Well, hello ladies and gents Robert Sykes keto Savage.com.
And today I've got a special guest in good friend, Michael,
didn't he on the line? He is a client and he's an
amazing individual. He and I are going to be going
on a elk hunt later this year. So we dove into that, but that's
not all we talked about. He is a recovering alcoholic the
day that we recorded. This podcast was three years
sober. So that was Monumental in and of
itself. In this podcast, we tried to
tease out what led him to that point in his life.
And what He brought into his life to correct course and
improve his trajectory and truly truly turned his life and his
health completely around 180 degrees.
A large part of that was his dietary choices, his nutrition,
his training and his transformation from a ketogenic
perspective. And that's what we always talked
about that quite a bit. Everything in this podcast was
pure gold, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I've got much respect for Michael, he's a good friend, a
great clients and I said an amazing human being.
I've No doubt that you will enjoy it as well.
So without further Ado, sit back, relax.
Enjoy the podcast with Michael And we are live.
Michael, how are you brother? I'm doing great Rob.
How are you? I'm doing wonderfully.
Well man, this is this is a long time.
Come on this podcast. We've been working together for
shoot when we start working together, we started working
together. 14 15 months ago. Yeah.
It's been over a year. I consider you more of a friend
than a clan at this point. Yeah, yeah I would definitely
say so, I mean we just booked a we just booked a They trip out
to the Colorado Rockies together and help we'd be friends by now.
Yes, I was telling Crystal like I wrote the check for that, you
know, Expedition and I'm like, alright.
So I'm going on this, you know horseback, we're horseback
riding and I'm going with these two guys have never met before
and then my client who have never personally met, you know,
face-to-face before. And she's like, okay, we'll just
make sure you're good. I'm like, all right I think I'm
good. So it'll be a great trip for
sure. I'm looking forward to it.
So it's To be great, definitely. Well, you got an anniversary
today, man. I do.
I do today, is the third day, being sober today.
Is that third gear third? Excuse me?
Yeah, yeah, I was, I was chuckling about it so much.
Today is the third year being sober.
I had my last drink on the 20th of June in 2018.
And I woke up on the 21st of June, 2018, And I had an
epiphany moment, I don't mean to engage in too much hyperbole but
kind of had that look in the mirror moment and realized, I'm
either going to die or I'm going to make one of those legendary
storybook. Recoveries Miriam three years
later was there like these kind of stories always appeal to me
because I like stories, where the the the broad range of the
spectrum is very Vast like people that are born into
success and never deviate from it aren't near.
As impressive to me is people that came from the freaking
bottom or struggled through a whole bunch of trial and
tribulation and then overcame that.
So when you were at the bottom what was the aha moment?
Like what made you wake up that following day and realize that
something had to change? Well, let me back up even a
little bit from there and I will get to that.
So, I had retired from the Army in June of 2017 and I retired as
a lieutenant colonel, I was an Army Green Beret, and I was a
member of a tier 1 Special Mission Unit, and then I became
the chief of operations for the US Army Special Operations.
I had a portfolio of 35,000 people, and that was just a year
prior. and then there, I was on the 21st of June 2018, a year
and 20 days later and I looked in the mirror and I just
couldn't believe what I had become what I had devolved into
over the course of that one year and I became an alcoholic.
I became near suicidal and it's very difficult, Without Really
sitting down for a very long time to explain it.
I went from a life of purpose to a meaningless life, I was in
charge of 35,000 people on every continent on the globe and every
mission in the sun really never set on my portfolio and I went
to work every day and I worked exceptionally hard, very long
hours, and seven combat tours and seven commands.
And I really felt good about who I was and how I was
contributing. And then I just didn't have that
sense of purpose anymore and I kind of jokingly say but it's
very true. I went from Jason Bourne to
Jason Bourne and I lost that sense of purpose in my life and
I kind of replaced it with alcohol and you know, there's
nothing more. There's nothing more pathetic
than a man without purpose and I that's how I felt.
I felt pathetic and I lose drinking more and more.
I was gaining weight and I was becoming older by the minute and
seeing and on the 21st of June, I woke up.
It was maybe noon. I remember it was 11:30,
noonish. I woke up on the couch and I
didn't know how I got home. And didn't know exactly what
happened the night before. I just knew I'm gonna die.
Like, I'm going to, I'm going to drink myself to death if I don't
pull my head out of my, you know what?
And really figure this out. And it was scared and that's a
really short Cliff note. Version of how I got to 21 June,
21, June, 2018. And it was the worst year of my
life. When people like people here of
alcoholism and like, I've never had somebody in my life.
That was an alcoholic that I've been able to like being closely
impacted by him. I've struggled with food
addictions, in a lot of people that have had to disordered
eating and I'm assuming there's probably some similarities
between two. But like, when you're addicted
to alcohol at what point do, you know, you're addicted to
alcohol. Well, there's there was my
brother and this matters to, and I'm not trying to make the story
too long. My brother was physically
addicted to alcohol, and I was watching that that has a very
large part to play. In this story, I was watching my
brother died of alcoholism. While at the same time, I was
going through this period of my life.
And he did die of alcoholism, he died at 48 years old, he died on
his birthday of congestive, heart failure, simply because
his, his body stops, his liver kidneys, Etc.
His body stopped processing toxins and food, and water, and
he died. He just died in his sleep and I
was watching that process go on, so he was physically addictive.
And very physically and psychologically addicted for me.
I didn't ever feel that I was physically addicted.
Like, I could not go without a drink He on the other hand could
not make it through the day, without going through delirium
tremors, Etc. So he'd been arrested on
numerous occasions, and rest, his soul.
