31 V’s and 2 F’s

This episode, "31 Vs and 2 Fs," uses Brett's upcoming annual physical as motivation for a 33-day health challenge: 31 days of clean eating and healthy habits ("Vs") plus two fasting days ("Fs"), though he humorously admits Athena's birthday cake quickly turned one of those days into an "X." He shares lessons he's learned about health and fitness, emphasizing that nutrition is the biggest factor in physical results and that small, consistent choices create lasting change. Brett also highlights your weight-loss success, praising your discipline, increased energy, and confidence while sharing some of the habits that helped you lose over 30 pounds. The core message is that good health isn't just about appearance—it's the foundation for having the energy, resilience, and freedom to fully enjoy life, pursue dreams, and serve others. The episode closes with encouragement to take one positive step toward better health today, no matter where you're starting. 

Motivation Daily | The Power of Excellence

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/motivation-daily-by-motiversity/id1581058922?i=1000770798110

Forgive Yourself | How to Move Forward and Find Inner Peace

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/motivational-speech/id1642546815?i=1000771510761

Victoria Osteen | Keep the Right Perspective

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joel-osteen-podcast/id137254859?i=1000770818024

Simple Daily Routine Download:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1njZbEbTg-NKLto1OptvAkglc6mxdXKo7/view?usp=drive_link

