Aubrey Marcus, Melissa Hartwig, Shawn Stevenson, Kelly LeVeque

Lewis Howes:              This is episode number 644, with the Wellness Wisdom From The Masters.

Welcome to The School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro-athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur and each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now, let the class begin.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The first wealth is health.” And, yes, I believe in that.

So much has shifted over the last five, six, seven years, for me. When I first started out in my business, I was constantly grinding and hustling and putting in the hard work, but I was never taking care of my health and it manifested in my body.

I gained lots of weight; people called me ‘Flewis’ for ‘Fat Lewis’; I had low energy; it was always hard to go to sleep, because I was up late, drinking energy drinks and all these other things. And when I started to realise that my health is the most important thing, that it’s going to actually benefit everything else in my life, that’s when things started to shift. In my relationships, in my business, everything; and the way I perceived myself and the world.

The first wealth is health. And we have been putting together this Masters Series, where I’ve been finding the most valuable insights from these inspiring leaders that we’ve had on in the past, and putting together these little mash-up Masters series.

We did one on High Performance Habits that has blown up. We did one on Sex, Love and Relationships that blew up. We’ve done one, now, on Wellness. And I’m super excited about this because I want you guys to get insights. I want you to get some of the ‘best of’.

I love the long form interviews and I know so many of you do, because it’s just so fascinating to hear people’s stories and the insights of how they got from where they were to where they are and the struggles overcoming to building these billion dollar businesses or being the number one athlete in the world in their sport, or whatever it is they’re doing. Becoming the best in the world.

It fascinates me, and I’m always intrigued. So, this one is from the Wellness Masters, who are going to be sharing some of their greatest insights on understanding health. Holistic health, taking care of your body and so much more.

I’d love to hear what you think, let me know on Instagram, @LewisHowes, leave a message on social media, on Twitter, and the link for this is lewishowes.com/644. We’ve got some inspiring people on today! Let me know which person you liked the most, during this, over on Twitter or Instagram.

Before we dive in, I want to give a shout out to the Fan of the Week! This is from Darcy, in Arizona, who said, “Lewis has a very refreshing way of interviewing his guests and creating beautiful content, on a variety of topics. I love the courage that you show through talking about your weaknesses, but also honouring your strengths as well.

“I am a big fan and new to the podcast arena. A true test, to me, is how I feel after each discussion. I usually listen while walking my dogs. And all I can say is that, by the time I get home, I feel inspired, joyful and encouraged to be a little bit better each day. So thank you so much. Love the book, The Mask of Masculinity as well. I have five daughters and cannot wait to share with them.”

So, I appreciate it, Darcy Sisson, you are the Fan of the Week! I appreciate you and everyone who leaves a review over on iTunes or on the podcast app. It means the world to us! If you haven’t left a review, yet, make sure to do so, as we share out the Fan of the Week each and every week.

And I want to thank our sponsor today, which is Audible. Now, audio books are great for helping you be a better you. Whether you want to feel healthier, get motivated or learn something new. There’s books like, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Sleep Revolution, The Power Of Habit, or, Braving The Wilderness.

Audible helps you listen to more books by letting you switch seamlessly between devices, picking up exactly where you left off. Whether it’s on your phone, through your car, from your tablet, or at home on an Amazon Echo, you can get through tons of books, hands and eye-free while doing almost anything. I love listening to books while I’m driving and commuting.

So, you can start a 30-day trial and get your first audiobook for free, right now, by going to audible.com/greatness or by texting ‘greatness’ to 500-500. Again, go to audible.com/greatness or text ‘greatness’ to 500-500 to get started today.

Alright, lets dive into this, the Wellness Wisdom From The Masters, let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy.

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Aubrey Marcus:            Principle number seven is: Champions are in a serious relationship with their body. And I say a serious relationship because I think we often have turbulent, casual relationships with our body, you know, where it’s sort of like an arm’s length gentle truce where we don’t really trust our body, our body doesn’t really trust us. We don’t really know, “What the hell’s going on today? I’m tired,” or, “This thing is going on.”

