Transcription
I used to run ultramarathons and all the stuff. I thought I was bulletproof.
Got on the scale and I was like, [ __ ] I'm like 35 lbs over what I my what I call my fighting weight. I was horrified. I started doing this to lose weight. Respiratory issues and skin issues on my ears and really sore knees. All the other things that came with it, I [music] found out subsequently.
It's not like any other diet out there. It's a metabolic state. And by appealing to that metabolic state, you're just setting yourself up for so much more >> [music] >> improved performance and success that goes way beyond the ability to lose 20 lbs when you're wanting to. Like I said, it's a much bigger holistic picture.
People often ask me like how often I cheat and stuff. And I literally have never cheated in 10 years. Why would I want to? I feel so much better.
What was your motivation for even [music] wanting to craft a conference around metabolic health, the ketogenic diet in the first place? Like was that something >> it was really um I had found out about it. A guy actually sent me an email back in sort of the the previous year, around the middle of of 2015. Sort of trying to sell me exogenous ketones. And the um one of the first companies doing it. And the the subject of the email was ketones, uh an alternative source of fuel to glucose or a better source of fuel. I forget exactly how it was phrased, but I didn't even know what a ketone was. And so, I just went down this huge rabbit hole like like investigating it. I had a lot of respect for the guy that that had written to me. And um so I thought it was worth investigating and I I over 3 weeks of burying myself, not getting any work done. I uh It was like it made everything made sense to me. And but by that stage, it was a brand new company. They were out of stock anyway. Mhm. And I just thought, well why not just do the diet and and uh that's how I got started. And um and now there was very little information out there about how to actually do it. Unlike nowadays. Um and we just like bumbled our way through it, you know. And quite take went through a bunch of different stalls and stuff and learned about things that we had no idea. I would literally didn't have a clue that there was sugar in watermelon. Mhm. So, we somehow developed this thing where watermelon was our uh our savior almost. So, we used to keep moved a couple of shelves in the fridge. We had a whole watermelon in the fridge. And then we kept like each night after we had dinner sort of cut a slice off the watermelon, cut it in half, and Pam and I would share that. And we'd had a lot of success in the beginning because like when you eliminate all the other crap that you're eating some things change. And and so, we know you know, I lost some weight and made made some improvements. And then we stalled. And I couldn't work it out. And then eventually I I I mean, I was horrified to find out that watermelon had I mean, how stupid am I? Like I had no I had no clue. I didn't didn't register.
>> [snorts] >> Was there like um like I mean, you weren't really battling with any metabolic dysfunction?
>> No, [clears throat] so that's so that was the thing. I um I was just overweight. I put on I was about I stood on the scale like like literally the day before um I got this email. I used to run ultramarathons and all the stuff. I thought I was bulletproof, you know. And I got on the scale and I was like, [ __ ] I'm like 35 lbs over what I my what I call my fighting weight. Um I was horrified. And then I got this email. And and so I started doing this to to lose weight. Mhm. And um all the other things that came with it I found out subsequently. I didn't start doing it for any of those reasons, but um you know, respiratory issues and um skin issues on my ears and um really sore knees, which is one of the reasons why I wasn't running as much anymore. Um that all cleared up. And I think the biggest thing that that took me a couple of years really to to really understand it and get to know it about it, but um I had a very severe motor vehicle accident when I was like 22 or something. Like 40 years ago, you know. Um and had a massive concussion. Um and I understand now that I had a severe traumatic brain injury. Um but they you know, that wasn't even a thing back in those days. No one even talked about it or anything. And um so I I really for the the rest of my life, I've struggled with short-term memory issues. I um I forget what I'm saying very very easily. I struggle to find words often. Um like simple words that that are obviously in my vocabulary, but at the time I want to use them they're gone. Um sometimes they're even to the point where I have to kind of describe what I'm trying to say because I I can't retrieve that word. Um and I I was basically humiliated by that, you know. I I am as an engineer, I was um doing presentations and stuff like that. And it was um I just hated it because and especially when when I'm more angst then that happens more frequently. And so, I would forget what I'm saying. I wouldn't be able to find the words to say what I wanted to say. And um I yeah, I just hated it. And then when as it became more senior and I had engineers working for me, I used to make them do do these presentations like that. It'd be good for you to good good uh exercise for you to to get to chance to do these presentations. I used to get people to do it for me because it was awful. Mhm. And I wasn't you know, when I first planned this first event, one of my to-do list things was to find an MC. And um I never really found the right person. And as we got closer to the time I'd now been keto for only coming by the time we had the event, I'd only been keto for about a year. And somehow as we got close to the event, I started to think yeah, maybe I can just do the MC thing. And there's no way um not in a million years would I have my old self would have got up on that stage. I just wouldn't have. And yet without realizing it I decided that I could do this. And um I got through it, you know. Um really without struggling too much. And