Shawn Stevenson: Welcome to the Model Health Show, this is fitness and nutrition expert, Shawn Stevenson, and I'm so grateful for you tuning in with me today. We're addressing something that is of the utmost importance right now, which is our perspective, our mindset around all that's happening in the world, and also how we're managing ourselves because, for many people, their patterns have been thrown off, their routines have been thrown off, their fitness has been thrown off. For many folks, their anchor was the gym, it was a part of their routine, even folks who were dedicated to wellness, but for folks who were just kind of struggling to find their grip on consistency and routines and taking care of their health and fitness, that it's been thrown off even more. However, there are also people who are absolutely thriving right now, who found within all of the chaos, they found patterns, they found beauty, they found opportunity, and so we want to be able to tap into that, to siphon a little bit more of that good of us, siphon a little bit more of that opportunity and perspective on how much power we have to take control of our own health and fitness because truly, I believe that our health is really a launching pad, is truly a diving board for us to jump into the success that we want to see.

So getting our health in order and having some proximity around things that keep us inspired with our health and fitness is going to make everything else work better in our lives, and being that it's a diving board... Shout out to diving boards, by the way, the little bouncy one, like at this community pool. And for me, I remember the first time when I jumped off that diving board, I was terrified. It was summer camp, Camp Counselor Linda, had the biggest crush on her, but she watched me like, had her eyes on me like a hawk, went to the edge of that diving board, I saw people do it, but it didn't come off like that, it was not graceful. Alright, you're going to have a little bit of some kind of version of a belly flop when you take the leap, but once you take the leap and you get better every time you come back, and before you know it, I'm doing little flips and all this stuff, probably wouldn't do it now. And that's the thing about life, we grow and evolve, we make different decisions, but at some point, you've got to  make the leap and we continue to make leaps in our lives when we are faced with challenges and adversity, and even if we're good at a thing, obstacles can still inherently come up along the way, and this is just the nature of life, and I love this statement, I believe it was like Norman Vincent Peale, "The only people without problems are those who are no longer with us."

Alright, so as we're here right now, we have... Problems are a sign of life, problems are a sign of life, and that's okay, we can even adjust our perspective on those things, and knowing that these things are here, as we're going to talk about today with our special guest, to make us stronger and to really qualify us, because here's also the other side of that story, because it was like, "Problems are a sign of life... “I don't want a problem, back off me with the problems, I can do without them, Shawn. But here's the thing that you don't hear, these things qualify you and keep up-leveling you as a human being to the degree that the inherent problems don't touch you like they once did. If you... On the scale of human potential, we'll just say, if there was a scale, but it's infinite, but if there was a scale of one, being like you are base-level human, alright? You're just... You're barely human, alright? To 10, where you're the greatest expression of what a human could be if there was such a thing... One to 10. We started here, we all are born, were at one, and our goal is to get to 10.

If you are a four-level if you're at level four in your capacity, and your strength, and your character as a human being, and a level three problem happens, oh, it's going to mess you up, it's going to mess up probably a month, it's going to really throw a wrench into your day and your plans, but as you grow yourself, you go through adversity, you acquire skills and knowledge and resilience, and now we'll say, you're a level 8 on your potential as a human, and a level three problem happens, you can handle that on your lunch break. It's just not that oppressive anymore, it barely touches you, you might even be able to have somebody else handle it for you, right, because you've grown yourself as a human, and that's what it's really about, because problems are a sign of life, but we can grow ourselves so that those problems don't affect us the same way, alright? And it's not necessarily that the nature of the problem itself is smaller, it's the nature of us growing beyond it, alright? So even our perspective can grow to the point that we realize, Oh, this is inconvenient. I don't like this thing, but somehow there's a gift in it, there's a reward in it, there's joy, there's potential, there's so many gifts that come packaged up in this problem because there cannot be a problem without a solution.

It's two sides of the same coin, and that's what I really want to keep reminding ourselves of this time right now, that there's a lot of turbulence going on, there's opportunity, there's gifts, there are presents to be held right now in the present moment, and again, bringing on one of the top people in the world and reminding us of helping to shift our perspective and to really harness our mindset to be able to see the opportunities, amidst challenges, and also we're not going to ignore the fact that things are going on that we might not like... We're not here, we're not in the pretend game. Alright? We're not here to play Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and go to make-believe land, alright? With the puppets. Okay? Shout to the puppets, shout out to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, great stuff, but we're not here to do that, we're here to acknowledge what's real and to also acknowledge our infinite capacity to overcome, and so very, very excited about this episode. And our nutrition obviously, is a big part of us managing our health and wellness, and being able to be resilient and to overcome obstacles and to overcome exposure to things that we might be susceptible to, if our nutrition isn't at one point because here's the thing that so often overlooked is that your immune cells are made from the food that you eat, your lymphatic system is made from the food that you eat, your gastrointestinal tract is made from the food that you eat, and the list goes on and on and on.

This is so important, and right now, we have access more than ever before in human history, there's so much good. There's a lot of problems. We are self-inflicted, very, very sick society, while simultaneously, we have access to so much that can help our health and wellness and... But many of these things are things that our ancestors have been utilizing for centuries, and now we just have science to affirm what our ancestors have been teaching us. And one of those things that I just even had yesterday is Chlorella. Right. Chlorella, the name is derived from the fact that it is the most dense source of chlorophyll that you're going to find in just about any food that's ever been discovered. And the chlorophyll content is incredibly powerful because a study published in a peer-reviewed journal Appetite, found that chlorophyll can aid in weight loss, number one, you don't hear about this, it can aid in weight loss and reduce the urge to eat hyper-palatable foods, this is clinically shown to be real with bringing in more chlorophyll to your body. It's like nature doesn't come along like we got a problem, these hyper-palatable foods have manipulated and taken advantage of our brain and our physiology, our ability to differentiate between real food and processed junk and the addiction that can take place with that manipulation.

Chlorophyll can help to reduce and reverse that wiring that we've had, we've been taken advantage of by these processed food manufacturers. Chlorophyll nature is providing a solution. So that's one aspect. Now, here's the thing about real food, the stuff that's found in nature chlorophyll, it has more benefits than just that one thing, it does so many other good things simultaneously. Another thing to be aware of, Chlorella contains lutein and zeaxanthin. Right, zeaxanthin. These are two carotenoids that are proven to protect your eyes and lower the risk of macular degeneration. I see you, you want to see me? We want to keep seeing each other, we have to protect our eyes, our eyes, the whole process, the connectivity with our brain, our nervous system is made from the food that we eat, we know there are some particularly great things that directly nourish and protect your vision, found in Chlorella.

