Why smoke weed when you can eat liver instead!

Jon Cerone has his buddy Chris Megenbier on again to discuss quitting the habit of smoking weed in order to get a better grasp on motivation, nutrition and exercise. With some interesting talks on liver and gut health too!

Transcript

Jon: 0:06

Welcome back to Feel Free, the only podcast that'll tell you to chase your dreams and call you. I don't know your bullshit, myself included. If you haven't already, subscribe, follow, share, tell everybody you know about us. Keep listening. Appreciate it. Some other news I wanted to talk about before we got into the actual episode, I will be doing a guest swap with another podcast. My buddy Todd over at Bunny Hugs and Mental Health podcast reached out to me to do the guest swap. We are going to go on each other's podcast and talk about our books. So I'll be going on to talk about parables and my story, and he's gonna be coming on my podcast to talk about his book, sometimes Daddy Cries, which is another mental health book, uh, a children's book, A great way to have the conversation of mental illness with children and adults alike. So without further ado, today, I got Jimmy back on Jimmy, also known as Chris Megan Beer. How's it going? Y we back at it again. So it's been a while since you've been on the podcast. I tried to get as many people on in between that as possible.

Chris: 1:05

Um, yeah. It was like a first official one, right? Right. It was. And now what? We're on episode 30, I think this is 30. Yeah. Yeah. So come full circle,

Jon: 1:12

right? Big numbers. I wanted to bring you on today, talk about a very special topic, something. Obviously I'm very passionate about his, uh, sobriety and a lot of my writing is centered around that. The whole feel free motto is to, you know, understand our habits so we can chase our dreams better. So you had recently given up smoking weed. Yes. So how many days ya? No

Chris: 1:34

weed now The day is technically the fifth week. The fifth week, yes. So a little over a month then, right? Yeah, month and a quarter. Okay.

Jon: 1:44

And for our listeners, How long have you been

Chris: 1:48

smoking? Uh, the first time I started smoke or the first time I smoked, I was 13. Right. Really enjoyed it. From there, I would say I started smoking regularly around 14, so it was like, The summer going into high school from

Jon: 2:10

eighth grade. Okay. And you say regularly, like a daily, daily thing or weekly day.

Chris: 2:14

Okay. Yeah. Every day. Every day. And I mean, like it's been, it was pretty much, you know, give or take three, four month breaks here and there. Yeah, pretty much every day now. When I started smoking, I was smoking a lot more than I have been. Right. So I guess over time the amount that I've smoked has only gone down. But you know, we were when I was, when I was 14 and we were young and dumb and you know, that was the thing to do that Yeah. That's just what we did. Right. So So

Jon: 2:47

you got around like 16 years of habitually smoking?

Chris: 2:50

Yeah. Then basically, I mean, like I said, a couple months here and there of breaks, but for the most part, yeah, it's been about 16 years of pretty consistent use.

Jon: 2:58

Gotcha. The reason why I'm having you on, and also Jackie will come on and then eventually Will's gonna come on so we can get a different angle from each of you on why you were quitting, what you seek to accomplish with that. And cuz I think you all have three different inspirations for why you're doing it, although you and Jackie are doing it together. And you might have similar goals here and there. I feel like internally as an individual, you're doing it for your own reasons. Mm-hmm. right? Yeah. So why is this time different from the other times that you decided to, you know, get sober here and there for a

Chris: 3:34

month? Well, so unfortunately I can't. It's because it's only been a little over a month. I can't tell you that. It's gonna be that much different. Okay. It just, that's just the way it is and that's the way it's always been because there have been several other times where I have tried this in the past and I thought it was going to be semi-permanent, and then it's like I smoke once or twice and then. you know, it goes from like once to once a week to twice a week and then back to every day. Right. So my goal for right now, I guess, is to just widen the gap as long as I can before you do it again before it happens again. Okay. That's kind of the way that I see it. If I do do it, it will probably be more of a special occasion. Maybe like my bachelor party coming up. I was gonna say, maybe after the wedding. I'm not gonna smoke before the wedding or even before the reception, because then I'm just gonna be all zonked out at the fucking table but. We did talk to, uh, the venue and they did say that he, he's totally cool with people smoking weed there. As long as they do it outside. So, I mean, like, it's, you know, nice and accommodating.

Jon: 4:41

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if people are gonna be drinking,

Chris: 4:42

you gotta give him the opportunity. That's what I'm saying. I mean, like, it's legal in the state of Illinois. It's private property, like Right. What, who's gonna, who's gonna complain? Exactly. So it is what it is. But I mean, like, just for the sake. For the sake of just holding out on this as long as I can and not like ruining my wedding. Right. Uh, it would be something that probably happened after if I even decided to do it. Gotcha. And I don't like the idea of planning it either. Yeah. I feel like it needs to be something that's more sporadic. Right. I understand that. Not necessarily like a reward, but

Jon: 5:12

that's kind of how I'm, I'm starting to view my cigar smoking. Yeah. You know, like using any substances out of the question for. At this point, just because of the positive effects that it's had on my life and just what sobriety means to me in general. But you know, smoking a cigar, the whole use of tobacco isn't really an issue for me. Mm-hmm. But it isn't something that I plan now. It's just something that'll come around on a certain occasion as a way for me to relax, you know?

Chris: 5:39

And I kind of see, like, I kinda almost see it as like dieting, same kind of deal, right? You don't wanna plan your cheat meal every, every week. No. Because then you're kind of like just undermining your progress.

Jon: 5:50

Like, because then I feel like you're gonna start planning it

Chris: 5:52

every week and then that cheat meal just keeps getting worse and worse. And you're like, well, I, you know, I did good all week. Like it, I should, like I deserve this next thing. That's like the worst thing that you can do is like this whole, like, I deserve this mentality, like, I work so hard, I deserve No. Right. Get that outta your head. Like,

Jon: 6:07

because then you're gonna say that every single day about anything. About

Chris: 6:09

anything. And then that's how you, that's like the first step in justifying like any bad habit or, you know, bad decision that you're gonna make. Cause I deserve it. It's, but we really don't.

Jon: 6:19

No, no. I think life just gets so difficult for us that we think we need a little reward like that. Yeah. At the end of every day. Yeah. So do you have a different mindset about this time around being sober? I know you said you wanted to widen the gap as much as. You've gotten to like a month every here and there for the last like 15 years from what I've seen. Yeah. Now is there any re, is there anything like replaying in your head of why you want to get to a certain day? Do you want to get to six months because you have the, you have the wedding coming up, or maybe the bachelor party?

