Man. All right, we are going to start in three, two, and one. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of coffee with the freight coach. My name is Chris Jolly. I am your host, and I am the freight coach. Before we jump into the episode, as always, thank you guys so much for coming out and listening to this podcast. If this is your first time tuning in, welcome. This is the real SATA freight, ladies and gentlemen. And I say that before every single show. And what I mean by that is I only speak with transportation professionals. Because at the end of the day, you guys, I want to talk to. To the right individuals who have done what you're looking to do or who are currently doing what you're trying to achieve.
So you can take that information, apply it, utilize it, and see a meaningful difference in your business and your life. I know you guys are going to get value out of this episode, but if you are not subscribed and you guys do get value, subscribe to the show. You guys share it out there. Dear network, because if you see value, your network's going to see value as well. So as I get deeper and deeper into the transportation industry, I'm starting to, because I'm a former. I'm a current broker, just been in the industry my whole life. There's so many different avenues that are out there, and one of the biggest issues that is plaguing our industry and our society as a whole is fitness, levels of fitness, obesity, you know, preventable diseases, and everything that are out there.
And we're going to talk about healthy lifestyle. We're going to talk about exercising out on the road and building that out there. So I got the founder and CEO of Be Lean Fitness, Mister Brandon Rothrock, on the show today. So, Brandon, thank you so much for. For joining me.
Yes, sir. Chris, appreciate you for having me. Super excited to be here.
No, man, I'm. I'm pumped for this, because for. For me, it's. It's been, I've struggled just, like, with a lot of people, man. I've struggled with weight my entire life, and I struggled with a bunch of stuff. And then finally, I, back in 2020, I was just like, I gotta change, man. Like, it's bad. I was like, 250 pounds of. And I'm like, I'm drunk, I'm fat, and I'm a fucking loser. And I'm like, I got to change that. Unfortunately, I was introduced to the real Af podcast at that time, Mister Andy Purcella. And he's like, find, like, his content alone kind of like, fundamentally changed everything for me in every aspect. That's why I'm such a major fan of him. Some people say I'm a fanboy, but that's not, I don't give a fuck, man.
The dude's legit, and he gives away so much value out there. And what I came to realize was I was looking at health all wrong. I was looking at it from a standpoint of how do I lose as much fat as fast as I can? And it doesn't matter what I do, I'm just going to go down these fad diets and these fad things that are out there and completely overlook what I have since found to be the most, effective methods that I follow every single day. And so we're going to talk about a lot of that on this show. But, dude, what brought you into, to the fitness space, man?
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, it started with my own personal transformation. You know, that's usually where, you know, the conviction takes place, is experiencing, if not one, multiple epiphanies, you know, through something. So, you know, I grew up a three sport athlete, and I, in high school, solely focused on basketball. And, you know, around sophomore year, junior year in high school, I really started getting into fitness. You know, most high schools have strength and conditioning classes, and that's kind of where the, I guess you could say maybe the desire, a little bit of the interest developed. And, you know, I finished, you know, my high school career playing basketball and was fortunate enough to play juco ball, at the next level, and actually got, injured where I had to redshirt my freshman year.
So there was no running, there was no, playing basketball for at least, you know, seven or eight months. And all I could really turn to was stationary lifting, you know, so that's where the desire, you know, to work out and just learn the industry more really took place. And if you fast forward, know, about a year or two later started, you know, I got certified, you know, in fitness and nutrition and started personal training, you know, at a local gym, and quickly realized how that wasn't scalable. The amount of people that I could reach was limited. And of course, you know, I wanted to try to help as many people as possible experience the similar transformation that I did. So, you know, started the company back in 2018.
You know, we are a health and fitness consulting company, and today we're known as be lean fitness. But at the time, we had a different DBA, which was Brandon Rothrock fitness. Same company. Yeah, but, yeah, I mean, that's, that's where it began. And I'm sure we'll talk later into the show about how we started working exclusively with truck drivers. But that's where it, where it began with me.
Yeah, and that's what I, that's honestly what we're going to lead into right away, man, is what was it about, trucking that made you want to pivot exclusively into this space?