I think it was like the following then we we got persuaded to do a second one, which we then did in Florida. And one of my speakers dropped out. And Jeff Gerber actually um said like offered to to get Georgia Ede to to come and fill in because she was speaking at another event down the road in Miami. Mhm. And um she came up on the Sunday and and filled in for me and and and did a a talk. And when we went out to dinner that night with all the speakers on the Sunday night, she I was sitting next to her and she was saying like as a psychiatrist, she was just starting to see the potential of carbohydrate reduction as a a benefit for for psychiatric conditions. Um and I mean, nowadays with the Basuki Foundation and everything, the whole mental health space has exploded. But back then, they were they were just starting to see the benefits. And she was saying that she had found so many patients that were responding really well. And especially the ones with with with anxiety. And I started and I was talking to her and saying like you know, that me standing up on this stage as the MC of these events is just unheard of. And so and she said, well, that makes sense, you know. That that somehow that anxiety that you always felt about public speaking and all of that went away. And um and so I still forget what I'm I It also improved, right? So I did I I forget less frequently. I retrieve I can't retrieve words less frequently. And so it was just It's you know, I I just But I wasn't afraid anymore. And you cuz it still happens. I It almost happened right now. It still happens, but I I just didn't have that fear of it anymore. And the funniest thing was a year or two later back in in San Diego, Georgia was speaking again at one of our events and it was the first time that I really had a complete blank. Like and it was introducing her to come up onto the stage. That that was the most unbelievable thing. And I had this little anecdote that I wanted to tell about her before I introduced and brought her up onto the stage. And I went completely blank. And um I just stood there and like And eventually I just looked at her and I said, Georgia, I'm sorry. Yeah, when do you just come up and speak? Welcome everybody, Georgia Ede. And I ran off the stage, you know. Um And so when I got went back up on the stage afterwards, I actually said to everyone, this is the first time I'd ever told anybody about this issue problem that I had. Um And I said, you know, uh if if you see me standing up here like looking like a deer in the headlights, someone here in the front just remind me what I was talking about and maybe I'll it'll come back to me, you know. But it was okay. I um I was okay. I didn't die and I And I and I I mean, the the keto community is um I'm maybe biased, but I feel like they are one of the better communities out there in terms of um just being nicer people. And Mhm. And I've heard a lot of talk about people saying that the you know, it makes you nicer people. And um and so maybe I'm less afraid in front of that crowd as well, you know. Um But uh yeah, it's it's uh That was one of the events we did in in Boca. I think the first one No, it's West Palm Beach. When we first went to Florida, we were in West Palm Beach. And we went back the following year and we had our debrief afterwards. And uh or no, not debrief. We had a uh they had a debrief afterwards. And we when we went back was the same lady who was in charge of our event. And so we had a pre-meeting meeting with her. And during that meeting she said to us, you know, during this debrief that we had, um every single department because they all the department heads kind of meet and kind of break down what what what worked and what didn't work and all of that. And then she said, every single back of house, you know, the the chefs, the front desk, everybody um reckoned that this is the best group that they've had in that hotel ever. Um and those back of house folks and that they've been there forever. Mhm. You know, the the managers and the admin staff and that they they turn over a lot, but um the the the guy the cleaners and the guys that work in the kitchen and all of that, they all the same people for years and years and years. Um and they have multiple meetings sometimes in a week. So to say that that's the best group they've had in there um is is a big thing and then she said, it wasn't it was unsolicited. Like they just I think one person just mentioned it and then they all said, yeah, like we agree. Mhm. Um So so there is something to that that in general obviously um that it it does seem to to help people. And then Georgia's explanation of how it it reduces anxiety and it reduces as we found out now so many other um mental health problems and issues to the extent where uh you know, a lot of them can come off their meds and and live normal lives again. Yeah, that's honestly I mean, that's what excites me. Um you know, all the the research that Chris Palmer's been putting out with his book, Georgia Ede and the like, it's like people I think start the diets for the you know, appeal of the weight loss component with as that's why people start most diets. Mhm. You know, when I started way back in 2014 or 15, whatever it was, I just tried to improve my relationship with food. Mhm. And it'll allow me to do that and the compositional and performance benefits are just a bonus, so to speak. Um but with with all of the science coming out now about how it can help from a cancer prevention standpoint, psychological benefits, psychiatric benefits. I mean, all the metabolic perks. Like to me, that's why I feel, you know, again, maybe I'm biased as well. I probably am. But it's like it's not like any other diet out there. It's not so much a diet like you would think of the South Beach diet or the Paleo diet. Like it's a it's a metabolic state. Mhm. And by appealing to that metabolic state, you're just setting yourself up for so much more improved performance and success that goes way beyond the ability to lose 20 lbs when you're wanting to. Like it's it's a much bigger holistic picture.