Chris: 6:50

I mean, I wouldn't say I have a specific day in mind. I think that I will. When, when I'm ready for it. Gotcha. Um, I think that right now I'm still getting the occasional craving Of course. And it's just like, it's not anything other than like, man, I really wanna smoke right now. Yeah. And then it passes, you know, like anything else, I don't know. I just, for, I, I don't really have any kind of ending or goal period of time in sight. Right. It's more so just, I'm just gonna keep pushing it until I decide. I can handle it.

Jon: 7:25

Gotcha. Because I know I, the only reason I asked that is cuz like when I asked my brother, when my brother initially did his sobriety, he said, I'm gonna give it one year and I'm gonna see how different my life is at that point. And which is what led him to keep going with it. Yeah, obviously. Cuz if you're gonna outweigh the pros to cons at that point. It's not even comparable

Chris: 7:46

in my opinion. And then by the time you get to a year, it's like, why would I stop? Exactly. Like, my life has been so good, especially in Joe's case, like obviously like, you know, it did nothing but terrible things for him.

Jon: 7:57

Like, I mean, did ta the same with me as well? Yeah. I didn't, I didn't go into it with like, I'm gonna give it one year. I don't think, I think maybe I said that, but realistically I, I knew it had to be indefinite. Yeah. You know? Yeah. I wasn't gonna like, try and bargain with. But like Joe always needs like some type of bet, you know? Cuz he's, he loves to, of course that's

Chris: 8:16

how he is. That's he is the competition. He's the competition. he is the spirit of competition. Right. So

Jon: 8:23

what are you specifically trying to accomplish with getting off of this?

Chris: 8:27

Well, so I think it's important to note that like for me it was never. And, and I mean this is the case for me with any substances that I've ever used. It was never me masking something, right? Like in the past it, like it was, when I first started, it was more so just something that was like fun and exciting and like, you know, it allowed me to. Think outside of the box proverbially and, you know, also made me feel pretty good. That's, you know, part of the reason why people get high in the first place. And when I was a little bit of a psych knot, if you will, again, it was all just like for the experience, it was never anything, I was never trying to bury anything or hide anything or cope with anything or anything like that. For me, it's always been about the experience, but the problem is, is that it's. Since after doing it for such a long period of time, it's, it, it stops becoming a habit and more just became a part of who I was. Right. That's just like, that's just how I function normally. Yeah. I was just always high and like, you know, for people who don't smoke, they know when they get high like that, you know, they're gonna be high, they're gonna act high, they're gonna be silly. For me, it's like, I'm still sober. This is baseline for you pretty much. Yeah. This is baseline. This is, this is what I'm used to. This is like how I live now. You know what I mean? So, to, to go back to, to the original question. Um, what, like what am I trying to accomplish this time and why? I think more than anything it's just like, I just don't, I wanna just live life without it. It's been a while since I've experienced true sobriety and it's been great. So, and I feel a lot better and we can talk, you know, I'm sure we'll get more into that. But yeah, and it's just, you know, I'm not, I have a lot more motivation to do things and like I have, you know, I actually like, am a lot more willing to do things that I didn't want to do before. Mm-hmm. um, I don't know if. I, I feel like I may have lost a little bit of that creative edge that I had, but, you know, by getting sober. By getting sober, you know, cuz I'm, I have a very analytical mindset, so I die in the same way. Like, yeah. So being able to, being able to smoke and like, kind of let go of some of that and like allow other thoughts to flow in was, was always nice. Mm-hmm. and welcome, but you know. You shouldn't, there, there's no need to do it every single day. Right. Like, and that's really what it is. And I feel like I, I'm not like, I, like I said, you know, a little while ago, I'm not at a point where I could just casually do it. And every time I've tried to just casually do it, I've gotten sucked Right back into the habit. Right. So for me it's just, you know, remove it from my life for a little bit and see what happens. Gotcha.

Jon: 11:20

Yeah. Well one of the que sub-questions I was gonna ask was why was moderation not an option for why you decided to quit? But you just kind of an answered that. Yeah. You know, and I thi I think it's funny that you mentioned the creativity thing cuz a couple weeks ago I had my buddy Muncy on the podcast, uh, he's a rapper from Detroit. Uh, he's four years sober now too. and he came on and we talked about creativity and we also talked about how it was a little difficult or different trying to get into a creative mindset when we

Chris: 11:49

were sober. Oh yeah. I mean like look at like look at Eminem like now versus when he was all fucked up using, well, that's everybody. Yeah, exactly. That's especially when

Jon: 11:58

you're so used to being, when you're so used to like pulling out your creativity while you're using for a decade or two decades. Yeah. And then you. Like your brain is almost like, well, I can't be creative now. I can't be, you're

Chris: 12:13

gonna have to figure it out without me, basically.

Jon: 12:14

Exactly. And, and it took me a long time as well to be able to write freely and write consistently after, you know, a couple months or even a year of being sober. Because I relied heavily on using to be creative. Yeah. As well. It does come around though. It's just not something you really want to do in the first couple months when you're getting sober. Totally. The only thing you really want to be focusing on is not thinking about it. Yeah.

Chris: 12:39

Right. Exactly. I mean, it's been, like I said, it's for me at least in terms of not thinking about it, it's been pretty easy. You know, not. to hold onto, I guess. Yeah. It's just sometimes I'm like, fuck, I really wish I was high right now. or, or like, fuck, I really wanna smoke right now. Like, the act of smoking, smoking something.

Jon: 12:57

Yes. Well, yeah, that and, and I get that

Chris: 12:58

because, well, smoking weed specifically, cuz I mean, like, I was about to say smoke in general. Yeah. Like, you know, I missed the taste, I missed the smell. Like Gotcha. You know, I, and I've been around it since and it's been fine. Like, Yeah. You know, that's, that's the, the, there's the oil, the oral fixation piece. There's also the, you know, I wanna be high piece, but Right. It is what it is like. Right. Um, but what about

Jon: 13:18

anything else other than the creativity? Why else did you want to quit? What are you like looking to

