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    WhysAdvice™ with FatDag

    I was miserable. I was 263.5 lbs and was facing disciplinary action for multiple fitness assessment failures from the Air Force. I needed to lose weight and wanted to lose weight, but failed the many times that I tried. I found the support I needed to crush my goals. I want to walk you through the mindset needed to accomplish your own personal goals. I want to be your Wingman! WhysAdvice™ is a Lifestyle Brand focused on leveraging the power of WHY while broadcasting wellness ADVICE to an authentic community of Wingmen.
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    Episodes (383)

    An Email of Concern...

    An Email of Concern...

    On 12/9/18, 12:36 PM, "Name Redacted" wrote:

     

    Hi Mike!

    You are an inspiration and I’ve shared your podcasts with my WW group. They love it and have become fans.

    Mike, I love what you are doing.

    I am concerned that you are slowly gaining your weight back and it worries me. It looks like you’ve gained nearly 40 pounds in the last year. 175-219.

    ... I understand you’ve had some personal challenges with your father in law’s health. I get that. But a 40 pound gain is quite a bit. At some point, you have to deal with what life throws at you and stay true to your cause. We all do.

    I want you so badly to be the beacon of hope for the WW audience. It just seems that you are not practicing what you preach and it saddens me. You are the spokesperson for positive and consistent weight loss and yet you are gaining—nearly half of what you have lost.

    No one wants to point out the obvious, “Hey Mike, you advocate health and weight control, and talk about a 92 pound loss, yet you are rapidly gaining weight. How can you inspire others when you are faltering yourself?”. It’s like a preacher being unfaithful. Or Tony Robbins needing Prozac in his morning coffee.

    Please don’t take this note harshly. I’m probably saying what a lot of folks are thinking. I remain

    A concerned fan,

    Name Redacted

     

    (MY REPLY)

    Good Evening,

    Thanks for your note. I truly appreciate it, and it was received in the manner in which you sent it.  Genuine concern.

    I'll try to offer an explanation and give you an idea what else is going on. 

    In the hunt to reach goal, I developed a 'self-diagnosed' eating disorder.  I was very addicted to losing weight.  It caused me to lose considerable muscle mass as well. I was running 6-8 miles a day, and living off of protein bars, at times eating them as my only food for the day.  I would eat the same things over and over, because it fit into my 'points budget'.  If I ate a little too much, I would lace up the shoes and go for a 5-6 mile run to 'fix it'.  I would skip a meal if it meant I might be able to lose a pound in the morning.  When the family wanted to go to dinner, I'd insist we go to one of two places, so I could 'stay on track'.  My focus was 100% on weight loss and I was 'thinner' but headed down an unhealthy path.  I'm glad I recognized it.

    At 175lbs I still had a roll of belly fat that bothered me. However, 175lbs is way too skinny for me. I checked in with my doctor and confirmed that all of my bloodwork was perfect - I'm not taking a single medication, but I never told him about my eating habits.  Socially, I was not happy and food still controlled me because it was tied to the number on the scale.  I had to make a choice, continue to try to lose weight, or figure out how to get healthy. I decided to make some changes to bring sanity to my life. I started referring to that as balance.

    I stopped running for distance.  I've been strength training regularly for over 2 years to add muscle to my frame. I'm more muscular now that I have ever been in my entire life.  I run regularly for fitness, not for weight loss. Rather than going out for a long run, I go for speed! I use it as a way to clear my head, I rarely need any music to keep me company, because I enjoy the run.  I began to look at the food I needed, versus what I was getting.  I realized I'm very nutritionally deficient in a lot of areas. I have other 'food issues' that make trying new foods a challenge, yet, I'm working to overcome them. I stopped tracking points altogether because it was forcing me down the wrong side of health.  I began to gain weight.  I love it.  Some of it is clearly muscle, and some of it is clearly pizza.  I suspect that puts me closer to 195-205 as a number that I can live with, but I truly don’t know.  What I do know is that I have a balance in my life that I have never had.  I have a healthy relationship with most food.  I have a healthy relationship with my self-confidence.  I have a great social life.  The freedom I've gained, has given me a total sense of joy that I'd longed for, for a long time.  There are many foods that I no longer crave.  The list of foods that I'm no longer addicted to is long, and most of them can be purchased from a gas station.  I've safely and successfully made significant changes here. The WW program, was instrumental in teaching me the basics and showing me that I'm capable of more than I ever thought possible. 