Yeah, yeah. I mean, one, I'll start with the first thing. There's, there's two things, but the first thing is, up until October of last year, you know, we worked with all types of individuals, you know, people who wanted to lose weight, you know, build muscle, burn fat. And I noticed that one of our best success stories came from an individual who lost 95 pounds. And sure enough, he was an OTR driver, believe it or not. And this was before our program was 100% tailored toward drivers. And that's where the thought initially began was like, wow, what if went all in with this demographic, catered our nutrition, our exercise, our accountability, our education towards this demographic, and I just imagine how many drivers we could help. That was the first thing.
And then the second thing was, you know, back in late of last year, started doing more research in the industry. And everybody knows that trucker obesity is approximately 70%. Everybody knows that stat. And just started diving deeper into the industry, speaking to hundreds of drivers over the phone to understand their lifestyle and what really goes on in the industry, you know, behind the doors, behind closed doors. And, another thing we took into account was how our service is set up. You know, we believe in flexibility and adaptability versus restriction because the goal is not to lose weight. Right. The goal is to lose weight, keep it off and enjoy your life, not hate what you do. Right. So, yeah, I mean, it was kind of a no brainer at that point by, you know, obviously talking to many individuals in the trucking industry.
Well, truck drivers specifically, and also just reflecting on, you know, how our program, is set up and just how it works.
Yeah, I think that is one of the biggest hurdles for the individual to overcome is finding what works for you. And, you know, and I think also it's like, where do you want to go with your health, you know, because I think, like, it's a, in, you know, gym culture and everything else, like, dude, it is intimidating when you walk into a gym and there's people with, like, 8% body fat, and, you know, they're. They're clearly in shape. And when you're not, like, man, it is intimidating. But I think what most people would be pleasantly surprised is. Is those are the most, like, positive people that are in the gym. Like, they want to see you succeed in everything else, and at least. Well, at least the gyms that I've gone to.
And I think that, you know, but the biggest thing is you got to find what works for your lifestyle, to where it becomes, like, a staple inside of it. And that's one thing that I've been working on a lot over these last couple of years where it's, like, working out to me is non negotiable now. It's not like, oh, shit, I got to go to the gym, or I got to go work outside or anything like that. It's like, no. Like, that's, like, turned into my therapy session, man, because it's, like, for me, like, not to sound like too much of a hippie, but there's something about walking outside in the sunshine that just, like, legitimately calms me down. Like, I haven't ended an outdoor workout. Came back inside, and I was, like, pissed off that I got it done.
I was tired, I was hot. But, like, it's weird, man. And, like, again, I don't want to sound like too much of a hippie, but it. It's the truth. And a lot of the workouts that I've done have been counter to what a lot of fitness people out there do. I do a lot of low weight, high rep workouts when I'm lifting because, like, dude, I'm not trying to be Chris Bumstead, you know, like, I'm not be Mister Olympia or anything like that. I just want to look shredded. And I found that works out really well. And then low impact, like, walks outside, like, I walk with intent. I can't carry a ton of weight because I back issues. So it's like, for me, it's just about, you know, getting distance in and in an amount of time, and it's low. It's low intensity.
Oh, you know, it's not like I'm sprinting or running the whole time, but it's like, man, I'm intent on getting my workout done. I, you know, I try and go for distance out there for my walks, and I've been able to keep weight off, and I've been able to find workouts that work for me, that I enjoy doing.
Yeah, well, I mean, that's key. You found it. You found what works for you. And honestly, I would say, chris, it would probably be more difficult for you at this point to revert versus. To continue going on the path that you're on, you know, and that's key. You know, some people are hearing this and maybe they've been out of shape for two or three decades. You know, most of the drivers that we work with, they have been out of shape for a while. You know, we have this one driver, named Joanne. You know, she was told by her doctor, she was basically lost calls. She has thyroid issues, she hashimoto's disease. And we get a message from her.
You know, she messaged her coach within about, you know, week and a half, two weeks in the program, and she was, like, crying because she hit a low with her weight that she ain't seen in two years. But back to what you were saying is, like, that is the key, finding what works for you. But, like, there's some people hearing this and they're like, sounds good in theory. And the only thing standing between, like, what we're talking about and where people are is that experience. We could talk about this all day long, but until you experience the reality of this, it's really not going to hit, you know, and again, I'm speaking from experience, you know, because before I got in shape and, you know, was into the fitness lifestyle, you could call it. Now, that was me.
