[319] - Jesse Stathakis - The Glass Bowl Method for Shift Workers

We show how structure beats willpower for eating well on a chaotic roster, then unpack the Glass Bowl Method: simple one-bowl meals that keep you full, reduce decision fatigue, and help weight loss stick without obsessive tracking.

• Jesse’s 40 kg loss, relapse after travel, and mindset shift
• Why calories matter but food quality drives satiety
• Three meals, two to three snacks as a default template
• Plan B meals and non-perishables for chaotic shifts
• Sleep, stress, movement, and their impact on appetite
• The Glass Bowl Method structure and recipe anatomy
• Light-touch tracking and repeatable meal templates
• How to set a personal why and ditch quick fixes
• Who the book helps and weekly planning tips
• Where to find Jesse and book an update schedule

Connect with Jesse at:

Instagram: @jessespt

Book: The Glass Bowl Method

Chapters

• 0:00 Plan B Meals And Shift Work Reality
• 5:12 Meet Jesse And His 40 Kilo Turnaround
• 11:55 Why Structure Outperforms Willpower
• 20:24 Building A Day Of Satisfying Meals
• 24:56 Contingency Plans For Chaotic Shifts
• 30:18 Clarifying Your Why For Lasting Change
• 35:29 Sleep, Stress, Movement And Consistency
• 41:34 The Glass Bowl Method Origin Story
• 47:24 One-Bowl Cooking Made Foolproof
• 54:24 Tracking Lightly And Eating By Template

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 3:11

Have this thing called plan B meals, like things that you can go to that are really quick and easy. So, like, yeah, can of tuna and maybe a packet of rice that you can put in the microwave. Like, if that's all you've got, that's perfect, right? Better than just not having anything and then getting the first thing you can get your hands on.

SPEAKER_00: 3:33

Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, certified nutritionist, veteran law enforcement officer, and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods to not only survive the rigors of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show. And welcome back to a healthy shift. Today I am talking with Jesse Stafarkis, a coach, a creator, and the author of this most unbelievable new e-book, The Glass Bowl Method. It's a cookbook and an eating framework that's getting a lot of attention for one simple reason. It makes eating well a lot easier than most people think. Hello, shift workers, this is what we need. Now, Jesse's story starts off with his own struggle with weight and identity and food. I want to talk about this because it's important because a lot of people as shift workers are coming from this place. Now he calls himself a former quote unquote fat boy, but what matters most is what came next. Jesse's built a system that helped him to completely change his life. And now he's helping other people to do the same. And trust me, it's amazing. Wait till you hear all about this. Now we're going to talk about his journey, why structure matters more than actual willpower, and how to think about weight loss in a way that actually works long term. Then we're going to get into the guts of it. And that's how the glass bowl method was born. Now, if you've ever felt like you know what to do, but you just can't stay consistent, or if you're sick of diets that completely fall apart as soon as life gets busy, high again shift workers, this episode is really going to hit home for you because we're going to break down the importance of structure, why most people don't have a food problem but a system problem, and how Jesse turned a simple idea into a full cookbook and a framework, which is called the Glass Bowl Method. Let's get into it. Welcome, Jesse. How are you today? I'm good, mate. Thank you for having me. No, no, the pleasure is absolutely all mine. I know I say that at the start of every episode to this podcast, but this one I've been really, really keen. Jesse's not a podcaster, but he's got an amazing story that I am absolutely busting to get out. Jesse, for those of you who don't know who you are, can you just give us a quick snapshot of your background and what led you personally into the fitness and nutrition coaching business?

SPEAKER_01: 6:13

Of course. So from a young age, I was an overweight kid. And because of that, I got bullied. I got made fun of. I was someone who was made to feel less than because let's face it, kids are really mean. Yeah, I grew up being overweight, and that was me until the middle of high school. And then at that point, I had a bit of a breaking point where I had decided I'm sick of this. I'm done with the bullying and being called all the names under the sun, which led me to go on this massive weight loss journey. And within a year, I'd lost 40 kilos. 40? Yeah, 40 kilos. I didn't exactly have a good education of sort of what to do, but I just knew that I needed to exercise. So I went from being someone who was really sedentary and a kid who liked video games to doing lots of walking, running. Also, my mum, she really helped me with the food side of things. So she'd lost weight following a low-fat diet. And so she sort of just helped me tweak the meals that I have already, and she just kind of made them lower in fat, which, you know, if you know anything about nutrition, that definitely can be one of many ways to reduce calorie intake. Yeah. So my mum helped me and I did lots of exercise. And then within a year, I'd gone from being the fat kid who gets bullied to now being the skinny kid. And it really did change my life. Again, it sucks that people are like this, but all of a sudden people like start respecting you, and you're no longer made to feel less than you're not categorized with the fat kids. But from that point onwards, I was like, Oh, I want to help my friends do the same because I had a bunch of mates, they were all overweight, and I'd help two of my friends lose close to 20 kilos. And from that point onwards, I was like, Oh, maybe I could do something with this. And when I got to the end of school, I really didn't know what I wanted to do. But my mum was like, Oh, just go do the personal training course, see how you feel. Maybe this is a career for you. And so that's what I did. I left school, I went straight into TAFE to become a qualified personal trainer, and I did that for the next 18 months because I did my certs and then I did a diploma. And then from that point onwards, from the end of 2014, I worked in a gym and I've been doing personal training and group sessions for the last yeah 10, 11 years. So that's pretty much how I found myself in the fitness health industry. And you know, throughout that time, I've been constantly learning and studying, and I've done nutrition courses, and things are always evolving and changing, and I've done my best to sort of keep up with that. And also, like that first weight loss that I had when I was a teenager, that wasn't the end of my weight issues. Even as a qualified personal trainer, I still had a lot of things that I hadn't worked out yet. Like, and for years I had yo-yo dieted, losing and gaining the same 10, 15 kilos over and over and over again. And that's something also that's been a big challenge for me. And then finally, when I found myself in a really good position in terms of like my weight, I feel like I sort of had it all worked out. I had a really good understanding of nutrition and all of that. I then decided to go and travel for a year. And when I got back from that trip, I was 21 kilos overweight. And you undid all the good work. I was like, shit. That put me in a position where I really needed to reassess, like, okay, what are the missing links here? And we'll talk about that anyway as we go further through the podcast. But absolutely essentially, the way that I got into this whole industry is uh through my own struggles with weight and then wanting to help other people do the same and get fit, and there's a lot to it.

