How to Take the First Step Back into Healthy Habits

Solo-Routine

[00:00:00] Did you make it through the holidays and then realize that you fell further off the wagon than you intended to? I know I didn't. In fact, I feel like a champion right now. Well, maybe I did. And there might be a few other people out there who did too.

Today we'll talk about how the struggle you've been through is just the beginning of an incredible comeback story.

Happy to see you again after like 10 months. It's been a minute. Yeah, we, we have not recorded an actual episode together for, I think, nearly two months. And it's, it's been a two months. It's been a hot two months, that's for sure. So as the, uh, as the clip alluded to, the [00:01:00] tables have turned a little. You're, you're, uh, struggling a bit.

Things have sort of turned around for me. Uh, that happened for me largely after hitting a pretty hard rock bottom that we'll talk about. But I want to start with you because you're, you're in the struggle. You're in the thick of it. What's going on with you right now? Of course I am. I have gotten out of my routine so harshly that it's having impacts throughout my entire.

Life. My, my whole mental health is screwed up because I'm not doing the things that we talk about Week in and week out on this show and I've gone two months without doing them and now I'm feeling the pain from them We'll get into all the the reasons why and and this and that but like that it's just that all the things that we talk About like hey go work out.

Hey meditate. Hey, go do this go do this like all those little bits and pieces yeah, they haven't been there for like two months and Man, life sucks right now. So what happened? How did the whole thing [00:02:00] start to unravel? So it started with a trip to Disney. Hey! Everyone would be like, hey, that sounds like a good thing.

Yeah, that would usually turn people around and put them in a good place and have them feeling good about themselves. Now, I go to Disney a lot and under normal circumstances it's not a big deal because I work out, I work out, I work out. I go to Disney, I walk, you know, 16 miles a day. Then I go home and I go right back to the gym and we're good.

Everything's golden. In this case, though, I went to Disney, I walked a whole bunch of miles, and did a normal Disney trip, and then I came home, went to the gym once, and then got on a plane and had to go to Ireland for work. Um, while I was in Ireland, I didn't sleep well. I normally go over there and like, power through the first day, and I'm really tired, and the next day I acclimate to the time zone, and I'm good to go.

This time, though, I got over there, I fell asleep at like 9 o'clock every night, woke up at 10, 11, and then was up all night. So for the whole week I didn't sleep, so the times I was gonna work out Were actually the times that I fell asleep and got the only sleep I [00:03:00] got for that day. So, a week at Disney, no working out.

One workout in between. A week in Ireland, not sleeping, working, having a couple of drinks here and there. Holiday party, not working out. And then flying home and I got home and I was just exhausted. Absolutely destroyed my trip home. I went to a Christmas party Friday night for work in Ireland. I got back to my hotel room at like 1.

30, 2 o'clock, kind of laid down for a few minutes and then my car picked me up to drive me to the airport, and then I flew for like 9 hours to Newark, and then I was in Newark for a whole bunch of hours, all in I was up for like 32 hours, something like that. Now everyone's probably thinking, okay, well you're home, get back into the grind of things.

Nope. Then I got sick, so I couldn't go to the gym. Then Christmas hit. And that was the kind of like, I fit in like a whole bunch of workouts, like in between here and there, but like for the two months [00:04:00] between going to Disney and then Christmas and then the first week of January, like I was Christmas, then I was sick again.

I'm still sick. Like I still have a cough and you probably hear me do a little, like there's stuff in my, in my nose still. So when I go to, I can't, and I've had such a hard time getting up in the morning. So when my alarm goes off at 4. 30, I turn it off right back to bed because my lungs are full of phlegm.

I can't do anything. So in the last two months, I've probably worked out like maybe six or eight times. Mmm, maybe and I've been sick and it's been the holidays and I've ate like crap. My normal eating like crap, but I'm not working out. So all of a sudden like I feel bloated and like all these things. So all of those bits and I'm just off of my routine.

Like I'm waking up at 7. 30 every day. Mmm, as opposed to 4. 30. Yeah. Um, so I'm completely off my routine, my meditation schedules and in the shoots, because as we all know, [00:05:00] from four 30 to seven 30 is when I take care of me. Yeah. So when I wake up at seven 30 and I have to just jump on my first call and slam my coffee down, well now I feel like Jeremy and I don't like this.

