#279 Easily Overcome 'Obligation Eating' (Even During the Holidays) for the 'Best Health' of your Life BEFORE New Years!

Rachel Denning (00:03.491)
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Extraordinary Family Life podcast. We are your hosts, Greg and Rachel Denning. And this morning, I'm feeling grateful for you listeners. Thanks. Well, thanks for listening. Thanks for

And the fact that you're listening to this instead of like whatever else you could be listening to. ACDC. Entertaining yourself. ACDC. Where did that come from? I don't know. I guess some of you are like 80s rock is the best. You could be just like driving along, listening to radio. And I remember Brian Tracy saying one time, people who listen to radio have no future. Like dang a lane. Let's go.

And so the fact that you... Because he said you could turn your car into a university on wheels. you'll just take the 15, 20, 30, 60 minutes you drive every day and listen to podcasts or books or programs or courses, I mean, you actually get phenomenal education. Which is why you're expressing gratitude to them because they are investing in their own development and education. You're listening to a podcast on families. And not only any old podcast, but...

Blunt one where we are speak bluntly Frank and But they're interested in growing and developing and improving their family all that is a very To us a very big deal because that is the key to making the world a better place in fact So I promise next time I see you. I'm gonna give you a hug you were just interviewed on another podcast and I mean

Rachel Denning (02:01.014)
He had listened to a couple of our episodes specifically on current events and killing sacred cows and was like, well, okay, what do we do? That was his point. Like, well, what do we do about this? And the emphasis was we have to focus on improving ourselves and improving our families. Like that is the thing that will ultimately change the world for the better. When we improve ourselves, educate ourselves and then improve and educate our family and make it solid.

that is what will actually change the world. I wholeheartedly believe that. It's not something I just say to promote my podcast. That's what I believe. And that's what I told him too. said, when you look at all the crazy things happening in the world and in the church and in society, it is nuts out there. And so it is. It's terrifying. People want to...

you know, freeze or run and hide. They want to forget about it. They're kind of freaking out and they're like, what do we do? And so essentially it's like, Hey, the sky is falling for reals. The sky's falling. Like everything's going to get turned upside down. What do you do? The only real solid answer is what you just said. Like I have, I have no qualms, like no hesitation in saying work on yourself, work on your family, become more self -reliant, become more useful, become an asset.

Like you never go wrong by doing that. But I'm kind of laughing here because I believe that there are probably people out there, even perhaps people listening to this podcast, who when you say things like that about how the world, the sky is falling and like if you look at the church and the world, things are horrible. They're probably kind of like, what are you talking about, Greg? Like I look around, everything's fine. All my neighbors, all the people I know, everything's fine.

And this is one of, perhaps maybe one of our strengths as well as one of our weaknesses is that we're really good at seeing behind the scenes, like in between the lines type thing. Perhaps to a fault at times, right? Because we're always looking behind the scenes. Every time we see anything, like, what's behind the scenes here? Let me look behind the facade. Let me look behind the mask, right?

Rachel Denning (04:14.476)
We're good at doing that, which gives us an insight to realize that, yeah, even when you look around your neighborhood and everyone looks fine and happy and whatever, we see the little warning signs. like, huh, that little red flag right there, it means all of this. This is what's going on behind the scenes, right? And so it helps us to understand that things are not as rosy as we often want them to be or believe them to be. And so people will often tell us, like, no.

Not in my neighborhood, not at my church, not in my congregation. Like, no, it's great. But then they'll start talking and they'll be like, well, this and that. Or you just have to ask a few questions. And it used to be, I would say, maybe a couple of decades ago, even a few decades ago, there were pockets like, hey, everything was fine. Like, for reals, it was. It was great. Yeah, it was more And you're like, no, my neighborhood's great. My congregation is great.

area is fantastic like we don't have any real problems and like yay celebrate that like crazy now it is pervasive it is everywhere because of the internet and media the problems it is spread like wildfire and it only takes well and for whatever reason especially Americans we love to put on the show we love that our neighbors think well of us and so while there can be rotting and death

And hypothetically. Not literally, you have rotting bodies. Right, but you've got rotting marriages, rotting relationships, rotting... Minds and souls. Minds and, yeah, emotions and like this real trouble. Like your soul has gone septic with addictions and vices and horrendous behaviors and terrible, sad things going on behind the scene. Boy, when that doorbell rings...

they're gonna put on a performance and you think, man, all my neighbors are great. It's like, yeah, cause they're not telling you what they're really facing. But in our line of work, that's what we get to deal with. We get to deal with the people who come to us and say, hey, don't tell anybody, but this is what's really happening. And of course we're not surprised or shocked. we see this all the time and we see the, like you're saying, we notice the telltale signs and so we know what's going on. So it's everywhere. And then, you know, what's happening globally,

Rachel Denning (06:33.14)
seems so far off that you think, and again, this used to be the case, like, something's happening over somewhere else in the world, it's not gonna affect me. I'm good. But not now. Like, we're to a point in the next couple years, things are gonna go down internationally, they're gonna have a major, major effect worldwide, globally. Well, it reminds me of a conversation we had last night. We went out to dinner, we met up with some friends that we haven't seen for a long time, but we've met up around the world, different places, and after we were done eating, this woman,

And I had kind of noticed, she had been looking at me kind of the whole night and I kind of wondered like, why does this lady keep watching me, you know? Like, I was right in her line of sight, so it's not like she was just staring at me, but. And then she came up and she's like, it's so good to hear an American accent, you know, we're here in Portugal and she comes up and she's from America and she was talking to us. Turns out she's a New Yorker Jew and she's been living in, in between Germany and Portugal for, I think,

At least 35 years in Germany. So she's been over here for a while and she said that she used to be very liberal, very in all those things and she's like, then I came over here and my eyes were open and I was enlightened to the truth, you know. And it was really funny too because she was like all pro -Trump. She's like, I hope Trump wins because if he doesn't, we're in trouble. And it was interesting because she was specifically, I think, referring to Jews. She's like, Jews are in trouble.

if Trump loses. And she used, you know, kind of this idea of it's we're facing an existential crisis. That's what made me think of it is because she literally believes that her people are facing an existential crisis and she's like the people my my family that are still in the states they don't get it. They're just going along living their lives. They don't realize how bad things have gotten and it's kind of interesting to me that some just random strange woman

would come up and have that conversation with us, not because of anything particular that we shared or whatever, she just felt like she needs to talk about it because that's how. She's concerned. That's how concerned she is. And you kind of said something like, well, you know, we're in Portugal. We'll be OK. It's not going to affect us, the election specifically. But then she said, and we kind of acknowledged, like, it's global.

Rachel Denning (08:55.884)
there is this global impact that's happening now. And so what happens in the states, of course, is going to impact and affect the rest of the world in varying degrees. yeah, we're not disconnected from each other anymore like we perhaps used to be. So things that we all need to, I don't recommend, you guys know this, we don't recommend you're watching the news or whatever. Most news is just garbage. But I think things we all need to be aware of.

Again, that doesn't equate to watching the news. Just be aware of the conflict happening around Israel and the Middle East and then the conflict that is silently happening around Taiwan. If I had to predict or prophesy, I would say that China is going to make a move on Taiwan to take it back and that, well, okay, and Ukraine. So what's happening with Russia, what's happening with Israel?

and what's happening in Taiwan, they seemingly unrelated. I think they're all related. I think there's a connection and that trying to pull America's distractions and military forces and resources in those directions, there's this coalition for malicious things. So we'll throw that out official title? The coalition for malicious things. I like it. I could be a book.

