The Struggle is Real: Why You Need to Ask for Help to Get Fit

Jeremy: [00:00:00] We all know that feeling of wanting to make change and improve our health, but sometimes it can feel overwhelming and difficult to know where to start.

Zach: Today we're gonna be talking about that struggle and why sometimes it's necessary to ask for help.

Jeremy: We'll introduce you to my fitness coach who has helped me and countless others achieve their fitness goals. And we'll talk about the one small change he suggested that completely changed my life. 

Zach: So we have been asked dozens, hundreds of times. What's the one thing that I can change that completely. Changes my life. And every single time we say, eh, there's not one thing. It's a whole bunch of little things and you gotta, , put in the effort and the hard work and everything like that.

You're telling me that you worked with this coach [00:01:00] and Joe gave you one thing that changed your whole life. You got, you gotta tell us about this.

Jeremy: So he did, he gave me the one tip that has probably made the biggest difference in my life that I've, uh, felt in a long time. But the trick here is that there isn't really one thing that changes your life. There's one thing that opens the door to changing your life. It opens you up to a lot of other options for the last few months. I've been, you know, not eating like complete garbage, moving enough, , not killing it, not going to the gym, not working out, but going for lots of hikes, lots of walks, like staying active, doing all the things.

It's caffeine, delay, putting it off for a couple of hours and all the things. and still, I would wake up every morning feeling like complete garbage like this, this myth of the guy who gets up early in the morning and feels great and has energy to take on the day, and that's when you're the most productive and all the things.

Zach: Like me,

Jeremy: yeah. I was like, that doesn't exist. How do you, like I'm doing stuff right? Like, sure I could do more, but I feel horrible. Every time I wake up. I drag my kids outta bed and I'm [00:02:00] grumpy and tired and just struggl.

Zach: wait, that's not normal.

Jeremy: Apparently not. I didn't

know this. I didn't know. This doesn't have to be the, I just kept chalking it up to, I'm in my mid forties, right?

Like, okay, the, the body's shutting down. I'm getting old, you know, whatever. so I started reading more about the caffeine delay that we have been, you know, championing on this show for a couple of years. And I started to see that there was some evidence that in some cases it might be better for some people to have caffeine right away to sort of kickstart the.

To, to put it in non-scientific terms because I don't understand the scientific terms. And I loved this idea because I spent the first, , two to three hours of my day every day, just dragging until I got coffee into my body. And then I would be productive for about four hours, and then I'd start getting tired again and dragging.

So enter my new coach. Jo Valle, . I have run this by him. I said, what? What do you think? Should I, should I switch up the coffee routine? because he was asking just about basic [00:03:00] fitness stuff and, and he said, yeah, sure, let's give it a shot because you feel horrible right now you're drinking coffee all day.

So all night your body's trying to process it out, and you wake up basically hungover from caffeine. Dude, overnight, completely changed. Like I suddenly felt like I, I, I would wake up at the normal time not feeling horrible. So then that, so again, this gets to the cascading effect. , I woke up not feeling horrible, so then I started hearing your voice of, I get up at four 30 every morning cuz I'm an Ironman.

And I thought, well that's still insane. Anything before five o'clock, I completely disagree with just on a fundamental level, but I went, well what about five 30? What about 5 45? Kicked it back a little bit. So now I, I've gradually stepped it back to where I'm getting up at five o'clock every morning. I have this hour to myself to meditate, journal.

Just sort of set myself up for the day, do the brain dump, figure out what, what all needs to happen. And then finally, like I've, I've taken care of myself. I've had this quiet time by the fire, drinking my coffee first thing in the morning. And I'm, that's the other [00:04:00] thing is I'm excited to get outta bed cuz I can smell the coffee cuz I programmed it.

Finally, finally, I can use the program function on my machine again.

Zach: It is one of the best 

Jeremy: Oh, it's incredible. 

Zach: out of bed and the coffee's already.

Jeremy: already made. So I'm drinking the, and I've done all the things and so now I'm ready right at six o'clock I can go in and I can be the fun dad at six o'clock in the. and like be playful, getting my kids outta bed and, and not just be like, oh, come on guys, we gotta go.

I'm exhausted. I don't have time for this shit. Like, all of that has transformed. And so in addition to that, now I've got this energy, I've got the kids off to school. There's a little bit of a window there. Now I'm, I'm going to the gym. Joe's giving me this great workout to, to go and I don't have to like watch the little guy on my phone telling me what to do and making stupid jokes and all the.

I'm just doing what he told me to do. I'm listening to the music that I wanna listen to, or I'm listening to the book I wanna listen to, or perhaps listening to your favorite podcast while working out. But it's just been such a major transformation. And again, it's not one thing that changes your life, but it's one thing that opened the door for [00:05:00] me that's changed my life.