Kind of bullshit, man. Oh, that's funny. So I, and I want to dive into this more because I've, I'm not even going to say I've made a realization, but I've just made changes in my life that amplify what you're talking about here. But the lack of working out to me, I think, and obviously sleep plays a factor in this too and sickness and all that, but the working out.

Oh my God, what a foundational piece of all of this when it comes to feeling good, right? Mental health, all this stuff. Absolutely. It's so huge. I literally posted on threads the other day, something about how. I'm now like 10 weeks into this routine that I started with my coach. He basically pointed me in a direction and [00:06:00] said go.

And so I've been going for 10 weeks solid. Like I fell behind, but I would catch up. I'm on pace. That has led to making time to do regular cold plunging. Not just when I feel like it, but like it's on the schedule. I go and then I go even more when I want to. All these little things that have happened have made me feel so much better.

I have not had like a, a, severe depressive episode in 10 weeks. Like they'll come and go for like hours here and there where any one of them in the past would have been day, two days, three days. And I can point all of it to the fact that I go and throw heavy things around in the gym for an hour or more, at least three times a week.

In addition to that one day of yoga and another day of some long extensive walking, whether it's a hike or something, but that physical movement. All started because I hit a rock bottom. Like I had a change at work that was very stressful. I freaked out and I just started, [00:07:00] I just was like, if I'm going to ask for help, I'm going to ask for help in every aspect of my life.

I need a new job. I need to take better care of myself. And so I reached out to the people that I knew could help me. And man, that rock bottom, that, that having my back against the wall, being stuck in the corner, I came out fighting and I have not felt this good. And I don't even know how long and we've talked about this before where we'll have someone on, I'll get motivated, I'll do the workout for a couple of months and I'm feeling good and things are awesome, but then something will happen like what you're going through now, fall off the rails, you feel like crap and it's just, it's so hard to get back on it so I can completely sympathize with the position that you're in because I've been there a thousand times and I'm scared of getting there myself again because I know how dark it is and I know how hard it is to just go do it.

But what do you think it's going to take to get you to do it? What do I think? Yeah. Honestly. And, you know, three months ago, right, when we're having all these conversations, I was like, Jeremy, just go to the gym. Just go to the gym. It's [00:08:00] easy. Just go do the things. Yeah. It's not a problem. Right. For all of the mental health struggles that I have lived through my, throughout my entire life and know the pain and suffering and how difficult it is to like get off your ass and do something about it.

Like I. Yeah. I kind of feel a little bad, not a lot, but a little bad enough enough that I've been just like, Jeremy, just go do the thing, man. It's fucking easy, right? For as much discipline and routine that I have with going to the gym and knowing how important it is, like I'd say the last week I pro if I pushed myself, I could have gotten there.

I could have done it, but you're not uncomfortable enough yet. And I haven't. So, and I do know that like I'm waking up in the morning, I'm still like coughing and I'm still like full of phlegm. Like when I wake up and I don't like working out in the afternoon and the, you know, just with my job, like I'm, I'm just mentally exhausted by four or five, whether I've gone to [00:09:00] the gym or not.

So like my willpower is gone. I won't go. So I know I need to do it in the morning and I'm finding all these, these excuses not to go like my foot hurts and like this. So. Last night, I was like, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna get up, there's no reason I tell Jeremy to do this all the time, I know I can do it, I'm gonna get up, I'm gonna go to the gym, we're gonna make it work, I'm gonna go to the 6.

30 class and get up at 5. 45 instead of 4. 30 to give myself a little breathing room, and you know what happened? The alarm went off this morning, and I got up, shut it off, and I went right back to bed, and I skipped it, again. But dude, you are sick. Like you're on the end of it. You're feeling a little bit, but you're still sick.

Your body. Oh yeah, yeah. You're right. I am physically sick. I thought you were referring to my mind. Well, that's obvious. We don't need to spend a whole hour on that, but there is something to be said. My coach was talking to me about this when we, when we first started working together a couple of months ago, and he was saying like, when it comes to training, dude, there are seasons in training and there [00:10:00] are going to be seasons when you just don't do it either because you just mentally need a break.