SPEAKER_00: 10:07

So you talk about being called fat boy. Well, you labeled yourself fat boy. And do you remember there being an absolute crux that what was the actual turning point? I know you said, Oh, I got sick of it, but was there a particular moment that you went, Oh no, that's enough. I need to do something about this.

SPEAKER_01: 10:23

It was genuine discomfort with my body. I remember I was sitting at a table at Christmas after I had just gorged on thousands of calories, and I was feeling my stomach and my body, and I felt really kind of disgusted with myself and not happy. And I remember like it was that exact moment I was like, this has got to change. I can't do this anymore. And within days, I had made an effort to start putting things in place.

SPEAKER_00: 12:14

I remember my moment too. It's funny how you do get to the stage where all of a sudden there's a moment and you never forget that moment because it was your driving force. And I'm sure people listening will have had that moment, or if they haven't had it yet, it's coming, and then they will want to do something. So, what was the hardest part about your own transformation? Like, you know, the physical work, was it the mindset shift, or was it a whole lifestyle change? What did you find was the biggest battle?

SPEAKER_01: 12:44

Are we talking from like any particular point in time? Like from my first point in my right through. If I ever think about it, exercise has never really been an issue. Like once I started moving, I really quickly felt and understood the benefits. Like I felt how good it made me feel. So exercising and then also working in the gym. Exercising has never been that much of an issue, but it's definitely always been the food side of things. And I often will say to people, like, I have an endless appetite. I'm always hungry. Even I can eat really good, healthy, feeling meals, and I'll still be thinking about food, even though I know I've eaten really well. So it's always been food and being hungry, trying to overcome that and work out what to put in place to deal with that so that food doesn't take over my life.

SPEAKER_00: 13:35

Yeah, I love that. I love that because I think it's not about how much we're eating, it actually comes down to what we're reading as well. And we're gonna get into this because if you say, Oh, I've just finished a good healthy meal and I'm still hungry, it basically tells you something about the content of the food that you've actually eaten and your relationship with food as well, doesn't it? Definitely, yeah. Yep. So what mistakes were you making early on that you can now help others to avoid? Like if someone's listening to this and they say, I just don't know where to start, like what mistake were you making?

SPEAKER_01: 14:08

I think early on, one thing was just not understanding like the process of how weight loss works, not having an understanding and education. It was just kind of like, all right, need to move more, need to eat less. And then along the journey, I sort of, you know, as I got more educated and studied, I started to realize that, you know, there's a whole weight loss is a calorie-dependent process. So that's one thing. And also just having like an understanding that weight loss, it's not a destination. No, weight loss, weight management, whatever you want to call it, it's not somewhere that you just arrive at and then sweet, I'm done. It is a lifelong journey where you have to be on top of these things. And if you have a tendency to eat a lot of food, you're drawn more towards food than the average person. You really need to have things in place.

SPEAKER_00: 14:56

So, yeah, that's really good. You do. And that brings me to a great segue that you've just given me here, Jess, because we want to talk about structure next, right? So, why is structure so important when it comes to how we eat? Because especially for people like we've got a lot of shift workers listening to us here, and we have such an unpredictable life. So, can you just explain that even in the unpredictability of life, how important is it to have some form of structure? Well, there's a lot of layers to this, right?

SPEAKER_01: 15:25

So let's start with like when you have good structure in place, particularly with your food, but also exercise routines and all of that, you free up a lot of mental space because you know, we live in a time where we've got so much going on and we're always overwhelmed. There's just so much to think about. And when you've got that structure, you kind of automate things a little bit. Yep. You're no longer having to think about all these different what should I eat today, what should I have for this meal, what do I making for dinner this week? Those sort of things are a lot easier. So things are automated. There's also like if you're someone who struggles with a lot of hunger, right? And you don't have good structure within the times that you eat and the meals that you eat, well, your satiety is not going to be managed very well. Whereas if you've got balanced meals and you've spaced them out appropriately according to whatever your routine allows, you're more likely to get through the day having a good amount of energy. We all know people that skip meals and then they get to the evening or like later in the day, and all of a sudden they're smashing the Doritos and the crisps and the chocolates because they didn't eat properly throughout the day. And now they've just had thousands of calories worth of processed junk because they got to that point. So if you've got structure, you can sort of avoid those situations.