Zach: It's funny how that happens. The one thing opens the door and then you see three doors and you, you can open all three of. . And then behind those, there's three more. And behind those, there's three more. And like, you know, again, a year, five, 10 years later, you look back and you look at all the doors you've opened and you're like, holy shit, that's crazy change.

Yet it was all micro adjustments, little things that you've changed over the years. That's, that's really the only way you're gonna be able to do it. So that's, that's.

Jeremy: and I, and I do think one thing is like all of these things I'm doing are things that I've done. So in all fairness, it really was sort of getting like, like, like getting back on a bike, right? Like, it, it just became easier because I've already had a meditation practice. I've already had a journaling practice.

I've already, I've already been reading for a while. , it wasn't like I had to learn a bunch of skills, but just opening up that time and opening up and discovering that energy is what allowed me to go, oh, this is how I used to do all this stuff. Because I, I didn't just feel like garbage all the time.[00:06:00] 

Yeah, so again, there's no one thing, but there is one thing that could change your life, and that's what we do on the show is we talk about all these little things that you can try. Any one of them might be the key that you need to unlock that door that opens you up to three or four other options that just keeps ongoing down a down a new path.

Zach: so for the four or five years that we've been doing this podcast, , I have continuously told you. Go to the gym, get up early. If you get up early, you'll have extra time. You'll be able to take care of yourself, and I've told you that repeatedly over and over and over again.

So I cannot wait to hear this interview with the gentleman who got you to make some of these changes.[00:07:00] 

Jeremy: And that gentleman is Joe Valgas. He is the founder of Paragon Performance. He has helped kickstart my journey to better health, but we started by asking him what got him started on his own journey to Better Health.

Content-Joe - USB: I basically got started in the fitness industry about 12 years ago now, and it was a hundred percent out of necessity.

So I got outta college, I gained a freshman 15. I'm like a sophomore, 15, probably a junior 20. Like I stacked it up pretty good and uh, yeah, so came outta school and I was like, I gotta do something about myself. So I joined a gym, started training, and uh, yeah, the owner of the gym was like, yo man, he is like, you've been here a while, getting good results.

Uh, you're here all the time. People seem to like you. He's like, I need coaches, so do you wanna coach? And I was like, sure. So I literally just like fell into it. And my background is in Math and marching band. So I do, I'm not like the athlete of the family , I don't have like a physiology degree. It's none of that stuff.

Purely just fell into it, but fell in love with being able to coach and teach people and you know, share the stuff that I've figured out. [00:08:00] Cuz I'm sure like all three of us here, we've tripped over plenty of hurdles. So, uh, it's a great way to, to give back and all that kind of.

Jeremy: Man, all this time I've been working with you as a client and I had no idea you could answer all of my marching band questions as well as my health and

Content-Joe - USB: Oh, I got you covered, bro. Yeah, I'm, uh, I can expand my market here

Jeremy: Well, cool. Well, let's, so I mentioned, you know, you and I have been working together a little bit. I want to get into how much, uh, I have failed in the program, uh, just, uh, on my own shortcomings and, and my successes as well. But let's talk a little bit about what it is that you do and what you offer to clients who are coming to you for help.

Because I'm sure there are lots of guys like me that come to you that have been guessing for most of their life and guessing wrong for most of their life, and they just finally give up and go, I need help. So what do they get from you when they come to you?

Content-Joe - USB: Yeah, no doubt. For sure. So first and foremost, like the Paragon programs, the Paragon's, my company, right? And the program, like I said, my background was kind of built on necessity. So the program itself was built on me trying to figure this stuff out for myself. So it's ideally, basically just trying to save time for folks who come to me, right?

They've tried this diet, [00:09:00] that diet, this approach, that approach, and they're like, , dude, what actually works? Cuz none of this is working for me. So kind of the, the difference in the approach of our program, as you've learned Jeremy, is it's more rooted in healthy behavior change. , right? The biggest change needs to happen between the ears, but also it's sort of meeting the client where they are and meeting their personality.

So for instance, like of all the folks that I've ever worked with, I've maybe had a half dozen that were like that type A I will weigh and measure everything to the grain of rice and actually do it and stick with it. Half doesn't, probably too many. It's probably like four or five. . But for the most part, like that's just too extreme for a lot of people, right?

And so we need to kind of see, okay, like what are you willing to do and what are you willing to commit to? And then craft like habits around that. Things you can do daily that just kind of compound on themselves over time. So kind of the biggest hurdle with folks when we get started is like, understanding what their wants are, splicing in their needs, , and [00:10:00] then getting on the same page of what that time horizon's gonna look like to get to where they want to go.

