I wouldn't have had to take a, had a grasp on my health, I wouldn't be where I am today. I have a lot of friends who I see are raging at, like myself, and they're running into struggles.  

So, for me, that motivates me. I don't want to be like that. I want to continue to be free. I want to continue to travel when I want and not have to change my schedule because I have to be at the doctor's a certain time. So, it's very important for me. So, I... Yeah, I'm very grateful to yourself, you program and also, you know, I'm grateful that I continue to develop from a personal perspective, you know, after we finish the program.  

And sorry to make a very long answer, but it's... That was perfect, a very deep question. 

Ted: Absolutely, absolutely, and it was a perfect answer. And thanks so much for sharing because I think some people tell themselves, I don't know if this is really worth it. And I don't mean working with me, that's a whole nother separate conversation, in fact, that will be my last question.  

But a lot of people think, I don't know if this is worth the trouble. I don't know if this is worth going through it. But as you know from your friends, and as I know from working with people, and I've seen a lot, I had a client die in Miami Beach, not while he was working with me. He had stage four esophageal cancer, was leaving workouts early.  He's like, I can't do this. I got to get to work.  

And he's no longer around. And if he would have done things differently. and could be around today if he would have prioritized his health more. That's a story that sticks with me personally, not just to share on the podcast, but I'm like, man, this guy got caught up and focused and prioritized something and let another area of his life go and he left behind a wife and I believe it was two kids that he had and everything was over.  

And I saw my dad die in 2020. And so, it's like health, it's just, when we say it's the biggest wealth, I mean, that's not just a cliche. It's if you have a health issue, it's very motivating to that. 

You want to do something about it, especially if you're really sick. And, I'm with you on that. I'm 46. And I'm really, I want to be living a great life and when I'm 70 and maybe even in my eighties, right? Who knows?  

Dean, my last question for you is, what would you say to someone who is on the fence about working with me in particular? They've been hearing the podcast for a while, maybe a week, maybe a year, maybe more. And what would you say to that person honestly about whether they should make the investment or not?  

Dean: I would say, I remember when I got on that discovery call with you, for me what I was afraid of was changing my habits, you know, because I've been eating a certain way for you know, whatever, 45 years, I've been you know, doing my, taking care of my body a certain way so for me what scared me was the change because it is an investment in your energy and also cost as well. I mean it's...  

Let's be honest, there is a certain cost to this, but somebody who's on the fence in terms of the cost part, honestly, it's a drop in the bucket. I'll be very frank with you, you're going to be on a hospital bed in 20 years, you're going to look back at that X amount of money that you would have spent on this program, which is totally worth it.  

But you're going to look back and you're going to say, you know, I should have done it, you know, and that's the thing that I was thinking when we were on this discovery call was, you know, it's, I mean, there's no price to health. I mean, this is something that's going to, it's an investment that's going to compound, you know, time and time again, you know, and for me, I mean, I would do your program again any day, you know.  

And the second thing I was, the first thing I was talking about was the... the change part, you know, it's always, change is always uncomfortable, right? You don't want to change your habits and stuff. But I think that's what makes it beautiful at the end of the 12 weeks because you're changing for the good, you know, so I'd understand somebody who would go, who'd be going in a program who would be reluctant to do all this change because it's, I mean, it impacts your not only yourself, even your family, you know, it's your, I understand, you know, if I'll give you an example.  

I have one of my buddies, he wanted to lose weight for so long, but the thing is, I know for a fact, on his dinner plate, you would have the most unhealthiest foods. 

And so how are you going to go home after a day of work and end up eating celery when the rest of your family is eating you know, different, maybe perhaps more, you know, tastier foods or, you know, salt your foods, you know, so it's, I think it's...  

But then I saw the change in this particular person, whereas when he started taking care of his body, all the people around them started changing, you know, so that, that was a beautiful thing about it.  

And now they're in it as a family, you know, so it's for sure that the change is different, but it's totally worth it because with my previous example, you can not only start helping yourself, you're going to help the people around you.  

I would encourage somebody that's afraid of that investment in terms of changing their habits and stuff. It's for the good. It may be tough at the beginning, right? I recall at the beginning of the program where I was eating a lot more protein and stuff. That was a challenge. You know, my kids were heavily on carbs, you know, teens, typical teens, you know, and I was there, you know, packing on the protein, you know, and stuff.  

But I mean, to my example, I mean, today, my kids, you know, last night we had salmon and they don't complain and it's, you know, whereas, you know, a couple of years ago, eating fish for them was, you know, so it's, I would just say to somebody who's on the fence that there's going to be a change, but it's a change for the good.  

When you're going to look back, in three years you're going to look back and you're going to ask yourself why you didn't make this change 10 years prior. You're going to feel so much better. It's going to allow you to do so many more things in life. It's a game changer. That's what I would tell somebody who's on the fence. 

Ted: Amazing Dean. Hey, thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to do this and especially because of the time frame three years later. Let's do this again in another year or two or something. Would love to keep in contact with you and also hear how you've been able to maintain what challenges have come up and what it's helped you along the way. It would be a lot of fun!  

Dean: Thanks Ted, thanks for having me.