SPEAKER_00: 16:49

Yeah, it's so important because I think one thing that you haven't mentioned there that I'd like to mention from my perspective as well is you've got to take the decision fatigue out of it, don't you? Because we do suffer from decision fatigue as humans. We only get to make so many decisions every single day before we get to the stage where we just won't make a decision. And I think when it comes to structure, if you've got a structure in place, you don't have to think about it because you just go, right, this is lunch, this is dinner, I'm done, I'm sorted, I don't have to worry about it. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, everything's all sorted here. And I think that's probably, I don't think people identify this and realize it, but I think decision fatigue is a massive problem. That's why I love this book as well, because it takes that out of it. You can literally lay it all out and have it ready. So we'll get there. We're stepping through, we'll get there. What does a simple but structured eating day look like for you and your clients? Like, how do you like to structure it for people? Like you talk about structure, and I've spoken about decision fatigue. So, how can someone set themselves up for success in a day with structure around food?

SPEAKER_01: 17:52

Yeah, so obviously everyone is a little bit different, and like you do have to take that into consideration. But like what I have found to work really well for me and lots of people that I work with is first of all, getting in three good meals that are spaced throughout the day. And those meals, obviously, you want to make sure that they are nutrient dense, have a good amount of protein if you can. You know, not everyone's going to be able to get protein with every meal, but if you can, fantastic. Fiber with each meal, fantastic. And making sure that you do enjoy those meals. So three meals and two or three snacks, if you can space them out appropriately, so that you're not having, you know, six, seven, eight hours between a meal, that's fantastic, right? Because you're never going too long without a meal. And then again, going back to what I said before about getting to the end of the day and then just smashing thousands of calories, you can avoid that. So three meals, two or three snacks, depending on how you like to have your day. That is like my gold standard. Now, like I said as well, doesn't mean that that's the best for everyone. I also have worked with people that do really well, just having two big meals and then having a large assortment of low-calorie snacks where they have them throughout the day. And that just mentally works better for them.

SPEAKER_00: 19:13

So I love that. It's fantastic because people make the mistake. I'll wake up today, oh, I won't have this, I won't eat anything, and they end up licking apples and munching on lettuce leaves. And then by the time they get to the evening, as you've quite rightly said, they're absolutely beside themselves. They open the pantry and the rest of it's absolutely history from there on in. I think if people start off and they have calorically dense meals three times a day, or at the very least, twice a day, lunchtime and dinner time. And I've got my own thinking around that too, that it should be like breakfast and lunch and don't worry about the dinner, but that's just me, and that's just understanding the biological side of it. So you're a coach, you've coached a lot of people, you will have coached shift workers as well, and you will have coached people that have got very disrupted routines that don't have structure. It's all well and good to have the nine to five of the tradey that starts at this time every day. But how do you coach people through a completely disrupted routine that has late nights, travel, shift work, those sort of things there? What's a good way to set themselves up?

SPEAKER_01: 20:12

Yeah, so what I like to do in these situations is over time, I like to work with the person one-on-one to come up with contingency plans for when things arise. So obviously, like we're gonna have our ideal situation where if everything goes well throughout their shift, their day, whatever it is, we have the ideal situation. But then if we can't meet that and other things arise, then like I said, having a plan in place for that situation, and like a lot of the time, you can only come up with these plans and contingency plans, whatever you want to call them, in hindsight. Just say I'm working with someone and for example, they didn't get to prep their food, right? And so they just have to grab something on the way to work or during their lunch break, whatever. Then we'll put in a plan so that if this happens, then we'll do this and we'll trial it. And if that works, well, then next time that happens, we know what to do. And then we keep moving along until the next thing happens, and again, we'll trial some sort of a plan to combat that situation, that barrier, whatever it is. And if it works, fantastic. If it doesn't, back to the drawing board, come up with a new plan. And it's sort of like just methodically working through step by step everything that could and can arise until we have this massive game plan, essentially. So that's what I do with people.

SPEAKER_00: 21:36

Oh, I think it's a great idea that we work through because Jesse's different from Roger, who's different from Kim, who's different from Karen, everyone's different, you know. So we need to work through these things individually with people. The classic example that I would talk about, particularly the cops, like the police, because they can be out on patrol, all of a sudden they've caught a baddie, they're back at the station, they didn't get time to whiz by the 7-Eleven, they didn't get time to go through the golden arches, they got no time. What do we do? And I think having a strategy, and I work with clients about having non-perishable stuff in their locker, can of tuna, corn thins, something like that, that they can just get something, something which is better than starving themselves and then walking out of the station afterwards and just going absolutely nuts. I think that's probably one way of looking at it. And what you've said, I love about the way you go about it in try something, have a strategy. I think the thing that's most important that you said there was have a strategy. If this happens, then we do this. Because when that happens, you automatically default to doing this instead of I don't know what to do, don't we?