Jeremy: Yeah, so I came to you basically, like I said, I, I've tried a lot of things. We've talked about a lot of them here, things that have worked, things that have not, and ultimately, like we advise all the time. For me, it comes down to just better habits and for me, a lot of it is just working in the physical fitness part of it.

I've never been a big fan of going to the gym. I've been relying on, home fitness videos for a long. Those have lots of drawbacks and I was, I'm just feeling kind of done and beyond that. And so I, if I remember right, I largely came to you saying, I just, I need something that I can do in the gym while I listen to music and make it a little bit more enjoyable.

Make it a habit, something that I can do, on a regular basis and figure out what I'm actually supposed to be putting into my pie hole so that I, feel good and my body does what it's supposed to. . So how, walk me through the process of working with me. Where, where has it, where have you seen that I've done well, and where could I improve?

Content-Joe - USB: Yeah, for sure. And so I think it's, it'll be cool for listeners to kind of like hear your journey [00:11:00] in real time because here we are doing it together,

Right, So like when, when Jeremy and I got together, so I'll be kind of saying it to Zach, I was like, I'm teaching it to Zach how we did it. So when we got together, it was like assessing.

Your whole lifestyle, right? Like, what is, what is the full picture of Jeremy look like? Not just, Hey bro, do you have dumbbells and barbells? Or like, Hey, let me go slap the girl scout cookies outta your hands. You know what I mean? Like, as much fun as that would be, it's like, what's your sleep like, what's your stress level?

Like, what's family life like? Right? What's your, your day to day? What does that look like? When was the last time you got your blood work done? If. You know, all, we sort of like evaluated all those things and then got into kind of the stuff you would expect to talk about. So exercise and nutrition and understanding I like to really understand your full day.

Not an ideal day, but a real day. And I think one of the biggest things, and, and Jeremy, I want to kind of hear it from, from you when I bring it up, is one of the biggest things we identified kind of at the end of our conversation, ironically thank God we did, was [00:12:00] kind of the amount of. Coffee you were taking in, in order to keep your going during the day.

And like the irony is like you wake up tired. So you drink a ton of, not you, but anybody, you wake up tired, so you drink a cup of coffee to remedy that, but the caffeine stays in your system so long, it affects your sleep. And then you wake up tired and it's just a vicious cycle. So what did we do? We reduced you, I think, down to one cup a day.

Like how has that, how has that 

affected you since 

Jeremy: uh, if, if literally, if nothing else from the time that I've spent with you, other than that, that has completely changed my life. And we've talked about it sort of in, in spades here, but. I, I remember telling you. Yeah, I, I basically just drink coffee all day. It's just kind of, I, it's my go-to. And I would, you know, I would check my sleep scores cause I, I monitor my sleep on everything and my numbers were always pretty good.

So I felt like, hey, I'm, I'm a unicorn. I can drink coffee and still sleep like a champ. But I came to you saying, other than that, like I don't eat terrible occasionally, I, I cave to, you know, the emotions and, [00:13:00] and put bad things in my, in my mouth and all that. I wake up every day, miserable, angry, dragging my kids out the door to get to the bus on time, and just, just a horrible human being.

Waiting for that two hour caffeine delay that I've, forced myself into so that I can then finally enjoy part of my day around 11 o'clock or noon, get through a few hours and just continue the caffeine cycle all day, following your advice to go ahead and drink coffee first thing in the morning when I first get out of bed.

Limit it to two cup. I'm getting up at five o'clock, which is an hour and a half earlier than I was getting up. I'm journaling every morning. I'm reading every morning. I'm meditating most mornings. When I was, when I was only doing that at night. When I go in to wake up, my kids now at six. I've taken care of myself.

I feel good. I'm, I'm able to sort of playfully wake them up rather than, eh, get outta bed. You monsters, yo, like I just, I, I just, I am a different person from that one change. And on top of [00:14:00] that, then I feel good, drop the kids off at the bus, which is where the gym is. So I go downstairs and I lift the heavy things that you tell me to lift.

And, and even since then, The great thing about the app that you use is that, you know, it tracks how much did I, was I lifting yesterday? How much did I lift the day before that? And every time I look at it now, I go, can I put five more on that? Can I put two more on that? Could I do more reps of that one that I did fewer of at a heavier weight?

Like, it just, it's got me in just such a better functional space, literally because of coffee. The, the one thing that I felt every day, that's the one thing I get right every day, is I can make a killer cup of. , but it was the thing that was holding me back the most. It's just like that alone completely changed my life.

