Strength, Service, and Science: The Multifaceted World of Paul Michel

Chapters

• 1:02 Sergeant Paul's Journey: From Military to Fitness Passion
• 5:30 The Evolution of a Fitness Coach: Paul's Transition from Marine to Mentor
• 10:16 The Science of Fitness: Tailoring Training to Individual Needs
• 21:03 Empowering Through Fitness: Paul's Dive into Bikini and Fitness Competitions
• 26:08 The Impact of Mental Strength and Habits Post-Event
• 26:39 The Difference Between Weight Loss and Fat Loss
• 27:40 Evolving Concepts of Fat Loss Over Weight Loss
• 28:32 The Importance of Preserving Muscle Mass
• 32:39 Introducing IDLife's Fitness Line and Its Impact
• 34:01 The Science and Benefits of Creatine Monohydrate
• 40:12 Combining Supplements for Optimal Health and Fitness
• 45:57 Exploring the Synergy of Caffeine and Creatine Monohydrate
• 50:01 Closing Remarks and Appreciation

Transcript

0:21

Welcome to the podcast, everyone. This is Mark Bennett, uh, on behalf of ID life, uh, for the healthy, simplified podcast with Paul Michelle, you know, I'm, I'm really excited about this presentation because at the end of the day. You know, uh, Paul, Paul has not only served our country, he has also then found a love of fitness and then found a love of helping people, uh, and, and, and that love of helping people has evolved into those people helping people. And it's, you know, it's always fun to, to talk to people like that and in their story and how they got to where they were, but Paul, thank you for being here today. I'm so happy that you took the time to, uh, to be on the podcast. Absolute pleasure to be here, Mark. So I always kind of start out the same way with everyone, which is, you know, tell us a little bit about you, your family, your background, uh, and most importantly for you, uh, Sergeant Paul, your, your military service. Well, let's see, I started as a, um, I was born in Florida, uh, to a single mother who was, uh, in the Navy, um, so of course I go to a different branch, the Marine Corps, uh, as a, as a rebellious son, but, um, before the Marine Corps time came, She was an aerobics instructor on the side and so she was very prominent in health and fitness. And so I think that had a lot of influence on me as I was growing up. But, um, we lived in Florida and we just bounced base to base. We went to, uh, Hawaii. I lived in California, so I never lived anywhere for two for very long. Um, and, but I think that gave me a little bit of a diversity in my experiences in the world as I was growing up. Um, but also the sad part is I have no childhood friends cause they just kept changing all the time. So I don't know what the downsides of that are, but anyways, um, when I became a teenager, I started looking very closely at the, at the military. And, um, I don't think I had the foresight to, to know how important that was for me. I just had the impulse, maybe it was the video games, who knows. Um, but I ended up, uh, jumping into the Marine Corps and Spent a few years going through that chaos. Uh, and it, it taught me a lot. I feel like, um, with, without that, I would be a very different person. Um, it just gave me a lot of like stability and focus. But in that time, when I first, when I first was growing up and I was exposed to my mom and she was just doing all this healthy eating and very focused on strength training and teaching people and guiding people, I think that might've like, Planted a seed or interest, uh, but it was in health and fitness. But when I got into the military, I think what a lot of people don't realize is that those are athletes. They just have a very different job than somebody on the field. And so I think that kind of stimulated a little bit more of a passion or responsibility to focus on those things as well. And I think it all just kind of slowly, comprehensively came together with where I am now. Uh, but yeah, um, And single have a golden retriever. Um, I live in Louisiana now, the, the Marine Corps, a unit that I was part of did a lot of work in the Gulf. So I got planted in Louisiana and I never left because the food's amazing out here. And, um, it's a lot of fun. Yeah, so that's where crawfish gumbo, you know, what's interesting is, uh, the Marine, the Marine Corps last time I checked doesn't have a boat and doesn't have a plane. So it relies on the Navy and the air force to get wherever it wants to go. And then occasionally it rides along with the army. But so, you know, at least you still have a connection somewhat with the Navy. You know, I mean, let's, let's be real. I mean, and you know, your corpsmen are all Navy guys. That's right. That's right. And I always say if I, if I didn't do what I did in the Marine Corps, I should have been a corpsman. I would have loved that path and I would have loved a lot of my medical background to be paid for by the military. But, uh, for, for any Navy people out there that ever hear this down the road, just know that we are a department. Uh, the Marine Corps is a department of the Navy and it's the men's department. Uh, so thanks for the list. Yeah. Sorry, dad. And that's, um, I'm not, I'm not going to get into the argument of the armed forces. I mean, I, I honor all that served, uh, that, that is, uh, unfortunately something I never got a chance to do as I tell the story. I was actually, uh, accepted into the, to the Naval Academy and I was supposed to go, but then I took my physical and found out that, Hey, you have 2025 vision. You can't be a pilot. Whole reason why I was going to go to the Navy was because I'd watched the movie Top Gun and I wanted to be a fighter pilot. I mean So, uh that you know ended up going baseball instead, but you know, hey things happen but eventually you would a hundred percent been a I said knowing you you a hundred percent would have been an officer Or some sort of like colonel or major for sure Well, yeah, we will never know. Uh, you know, my my second stint at trying was uh, You Coming out of law school, I was, uh, I applied for the JAG Corps, uh, it was during the Clinton administration and they put a hiring freeze, uh, on all commissions. So, second time I tried and it failed miserably in trying to get to the Navy, but hey, you know, we tried, we did what we could. But eventually, you know, Paul, when you got out of the military, um, you decided, Hey, fitness is, is a passion of mine. And you really got really involved in fitness. What, what kind of attracted you to getting into the, into the fitness world? And, and what was it about it most importantly, that you find the most enjoyment with? We chopped out a little bit. Can you ask that one more