Welcome to Nacho Fitness Coach. The podcast where
fitness is technically the topic, but let's be
honest, we get distracted. I'm Sarah, the fitness
expert who actually understands this stuff. And
I'm Kaylee, the beginner who thinks Bulgarian
split squats are a hate crime. Every week we
break down fitness myths, call internet nonsense,
and try to make sense of the chaos. while also
going off on tangents, making bad jokes, and
questioning our life choices. If you're looking
for expert advice with a side of whatever Kaylee
does here, or just need a podcast that makes
you feel better about your own fitness journey,
you're in the right place. All right, let's do
this. Or, you know, talk about doing this. So,
Kaylee, what do you like to listen to when you
work out? I don't know. Sometimes a podcast and
sometimes music. Hey, wait. This is a podcast.
What if you could have both? the same time oh
yeah pod beat is a free mobile app that lets
you add any beat style to any podcast for your
workout it's easy to do and free to download
in the app store kaylee you sound pretty cool
with the trap beat but sarah the funk beat works
for your voice So if you want to make our podcast
work for a workout, check it out in the app store.
They even have Podbeat for Android users in the
Google Play Store. Okay, on to the show. Welcome
back to Nacho Fitness Coach, the podcast where
we take fitness seriously, but not ourselves.
Today, we're going to talk about transformation,
real lasting change that goes beyond just weight
loss. Our guest, Neil Bendesky, also known as
the 199 guy. has been through an incredible journey
of ups, downs, and everything in between. He's
lost over 260 pounds, faced major health challenges,
including a heart attack and cancer, and completely
redefined his approach to fitness and wellness.
But he didn't stop there. Neil has since completed
37 races, proving that transformation isn't just
about weight loss, it's about pushing limits,
setting new goals, and finding what truly makes
you feel strong. Now he's a media ambassador,
wellness coach, and speaker. sharing his story
to help others take control of their health in
a way that actually lasts. We're excited to dive
into his journey, the lessons he's learned, and
what transformation really looks like. Welcome
to the show, Neil. Hey, hi, Neil. Hey, it's great
to see you both. Yeah, we got the 199 guy here.
You know, I'm hanging out in Arizona. The weather
is nice today, and I got to do an Orange Theory
fitness workout earlier today. And just hanging
out with you in the evening and couldn't be better.
Awesome. Yeah, we love it. We're super excited
to talk to you. I mean, that's an impressive
number. I mean, to have 199 loss, right? I mean,
so you used to be fat. Now you're not. And you've
had quite the journey in between. You know, people
ask me because I'm a sports marketing executive.
I had some great runs. I was the vice president
of the Heat. That kind of position with Florida
Marlins, now the Miami Marlins. an assistant
AD at the University of Miami where I won national
championships, okay? Those are all great things.
But when you're sitting at a desk, so this is
not just person in sports, but when you're sitting
at a desk and you're working and you're trying
to make a difference for your career, right?
And, you know, whether you're 20 years old or
in my case, 67 years young, either way, you're
sitting at that desk and what happens? Fan food,
which you go to a stadium for, is not fuel food.
And ultimately, I would eat the free pizza. I
would eat the hamburgers. I would eat the cheeseburgers.
And all of a sudden, I was 450 pounds. Let me
just say that one more time. 450 pounds, right?
I was on a podcast last week, and the gentleman
said, you know, HR can't really say this to you,
but when you walk in and you're over 400 pounds.
Yeah. How does that look? And I said, listen,
I worked with Miami heat. Can you imagine going
into Pat Riley's office with his Armani suit?
Right. Right. And have a situation. But in all
due respect, I went through a space where, you
know, I was pretty low, you know, pretty low,
but I learned that if you have a community of
love and support, you can go a long way, whether
it's in my case, or a gym, whatever it is. You
know, thank you for having me on your show. You
know, I'm here to talk about what you said, transformation
and how it is realistic. Because, you know, truthfully,
I shouldn't be here. I should not be here. I
had the widow maker, you know, on August 2nd,
2016, after I'd lost a lot of weight. My cardiologist
said, Neil, if you didn't do your wellness program,
you wouldn't be here. And, you know, like so
many people that are listening to your very good
podcast. you know, in all due respect, you know,
you start the new year and you say, Oh, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna, you know, have that new year's resolution.
And a lot of the people say, Oh, I'll wait after
the holidays. And the average person gained 15
pounds during the holidays. Right. So, so then
you get, you get into this thing the second week
and you go to the gym and 80 % of the people
stop, you know, I think there's even an official
day for it. Like I learned about this year. It's
like a, uh, national quitters day like a couple
weeks into january i think there was a i think
there was a commercial for one of the watches
i wear yeah but you know apple you know talking
about your goals i thought that was a great commercial
yep so okay we're definitely going to talk about
transformation because you hit kind of like that
450 mark you're like i need to make some changes
but how so What was the journey before that?
I mean, it was the stadium food year around that.
But like, how long did it take for you to get
to that weight? Like, did it happen over the
course of years with a few decades? You know,
how what did that look like up until the transformation
point? So I have three stages. Good question,
by the way. The first stage was when I was with
the Marlins. The owner, Wayne Huizenga, had our
president, Don Smiley, come to me and say, hey,
Mr. H, really would like to see you alive. Right.
