29 - Holistic Weight Loss with Joel Evan

In this episode, Holistic Weight Loss Coach Joel Evan discusses his experience on helping his clients achieve their weight loss goals using a truly holistic approach.

We discussed:

3:30

Joel's background

16:35

Mindset for Weight Loss

28:45

Who Is Responsible for Weight Loss?

47:00

Mental, Emotional Trauma and Obesity

55:30

Calories & Weight Loss

1:05:00

Blood Sugar & Weight Loss

1:08:30

Detoxification & Weight Loss

1:12:30

Joel's Top Tips for Weight Loss

You can find Joel @:
https://www.instagram.com/joelevancoaching/ 
Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1664038/share 

One on One FREE Health Strategy Session 
https://www.joelevancoaching.com/contact 

Transcript

[00:00] Joel Evan: I am a huge believer of looking at it daily because you start to create that structural tension in the brain and the brain and, you know, this, too, is that we start to activate that reticular activating system. So I always tell people, if you're a big science person, then great. There's a lot of good data suggesting that the reticular activating system, a part of our brain is going to try to make that goal happen. It's going to get working. It's going to start doing doing things. Then if you're someone that doesn't believe in or you're not a science, maybe you're more like metaphysical or you're someone who believes in vibration, which I also believe in, then you'll see that. You can see that the more you start to create that tension, that structural tension, the more you're creating that vibrational harmony, that vibrational frequency that's going out into the world, that you're going to attract, you're going to bring in. And so when you combine that with daily visualization, yeah, I see that works. It's super, super impactful, and it works.

[00:55] Announcer: Welcome to the Radical Health Rebel podcast with your host, Leigh Brandon. If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a five-star rating and a warm review. Your opinions are important, and your ratings help grow the podcast and help educate people to lead a healthier, more productive, fulfilling, and happy life. This video is your thing. Please check out the Radical Health Rebel YouTube channel, where you'll find fun bite sized clips from each episode. And now, here is Leigh, the radical health rebel, with this week's podcast.

[01:36] Leigh Brandon: Joel. Evan. Welcome to the Radical Health Rebel podcast. Thanks for coming on the show.

[01:40] Joel Evan: All right, Leigh. Thanks for having me here, brother. Excited?

[01:43] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, really good. Really good. Really looking forward to this episode. So this episode is entitled holistic weight Loss with Joel Evan. Now, the World Obesity Atlas 2022, published by the World Obesity Federation, predicts that 1 billion people globally, including one in five women and one in seven men, will be living with obesity by 2030. Obesity increases the risk of all cause mortality, hypertension, type two diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, bladder and gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and other breathing problems, many types of cancer, clinical depression, anxiety, and body pain, to name just a few. The obesity epidemic started in the late 1980s after the introduction of the Food Guide Pyramid and an ever increasing array of cheap, highly processed, high sugar, trans fat containing foods, microwave oven use and convenience foods, plus the ever decrease in quality of farming, soils, and nutrient content of foods due to chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms. The obesity epidemic is causing a tidal wave of health problems and a significant reduction in life quality and an unsustainable financial burden on society, a tidal wave that seems like a runaway train at the moment that the authorities are powerless or unwilling to halt. So I'm really looking forward to this discussion into this most important topic of holistic weight loss with Joel Evan. So, Joel, to kick things off, would you mind sharing a little bit about you, perhaps your upbringing, your professional education, your career to date, and what led you to becoming so passionate about holistic weight loss?

[03:30] Joel Evan: Yeah, I mean, Jesus, when you talk about this obesity epidemic, I mean, this sounds pretty scary. I didn't even know all these facts, like, holy cow, it sounds like we got a pretty big problem. Almost sounds worse and more deadly than what we've experienced the last two to three years.

[03:47] Leigh Brandon: Absolutely.

[03:48] Joel Evan: So actually, it's pretty frightening when you share those stats. And on top of that, I think there was just a recent study done in July 2022, at least in America, suggesting that only 6.8% of Americans are metabolically fit. So everything you just outlined when we talk about metabolic health, cardiovascular weight gain, or weight loss, right, LDL, your cholesterol levels and diabetes and your ability to shuttle glucose out of the body, all of these things refer to metabolic health, and there's only 6.8% of the US. Population that's deemed that. So it's getting worse and worse. And so, yeah, thank you for just kind of sharing those scary facts with us. But, yeah, let me just kind of just take you back. I'll just kind of share how I got started. I think really, for me, I never thought I would be a weight loss coach or never really. It wasn't my dream, it wasn't my goal to be some kind of holistic weight loss coach. But really, what happened for me is I always talk about when I was 18 years old. That's when fitness really became a bigger part of my life. I remember, like many people, just being confused at what I wanted to do, graduating high school, where did I want to go, who did I want to become? All of these ideas, and I didn't know. I had friends that were very determined. They had very clear ideas, or, I'm going to go to Stanford, I'm going to become a doctor. I'm going to be a lawyer. I'm going to do this. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. And so there was this time period of growth and trying to learn what I wanted to do. At the time, though, one of my biggest goals was just to be more liked, more well received. I wanted girls to like me. So I started lifting weights because I thought that might be a good way to do it. I wanted to get stronger. I wanted to transform my body. And I just fell in love with Muscle and Fitness magazine and was just reading. I was just devouring Fry for three years. I had a Muscle and Fitness subscription, and I would read all the workouts, and I'd follow all the bodybuilders. Flex Wheeler, Jay Cutler, Ronnie Coleman, and I would just replicate their workouts and go to the gym all the time. And I really think that was what a huge moment for me now, looking back, and I never thought of it then. Is body building the healthiest way you can be healthy and fit? No, I think we can say that, no. But for me, it was a gateway to thinking more about nutrition, thinking about what I was putting my body for, performance, and then, of course, learning to exercise. And really during that time, the biggest, I think, transformation, even for me now, was that I cemented habits that I still do today. And that foundation of just going to the gym and working out and making health a number one value in my life, maybe where it wasn't before. And I had autoimmune issues and things as a kid, too, and I never even realized these are correlated with what I'm putting in my body. And I didn't even understand that. And so just by slowly transforming my body through lifting weights, which then forced me to eat healthier, because I knew that was part of the transformation. So that led me to about when I was 25 years old, still unsure what I wanted to do. I always wanted to do something that was with my mind, my body, and I wanted to be a thinker, but I also wanted to be physically active. I wanted to do something that required some physical strength. You know, my father was a police officer. It was something I never wanted to really do it at the time. I didn't think I was going to do that. I don't want to be like my dad. I want to be better than my dad. So I was like, I'm not going to do that, no way. And then my grandfather was a San Francisco police officer, so I guess it was in our jeans and in our family lineage, and never even occurred to me that this is something I might do. And my dad was like, well, I was living at the house at the time. I was 25 years old, living with my dad still. And I was like, I don't want to be here. I want to get out of here. And police officers were hiring at the time, and they paid well in the United States, and I was specifically in California. And so the Oakland police department, which, if anybody knows the city of Oakland, you can look it up, you can google it, it's probably top five, one of the worst, most dangerous cities in the United States, either for homicides and violent crime. I knew nothing about that as a kid. We would go to the baseball games, the Oakland AIDS baseball games, and I'd watch the games. That was the only thing I knew about Oakland, but they were hiring. And this definitely checked some boxes for me, being physically active and then also using my mind, being a tactician. And so I applied. I got hired, and next thing I know, I was there for six years, working in one of the most dangerous cities in the united states. I absolutely loved it. I thought I was really living my purpose, and I was helping a lot of people and curbing crime, and it felt really fulfilling. But things changed. I had a child. I had my first kid when I was about six years into the police work. And then I transitioned. I actually transferred to a different city just across the bay, which was the san francisco police department, a worldwide city. And I went there for many reasons, but one just I had a lot of friends that were there, and they were loving it, and it was just less violent than Oakland. And it was a place that I felt like I could grow and have a longer career, really, because Oakland was just so stressful, and there was just so much stress and everything going on. And so I left there, I went to san Francisco, and with the birth of my son, I just realized there was more to life than what I was doing. And also, I had a little bit of a disenfranchisement with police work because I felt like I was not living my highest purpose. I felt like how I had become police officer was all stemming from old beliefs and old ideas. And those old ideas were, go out, get a good job, get a good career, get a pension, get a 401K, get married when you're 30, have a white picket fence, and go on and live your amazing, beautiful life. And that's what I was told, and I was brainwashed into thinking that, and many of us are. And that's not to say that police work is not a noble I still think it is one of the most noble professions if done correctly. And I love my experiences and my time there. No one can take away those memories. And some of the things that I can tell stories about, I talk to a lot of friends. I'm like, oh, my god, now that I'm out of police work, I'm like, we almost died many times. That was scary. And so it's funny to think about that. And those are some fun memories, and I always remember them. But long story short, I just remember like, hey, I felt like I was not living my highest purpose, and really, I was being weaponized for political reasons that I didn't agree with. And that started to create some friction with me and my higher self. And so I started to transition, and I was like, what else do I really align with? And that is natural health, something that you vibe with natural health. And I still wanted to help people, and I'm like, how can I help people and align with this new found higher self, I guess you could say. And so I became a life coach through the human Potential Institute. That was my first one of my first certifications. And then I did several other Naturopathic certifications. One with Dr. Stephen Cabral, who runs the Integrative health Practitioner. It's not an institute, but it's a certification process. And he's an amazing Naturopathic doctor who I really just fell in love with because he was one of the first people I ever found that actually wasn't just giving people hacks for their conditions. And what I mean by that is so many times I would hear people, and especially biohackers in the biohacking community, which I'm a big fan of, but they would say things like, oh, I have yeast overgrowth in my gut. Candida yeast overgrowth. Okay, well, oregano oil is good for that, charcoal is good for that. And my question was always, yeah, but how much, how long, what do I do? Take it for a little bit, feel of like, how do I know when I'm better? How do I know the yeast is gone? No one could explain that to me. And Dr. Gabriel was one of the first that was like, listen kid, this is how you do it. These are the systems, these are the protocols. And I absolutely love that. Especially my mom at the time had breast cancer. My own son, my son, my first born, was having health issues. And anybody that's a parent knows, they will do anything for their kids and you will tear up the earth to figure out the solution. And so I finally felt like I had found a mentor who could show me the solutions and the resources. And so that led me to starting a side business with natural holistic health coaching. And lo and behold, let's fast forward. I launched my podcast, the Hack Live podcast, in 20 at the end of 2019, top of 2020. And then this thing called the Pandemic occurred that we all know about. I guess that was a bad time to launch a podcast because I was doing a lot of in person podcasts, and that became difficult to do, but I did that. And then again, I started this side business, which is amazing, but I was still doing police work on the side because I was the only one working for the family. I had to provide for them. But 2021 rolls along, and the San Francisco Police Department said, joel, you have an ultimatum to make. You either need to inject this product in your body, or you are fired. And I said, Well, I guess you're going to have to fire me. And they did. That actually surprised me. I was like, wow, I'm surprised you're going to go through with this, because I won't get into all the technical jargon. But the reason for them firing me was they said I was a direct threat to the public. And it was just really asinine kind of like the rationale at the time, especially because they had put me in very dangerous situations. I had been working for over a year and a half without any product and was doing just fine. And then all of a sudden now I was a threat to society, which I just found very hilarious because I was doing all the work that they needed me to do until that very time period. But again, I think things happen for a reason in life, and all of us have been pushed to certain parts of our life where we've been forced to make these decisions, and there's, like, these turning points in our life. And this is one of the evolutions. I think we all go through evolutions, and this is one of my evolutions. And it's made me a better person. It's made me learn about what it means to go all in and really lean into that fear. And so, lo and behold, I went full. Now, instead of having a side business, I launched my virtual health coaching practice and just doubled down on my podcast. And here I am now talking to you, brother.