Content-Joe - USB: No doubt. I mean that dude, that may, that made my month probably. You know what I mean? That's like so amazing to hear. And as a, as a new dad myself, I've got a, a three month old here at home. It's our first you know, hearing you be able to say like, Hey, I'm a better parent.

Jeremy: dude.

Content-Joe - USB: As a result of not, not my program, [00:15:00] you know, it's just, but it's us kind of talking back and forth and obviously like I've got my level of expertise or whatever, but it's be able to look at you and say, Hey, let's, let's tweak this one thing.

You put in the work, you made the adjustment and look how it's affecting and propagating into the rest of your life. That's incredible, dude. I love that. 

Jeremy: Yeah. And it speaks to something that Zach says all the time on the show. I was just talking about questioning your beliefs here. I thought, my, my caffeine delay plan and just living off it all day was the way to go. And, you know, I heard something that made me go, maybe that's not me. And so I tried it and it turned out that was the, the, the unlock.

Content-Joe - USB: Yeah. That's fantastic. And that's kinda what you have to do, right? Is like sometimes it takes somebody else prompting you to do it, right? Like you ever have, like your, your spouse or a friend be like, Hey man, you gotta try this thing. And you're like, nah, whatever. And then you hear like a celebrity say like, you should really try this drink.

Or you're like, I'm doing it now. You know, like you get someone else, like a third party who tells you and you give it a try. And next thing you know, , let's change in your life. And it's pretty crazy.

Jeremy: It's wild.

Content-Joe - USB: Yep. That's the 

Zach: wedge salad. It was an episode of Modern Family where that happened. That's awesome. I love, I [00:16:00] do love, I was, Jeremy beat me to the punch, but I was, I was gonna say you know, questioning your own beliefs and like, what if I'm wrong?

What if this is not good for me? And to your point earlier, , we're not all the same. There's no one size fits all. So like, I delay my coffee for two hours, but I also hit the gym, then drink my coffee. Yes. So like, I'm, it's, it's a little bit different. But I am so happy that Jeremy's getting up early now because I don't know what, for years he's been like, dude, I don't know how you get up at four 30.

You're something's evil about that. I don't know why or how you do it.

Jeremy: Don't get me wrong, I still think four 30 is nuts. There's

something at like 

Content-Joe - USB: a little 

Jeremy: o'clock is is reasonable. Four 30 is you're just another level of crazy

Zach: I have to be at the gym at five 15 and that's the latest I can sleep and still walk in the door and not be the late

Jeremy: I love the idea, but I just, when I do the math backwards in my head, going to bed at eight o'clock when my kids don't go to bed until nine, I'm like, that just doesn't add up. It doesn't work.

Content-Joe - USB: Dude, my, my kid doesn't even sleep yet. I, all my friends are like, . They're, [00:17:00] they're like, bro, how's his sleep? I'm like, dude, I just wait like he goes to bed. I just wait till the sun comes up and then I start my day again. , that's like all I really do now. So four 30 hat's up to you cuz I could not pull that off now.

That's for sure. 

Zach: Yeah, it was seven this morning though. I wasn't feeling too good, so I was like, you know what? I'm not gonna push it. I'm gonna sleep in. Yeah, we're gonna so I've got lots of questions for you, so Yeah. Fire away. so Jeremy talked about, the one change that you made was the coffee right.

how did you, so I think this falls into a lot of people's plates where they're like, oh, the gym, I hate the gym. It's horrible. It's the worst thing in the world. . I'm the opposite. I love going to the gym every morning. Yeah. But a lot of people do fall into that camp, so. He's going, he's doing some of those things.

Like how do you get people to change that perception? What's your, what's your process there? How do you get that to happen? 

Content-Joe - USB: Yeah. Great question. So, Zach, what, what kind of gym do you go to? Is it like, I go to, I go to a CrossFit gym. Okay. And like what, what do you like about it? 

Zach: I like the people. I like the the coaches.

So I [00:18:00] found some really good coaches who are. , they keep a close eye on me and make sure that I'm moving in the ways that I need to move, as opposed to, doing everything RX or doing things, everything the way the guy next to me is doing it. Yeah. So I get a lot of that focused attention.

Uh, the community is great and, it, it's a great way to start my day. Like, and it's constantly varied so I know CrossFit. How do you know someone does CrossFit? They'll tell you they do CrossFit. I like CrossFit because it's always different. Yeah. I show up. I don't have to. They're like, you're gonna do this, this, this, and this, and then you're gonna leave.

And it's like varied. It's, it hits different muscles all over the place. So those are, those are some of the things I love 

Content-Joe - USB: about it. So I, I, I didn't even need you to say, I knew you were gonna say cross. I coached crosser for like 10 years, so I, I'm right there with you. Uh, I love it too, for sure. But you look at, look at all the things you just listed out that you like or love about it, right.

