Episode 51 Tyler Schuler Breaking Generational Curses With Food and Fitness

In this episode of the Rain Brings Growth Podcast, we sit down with Tyler Schuler, owner of The Protein Spot in Boise, Idaho. Tyler shares his powerful journey from being over 100 pounds overweight and pre-diabetic as a teenager to building multiple gyms and creating a healthy fast food alternative that is changing lives.

We dive deep into the hard truths around childhood obesity, generational habits, and how the environment you grow up in shapes your relationship with food. Tyler opens up about growing up in an unhealthy household, overcoming food addiction, and why he believes parents play a critical role in their children’s long-term health.

We also break down macros, food addiction, and how to build a sustainable approach to nutrition without cutting out the foods you love. Tyler shares the mission behind The Protein Spot and how he is helping families find healthier options without sacrificing taste.

If you are a parent, someone on a weight loss journey, or looking to break generational cycles, this episode will challenge your perspective and give you actionable insight.

Follow Tyler Schuler on Instagram: @theproteinspot_

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

I'll say something that's slightly controversial, and I'm not trying to make anybody upset because I understand I've been a hundred pounds overweight, I've been pre-diabetic, and I understand the mental challenges that come along with it. But childhood obesity is child abuse. You are setting that child up for a lifetime of difficulty around their health, and it's your fault.

SPEAKER_04 0:45

Well, thanks for coming on, man. I appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for having me. I've seen your story and your your weight loss journey that you went through. You're in the fitness realm. Yeah. I mean, you got a protein spot, and now I'm doing like I went through my weight loss journey and now I'm like in the protein and like macro style. So I was like, I gotta check this place out. My wife loved it. Good. She was she was digging the cheesecake.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

The desserts. Did you guys go to the grab and go and just grab meals or did you go to the camp? No, we went and sat down, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:09

We went, we went, it was like the first nice day that we had for a while. So we went to Camelsback. Yeah. And then I was, she's like, let's get lunch. And I was like, all right, I want to try this one spot. So we'll go try it. And uh good experience. She loved it. The kids loved it. Everything. Yeah. Love that. My son's autistic, so he only eats smoothies. And you guys had smoothies. So I was like, or not only eat smoothies, but that's like one of his safe foods. So I was like, ah, perfect. And he ate it.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

So yeah, the kid thing is really cool. And I know that you like you kind of get into that space a little bit and like trying to help parents. And it's interesting because I grew up, obviously, I grew up like in a really unhealthy family, really overweight. And um, what that does to you as a kid really messes with you. And so like childhood obesity has always been something that's like near and dear to my heart. And I got like the protein spot's just been its own beast. Um, I didn't come from the food space, so like it's been a real journey, and it was like this idea, and now we're at this point where like it worked, and I'm and I'm kind of like, oh now it worked, you know. And um, but my one of my favorite things that's ever happened at the protein spot was like we had a um we had a a family come in and this kid, he was he's probably eight years old, I think, and um the mom's like it was his birthday, and he this is where he wanted his birthday dinner, and so kids loving it means more than anything because like the the tw the the take that we have on nutrition is like very macro based, right? And it's because like um not everything has to be chicken and broccoli, and so watching kids come in and enjoy it, like if you can get a kid to approve, that's when you know that like the food's good because they're picky, so it means a lot when kids enjoy it, and like families having a place to go that kids can eat something that they feel good about that's not McDonald's, it means it means a ton.

SPEAKER_04 2:50

Yeah, it's legit, it's really good food. Like it's like you said, it's not just like the chicken and rice, you're not feeling like you're in a cut, like I'm in a cut right now and it sucks, man. It's like chicken, rice, broccoli, sweet potatoes. It's not like that, it's like you have cotton.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

You just have to add like those different textures to make it actually, you know, taste good. And yeah, oh, it's so it was really good.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

And as a restaurant, like it's funny too, because like you do you you don't have to put oil on everything, not everything has to have butter. You know, it's actually from a restaurant perspective, it was interesting when we first started working with distributors, you know, like your your your middlemen that you know kind of help you get ingredients and stuff for for food, um, had not coming from the food space. It was really interesting because they were constantly trying to push us for other product because like we don't just use cheese, we have reduced fat cheese. Well, we don't just use milk, we use non-fat milk, and like we don't just use cream cheese, we use fat-free cream cheese. And so it's like all these things, they're like, we don't, we don't, we're not used to carrying that. So when we first started, we were nobody and no one really wanted our account, and so like no one was willing to go to bat and find these ingredients for us that we need, like low-carb tortillas and just stuff like that. Whereas now we're like a fairly decent sized fish in the restaurant space, like we're doing quite a bit um in revenue, and so now all of a sudden everybody's competing for us and we've oh, we can get that for you cheaper. And it's like it's just funny to watch the game.

SPEAKER_04 4:12

Yeah, yeah, it's cool that you made like a name for yourself, and it's kind of it's revolutionary. Uh like there's other spots that do meal prep, but like to have the sit-down cafe style, and then there's grab and go stuff is pretty sweet.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Yeah, and the whole idea was like I I you know, I come from the fitness space, I own gyms. Um, that was kind of my background, and and I I was traveling a lot and I wanted to find like a meal prep place, and I hated them all because either A, they were all like ridiculously expensive, like Factor or any of those online, or like $17 a meal. Um, and they were frozen. And uh, and then the flip side of that is like I just wanted to go to a place where I could just know what the macros were of what I was eating. Like I just want like some good chicken, some rice, and like some, you know, be able to trust stuff, you know? And so it was like this idea that I had. So when I sold my gyms, it was like I had this idea of where would I want to go eat, right? Um, what would a perfect restaurant to me look like, somewhere that I would eat every day. And it was like this is it. So even now it's super fun because like I'll wake up and be like, man, I really like like I'm I'm a huge poke fan, right? Like, oh, let's go figure it out. Like, let's just get let's let's find a distributor, let's get tuna and let's try making poke bowls, you know? And so it's it's kind of at that point where it's fun, a lot of fun yeah, yeah, that's awesome, man.

SPEAKER_04 5:26

So let's get into your background. Where are you from? You said you're from the Midwest then?

SPEAKER_02 5:29

Yeah, I'm originally from the Ozarks, like uh southern Missouri. So um, you know, from a small town, West Plains, kind of the closest town. So from West Plains, Missouri, and yeah, yeah, grew up in the Ozarks then, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:41

Have you been? I've not, I've just seen the Netflix series. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

Yeah, everybody's like, is the show realistic? It's like sort of, yes. Most of it was filmed in Georgia, so some of the scenery is not exactly the same, but everyone doing drugs and all that, that's pretty close.

SPEAKER_03 5:56

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

Not much to do. You know, if you're an outdoors person, like I grew up with um with like a lot of access to the outdoors. We didn't grow up like super um high income, so we grew up out in the country and like a trailer, and so it was like, you know, we had my parents had us four-wheelers, and we had, you know, uh occasionally had a horse or two, and it was like we had a lot of ex exposure to the outdoors. So if you want to go outside and have a bonfire with your friends, like that's a there's plenty of that. Um, but like, yeah, the closest like city is two hours away if you want to go like shopping or something, you gotta drive to Springfield.

SPEAKER_04 6:29

So I remember hearing you saying too on one of your podcasts that you were homeschooled. I was, yeah. How was that?

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Yeah, I had a couple years of public school. So I was um um I went to public school till I think my last public school year was fourth, fourth grade. Um uh and then I was homeschooled after that. Yeah. And and honestly, like there's pros and cons. You know, there's things I love about it and there's things I didn't. Um the the thing that I loved about it was like I had control of my time even from an early age. And um, you know, um I I had a lot of freedoms. So, like, you know, I was out in the airplane and I the amount I wasn't at school eight hours a day. I had a lot of freedom to go outside and do things, which was super cool. Um, the thing that I didn't love about it is like you miss out on a lot of the social aspect of like, you know, I didn't get to do sports, I didn't get to do, you know, there was no graduation party, there was no all that stuff. But I was also really fortunate because I could graduate early. So I graduated and got my driver's license the day I turned 16. So it was a Wednesday, it was a big day. So I graduated early, and some of that, you know, is cool. I I joke all the time that like I'm glad I I was homeschooled because if I would have gone to public school, I would have gone to college and I would have had a really nice job.

SPEAKER_04 7:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

So I've yeah, I'm fortunate that I missed out on that.

SPEAKER_04 7:41

You feel like the homeschool kind of gave you like a lead up on uh like thinking for yourself now that you're a business owner and all that, like you've kind of just had to figure it out yourself as you went.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

Yeah, I think so. I think that like um you get a little bit more um, you have more control. Like my parents did a really good job of like I'm like my mom, my mom actually like cleaned houses for a living. And so um one of the women that she cleaned a house for used to be a college professor. And so like she would tutor us for an hour in the mornings, you know, that in in exchange for my mom like cleaning cleaning the house. And so we had like exposure to different teaching styles and things like that that was really cool. Um, but I definitely think like I I would be this is gonna be a really ignorant statement because like I I don't have a lot of exposure to public school systems, especially as like a parent or anything. But um in large cities, like a lot I mean, we probably waste so much of our kids' time, like and we force all of our kids to learn one way. Um, and it seems like as a as a being homeschooled, you have a lot more freedom to learn the way that works for you.

SPEAKER_04 8:45

So yeah, my eyes were open up to that a lot during COVID. Yeah. Where it was like they would give them their schoolwork to do and they're done in like two, three hours. I'm like, what are you guys doing the rest of your day? Yeah. Like you guys are done. I understand that like there's a social aspect and that's maybe an hour, but like what what else are we sending you guys to school for?

SPEAKER_02 9:02

Yeah, it's very it seems like we were more focused on indoctrinating kids than we are actually teaching them or helping them learn. You know, it's like we're forcing a curriculum down their throat, and like this is the way you're gonna learn it. But I'm sure not all I I like as I've gotten older, I've got a lot of friends who have kids. I don't have children yet, but like you, you you know, you do, and it's like I had friends who moved here and they're like looking at the different schools and the different school systems and all this stuff, and I'm like, oh, there's a lot more that goes into it than what I know.

SPEAKER_04 9:29

Yeah, I'm pulling my kids out again. I so I went homeschool, what was it 20th 2023? We did home 24, and it was fine. And then they're like, we want to go back to school. And I was like, I'll give you guys the option, you know. I'm starting a business and I'm we're doing all this stuff, but I don't know if I'm really giving you guys as much attention as I could be, so I don't want to hold you guys back. So it's up to you guys, but if you want to go, then that's fine, but you're gonna stick out the whole year. And they went back, man, and I'm like, you know, I said you guys couldn't leave, but I want to pull you guys out because you guys' attitudes changed immediately once you started going around like all these public school kids. Yeah, like it's a real thing, and that was just an eye-opener. So we've already looked, they're already getting into a charter school next year.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

And charter's kind of like a private school sort of situation, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:10

It's it's like a free charter school, so I mean it's it's but you still have to like it's an application process. But this one's more like a sports-based charter school, which is kind of a revolutionary thing, I guess. I don't know. But it's better. I I look at it as better than public school because my oldest daughter is supposed to be going to middle school next year, and I'm like, I don't want you exposed to not like I'm trying to be like helicopter parent or anything, but I'm like, I don't kids are just different nowadays, you know. Yeah, like middle school is totally different than when we were they would bully you face to face, and now it's like bullying online and you know.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Yeah, it's a weird time, man. I would that would be a really difficult decision to try to make. I mean, I think for me, you know, I grew up in a very religious um setting. Like I was I was raised one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and um because I was so involved in my church, um, you know, I was I was doing a lot of like um, you know, um missionary door-to-door um, you know, work from an early age, and so I had a lot of socialization that way. Um, but that was all like really good influence, you know, like learning to talk to people, going and knocking on people's doors on Saturday morning and talking to them about Jesus is a really fun way to figure out how to have conversation. Um But if you if you didn't have that and you, you know, like I think there was a lot of stigma around homeschool kids when I was growing up where it was like, you know, oh they're weird and probably am. But the um nowadays it's like the opposite, man, where it's like there's so much just kind of political garbage going on where kids are now involved. Like I remember, like the first time that really started coming up was like after COVID. I just remember a buddy of mine being like his kids were getting in trouble at school for like shirts they were wearing that were political, and I was like, what the heck? Like when I was a kid, I probably could have told you who the president was, but I certainly wasn't trying to like have an opinion about it. Whereas now it's like you have that and then you have like different agendas going on, and now you have like can the boys compete in the girls' sports and everybody's this and that, and it's like I as a kid that would be hard to navigate, and there's no way that doesn't influence your brain. So I don't know, it'd be tough as a parent to raise kids to be thoughtful.