time? Oh, no, no, that's fine. Yeah. What, what, what I would, yeah, what I was saying was that, you know, at some point. You got out of the military and decided, Hey, the fitness world is what I want to be in. You know, I, I actually, you know, I have a passion for this. What was it about fitness that attracted you to it? It's, it, what's interesting is I went through a period of time where I had zero interest in health and fitness. Um, and I would say that was between my teens. Maybe it was sort of like I was exposed to it so much through my mother that I had no interest. Um, and then I got. I got bullied a little bit in, in middle school, and then I was like, I better do something like learn how to wrestle. And they were like, you need to strength train. So it was sort of like necessity for a little while. Um, and then, uh, when I got into the Marine Corps, uh, a lot of the people, so we'll go to, we'll go on a tour or a deployment and you'll have different weights, different sizes, heights, Different athletic, uh, athletic backgrounds and we're all eating almost the same thing, the same amount of calories doing the same kind of work. And you just start noticing like, some people do really well, but some people will gain weight on a tour, you know, or they'll it's the res will really get'em back. So I, it's. Uh, while we were out there, I became a sergeant and when I, when I took that role, uh, I'm pretty sure this is the same for every branch once you get to like E4 and E5, but they make very clear that you are now no longer just, uh, setting the example of what the job is, but you need to take care of these people. And I remember that conversation being told to me by my commanding officer and I took it very literal. As I typically do with most things and so I started looking at their health and their stamina and my own as well Um, you know, I was wasn't talking at them. I was like, hey, let's get healthy. Let's get fit I was actually ordering men's fitness magazines and things like that on deployments and having that come out And I just got really excited when I started realizing how much Control with a little bit of change, a little bit of effort you have over your health, your energy, your stamina, your physique and changes like that. And so, um, I started essentially I'd call it, I would, I guess we'd call it coaching Marines, uh, while we were on tours and deployments together. Um, but when I came back, uh, it's something that I did casually on the side and I had a lot of fun with it and I got, I'm a little bit of a beast of burden. Like I like to do things that aren't. Have value and contribution to my, to my team or my, my circle of influence. And so, uh, I think I just wasn't getting what I would have, I wasn't getting whatever I'm wired for from corporate America. So I was working in corporate America, but having fun coaching and guiding people on the side. And, uh, and just one day I realized, I don't think it happened in a second like that. It was just over time, I'm, I'm like, oh, hold on, maybe this is a calling. Maybe, um, I actually wrote down a quote the other day because it meant a lot to me. And it was, your destiny is what bothers you. There are going to be an array of things that make. So, there's going to be things that make. It manifests to you as a calling of your conscience. And when I read that, I think that's what happened, is I just started realizing, I'm like, this is more fun and enjoyable and meaningful to me to, to help people. And even if it's not my primary path, um, you know, if, can I leave a trail? Of healthier, happier, fitter people. Um, and of course there's also the, the, the more like, um, shallow things like I feel better and I feel more confident and I even feel like I receive more respect if I'm taking care of myself and it's an extension of discipline. So just all those things of the outward contribution, the, the meaning that helping, that you, that you get from helping others, but, um, also the way it's benefited me personally. Uh, it is. It's half something I enjoy, but also it's a passion and a lot of it feels like responsibility now. Well, you know, along the line, you decided that, hey, I'm not just going to stick a toe in the water. Uh, I'm going to actually go all in and you, you've literally educated yourself. pretty extensively in, in the health and fitness world. Uh, and in fact, um, you know, you and I kind of have conversations from time to time on what I'm going to call deep green science conversations where, where we kind of geek out on, on some of the things. And, uh, you know, what's interesting about that is, um, you know, it is, it's fun that you've kind of gotten that, that background, but how are you putting that into practice with your everyday clients? Because, you know, you can have all of this great knowledge in your head, but sometimes you have to be able to just have a conversation with somebody. And, you know, and that's kind of the hardest part about that statement because, you know, it's science. is really not about knowing everything and having the right answers. It's about trying to disprove yourself. And the less you can disprove, the more accurate you are. But to, to truly understand how to take care of people, there's, there's understanding that everybody's very different and other people, uh, respond to different things. And it's not always a chemical or a biological thing. Sometimes it's mental. And so, at first, I sort of realized, okay, this is about calories in, calories out, getting enough protein and people need to exercise and sleep better, but you start realizing that You know, when you take on different people with different goals, um, for some people it's about finding discipline. And that usually comes from knowing they're on the right path and getting a little bit of account of accountability. Um, sometimes you start realizing by working with different people, they get results doing things that you think don't give results. And so you start kind of destroying your own little biases over time. And, um, you know, so I think. Just taking on new challenges, uh, when it came to working with different people and, and trying to dig into it with them gave me a little bit more like experience and understanding. I actually, when I, when I was working in corporate America, so I left the Marine Corps, um, I got into the workforce and, you know, I had big goals with that and, uh, but while I was doing it, I was like, I was taking on clients for free. I was just reaching out to people that I cared about or people that would, you know, talk to me about, uh, you