Don't get me wrong. And, you know, I knew a lot of
the, the jailers and prison guards and whatnot and when he
would go in, they would have to take him into medical detox.
So he was at that level of physical addiction for me.
It was more of a I knew there was a problem when I started
questioning. Whether or not I could or could
not quit. And when I started asking
myself, do you think you have a problem with alcohol?
Well, let me give you the answer to the quiz.
Not one boys and girls. If you ask yourself that
question, you have a problem with alcohol and that was when I
knew I had to make a change. That was not on the 21st of
June, by the way, I knew that several months leading up to
that I just Their 21st of June was when I reached the point
where I was more afraid of what was going to happen, had I not
quit drinking then. Anything else I was scared of,
what the ramifications would be had.
I not stopped drinking and I'm not going to leave your
listeners in suspense. I think I would have killed
myself. Yeah.
It's it's scary man. Like when when you feel out of
control I think that's I think that's what it all boils down to
with any type of addiction. When you feel like you cannot
control the outcome and you feel compelled to continue in that
addictive behavior to a point where it runs your life and your
mind like that. That's that's where the fear
sets in. I mean, I get I've never With
you know, alcoholism personally. So I'm just reaching for, you
know, things that I can relate that I put the food addiction
and I'm assuming it's probably pretty similar for like drugs
and things but people they feel like they can't live without
that but they internally know that it's not conducive to their
betterment. Oh no, there was no question.
Every time I picked up a drink every single time I picked up a
drink, it was a So I'm just going to have a couple, and I'll
just have a couple more and I consistently would wake up
saying, why, why why did I even have the first one?
It was the old saying and I had been to a couple AA meetings
that that old saying an ace one is too many 15 s, not enough.
And that was my Form of addiction, I couldn't control
the number of drinks that I had once I started drinking.
So would you like another? I would like all of them so and
it never became violent. You know, I never never got
arrested and never got into a fight or anything like that.
It was just there was no such thing as having a social drink
for me. And I think a lot of it had a
lot of it had to do with it was the numbing of the sensations,
the numbing of the bad feelings. And again I go back to I was a
lieutenant colonel in the most elite of the army Special
Operations units. And I had this portfolio to be
proud of. And then all of a sudden, one
day, it was gone like all of that was gone and you can you
can sit back and say, well, that was weakness that you displayed
by not being able to handle. Okay, fine.
Sure was But it happened and it happens to a lot of people
seeking. A lot of people who go from, you
know, the the peak of their, the peak of their field.
Like I was at the top of the pyramid in my field lieutenant.
Colonel's not the highest rank in the Army but it's not the
lowest they'll tell you that and member of the elite
organizations that I was in and there was a lot to be proud of
every single day when I was waking up.
At 4:30 and going in at the crack of dawn.
And, you know, the missions that we were on and, you know, I was
the missions that I were on. We were, we were reading about
him in the newspaper watching them on the news weeks.
If not months, after they happen, you know what I mean?
Like, we were The Cutting Edge and then then I was fat old and
retired overnight and I just that sense of purpose was gone
and I was replacing it with alcohol.
And what I didn't realize was that That slow drip and
degradation of me, the person slowly day by day by day, as a
result of, that alcohol abuse. It was just the inefficiencies
of my life. Stop reading.
I stop working out. I ate one convenient.
I didn't have an eating plan and it affects everything.
Infects every organ in your body, affects your emotions, and
it affects your just efficiency as a human being must.
Joel was off and you know, you got to ask me another question,
or I can keep going on about like these detrimental effects,
but I kind of touched a little bit as well.
You know, I talked about my brother having died of that
physical level of alcohol, abuse.
I have one, two, three, four. Think five of my direct
relatives and by that I mean out to Uncle cousin level who have
quit drinking six. If you include me, that that's
quite a bit, there is an awful lot of substance abuse in my
family and my extended family. And and as I mentioned, you
know, that the death that we saw, you know, in my direct
family, 48 years old, very very young.
Passed away from alcoholism. So, You know, I irony of
ironies, you know, I own a brewery and I don't drain.
And that's, you know, that is something that I personally
struggle with, I would say almost daily as well and, you
know, I come into the brewery now, I actually make the beer
and I sell the bureau. And one of the things that, you
know, I kind of apply the ethics that I live by use.
I don't over-served. I'm very Draconian.
Almost with how much alcohol will give somebody.
And if you're on a motorcycle, you know, two wheels.
Two drinks. That's all I'm giving you.
If if you're not the, if you don't have a DD you only get
four drinks. I'm really tight with that.
Yeah, kind of going down a rabbit hole on that one but you
know that that is a huge ironing of my personal.
Existence is a retired from the military.
I opened a brewery, I became a raging alcoholic, and Quit.
But I still own the brew and I kind of use it as a platform
because I'm kind of teach coach and Mentor a lot of the young
soldiers to come right outside of the military base here.
And I serve a lot of young soldiers, kind of share this
with them. Some lessons like, hey, son, let
me give you the answer to the quiz.
You don't need more alcohol. And so that's, that's a really
interesting and very ironic part about my current relationship
with alcohol. It's how I make a living but But
it's also something that I personally abstain from well,
it's Unique because it's if you if you know who you are and your
self aware enough to know that, that's not where you need to
take things, then there may be some degree of temptation, but
the end of the day like, you know, you would never act on
those Temptations. So it's not like it gnaws at you
or maybe it does. It doesn't for me.
Yeah, it's good. It's good.
I can that, that I feel is a testament to You would agree of
self-awareness, like a lot of people.
Again, I keep going back to food here, but so many people remove
carbs from their life, for instance, because they know they
had addictive personality towards carbohydrates.