SPEAKER_04 12:19

Yeah. Well, that's another part is that like I've been trying to tell my clients is we need to set the example for our kids like inside the home because otherwise, if they're not being the role model inside the home, they're gonna go to their teachers, they're gonna go to online for for role models or for resources, and like, is that what you want? You know, especially I I deal with the food side of it too. So I'm like, I don't want I don't want like the pain that I had to go through to get rid of my weight, I don't want my kids to have to go through that pain. So I have to set that example now inside the house because that's just gonna be passed down generationally. And I worked in a prison the last 10 years, and so I've realized too, I've talked to a lot of inmates, I did transport, so I would, you know, take them out of the prison and they would just be normal people, then they wouldn't try and try and put on a front or anything, and they'd be like, I would just ask them, like, how'd you get into this position? They're like, I just grew up like this. Like, my dad was in the gangs or my uncles, like, it was just my brothers, everything, it was just all I knew, so that's what I did. And I was like, Well, if I gotta take that same thought of with the gangs, it's can be the same with like your eating habits, with your work ethic, like everything else that you're showing your kids, whether you know you're showing them or not. Your kids will fail to listen to you, but they'll never fail to emulate you, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:26

So yeah, I I I I I listened to an episode that you did where you mentioned that like you you talked about the influence of environment on like who we are as individuals, and like um I I I think that's one of like the largest over over it's it's one of the largest fallacies that we have as human beings is that we're somehow um morally or or thoughtfully superior to other people because of decisions that we make, and we don't realize that 99% of the decisions that we make and who we are was influenced by what we're around and and what we were set what path we were set on early. You know? Like even you know, even even from like a political standpoint, like I have, you know, it's like if if you're if you're super proud of being an American, had you been born in Israel, you'd be just as devout that way.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Right. Um you know, all of our all of our red-blooded Americans that are fighting soldiers for the US, you would have been an ISIS soldier. You're just born in the right place, you know. And so it's like having that empathy of being able to like look at people and say, like, I did grow up in a setting where people were really overweight and it was normal, right? And low income and and and all those things that contribute to obesity. Um, I'm not I'm it's not that I was superior or had any um better uh abilities or strong, you know, any anything that made me be able to lose the weight. Same thing with you, right? It was like you made the decision and you still have to fight what you were with a path you were set on. Yeah. So I just think that like people need to have more empathy around those things because your environment does dictate who you are, you know.

SPEAKER_04 15:02

Yeah. What kind of foods did you grow up with that just looking back, you're like, oh, okay, I like to see where the gate the weight started gaining.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Yeah, you know, like I think there is some physiological component with people. Like you've seen this, like people's leptin levels are different. There, um, you know, Oprah talked, like, made that comment about like the obesity gene, and there's no such thing as an obesity gene, but there is like higher food drive and the attachment that you have to food. And for me, I don't know necessarily it was like a food, but my off switch for food is just not there. Like, I'm not like, oh, I'm full. Yeah, like whatever's on the plate, I'm gonna eat it, right? Like, um, and if there's more, I'm gonna go get it because like I get a reward, I get a high reward sensation from food.

SPEAKER_04 15:46

That dopamine hit huge, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:49

Um, but my my trigger is definitely like sweet stuff. Oh, yeah, dude. You know, like I I knew something was up when I was a kid, um, because like people would be like, Oh, that's too rich. I'm like, what the heck are you talking about, dude? Like, I'll eat four of them things, yeah. Like, I when it comes to sweet foods, there's no moderation, there's no off switch, like it's either no cookie or all the cookies. So, yeah, I I'm I'm that's my trigger.

SPEAKER_04 16:15

Peanut butter for me, dude. Like peanut butter cookies, anything like that. Like peanut butter will add up quick, and I will destroy a diet real quick. Like, I'll be doing real good, and then someone has like a fresh plate of peanut butter cookies out, and I'm like, I'll start tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

Have you seen that thing that's like those Instagram reels? It's like day one of my diet, day two of my diet, day one of my diet, yeah, day one of my diet. It's like that would be that would be me. And I think that's what's so beneficial about helping people understand macros, is like um for me, a big a big switch was when I stopped thinking of foods as being inherently good or bad, and it was just um understanding that it's like it's caloric intake and it's a math problem. Cause then I could take an emotional problem and put it on paper and understand that it's a mathematic equation, right? Like when you actually start to understand nutrition, sure there's nuance, you know, um a hundred calories from an Oreo is not the same as a hundred calories from sourdough bread, even though macronutrient-wise it might be similar, right? Um, but in general, if you treat things that way, you can still have the same outcomes when it comes to health and body composition. And so helping people understand the macro side of things is really, I think, freeing for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Because it's like you can have those things. You can have cheesecake, you can have, you know, we make donuts and we make, you know, cakes at the protein spot. It's like you can have those things, you know, just make a healthier alternative of them if you want, and then also maybe like don't eat all of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:45

That's the thing, is just like not cutting out the things you want. Because the more you say, like, oh, you can't have pizza or you can't have a burrito or you can't have a burger, it's like you're just gonna crave that thing the most. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

And we're just we're we we have too much. Um, we're victims of our own um uh abundance. Like we were never meant to live around the amount of food and the amount of abundance that we have. Yeah, like sitting right here, we could have any food that you possibly could want, we could have delivered to the door before we're done talking on this episode. Yeah, and it's just like that's not how we were created to to live, and so we don't know how to control our own abundance. Like, we're just like we we we were never meant to be in supermarkets full of the most chemically engineered, tasty treats, yeah, and so we just don't have a way of moderating that.

SPEAKER_04 18:31

Yeah, it's why you had fat on your body because you didn't know when your next meal was gonna come in. So safety maximum.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

Yeah, and most people have never gone more than 12 hours without food. And it's like I I that's why I think like fasting every now and then is is kind of a good exercise just for your brain to let you know, like, hey, you don't have to be thinking about food all the time. Like you're not gonna die, you know. Most people like they miss one meal, they're like, My blood sugar, like I'm falling apart. It's like, dude, you're all right.

SPEAKER_04 19:03

It's also that uh addiction kind of in your brain too. Absolutely become addicted to the food.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Yeah, because it's that dopamine hit, right? It's like that reward mechanism that food triggers for you, and um, which is good, right? Like God created us to have that, He wanted us to enjoy food, but now all of a sudden we have it everywhere. Yeah, and it's a pleasure button that we can just hit as much as we want, and that's not a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 19:24

Yeah. Yeah, I was I was looking more into like the fasting side on the religious side, and it's it's just that reason of like to show your body you don't need the f or you I I'm not like huge on like exact what it says, but it's like fighting your flesh, pretty much, right? Right. It's like so you're telling your body like I don't need this, like I can go. My buddy just got done doing a 12-day water only fast. Yeah, those are crazy. And I'm like, bro, he lost like 30 pounds, but he's he had a brother die of cancer, and he looked through like all the autophagy and everything that happens. So he's like, if I can just cut down, and it's like 95% if you can do an autophagy fast of like three or more days once a year, it cuts it down to like 95% of you getting cancer.

SPEAKER_02 20:08

That's insane. Yeah, I've never really looked into it. I mean, I've I've I used to do intermittent fasting, I really don't anymore. Um, you know, not but it's like there's gotta be some research and in and and out there about it. It makes sense, right? Like um from a simple physiological standpoint, like if your body runs out of fuel from food, it's going to internalize the need for for fuel, it's going to eat what's available, and that can be, you know, that I it's probably great, you know, to do every now and then. But I'm I'm not doing no 12 days, dude. Yeah, no, I've done the furthest I ever did, I did a 72 hour one time.

SPEAKER_04 20:46

Yeah, I made a 36 hours and then I was like, all right, that was pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Yeah. It's weird, it's weird. Like, we don't realize how addicted we are to food until you like go a couple of days, yeah. And how foreign that feels. But um, you know, you think back to like from this from a scriptural perspective, you had like um, you know, you had people who would who would even Jesus would fast in times of prayer and deep reflection because it does, you know, it you feel more clear. Um, and so there's gotta be some some benefit to it. Yeah. But I don't know. I'm not doing I'm not doing no 12 days though. That's wild.

SPEAKER_04 21:21

Yeah. Well, you'd made it 10 days is like, well, might as well just do 12.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

I just like food. Yeah. Like I just like food too much. I, you know, if you if if you sold me on the idea of doing like one day or two days every now and then, all right. But I I there's some of those guys too. Like we were talking about hunting before we got on. You know, you see some of those guys who will go into the mountains with like no food and they just like have to find their own food out there, and sometimes they go like days.

SPEAKER_04 21:47

The way I hunt sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

That would be that would be like the ultimate like test of because that's like even when I go hiking, if I'm shed hunting or hunting or whatever, like the one of the first things I think about is getting on my Snacks to go.

SPEAKER_04 22:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

And it's like every now like I've never not run out of snacks out there because I'll eat all of them in the first like day. And then I'm like, well, damn, now I don't have any snacks the rest of the trip. And then I do like some forced fasting. So that counts.

SPEAKER_04 22:14

Yeah. I just made a post yesterday real quick and it was talking about like the top five reasons why I stay in shape. And it's like elk hunting, deer hunting, bear hunting, shed hunting, and then so I can eat little Debbie's on the mountain.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Yeah, that's exactly it. And I'm like one of those guys where I'm always like, um, when I when I plan a hunt or when I know I'm going, I'm the guy that's like taking healthy snacks with me. But then the second I'm on the mountain and my buddy like has Reese's, I'm like, yo, let me get one of those, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 22:42

Like Snickers, that's my protein bar.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

There you go. I never I need to take more because I like I never think about I've never once been like, oh, I packed too many snacks.

SPEAKER_04 22:52

Uncrustables are my go-to, man. Really? Uncrestables are so good.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

On the mountain, I bet they probably are. So good. I um selfishly have come up with a handful of recipes at the protein spot just for like honey.

SPEAKER_04 23:03

Like um like a high calorie bar.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

Yeah, well, we started doing like the rice crispies now, um, and they're completely fat-free. Then so we made them without like butter, and it's just like honey and organic rice crisps and like that kind of thing, and protein powder. So it's like a small hit of protein, good amount of carbohydrates, but no fat, so it digests super quickly. And it was like pre-run, or if you're hiking. So I'll take those. Um, the pancakes, there's multiple times now on the mountain, I've like taken the packages of pancakes up there and just eaten the the pancakes out of the container.

SPEAKER_04 23:33

Have you ever made the dehydrated stuff?