You know, here I am working in the Florida Marlins
at the time. And he said, why don't you go to
Duke and go do the right diet? Right. I don't
know that that's not a lifestyle. So I went to
Ohio University. Our trainer turned me on to
some a couple up there. Margie was an exercise.
It was a nutritionalist. And her husband was,
you know, exercise physiologist. And the truth
is, is that I did it. But I'm a binge eater.
So I was failing. right? And then I end up, my
second thing, I come here in Arizona. And, you
know, a lot of times people think, okay, Neil,
you're in sports, right? You've worked for, you
know, great places and promoted some cool people.
But at the end of the day, it wasn't a sports
thing that changed me. Have you ever seen Jeff,
you know, the actor Jeff Bridges, right? And
he was in a country Western movie where he was
at the end of his career. Similar to me in a
situation, you know, because people write you
off when you're over 400 pounds and you're over
50 years old, right? And my wife's heartthrob,
Colin Farrell, right? Sure. Was in this movie,
okay? Right? Absolutely. So I think the movie
was called Crazy Heart. So there were so many
parallels. So the first thing that I share with
the audience is as I'm progressing in my second
phase, which is the one I'm talking about right
now, is that something motivates you. Something
turns into a pivot point, right? And so this
movie comes along and his name is Bad Blake and
he's an alcoholic. I'm a binge eater, okay? He
was 57 in the movie. I was 57. He wrote a song
for Colin Farrell that became very successful.
I wrote a plan to help me learn nutrition. And
then finally, you know, he... was performing
as a warm -up in Phoenix. Where do I live? Phoenix,
Arizona. So I remember at the end, to the second
phase, where he goes to his manager to collect
his royalty check from doing a good job, like
I told you. And what does he do? He tells the
manager, I told you there's still gas in the
tank. So I kind of had this scenario. So then
recently, over 18 months, I ended up getting
cancer, prostate cancer. And, you know, the radiation
wasn't the issue as much as the side effects.
So the hormonal shot caused a 50 pound weight
gain. Before that, I got COVID before I was running
one of my races. And I appreciate you mentioned
that earlier because it's about inspiring people
and it's about finish line, not finish time.
And we'll talk about that later. But at the end
of the day, okay, here I am, you know, I've gained
70 pounds. you know, this great journey that
I've been on. I've learned all these things.
I'm, I'm doing all these different things. I
got into the, I know you guys were talking about
Harvard a couple episodes ago. I went into the
Hopkins FODMAP program and I learned about the
foods that at my age that I could eat and not
eat. My son, Justin helped me with that. And
that was very appreciated. Big picture is now
I tell people I want to be the Muhammad Ali.
of weight loss. This is my third time, right?
So I started mid November and I've lost 36 pounds.
So making progress. I ran my first race in over
a year in Arizona here, the 5k. And then this
past weekend on this trip in Vegas, right? I
got to run a 10k. So that was pretty cool. Awesome.
Yeah. I've actually done several of those rock
and roll marathons and like rock and roll kind
of themed events. And those are just so fun.
They're in great destinations. They're a great
goal if you're looking for a good race goal.
I'll take your word for it. Well, Sarah, and
congratulations for that. In all due respect,
when you think about that, people celebrate their
better lifestyles. It's like I tell people when
they ask me for help. I say, I just want to tell
you right off the bat. I'm not into the D word,
right? Because diets to me aren't what this is
about, you know? And, and, and so you learn every
day, you know, especially as you get a little
older, you know, you kind of realize that you
can't just eat what you used to eat. Yeah. Okay.
You know, and, and you, and you just reach that
point. So, yeah. And you got to move too. You
know that you can move it. That was the, I think
the biggest eye opener for me when I did my first
road race was how, everyone is, you know, I feel
like when you get these ideas of like five, 10
K half marathon, full marathon, if you've seen
clips online or whatever, you know, you always
see the winner crossing the finish line. And
the biggest like reality moment, I guess for
me, when I did my first race was. 80 % of the
people are just like you said, it's finish line,
not finish time. They've been doing it just for
fun, like part of a goal or just, you know, a
checkbox or whatever. Like that time you and
I ran that. We actually ran that one, though.
Well, the half marathon relay, which you did
not run. I did run most of it. I walked it. They
were literally taking down the flags as. Because
Sarah ran the second leg and they were taking
down the flags. But it was like it was fun. Like
it was a thing that we did. And I was proud of
us. It was a morning out and it was something
to do. And, you know, races are very infectious.
Like when you get up and go in the morning, a
lot of the you know, a lot of them might start
around sunrise or just early in the day. And
everyone's happy to be there because they're
so excited, you know, and you're moving and you're
out in the fresh air. And especially if you do
like a destination race. some of these rock and
roll ones you know they travel to a city you
get all this hoopla around that yeah but then
you know people showcase their cities with their
race routes you know and so you get to see like
the best of the best i feel like when we've done
ones out of town i'm like this is the best parts
of the city and you're you're not in a car so
you're you're slowing down you know i mean i'm
a race walker is what i consider myself and so
it's like Me too. I'm a speed runner. Yeah. And
I'm just like, you know, you just get to enjoy
it and you start actually paying attention to,
you know, the architecture and they're taking
you through the heart of their city. And it's
kind of a fun little thing to do. There's a lot
of worse things you could be doing. There's a
lot of worse things you could do. Yeah, absolutely.