Chris: 13:23

accomplish with that? Um, I mean, I think that the other, the other part of it was, and a lot of people complain about this, is, uh, the complic. Ah, yeah. And yeah, every, every single person that I've talked to about smoking weed, who's a regular weed smoker, says the same thing. Like, it just makes you complacent. It makes you, it makes you okay with the status quo. And like I just got sick of being in that mindset and I. Let myself, you know, like, and we'll, we'll probably discuss this more too, but like I, you know, I, I had started doing keto, lost a bunch of weight, started feeling really good, and then kind of fell off since then, like I've been, you know, I had been smoking and eventually, like, I stopped working out, I started eating like shit again. Part of this had, I would say, had to do with Covid and, you know, everybody, everybody dealt with some shit over Covid, right? So that was definitely a catalyst. but I, you know, I can't blame it all on Covid cuz it was still my own laziness. At the same time, like, I had plenty of freedom to do what I wanted and make better decisions during Covid. I just chose not to, and, you know, cannabis made that Okay. Made it easier for me Yeah. To, to be accepting of that. And so since I stopped, I mean, it's been, you know, within a week of stopping, I like started working out again. And like I've been kind of branching out doing other things that I. Wouldn't have done. And I feel like I've kind of like, you know, there's also like the dopamine aspect of it where like, where like I'm willing to give up other things that give me pleasure just because I got that temporary hit of dopamine from, you know, smoking. Mm-hmm. And so since then I've had to like, find other things to, to give me that hit. And so like, it's kind of allowed me. Do things that like I was planning on doing, but just never really got around to doing or just putting it off put Exactly. Yeah. I mean like putting it off is more like in terms of things that I had to do and obviously there was a lot of that, but it was also things that I just wanted to do but just couldn't find the motivation to do, for whatever reason. Probably because I was high You know? That's probably as, as the song goes, that's probably the reason because I got high. Yes. Yeah,

Jon: 15:29

I think it's, um, I, I'm very biased towards it. I think it's, I don't like it.

Chris: 15:34

Of course. You know, and I mean like, like especially from a,

Jon: 15:38

a, a, a workout aspect. Oh yeah. Because I talk also a food aspect. Everything. Yeah. Honestly, it makes me okay with playing. Way too many video games. It makes me okay with eating out. Mm-hmm. and eating like shit. It makes me okay with not being active. And those three things are really important to me is for me now, it's like monitoring my video game playing because I've not gotten rid of every. Pleasure. Mm-hmm. in my life. It's just not possible. Yeah. You

Chris: 16:05

know, so of course I, dude, everybody needs a vice. Right. And I have a couple of them. Video games is one of my vices. Right.

Jon: 16:10

I do keep an eye on it a lot better than when I was using though. Yeah. Right. So, like with weed, like I said, those three things, Very important to me. And that was one of the, I mean, that was the reason why I had to quit. I'm like, I do not wanna work out. Yeah. If I smoke. And it doesn't matter what time of the day. If I smoked in the morning, I'm not working out the rest of the day. Oh yeah. It just ruined

Chris: 16:31

the rest of the day for me. See? Yeah. And when it comes to working out, especially, or just like Jet doing any kind of activity, that was like not me sitting in front of a computer. I woke up with, I'm gonna do it today. Or like, I'd go to bed with like, I'm gonna do it tomorrow. And then, you know, 1230 rolls around. I still haven't worked out and I decided to pack a bowl. And then it's like, okay, well they're, guess we're gonna try again tomorrow. You know what I mean? And like, I'm not really. It's, it's harder, it's hard for me to work out in the morning. Like if, you know, I, I wasn't a routine where I was, but like, I remember that it's been hard for me to get back into that routine. It's like the second, the second I smoked, all bets were off. Like even just to do some simple resistance training with like this, you know, with this little system that I have, like in my apartment. Didn't even have to leave, didn't have to go anywhere, didn't have to spend more than like a half hour, 45 minutes doing it. And even then it was still just like, yeah, no, I'm gonna move on to the next thing. And then did it

Jon: 17:29

also attribute to you making poor nutritional

Chris: 17:33

decisions? Course. I mean, dude, come on. Like fucking, everybody knows about the munchies, like, right? I mean, for, and I get'em bad for you

Jon: 17:39

and I for you and Jackie though, a lot of the food that you kept in your apartment or your place is very, High

Chris: 17:46

nutritional value food. We try to be primal, like, you know, like we're the kind of people that like go to the farm and get raw milk or like the, you know, fresh duck eggs or like, we just bought our second half cow and filled our freezer with it. But like, you know, we'd be smoking all day and then fucking 9 30, 10 o'clock at night, we'd roll around and we're like, we're snacky, you know, snacky Jackie. And we'd end up. We'd end up going to Juul and getting snacks and buying a bunch of shit that we shouldn't buy and eat and eating at the wrong time. And I was gonna say, yeah, and I mean, like, you know, that that was just, that was just part of it, but it's, you know, that's a big part of it that like one of the things that there hasn't been like, other than like the occasional like sparkling water, Like there hasn't been any of that since we both quit smoking. Right. Like no late night snacks or anything like that. It's been a lot easier to just be able to get that under control. That's nice. Yeah. That's crazy that the, I mean, it saves

Jon: 18:42

money. You're saving money. You're saving time. Yeah. And you, you feel a lot

Chris: 18:47

better waking up. I bet. Oh yeah. Like fucking eating before you go to bed is just thought awful. Dude. I always wake up feeling groggy as fuck, so. Right. I hate that shit.

Jon: 18:55

Yeah. Same. So yeah, there's the, the motivation to do n new things or things you have planned for yourself in like a positive manner. Maybe you wanted to work on business or maybe you wanted to work on some of your clients, or maybe you just wanted to work on stuff. Now when you would smoke, like you said, all bets are off. You're gonna eat food late at night and it didn't help with your motivation towards your goals. So with this first month down, or five weeks or whatever, do you think that it would be different if you got to the six month

Chris: 19:27

mark? I mean, that's kind of a tough one. I think that for right now, because

Jon: 19:32

you haven't

Chris: 19:32

been to the six month mark yet. I think that, so I think the closest I got was like four months before. Okay. Um, so what was that? That was. There's been a couple times that I've quit, like while I was doing keto actually, like in the beginning I actually stopped smoking for probably like four to six months. Really? Yeah. And then it was that long. Yeah. And then I started smoking again cuz I was like, you know, like, I need to fucking do something like, right. Like, so, um, and I wasn't really playing video games. I was working out hard as fucking doing everything else. So I was like, you know, I can, I can treat myself with this for now. And it worked out for a while, but. in terms of getting to the six month mark. Now I, for me, I, I think, you know, since I stopped smoking, I've had a lot more motivation to get stuff done. Like I've said, I've just felt better. Um, there was, there was always. a lot of people don't experience. It's usually like, one of the, the side effects that you hear with people, um, from smoking weed, especially when they don't do it that often, is they get very anxious, um, very annoy, paranoid, and anxious. Mm-hmm. I didn't have that problem, so especially like when I'd mix it with something else, even like coffee. You know, a stimulant with it. I had a lot of like, really weird side effects. Uh, one of them especially was, uh, like high blood or low blood pressure. So like whenever I stood up I felt like I was gonna like pass out. Yeah, it's weird. I think part of that is like dehydration, but I also think that there's like a mineral balance piece there and like some, you know, some other kind of biochemical shit going on behind the scenes. And so there was that. And then just like, like I, you know, along with the, the low blood pressure was just like chronic fatigue. Mm-hmm. And so that was also part of the reason why I just like never wanted to do anything and after not smoking for, you know, just even just like the first week, I mean, like, I, I would notice after a couple days of not smoking, cuz you know, I've, I've done multiple days off so many times. And even just going a couple days not smoking, like I notice, you know, I'd noticed like instantly I actually have the energy to do shit now and I don't feel like shit all the time. And I, I can drink my coffee and enjoy it and like not have to worry about like feeling like I'm gonna pass out every fucking time I stand up. That's fucking crazy. So I mean like, just the fact that like, I felt as good as I have and I've also made a couple other changes that like a couple other nutri. Changes that like I feel like have helped.