And I was the same way I for a while there, I would not allow
myself in the bakery section of a grocery store, which would be
akin to me, walking into a pub, and have an alcohol problem and
not why, you know, that wouldn't make any sense, but I'm to a
point now, just As you are to a point now with with your
Brewery, that you know, that you'll never act on those, you
know, any of those Sensations to drink, even if it's right there
easily accessible to you. And I feel like that's a
testament to your degree of strength and knowing who you
are, and what you stand for, and your identity now, and not
letting your past to find you. Yeah, there are a couple things
on there that that I'd like to touch upon is the carbohydrates,
and you kind of already know Your listeners.
Don't So keto and carnivore was kind of like my smokescreen for
for not drinking. And it took me months, took me
several months before I finally said and it was a friend of mine
from back home who said hey I can't help but notice that.
You don't do carbs anymore. I was like yeah, health and
fitness and she said, right? It's alcohol, isn't it?
I was like, yeah, you kind of nailed it.
Yeah, I think it was about three months.
I went three months of, quote-unquote carnivore.
I didn't know you at the time. I knew our mutual friend and he
was helping me kind of figure out the carnivore lifestyle.
And all I cared about was I can tell people that I've switched
over to being carnivore for health reasons.
But really, what what I'm doing this for is, it's a smokescreen
for removing alcohol because beer has a lot of carbs in it.
And I was just telling people that I was carved Freight and it
was temporary. And I just, it's for health and
look at all the weight I've lost.
I think when I went carnivore. Now, when I started working with
you, I got up, I was up to 220. 25 and I got down to 180 to
single digit body, very lean. Thank you for everything was
great mentorship along the way when I had met you, I had
already lost close to 50 pounds and because of all of that water
retention and all that just beer, gotten beer belly.
And you know, I'm six foot four and kind of long and lanky and
nobody believes me even to this day, like now you Didn't weigh
that much. No, I really did.
I weighed? I actually took some notes Here.
I lost from from peak week there in February when I got down to
180 to as compared to when I was my heaviest at my heaviest
drinking, I lost 86 pounds and it's crazy.
But that nuts and So I used your lifestyle of hyper restrictive
in terms of the macros restrictive, carbohydrate keto
lifestyle. That was a perfect smokescreen
for eliminating alcohol from my life and I didn't have to tell
people, I didn't have to walk around Society with The Scarlet
Letter on my chest saying I'm an alcoholic.
It was just I had to come up with something.
I worked in a brewery. and, I was, how were you going to tell
people that you're an alcoholic and you can't be around alcohol
anymore. How can you do that?
And it was a creative way for me to say this, I'm keto.
Now, I've taken up a keto lifestyle in order to lift
weights in order to, you know, Aspire for and physique
composite competition one day. And in order to do that, I can't
partake in any of this alcohol that I produce and it Since the
people and nobody questioned me anymore and I can, you know,
I've avoided a bullet on that one and then it was about six,
mom no longer in that was about a year and a half sin is when I
was like, yeah, guys, I'm I'm an alcoholic.
I'm never going to drink again, but it took that emotional
recovery. Took the physical recovery or
the first year. It took the emotional cover of
the second year for me too. To kind of rebuild my confidence
in myself in order to admit to people.
Yeah, it was an alcoholic. That was that was all just a
smokescreen but it works, man. Like You guys help me out a lot.
You gave me a perfect cover story that I could use that kept
people from digging too deep into why I wasn't drinking beer
with. Well the cool thing about hat
like leveraging something like a dietary protocol that you can
get excited about and just you know put your head down and
double down on is if you do that and it is a healthy conducive
you know manipulation to your life that moves you in the right
direction. It can inherently become a just
as much a part of your lifestyle as the thing that you're trying
to remove in the first place. So like you can you can easily
identify yourself as You know, Michael the one that used to be
an alcoholic and now no longer drinks.
But you can also now say that you totally turn your health
around and you're not going to go back to a standard American
diet because you've done this long enough to recognize the
positive health benefits that come with it.
So this has become just as much a part of who you are.
So you probably wouldn't have had the discipline and the
desire to stick with this to the extent that you have and see the
benefits you had with it head-on.
Not been for the things that you were trying to avoid previously.
So you know, hate to say it's blessing in the sky is always a
silver lining but maybe that's exactly the case it is.
And, you know, I think, let's take it just one level deeper of
analysis. When I left the military, I
didn't have goals in have purpose and then when I quit
drinking you know, when Everybody thought I was nuts.
You know, I was 268 pounds and body fat was through the roof
and they like, you're going to take up physique training really
well. I mean, brag a little bit, you
know, I like I said, I wasn't, I was a pretty high level College
athlete and I was an Army, special operator.
Yeah, I was in my 40s at that point.
But, you know, there was a time. You know what I mean?
We're, that would have been a real.
People would have looked at me and said, yeah, I could see that
guy being competitor. And now here I am, you know,
just a few weeks away from my 49th birthday and brag up on
myself a little bit. Here, I'm, I'm getting back to
that with your help, by the way, and thank you very much for
that. But I'm legitimately getting to
the point where, hey, April of 2023, right, that's on our
calendar. That's part of our, like, little
contract client and Coach. That's my goal on the wall,
That's My Water. The Columbus physique
competition, April of 2023. And now when I say that people
are saying, well no kidding, this guy really could be
competitive Goals, it gave me a goal.
I didn't have one and I got out of the military.
Like I said, I went from a life of meaning to a meaningless
life. I didn't have goals and that's
catastrophic and like that was just catastrophic.