I have to tell you both because I prepared something
I was hoping you were going to go in this direction.
In all the races, and, yeah, you mentioned some
really cool places that rock and roll is in.
You know, I was just in Vegas and here in Arizona,
and San Diego is one of them, and then they have
one, which is too hilly for me, in Nashville,
right? Okay, so with that, we're going to take
just a quick little ad break. For more content,
follow us on TikTok at NachoFitnessCoach. All
right, we're back, and... I really cherish was
in Missoula, Montana. Montana. It's a top 100,
and the community gets behind it. So here's the
story. So you go to the high school, and it's
maybe 3 ,000 or 4 ,000 people, so it's not like
the 27 ,000 that I just spent the weekend with,
or Sunday afternoon or evening with. So I go
there, and they shoot the fireworks off. And
the first three miles, you know, it's a beautiful
area. You're going down like a park creek. And
then you make a right -hand turn in a farm. And
there's a guy in a tuxedo with a candelabra on
his piano playing, right? And then I got to the
fourth mile. And there's this mother with like
four of her daughters. And the way the community
would do it is they had the orange cones, right?
So, you know, one side of the street was for
the traffic and one side was for us. And then
they would have those old type, what do you call
it, water sprinklers that would shoot over. It
wasn't great for my sunglasses, but, you know,
that's what we did, right? But there was this
eight -year -old that she was going in and out
of the orange cones, right? I followed her. I
thought that was just fun. That's awesome. Yeah,
you know, so, you know, here's a mom, you know.
running with her kids. I always just tell people,
although it didn't work out that way, although
our older son, Justin, who's 29 today, by the
way, he's in New York. He's actually going to
see Wicked. Oh, very cool. Him and his girlfriend,
Sarah, are pretty fired up about it. But anyway,
when you really think about those types of things,
I wanted to run with my son, right? And I couldn't
walk around the block in 2013. I'm over 400 pounds,
you know, let alone, you know, And then I was
fortunate. I'm a big guy. You know, listen, I
tell people I was fat. I'm just less fat, okay?
And I mean that in a way that I'm living. I'm
here, you know, and I'm thankful for that. And
I'm thankful that, you know, my wife of over
40 years, you know, we can enjoy our two sons.
You know, one is actually in Paris studying the
fragrances. You know, he took his organic chemistry
and French double major and is in his second
year of grad school there. So you celebrate those
things. 10 becomes 20, 30 becomes 40, 40 becomes
50. And then what happens? You can't enjoy the
life. You ladies are not at that age yet. But
when you get over 60, you start thinking, God,
I want to be the CEO. And it's my book. I call
it CEO Cornerstone. You want to be the CEO of
your family, right? You want to spend time with
them. You want to enjoy better nutrition with
them. You want to go to parks with them. You
know, you want to be active. Like you said, Sarah,
you want to move. And I couldn't do that before.
Now I can. Yep. Yeah. I mean, I, I take sincere
pleasure that when my eight year old is like,
mom, you want to race to that point, whatever
it is, that tree, mommy, you want to race that
tree? Like you betcha kiddo. And we will haul
off. And I'm like, I'm still beating him, but
probably not for much longer. But you know, it's
one of those things where I'm like. That's still
my goal. Like, I'm not going to let you win.
You know, we're going to go. I would never. She's
not that kind of mom. But I'm also like, I want
to be able to do it with my grandkids someday.
Like now I'm doing it with my kids and this stage
is going to be, you know, in the next 10 years,
they're not going to want me to race them anymore
necessarily. But now it's like, okay, grandkids,
you know, 15, 20 years from now, like I want
to be able to pick them up. I would be able to
carry them up the steps when they're tired or
if they fell asleep on my lap or whatever. And
I'm like, no, I, that's, that's. I remember thinking
this past Thanksgiving we did, I was down in
Texas and we signed up for the turkey trot. Yeah,
right. You know, you always hear people joking
about like, oh, you know, I hope I don't marry
into a family, the kind of family that does like
turkey trots on Thanksgiving. And I would have
never. Flag football on Turkey Day. Yeah. I would
have never, I would have never, you know, that
would have never been the thing I do on Thanksgiving
morning. you know, now I'm like, we, we seeked
one out, we found one and I, we, I didn't run
it, but we took our kids to do it. And I'm just
the night before when we were like going to bed
early and getting ready for this thing, I'm like,
what are we doing? Well, it was just like, how,
yeah, how crazy that like, how did I become the
kind of person who signs up for a turkey trot?
And just like how cool that like my kids get
to do this. Like, hopefully this isn't like.
A thing that they ever say like that, that's
not something I do, you know, normalize it. Oh,
it's a core memory for sure. I mean, it's a different
event for them and it was the holidays to boot
and it was somewhere different and all that.
I'm a turkey trotter now. You are a turkey trotter
now. Yes, you are. Congratulations. There we
go. Now that we've discovered she's ran multiple
5Ks. Let's take your 8 -year -old, for example.