Can I just give you one more, layer, another leg under that understanding of how powerful real food like this is, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, gold standard, published in Clinical and Experimental Hypertension, found that Chlorella was able to normalize blood pressure of test subjects with hypertension. This exists, it's not just lisinopril, it's not just a pharmaceutical model, which is derived from viper venom, whatever if you want to go look into that. But it's not just the synthetic drugs, 70% of United States citizens on pharmaceutical medications, yet everything is worse, every single category of chronic disease is worse, even though the vast majority of our citizens are on drugs already, something is wrong, the connection is that there are so many things, our bodies need real food, things that are derived from the real world, from nature.

And when we lack these things, we start to lack in performance, we start to lack in proper replication of our DNA or expression of our genetics, these epigenetic influences, stuff starts to do drive in the wrong direction, but we can fix this when we bring real foods. Food isn't just food, it's information, there's an intelligence here that doesn't exist in synthetic food or synthetic drugs. This is why I love these things. And also my kids, just about every day, especially my oldest son is a big fan of the green juice from Organifi, one of the highlighted ingredients is Chlorella, and they do this cold temperature processed Chlorella, Spirulina, Ashwagandha, these combinations of these super-dense sources of nutrition, but also super dense sources of chlorophyll that we talked about, and it tastes good. These are easy things to add in, just add it to your water, you can add it to smoothies, every single person from my perspective and all my years in clinical practice, I made sure I got everybody on to some form of like a Green SuperFood blend. Organifi has the best one. Right. This wasn't out, when I was running my clinical practice, Organifi was just starting off and finally, it was an easier on-ramp because I had folks taking these Green SuperFood blends that just didn't taste good.

And I had to give them recipes like just find a way to mask this taste. This one actually tastes amazing. So, pop over there, check them out, it should be a staple in our cabinets, this is real multivitamin, multi-mineral from real food, Earth Grown Nutrients, from sources that your body can actually recognize and not the synthetic stuff. Right. Organifi.com/model. It's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com/model and you get 20% off. Use the code model, 20% off. Head over there, check them out. Now, let's get to the Apple Podcast review of the week.

iTunes Review: Another five-star review titled "Do yourself a Favor and listen to Shawn" by Hayley. "First of all, aside from all of the information provided in this podcast which by the way is equivalent to gold, Shawn is such an amazing storyteller, he is so engaging and genuine. This podcast is something I'm always looking forward to because I know in one way or another I'll hear something that will be educational, eye-opening, and life-altering. As I battle with my own destructive habits, I plan to continue using this as a weapon. Thanks, Shawn."

Shawn Stevenson: Yes, gold. Ah, I love this so much. Thank you for leaving that review over on Apple podcast that means everything to me, and listen, if you get to do so, please pop over to Apple Podcast and leave a review for the Model Health Show. And on that note, let's get to our special guest and topic of the day. Our guest today is international fitness superstar, Shaun T. Shaun T is a best-selling author, fitness motivator, and icon in the domain of health and wellness, he's been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah and many other major media platforms. He's created some of the most popular fitness programs known to man, including Insanity and T25. And today, Shaun is on the show to help us to remember how powerful we are when we are faced with adversity and also when we might be experiencing negativity, whether it's in a family construct or social construct and how can we push through and continue to be us, to be authentic to who we are and what we believe. And it's needed now more than ever. So let's jump into this conversation with the incredible Shaun T. Shaun T, my family, my name twin, my absolute, my brother. So good to see you, man.

Shaun T: It's good to see you too. The last time we did a podcast... Well, you were on my podcast. But the last time we were in studio, it was the first time I did your podcast a few years ago. My book came out.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah.

Shaun T: And I have to say that was one of the greatest experiences being interviewed by you because you really let people express them true selves, and you listen. You're a great listener and you really connect to what it is that they need to share. So I'm very excited to be back on your show.

Shawn Stevenson: Aw man, It's totally our pleasure. I'm just going to be real, man. We need you right now. We could use some Shaun T infusion in our lives.

Shaun T: Thanks, man. I appreciate that. I've been in this industry, this fitness thing for 20 plus years. I think it's like 23 years now, almost 24. And right now...

Shawn Stevenson: Well, how's that if you're only 23 yourself?

Shaun T: I mean I'm just saying... You know what I mean. Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment. I think that after being in this industry for 20 plus years and right now what we are going through in the entire world, fitness and health is the most important. And still like I believed for so long, I do believe that people focus too much on the external physique, and I know... I'm going to be very real. I know I'm one of those people that used to have the infomercials on, like such and such lost 35 pounds in 60 days, and blah blah blah. But the core of who I am is less about what you look like, and more about how healthy you are and how your body is functioning. And I've gotten really, really deep into just mental fitness because I believe that there's nothing that's going to make you really confident unless you are committed to yourself, committed to your journey. You have this hat on, it says "This is my journey," so you have to be committed to that before you can get into any six-pack abs.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah, man. That's one of the places where we connected. I saw it was so, so, so much deeper with you, but that's really how you've connected and impacted the lives of so many people. It's because even on the surface of fitness and dance, there's so much heart, there's so much depth. And real focus on, like you just said, that inner fitness, and right now, like I said, I think we can all use a reminder about that. Many people have had their entire worlds turned upside down. And even folks who were dedicated to their fitness, with gyms closed nationwide, and folks figuring out how to pivot with their kids being in the house or just not being able to have community access... I know a lot of folks have struggled trying to get back on track, so I would love to get your perspective because I think a lot of folks also even unconsciously are just like, "when things get back to normal... When things get back to normal"

Shaun T: Mm-hmm.

Shawn Stevenson: And just keep putting themselves off, and I'd just love to know your perspective on what do you think folks can kind of look to, maybe look into that inner fitness. Talk to us.

Shaun T: You know what I did this year, once the pandemic happened is I actually re-wound 12 years, or actually 14 years. So in 2006 is when I first got my first contract with Beach Body. And once I got my first contract with Beach Body, the first thing I was thrown into was teaching test groups and doing test groups, which is a group of people, about 50 people that come in and they test the workout program. And we put them on workouts and we put them on a food plan, and they show up every day, and I was teaching two classes a day, morning and night. And every day when they came in or once a week, they would get on a scale and you would track their progress and you would say, "Oh, you lost this amount of weight and you gained this amount of weight, are you sticking to your food?"