Anyways, those things are happening and they're real and they will affect us. But that's not even the topic today. I know it's not the topic. We just started talking about Today we are answering a question from a good friend and it's a good question. It's a solid question. a relevant question and it's a very relevant question I think as here we are at end of September. going into October. We're going into the holiday season.

going into a time that is notorious for many people. I've heard them talk about the holiday 20 or whatever it is they call it. don't know but we're you go into a season of celebrating and eating and gaining weight just in time for the New Year and New Year's resolutions which we all know are notorious for not working. So it's it's a great question. It's a great time to answer this question because of that relevance.

Rachel Denning (11:18.146)
because we're going into this. But it's not just a year round problem as well. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. It's not just a holiday problem. It's a real thing. Yeah. And I love questions that kind of reawaken something that I've forgotten. Because you all can relate to this. When something becomes so habitual and automatic that it moves to your subconscious,

It's no forget that it used to be a thing. Exactly. It's no longer even in your awareness. You're like, I used to struggle with that. I used to think about that. It used to be a challenge. You don't even think about it anymore. It's gone. And so you're not consciously going along and like, ooh, how am going to handle this? You just move right through it. Right. I love the driving analogy because I think that that's something we can all relate with. When you learn how to drive, every movement is a specific, separate movement. It's holding the steering wheel. It's like orchestration.

turning on the turn signal, checking your mirrors, turning, like everything, it's a specific separate movement, but then once you learn how to drive and it becomes subconscious, you don't even have to think about those things. In fact, you can talk and carry on a conversation and change lanes and everything at the same time because it becomes automatic. Yeah, checking your blind spot, you have to.

when you're learning to drive, you have to remember to do that because the... you have to do it very deliberately and specifically so that you don't... fail your test, you don't hit somebody. But then, right, we're going along, we're listening to podcasts, we're talking about everything, going along, I check my blind spot, it's automatic. It's default, it's just there. And it's happening. And the same with this topic around food. So do you want to read the question or... no, your phone is a bit occupied. essentially the question was...

Well, and it even came as a voice memo, so I can't read it. But it was the wording he used, which I feel is useful, is obligation eating. And it is around this idea of in our everyday lives, if you interact with people at all, especially people who don't have the same goals for food and eating as you do,

Rachel Denning (13:36.778)
You come in contact with people who in a way obligate you to eat their food. Obligate you or you feel obligated to eat what they provide for you, offer to you, give to you as a gift. In this specific case, it was given as a gift like a whole, I don't know, basket of candy or something like that or something they had made. And so the question is, what do do about this? I have these health and fitness goals. I have these wellness goals.

I want to eat healthy, but people are constantly giving me, making me food that's not healthy. So if people like in your own family. Yeah, that can be in your own family. That could be neighbors. That could be at work. Yeah, exactly. It's in the workplace. So if you're an outward facing person or family or a business, you got clients, customers, neighbors. You're just a friendly, likeable family. People will be like,

We love you. And their way to say we love you or to be kind is a plate of cookies. stop for donuts. And they just keep bringing it. Hey, we baked brownies. Here's a cake. And they just keep bringing trash. Now that's a different topic of like, why in the world have we made it a cultural thing? like a love language. We love you. Have some poison. You know how much we love you? Here's a different kind of poison. And it's just like, let's kill each other one bite at a time because of love.

They don't think that it's not malicious at all, it's it's that's our cultural thing. It's like, yeah, we're offering garbage. We offer garbage to kids like, hey, good job. Do you want some treats? And we give them garbage like, let's do Halloween and let's go around and dress up and let's give each other poison. Let's poison all of our children. I know even people just listening to you to you though are like, you're just crazy. You're so extreme. It's not poison. It's just.

It's just a treat. It's just a... Sugar is poison. And that, we've actually done an entire podcast episode about sugar and the effects of sugar. And we've done lots of podcasts about food in general, about seed oils and all of the things that are, to me now, they are literally classified as toxins, which toxins are essentially a form of poison. So we're kind of...

Rachel Denning (15:58.514)
using this tongue and cheek, but it is ultimately what we do believe that a lot of food that people eat nowadays, this ultra processed food is literally toxic for your body, which is essentially poisonous for your Like a tootsie roll. It's just toxic sludge. It's like all that garbage. So those of you who are maybe a little bit skeptical or whatever, I think there's lots of recommendations, lots of things to read.

Why We Get Sick is one of them I love. But I was just thinking of Dr. Daniel Amon's work and he's written some excellent books. Just grab any of his books. Or Ted Talks or YouTube videos. Yeah, yeah, just watch his YouTube videos or Ted Talks. Yes, you're right. So that's just a quick consumption. There's a 15 minute Ted Talk, blow your mind, about the greatest weapon of mass destruction is the American diet and how those foods and his, he's a brain researcher and so his entire premise

So you and I, could talk about how sugar affects the body and it's not good for your body, whatever. I guess one reason I want, like if you're skeptical and you want to be convinced, look at his research of what junk food and toxins in our foods, processed foods, et cetera, do to the brain. And when you realize, when you give that thing to yourself, to your neighbors, your friends, to kids, you are deliberately harming their brain.

Maybe not deliberately, but it now you know. Now that you've heard this, you can stop the episode, but you've already heard it now. It's too late. You've moved out of neutral ground. You can no longer hand candy to a child and be innocent. You're guilty now. You're deliberately damaging the brain of a child if you give them candy or junk food or fast food, processed food. I'm throwing down now.

We warned you about the bluntness of our topics. But if you give that to yourself or your family or kids, you now you know, you're deliberately harming their brains. to our other episodes, especially on this topic, you know the journey that we've gone through. mean, we can confidently say these things at this point because of the entire journey that we've been on. For decades. decades. is decades of research and experimentation. I feel so supported in this belief.

Rachel Denning (18:16.672)
because of others who I've heard who have shared a similar journey. In fact, there is a man who almost has the same story I do about how his mother got sick and so it led him down this path of learning about food and now has learned about how everything we just said, that that's real, it's a real problem. Even Jordan Peterson is coming out and saying, and there's this other, it's a brother and sister pair that have written a book.

together talking about it. were both doctors, they were both in the industry and then realizing this whole thing is messed up. The medicine industry and the food industry, it's all messed up. They've written a book about it saying the food pyramid is a scam. It literally is a scam that is causing all of the chronic disease that we're facing right now. It's causing, like he talks about in Why We Get Sick, the insulin resistance which is causing and contributing to many cancers.

the heart conditions, the obesity, the diabetes, the Alzheimer's, which they now call type 3 diabetes. All of this is because of the food. The food, the ultra processed food, but the food pyramid is a big part of it. Like this is not just us in our opinion anymore. This is like backed up by lots and lots of people. Even Robert Kennedy, who was running for president, listened to him talk about this. He is all about this stuff. Like it's real.

So we're not just trying to be extreme here. We're being extreme in a way to get your attention, because it's time for people to wake up about this. This is a real problem. This is a real thing. We have to take it seriously. So as we go into answering this question, I think that that is one way to deal with this problem that we're actually talking about, like obligated eating or food obligation. One of the ways that we are able to

Resist or to say no or to speak out against it is because we have become so convinced It is no longer just an opinion for us. It is like fact This is the truth and so we don't we don't feel any sort of obligation you and I personally To eat food that people offer to us because we're like, Whether we say something to them or not

Rachel Denning (20:38.752)
We know, we're like, I cannot put that garbage in my body. Do you know what that does to me? Do you know what that effect that's going to have on my brain and on my long -term health and well -being? No. It's not even a temptation anymore, because we know it's so bad. And again, when you see it for what it is, it's poison. So would you allow your kids to eat poison? Would you take poison, even in small doses? And no.

I do have to push back on that point a little bit because we're also not, and I would say this from us as well, two of us. say is there's consequences for you pushing back. After this episode, you're so in trouble. And yet I'm gonna push back because we're not 100 percenters either. They're okay. And I know that you're gonna push on that because there are certain things, yes, we are 100 percent. I can push back too, woman. But I'm not gonna lie.