SPEAKER_02 23:35

I I haven't messed with that a ton. No, but it's on the it's on the radar. Like I've I've had a couple buddies who are, you know, are like, you guys should start doing dehydrated meals. I'd I'd be dumb. Yeah, it'd be cool to play around with those commercial dehydrators are so expensive. Oh, yeah. Like to get a good one, they're really, really expensive. So we'll play with it eventually. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:54

So what age was it when you realized that you had to start making a change that you went pre-diabetic or yeah, 16.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

16, I was like pre-diabetic. I had like this very vivid memory of like two things that happened that sort of triggered it. There was um the one was kind of like emotional um for for a 16-year-old kid. I had this girl that went to our church that I was like, I thought was just like the the bee's knees, right? And like um, I was always like nervous to talk to her. And I remember like after I told her, like, oh, like there's a group of us that are gonna go like on a hike, you know, that if you want to go, and she was like, You go hiking. And I was like, Oh, dang. Like that hurt, you know. So that was a bit of a trigger. But the other one, man, I remember my parents used to do the janites, they were they they owned like janitorial growing up, and so like they had this factory that they did janitorial work for. And I remember the scale in the cafeteria um only went to 250 pounds. And um, and and I remember like I used to always, when my parents were out there cleaning, I would go and get on that scale, you know. And I remember one day I went and got on that scale and it wouldn't read. And I went outside and they had like a forklift where they would weigh like cargo in the factory of what was being shipped out, and I had the and I got on that one and it would read me, and I was like, oh, this isn't good. Yeah. So yeah, I remember tipping, I was over 250 pounds at like 16 years old. I'm like, this isn't, this isn't gonna, this isn't gonna fly. And it was a matter of like all the things that I loved doing were required you to stay or be in shape. Like I loved sports. I never got to really play them as a kid because like I wouldn't go to public school, but like, you know, I was always watching football and watching sports, and all the, you know, you'd had, you know, I remember like Tara Owens and Brian Cushing, all these like football players were like shredded all the time, you know, and like that was the what you you know it's aspired for. And even like you know, hiking and hunting and being out outside, it was like you had to be in shape. And I just remember like uh this is not what I wanna, this isn't what I this isn't what I want to be. This is what everyone around me kind of is, but I I that's not what I want, and like I've got to do something, you know. So yeah, it was like 16, 17 when I started losing weight.

SPEAKER_04 26:03

So you're a lone wolf because you said your parents weren't in shape then, right?

SPEAKER_02 26:06

No, um they you know, they're you know, they never have made like health a huge priority, yeah, you know, um, as much as I've tried to sort of like get them to, you know. Um it's it's not there's something weird with that generation where they don't make the correlation between their decisions and how they feel, you know, they just think that they have to feel bad and it's like they they don't think it's what they're eating. I don't know what it is, but there's something there. But um I it was pretty lone wolf, but also like I would I would say one of the one of the good role models I had from a health perspective was like my my my cousin Shane. We grew up really, we were like really, really close. And um he was like the first one who he would go to the gym, you know. We had like a little town civic center that had a little gym in there, and he would go, so he'd be like, Hey, come on. And it was tough for me to go because he was always like the one that was like fit and in shape, and like, you know, and and at 16, like I looked up to him on that side, so he was always like in really good shape. So um I would go with him a little bit, but then anytime fitness, you know, um ended up um opening up in my hometown. And um I I you know the idea that was the first like 24-hour gym that came to town, and I kind of pressured my parents to get me a membership there because I was I was 17 at the time and you couldn't be get a membership unless you were 18, unless you had a parent. But um they were open 24 hours, so I was like, oh, I can go at like you know, I can go at night when there's no one there and no one can be there to kind of judge me, you know. So that was what really sort of like started the the you know the role towards it.

SPEAKER_04 27:42

Yeah. And then it took you what how long did it take you to lose that hundred pounds?

SPEAKER_02 27:47

You know, I think most of the weight came off in you know that first like you know, 18 months, probably. Yeah. Um, and I I didn't do it super healthy, um, you know, because I had this very and I still fight it to this day. I had a I'm I'm 90 or I'm nothing, right? Like I'm either all in or I'm all out. And so it wasn't like I didn't know macros and moderation and like losing weight the right way. Um, it was like carbs are the enemy, cut all the carbohydrate. And at the time I was going to the gym, I was also starting to work a construction job with like my some of my family. And so I was like, Oh yeah, because you're out of high school.

SPEAKER_04 28:28

Yeah, you didn't have anything.

SPEAKER_02 28:29

Yeah, so I was working construction and I was, you know, and I was going to the gym and all that on like you know, 20 grams of carbohydrates because I thought that was like what you had to do. And so I lost a lot of the weight really, really quickly. Um, but then it was like then I was like 150 pounds, you know. So I lost a lot of muscle too. Oh yeah, yeah. I didn't have a whole lot to begin with. Yeah. But yeah, I like uh I remember like my uncle would always give me a hard time because when I first started doing construction with them, like we were doing roofing and they would throw on like bundles of shingles on their s on their shoulder and shoot up the ladder. Yeah, and like my first day, like I could not do it. Like I put a bundle on and like there was no getting up that ladder because I was just a little mess, you know. Yeah, but yeah, it it so it like you have all these experiences, and in the meantime, I was reading about it and going to any time, and um I got to know the manager of the gym and he taught me a little bit about it, you know. And and so the I as I was learning, I was just self-applying what worked, and yeah, it it it kind of I but I would say most of the weight came off before I was 18. Nice, yeah, like that 16 to 18 range.

SPEAKER_04 29:30

That's cool that you went through. I mean, you pretty much did it all yourself, then you didn't have a coach or anything, like you kind of had to do trial and error and just kind of keep pushing yourself. It wasn't like you paid for a mentor to be like, hey, go show up at 630 for the gym. You know, it's like you do it or you don't, you know.

SPEAKER_02 29:44

Yeah, my mom was always like super supportive. She knew that I wanted to be healthier, and so like she would bring home healthier things just for me, you know, at that 16, 17. She knew that that was where my interest was, and she would she would try to make dinner healthier for me, you know. But at the same time, what's really interesting too is like um, you know, they always talk about like that um like the you know, the crabs in a bucket, you'll get that one crab that's trying to climb out and they're pulling them down. And what's really interesting is when you grow up in a really unhealthy environment, people do that unintentionally. Because I remember like even like we would have a family reunion or like the kid, the all the families would get together and 16, 17, 18 years old, like when I would go, and in and even now to an extent, when I go back there, it's like, oh, Tyler won't eat that, he's too good for that, or like Tyler, you know, like there's all those comments, and like it was kind of hurtful. And um, so there's still some of that, but but yeah, if you grow up in that environment, you there is a lot of you've got to be able to do it on your own kind of deal. Yeah, you may get some support, but like you're surrounded by bad decisions, and a lot of it comes from good. Like, if you're if if you go home, you know, my my grandmother unfortunately passed away a few years ago, but you know, up to her dying breath, if you walked in that house, you were eating something.

SPEAKER_04 31:01

Yeah, if you leave hungry, it's your own fault, right?

SPEAKER_02 31:03

It's there was that was not an option. Yeah, every like she it wouldn't matter, she would figure out what you did like, and she would either go to the store, make it, do something, you were gonna eat. So it's just food is such a part of the culture that it can be a little um destructive at times.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:20

And even now I've got a lot of really unhealthy family, and it bothers me because I've been in the fitness industry for a long time. I was a personal trainer, and then I own gyms, and like even now I own a healthy restaurant, right? And like they still own gyms, and it's like I can't get them to make those decisions.

SPEAKER_04 31:34

Isn't it the hardest thing where you're like you make these changes in your life and you see how good your life is, and you feel so much better, and you're like, I will train you for free. I'm telling you, like, this is the way, like, just just do it, and I will train you for free. And they're like, No, I'm good. You're like, all right. Yeah, but you can't you can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink kind of thing, you know.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Yeah, I yeah, it's the most frustrating thing, especially with my parents, because um, you know, like I just had this experience with my my dad. My dad's not the healthiest dude. He's had a lot of complications and in, you know, he's he's been injured and he's he's fought a lot. He's had I I am aware that I've been fortunate with some of the things that have gone my way from a health perspective. I don't have joint issues. I'm I'm you know, I have I don't have any known uh you know autoimmune issues. Like I've been I've pulled a pretty healthy card, and that's I'm grateful for that. My dad, you know, he's had meningit, you know, he got bacterial meningitis and he broke his back, and like he's had a lot of challenges, but also like he's diabetic, you know, and type two. And so like we I just I got him to go on a hunting trip with me down to Texas. We went and I go down there every year and hunt some pigs, and I got him to go with me, you know. And um, and like we get to the ranch and they have like all this stuff, they have like every drink or whatever you could possibly want. And it's like there's Diet Coke and there's Coca-Cola, and like the first thing he does is go in there and grab a Coca-Cola and he drinks it, and I'm like, You're diabetic, what are you doing? And then five minutes later, he like can't keep his eyes open on the side by side because it's like it doesn't click in his head. The reason he doesn't feel good is because what he's putting in his body, yeah. But it's like if you went and put mud in your gas tank of your car, that ain't gonna work. Yeah, but he it just doesn't click. I don't know what it is, and at some point you can you can't you can't force those decisions on people. I'm still trying, like I I talked to my parents yesterday, and I'm like, if I could just get them to move to Idefo, I can I can force them to make better decisions, yeah. Even my my brother, um, my brother and and and and you know, not not to be overly personal, he may, who knows, he may listen to this and be pissed, but he um, you know, he's he's still very overweight, you know. And I know what he goes through because I had the food addiction, I had the issues, I had the dopamine, and I know exactly what he goes through. Um but like now that he's passing that on to the kids, and that that's a hard one to watch. Dude, yeah. That that'll that'll fire me up quick. And that's been it's you know, it's been a fight, yeah. Yeah. Because like they they got upset with me for not taking a COVID vaccine. Meanwhile, they're taking the kids to McDonald's, and I'm like, Yeah, all right, you know, so yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:14

Yeah, what's socially acceptable versus what's not socially acceptable?

SPEAKER_02 34:17

Yeah, it's an education thing, they just don't they don't understand.

SPEAKER_04 34:21

Yeah, it's a hard one. I got a buddy, one of my best friends, and his daughter's just like the same age as my daughter, and she's pushing like a buck twenty, a buck thirty, you know, underweight.

SPEAKER_02 34:32

I'll say something that's slightly controversial, and I'm not trying to make anybody upset because I understand I've been a hundred pounds overweight, I've been pr prediabetic, and I understand the mental challenges that come along with it. But childhood obesity is child abuse.

SPEAKER_04 34:46

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

Like you you are setting that child up for a lifetime of difficulty around their health, and it's your fault because as a parent, you control what your kids are eating, you have an ability to control that. And if you are letting your children overeat and become overweight, that's child abuse.

SPEAKER_04 35:07

100%.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

And I and and and I don't say that softly, and I don't mean to be I'm not trying to be I don't have kids, I'm not trying to be ignorant about it. Yeah, but make but make the decisions for them. You know, if you don't want to do it for yourself, that's fine, but set the example, and I love that that's what your platform is about, is like helping parents set that example because you'll ruin that kid's life.

SPEAKER_04 35:30

Yeah. That's what I tell everybody. It's like imagine all the pain that you're going through and the pain that you're trying to get through to lose this weight. Like, if you don't take care of your your habits, your mindset, your eating habit, you know, anything that's that's a a pain, like you're just gonna pass that off to your kids. Like, imagine a freaky Friday incident where you and your kids both switch bodies, and are you setting your kid up for success with your body and everything that you have right now? Because this is exactly what they're gonna have if you don't if you don't change these things. Yeah. Like this isn't a a myth or a theory, or there are outliers that they can end up changing on their own, but they still have to go through that pain. But most of the time you end up and it's like you can look and look and look. I just see myself like going at Costco and I'll just look at someone's cart, and then I look at the kids and I'm like, Yep, checks out, you know?

SPEAKER_02 36:17

Yeah, the that one's really tough. Like, I I don't know, I'm really cautious about speaking about raising a child, uh, you know, in I I don't get involved in someone else's raising of their kids because I like I Lord knows I'm I would screw it up in royally in a lot of different ways. But um, as a parent, that's gotta be the biggest challenge right now is like our kids are being faced with uh the abundance issue and it's technology and it's what they're exposed to online and it's food and it's all these things. And like as a parent, if you're not someone who has really rigid discipline yourself, like trying to pass that down would be so challenging. Yeah, and it's probably hard to balance, right? Like you want your kids to enjoy things, right? You just enjoy that ice cream, enjoy those things, but also like knowing how to when to press the gas and when to press the brake is probably super tough.