In my book, I say, and I call it your wellness
clock. And I walked through the sequence of when
I was younger, maybe like you do with your families,
my mother, Judy, would say, Neil, I want to eat
everything on your plate. And I did, right? You're
like, say less. And we weren't wealthy. And we
would have maybe pasta three times in a row,
a lot of carbs in that. I heard you guys talk
about that in a previous episode. So it's like.
All right, so I did that. So then some of us
go play high school sports. And what does the
coach do after you win a big game, your road
game? Takes the cheese box, Lisa Meyer, and what
would they do? They go to Mickey D's or Burger
King, right? And then if you're a really good
athlete, you end up going to college and you
have a smorgasbord, anything you could eat. So
when you're 21, 22 years old, you're done with
college athletics, whatever it is. You say to
yourself, wow. And in my case, what I'm saying
is that was my formula for failure. Yeah. Because
I didn't learn. Right. So it's like, are you
going to bring that when you go to your daughter's
soccer match or volleyball or whatever it is?
Okay. All good things. What do most parents bring?
A sugar made drink. Yeah. Yeah. A cookie or a
potato chip. And you don't realize. Listen, I
was speaking at Ohio University sports management
program. My friend Jim Kaler at the time was
there. Now he's at Cleveland State. And there
were 28 students. And, you know, they're all
aspiring to be something, you know, beyond their
graduate degrees. And I said, how many of you
in the afternoon fuel your body with a Gatorade
or a Powerade and a bag of chips? 18 of the 28
students raised their hand. So my story is transformation.
But fortunately, I saved my life. But for those
out there that are listening, and listen, this
is meant to be fun, but it's also meant to understand
that you can have fun if you overcome, you know,
what I tell people is you start, you get motivated,
right? And then you get accountable, and then
you become sustainable. you've received lifestyle
success. That's kind of where I'm at. Yep. And
it starts with just understanding and having
a general awareness of like what things are.
You know, I just did a talk not very long ago
at our local high school. And I kind of said
the same thing to the students. I was like, you,
who does your grocery shopping? You know, over
the four different sessions, I probably had close
to a hundred kids and there was maybe two or
three that raised their hand that they do their
own grocery shopping. And so it's. Through this
whole process of not just the foods around them
is just around them. Yeah. They haven't learned
about anything. And, you know, just having a
general understanding of what it's like to actually
have protein with, you know, whatever it is that
you're doing and making sure that it's protein
and how that needs to be important. And you can't
just fuel yourself on sugar, caffeine and chips,
which is what so many of them do. And it's just.
We don't have education enough to set them up
for what do you do when you aren't always being
told what to do anymore? Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
they're in protective environments now. People
are always telling our kids what to do between
going to school. Coaches tell them what to do.
Parents. At some point, you have to think for
yourself. But we haven't given you the tools
to think for yourself with regards to this area.
And you just you learn by failing. And then it's
way harder. You know, you couldn't have said
any better. I mean, you know, I tell people,
especially when you're getting started, if you
quit, you don't have a chance, right? And so
many people at a very young age, they aren't
exposed to good parents like you guys, okay?
And in fact, one of the programs that I'm working
with some other groups on, it's a program focused
on what does a kid... eat, a child eat before
they take a test. If you test better and you
learn this in elementary or middle school, then
you get into a better college. I don't care if
you're a student athlete or not. It doesn't matter.
If you want a better education, you got to test
better. And I laugh because you've seen the commercial,
I'm sure. Snickers doesn't satisfy how many moms
give somebody a Snicker bar, you know, before
they test. And right in the middle of the test,
they crash because there's too much sugar. Right.
Yep. Absolutely. Well, I mean, that parent education
piece is a huge part of it, you know, because
what I'm learning is a lot of parents that are
my generation, we had parents in like the 80s,
early 70s, 80s or so that were heavily marketed
to that fats are bad, right? It was the low fat
diet craze. And but it's like fats aren't bad.
They're actually like you need them. And so and
they also were around the lifting weights will
make you bulky eras. Right. So right now we've
got a generation of parents that are also telling
our kids still to this day, don't lift weights
because they're going to make you bulky. And
that's bad. Like, ah, we need to break this pattern.
That's not right. We know more now. Listen, I
love my mother. She's in heaven. So is my father,
okay? My father had cancer. My mother was a two
-time survivor, and the third time, you know,
colon cancer got her. But to your point, if you
don't help your children, which are your legacy,
okay, and that's something else, then you end
up with this. This is, I hope you can see it.
Oh, yeah. This is my 62 -inch jean that I wore,
okay? So that's what 400 pounds. can look like,
you know, again, whether you lift weights or
whatever, it doesn't matter. In that particular
case, ladies, you know, Sarah and Kaylee, I didn't
fit. You know, you'd go to a restaurant, right,
and they'd say to you, the hostess would say,
do you want a boot or a table? Well, I didn't
fit in a boot, right? You know, I went to go
see Omar the tent maker to get those jeans, right?
You know, where else can you get a 62 -inch?
pair of waist jeans, right? And then you go on
a plane. How uncomfortable is it when you can't
really sit in that plane? So it's like you need
to, and a lot of people say, well, how much do
you weigh now, Neil? And I go, you know what?
