Healthy Simplified
Welcome to the Healthy Simplified podcast, where we put personalized health and wellness in the spotlight. Join us for enlightening education, inspiring stories, and in-depth discussions with industry, medical, and scientific experts. Together, we’ll explore how to craft a unique approach to your well-being.
Healthy Simplified
Beyond the Microphone: Newy Scruggs on Health, Purpose and Life
The episode offers rich insights into the power of mentorship and community support. Newey reveals how Pat Riley's book, "Showtime Inside the Lakers Breakthrough Season," was a pivotal influence, helping him secure a college scholarship. We discuss the significance of fraternity scholarships and educational support systems in shaping a debt-free journey to professional success. The joy Newey finds in mentoring future talent and seeing scholarship recipients thrive underscores the transformative impact of giving back, reinforcing the episode’s heartfelt narrative on mentorship and philanthropy.
Balancing a demanding career with family responsibilities is no easy feat, and Newey candidly discusses the importance of listening and being present for loved ones. Through touching personal anecdotes and memorable celebrity encounters, he emphasizes the distinction between one's job and true identity. The conversation also highlights Shaquille O'Neal’s generosity and parallels between sugar addiction and more widely recognized forms of dependency. Newey’s journey toward health and fitness, underscored by faith and hard work, serves as an inspiring testament to the power of resilience and the pursuit of personal well-being.
Yes, everyone Again. You know we are here with the Healthy Simplified podcast to talk about health, wellness and just general conversations about how to make life better. This week I have a very special guest Newey Scruggs, local sports broadcaster. Been in the DFW area almost 25 years now, but has been in sports journalism for longer than that, and he has an amazing story not only of professionalism, excellence, but also his own health journey. Nui, thank you for being here.
Speaker 2:Mark is awesome, you know. You ask. I say sure, wait, let me. Let me know how can I be of service to you.
Speaker 1:You know it's funny. I tell people all the time that you know, cause they're always questioning it how do you get to talk to this person? How? How did you find this person? And they said yes to the podcast. I said it's amazing in life if you just help people and then you ask them for just a little bit of their time, how easy it is for them just to say yes, and I really do appreciate you doing this, because I know that this is a story that needs to be told, and I would all but say it's a story that you need to tell because you've kept the story to yourself way too long, in my opinion.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:All right, let's do it. All right, let's jump, let's jump in. You know, the first thing I like to do is let the audience kind of get to know people you know. So a little bit about your family, a little bit about your background, let's jump in there on army posts.
Speaker 2:So that was kind of my life growing up. My dad was a very firm guy. He was a firm guy, military guy, so he followed the rules and didn't really cut up, didn't do anything wrong, because I always were fearful of my dad. My dad was an army ranger, first cavalry down there at Fort Hood. He was an 82nd Airborne out there at Fort Bragg. So he was an accomplished soldier. And then later on in life I found out about how special a guy my dad was. He was 15 years old.
Speaker 2:He was part of the Children's Crusade in 1963 in Birmingham, alabama. A lot of people know that Martin Luther King Jr wrote the letter from the Birmingham jail in 1963. He was thrown in jail because he's the one who organized these kids to go out here marching. And so when you see civil rights videos and you see Bull Connors hoses in Birmingham spraying the kids and the dogs being sick on the kids, my dad was one of those kids, 15 years old, six days in jail. They all got expelled from school and he told me how later on Dr King had them in the church and was telling them all we're going to get everybody back in school. So my dad's a really talk about a hero.
Speaker 2:That's my dad and then my mom is. There's no closer bond I have than anyone in my life to my mother. There's no stronger bond than mother and child. So she's always been there, biggest cheerleader. So, right out of the gate I got raised by two fantastic people who gave me great opportunities and then I would tell you that, um, my sister who, if you saw my sister and I, you would say these two don't look alike, which we don't my sister's very light skin, dark skin. She's very she's. We're just different people and I remember we'd go to school and be like that's your brother. So you know my family background. I mean, coming from that has been. I tell people I was kind of the bedrock of everything I've been able to do is because I came from a good home with two parents who gave me everything that they could to make sure I had what I needed.
Speaker 1:Wow, now that is a shadow of something that you have to live up to. I mean, wow, now that, now that is a shadow of something that you have to live up to. I mean dad is in the civil rights march at a 15 years old he lives through probably one of the worst periods of our lifetime and military base all over the world. Then you decide, okay, I'm going to go to school. And what made you choose, kind of, the direction that you chose in college?
Speaker 2:Well, it was in the fifth grade, okay, my dad was stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, georgia. Fifth grade, pulaski Elementary School E Larry McDuffie's fifth grade class, and he had us do a mock newscast and I did the sports. My parents always got the newspaper, my dad always watched the news, my mom watched the news, and so I grew up as a huge sports fan, loving Jackie Robinson and just just loved it. And so, all right, I'll do the, I'll do the force cast part of this. And bam, I just fell in love with it. Now I want to do this. After I play for the Dodgers, I'm going to go do this. Right, the Dodgers thing never happened, obviously.
Speaker 2:And then also, my teacher, mr McDuffie, was also the uh choir director at our church. We had a very successful church. They made their own records and he had a radio show and he had me on the radio show as well. I was like man, I really love this media thing. So from that time, 11 years old in fifth grade, I had my vision. I knew what I wanted. I chased my dream until it happened. And what's wild is, at 11 years old, I knew what I wanted to do. I fulfilled that dream in 10 years. I was on TV in 10 years.
Speaker 1:I wanted to do. I fulfilled that dream in 10 years. I was on TV in 10 years. Wow, that's, that's amazing. I you know in some respects, I will tell you that you know, getting to know what it is you want to do at a young age is is a is a great pleasure, but it's also a gift, because you basically had a vision board at 11. Uh, most people, you know they, they have goals and aspirations, but they never have the vision of what it is they want to do. They just have this general idea of hey, I think I might want to do something in the future in this area, and then they never do really figure it out. You knew at 11, all because of your fifth grade teacher who you know exactly who they are, you know exactly the time and place. Well, eventually you did go to college. You were in North Carolina and you started doing broadcasting before you even graduated college. Isn't that right?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the dream was to go to the University of North Carolina the big Tar Heel thing. My dad got stationed back at Fort Radcliffe for the second time. That's when I ended up falling in love with basketball in Carolina. Basketball then, of course, learned about. They had a journalism school and really wanted to do that.