The secret is not that you have to go to a gym or that I even need to change your perspective. So here's, here's the secret thing [00:19:00] is, and I'll, I'll start with a story cuz you guys would appreciate this. So, back when I was in high school, I had a buddy, his name's, uh, we'll call him Brian, which is his name, and between, it was like junior to senior year, right?

Right. When like you're in that teenage space where you start to like, care about what you look like and all that kind of thing. Brian, he was a, he was a heavier kid. We leave for the summer. I don't see him all summer. We come back in the fall and he was like shredded and we're like, dude, what happened to you?

Meanwhile, we're still wearing like our baggy Old Navy shirts and they have the whole deal, and we're like, what happened? And he go, he leans in. I no joke. Swear to you. And he goes, dude, D d R. Remember that game? Dan's dance revolution with a little arrows on the floor? He's like, I just played DDR for three hours a day every day, all.

That was his form of exercise right now is the message you needed to play d d R? No. The message is you need to find something that you enjoy doing. So for you, Zach, it's going CrossFit, which is very easy to fall into, [00:20:00] right? You have the community factor. There's a lot of variety, right? And you see your, like the actual quantitative improvement over time with like hitting prs, all like, that's all great.

For him it was . It was playing dance, dance revolution. For some people it's Zumba. Some people like to just play pickup basketball. To me, like you don't have to go lift weights. Like my sport, I actually got into it as a result of CrossFit is strongman. That's what I like. I'm like two freaking big to be doing a hundred pull-ups at a time.

That's not for me. Mm-hmm. . So I'll lift up heavy things. But I enjoy doing it, so no one needs to convince me to go out in my garage when it's 30 degrees outside and carry a 700 pound yolk across my driveway like a maniac. And all my neighbors are staring at me. You know what I'm saying? , like, that's fun.

That's fun to me. I'm a weirdo. But for the, the average person watching or whatever, whoever's watching is. They don't need to be like, oh, I have to go to a gym in order to get results. You just gotta do something. You just gotta move. Right? So when Jeremy and I got together, we're talking through it, it's like, all right, what do you have [00:21:00] access to?

Right? And Jeremy, I think I'm already saying like, Hey, I'd like to go to a gym. Nothing against the gym. I have one right in my, like, we're in your community. So we're like, all right, let's put something together that you could enjoy doing on your own. Listen to your headphones, do your thing. And it's been working out so far, but who knows in, in a few weeks that might change.

And then we gotta mix things up and meet you where you are, you.

Jeremy: and that's, so this is, I think where a lot of people get hung up because we, we give the same advice a lot of the times is, find the thing you love, find the thing you'll do every day and go do it. Cool. If I like going for a walk for 10 minutes every day, I'm not gonna drop a hundred pounds.

Right? Like, if that's my it's, it's an, a push in the right direction, but at some point doing what you like, maybe it's not enough. If, if your results are, I have a load of weight to lose, I want to get shredded, like the ddr. , like, where is that line? How do you figure out like between, just get started, put on the shoes and get your butt out the door to like, I want my body to look different and I want to feel different.

Where does, where does that transition happen?

Content-Joe - USB: Yeah, that's a great question. And I think a lot of it is like what we're talking about is [00:22:00] for folks who like, Hey, just go do something. Just get started, right? It's kind of like a gateway activity. If it's basketball or yoga or whatever, whatever. I think CrossFit's a great one because you learn how to move well.

You get exposed to a lot of different things, right? And you kind of can find your lane, which is what happened with me. I kind of got into strong man versus. doing the traditional wads and that kind of thing. So I think for folks really like you can get a lot of progress by cleaning up your food, sleeping better, checking your blood, work with your doc and moving in whatever way you want to move.

That can get you a pretty good amount of the way. You're gonna get to a point though, where like maybe you have very specific ideas of what you wanna look like or goals you want to hit. That's where you need to kind of like, let's say for lack of a better term, like niche down into your specific activity.

So like if you enjoy running. You're not gonna become a professional bodybuilder. It's not gonna happen. So if you want to get, jacked in tan, you gotta switch up your program and start training. Like the person who looks that way, like for me, I mean, we've never met in person. I'm sure we will at some point.

Like I'm a big [00:23:00] guy. I'm six four, like two 60, right? Like, I'm just built to lift big, heavy things. So when I wanted to get better at that, I literally looked up. On Google, who the hell is really big and strong . And it was like, you know, for Bjornsen from Game of Thrones. And I'm like, what does he do? Okay then I'll just do that.