SPEAKER_01: 22:47

Yeah, 100% and fantastic. What you were saying about having those non-perishables, that's awesome. Have this thing called plan B meals. So yes, like things that you can go to that are really quick and easy. So, like, yeah, can of tuna and maybe a packet of rice that you can put in the microwave. Exactly. Like, if that's all you've got, that's perfect, right? Better than just not having anything and then getting the first thing you can get your hands on.

SPEAKER_00: 23:11

I'm gonna put my own plug here because we're gonna be pushing your book, but my own plug. If anyone goes to any single post on my Instagram and types the word snacks in, snacks, I'll send them a link to download my free non-perishable snack guide, which anybody can have, which I've listed a whole heap of things that people can buy, have in their lockers, keep in their kit bags, keep around them, that they've always got something that they can reach for and grab all the time. So there you go. That's my own plug, Jess. We're getting there. We'll get to yours. It's okay. Fantastic. You've got it, it's got to be done. It's got to be done. Right. Now, when someone says, I just want to lose weight, right? You know as well as I do, every single client that comes to me, every client that comes to you says, I want to lose weight. Where do you actually start that conversation with them?

SPEAKER_01: 24:00

The first thing that I will try and touch on with anyone is trying to get them to know their why and understand why it is that they want to lose the weight and not just like some sort of surface level. I try to dig deep with people and really truly understand like, is it so that you can watch your grandkids grow up and be able to play with them? Like, is it so you feel more comfortable around your partner? Like, there's a million different reasons why someone could, you know, want to get healthier, lose weight. And when you dig into that, I try to get clients to like write a big list with everything that comes to their head. And when things get tough or things don't go to plan, we can always come back to that and review like why are we doing this in the first place? Why is this so important? It can be really easy to lose track of that. That is where I personally start, and then from there it's a case-by-case situation.

SPEAKER_00: 24:54

Yeah, I love that. I think we have to keep on bringing clients back to their why, why they actually came to us in the first place, because we hear all the excuses along the way, and people do tend to lose their weight, but bringing them back to the why they wanted to do it in the first place should be their driver because it drove them to approach you in the first place. They've come to you and want to lose weight, but what non-food factors do you believe matter just as much? Like everyone thinks, oh, I've got to lick an apple and chew on lettuce leaves, but what other non-food factors do you think matter as significantly to them? Like sleep, stress, environment, identity, their reason, their why. What do you think matters just as much as the nutrition side?

SPEAKER_01: 25:35

Can we quickly touch on nutrition just a little bit more before we talk about that? Of course. So I got to a certain point in my career, maybe five five years ago, where it sort of believed that it was just the main focus needs to be calories. It's just calories, and if you can get that under control, everything else will be sweet. And I was a big fan of flexible dieting, which is like eat whatever you want, have whatever you want, as long as you hit your calories and ideally hit your protein. But obviously, as time's gone on, I realize that there are a few issues with that. And like, of course, if you're trying to lose weight, right, you've got to get your calories in check, right? But what your food consists of will make or break your ability to stick with a certain amount of calories. It will determine how you feel in terms of energy, your mood. People really don't realize that the quality of your food is so, so important, just as much as calories, like fiber and protein. We could delve into this really deeply, but yeah, that's something that people really should consider as well.

SPEAKER_00: 26:40

Yeah, I agree. It's just food. A lot of people try to cut everything out, but it literally is just food. It's about how much you eat of it. That's the biggest problem. Still enjoy it because when you're enjoying something, you'll stick to it. When it's delicious and it contains everything that you need, you'll stick to it. That's the key, isn't it? 100%. All right. Well, I think that's probably labeled what you see as one of the most important. I think instead of saying you've got to be in a calorie deficit, you've got to move more and you've got to eat less. Because if it was that easy, Jess, everyone would be doing it, wouldn't they? Yeah, definitely. It's just not that easy. It's just not that easy. All right. So, how do you personally move people from a quick fix mindset? Because everyone comes to you and wants to lose eight kilos in six weeks, everyone, right? How do you move them from a quick fixed mindset into something that is more sustainable for them, that they start to gain momentum and go, hey, this works.

SPEAKER_01: 27:33

Like this is a big challenge, right? Because if someone has been chronically dieting for a long time, they kind of have these beliefs that they just want to get it done as quickly as possible. But if we can get people seeing, if you try and do things as quick as possible, it's probably gonna be over as quickly as it began. But if we can start looking at the things that you put in place, right, to lose weight, they're the sorts of things that need to stick around ideally long after. And they're the things that are gonna help you keep it off. Yes. And I guess trying to get someone to understand that. And back to what you said before, you did ask me about what non-food things are important. And I'll go through a few of them. So the first one is sleep, right? I think without good sleep, everyone is going to be not in a good place in terms of their willpower, in terms of their mood, how they feel on a daily basis. You would know more than I do when it comes to sleep. But when we don't sleep, our hunger hormones are affected, and we're gonna be more likely to go for the crappy food option than go for the healthy option, right? Correct. So, like for me, the top tier is always sleep. We look at calories, we look at food quality, we look at sleep, right? And if you can get to a point where you maintain a good sleep schedule and sleep hygiene, everything's gonna be a lot easier. And like we said, it will help you lose weight and will also help you maintain it after you're done. Yeah. Then we've got like stress management, right? A lot of people will go to food because that's the only thing they know what to do when they get stressed, right? And that's something that they've learned maybe throughout their life. But if you can get someone going to other things that are not food, like you know, it might be a hobby, it could be spending more time with people that make you feel good, it could be something like meditation, breath work, the list is endless, but it's learning other things that are gonna help you de-stress, feel good, reset, and then yeah, exercise is another thing. Like I've always been someone who loves to lift weights and I've always been good with steps, but I always neglected cardio, like hard cardio that gets your heart rate up. We don't need that the blood pumping, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And as soon as I started doing more cardio, I started running last year and I've never stopped because I love it so much.