    I wanted and needed more. I've been experimenting with new foods, trying to live a much better life, and have a much better relationship with food than I ever have.  That learning process, coupled with some stress does have me up on the scale and I'm 95% ok with it, because I understand why, and understand more about it than I could ever possibly share.  There are some things I'm still learning, but I'm 100% committed to my overall health.  I have not given up, I have not reverted to my old ways, I'm simply doing the best I can, given all of the circumstances and re-learning a lot of things in the process. I share what I'm learning from time to time, when I think it adds value to our community in a broader sense.

    Faltering is not what it is.  I'm at the beginning of a lifelong evolution that has been very public for about 2 years. It's impossible to share every detail, nor am I willing to.  I simply share the positive message of health, balance and wellbeing. I trust that you take the pieces that make sense and write your own success story. To me, that is the ultimate goal and I've hit it and strive to maintain it.  By my calculations, I have another 45+ years on this planet.  That alone is not a number that I could have confidently typed just 2 years ago. 

    Thanks again for checking in.  I believe in you and I wish you good focus! 

    FatDag

     

     

     

    WhysAdvice™ with FatDag
    enDecember 09, 2018

    It’s Showtime

    It’s Showtime

    I’ve taken the stage many times in my life to deliver key messages on various topics. I’ve been the center of attention before, mostly because of the skill, talent or even the title I held. 

    In many cases I hated the way I looked as I was preparing my final rehearsal.  Once I got dressed up, I knew I looked the best I could, and that the audience wouldn’t care because I would be distracting them with my message.  My appearance didn’t matter, they weren’t there to hear or see me, they were there to hear my message. My message was always something besides “ME”. 

    Today, I embark on a new journey. On Sunday I will address a subset audience at a conference of 10,000 dietitians.  The makeup is industry professionals all focused on the same thing - keeping people healthy and using our food supply as the tool.  I realized for the first time, I’m not speaking as an Industry expert, I’m speaking as the glimmer of hope, and a success story that so many others have just now begun to write. I speaking on behalf of the hundreds of thousands who share my pain. My message is suddenly and simply “ME”.

    Slides, graphs and visual aids have no where near the impact that my physical transformation does. Yet the audience on Sunday, has no frame of reference. The starting point for my story is long gone. I worked hard to burry it and make it a distant memory, but I now need to bring it to life, to deliver my message effectively. The pain has to be real again. Pain that I set aside and worked through must now be resurrected. Pain that I have overcome is now forced to be fresh in my mind. I have to re-live my journey in front of a room of strangers, with no expectation that they understand. 

    It’s a story that has to be told through photos and sound bites. Even I, at times, forget just how far I’ve come because I’m incredibly proud of where I am. I live in the now.  I worked hard to forget the past.  So as I prepare for this incredible opportunity, my brain wonders.... 

    Can I deliver the entire journey in words? Can I make a compelling argument that I truly am proud of what I’ve accomplished? Can I channel the energy from this community and give back? Can I stand on the stage and represent the change that our nation needs?

    The number one retention issue in our military currently parallels the #1 medical condition our nation and globe faces. Heart disease, diabetes, and so many other chronic illnesses are directly related to our poor and often deliberate actions.  The result is obesity and it’s time we address it.   Today, we lose more military members to the chow hall line, than we do to foreign conflict.  The numbers are staggering yet often underreported. 

    In just a few hours, I’ll huddle into my inner mind to channel these emotions.  Then on Sunday afternoon, whoever is in that room is going to get it from a fire hose, I’m going to hand them the problem and asked for their collective experience to work with me to solve it!

    I could not be more honored than to be tapped on the shoulder in this moment. A moment I’ve unknowingly prepared my whole life for. 

    If you’re with me, dig deep, write your story, add it to the list of successful outcomes so my entire journey becomes validated!  The solutions exist, we know that, we must continue to prove that. Together we will work with those with the educational background to channel our victories into replicable actions.  

    That is why what you’re doing matters. It matters beyond your life, beyond your family and extends across the globe to all generations. 

    It’s show time! Let’s Do this!

     

    🇺🇸🍏❤️

    FatDag

     

    WhysAdvice™ with FatDag
    enOctober 19, 2018

    I wish you Well

    I wish you Well

    A quick google search reveals all you could want to know about the rebranding to WW.  I wanted to take just a second to give you my thoughts on the press release many of you have seen or heard. 