Jon: 21:59

I was gonna say, so there's two, two habits specifically that you're going to replace the weed smoking with, and that's your exercise routine. And also I say nutritional. Like actually going the extra mile with your nutritional routine. Yeah. Like eating at correct times, preparing the meals correctly, not eating all snacky and stuff. Yeah. So I felt like those two routines were something that you were trying to accomplish

Chris: 22:22

then. Yeah, I mean, like, so even, even with, even, even like I, I, I eat a pretty clean diet or what I would consider a pretty, pretty clean diet. I just mostly, I'd say so mostly. Aca, like, uh, especially now, like I'm, I'm doing keto again, so it's, it's mostly meat. Uh, you know, occasionally have like some cheese or like some yogurt or something like that. Some, some raw dairy. Did you get into ketosis

Jon: 22:46

yet? Of

Chris: 22:46

course. Yeah. No, I've been doing keto pretty much since. I pretty much like the. Day that I quit ish. I like, so part of part of my problem with smoking was that like, you know, I like to do intermittent fasting. Yeah. And, uh, I like to extend my fast. And when I was smoking, it was very difficult to extend the fast because like, well, okay, so when I was super deep keto, it was easy for me to smoke while I was fasting, I had no problem. Mm-hmm. getting back, trying to get back into it, not only would like I. Have like just this uncontrollable urge to eat something and not have like the willpower to push myself through it. But it was also like, I just wanted terrible food. And so like the first day I didn't smoke, just immediately jumped into a 36 hour fast with no problem. That's fucking weird. So like, I was just like, I was like, I, I was like, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna fast. And then I kept going and I was like, let's see how long I could push this for. And then I just decided like, you know, at 36 hours, it was like 36 or 40 hours or something like that. I was like, you know, like, I'm gonna eat now. So that like, I don't feel like shit later. pretty much right, because like, you know, there's like the whole refeeding thing that like, you get kind of tired, but I

Jon: 23:59

was gonna say like a 48 hour fast after the first two days of not smoking weed would be a ridiculous. To your body. Yeah. Oh yeah. You know, and you're probably filled with a lot of adrenaline in the moment. Yes. But maybe after the 48 hour mark, if you woke up the following day, you'd probably be like, oh shit.

Chris: 24:19

Yeah. So it's more so just like if, when I'm in the fast and if I can focus on a single task. great. Like I can go, you know what I mean? It's like rocket fuel. Mm-hmm. But if there's like, if I have to like work really hard and there's like multiple things that I have to do, yeah. Probably, you know, if you're gonna inter bitt and fast for like, less than 24 hours, that's a probably a good spot. But like, once you get to like that 36, 48 hour mark and like, you start having like all of these different stressors come in mm-hmm. it's, it, it becomes very hard to focus on any one of them just because of, that's just where your body's at. Your body's kind of like, okay, I'm, I'm trying to survive now. You know what I mean? And now you're gonna add more stress into the equation. So, but

Jon: 25:04

you're also like bombarded by like so many. stimulus at that point. Yeah. Like you said, cuz you're using all this. Your adrenaline's running, you're getting hit by all these different things at the same time, and you're just like overwhelmed

Chris: 25:16

at that point. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I was just like, you know, I'm, I got time. I can, I can come back to this. Right. And so what was the original question? Sorry. I think it was like grew up on a tangent. It's all

Jon: 25:27

good. I think it was What new habits were you trying to use to fill

Chris: 25:30

the void of steam? Oh, okay. So yeah, so we were just talking about nutrition. In exercise, right? I mean, like, and then, so within, you know, within a, within a week, I would say I, I like to, I like to have like a definitive start point. And so within the first week of not smoking, like the following Monday, I was like, okay, I'm gonna start my routine up again. Mm-hmm. And so I got right back into, uh, right back into lifting. And I'm also trying to walk more, got like this little under desk treadmill. Treadmill so that like I have a standing desk so that I can can just walk on the treadmill. Kind of get, just, just stop being so sedentary. Yeah. I've been going on

Jon: 26:05

walks last week when it was in the fifties. Yeah. Yeah. I was hitting some walks. It was real

Chris: 26:09

fucking nice. It's good to be outside. Love it. Yeah. Yeah. I

Jon: 26:13

I'm, we're not, I'm not gonna try and like get off topic, but I was done with the winter, you know? Yeah. I, I love the winter initially, you know, cuz it's, it's very calm for me. This is

Chris: 26:23

like, this is like the third temporary winter that we have right now. If you've ever seen the meme where it like has all of the different, the actual phases of winter. Of winter, no,

Jon: 26:33

I haven't seen that. Okay. But yeah, I like. At the end of winter, uh, I'm pretty much ready for the sunshines, especially for the walks. Yeah. So while the weather's nice for the next six to seven months in the Midwest, I probably go on like three to four walks a week. Mm-hmm. um, It, it's just, it's a good habit. Yeah, it's just nice. And those are even after, like, I went and hooped on Saturday for like three hours and then

Chris: 26:55

went for a walk after and then

Jon: 26:55

went for a walk after cuz it was just nice out. So those are really good habits to get into. Now when you're lifting, you're doing the X three bar, right?

Chris: 27:02

Yeah. Hate that fucking thing. Yeah, I know. I, uh, I kind of, I kind of switch it up though. I've decided to do, uh, to do more of a, a traditional style of doing it. So I'm not just like the, what what's recommended with it is to. do just like one set as hard as you can to failure. I don't necessarily, that's the building strength though. Well, so I mean the guy, the guy who, who makes it like claims that that's the best way to, for hypertrophy whatever. Yeah. I don't. Uh, either way, like I've decided that I'm gonna do multiple, multiple sets with it. So that's Yeah, but you're

Jon: 27:38

supposed to, well, I mean, like I said, like if you're trying to just max out your muscles like that, that'd be, if you're just trying to like, hit a bench like five times at the most weight, you

27:47

can

Chris: 27:47

do Yeah. One set. Yeah. Like one rep max type things. Like that's when you're trying

Jon: 27:51

to build like strength when you're, Push your muscles to the limit. Like in terms of how much they can push? Yeah. Like that. When you

Chris: 27:57

do, I'm going more for like hypertrophy work.