SPEAKER_00: 30:13

People hate running, but I absolutely love it. We can't be friends, we cannot be friends. If you see me running, try and keep up because I'm running away from somebody. Running has changed my life, I reckon.

SPEAKER_01: 30:25

But doing something that has your heart rate up has massive impacts on your mood and your mental health, and it even helps you sleep at night. Like I found that I've been sleeping better, so that's something that people definitely want to introduce, right? Is movement in general and keep it forever, ideally. So all these things that I just spoke about, I try to get people to see that these are all super important, but they're also things that need to come gradually. You can't just start doing all these things, you can't just be really good at sleeping, you can't just start an exercise routine and stick to it. You've got to really work these things in, and it takes a lot of time. If you don't have all these other factors and things in your life, you're probably gonna struggle to keep off the weight. And when I can get someone to realize that, I can get them to move away from wanting that quick fix, or I'll get them to realize that going for the quick fix is not the way. The way forward is to work on everything together and trying to get that to be a part of your life long term.

SPEAKER_00: 31:29

I hope you're enjoying the show. If you are, please don't forget to rate and review once you've finished. This helps the show's reach enormously. And have you got my free ebook, The Best Way to Eat on Night Shift? Well, this is a comprehensive guide to the overnight fast, why we should fast and how to best go about it. I've even included a few recipes to help you. I've put a link to the ebook in the show notes. And are you really struggling with shift work and feel like you're just crawling from one shift to the next? Well, I've got you. If you would like to work with me, I can coach you to thrive, not just survive, while undertaking the rigors of 24-7 shift work. I also conduct in-house live health and well-being seminars where I will come to your workplace and deliver evidence-based information to help your well-being team to reduce unplanned leave and increase productivity in your workplace. I've put the links in the show notes to everything mentioned. You can find me at ahealthyshift.com or on Instagram at a underscore healthy underscore shift. Now let's get back to the show. I just wanted to go back over as well with exercising. You said you started running. Now I can guarantee that when you started running, you sucked at it, right? And when people start an exercise, they all suck at it, right? We all suck at lifting weights, we all suck at whether it's on the treadmill, whether it's doing yoga, Pilates, breath work, meditation, we suck at it. Everyone sucks at it. But then what we do is the people that become good are the ones that continually do it and it becomes muscle memory, and we get better and better and better. And for you to go out and go for a run now, it's something that you just prepare for, just go out and you just do. And if you look back at yourself 12 months ago, you wouldn't recognize yourself as to where you're at today and how good you feel doing it. It just gives you that. So the message that I'm saying there is you will suck at whatever you start doing. You will, whether it's nutrition, whether it's running, whether it's yoga, but you will get better at it the more you do it. And the more you do it and stick to it, and it's about consistency all the time. Now, Jess, I got to talk about the glass bowl method now because I'm really excited, and this is the reason why I wanted to hear your background and I wanted to hear your thoughts. And I'm sure people are really engaged at this now, but now they need to really lock in because we're gonna talk about the glass bowl method. Jess has released a book that I literally got excited about myself because we see recipe books, we see cookbooks and bits and pieces, and we see people are on Instagram putting things together and nothing sticks. I can tell you now, people, this will stick, mark my words, particularly as a shift worker, because Jesse's released the book and it's called the Glass Bowl Method. Now, let's get into it. What actually sparked the idea for the glass bowl method?

SPEAKER_01: 34:32

As I said at the beginning of the podcast, I put on a lot of weight when I went traveling, which was crazy. Most people lose weight when they go traveling long term and I put weight on. When I got back from that trip and I knew that I needed to lose the weight again, I had this epiphany, is that the right word? So the easiest time when I lost weight was actually when I was in high school, when I was 15 years old, I lost 40 kilos. It was actually, it felt really easy. And it made me think like, why? What were some of the big factors behind that? What made it really easy? And the fact that one of the biggest things was when you're in school and you're young, you have so much structure in your life. You wake up, you have your breakfast, you go to school, you have your recess, you have your lunch, you come home, you have your dinner, repose. It's all set out for you. And because you've got that routine and you can make locking in to something really, really simple. First of all, I thought, like, okay, I need to get better at making food, and I need some sort of good system structure that can help me do that. And so for a while, I was just experimenting with all these different types of recipes and different types of cooking, slow cooker and one-pan meals, like all these different things that I had just gone out and found on TikTok, really. And then I came across there was a few people making these one-pot recipes. Yep. And straight away I was like, oh, this is awesome. This is easy, they're great. You can do so much with this. I'm the sort of person that can get fixated on one thing and I get really obsessed with an idea. I was like, these glass ball recipes are amazing, and I'm just gonna come up with as many different ones that I can, and then show people that you can like okay, they're easy, but you can use them to create structure throughout your day, and this is going to help you with your weight loss because it helped me, it helped me with my 21 kilos. It took me nine months of locking in, and I lost 21 kilos, and I used these recipes, and they just were incredible, and that's what really sparked the love for the whole thing, and then from there, obviously, I put so many of these recipes out, and my Instagram blew all up, and then my TikTok blew up, and now Facebook's blown up. It got to a point where I was like, Oh, I've got to do a book. Like, so many people were asking me for a recipe book, and I procrastinated on for ages because I was like, Oh, I don't know if I uh I don't know, I just wasn't sure. But one person that really helped me kickstart it was my mum. She was like, Come on, you gotta do it. She really pushed me. So thanks, Mum.