I had goals when I was in the military I had that portfolio of
35,000 people on you know classified missions out there
all over the globe that I was tracking.
And Saying in providing guidance and approvals for and boy that
that's purpose, man. That's that's big-time purpose.
That gives you reason to get out of bed in the morning and I
didn't have those goals, self-inflicted.
Sure. Anybody can point at me and say
you did that to idea. I absolutely did do that to
myself and I've taken responsibility for it.
And, and I've made the corrections that I've had to
make. But that first year year, and
three months of life in retire, in retired, life, I did not have
goals and I replaced that with alcohol.
And for anybody listening to this podcast, You got to have a
goal in life, man. You have to have something to
work for and when I raise my hand and say, hey I'm going to
do physique training and I'm going to be on stage one day.
Did I believe it was going to happen in six months?
Hell no, hell no, but it gave me something to work for and
looking at the scale and watching the pounds of off, it
gave me a sense of progress. The gave me a sense that I owned
my life in my way forward, instead of the alcohol. and it
was that first year of, I don't think I can express the people
like the level of Despair that you have when you don't feel in
control of your own destiny when you you don't feel like, not
only you not achieving goals but you don't even have a damn goal
to begin with and it sounds so, Platitude, but how many hundreds
of your clients? How many hundreds of yours and
casein and other trainers? These clients who they take up
Fitness training after an addiction, they take the
thickness training after a major life life.
So then why? Because it's a goal and the
psychology of just goal setting and being able to see progress
towards something. And I didn't have that first
year out, I wasn't on my feet and I quit drinking and I could
give you the list of all the things that I've been able to
accomplish since then, it's amazing.
It's amazing what setting goals and and more importantly, just
getting that alcoholism under control.
What it's been able to do to me and how much of a better person
it's allowed me to become it's just phenomenal, weight training
and proper nutrition is Thing in the nth.
It's so incredibly tangible and actionable.
You know, like if my life is in total disarray, but I, at least
have my training. You know, in check.
And I'm on top of my nutrition. I can pick myself up from the
shambles and have a foothold in order to dig deep and move
forward. If I, If I sacrifice my diet and
my training, then I am exponentially more likely to
just stay in a state of disarray.
For much much longer. Like, I've always tried to make
that a constant in my life. Now I messed up once and I can,
I can see this being akin to to you during that, you know, one
year and 20 days when it's like, you've got your identity.
Slated, as this person that you've become up to that point
and you have purpose, you have people that rely on you, have
people that depend on you and you feel like you are a, you
know, asset. In this world and then all of a
sudden then is stripped from you and you open your eyes to the
fact that the world isn't necessarily better for you in
some tangible way because you know what you reality as you see
it is not reality anymore that that is a frightening thing like
I've heard accounts of people who you know their spouses
cheated on them and then when that happens there they're
forced to question every other reality that they've imagine up
to that point. And it's like they get lost
because nothing is solid anymore.
So I feel like no matter who you are and what you're doing,
having some sense of solid foundation in your life that is
not necessarily your identity, but it's something that you have
a level footing on is so incredibly important to function
at a high rate or just a functional Baseline in order to
withstand the highs and lows that life will inevitably throw
at you. Absolutely.
And you hit on a couple things that I want to explain a little
bit more. You literally were talking about
the definition of post-traumatic stress.
It can often be brought on by having experience with
challenges your assumptions about how the world works and
you would mentions, you know, you come home one day after 27
years of marriage and found out that your spouse has had a fair
on. And, or You know, children who
watch their parents separate and or soldiers, who go away to
combat were raised on a solid white, right?
You have to kill in order to make it through out and those
are all experiences that challenge your assumptions and
beliefs of how the world operates and that can be often
where post-traumatic stress comes from. and, I don't.
I don't think it was a singular event for me that brought on
post-traumatic stress. The my situation was more of a
self-inflicted and that made it even worse for me was to go from
this. This purpose and meaning choice
that I may need to get out and go do it.
And that, that's what made it doubly difficult for me, was I
have no one to blame but myself, I I knew exactly.
I knew that my situation in the exactly where I was in life and
the Suffering, The Daily suffering, I was going through
my fault, I was the one who was drinking.
I was the one who voluntarily resigned from the north, right.
I did those things and Well, I was really interesting when I
finally got off my ass and admitted and looked in the
mirror and said, it's your fault, but if you take
responsibility for it, that means you can also make changes
that are going to change your future.
And that's what happened on the 21st of June. 2018, I wept I
woke up like I said, sometimes if you love and 12 wet Pride
nothing I called some friends of mine and I said, I really don't
know if I'm going to make it called a good friend of mine.
He's not going to bother. He's not gonna be bothered by
this atolls name is Jamie and he'd been sober for like 10
years. But I called him and said you
tell me there's hope. I know what, I know.
I have to change. I just spoke to him yesterday.
Alcoholics, it's funny. We kind of have this view.
Celebrate the Day. You celebrate the Day of your
last drink. Would you celebrate the first
day of sobriety? I kind of celebrate both to the
20th of June call them up. It's like a am three years ago
today. I have my last drink and then
the 21st of June is this is kind of my celebrating my anniversary
of sobriety. So so anyway, there's that
post-traumatic stress that I wanted to touch on it, but that
was really interesting, what you brought up.
You also brought up the the working out part.
I don't think this can be overstated the physiological
benefits of working out. How many hundreds of times, rob,
you personally have. You been in a bad mood?
Pissed off about something you're tired because you didn't
get enough sleep. You're dehydrated.
Whatever the case might be, and then that little voice just
says, hey man. Five minutes into your first
set, you know, this feeling's all going to go away.