SPEAKER_04 37:07

Yeah, like our kids like they want a donut or something, all right. Let's go get a donut, but we're gonna walk to Maverick to get it. Cool, you know, yeah, and it's not and that's the thing too, is like we don't cut these out completely, we just don't keep them in the house. It's not convenient, yeah. Because it's convenience foods, like yeah, the moderation thing. Like if we just go out, you know, like after church on Sundays, if we want to go get a donut, and then whatever, that's like the the thing. But um, if it's if it's always in the house, yeah, of course we're gonna eat it, you know?

SPEAKER_02 37:33

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:33

And the other thing that gets me too is like when I talk to clients and they're like, Well, I d I don't know if I can make this healthy food because I'll just have to make like chicken nuggets or mac and cheese for my kids. If I I'm like, you that's a food that got you fat. You're just gonna give that to them. Why would that not make them fat?

SPEAKER_01 37:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 37:49

Well, they won't eat this. Well, if you only give them sugar their whole life, that's all they're gonna want. Yeah. Do you think there's kids that are in Greece that have like all this healthy Mediterranean food and stuff? Do you think they're craving McDonald's?

SPEAKER_03 38:00

Right.

SPEAKER_04 38:01

If that's all they know, then that's all they know.

SPEAKER_03 38:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:03

Like, and I I know that now we've, you know, kind of shot ourselves in the foot if we've already started them on that, but we can still like it's just not an option anymore, right? What if what if the doctor said, like, hey, you're gluten-free? Like, you have to be gluten-free or else you're gonna die. Like, now you can't go and eat these, you know, coated chicken nuggets or whatever it is, right? You're gonna make these adjustments. So, like, just make these adjustments without having to have such a crazy extreme situation.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

Food, food addiction is is is wild, man. Like, I I I just think that you know, it I don't think it's been researched as much as it will be in the next couple of years. But like the thing that I always talked about with clients, and and and I was not a great personal trainer, I'm I'm I'm very sympathetic, but I'm not very empathetic. Like, I I hate that you're in that hole and I'll give you a ladder to climb out, but I'm not gonna climb down in there and feel it with you. Yeah, and so like I always kind of struggled to get people to um, you know, really adhere to habits. Um and and the thing about food addiction that's so tricky is like it's the only it's the only addiction where it's like if you don't give into it, you die. So you can't just quit it, right? It's like you have to eat. And once you get to where your brain is so addicted to that those foods, and like food is what makes you feel good, like for me, even as an adult, it was like I had that habit of like food was comfort, you know, and food was always used for those things, so it's like you can't just not right. So it's an it's a tough one to unpack. And and that's why I I truly think the best like what is it, 70% of America is overweight or obese at this point, yeah. Like maybe more, right? And like childhood obesity is expected to hit like 50 plus percent. And I truly think the best uh the best cure is um, and it doesn't work for everyone, but it's it's it's the best for the means of the average, is education around consumption, it really is a calorie problem. You're you're consuming more calories than you're burning. It's it's pretty simple. We understand weight loss from a physiological standpoint very well. You're not, it's not you, it's not your thyroid, it's not any of that stuff. One percent of the population has those issues, but you're not that one percent. It's not your obesity gene. Um, no matter how much people that are trying to sell you GLP ones are telling you it is not a gene. Um it's understanding caloric intake because most people have a wild disconnect, cognitive disconnect from how many calories they actually burn and consume. They don't know. And then understanding macros because you can eat those things that you enjoy and make it fit a budget. That's the way, that's the best answer for most people, and that's why I started the protein spot was like we're not gonna we're not gonna get people to stop eating fast food. How do we make fast food work for people?

SPEAKER_04 40:57

Right.

SPEAKER_02 40:58

And that was kind of the the whole concept, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:01

Yeah, it's wild too, just because protein is starting to be more of a thing. Yeah, and you'll see you'll see in like the frozen section.

SPEAKER_02 41:07

It's happened out of nowhere, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:08

And you'll see on like the frozen sections like nine grams of protein, but they're not saying like 33 grams of fat or like all the other things on there, so that people are like, no, this is this is good. It's a protein, you know, it's a hot pocket. There's meat and there's cheese and cheese as protein and ham.

SPEAKER_02 41:22

That's great, right? And then you're like it's weird to watch too. We actually just had a student from BSU reach out and she's um she's studying, she's studying um, I think marketing at at BSU, but they're doing like a whole course on like this movement around protein, and she sent like this long list of questions. And I think it's funny because originally when I started the meal prep company, it was called Clean Kitchen Company, and we rebranded to the protein spot, but we rebranded about 18 months ago, and that was really before this protein thing like all of a sudden became the rage, and I was terrified of the name, I was terrified of the rebrand. I liked it, but I was afraid that it would position us in just the fitness space, and I don't I didn't want to be that. And now we're right on trend, but we've it's almost gone like the protein thing's almost gone too far.

SPEAKER_04 42:10

Do you think that's with a secretary Kennedy change?

SPEAKER_02 42:14

Potentially, but I just think I think if you look at like if you look at the last 10 years, that the the the money being spent on health and fitness, the amount of people involved in health and fitness, like it's it's on a really hot trajectory. And I think more and more people are more conscious and becoming more aware of the fact that like like I honestly think over the next couple of years, it's gonna be the first time in history that we're seeing obesity rates decline because we're seeing people really invest in their wellness because people want to be healthier. And I just think that like we've been underfed protein for so long, like the the previous dietary guidelines was like 40 grams a day for a male, which is insane. Yeah, and so I think you're just seeing the pendulum swing, but now it's like it's funny because now it's like I went the other day, I went to the freezer section, and they had like the chicken nuggets, like the you know, low-fat air fried like chicken nuggets. Like, I like to get those frozen sometimes, and they were called protein bites. And I'm like, dude, it's chicken, yeah. Like it's chicken. Okay, let's just leave it as chicken. Right. So it's kind of like swinging, swinging really far.

SPEAKER_04 43:21

How much of that um obesity rate going down do you think will be from natural versus GLPs?

SPEAKER_02 43:28

That's a great question. Um, when I was making the statement that I think it's gonna go down, it was more from behavior driven. But now that you bring that up, like GLPs um are I I I I think I just recently read something that said like 25% of women are on GLP ones, which is a wild number. Yeah. And so um I think I think GLP ones are are are gonna be are gonna continue to be massive. Um and it's interesting because as a trainer, I think our natural inclination, especially for People who have lost weight and gone through it, our natural inclination is to have a bit of hesitancy to the adoption of them. We even as a trainer, I remember like probably a year ago when you really started hearing about them, I was kind of like, all right, here we go. Like another, you know, quick fix. But I've softened my stance on them and I kind of look at them very similar that I did to like the COVID vaccine, right? Which is for some people, it might be a good idea. Like if you're someone who's I've I've watched family members, close family members who have struggled with weight their entire life and never found a solution. And living in a body that you're uncomfortable with or unhappy with is a very miserable place to be. Yeah. And if a GLP1 can help kick start and helps quiet the food noise a little bit for people, I'm all for it, man. Yeah. Um, but be aware of what you're signing up for. And what what's not being talked about with GLP1s is that like from from most of the data that's coming out, like if you're not doing some form of resistance training with GLP1s, almost 50% of the weight you're losing is coming from lean muscle tissue. Right. And what happens when you lose muscle? Your metabolism goes down, which makes it harder to lose weight.

SPEAKER_00 45:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:19

And so what you're seeing with people is that like people who are coming off of GLP1s are regaining the weight and then going above. And we know that statistic from weight loss, right? The if you look at people who have lost 100 pounds in their life, like something like 90% have gained it back and put on more.

SPEAKER_04 45:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:35

Um, because it's not a weight loss issue, it's it's a habits issue. And with GLP1s, you're not fixing any of that. So to your question, I think we are gonna see massive amounts of people be successful with losing weight over the next couple of years because of GLP1s, which I love. But I but if we don't course correct for behavior, we're gonna be in a worse position in 10 years than we were before.

SPEAKER_04 46:01

Yeah, you start seeing those Ozempic faces where it's like all sunk in and stuff, they lose like all that. Yeah. And I've talked to some some clients before, and they're like, I want to get on Ozempic, and I'm like, Well, if you're gonna do that, make sure that you go and get scanned to see like how much muscle you're at and how much fat you're at, so that when you start losing weight, you know where it's coming from. Yeah. Because a lot of people don't realize that it is coming from the muscle. Yeah, they're just like, oh, the scale's going down.

unknown 46:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:24

You're like, yeah, well, what is the GLP one doing anyway? It's putting you in the calorie deficit, it's making you not hungry. Yeah, like so it's the same thing, it's just they're they're cheating you, or not cheating you, but like they're making it so you're not hungry, but it's still just a calorie deficit at the end of the day. It's like the same with like keto or carnivore or any of these things, like they all work.

SPEAKER_02 46:41

It all does the same thing. The mechanism is all the same. It's an energy deficit that can be achieved without medical intervention. If medical intervention helps you, I love that for you.

SPEAKER_00 46:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:52

But you have to be going to the gym. So, like, I'm obviously in the gym space, right? I own a handful of gyms and I I serve on the franchise advisory council for for anytime fitness. And this has actually been brought up fairly recently of like, are GLP1s going to have a positive or negative impact on gym membership? And um, I'm I'm not really sure. Like, because if if we don't like, you're seeing some gyms actually partner and start to sell GLP1s to their members, which I'm not a fan of. Like F45 partnered with a GLP1 provider, and Lifetime Fitness is partnering with GLP1s where you can get them with your membership, which I think is just a weird, kind of a weird move.

SPEAKER_04 47:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:34

But if we don't start to get on the leading edge of this and tell people, like, hey, you've got to live. Like, I the saddest thing to me is seeing some of these girls who are like not that overweight to begin with, got on GLP1s and now they look like melted candles because their muscles just fallen off of them.

SPEAKER_03 47:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 47:48

It's like, that's fine if you want to go the medical intervention route. I've always taken that approach with like gastric bypass and some of those things. Like, I think that's a viable option for people. But but while you're doing that and kickstarting the progress, let's talk about your habits and and understand this is not a fix. This is this is a band-aid. Let's go, let's go fix the problem, which is you got to be going to the gym, man. If anything, GLP1s make the gym more important, right? Because if you don't do it, you're you're you know, you're setting yourself up for it's gonna be a domino effect and it's gonna be bad.

SPEAKER_04 48:22

Yeah, so when you might know a little bit more about the science behind it, but if you get the resistance training in with it, will that start pulling more of the fat than from a fat than it will okay?

SPEAKER_02 48:30

Yeah, because you're stimulating the muscle protein synthesis, which is gonna make your body hold on to the muscle tissue and in and realize that it's important.

SPEAKER_04 48:39

So GLPs are a good thing as long as you're doing everything right with them. It's not like starting a fire and only having a lighter the whole time. You gotta be adding the right kind of structure to it.

SPEAKER_02 48:48

Yeah, you're you're you're seeing that now. Like GLP3s, which is like um uh what's the big one that's hot right now in the bodybuilding space? Ritruit retruitide or whatever. Retruitide, something I don't know how to pronounce it exactly. That's been around forever, right? And bodybuilders have used that to help cut fat because it reduces cravings, it reduces food noise, it does all those things. But bodybuilders aren't melting away because they're doing the resistance training that's keeping the muscle tissue intact. And so, yeah, I I actually think GLP1s are are going to be a fantastic thing if you're getting to the gym.

SPEAKER_04 49:22

So is that more of like a doctor's liability than they should be they should be the ones that are prescribing it, also prescribing the gym time as well?

SPEAKER_02 49:30

Yeah, you should it should be tied to you have to go to the gym. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and in it like that's never gonna happen. Yeah. Because pharma, uh big pharma makes way too is making way too much money from these things to put any kind of like constraints around them.