Yeah, and yeah, and uh um People often ask me like how often I cheat and stuff. And I literally have never cheated in 10 years. I'm the same way. I tell people the same way. I I I I I just don't want to. It's like why would I want to? I feel so much better. I don't want to. And so when I say that, there were two two occurrences occasions where I don't really count it as cheating because I did it deliberately as Dave Feldman would say, for science, you know. Um And um one of them was where I I literally I had a CGM for the first time like probably four years after I started. I never had a I never took my ketones or anything for like four years after I got started. And then I was wearing a CGM. And so I said, okay, I'm going to drink a cuz I still like the taste of Coke and I can drink Coke Zero. Um but I decided I'm going to drink a regular Coke and see what it does to the CGM. And obviously it just went like through [clears throat] the roof. Which just verified everything that I was obviously expecting to see. Um The other time was that I'd noticed with the CGM that um you're familiar with Dr. Ben and his 15-minute workout and stuff. It's become a very big part of part of what what we teach as well. And I Ben Ben No, no. I'd been McKiki out. Oh, no. I haven't heard of him. Yeah, you need you need to I've heard of him at a conference, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Um you need to maybe if you look on my YouTube channel, um there's a whole playlist of stuff with Dr. Ben. And um it really involves 15 minutes of exercise twice a week. Um And he worked a lot with Arthur Jones back in the day. He's the guy that developed the Nautilus machines. Mhm. And what one of the his famous sayings was that um it took him 20 years to realize that two sets is better than four. And another 20 years to realize that one set was better than two. And so this is the philosophy of of this workout is that you literally do one exercise for each major muscle group to failure. Like absolute failure. Um where you choose the weight so that you fail between 30 and 90 seconds. And um and then you move on to the next exercise. And you literally finish it >> [clears throat] >> in 15 minutes. And he's um you know, he's written a book called 15 minutes to fitness. And uh uh Then we can keep talking about this cuz I can't remember why I was telling you this story, but
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm I'm This is This is the modality that you use for training as well?
Yes. So that's where we're going. So so I've been doing that ever ever since. And you know, in 3 months from when I started doing it and I was doing gym already to try and prevent this decline that I was starting to notice, you know, in my later 50s. Mhm. And um I I I start I was doing gym, but I was just getting sore and and it was affecting my running and I would just I was I was really not enjoying it at all and I wasn't getting seeing any benefit from it. And I started doing this with Ben and long story that basically he was in San Diego for a couple of months and he always comes down there for goes there for the summer when he gets out of Arizona. And so we were staying with him like right after the San Diego event and he took me down to his gym and we went through this workout. And that afternoon he came up with me to a play to a gym where we've got a friend of ours that that was putting on local San Diego events once a month once a month. And they had a um DEXA scan truck there. And so I went and had a scan. And about 3 [clears throat] months later I um was at another event we did one in San Francisco and we had um a scanner there or there was a there was someone that had a scanner there. And I scanned again and I had the last I had put on 4 lb of muscle and lost a pound of fat in 3 months working out twice a week for 15 minutes. Um at at the age of about 55 at that stage. Which is it was amazing. Um and so I was always doing these workouts and then I got this CGM and did the workout and noticed that when I went back and looked at the trace that all through the workout my my glucose just like was I mean it waved a little bit obviously but it was pretty much flat. And then cuz when I'm finished at 15 minutes like I'm dead like literally dead. And I I often like lie back on the bench for 50 but like 15 minutes later I'm recovered and I'm good to go. But so but I noticed that timing-wise like within 30 seconds of or a minute maybe of me stopping my my glucose just like shot up. Um as you know I was kind of in 84 895 and 89 and then it would shoot up to 180. The highest I'd seen it go was like 220 or something.
Oh wow, that's quite a bit.
>> And but then over over about um 2 hours I noticed that it literally would come back to normal again. Come down nice and smoothly like not like I wouldn't go hypo or anything like that it just it just came right. So we just like we were a bit like flummoxed by this and then Arthur Agatston did a did a talk in in Boca and Dr. Ben was good friends with him and he organized for me to go down to Miami to Arthur's uh um office to his practice. And he had um these Total Gym it's machines and stuff in his office that Ben had encouraged him to get. And so we went there and we did a baseline baseline scan. We did basically a craft test. And we did a baseline scan and then I did the workout in his office and then we went back and did another scan and then every hour or so afterwards we we uh um we did the scan again. And he saw that exact same response. And he was amazed like you said like this is this is incredible. But he said to me when you go back to San Diego I want you to to go for a regular proper craft test at a phlebotomist. And so I went in and did it. And but there they gave you this bonus of glucose. Okay, so they take the baseline and I felt shocking. It was like a Jeez, I felt terrible. Um to the extent that after my like they they did these five things I still felt so bad that I went down and sat in my car and I very very nearly phoned Pam. And we still we still only work with one car. So I was I was really about to phone her and ask her to get an Uber to come and fetch me and drive me home because I didn't feel like I I should be driving. Wow. And for for for like from like a little bit it's like those little plastic bottles about this big it's just like glucose. Um and what I also noticed for about 2 weeks afterwards cuz it you would always see like when I would go for a run like my blood sugar would rise a bit because it me it was producing what it needed and then it would come down nice and gently after the run and now it was like all over the place and I just couldn't um that smooth recovery afterwards was took me 2 weeks to get back to where I was recovering nice and smoothly again when I would when I would exercise and go for a run. Or the or the work or the gym.