Not what's important. What's important is how
do you feel? How do you feel? And if you can
impress that to your younger generation is that
do the things that you want to have fun, of course.
And we say that to our kids all the time. But
at the end of the day, you know, put yourself
in a position that you can give yourself more
energy. It's like, you know, it's like in the
state of Missouri. You're in the show me state
when you're going for your degree and then you
get that. I'm an adjunct professor at Boston
College and a lot of my students are graduates
and they're doing what they're doing. But, you
know, if you don't have the nutrition, which
I did not have, okay, if you don't have that,
you're not going to get. to the space that you
really want to get to. And you deserve to get
to if you put your time in. I think it's maybe
time for a little quick ad break. Follow us on
X, formerly known as Twitter, at NachoFitCoach.
Okay, we're back. Well, and that's like, you
know, learning to eat healthy and even, you know,
and it's not the most, always the most fun way
to eat or whatever, but it's being... I've been
watching my 600 -pound life lately, and I'm like,
that looks like a really hard way to live. It's
like choose your hard because, like you said,
getting on airplanes or fitting in a restaurant
booth, that's not fun. That doesn't sound like
fun. So it's like choose your hard, and no, it's
not always. There's discipline, and there's not
fun things about. Well, and it doesn't always
have to start with your choices. Right. I mean,
everyone, that's the thing with nutrition is
I feel like people feel like it has to be this
all or nothing. Right. Right. Like I either have
to go extreme one way or I'm just going to keep
doing what I'm doing. And so like people also
need to understand that you don't also have to
just rip and replace your entire routine. So
before we went live, you kind of mentioned, you
know, the strategy that you started with, which
was about moderation. Right. So sometimes it
does. It's all a part of your journey and it's
not just linear. You're going to have like this
ups and downs and whatever else. But the start
does not have to be the super extreme. Like now
I just have this short little food list and I
got to eat with it 100 percent of the time. Well,
not only does it not have to be, it shouldn't
be. It shouldn't be because it's not sustainable.
Yeah. Until I that switch kind of flipped for
me. I'm like, oh, I don't have to wake up. No.
Tomorrow. You could change everything about my
life. No, you did like one thing at a time. Yeah.
And I wasn't able to ever be successful in anything
until I figured that out. Right. Yeah. I mean,
so you had a great strategy from the very beginning.
You know, you just talked about your portion
control. Right. So sometimes it doesn't even
have to start with your choices at all, but you
just have to start with something. Well, you
know, I tell people that most of my life, my
adult life, I medicated. myself with with the
drug of choice food right and and i did and and
obviously i'm what i was and and listen i'm at
the lowest i ever was because i'm a big bone
gentleman is 189 .4 and you know a lot of people
you know a couple years ago um i could really
go to physical therapy i could go to orange theory
classes and, you know, do some other stretching
things that are necessary, you know, part of
the process. And I had to educate myself, you
know, like something real simple, like when you
sit in a chair at your desk, right? And so many
of us just get up and we're leaning forward on
the front of our foot. Over time, that is a detriment
to your joints. You know, I mentioned Chi running.
Lisa Bozzone, one of my running coaches, you
know, in the beginning, She taught me this. It's
wrist to rib and it's leaning forward. You got
to have your core in good space. And that's kind
of what I did. And it's not fast, but at the
end of the day, it's finish line versus finish
times. And, you know, that's kind of what it
is. But I'm curious, both of you have obviously,
I've heard the turkey trot story. I like that.
And your half marathon story. So did you have
like a fun moment or something that came along
that? Cause I had a couple and I'll share those
with you, but I'm curious about what you guys
know. This is your show, your, your, your audience.
And you know, this is a neat subject, you know,
to share your accomplishment. Oh man. Fun moment.
Just in general, like through this whole process
or just in life. Oh man. I'm going to think about
this. I'm like, I don't know. We've had, I mean,
as far as like, I think what I think about the
things that we've, kind of set out to do those
well we had our first 5k that one was the funnest
for me I think where you and I ran the whole
thing that was a fun moment we finished and you
raced that guy at the end I was not gonna let
that kid beat me you sprinted at the end because
she wasn't gonna let this teenager beat her I'm
that way that was fun a lot of a lot of neat
things have come out of just this entire experience
I think yeah I mean, because Kaylee doesn't really
have experience doing anything exercise related
before our podcast started. Like that's pretty
much how the podcast idea came about was she
had a lifelong of or just life of no experiences
with physical exercise. Just sheer laziness.
And so she kind of started to feel like maybe
that was something in her future that she needed
to start incorporating in. So she just started
coming to me with different questions about things
she would read about online. And so that's kind
of, I mean, so her journey is pretty fresh. Fairly,
yeah. I feel like with your experiences and stuff.
I mean, I don't know. Fun moment. I think probably
actually the, well, gosh, I don't know. I mean,
I have a couple moments. Well, you know, you
were saying something a minute ago. I was on
a podcast for men like me that were bigger. And
these two hosts had lost a lot of weight. In
fact, I started the podcast by saying, you realize
the combined weight of. of us on the call is
400 pounds, right? We'd lost, right? You know,
obviously my number was a little bigger than
theirs, but it didn't matter. So I asked him,
you know, a question. I said, one of the hosts,
I said, so what was your pivot point? And his
teenage son was talking to his friend and he
said, oh, my dad's fat because he's lazy, right?