SPEAKER_00 49:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:46

They're it's already too late. We're not gonna get it back. The only thing we can do is as as people who are fitness professionals, I'm not a trainer anymore. My certification expired like in 2018. But um, as people who have a vested interest in trying to help other people, we need we don't need to, we don't need to put up a wall and be shaming people who are on a GLP ones because I actually think they're a great option for a lot of people. Yeah, we just need to high five people who are taking them and say, that's awesome. Please find a gym you love and start doing some resistance training, or else you're gonna wreck your metabolism for the rest of your life.

SPEAKER_04 50:19

Yeah. Yeah, Dr. Mike Isra Teller, however you say his last name, but he That guy's funny. Yeah, he's got a great, like he's like the people he's totally for the GLP one. He's like, I'm good for it. Like us traditional fitness people, you want to rub two sticks together to make a fire, but like most people they don't know how to make two sticks rub together. So they need to have a lighter, a little bit of gas, and that's fine. Yeah, I don't and that's that's what it says. Like, he's like, people need a little boost, that's fine. Yeah, but it's when you only rely on that the whole time, then that's when there's an issue.

SPEAKER_02 50:47

Yep, no, for sure. Like for like some people, their their drive for food is higher than others. Like, if if GLP once had been an option for me and I knew the bet like the knew the benefits and the weight, like the the risks of them at when I was younger, it would have helped me a ton because my food noise, like I think about food all the time, and that's not healthy, right? So, like for some people it's a great option if you don't have the the the muscle built, the like the mental muscle built to fight that. So yeah, I I I I think that they're they're they absolutely have a place, they're gonna save a lot of people's lives, but we need to use them thoughtfully.

SPEAKER_04 51:22

Is there an age limit on GLP ones? I don't even know.

SPEAKER_02 51:24

I actually don't know. I would sure hope so. I would hope so, yeah. I would I would sure hope so. But at this man, yeah, that's a tough one. That's a tough one. Cause we gotta do something about the childhood obesity.

SPEAKER_04 51:35

Yeah, that's a problem. Like they're taking a shop, but then mom and dad are still putting cheeseburgers and fries and everything on the table.

SPEAKER_02 51:42

Yeah, yeah. Again, yeah, I I shouldn't even go down that path. But in in in my opinion, and I'm you have kids, so correct me if I'm wrong, but your child's choice, you have the ability as a parent to control that outcome for that kid. Because you control what goes on that plate and what they're allowed to eat and what they aren't. Yeah. And so um, you're the GLP one.

SPEAKER_04 52:04

Yeah. When my wife and I did did our weight loss and we did it together, she wasn't, I mean, she's like a buck 20 soaking wet her whole life. So it's like she didn't really need it, but but she went on it with me and um we never made two meals for the kids. They're like, This is what we're eating, yeah. This is like we're just making it better, things that they would already be eating, like casseroles or whatever, we'd just be using like fat-free cheese or you know, yeah, you know, just not using those sauces and then like eat it, and they're like, Well, we don't like this. Okay, well, eat it. I don't know, like be hungry, yeah. Like it's not gonna kill you, and then they would eat it, and they're like, Oh, this is good, okay. Yeah, and part of the thing too with kids is involving them. So, like, my kids are old enough now that they can make dinner, so I'm like, all right, let's make dinner, but you guys are making it. Yeah, I want them to learn, right? Like, I don't want them just to be relying on mom dad the whole their whole time and you know, like, yeah, let's let's learn how to cook chicken, let's learn how to cook steaks. And people are like, Well, what if they burn themselves? I'm like, we'll probably learn. Yeah, that's true. Like, that's the best way to learn. Like, we'll start letting our kids cut with knives and like prepare the vegetables and bell peppers and stuff, you know, like cut it, and they're like, Well, what if they cut themselves? They'll learn. Like, what do you I'm not gonna like protect my kids their whole life, like the best way to parent your kids is let them play dangerously carefully. Yeah, no, that's a great point.

SPEAKER_02 53:16

And like, I I do have a lot of like sympathy for for parents who like I I had this conversation with with with my girlfriend yesterday. It's like um, I've worked really, really hard in my life, and I've dedicated most of my youth and my young adulthood to building a business and making money. And um, you know, um, like I can go to the grocery store and go through the grocery store and buy and not look at prices or have like a you know, like I'm I'm I'm financially in a place where like I can afford more expensive food at the grocery store and I can make things, you know. And as a parent, if you're a parent who's working a really tough nine to five and you don't have, you know, and you don't have as big of a budget for for groceries, like it would be challenging, like because these food companies are making so much money off of selling just garbage to people. And like there's it not having not having a lot of financial means is not an excuse for eating poorly because rice, chicken, oatmeal, eggs are all cheap. Yeah, like um you're but that requires a lot of putting together and making things. Whereas if I'm a family and I'm a mom and I'm a single mom and I have two kids and I've worked my butt off and I don't have a ton of financial means, I can drive through McDonald's and feed my entire family for five dollars and it's done, right? But that that's why I'm so passionate about providing those options for the protein spot for for for like a mom, you know, to be able to come by and grab quesadillas that are made with you know thoughtful ingredients and done right, and it's not gonna break the bank. And that's been a really tough thing to play in the business model because um did you ever have any experience in the restaurant industry? Like as a no, me, I hadn't either. And the really the restaurant industry, like restaurants have one of the top failing rates in business in general, right? Yeah, and and it's because the cost of goods is so high and the cost of labor is continuing to increase. And cost of labor and cost of goods combined to be what is called your prime cost in a restaurant model, right? And for a restaurant to be profitable, you need to keep your prime cost, so cost of ingredients and cost of labor under 70% of your total revenue. Otherwise, you just cannot be profitable, right? Um, but but when it comes to making a recipe, like we have a couple of different, we have a couple of different like parameters in place for making things. Number one, we have to keep cost of goods under 35%. So we have to be able to sell it for enough to where the the the materials involved involved are less than 35%, 35% or less. And um, we have to have eight to ten grams of protein per hundred calories. Those are like our parameters for making a a recipe. And it's really tough, man, because like I can I can through Cisco, our food distributor, I can get ground beef for like three dollars and fifty cents a pound, but I don't know what ranch it was, I don't know where it comes from, I can't control what the fat content is, I don't know what the quality is. Instead, we pay almost double that to get our ground beef from a local ranch where I've been to the ranch, I know what the cows get fed, I know how they're treated, right? But you have to play that game of like choosing where you can choose to to invest in really quality ingredients that you're proud of and still put a product out that people can afford to buy. And so we've we've constantly fought that through the whole process, you know. Um and and it's it's it's tough because there's some things that I would love to like be able to offer, like salmon or things like that. I'd love to be able to offer them, but to do that, you'd have to charge $14, $15 a meal. And like for a mom, like that that's tough, you know. So it it all of that plays in, and it's like it's it's fun, it's a fun game to play, but at the same time, it's it's not the easiest thing to do. You're constantly balancing like that margin and trying to figure out where you can, you know. At the I don't buy into the whole organic thing. A strawberry is a strawberry, you know, for the most part, but meats, um, you know, um, dairy, like a lot of those types of things, I think quality matters a ton. And so trying to make thoughtful decisions around sourcing is is tough.

SPEAKER_04 57:35

Yeah. When did you start getting into like the business ownership side of it? And you said you own gyms and everything prior to the restaurant side. When was that?

SPEAKER_02 57:42

Yeah. So I I I was a trainer at like 19. I got hired by the Anytime Fitness that I lost most of my weight at. And um, I I started learning like the business side of the gyms. Like, um, thankfully I was homeschooled, so like I, you know, being social and like living that life, I was really religious, and so like I didn't really care to be out drinking with friends. It was like I was at work, like I was either in the gym working out or I was like working at the gym, you know. And um I I just learned the business side of the gyms really, really well. And um, and then I had the opportunity to help a lot of different investors open and turnaround franchises um as a manager of of gyms. And then when I was 24, 25 is when I started um, I started like realizing that um I could buy a failing gym for about the same money that most kids my age or young adults my age were buying a car. And I knew how to run the operation. And I was like, this isn't rocket science. I know this. I've been doing it for six years, and I know it like the back of my hand. I could buy a failing gym for $30,000, $50,000. Um, and and I could go turn that thing around, you know, and do it for myself. And so it got on my radar. And so I just, you know, I I I I thankfully I was always really good with numbers and I was good with, you know, from going door to door as a kid, I was good with sales. And so like I had a lot of those things that fell my way and I knew the business model really well. So with the gym industry, it made sense. So I started buying, you know, failing gym locations and going in and turning them around and um kept doing that, and it and then kind of I thought my dream was to own two or three gyms, you know, and that was gonna be like what the dream was. And then I started buying and turning around gyms, and the next thing I know I looked up and I had, you know, 10 of them. And then it was like it just um, you know, kept rolling, and and then yeah, so that that was my exposure to business, was was kind of through that.

SPEAKER_04 59:35

Did you buy them and then turn them into like anytime as well?

SPEAKER_02 59:37

Or most so every one of them that I bought was an existing anytime franchise. Oh, okay. I so I would just buy the franchise location, they were underperforming units. Oh, and then I bought a few that were doing okay, but for the most part, I was buying the ones that were losing money or breaking even. Yeah. And you would have like these investors, like I I like one of them, for instance, I literally paid one dollar for because you would have these investors who would go in and open these franchise locations, and then they were losing money, and they didn't, they they just looked at it as a loss on their balance sheet because they were stuck in a franchise agreement, they were stuck in a lease, and they didn't want to turn it around. So they just wanted out from the liability, so they were willing to pretty much sign that thing over to anyone, and so legally you have to pay something for it. So, you know, like I bought one for a dollar during COVID that was shut down. Um, and so got capitalized on the yeah, COVID from a business perspective, COVID was actually people are always like, Oh, the gym thing was probably really tough. No, that the COVID thing actually for me and my career was really beneficial.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:38

Yeah, the gym owner for 3D, he was telling me that's how he got most of his equipment for his gym was during COVID. There's a lot of places shutting down like in California, because they were really, you know, shut down to California. Yep. So then he would just go buy like these like nice machines and just drive them back, but you got them on like pennies on the dollar pretty much.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:56

Yeah, I had been pretty smart with like cash flow. I think when I went into COVID, going into COVID, I owned I think I owned three or four gyms going into COVID. Um, and um I I had a business partner at um and me and me and him got together as soon as COVID kind of started coming to coming around. Like I remember like March 27th, I want to say was like the day that we were forced to shut down or something like that. And I remember me and him came together early on and we were like, what are we gonna do? Right? Like the we're the government is shutting us down, which is like worst case scenario. And me and him both said, like, the first thing was like, well, we're not laying the team off. Like, we're not gonna let our employees go. We're gonna take this fight to our landlords, we're gonna take this, we're gonna, you know, we're gonna pivot to online. We were running classes online and doing the whole thing, but we're not gonna let our team lose out on their jobs. And so, um, you know, because we did that, we made that decision. Well, we didn't know it at the time, but then the paycheck protection program was coming through the government. And because we didn't lay our staff off, we were able to apply for a pretty decent amount of change based on the payroll that we kept and held on to.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:08

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:09

So we got that. Um, we also then qualified for the employee retention tax credit that through the government funding. So that was an additional decent amount of money that we got to that we got to apply for. And then on top of that, you had the economic injury disaster loan program that was rolling through the SBA that a lot of people abused. And looking back on, I'm not the biggest fan of our government, so I I probably should have abused it too, but I was pretty honest with it, and we were able to to to to to apply for a really low interest large loan. And between all of those funds, I was able to go buy an additional, like I came out of COVID with 10 gyms. Wow. Yeah. So we we like when I say out of COVID, like, you know, yeah, 2022, when people stopped thinking that it was, yeah. And um, so COVID from a you know, from a entrepreneurial aspect, like it's how all of us are from as entrepreneurs, is like you can either see things as obstacles or opportunities, and it was like, how do we turn this thing into a good if you work hard enough at it? There's something good that's gonna come out of this. Let's go figure it out. So it was actually really beneficial from a career perspective.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:12