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to A Conversation of Hope with Brett. This podcast is all about you, the mission, to remind you that you are a masterpiece. To inspire you to dream again. To equip you with simple, actionable strategies for success. Strategies you can start using today to begin your journey with the incredible life you deserve. He wants to remind you of the trends you were going to do. No matter your past or current struggles, firmly believes that you're best to help. It's grateful you're here and promises to give us all each week to help you create the life you were meant to live. So buckle up. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Hey, welcome, welcome, welcome to a conversation of hope. I am so glad you tuned in today, and I promise I will give you everything I got. Right from the jump, I want to remind you, you are enough. You have what it takes. You are a champion whose absolute best days are straight ahead. I want to take a minute just to explain to you the title of this episode 31 Vs and 2Fs. In 33 days, I will be having my yearly physical. On the wall in my bathroom, I have a huge yearly calendar. On that calendar, at the end of every day, I take a marker and I either put an X or I put a V on that day. I earn a V if I ate whole foods, drank my water, worked out, and took my supplements while avoiding any refined sugar. My goal is to be able to have 31 perfect eating days before my yearly physical. And the two F's stand for fasting. Two days of fasting before my physical. I will do a fast. I never thought in a million years, y'all, I would do a fast until I heard about it from Dr. Berg and Gary Brecka. How powerful completing a fast is for your body. When you fast, it's like giving your body a health reset. If interested in learning more, check it out, Dr. Berg B-E-R-G on YouTube. Dr. Berg, are you ready for this, y'all? Dr. Berg has 30 million subscribers. 30 million subscribers. All right. Before I want to, let's get into the health and fitness part, I do have to, I have a confession to make. So I wrote this podcast, and then a day later was my granddaughter's third birthday. So at the birthday party, my daughter, who spoils the heck out of my granddaughter because she's an amazing mother, she bought the most magnificent cake you had ever seen. And my daughter knows how I love cake, but she also knows how I'm trying to avoid refined sugar. So as she's cutting the cake, she cuts the biggest corner piece with the most frosting. Like I think I told you in a previous podcast, we make a perfect marriage, my wife and I, because I love the frosting and she loves the cake part. So anyway, my daughter slices off the biggest corner piece you've ever seen with the most frosting you could ever imagine. This cake had mermaids and butterflies and all sorts of stuff on it. So she says, Dad, I know you're eyeballing this piece. And she puts the fork in it, pushes it over to me, and I just sit there. Ha ha. And now my daughter and I have a stare down. She just literally starts laughing her head off. She's like, Dad, sometimes you just gotta, you gotta. Oh my god. I'm thinking I just wrote my podcast, 31 V's, 2Fs, and I'm only two days into it. Oh my goodness. Well, anyway, I'm human just like y'all. It's now gonna be 30 V's, one X and two F's, because I in fact had the greatest piece of cake I've ever had in my entire life. Like I said, my daughter just stood there and laughed and laughed and laughed. Thanks, sweetie. I love you, little Brittany. All right, here we go. I want to talk to you today about your health and fitness. As you know, I truly want the absolute best for your life. When you think of a best life, it means you're excelling mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. For many, many years, I struggled with health and fitness. I loved working out, and I always have, but I had a miserable diet. I could never lock in that diet. I went to the Arnold Classic, which is the largest fitness expo in the world, and I heard from Jay Cutler, who was doing a VIP lunch that we went to, and he's a pro bodybuilder, and he answered the seemingly number one question from every guy that was in the room. All the guys wanted to know which machine to use to get a six-pack stomach. Jay's answer shocked me but enlightened me to better health and fitness. He said it's not a machine that gives you a six-pack. He said 90% of your results are determined by what you eat. So your diet is the key to your success. A great meal plan along with four to five fun workouts a week that you enjoy equals great health and fitness. If you want better health and fitness, I would encourage you to check out Dr. Berg's videos on intermittent fasting and then check out anything Gary Brecka puts out. Both are tremendous sources of wealth of wisdom as you pursue your fitness excellence. Our executive producer of this podcast is my beautiful bride, and she has lost over 30 pounds over the past 12 months, and she's only five feet tall. She's really 4'11, folks, but don't tell her that because five feet versus 4'11 is a huge difference to her. But anyway, she is absolutely adorable to me, and I love her endlessly. So, anyway, she lost 30 pounds over the past 12 months. She feels amazing in her own skin, and I have watched her confidence and energy skyrocket as the weight left her. I asked her for tips on weight loss. So here we go. Don't eat junk food, she says. Eat a lot of protein, have more fiber, drink water with electrolytes. She always likes her water with electrolytes. Have a strong why, the reason that you're doing it. She says, have a very, very strong why to make the changes. Don't have any processed or fast foods. So, like when you're in a grocery store, shop the perimeter of the grocery store, the meat, the seafood, the produce, all of that. Try to avoid those aisles, especially the frozen food aisles. You don't have to eat all day, she says. All day long, is what she means on that. And what she says. So, for example, usually every time, like if you're eating every two hours, every time you put in more food into your body, your body stops burning fat, fat, and it just burns what you just put in. So it's better to kind of have those gaps. Boy, I'll tell you what though, it's been amazing to watch her be so successful. And and just so the gratitude of having my lady of love feeling good. I watched her struggle with her weight her entire life. I'm so proud of her and grateful as I just want great health for her. Her and I talk about it all the time, but we want to be happy and healthy, holding hands at 90 years young. All right, y'all. Let's dig a little deeper into how powerful and great health and fitness can be in your life. Every