And we did that program in and program out, and while I know that getting on the scale and weight Loss was something that really helped people continue on and be confident and feels motivated about what it is that they're doing, I also saw that it was something that was the worst thing that could happen to people. Getting on the scale, showing up, and the first thing that they do is wanting to see how much of themselves that they lost. And believe it or not, I got into that I would get up, I would have a scale right by my toilet. I would walk in and how much of myself did I lose today? And so at that point, that's when I realized that and I realized what it was doing to people. That's when I started focusing more on the mindset.

And after every single test group class that I taught in the past 14 years, we finish with motivation of how to succeed and look within. So that the driving force wasn't the scale, and the driving force was the trust and belief that you have in yourself to want to continue to succeed. Because I can tell you when I did my Hip Hop Abs program, I was 188 pounds, I was 28 years old or so. I had this six-pack, I could truly eat whatever I wanted, but you know what, that wasn't the thing that pushed me, that wasn't a thing that people saw on the screen, they saw someone that believed in themselves, and saw someone that believed in them.

And the reason why I was able to express my belief into people through a screen is because I stopped letting the scale define me and I started letting my mental fitness become way stronger than my physical fitness. So I wanted to take you back there for a little bit because being a fitness guru, which I really don't even like that name, but being a person who's known for fitness, it really... People think I'm all about the body and I'm not. And so one of the things that I did, coming back to 2020, one of the things that I did during the pandemic is I pivoted my entire business to online, not just my online workouts.

I created a group called Dig Deeper Nation, and now has about 50000 people in there. And not only do we work out, but I give them... I developed a course called The Mental Dig, that's very simple. Every single day they would get a mental fitness challenge. Every single day, we were communicating on how they're continuing to push forward that has nothing to do with physical. And even times when... 'cause people like their before and after photos. I'm like, "If you give me a progress photo, it better come with a story on how you are going to take this confidence that you've built or whatever it is that you've done in terms of your physical success. It has to come with something where you have started to believe in yourself just a little bit more.

I know that was a lot, but I wanted to take people back because me too, I started it in a space where it was like, "Oh, we're going to lose weight and we're going to celebrate all these pounds lost" and I'm like this is bull because two months after I saw somebody go through one of my test groups, guess what, they gained the weight back, and they were actually... If you want to keep it very real, they're afraid to leave the test group because they're leaving something where you're holding their hand and they don't know how to hold their own hand.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah.

Shaun T: And you're not going to be successful in fitness until you're able to hold your own hand. Yes, community is important and accountability, but at the end of the day, you have to do the push-ups, you have to do the jumping jacks. You have to decide, you have to put the food in your mouth, you have to have the will power to drive past the gas station and not jump in there and grab a bag of chips and a pastry that's easy to eat. Right, you have to be able to believe in yourself that you can do this. And so I just love creating now these online communities where you have the support, but I always say it is 100% up to you how you want to succeed and move forward.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah, man, that's so good, so good. And again, this is why I love talking with you is keeping it beyond 100, and for myself included same thing. I enjoyed going to a gym, having a gym environment, but I had just so happened over the years, I pick up a little piece of something here, a little piece of equipment, little Kettlebell, little this and that. And so we accumulated some stuff to be able to pivot, but just the routine was thrown off. And my wife, same thing. She would get up every day. Take my son to school and then go to the gym. And so that pattern has been thrown off. It's not that we just said "Forget it, we're not doing anything." But definitely, that consistency has been challenging. And I think also if you could speak to this of understanding when pressure's on our stuff's going on in our lives to have a little bit more compassion for ourselves, maybe have some grace... Maybe start to think about things differently. What do you think about that?

Shaun T: Yeah, I mean, you have to be nice to yourself. I was just talking on my podcast. I did a full podcast episode on how I had subconsciously been... I'm trying to say this in the best way. I have subconsciously been worried about what people think of me in terms of the way that I look. 'Cause you know, I'm me... I'm going to walk out the door, I'm going to be me, my personality, but I realized that for so long, I realized that people were so worried about what I looked like, that I was subconsciously trying to please what people think I should look like, when I think I look damn fine, myself, right?

And I think that's to my point, or to your point into your question, you have to wake up every single day knowing what power you possess. What is your superpower? Like I talk about my book, what are the things that you do really great every single day. It has nothing to do with fitness. Just what do you do great every single day? What do you provide to this world, to your family, to your kids, to your job? Maybe you're just a nice person that holds the door for somebody when you do go to the grocery store or whatever. What are the things that you do every single day that really helps you believe that who you are is your true self?

And I don't think a lot of people really give themselves enough energy and enough of a pat on the back to not worry about "how do I look to other people?" and focus more on "how do I feel about myself, what are the things that I'm doing every single day that are... That I feel really good about for me," because chances are, if you feel really good about the things that you're doing for yourself and you're really focused and you're really dedicated to yourself and doing the best that you can do, chances are everyone else is going to believe that. So if you're somebody out there who has just kind of  either fallen to the wayside on your fitness journey or fallen to the wayside on your belief, you have to hit the reset button and be like, Well, what is great about me?

What is great about me, and a lot of people may look at that as being vain, right? Like I can be like, "I'm really funny. I can dance. I'm a really good friend, I care about people." I can say all these great things about me and people will be like, "oh my god, that person's vain." I'm like, no, this is the space that I love being in. And we don't give ourselves enough credit on a daily basis to live in that space. If you live in that space and if you connect to that, you take that stuff to your workout, you take that stuff to your commitment to your nutrition, you take that stuff to your commitment to your relationships. So for people out there who may have been falling off the wagon, or if you will, it's not just the fitness that... That's not really it. It probably has a lot to do with what you're giving yourself and how you're filling your own cup and the belief that you're bringing back into your own life. And the minute you start replenishing yourself with the goodness and love from you... This is a promise, and I don't like making promises, but the more you replenish yourself with the goodness and love to yourself from yourself, the more you'll see it manifest in every other part of your life.

Shawn Stevenson: Listen, I didn't know this was going to go to this. This is so powerful, man. Already it's got my wheels turning differently, and I didn't always…going to direct people to really acknowledging themselves and looking at their strengths, and thank you so much for bringing this up because I think this is... No, I know it, this has been an issue in our society for a long time. There's this extreme of being concerned because we're from a young age really pressed into suppressing our greatness and told we don't want to be arrogant, you don't want to be cocky, you don't want to be... Whatever it is, these negative names, but confidence is not something that we talk about. And again, in our culture, when you start to express some of that confidence and you start to acknowledge who you are, that can be twisted into a different type of perspective. So with that said, obviously, there is a degree of like, I'm better than, right?

Shaun T: Mmh-hmm.