And that's where I got more specific. Cuz my goal is not to like be super shredded with abs. I wanna be big and strong as hell. That's my goal. So I train for that. So it's really like get started, do something, get in love with just moving and doing whatever. And then whatever your goal might be, you're gonna have to direct your efforts in a way that get you to that specific.

Jeremy: I think this speaks to something that we talked about on a recent show. There is this transition, this ha that happens where we, we show up to the gym, we show up to whatever journey we're on for this thing. Hold on. My dog's gonna ruin everything.

Content-Joe - USB: They're chiming in

Jeremy: We show up on this self-help journey, self-development journey, whatever it is, and we, we focus on the transformation I wanna get from here to there.

So I need to start by whatever, taking the walk, [00:24:00] going for the swim, lifting the heavy things, whatever the thing is. But they're somewhere in that process. Transformation has to be replaced with evolution and it becomes less about, I want to get to that point and it be, and it becomes more about, I need to do better today than I did yesterday.

That's where I am now. That's where be, you know, because of the work we've been doing together, doing the, can I put five more pounds on the, on this bar? Can I do a little bit more? Because you, for you and I, when it started, I was like, I just gotta get in the habit. I just gotta show up consistently. And then a switch flipped where it.

it's no longer about showing up consistently. I'm doing that and even on the days I'm not going to the gym, it's like, okay, what else can I do? Can I go for a hike before work? Yes. Can I squeeze in some yoga? Yes. So I'm doing something every day, but every day it's, what can I do harder? What can I do a little more?

How, how long does that typically take? Is that common? Do most people go through that point where they, once they just get on the train and and figure it out? They start to focus more on the evolution and [00:25:00] less on the transf.

Content-Joe - USB: Yeah. So, it's so funny we've never talked about this. You and I. , but you've sort of, um, started to pull a curtain back on like the underpinnings of my program, underlying principles of how I run things. So I had a mentor of mine, a guy by the name of Peter Sage. He'd be great for the show for sure. He was a master trainer for Tony Robbins, like 15 years.

Like just a really, he's really interesting dude. And so, um, Peter, you know, he is a dear friend, mentor of mine. Worked with him pretty closely and he taught me basically like a three step f. That I took and I applied to my programs when I coached with folks. And so the first thing, this is kinda what our initial conversation was, is you have to know like the what, like what it is you're gonna be doing.

Right. And a lot of that's for the coach to craft, right? But making sure we're on the same page. The second piece is like the why, like why is this important to you? Getting really tied into emotionally what you want to do, right? AKA like will. If you wanna do something bad enough, you're at least gonna take some steps to get there.

But it's sort of like a short-term burst to get to where you [00:26:00] want to go. That's sort of where, where you and I got to a point and we actually tipped past it to the third piece, which is helping you create a sense of identity in what you do. So you're no longer the guy who like doesn't like the gym and now you're just showing up.

Now you're Jeremy who goes to the gym when he is supposed to, and it's not a negotiation. You just go and now you're growing an identity of somebody who looks to improve in an activity, in a space that you normally wouldn't want to go into.

Jeremy: Yeah.

Content-Joe - USB: I didn't have to make you do that. You did that on your own. But we did it through how we sort of crafted the program and how we got it going.

And it's funny cuz on paper it looks like kind of boring , it doesn't look that exciting. But because we pulled out a few things and we fixed the coffee piece and blah, you felt so good to now make these other changes and now you've, kind of grown into a different person in a way. And that's really like my aim for folks is like, you shouldn't be working with me forever.

you should work with me long enough to make that shift, that identity shift. Because what's like, when we look at a goal, right? [00:27:00] Like what's the point of a goal? A goal is not to like attain the goal. The point of a goal is who you're gonna become in the process of achieving that goal. You might not actually ever get there, or you might get there and then find, hey, is that all there really is for me?

But who you become in the process, the skills you build, the values that you know, you start to hold dear to you. No one can take that. And that's, that's like I'm have to get too like, mushy on you guys. Like that's what I'm about. Like that's what gets me jacked is folks who can really make that sort of transformation.

Cuz once you can do that, man, you could like quite literally do anything. You can apply that to any, any area of your life, finances, health, your career, your business, whatever. So that's kind of like really behind the curtain. That's what I'm doing in the background.

Jeremy: Yeah,

Zach: That's awesome. I, I am, I have to say, I, I, Really, I, I applaud you for getting Jeremy to go to the gym when I've been giving him shit for years to go to the gym.

So, nice job. I you like whatever you're doing, you're doing [00:28:00] it right. Thanks. Appreciate that. Thank you. I love it. But you know, for anyone who's listening who's just like, okay, well, I haven't done anything in years. I want to start working out like, what's that? What are those, first couple of things, like what could they just do right now?