SPEAKER_00: 37:09

I think that's fantastic. Go, mum, and she'd be super proud too with where you've got to with that. She's probably your biggest cheerleader, and rightly so. I've got my own kids, and I'm the biggest cheerleader to my own children as well to see them succeed and see them do things. So that's great. Now, people don't know. People that are listening to this that haven't seen it don't really know what we're talking about here. But what does the glass bowl represent? And why did you build a whole system around a goddamn glass bowl? Right? You've called it the glass bowl method, you use these glass bowls, where do you get them from? And why did you build this system around glass bowls?

SPEAKER_01: 37:46

It represents simplicity, ease, a way to keep things really, really, really simple. If you're someone that thinks that you can't cook, you can. You've just got to really dumb things down, and yeah, it just represents ease, is the best way that I can put it.

SPEAKER_00: 38:07

Yeah, I agree. Chuck everything in, chuck it in the oven, and away you go. I think it does. It's a symbol of simplicity.

SPEAKER_01: 38:13

So many people they're always worried about what to eat, or even like I've heard it so many times, don't know how to cook. Well, it's like this just takes that away. How can we bum things down and simplify it, but also still make good food? Well, you chuck it in a bowl, you put it in the oven, and you're done.

SPEAKER_00: 38:30

It couldn't be any easier. I'll say this to people. We'll talk about it when we get to the end. But I think if people haven't gone and had a look at Jesse's Instagram account, and we'll put all the links to everything in the show note. You've got to have a look at how simple this is. It is ridiculously simple for airship workers. How did you structure the books so the recipes are simple, they're repeatable, and they're very practical for people?

SPEAKER_01: 38:52

Like a lot of the bowls are quite similar in terms of the amounts that go into them. So, like I have my different types of bowls, right? You've got like all different ones. You've got like rice, pasta, potato, then you've got like stuff that uses oats, baked oats, overnight wheat beaks. You've got endless different types of bowls, and a lot of them follow the same basic structure with just subtle differences. Like, for example, you've always got the carb source, you got the protein, you got the flavor, the sauce, veggies, fiber, and then you've got like your healthy fats, or you've got a bit more flavor, or you've got a bit of cheese on top, whatever it is. They're all follow such a basic, similar format. So it just makes things really easy.

SPEAKER_00: 39:36

It's ridiculously easy. Like it is ridiculously easy. And when people see it, they're gonna go. I think what you say is just going back as well, because it crossed my mind, people get very obsessed with oh, I've got to track food and it's got to be all tracked, and if I can't track it, I don't know. And my personal belief is it's really disordered because people get to the stage where they become so confused and they don't know what to eat and where. I actually think the glass bowl method teaches people just to eat, but just to monitor how much they're eating, right? So just to be in tune with eating delicious food, because you're getting your proteins, your carbs, your healthy fats, you're getting your ordinary fats, you're getting everything that you need, and it's delicious. And it will sustain you to your next meal. And then you have another one and you get to the next meal. You don't have to track this, and just as testimony to the fact that he's lost a significant amount of weight just by sticking to this without tracking it. You don't have to track everything you put in your gob, do you?

SPEAKER_01: 40:37

Can I uh add something to that? And another sort of appealing factor was exactly that, right? Because the fact that, let me say, first of all, that I think everyone should at least track for a little bit just to have an awareness of what's in food. And once you've got that awareness, though, you know, some people should just probably let it go because it can get really obsessive or it can become mentally taxing. It really depends on the person. But the best thing that I have found is to just work out the calories once, right? And then you just repeat the meal the exact same way every time, and then you don't have to track it, or you might just do a mental like, okay, that bowl was 500, that one was 550, that one was 450, boom, I got 1500 calories right there. I'm sweet. And as long as you make the meals the same, then you're all sweet.

SPEAKER_00: 41:27

Or ballpark. People got to remember as well that tracking isn't as accurate as what they think it is, right? So even if you are creating a bowl, and let's just say your book says, oh, this is 640 calories, the way the person makes it, it could be anywhere from 550 to 800. Like it could be anything, right? So, but the thing is, and what I think you just hit the nail right on the head. Breakfast, 500, 500 or 600. Dinner, five or six hundred. Okay. I've just consumed 1700 calories. I'm in a deficit. End of story. That's it. Simple. Have an apple, have a banana, have an apple or a handful of nuts, and you are home every single day, and you've got yourself tremendous meals to actually have. I want you to describe one of your videos. Tell me how you make a meal in a glass bowl. What does it look like? Like you make those things and create these videos all the time. Talk us through just putting one together. How does it work?

