Tom Bushkie CEO/Co-Founder of hellowater® talks with Joe DeFranco, one of the country’s most highly sought-after performance enhancement specialists. This clip is two of an hour-long interview where Tom and Joe discussed the topics of weight loss, nutrition, cardio, aging. As well as his introduction to hellowater®.
In this episode, Tom and Joe discuss:
- Joe’s approach to sustainability, and maintenance, and longevity when it comes to maintaining your health
Transcript
Tom Bushkie:
It’s a perfect way to use them, so I applaud that. Let’s talk about your approach over the years with your clients, with athletes. When it comes to weight loss, comes to nutrition, you don’t have to go into huge detail, but what are some things that our consumers, our listeners should definitely know? Especially if we’re starting to age a little bit more and things get a little bit harder, what are some things that they need to know in order to maintain physique, maintain health, or improve it?
Joe DeFranco:
First, I love the fact that you used the word maintain, because one of my biggest pet peeves is these weight loss products and fad diets, everyone brags or raves about, “I lost 30 pounds.” They all talk about what they lost, if we’re speaking about weight loss for example, but the follow-up question is always, “How much did you gain back?” And, 9 times out of 10 they gained it all back. So, it’s got to be about sustainability, and maintenance, and longevity. So, I loved the fact that you used that word. Speaking of that, the key with that is I think first of all, I use this expression, “One size fits nobody.” You have to first determine what are your goals, what fits your lifestyle, where are we right now? Are you someone who works out two times a week, but you would like to do something three or four times a week? Are you someone who goes to McDonald’s every morning for breakfast, you haven’t worked out since high school, and you don’t do anything? We need to find out where you are right now.
Joe DeFranco:
I think the key to sustainability is… Just like you mentioned with my business, I use this for health and fitness, I always tell me aspiring trainers and gym owners, for me, I started very small and I grew slow. That’s why I think I’ve been able to maintain and each year progress just a little bit. I’ve had a nice, steady amount of success for 25 years straight. So, I think with your fitness you got to do the same thing. Start small and progress slowly. People think you work with pro athletes and everything they do is perfect, they eat perfectly, their training’s on point. Nothing could be further from the truth. Half the pro athletes I train eat fast food every day, they have a lot of bad habits.
Joe DeFranco:
So, I always find out, “Where are we right now?” If you’re someone who hasn’t drank water in 10 years and you eat pizza and McDonald’s every day, I would start with something… I’m not just saying this because you’re sitting here talking to me, I would say, “You go to McDonald’s every morning, keep doing that for now, but when you have dinner and you drink a soda every night, let’s switch the soda to a hellowater®. Just do that for this week. Can you do that for me?” “Oh yeah, that’s easy, I think I could do that.” Then, they do that, “Were you able to do that? All right, now one day this week don’t go to McDonald’s, try this.” I would add one thing each week and slowly build. That’s how you build habits. Then, you become more disciplined, and then it just becomes part of your lifestyle as opposed to, “No more McDonald’s, no more soda, no more this. You have to workout seven days a week.” You do too much, you’re going to lose them and they’re not going to do anything. So, for me, it’s all about see where they’re at, one small change, and progress from there.
Tom Bushkie:
If that’s one thing that our listeners can take away, it’s that. You don’t have to change everything overnight. You tell someone who’s been going to McDonald’s for 300 day out of the year that they, “Can’t have it tomorrow,” it’s not going to go over well.
Joe DeFranco:
They’re going to go into withdrawal, literally.
Tom Bushkie:
And, they’re not going to have buy-in to anything else that you say.
Joe DeFranco:
No.
Tom Bushkie:
So, starting with that. What else about nutrition, about gut health, is important for our listeners to hear?
Joe DeFranco:
Water, hydration I always like to start there. I have some big rocks for nutrition. I would say try to get to the point where water and maybe an occasional coffee, tea, protein shake here or there after you workout, that’s the foundation of your diet. You want to get to the point where water is the liquid you’re consuming 90, 95% of the time. The other thing I would say, protein should make the foundation of your diet. Lean proteins and green veggies is big. I know there’s a lot of fad diets, some people are pro-carb, anti-carb. Again, generally speaking because everyone’s a little bit different, but if you make the base of your diet… I would say if you take your lean body mass… If I’m 200 pounds and have about 10% body fat, that’s about 180 pounds of lean mass. I try to eat a minimum of 180 grams of protein per day, try to have some green veggies, fiber, with each of those meals. That’s where hellowater® makes it very easy, because that was another thing, even me, being in the health and fitness industry, would never really hit my fiber numbers. Now, two hellowaters a day gets me to hit that number way easier.
Joe DeFranco:
But, if you just start there with the water and the protein, about a pound per pound of lean body mass. And then, fill in, do you feel better? Some people feel a little better with carbs. You don’t want refined sugar junk, but things like a baked potato, rice, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables. Or, if you’re someone who goes, “I feel sluggish. Carbs make me feel bloated,” then you fill in the rest of your calories with more healthy fats. That’s fine. I don’t care if you’re more pro-fat, pro-carb, but if you start with the base of water, protein, and veggies, you’re going to be pretty good and you could fill in the blanks with the rest. I think that’s pretty easy foundational stuff that people could start with and build on.