[14:16] Leigh Brandon: Awesome. I can relate to your story. I mean, I've not been mandated to do anything, but I can certainly relate because I feel if I was in a similar position, I would have made exactly the same decision. And we could talk about the science as to why the mandate was ridiculous. But that's probably another podcast.

[14:40] Joel Evan: You have some beautiful experts on your show that can talk to it at a high level and have probably shared the statistics way better than I could. It won't even matter what I say in that regard.

[14:53] Leigh Brandon: Cool. Awesome. So you've been kind of full time coaching for the last couple of years, but how long have you been coaching in total?

[15:02] Joel Evan: Man, I think my first life coaching cert was back in 2016. So I was doing it on the side since then. And then I'm sure when you first got started, Zoo, you just started helping family members. I would be helping people and getting paid. But I'll tell you, there's a big difference between being a good coach and then learning how to make it a business. It's two separate things. And there are some amazing coaches out there, but they don't understand how to launch and actually scale a business. They're completely different faculties that you need. And I didn't know that, so I actually had to hire a business coach at the top of 2020. And that really helped me understand, oh, this is how you launch a successful coaching business. Because at the time, I didn't even think it was possible, really. It was 2020 is when I 2020, I really started getting into it. So maybe the last three years you.

[15:55] Leigh Brandon: Could say, well, that's really interesting. I mean, I think for a lot of us in the health wellness industry in 2020 realized that we probably couldn't run our businesses the way we used to run them. You know, and I certainly made a quite a large change to the way that I work. And one of those things was starting my podcast, which, you know, hopefully is getting the word out there to help the world get, you know, become healthier.

[16:21] Joel Evan: Yeah.

[16:22] Leigh Brandon: So coming back to weight loss, now, I know that mindset is important to you with regards to weight loss. Can you tell us a little bit about your thoughts on mindset with regards to weight loss?

[16:36] Joel Evan: Mindset is everything, first of all, because people always ask me, what's the hack? What's the tip? And I always tell them, well, if exercise and diet were the keys to weight loss, then everybody would be doing it, and it would be just too simple. You would never need to hire me as a coach because you know the answers. Go do more, exercise right, work out more, eat less. Everybody knows that. But yet if that's the case, then why are you not getting results? That's what I want to know. So mindset is the key because the truth of the matter is there's this quote that I love, and it's the discipline to stay disciplined is a discipline that very few can master. And that's the key. When I get on calls with people, they never tell me when I'm like, hey, listen, what's going on with you in your life? Why are you unable to lose weight? What have you done in the past? What are some things that are getting your weight? And they never tell me it's because I need to exercise more and eat less drill. Now, sometimes they do, like, sometimes that comes up. But you know what they tell me? Commitment and consistency. Those are the two things that I'm missing. Those two words come up all the time on these health intake calls that I do always hear that. And when you go back to the root cause of that, it's all mindset. It's who are you going to be today? Who are you going to show up to be? What are your habits? What are your values? Who are you committed to? What excellence are you committing yourself to on a daily basis? It's easy to do something for one day a week, a 21 day challenge, a three month diet. Those are all easy things to do. Some of those might be difficult. Three month diet might be difficult. But how do you stay consistent for the long run? How do you consistently show up? It all comes back down to mindset. So that's why I always emphasize mindset in the beginning of my program, always. So that it's layered in, and it continues to get reinforced when we go through this evolution together.

[18:30] Leigh Brandon: So do you have any kind of specific methods or techniques that you use to help people with their mindset?