I was like, man, it sounds good. Everybody talking about it makes it sound easy, you know, so getting that full experience is paramount.
I'll say this, it's simple. It's not easy because, you know, the human emotions start to creep in and everything else. And I think that, you know. Cause you do reach a point in your life where, you know, I think it's like, dude, as soon as most people hit 30, they're just like, man, I'm done. Like, I'm not gonna. I don't want to take. I, like, they just stop caring about their health, essentially. And I almost have it in the inverse, man. Like, I was overweight for, like I said, up until I was 34, outside of a brief, like, year period where I. I had lost a bunch. But I put it all back on, and now I've just found, like, to me, my greatest asset is my health. My greatest asset is that.
And I stopped paying attention to a lot of stuff that was out there. And I honestly, the big, like. And again, I'm not a fitness anything other than just a dude who's kept weight off for a long time. I think the most important thing for a lot of people to do right away, buy a food scale. Like, a good first step is buy a food scale and just start weighing what you're eating and then entering it into my fitness pail. My fitness pail is free. I'm not associated with them or anything, but that's what I use every single day. And after I started doing that, like, I.
When I first started everything, man, I just started weighing out my food, and I'm like, all right, I'm not going to eat anything over 8oz of chicken or beef, and I'm only going to do 200 grams of rice. I didn't know shit, but, like, that was the number that I did. And I dropped, like, 20 pounds in, like, 40 days, man, just by weighing out my food and, like, eliminating a bunch of stuff. And I've just come to find, and I would love to learn more about this with. With you and your. And your clients and stuff like that, where I personally think, like, 90% of my personal battle is what I eat. Like, if I can control that 90% of the time, if I, you know, eat pizza one day a week, there's no, like, there's no difference or.
Yeah, well, I mean, a couple of things. Number one, you know, going back to, like, the keeping log of your calories and a food scale, you know, basically what you're doing, you know, from a macro standpoint, is you have structure. You know, that. I mean, that's key. I mean, and if you think about the life of a truck driver, I know every day, and trucking looks different. It doesn't look the same, but there is some sort of structure. Right. That goes on. So, I mean, the same thing holds. Holds to be true. When you're trying to, you know, lose weight, improve your health, you got to have structure. You know, that's where it starts.
But, you know, something I want to hit on is, like, and I know this is going to sound crazy, but, like, we specialize in lasting weight loss for truck drivers.
Yeah.
And we like to separate healthy habits from weight loss.
Okay.
Right. And that goes against what the industry says. You know, you need to eat healthier. You need to watch what you eat. Well, here's the thing. If that was the most helpful, right. Just those canned tips, well, then trucker obesity wouldn't be at 70%. So we've noticed that if we work with a driver and let's say they've had, quote, unquote unhealthy habits for a couple of decades. To us, it really doesn't make sense to have them start eating chicken and broccoli and working out six, seven days a week from the get go. We like to take into account where they're starting out from and understand what the main goal is. Right. I mean, everybody that comes into our program, road wellness, they want to improve their health, but we like to attack the root cause, which is the weight. Right.
Now, I'm not saying that will absolutely improve your health 100%, but that's going to improve the majority of it. Just attacking the weight, you know what I mean?
Yeah. I think building a routine around it and starting. Because, dude, everybody's at a different level, right? Like, there's some people where it's like, walking for ten minutes is a chore, you know, like that. That's all. That's a high intensity thing for them. So I, like. I personally think it is. It's building into it. It's. It's realizing that, you know, like, I think that a lot of people should look at it from, like, a year standpoint. Just, you know, tell yourself, like, hey, twelve months from now, July of 2025, this is what I want to look like. And you got to understand, like, there's a lot of peaks and valleys of this shit. Cause, like, my. My biggest battle, and this is still to this day, because, like, dude, I still see fat Chris in the mirror when I look at it, which.
Which is wild because it's like, you know, I have fucking abs, man. Like, I have visible fucking abs when my shirts off and I see fat Chris in the mirror. And I'll do it. I'll be open about that. And I like. Because to me, it's like, I look at the scale and I pay way too much attention to the scale, as I think a lot of people do, where it's like, I don't like. And it's a tough one for me. And this is still something that I struggle with, is I'll be very dialed into what I eat, which I am. And I have to be just from some health stuff that I have, but I'll see the weight creep up, and then I'm just like. My initial thought is I got to cut. I got to remove this.