There are times when I still, if we're at a restaurant, will eat a French fry or two. I've seen you do it too. there are times when we will get a nice European dessert. But our point is, and this is the point I want to make, it's the exception, not the rule. Well, and you'll never ever see us eating a package of Oreos. OK, so that's like 100 % our thing. Never going to happen.

I'm never gonna buy or eat Oreos and if they serve the Oreo at the restaurant, I'd be like no Give me a Crème Brulee or something. I'm not eating the Oreos. I think actually the Oreo is a very good example because Oreo is an example of an ultra processed food. A Crème Brulee made at a restaurant is something that is it's made from scratch. It's homemade in a way, right?

That's the difference. We will make homemade desserts and we will eat homemade ice cream. But that is very, very, very, very different than ultra -processed, sold in the store ice cream filled with 27 ingredients you cannot pronounce. It's a very different thing. I think that's the distinction that too many people don't understand. And so sometimes they might say, well, eat. We had it one time on.

Rachel Denning (23:01.172)
Instagram someone's like I've seen you guys eating desserts. We're like, okay, but eating an Italian gelato in gel in Italy is very different than eating your Whatever your ice cream is Kroger's yeah It's not even the same thing because of the ingredients that are in there and people think well just the same thing No, it's not trust me Ingredients matter you could slice up you get like an organic potato

slice it up, put a little Himalayan sea salt on it and some beef tallow. fried in tallow. And then you're eating fries and somebody walks in and is like, you Dennings are a bunch of hypocrites. fries. Where then you go look at fries that are sold at McDonald's or Burger King. There's like eight ingredients. Yeah. Like what? What mean? It should be like potato, salt. And some tallow. And the oil. And besides the fact that they fry the potatoes in

Seed oils, that's the major problem. Seed oils include sunflowers, safflower, grape seed, rapeseed, like all those oils that we think of as vegetable oils. They're not vegetable oils, they're seed oils and they're toxic. McDonald's used to, and in fact I even saw a list of this one time, McDonald's used to make their french fries with potatoes, tallow, and salt. That was it. That McDonald's fry, I would eat that. I would too. Now, if you look at the list of ingredients, it's all these things you can't pronounce.

That and it's fried in sea dwells. Not healthy. Even in their meat. If you were to look at the ingredient list in their meat, it should be like meat. Right? Should be beef. But it's not. But it's like this and this and this. Exactly. all these chemicals. You're like, that's not even meat. That came from a factory. So it's not the same thing. I think if that's the first thing we really have to understand is it's not the same thing. And so when we're talking about this obligation food, if someone literally made me a homemade dessert,

That's way different than if they gave me some Krispy Kreme donuts. It's very different. We eat our homemade ice cream like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yeah. That is awesome. Because essentially ice cream is healthy for you if it's made at home and with good ingredients. If it's got pure whole milk, cream, cacao, fruit, some honey, great. Boom. You can eat that. Our kids will eat it for breakfast sometimes.

Rachel Denning (25:25.41)
That is one of the first distinctions here. That was actually better for them, and the science backs this up, than a glass of orange juice and a bagel. yes, 100 times. Way better. And you're like, what? You guys let your kids eat ice cream? I thought you were trying to be healthy. Great. That's the point. Because when you begin to understand the nuance of these things, you realize that, yeah, that is actually healthier for you, especially if we're talking about insulin resistance. Because one of the biggest contributors to disease is insulin resistance, which comes from eating

sugars and carbs so the worst thing you can do to yourself especially in the morning is to do something like drink a glass of orange juice and eat a bagel like that's horrible for you it's so much better to get fats and proteins in the morning which and you know ice cream honestly is borderline for us but it's weight it's better than what you said but it's filled with all kinds of fats because of the cream and so that makes it better besides the fact that it counteracts the

Like if you are going to eat sugars, and this is what I teach my kids, whether including fruit, because fruit has sugars in it, if you're going to eat sugars, it needs to be eaten with a fat. Or after, even ideally. Or after eating fats. So get some fats and proteins in your body first. So peaches and cream is a perfect example. You need to be eating sugars with fats. Because it makes it digestible and good for your body. Yes. And lowers the sugar spike that occurs in your bloodstream. Right.

So let's go back to the original questions like, okay, obligation food, you're a family, your kids are learning to bake. We should be guiding that and helping them bake good things, but sometimes they're like, I found this chocolate chip recipe online and you're like, ugh. And they're like, they want you to try it. Or this happens sometimes too, your spouse makes something and you're like, yeah, it's not even edible.

I mean it's edible now that she's a bad cook. It's edible but not according to your definition of healthy eating. For me, I have my very clear standards of what I will put in my mouth and what I won't. One, I'm never putting any toxic sludge in there. What I view as toxic sludge. Anything that's on the list of like that's not food. It's not edible and it like poisons my body. It damages my body and my brain. And then...

Rachel Denning (27:46.848)
So I haven't even hired centers like hey, is fuel. And then I love this idea of is this premium fuel. Yes, because there's levels there. I want to be a premium vehicle so I can do all the things I need to do. I'm not sacrificing my energy and vitality and clarity of mind and all the stuff I want to do and achieve for a momentary taste. Well, this goes back to the point I was just trying to emphasize as one of the first points is that bias.

converting this opinion into a fact, it gives us the fortitude, or whatever you want to call it, to not have, whether it's guilt or any qualms about saying no to certain things, because we're just like, no, I just can't do that. I just can't put that in my mouth, right? That is a part of the process, because unless you are firmly convinced of it yourself,

You're never going to be able to say no to things. Which is a great example, because I know a lot of people who are listening to this. You wouldn't touch drugs or tobacco. Some of you would never touch alcohol. and you some snuff or chew. like, here, some Yeah, want child tobacco? And you're like, And you're not going to feel any sort of obligation to be like, well, he's offering it to He's offering me weed or cigarettes. Like, Josh, I better take a puff, because I don't want him to feel bad. Exactly. Right. No, man. I don't do that.

And this might seem like an extreme example, but I honestly feel that as far as the way it feels for us, that is accurate because we do feel that same feeling that like, we would never say yes to someone offering us weed or tobacco or alcohol. And so it's just like that same feeling has grown to include more things. No, I'm not going to eat seed oils. I'm not going to.

have your Krispy Kreme donut or your Oreos or your whatever. Like I'm, no, sorry, I'm not. And so I think the big concern here is the social interactions, social. Well, the social obligation side of it. Credit, like, and you don't want people to feel bad and you want to show your gratitude. So how do we handle this situation? And here's some of ways we've handled it.

Rachel Denning (30:06.23)
I'm always grateful and I express that gratitude. was sincere gratitude. was kind. was thoughtful. Somebody stops and buys something or makes something. That's so thoughtful. Like how cool of that person to do that. Now I'm not going to eat that thing and they didn't know that or they wouldn't have offered it. Right. And so I'm like that was so thoughtful and kind of you. Thank you so much. Sincerely. I mean that. Thank you. And then I will tell either tell them like actually I'm fasting.

and I do a lot of intermittent fasting so I can always do some fasting or I can say I'm actually doing like this special diet because I'm trying to hit some fitness goals so I'm not eating those right now or I can't use the word can't if you need I can't eat that right now because I'm doing this program and and again I'm not lying

Because I am, I'm doing a program all the time. It's like a lifelong program, but you're doing a program. I'm on a program. And they're like, well, you're on a fitness thing? Yeah, I am. You're fasting? I fast every day. Intermittent fasting every single day. I'm on a special diet for a special fitness program. That's true, because that's how I live. Especially according to someone else's viewpoint. absolutely.