[18:38] Joel Evan: I think one of the biggest exercises that I can give people that I've seen be a huge game changer for my clients. Is what I call the perfect day exercise. And there's many different versions of this. But remember, I was telling you, you know, my reasoning for becoming a police officer was based on old beliefs. And many of us now, these beliefs served me very well. I made over hundreds and thousands of dollars living an old belief, so it wasn't a bad thing. And I learned a lot of great skills I learned a lot of great skills from the police department in terms of organization and resiliency and all these things. So there's a lot of good that came out of it, right? But some of these old beliefs can limit us from reaching our highest version of ourselves. And I see that happen over and over and over again. And so a great exercise to help reduce or reveal some of those limiting beliefs for people is doing this perfect day exercise. And the way you're going to do it is I tell people, listen, if I snap my fingers, you close your eyes, you wake up tomorrow and you start living your perfect, ideal day. What does that look like from the minute you wake up? What time are you waking up? What does it feel like? Who are you waking up next to? What does it smell like? Do you wake up to an alarm clock? Are you going to the gym first thing in the morning? Are you living your life on your terms or right now? Most people aren't, right? The alarm clock wakes them up at five in the morning. They get up and they're like, I got to go into this job that I hate, or it's just okay. But even if it makes me a lot of money, it's like, I'm just doing it because I have to because it pays my bills. That's not a perfect day. People get excited when they think of this perfect day. They think, oh yeah, I'm going to be on this vacation. I'm going to be on a beach in Mexico doing this. And I'm like, why can't that be your everyday life? And so this exercise, if you just go through your perfect day from beginning to end, breakfast, lunch, dinner, like, go through those kind of time frames, what does that look like? And then at the end of it, ask yourself if this is your perfect day and this is where you're at right now. How do we close that gap? And why is there such a huge gap? You start to really unpack why you're living this life that you're not really super fulfilled with, but you're just doing because, well, it makes me a lot of money. My mom told me this is a good job because it gives me a lot of pension. I'm supposed to be married and have two kids. That's what they say. They? Who's they? What do you want? What are you committed to doing? And the more you can start living closer to that perfect day, the more you're going to be aligned with your truth. And there's nothing faster that vibrates than the truth.

[21:12] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, I like that. So do you get people to go through that on a daily basis so they're almost visualizing their perfect day on a daily basis?

[21:24] Joel Evan: Yeah, that's a great point. I personally don't say, hey, do this exercise every day, but it's interesting because I'm actually in a coaching program myself, and some of the things that I teach, they're asking me to do, and I'm like, oh, I teach this, but I haven't done the exercise in a long time, let's say. And so it's been a great kind of reflection to me. So that's actually a good point. Maybe that's something that you do just once a year, you kind of reflect on and just see, like, where am I? This is the perfect day because we change, obviously. We change all the time. And every year, new goals and new things change and new things that we want. So it's a great point. I'm a big fan of visualization, though. So, yeah, once the goal or whatever it is that we're seeking is written down, and now you have that path, okay, this is it. I am a huge believer of looking at it daily because you start to create that structural tension in the brain and the brain and, you know, this too, is that we start to activate that reticular activating system. So I always tell people, if you're a big science person, then great, there's a lot of good data suggesting that the reticular activating system, a part of our brain is going to try to make that goal happen. It's going to get working. It's going to start doing things. Then if you're someone that doesn't believe in or you're not a science, maybe you're more like metaphysical or you're someone who believes in vibration, which I also believe in, then you'll see that. You can see that the more you start to create that tension, that structural tension, the more you're creating that vibrational harmony, that vibrational frequency that's going out into the world, that you're going to attract, you're going to bring in. And so when you combine that with daily visualization, yeah, I see that works. It's super, super impactful, and it works.

[23:06] Announcer: You're listening to the Radical Health Rebel podcast.

[23:12] Leigh Brandon: Are you regularly suffering from painful bloating of wind that could be smelly and embarrassing? Are your bowel movements not as they should be, either constipation or diarrhea or possibly alternating between the two? Do you find the pain is bad enough, but the bloating and cramps make you feel awful and are affecting your everyday life? Do you sometimes feel you can't eat properly because of the wind, bloating and pain? And has your doctor told you that you have IBS but unable to help find you a solution? Do you feel right now that you simply don't know what's causing your symptoms and whatever your doctor has suggested hasn't worked and you feel frustrated that you're still far from having a normal, flat, comfortable tummy? Have you invested a lot of time, energy and money into improving your symptoms and don't wish to waste any more? Do you feel frustrated and depressed and don't feel like you can take part in all the activities you enjoy and sometimes have to cancel attending events because of the way your tummy feels? Do you fear that if you don't get this sorted you could end up with a much more serious gastrointestinal disease? Or if so, what would help you right now is to understand the root cause of your digestive condition. Rather than continuing to try to mask the symptoms with over the counter or prescribed medications. You need help understanding how factors such as nutrition, gut health, stress and toxicology affect the digestive system and how to optimize these factors. You need someone who can advise, motivate and support you every step of the way, someone who has walked the path before and taught many others to do the same. What you need is my overcome your digestive issues program. My Overcome Your Digestive Issues program can help you in the following ways I will help you understand the root causes of your digestive problems and teach you how to approach the condition holistically via expert advice on nutrition and lifestyle factors to overcome your digestive issues. Program will start by ensuring you are on the right diet for you based on your genetics or metabolic type, and one that avoids the foods that are known to exacerbate your condition. We'll go on a journey step by step, learning all the necessary lifestyle changes required to achieve a flat, comfortable, painfree tummy. Each weekly 30 minutes coaching session will include advice, support and guidance specifically tailored to your needs and at a speed that is right for you. Once you're eating right for your metabolic type, you will begin to see changes in how your tummy feels. And we will also uncover all the necessary blocking factors that you may have. And you'll be taught how to reduce, replace or eliminate all the factors that are causing your digestive problems. Ultimately, this program will enable you to achieve a flat, calm and comfortable tummy every day for the rest of your life. For more information about how to improve your gut health and to claim a complimentary no obligation gut health consultation, please go to www.bodychek.Co.UK that's BodyChek and fill in the request form at the top of the home page and we'll be in contact to arrange a convenient time. Now back to the podcast. Yeah, one of the techniques that I use a lot with clients is Affirmation statements, which is very similar to what you've just described already and what you're doing. You are creating that vibration, and we all know about the law of attraction, and I'm someone that completely believes in it. I find the people that don't believe in it are the ones that don't actually do it. I say, well, it doesn't work. And it's like, but did you actually do it? Well, no, I didn't, or I kind of did it. We also know that repetition is one of the biggest techniques for brainwashing, right? Which we saw a lot of that in 2020, right?

[27:15] Joel Evan: We sure did.

[27:16] Leigh Brandon: But you can brainwash yourself, but in a positive way, right? So if you're constantly using things like affirmations, like visualization techniques on a daily basis, you're literally brainwashing yourself to believe that you can have what it is that you want, and you're creating that vibration, and you're far more likely to be attracting that kind of vibration into your life.

[27:40] Joel Evan: It's so true. There's a great study they did out of the University of Chicago a long time ago, and they had and I'm sure you're aware of this one, they had free throws, shooters, right? For two weeks, they had one group, Camp A, just shoot free throws every day in practice for however long. And then they had Camp B, just visualize just visualize themselves making the basket. And when they had that, after two weeks, they had the two camps come back. And what they found was that the group A that had practiced their shots had a 24% increase in accuracy. Group B, who didn't practice at all, all they did is practice visualization. They had an increase of 23% accuracy. So we're talking 1% difference, and all they did was visualize. So I always tell people, if the power of visualization can do that, like you said, for brainwashing, right? If it can do that, well, then let's use that for a positive thing. Let's brain or wash ourselves in a powerful way, just like you said. So yeah, I love it, brother. I couldn't agree more.

[28:38] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, absolutely. Now, who would you say is responsible for someone's weight loss?