know, losing fat or energy or whatever it might be that started the conversation. I've, I've gotten clients just from sitting in the sauna and I'm asking me why I do it. And I asked him why they do it. But, um, by taking on different people and working with different people, you start to really. You kind of have to learn from experience in some cases. I, you know, I've met coaches and dietitians that have been doing it just as long. And, um, you know, if you don't, if you just kind of stick in your little, little world of macros or, or just to focus on exercise, you're really limiting yourself and you're limiting your potential to help people. And you start realizing it's like this complex algorithm of, Um, uh, the different frequencies of exercise for different people and you know, uh, I've, I've been wrong. There's, I, I, I still have guilt for things that I, advice I gave to people that was incorrect, but I didn't know till later. Uh, I used to think that insulin made you fat and so I was like, Oh, well, as long as people are snacking on almonds, they're going to be fine. And so I started programming handfuls of almonds multiple times and I started realizing, Oh, okay, I'm ignorant. I need to check myself. So, you know, I guess I'm ranting to the point where I forgot the exact root of the question, but, um, it's, it started with just like helping a few Marines understand creatine monohydrate and getting their protein up was important. And then I started realizing, hold on, this, this electrolyte thing, isn't just sugar and salt. It's, there's more going on there. Uh, you know, because you're sweating more than sugar and salt. And, um, you know, one thing that actually happened, uh, that really changed the course now that I think about it Mark is, um, when I got back from my final tour, when I got out of the Marine Corps, uh, I decided, okay, well, I want a mentor. I want somebody that knows more than me to teach me about health and fitness. And so. I heard about this coach, uh, who had a pretty big reputation and really respectable guy, very cool. Uh, and, and I reached out to him and I was like, Hey, you know, I'd like to pay for your coaching and things like that. And just put me through it. I had never, I had never done anything like this. And he gave me this big meal plan with, you know, all these different random foods on it. And I specifically remember red potatoes. He had red potatoes on there. And I thought starch has made you fat. Um, and. I had a base level understanding at this point of, of nutrition. And, uh, and I remember I'm paying this guy like 350, 400 bucks a month. And I go sit down with them. And I think I was just most annoying client because usually when I, when a client comes in, they're like, you know, yeah, you're laughing because you're like, I could see that. But it's like most people come in and they're like, I'm like excited where my waistline is, or I'm excited about the weight. Or am I seeing a different, you know, whatever they're looking for. And I come in there and I'm like, so why is this in the plan? And did, when you changed this to this, does this matter? And I remember he didn't really, he seemed, uh, very dismissive of it. And like, It wasn't important. And to the point where I didn't think he knew why he did that. And I realized that I might be wrong about this. I never really asked him, but I felt like I was being given some kind of cookie cutter and I felt like I could do better than that. Um, and, and so I started researching red potatoes. I wanted to know why these little things were in there. And apparently when you cook and you cool them, they become resistant starch, and the net calories goes down, it's better for your gut. And that kind of understanding, I get excited about stuff like that. So I started doing that with other things. And, you know, so as I'm getting experience and learning more, it's, I mean, I grew up playing with Legos. If I can build something and create, I get excited. Uh, and I think that just went from Legos to, uh, to leading a team, to helping people get healthy and fit and, and the, the more accurate I can get, the better, I feel like. So, so let's talk about personal biases, because this is something that it seems like every trainer gets into, uh, at some point or another. Uh, we all have our personal biases, you know, the things that we believe in, the things that, you know, we're, this is the, the hill on which we're going to die. Uh, but at some point you got introduced to, to genetics, uh, and, and, and the foundational components of how people are built and how customization can come along with that in the, in a training regimen. But most importantly, how. Some training regiments for some genetic people or the genetic markers that people carry is the absolute wrong thing for them to be doing. Uh, the example I always give is, you know, I did CrossFit for about 18 months. Uh, one, you know, gentlemen, if you're in your 40s and you're a former college athlete, don't try to compete with the 18 and 20 year olds. You will hurt yourself. I promise been there, done that, got the scars to prove it. But, but the main thing was what I found out genetically is CrossFit was the exact opposite of what my body actually wanted to do. Uh, it didn't want, you know, heavy, quick, you know, powerful moves. I'm an endurance athlete. It wanted the slow, longer hit type things in, in vascular, um, you know, taxing type things. Let's talk about how that changed your training regimen when you found out, Hey, we're all a little bit unique and we all genetically have our own little thing that we have to step out of yourself and you have to step, we're social creatures and we're tribal by nature, you know, we, we want to, uh, being part of the community of the tribe is more important to us than what the tribe is aiming at sometimes. And, and I think that kind of leaks into how we choose our health and our fitness and our exercise. And, you know, You know, it's CrossFit for example. It's a great example of something a lot of people should be doing, but it's not a good fit for a lot of people. But it has that, that community aspect. And I, I think the thing is, There's, there's a few things that it almost doesn't matter what you pick in the short term, you're going to get results. Uh, and what I mean by that is when it comes to diet and exercise, what you're going to adhere to for the longterm is more important than, you know, the specifics of it. If somebody, is going to run for three weeks and then hate running and stop exercising altogether versus doing very light strength training. I'd rather them