Why wouldn't lay downs, right? So that was me this morning that
was me this morning. I was like dude you know you own
your own business and sometimes duty calls and there was seven
o'clock or 11 o'clock on a Sunday night I'm working I get
up in the morning and just dragging myself out of bed.
But that little that little voice in my head said five
minutes into your first set. You know this, all of this is
going to go away and it did. And that to me, I'm hooked.
Like I do have new addictions. Yeah.
And that addiction is the gym
and also going to add the steam room.
I 20 minutes. Every what I wrap up every
single workout, I spent 20 minutes in the steam room.
It's like the meaning of life than, you know, you got to join
them. It's the best thing going.
Yeah, I'm jealous of that. I've always wanted to have a
steam room. It's like therapeutic, man.
You work out insanely hard. Leave it on the table and you go
in that steam room. It's like, that's like, that's
like The icing on top, it's like that.
That's what give that's what you work for to be able to enjoy
that and know that you earned it.
Yeah, a couple things. You know, I'm good now.
Like I feel like the reason why I want to have this conversation
was mostly for other people who might need some hope.
So I'd like to just go ahead. This is how anybody is listening
and they need help. You can contact you.
All right, my my number at the business, 70 six, six four, one
two, seven three, three seven zero, six, six four, one, two,
seven, three, three. Just ask for Michael.
I'll return your call, man. I don't care if we ever meet, I
don't care. What kind of help me trust me
when I say this, every recovering recovered alcoholic
or addict would say the same thing you can always I'll find
somebody in your area. I just want to let people know,
like the future gets a lot better.
Once you put down chemicals. Once you stop the substance
abuse, It took me about three days to recover from the acute,
the acute addiction like that, that the physical hangovers, and
they just getting rehydrated etcetera.
It's a poison. It took me about 72 hours to get
over. It took me about three weeks for
me to realize that, like, no kidding.
I probably We can actually put drinking, and it took me about
three months for me to realize, like, wow, I think I actually
have equipment something about 3, right?
3 days, to physically recover three weeks, for me to realize
that, I'm building up some steam.
I might really be able to beat this about three months later.
I realized like, wow, three months sober and I'm telling
you, I'll have uncles cousins, aunts and we all say the same
thing life. Just keeps getting better on the
other side, just have to put your foot down and you have to
reach out for help call somebody and It's just I'm just I am a
supercharged. Human since I quit drinking is
just it's not even comparison to the same person.
Yeah. Well, people need to know that
they're not alone. Like when you're when you're
struggling with anything, it's easy to fall into this pit of
despair and assume that the you're the only one that's ever
experienced. These emotions that you've got
these special circumstances that you're a unique Snowflake and no
one's ever gone through this before.
But that's that's not the case. I mean so many people Have gone
through this and simply having somebody that call and just you
know, vent to get the weight off your chest.
I mean that is liberating yeah, all me 706.
That's for one two, seven, three, three men, call me Ivy
league-educated Colonel, Elite Army, Special Operations and
food. I was in freefall and and I
bring that up as like hey nobody cares.
You Alcohol doesn't care about your resume again.
Yeah, doesn't care at all. So, what life has gotten a lot
better? I hope.
At some point, I'll be able to brag up on some of the things
that we've been able to accomplish sense.
Sobriety, I'm telling you, he's just been a phenomenal, three
years. Let's dive into some stuff man.
I want to talk a little bit about what is your thoughts on
alcohol for people that don't seem to have any issues with it
like because that is there a negative connotation that
Associates with that? Or is it in different?
What's the take their? No, not at all, you know,
alcoholism takes out pending on what statute you look at, five
to ten percent, but that means the other ninety the night.
Five percent. Don't have a problem Hall and I
don't I see it every day. The vast majority of my
customers come in and vast, majority of them have 2 or 3 Min
pay their tab, go home and play with the kids and I don't have
there's no judgment at all. I've accepted that, that was my
problem and that is something that I can't project onto other
people. And I think that I speak for the
vast majority of addicts and alcoholics when I say yeah.
So I don't think that faith that all I'm can be around it.
Professionally, I do see myself moving on from the alcohol
industry. Very obvious, non sequitur, An
alcoholic, who produces and sells beer, I do think at some
point, I needed to find some synchronicity between my
personal life and my professional life.
With that's another story. In the meantime, I don't have
any negative connotation whatsoever and I think the
general Trend in the addict alcoholic spaces are You need to
own your problem, let other people worry about themselves.
Yeah, I like that. I like that a lot.
I feel like people people need hope, you know, and if they can
look at somebody, that's successfully moved past that
hurdle and is living the life and doing so, with profound
degree of success, that in itself is incredibly inspiring
and hopeful to others. So, that's what I've tried to do
with nutrition. That's what you're doing by, you
know, being there on the front lines, working in a brewery but
not, And then incorporating other healthy habits into your
life. That's that's empowering.
It is. Yeah, it's really empowering.
Go ahead. I was gonna transition to your
physical Journey here, lately beyond the alcohol, but what
were you about to say? I was going to say that, you
know, the thing that strikes me the most, and this is kind of
cutting you off at the pass and I guess talking about the
physical Journey, it took me about a year to physically
recover not not to achieve what I've achieved since, but just
physically recover from the detrimental effects of alcohol.
But I saw a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in a long time and
soon as Payments of the room looked at me and she said, your
skin, he's skins not grinding. What you look so much younger
and that was that was the first, I think I hadn't seen her in a
year and a half and so that was just one of those signs of that,
that physical recovery. So yeah, let's talk about
physical aspects of being drug and alcohol free and the new
lifestyle. Well, let me brag on you, just a
little A bit because when you contacted me and said that you
wanted to, you know, lean out with a ketogenic approach, you
know, it was weird. Like I said, at the very
beginning, we've been working together for several months and
your transformation itself was incredibly impressive.