[28:46] Joel Evan: We're going there. Listen, you're responsible. You're in the driver's seat. The beauty of the United States, we can say is this is debatable, right, at this point, right? But there's so much freedom in the United States. You have the freedom to do this. You have the freedom to choose this. You have the freedom to choose if you want to put doritos in your house, a bag of chips, or you have the freedom to eat healthy food, you have that freedom. And so that's a beautiful thing. Which means that you have the choice. It's a choice that you're making, which I think you're alluding to. It's a choice. You are making the choice to be healthy. You are choosing. You are deciding. I love words, and there's so much meaning to words, but the word decide comes from deceased, which means to cut off. Like, you are cutting off whether it's your past, your old beliefs, you're cutting off from the rest of the world. And so when you start when you decide you're going to do something, you're cutting off the old and you are committing to this direction. And so it really is your choice. Now people can find that choice from they can use it's an intrinsic thing, right. We know these external motivators only last so long. So great if you want to get in shape because you want to get girls, great. If you want to get in shape because you want to look confident and great for a wedding or something. I hear that all the time. Or I want to look great when I get on the beach. And this trip plan in three months. That's fantastic. Those will work. Obviously. We've seen it work over and over again. People get healthy, they get better, and in three months they are looking their ideal self. But then what happens afterwards? Right? Because a lot of times we see them fall back. Why? Because they were externally motivated by this external event. At the end of the day, use that external motivation, but at some point it has to come from within. And that's the key, is creating that intrinsic motivation because if it's not there, we see it just doesn't last.

[30:48] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, I think you use the word responsibility right at the beginning answering that question. When you break that word down, what does it mean when it means having the ability to respond to any situation? And I completely agree that ultimately how healthy we are is almost entirely down to the individual. But I would say there are situations where, for instance, if someone's living in poverty, it's quite difficult to eat a high quality diet. I mean, you can still exercise. Anyone can exercise, really, unless they're in a prison. And then generally you get gyms in prisons unless someone's been murdered with a barbell, which sometimes happens. But how much responsibility do you think authorities should take? And perhaps companies like food processing companies, do you think they have any level of blame for the obesity epidemic?

[31:49] Joel Evan: They have a huge blame. I mean, there's a huge issue and again, it's so multifaceted, right? We talk about brainwashing and stuff, right? Well, listen, I'm a guy and you're a guy. We're immersed in this world. So when new things come out, we're reading it and we are in it. Most people aren't. If they're not interested in it, then they have other hobbies. They want to do other things that I'm not interested. For example, in the United States right now, football. There's local teams that I know that are going to the Super Bowl, and I have no idea that it's happening. Are people texting me, telling me? And I'm like, that's amazing. Part of me thinks maybe I should be paying attention to football, but I could care less, right? I'm reading research on a new help paper that just came out, and that's what interests me. But here's the deal. You're absolutely right. And there's so much. I'm just thinking there's so much that we don't know right? Here's just a perfect example. Glyphosate Roundup, the weed killer that most of us know. We were told by the authorities, by the FDA or all these governing bodies, that this is safe, this is effective. Trust us, guys. And if they put that steal on of approval, FDA approval hey, as a consumer, I'm assuming you all right. That's a high authority that I'm assuming. I don't know, but I'm assuming they have these rigorous tests that they're doing, and they're looking at in my best interest. Well, they told us repeatedly for the last ten years, roundup glyphosate is okay. It's safe and effective to spray on crops. It doesn't do anything to humans. Well, guess what? We know that not to be true. Dr. Stephanie Stenuff wrote an amazing book called The Toxicity. I have it over here on my shelf somewhere. I can't find it, but read that book. She is an MIT senior researcher, so don't tell me, like, she doesn't know how to extrapolate or understand data. She has some very good charts showing the introduction of glyphosate, and all of a sudden, the escalation of autism. Now, there's multiple reasons for autism, but what we do know about glyphosate is what it does is it disrupts the gut microbiome. Okay? You can look at Dr. Zach bush. He talks all about this, and he has a company actually dedicated to restoring your gut microbiome because of the glyphosate. Glyphosate, again, as a consumer, I thought, big deal, organic, not organic. Even as someone going into the store, I think I'm just paying more for a label. And partially that's true, and I didn't give it that much credence. I'm like, what's the big deal? GMO. Non GMO. I just want to eat some food. As long as I'm cooking healthy, I'm fine. And I have completely gone back on that decision, because what I've learned about glyphosate and that weed, that Roundup, that chemical is so destructive, it actually binds to the glycine molecule. Okay, why is glycine important? Glycine makes up collagen. It makes up the matrix of your bones, and they will not form a solid collagen matrix without glycine, which we're now seeing more and more. And her predictions, Dr. Stephanie SANF, is that more and more athletes are going to see more and more injuries and tears because you're getting this accumulation. And again, going back to the whole gut, we know there's the gut brain axis. So the gut and the brain are communicating with each other. If you have an unhealthy or leaky gut, you're going to have things like brain fog. You might have things like autism. You might have things like an ADHD kid, right? I mean, all of these things might be possible because the gut is not healthy, and that is a huge disruptor. It disrupts selenium. So now you're talking thyroid issues. What glyphosate? What it does is absolutely terrible. And they recently just went to the Supreme Court. And the Supreme Court said to our Environmental Protection Agency, our governing body said, you better go back and change your guidelines. They slapped them in court. They said this is unacceptable. They said, you better go back and actually change the guidelines of what you originally told us because this is not adding up. And so that's just a perfect example. Another thing that I've noticed over the years and come to learn too, is that speaking of the EPA, we are told a lot of times these companies will do it right in your face. You just read it, but it seems so innocuous. And I'm going to give you an example. If you go to the Environmental Protection Agency website right now, again, another governing body looking out for us, telling us, hey, don't worry, as long as it's under this parts per million, you're safe and we're okay. Well, they tell you on their website that you've been bombarded by 86,000 man made chemicals every year. And they just state in such a nice way that you don't even notice, like, wait a second, I'm being bombarded by how many chemicals? And so that brings up this idea is if that if I'm being assaulted on a yearly basis by 86,000 man made chemicals. And by the way, that number has increased because a couple of years ago it was 77,000. If I'm being bombarded by these chemicals, how who's removing these from my body, right? Which is why, and I know if you're going to ask me later, is why I'm such a big fan of liver detox, because your liver has to process all this. And the last thing I want to say lay and then we can move on. Are you happy to ask me more? But there is a great book, and I got to interview this guy, Mark Schotzker, and he wrote the book The End of Craving. It's an amazing book and it outlines really what you're talking about. And what I love is he gives this parallel between Italians and southerners in the United States, and he says, why is it in Italy they have like a 6.4% obesity numbers for their population, but in the southern United States it's like 40%. And yet on a macro level, like macros for what they're eating in their food, it's exactly the same. Italians in northern Italy, they love fat, they love lard, they love cheese, they love pasta. Well, guess what? Southerners in the United States, they love lard, they love sweet teas, they love their pork, and they love their mac and grits. And so we're seeing the same kind of macro profile, but yet Italians aren't fat. And so the argument would be, well, yeah, but Italians move more. And that's part of it. Yeah, they have a better movement practice, I would say, than the southerners in the United States. But what it really comes down to is the processed foods, and that's what it drums down to. And so these processed foods are creating these, what they call nutritive mismatches in our brain. And so our brain is getting signals that, for example, these fake sugars and these things like this, it's telling the brain, okay, I just got something sweet, but there's no calories because I'm eating, like, I don't know, let's say a Diet Coke. So you're having this Diet Coke and you're thinking, oh, I'm healthy because I'm not having any calories. Well, the brain is not an idiot, guys, and the brain is saying, okay, I just had something sweet, and yet that means I should be getting a certain amount of calories based on this sweetness, and I'm not, and I'm ****** off, and I want those calories. And so the brain is going to figure out a way, like, you better give me those calories. And so think about how that affects cravings and binge eating and how all these people doing. I'm drinking Diet Coke. But yet you're still hungry and you're still overeating. Well, this is all caused by these nutritive mismatches. And it's really fascinating when you get into some of the neuroscience and what's going on, and when they look at MRIs on people's brains and they see what's happening and what they're being lit up by certain food, it's the same thing. So, yes, there's a huge problem. And unless you're reading books, like some of the books that we're reading, and the people, people that were interviewing you may not be aware of that, and you might blame yourself. So I do have a lot of empathy for folks out there because I know it's difficult if you're not in this world, and that's why there's people like you and I, hopefully to break through that noise and help these people.