great life is built on energy, not just ambition, not just talent, not just dreams, but energy. And where does that energy come from? It comes from your health. It comes from how you treat your body, your mind, your habits, your discipline, and your daily choices. Health and fitness are not just about looking good in the mirror. They are about feeling alive when you wake up in the morning. They are about having the strength to pursue your purpose, the endurance to overcome hard times, and the vitality to fully enjoy the people and the moments that matter most. When your health improves, your entire life improves. Your confidence, mood, focus, relationship, sleep, patience, and your future improve. A healthy body creates a stronger mind, and a stronger mind creates a stronger life. So many people spend years chasing success while neglecting the very thing that gives them the ability to enjoy success in the first place. What good is health if you're exhausted all the time? What good is achievement if your body is breaking down? What good is reaching the top if you have no energy left to enjoy the view? Your health is not separate from your dreams. Your health fuels your dreams. When you exercise consistently, something powerful happens beyond the physical transformation. You begin proving to yourself that you can do hard things. Every workout becomes a vote for the person you're becoming. Every healthy meal says I value myself. Every early morning workout says I am disciplined. Every mile walked, every pound lifted, every unhealthy temptation resisted says I refuse to settle. Fitness teaches resilience. There will be days you don't feel like showing up, days you feel tired, days you feel discouraged, but when you train yourself to move forward anyway, you develop mental toughness that carries into every other area of your life. The gym becomes more than a gym, it becomes training for life. Because life itself requires endurance. Life requires consistency and grit. And the healthy people often discover something incredible. The stronger their body becomes, the stronger their belief becomes. You start standing taller, thinking clearer, dreaming bigger, and expecting more from yourself. You stop seeing yourself as weak, tired, overwhelmed, or incapable. You begin to see yourself as someone who is disciplined, focused, and capable of growth. That transformation changes everything. Health also gives you freedom. Freedom to travel, freedom to play with your kids or grandkids, freedom to hike mountains, explore life, and enjoy experiences instead of sitting on the sidelines watching others live. One of the saddest things in life is not aging. Aging is a gift. The sad part is when people lose the ability to fully live because they neglected their health for too long. But it doesn't have to be that way. No matter your age, no matter your past, no matter how out of shape you feel right now, your future can begin today. You don't need perfection. You just need progress. You don't have to run ten miles tomorrow. Start with a walk. You don't have to become a bodybuilder. Start becoming consistent. You don't have to change your whole life overnight. Just make one better choice today. One workout, one healthy meal, one extra hour of sleep, one decision to stop quitting on yourself. Small decisions repeated daily create massive transformation over time. And the beautiful thing about health is that the rewards compound. A little exercise gives you more energy. More energy helps you stay productive. Productivity builds confidence. Confidence improves your mindset. A better mindset improves your relationships. And better relationships improve your happiness. Everything is connected. When you take care of your body, you are telling the world and yourself that life matters. You begin living with intention instead of survival. And let's talk about mental health for a moment. Exercise is one of the most powerful natural antidepressants in the world. Movement changes your chemistry. It reduces stress, it lifts anxiety, it improves clarity, it gives your mind a reset from the noise, pressure, and negativity of life. Some of the greatest breakthroughs people experience happen during a walk, a workout, a run, or quiet moments of movement and reflection. Because fitness is not punishment, fitness is empowerment. You are not working out because you hate your body. You are working out because you respect your future. Healthy living is an act of gratitude. Gratitude for the life you've been given, gratitude for another day to grow, improve, and become stronger. And remember this, the goal is not just to live longer, the goal is to live better, to wake up with energy, clarity, without pain, smile more, laugh more, and experience life fully. A healthy life gives you the capacity to show up at your best spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically. It helps you become dependable, focused, positive, and resilient. When your body feels strong, your spirit often rises with it. And perhaps most importantly, your example inspires others. Just like my wife, she's inspiring everybody around her. Your discipline gives others permission to change. Your transformation gives others hope. And your consistency encourages your family, your friends, and even strangers who are silently watching. People notice energy, joy, and strength, and they are drawn towards it. So don't underestimate the power of taking care of yourself. It's not selfish, it's stewardship. You cannot pour from an empty cup. You cannot lead well, love well, or live well if you are constantly running on empty. You deserve to feel good, you deserve to feel strong, and you deserve to live with passion and vitality. Years from now, you will never regret the walks you took, the workouts you completed, and the healthy meals that you ate, or the discipline you developed. But you may regret waiting too long to start. So start now. Start before you feel ready. Start even if progress is slow. Start even if you fail before, because every single day is another opportunity to reclaim your health, your energy, your confidence, and your life. You were created for more than exhaustion, more than survival, more than barely getting by. Choose strength, discipline, movement, and health. And watch how every area of your life begins to rise with it. Remember, the healthy body and mind are not the destination. They are the foundation that allows you and I to build an extraordinary life. Wow. Such great information to live a healthier life. Please know, once again, I totally, totally understand the black cloud and how dismal it can be when you struggle with it at times to achieve that body. Just please know I believe in you. Start with baby