But champions demand performance on all aspects. And they demand unified performance. Their body’s got to support what their mind’s doing, no matter what’s going on, and their mind has to support what their body’s doing. So I’ve noticed, with these champions, they know their body. It’s like, that long term, twenty-five year relationship where these people know each other inside and out.

And champions have that relationship with their body, and I noticed that when I started hanging out with Bode Miller. And Bode Miller, he does all of the different tests. He’ll test his lactic level, check his keytone levels, he’ll check his heartrate. But he’s done that so many times, that he’s like a human biometric.

He’s like, “Yeah, I’m pushing lactate numbers around, like 8,” and I’m like, “What are you talking about, dude?” I’m just, like, gasping for air. He’s like, “You know, I’ve been in this heart rate band of about 200 to 220 for this, which is optimal for this.” And he just knows his body that well.

Like, he knows when it’s time to go on a [Ketogenic] diet, he does a [Ketogenic] cleanse every now and then. And he’s just so amazingly in tune with his body, that it actually allows him more slack than a lot of other people. Because he likes to party, he likes to hang out too, I mean, that’s part of the Bode Miller legend, but he knew his body so well, he knows when he can push his body in all aspects.

He knows when he can take time off, and when it’s time to go, because he just has that kind of relationship where he can ask his body, “Are we going to be alright here? How much sleep do I need, body?” And body will be like, “Well, man, I mean, six would be great, but if you got four we’ll do it.” And it’s like, “Okay, body, I gotcha!”

So they have that kind of intimate relationship.

Lewis Howes:               How can we start understanding how to have that relationship with our own bodies? What can we do, what tests, on a basic level so we feel like we have a general understanding? Maybe some of these extreme things we won’t be able to do right away. What can we do?

Aubrey Marcus:            Well, it depends on your field. If you’re an athlete, lactate numbers are going to be important, knowing your heart rate, knowing these different thresholds, knowing different central nervous system markers and things like that. But for most of us it’s going to get a lot more simple.

Like, knowing what creates those energy resources, what causes the brain fog. So, really understanding, on a fundamental level, how the input equals the output. What you’re putting in your body, what kind of foods. Paying attention to when you have that foggy, tired feeling, diagnose it.

Like, “Okay, what did I do? What was different? Was my sleep different? Was my food intake different? Did I eat something that perhaps caused the inflammation, which then travelled into my bloodstream and is clogging up my brain? Was my digestion working too hard?” So, really, that’s a big piece of what the total human optimisation picture is, is just identifying these different correlations between the input and output in your body.

And it can also be mental, too. Like, “What kind of frame of mind is best for my body?” Because so much evidence is out there that mindset is crucial to physical health.

Lewis Howes:               And Aubrey actually has an exercise we put in The School of Greatness book, so, for those listening and you have the book, in the chapter on mastering your body and your health, there’s an exercise at the end, to find out what’s missing in your health, to figure out how to optimise it. So you guys can also go through that chapter and that exercise and figure out what’s missing in your health right now, to optimise it and to take it to that next level.

Aubrey Marcus:            Yeah, our bodies are like cars, you know? We’ve got to look at them more objectively. If your car is going off, like any time you’re tired or something is weird, think of that like an engine and then you’re the mechanic, though, so you got to go fix that s**t. Sometimes the doctor can help, those are like the master mechanic, but for daily maintenance, it’s on you, buddy. You got to figure this s**t out on your own.

Lewis Howes:               You got to make sure you put gas in the engine, get the right type of fuel.

Aubrey Marcus:            Yeah, get the gas, the oil change, everything you need.

Lewis Howes:               Exactly, everything.

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Melissa Hartwig:           And he was, like, “We should do this 30-day squeaky clean.” The thing that made me a really good drug addict, also makes me really good at taking on new habits. Because I was like, “Okay, when do you want to start?” and he’s, like, “Now.” And I literally handed the thin mints to my friend, Zack, and I was, like, “Cool, let’s go.” And we did.

And that was the start of the very first Whole30.

Lewis Howes:               And did you have it all figured out, like, “We’re not going to have this, this, and this.”?