Shawn Stevenson: And we're not talking about that, we're talking about acknowledging your greatness. And I think that this is a good place for people to tap into this is to have this distinction that like this body and this mind, this is just... That's not all who you are. You have a body, you have a mind, and this presence, this kind of internal eternal presence, that's like seeing through these eyes, that's experiencing life, that even when the mind is thinking and having the negative thoughts or the positive thoughts, it's that presence that's witnessing all of it. And from that presence to be able to see, I really like Shaun, I really like who this person is, I love these particular qualities, I know that Shaun struggles with these things, and that's okay. But you can start to create a distinction, and to... This word has been popularized, the ego, and to understand to use the ego and not have it use you. Not believe that that's all who you are because ego is not necessarily even a bad thing. It's given a bad connotation, your ego is like your expression of who you are. This person that's coming out, right? So, man, this is so good. Thank you for bringing this up.

Shaun T: Yeah, I have so much to say about this. We were actually, I was just having a conversation with Scott, my husband, for those of you who don't know, and we were talking about ego, and he heard a podcast where people say you have to get rid of your ego and I'm like, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't believe that. I believe that it should be put in a cage in some instances, but we all have one. How are you able to tame your ego and how are you able to use it to fuel other people?

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah.

Shaun T: How are you able to use it to fuel your own greatness? Because I think we wake up every day and the first thing we do, when we go to the mirror and say, I don't like this about myself. We look in the mirror to try to change what we don't like. So you're already giving more energy to the things you don't like about yourself. But when someone wants to praise themselves when someone wants to acknowledge their greatness, it is looked at in a bad way, but when someone says like, Oh, you know, I don't feel like I'm at my goal weight or my hair is ugly today. You know, I'm like, we all go through... No, you look great, because the flipside of that is when you... There are people out there who complain about the fact that they don't look great so that they can get the compliments from people... For people to tell them, Oh, no, yes, you do. So where's the balance? And the balance is, alright, this is what I'm great at. You should be able to admit it. This is where I struggle with and to be quite honest if you look at the things that you're great at, most of the time, you develop that strength because of something you weren't great at.

For instance, for me, the reason why I'm really confident now, Shawn, is because when I was younger... I'm gay, I'm as gay as they come. I know that might sound funny to some people, but not allowed to be myself for 21 years, to have to hide who I was... And everybody's in a closet about something which I've said before. It's like, okay, I already know there're going to be people who don't like me or judge me because of who I truly am, so what am I going to do? Am I going to sit in that and be like, I'm just going to focus on the people that don't like me, I'm like... No, I've actually built a lot of confidence from understanding that people don't like me for who I truly am, to now where I can say I'm sick of living in the space of trying to hide who I am. I have to go to the other side of that so that I can thrive in my own life. Listen, I'm cool if you judge me for what you don't understand. What I'm not cool with is you trying to change me from who I really am, and so...

There's been a lot of struggles in my life. Earlier, being a parent of three-year-old twins... Are you kidding me? Like, you know how many F ups we had in the last three years? But I can honestly say that I'm trying to get better as a parent. And it takes a lot of patience, so... I say all that to say it's so easy for us to focus on the bad. If you take this year, we're in 2020 now. If you take this year, and the only thing you focus on are these negative things that are happening in your life, you're going to carry that and that's going to be your fuel. That doesn't need to be your fuel. It has happened, you can acknowledge it, but I can promise you, if you're walking and living and breathing today, there's something great that has happened and you have to attach to that thing.

Shawn Stevenson: That's 1000%. And I don't know if you know this, but your confidence in who you are has, I know for certain, helped to bring about a level of acceptance that heretofore didn't exist, unfortunately. You know, a level of acceptance of people's choices and who they love, which is the craziest thing we have to say this because there's this word tolerance. I don't like that, I don't want... Don't tolerate me. Accept me, acknowledge me, respect me. And because of your confidence, you've created so much acceptance, which should have been there in the first place. Do you realize how much you've created for people who have some kind of apprehension like there's something wrong, which is... Again, it's crazy to say that, but for so many people, man. I know people super thugged out guys, they love Shaun T, they love you.

They'd take a bullet for you. They love you, you've broken down so many walls by you being authentic to who you are.

Shaun T: I think that I also... Thank you. I want to first say thank you. And I didn't know that maybe five, seven years ago, but I do know that now, and I'm still surprised by it. I remember when it first started to happen where I saw people or encountered people, I was like, they definitely don't want to hang around me 'cause obviously, I'm a gay guy, whatever, and then I saw the shift happen and I would say to Scott, I'm like, can you believe such and such thinks I'm cool? And he was like, it's your confidence, he's like, it's just that you're confident. But I also, again, want to be very clear, this is isn't confidence from like "Oh my gosh, I'm great." This is confidence from being sick of not being confident.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah.

Shaun T: When you go the first 21 years of your life not feeling really great and hiding who you are... Think about this for people who are listening right now, think about the time where you woke up in the morning and you had to go throughout your entire day, be it a month, two months, where you had to hide what was happening in your life. There are a lot of people out there who are doing that right now. They're married and they're putting on the front and they may be getting a divorce, but they're putting on a front because they have to appease to a audience or appease to what people think they want them to be. Think about how that makes you feel, and I'm not saying it's easy because it is a step-by-step process to get to the point of feeling confident about expressing who you are, but think about how that makes you feel, and then think of what it would feel like on the other side.

I said this before, like that movie there's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate. There's a thin line between being not being confident and being really confident. And everyone has a moment in which they break that barrier of, well, I just can't do this anymore. I was 14 years old. I was at a high school basketball game in front of all of my friends and a gymnasium that was... It's a high school basketball game where I'm from... It was basketball, you know, everybody's hyped, it's a very masculine athletic sport, and a friend of my mom's turned around during a very silent time in a basketball game and be like "Shaun, you know you're a, you're such a gay"... This is in the middle of the basketball game, right? You want to know what I said, Shawn? I was like you, in front of like... I was 14 years old, and I'm like, listen, some people can be like, Oh my God, that's really disrespectful. And that was the first time at which I was like, I'm being bullied by a older person. I was like, listen, my mom was there, my mom was right there, and I'm like, I could probably get in trouble for cursing at this woman, for cursing this woman out, but that was the first time where I was like, I have to take up for myself and I want people out there, you have to take up for yourself, and there's going to come a breaking point. So anyway, that's the Thin Line Between Love and Hate for myself.