Like if they just stopped playing this episode and stood up, what could they do like right now to just start that journey and start that process for themselves? 

Content-Joe - USB: Yeah, so you, if you want my gut reaction, immediate and Zack, like this is, you gotta put yourself, you don't have to, but put yourself in the.

meaning like en environment is going to Trump will over the long term. So if you're like, I just gotta start working out, I just gotta do it. And you go to a place where it's like you got your headphones in all lone wolf and whatever, like that could last for a little while. CrossFit gyms have figured this out, not just CrossFit, like at opex, you know, these boutique kind of, um, like circuit type gyms where they have that community factor where you go in, [00:29:00] you connect with other people, you connect with the coaches, you become friends with these people, and now, , like, you can't leave.

It's like you're breaking up with your girlfriend. You can't, you can't just bail because you had this relationship built up. So my advice to people is if you want to really get started, you know, you don't have to go in and like crush yourself. Not like that. Like we, we just had, Jeremy had this conversation with me where it's like, you know, how hard should it be, whatever.

And I always say like, stimulate, don't annihilate that whole thing. But if you wanna just get rolling, learn what to do. And do it in a way where you're going to better your chances of sticking with it. Cuz you need to get into a supportive environment. So for instance, like, you know, if I hung out with nine people who smoke cigarettes, it's a very good chance I'll become the 10th cause I'm around it.

If I hang out with nine other millionaires. , there's a very good chance I'll become the 10th cuz they've been there, they know how to do it. They can impart that knowledge on me. So if you're around folks in a tight community who are getting fit, who eat the right stuff, who get to bed on time, drink a lot of water, blah, blah, blah, you are probably gonna become the next person that does that.

Mm-hmm. . So [00:30:00] anything local to that person who's listening and, and you can get into a community environment, that's, I think that's really where you're gonna find, you're gonna have, uh, you know, the most traction in getting to where you want to.

Jeremy: Let me ask you about the, the other side of that coin, because I hear you guys talking about going to a gym where you have to interact with other human beings, and I thank God, dear God, no, I'm not doing that. That's not for me, but. What I've enjoyed about working with you is that it is largely, it's hands off, right?

We've only met a couple of times to just sort of check in how are things are going, but the accountability of the app that we share access to. You see where, where I'm falling short, you see when I'm not logging things you see when I skipped to the gym or didn't like knowing that you see, that is enough of an accountability tool for me to go.

I need him to know I'm serious, so I gotta go. So how important when you talk about that community, yes, there's knowledge, yes, there's access, there's all of those things, but talk about the accountability part and, and the role really that a coach can play in helping you stay [00:31:00] focused on those goals.

Content-Joe - USB: for sure. And, and, and I, I'm subbing in community cuz it's like CrossFit lingo, but really it's environment. So like you're working with me remotely. Like you're, I mean you're across North America on the other side of North America, like we're working remotely together. , but you're putting yourself in an environment where, you know, I'm, I'm watching your big brother's watching you, right?

You live in a community where there's, there's a gym within, you know, short distance of your house, like you've set yourself up to win, right? And so, I mean, really, it's, that's the environment you're putting yourself in. If you're somebody who's listening and you're like, oh, I just wanna go to Planet Fitness and do my thing.

I can't recommend highly enough that you should get a. , get somebody to work with. It doesn't have to be me, it could be anybody, but get started with somebody. Why? Because if they're good coaches are, are, if they're a good coach, they're gonna help. They're gonna help you compress time. they're gonna help you bypass all the hurdles, all the junk, and kind of get to the root of what it is you need to do to get better right away. For sure they have that accountability factor, but it's not, the [00:32:00] drill instructor per se who's yelling at you cuz you didn't, get your burpees in.

They're helping to lead you along the way and guide you down that path. So, yeah, I, I mean I have multiple coaches I work with one cuz I can't expect someone to pay me to be their coach if I won't do the same thing. Right. But also, , there's different areas I want to excel at and I don't wanna wait till I'm 50 to figure it out.

So I have like a business coach. I've got my own life coach and Peter, who I work with. I've got someone who writes my program, my strongman programming, like I got coaches all over the place, but it helps me to accelerate what I want to do.

Jeremy: Well, let's, uh, let's imagine somebody does want to hire you and does want you to be their coach. Where do we learn more about you online and, uh, follow all the things you do.

Content-Joe - USB: Yeah, no doubt. So, um, you can go to our website, paragon wellbeing.com. We do a lot of like employee wellness programs as well, so you'll see a lot of that in the website. There's a individual's tab at the top, just click that, drop us a line. Um, you can check us out on Instagram, so Paragon. Underscore wellbeing or at Paragon Wellbeing.