You know, and it's like, you don't realize until
something like that happens. And, and, and my
family was as supportive as you can ever imagine.
But I tell people I heard, but I didn't listen.
Yeah, I'm sure. And, and, and that's, I think,
you know, a standing order. I mean, listen, I
ran in San Diego, which is, you know, I think
one of their founding races, you know, I've ran
San Diego, the rock and roll. Yeah. Yeah. I've
ridden the rock and roll San Diego. All right.
So you'll love this story. Okay. So it's my first
one. You go through Balboa Park, you know, and
then you go that one really monster hill. Yep.
And then you go up, right? Yep. Right. You know
that. Yeah. So then you make a turn and you're
going down and you're getting closer to downtown.
Right. So this volunteer tells me after community
college or city college, whatever, the tunnel.
Right. Because, you know, they put all those
lights and stuff in that tunnel that you're a
mile away. So I get. to this situation at the
end where I'm kind of, okay, I'm going to get
through the tunnel. And you know, it's at that
point it was will versus skill. So I'm going
to go nuts and I'm going to finish. And I see
this inflatable. I think it's the finish line.
Right. And I run like heck, right. I get to the,
and I see it. I go, Oh my God, I just ran for
a beer advertisement. So sometimes in life, you
think something is the finish line. You know,
like you start something and you want to finish
and it's not. And it really is your heart and
your ability to learn new things and get better
like you both have done. And listen, kudos to
both of you for coming together and giving people
like me an opportunity to share a transformation.
And like I always say. If it's one person or
a thousand people, it doesn't matter. I was in
the feature on the front page of sports in Las
Vegas in the Review Journal. This guy, Todd Dewey,
did an amazing article and people were saying
things. And I said, you know what? I'm just happy
that that story is getting to be told so other
people can realize that it's never too late to
reimagine your lifestyle and to live your happiest.
and healthiest version of you one day at a time
yep absolutely well and you're absolutely right
i mean the goals change along the way like whatever
you think your goal is going to be you're going
to get there and then you're going to figure
out something new and a new goal and like or
something else is going to turn you i mean that
has happened to me more than once you know you
think you're like this is this is where i mean
there is no what if you you know there's no day
where you wake up and you're like i did it no
i mean because then you find something new you
know and like You mentioned pivot point earlier.
So I can tell you the pivot point was for me.
So I had graduate. I was always a college. I
was an athlete, collegiate athlete, graduated,
started my first like corporate job, like my
first serious corporate job. And I traveled and
I was in airports and I was on the road. I lived
out of a suitcase for a week at a time by myself
visiting clients. But it was all all airport
food, all fast food, all hotel food. Like I was
not home cooking meals at all. And, you know,
when you are 24, 25, 26, you know, I felt like
I was getting away with it. Right. Like, I mean,
I was managing it. It was fine. It hadn't really
caught up with me yet. You know, hit 27. And
what my pivot point was, I sat in the airports
and I started to see people who had been you
could tell they had been like corporate travelers
for probably 10, 20, 30 years. Business suits
are not very forgiving. Right. And you could
just sit in the airport and I would watch people
and you watch the ones that life had caught up
with them and they were struggling to get to
their next gate. They were out of wind. They
were sweating, you know, and again, then to in
a business suit, that's not exactly what you
want to be sweating in either. Right. And so,
you know, it's like I would watch and I would
just see so many of those people go by or like
I would be on the shuttle. to go back to my car
when I got back from the airport and, you know,
people, and you could tell they were uncomfortable
getting up on the shuttle bus and getting into
the spot and, you know, sitting down. And I had
this moment where I was faced with what I felt
like was a fork in the road. Am I going to be
who I have been? Like I still identified as a
college athlete at that point. I'm like, I'm
a busy person. I'm a body, you know, whatever
able -bodied or, you know what? I just actually
like my next round of business suits were that
next size up. Yeah. Which am I, is that the path
that I'm going to keep going down? And I was
like that, I don't want to end up like that,
you know? So I looked at them as like a crystal
ball of myself and immediately decided I need
to put some structure in place around the choices.
And I did, I didn't change that part of it, but
I, I learned, I figured out how to get smart
with how I ordered at airports where the restaurants
that I chose, like I went through periods of
time where Applebee's, I would look on my GPS
and like 30 minutes ahead, I'd find the Applebee's
on whatever the highway was. Because back then
they used to have like a Weight Watchers menu
and it was everything was cooked with low oils
and they had their point system and everything.
At least I knew that it was somewhat controlled,
like portion controlled, calorie controlled,
whatever. And I would call in. Instead of waiting
for like McDonald's and driving through and not
planning, I would look ahead, find the next Applebee's
and I would call and order a pickup. you know,
order to go. I would just pull off. I would get
it and I would keep driving. And it just, you
have to acknowledge your situation first and
figure out a plan or a strategy to put something
in place. And it doesn't have to be, you know,
10 ,000 steps in a different direction. It can
just be small. But first is that recognition,
I think, to start. You know, when you say that,
one of my mentors, wrote a book called The Power
of Who. It's more for a networking and business
and stuff like that. Bob O'Dean's the same. And
bottom line is, is that, you know, he spoke at
an event, you know, where I was working at St.