And I'm just like, that's one of my biggest battles is. I'm sure you have this conversation, man, is when you start working with somebody and then you see results, right? Like, you might lose ten pounds or 15 pounds, and then you jump up two, three pounds and that, you know, so it's like, how do you work with people on the mental side of that?
Yeah, I mean, that's. That's key. That's key because it's very emotional. It's very easy to get emotional with the weight loss journey and think that maybe you're doing something wrong or maybe this just isn't for you when you hit a quote unquote plateau, when in reality that's part of the game. You know, concept wise, you got to inspect what you expect. If you expect for weight loss to. To be linear, then you need to inspect that enough to see if that is actually what sustainable weight loss looks like. And the reality is it's not. So, I mean, something that is. Is mission. Mission critical to our program is making sure that each driver is paired with one of our coaches to educate them. Right.
So if they happen to hit a, you know, hit a number on the scale that puts them a pound or two higher and they get emotional, well, they can have a conversation with their coach not to just, you know, talk through it, but to be educated and to reset their expectations, you know, because that's, you know, they say the mental battle is, you know, half the battle, right? The mental side is half the battle. And it. Whether, you know, cliche or not, there's a lot of validity to that. So, I mean, that's. That's key.
I think the mental battle is way higher than 50%, you know?
Yeah.
At least if, you know, if there's an individual out there who's like me who has struggled with weight the majority of my life and then not feeling like, you know, and then injuries creep in and, like, you know, and then, like, dude, I'm not old, but, like, man, I'm going to be 40 soon. So it's like, my body doesn't exactly react the way, but I'm like, I'm trying to actively fix that and I'm. I'm trying to reverse a lot of the stuff that I've been diagnosed with because, like, I fucking. I hate western medicine for a lot of what it's kind of out there for. Kind of like, with what your client, you know, like, you're a lost cause. Like, no, fuck that.
You know, like, I think that we have to find our own, sustainability in our own lives based off of what we want. You're like. And what our goals are. Right. Because, like, for me, you know, like. And again, everybody's at different. Everybody's at different levels out there. And I think, like, thinking about where you want to go with it, and then just. I think, like, starting is. And this is with everything, man. I think starting is literally the hardest part. And then once you can overcome that hurdle, you know, like, I think that a lot of drivers out there would be pleasantly surprised on what they can do if and like, and what they're capable of in the environments that they work in. Right.
Because it's, you know, it's a heavy job that you just sit all day long, you know, and it's like, the last thing a lot of these individuals want to do when they stop for the night is go work out for an hour or, like, do that. It just. Anybody goes for a road trip, you know? Think about that. You go on a ten hour road trip. First thing you do when you stop, you fall asleep, right? You want to go to bed. You don't want to fucking go do anything. And so it's like, how are you working with those individuals out there on the road? What. What is, like, say I'm the prototypical driver that falls into the obesity category that's out there. What's step one for me? Look like?
This is gonna not be what you probably expect, but it has nothing to do with nutrition. It has nothing to do with exercise. It starts up here, and that is to. It's what I like to call decide and finalize. Most people can decide to lose weight, right? They say, oh, I want to lose weight, and then they go get their hands on a, you know, piece of workout equipment or something, and that's it. But they don't really finalize their decision up top to the point where they tell themselves, look, there is no going back. When times get tough, I'm not going to negotiate with myself and question if weight loss is for me or nothing. And that's usually, like, what people do is, you know, they'll. They'll decide to lose weight. They'll get into it for a few weeks.
They'll have some type of friction, right, with their schedule or whatnot. And then they start to negotiate with their goals. So it starts by telling yourself, look, there is no going back, because if I decide to lose weight in the first place, then I basically have pre decided that my life would better with better health.
Yeah.
Right? And it's something you're always going to think about. Not to, like, scare drivers, but, like, if you've decided to lose weight, it's something you're always going to want to do and think about until you actually do it, so might as well stop thinking about quitting when times get tough and put that, you know, save. Save that energy, time, save your bandwidth and put that on how to prevent, you know, falling off track in the first place and how to. How to course correct I, and things of that nature. Just save the time, save the bandwidth.