That was the moment where I was like... Even though I was 14 and it was seven years later that I eventually was really confident to be who I am. That was the point where I was like, If I cower down to this and literally sit in this gymnasium and be embarrassed and walk through the hallways and not have taken up for myself, I'm going to feel worse. And so it's what I did. And some people like to say, Oh my God, it's like disrespect but I'm like, No, no, no, no, no, you got to  respect me. And that was the point in which in my life where I said it was less about that person's disrespect for me. I was like, well, you know, I have to like myself in order to thrive forward. And so you know, I don't want to make this about a sexuality issue, but for me, that's what it was. And like I said, everyone goes through something where they have to hide it because they're afraid of what people are going to think about them if they like this thing or they think this way, or they want to change their job, or whatever it is that they want... And there's a thin line, and so you have to decide how hard can you go, how far do you want to push into the negative space, and when do you want to switch over to start making strides to be in that positive, confident space?

Shawn Stevenson: Man, come on, come on. First of all, shout out to Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Martin Lawrence, Bobby Brown of all people. A right classic. But truly man...

Shaun T: I should've known you knew it. I should've known you knew it.

Shawn Stevenson: Of course, I got the theme songs in my head right now, H Town... So listen, man, I wrote this down when you were speaking. Strength typically is built through resistance. Strength is typically built through resistance, so those things that are strengths, the things that we should be able to express our confidence in, because your confidence was expressed and developed through resistance. So right now, and I'm so grateful that you're bringing this up, I didn't know that this would be the direction, is for us to acknowledge our strengths.

We need our strengths right now more than ever, whatever that might look like, whether, like you said, if it's your compassion or acknowledgment of other people. Like you said, you're at the grocery store and just showing, extending a little bit of extra love in people who are so withdrawn from each other, whether it's just the ability to problem solve right now, or the ability to even just deal with a lot of stuff. Maybe you're somebody... You can keep a lot of tabs open on your mental movie screen, your mental computer screen, and you can just manage a lot, and people need that when they just feel overwhelmed. There's so many different strengths that we all have and that we carry and so being able to acknowledge our strengths and to walk in that confidence right now, is going to help you... I believe that that strength increases all your other strengths. That strength increases all... It helps to lift up the weak spots if you know what I mean.

Shaun T: I do. Adversity is fuel. If you think about something so simple if you look at the news, what is the thing that gets people talking? The negative, only the bad stuff. Things that empower people, like, "Here's something very empowering that you can do to really get through 2020," if the news is all that, nobody would be talk. Nobody's saying... I understand we got to know what's going on, but they don't have the... I've actually pitched myself to be on a specific show to be like, "Okay, let's have the powerful moment at the end of the show so that people can... " No, when people watch TV, reality TV, the highest rating shows, when you see that there's a fight on Bravo on one of the shows like, "Oh girl, did you watch that?" You know what I mean? These are the things that are getting the most energy, the most fuel. Social media, Shawn, you've been through it. When you post something, people want to take what you say and they want to create the adversity because they want that fire. They want it, but what people are not doing, is within their own adversity, with their own struggle, within their own challenging times, they don't want to work as hard to push themselves forward as much as they want to work hard to dig into the adversity and to dig into the fighting and stuff that's going on in the world.

And so what I like to say is... And we've all been guilty of it. We've all probably commented on something that we didn't want to and we're like, "Oh my gosh, this is negative, but I don't want to get involved in it." But then you're like, "Oh," that rage wins. But imagine if you took that same energy to yourself when you're going through your own struggle and you say, "Instead of me, giving it to people on social media, instead of me, entertaining this negative stuff that's happening on the news, what if I'm able to change myself? What if I'm able to help enhance myself?" And so that's how you get to a point where you can love yourself and just kind of really quick, going back to just the fitness thing in general, the people who really love themselves more and really commit to themselves and are very present and aware of where they are in their life, that's what health really is. Yes, we have to eat healthy and of course, you have to work out, but that's when I get back to the mental state because you have to be aware, you have to be present, and you have to be willing to do the work, to constantly lift you forward.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah. Listen, obviously, for many of us, there's a lot of negativity, a lot of negative vibes, a lot of even negative pushback from different beliefs and different conversations that you might want to have, and so I want to talk more about this and provide some actionable things for everybody. I'm going to do that right after this important message. Sit tight, we'll be right back.

When I was in high school and college our big, sports-performance, game-day meal was Mostaccioli. Mostaccioli consciousness, Mostaccioli performance, and wondering why we're over on the sidelines yawning, and waiting for the next play to cycle back in again. Of course, you get hyped up, you get the adrenaline going, you do your performance, but what if there was something better? Not just for a game-day, but for practice days as well, because how you practice is how you perform. And so if you're dedicated to true sports performance your nutrition really does matter. And now we have things that have clinical evidence, peer-reviewed, controlled trials that show the efficacy of things that have been utilized for centuries.

In a study published in "Medicine in Science and Sports and Exercise" tested 30 healthy athletes for six weeks to record the effects of cordyceps medicinal mushroom on their performance. The group that added cordyceps to their daily regimen had twice the oxygen uptake of the control group. This oxygen is essential in supplying nutrients to your muscles, preventing fatigue, and preventing the buildup of lactic acid. Another study done by the same group also showed a 9% increase in aerobic activity from utilizing cordyceps. For myself, personally, my pre-workout go-to is Shroom TECH Sport from Onnit, and it's because it was the subject of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12-week clinical trial performed by researchers at Florida State University.

They found that utilizing Shroom TECH Sport as a pre-workout showed a direct increase in bench press reps by 12%. They also found an increase in combined bench press and back squat reps by 7% for the supersets, and also were found to parallel the earlier study, with a cardio performance increase by 8.8%, almost 9% that was seen in the earlier clinical trial. If you're not utilizing Shroom TECH Sport definitely check it out. Go to Onnit.com/model for 10% off. It's a world-class pre-workout, and pre-life supplement to use. Onnit.com/model, now back to the show.

Alright, we're back and we're talking with best-selling author, international fitness superstar, Shaun T, and also honored to say one of my friends.

Shaun T: That's right.

Shawn Stevenson: And before the break, I was talking about... Right now, we're in a place where there is an intensified focus on negativity, and it's just like we're inundated with it, it's everywhere that you go. If you look on social media, unless you're very strictly curating your feed, if you're turning on the news at any point, there is no good news. There is no good news as if nothing good is happening in the world, as if people are not recovering from tremendous adversity, as if people are not still loving each other and supporting each other. There's a different reality than what we're being pitched, and that is the bigger reality. And so with that said man, obviously, and you mentioned this before the break, I've even seen this stuff, and for me, I've been in this field for about 20 years as well, and even since working online and doing some, I've never... Never have people talk crazy to me, it's just... I don't know if it's my demeanor, whatever, I've just never seen it until now. And what I'll do, I'll share very prestigious, peer-reviewed, randomized controlled trial and just like, Hey guys, this is actually the other side of the story you're not hearing about and then... But 90% of folks, of course, it's just like they get that, they're with that. They're aware that there are other parts of the story. They just want to know.