Both of those two can get to us for sure. But yeah, I mean if anybody who's [00:33:00] listening to this, if you want to get started, you don't know where, what to do, whatever, happy to do a free consult call with anybody who wants to reach out to us. And we'll do, uh, a fit mess discount for sure.

Just to hook people up and, uh, you know, hopefully we can help change some more lives for.

Jeremy: That's awesome. And, uh, and I just personally working with you, I can't recommend it enough. So anybody who's interested, I highly recommend get in touch with Joe and, and, and take advantage of his services cuz it's literally in, in the course of what four, four weeks changed my life. So, so thank you for all you've done.

Uh, for me personally, thank you for being here. Uh, any final thoughts you wanna share with our audience before we let.

Content-Joe - USB: No, I mean, honestly just what we talked about, set a goal for yourself, don't get so attached to the outcome, right? Just about who you're going to become along the way. Put yourself in the environment. But take that first step cuz you will not be disappointed, that's for sure.

Jeremy: Our sincere thanks to Jo Valle from Paragon Performance, not only for being a guest on the show, but for all that he's done to just help me get my shit together. I just, again, I'm a different person than I was just a, a short time ago. It really means a lot to be working with him.

I hope you'll check [00:34:00] out, uh, his website and the work he's doing at his website that is in the show notes for this episode. You can find that@thefitmask.com.

Zach: So the first takeaway, it's so nice to hear, , somebody as professional as Joe say the same thing that we have been saying. It's almost like we know what we're talking about in some 

Jeremy: We fake it pretty good sometimes.

Zach: I know, but, and that's, that's really to start small, like one little change. Like if, if you try and take on too much, you're gonna fail.

But one little thing just opens the door, like we were talking about earlier. Open one door opens three opens, six opens, 10. Like, it's just crazy how one small change that's sustainable that you can complete, that you can actually do, can lead to a whole new year.

Jeremy: And what's wild about it and, and that we, you know, this is sort of a continuing theme here from what we talked about recently. This moment that seems to happen when it goes from transformation to evolution. When you go from putting on the shoes and showing up and just doing the thing because it's the thing you committed to [00:35:00] doing, and then all of a sudden there is this, this thing that can happen where you're like, well, what if I did it better?

What if I went a little further? What if I went a little longer? What if I lifted a little more? What if I ate a little better? Like there's just this evolution that takes over and starts to become a part of who you are rather. Focusing on this transformation to becoming that person like that, to me, that's, that's I guess, sort of sequentially right in, in order.

Getting started is the hardest part, and then doing it is the second hardest part, and then it just gets easier when all of a sudden it, it sort of becomes this game where you're like, I just think I can do a little better today than I did yesterday. That part has just been a, a really eye-opening and an amazing part of my experience just in the last.

Zach: and that leads into the third point. So like as you're starting small, as you're making these evolutionary changes to become the transformation you want, you don't have to do it alone. Get a community, get a coach. Find someone who knows more than you do, and learn everything you can from them. Let them guide you.

I know for me, half the battle is [00:36:00] in not starting something is, I don't know anything about. . And if I go find somebody who will help me through it, like at a gym or a nutritionist or somebody who knows a thing or two, I'm more apt to start. And once you start and open that first door, you're good to go. So I, I cannot stress enough.

Get a coach, get a community, , get a place or a presence that you just like being around and it'll make the journey that much easier.

Jeremy: And just to, to circle back on what you were joking about. I'm gonna say joking about you not being in, you know, your message not being enough for me to, to take this action. Sometimes it does need to be somebody who's a little bit further away, because the people that are close to you, you have all these filters and attachments to, to their perspective that you think is, this is why, this is what they're thinking, this is what they're thinking.

When you go to that third party who's like super objective, right? Like a therapist or somebody who's just like, no, here's what I see and I don't really even know you. And when, when all of a sudden you're like, oh, you do hear me in the right way. It really can just, uh, push you toward that [00:37:00] change that you're trying to make because it, it just, there's something more, tangible about that, that I think just really make a big difference in, in your decision process moving forward.

Zach: No, I was not joking about that. That greatly upset me.

Jeremy: Jerk face. All right. Well, Joe had a lot of great advice for me. He shared a lot of great advice and strategies to help you overcome the obstacles that may be keeping you from achieving your wellness goals. he said, to overcome obstacles of his own. We asked him about that for this week's exclusive bonus clip.

We share those in our weekly newsletter and you can sign up for that in the show notes for this episode at our website. That's the fit mess.com and that's where we will be back in just a few days with a brand new episode. Thank you for listening.

Zach: See.

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