Was it scary taking that first risk of buying your first being like an owner? No, going from because you're a trainer, so it's probably hourly, right? Or how's that work?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:21

Yeah, at the time when I bought my first one, I had been I was in the managing, I was managing gyms for other franchisees. And to be honest with you, no, it wasn't scary at all. I knew the business like the back of my hand. Like it, like it was all I did, you know, like I knew the business, I knew the numbers, like I I I knew the numbers of the business so well. And um, and and so it wasn't scary at all because like man, people always like that. I look back at like when I first started as a trainer, and and I worked for a franchisee that had 13 anytime fitness locations. And I remember like in those days, there were probably I can name six people off the top of my head on that team that were smarter than me, that were better trainers than me, that like had way more charisma than me. The only difference was they looked at buying a gym as a risk. And I'm sitting here, I'm like, I I I didn't get to go to college, right? I was homeschooled, and it was like, so what if I what if I go buy this gym? First of all, like if I most people are paying $70,000, $80,000 for a car loan. What's the difference? I'm gonna go buy a appreciating asset. Yeah, I'm gonna go buy this gym. I already know how to run it. And like, what's the risk? Like, if it doesn't work, let's just say worst case scenario, I go, I go invest all this money, I take out a loan and I open up this gym. If it doesn't work, what happens? I go bankrupt, right? What does that mean? That means that I need to go get a job, which is what I already, what is what you guys are already doing. What's the risk? Like the risk is not taking the shot and just being stuck doing what I've what I've been doing. Like if it if it absolutely falls apart and I lose everything, and I'm good. I just go get a job and I like I'll be right right where everybody else is is at. Yeah. So it's like, no, it's like it's no, it's not that, it's not a risk at all, man. Like you have to be self-aware enough to know, like, I'm I'm I'm blessed to have like a really good mind with numbers and understand like how business works, but I've also just grinded my face off for a long time. So from a business perspective, I can come up with a me and you could sit down right now, and by the end of today, we could have a business model mapped out doing just about anything you wanted to do, and like I can put that puzzle together and figure it out. I just I've read enough and been exposed to enough that I have a brain for it. You have to know what you're good at and know what you're not, right? Um, and so if if if you're someone who has no business owning a business and there's a lot of those people, don't, don't, don't risk your, you know, don't risk. But also like at the time when I started investing in businesses and being an entrepreneur, like I I I was really fortunate to where I at the time I didn't have a family, I didn't have kids that were dependent on my paycheck. I didn't have uh um, you know, a a family. I didn't have to I didn't have a lot of responsibilities. And so for me at that age, like, if it didn't work, so what? Yeah. Even now, like, um, when when I've gone through the gym thing, and there's been times even in my later business life, you know, later, I'm only 32, but um, there's been times where like those margins and that bank account got thin, you know. We were buying locations and and and rolling the dice and gambling the thing, and it starts to get a little heavier because you have employees who rely on you and you gotta be a little bit smarter. But like, dude, even now, it's like I am so not risk adverse because at the end of the day, I know like if I like with the protein spot, I invested quite a bit of money in that, you know, and um it's working now, which is cool. But like if it didn't, if everything fell apart and I lost everything, and Elk Tag in Idaho is 30 bucks, I got a bow, and like I'll figure it out, I'll be fine. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like that I can be just as happy doing that. And so it's like for me, it's like that never felt risky. Like if I'm if I'm betting on myself, it's not a risk at all. I have never been a big I never invested in Bitcoin, should have probably. I never I I don't play the stock market, I don't do any of that because at the end of the day, I don't have any control over it. Yeah, but if it's a business, like if it's if it's me that I'm betting on and like my team or my staff, like and I have a direct outcome, like control of it, what's the risk? That's awesome. The risk is not doing it, you know.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:34

Yeah, Alex Ramosi has a great thing, is like with entrepreneurship, most people are afraid to even roll the dice where entrepreneurship is like uh roulette at the casino where the casino just keeps letting you roll until you win. But most people are afraid to roll the dice. It's exactly it.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:50

There's a lot of people that are that are like I said, like they have all the makings of it. Like I, you know, and it's like, but they don't have that ability. Thankfully, like my parents, I think my parents instilled a couple of things in me. Number one, it was like a a never die work ethic. Like my dad was the hardest worker like I'd ever I've ever seen. Like he my entire childhood growing up, that man just got up every single morning, went to the factory, and went to work, and like, you know, that was all he did. And so it was like you just go to work, and so even as a kid, we were working early, and so my work ethic is is hard to beat. But the other side of it is like the simple, the simplicity of just knowing that like as long as you have these bare necessities, you're gonna be fine, and so like there just wasn't a lot of like risk aversion. Yeah, the risk is like not having any freedom.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:38

Yeah, that's what I've I've heard before too, is like if you think that the price of success is too high, wait until you get the bill for regret, you know. Like get to the end of your into your uh get to the end of your life and you're on a deathbed and like I wish I would have tried that business, or I wish I would have done this. And it's like, well, at least you could say like if you try and you fail, you're like, at least I tried.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:57

Yeah, and if you fail, you'll just you can you can always get a job. Yeah, you can always get a job and do what everyone else is doing.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:05

Like that's what I was thinking when I left my job at the prison. I worked there for 10 years, and that's like the securest job you got. No, they're always gonna be felons, right? Yeah, and uh like but that was really scary for me because I had insurance, I have a pension, you know, like steady paycheck every two weeks.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:20

You had all the things that society tells you you need to protect you, and my family, dude.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:24

I told my my parents and uh grandparents or whatever, like, I'm gonna leave the pension. They're like, Are you kidding me? You'll be retired at 51. Like, you'd be good. I was like, that's another 20 years of my life. Like, I re like, yeah, because I'm 32 now, but I was like, that's another 20 years. Like, I'm not gonna do that. Like, I I've done 10 and that's too much already. And then I was thinking the same thing. I was like, well, the prison's always hiring. What's the worst that happens? I have to go back and get a job again. Like, and then that's what I was like, all right, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:54

That's a that that's such a good that's such a good way to look at it, man. And I like it's so interesting to me. Again, like I think some people just have like a natural aversion to risk that keeps them from being able to gamble on themselves a little bit. Um, but the the flip side of it too is some people are just happier with the consistency and structure. Like, as an entrepreneur and as a business owner, you have to be really comfortable with like never having a safety net, where it's like you have to be really comfortable with like risk and you have to be able to sleep at night with like some of those things going on because there's absolutely been days in my life where it's like, man, it'd be really nice to just wake up and go punch a clock and do a job and then leave and just be able to leave it at that job, you know. Like you've gone through that, like at the prison thing, right? Is like you didn't have to think about the prison really when you left. Like you might have carried some things with you, but at the end of the day, you clock out and you're kind of done, and you can go home and just do whatever and be free. As an entrepreneur and as a business owner, you're never free, you're always on the hunt, you're always on the hunt or putting out a fire or worried about like I like to think of myself as being a really good like employer, and I'm always thinking about a staff member who's going through something or this, or how do we how what do we need to do to be responsible for? It's always a chess game that's going on in your head, and it's never quiet. And so you have to learn to you have to know, like, are you set up for that? Because that that's a grind.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:23

Yeah. You ever have people come up to you and be like, oh, it must be nice, and they're like, Oh, see everything you've gone through?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:28

No, yeah. I remember like the one that sticks out with me is like uh uh I have the greatest parents in the world, like they've given me everything in life, like a work ethic and a and a and a good uh a fairly good head on my shoulders. But one thing they never gave me was anything financial. They helped me with a car payment one time when I was in when I first moved out on my own. I remember my mom went to the bank and made one of my car payments for me, and that was the most like financial that my parents ever were able to give me because they just weren't very financially well off. But I remember like one of the one time I was I was at I was at a um Anytime Fitness like national conference for franchisees, and um I overheard this other franchisee uh who was didn't know I was behind him. He was talking about me, and he was like, he's like, he's like, well, yeah, it'd be easy if your parents bought you franchises and let you get started. And I was like, what? Like, are you kidding me? So you have like some of that, you know, and like it I think it just comes from a place of ignorance. People just don't they see you do it and they they they you can make it look easy on the surface, you know. They see you on Instagram and it's just always posting, I'm going to I'm traveling to do a high rocks or I'm hunting or whatever, and they don't know that like I work 25 hours a day. Yeah, and um, and and so it's like it I don't think it most of the time comes from a bad place. I just think that there's like a lot of ignorance because they only see one side of it. I've had employees the same way, man. I've had employees who um, you know, anytime I'm interacting with an employee, I never dump on an employee about like what I'm dealing with or anything. Yeah, they only see like, you know, they they they see Tyler pop in and then he's gone and he like he's probably out having a good time kind of thing. Um, and then I've had employees also who who see me do it and they're like they think they can do it, and then you know, they they go try and which which I'm all for, but then they fall flat on their face, you know. Um or or or they get an idea that I somehow don't, you know, there's been people who um left the company where it was like um you know, they they felt like they were entitled to more than what they were getting. They didn't see that all the stuff I was doing on the backside. So yeah. I think you'll always have that. You probably you probably get it too, right? It's like, you know, people always have that attitude of like they some people are just victim, they're just stuck in that victim mindset where it's like they don't want to believe that you're just you just out you outworked them.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:53

Yeah. Yeah, I think for me, I got a couple different perspectives on that, but like for me it was more like uh what people seen as I was growing up, they didn't see like the back end of it, like all the I went through a lot of the view stuff, but they're like they only seen like this side of it, and they're like, Where why is he being like this? They're always going on these nice vacations, and he's got everything, but they don't see like the backside of it. But then later, like now that I'm doing the entrepreneurial stuff, the thing that gets me is like when people are like, Oh, you're crushing it, dude. And I'm like, I don't feel like I'm crushing it. Oh yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah, like that's that's the scary part for me where everybody else is like thinking I'm doing good, and I'm like, nah, like you guys don't see it, like I don't feel like I'm like three bad decisions away from being broke, dude.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:33

Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. That happens a ton too. I I you know it it's interesting because I think in entrepreneur in in entrepreneurial in the entrepreneurial space, right? Like you're always a couple bad decisions away from from from losing everything. Yeah. Um, and you have to be, you kind of have to make peace of that, unless you are like a trust fund kid who came from a bunch of money and you have it different, you know. Right. Like there are some people that are sheltered for sure. But, you know, like even there's there's been times, even in the last five years, where like I, you know, I made a pretty good exit on um, I sold uh 10 of my gyms to a big group and made a pretty good exit, made more money than I ever thought I would make, also paid more in taxes than I ever thought I would have to pay. Yeah, but like even after that, you know, starting the protein spot and starting things, like I I gambled it all back on the, I put it all back on the table and ran that bank account down to next to nothing, you know, because you're always just, you know, you're always making that gamble on yourself. And so it's like people always they always think that, you know, you start to you start to do a little a little good, like a little bit of good in in your life, and you're gonna have two different groups of people. You're gonna have some people who who, you know, are jealous of you and and hate you for it or have negative things to say about you. And the other thing you have to watch out for too is you you you can't start to feel yourself too much either. You have a couple wins get under your belt, people start to pat you on the back and tell you that you know, oh, you're so good at this, you know, you start to feel yourself a little bit. You get humbled, you get humbled real quick, like real quick, right? Like I've I've had wins and I've had some really big losses, and in the last year I've taken some L's on things and I've learned lessons. And I think as an entrepreneur, you you have to constantly like remind yourself that you might have won this, but yeah, that doesn't mean you know you're right back at zero. So yeah, keeping that perspective and never letting yourself kind of get because it's easy to get soft, right? Like I I the first time like I made decent money when I made my exit on a handful of gyms, I think I I got a little soft, right? Like I I didn't because as an entrepreneur, you don't have anybody telling you have to get up and go to work, you know, and in in you you don't have that, and like if you're not if you're not managing your business and running things, it's like really easy to kind of get some wins under your belt and feel yourself a little much.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:51