Some folks are already... They're just getting an affirmation from what they know, some folks are just exploring and kind of open like I am to being wrong and let me hear about this other side that I might not be looking into, but then there's a percentage of people that's just grown. For I know many people, they're afraid to express their voice, and many of our friends, they share with me... They got big platforms. They're like, "Shawn, what you're doing, I appreciate you. I love you for that. I'm just afraid of the push back, I'm afraid to speak up right now," and that's a whole other story of congruency for me that bothers me a little bit. But right now, I think that this is... Last point of what you said earlier, you've gone up against this, you've spoken out on it more than anybody I've seen recently on... The term that we use today is the bullying. Just people just talking crazy to you, talking down on you, like you experienced back when you were 14 years old, but that level gets heightened because it's not just in your high school auditorium anymore, it's not even relegated to your high school.

Millions of people can say any kind of crazy thing to you and they don't even know who you are, and so I have this perspective and I want it... For us to solve our most pressing problems, we have to have dialogue, I want that. Let's talk about it, but I will not allow you to disrespect me, right? So that's one thing. We can talk but don't be disrespectful. I'm like Mutombo with the block. I'll eliminate you. Your voice would... You know what I'm saying?

Shaun T: Right.

Shawn Stevenson: I don't have time for that, and so I'm so grateful that you brought this up because I don't want people to mistake your kindness for weakness. I don't want people to mistake your willingness to talk and figure things out for an open invitation for them to disrespect you.

Shaun T: Dude, there's so much there. I think that... Again, it's is what you allow. One of the biggest lessons that I've learned in my little 42 and a half years here on this earth is the power of a choice.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah.

Shaun T: That's your biggest currency. It's priceless even, the choice. You have a choice to let people in or not let them in, you have a choice to infiltrate yourself in whatever it is that you want, or you have a choice not to, and I know a lot of people think right now, Well, I don't have a choice because I have to do this or I'm in my job. Yeah, if you're in your job right now and it's what's paying the bills and you have to do it. Okay, what are you doing in that specific job that's really great that you can say, "I actually did this well, so, at the end of the day, you're not just harping on, well, this is negative, and, Oh my god, I don't like this." Well, do something really well so that when you finish the end of the day, you feel really good.

But it's all up to you and how you decide what you want to do with what it is that's given to you or what you want to do that's presented and offered to you. And so, if you really take that for a second and think when was the last time that I made a choice to do something that I wanted to do, and when is the last time that I made a choice to do something that I didn't want to do? And compare those two things. When you made a choice to do something that you did want to do, you're probably like, "Oh, this is fruitful, this was incredible and amazing. Oh my goodness." And then when you're like, I made a choice to do something that I didn't want to do, and I knew it wasn't going to fuel me. How much time was wasted in your life, right? So start to learn how to really look at it and not be afraid to make the choice that's going to push you forward to make the choice that's going to give you hope and desire and change and help you be able to really enhance and touch people's lives.

For everyone listening right now. Shawn, when he gives you these shows, he's coming with amazing facts. He chooses to give you the facts, knowing, like you said, Shawn, things bother you a little bit, but knowing you're going to get push back, but you choose to do this because you want to educate people in a really great way. So I ask people out there, what are the things right now that you are choosing to do that's going to elevate your life, elevate your confidence, elevate your success, 'cause these are the things you have to take into... And I always like to bring it back to your fitness journey, these are the things you have to bring back to your fitness journey, your nutrition. If you feel successful in making choices over here, you're going to feel more successful and confident in making choices in your fitness and your nutrition, what you're eating, and just the commitment to who you are, everything, just everything. All energies fuse back together, believe it or not.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah, so I want to ask you specifically man. The human brain, even though the negativity might be a small percentage, which oftentimes it is, especially if you're living in integrity and you're just kind of doing your own work and just being yourself. The negativity tends, it tends to be a small percentage, but that percentage jumps out. It might be 5% of negative reviews coming in, and the 95% is loving what you're doing and is appreciative of that. Our brains were kind of hard-wired to look for problems, which is kind of how we evolved. But we have the ability to supersede that. And so I want to ask you specifically, because I know a lot of folks feel that, like they want to have conversations with their family members, they want to speak out and share their perspective, share their voice. It might not be something controversial, but just share what they want to do with their lives and their gifts and talents on social media platforms and maybe doing videos, but they're afraid of the negativity. What can you advise folks to do? Or just recommend or just from your experience on how they can deal with the negativity and continue to push through and do what they feel they need to do in their heart.

Shaun T: Ah. This is so great. Well, everyone, we throw around the word be authentic, be authentic, and what I like to tell people in the best way that they can be authentic to get rid of the word authentic because it is kind of white noise. Who are you talking to when you're on social media? Who are you talking to? I was actually just having a conversation with Scott and I said, I look at social media like I'm talking to a bunch of friends that are in the same room, and he said, "But there's millions of people and some people are just sitting in the rafters waiting to watch." I was like, But I'm still talking to my friends, because the people that get me or the people that get you, that's all you got to  worry about. Not everybody's going to like you. So some people are waiting in the wings to say something negative. They're literally waiting there to say something negative. Well, we already know they exist, and like Shawn just said, 95% of the time, our brains are wanting and focused on the things that are really great, right? So talk to the people you like and talk to the people that like you.

Social media, your podcast even, or whatever. It's a revolving door. It's like your grocery store... Some people come in and they keep coming back. It's like, Oh, I'm going to Whole Foods 'cause they got this, that, and the third but then, Uh-Oh, Sprouts opens. People go across the street to Sprouts. Does that mean that Whole Foods changes its brand to look like Sprouts... No. Whole Foods is like, That's cool, we got Amazon Prime. You can just walk out of here, without even going to the cash register, right? They just continue to evolve and do their thing. They don’t hate on Sprouts, they're like cool. Even if you go to the cash register, a cashier doesn't say, Oh, they got that over at Sprouts, we don't got it here. Go ahead, continue to live your best life. And so for you, just because maybe people don't like you or you have a hard time expressing yourself because of maybe people walking away, it doesn't mean you have to change who you are.