That is the only way they really understand it. You know what I'm saying? When they view it in that light, they're like, OK. And suddenly for them, they're like, OK. They get it. they now feel, in fact, sometimes they feel bad, like, I'm sorry for offering it. No, it's great. It's wonderful. You're right. I think that's a good point. For the vast majority of people who are just eating whatever is available, like literally eating, it's available. I'm eating it. If you have any kind of

restrictions or standards and they're like, you're doing a special thing. you must be competing for something. Yeah, it's called life. Marriage and fatherhood and entrepreneurship, like all these good things. Like I'm trying to live here. to simplify it because people aren't looking for that sort of answer. They just want a simple explanation. I like giving that. Well I know, but that's kind of the next level. It's awkward, it's strange, they didn't come for the whole speech, but sometimes I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna give a speech.

Rachel Denning (32:11.436)
But I'm saying if you're just looking for a short, quick answer, those are the kind of answers that people understand that help them process what it is you're trying to say or do without it coming across rude. Now, we have also used the allergy thing. And I know that that kind of crosses lines for some people, but that people understand that. I do all the time. I'm smiling. like, actually, I'm totally allergic allergic to sugar. And they're like, what?

Yeah, it causes tons of swelling right around my midsection. And then they chuckle and giggle like I'm not And they think it's funny. But it's relatable in a way, because people understand. It causes a lot of pain in my teeth. It creates these holes in my teeth. It's really weird. Some allergy, I have to sugar. And that's the other interesting thing about our society is that people will go out of their way to deal with your allergies or your food sensitivities. Like, they totally will. They will.

And in fact, you fly anywhere or you go somewhere and they have a whole list of like, what kind of diet are you on? Gluten, raw, vegan, blah, blah, blah. You know, I'm like, they never have my diet on there, which is like, I want meat and fruit. know, like, where's that diet? But they understand that concept and they understand the whole thing with allergies. And so if you can present your viewpoint in that way, where yeah, I am allergic to toxic food. Sorry, I am.

And that's my belief. It makes you sick and kills It makes me sick. It kills me in the long term. I'm allergic to it. I'm not going to eat it. And so that's a way of framing it so that people can understand. And again, we're true. You're like, that actually gives me headaches or it Which actually is true. It just makes do get headaches when I eat sugary things. Now I am going to throw this in here because I do believe.

maybe not for you, but for me sometimes. Because I like to be very respectful. I like to be sincere in my gratitude. And I think especially the times I can think about these situations generally occur with when we're interacting with people in other cultures. Like recently in Morocco, we went to visit this woman who had worked for us when we had lived there before. Sweet old, sweet lady, her name is Aisha.

Rachel Denning (34:32.15)
She had us over to her house and she offered us food and tea and stuff I ate it and I drank the tea because to me that was more important than Context like what she was offering our large family was a massive massive gift from her Yeah, right And it was things that I wouldn't and it wasn't anything like I don't know some cookies and different things It wasn't anything that we would eat on our own or buy her on our own

But because she was offering it, I'm going to partake of it. Now that's... For her, was like, that was the widow's mite. Yeah, exactly. So I had... But here's what I did. I had a couple sips of tea and then I ate the dates that she offered. So that's where I went. So there was still that option there. We've also had people, you know, especially living in other countries, Latin America especially, they have... make the sweetest desserts. It's like disgustingly sweet, right? And sometimes they would make things and bring it to us.

I, you know, I'll take a bite. So I can say, yes, I had some, And I'll let my kids take a bite. And then we throw it in the garbage, right? So we can honestly say, we tried it. Thank you so much. That was so nice. But then I will throw the rest of it away, because I'm like, I'm not eating this. Like, we will. I will have a headache for a week with this stuff. So just to throw that in there, too, like, ultimately, we're not trying to be stuck up. We're not trying to be better than.

other people, we're not trying to be rude. We understand the obligation that people can feel to be polite and kind to people, especially if they've sacrificed for something. But what I'm saying is just because someone made you a cake doesn't mean you have to eat the whole thing. Well, you don't have to eat any of it all because the key here is to hold your principles, values, and standards and do it in such a tactful way.

that people aren't offended, they're not bothered, they might even be inspired, or they might just be confused, like, okay, why wouldn't someone eat cake or cookies? Like, that's weird, whatever. But they're like, okay, whatever. But you get to hold your standards. The problem is if we are constantly violating our own principles out of social obligations, right? And some weird sense of social, I guess, obligation, right?

Rachel Denning (36:54.186)
But we don't have to if we're tactful about it if we exercise diplomacy and and we think through it ahead of time I think this is where we get in trouble. We don't think about it We don't know what we're gonna say and then it happens like don't We don't want anyone to feel bad. We don't know what to say is we just sacrifice our own principles instead of thinking through it ahead of time It's like what could I say? What do want? How can I explain this to somebody so at least they get it even if they don't agree and if you think through that then when it appears like man, thanks so much, I was really thoughtful, but

I'm doing this thing so I'm not eating that but thank you so much. Now if they just drop it off on the door or whatever, this is part of the question, it's like they bring over play to cookies and then later on you know they're gonna ask you hey how are the cookies and like now? That is the time for me when I will say okay kids you can take one bite and I'm throwing the rest away and I legit will do that. So here's what I'm gonna say, we have pigs now. Okay we feed them to the pigs.

That is great pig food. Even though it might feel harsh to animals. What about animal rights? Seed oils to animals? We're not there yet. But I take out the cookies. I throw out and the pigs are like, boom. I can honestly tell my friends that the cookies were great. I they got devoured. My pigs love those I was going to the pigs are they just Why are you calling your children pigs? I would or.

Like you take it and you're like, offer this whole, and you're like, don't, here's the other thing people are like, I don't want to be wasteful. Here's this whole cake. I think that's also legitimately a concern for people. And I know that that used, that used to be a part of my concern. I felt like, my gosh, someone made this cake. If I just throw it in the garbage, that's a waste. That's wasting food. And I know people who would still use that argument.

with me. Same. I feel very strongly about not Yeah, you are actually someone who hates to waste food. And yet, because we are so convinced now of the facts about food, to us, that's no longer an issue. We can easily throw away food that we know is not good. Because it'd be like throwing away poison or throwing away drugs. If someone gave us drugs, we would just throw it away. why are you wasting food? I'm like, that's not food. That is not food.

Rachel Denning (39:12.77)
But it is, same thing. If someone... had... We moved into a house in Portugal last year and the landlord gave us like 15 bottles of wine and some other hard alcohol. And plus he had a whole bunch of alcohol in the house we were renting. So we could say, well I would feel bad wasting this, so we better just drink it, you know? Now, to be honest, we actually cook with red wine. And so I kept it all for that purpose.

But I didn't drink the hard alcohol because I'd be like, I would feel bad. I don't want him to feel We'd be wasting it. No, I dumped it down the drain because I'm like, we're not drinking it. I'm just going to dump it out. It's not a waste in my mind because it's not something I would ever put in my body. I literally have the same exact thinking about food that is not good for my body. My children went to church one time and they got an entire giant bag of Skittles. Not the small bags, not the individual size bags.

They got a huge bag of Skittles. Do you know what I did? I cut a hole in it and I poured it down the toilet because that is where Skittles belong in the toilet. Just for clarity, like it's not good for the sewage or the toilet or whatever. We just did it that day to really make a point. It was an object lesson for my children. This is what we do with candy. Take this stuff, throw it your compost pile.

Put it out and put it in a bucket and let get fleas and flies and larva and feed the larva to your chickens. Like turn this stuff into what it belongs in. Like put it out there. Just whatever. Bury it in the backyard. Or just throw it away. But we've got to stop. And this is, I guess, as a principle, crosses to lots of different aspects of life.