Yeah, mine will spike quite a bit. I mean I'll typically be at a baseline of 70 or 80 and then it'll jump up to 115 120 maybe 130 when I'm training intra-workout and then it'll be you know back to baseline within an hour or so post-workout but I've never seen it go much beyond that.
Yeah, I don't know if it's if it's if it's just me but but it you know, the the the thing the theory is that like when I'm going running and you do see it rise um when you work in really really hard your body does produce some glucose because it needs it. But it produces what it needs. But it it can't respond that quickly. So when you just stop cold now it keeps producing that for for a bit. And that's what you see when you see that spike. And now it's get takes now the insu So one of the things we saw in the craft test was when I did this the workout version was that my So I was 84 glucose 84 insulin was four. And when the glucose that test the glucose spiked up to over 200. And like um my insulin didn't spike but it it rose up nicely up to about 20 and then came down again and after 2 hours I was back at 84 and four again. Um which I feel was like a a really legit response you know. Um there was no oscillations or anything. Um
What I I respect people that adhere to things long-term. I mean I I also don't deviate from the diet. I don't feel a need to. I don't feel a desire to. Um when you feel this good on it you don't want to deviate. What what do you like what do you personally eat? What's made it sustainable for you? I mean obviously there's the the physiological implications of deviating but there's the psychological component as well. So like if you were to summarize how it's been sustainable for you.
Yeah, so I know this the story I often tell is when I first decided I'm going to do keto and not low-carb. I dragged Pam to the to the store which she she was like and I had a list and she said wait what like you're going to the store you're going shopping and you have a list like what's up with that you know?
>> [snorts] >> And um so we went and um and we've all discovered you go around the outside of the store because you know nothing pretty much nothing down the aisles is is is is going to work for you anyway. But [snorts] bought a couple of big ribeye steaks and we lived in a condo complex and they had these um barbecue pit things out outside and I went down and cooked these two ribeye steaks. Now I've always been cutting every tiny little bit of fat off the leanest piece of meat that I could find um before. And now I'm sitting with this ribeye steak and I put them on the plate [clears throat] and like now the rendered fat is like pooling in the plate so I'm literally watching this rendered fat like sloshing around in the bottom of the plate and I started giggling. I looked at Pam and I said like are we really going to eat these Um but like I believed what I had learned over the last 3 weeks like so much that I and I literally had to gag down because that I my brain had developed that repulsion of fat you know. And but I start I got about halfway through and I started to think you know what? This actually tastes really good. And like by the end of it it was like okay I can do this.
>> [laughter] >> This is you know, and now I suddenly nothing tastes like cardboard anymore. All the flavor came back. I always joke about the fact that Pam you couldn't get me in the kitchen if you paid me. And now I was chasing Pam out of the kitchen. You know, because I was enjoying preparing I was just looking forward to it so much. And um you know, I I used to sit and eat chocolates. Oh, I thought I was a runner and I could eat what I want and do whatever I wanted and I had those big um bowl of of what do you call them? Malt balls, like a honeycomb with covered in chocolate. I loved it. And used to eat have some every night after dinner, you know. And I thought I would really struggle to throw that thing away. And and I didn't. You know, I find out nowadays that I've obviously lucky and I didn't didn't really suffer from carbohydrate addiction like so many people do. I think I was lucky in that way. Um but I I So it's like this is easy. Like I always want to go in the kitchen cook another river, you know. And I just felt like everything tasted so much better than the low-fat lean uh diet that I had been on for so many years. Um especially as a runner I mean told you know all all the carbohydrates you have to eat and like I made spaghetti bolognese and it was made with this really really really lean mince. I don't need it but now you know, you find that the 80/20 or even the 30/70 um ground beef. Sorry, I said mince. That's what we call it in South Africa. Um and um yeah, it was just just everything was better. And then I started to get feel so much better and I lost all this weight and my knees got stopped hurting and and I over time I started to realize my health was so much better. And it was like why do I want to go back and eat taste this [ __ ] And so and and and I had those two experiences now I know how bad I feel when I have when I do like take on a a bunch of carbs. Why do I want to do that? There's just there's no incentive for me to to to to not and you know, and and but I'm very good like when we go places like visit Pam's parents and stuff like that. Like we'll take stuff with us. Um that we can eat. Um like and they've been they're aware of what we're doing. They they're not buying into it themselves at all. At all. But um they are supportive of it now.