[39:48] Leigh Brandon: Yeah. So I guess I think the important point there is that just because something is legal doesn't mean that it's healthy, right? Or just because it's approved. I've heard a lot of people say that kind of thing to me over the years, that, well, they wouldn't sell it if it was harmful. And I say to them, have you not heard of cigarettes? Have you not heard of alcohol? Right? They look at you kind of confused, and then they'll say something, oh, yeah, but that makes lots of tax money, so that's okay. But we had a couple of medical doctors over here in the UK. One's a general practitioner, one's a cardiologist. The cardiologist is called Dr. Asimohotra, and the general practitioner is called Dr. Rangan Chatterjee. And funny enough, they went to the same school in Manchester and England, although they were different ages, and they got together and they campaigned in the UK to change laws around food. And one of the laws they managed to persuade the government to bring in was a tax on sugary drinks. So we now have an increased tax on sugary drinks over here. Now, I'm not sure what difference that's actually made. I think it has made a difference. Would there be any kind of restrictions that you would like to see on certain kinds of foods or drinks or do you just think just let everyone do what they want?

[41:20] Joel Evan: Yeah, you know what, it's so funny, I haven't thought too hard about that, I'll be honest. It's a slippery slope, I think too. And that's why I haven't really considered it, because here's what I'm thinking about. You and I, we were just talking about mandates, right? And so we have a governing body right now that is mandating a lot of restrictions because they've claimed it's safe and effective. Now when we look at the studies, that's not the case, but yet the mandates are still in place. So, I don't know, that would be tough. If you're saying, well, we need to mandate restrictions on these food companies, that sounds great in theory, but again, if the food companies are being mismanaged, then how do I know that the data that I'm getting, that it is truly safe and effective? And again, it just goes back to kind of what we were talking about. There's an aluminum expert who I know that you know about, dr. Huxley, I think Hexley and I just finished reading his book, the Aluminum Adam, Hexley is his name. He's out of the UK, I believe, and it was fascinating to read. He's like the world renowned aluminum expert in the world. And what we were just alluded to is that we've been told all aluminum, pans and aluminum, as long as it's under this number of parts per million, it's totally fine for the body. But he says there's absolutely no science to suggest that that's true. That was a number that was just made up. And he's like, show me the study. Like I've done the most expert in aluminum, no one else has done this research. And when I go to scientists and ask for the study, they can't show it to me. But yet, scientists all over the world or this governing body have agreed that this parts per million is totally safe. That was just a made up number. So again, if we restrict certain things and people that are just making up numbers and not backing it up, I don't know if that's going to solve anything. However, I think for me the biggest thing is going forward with everything is I want legitimate, informed consent. Which means you need to give me all the data if you're going to tell me. Cigarettes, for example. I'm allowed to sell them, but I get to see what's inside of them and I get to understand what the chemicals do and stuff. I want to be able to make that choice. And I just feel like the information is not there, it's lacking. We just talked about the end of craving. Nobody probably knows that I had to go read a book that's not getting published or getting publicity. It's not getting publicity like some of these books or social media or influencers aren't talking about the end of Go read at the end of Craving book. So it's like that information is difficult to find and source for me, just the information needs to be there and then allow people, I think, to make the best decision for them. But yeah, that's what I would want, and especially when it comes to things like the Glyphosate, the aluminum, these things, I don't want to read another study of like ten years go by and all these people died and we go, oh, hey, by the way, aluminum is bad for us. Like, that's just a travesty. And that could have been easily prevented if it wasn't for people out that were greedy seeking money. Right?

[44:42] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, I completely agree with the fact that what I don't want is a lack of freedom of choice when it comes to food. And I'm a little conflicted as to what I think the best solution is, but I certainly think we could increase safety standards, which would probably require the regulatory bodies to not have conflicts of interest and actually make decisions based on what's best for the people rather than what's best for the profit margins of these large corporations. The other thing I would suggest now this applies a little bit more to the UK than it does in the US. But obviously here in the UK and other countries, some other countries around the world, we have taxpayer medical system. So most people in the UK, they look at medical care as being free. Now, they tend to forget that we pay a lot of tax money and we dump a huge amount of money into our National Health Service, which doesn't actually give us a service. It's predominantly a corporation that funnels money to pharmaceutical companies. That's pretty much what it is. But if we were to suggest to people or you're responsible for your health financially, it's a lot cheaper to live a healthy lifestyle than it is to live an unhealthy lifestyle and then rely on the medical system to fix it for you. So I think there's a few things that we could do in terms of really getting our regulatory bodies in check and also making sure that people do have we spoke about it earlier. The person who is ultimately responsible is the person themselves. And I do feel there needs to be a certain level of financial responsibility as well, which I think would help.

[46:42] Joel Evan: Totally. Yeah.

[46:45] Leigh Brandon: And it kind of brings me on to my next question, because it's kind of linked, because this is where I feel there's a massive caveat in what I'm thinking. And what I've experienced a lot with obese clients is that they almost always have previous unresolved mental emotional trauma which affects their last little choices and behaviors. Do you have any experience of that.

[47:11] Joel Evan: Always, I think, at the crux of everybody's blockage. Let's say whether it's a career in business, if you're trying to get to a certain financial growth or you're trying to get to a certain career level, or you're trying to be an athlete, right? You're trying to be the most peak performance that you work with. You're a check practitioner. You work with, like, probably some of the best athletes in the world. And the little bit of difference that separates someone from hitting the podium and competing in the Olympics is all mindset, is all just that little tweak in mindset. And that goes back to emotional emotions and beliefs. So I always see a blockage with someone, for some reason, if they can't reach attain that level of weight loss, let's say, as an emotional component, it's so, so huge. And that's why when I work with people, the first few weeks, all we're doing is what I call, like, foundational work, which is emotions, beliefs, values, clarity, vision, affirmations, all these things we're talking about, because that is what's really preventing them from super potential growth. Another thing that I've got to experience over the last couple of years that I thought was really neat is and I'm not sure if you're familiar with emotion code or body code practitioners really stems to there's a doctor, Bradley Nelson. He wrote the book The Emotion Code, and he's the founder of that type of system. But same thing with him. He said, I got a chance to interview him, and he said, Joel, with any patient I've ever seen that has cancer, there's always been an emotional blockage that's led to that. He's not saying that that's the only cause or the only driver, but he says when I remove these emotional blockage because he does some form of resonance and some muscle testing, and when he's able to remove some of those frequencies of those emotions that get trapped in our bodies, that's the interesting thing. These emotions get trapped. They start to cause these reverberations in the bodies. They cause this dysfunction, right? It's just one form of dysfunction. Don't get me wrong. There's all kinds of toxicities. But we could argue that, hey, emotional toxins are a form of a toxin, not a chemical toxin, an emotional toxin. And so he has created this system, and he teaches practitioners all over the world how to remove these emotional or trapped emotions, okay? And what he sees is he's got countless testimonials of people healing, either in their family or just maybe I'm thinking of this one story where this patient had neck pain for, like, nine years, and he removed an emotion, trapped emotion, and the person's neck pain went away. Finally, after all these years, another person I remember couldn't have been divorced or something and hadn't been in a relationship in over ten years. And then after several couple of sessions of meeting with him and removing some trapped emotions, the next week, they met the love of their life. It's just they go on and on and it's a really good book and he's a fascinating guy. So I actually have when I meet with clients, usually that's actually something that I will have them I'll have them work with an emotion code practitioner in the beginning of our program, and then we'll get things going, because I've seen that with actually a lot of autoimmune clients, especially for some reason I don't want to say for some reason. I think you and I both know we just talked about it, but they do. For people that might be listening to the show and thinking, no way. Well, I'm just telling you what I see. Anecdotally when we remove these trapped emotions, clients that go through the same protocols for like autoimmune conditions that other people have gone through and got some great success, they do much better. The protocols stick. They seem to go through the protocols more seamlessly and the same thing with weight loss and some of those other protocols as well. Yes.