And, you know, and honestly, man, like, this is why I'm such a fan of, like, the 75 hard program that's out there, because it is 90% mental. It is more of a mental program that just gives you a ton of physical benefits when you follow it to a team. And you can plug and play any workout in there, any eating, you know, obviously you can't eat shit on there, but, you know, like, you can plug and play any of that. Because, like, I'm actually in the middle of live hard. So I've completed 75 five hard back in 2022. And then at the beginning of this year, I was just like, I'm doing live hard in 2024. I'm not negotiating. I'm doing live hard this year.
So it's like, I started off, I already did 75 hard phase one, and then I'm going to be starting phase two here. And I waited to start phase two because I want it to be the most miserable weather conditions in Arizona, and that's July, August in Arizona, because, like, otherwise, man, weather's fucking perfect here, like, 98% of the time. You know what I mean? So I'm waiting for that. But, like, what I love the most about it is, again, it's not easy, but it's simple. It's a simple thing to follow. Anybody of any fitness level can go in there. And again, it's that mental thing. It's that you have to stop negotiating with yourself because you're your best sales rep to yourself on why you shouldn't do something or why it's okay that you do this.
And again, like, I think, like, for me, it's one of those situations that once you make that decision, like you said, man, I think what you said there is very effective, and I hope people actually understand that. When you decide that, like, enough's enough, you. You have to understand that you're not going to want to fucking do it. Yeah, it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be literally the hardest thing you ever do. But you got yourself to this position, and this is like internal dialogue, Brandon, that I have with myself every single day when I don't want to get up because, like, I've structured my day where I get up at 03:00 in the morning. No, that is not required. I am not saying that at all. But that is hard for me. I don't want to get up at that time. I'm.
Fortunately, I'm naturally an early riser. Like, I naturally wake up at, like, 430 in the morning anyways. But 03:00 a.m. Goes off. I don't want to do it. That's the last thing I want to do. And I'm like, every morning I'm like, fuck. And then I get up, and then I built up that discipline where I do that. And then by the time I'm done at the gym by, like, five in the morning, I already accomplished a major victory of my day. And that's what I try and control. I want to start my day on a win every single day like that I possibly can. And it was building up that routine that I follow where, again, it's like I'm not on a diet, I'm not on a meal, but this is just how I eat now, you know? Like, I don't drink.
I don't drink alcohol anymore, and I'm never going to drink alcohol ever again because I don't drink anymore, you know? And then I've just, like, this is just what I tell myself, and I've built up a routine around it that I followed. Like, this is just my life now. This is the life that I am living every single day. And what I'm starting to realize is, holy shit, I'm way more capable than I ever thought I was. No, it doesn't make it easier, right? Like, I still have all of those mental battles with myself every single day. But, like, what I found is there's a lot of great content to consume out there. And then again, once you. Once you've committed to it, like, you, like, again, it's that burn the boats mentality, man. There is no going back.
And I think once you can work on that, and that's why it is, it's like, hey, just win the day, all right? Just win the day. And that's because to me, that's the biggest takeaway from 75. Hard for me is, you know what? When shit seems insurmountable, because real life is going to come at you no matter what, right? There's going to be death in the family, breakups. There's going to be business failures, personal failures. All that stuff that's going to happen when it gets into those moments, man, like, I'm just like, I just got to win today. Like, I don't care about tomorrow. And when I've actually simplified my life to that and then when shit gets, like, really fucking bad, Brandon, I'm like, you know what? I just got to win the next hour. That's it.
If I win the next hour, then I will worry about the, you know, right now it's noon. If I win twelve till 01:00 I will worry about one to two when I get there. And I like, and I think, like, deducing things down to that singular level and that easy of a level again, this is just what's worked for me out there.
Yeah. And that's key. I mean, you found what works for you. And, you know, not only have you know, applied it to your fitness, but you sound like you have applied it to your professional life, you know, so the concept works in many different areas, but, going back to your fitness, I mean, you essentially have found how to get fit your way. And our slogan is lose. We teach drivers how to lose weight your way.
I love that.