You physically need a break. You're sick. That's the season you're in right now. So, I mean, I, to me, this is the, the message that I think you would normally be telling me is give yourself some compassion, understand that you're sick, get through this, do what you can, but know that when this passes, it's time to get to work.

I know, but this is the weird part. Like I have been like had this form of sickness now for like three weeks. Yeah. Um, my girlfriend had it before me. Well, now we know where you got it. Yes, that is clear. However, like she had it for like two weeks before I got it. She's still coughing a little. My daughter got it.

It's gone on for like three weeks with her. She still sounds like a big phlegm ball. My ex wife now has it and she's like, I've been coughing for a week. [00:11:00] So like I'm sitting here like going. I'm getting old. My immune system sucks. Why is this taking so long? It's literally lasting this long with everyone.

My 8 year old, yeah, my 8 year old has had it for a month and she's still coughing like a lot. I mean, she's fine, but otherwise just this awful cough that just follows her around. Yeah, and the couple of times that I did go to the gym, like as soon as I was done with the workout, Um, the cough felt better.

The phlegm was lower. So I know I could literally go sweat this out. Yeah. Yet the alarm is going off and I've been out of my routine. Not only like, so like Disney is one thing that will throw your, your schedule off going to, you know, five hour time zone difference and not sleeping. It's going to throw it off.

And then I was sick and I was sleeping all over the place and the holidays and not having regular work schedule. So like, again, the last two months have been. Um, just very depressing [00:12:00] for me in that sense. Like I don't have the endorphins in my head that I normally have. And when I get a normal situation thrown at me that usually just, you know, bounces right off my skin, you know, I'm like, Oh my God, my whole life is over and I'm going to cry and roll up into a ball fetal position.

And none of that stuff ever bothers me. And it literally all ties back to, like you said, Throwing heavy things around in my meditation time, right? That, that's been out the window for a little bit. Yeah, it all, it works both ways. When you start doing one thing, it leads to another and leads to another. And you get to a place of better physical and mental health when you stop doing them one at a time.

It's the same thing. It just cascades. And all of a sudden you find yourself just feeling like crap. And it was just so funny. Like, so this post that I made the other day, like, it was basically like. Hey, everyone. I'm figuring out that by, you know, taking care of myself, I'm starting to develop some confidence and a little bit of love for myself.

This is kind of weird. I've been saying that on this show for [00:13:00] years, but like actually committing to it, having a plan that makes sense, having something I can, that I can stick to. I'm feeling it. I'm living it. I'm doing it. And I, again, I know I've done it before. And the trick is to just to, to stick with it.

And this, all of this brings up something I saw on, uh, I think it was social media the other day, uh, Andrew, Andrew Huberman, even though I always want to call him Alex Huberman, he was talking about this, the, this part of your brain that, uh, strengthens and grows when you do hard things and they're finding that this may be like the longevity piece of your brain, like people that have this developed live longer, healthier lives.

And the only way to develop it is by doing hard things. And it completely makes sense to me because I've spent so much of my life running away from the hard thing. I don't want to do that. And then I end up feeling like a victim, feeling miserable, and I start putting myself in positions, you know, mentally of, [00:14:00] what if it was really bad?

What if the doctor said, time's up? Me, six months ago, might've said, yeah, it makes sense. You know, cash it in. I had a good run. Me now says, fuck that. Like I'm, I can do hard things. I can beat this too. And so I just, I know that there are people out there that are in a similar position that I have been in for so long.

And I feel like you're in now where everything feels too hard. Everything's just like, it's just too much. Can't handle it. But I, I know I'm living the truth that by facing those hard things and by doing them. You will be better off. You will feel better and all of the shit that's in your way Will suddenly be so much easier to knock over and beat Yeah, so did you notice how I never answered your question of what I was gonna do about?

Uh huh. I did I did pick up on that. Okay. I was trying to delay it a little bit Yeah, so I could come up with a really really smart answer. What do you got? [00:15:00] I don't got shit But what I do have But what I do have is really the same thing that I've told you over and over and over again. And what you just reiterated back to me is like, you just have to go do hearts, hardship.