Jon: 27:58

Yeah. And that's what I started doing for basketball too. It's like, I want to be able to have endurance. I want my muscles to have endurance. I wanna be able to do multiple sets of lighter weight. Yeah. You know, for like form

Chris: 28:07

and stuff like that. I just think that like, you know, there's, there's a ton of ways to skin a cat and there's a whole. a whole separate podcast. That could be done on just this one topic. What you mean? Just like working out, reaching like how, how to work out. Even. Even just in terms of doing resistance training, like how to maximize muscle growth and what kind of exercises are good for what and Right. You know, you can find studies. all across the board that support a number of different things, but I decided to go more traditional this time. So I'm doing like six sets of each workout, and I feel like even though I'm not. Getting to that point of absolute failure, I am getting close and it's also allowing me to do more volume. Mm-hmm. which, uh, you know, over the course of the week, I feel like that that's just going to be better long term. Yeah. I

Jon: 29:00

mean, it's all about your goals too. It's like, Like, are you going to like build muscle mass and strength? Yeah. Or are you trying to just like

Chris: 29:07

get in really good shape? Yeah, I mean, I, it's a little bit of both. Um, but I can say, I know you don't like the X three bar. I don't. I can say that after using it for as long as I have, I can hit these muscle groups just as good, if not better as I can with free weights. Cuz I, you know, I have worked out with free weights since then.

Jon: 29:24

See, I don't. I don't hate the workouts. Right. I, I enjoy them when I do them. I don't like that. It is, I wouldn't like it being a main source of how I work out because I like going to the gym. Yeah. I like having a lot of space to do plyometrics. I like playing. Basketball, there's treadmills there. I can walk backwards on a treadmill to help my knees. Well, so like

Chris: 29:49

what about like, in terms of resistance training though?

Jon: 29:51

Like, like I still use, like the machines. I don't always use free weights. Okay. Like they're

Chris: 29:56

still like pulley systems and stuff. I do. Yeah. The assistant would that con, is that considered, that's still considered resistance training? Yeah. Yeah. So I, anything that's like isolating a muscle group and you know, you're working it. Yeah. Like in terms you're giving, you're put putting a load on it and Right. Moving that load.

Jon: 30:09

So I, I do. I do more free weight than I do resistance, but I do have resistance built into my workouts throughout the week. Yeah. So, like I said, I don't hate it. I just don't, I wouldn't like, I wouldn't like it to be my only source of working out standing here in my living room, you know? Yeah. Cause I enjoy the, I enjoy getting out of here. And I enjoy going, maybe see some people I know, maybe I'll go hoop. I can also work on my shot after I'm done working out. Yeah. So I just wouldn't get in a really good routine

Chris: 30:35

using it for me. I've always hated going to the gym. Okay. The only time that I really liked having like, uh, Somewhere that I go for something like that was when I was in martial arts. Yeah, and that was because it was very regimented. Pretty much pre, pre-planned. It was in a class with a bunch of people, all had the common goal of, you know, working towards being better at that activity. Right. When I was doing that, I was also resistance training and I would go to the gym with my buddy. And you know, that also helped because he, I would say the nutritional piece was more my side and the training piece was more his side. And so we were able to kind of put our heads together and come up with something that worked for both of us and help each other out and, you know, follow the same routines and I could make recommendations to him and he could make recommendations to me. Mm-hmm. since moving to, um, well away from Melrose, really not living at my parents' house anymore. It's become a lot harder to do that. Right. Um, and I would eventually love to go to start going back to a gym, but I wouldn't go back to the gym necessarily for the equipment. It would be more for outside of that, like any kind of classes that they offer. A sauna, um, which I'm already going to. I do do an infrared sauna. Uh, there's a studio right behind my, my, my apartment that I go to, but like, you know, sauna and, uh, the cold plunge and mm-hmm. you know, those, those kinds of amenities would be more so what I'm looking, what I would be looking for if I decided to go. And get a, A membership. Gotcha. I mean, I like the idea of having, it's a very small footprint. If it's, you know, right in my living room, I can get work done in between sets or listen to the music that I wanna listen to or put the podcast on that I wanna put on or Right. You know, if I get an email, I can check it real quick and not have to feel guilty about it. Like I'm just sitting there on my phone. So it has, it has its ups and downs. Yeah.

Jon: 32:29

Now for the nutritional side of things, what have you been doing differently other than the not snacking really? because that was kind of the one thing, you know, eating like shit when you got high and then eating late

Chris: 32:42

at night. Shit. I mean like, and so also like another thing is just. eating, just constantly grazing throughout the day, I think is another problem that way too many people do. Well, I mean, just the constant snacking, like have

Jon: 32:54

you done less of it now that you stop

Chris: 32:56

smoking? Yes. Yes. Okay. Yeah, so that was a, so on top of the two things that you just mentioned, there's also just the, instead of having like. A couple like half-assed meals and then grazing throughout the day. They're more well-rounded. Whole meal. Higher? Yeah, like more. More of a bolus of calories than one sitting, as opposed to me just constantly eating, just walking into the kitchen, find something else to eat. Walk into the kitchen, find something else to eat. You know what I mean? Like yeah. That never ending cycle. It's like you open the refrigerator, you don't see anything, and then you walk away, you come back, lower your expectations, open the refrigerator, fucking see if you can find anything like, and then you gradually are like more and more willing to just, to actually like prepare something as opposed to just pulling it outta the refrigerator and eating it. Right. But yeah, I mean that's also, I just haven't had nearly as much of an urge to want. to just constantly graze and just constantly check my cabinets in my refrigerator, even though I, I know that there's nothing in them. Well, that's good. So yeah.

Jon: 33:57

What is the other thing about nutrition that you said you have been doing differently? Okay, so

Chris: 34:02

for any, for anybody that knows me, um, this is not, this would not be out of the ordinary at all, but for people who don't like it, sounds fucking crazy. And that is eating raw liver.