Melissa Hartwig:           It was really loosely based on the framework of a Paleo diet, but when I went back – so, I blogged about it on my personal training blog back in 2009 – and when I go back and read, it was super loosey-goosey. Like, “Don’t eat this; try to eat less sugar,” like, it wasn’t anywhere near…

Lewis Howes:               There were some oils in there, there was a…

Melissa Hartwig:           Yeah. It wasn’t super well-defined.

Lewis Howes:               But it still got great results, it sounds like.

Melissa Hartwig:           It did. I got incredible results. But different results than what he did. His [results] were mostly physical, mine were mostly helping me identify a really unhealthy emotional relationship with food and helping me to change that in a really permanent and profound way.

Lewis Howes:               Because I feel like when we have a structure, when we have guidelines, then we can be creative within those guidelines. In life and with food. Right?

Melissa Hartwig:           I like that.

Lewis Howes:               But, you know, as an artist, when [someone is] just like, “Okay, paint me a painting,” it’s hard to be creative. But when we say, “I want you to paint me a painting with red, black and green, and I want you to have, like, circular motions,” then you can be creative and artistic with the structure and the context.

And, I think, when I had the structure and the context of the Whole30, it made me be more creative of how I could make my food, with the things that I could order. Now, it limited me in some ways, but it gave me structure. And I think that structure creates discipline as well.

Melissa Hartwig:           A lot of people find the rules of the program, which are very black-and-white, very on-or-off, freeing. Because, as you said, it takes some of the decision fatigue out of their brain. It eliminates the need to white-knuckle willpower your way through every decision.

We say, “No added sugar,” so when you pick up a lable and you read it, you don’t have to think, “This is 2g of sugar. Is that too much, is it not enough, is it better, is it worse?” Like, it’s just sugar, “Nope, it’s out!” And a lot of people find that very freeing, especially in the beginning, because when you’re trying to create a new habit or change a habit, it’s like when I went to rehab.

They stick you all in a box and you’re isolated from the rest of the world, because, in the beginning you’re really fragile, and it’s kind of similar. There’s a lot of addiction and recovery language built into the Whole30, which I didn’t even realise until after the fact.

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Now, let’s get back to the Wellness conversation.

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Shawn Stevenson:        I started to ask the right question. You know, questions are so powerful. So I asked, “What is my spine actually made of?” and then dug into the research and I was shocked. Because, when you think of your bones, what’s the first mineral you think of?

Lewis Howes:               I think of, Calcium, I don’t know. I’m ignorant at this.

Shawn Stevenson:        Exactly. No, this is where everybody lives. The majority of us. There’s, like, 200 other factors that are equally as important. That’s just the big marketing one. And so there’s things like magnesium, silica, I needed vitamin C to help to regenerate tissues.

I didn’t know that. Sulphur-bearing amino acids, all these interesting things I had never heard of. And no way was I getting that via Pappa John’s and Sunny Delight. I changed the way that I was eating.

Lewis Howes:               Agnes Muffin wasn’t bringing the nutrients, man? Come on!

Shawn Stevenson:        No, it was missing it, man! It was missing the mark! And so I started to look for the foods that had those things in them, and then there was a radical transformation in my health. So, the last piece was sleep. Rest and recovery, man.

When I started to do all this good stuff for my body, and training again, and again, I just started where I could. I started off on an eliptical, then a stationary bike, walked, picked up the weights again, and I naturally fell into a normal sleep pattern. And six weeks later, man, after making that decision, I lost 28lbs, the pain I’d been experiencing every day for two and a half years was gone.

Ultimately, about nine months later, I got a scan done, and I had two herniated discs that retracted on their own, I lost three fourths of an inch in height, and I grew half an inch back. Which was crazy, right? And the degeneration was starting to, essentially, be reversed.

And the last physician I worked with, he was just standing there looking at the picture, the MRI, just, like, “Wow, son! Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. I haven’t seen this before.

Lewis Howes:               Amazing! He had no clue, huh?

Shawn Stevenson:        Yeah, and that’s when I fired my doctor. But, with love, with love. But, yeah, I kind of got what I needed from that experience. And even when I went to get a scan done, I already knew I was well. It was just kind of an affirmation.

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Lewis Howes:               Now, why do you think our self worth is so tied to our body image?