do the thing that they will do consistently for three months versus three weeks. So there's adherence and then there's. Social comparison theory, which I always think about, um, and CrossFit is such a great example of it. If people are doing less than you, you become proud of what you're doing. If you're, if they're next to you or the training next to you or on the same plan as you are using the same things as you, uh, you become, you become more inspired because you see people that are less far ahead as you. Uh, but also people doing more than you, um, they will inspire you because then you see, Oh, well I can do that. She's only been doing this. Two months longer than me and look, she can do this muscle up. So you get excited about that. But the thing is, while adherence and community are so important for almost every goal, because we are tribal and we are social creatures, we have to remember that there's, there's different genes expressing and there's different things going on that we know that some people have a better, uh, what would you say? A ratio of slow twitch fibers and Just simply knowing that, that means that you're going to respond more to a lower intensity, higher repetition type movement. You're going to recruit more muscle fibers because that's what they respond to. So that person doing powerlifting would not be optimally using their body. They would, they would still be able to power lift, they would still see increases in strength, but their return on investment is going to be lower than if they would do what they're designed for. And I find that a lot of people, when they, when they find their, their niche for their body, their genetics, what happens is they see more progression than normal. And progress creates dopamine, right? I'm on the right path. I'm doing the right thing. This is exciting. I'm stronger. I'm seeing the weight drop. And when people get more progress by falling in line with what is right for them, progress equals dopamine. Dopamine is motivation. Motivation is consistency. And so at the end of the day, doing the right things for you. is actually the best way to create motivation. And that's why I think genetics are so important. There are variables in our lifestyle. There are variables in our interests and our passions and what we like to do. But at the end of the day, that's the foundational stuff. And that's where you're going to get the most bang for your buck on time, energy, supplementation, dietary changes. Uh, and I think it's important for us to realize that that's the tip of the spear of health and fitness. It's where things are going, as you know, so, yeah, so let, let's talk about, uh, an area that you got into in your training world that, that I find, you know, um, very interesting, uh, because it is, uh, near and dear to my personal heart because, you know, I was raised by two women. Uh, my grandmother and my, and my mom are the ones that raised me. And, uh, empowerment of women is, is key. I mean, I have a daughter, I mean, as, as I say, you know, my, my gift to the world was, uh, the female version of me, uh, because she has my personality and a female body, you know, world watch out. But you know, the whole, the whole idea behind it is you got into the, uh, bikini and fitness competition world in, in really what I want to do is first. How, how did you get there? Because that's an area that's like, Oh, okay, this is a little bit different than, you know, Hey, the Marines that want to get, you know, bigger, fitter, stronger so that they can, you know, you know, charge the front line. It was a different area. How did you get started in that area? It was a very specific and very clear moment for me. Um, and we need to impact one day, uh, being raised with a bunch of girls. Cause it was me and my mom and three girls. And I don't know what that does to your personality. Uh, but anyways, I, you know, without knowing too much about, uh, the NPC and physique competitors and bikini competitors, um, what happened is I, I had some pretty foundational understanding by that point. This was, I got into that in, I want to say, 2016. 2015. Um, 2015, uh, I was actually dating somebody that, and this wasn't the moment, but I was dating somebody that was a physique competitor, a bikini competitor specifically. I like to clarify when I'm talking to people that aren't in the know that, um, it's not like a bikini competition. You know, uh, or something inappropriate like that. It's, it's about strength. It's about muscle development. It's about losing fat, not weight. And, uh, and so I have a lot of respect for it, especially when it's done for the right reasons. But, um, that's where I was introduced to it, but it was actually me walking through a gym, a new gym that I hadn't been to yet. And, uh, I saw this girl just killing herself on a treadmill and we just kind of got into a conversation. And I'll tell you why. Uh, because my favorite molecule is creatine monohydrate. And she had a canister of it by her treadmill and I saw the canister and I was like, I had to say something. I was like, finally, a female that understands that creatine monohydrate is not for just getting bulky. Um, and so I got in conversation with her and she had told me that she was a bikini competitor and she saw some value in it and, uh, and, I realized I was like, that was, she was taking that. I started asking more questions and there's just things I knew that were really important for tightening up the waistline and losing body fat that she wasn't doing. And so the Marine in me, very competitive, you know, probably some, uh, Some, some, uh, things you can do, things that you irrationally can't do. I was just like, Oh, well, I can, I can do this better. Um, so I told her, I was like, I gave her my information and I was like, if you ever want to, to try this out, I'd actually like to coach you on your next run up to stage. I think there's, um, some low hanging fruit that you're not paying attention to. I love that you're taking creatine monohydrate. I'd like to talk to you about omegas. Um, I'd like to talk to you about a few other things like alpha lipolic acid. And then, uh, she actually ended up hitting me up. And, uh, we, we took her data before where she competed and then we compared to what happened afterwards. Uh, I put her on stage and, um, she lost more weight. Um, I'm sorry, she gained weight. So she was three pounds heavier, which that's about 3 percent of her body weight. She was only 97 pounds. So she was three pounds heavier when she competed with me, but her waistline was two inches tighter. And so I knew that with just small