>> They're supportive of it, right? And so they they don't really understand it but they So we always bring like a side dish or something like cauliflower mash or something like that which they s- wholeheartedly admit actually tastes really good. Um you know, and then I'll have the meat or whatever then and just don't have all the other carby crap, you know. All the nonsense. I I I don't know if you've listened to the the podcast that I did with Dave Feldman. Mhm. Um but I described this biltong, right? Which is a South African dried meat. And um I make that all the time myself. And so you know, I mean we hang it it's literally these slabs of meat that you cut in about an inch or an inch and a quarter thick. And you hang them up whole curing process but you literally hang them up to dry. And you know, these slabs when they when they originally they must be pound probably two pounds, you know, pound and a half. So we if you take cut one of those things in half and then slice it up and eat it, that's like a a 12 oz steak. Mhm.
>> Or the equivalent thereof, right? And you can it can fit it in a little bag like this in your pocket. And take it to wherever you're going and and if if the people know me well then I'll then I'll just bring it out and eat it. And if not so well then I'll be more surreptitious about eating it on the sly. Um but yeah, I you know, I go to restaurants um really meticulous about making sure that that I get them to leave off everything that that I don't want to eat and maybe include some alternatives or something for um and I that's why we hardly ever eat out because it's so stressful. We'd rather just And even with steaks and stuff like in a really really fancy steakhouse and there are very few occasions when I've had a steak at even like Morton's or something that that is better than I can cook it. Mhm. Back here on my on my hardwood charcoal braai outside your barbecue. Um so yeah, I I just we love and I've been lucky that Pam she was much more hesitant in the beginning. I had to drag her along. But um she's she's adopted this and is um in the same way as me enjoying it so much that she has no desire to um to eat or to cheat to eat something that you shouldn't be eating.
It's it's awesome that both y'all are on the same page. I feel like a lot of people's, you know, deviation or catalyst for deviation is because their significant others, you know, doing something totally different, you know.
>> Yeah. And and and they even they even actively hijack them. You know, it's not it's not even that they just do something different and like you're looking at them eating that. They they literally actively not they I mean a lot of them actively try to coerce this person into into um taking a bite of what they of what they're eating or something.
>> feel better about their decisions, you know, like if you get somebody else doing it makes it feel, you know, more capable. But yeah, on the same token if you're on the same page on the right right diet and lifestyle it's way easier to adhere to.
Yeah, I think it you know, I I am um very fortunate that way. Um that it's uh that I don't have that um downside to things. Mhm.
Hello y'all. Robert Sikes, the founder of the Savage Perspective Podcast, the host of the Savage Perspective Podcast. As y'all know, we do not roll ads throughout the podcast. This is not an ad technically but I'm going to throw it in there just in case. The reason I don't put ads in here is because I don't want y'all to be distracted with minutes and minutes of just irrelevant content for me to make a buck. That's not good for y'all. I don't want to be inauthentic like that. However, I would be remiss if I didn't point y'all towards a great resource. So all of the guests that I bring on the show are designed to >> [music] >> give y'all insight, give you information, give you value that allows you to optimize your health from a ketogenic standpoint. I've built out a resource that takes everything I've learned over the years as a podcast host, as a professional natural bodybuilder, as a coach in the space and I've compiled all that into a very very comprehensive system which also includes a community membership community from an accountability standpoint. It's got a ton of resources like a free workout app. It's got a AI that's built out based off of all of my content so it's not giving you conflicting information and the program has over 150 videos that breaks down all the details as to how to manipulate your macros, optimize your metabolism, build muscle, lose fat, all the good stuff that y'all are striving to do. And also, since I don't do ads on the podcast, all of the affiliate discount links that I have for various different brands live in this program as well. That literally [music] pays for the cost in and of itself. So if you're interested in doing a deeper dive, actually using these tools and reaching your highest self, check out ketobodybuilding.com.
So talk to me about So you've got the the Low Carb USA, you've got SMHP. Like how how does it all fit together? Like what are the different entities so to speak?