You have to, I have to look back and know I've done this before. I know I can do hard things. Yeah. It's going to be painful. Yeah. It's going to be uncomfortable. But what do we talk about all the time here? When's when's the best time to grow? Well, when you're uncomfortable, right? Yes. Those are, those are the moments.

So I really, what I'm going to do about it. And here's my smart answer is instead of going, Whoa, is me, this is going to hurt so much. I'm going to start changing my tune and be like, Hey, look at how much you get to grow because this is going to hurt like hell. But also, and maybe this doesn't apply to you because you don't do anything halfway, but if somebody is out there in this position feeling like, I don't, I don't want to subject myself to that.

Start small. Like if you, if it is [00:16:00] going to the gym. It doesn't have to be a million pounds. It can be whatever you can lift. It doesn't, you don't have to be sore. You don't have to walk out of there unable to walk on your legs. Like, just go do something, just show up for yourself and see how much better you can do tomorrow.

I was texting with one of my buddies who goes to my gym and I was like, are you going to come back to the gym at all? And he's like, yeah, I'm going to try for one day a week. And I texted back and I was like, oh, okay. Um, I'm going to try for six days a week. It sounds like you get back in and he basically responded.

He's like, and that's why you're going to fail. Dick. Yeah. Yeah. Today on the way back from the gym, I was walking back from the gym today and was thinking to myself, you know, three days a week has been pretty good. I'm holding this pretty, holding this together pretty well. What if I could do four, but of the like 10 weeks that I've been consistent, there's probably three that I fell behind and had to make up a day on the weekend.

And so I was just like, you know what, don't, don't rock the boat. Just it's working. Don't fuck it up. Couple [00:17:00] more weeks. Let's see if we can stay consistent a couple more weeks, start throwing some more weight on, like make that workouts harder before you start at more actual workouts to the schedule. So know your limits.

Don't change too quick. If you think you're in a good spot, stay there for a little bit. Cause we're all okay. Right. Remember how we doing? I'm okay. I'm okay. But with that, it's 2024 happy new year to you and everyone out there. If you've wondered where we've been for the last two months, now you know why.

It's all me. I couldn't commit to a time to record anything cause I was just out there dangling in the breeze. In your defense, it was also all me because I was losing my job, freaking out, panicking, not knowing what to do, and I was like, podcast? Who's got time for that? So, we both, uh, we both are very much to blame.

And for those of you that maybe [00:18:00] didn't notice, there's been a lot of reruns lately. So, if you're wondering what the hell you're talking about, I've listened every week. There's, there's been a few reruns. You, you may or may not have noticed. We put some of our best work up there because we were feeling really shitty about ourselves.

That's right. We, we had, we needed a good talking to from ourselves. So as we go into 2024, you know, we're going to be changing the tune of the podcast a little bit. We're not going to be doing as many interviews with people we're going to be talking about. The struggles that, you know, Jeremy and I have on a daily basis and the things that we're doing to get over them.

And if we do interview people, it's going to be the people that we really, really want to talk to or the people who are helping us through our struggles. Because, you know, again, we are pretty average guys, below average in a lot of areas, especially me. And we're just trying to get through life here. And we really want to make sure that everyone hears our stories and here's what we're going through.

And maybe you'll resonate, maybe you'll hear a tool, maybe you'll hear something that we're doing that'll help you out. So [00:19:00] we are back 2024 we're going to be recording and it's going to be a lot more of what Jeremy and I are going through to make this the best life possible for us. So the next time we talk, I have no excuses.

Everyone listening is holding me accountable to get my ass back to the gym. And we would like to offer that accountability for you as well. So you can always reach out to us for help, for advice, for whatever tips you may need, you can do that through our email info at the fit mess. com. But that is going to do it for this week.

If you did enjoy this or got anything out of it at all, it would mean the world to us. If you would share this with someone who could benefit from what we've talked about here, we'd love to be able to help as many people as possible. And you are the key to making that happen. So hit that share button today and come back next week to the fit mess.

com. And that's where you'll find a brand new episode from us. Thanks so much for listening. [00:20:00]