Speaker 2:I was involved in student council and met a gentleman named Tom Suter. Tom was a legend at WRAL TV. I wanted to be Tom Suter, met him and we became pen pals. Friend Tommy showed me around the TV station and I was like man, I want to go to Carolina. And he's like well, the thing about Carolina is a lot of times you're not touching the equipment until you see in your ear like you may want to go some place where you can actually do it. It's like you're never going to call a game. In north july they got woody duro for that, um, so think about that. Maybe there's another place that you can, you know, really just dive into it. So god works in his own way.
Speaker 2:Two weeks later our local paper, the fayville observer, has a whole front page section, uh, on the television program at pembrokeke State where it was student run. But ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Let me check that out. And so I was a captain of my debate team and one of the assistant coaches at a rival high school. Her husband ran the program. So I talked to her, talked to him, they recruited me. We had great conversations so I ended up going to Pembroke State, which is one county over. So I ended up going to Pembroke State, which is one county over. And the ironic thing about Pembroke State is a Native American university founded by the Lumbee Indians. So it started off as a North Carolina Indian normal school. A lot of times I tell people if you see Kelvin Sampson, the head coach at Houston, Kelvin Sampson is a Lumbee Indian. He actually graduated from Pembroke too, so went down there, attacked it like any like a ball player would attack a sport and was doing games on TV.
Speaker 2:My freshman year Did a lot of my own shooting, did sportscast, newscast, did a bunch of internships, did a lot of stuff early on in my career. So one month into my senior year in 1992, I'm 21 years old they fired the weekend guy where I was shooting high school highlights. For on Friday I said I'll take the job. They gave me the job. So here I am, at 21 years old on WBTW TV in Florence, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I'm now the richest dude on campus at Pembroke State because I make $300 a week and that is how my television career started. So the vision 11 years old, fifth grade, Pulaski elementary school, I want to be a sportscaster. 10 years later, it happens.
Speaker 1:You know, when I was graduating law school, I had opportunities in Dallas and you know the big giant firms. They all you know were hey, come work for us. You know, work in our library for four or five years and we may let you see the inside of a courtroom one day. And instead I chose to go to a small little town in East Texas and everyone thought I'd lost my mind. They're like OK, why would you do this? And I said, especially for what that was paying, which was roughly a fourth of what Dallas was offering.
Speaker 1:I said it's real simple. You guys are going to spend four years in a library and I'm going to spend four years getting an education that you won't have and experience. And you basically did the same exact thing, which is, hey, I'm going to go to Pembroke, I'm going to get on the mic immediately, I'm going to get my, my skins on the wall and before you even graduate college, you're a broadcaster. Uh, myrtle beach. So what did that? What did that that teach you? You know that first job actually having to go in there and do the interviews and things like that, cause you know we're we're never good at things. You know, as I say, every expert at one point was a beginner and we we all had our little thing that we had to get through. But what did it teach you in life, as far as kind of taking your stripes at such a young age?
Speaker 2:I didn't understand what it meant later on Ryan Holiday's fantastic book, the author the Obstacles the Way. What it taught me was NASCAR. I did not know much about NASCAR other than Richard Petty and Cale Yarbrough drove the Hardee's car and there was a Mountain Dew car, a Pepsi car, and that was about it, and then that Buddy Baker drove a Skull Bandit 33.
Speaker 2:So this job in Florence, south Carolina, is right next to a town called Darlington and they have Darlington Raceway, so that is the major track in the state. That's where they had NASCAR race and Labor Day race all the time. So my job really entailed me having to dive into something that I'd always had, just like I don't care about this. And we had to read. I used to tell people I knew about 25 seconds worth. Okay, who started on the pole? Here's the wreck. Who won the race? Well, the other TV station in town ended up getting a very big car deal away from our station, and the reason why is they were doing it leading with NASCAR every night and our GM juice off on us. So it was like, okay, we got to do this NASCAR thing. I have to learn more. I had to take this thing up to another level to learn NASCAR. So what stands in the way becomes the way. And I did it.
Speaker 2:And what's wild about that is, later on in my career, moving into Dallas, fort Worth, there was a gentleman who ran Texas Motor Speedway. He didn't think I liked NASCAR. So we go to lunch one day and we have a conversation. He did not know that I own stock in Speedway Motorsports, which own Texas Motor Speedway. He didn't know my whole knowledge, working knowledge of NASCAR, that I'd interviewed Dale Earnhardt Jr. I covered Jeff Gordon when he was a rookie, what I knew. He was shocked and surprised and we became friends. We became a lot better and, lord, crazy things had happened. I got on NBC Sports nationally, on our on the TV network, not because of football me covering the Cowboys, it was because of NASCAR. What else is that? It was NASCAR. So that experience of the first job showed me what stands in the way becomes the way, and you have to embrace these things that maybe you don't want to, but if you embrace it and you do the job, you just don't know where it'll take you later on in life.
Speaker 1:You know, one of the things that we say in business is you always work for the job you want, not the one you have. It's kind of a general principle, and sometimes that means having to do hard things that you didn't think you wanted to do in order to garner a skill that allows you to develop something in the future that's going to come back and pay rewards and that's an amazing story on that issue, but none of us get to where we are in life without having very strong mentors. So who have been some of the mentors in your life?
Speaker 2:Well, I mentioned Tom Suter. You know, tom was great. To me. It's one thing's, one thing where you're watching somebody at TV and you just say, hey, I want to be that guy, I want to be Tom, and he was so encouraging. I always have a debt of gratitude to him. We started talking about mentors.
Speaker 2:Pat Riley, the Hall of Famer, was fantastic in this book that he wrote called Showtime Inside the Lakers Breakthrough Season. I read that when I was in high school back in about 1988. And it's got a great chapter called number 13. Number 13 is called Motivation. He talks so much about be so good at your job that they can't replace you. So many great lessons that he later on taught that. He taught the Lakers and he took with him to the Knicks and then the Miami Heat. I ended up getting a college scholarship based off that book. That book changed my life. It changed my mindset and I remember covering a Charlotte Hornets game against the Knicks and I went up to him afterwards and I said I just want you to know I got a college scholarship based off this book. It was tremendous, the book Showtime. Later on they took out the basketball portion of it and made it a business book and most people know this book as the Wherewithin Very fantastic book. So Pat has been a big mentor to me about the way he goes about his business and they call it the heat culture down there in Miami but he's been a fantastic mentor Along the way.