>> Yeah, so funny you should ask that. It's like literally we're working with someone right now. Um I don't know if I talked to you about him in in Costa Rica at all but um a really really a retired guy that's a really really good businessman that was his job was to take tiny small mom and pop mom and pop companies and turn them into multi-million dollar enterprises, you know. And he's been in this space for 10 years as well. And um came to Boca he's been online for years. Came to Boca in person for the first time and got so excited and wanted to talk to us afterwards. And he's decided effectively he's decided now originally it was just offered to give us a few hours of his time each week but he's now literally said to his wife, I need to go back to work. And he's like working with us to take this whole thing to the next level. Um and part of that is is integrating Low Carb USA and SMHP together. At least still at the moment the plan is that we're still going to keep them separate. And Low Carb USA um will will be the um public patient facing interface. and the SMHP will be for training and accrediting practitioners and providers and to do this. Which is kind of how it is now. It's I mean we still but Low Carb USA is the one that has all the logistics and that to to actually run these events. So even now, you know, these events are pitched as SMHP events hosted by Low Carb USA. Mhm. Because Low Carb USA is the one that's actually putting on the event. Um whereas but the SMHP is now uh underwriting it in a way and then helping to to to make this happen. Um So so yeah, I mean we started with Low Carb USA and about 5 years later was back to okay 2020 January before the pandemic started. And Tro Kalayjian was was one of the speakers there and he actually spoke with Pam. And that I only found out about later and said like we need to have an organization that represents us practitioners who are adopting and embracing this lifestyle uh uh concept, right? And so um then I saw him post it on Twitter in about February. And I wrote to him. That's the first time I heard about this. I contacted him and I said like Tro, you already got this concept in Low Carb USA of a professional um what do we call it? Like a pro It's a professional membership basically where people could join and and then they could discuss cases and talk with each other and stuff like that. And I said it's never really taken off. And we talked about it and decided that we needed to get a real proper medical society nonprofit organization in place Mhm. to to be this representative entity.
>> [snorts] >> And so I I started to I started we had no money. In fact, we had a massive debt. We didn't just have no money. And um so I couldn't pay a lawyer or somebody to come and create this nonprofit for me or whatever. So I literally went and studied and worked out as an electrical engineer how to start and run a nonprofit organization. Put a board of directors together and we and we created this and sat and decided what we wanted this organization to actually um provide services and and whatever for for the practitioners. And um you know, one of the big things was was the the accreditation like Mhm. We we devised these different pathways that practitioners could become um accredited. And the idea with that was that they could then um use the the designation Metabolic Health Practitioner MHP behind their name as well. And so, you know, we've got a bunch of doctors now that are MD MHP. Um that Brian Lenskes got this massive Low Carb MD podcast. Uh he's like uh Brian Lenskes MD MHP. And um so many people are seeing the the benefits of that.
Um How long does that accreditation process generally take?
>> So it's So it depends what pathway they that you want to do. Um There's the There's a couple of different uh what's it? Not academic but but um training type pathways. And one of them we use the Nutrition Network. You familiar with the Nutrition Network? Mhm. So uh there's spin-off from the Noakes Foundation for for those people who don't really know. But um they provide a whole lot of courses. And so we've identified a core set of modules that we require someone to perform or to go through. And then after you um accumulate what we're calling CMHEs or continuing metabolic health education credits. So they have to accumulate 60 hours of of credits um at Low Carb USA events or um Georgia Edes um um mental health um training that she's that she's provided. That's about 15 hours or something. Um Yeah, Low Carb Down Under they they um people can use credits from that. The PHC conference in London. Um their credits count. Um there's a few other organizations that do do training and provide credits that we currently recognize. So there's about So there's 60 hours of of that that's required and about
>> [sighs and gasps] >> I don't know. I I powered through it and when I cuz I went through it first to um just to to see what was involved and make sure that it that it sort of was good enough. And I really can't remember how how long but uh it was during COVID. So I you know I was at home and I and I well, I'm always at home but but I um there wasn't like big we we did online events but we didn't do there was no big hotel events or anything like that. So um that I had to organize or or or be there for. And so I I just I just sat down and ground through these things, you know, like 6 hours a day and um but it still took me a few weeks to to to get through everything. So it's it's not a terrible amount of work but it's not nothing, you know, it's it's a it's a it's a decent amount of work but depending most people take longer because they've got lives, right? They they've got jobs that they maybe even trying to get out of by doing this training and wanting to become and and we and we we sort of service people from the health coach all the way up to physicians and surgeons and and you know, um PAs and nurses practitioners and all of that nurses in between. Um any anybody can There's different pathways and anybody can become a an MHP. Um but they just then have their their lane that they operate in, you know.
Very cool. Very cool. So yeah, that's it's just it's just taken off. It's uh I uh I say I kind of built so many attempted businesses and things like that through my life that didn't never worked out and um when we started this, we also had no idea whether it would whether it would take off. And when we put it out there people started signing up. Like it was amazing. Uh and I told the story on on Dave's podcast that he that he did with me that uh the very first doctor I mean, I we've had a lot of people with similar responses since but the very first doctor that got accredited through us um she put in her application and uploaded her certificates and I wrote back to her and said um okay committee's looked at this and you know, your application for accreditation has been approved. And she wrote back and said, "Doug, you know this means more to me than when I became an MD because now I feel like I can actually help people." Mhm. And um that was a first kind of real feedback that we got that was like, "Okay this thing has has merit. It has legs." And um yeah, it's just been it's just it's just been growing since then. And now with um Rick now coming in and helping us returning this whole with we really I mean um with the HHS making that um announcement that medical schools have to provide 40 hours of nutritional training as part of the curriculum at least. Mhm.