Louis University at the time. And when I, I was
so inspired, but at the end of the day, we've
had this conversation in this podcast where I
got his book, I put it in my car windshield,
but I didn't do anything. for like two years.
I looked at it every day, you know, and then
I started believing, you know, in God a little
bit and that helped a lot, I should say. And
when I heard you tell your, what you just told
the story and maybe look up something that I
referred to once while I was this motion is light.
Sitting still is slow death. I didn't start by
running marathons. I started by walking to my
mailbox without losing my breath. OK, so with
that, we're going to take just a quick little
ad break. Hey, y 'all, thanks for listening.
This is your producer, Audio Allen. While girls
are taking a break, like, follow and subscribe
and stick around. We'll be right back. All right,
we're back. And the Bible says that we're fearfully
and wonderfully made, but we have to honor our
bodies by moving them. Yep. Well, even a strategy
is. Park your car in the farthest stall away
from the front door of the grocery store. OK,
just start there. You know, it just I think so
many people don't realize how easy it is just
to those simple little things. And they add up,
you know, walk around the block and then and
then if that was hard, walk around the block
again the next day and keep doing that till that's
not hard anymore. But it's like, yeah, you don't
have to you don't have to come out the gate running
marathons to make a difference. No. You can if
you want to. And sometimes you'll get into a
situation like in 2017 was the first Las Vegas
at night marathon. And I've learned that in the
beginning, at least for me, in the beginning
they did it during the day. And then when they
moved it to night and now it's only one of two
events, Formula One is the other one, that they
closed the strip. And it starts at 4 .30. Like
I said, it's crazy and whatever, whatever. But,
you know, I remember 30 days before that race,
that's when they had unfortunate situation, murders,
and, you know, and it was scary, you know, a
lot of security and whatever, whatever. So we
get into this scenario, and I'm thinking, man,
I've never been in this space before, right?
I've graduated a little bit, and I'm going to
PR. So I find a pacer, right? And I'm with the
pacer. And about the eighth mile, I got trucked.
I just got knocked to the ground. I was all over
the place. And I lost my pacing group. They were
too far ahead of me. And it hit me. Why do I
do this, right? You know, okay, the heck with
the PR, right? Go have fun. And I'm in Vegas
on the strip, right? So at the end of the day,
I also said, wait a minute. All these first responders
that are along the way, So instead of like really,
and then I was better than I am today, but, you
know, I was a younger buck, right? And I crisscrossed.
And I would go up to the first responders and
I'd say, thanks for your service. And you'd be
shocked how many of those people were like startled
that somebody would say that, you know, in all
due respect. And so, yeah, I got a medal. You
know, I got plenty of medals here behind me.
But at the end of the day, it really isn't about
that. It's about the camaraderie that happens
initially in the corral. And then you see some
of the other people that are, why are they doing
it? Well, they're celebrating their life. And
that's what you guys have done. And now you're
taking it to the podcast world. And hopefully
more people like you will keep sharing, you know,
that it is not never too late to reimagine your
lifestyle and live a life that maybe you never
thought you could. Yep. Nope. That's absolutely
true. I love that saying it. definitely kind
of just encompasses yeah so much about really
it's just those little things and um it can make
a big difference big change impact it i mean
one of my core memories from one of my well for
my full marathon in san diego was there was this
80 year old woman and she had a shirt that she
said today is my 80th birthday you know and so
she would but she was just happily truckling
along like it just it was you know that That
realizing that road races are not the winners,
27 ,000 of like the winner stereotype. You know,
it is regular people just going out and doing
something fun. Oh, so many of the people walk
the whole thing. You know, that was I mean, I
felt like probably a third of the race that I
did. That was about 27 ,000 people to just came
out of the gate walking the whole way. It's not
about running yourself into the ground. You can
have some fun with it, and it's a really good
time. I mean, listen, the first corral of the
elite athletes, yeah, I get that. For sure. And
they're doing it for a reason. They want to qualify
for Boston or New York or whatever it is. But,
you know, you're right. Most people are doing
it for fun. So just do something for fun. Things
are in moderation. You can make small changes.
You know, Neil did it over the course of, how
many years did it take for you to lose your weight?
Now that's kind of the crazy story. So the more
recent, you know, story over ten and a half years.
So my pivot point was October 12, 2015. That
was when Little Mac, my guardian angel, said,
you know, are you Santa Claus? Prior to that,
at Orange Theory, I failed. I went five weeks.
I didn't understand nutrition. I said that a
couple times during this podcast. So I then proceeded
in. Less than two years to lose 199 pounds. Wow.
It's crazy. It was a miracle. And before that,
I was in St. Louis and working at SLU in administration,
athletic administration. And I walked every day
around my son Logan's high school track. I didn't
miss a day. You know, I started getting it because
one of the big words that I also tell people
is show up. Yeah. Show up. and do the work, you
know, and show that commitment, you know, that
all of us have within. I tell people, and maybe
you'll like this, is that, you know, how many
of you have seen a miracle? And then I say, well,
think about it. How many people have you met
that have lost 109 pounds, survived sudden cardiac
death, and recently conquered cancer? I said,
I think I'm a miracle. But you know what? Everyone
in this podcast should learn and understand that.