But one thing that stood out at the onset is you never once
deviated from the plan and the there's no secret This stuff,
like any of the nutritional manipulations, I make with my
clients or, you know, practice like methodologies that I've put
publicly out on YouTube, but there's no secret to it.
Like, the, the quote unquote secret is just simply having
discipline and consistency, and then having a strategy.
But that strategy is what we worked on and worked out from
the beginning. But by you simply being as
discipline and consistent as you were, I mean, you continue to
make progress week after week after week.
And I feel like there's so much to be said for that.
So, Thank you for being as detail-oriented and disciplined
as you were as a client because you make my last super easy for
sure. Well, I appreciate it.
You know, you provided the knowledge as well, and he also
provided, you know, that external accountability, which
is great for an attic and great for our body gum.
I appreciate that. I think accountability is huge.
I feel like that's at the end of this, what anybody would ever
hire me. I mean, having someone to be
accountable to, that's why anyone would hire any coach for
that matter. Yeah, yeah, it's just that
external accountability, but it wasn't just the body fat in
there. A lot of other changes that
happens and, you know, my ability to be on hunting trips
and my ability to engage in not here.
So many times people say, we repeated that guide to during
space with parents, that's not true.
That is not true. I'm telling you hunting elk
10,000 feet. Is an endurance event mother
and, and can I share with you kind of the story and last
year's open as far as, like, the ketogenic lifestyle?
And how that applies myo means, can you get a little close to
the mic? Your kind of fading out a little
bit. Yep.
Sorry. Is that better?
Much better. Okay, so last year's hunt I was
already ketogenic at that point and so I was already fat
adapted, my ketones are going through the roof.
And while I was hunting, I was I was Eating intuitively.
I was eating one meal a day and I was leaving intuitively but
but at night after the hunt was over, I wasn't going overboard.
But you know it was just an incredible exertion of calories
throughout the day and I remember it was day two or day
three, that the guy looked at me and he said, aren't you going to
eat anything that's about? I'll eat when I get back.
And it just blew his of loving mind and he said, what do you
mean you? You didn't eat breakfast.
I said no, I one meal a day. I'll eat after we get back, you
know, shower change and make some bacon and eggs and I'll be
good for the day and he still to this day, I still talk to him,
he can believe that. I would go out into the woods.
Now we're waking up at 2:30 in the morning, right?
Where We're starting our hike Into the Woods at 4:30 in the
morning and, you know, you're there at 10,000, she glassing
for bull elk, a mile away, so low, oxygen, massive, physical
exertion, all of the other folks who are on the Strip are
breaking into Power bars are drinking Gatorades.
Are you know what I mean? Having already eaten breakfast.
Etc, etc. I had a cup of coffee.
And I wasn't reading my ketones out in the woods.
Don't get me wrong, but I was sprinting up these Hills.
You know, I would go from 8,500, foot up to 10,000 foot because
we heard a bull elk on the other side of the mountain.
And, you know, here's his flat foot from out and, you know, the
Eastern Time Zone I was never hungry, never hungry the whole
time. I'd come home, I would have my
bacon and eggs and my rib eye. And you know, smoke a cigar and
wind down for the day sleep and I repeated that for a week
straight and it just absolutely blew everybody in Camp.
It just absolutely blew their mind that this this mountain
goat of a guy was just spreading up and down on quote unquote to
them. I was on an empty stomach, but
me and your your listeners know that my Ketone bodies were just
racing through my bloodstream. I was full of energy.
I never felt drained. I never felt depleted, and this
was long sustained. You know, 10, 12 hour day out
there hunting, you know, at in the peaks, of the Rockies
chasing, these big stinky animals and it was great.
And I think I've really changed a lot of people's minds about
the ketogenic lifestyle. Yeah, from a hunting perspective
alone. I feel like it's like a like, I
don't want to use secret weapon, but I mean, I don't know another
appropriate word for because like when you are, you know,
trying to be incredibly strategic in the weight of your
pack and be minimal in the way that you're bringing with you.
And if so much of that is going to be water food.
Snack bars, gels, Goos, and all the stuff that comes with it,
all the carbohydrates. All Bulk.
That's not a very good use of that that packs.
Wait, so to bypass all of that and either fast or eat,
something that is incredibly calorically dense and is not
going to take up much space or weight in your pack and be able
to function at a high rate from a performance standpoint on a
moment's notice. I mean that's I mean there's no
other diet that that bodes, well for that Beyond ketogenic
carnivore Diamond. That is the superior diet for
that style of training and Fitness.
Needs. Oh there's no question and I
would also add, you know, take out the the Rockies, you know,
shooting on a bull elk from 600 yards away.
Take take that out of the equation.
Now, talk about being, an eastern white, tail tree, stand
Hunter, and having to break into a Nature's Valley or or, you
know, take the brand out, whatever opening up all these
cellophane wrappers. So now you just added smell and
now you've also just added sound into An environment where sent
and sounds are going to kill your odds of being able to get
close enough to put an arrow through a deer.
And so, I mean I don't I would encourage all Hunters to adapt,
you know, within Reason Adapted ketogenic lifestyle because it's
going to actually increase your odds of being able to get shot.
Close to a whitetail, particularly out here on the
East Coast. If you're hunting from a tree
stand. And, you know, it's if you're
sitting there eating Big Macs and McDonald's all day long in
the tree stand which, you know, God love him.