Hold on to your principles, your standards, your values. They will be attacked. They will be misunderstood. They will be mocked. People will be bothered by them. Figure out a way to be tactful, diplomatic, and keep your standards. I think I do want to emphasize this point because I really feel the nuance of it is important because you're talking about holding on to your principles and your standards. And that is the key right there. But I also want people to understand that ultimately,

Rachel Denning (41:29.89)
they get to decide what that is within the framework of getting the results that they want. Now for some people, again, maybe it's an 80 -20 or a 90 -10, they might say, hey, I'm going to take the one bite so I feel good in my conscious saying I tried it, and then throwing the rest away. If you know yourself and you know you can't just take one bite, then you probably need to be one of those 100 percenters where you're just like, nope, I'm sorry, I just can't.

Do that at all. So I guess that's what I want to bring up here is like you need to know yourself. You need to understand yourself. If you can do one bite and then throw the rest away, great, do that. If you take one bite and you'll eat the whole thing, don't even take one bite. Like you have to know where you are and then hold yourself to that line using some of the tactics we've described to explain it to the person who gives it to you.

Just say, you know what, I just can't because if I take one bite, especially it looks so amazing. I'll eat the whole plate and I'm on this special diet right now. Sorry, I just can't do it. So you really just have to understand yourself, you know, and then decide what that standard and principle is for you and then make sure to stick to that because that's ultimately what makes the difference there. So then getting getting clear. I love that. Getting get clear about what's important to you. What are the results you want?

What actions align with those results? And then it's easy going into Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's and holidays. You can go in, it's like, for generations my family has been eating powdered sugar by the spoonful. And this treat or that dessert or it's just so special and it's this thing. like, okay, well, there's a whole other topic of why we're poisoning ourselves for special occasions. But.

You can decide ahead of time. can talk to your spouse, you can talk to your kids, and you can go to Thanksgiving dinner knowing it's going to be there. And you can decide ahead of time. You can see what you're going to say. But most people won't ask. if you're just if you're just chill about it, you go get your plate, but you don't get this huge heaping disgusting pile and you go get a normal size plate of the good things that are there Sometimes they'll notice and they comment. That does happen too.

Rachel Denning (43:47.276)
They're like, are you on a diet? Yep. Done. That's it. Well, you don't need to diet. You look great. I'm trying to get a six pack. Yep. It's so vain. Pure vanity. I want to see my abs. Like, whatever. Just play along. Okay. Whatever. Like I'm just going for it. Now, obviously ruffles some feathers sometimes because people then feel really bad. So you're.

your aunt and uncle weigh 300 pounds each and you're just trying to drop the last five pounds and you get this small plate and they've got massive piles and you're like, yeah, I'm trying to drop some weight. And you're like, ugh. But say it, it might inspire them. By Thanksgiving, they might be down to 200 pounds. I live, stand up for your stuff, lean into it. I don't know, I want to be this walking, talking inspiration.

I know sometimes you say things that are uncomfortable for people, but later on they're like, hey man, it was hard to hear that, but because you said that, because you did that, I decided I'm changing the way I do things. I've heard that so many times. Well, and I think that ultimately once you kind of draw this line in the sand with people, especially the first time, then in some ways it can get easier because then people just learn to expect that from you. And that is definitely our...

You know, that's true in our case because a of people know we just don't eat those things and so they stop offering which you might seem like, well that's sad because now people don't know how to express love to us or whatever because they don't offer us food. But it solves the problem of I'm constantly getting offered stuff I don't want to eat. Well it's actually awesome because then people start offering other things. They do. If they care they start to get creative and they're like...

And then they'll come over with something like, hey, I made it with this, it's no sugar. Like, you rock. Let me have some of that goodness. Or my friend, this is when we were first married. Because Rachel and I started this journey. I started before I met her. We really started when we got married. And I had a buddy, just absolutely love this guy. I worked with him. So every single day we'd have lunch together. And every single day he would offer me his dessert.

Rachel Denning (46:07.592)
And I was like, no thanks, bro. And he's like, one day, after weeks of doing this, he's like, man, Greg, seriously, I love having lunch with you because I can offer my dessert knowing it makes me feel generous. I feel like a good, generous person. And I know you're going to reject it. So I get to keep my dessert. It's like, this is the best of both worlds. I offer as a generous person, hoping you say no. You say no, I get to keep it. I feel amazing about myself every day.

And he would just razz me about it. But I'm like, no, dude, I'm never having a bite of your dessert, bro. And it was funny. So we talked about it long time, but we've been doing this for a very, very long time. And then, I mean, there were so many situations where like they would have this thing and they would invite us over like, but we know the Dennings won't touch this. So we made this, did everything for you guys or, or, we did this special thing because we know, you know, about your stuff. It's so cool. And they're fun about it. They're cool about it. Like it's actually.

It turns out to be a great thing. now in our lives, like this is a non -issue. Most of the time, yeah. It still happens. I don't feel any weirdness, awkwardness, any trouble of eating what we love to eat. Any obligation to eat other things. So, but there were a couple other aspects I wanted to bring up about this because one is the baking in the home, because that's definitely a concern for many people, is because they're trying to do it.

But the spouse or the kids still aren't on board with that. And so they're bringing it home or they're making it. And that obviously can be a challenging situation. For us, we just started by replacing the ingredients. So it's not like we said stop making the cookies. We just started buying different oils and different things to put so that then they're making better quality ingredients. they're not using seed oils to make the cookies.

they have to use butter, or they have to use coconut oil, or they have to use even olive oil is better, you know? They have to use something different than the normal. And at first, of course, they're like, you know, I said it there. was like, no, that would probably be gross. I'm just thinking of an oil. stop you from eating cookies. Yeah, maybe that's a good approach. But, you know, so we mostly use butter if someone bakes cookies in our family. coconut oil. Or coconut oil. But of course, then that has

Rachel Denning (48:35.094)
This has been true, maybe you guys can relate to this. This has been true with our daughters. Our daughters love to bake. And as a general rule, baking's probably not a good way to live life. At least not every day. And they love to bake. They love to make things. Our daughters have so much joy in baking. And they make something, and they want to show you, and they're so happy and proud of it. And baking's a fun way to get into cooking.

And so they're just stoked and they're like, baked this thing and it turned out it's amazing. Here, come try it. And so I go That's definitely one of the times when you will take the bite or. So like, Aliyah made, they pretzels or no, bagels? Bagels, yeah. She made it. And again, we don't allow garbage ingredients in our house. We just don't. But that's the principle I'm emphasizing here. We just start by not having those ingredients. So then it's made with good ingredients. But still, for me, for my standards, I'm not eating baked goods. It's just, it's not good.

So I went in there and I cut this teeny little sliver out of the bagel. I doused it in, like it was covered in like cream cheese. Cream cheese. Because the cream cheese is the good part. That's the healthy part. That's the big fat stuff. So I had like, it was like a two to one ratio of cream cheese to bread. So I was mostly having cream with a little bit of bread on it. And it was great. I was like, that's yummy. Thank you. That was fantastic. Way to go. Right?