Jon: 34:14

See, I, before you even get into it, I'm gonna tell. I was, I haven't been a fan. It's, it's definitely a, uh, an acquired

Chris: 34:22

taste, so I don't actually like eat it, eat it, like how you would think. For me, it's become a multivitamin. Mm-hmm. And I take it just like I would a pill, fill my mouth with water. Take like, just like a quarter or just like a, usually it's about one ounce. Okay. So it's like just a small amount, like the size of like two quarters, like side to side laying down. Okay. I just fill my mouth with water, drop it in, swallow both of'em. Done. Take it like a pill, don't taste it. And hardly ever gag cuz I'm pretty used to it at this point. And I've just noticed tremendous like benefits from it. And it's been what specific It's been great. Um, just a lot more for one, a lot more energy. Um, just a lot more motivation. And I mean, we could do a whole, I'd like to do like a whole separate thing on this eventually talking about like why I think it's been so beneficial for me. I don't, we could get into that a little bit, but like, it definitely like deserves its own podcast because I think that like, yeah, that's flat out new. Aside from that, So many people out there could have so much benefit from doing this just because of the way that like some of these vitamins and minerals work, um, within the human body, especially based off of genetics and epigenetic and, you know, like epigenetically, we can kind of alter how some of those genetics function. But, um, I also had so on top of having, you know, really like just more motivation. more being able to,

Jon: 35:56

do you th Do you think that could, the mower motivation thing could be from the not using weed? Or is it both?

Chris: 36:03

I mean, like, I think that, cause you started around the same time, right? No, so I didn't start, so I started, I stopped smoking about, Five weeks ago, I didn't start doing the raw liver thing until about two weeks ago. Okay. And I noticed like within like two days, an even bigger increase in my two days of doing the raw liver thing was like, it, like honestly like changed my life. Like even more so than just not smoking. Right. Um, so I do think that there's some benefit to it and I do think that there's like some, some biochemical, you know, aspects behind why, and it's basically, you know, liver is like the most nutrient dense food on the planet. People. Mm-hmm. people talk. things like asai berries being a superfood, like no, that's bullshit. Like there's no, like, there is no plant food that comes anywhere close to meat, to not only meat, but specifically organs, like, especially liver like, you know, liver has. So many unique nutrients. Like it has like, just, it's just a powerhouse of like all the B vitamins, vitamin A, uh, choline. There's a bunch of peptides that come from liver that like we're just beginning to understand and how those are beneficial. And there's just so like copper, other minerals. There's just so many, so many benefits to consuming it. And like just because. The standard American diet and the soil, you know, the quality of the soil and the overabundance of plant foods and the diet. Like, it's just, these are things that like we've been missing out on for so long. Mm-hmm. and people think organ meats are disgusting, but like Right. You know.

Jon: 37:32

Well, they've just demonized eating them because, well, it's not like if you're eating like raw organs, like it's not a glorious thing. No, it's not. It's very barbaric. Yes. And we don't, like, it's very primal. We don't like looking at ourselves as primal beans anymore because we've ascended to this level of consciousness. Yeah. You know, 21st, first century we're, we're still

Chris: 37:52

humans. Yes. Right. We're still, we're still animals. There's no, there is even in like, you know, we people, there is no way that you are going to outdo. A hundred thousand plus years of human evolution right now. Like in the next, even in the next a hundred years. Yeah. I don't think that

Jon: 38:11

nutrition or science in general is at a point where we'd be able to condense all of the nutrients that we require into a more easily accessible

Chris: 38:20

form than an organ. And even, and even then, like even if we were, even if we created a supplement that matched liver in all of its glory. it would still not be the same. It's not a whole food source, depending on, you know, like in order to get some of these nutrients in forms that can become a powder and be put into a pill, yeah. They're not gonna be nearly as bioavailable. They're right. You know, there, there's, it's, it's just not the same thing. It's like, why would we try to recreate what we nature has already done for us? It makes no sense to me. Obviously. I understand, you know, like people don't want, people don't like the idea of, of killing an animal, but like, that's who we are. Right? Like, that's what we did forever. That's what we do now, and there's no way we're going to outdo that. And that's why all these vegans and vegetarians require such robust supplementation in order to survive, right? It, it was never possible until today. So you, you've

Jon: 39:20

had this knowledge of nutrition for a while now. why did you not start eat? And you've had, this is your second half a cow, like you already stated, right? So you've already had half a cow before this as well. Why did it take you so long to start doing the liver thing as a a habitual