Speaker 2:I joined the National Association of Black Journalists when I was in college and so to be around a bunch of people who were already in the industry who could help you, guide you you're on the phone at night, hey, I don't understand this or that. They were fantastic to me and they helped me along the way so much At times when you can just see somebody who looks like you can understand your journey and they're there to help you. I tell people a lot of these folks saved me from myself Because early on I was an inherited person to me. Before I really re-saved myself with God. I had a lot of flaws, man.
Speaker 2:I had a lot of flaws man, I had a lot of flaws. So the list is long. The friends who've picked up the phone calls during the years, like Greg Morrison late at night that have helped me, or John Jenkins who've helped me. I can't name all the folks who just have contributed to me and, mark, you understand this very well. When people reach a successful point, a lot of them want to start to have an impact, whether they're giving back mentoring, but they want to have an impact on other people. So I've been lucky enough in my journey to seek out people who also wanted to have that impact, and I'm a result.
Speaker 1:You know, it's always amazing to me when I meet very successful people that are humble. Usually it's I meet very successful people that still have a very large ego, and you are definitely one of those humble individuals. But they have a common thread and I think we're kind of unweaving your thread a little bit which is you've learned the importance of life isn't what you get, but what you give. No-transcript that too.
Speaker 2:In high school I got a scholarship from Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. I didn't know anything about the fraternity, they just offered $2,500 out of high school. They just offered $2,500 out of high school. And at Pembroke, my first year, the whole thing room and board was three grand. So, hey, that's a heck of a scholarship right there. And then I ended up getting another. I got an admission scholarship and then I ended up getting I was in the Chancellor's Honors Program and they paid my tuition. So I'm like, heck, how do I get more of this money? And so I joined a fraternity.
Speaker 2:I joined the fraternity. I had always had good grades and I'd won the sixth district, freshman of the year, sophomore of the year, junior of the year Then you know, was international leadership award, and every time I was rewarded with scholarship money and then doubled a lot of times. So I just tell people we had the fraternity, help me buy my first car, help me get through school that I left school with no debt. So I made sure that my advisor's name was Dr Sylvester Wooten. He was so fantastic, helping so many of us graduate. I endowed a scholarship in his name. So I endowed a scholarship in his name for every brother in our chapter, kai Mew, who goes through Pembroke State now UNC Pembroke they have an opportunity to win money.
Speaker 2:I also, when I interviewed for the admission scholarship that I got at UNC Pembroke, I said my dream is to be a sportscaster and if I'm a sportscaster I'm going to make it one day and I will give back no-transcript. I'm a product of people who decided that they would get money together to give to deserving students and that's a big part of who I am. I enjoy being able to give back the letters that I get from students who've won. It was fantastic.
Speaker 2:I remember giving the commencement speech at my alma mater and meeting the parents of one of the kids who won the scholarship and then another gentleman who won a scholarship. He's now working in the broadcasting industry. I ended up watching him one day on ESPN's SEC Network and he's there talking about South Carolina football and I'm just sitting there so proud, like man. That's one of my newest scholarships Graduates right there doing this thing. So that part is great. I'm very fortunate. I've been very, very blessed and to me that's a big thing and hopefully I can do more of those things and maybe make some of the scholarships that we get out even bigger for kids.
Speaker 1:You know, what's fun for me is when we do these types of recordings, I get a chance to actually see your face. You know we have the video component to it. The people that are listening to this podcast don't get to see the smile that is on your face, that is from ear to ear. And you're not talking about the Emmys you've won. You're not talking about things that you did. You're not talking about accolades that you've been given. You're talking about the kids that went through the program that you went through that received your scholarship that you put in there for them, and the success that they're having gives you pride. It's kind of like a father's pride.
Speaker 2:Well, one of the things. I didn't have it. That was the thing, mark. So so when I, when I walked this road that wasn't available to me, right, you know the, the, the scholarship for you off, there was nobody doing sports. When I went to Pembroke State at the time, I had this dream. So there was nobody working, nobody was doing it. And so, okay, I'll start the road.
Speaker 2:And then I thought it was important to give back in terms of a scholarship to let, hey, for you guys interested in sports, boom, here you go, there's something for you that this is real. Boom, here you go, there's something for you that this is real. And then the same thing for the guys in my within the fraternity hey, look, there's money here for you, right here within our chapter, also outside our chapter. But that, to me, was an important thing Okay, if you walk this road, show people that it can be done and that they can have faith. Because a lot of times I walked up some of these roads where there wasn't anything there yet. I kind of had to go seek it out and find it myself. So if I could go back and show people that, okay, hey, look, there's a couple bricks here that I laid down a couple crumbs along the way.
Speaker 1:Follow this and then maybe you can achieve your dream and do better than me. You know, I love that part of the story and I love you. I love the fact that you cut me off and explain that, because one of the things that I really do love about people's stories is when there wasn't a path to follow, because that's when you hit the crossroads of, ok, I get, I get to make a sports broadcaster, but they didn't have it, so I became a news journalist. Or you can be like, hey, they don't have that here. That's an opportunity. Let me cut the path, let me create it, and then the people that follow get the benefit of what you were willing to try.
Speaker 1:That's, that's amazing. Well, you know, one of the things that you must do in order to be a sports journalist is you must be a good communicator. So, so let's talk about that, that road down communication and and some of the lessons that you've learned, because I think that could be invaluable for the listeners, because there's a lot of really good talkers in the world, but there's not a lot of really good communicators.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for saying those kind of words. As you can see, I got a lot of books behind me. I've been a reader since I was a kid. So thankful to grow up on a United States government military installation because they always had libraries and they always had good books and the latest books, and so I went in there and checked them out. I tell people, even to this day, the library is free. It's a service. You've already paid for it through your taxes. Go use it.
Speaker 2:So reading helps you conduct good interviews, because you can do research and you can find out about people. You can look at their stories and see how they parallel to others. To me, reading is such a big key to trying to communicate. To me, that's everything I did. As far as sitting down and talking to people yes, listening is important. Far as sitting down and talking to people yes, listening is important, but allow people to take you to the conversation, because you can kind of come up with I think this is what I want to do. But then you let them flow and go and then you're able to okay, well, they open doors. Certain point in time, people will open doors, and that's when you got to figure out. How do I get there?
Speaker 2:I remember an interview we did with Gary Patterson, tcu head coach. So Gary had been there over 20 years and he ended up getting let go. So they let go of Gary. The next season, sonny Dykes, who was one time an analyst for him and was left SMU, goes to TCU His first year. They go to the national championship Stuff Gary had always wanted to do so. They win the fiesta bowl over Jim Harbaugh's Michigan team.