Because again, you know, nobody wants to lose weight. Every, everyone wants to lose weight. Keep it off and enjoy the life that they live. And the only way they're actually going to have a high probability of doing that is to have it their way to an extent. Right? So, I mean, you know, when in winning the hour, you know, winning the day, winning the week, starting small, I mean, that's the foundation of how habits are built. Right? Make it easier. You know, that's one of the key pieces to building habits is to make the process easier. Like, for our drivers who struggle with drinking too much pop and not enough water, first and foremost, we never just have them cut it out completely. We take into account where they're starting out from where they would like to be.
Cause some drivers say upfront, like, I can vividly remember a guy that I was talking to a couple weeks ago, OTR driver. He's like, I don't really want to give it up. And I was like, well, that doesn't mean you can't lose weight. We can do both, right? And I know that sounds like crazy because, like, sure, for him to reach optimal health, he probably should, like, go away from all those things. But again, you know, he has probably 100 pounds to lose. He's going to experience so many epiphanies during his journey and probably be more open minded to, like, you know, making another tweak to his habits.
Right.
But you don't have to do everything at once. And getting back on track here to the habit of, you know, drinking pop and soda. You know, we definitely don't have drivers cut it out completely. You know, we reduce a little bit. Right. And then we also, one easy, you know, tip to help drivers start drinking more water is to make the water visible. If you zoom out and you look at the foundations of habits, one of the easiest ways to build or break a habit is to make the habit visible or invisible, right. So if you want to, you know, start drinking more water, have it visible.
Now, I know it's not magically going to, you know, go in your mouth if you have it next to you, but the likelihood of you actually getting your hands on it and taking a siphen is much higher as opposed to not having it, you know, in your surroundings.
What are your thoughts on, like, you brought up soda there. Like, you don't want them to stop entirely. Is the goal long term to get them to realize fundamentally in their head, like, hey, it's so much better for me to drink water over soda and then just not drink soda anymore at all?
Absolutely. There's, there's two sides of the equation. The first side is like, we want to, we educate our drivers on the most optimal way to lose the weight and keep it off, but that's not necessarily where we start them out from. So, like, we let them have it their way. Right? So we tell, we educate them on, like, what would best case scenario. But we also say, hey, if you're unwilling to do that, here are the principles and parameters you have to stay within, and you actually could have the best of both worlds. You could still have that soda and lose weight and keep it off. But again, the ironic part about this is once they start, we start weaning them off soda and off pop, they actually crave it less.
And they start to crave, not necessarily water, but they crave the benefits of water. More energy, less bloated, less bloating ness, et cetera. But at the end of the day, you know, we have to keep in mind what the drivers are willing to do, so that we can help them, you know, at the highest level possible for that individual.
Yeah, I mean, I agree with you from the stance of, like, you can't just upend your current situation immediately, because I think that probably drives people back to it a hundred times out of a hundred would be my assumption. If you're like, all right, you can never eat burgers ever again. You can never, you know, drink a soda ever again. You're done with it. That just causes people to fail and go back to it. But, like, so how are you working with. With drivers on eating out on the road? Right? Because obviously it's a big thing. And nobody wants to choose a salad. But, like, dude, I've found, again, inside of my diet, inside of the way that I eat is. Is, you know, like I was saying, I have a moderate carb.
I have high fat, high protein, and that's something that I am following every single day. So it's like, when I go out to eat, for example, I will always order, like, what it may if I'm going out to eat. I think the best, like, method, at least for me, is just to get a steak or a piece, a chicken breast, or like a chicken caesar salad or something like that, and just get additional protein on it. But, you know, it's like, dude, I eat chip. I eat chipotle. Because, again, it's just like, I just have them do half scoops of rice. Like, I'll look at them, like, now, half scoop of rice if I'm going to a certain restaurant and. And stuff like that. And then it's also stocking up on, like, if I'm going, like, you know, I travel a decent amount.
So it's like, before I fly, man, I always get a sugar free beef jerky. Cause that's another killer out there. Is. Is there sugar in, like, literally everything? So I get sugar free beef jerky and protein bars, and that's my snack. And that's always a good filler if I'm out on the road. And, you know. Cause sometimes when you get into some of these airports or how many of these drivers get into some of these truck stops and the restaurants are closed for the night, and the only thing that's available is a bag of chips, essentially.