steps and celebrate the little wins on your journey to fitness excellence. I truly, once again, I believe in you and I know that you can do it. Alright, y'all. Buckle up. Time to enter the laugh zone. What do you call a boomerang that won't come back? A stick. Why did the orange stop rolling down the hill? It ran out of juice. Okay, everybody. We got two great stories lined out for you today. I think you're gonna love both of them. They're really, really cute, really good. All right, number one, first one up community spares no effort to reunite lost dog with the owner after the car was rolled over and over again in a crash. After a serious crash on rural British Columbia Highway, a woman and her husband had to search for days to find their missing dog Daisy. Along the way they experienced just about every kind of help imaginable until ninety-six hours after their crash when they were reunited with their Australian shepherd. Daria Jordan and her husband Sharon were struck in Kelowna, British Columbia by a pickup truck that ran the pair of them off the road. Their car rolled over and Jordan suffered a series of small injuries. When the crashing and rolling stopped, all Jordan could think about was Daisy, her dog, who wasn't there. Ignorant of her injuries, she began to search, until at the insistence of the first responders, she was taken to the nearest hospital. It was soon obvious that nothing serious was hiding under her scrapes and bruises, and the doctors eagerly discharged Jordan to go look for her dog. Meanwhile, while responding to another call, a local member of the all volunteer Central Okanagan Search and Rescue asked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about the sirens that he had heard earlier, and was told that the two cars had rolled over and over again on the highway near Kelowna. Rescue member Forrest Kellerman got home, looked up more information on Jordan and Daisy's crash, and saw a notice that an Australian shepherd was missing. Whether it was the passion for finding people that saw him join the search and rescue volunteers, or whether it was his own Australian shepherds staring him in the eye on that afternoon, but Kellerman and his wife Tracy decided they were going to find Daisy and bring her home safely. The next day they spent hours searching the area around the crash site. The day after that they met Dehera and Sharon, who had hardly slept since the crash. By then the whole community had gotten wind of their ordeal and came out to help, either physically searching, providing a thermal imaging drone, or even just bringing out a hot meal. People were bringing us food, satellite links, everything imaginable. Like volunteers were coming out of the woodworks, just complete strangers. It was so emotional, said Jordan. On the fourth day, Tracy still felt compelled to go look for Daisy. And so the Kellermans went to the crash site where Tracy decided to do what could have been described as the obvious. In the immediate vicinity of the collision, the man who had hit Jordan with his truck was still hospitalized, but his truck was still there. Approaching the truck, Tracy suddenly saw movement and a small face with big eyes. It was Daisy. She was sitting on the passenger seat. She didn't make any sudden movements, but began sweetly talking to the dog while calmly alerting Forrest on the road to go and get Jordan. The dog mom couldn't hold back her emotions upon seeing Daisy, who whimpered intensely at seeing Jordan. Like Jordan herself, Daisy was no worse for the wear after the crash, and the two went home delighting in their good fortune and in the kindness of strangers that brought it about. Wow, you guys, that is fantastic. We talk about people helping people all the time. That is definitely people helping people. When you hear about something like that and go, how can I help? That is fabulous. Alright, next one up. Really impressive, y'all. When I read this story, I was like, wow, that is a noble man. So here we go. From Riviera Beach in Florida comes the story of a man returning $30,000 to a poor soul who'd misplaced it, saying it wasn't mine to take. The story is simple yet powerful, and a reminder that there are Good people all over this country and all over this world. It starts with Luis Salazar walking into the bathroom of a Wawa convenience store and finding a fanny pack hung on the handrail inside the stall. Salazar asked around inside the store to see if anyone had forgotten it with no avail. His next thought was to open it up and look for an ID. But his mind went numb from what he saw inside. Several huge wads of cash. Yet being the good person he was, Salazar never thought of taking a dime and instead spent several days trying to locate the person who owned it. Eventually, the Fanny Pax owner contacted Riviera Beach Police to report it missing. They used the security camera footage to identify Salazar. They told him the owner was waiting at Riviera Beach Police Station and Salazar went right over. So I gave him his bag and I said, This is yours. And he was crying and he hugged me, said Salazar. I was pretty astonished that anybody would have done that, said the owner, who chose not to be identified. Think about it. That's life-changing money, he said. People would kill for that kind of money. For his part, Salazar didn't seem astonished at all. He simply said, It's not my money to take. I was not raised that way. Wow, everybody. That is awesome. Two things on that. We talk about people helping people. Definitely people helping people. My goodness, that guy would have been way off different financially if he would have lost that $30,000. And then we also talk about integrity. And I hear this as much as I say it. But they always say integrity and character is what you do when no one's watching. And that is just amazing for this guy to be like it was never even a thought to take a dime of that money. I just love hearing that kind of stuff. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. All right, y'all. Now I'm going to recap my top three podcast episodes of the week. I like you love to listen to podcasts. I'm always trying to grow and get better and better every day, every way. And I realize the only way I can do that is by increasing the amount of input, positive stuff into my mind. So here we go. Number one, the power of excellence. This was on motivational daily podcast. Excellence is not an accident. It is a decision, a habit, and a lifestyle. The challenge is to stop settling for average and begin approaching every area of your life with intentional greatness. Never have the mindset of mediocrity. Greatness is built in private long before it is recognized in public. Discipline beats motivation. Motivation can get you started, but discipline keeps you going when the emotions fade. Champions don't wake up every day feeling inspired, but they wake up committed. They train when tired, steady when distracted, and keep moving when life becomes uncomfortable. Taking personal responsibility is powerful. Your future depends on your habits, mindset, and your willingness to grow. Make excellence your standard. No matter what conditions you face, there is a big difference between being interested and being committed. Interested people work when it is convenient, but committed people work regardless of how they feel. Excellence requires sacrifice, it requires giving up comfort, excuses, distractions, and sometimes even relationships that pull you backwards. Difficult seasons are not punishment, they are preparation. Pressure reveals character. Hard times develop resistance, resilience, toughness, patience, and mental strength. Every obstacle can either become a reason to quit or a reason to become stronger. Before your life changes externally, your thinking must change internally. Guard what you feed your mind daily. Negative input creates negative thinking, while positive, purposeful input creates confidence and vision. Surround yourself with positive, growth minded people and continually feed your mind with truth, discipline, and encouragement. Alright, y'all link to the full episode is in the show notes as always. Number two, forgive yourself. How to move forward and find inner peace. You cannot build a peaceful future while staying chained to your past. Many people carry invisible emotional weight, guilt, regret, shame, disappointment, and self condemnation. And those burdens quietly steal joy, confidence, relationships, and purpose. Most people are far harder on themselves than they are on anybody else. We replay mistakes endlessly. We revisit conversations, failures, broken relationships, missed opportunities, and poor decisions. Guilt can sometimes be useful if it teaches a lesson, but guilt becomes destructive when it turns into self-punishment. Instead of helping us grow, it traps us emotionally and mentally. Forgiving yourself does not mean pretending nothing happened. It does not mean avoiding accountability or excusing bad behavior. True forgiveness means honestly facing what happened, learning from it, making amends when possible, and then refusing to let the mistake define your identity forever. Your worst moment is not your permanent identity. I'll say that one more time. Your worst moment is not your permanent identity. Suffering endlessly never changes the past. It only destroys the present. Real healing begins when a person stops asking, why did I fail? And starts asking, what can this teach me? That shift transforms pain into growth. Peace is not found by controlling every circumstance. Peace comes from releasing resistance, shame, and emotional baggage. Many people search externally for peace through success, money, approval, or distraction. While intensely carrying unresolved pain, stop fighting yourself internally and begin practicing compassion towards yourself. Every successful, wise, and emotionally healthy person has made painful mistakes. What separates healed people from broken people is the willingness to release the past and move forward. Ooh, good stuff, everybody. Link to the full episode is in the show notes. Number three, keep the right perspective by Victoria Osteen. Victoria explains many people lose their happiness not because life is entirely bad, but because they can become consumed by temporary disappointments, frustrations, and unanswered questions. But if you keep the right perspective, you prevent small problems from stealing the bigger blessings in your life. Every person faces setbacks, delays, and unfair situations. But instead of focusing on what's missing, Victoria encourages us to focus on what is still good. Difficult seasons are temporary, and remember God is still working behind the scenes, even when progress cannot be seen. A temporary struggle should never become a permanent mindset. Victoria explains that gratitude changes your outlook because it shifts your attention away from what is wrong towards what is right. When you constantly replay disappointments in your mind, negativity grows. But when you intentionally recognize blessings, health, family, and opportunities, your heart becomes lighter and stronger. Oh man, we all want that. Comparing yourself to others creates frustration, but trusting your own path creates peace. Celebrate others while remaining confident that your own breakthrough is coming. Stop magnifying your problems. What you focus on becomes larger in your mind. If you focus on obstacles, fear grows. If you focus on possibilities, faith grows. Victoria encourages us to train ourselves to see opportunities instead of limitations. And to remember that many situations are not as permanent or hopeless as they first appear. Protecting your inner peace is part of maintaining the right perspective. Life is too valuable to spend it discouraged over things that may not matter a year from now. Many problems that seem overwhelming today eventually just pass. Alright, y'all. As always, link to the full episode is in the show notes. And now for our challenge of the week, let's all take time today to review where we are at on our own personal health and fitness journey. If you're crushing it right now, awesome! Good for you. If you feel like you can make some positive strides to living on a healthier life, let's start that journey today. Remember, I want you to have a great life and fully believe you deserve it. Health and fitness is key to that great life that you so deserve. All right, y'all, I want to remind you once again, you are enough. You in fact have what it takes. You're a champion whose absolute best days are straight ahead. You are loved and appreciated. Let's all live out hope this week, helping one person every day. Speak words of life over you and your family, saying, I am getting better and better every day in every way. My family is getting better and better every day in every way. Always better, never backwards, y'all. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever stop dreaming and believing big for you and your great family. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for being a part of our great community as we roll to one million. Have an epic day and a magnificent week. God bless.

SPEAKER_00 33:30

Thank you once again for listening to a conversation of hope with Brett. Brent wants to remind you that you are loved and appreciated. If you find value in this episode and don't come into it, please like and comment. Between you and your family and incredible. And ultimately,