Speaker 2:At this point time Gary had been a consultant for the University of Texas and he was sitting at home and I said I know you haven't done any interviews at all. I need you to talk. And and talked to his wife. They know we've known each other for two decades. We went to the house, we sat down and as I'm interviewing him, I'm asking questions and I can tell I'm at that point that I'm seeing the door open that he's emotional.
Speaker 2:It's a man who doesn't cry, right? He ended up crying and when he cried I just sat there, I just let him, I just let him get it out and I just said one simple thing You're emotional. And then he went further. And I say that. But the end result was there were people who watched that interview who said I didn't know he felt like that. Where was that guy? When I played for him? He didn't show any emotion like that. People saying I didn't know he cared, and that to me, that part of just interviewing people, allowing them to open up the door, then finding the way to get in there I felt there was some emotion because earlier in the interview he said it's kind of like a divorce. Well, divorce is pain, divorce means there's grief involved. So we ended up getting there and that was pretty cool and we ended up winning an Emmy for that story last year.
Speaker 1:You know, I tell people all the time that the smartest person in the room is usually not the one that's talking, because you've never learned anything while you were speaking, only while you were listening. And one of the things I love about watching you on the news is you do an amazing job of asking a question and being perfectly fine with silence, and a lot of people, when they hear, when the silence hits, they want to fill it in with something else. You let the silence set because you know that the person is listening. What are some of the some of the best things that have ever happened to you simply because you asked a question and then sat back and gave them the time to actually answer it, other than, obviously, the one that you just told us? Cause that. That was an amazing situation. I actually remember watching that interview and I couldn't believe. You know, it felt like an eternity of silence while he was sitting there getting emotional, but it wasn't that long actually.
Speaker 2:Honestly, this has nothing to do with TP. It has to do with my child my kid was frustrated with. She was frustrated, I won't say which, but she was frustrated. So I'm in the school counselor's office with her and I'm sitting there with her and her mom and I just looked at her and I said how can I help you? Then I just shut up. She teared up and she says you're the only one who ever has to be back teenage kid. How can I help? Left it there. I just let the silence there because that needed to be her answer. I needed to let her convey to me what she felt, because my assignment at the end of the day, is my kids man.
Speaker 1:I was about to say. You know, if we don't learn anything else in this podcast, you know, just you, going straight to your kids is telling to me. You know there's nothing like a father's love and there's nothing like the obligation of being a father, and I know you take that very, very seriously in your relationship with your kids is amazing. I know I've had a brief time of seeing you kind of interact a little bit with your kids on on telephone calls and things like that. I mean you, you will immediately walk away from anything if kids are involved, which is, hey, that's a testament to who you are, but let's talk a little bit about that. I mean your relationship with your kids. I mean you got, you got some kids that are at those fun ages right now no-transcript one about to go to Kansas State next year on some scholarships.
Speaker 2:So she wants to become a elementary school teacher. And then I got the 12 year old. I worked a lot when they were kids because I wanted their mom to stay at home and I worked a lot of jobs because I wanted to try to provide so much of what I thought would be a fantastic life for them. Last year at the Lone Star Emmys I took my kid, took one of my kids with me and I remember it, except in speech. And in there I just looked at her and I just teared up and I just said you know I hope I make you proud. I said I know I can speak for a lot of people. You were not there at night because you work at night. You spend so much time trying to have this dream job at the same time for buy for your family and you know I'm sorry I haven't always been around, but I do hope I make you proud that you sit up here and that you can look at me and just say you know that's my dad.
Speaker 2:So you know there's some guilt at times because you're doing this thing. I know my dad went through it because he was in the army. You know times when you had to be away. You try to do the best you can. You ask God to forgive you. You talk to your kids. You try to work with them, even to this day, you know, trying to be better with them. Uh, understanding there's that the assignment is the kids. I've gotten better at that and trying to get better at that all the time that, okay, what can I do for you so I don't go to as many games as I used to? Uh, try to figure out ways I can do things with them and and try to let them know that I love them. And I probably say the past. You know we've, we've gotten better at that, I'd gotten better at that. And to fact the fact that I know all three of them individually have told me we love you and we, we understand. Uh, you know what you, what you have been trying to do. That means the world to me and I just got to keep chasing it. Man, I got you chasing that like crazy.
Speaker 2:I love what I do and everything else, but what I do is not who I am. I tell people all the time I love my job, but it's what I always wanted to do. But my job is not who I am, and I see that a lot that happens in my business. I see a lot that happens. I see that a lot that happens in my business. I see a lot that happens especially people of professional sports is that you do this sport for so long and then it's done and you're looking around like, oh my gosh, you know who am I. It's because you didn't know what your identity was. Your identity is one thing. The assignment, which is your job, that's a different deal. So reconciling those and making sure you know who you are is a big, big deal.
Speaker 1:That's why I say TV's. What I do is not who I am. Newey, that's extremely powerful. I walked away from being a trial lawyer 11 years ago and people said, how could you do it? And I said, well, in essence it came down to a single day.
Speaker 1:I was in Delaware I can still remember to this day on Easter Sunday in a hotel room and I was taking the deposition of some guy and my wife sends me a picture of her and the kids in their Easter best going to service saying wish you were here. And I called her that night and I said, okay, we're doing something else, mainly because I didn't miss anything that my kids did, but I wasn't present for a lot of it and it takes a lot to admit that and to understand that just because you're physically there doesn't mean that you're present. But, most importantly, the point that you just made is you know what you do is not who you are and, more importantly, it's not whose you are, kind of the celebrity effect. You are around a lot of sports celebrities on a regular basis. I mean just part of being who you are. Let's talk a little bit about that, because there's definitely a phase of getting a sports celebrity comfortable with a sports journalist and, most importantly, kind of the character on TV versus off TV.
Speaker 2:Shoot. I worked in Los Angeles, man, it doesn't get better than that. It doesn't get better. I'll always remember the time I was talking to Leonard Armato's agent before a Laker game. Leonard Armato, who's Shaquille O'Neal's agent before a Laker game. Leonard's like hey, newy, so we're just talking, meet Pam Pam Newy, newy, pam, pam, pam. Pamela Anderson at the height of being Pamela Anderson. Right, you know, here we are after Laker games in the hallway. Here comes Denzel, here comes Dave DeVito, here comes Tom Cruise, here's John Lithgow. I mean, this is really cool.