>> Um We've actually got a meeting tomorrow. Um talking about and with some of our um our board members that have already youngsters that have already created this curriculum that we that we want to take to medical schools and become the de facto uh organization for providing this training for for doctors in in med schools.
That would be a game changer right there. So I incredible. And what these two kids have uh so they they uh They're young doctors. Kids compared to me. Um They've done such such an amazing job. Matt Calkins and his wife Laura Bigham and Mhm. They've done Uh it's incredible what they've come up with so far. And then so we've got a meeting tomorrow. Um Annette Bosworth, Dr. Annette Bosworth, she was a speaker at In-Co-Cy. Mhm. Um She's also been involved in um Uh Dean of some med school came to her and asked her to provide this training. So that's actually what this meeting is about tomorrow. We're like we're going to combine cuz she hurt probably She's done courses and and trainings and stuff like that. She's amazing. So we're going to combine her skills with with this program that Matt and Laura have have produced. And she's so happy that then now there's a an organization that's going to help take this on so that cuz she was just thinking like where am I going to find the time to do this on top of everything else that I'm doing, you know? So as the now she can provide her expertise but not have her bandwidth sucked up by trying to actually produce this training. So you know, we'd actually end up doing that. So lots of things in the pipeline.
>> Yeah, then the other big thing is um uh This guy is a massive supporter of ours as well. And he's been trying to produce this um >> [snorts] >> program to help train starting with cops, basically. And um and so that he's brought us in into those conversations. They've then brought in another guy um called uh Brian Tarson, I think, who um is a more of a um a business guy as well. And um he's actually not driving cuz before it was like a bit of a chicken without a head. But now he's driving this. It's it's really starting to get some direction. And um so we we're talking about getting these coaches to be trained through the SMHP. And and then help develop these programs that they then present to these um police officers. And it's it's already become first responders, not just police officers. So firemen and and uh uh paramedics and and stuff like that as well because they're all in such terrible shape. You know, they're saving lives but in the end they're dying because of the terrible terrible metabolic health.
Yeah, it's uh I've got several friends that are first responders and especially ones that have, you know, night shifts, 12 hours at a time in a car in a in a ambulance. I mean, yeah, it's it's it's not a good situation and if So this is And so but now these guys are are actually in that um in that environment. So they understand the hardships for these people. And so the program that they that they're training in the the you know, things like teaching them how to make biltong so that they can put a bag of that in their pockets when they go to work instead of um instead of eating the donuts and the um the burgers and all the other stuff that's that they end up in the junk food that they end up eating when they're on shift. Um so there's yeah and so and then you know, the the plan is to then
Expand that into the um the VA and um try and get to the veterans and stuff as well and then maybe even the military. So um like this guy thinks big. Like he doesn't mess around. Um but we never contemplated stuff like that before because our our little thing we just didn't have the bandwidth to do that. But he's now between this guy and this guy I'm telling you about that that's driving the the first responder program >> [snorts] >> and Rick on our side, um they both going after, you know, philanthropic money and stuff like that to be able to cuz this can't happen without without funding.
So I feel like, you know, and especially with you having been in the space and had conferences for the past decade it's like we've seen this evolution of the community change drastically. I feel like keto as a dietary protocol kind of reached its zenith in the public's eye popularity probably in 2017, 18, I guess. Uh but the science is now more prevalent than ever. Um and the people that have stuck with the lifestyle for more than just the initial weight loss component of it are tried and true and they've got no plans or intentions of deviating. So I feel like the base, the foundation is just growing stronger than ever. So I feel like there's a lot of reason to be optimistic about this, you know, the ketogenic lifestyle as a whole.
Yeah. No, I I we I I don't know. Like we've been on a whole it's like getting that uh an injection of enthusiasm, you know? Like Rick coming along. We've been like struggling along literally for 10 years, like living on fumes. And never contemplating giving giving it up. Just trying to work out how we can take the next step and over 10 years, if you look back at like how we started and and all the programs and and services and that that we provide now, it's it's it's incredible. If I have to admit, you know? If I look at what we've achieved in in in 10 years, it's been it's been it's pretty amazing considering we've got no money and no help. Or very little help. And um just believing that one day somebody would come somebody that gets it but that has either money and or skill sets that we don't have. Mhm. Will will come along and see this and think, wow, like, you know, I can take this to the next step or to the next level. And that's exactly what's happened with Rick. Um it's like he's a godsend, like seriously. Incredible.