SPEAKER_01: 42:25

So it's get all the stuff ready. So, like if it's got onion, meat, chop it up, right? Just quickly, chop it all up, sort it all out so it's not chaotic, and then just put it in the bowl. It's literally that simple. And for example, I'll walk you through my pesto chicken. So it'd be like rice goes in, chicken goes in, pesto, Greek yogurt, the veggies go in, bit of chicken stock, give it a mix, put the sun-dried tomatoes on top in the oven. It's that simple.

SPEAKER_00: 42:55

I just felt like I'll just watch one of your videos the way you said that, but it's literally exactly how it is. People listening to this, I've got to tell you, the good thing about this is as well, it's not unique to where you live in the world. You can have this anywhere. Everyone's got rice, everyone's got chicken, everyone's got their sauces and yogurts and things like that. Just literally just puts them in a bowl, mixes them, puts them in the oven, shows it going into the oven. It's in the oven for a period of time. It comes out of the oven and it looks amazing. Like everything's cooked and it's incredible. Who did you create the book for? And how did you want people to actually use it?

SPEAKER_01: 43:31

There's a few different types of people, but people that just don't want to stress about food, people who don't know what to eat, people who sh think that losing weight and dieting has to involve boring ass meals when in reality you can still make really, really tasty meals that tick all the boxes, and you can still have variety whilst you know having structure, you can still have a lot of variety within that, and also just people that they don't want to think like we spoke about earlier, or like you said, the decision fatigue is a big one. Yeah, right. So if you've got 10 recipes that you know you really love, you can just come back to them and there's no stress.

SPEAKER_00: 44:09

Yeah, and you could literally structure a whole meal plan for a whole week, yeah, couldn't you?

SPEAKER_01: 44:14

Yeah, simple. And sort of like you said, like the ingredients are quite straightforward, and I try not to ever use like a particular brand name or anything, it's just generic, like everything can be made with generic ingredients anywhere in the world, and I've done that on purpose. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 44:30

I'm gonna have to ask you though, what's your personal favorite recipe in the book? Something that's a go-to that you have, and you just think I know what to do here, I'll just throw it together because I just love it, and it's just so easy.

SPEAKER_01: 44:41

Yeah, so like I'm I'm a big fan of potatoes, and so one of the easiest, most delicious ones out of the whole book is the periperi chicken and potato bowl, which is just potatoes, chicken, periperi sauce, bit of cream cheese, bit of veg, onions, capsicin, sometimes add other things in there, and cheese on top. And it is so simple, it's so yummy.

SPEAKER_00: 45:04

Tell me, people, that doesn't sound absolutely unbelievable. Like, I kid you not, go and have a look at it. I know I'm pumping it up. I know that no one's gonna be disappointed when they see it. It's so beautifully put together as well. It's well photographed, it's well structured, it's really easy. It's an ebook, it's a digital download. So you get it on your phone, you can literally scroll through, you can screenshot at each recipe at a time. So I encourage my shift workers too, Jess, that this is what I do. For those of you that are on Android phones, that you're using keep notes or something like that, or even notes on your iPhone. If you create, I call it my three times six plus six, which is six breakfasts, six lunches, six dinners, and six snacks. And if you carry that on your phone and you with a link and you could put each recipe, you could screenshot it and put each recipe there. When you land in the supermarket and you open it up, it is right there for you. And you can go, my God, I haven't had the periperri chicken for ages. What do I need? And it's listed right there. All you gotta do is go home, chop it up, put it together, put it in the oven for 20, 25 minutes, whatever, and it's done. End of story. Yeah. My God, this is a shift worker's dream, Jet. I've got to tell you, it's a shift worker's dream. And I just want people to experiment and play around with it. And I think also, even for the wives or husbands of shift workers that are actually preparing meals for their partners, you could literally have it cooked and then take it to work cold and nuke it, couldn't you? And then just run it from there. They last in the fridge. You can freeze them, you can, it's just fantastic. It really is. I'm really pleased to have you come on and talk about it today because it's something that I want people to really know more about. So let's wrap this up. What's one nutrition tip that you would give a listener who wants to start today? You're allowed to say buy my book.

SPEAKER_01: 47:01

Well, aside from buying my book, I'm gonna give you two. The first one is there is a lot of information out there, and it can be really hard to know what is right, what's wrong, what's the best diet. And the truth is there isn't a best diet. I think one thing that we can all agree on, regardless of how much you know about nutrition, is that eating things that are less processed, more natural, like fruit, veg, lean meats, beans, legumes, you know, rices, things that are less processed and more so on the side of whole foods, that's always gonna be best for you. We know this. Eating things that are not out of a bag are going to be better. Doesn't mean you can't have things out of a bag, doesn't mean you can't eat processed foods, that's fine, but more towards whole foods. Whole foods. The more whole foods you have, the better you're gonna book. The better things, yeah. Better things are gonna be. The second thing would be try and view weight loss, weight management, and healthy eating as a lifelong thing. It is a journey and it is something that you can improve across your entire life. And as I said earlier in the podcast, it's not a destination. Weight loss, weight management, healthy eating, it's not a destination, it's a lifelong thing that you're gonna be having to work on. And there's no end point, it's a lifelong journey.