changes, we were doing some of the right things and Uh, I got addicted after that. I was like, this is too fun. Um, but kind of back, I do want to touch on one thing that really attracted me to that sport is, um, I think there are a lot of people that compete as bodybuilders and in physique and in bikini, uh, for vanity. That's, that's not a surprise, but. What I really respect about it is when you talk to a lot of these athletes that, that do it with the right intention or they do it more than once, especially, what you'll find is that what they're looking for is they're looking for adversity, they're looking for a challenge, and they're looking for a clear target, and I just think a lot of people don't have that in their lives, so I really respect when people choose it, and I think that's what they're doing, they're, they're signing up for something that is going to make them commit and make them endure, and, and I've noticed that, that it's an opportunity for someone like me to come in and, and really test and almost do like my own clinical trial on a real human and, and make sure we're doing the right things and pay attention to how they feel. And for them, it's Nobody wants to go in a calorie deficit. Your brain doesn't want you to go into calorie deficit. So they need to know, Oh, I'm going to do this intimidating thing. Like walk out on stage and show what I've been doing for the next three months and it makes them endure and it ramps up their discipline. And what happens is when that day's over, And it's over so fast, all these habits and this new mental strength is still with them. All this experience is still with them. And, uh, you know, so I love that. And I think, I think, uh, I think it's really important for women, specifically. Uh, but, you know, I also think they're the more challenging group because they do it natural and their hormones are all over the place. So, so let's, uh, let, let's, let's talk about something that you kind of said in passing that, um, is something I think is extremely important. And it's something every time I have a guest mentioned this, I want to make sure I highlight. Which is there's a big difference between weight loss and fat loss. Two totally different things. Uh, in fact, I tell everyone, you really don't want to lose weight because when you lose weight, you're losing water, you're losing muscle and you're losing fat and probably an equal proportion. If you're lucky, it's equal proportion. It could be a lot of lean muscle, depending on how you're doing it. Um, but the idea behind losing fat and gaining muscle is. You may get exactly what your first competitor did, which is you may actually gain weight, but lose inches. And that's, and that's adverse to what the mind thinks. I mean, because most people, you know, they measure their, their success based upon what I call a measuring instrument. Some people call it the scale, uh, you know, in the whole concept behind this is foreign to folks. So let's talk about that. How did you evolve into this concept? Because obviously this is a little contrary to the, multi billion dollar weight loss industry. Uh, you know, we won't even go down the road of our, our friends that started doing these, you know, get skinny quick drugs and and the things that now lawsuits are already starting to pop up because of kidney dialysis and kidney failure and all that. I'm not even gonna go down that path. That's a whole nother discussion for another day. But let's start talking about, you know, fat loss versus weight loss and the importance for people to understand. I don't know if it's a combination of the biggest conspiracy of not educating people properly combined with a bunch of marketing because people are susceptible. It's, it's like the less you know, the more you need a simple number to, to identify progress. And, but. If first off, there's just ignorance out there. And I, you know, I understand that some people just don't understand. And so what they think is if the scale goes down, good, if the scale goes up, bad. Um, but then let's say if you actually understand what's going on, well, first off, let's think longterm. Losing lean body mass is literally lowering your resting energy expenditure. Right? So if I take away a few pounds of muscle just to make the scale go down, I have set that person up for failure for months. If not years, because it's very difficult for a lot of people to build muscle. Then you think about, I always think about it like a driving a stick shift. When, when people lose weight, it's like that you started in sixth gear. They got all this energy. They're glowing fifth gear. And then a couple of months go by. Now they're in third gear, second gear. A lot of people just stay in second gear and they red line them and Their, their adrenals, their thyroid function, all that goes out of whack. They lose muscle. Um, and when we look long term on what the, the biggest contributor to health span is, it's lean body mass. And so I just feel like that's criminal and we, we, we need to prioritize that. But then also you think about when people are losing weight. If I wanted, if I was just focused on that number, I would want them to lose muscle. I'd want them to sleep less. I'd want them to eat so little calories that they weren't getting enough nutrients to their body. They're going to be stressed, their inflammation is going to go up, it's going to give them anxiety. Um, among many other things. I, I mean, I think that's one of the biggest causes to PCOS, uh, long term. A lot of times, Women are going to lose their, their period, their cycle is going to be out of whack when they start going too steep into a calorie deficit to lose weight, uh, and Your, your fertility is literally nature's way of signaling to you that you're healthy or not. So when you start seeing things like that happen, like muscle loss and all that, it's just not the right way to do it. Where, what do people actually want? They don't want to weigh less. We're not walking around with scales attached to our body. What people actually want is they want tighter waistlines. They want more definition. And if they're really thinking about it, they want more insulin sensitivity. sensitivity. They want less fat so when they eat food, their calories get into their muscle tissue and they want more blood sugar going to the brain. I think one of the, the biggest, um, clues to what we need to be doing is the fact that when your waistline goes down, your brain volume goes up. There's so many signals to the fact that protecting lean body mass is so important. And when you protect lean body mass, you're