Speaker 2:I remember interviewing Jamie Foxx before he got to be big, talking to Dave Sheffield before he ever got to be big. Remember going on sets and interviewing Cameron Diaz for movie stuff. So it's, it's fun. They're humans, they're people. Uh, I've never really encountered any jerks. Milton Berle was a jerk. Okay, there was an absolute awful man, was Milton Berle. Uh, it's so unhappy, but for the most part they're. They're human. Uh, most times when you're talking to them, they're talking to you because they have something to sell or they've got a movie. There's something you know there's, there's something going on here.
Speaker 1:There's a reason.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 2:They got something, they got going on here and so so we're talking about. I remember interviewing Sonny Vaccaro and Matt Damon. They were talking about the movie hair and there was an appreciation that I'd watched the movie, I understood the movie, we talked, we had a great interview, we had a great interview. So I always tell people, make sure you understand, when I'm in radio role, when I used to do radio role, when I worked for NBC, sports Radio and different stations, we get all these celebrities Well, the celebrity's pitching something. So you want Emmitt Smith well, emmitt Smith's here to talk about his tequila. Or Doug Flutie's here to talk about Epsom copies. Everybody was selling something. We talked to him about what they were selling. But then we'd have these great conversations and so they don't phase me anymore. I grew up a cowboy fan. So after me and Roger Staubach and Drew Pierce and these guys and Tony Dore said that I grew up loving the kind of star effect thing kind of went away. But it's a fun job. I can tell you that all day long it's a fun job and every now and then you have a couple of interviews. You're like you know, that was cool Talking to Denzel Washington, that was. That was cool. I would talk real cool Talk to Denzel Washington, cause I remember his first movie ever made Carver Cop. Uh, so that's part of the life I've lived is fun.
Speaker 2:Los Angeles was great. You'd run into people all the time. I lived in the Valley. My next door neighbor was a porn star. He was also the HOA president and this is the thing I found out about judging people.
Speaker 2:A lot of people would judge this man based on what he did. This was the most kind neighbor I've ever had. I didn't know a thing about construction. He would help neighbor I ever had. I didn't know a thing about construction. He would help me with my house. I didn't know a thing about buying plants. This dude told me where to go. I mean one of the nicest people. He worked in this industry that a lot of people had issues with, but it just showed me really early on I was. You know what. Don't judge people by what they do. Judge them by their job. Judge them by their actions in every day. Kindest neighbor I ever had. Worst neighbor I ever had was a guy who used to put the sign in his front yard telling you what church he went to Was. The nosiest guy Was always in my business, terrible neighbor. Well, in all of your years I just unpacked a lot right there for you, didn't I?
Speaker 1:Oh no, you did, you unpacked a lot before you did that. Oh no, you did, you unpacked a lot, and there's some of it.
Speaker 2:I'm just going to let go and some of it I'm going to follow up.
Speaker 1:Just let it sit there, Mark.
Speaker 2:That's all. We just let it sit there.
Speaker 1:That's it, just let it sit in the air, that's it. You're just going to let it sit out there. Well, is there any one or couple of celebrities that actually stand out in your mind that basically didn't have an agenda? They were just true human beings that wanted to kind of tell their story. Have you ever run into that situation where it's just you know, they just wanted to be real and they wanted to be real with you because you know the relationship that you had developed with them.
Speaker 2:I always tell people you can't say a bad thing to me about Shaquille O'Neal. Shaquille O'Neal, you know fraternity brother of mine makes high five. Shaq was always kind to me. I remembered watching. So you think about it. You're getting ready to go to work, because playing basketball is what you do. You're warming up and all of a sudden, time after time, every arena you go to, people are asking you to meet someone. Do this, sign that before you go to work. I mean, think about a guy when you become like Shaquille O'Neal. How many make-a-wish kids you meet. So here you are ready to go out, here You're supposed to go to battle, do your job. And then here's somebody who is terminally ill and their big dream was to meet you. Shaq is the kind of guy where that affects him, he wants to help people. I was dating a girl who was a teacher and one of her students was ill and I can't remember now if it was terminal, but anyway he started giving up some hope and I said hey, man, look, he was in a wheelchair. I said get your grades up, I'll take you to a Laker game. He got his grades up, we took him to a Laker game. He got his grades up we took him to a Laker game. I said I'll get you to meet Shaq. I didn't tell Shaq that but lo and behold, before the game he meets Shaquille O'Neal. He signs his basketball and that's just who Shaq was. And he remains that guy to this very day that he uses his platform for good. He's good. People gives of himself you talk about. The Lord says give, give, give children. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. That is shit. You know there's a great guy. So I always tell him he can say a bad thing to me about that guy because I've seen him in moments where he wasn't looking for anything that he just wanted to be a good guy.
Speaker 2:The Lakers used to train at a junior college when I first started covering them and their equipment guy had put everything in his own car. He had like a little hatchback car. This thing was old, putting all this stuff in here for Kobe and Shaq and Eddie Jones and all these guys. But one day he shows up. It's a brand new truck, shaq and Eddie Jones and all these guys. But one day he shows up with a brand new truck, shaq giving the key. Here you go, rory, it's for you man. Tears in Rudy's eye that for years, all these basketball players who he was around, who made a lot of money, this team, this owner, jerry Buzz, making all his cash, nobody cared that this guy drove this beat up old car to make sure these guys had the equipment they needed for practice. Shaquille O'Neal said you deserve something, man. You know I had asked for publicity, did ask for publicity, just did it. Man, that's great man.
Speaker 1:I had one opportunity to meet Well, I've actually met Shaq a couple of times in my lifetime, but the one time I did it was actually a true business deal and he brought his son, his oldest son, to the deal. We're sitting at a table and I just asked him. I said so, you know? Just a curiosity why did you bring your son? He goes. Well, I want him to learn from an early age what to surround himself with and what to listen to and who not to listen to. So he said I, I basically bring him so that he can listen, and then, when he's done, when we're done with the meeting, I ask him so who do you trust and who do you not trust? And then he goes. Then I tell him about my opinion and we have a conversation about that. He goes. He goes when you're me, he goes. Everybody wants something from you. He goes. The person that we want to do business with are the people that don't want something from us, that they want to do something for us, and I will never forget that conversation with him. I also won't forget the fact that he had to duck and turn sideways to get through the door, but that's a whole, nother situation. He is a massive human being but, I mean, one of the nicest celebrities I've ever met in my lifetime. So it does not shock me that you mentioned that.