    Weight Watchers changed my life. At the time I lost my weight I fully believed that. I gave credit to my leader, the meeting room, the Smart Points program, Connect and my Wingmen.  I credited so many of the other tools that I used properly to lose weight.  I lost 91 pounds. Got to GOAL, made lifetime and joined the team as an employee.

    I reached a Healthy BMI.  I was warned “you’re too skinny” but I ignored it. I pressed on because I loved the result I was getting from the scale.  The scale controlled me and I tamed it down to 173lbs. 

    I began to rely on the foods that I “knew worked”. There were days that I would eat a protein bar for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner AND dessert because I felt that food was “safe” and I was unwilling to deviate from “foods that worked”

    I would run 7-8 miles, for no other reason than to see a lower number on the scale the next morning. I did enjoy it, but the sole reason I laced up was for a scale reward. 

    Thankfully, I recognized I was heading down a dangerous path. I had a healthy BMI but I wasn’t mentally healthy with my relationship with food or exercise. I started making changes out of necessity. I decreased my running distance and focused on my speed. I would burn a lot less calories, but I felt so much better, more accomplished.  

    I gave up protein bars and powders as a meal, and managed to figure out a new balance as freestyle was rolled out. I overate healthier food, and re-introduced some of my favorite foods and that’s when something magical happened. 

    I started actually “Feeling better”... not just physically, but mentally as well. It’s hard to describe because I actually did feel good when I reached goal at 173lbs. 

    During this transition, I increased my strength training, because I enjoyed the results I was getting from weekly exercise. The health benefit was muscularly visible and motivated me to want more. I set small goals along the way.  I hit them. I modified others. 

    I set Goals that were not related directly to the scale and although I still weigh myself daily, it’s a single number in a complex formula called Wellness. I continue to eat healthier, run faster and strength train on MY terms. 

    During this transition I’ve witnessed so many other people get to goal. Perhaps lower than they need to in order to satisfy a scale. I’ve seen people get 100000 daily steps simply to declare a victory.  

    I started to resent a program I once loved. I felt enslaved to the individual data points.  The dangers I recognized in myself, I started seeing in others. I contemplated more than once resigning as a “leader” - but I loved helping people and knew of a solution. 

    I started focusing on my health.  The industry taught me a term called “wellness” and I loved it. I felt healthy, even if the scale says 207.  I loved every bit of my new life, the one I created with the help of so many tools. Some I still use, some I’ve packed away in working order should I need them again. 

    When I sat through my “WW Rebranding” meeting, I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to say - “That’s it - I cant buy into this anymore, I quit” instead what I heard and what you’ve read excited me. It’s an opportunity for WW to meet me, where I am now in my journey and I can’t wait for you to see what’s “in-studio” for us all!

    It is about being healthier, and you’re the one that gets to determine what that means for your specific journey.  So as we wait for the formal rollout, beyond the press release.  I simply say, I wish you well!

    🍏❤️

    FatDag

      

    WhysAdvice™ with FatDag
    enSeptember 25, 2018

    I'm honored to be your leader!

    I'm honored to be your leader!

    I'm humbled to be called a leader. For the longest time I declined the title, until I found this definition!

    This was given to me today and it kinda choked me up. I've read a lot of motivational things. I think I’ve heard most of them, one way or another. This one however, I hadn’t heard before and it hit me hard.

    I don’t want you to follow me online for motivation. I don’t want you to be dependent upon me. I don’t want you to feel like “I changed your life”.

    I can't get you to Goal. I can't do anything like that for you. I only remind you that it’s possible. I simply believe in you!

    You have to do the work.

    What I can do is tell you that you have the ability to use whatever tools you need, to tap into your internal strength and reach your goals, that’s when we can celebrate. If I am one of your tools - perfect. If not, perfect! Use whatever it takes, but listening to the podcast won’t make you lose weight. Being in my meeting room doesn’t guarantee your success. It won’t make you healthier. It won’t cross anything off your list of goals.

    YOU HAVE TO DO THAT!

    When you close your phone, when the podcast ends, you have to enter the real world and make decisions that support your goals while I’m hundreds of miles away, and you ARE!

    You have to use YOUR mental strength to change YOUR life and the good news is, you can!

    I'm wiling to be your leader because, I believe in you!

    FatDag

     

     

    WhysAdvice™ with FatDag
    enSeptember 19, 2018
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