Kelly LeVeque:             Well, I think that we have to address the fact that there is an innate sexuality that people who, like Gizelle, or supermodels or Brady, you look at these, like, fit football players and sexy models and their body is appreciated, it is beautiful. And we can’t knock them down for having that body, but we also have to embrace what is our natural figure as well.

And I think what it is, is pretty animalistic, because men and women are attracted, like, you’re attracted from the outside first, and then the attraction stays from the inside. Right? The outside is what gets you attracted and the inside keeps you attracted.

And it’s unfortunate sometimes, because people get really caught up in the way that they look, and what I try to coach my clients in, is not having these goals that are so outside of reality, but to really celebrate the wins. Whether that is gaining two pounds of muscle and being stronger and feeling more energised, or clearing a little bit of skin, or even just sticking to a plan for a little while, that can build confidence around how we feel.

Or maybe you’ve worked out and eaten clean for a couple of weeks and you treat yourself to a new romper, or a dress, or a pair of heels, I mean. Or you treat yourself to a massage, or a facial, or whatever it is that you’re into. I think it’s really important to celebrate your body, because so many of my clients will look at these people, like a Victoria’s Secret model, or the Instamodel in the bikinis and the girls who follow them and they want to be just like them, and they want that body.

But the problem is, if they don’t have that body, then they don’t feel confident, and if they don’t feel confident, then they don’t feel sexy, and then they don’t give off that confidence and sex appeal, and it’s detrimental to themselves because a lot of guys think they’re attractive.

And the same goes for guys, if they don’t put off that they feel confident and sexy, then the girl is going to vibe off of whatever that aura is or that energy is that they’re putting off, and that has a lot to do with not being perfect, but putting in the effort and loving what you’ve got.

And taking what you have to the next level, whether that’s taking yourself to the next emotional level by meditating, taking yourself to the next mental level by education and learning, and going to The School of Greatness, or whatever it is that you’re doing to better yourself.

I think all of those things you do to better yourself can make you more confident in who you are and more comfortable in your skin. And whether you’re a size two or a size twelve, you got to rock what you’ve got.

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Lewis Howes:               There you have it, my friends! I hope you enjoyed this Wellness Wisdom mash-up from the Masters.

Again, “The first wealth is health,” said Emerson. And it’s all about mastering your body, your emotions and your health. And if you don’t have that, something will always be holding you back in every other area of your life. Your relationships will be more strained, the way you think about yourself, your viewpoint on the world, your work, everything will be more strained if your health is strained.

Now, I’m not saying all your problems will go away if you’ve got great health, those challenges will still be there, but they’ll be less strained because you’ll have that inner confidence and know that you’re putting in the work to keep a healthy body and a healthy mind.

If you enjoyed this, make sure to leave a review over on iTunes, or the podcast app right now. And, again, every week we shout out the Fan of the Week, so I’d love to see some of your reviews and let me know what you think.

The full show notes is at lewishowes.com/644. And again, leave a comment over on Instagram or Twitter, take a screenshot of this and let me know what you liked most about it and share with your friends. It’s all about spreading the message of greatness.

And a big thank you to our sponsor today, Audible. Again, audiobooks are great for helping you become better and learn more, while not having to read and sit down and be focussed reading, or have to watch something. You can simply put it on when you’re commuting, when you’re waking up in the morning, when you’re going to bed, in the middle of the day. You can turn on Audible books to help you improve your life.

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You can start your 30-day trial, and your first audiobook is free. Go to audible.com/greatness, or text ‘greatness’ to 500-500. Again, go to audible.com/greatness, or text ‘greatness’ 500-500 to get started today.

And a big thank you to our other sponsor weebly.com/greatness. Again, Weebly helps you create gorgeous websites, plus it has tons of tools to help make it successful too, for your online business. Weebly lets you build your brand, promote your products, process payments, manage inventory and engage directly with your customers. All at one convenient place.

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Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we bring you the most inspiring individuals, insightful ideas and tools to help you unlock your inner greatness. I’m so grateful that you come back here each and every week and share this message with your friends. If you have any questions, any reviews, any thoughts, feel free to connect with me on Instagram and let me know there by leaving a comment.

As always, I love you very much, and you know what time it is: It’s time to go out there and do something great!