SPEAKER_00: 48:23

And enjoy it, and just when you think, oh yeah, I've got this, it's going really well. Next week you're gonna feel better than you felt the week before, and you'll think, oh, I thought I was doing really well, but I'm now doing better. And you just keep on getting better and better as you go. Bit of movement, get your light diet right, eat well. Everything just starts to fall into place really, really well. Okay, so what's one thing that you want people to stop doing when it actually comes to dieting? Oh, let's just go with the quick fixes.

SPEAKER_01: 48:54

Yeah, no more quick fixes, stop going on these silly fad diets. All these fad diets, they're just ways of creating restriction. Yep. And a lot of them are just crap. Yeah, great. Stop hopping on the fad diets, stop going for the quick fixes because as we spoke about, a quick fix generally leads to a quick demise.

SPEAKER_00: 49:15

That's right. And if you can't see yourself doing it in six months, why even start it now? It's a pointless exercise, and that's the way I see it. Okay, where can people find the book, Jess? How do they follow your work? Where do they get you to reach out to you? If things that you've said are resonated, where can they find you?

SPEAKER_01: 49:32

So I'm on Instagram, that's my main platform that I'm most active on. So like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, all under the name Jesse's PT, all one word, Jesse's PT. And my book is linked in the bio of all of those platforms. But like I said, Instagram is the one that I'm most active on. So like if you wanted to reach out, you needed help with something, I'd always get back to you on Instagram.

SPEAKER_00: 49:59

Jess does. And go along and for God's sake, put him on alert for when he posts because everyone, you just look at it and think, oh my God, that's so easy. Why didn't I think of that? Jesse's already thought about it. It's fantastic. What's next for you, Jess? Have you got any new projects or ideas brewing that you can talk about?

SPEAKER_01: 50:16

Well, a lot of people are asking me if I'm gonna do another book, but the truth is I'm not. Instead, what I've chosen to do is every couple months, I'm gonna do an update of the book that I've already got. So I'm gonna be adding either at the end of December or the very beginning of January, I'll be adding there's at least 36 new recipes that I'm gonna be adding to that book. And everyone who's purchased the book, the book will just be sent out to the email address that you put in when you buy it. Yeah, I'm gonna just keep adding to it. So that'll be update number one. I have been planning three updates. I may keep going. Like if people are loving it in a year's time and the recipes are doing really well and people want more, then I'll keep going and I'll update it even more than three times. That's what I'm focusing on now. And also from the coaching perspective, at the moment I'm not taking any coaching clients on, but next year I may be relaunching with some sort of different approach to the way that I do my coaching. I just haven't worked that out yet.

SPEAKER_00: 51:16

Absolutely fantastic. Now, this is such good value, such good value for the book. Now, Jesse's just told you that you can purchase the book today, and here we are now, the time of recording this, we're sort of at the end of November. You buy the book today, and you'll get the update with at least another 36 recipes in December, January, and with the possibility of another update for one purchase. For one purchase. You can't beat that. I think that's just absolutely fantastic, Jess. I always ask people this question as my final question. It's an appreciation for people who come onto the podcast because I'm a multimillionaire, and what I do is I'm actually prepared to buy or build you a house anywhere in the world that you would like, right? But you have to live in it for six months of the year. Where am I going to buy or build it for you?

SPEAKER_01: 52:04

Well, I've been to a lot of different countries. I think it would have to be Thailand because I just love Thailand. I've been there three times. It's got to be somewhere on the beach, somewhere not too far away from people and society. Yeah, it would have to be Thailand. It's beautiful, isn't it? It's one of my favorite places. And like I've been so many places in Asia, but Thailand's just so easy, and the food there is incredible. It's like my favorite favorite type of food is Thai food.

SPEAKER_00: 52:34

And you can't replicate it here, can you? You can go to a Thai restaurant here, it's not the same as the Thai food there. And I think that's fair enough too, Thailand. Because then I can come and visit. Because I actually, if you talk Bali Thailand, I'm a Thailand person. Yeah. Easy. No problems. Very simple. Jesse, thank you so much. I really do sincerely appreciate your time. You've absolutely smashed it. And I want to just say thank you so much for coming on and talking all about your amazing book, The Glass Bowl Method. Thanks, mate. Thanks for having me. It's been awesome. Now, everyone, if you want to follow Jesse or grab the book, I will be putting all of the links down into the show notes. Now you can find him on Instagram at Jesse's PT. And I highly recommend, highly recommend that you do. His content is next level for us, shift workers. And you can also order the book through his link in his bio. And if you're a shift worker who wants structure that fits your roster, you can always reach out to me. Coaching Details and the Shift Workers Collective are all located at ahealthyshift.com. As always, I want to say thank you so much for listening. If this episode helped you in any way, and it will, I know it will, share it with someone who's trying to get their health back on track, someone who is struggling, this is definitely a way forward and a way to go. And I will catch you in the next one. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshift.com. I'll catch you on the next one.