And then boom, I didn't violate any principles. And again, I don't want to be misunderstood here. I'm not like 100 % I never eat bread. I don't think that's healthy. I think our bodies need to be able to consume carbohydrates when needed. different things. There are some things, 100%, never going in my mouth ever. Oreos. Or seed oils, right? Those things. It's not going in there ever. At least that we're aware of. Because I know going to restaurant,

Rachel Denning (50:33.134)
We try to go to healthy restaurants and we try to like I'll look on the menu. I'm like, what is this? Okay, so we went to last night which was a fantastic restaurant. It was excellent and my plate came out it literally had pork and pineapple that was it. Yeah, and it was amazing. Now your plate was covered with barbecue sauce drowning in barbecue sauce

going to be so many seed oil, sugar, garbage. was pretty bad, there was a massive pile of bones and barbecue sauce left on your plate. So you do you do the best you can. So but back to this, we we replace the ingredients. Now inevitably that's going to cause some challenges at first because they'll say, wait a second this calls for...

rapeseed oil or vegetable oil and What am I supposed to do now? And so you have to help them and Teach them like hey, yeah, I'm not I'm not buying that stuff because it's toxic So we're gonna have to look for the recipes and learn how to make the recipes that use these other ingredients Honey sugar and then the recipe doesn't turn out And it is a process like it's a learning curve you do have to get that learning curve, but the point is

The reason why you do it instead of just saying, whatever, I'll just buy the stuff and let them do it, is because, I guess for me, because I'm trying to set a generational precedent here. If we're the ones that have to learn this thing so we can pass it on to our grandchildren and great grandchildren, great. Let us be the guinea pigs here. Let us figure it out. Because there is a way to do it. People used to cook like that all the time. We just have to go back. I even bought like a

Little House on the Prairie cookbook, you We have to go back in time to do some of these things the way our grandparents used to do it. And before that, we have to relearn some of that. And that is gonna cause some frustration and annoyance and whatever, but it's possible. And people are doing it. There's more and more resources out there. That, okay, that's the cool thing. When we started this journey 20, I started probably 26 years ago, but we've been married 23 years, almost 24.

Rachel Denning (52:53.696)
There were fewer recipes, fewer resources, sometimes fewer ingredients. We were wrestling with it. Now, man, you can just jump on any website out there from Pinterest to YouTube to wherever and just be like, healthy recipes for this or how to make this without sugar, without oils. And there's so much, like really creative people have written entire recipe books and videos, channels.

there's so much out there and with 30 minutes 60 minutes of research you could have make your own like print them all out or put them in digital format or whatever and have this huge list of all these cool things and you're like I'm good like I can I can still have all these amazing things it's delicious it's enjoyable yeah because and I've eliminated for my life and it wasn't that big of a challenge because somebody else has done all the hard work I just now am turning to this recipe instead of

the old one. Well, I think sometimes it feels like a big challenge because despite what you're saying, I know there people are going to be listening and saying like, I don't know. I've tried looking. I can't find it. I don't know where it is. Because it does, I think, take some like you have to know the right wording and the right phrases to be able to find exactly what it is you're looking for. And then there is this process of learning. But all of that is worth it in my mind for the long term health and well -being.

that you're going to get by improving the quality of the ingredients of the things you're eating. It really is just worth that sacrifice. And so that's the point. And that's the point of why I do it and change it in my home so my children learn that. And then we can now create this culture around better eating and higher quality food. And buying. So what you can do, too, on that same note is buy.

by the kind of cookbooks you want to be cooking from and throw those out and your kids or spouse are hey, let's try some things from this and get in there. I like this one. I enjoyed making this and you're adroitly leading it in a different direction. Yes, because what we're saying here, talking about obligation food or whatnot, we're not saying, you need to just be.

Rachel Denning (55:06.7)
What's the word? Like some sort of... There's a really great word for it, but I can't think of it. Like some... Someone who rejects everything. It's a hard line. Yeah. And you have no desserts in your life. No sweets in your life. We're not saying you have to do that. What we're saying is that you're improving the quality of what it is you are eating. The quality of the ingredients. You're getting more creative. You're finding ways to have the things you want to have. Have some cookies.

But change the ingredients of those cookies, right? And make them better so that overall, because if you think about stacking this over time, day after day after day after day, if you change the daily ingredients of the things that are going into your body, that is going to have a big effect on your health and well -being over the long term. I think people totally underestimate the importance of that principle right there. They think, it's not a big deal. It's not having that.

big of an impact, it is having a huge impact. Especially when you stack it over time. Well because they've been feeling the drag of normal life and they're like, this is it is. And when I help my clients transform onto a way better diet, they're like, I can't believe how much energy I have. vivacity and vitality is like, so poisoning their bodies. They literally were poisoning their bodies and wondering why they're dragging. And now. they're just like, well that's life. And you ask around your neighbors and they're like, yeah.

That's how we all feel. It's like, yeah, because you're all eating garbage. food is fuel. So if you put premium fuel in there, you're going to feel so much better physically and mentally because your brain functions better. So I now think of it as sort of this challenge, this adventure, this path that we're pursuing where I'm not throwing out all of the things. I'm not saying, especially as we go into the holidays like we're talking about, I'm not going into the holidays thinking,

No pumpkin pie, no, you know, none of these things that I love. No eggnog. I love eggnog. No, I've just learned how to make my own eggnog from pure ingredients. I've learned how to make pumpkin pie with great ingredients. That's the point. It's not just getting rid of it all. It's how can I make this better and healthier because it is healthier. Just like back to the ice cream analogy. The ice cream from the store with 37 ingredients is not the same ice cream as what you make at home with

Rachel Denning (57:30.69)
three or four ingredients. It's a totally different food. It literally is. And you think, no, it's not. But it is, I'm telling you. It's a totally different food. Same with the eggnog. If you look at eggnog at the store, I mean, one of the first ingredients is high fructose corn syrup. That's just horrible. But if you make your own eggnog at home with farm fresh eggs, that's essentially a health food, right? Like that's a protein shake, is essentially what that is. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So.

That's the mindset we want you to start having here that you can start creating where then you're just getting creative and you go into the holidays not with this dread of having to dodge all this food or ending up binging on it all, but like how can I create some of these foods but with healthier ingredients to make it better? And one of the beautiful things too is that over time you actually get better at this. then, you know.

And even next year and the year after, you continue iterating and improving. So then you're making great things that are healthier, better for you. so either for your own meals or you go into a potluck and you bring something that's totally healthy and people are like, that was amazing. And you're like, that was real food. OK, I want to emphasize this point. I want to bring up this point and really emphasize it because this is one of the things people, I don't think, fully understand.

The ultra processed foods that you're eating, literally the ones that have the 27 ingredients or whatever, they have things in them that make you want to eat more. There is science out there showing that it like turns off your satiating button, right? When you eat whole foods with real ingredients, you learn that there's a point when you become satiated,

and you stop eating. That's the magic pill right there. Like people want this magic, how do you keep the weight off? How do you stay thin? How do you stop gaining weight? How do you lose the weight? That's the magic pill. If you eat real whole food.

Rachel Denning (59:39.668)
you'll become satiated and then you can stop eating because you don't have these chemicals in this processed food that keep saying eat more, eat more, eat more, eat more and so you never stop. And you're also getting the bioavailable nutrients. Exactly. So your body's getting nutrients where you can just eat bags and bags and bags of chips. Doritos and you'll never feel satisfied because your body's saying I still need more nutrients.

I'm not getting the nutrients I need. Tons of rice and tons of noodles and all that stuff. And it's never giving you what you Right. And so your body keeps craving more and more food because it's not getting all the nutrients it needs, besides the fact that it has these chemicals in there that don't tell you you're satiated. And so you keep wanting to eat more. And so that's another thing that's contributing to the obesity and being overweight is because your body is

doesn't know when to say enough because according to what you're putting in it, it's not enough. You're not getting all the nutrients you need and you're not being satiated. When you start eating the whole foods, especially, and here's the trick to it that I think people don't understand, you have to cut the other stuff off. You do. Because otherwise it's messing with that system. But once you get it out of your system, then your body can finally be like, okay, wait, now.

I can figure things out and I will. I'll crave foods, I'll crave things, but then when I eat them I'm like, okay, that's what my body needed. Now I'm satiated, I'm good. And I don't feel a need to keep eating and keep eating and eat some more and eat something else. Like your body learns how to tell you what it needs and then when you get it, it stops telling you that you need more food and that's one of the keys, the secrets to maintaining health and a healthy weight.

because you learn to listen to your body. But that system only operates when we're not giving it sugar, for one thing, because that definitely messes with it, but the ultra processed foods and the chemicals that are in there. So when you learn to work with that, it's a beautiful thing because now you're working with a system that still allows you to eat pumpkin pie if you want, but also tells you when you've had enough and you don't have to keep eating pumpkin pie because of this messed up.