Truthfully, everyone is a miracle waiting to
be unfolded. So if you've seen the movie Bruce
Almighty, okay, so what is Morgan Freeman playing
God tell Jim Carrey? If you want to see a miracle,
you got to be the miracle, right? And so, you
know, today, transformation, our main subject,
can lead you to so many miracles that... It's
like your story with your eight year old or,
you know, the turkey trot family story. I mean,
you don't experience those things if you don't
realize what it takes to get there. Right. I
mean, it's like every bite is every bite that
we take is either medicine or poison. What are
you feeding yourself? I had to stop by treating
my body like a garbage dump. That's what it was.
A garbage dump. Boom. Put it in. God has already
given us. The best nutrition plan in the world.
It's called real food. Yep. For sure. We had
a guest on last season and he talked a lot about
that same thing. I mean, that was his whole kind
of stance with his program that he did was food
versus poison and real food. There is no gray
area. And I think that's what people don't realize.
It is either. Yeah. It's either man -made poison
or real food. there's not really an in -between
not really not really it is what it is it is
what it is well neil i've really enjoyed talking
to you this is really great but i will definitely
tell you that every time you kind of like move
on your screen and i continue to see the university
of miami logo i mean we're sitting in nebraska
right now and so my childhood was remembering
the corn huskers playing miami in football And
so I am like ever since that moment, watching
the orange bowl, watching Nebraska play Miami.
And I just feel like there was years where it
was like, they were the top two teams. Like,
I mean, I've really enjoyed this conversation
with you, but seeing that logo on the screen
is just kind of made me a little bit like, Oh.
Let me say this to you. The women's basketball
coach at your school, Amy Williams, is phenomenal.
And she was at South Dakota when we worked there.
And the core and the culture of what she found
as far as student athletes and coaches and the
culture that she built, they won the WNIT. And,
you know, Nebraska is her alma mater. So, you
know, she's been there five or six years. She's
very successful, whatever. And I've been through
that many, many times. If truth be known, when
I moved, as I told you before the podcast started,
when we moved, because we had to, we were victims
of identity theft. That's hard. You get as low
as you can get, right? And we did it the hard
way. You know, we didn't do bankruptcy. We did
smart things, you know, but it took time. Right.
Just like this particular transformation. It
took time. Now, granted, I've been on this journey
until my recent cancer. You know, I was I was
in a good, stable space. And now, like I said,
third time around, I'm going to knock on it and
do what I do. But the core of your development,
I tell people it starts with your attitude and
attitudes like a flat tire. If you don't fix
it, you don't go very far. And in my particular
case, I had a flat tire. So when I moved to South
Dakota, it wasn't like the greatest. I mean,
it's a very good program, athletic program, but
the people made a difference. So where you are,
it may not be Miami warm or it may not be Arizona
warm, but the heart of the people that you surround
yourself with is a big part of the success that
helped me. So I'm with my wife, Laura, my son,
Justin and Logan. And then, you know, the people.
at USD really made a difference for me. So I've
been to your great campus. I mean, many times.
And I heard, you know, your story. And when I
listened about, you know, your aspiration to
get in Nebraska and something else came along
and those are all good things. We all have our
story. But, you know, who you surround yourself
with is important. And that's the mistake that
I made is that I always thought I had to do it
by myself. And that's not true. that community
makes a huge difference. And honestly, like if
you don't have people around you that are supportive
of you, it's really hard to be successful if
you can't get around people that do support you.
You know, I think we've talked about how it's
like adult bullying is alive and well, and it's
always food related. you know like just eat it
it's fine but which kaylee's been a victim of
that it's fine so anyways but yeah this has been
great well it's been so nice to meet you i've
loved learning more about you kind of your story
and everything so We will definitely have to
stay connected and watch and, you know, on what
you're doing. Yep. And we'll share the little
taco recipe because that looked delicious that
you shared with us. Yep. I'm going to be good.
That looks amazing. So we'll be sure and share
that along. And if you want to find Neil, we'll
link all of his information in our show notes
that you can get connected with him. You can
watch his journey. You can see a little bit more
about him. Learn more about his books. Whatever
it is that you do. There we go. We got a cover.
I love it. It's on Amazon. It's on Amazon. Perfect.
So we've got a book you can connect with. What's
the book called? What's the title? Never Too
Late. Never Too Late. It is Never Too Late. I
love that. That's perfect. So we will make sure
that people can find you. For sure. We'll link
it all up. So we appreciate your time. Thank
you for the opportunity. Anytime. We'd love to
chat with you again. OK, well, we'll make that
happen. Awesome. Doing what you're both are doing.
And it inspires people like me to want to be
on this show. So let's do it again. But more
importantly, you know, keep that family thing
together. Right. That is the coolest thing that
you're doing. Thank you. Nacho Nation's alive
and well. All right. Well, thanks again. We appreciate
you. And we'll talk to you again soon. Very good.
Thank you. All right. Bye. Thanks for listening.
Be sure to head over to our Instagram at Nacho
Fitness Coach and let us know how you feel about
the topic. Do you love it or hate it? Also, don't
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