going to be more efficient at removing fat. So a lot of times people will lose 20 pounds when But that's, let's say 13 to 15 pounds of muscle because they've been sleeping six hours. They've been waking up for fasted cardio. Uh, the body's going to break down the more expensive tissue, which is the muscle. Um, uh, there, a lot of it's going to be water weight. They're in this state of stress where cortisol is higher. So now cortisol blunts fat metabolism. So now they're holding onto body fat, breaking down more muscle tissue. So this person feels like they won. Because they lost 20 pounds, but they gain it all back because their metabolism slower for the incoming months. They don't feel good That's why most people's before and after picture looks the same They have to put the the numbers of how much weight they lost because they're before and after so similar Right where when you take a person that let's just say loses 10 pounds But they've been sleeping quality sleep for seven to eight hours. They've been doing just the minimal strength training three days a week, taking some omegas to lower inflammation and managing stress, doing the right amount of training cardiovascular work based on their genetics. What happens is they might only lose 10 pounds, but one pound of fat is the size of a grapefruit. I just took seven to eight grapefruits off their body and kept all the muscle. And that by the definition of people that say tone, that's what tone is. It's pretty, I think the goal should not be weight loss. It should be preserving as much muscle as possible while losing fat. And that takes a little bit more attention to taking care of your body while you're in a calorie deficit. So let's talk about, uh, retaining muscle while losing fat. You know, uh, as you know, back in October, we launched a wonderful brand new I. D. fitness line at I. D. Life. Um, as I told everyone, not as fast as everyone wanted, but a little bit quicker than most people thought possible, especially when we, when we launched it and we told people what it was, let's dive into that a little bit. Uh, how has that changed, uh, your, your business? I mean, Uh, you know, the, the fitness line both, you know, work, recover. And most importantly load, cause that goes directly into the area. I just had this analogy and I hope it translates. It is, uh, it's sort of like you have a garage and you've got two cars in there. You've got. Your think of your ideal vehicle. That's your muscle, right? It's just your, your little Lamborghini parked in the garage. And then you've got this like beat down truck and that's your fat. Well, pretend that your brain is your dad. And your dad is like, we got to get rid of one of these. They're going to get rid of the thing you're not using. You're not taking care of. Well, a lot of people are not taking care of the Lamborghini. They're not taking care of their muscle. They're not taking care of their lean body mass. So it's regardless of whether they're gaining weight, they're going to gain more fat, regardless of whether they're losing weight, they're going to lose more muscle, you, you really have to, the key. to exercising properly and gaining or losing weight is really preserving your muscle tissue and taking good care of it. And there's, there's only one nutrient on the planet that has more research than every other nutrient combined when it comes to sports and performance and it is creatine monohydrate. Not creatine HCL, not micronized creatine. If you ask me, that's all these companies trying to find, uh, an adjusted molecular version so they could charge more. When creatine monohydrate was already shown to have a bioavailability, bioavailability of 100%, you cannot do better than that. And so, what does creatine monohydrate do? Uh, a lot of people are concerned, uh, out of ignorance and myths that it makes them hold water weight. But it makes them hold water in the muscles. And, you know, one of the main ingredients we have in LODE is creatine monohydrate, and the reason for that is when you hold water in the muscle, it creates more fullness, but what it also does is, it, water in the muscle keeps the muscle cooler. And when the muscle overheats, it starts ramping up dynorphin. And you get these like hormones and these signals to the brain that are like time to quit, time to quit, time to quit. So people will train harder and it will delay fatigue just by having more water in the muscle, which is what creatine monohydrate does. So we now finally have this product that has pure creatine monohydrate in it. No, no synthetic version, no, no, uh, you know, other types. And then what I also love about creatine monohydrate is people have to understand that when they're looking for energy. Caffeine is not energy. Caffeine blocks the fatigue hormone adenosine. If you want energy, we can go back to third grade, or whatever grade that was, where the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. Well, it's the powerhouse of the cell because it's producing energy, and that energy is called ATP, adenosine triphosphate. And what creatine monohydrate does is it raises phosphate levels in the cell so that when Adenosine triphosphate, your energy, breaks the cell, and the phosphate comes off and it becomes ADP. Creatine monohydrate is sitting there, adding another phosphate group to that cell, so you're just getting more ATP. It's basically speeding up the energy happening in that one cell. Now, people need to understand how many cells you have. When you train, all your muscle fibers are now producing more adenosine triphosphate because you raised up your creatine levels. So your muscles have more energy. And then, what people forget, is that it doesn't just aim specifically at muscle cells. This is happening in your brain, too. So, what's in load? is ramping up the, the, the cognitive health and the function of your brain, of your muscle. It, it improves bone density. It's hydrating the muscles properly. I mean, I just can't think. of a single human on this planet that cannot benefit from the things that we just listed here. And what I love about load is a lot of times what companies will do. I used to use a form of creatine monohydrate. It costs way too much. I was using pure, a pure form of creatine monohydrate, but the amount I was spending was more than what load costs and load has the optimal amount. Most people should be taking anywhere from 2. 