Speaker 1:You mentioned Shaq. Well, I want to change directions because you know, one of the things that a lot of people sometimes they like to talk about, sometimes they don't like to talk about, is there's what we call the outward persona versus the inward person. And you were super successful in sports journalism. I mean you had everything going for you. I mean you were winning awards. You know you were getting those one on ones that most people would just die to have, but health and wellness wasn't necessarily a priority in your life at the time and there were some inward struggles with that. And I want you to kind of tell that story, because I think that's really important for people to understand that they're not alone in the world, because there's a lot of people out there that have an outward. You know I got it all together but inwardly they're struggling with stuff. And that's really why I wanted to do this podcast with you, because I want you to tell people that story.
Speaker 2:Well, it's interesting. You know the story A lot of people kind of know of. It is when they gave lab rats drugs cocaine and then they gave lab rats sugar, and then they did separate studies and then they put both of them in there. All right, which one do you choose? They ran to the sugar Every time. Okay, every time, okay, every time. And I'd struggle with sugar forever and a day. It's the third grade. You know, that's what I was. I love the juicy drinks and all this got mad. Apple juice, orange juice, all that stuff, man, loaded up with sugar. And one of the worst things that can happen when you have the opportunity to go to school and then you get your own job is now there's nobody around to tell you you can't eat those three bowls of Captain Crunch. And I'm telling you right now, I love Captain Crunch.
Speaker 2:I was the guy that bought the Blue Bell ice cream, the big old tub, and if it lasted two and a half days, hey, that was a really. You know, I mean I waited after it. I used to tell people I worked in LA. The guys in and out Berger knew who I was, not from TV. They knew me because I was that loyal customer coming in there at 12 o'clock to get the double, double fry. Then maybe I had the shake, maybe I'll do the animal fry. I mean, I was that dude who knew the secret menu over at In-N-Out. He made a three by three and eating that stuff late night and with the developing diabetes in the 90s late 90s, I mean literally.
Speaker 2:I remember stopping off the five freeway because I could not contain my urine. I just was, I was mouth was dry, I was drinking so much, so much, and then of course you had to just, you know, get rid of it and I'd stop on the five freeway. But it was even better. It was just I was gonna yell in myself in the car, which I wasn't gonna do, and the first thought of it is shock. I'm like gosh. My grandfather had this. My grandfather died from this in 1990.
Speaker 2:A deficit and I stopped drinking soda. What are you talking about? I love peach soda. I love my grape soda. I love all the meat. You talk about the sugars man, I had it. I was Rick James sang about Super Freak. He could have sang about Sugar Freak and talked about me. I was that guy. Okay, I didn't know how to stop. Try Diet Cokes. This is nasty. Try water. Okay, well, give me that Gatorade, drink the Gatorade, then you start to read the bottle.
Speaker 2:So I was just striking out everywhere, man, and then also just living in denial, living in denial and I would have those moments, like everyone, where you're coming back and forth and you're trying to get it right. You're not right. You find yourself buying bigger and bigger clothes. You try to lie to yourself. I did a lot of that.
Speaker 2:I remember when I was in Cleveland. I was at my first Browns game and I'm out in tailgating and people said, hey, al's back. They thought I was Al Roker, who used to work in Cleveland. And I go okay, all right, this is where you know. The visual of this is where you're at, where you're being confused for Al Roker. And then I remember about five, six years later I was at a game Cotton Bowl game and one of the people who was a Missouri fan thought I was Jason Whitlock. Right, jason's a really big guy. Okay, yeah, dude, you got it. You got it, bro. Okay, you have misidentified Al Roker and Jason Whitlock it. You got a problem. You have misidentified it Al Roker and Jason Whitlock. This is not good for you. You need to go make some changes.
Speaker 2:Tried, failed, tried, failed, discovered how you like. Jennifer Moran gave me Slim. I took Slim. She said take it at 10 and 2. So I did this for three days. I checked my blood sugars. I called her. I said what did you give me? What, the, what, the what? My blood sugars haven't been this low in 10 years.
Speaker 2:She gives me these great products. I'm using them, I'm seeing results. But when you don't have a plan and I didn't have a plan I had a plan and then, of course, it was like a hobby. Whatever, I'm going to do a little bit, I'm doing it. I started a little bit so about 2021,.
Speaker 2:You helped me discover my ID-like DNA. You dived into this with me Like, oh you do hip exercise. Did you do this? Did you do that? Man? I got down to 216, was putting on clothes I had at college. So proud, so happy. Then I started grad school, went through a little personal issue and didn't put the weight back on. Then I recently just got back off. But I found the key. I found that discipline. I'm the person now who likes the gym.
Speaker 2:The products do help. Taking lean, helps Getting yourself on the slim 10 and 2, the way I'm doing it. There's so many of the great products here. The Calm you recently gave me this thing is individually designed, Of course, the supplements that I take, that's the key that I found. I had these gaps that allowed me to be the sugar-free and I had to figure out how do I fill the gaps, how do I fix it? When I exercise, mark, for some strange reason in my brain I don't want to eat, and that was important for me to make sure I was, you know, figuring out this puzzle of what it was and that I had to stop being so hard on myself and forgive myself and realize it what's in front of me is better than what's behind me and go chase that and forgive myself. So I'm down 209 pounds, man, I ain't seen that since the 90s man.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I can still remember one of our very first conversations about your genetic report and I think I told you I said now what you need to understand is your entire life you have been trying to fight your genetics with willpower. I mean you have, literally. I mean you have that obsessive, compulsive gene which means, hey, you're a sugar freak because, genetically, guess what? You're a sugar freak. That's just what it is. And let's be real, I mean it's. It's basically a need for that dopamine release, in that dopamine for you is is a compounding dopamine effect, which means I have to have more and more and more to get the same result genetic issue. But now that you're aware of it, you know how to do something about it. It's kind of empowering because you take away that you know I'm a failure moment. You just kind of explain that and all of a sudden you realize, ok, this is how I'm made, let me work with my body, not against my body.
Speaker 1:And we talked about working out. I mean you know you're around professional athletes all the time and you see how these guys work out. I mean you go to the locker rooms, you see the things that they do. And I was like, yeah, let them do that, because that's not who you are. This is what you are. This is what you need. You know, stop getting on the treadmill for 60 minutes and let's start doing some sprints and let's start doing some HIIT workouts. And you know, I cannot tell you how proud I am of you. I mean, it's watching the change has been a great pleasure of mine, because it is. You know, you put in all the work, and I think that was the first conversation you and I had was, hey, I'm going to give you a plan, but you got to do the work. You got to want it and you absolutely have. And you know, I think your tailor is thanking me more than you are, because you're constantly having to get new clothes, which is a great thing.