Chris: 39:36

routine? Okay, so the reason why, actually, I, I, and the motivation piece or the energy piece wasn't even the reason why. I decided to get into liver. Um, so I, I had, I've had, I've always suffered with acid reflux. Okay. And a lot of people I know that's, you know, it's a complaint among many, many, many people. Lisa's is just developing now. Yes. So, it was acid reflux. And there's different kinds of acid reflux. There's like gerd, which is what a lot of people experience. Gastro esophagal reflux disorder. That happens, that occurs more in the stomach and then kind of pushes up into the esophagus. Um, you have your l e s, your, uh, your low, lower esophageal sphincter. It's a, it's basically a hole that sits right at the bottom of, uh, of e esophagus. Right into the right at the tip. Right at the tip of the stomach, right at the top of the stomach. And then contrary to what people think, what actually happens is humans have the most acidic stomach in the animal kingdom. Like our stomach should be anywhere between a pH of 0.5 to one. And that's tough. And that also just kind of goes to show that like we were scavengers and you know, like that is what's necessary to be able to digest meat and also derive nutrition from that meat. Yeah. But what actually happens is, is through eating the sad standard American diet um, you actually kind. Your stomach starts to lose the ability to acidify in a way it did. And then especially once you're overeating. When you're eating too late at night and everything else and you're not fully digesting your food, you'll have bacterial overgrowth that kind of starts to grow in your stomach. And then that bacteria in order to create an environment that it can actually survive in will purposely lower. You know, create ways of purposely lowering your stomach acid so that you can't kill it. Okay, so that's like, that's like more. and I started out with that and I don't know how it kind of evolved into this, but then I started noticing issues with, um, it, it didn't feel like it was coming from like the center of my chest. It started to feel like it was coming from lower than that. Okay. Like further on down the digestive, down the digestive tract. And so what I. and, you know, through other various, uh, symptoms that I was experiencing was that I had a sluggish gallbladder. And so the gallbladder kind of helps produce bile and then. there's a whole system where it kind of, you know, stuff comes from the liver and the pancreas, and then mixes with the pa, with, you know, the bile from the gallbladder, and then that gets flushed into the small intestine. And so when you have a sluggish gallbladder, the gallbladder, that's supposed to be the bile. It's supposed to be almost like a detergent, like picture, like soap. Mm-hmm. it's supposed to be like almost kind of like soap in terms of viscosity, and it's supposed to help flush everything out. But what ends up happening is it becomes like basically sludge. Mm-hmm. it becomes very thick and sludgy, and then that leads to all sorts of issues, especially down the line like, Hepatitis, which is just inflammation of the liver. It leads to gallstones. Um, right. My, one of my. experiences and something that a lot of people with gall bladder issues complain about is, um, right shoulder pain. So you get this really sharp shoulder or really sharp pain, like right in your right shoulder. And so I had, and especially like after doing like certain like accu pressure things like just like kind of pushing on it. and like pushing around it, like knowing that like, okay, like I've kind of narrowed it down to my gallbladder and then doing further research and seeing, so what does that, what's kind of the downstream effects of that? And aside from the hepatitis, you also, or like, you know, fatty liver, which is liver fat around fat. accumulation around the liver, which is really common in diabetics, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. You also develop a condition called sibo, which is, um, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. So you're not supposed to have that much bacteria in your small intestine. Okay? And so there's a limit to it. So basically the bile that comes from the gall bladder, Is supposed to help neutralize all that bacteria before it gets flushed into the small ba, into the small intestine. Mm-hmm. And eventually when you have a sluggish gallbladder, it leads to a bile deficiency, which means that all of that bacteria and everything else isn't being killed off properly like it's supposed to. Before it gets flushed into the small intestine. And so then you start having all this bacteria living in the small intestine, and that just leads to a whole bunch of other issues with digestive or digestion. You know, being able to go to the bathroom properly, having like loose stools and all sorts of other problems, issues down the line. Yeah. And so, I was taking some supplements to try and help with that. A lot of this is genetic and you know, again, that's why I think that this like kind of deserves its whole separate podcast because all of this stuff is also connected to everything from autoimmunity to depression, to anxiety, to migraines, to all sorts of stuff that we can talk about down the line. But for me, within two days of, of eating liver, My acid reflux was gone. That's crazy. And like this was while I was taking supplements that like kind of mimicked some of the nutrition that's in liver. Yeah. And then also like taking bile salts to help promote like the production of bile, but also introducing more bile and like I don't have to take those supplements anymore, or at least I haven't had to. because everything apparently that I need is in the liver. Right. And I think part of what I was missing was, uh, was one of the B vitamins B2 called rival flavin. Okay. Which all the B vitamins are found in super high quantities in liver. Mm-hmm. and I was taking supplements that had like B12 and, uh, what's the other one? Full eight. But you know, based, again, based off of Genix, there's so many. so many different pathways where things like folate and riboflavin and so b2, I think it's B seven and B12 are all like really used in, I think the missing piece for me was the riboflavin, and so being able to get that level of ribo flavin from liver has just like, Completely changed everything for me. It's like just giving me so much more energy. It's helped my digestion. I'm, I don't wake up in the middle of the night like coughing for a acid reflux, you know, not feeling like shit anymore. I'm not constantly, like every time before I would eat something, I would just feel super bloated and I'd be burping and like I just, you know, I just didn't even want to eat anything. And then even like when I tried to fast for extended periods of. I would still get this like awful acid reflux and there's like, you know, I'm fasting, what am I supposed to do about it? I drink some water. It's only gonna like make the situation worse cuz I'm just diluting this, you know, I'm just diluting the acid that's there. Right? And so it's just like irritating it even more. And so I think that that was like such a big, a big change for me. And so if like for anybody that's like experiencing anything like that, I would recommend. if you're not going to try and get more liver into your diet, which it could have so many profound effects that like you didn't even, like I said, all the, all the benefits that I've seen from it, I would definitely say like at least try and look into things like of like a good quality like vitamin B complex that has a lot of like what's missing from today's diets. Yeah.

Jon: 46:58

Well,

Chris: 46:58

American diet for sure. Yeah. and all the junk food that you eat and everything else, like, you know, that's all of that's playing a role in actually making you more deficient. in a lot of these nutrients. Right. Because you know, your body has to like detoxify all this shit and all of that stuff is used in the detoxification process.

Jon: 47:18

Of course. And I think it's interesting that you and Jackie are very, very passionate about nutrition. Yes. Right. And on the podcast, you're mostly just a lot of my writing, understanding the individual. From a, a habitual aspect. I always think that like mental health is more like mental health practices, but you guys are very, very passionate about saying that your diet is responsible for, like, like you said, like genetics and diet is responsible for like depression, anxiety, and all that stuff. and I think it is, I think the, the perfect balance would be sobriety and just the cleanest diet ever. Yes. And there's one person who we have on here, cuz I do have a good diet. I don't have the best diet and when I mean that it's always just gonna come full circle background to Joe. Yeah, of course. So Joe's a hundred percent sober and on probably the healthiest diet you can possibly be.

Chris: 48:10

Joe's doing it right too. In a bunch of other, play in a bunch of other ways too. And he's

Jon: 48:13

got all the best positive mindset work, all

Chris: 48:16

that stuff. That's, that's, yeah, the mindset. He's got positive social connections. He's got, you know, he's working out, exercising, being exercising. He's got talent. He's very goal oriented. So yeah. He's like, he's doing everything right. Right. And I think that that's like, I think that all of those things are pieces of the puzzle. Right. I think when I, when I talk about the depression and the anxiety piece, I think more so. if you are doing things right and like you don't necessarily have reasons to be anxious or you are especially, you just seem to be like, especially like not at all resilient and like you're, or you're just like down. Yeah, and that's not, you're just down and you can't figure out why. Then, That's where like nutritional intervention can like really come in because like, you know, I've, I have not had the best mindset and there's been times where I would consider myself depressed. Right. And I've also noticed like one of the huge benefits is that I've just been a lot happier lately.

Jon: 49:14

Well, yeah. Well I mean, if you take, I'm gonna be honest, if you start eating liver, like you said, you get in all these nutrients and then you also stop smoking weed. I can. A lot of Yeah. Good things happening just from those two instances. Yeah. And we just named a bunch of different things that Joe's doing. Right. And you know, I work out a lot. I eat a whole food-based diet pretty much, unless we go out to eat sometimes. And I do a lot of different mental health exercises. Not really lifestyle choice, lifestyle choices, whether it's, you know, my to-do list or my meditating. uh, my writing or my reading and stuff like that, I, I take it very seriously. So for anybody out there who just listened to some of the things we named, like the exercise part, the, the nutritional part, like you said, or the mental health part, like I said, or the habitual part of like maybe smoking, scrolling your phone and stuff, I say find one of those areas that is literally just the brightest red flashing light to you. Right? Like that, you know, That you are not putting enough time and effort into? No. And that is once you fix one of those things, like like you said, you can't like stop smoking weed, work out six days a week, change your entire diet, start trying to do a bunch of healthy mental health exercises all in one week. It needs to be gradual.