[51:06] Announcer: The Radical Health Rebel is also available on YouTube. Find bite sized clips from our episodes on the Radical Health Rebel YouTube channel.

[51:17] Leigh Brandon: Just a brief interruption to this podcast to talk about adult acne. Now, did you know that 40% to 54% of men and women older than 25 years will have some degree of facial acne? And that clinical facial acne persists into middle age in 12% of women and 3% of men? I know only too well the devastating effects that acne can have on your confidence and your self esteem and how it can easily destroy your social life, your career, and your relationships. I know this only too well because I suffered from severe cystic acne from age 13 to 31 over an 18 year period. I visited my doctor on many occasions, and his only suggestions were acne creams, harsh cleansers, and antibiotics that weren't working and were actually making my skin worse. After 18 years of struggle and thousands of pounds invested in treatments that didn't work, through my professional education, I began to learn that what my doctor had told me was untrue and that diet was directly related to acne, plus other factors such as food sensitivities, toxicity, hormones, and balancing the body's microbiome. Putting what I had learned into practice. I managed to rib myself of acne over 20 years ago and have been helping others to do the same for well over a decade by teaching people what foods cause acne, what food sensitivities each individual has, how to optimize their detox pathways, how to reduce environmental stresses and toxins, and how to balance hormones, especially those related to the mTOR pathway, a major causal factor with acne. I've been able to help many other adults overcome their acne nightmare, too. So if you would like more information on how to overcome your adult acne, please go to www.skinwebinar.com. That's www.skinwebinar.com, where you can also request an Acne Breakthrough call with me to see if you are suitable for my Eliminate Adult Acne coaching program where you can once and for all learn how to overcome your adult acne. Now back to the podcast. That sounds really interesting. I've never heard of that. So that's really interesting. I think if we look into some of the reasons why potentially people suffer from emotional issues and then it leads to obesity quite often, the traumas, let's call it often occurs early in life when the body is not really able to deal with it at that point. And if it happens early enough in life, it becomes subconscious because of the brainwave. States don't really up regulate until you're about seven years old. And what it can do is if someone doesn't feel worthy, if they don't feel that they deserve love, they're not going to love themselves. And one of the best ways to love yourself is to look after yourself like you would look after a child. Right. And I've seen mothers come in to see me that were obese, but yet they would give their child the best food and then they would eat junk. And I would try and point that out to them and they were kind of like, oh, I didn't even realize I did that. And quite often you ask, Why did you do that? And they often don't know. And it's because it's subconscious.

[54:55] Joel Evan: Yeah.

[54:56] Leigh Brandon: They don't really understand why they feel that way about themselves and then they feel bad. So what do they do? They eat to make themselves feel better. Then they feel bad because they've just eaten a whole cake and then they put on weight. So they feel bad about themselves. So they punish themselves and it becomes a bit of a vicious cycle.

[55:12] Joel Evan: Yeah.

[55:13] Leigh Brandon: So breaking that emotional situation is as sure, you know, is really, really crucial.

[55:22] Joel Evan: Yeah.

[55:23] Leigh Brandon: So good.

[55:23] Joel Evan: I love that example, too. That's a good one.

[55:25] Leigh Brandon: Just moving on, what are your views on counting calories when it comes to losing weight?

[55:32] Joel Evan: I hate it. Okay, here's the deal. Listen, I tell everybody. First of all, I don't do that personally, okay? I don't count macros for my clients. And I'm going to tell you why. Now, there's a caveat. Because can counting macros get you great results? Absolutely. And if that's the kind of person you are, then great, count macros. I don't care. I'm about getting results. So if people get results counting macros, go ahead and count macros. If you're a professional athlete or someone that is a competitor, an M, a superstar, you're getting ready for a fight. You need to be pretty dialed in. So counting those macros, weighing your food, you got to make certain weights. I get it. You're trying to get a certain physique for a competition. You should probably count macros. Okay? Now, I work with a lot of busy professionals. They have families, they have. Kids, they have a mortgage, they don't have even the time to go to the gym six times a week that some of these professional fighters do, as well as count macros. That would just add to the stress of what they're already doing. And actually, I had a client before that counted macros before, and I was on a call with her and I'm like, well, have you ever done anything that actually worked? And she's like, yeah, counting macros. I'm like, awesome, well, what do you need me for? Just go back and count macros. She goes, Joel, I hate doing that. Tell me more. She said, I have a family, I have two kids. She was a nurse, just really busy profession, worked a lot of hours. And she's like, I don't want to get home. And she would find herself counting macros while the rest of her family, she's at the counter counting macros for her food while the rest of them, the two kids and the husband are eating. And then she would show up to dinner late with her food plate because she was counting macros. She goes, I don't want to live that life anymore. I'm like, I totally get it. And she got great results. So for me, no, I don't count macros. And I think there's just a more simple way to do it and there's a holistic way, and really, I think I'm living proof of it. So here I am. Let me just tell you really quick. Before I started, my son, my oldest son just turned nine, okay? So before him I was doing jiujitsu. I was doing CrossFit three, four times a week. Those are like hour long workouts. And I was working out, I was doing all that. And then I had a kid and my wife said, you think you're going to be able to do CrossFit and jiujitsu still? I'm like, I can do whatever I want. Like, whatever. I'm very goal oriented. Whatever I put my mind to, I will do. You just got to make time, no excuses, all that. Well, guess what? I was wrong. So I had to give up something. So I gave up cross. Finn, I kept doing jujitsu, so gave up that. Then I had a second kid. So three years later I had a second kid. Now I really had no time and no money. So I was like, I got to give up jujitsu now too. So I had to give up those two aspects of my life. But still, over the last nine years, I've maintained myself in peak physical health and my fitness has more or less remained the same. Am I a professional athlete. No. But have I gained weight? Have I maintained the same weight? Absolutely. And my metabolic markers are very good. I've had multiple A one C test, which is a measurement of your blood glucose over a three month period. And I've had my LDL and cholesterol and hormones. I've had them measured and they're all really good. And so I think kind of what I've learned over the last ten years is kind of not only have some of the things I've learned makes sense, but also I'm living proof that it works as long as you do these certain things. And I only work out honestly ten to 20 minutes a day tops, because I still even as a coach and someone with a podcast and just I'm a busy professional still regardless, and I don't have the time. And so how do we make this time? How do we make things sticky and sustainable? Even if you only have ten to 20 minutes a day, can you still maintain health? And the answer is yes. I'm living proof of it too.

[59:21] Leigh Brandon: And what's your views on calories in versus calories out for weight loss?