So yeah. When you I mean obviously, so you knew everything about the gym and fitness world, so it wasn't that big of a deal for you to open the gyms. How is that transition opening a food thing then? Because you didn't really have a food background.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:03

Yeah. I mean again, it goes back to like the confidence that I have in my own ability to figure things out. Like I I I was never worried that it like I was never like I was never like thinking I couldn't do it. Because I always I always try to tell myself like there's dumber people than me that figured it out, you know. Like I might not be the brightest or the or or have the most resources, but there's dumber people than me that are successful at it, you know, so like I can figure it out. Um, so but it was scary, you know. Like when we first, you know, like I've probably invested three or four hundred thousand dollars at least at this point in the protein spot. And so like that's a big gamble for me, because that, you know, um it it it can like you always hear people hear people say, like, restaurant don't do don't get in food service, right? Like restaurants are you know the tough but the number one failing business in the in in according to the SBA, the number one failing business is gyms, and I did and I did all right with those. So, you know, it's like there was a risk for sure, and it was scary. It was scary to jump into something, but it was also exciting to jump into something because I had been in the gym space and have been in the gym space so long that like you kind of get you kind of get tired, not tired of it, but you just like you want to challenge yourself. So as an entrepreneur, like I had this idea for the protein spot, but everything about it was foreign and I didn't have anything to bank on. Like in franchising, you have a playbook and you have people to pick up the phone and call, and you like most of my best friends that I've made in the last 10 years either owned Anytime Fitnesses, worked at Anytime Fitnesses, like that has been the echo chamber I was in. And so with the gyms, if anything went wrong or I had a problem, I had a Rolodex of people who were better operators than me that I could pick up the phone and call and say, Nick, what what do I do? Mike, what what's going on? Andy, like what what do you what would you do here? Right with the with the restaurant space, I didn't have nobody. Like, there's no playbook, there's no franchise playbook to fall on, there's no corporate to call, like everything about the protein spot was proprietary and it was figured out as we were going. And so there was no there's no resources, even now. Like, I don't know restaurant owners the way that I know gym owners.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:29

And so it's very much like uh it's kind of the difference between going on a solo, on a solo backcountry hunt and going on a hunt with your buddy, right? And if you go, if I if I have a buddy, I'll group of buddies, I'll go into the nastiest, gnarliest canyon. I'll I'll I'll suffer. It like I'm good if I have that safe, that just that having that someone with you.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:53

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:54

But that first couple times you spend completely solo in the backcountry, it exposes everything. Yeah, and every cracking stick sounds like a grizzly in the middle of you know unit 39. Like you didn't, you know, it's just like the the exposure and the and it you're just way more aware of the difficulty, so it changes it for sure.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:15

Yeah, that's wild.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:16

But it's been good, man. Like I'm really fortunate. Like there's so much about it that I wasn't I wasn't sure would work. Like meal prep companies have failed more than they've worked. Like, even even large national like bite meals and and and ice age meals, like all these, those were people who had way more money than me that threw at meal prep that were national brand that went bankrupt, right? I think Ice Age is still, they might still be around. I don't know. So meal prep in its own is like a difficult category to get in. And then and then you flip that over to well, we're we also have a restaurant concept, and to blend the two together was is like, how does that work as a business model and smoothies and pull all this stuff in? And then also you have the whole side of like you have the whole side around like having not been in that space, just not being versed in it, you know. So thankfully, like it's it's worked now. Even naming it the protein spot was scary because I didn't want people to be like it's just a fitness place. We want to be a healthy fast food. And um, but now we're at a point where it's like, you know, now we're at a point where it's like, oh, it worked, and I can breathe a little bit, even even though like every every other day I'll like get on our sales thing and I'll just be waiting for like people to stop coming in and eating there. And it's like it's people love it, you know. Like one of the coolest things about it is um 46% of our transactions on a daily basis have a loyalty count attached to them. That's how high our return rate is.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:51

Oh, sweet.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:52

So like we we have like our core customers and they're they're diehard, right? And so it's been really rewarding, really fun.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:00

Yeah, it's awesome, dude. The food's so good. That's how did you come up with some of the recipes? It was just trial and error.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:06

It was a it was a mixture. So um, like some of our grab and go meals, I had some friends in Missouri that had a meal prep company, and they we we partnered with them and got some of their um recipes on the early batches. So I think we still have like four or five recipes that we that we got from them like early on. Um, but honestly, most of the time, it's like we'll have a staff member or me or my buddy Brandon, like we'll we'll come up with like, oh, you know what would work? Like, you know what would be good. And when when we made the hot bar, like whenever I set up this, set up the cafe, the idea for the cafe was like, where are all the places I like to go eat that are quick service restaurants? What do they do really well? How do we make a healthier version of it that's more transparent? And we go after that, right? And so a lot of it was modeled after things that I just like. Like as we're coming up on summer, I'm my favorite dessert is key lime pie. It's not even close, right? So yesterday I met with the chef and we went through and like pulled recipes that we could find online and like what how do we make a high protein, low calorie key lime pie? Cool, let's try it, you know? A lot of it's just like what I want.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:10

What are some of the biggest swaps that you guys do to make it work for a recipe?

SPEAKER_02 1:23:15

Like if you're like almond flour or versus like or like again, like our North Star is control for calories and equate for protein. The the calories and protein are the two things that matter, and then from that, yeah, we care about sourcing and ingredients and stuff like that. Um, and so for me, a lot of it comes to like where are your biggest expenditures from a caloric standpoint. So, for instance, like in the cafe, like everywhere else, if they cook beef on a flat top, they're using oil, they're gonna put oil on the grill, right? Well, just don't use water. So we just don't use oils, so we don't use any added oils on anything when we cook. You just cut out like a lot of calories. Yeah. Um, we don't put oil in the rice. There's like a really popular QSR restaurant that people go to a lot. That's a national chain that puts oil in their rice and they don't equate for it on calories and they don't tell anybody.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:09

Really?

SPEAKER_02 1:24:09

Yeah. Don't put just don't put oil on everything. Not everything has to have oil on it. So that's that's a huge one. Um, but then like you know, we'll use cream cheese for like cheesecake and stuff like that. We use fat-free cream cheese. Yeah, it's more expensive, it's really hard to get, but you can be done, right? Um uh sugar, we we don't we try not to add any added sugar to anything, we just replace it with like Splenda or you know, like a calorie-free option, you know, stuff like that. Or honey, like lower calorie options. So it's you know, cheeses. Use a reduced fat cheese. Um, it's like looking for places like that to pull where the calories are high.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:46

What do you guys do for like your bases for sauces? Because a lot of people use like mayo. You guys do like Greek yogurt or anything?

SPEAKER_02 1:24:52

Mostly, yeah. Yeah. So like um, yeah, like our, you know, our we make like a probably on our sauces, I would say 50% of them are made in-house. 50% of them are just like sauces that we'll buy from a that we know that I've checked the ingredients of and stuff. Um, but yeah, like stuff that we make, we'll swap out like mayo for Greek. Like we have chicken salad, right? And like chicken salad is made with mayo. Well, we just make it with Greek yogurt, and you know, so yeah, we'll make those swaps a lot. Sauces will do the same thing. It's like not everything has to be loaded with fats. And you we've we've had people who left, like, you know, our we're like 4.8 on Google, which I think is pretty dang good for a restaurant. But like we've had people who left reviews who are like, the the these donuts don't taste like donuts. And it's like, yeah, yeah, dude, they don't because they're not 400 calories, they're 150, right? Like, there is some give and take on some of that stuff where it's like you're never gonna be able to replicate. Cheesecake Factory is always gonna have probably better cheesecake than our whey protein Greek or fat-free cream cheese.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:53

Oh, it's whey. I was wondering, I was thinking it was like maybe casein.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:56

We actually use a blend.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:58

Most of the time, we use some some things you have to use straight whey, but like for most of our bakery products and like stuff like that, we'll you we use actually we use BPN most of the time. Um, they do a it's 88% whey, 12% casein, um, because it bakes a little bit better. Yeah, so like for sure. Case thick, it'll thicken things up a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:16

Yeah, my prep that I'm on right now, I have to drink a case and shake before bed, but they're like, make sure you drink it quick, because if you let it sit for too long, it gets thick. Dude, I used to do that.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:24

That was like the bodybuilding.com days. They'd tell you, like, I remember reading an article that was like some of the bodybuilders would get up at like 3 a.m. and drink casein in the middle of the night. And uh yeah, I remember like the first couple times I ever tried casein, it was like optimal nutrition gold standard case and I would put it in there and shake it up, and it was like it was like sludge. Yeah, it's just gotta go for it. It's not good either. No, but I I then I just started eating cottage cheese because cottage cheese is mostly casein protein.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:49

Yeah, but then I heard it's good like to make cheesecake stuff. So like if you want to make desserts, that's one thing I gotta do for my own company. Uh it's not really company, it's just a fitness, whatever it is. But I I need to make more recipes, but it's like trying to make recipes look good. Like, because I'll eat oatmeal, but oatmeal doesn't look good. You know what I mean? Like, how do you how do you make it look good in the pictures?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:08

Yeah, yeah, like there's literally like if you look at like you know, some of the big food companies craft and all those, they have like an entire art, food, art and it's like a food category, like department where their job is to make things look pretty.

SPEAKER_04 1:27:23

We see where they like put like motor oil on it where it looks like syrup and it's like it's not even their actual food.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:28

It's so it that is like so sketchy. Um, thankfully for me, like I have a buddy, Alex, who does like all of our media and stuff, and he's like, that guy, but some people just have that artistic gene.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:40

We'll be like sitting somewhere. I remember this one time we were like sitting, we were sitting at um uh we were actually at whiskey bar having a drink one night, and it was like we were I think it was New Year's. We're sitting there, and like he all of a sudden, like I see this guy across the street at a taco stand. I was like, Oh, cool, guys grabbing a taco. Dude, like takes a picture of it, makes it black and white, and like all this stuff, and shows it to me. Like a scene out of like a 1960s movie, and I'm like, What we're looking at the same thing. How did you see that? You know, so some people just have a knack for that stuff. Yeah. So maybe you just need someone to take better pictures.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:11

Yeah. No. I mean, these cameras here, like my first eight episodes that I had, they were overheating like within the first hour. And then I realized finally, after like calling Sony and trying to figure out what's wrong with these brand new cameras, they're like, I don't know. And then I just was looking through the settings one day and I had on 60 frames per second, which is like slow motion. Oh, so I'm recording it and like making them overheat. And I took me like eight episodes to figure that out. I was like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:36

I did uh I like I bought a camera because I got so jealous of like my buddy Alex and like his ability with photography. I was like, dude, I could figure this out. I'm gonna buy a camera. I bought a camera, I bought like an Adobe subscription to learn like art like how to do editing and all that.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:49

Photoshop and all that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:50

I think I turned the camera on like three times, and I'm just like, this is not me.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:53

Well, most iPhones that you have nowadays, or any phone, like they take better pictures than most cameras.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:58

Yes, but but still, yeah, you could take me and you could take Alex, and you could have us take the exact same picture of the exact same thing, and it is gonna look night and day different. Yeah, some people just have that creative that's not me. Remember when we talked about self-awareness? You gotta know what you're good at, right? That is not me. Like, yeah, yeah, I'm I'm very analytical with stuff, and I like I'll have an idea of aesthetic and how I want things to look, and I'll give some feedback, but like getting it there, no, yeah, not not my strong suit.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:28

So, what's next for you, dude? Sounds like you guys got a lot of cool stuff going on.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:31