Chris: 50:33

You're gonna overload yourself. Yeah. Yeah. These are habits that have been built over time, right?

Jon: 50:37

You've built the bad habits over time, so it's gonna take time to instill the good habits. So I say find one area and just start there. And I think for you, like having the, the confidence to do the five weeks without weed, now you're like, well, now there's so much more that you can do now in your head. Yes. Like I did that something I had been putting off here and there. You know, so now it's like there's motivation with that. Now you get another small victory with the liver thing. Yeah. You're like, now I do that. Now I'm doing the working out thing. And it's just almost like a snowball effect Yeah.

Chris: 51:10

Of positive things. Yeah. And I mean like, so for a while, like even then, like the content that I was consuming was. mostly around video games. Um, specifically, you know, I, I play World of Warcraft and that was like most of the content that I was consuming and I would spend most of my time playing video games and, you know, occasionally getting some work done, but not really having the motivation to kind of push outside of that. Right. And since then, like. You know, I spent, I spent a lot of time prior to this, at least even when I was still smoking, but when I was actually very active, like listening to a lot of podcasts and YouTube content from, you know, various doctors, influencers, whatever you want to call'em, even so far as going to like, Certain events, um, like when I went to, I went to Keto Con, um, in Austin just to kind of see it and listen to some of these people speak. And, you know what? I would consider my heroes. I got to meet some of them, and that's cool, you know, shake their hands, take pictures with'em and, and so that, that, all that stuff was cool. But, so more recently I've been able to get back into that and kind of start to branch out as well and, you know, start looking at other things that I'm interested in and kind of bring more of. that positive, I would say content back into my life and back into my routine. Um, and I think that that's, you know, that's been a pretty, that's also kind of helped me change both my mindset and a lot of my decisions.

Jon: 52:31

It's been a willingness to, to now branch out into the different content. Yeah. Or the old content, you know, cuz when we're stuck in those routines of doing the same shit for like a whole year. Right. Like when I was playing. even though I was sober, I was playing league for a whole year. Yeah, right. Like I was still in pretty good shape and I was eating all right. But I'm playing a year's worth of video games, like with all my free time. Yeah. You know, I'm not writing. I'm not meditating. Yeah. I'm not going, you're

Chris: 52:59

not drinking. I'm not drink. I'm not do,

Jon: 53:01

I'm not, I'm not like killing myself internally. Yeah. Yeah. But I was,

Chris: 53:05

I was stagnant. You're just replacing one bad habit. With another bad habit. Exactly. And I mean, like, it was a less bad habit, but it's still a bad habit. Right. So, and eventually you gotta break that one too,

Jon: 53:14

which I did. Exactly. Yeah. Which is, you know, the topic of the second book I'm writing, I've talked about it a million times on here. It's the hierarchy of habits. Mm-hmm. you know, replacing the bad habits with better ones over time. For a year of doing that. Once you're done doing it, like you said, you started circling around to different content and you stopped the weed and then the liver thing came in. When I stopped playing league after that one year, I had to cut out video games entirely.

Chris: 53:38

Yeah. And that makes

Jon: 53:39

sense. Right. And I couldn't, and then I also, well I also started reading a lot after that. I was writing a lot. I was working out even more so than before. So having those small victories and changes and then god damn, just taking'em and rolling with'em and making a lot of other bigger, better choices is that's really how it's done. I mean, a

Chris: 53:59

lot of people, like, you know, everybody's looking for instant gratification. They're looking for a pill that's gonna change, that's gonna fix whatever they have they're looking for. You know, I get to, I, I wanna do this once and it's gonna make a difference. And unfortunately, like, in terms of the liver thing. I was so happy to see that. Like that's actually like how it worked out for me. But for the most part, it doesn't work like that. And it just needs to be something that's gradual that you build up like a snowball rolling down a hill. Right? And so unfortunately you can snowball the wrong way and that's what happens to a lot of people is they end up snowballing the wrong way. So, you know, you gotta, you gotta walk back up the hill and make a new snowball,

Jon: 54:31

right? And then send that thing down. Exactly. So I think we made a lot of good points. you got anything else you wanna say? Maybe for the, uh, average listener out there who might wanna stop doing a bad habit and start doing some

Chris: 54:42

good ones? I mean, like, so I guess a couple things. Um, for one, having somebody to do it with you is always easier, but it can also make things more difficult. I can say that I've been wanting to stop smoking for a while and, you know, being with my significant other. Us smoking in the house and constantly being around it and everything else definitely did not make it easy. Right? But once we decided to do it together and it got to the point where she was ready to do it, then it got a lot easier. And you know, the fact that we're doing it together and we're both relying on each other, that's huge. So having like that support system is, is a big thing. No. Like, no matter how big or how small the goal is, having somebody there. You can rely on or who can keep you accountable. I mean, that's what the, I think is, is huge. That's

Jon: 55:35

what the weed thing, and with the nutrition thing. Yeah, the

Chris: 55:37

eating habits, right? Yes. Yeah. And I think that like, also like trying to, trying your best to remove yourself from it is also a great thing. There's been, you know, a bunch of. a bunch of studies out there are on, just like, there's, there's all these like little devices now that you can get where like you, you know, it's like a locked container where you can throw your Xbox controller into this little container and then set a timer on it and like, you know, set the timer for like a couple days and like eventually, like you just stop thinking about that habit, the cravings just stop, right? And so I think that that's really important to note is that. If you keep feeding the cravings, they're gonna keep coming. Mm-hmm. But if you don't feed the cravings, eventually they're gonna stop. Or they might still keep coming, but they're gonna get less and less and less. And you'll be strong enough to say no to'em. Exactly. In the long run, you'll have more and more willpower over time. You know, it's like, just like working out. You know? You need to get that muscle bigger too. Willpower is a muscle. You need to, you need to work it and you need to, you. You need to brunch, bench, press some willpower. It's the only way that you know you're gonna get bigger. Willpower. I like that. Did you come up with that here? That somewhere? No, that's pretty good. Yeah. Will Willpower

Jon: 56:47

is a muscle. Yeah. You should put that on a t-shirt, just so There you go.

Chris: 56:50

Yeah. That's fucking nice. Willpower is a muscle too. Hey. Yeah, I'm serious. You should

Jon: 56:54

do that. Nah, maybe I will. All right. That's about all the time we got today. I, uh, hope everybody enjoyed the episode. Thanks for tuning in. Uh, we'll be back next week with another episode. Yeah, your best. Stay up and feel free out there. Peace out.

Chris: 57:09

Peace.