5 to five grams per day, but we also got HMB in there. Uh, which, um, uh, HMB is so important because just the research behind it shows that it maintains lean body mass and, you know, we're beating that dead horse, but I think we should because I think people need to understand that if you're going to focus on anything in your health, it's preserving your lean body mass and that's what HMB does. But the cool thing about what got me excited about that was, um, I used to think the amount of protein was the most important factor to preserve your muscle tissue. And then I came across research that showed that it's. A big variable is what's in the protein, and specifically an amino acid called leucine. Which is interesting about ID Life products because if you really pay attention to the way that you and people are formulating things, you guys do not cut corners on leucine. You're not just putting 22 grams of protein in a shake and call it a protein shake. The leucine itself is over 2, 000 milligrams. And the reason I say that is because Uh, not to get too lost in the weeds myself is that the research shows that every single person that can hear this, every female, every male, doesn't matter your size, you need 2 to 2. 5 grams of leucine to start the muscle building process known as muscle protein synthesis. And I say that to say that HMB is a metabolite of leucine. So, what your body is trying to do is it's trying to get the right amount of protein and it's trying to get from that a certain amount of leucine, among other resources but this is the main thing going on. And then from leucine it's trying to get hydroxymethylbutyrate. And this small amount of this stuff plays such a big role in muscle preservation, preventing sarcopenia which is age related muscle loss. And so, if we are taking this powerful nutrient that is naturally occurring Uh, which is creatine monohydrate and pairing that with hydroxymethylbutyrate in the same powder and giving it to them in the most natural form and it's as bioavailable as it gets, you're going to have a hard time convincing me that there's a more important supplement. for any person on this planet besides their basic vitamins and fatty acids. I just, I think load by ID life is the best product on the market for lean body mass, cognitive health, um, bone density, preserving muscle mass. And then dare I say there's published research that shows that some of those nutrients outperformed SSRIs by themselves, that if you put monohydrate together, they had better outcomes for depression and anxiety. Then SSRIs alone. And so what's really interesting to me is like anything that's improving cognitive health is a must for the human body. And what we have in load is just taking care of every important part that we have. So let's expound on that because, you know, obviously we have, you know, work and we have recover and then we have load. Load is kind of the, what I'm going to call the crown jewel. Um, I'm a big believer that people should take load every day. Uh, that's just my belief. That's the way it was designed. Uh, it was, As I told everyone, you know, I, I started, it's kind of depends on the day that I was working out. I would do, uh, energy and load together. I would do slim plus and load together, depending on whether or not it's a workout day or recovery day and for two different reasons. Uh, but I still use the reason why I use an energy because I was getting up at 5 30 or six o'clock in the morning. I needed that little pick me up. Uh, so I did those about an hour before then work as I was going in, but you know, there was a group. That started seeing, you know, and, and I know you, you know, Jessica, you know, her, her little tribe there in Oklahoma started, they started seeing these unexpected results from all of these people that were doing slim plus and adding load to it. And they were like, Hey, you know, and it started this whole movement of growth. Glow getters. Talk a little bit about that. Cause I know you've looked into it and be like, Hey, you know, this wasn't by accident. You know, there's a reason why this is happening, but, but let's talk about it from a scientific standpoint of what's actually happening for people there. Sometimes it doesn't matter what the science says. People need it to be fun, and they need it simple, and I think it was, it was such a great idea of Jessica and everyone involved with that to take Slim Plus and pair it with what I just described, because again, I think everybody should be taking load. Um, however, what are most people's goals? They want to lose body fat. Um, they want to preserve muscle tissue. They want appetite control, they want gut health. And so, uh, what they're doing there is they're taking Slim Plus, which is actually up until Load came out, excuse me, up until Load came out, slim Plus was my favorite ID life product. Now it's load. Uh, but, but Slim Plus alone, you are partitioning more of your calories into the muscle tissue. Alright, so again, we're doing something, it's like. It's like creatine monohydrate is defense and Slim Plus is offense. Slim Plus is rerouting more nutrition into the muscle tissue. It also has green tea extract in it, uh, which has a molecule within it called epigallocatechin 3 gallate and that has been shown to mobilize fat. So if you, if your blood sugar levels are not elevated, which somebody that's in a calorie deficit, they should be doing great there. What it's doing is it's literally like chipping away at fat cells and getting into the bloodstream to become energy. So you have that going on. And then Slim Plus has a prebiotic fiber, uh, which I've never been able to pronounce. Well, um, hopefully you'll correct me on this, but I, a Gli, saccharide or something like that. Uh, but when I that's, I just say I need to go back and watch this right now. Yeah. Xzy. Oligosaccharide, yes. I, but I'm just gonna say Xs. It has a tongue twister, but, uh, XOS was shown to be the preferred fuel source for bifidobacteria. And bifidobacteria, I found this so interesting. And I hope all the girls and guys that are taking Slim Plus and mixing it in load recognize that this isn't just about, uh, just your lean body mass and losing fat. You are taking a regular dose of the preferred fuel source for the healthiest gut bacteria. It's, it's And what makes it, you don't even need to know the science to know that a child from zero to nine years old, their gut is 99 percent bifidobacteria. And then as they start eating processed food, and the schools start giving them pizza and, and sandwich, uh, you know, hamburgers for breakfast and lunch, uh, it kills all that bacteria, and then we have the standard gut microbiome. So, what ID. Life has done is they created a product that gives people what they want, improve fat loss, improve, uh, mobilization of