I'm excited to see where it goes, but yeah, it we're we're in a really interesting spot with the protein spot. So um we um we're we like the goal ultimately is to probably get to franchising. We've already been hit up about it quite a bit, and so finding someone we we want to find like an operational partner that wants to go to Salt Lake with us and someone to team up with to go to Salt Lake and open up down in those markets. Um, but in the meantime, at some point in in Q2, we're gonna open up our next location here in the valley. Um I I'm I'm I'm I'm kind of leaning towards Eagle Meridian area. Um, and I'm not sure if we're gonna do like a full cafe again for here or if we're gonna do like a um grab and go that also has like smoothie bar, wraps, you know, kind of a uh a controlled menu. Um, but we're definitely about to we're we're we're we're in the process of figuring out what we're gonna open, but we're gonna open another location here this summer. So we're we're we're we're like playing with figuring out what's the smartest move, what what do people want and what's gonna make sense? That's cool. So that's that's the next one.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:40

I think Mary and Eagle would be a great area, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:42

And and those are like very different, like you know, kind of it's it's weird because financially, what would actually make the most sense is to do another grab and go. Because, you know, you just have to have somebody to ring people out, you can do smoothies and stuff with a really limited staff, you don't have to build out an entire other kitchen, and rent would be really cheap, and the the the margin on just the grab and go stuff is really good. And actually, 50% of our revenue is from pre-made grab and go meals versus like the cafe. Um, so the smart financial move would be to open up in like a grab and go, like with an express version. But um, you know, as all entrepreneurs do, I have an ego, and like in Meridian, in like that South Meridian or North Meridian, like eagle area, all the big players are opening up there. Like Raisin Keynes is there, and like Clean Eats, the franchise opened up in Meridian, and like um Zhao's Asian Cafe, and like all these QSR spots that do really well are all like going there, and I want to just like open up there just to prove to myself that like we can compete with those guys, get a spot of the village or something, yeah. Yeah, no, that the village might be a little expensive. I but like you know what I mean? Like, you like it worked, but then what's it's so funny how people you were talking about must be nice culture, and and when when I was coming up with the idea and sort of like going through, there were like a handful of things that people were saying, like, don't open up on Broadway, like don't don't go downtown, like it's not a good place for restaurants, you'll die there. Because like the building we went into, three restaurants had failed.

SPEAKER_04 1:32:18

Yeah, it was like an Asian place before or something, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:32:20

Yeah, yeah. And it had been it was like a subway, and then it was like a that was um like an Asian, and then it was a sushi place, and like they all closed down. Yeah, and everyone was like, Don't, don't, don't do that. And it was like, people don't want that kind of food, you know? And then like we get there and we open up, and now we're doing well, and now everybody's like, Well, you guys got really lucky with this spot, and I'm like, gosh dang it.

SPEAKER_04 1:32:40

Like, it seems like it's a cool spot with like the protein, and you're right across the street from BSU. Yeah, I don't know if a lot of people from BSU come over there, but I do feel like that would be especially athletes.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:48

Yep. No, the athletes have been super supportive. The university's been really, really good to us, like early on. Like they were because like the protein spot, like naturally you are going to attract that fit crowd is gonna give you a shot. They're gonna give, they're gonna be the first ones to test you out. So, like athletes and stuff were really early to adopt and try it out, and we absolutely got like a a of some support from them. Um, and then like the university, like you know, the basketball team, the volleyball team, the girls um softball, like they've been really supportive and like we do a lot of business with them. And now we're at the point where even like we'll get hit up by teams that are coming to play Boise State and they'll like put in orders, like you know, like when they're coming up. Um and so like we've been really blessed with the university. And I think as a business model, if we go to Salt Lake or something like that, we'll probably try to target opening up near the campus, you know, like Provo, something like that. Um, but you know, like one of the questions that Boise State, that girl that was doing the marketing thing around protein asked, like, who's your core consumer? And honestly, you'd be shocked. Like, we have a ton of like empty nesters or people that are in that later stage of life where it's like their doctors have told them they need to eat more protein and they'll come. Um, we have a lot of like we'll have we have like this old this group of older um that they all get together every like Thursday and come and eat dinner there, and it's because like they know they can get unlimited toppings and unlimited stuff, and they'll load up a bowl and it's 15 bucks, they'll split it between the husband and wife, you know. So, like you'd be surprised. Like, our our our our core consumer, I think, has a really broad appeal. And so um, as long as we do a good job of making sure we don't get like overly siloed into just being like a fitness place, because that's not the goal. The goal is to be like a hell a fast food place that makes eating a healthier a little bit easier. Um, and so as long as we don't like overly silo ourselves in that fitness space, then I think we can go just about anywhere and compete.

SPEAKER_04 1:34:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:47

But we'll see.

SPEAKER_04 1:34:48

I'm excited to see if you start doing those dehydrate mills for hunting.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:51

We'll play with it. We'll play with it.

SPEAKER_04 1:34:52

Yeah, start competing against like peak refuel or something, you know?

SPEAKER_02 1:34:55

Yeah, you know what's really interesting. I have like a I I I have entrepreneur's disease, so I have like a business model every night that I like come up with and I'm like, oh, I should do this, you know. And and uh I've been pretty high on an indoor archery range that has like a pro shop in it. And so like if we did that and had like protein, like high protein, like a line of high protein snacks that were good for the mountains. I have a lot of guys that are really die hard, like way better hunters than me. And they take like our protein balls and like rice krispies and meals, like they take them into the mountain like every time. So yeah, I think we could do a pretty cool we might do like a special launch this fall, like rolling into hunting season of some things that are like geared just for outdoors.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:33

Yeah, set up like just a little shop out even out of like the 3D archery range out in the foothills, just sell like protein balls.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:40

Yeah, just go out there and just give them out, you know, like try these out. Like, uh yeah, we might we'll we'll do something with it. That's the fun thing too about owning a business is like um that's not associated with a franchise or a big national brand or anything, is like art your your your only limitation is like the things you want to play with. So, like if I want to come up with like a hunting line or something, it's like I just can see if it works.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:01

Yeah, what's the worst that happens, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:36:03

Yeah, there's so many guys here that love getting in the outdoors and like having convenient, healthy nutrition to take with you is not that is is not always easy. Like Peak Refuel owns that market.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:13

Of like health, they went for like that healthier, like high protein sort of like, but I don't know what's going on with them because they feel I feel like they've gotten harder to find.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:22

Yeah, I I'm only whenever I would go to like sportsmen's, I would just see them there, but I know they had that Chad Mendez Chad Mendez line, they had like the buffalo and or the bison burger and all that.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:32

Yeah, they did like a full meat eater line, and like the American barbecue mac and cheese from the meat eater line was my favorite meal, and like that one's gone now.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:42

Dang.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:42

I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:43

Costco had a good, a good kit of them. It wasn't it wasn't Peak, but it was somebody else, but it was actually pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:48

Were they decent?

SPEAKER_04 1:36:49

Yeah, they were right. I mean, but when you're in the mountains, anything's good, so it's funny, those meals are a lot like protein bars.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:54

Like, I remember when I first started working out, like I like protein bars that were on the market were so terrible, like they were disgusting. And then like you had Quest was like the first one that was really good. And then now like protein bars have just gotten like so good, yeah like candy bars, yeah. Whereas now it's like if you're not like a candy bar with protein, you're you know, you can't even compete. It's like we have bare bells and all those. And like uh, I feel like meal like dehydrated meals were probably the same way. Like when I grew up in the Midwest, you don't really like need dehydrated meals for the backcountry because you're never more than a couple hundred yards from the truck, right? But like once I started coming out here, like I remember the first one I took was like probably a mountain house, and I was like, this is disgusting.

SPEAKER_04 1:37:30

Mountain gut.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:31

Yeah, and then you get like peak, and like they get they've just gotten better, dude.

SPEAKER_04 1:37:35

One time I went on an archery hunt and we just ate MREs the whole week, and I that racked me, dude. It's like one of those is like 3,000 calories in one of them, right? And so I mean, like that would last me two, three meals, but I was eating a lot and realize how much yeah, and then I slowly started to figure out that I was making mistakes, but yeah, and then it's too late, but yeah, yeah, that'd be sick, dude. I think especially in Idaho here, we got a lot of different backpack companies here local, and so like even they have events, you could just like go and go to the events, and then that'd be sweet.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:07

Yeah, what I've what I have found is like I've found that consumers tend to like they'll take a brand and they'll kind of silo it into like this thing, and to break out of that is really challenging. And so, like, I'm we will absolutely launch a line that's dedicated for like outdoors hiking backcountry stuff. But whether we do it under the protein spot name or if we'd have like a sister brand that's an offshoot that like focuses on that, we'll see, dude.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:35

Yeah, that's awesome. It's been really good talking to you, man. I've learned a lot and uh thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:39

It's been enjoyable. Yeah, we'll have to spin it up. I'll have to have you on. You know, we we haven't we've it's been a minute since we did a podcast for the protein spot, but I'll have to we'll throw you on a good time.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:48

I'll have to go shoot some bows.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:49

Definitely need to do that.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:50

That's my goal this year is to kill someone with my bow.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:53

Yeah, yeah. Do you have anything earmarked? Like, do you have a hunt that you're planning for?

SPEAKER_04 1:38:57

I mean, usually it's just over the counter in September, but you're gonna put it you any draws? I do, but it's like I'm shooting for the fence as one's like only 10 draw or only like 10 tags or something to know. So if I draw it.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:08

If it's not the Oahe's archery tag, you don't want it, then yeah. That's it. That'll be that'll be good. We should get out. Um bear season's right around the corner, and I'm I'm all in on bear this year. So I've only been out west for four years, and um I'm I'm newer to mountain hunting, but I've I've you know I've been fortunate to kill a few elk and killed my that bull last year with my bow. And um I've I've gone bear hunting the last two years, but I've gone I've gone bear hunting where it's like I'm just throwing darts in the dark, and it's like I'll I'll go for like three or three days, you know. And so this year I'm really fortunate to be able to like I've got some time that I'm gonna go and I'm gonna figure out how to get it done.

SPEAKER_04 1:39:46

Yeah. Do you want to do like on a bait or do you want to actually like nothing against baiting?

SPEAKER_02 1:39:50

I I know that that's a real grind and like that's it.

SPEAKER_04 1:39:52

South facing, yeah, south facing green slopes.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:55

Yep. Um I I would rather not kill a bear than kill my first one over bait. Yeah. And so um I'm it's it's just I'm gonna get in there and find some some green stuff and and try to put it together and get so much of hunting too is like luck. Luck.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:11

You know, the harder you grind, the more lucky you get, but so much of it is like you were in the right spot at the right time on the right day. And so, like the more exposure you have to the mountain, the more chances you have to be lucky, right? It's like killing a killing a wolf with your bow. Yeah, it's like that there was like you put yourself there, so it's not all luck. But I remember like the first elk I ever killed with my bow was like me and my buddy Brandon, who's a way better elk hunter than me, somehow hasn't killed an elk in his life. He's been elk hunting for like seven years. That dude is a way better elk hunter than I'll ever be, but like he hasn't gotten it done yet. And uh we were like, we were in Colorado, um, down in the south part in the San Juans, and we were we had been busting our butt for like four days, grinding in the toughest country because it's like 12,000 elevation there, so you're just dead. And we were on our way, we we had finally decided like, let's just go back to camp for for uh for a while for lunch and let's just like refresh and take a break. And we were hiking up the mountain and like sat down to eat a snack and just sat down on the right trail, and a whole herd of elk just came piling through at like three yards, you know. And I shot I shot my my first cow, and it was like so much of it's like putting yourself in the right spot but getting lucky. It's kind of life. That's life, man. You gotta get lucky, you need some things to go your way.

SPEAKER_04 1:41:29

Yeah, I mean, you just gotta throw yourself out there first. So, like in business, you gotta just put yourself out there. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:33

Yeah, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Yeah. I like that. Thanks, dude. It's been good.