Speaker 2:The old adage was that faith without work is dead. You can sit around here all day long and buy ID-like products and get the supplement and have this faith that you know what I'm going to get to wherever I want to get to, but I just continually have to say to people faith without the work is dead. If you don't go do the push-up, if you don't go do the pushup, if you don't go, you know, walk around the block, if you don't throw out the things in the fridge that you know will tempt you, then you're not going to get the result. And that, to me, is just so important. You have to work. There is a maybe you want to say the word sacrifice, but there has to be change and you know, no death, no new life. That's a part of it and that, to me, is where I believe a lot of people are failing, because they're trying to get something without putting in something Can't do that. The miracle does not happen without the work, without the sacrifice.
Speaker 2:And I think oh Lord, please let me get skinny, don't? Lord? Let me drop the no, but you're not doing the work. He'll work with you, but you got to do some work. You know. You've got to have the courage to go out there and stop saying, and I love people, like, well, I don't want everybody to look at me in the gym. I'm like, really, you're going to tell that to me? I'm, you know, no offense. There's gonna be some folks who know who I am while I'm out here struggling with these ladies in his yoga class and they hear me yelling and screaming and they're giggling and laughing. But there I tell you what I love working out with ladies and group fitness, because they're the most supportive folks out here.
Speaker 2:You can get it done, it's okay no, you know, just put your arm that way, twist like that. I mean they. They are the best, the most encouraging and absolutely the best. So get out for anybody out there who's thinking about how somebody is looking at them. No, the best thing you can do is tell somebody I need help. I need help. You'd be surprised at how many people will help you, because you don't know their story A lot of times. They've been through some of this and they can help you get better and will give you the encouragement you want. But so many of us now want to hide in isolation. We don't want to come out into the light and let people know we have problems. That was how I got through grad school. I went to business school. I didn't know. Some math skills were terrible.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of things I didn't know, but I always raised my hand and said I don't know this, can you help? You know I was a division one college athlete. As I tell everyone, I was 8% body fat with 400 pound eating habits. I know that only because eight years later I was 307 pounds and trying to figure out how in the world I got there. I spent six and a half years trying to figure out how in the world I got there. I spent six and a half years trying to figure out how to lose it. I tried every pill, potion and lotion known to man other than Fin Fin. Thank God, or I wouldn't be here.
Speaker 1:But I learned something along the way about what I needed to do for myself, which was stop focusing on the 40 inches around my waist and start focusing on the six inches between my ears. Until I changed my habits, I was never going to change my life, but I'll never forget the very first workout. Um, the show biggest loser had just come on and I'm like, okay, if these guys can do it, I can do it. Went down to 24 hour fitness, signed up for a year's worth of training.
Speaker 2:Wait, wait, wait. Okay. So I'm working radio in LA at that time as I'm doing TV, and one of the sales guy big dude, can't remember his name and he's like all jazzed up about this, this show treatment they're working on and player exercise show. They don't want to watch fat folks exercise. We got anybody watching that. We got to show that it was the biggest loser. He didn't work there anymore. We were still working, earning checks and this guy was a part of making some money. The biggest loser. Yeah, man, I have no vision. Man, I have no vision.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can still remember walking into that gym, signing up for a year's worth of training sessions, and the very first guy I get as a trainer he looks at okay, let's go over here in this corner. And I'm like, but the gym floor is out there. He goes. Yeah, I know, but you know there's a lot of people on the floor today and over here in the corner I can put you on your knees and you can do pushups on your knees and you know you won't be around a lot of people. And I was like, okay, this guy was a tcu football player, former tcu football player. I looked at him. I said no, I put myself in this situation. I'm going to get myself out of this situation. You're going to put me in the middle because I need to remember what it's like having to get on my knees and do push-ups, when I can do push-ups without being on my knees.
Speaker 1:And the reason why I tell that story is because people want to know why, when people like yourself and hey, I mean you got the benefit of getting to come in and I did a one on one with you, but there's hundreds, if not thousands, of people I've done the exact same thing with that aren't on TV, that aren't on radio, that I just want to help.
Speaker 1:And the reason why I started this podcast, the reason why I do what I do every single day, is because getting to help people see something in themselves that they didn't know was there, and then get to the place where you've gotten in your health and now you're like, ok, what else can I do? That gives me more pleasure than anything else in life and that's that's why I do these things. And getting to see your smile, most importantly, getting to have the conversation that I had with you just the other day when you came in and told me about your latest report, I mean I knew I can't tell you how proud I am of you because you did the work. You know so many people they search for the easy pill, they search for that magic little thing. Hey, I can keep eating and doing what I want, but as long as I take this, I'm fine. You didn't do that. You actually listened and did the work and I can't tell you how proud I am of you.
Speaker 2:Well, mark, you're one of the many people that have allowed, have helped along the way, the journey, and I probably say when I wish I did 10 years ago. We've gotten out of my ego and my way to say I need help. Literally I need help, please help. Jennifer Moran was one of those people. You're one of those people, and I just kept going. I fell down a lot. It's not a straight line, man. It's up, it's down, it's down, then it's a little bit up and then so it's never ending. It's never ending, but I keep finding these things in myself. And then, so it's it's never ending. It's never ending, but I keep finding these things in myself. And then faith I never gave up. I just kept the faith. I just helped people. I never gave up because I I kept my. I kept these shirts and shorts that were too small. I just kept them. No one one day, one day, I'll give up some hope, didn't lose my hope, and so I wanted to just go by and see, let you know Somebody out there. You did help, Because I know when you do these, when you're doing the stuff, the work you're doing at ID Life and you're presenting all these products and you're hoping people will do it, but hey, it makes you feel good to understand we did come up with that. It did really help Boy.
Speaker 2:That was good for him and they have man and it's life-changing Told you, my goal is to reverse his diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is reversible, so got my A1C down. All right, I can't wait to go see my doctor next week to say, all right, man, here it is, where are we? What else do I need to do? I'm excited to do that. I find my eating habits are a lot better. Man. That cake in the newsroom, man, I don't even go eat it now Back in the day. Don't see how big a piece I was going to cut. Cut one to eat now and the other later mean I can walk away from that stuff.