Rachel Denning (01:02:05.538)
chemicalized system happening in your body.

I've already had enough pumpkin pie this year. You haven't had any. don't like pumpkin pie. But you like apple pie. I do like apple pie, but it can't have any sugar in it. It can't be sweet. It's got to have lots of apples on top of the pie. And then I cut out the pie part and I eat the apples. The crust part. The crust. So I throw away the crust and I eat the apples with some cinnamon and honey. It's amazing. That's your favorite apple pie. love it. Blueberries. There's tons of blueberries.

bit of honey in them. So good. We almost forgot to... No I remembered but... What? Well because you're doing this... Yes! I was just going along. No I remembered. Because we Rachel and I and our daughter have created like the Denning Family Recipe Book. Well It's not a book. We are creating it. I wouldn't say it's done but we have a collection of recipes.

Because people are always asking, I'm sure you're listening to this like, well, share, what do you eat? What's your substitute for cookies and snacks? And what do you do? When do you eat? So I'm doing a 90 day food and fitness program. And you can call it a course, you can call it a challenge, whatever. You can use it as your excuse to the in -laws about why you can't you're like, yes, you're like, I'm doing this 90 day program. doing a 90 day program. And so I can't eat that.

And basically what it is, is I'm just going to share what has worked for us for 23 years. Rachel has given birth to six gigantic fat babies. we've, you guys, we travel all over the world. Just in case people are wondering, our first is adopted. we seven kids, six births. So.

Rachel Denning (01:04:02.878)
And we're healthy fit. I set a goal when I was, before I Rachel, that I wanted to be able to see my abdominal muscles my entire life. And I've been able to keep that goal. I'm not superhuman. I just have some practices that just work. And we've gone through this. I set things up to make it easy. Right. I think that's the point that many people don't understand. You and I are both still thin and have, you know,

We have a normal body shape. But it's not something that you were saying, like you were saying. We're not superhuman, especially me. I am not strong in discipline. I don't have a lot of self -discipline or self -control, per se, especially when it comes to food. But we've been able to set up these systems where it makes it easy to just keep off the weight. We've never been overweight. We've never had those extra pounds. And for me, especially, you're the health

Exercise not that's definitely contributed to your side, but I haven't had that for so for me It's been diet primarily only only diet. Yeah. Yeah, like that's what's kept me thin and I think people discount that and they think they often just think you're lucky or this or that or whatever No, I have been very very strict with my diet, but also set up systems. So it's not hard. It's not like a

It's not like I'm every single day wrestling with, should I eat that or not? I've set it up so that it's... Yeah, it's not a battle. So yes, you're right. People either say you're so lucky or you're so disciplined. Right. And we want to say... It's not either of those. you... We hope you'll join this 90 -day challenger course because it's not either of those. I'm going to give you everything we're doing. I'm going to make it so easy. Right? And so if...

If there's some difficulty, it'll just be in the first two days of your body going, wait, what's going on? This is new and different. Hey, I'm so used to donuts. What's going on here? But after a couple of days, like it goes away and you realize how easy it is. And this is what I love. I just geek out about it so much. A good, energized, healthy body and feeling good and sleeping well, waking up ready for the day.

Rachel Denning (01:06:24.758)
That's the natural state of the human body. That's where the human body wants to be. But we through our poor practices as people in toxic foods, we're actually creating the opposite. We're making it hard for the body to do what it was created to do. And so if we just remove a couple obstacles and bring in a couple of new good things, voila, you'll start feeling this magic you haven't felt for decades if ever.

And so we're going to do this. going to, every day, I'm going to share exactly what I eat. I'm going to share what exercises I do. I'm going to help you walk through how much to eat, when to eat, what not to eat, what to include, how portion sizes, timing, you know, what kind of exercises to get, what kind of results, what to do with, with injuries. Like I'm, I'm just creating this, the whole thing so that by Christmas.

You look and feel amazing. I've helped clients drop 80 pounds. Others just dropped those last stubborn 10 pounds. I've helped others like they want to get super lean and see their abs. Great, let's do that. Or they want to put on some muscle. Great, let's do that. So whatever the fitness goal or the challenge, we're going to go into the food. And again, the vast majority of health is in the kitchen. Yeah.

Absolutely. It's what you put in your mouth. Yeah, that's the big part and then we'll do the workouts too. So you guys get into this. Well, I think the best part too with this, there's two best parts actually. One of them is you're actually getting ahead of the New Year's goals. You're not waiting until after New Year's, after the binging. And then like, I need to set some New Year's goals. Like we're getting ahead of the game and that's really the key I think.

to long -term health and well -being is that it just becomes a way of lifestyle. And it's not the lifestyle where you have to give up everything you've ever loved. I still can eat my pumpkin pie and be thin and trim. I don't have to give up those things. It's just tweaking things to make them better. Because eating a pumpkin pie made from scratch with pure ingredients is very different than the one you pick up from Costco. It is.

Rachel Denning (01:08:47.97)
So it's those types of tweaks, right? Exactly. The other thing I think that's great is that you're going to be meeting with them, and maybe I will sometimes, too. absolutely. Every week. Live. I'm answering questions. Yeah, live. Inevitably, there's always going to be something where I'm like, well, what about this? Or what about this? Or that thing? I can't get past this. That's what the live sessions are for, because you can then specifically address those.

concerns and obstacles and then provide the individualized tweaks to say, well, yeah, it's simple, just do that. Plus you get to connect with all the other people who are in the course and program and support each other, cheer each other on. That's awesome. I love this stuff. So it all begins October 2nd. Which is soon. Which is very soon. So October 2nd is exactly 90 days left in the year. Can they join late? Yes.

You can join late. And then do the catch up. Go through the modules and the recordings or whatever. It's all going to be there. And so if you don't hear this until October 5th, jump in. So it's 85 days for you or whatever. December 26th. OK, still jump in. Because essentially, it's a 90 -day program that can be evergreen. It's never going to expire. It's principles that will work.

Forever. Exactly. It's all the practices, all the habits, all the exercises, all the recipes, everything is in there. It is. And I, you I don't want this to be cliche, but I'm, I'm dead serious when I say it's priceless. Cause what is energy worth to you to be energized? What is, what's it worth to you to feel good most days, to be pain free? What's it worth to you to be slim and lean or fit?

Like to have energy and vitality and clarity of mind just to have that spring in your step again. What's that worth? To be sexy? Yeah, what's it worth to be sexy and to be respected, to have your self -confidence back, to have others notice and treat you differently because of the condition of your body and to be able to show up at work and to have well the energy and stamina and strength to show up as a spouse, as a parent, as...

Rachel Denning (01:10:58.014)
as a worker, employee, a boss, like priceless. For some of us, it's worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars to keep this vehicle. It's the only one we get. It is the only one we get. And to have that in a peak condition, priceless. It's so awesome. Okay. One more thing I thought of that I want to walk through with you, because I've heard this scenario from other people. Let's say for

some reason, you make pasta for dinner. And you're in the kitchen, sleigh -a -manoe working, and you make up a pasta dinner, right? Which is very common. mean, a lot of people eat pasta, right? And so, like, we, I actually like Italian restaurants and Italian food, but we don't go because Rachel's like, noop. It's too much pasta. But every once in a while, you make a pasta dinner.

This is rare. Wait, I do? Yeah, you've done this. It's super rare. So you make a pasta dinner. Like a ravioli or carbonara. so you make a pasta dinner and I roll in.

Don't! I'm not gonna eat it. Okay? Now, the first thing we have to address is like how... How do you get to that point? Because there was point... Or your reaction would be like, you what? You're not eating my dinner. You're sitting down and eating this food because I slaved away in the kitchen and you're gonna eat it and you better tell me it's good. Right. So tell me, walk me through your thinking and then I'll tell you what I'm gonna say how we get to this point because now if you turn down something I make, especially something that has carbs in it...