[59:29] Joel Evan: Again, I'm here to say I don't buy it. But listen, when you look at some of the data that we have, it's a fact of a matter. You can reduce calories, and if you're in a caloric deficit, you're going to lose weight. There is some truth to that, right? But I think the big mistake that people are making when they say things like that is they don't understand that the body is an organization of systems, okay? And just because you're operating in one system, just looking at calories, you're not taking into account the beautiful orchestra of systems in our body. And what I mean by that is the thyroid plays a role in weight loss, obviously, for Hormonal Productions and thermal regulation and body heat. Again, I talked about the liver and the gallbladder. People don't understand this, but the liver actually helps with the production of hormones. So if you have a sluggish liver and gallbladder that's toxic and backed up because you've got all these toxins in your body, you may not even be able to make the testosterone or the estrogen that you need. And if you're not making those hormones properly, guess what? You ain't going to lose weight. So I don't care about your calories in, calories out. That liver is backed up, those drainage pathways are backed up. We got to open those up. And then the same thing with the gut microbiome. And we can go on and on, but there's actual studies that show there's bacteria. And if you have a certain overpopulation of, I believe it's the firm acute. And if you have an overpopulation of that, you basically have a microbiome that is like turning on fat genes and is saying, stay fat, stay fat. So you have to change the gut microbiome. That's another part of it. So again, you see people getting stuck with these calories in, calories out, and they're stuck and they're wondering why. Well, again, there's just so much more to it. Matter of fact, speaking of the gut microbiome, I just interview an amazing person, Colleen Cutcliffe. She has a microbiome. She has a product called Pendulum. Pendulum? Life, I believe. Pendulum Life. And she makes a probiotic that is really revolutionary. And the probiotic actually changes your gut microbiome. And what they found over I think it was a three month study, double blind, randomized control study, by the way, not just some made up study, was double blind, randomized control. And what she found was that people on her probiotic didn't do anything else. They just were on the probiotic. Their A one C levels, what we just talked about, dropped by, I think, like 0.3%, and they had a reduction of blood glucose spikes or type two diabetes by 32%. That's the only thing they did. And so we know the gut microbiome is a huge factor when it comes to weight loss, and I think that's proof of it right there. So, yeah, there's just so much more to it. And I understand and I respect people that are making that argument because I understand why and there's some truth to that, but I think they're missing a whole another part of it.

[01:02:36] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of things just to add to that. Partly you alluded to it, but how well does someone digest their food, for starters? Right? So two people can eat the same number of calories per day. They could be the same weight. Their ideal weight could be the same. But if one doesn't produce enough hydrochloric acid, doesn't produce enough digestive enzymes, bile acid, as you mentioned, well, one of them might absorb 99% of their calories and one might absorb 40% of their calories. So the one that's, you know, not absorbing their calories, what's their hunger going to be like, but it's going to be much higher than the other person. So what's going to happen? Well, they're going to eat more calories or they're going to eat their target calories and then just be extremely hungry and not be able to function in life.

[01:03:27] Joel Evan: Yeah, right.

[01:03:28] Leigh Brandon: So that's just one example of the complexity of it. The other stress.

[01:03:33] Joel Evan: Stress is a huge factor, like you just mentioned. We haven't taken into account stress.

[01:03:37] Leigh Brandon: Absolutely.

[01:03:37] Joel Evan: That's a huge one. And just the one last thing you just reminded me of, there was a study done with Italian cyclists, and we didn't even talk about like but what about crocodile rhythms and meal timing? Right? All they did they did calories were the same. And they had the Italian cyclists, they had one group eat in a seven hour window and one group eat their total calories in a 14 hours window. And what they found was the group that ate in a seven hour window had a reduction in their metabolic issues. So not that they had issues, but they saw drops in improvement in their metabolic health. And again, we're talking about cardiovascular health, cholesterol, glucose levels, all of that improved just by changing their eating window. So calories were the same.

[01:04:25] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, there's a lot to be said for restricted time eating and fasting and lots of those kinds of things. The other thing I was going to mention, also, if people get too focused on calories, the other thing people also need to understand is what about the quality of those calories? What about the micronutrients that come with those? Right? Because if you're getting two and a half thousand calories a day from McDonald's and KFC, compared to you're eating the best biodynamic food you can get your hands on, again, there's going to be a massive difference. So you can't just look at the numbers, you've got to look at the quality as well as the quantity.

[01:05:09] Joel Evan: Huge.

[01:05:10] Leigh Brandon: But just again, something you've mentioned a few times already is blood sugar levels. How important is balancing blood sugar levels for weight loss?

[01:05:22] Joel Evan: Well, I mean, we see just across the board right now what the data is suggesting is that when we see these excursions in blood glucose, these really huge spikes that continue to escalate over time, those are really when you see poor markers of metabolic health. And so someone that is having consistent high glucose levels right, or blood sugar spikes, and they're consistently high, those people develop type two diabetes and so now we have a metabolic disease. So, yeah, it's definitely a huge issue. And right now we've got some really cool technology with people that can wear continuous glucose monitors known as CGMs, and I've experimented with those for some time and they're fine. It's just fine to kind of track and see what foods are spiking your glucose and what's going on there. And it can give you some. I think, really, it's probably a good bang for one of the best weight loss bang for your buck kind of biohacks that you can do in terms of really just gaining some awareness of what you're putting in your body and what food is doing to you, especially based on the certain times of the day. And I think people would be shocked if they did that because you have a cup of black coffee, even though there's no calories, in the morning, you're going to see your blood glucose spike because you're spiking cortisol and that's going to spike your blood glucose. So people can say all they want about like, well, I'm having coffee and I'm in a fastest state, and listen, I do the same. I'm just saying you're going to gain that awareness. The other thing I thought was fascinating by monitoring my blood glucose levels was one night the experts are saying that when you wake up in the morning, you want a fasting blood glucose of around 85 or lower. And that's for longevity purposes and just kind of what they're seeing. The Western MD, the thought process was, I think 95 or lower was what they were looking for. Well, the antiaging and longevity doctors saying, no, actually, we think it'd be better if it's about 85. So anyways, one morning I wake up and it was like 100. My blood glucose was 100. And like, man, wow, that's kind of surprising. I mean, I didn't think I had a pretty decent meal and stuff. I was fasted for twelve to 14 hours. I'm like, man, what's going on? I wonder why I spiked. The one thing, though, is that I was exposed to blue light late at night. I was working later than I usually did. I went to bed later and I was going to bed at like ten something and getting up at 04:00 A.m., so pretty early. And the following night I ate pretty much the same meals. And the only thing I changed was going to bed earlier and limiting my blue light exposure earlier in the evening. And lo and behold, the next night I woke up with an 85. I just thought that was quite fascinating. And there's so there's so much, again, with light and environment and how that affects cortisol and stress. And so you wouldn't be able to figure out these little nuances unless you have something like a CGM to bring some light to that.

[01:08:24] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, definitely. So again, you've mentioned this before, but why is detoxification so fundamental to weight loss?

[01:08:34] Joel Evan: The big thing with detox, and first of all, I want to just say there's a big difference because people will talk to me about, oh, I've done a juice cleanse. Joel and detox and cleanse are completely separate. If you want to do a juice cleanse, by all means do a juice cleanse. I think there can be some benefit. There's a lot of micronutrients, like we talked about, it's easy on digestion, so that can give a nice it can give you a nice chance to kind of slow things down and build yourself back up. But you're not detoxing anything. Again, we're being bombarded by 86,000 man made chemicals. Who has to filter that out? You're in your body? The liver. The liver has to filter all these chemicals out, and the liver is working hard to purify your blood, I believe, every six minutes. So when we are being assaulted by this all the time, I think we need to do a general detox periodically. And I personally do one quarterly every three months. I do just a simple, gentle, seven day detox. And that's just a way for me to kind of empty out my rain barrel and empty out my threat bucket because I know I'm being assaulted. And again, why do I think that's important? Because the liver is so important when it comes to the production of hormones. And so when you're thinking testosterone, oh, testosterone. That's important for me to build lean muscle well, hormones such as testosterone and estrogen that's formed in the liver. So that's where these metabolites become from. And so if you have a sluggish or backed up liver, you're going to have issues. There was another thing I just read referring to gallbladder. I've worked with so many women that have had their gallbladders removed, it's shocking. And they have weight loss issues. Well, go figure, because the gallbladder is again, the gallbladder gets backed up from all these toxins. And there was like a study, I think, that showed like 70 by the time people have, like, allergies the symptoms of actual allergies or rheumatoid arthritis or any of these things, what they found is like, 78% of them had sluggish gallbladders. So you just imagine, like, well, what if we just kind of unloaded that toxic load from these folks, right, and gave them and opened up those drainage pathways, they could finally start to release those toxins. And then the other big thing is I always tell people is that toxins are being your brain and your body. They're very it's very smart. Your body, these toxins were being bombarded by your body knows it can't put it in your head and it can't put these toxins in your heart because you'll die. The body is very smart. But when the liver gets overburdened and can't deal with the assault of toxins, you know what it does? It says, screw it, I'm just going to throw these toxins in your fat cells because I got to shuttle these somewhere. I can't deal with it, but I know I'm not going to put it in Lay's heart or brain because he'll be dead. So throw in the fat cells and we'll figure out what to do with them later. So when people start losing weight, they can get this herczheimer reaction. They can get this actual feeling of sickness if they're losing a lot of weight in the beginning. So for me, why not just support the body with some simple multivitamins and sulfur based amino acids so that the body can gently detox and filter all those things out and release that burden from the liver?