You don't have to change your brand. Nike didn't get popular by changing a swoosh to a hard checkmark, right? It doesn't matter. I was actually just watching Wendy Williams. That's my thoughtless TV, right? And Fat Joe came on and he was like, I got to pay $80,000 Nikes and I'm like come all the way through. The only reason why he paid $80,000 for those Nikes is because they stay committed to the brand. Through their struggles and their strengths, their good times, and their bad times, they stay committed to the brand. Why do we show up to the Olympics every year? Because we know we're going to get amazing competition and people are going to be putting in their blood, sweat, and tears. They didn't change the Olympics to say, Oh, we're only going to give medals to the last three losers, right? No matter what, whether somebody comes and goes like, stay committed. I don't want to use the word brand, 'cause I don't... This is not about your business, this is about the brand of you. This is you. Stay committed to who you are. You're not perfect, neither am I. I say some stuff that's off the wall sometimes. I'm like, oh, I can't believe I said that, but you know what, I embrace the mistake, and I just keep it moving. So I say all that to say, if you're Whole Foods, continue to be Whole Foods. People will come in, just give them a good experience while they're there, and if they go across the street to Sprouts, say good luck and I hope you stay healthy.

Shawn Stevenson: Boom. Listen, brother, I can't let you go without directing people to the thing that you've created. You talked about this earlier, directing folks back to themselves because no one else can do the push-ups for you, no one else... Unless you, you're on like some kind of baby role play, nobody else is feeding you, you know.

Unless that's happening, you're doing these things for yourself, you're making these choices yourself every day, you're choosing to think the thoughts that you're thinking, you're choosing to take the actions that you're taking. Yes, and it's a both-end world. The other part is the community and what you've created to help to remind people of their power, remind people of their internal fitness for them to make the decisions that feel good to them. How important is community right now because... Truly man, on a very, very deep level, community has been shattered for many people, and they've tip-toed around and some online stuff, but it's more... It's just so much drama out there. How important is it right now to get tapped into an empowering community and also let folks know what you've done and created for that, and even with your podcast, same thing, direct people to that because it's always just such good reminders for me, and people that I care about? You are continued source of inspiration on how important community is.

Shaun T: Thank you. It's a really great question, 'cause community is super huge to me. Growing up an athlete, but simultaneously growing up while feeling alone by hiding who I was, I felt... There was a time when I was a kid and I would hide in my closet and my best friend was my My Buddy Doll because I didn't have anyone to talk to. And so now having put my stamp down in the fitness industry, I realized that, okay, I love like I said before, I love that people are putting a major focus on having a great physique, but for me, it's about the mental space. And one of the things that really enhance your mentality is when you have a group of people that's there to lift you up. So I have this group online called the Safe Space, and it has been in the last couple of years, I call it the most positive space online because you don't get the negativity in there. People know that they're directed to come in there to really uplift and build themselves.

When I pledged to a fraternity, we were all about uplifting humanity and community service, and so this group is really for people who are maybe struggling or maybe they want to help, or maybe they're in a good place, and they just need a place to really communicate with people at the best level. So, Shawn, you actually gave me a really great idea from reading your book. I know a lot of people may not have gotten your book yet, but for people who have read...

Shawn Stevenson: Hey, when this comes out the book isn't out yet. It's coming out next week and so you're one of the first 5 people that I gave the book to.

Shaun T: You gave me the best idea for 2021 because I told my Safe Space, I was like, We're going to have... Once a month, we're going to have Wednesday night dinners because when... In your book, you talk about when you eat together, you're more apt to eat healthy and so that's one of the things that we're going to do and we're going to have a great conversation. So that's just one of the things we do in our group. The group called the Safe Space. It's an amazing, amazing group. These people are just incredible, and I can go anywhere in the country and put on an event and it might only be 20 people in that area there, but it's always a family reunion, so that's really, really great. Also, in that group, they get to listen in to when I record my podcast live. So please go listen to Trust and Believe. It's been an amazing journey, and again, I got to give Shawn props, because coming from a fitness background and I have hundreds of thousands of people that work out with me on a daily or monthly basis, but getting into the podcast space was really interesting because it was talking without the exercise. And so now the podcast has just been become this really great engine of people that also are able to conversate around the topics of the personal things that I go through as well as the guests that I bring on and people get to learn from.

So it's really great, and last but not least, I'm so excited because building a new website and enhancing my community to something called the Unity Community, because I realized that going through 2020, it's not just about people feeling safe, it's also about people feeling unified. We don't talk about what side of the political aisle you're on, we don't care if you're gay, straight, we don't care if you're 60 or 18. We want to unify people in the best way possible and learn from each other and always have a way to feel and be supporting doing so and that's what I'm doing. So hopefully you can join Safe Space so you can definitely go listen to Trust and Believe. It's always a really good time, and sometimes I'm hype and sometimes I'm not, and sometimes I cry and sometimes I curse, but hey, I keep it real one hundred all the time.

Shawn Stevenson: Most definitely. Yes, you do, man, and I appreciate you for that. And listen, we'll put all the links to everything in the show notes, of course. Definitely check out Trust and Believe podcast. When you're listening to this podcast, you can find Shaun T there. Just stay infused. Get that drip, you know, get that infusion, that IV drip of Shaun T is definitely good for you right now.

Shaun T: Oh, thank you. For everyone out there, that's the last thing I'll say to enhance your health, that's going to be even more important in the fitness routine you put yourself through in 2021 is active recovery days. I've gotten my stem cell therapy, I've started lymphatic drainage, I've started IV therapy, compression therapy, hyperbaric chamber. Maybe we'll talk about that after a year I've been through all of these recovery things, but recover your body, like the stretching and all the recovery is just as important as the pounding and lifting you put it through.

Shawn Stevenson: That's right, and of course the food that you eat. Meeting with you, of course, it's just always a great time. Having you here, man, can you let everybody know what they have to look forward to in Eat Smarter?

Shaun T: Aw man. Okay, so for those of you who are about to read. There's a book! Alright, I got to set the scene for you, right. So Shawn was like, how do you want me to send you the book? I was like, Can you send it on a computer, and I was like, Okay, I love Shawn, so I'm obviously going to read the book and he's super smart. So of course, I'm going to sit down and read the book. I was like, I'm going to read it 20 minutes a day. Let me tell you something, I was late getting home, I had rented Airbnb, I was in Seattle, I sat down to read the book and I just could not stop, but these are the reasons why I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop number one, because I felt like I was learning something on every page, enhancing the foundation of health that I already know and getting deeper into the woods. But it's written in a way that everyone can understand.