Yeah. It's either eat unhealthy or don't eat at all. And drivers, and I don't blame them. Cause I would, too. I would choose the former. So, you know, my, you know, with our drivers, right, that are trying to lose weight, you know, we. We always educate them on the fact that quantity of food always trumps quality in terms of weight loss. And it sounds crazy, right? It's like, you know, I'm basically saying, you don't have to eat healthy to lose weight. And that's true, right? That's not optimal, right? I mean, it's not optimal, but that's where it should start. If a driver wants to lose weight, the quantity of food is where they need to begin. And, you know, if we're. If we're working with a driver who's, you know, been out of shape for.
For two decades and has predominantly eated eating, you know, started eating unhealthy food, it's going to be very unlikely for them to switch 50% of their nutrition or 75% of nutrition to healthy foods, right. Because you have to take it. You have to take into account the adherence rate, right. So since we know that they want to lose weight and they want to improve their health, we start with just getting them losing weight first, right. By focusing on the quantity now, we absolutely recommend healthy options. Okay, out of the gate. But they also have to be open minded to that, and that's for them to decide. But regardless of how healthy they eat as they begin, as long as they stay within certain parameters and principles that we establishd, they will 100% still lose weight. Right.
And then the goal over, you know, the goal with that is to, over time, evolve that into healthier habits. And, you know, think about it. If a driver is, you know, 400 pounds and we have him just focus on the quantity first, and maybe you have a few healthy meals and he loses 20 to 25 pounds, imagine how much better he's going to feel just from that.
Yeah.
His energy is going to be up, his mental clarity is going to be improved, and he's going to be more open minded to maybe tweaking a, you know, a mill in the morning or snack. And that's how, that's how it goes. But that's where I see a lot of drivers go wrong, is they start with quality versus quantity, and they'll start eating super healthy, but they won't be actually eating enough. And then they'll get super deprived after a few days. Then they'll binge eat and they're like, this isn't for me. So quality absolutely matters. I don't want to, you know, get. Get things misconstrued, but quantity also matters as well, especially when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off.
Are you working with them on trying to prep their own meals and stuff like that and do that? So there is food that is available to them and, you know, because it, for me, I think that I'm no busier than anybody else out there. All right? So I don't want to make it sound like I'm, you know, anything that I'm not but, like, I have found that if I prep my meals, I will follow that. Like, I. Because, again, like, it's just, like, it's. It's just, like, with me wearing the same orange polo damn near every single day, and, you know, a couple of black branded polos here, I literally just wear the same stuff. And I've just found, like, because for me, I have addictive tendencies. Like, I really do. And I've just.
It's so much easier for me to do the same shit every single day. Some people might say I'm psychotic or have.
I'm right there with you, man.
But, like, I do the same thing every single day, right? Like, I get up at the same time. I follow my same routine for the most part. I eat the same foods every single day. I've just found that works for me. And I found that if I prep my meals, I will. It's so much easier for me to just go heat up my lunch than it is to think for 20 minutes what sounds good? Oh, that doesn't sound good. And then I'm wasting time. So I've just. Again, I've almost built a system around how I eat as well.
Yeah, no, I mean, that's it. I mean, it kind of goes back to what we. What I alluded to earlier, which is, like, finding what works for you. And to be clear, I think if every driver prep their mills, they would have a very high probability of staying on track. But you also have to. We also have to take into account, you know, them being open minded to do that and maybe the supplies that they have in their truck. You know, some of our drivers don't even have a microwave, don't have a fridge. The majority of them do, but there's a lot of factors that you have to take into account.
So we, at the end of the day, we like educating drivers on what would be an ideal routine, but meshing that with what they're open to doing and what their, you know, schedule and their lifestyle looks like. Right.
So what's the biggest thing that anybody out there who's listening to this, that is a driver or, hell, they're not a driver, man. They're just like, they're in the industry. They just want to improve their health. And where, where does everybody start? Like, from your position, I know we've been kind of, you know, touching on. On multiple different things, and, you know, at least for me, it's like, you got to work on, you know, weighing out your food. At least this is what worked for me. The most is weighing out your food and then going kind of like attacking, like you had said, attacking it meal by meal. Like, hey, every day at lunch, I'm going to eat steamed rice and a protein. Whether it's, you know, chicken sausage or ground beef or ground turkey, I'm just going to eat that.