[01:11:40] Leigh Brandon: Yeah, definitely. And it's a bit of a double whammy, really. So if you're eating a toxic diet and you're inhaling toxins from the air and you're getting toxins from your water supply, you're storing those toxins in your fat cells. And then if you're not managing your blood sugar levels and your blood sugar is spiking and your pancreas is secreting insulin, and what does insulin do? It stores energy in your fat cells. So you've got this sugar floating around your blood, and if you're not exercising, it's just going to store it in your fat tissue. So, again, looking back, if you're just looking at calories in versus calories out, hopefully people can see that it's a lot more complicated than that now.

[01:12:28] Joel Evan: Yeah, absolutely.

[01:12:29] Leigh Brandon: So, Joe, what would be your top three tips for listeners who want to lose weight?

[01:12:36] Joel Evan: Good one. Well, number one, we talked about it a lot, mindset, you got to work on that, because the thing that always happens over and over again is the lack of consistency and the lack of commitment. It's the lack of your will. You get broken because things come up. The holidays, the this, the that, th, oh, well, it's this. And that's why we see over time and time again, people have these amazing New Year's resolutions. I don't go to a gym anymore, but I used to. When I was a young kid, from like, 18 to 25, I was lifting up, like, Gold Gym. So I would see it every year. I'd be at Gold Gym, and sure enough, in January would be hopping. By February 1, we were back to normal business. And why? Because people started. They weren't dialed in with what they really wanted in their life. They weren't clear. Their GPS, their mission statement, and what they wanted to do and accomplish wasn't clear, and their values weren't clear. And when you're not clear on those things, it's pretty easy to be externally motivated and then quickly not. So if it doesn't come from intrinsically and you don't create that bulletproof mindset, man, you're going down. Right. The other thing is, I would just say plain and simple, obviously, we know diet and nutrition is huge. Well, how about this? I'm going to keep it very simple for your what diet should I do, Joel? Just eat real food. Just eat real food. My wife always jokes me. She goes, Man, I can't believe you have all these clients. Just tell them to eat real food. I'm like that's. Funny. That should be a good name for a cookbook. Just eat real food. But in all seriousness, I mean, just start by eating real food, not processed food. If you're looking to lose weight, limit yourself to, like, maybe three meals a day. Just do that, and you will see vast improvements. And so on that note, I would also say just start, and it goes back to mindset. Just start tiny, start slow, start tiny, make little improvements, get some small wins, build that momentum, and you're going to see a lot of success over time. And then one last thing, and I've kind of changed my mind on this, just based on some of the studies. I used to kind of be an espouser of that practice, too. And actually, I shouldn't say that. Here's a guy. Like I said, I exercise regularly. I just don't make it the focal point of, like, I got to be in the gym 60 minutes. Even me, I'm telling you, ten to 20 minutes a day, if you can consistently do that, you're going to see great results.

[01:14:44] Leigh Brandon: The reason I'm able to it's interesting that we just had a guy over here called Tim Specter.

[01:14:50] Joel Evan: Six days a week, I have a movement practice. Maybe there's one day where I'm off.

[01:14:54] Leigh Brandon: So I don't know.

[01:14:55] Joel Evan: I'm consistently moving or exerting ecommerce. Even if it's just ten minutes a day, everybody knows. And I think Specter, I haven't heard him.

[01:15:02] Leigh Brandon: Whatever you just did, everybody knows, has caused an echo.

[01:15:04] Joel Evan: Talk to a guy who owns a gym franchise.

[01:15:07] Leigh Brandon: I can hear you, but there's a really bad echo.

[01:15:09] Joel Evan: He said he's very he's got a very famous gym franchise. He goes, Cha, everybody knows, like, 80% of weight losses done through nutrition. And I'm like, So here's a guy who owns gyms. He's not selling you nutrition. He's telling me 80% of your results is based on nutrition and diet. 100%. We know that, and I'm sure Specter would say the same thing. And so my friend was telling me, he's like, Listen, that's why we're including nutritional programming now into our gyms, because we want to fill that gap, because they know it's so important. So they're right. And I think Tim Specter is probably right in that respect. But I've also seen now, I think just from that data, and even going back, you look at me, I talk about my story and where I am now. I think I cultivated a habit stack early at an age of 18, of working out. I was the kind of bodybuilding guy, six days a week, cardio off days of cardio, but it wasn't the working out that I built, but I built in these resilient habits, and so I carry those on with me today.

[01:16:12] Leigh Brandon: Cool. Awesome. And what's next for Joel?

[01:16:16] Joel Evan: Man, I love it. Yeah. There's so many things going on right now. So I've got a couple of things. I got a book coming out in February, so look out for that is going to be targeted to what we just talked about, holistic weight loss for busy professionals that don't want to count macros and go to the gym six days a week, that's a big task. And so that book should be coming out this February. In April, I'll be working out with it won't be out by then, but so hopefully by the end of this year, though, I'll be working on a kids book as well, talking about natural health principles. And then really, it's just that and the podcast and Elevating, I have my podcast, the Hacked Life Podcast, where I've had some amazing guests, and I'm just trying to bring that and grow that and expand that podcast so that it's becoming more and more well known.

[01:17:06] Leigh Brandon: Awesome. And where can people find you online, Joelevancoaching.com?

[01:17:11] Joel Evan: Go there. You can shoot me an email info at joelevancoaching. That's a great way to reach me. Also, on Instagram, I'm pretty active, but at any moment, I always tell people I could be the platform for some reason or what have you. So if I'm not there, it's the same, though. I'm at Joel evan coaching on instagram. Those are probably the two best places to reach me. If you shoot me a DM, it's really me reading the comments. So, yeah, connect with me there. I love to connect with people.

[01:17:39] Leigh Brandon: Cool. Joe, I've really enjoyed this discussion with you today, and I really appreciate you taking your time out to share your wisdom with the Radical Health Rebel listeners and viewers. And to all the Radical Health Rebel tribe, if you know someone who would benefit from watching or hearing this episode, please make sure to share the love and forward it on to them. After all, the mission of this show is to help people lead a more fun filled, healthy, productive, fulfilling and happy life. And if you appreciate my guests and the wisdom they share with you each week, and you'd like to show your appreciation by supporting the podcast, or you can for less than £1 per episode by heading over to Patreon.com. Radicalhealthrebel, where you can also receive lots of other exclusive premium content for no extra fee, plus unedited full length, ad free video episodes monthly ask me anything, Q and A sessions and discounts on my coaching programs. So that's all from Joel and me for this week. But don't forget, you can join me same time, same place, next week on the Radical Health Rebel podcast.

[01:18:44] Announcer: Thanks for tuning in to the Radical Health Rebel podcast with Leigh Brandon. You can find Leigh at www.bodychek co UK that's BodyChek.co.UK. Please hit the like button and share on your social media and with someone you feel will benefit from watching this episode. So together, we can help them lead a healthier, more productive, fulfilling and happy life.