Speaker 2:In the past I could not, so I had found my way, and that's exciting. You played a part in it, and the DNA tests, the things that you showed me are great. And so now, right, I don't go spend 60 minutes on the treadmill. There is a HIIT workout that is in this treadmill at work. It's 15 minutes where I'm running, sledding, pushing and I'm just wiped at the end of this thing Wiped, and it's 15 minutes of the absolute best HIIT exercise that I need. You taught me that If you're not telling me what I need, then I don't go and do it. But that takes the courage to simply raise your hand and say, hey, I need some help, and not being too proud to take it and go give it. And then, when it's hard, to just say I don't care who's looking, I'm going to do this for me, not what anybody else thinks. This is my journey. It's my individually designed journey and I'm going to get this thing.
Speaker 1:You know I tell men when I work with them you have two choices. When you're a father, you can have a dad bod or you can be a father figure. And you most definitely have become the father figure. So what have your kids thought about your transformation? Because I know that it has an impact on them as well, watching dad put in the work and actually, you know, get healthy.
Speaker 2:The fun part is showing the clothes. You've seen the tuxedo that I got married in and how huge it was, man. That part has been good. So they've seen it. They've seen me at my worst.
Speaker 2:I remember one time vacationing in San Antonio for spring break and I'm not taking my medicine properly, not measuring my sugars, and I couldn't go out and play with them. It was embarrassing, it was awful, it was unfair to them. So now I'm able to do things with my kids and that's cool, that's fun, and I don't want to be some guy walking around the gym with my kids and some big old beer belly. They don't deserve that. But most of all, if it comes into me, I don't deserve it. I don't want that. So it's been good. My second child and I had a really big conversation about that and self-image and stuff yesterday. My second, who was supposed to be the elementary school teacher boy, she's so smart, she's so smart she could diagnose things, and so that was a lot of fun. But they've seen it and I've actually apologized to them. I'm like I'm sorry you had to walk down the aisle with that. I look at some of the clothes I'm wearing look like sheets, man.
Speaker 1:Um, but that was then, and I've since forgiven myself for what I was and not finding the way, but I'm very, very proud that I stayed in the game and I found the way well, I can't wait until you and I have the burn party, where you invite me to come get rid of all of the things that are still sitting in the closet, just in case that's that's kind of that last phase. Uh, anybody that's ever gone through what you and I have gone through and so many other people out there have gone through, you know exactly what I'm talking about, which is you. You might keep a few of the smaller things in the hope that you get into them, but you always keep the bigger things for when the bounce back comes. It's just something psychological. But when you burn the boat, as we talked about the other day, uh, that's a special time because you know, hey, I'm never going to go back there.
Speaker 2:So, though, I do kind of like the idea of you keeping that mcdonald charities. The ronald mcdonald charities are going to get a nice little donation of stuff here, so so we're gonna uh, gonna get that for or get that over to charity, so so they can get some clothes out there to those people. What I'll never get rid of the tux I paid for it. Uh, but it is, it is a I. I look at it as the fantastic show and tell for people who reach that valley where they hey, man, man, I don't know if I can, um, or I fell off the wagon. Yeah, it's all right. You know, you were faithful to the, you were faithful to your workouts and you were on a point, but, all right, you missed it. You missed that, you missed a week, or you missed two weeks, not over, not over. Forgive yourself. Get back in this race. Do not give up. Do not feel like it cannot happen. It will happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the one thing I always tell people. I'm more than happy to help you. Just make sure you pay it forward. You help somebody in the future. Well, nui, one of the things I like to do at the end of every podcast is I like to give my guests kind of the final word. I like to have them kind of close out the show, because I know that while I have kind of an idea of what I want to ask and things I want to talk about, there are always something that I may have missed, uh, or something that you want to make sure people know, uh. So I always like to give you that opportunity to kind of have that final word before we wrap things up for this episode.
Speaker 2:Yeah, mark, anybody who hears this story and sees it, I want you to know it doesn't happen without God, not for me. It didn't Got out on my knees and just said helps. And the amazing thing is, when you ask for help, he'll send you the blessing. And the blessing for me how much of it was ID life Boy I had to put in the work, but after that work she did it. I'm not a planner. How to go find it? How do I plan? Okay, 8.30 on Wednesday, 8.30 on Friday those are cycle days. Make those appointments with myself and meet those appointments. Figure out, okay, what HIIT program can I get done here today? I had to go do that. It worked with you, but you got to get something to work with.
Speaker 2:So this transformation I have, this is because of a higher power and my belief in that and willingness to work through it, and I'm appreciative. So when you say, what do you want to say? I just want to tell people I had to give this one to God because I could not do this alone. I tried doing it alone for 20 years. Let me tell you what it sucked had that work out. It sucked. So when I decided to humble myself and ask for help, and then, if I can ask him for help, I can go to other people. Mark, what are you do, mark? What about this? Jennifer, all these different people, logan, staff how can you help? And you'd be surprised at how many people are willing to help you, because I had to get out of my sense of shame, I had to forgive myself, and it's been powerful. So that's me, man, just a dude, who dealt with brokenness, that didn't give up and prayed to a higher power and just did her work. Man, faith without work is dead.
Speaker 2:And today I'm sitting here in this shirt that actually fits. In these shorts that I had to put back in the closet because I lost the weight, gained it back. They weren't fitting, they were too tight, belly was popping open. Now they're good. Got to get a belt on these pants now. So on these shorts, they fit so good. So that's what I would like to say. And Mark also, man, god bless you. Man, I can't tell you really, really, how much you have meant to me, and I know this is what you do and you try to help so many people, but you don't always know the impact, and that's why I went in and I gave you a hug and I thanked you because you truly have impacted my life. I feel so much better and I really am going to try to get this type 2 diabetes off my roster by the time 2024 ends. Be done with it.
Speaker 1:Well. Well, with God's help, you'll most definitely get there. You know one of the most powerful messages I ever heard my pastor give. He said what is your relationship with God? Is it a 9-1-1 relationship or is it a 4-1-1 relationship? Because if it's 9-1-1, you have a lot of unanswered prayers. If it's 4-1-1, you have a lot of opportunity in front of you and, nui, you have a 4-1-1 relationship with God on what you're trying to get accomplished and that's why you're starting to get the results you are.
Speaker 1:So, again, on behalf of myself and everyone at ID Life and everyone that's associated with the Healthy, simplified Podcast, I can't thank you enough for being here. Your story is extremely powerful. I know it's going to impact other people, I know it's going to touch people that are in struck, but, most importantly, it's going to help people forgive themselves, because this is not a perfect world that we live in and there are no perfect people, and people are going to have fault, and when they do, it's okay. Brush yourself off, start again and keep going. And, uh, it's it's stories like this that just make this podcast so special for me. So, again, thank you for being here and until next time. This is Mark Bennett. Talk to you real soon.