He's a great friend of mine but my buddy who is going out with
me it was like, he was Tethered to he had to snack every three
to four hours in order to keep his energy stores up.
Yeah, you know imagine if we were trying to hunt from you
know hunting whitetail deer from a tree stand that that deer
would smell you and hear you a mile away.
And so I think it's Optimal for hunting plus it just makes you
like when you're eating like that it just it dulls your
senses like when I'm in a fasted State, I don't do a whole lot of
extended fasting. I don't, it's not really
conducive from a bodybuilding standpoint.
But whenever I do do an extended fasting, my attentiveness is
literally through the roof, like my ability to form a sentence is
improved, noticeably improved. I mean, I'm just much more
detail oriented and that's what you would want in a heightened
state of Of awareness when you're out in the woods, trying
to be more attuned to any sound sight flicker or anything out of
place. So, I think from a, from a
predatory standpoint, if you're, if you're a fat adapted,
Predator, you're going to be a much more lethal, Predator.
I agree, 100%. I'm stoked for this hunting trip
that we've got coming up in November.
So, it, I read you sent me the checklist and everything and I
didn't notice we didn't talk about this, but it said, And on
there that you've got to be able to go in by horseback and know
how to ride everything. I'm assuming that we are in fact
going in by horseback, so we're going deep in there.
What will probably end up doing is, we'll probably end up hiking
in until we get an elk and then it'll be horseback packed out.
So we're not going to drop camp immediately, but you and I given
our physical abilities, we are going to be hiking in several
miles. So we'll hit the trail.
Head will park the truck. Output are ball caps on
backwards. When we do put an elk on the
ground that is when the, that is, when the horses and pack
mules, come out, and because they're just too big, we're not
going. You and I are not going to do
what they call the drop camp, which is we pack in for 68 hours
and we go set up like a cloth walled tent.
Yeah, we're going to, you know, you and I haven't actually met
Made the arrangements yet but we can either Camp there in the San
Juan National Forest or we can go ahead and get like a VRBO
little cabin for 50 bucks a day, right there on the edge of the
forest, but will actually hike it in and every day with our
guide, and I am looking forward to that.
Yeah. Again, success rates are very
high. So, the likelihood that we are
going to be hopping on horses is very high.
So, yeah, we're going to participate in that begin, man.
It's It's cool for me, like because I, I am, I'm in
Arkansas. Do most of the hunting in
Arkansas, so there's not much elevation.
So anytime I do, go hunting out west.
It's interesting because people assume that since I am not from
out west. I can't handle the elevation of
can't handle the climbs and I like proving them wrong.
Like I like it when they can't keep up with me.
So it'll be cool because I think it's such a challenge men.
Like when you're when you're carrying a 60-pound pack and a
half Heavy rifle or a bow and then water, and you got your
gear on. You got boots on, I mean, you're
going up, rocks in the steep grade like people that have
never hunted and never done that.
That is a frickin work out right there.
Like I can I can be doing a bodybuilding prep competition
for six months and have rigorous training intensity, all that
time, but I go on a weekend log, you know, heavy intense, camping
/ hunting event and my asses whooped by the end of it.
Oh yeah. Absolutely and see elevation as
well. You know, you worked been
depleted oxygen State and it's just that that constant massive
caloric burn all day long. I mean you're hiking in say
three, four, five miles, and that's that's just the beat the
Sun up and Lord knows what's going to happen.
After that you might hear an elk, bugle, two miles away.
And as I've told you before, I mean, there is no.
There is no hey, powder your feet and it's grab your pack and
let's go. We are, we are, it's it's own
athletic event and if you're not in shape, you know, you're going
to be suffering out there. You know, that's, that's kind of
why I'm excited to go with you is I'm going with somebody who
can physically? Hang with me?
Not not, not to be too, not to boast too much but like, Like I
want to go out there, you're a professional.
I look at you as a professional athlete and I tell people like
I'm going out there with a professional athlete.
My goal is to just beat him into the side of the mountain by.
I just I'm doing so many Hill Sprints and I I want him to look
up at me at 49 years old and be like, hey, old man slow down.
I need to catch my breath and, and, but see that's what
competitive, you know, competitive athletic friends do.
And it's, I'm sure I'm sure you're going to look at me and
say the same, same thing man you know that you want to beat me
into the side of the mountain. I came back from the last trip
and they you know they nicknamed me the mountain goat.
It couldn't believe like this skinny old man was just
sprinting up these Hills like he was you know this East Coast
flatlander so I love heading out west and I love showing those
Western guides that you know these East Coast guys can be in
shape enough to just day one just Starts burning up the
mountain with the guide. Well, hunting itself as a
hunting, as a sport is such a misrepresented sport by
mainstream Society like people just assume you know you drive
around your truck until you see something and then you roll the
window down and take your rifle out the window and shoot and
that's I mean, there definitely are people that do that and they
sicken me. And there's people that, you
know, just hunting deer stand, which is what I've done most of
the hunting and is in a deer stand.
But I've Enough now like hiking in and backpacking and really
freaking boots-on-the-ground spot and stalk cunning.
And I've got so much respect for that style of hunting that.
Like, if you don't train for that, like if you don't train
and have some baseline Functional Health and Fitness,
you will not be successful. Like that is just it.
You will not be able to end that hunt with a success.
So that to me is what makes hunting a legitimate sport.
Art. And that's the kind of fun thing
that I that I, you know, I enjoy that.
That's a challenge to me. I like being pushed in that.
Pushes me. Yeah, and I also love, I agree
with everything you just said. I also love knowing exactly
where all of the meat in my freezer for the year came from.