In addition to that, I was laughing. Now, I got to hang out with Shawn in person, I don't know about all of you, but if you've never gotten to hang out with Shawn in person, this book is literally his humor and how he is. But the thing that was most powerful and most impactful is that day that I went home, I think I sat down and read for two and a half hours. That day when I went home, I sat down while we were making dinner and I was just rattling off all of these new things that I learned and things that I'm actually applying to my meals, even today. And it's less about applying the meals to eat chicken or eat broccoli and it's like but what's in the chicken? What's in a broccoli?

How is it breaking down in your body... Oh, and then I'm thinking of a funny thing that Shawn says so this is not a book, like, oh, I'm going to take notes and just figure out what I'm going to eat, you're going to feel like you went to one of the easiest college courses on nutrition in your life, and you will probably read it again, and that is coming from the heart, 'cause if I didn't like it, I would tell you all that too, but let me tell you something, Shawn was in it, he's in it y'all. You guys are going to have such a great time reading this book.

Shawn Stevenson: Powerful, brother. I love you, man, and thank you so much for being...

Shaun T: I love you too, man.

Shawn Stevenson: Being the light that you are, and I don't even have to say this, but please don't stop, please don't stop putting the gas pedal down and being 100 and showing everybody what it's like to be human, at the end of the day. You've got such an incredible, dynamic story and your heart is as big as the room and right now, I think for many folks, you're just a reminder of our greatness, you remind us of how much potential we have, to see all the videos. Of course, I would hope everybody's following you on Instagram, but people who are dancing along with you and just coming out of... You could see the joy. We need that right now, man. I'm just so... I'm grateful for you, and this is your journey, and you're reminding us of our journeys and can't wait to see what you do next, man.

Shaun T: I love you too, man. Thank you everyone for listening, and always trust and believe in who you are.

Shawn Stevenson: Let's go. Shaun T, everybody. Everybody, thank you so much for tuning into the show today. I hope you got a lot of value out of this. Strength is typically built through resistance. Strength is typically built through resistance, we know this with our physical body. Strength training makes us stronger, builds muscle, it lays down an opportunity for ourselves to change and to develop and to just be more resilient. That's what that strength really is that we're building. When we exercise our bodies, our bodies are being compelled to be able to handle stress better next time, that's what it really is, is our bodies becoming more acclimated to not being broken down, or to be cast aside, or to be inhibited by something that may have been challenging before, that's why we get stronger, alright? Now, we direct that inwards, the inner gym, which really creates the outer gym. Same principle applies here, and I'm so grateful for Shaun talking about this. Strength, typically, is built through resistance.

One of his strengths his confidence and that was built through resistance. And we mentioned earlier about this connotation in our society, about the ego, you don't want to have a big ego. But the definition of ego itself, it's a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance. Ego like this... Self-esteem or self-importance? Self-importance doesn't sound good, self-esteem does, but they're both... It's a both end world, they're both connected. So it's having a level of self-confidence, self-belief, self-esteem. As Common said... Common, shout out to Grammy Award-winning artist, Common, "Nobody believes until I believe me." It's a prerequisite for success, is having confidence, is having self-esteem. But it's been again, that word ego, it's just one of those labels that has a negative connotation. I think Eckhart Tolle contribute a little bit, "Is the ego the pain body," when he gets into that pain body. Oh, I feel that, I feel it, but at the same time, we have to realize, the ego is our kind of  outer expression of our personality, but it's still not who we are. We are so much more than that.

We're so much more than this body. This is a vehicle we're experiencing all this through. There's a consciousness behind, behind your eyes, behind everything that's listening to the thoughts going on in your mind, be them crazy thoughts or positive thoughts, sad, happy, everything in between, there's a presence that's experiencing and listening. This is why meditation could be so valuable, because you can actually start to create more of a distinction between the two and to just witness all the stuff going on with your mind. Your mind is something that is yours, but it's not who you are, it's not who you are. And that's some deep stuff, I know, but when Shaun comes around, we talk about these stuff. But truly, I want you to cultivate that inner knowing, of how valuable you are, how valuable your perspective is. You matter, your perspective matters. Your voice matters, now, more than ever. This is the time to not withhold. This is the time to not try to censor yourself when there's so much censorship going on. Give yourself permission to be you, that's what the world needs right now.

And listen, I could not have imagined a more powerful response, with Eat Smarter, coming from somebody who's been in this space for such a long time, has impacted the lives of millions upon, millions upon, millions of people. He's besties with Serena Williams, no big deal, no biggie, to have such an impact on him and on his family. And of course, he was sending me messages along the way, it's just another affirmation as to how powerful this is and how powerful this moment is, because we have the opportunity to write a new story for humanity. We have to get ourselves and our families and our communities healthier, and this coming, right now at this moment is not an accident, and I guarantee you, that same feeling that he expressed, you will feel, and it's up to us to pay it forward, to take this information, to share it with our friends and family and to most importantly, be the model and be the example.

And so make sure, if you haven't done so already, the book is just a few days away, preorder your copy, eatsmarterbook.com. Get access to the free mini-course, 10 video mini-course that I put together, highlighting 10 of the most potent, clinically proven, massive amounts of clinical evidence, 10 foods proven to help optimize your fat loss-related hormones. Again, eatsmarterbook.com, be a part of the movement. And I want to wish you an incredible time right now, depending on when you're listening to this incredible holiday, but just a revelation in your perspective and your greatness and starting to cultivate a sense of urgency, to share your voice, to share you, even if it's on the smallest level, in a relationship with yourself or one other people or within the context of your family, or taking it outside of your door, to the people that you might be reaching online, the people you might be reaching in your community. This is the time to be authentically you. This is the time to step into your greatness and to not just remember how powerful you are, but to express it. Alright, we need you to do that right now.

And I appreciate you so much for tuning in to this show. We've got some... Listen, the episode coming out next week, listen, you want to get some socks that have the strap to keep them up, so I don't blow them off, alright? It's going to blow your socks off if you're not prepared. We're going to have an amazing time. We're going to take things to an entirely new level for 2021, alright, so be ready. And if you got a lot of value out of this episode, make sure to share it out with your friends and family, on social media, tag me, tag Shaun. And again, we've got some incredible stuff coming your way very soon so make sure to be ready. Take care. Have an amazing day and I'll talk with you soon.

And for more after the show, make sure to head over to themodelhealthshow.com. That's where you can find all of the show notes, you could find transcriptions, videos for each episode, and if you got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well. And please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that the show is awesome, and I appreciate that so much, and take care, I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.