And uh Yeah, we we just I mean, it's like drinking from a fire hose. Mhm. But um you know, both Pam and I are looking at each other and think, how the hell are we going to do all of this? But he keeps trying to remind us that yes, right now it's it's just trying to plan this whole thing is an incredible amount of work. But once we start getting the funding coming in and we start building these teams of of people to help us that we're actually going to have less to do Mhm. of the work grunt work stuff that we do right now and have more time to be able to spend on you know, expanding the vision and then looking at what else we can do. What more can we do? Um that we don't even dare think about right now cuz we just don't have the bandwidth, you know?
That is exciting, man. Very exciting. So so where do people go to help, to learn more, to dive deeper, to get involved? Like what what's the best thing that people can do to move the needle? So in terms of the organization, the SMHP, it's literally the SMHP .org. Um and then you can go through there. There's a you can find the accreditation program and if that's something that you're interested in in um in trying to pursue. Um And then on the Low Carb USA side, it's Low Carb USA, one word. L Low Carb USA .org is the the website there. Um and like literally under I'm looking here and under events and education, there's a drop down, upcoming events. Can see San Diego coming up in August. Uh San Antonio is the first time we're going to be in Texas uh and in January. And then Boca is is now So we alternating now between the middle of the country, Texas, and Florida. So the next Boca event is going to be in January 28th. But that's already contracted and on the books. And um Nice. Yeah. So I might say you're not too far from me in San Antonio. So I might have to go to that one, maybe the Boca one, too. Though I got friends in Boca. Oh, there we go. That'll be fun. Um Absolutely.
Yeah. So yeah yeah you know, I mean we have a live stream component to the to all these events. Um and people get to keep the videos afterwards and all that stuff. But um We actually Rick is helping us to create a whole bunch of marketing um social media and stuff like that to to s- educate people about the value of of being there in person. Mhm. Um Especially now in this day and age, I feel like we need legitimate Yeah, you you you just need to you know the the atmosphere and and what people get out of it is is really difficult to to put into words. I find it difficult to put it into words and but I see it that at every event like the buzz for those four days is the excitement and the you know, we put on um keto dinners basically every night of you know not on the last night but on the other nights through the uh through the event and so people get a chance to sit and talk through what they went through in the day. Very often one of the speakers from the event is going to end up sitting at their table so they get to a chance to be able to speak with them on a more social level and pick their brains and um uh just get reinspired, you know, um I when I do my closing talk at the end, I always say like I feel like my job is to help people um to leave here feeling reinspired. Mhm. Or inspired if they've only been this is the first time. Or reinspired and and that's I think why so many people come back. Is um is to meet these people again. Sometimes people have made great friends that they only ever see at you know a couple of times a year at these different events. Um but mainly because it kicks their butts. And they go home and think yeah, I you know, I can do more. I can I can achieve and get achieve more not do more. I think what we're trying to coach people on is is find ways to work more efficiently. Mhm. So that you get more done, reach more people see more patients but in less time. You know, find health coaches. Like a lot of physicians instead of trying to spend time trying to teach them this, they get they just don't have that time. But you get a health coach on who who can now take this patient that you've convinced that this is going to help them and teach them how to do it and keep them on their toes. Um and so you know, the the minute you don't need to do any of the teaching part and you can hand that off to somebody that gives you a bit more time to spend with another patient. Mhm.
And um you know, um like Anne Bazelworth, one of the things she does she does a lot of um uh team coaches. She does in person such a busy person but she does like once a week for people that can and they drive from far away to come to a little church hall or something and she she has like a like a an in person meeting to teach people and that way and then she does online as well and and so she's able to reach so many more people than than just her recommend um patients, you know. Um That's what it's all about like finding out ways to help others. Yeah, find ways to get more done, yeah. Mhm. And have more time for your family at the end of the day. That's that's first that's first prize, right? Yeah, yeah, I mean able to do all of that through a healthier body making more capable for a longer period of time, you know. Correct. That's the name of the game. Yeah.
Well Doug, you're absolutely fighting the good fight. It was so great to truly meet you in person get to know you on a deeper level. I'm excited about all you got cooking. I can't wait to attend one of the conferences that you're hosting so We'll plan on that for sure. Yeah, I mean if you can come to Dave's conference you can come to one of our conferences, right? Yeah, [snorts] 100%. >> look forward to seeing you in San Antonio. Yeah, >> [laughter] >> that'll be good. That'll be good. Uh well Doug, I will definitely link down to the two websites that you mentioned here and if there's ever anything I can do to help move the needle forward by all means don't hesitate to reach out and let me know cuz I'm happy to help in any way. Thank you very much. Appreciate you Doug. Till the next time.