And I also love and I mean, this very sincerely, I love being
able to give that animal a dignified meaningful and
purposeful way out, you know, you have You have a lot of folks
who might have very strong emotions about killing an
animal. I would just encourage them to.
Also keep in mind, you know, what happens to an animal when
it dies of old age out in the wild, it's not pretty and, you
know, one shot, one well-placed ethical shot and a few seconds
later and it's a painless Quick Pass.
I know that that animal is treated ethically throughout its
life. I know what led a good natural
life. Like some of the store-bought
meat that I do occasionally go for.
So I like and I enjoy and I appreciate that.
I know exactly where that meat came from and it's all grass fed
organic Wild game that was not abused or mistreated throughout
its life. And and that's that's a big part
of it for me as well. I'm guessing mule deer.
Backstrap sitting on the counter right now, throwing up for my
dinner tonight. So I'm right there with you man.
And like us, you got a mule there?
R. I was just talking to somebody
today about. That's my net, I need to get a
mule deer next. Yeah.
Yeah, I killed him. You lie.
I guess it was your for last. So he denied some back strap
from him tonight, but a writer's do.
But, yeah, I think like people people don't realize that if I
mean, first of all, if you eating meat, you have to
recognize and be honest to the fact that something died to put
that meat on your plate. So you have to appreciate that.
Simple fact and secondly, you I have found that in becoming a
hunter and in in in in taking the life of another animal my
appreciation for life itself is exponentially heightened and I
appreciate that. I feel like that's been able to
play an integral part in that entire circle of life, makes you
appreciate the beauty of life. Oh, that's pretty deep Rob.
I don't disagree. Yeah.
Yeah, that's it. Man.
That's it on the nose. Yeah, I mean we're speaking the
same language, man. It's gonna be good.
I'm excited to do this Expedition with you.
I'm excited to make some more memories.
I'm excited to keep working with and get you down then fat 2023
competition. Man, like you continue to
impress me with each week two passes and I'm just I'm just I'm
very blessed and grateful to have been able to play a small
part in that Journey, you played a bigger part than you think.
And I just want to one more. Shout out to any listener.
Hey, if you need help in any way, You can call me 706 6412
733 ask for Michael and I will. I will move mountains for
stranger to that that's how Goods sober life is now, man, I
would do anything for a stranger to give you the hope that in the
future. You could have the same recovery
that I have had. And I couldn't be more blessed
to have friends like you and my life Rob.
And I couldn't be more blessed to have achieved sobriety after
that that year in 20 days of living hell, and whatever.
I can possibly do to help any of your listeners, to help them
achieve the same thing. I'll just I'll end by saying
there's Hope on the other side man and life just gets better
every single day. Amen.
And then brother, could not agree more.
Where's that? Well, you've got your own
podcast Network where people go to listen to you.
I do I do have my own podcast 706 wherever you download your
podcasts, Apple Spotify cetera. It's just podcast 706 were in
Columbus, Georgia. And that is the 706 area code.
And that has just been an absolute Blast for me.
I've met so many people that I never thought I would.
We're pretty big city here Columbus Georgia.
You know the the mayor like walks up to me on the street
like hey Mike, what's going on? When are we going to interview
next? I'm like wow you know this I
mean it's a big city, you know, I've got NFL pros who come in
our focus is on. We're a Civic engagement and
Free Speech platform. So we go out of our way to get
Civic leaders. Got some generals from the local
military base president from Local University Senators,
congressmen, Etc. And it's all about those local
topics that are affecting life here in the area code 706.
So, Apple Spotify wherever you get your downloads podcast 706,
we're also on Facebook and Instagram at podcast, 706,
awesome. And will, almost certainly
linked answer that. Let's do a round two after the
hunt. Hopefully, we can, we can
recount the events of the The of a successful elk hunt on the
next podcast. We're going to make a wager.
We need to make a wager right now.
I'll wager. Wow.
Wager the you're gonna stay all before I do go on.
Let's see how I'm interesting man.
I'm a glutton for punishment. Like I like doing things with
with zero training beyond what I currently do, just to see if my
Baseline Fitness is acceptable at that.
It's like when I ran that Marathon, I ran it with zero
prep work. See myself doing the same thing
for this in which case, I don't know what's going to happen,
Okay? You think that's why I'm think
that's a good idea. You think it's terrible.
I think that's a horrible idea. And I was, I would say here's
your competition. Bro, I Airborne Ranger
graduated, Special Forces, Green Beret.
And I went to prisoner of war camp twice for training.
So, if you want to talk about glutton for punishment and I'll
break my, I'll break my damn leg, and I won't quit.
Whit. So, just to see you say uncle.
I just want to say all right, ma'am, I guess I've been thrown
man. It's all you got to make this
BET right now so it's all in good fun.
It's all good fun because I know that you're a phenomenal human
being and and you're going to show up in great shape and and I
make that bet just what we were saying half an hour ago that
external accountability. So now I just made myself
externally Noble to all of your listening Nation.
Rather. Well, it is going to be here
before, you know, it man and in light of what you've just said,
I will start training specifically for this.
I'll start trail running up a damn Mountain every single day
if I need to, but I won't be saying Uncle.
All right, I'm going to send you a link to a one of those oxygen
deprivation masks as well. Nice, nice.
I'll give that a shot for sure. I'll check it out.
Amen. Always a pleasure talking to
you. I've thoroughly enjoyed every
conversation. We've had, you know, This point
and Beyond. So, keep doing what you're
doing, man. You're an inspiration to many.
Even if you don't realize it sometimes, hey, I appreciate
that brother and so, are you take came in.
Alright, talk to you later.