calories in the, to help with body, body composition, mobilization of calories into the muscle tissue, but also we are taking care of people's gut health by giving it that regular dose of Miracle Gro for the right size. That is so important, not just for digestion, not just for a reduction in bloat, but people need to remember your gut and your brain are connected, the gut brain axis. And so you got the largest nerve, the vagal nerve, running up to the brain. If things are going well down here, You're going to make better decisions, deal with a lot less anxiety. You're going to be less impulsive up here. And so they just took, uh, this thing that was breaking up fat, pushing more calories into the muscle, tissue improving gut health and paired it with load to make it one drink that people could drink every day. And that's what people need. People need simple, Uh, easy steps, something that they can do on repeat. That doesn't take a lot of decision energy, but has a ton of ROI. And I just think it was a great move. I had mixed the two on accident a few times here and there, but I never thought to make it a standard pair. And I think it's a great idea. I'm not calling it glow gutter though, ladies, I'm going to have to figure out something. You know, the, the, well, I don't mind my own glow back. So I'm fine with that. Um, I'm comfortable in my skin. You know, you know, what's interesting, though, is, uh, as I mentioned that, um, you know, I have been, uh, experimenting with different ways to get loaded in my diet every single day because I like you. I'm a big believer in it. There's a reason why I I was so big in proponents, uh, such a big proponent in getting this released. But one of the other things I've been doing is I've been adding energy to it. And, you know, and I want to get your take on it because, you know, this is one of those things where you don't really prep for it, but, you know, I, I know you probably have an opinion on it. And, uh, the reason why I do it is simply because there is some science out there that talks about the beneficial effect, uh, of caffeine and creatine monohydrate. Together. And what's interesting is for the longest time, the science was just the opposite. It was like, Hey, these two things are fighting one another and you're not going to get the same benefit. But there's actually some science out there now that are basically like, Hey, we may have had this one wrong. And we're actually seeing some pretty significant performance results from this. Right. Let's talk about that. I always And I don't know where I saw it, that caffeine kind of competed with creatine monohydrate. Um, which doesn't seem to be the case. Uh, but let's look at how they do work individually. And then I think it started making sense to me that first off, uh, when you wake up first thing in the morning, What caffeine does is it plugs the receptor called the adenosine receptor, and it stops this fatigue hormone from making you tired. So a lot of people are doing that first first thing in the morning, and that's why they get hit with a crash in the middle of the day, because You don't want to block adenosine from being burned through first thing in the morning. Be groggy. Be groggy for 20 30 minutes and Because all you're doing is preventing that grogginess from being burned through and then those hormones hit you later, right? So I don't use caffeine in the morning because the adenosine system is not functioning properly first thing in the morning to give me energy And fuel but what is functioning properly first thing in the morning is your adrenal system and so Electrolytes and water and getting moving and getting sunlight is, is the best thing to do. And I say that to say that what I started doing, uh, years ago actually was I started using like, like you and most people, uh, taking my energy in the middle of the day where I've already been getting after it and I need a little bit of a second wind and I need a little sustained release caffeine. And so I train in the morning. Um, But, I, uh, Caffeine post workout was shown to increase glycogen uptake by 66%. And so it makes sense to me and I'm just thinking about the window of time in my day. It makes sense to me to not consume my caffeine first thing in the morning, but not to get it too late in the day too, cause I don't want to inhibit my sleep. So sometime between 10 and 2 PM is when I would take energy and preferably right after a workout. Um, because of the uptake of glycogen, I want it to support my nutrition coming back into my muscle tissue and improving repair. Now, creatine, uh, which is in load, Actually shows very similar things. The, the time that creatine impacts muscle protein synthesis the most is actually post workout counter to what we've always believed. And I love what you guys did where you actually made it to where a serving of the load requires two scoops. Because what I've been doing is I've been putting load in my work before my workout, because I do want the benefits of the energy and HMB during my workout. But I also want that little spike of muscle protein synthesis post workout. All that to say that I found myself drinking the energy roughly in the same time window as my creatine monohydrate and then, or my load, I'm sorry, I just think of my favorite molecule, uh, pairing them together. Not only makes the, not only makes the most sense, but I also think that it kind of adds a little bit more texture to the drink and it makes it taste even better. Um, so, you know, I, uh, I was joking around. I, I had talked with, uh, Lauren, a few other people and they told me about what you were talking about with energy and creatine monohydrate as a mixture. And, uh, I was like, yeah, that, that definitely is the solution. It makes a lot of sense. And I think that's sort of like, you know, The, our version as men of, of the glow up, you know, and the man up if you will. Um, so that's what I've been doing for sure. Yeah. Well, we may have to work, we have to work on the marketing term a little bit, but, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm a, I'm a big fan of that. Paul, I can't thank you enough for being here today. Uh, it's, it's always a pleasure talking to you. It's always a lot of fun. Uh, hopefully we didn't go too deep into science and start, you know, playing our little geek, geek game there on some of the things, but I think people are going to get a real value out of what we, what we talked about and I really do appreciate you. So on behalf of ID life, this is Mark Bennett until I get a chance next time to talk to you again, I'll talk to you real soon.