I am not surprised in the least. I'm just like, great, it's not gonna eat that. That's fine. And it doesn't bother me. if wait, you put in the effort, you worked to make dinner for our family. Well, I think because we're at a point in our lives here where we understand the food, we also understand the differences between men and women's bodies, there are

Rachel Denning (01:13:05.294)
during the month when women need more carbohydrates because in order to produce, I can't remember exactly which one progesterone or estrogen, one of them you need more carbohydrates to help you do that. I think that's generally the week before you start your period. So I will crave more carbs and I need more carbs during that time. Now ideally if you want to get specific I should be getting those carbs from say like squash or fruit or different things but

You know, I use that as like, you know what? I want some pasta. I'm going to have some pasta. And so I'll make the pasta. And at this point, I just know I'm making this food for me. And if someone else wants to enjoy it too, great. But I'm eating it because I want it. And I also know that because you're different, you're a man, you don't have the same needs I do, if you aren't going to eat the pasta, great. Wonderful. That's fantastic. And so it doesn't bother you. It doesn't bother me because I'm like,

you are sticking to your fitness goals. Boom. I love that. Right. So, you're operating on a different, you have some standards, some goals that say, and you're to do something different. Great. So I would roll in and I'll be like, I'm just going to make a quick steak or beef patty. I'm like, I'll just have a beef patty, maybe with a little cheese on it. And that's it. Like, and I'll just, I'll throw it in the air fryer or something and just cook it up real quick. Or I'll just be like, no, I'm not eating. And, but I'm fully engaged with dinner. Well, yeah. I'm there.

And nobody notices that I'm not eating. I'm just, I'm engaged, I'm talking, whatever, or I'm eating something different. Yeah. So we still have dinner together. We're just eating different things. And that's great. Now, yeah, it does take some work and some time and some understanding and some conversation to be able to get to that point. Because, yeah, there was definitely a time when I made the dinner fully expecting you're going to sit down and eat it with me. And if you didn't, then, yes, I'm offended and sad and crying and whatnot. So.

Now it's going to be three hours of crying and talking here just because I didn't eat the pasta. And I guess we need to have some awareness of those potentialities. And we could, you could perhaps prevent that by having some conversations beforehand, before the dinner's on the table, right? And be able to talk through the reasons.

Rachel Denning (01:15:24.53)
Why? Well, because what's going to happen is like, well, I made this. This is what I've been making forever. This is, you know, this is parents made this. Yeah. Or this is I know how to make. And you want to admit, like, I don't know how to make something else. This is what I know. And so I'm not going try something and burn down the kitchen, try to, and so it's like all these other things. Like, no, let's get this out in the open and figure out how to do it easily. And that is, I mean, that's a key. That's the underlying key to.

growth and personal development and family development and marriage development. Like we have to be able to address these things, you know, all of these small little issues that come up as we start to take this journey forward because yeah, they're legit. not gonna say they're not there. They are there. And that's often the very thing that's holding you back. But when you can learn to move forward and have those conversations, not only are you gonna have the better health you want,

but you're also gonna have a better relationship. And that right there, that's the beauty, that's the holistic development we're always talking about is that, and that's the thing people don't always understand that happens about this process is we think I'm gonna work on my health and fitness. I'm gonna get in better shape and I'm gonna eat better. And then, hoo hoo, it brings in this marriage piece because my wife always likes to make pasta, right? And now you're like, I didn't expect that to be a part of it.

But we have to start seeing that as a benefit. The benefit is not only am I improving my health and well -being, I'm also improving my marriage because we have to have some of these tough conversations that before we were just avoiding. And we think that we want to avoid those things, but really we don't. We want to face them head on. We want to move through no, we want to avoid them. Well, OK, we want to avoid them. We should. But hopefully what we want to

What we want more is what happens on the other side of that. When we have those tough conversations, when we work through those things, then what we have on the other side of that is a deeper connection and a better relationship and better communication skills. And that's really what we do want. And then this beautiful understanding of ourselves and each other. And you realize, sweet, you're chasing dreams and goals and going after it. Great. I'm fully going to support you instead of being threatened.

Rachel Denning (01:17:39.806)
bothered or upset or whatever emotion comes up jealous bitter like great fantastic full sent go and I don't have to attach too much meaning to things. does take some work and it does take some processing but that's that's a part of the journey and that's a part of the journey we should embrace instead of avoid. Yeah there are some things that are just an immediate switch I've worked with some clients I've done this myself you've done it

where you just realize, to me that meant this, but I don't want it to mean that, and so now it means this. And that's it, it's immediate. Sometimes we take so long, it's like, no, we're have to work, it's gonna be years of long, tearful conversations. Like no, just switch, like she wants to do that? Okay, cool, that's what it means. Done, it's no longer an issue, from here on out, it's over. And it was immediate change of the meaning that,

chose to give something or the association I had like for you know since my childhood I've had this association with chocolate chip cookies I remember the day I'm like I just stopped I'm like no that is not good for me it's not nostalgic remind me of happy times at home it's like that is garbage in a circular shape with dots I'm out right and and making that shift and change like

Done. It's really powerful and changes. But you guys, thanks for listening to this. Please, please know.

Rachel Denning (01:19:19.266)
importantly important this is we get one shot at life in one vehicle and this body your body is the one thing that's keeping you here in this life that's it one you you one thing keeping you got one job one and and what blows me away is how poorly we treat it

is the one fragile thing that's keeping me in this existence and people treat it like garbage they treat it so it's like that's your that's your one thing you get one vehicle man one and and it can't trade it in or it's your upgrade filter it's like every single thing you do in life is done through that one thing that you can't trade in or replace or get the upgrade like it's that's it

And if we would think about it like that, you're like, my number one responsibility is to take care of my temple, my vehicle, so that I can then lean into my next number one responsibility is my marriage. And then my next number one responsibility is my kids and down the line. But if my vehicle is not in a good condition, there's no way I can show up in the best way possible for you or for the kids or for the business or for humanity.

Because my vehicle's a mess. Yeah. And so this matters so that it really does just make life harder than it has to be. you're out of shape and overweight. And often people wonder why and how we're able to do so much. Because we do. We do a lot of things. We have a lot of things going on. We're chasing a lot of big dreams and goals. And I think the primary reason we've been able to is because we've

We've had such a foundation of health and well -being that makes it easier. We have more energy. We have more clarity. We have more stamina, vitality, because we take care of our bodies. That's such a cool framework when you said that. So the first step is make it easy to be healthy. And then being healthy makes it easy to do so many other things. Right, it does. And it's more enjoyable. And it's fun. It's happy like when.

Rachel Denning (01:21:45.922)
When I was originally seeking, desperately, was 16 and on my own, desperately seeking for the secrets of success and happiness, at that same time, I was, to really lean into fitness and health. And little did I know, I was right on top of the most important secret of making sure my body was in a great condition so that everything else would be easier to do. So powerful, so important. Okay, love you guys.

Thanks for listening. Quick link to sign up for the challenge. Sincere invite here. Join this challenge. Get in. Invest in yourself. Invest in your family, your future. Really get in and watch how, well, what I've experienced, and you have too, and all my clients, the positive cascade effect of all the other good things that come.

from getting our bodies into a good condition. And sustainable, right? This isn't like, it's a little fat, a little diet. After 90 days, I'm gonna put all the weight back on and go back to miserable existence. It's the foundation for a lifetime of. Exactly. Over these 90 days, I'm gonna give you the tools to like, okay, we can do this for the rest of our lives. Because I've been doing it for 26, 27 years joyfully. And it's not that hard. So you guys can do it. This is awesome. So love you guys. Click on the link. Get in there. Love you. Reach upward