And then I slowly started to build that up around there. Where can somebody start, man? Like, how. How does anybody take everything that we're hearing right now and be like, all right, dude, today's the day. I'm. I'm building up a system around my life to fix this.
Yeah, there's so many routes, you know, someone could take, especially a driver. And I'll. I'll share those. But I think at the end of the day, what it boils down to is you have to ask yourself, and you got to be honest with yourself, what's going to give me the highest probability of following through? What are your options? Well, you could take everything we're saying and go apply it and go through some trial and error, right? You could do more research and then start implementing. You could purchase a program that just tells you what to do. And, of course, if you're a driver that has loose weight to lose, you could join road warrior wellness. And we don't just tell drivers what to do. We educate them. Right?
But all in all, there's so many options out there, but you got to start applying something, right? And maybe this information is enough, you know, for people to take with them and start. Start seeing results. But it kind of goes back to being honest with yourself and, you know, having. Having enough confidence to be able to apply the things consistently, you know, without throwing in the towel.
I think that simple is so much more effective when it comes down to where a lot of individuals are at, in their fitness journey or if they're at that time or at that point in their life where, like, hey, I gotta change. I think, like, for me personally, man, it's like, the more simple the better. Like, every driver has access to a parking lot, right? Like, I just. Walker, I would say just like, for me, it's like, dude, just do two lapse, right? Do two laps around the parking lot, at the truck stop or wherever it is or at the rest area. Walking is, I think, where everybody needs to start, depending on where they're at. Like, okay, I don't want to get sued here, so consult with the physician, you know, because I'm not your doctor or anything like that.
Consult with a physician. But it's like, I think the most people who are like, I've, you know, they were just like us, man. They grew up playing sports, but it's kind of been thrown to the wayside. Things have gotten out of hand. They know it. They tell themselves, like, they want to be in shape. I think it's like, for me, man, just doing what your body is designed to do and just move, you know? Like, do you follow Lane Norton at all on social media?
I've heard of him, yeah.
So I. He put some good. He put out. So he's a biologist and also, like, a nationally ranked power lifter and everything, I believe, as well. But he had put some stuff out there about the levels of people's. I forget what it was exactly about the difference of them just walking for 20 minutes three times a week and what that did to somebody's blood over, like a 30 or 60 day period. I forget the exact timeline on it, but it was very simple. It was very simple steps. And I think that the biggest problem with. And that this is a general statement, but, like, with the fitness culture that is out there is when you look at somebody and you see where they're at today and you're like, that's not possible for me. You know?
And that's why I think more practical conversations like this about fitness to really break that stigma that just because somebody's in shape doesn't mean that they didn't work their ass off to get there or they weren't. And I love the people who were, like, obese, and now they're ripped, and they, because they are, like, they'll, like the majority of the people that I've followed about this stuff, Brandon, is. It's. It's. The more simple, the better, you know? And I think it's simple to make it sustainable for you to follow, because it's like, dude, it's gonna be. It's tough. Like, it's even tough for the people that are in shape, you know? But here's what, you know, for me personally, I was miserable on every level of my life.
When I was obese, every level of my life, I knew I was better than where I was. But it, like, it caused me a bunch of shit, Mandy. And I just know from where I'm at today and what I'm working on to get to where I am, because, like, ultimately, I will be at 10% body fat at the end of this year. And, like, I just know overcoming all of this. Like, I look at, like, if you can overcome yourself. Like, what can't you overcome? Like, honestly, when it fundamentally boils down to it, you're the only one that's stopping you unless you have some serious health issues. But again, that's why I said, go consult with your, your doctor about this. But, like, legitimately, you're the only one that's stopping you. Yeah, it sucks.
Yeah, it's uncomfortable, but when I was fucking 50, 60 pounds overweight, everything was uncomfortable at all moments. I couldn't fit into my clothes, sweating profusely throughout the day did not matter. And it's just like, it is really. It's just boiling down to choose your hard, man, choose your hard.
Going to be a cost either way. There's going to be a cost either way. We like to tell our drivers whether they invest in their health or they don't. If they invest in their health and, you know, let's say with our drivers, they invest their time, energy and finances. That's, that's one cost. But the other cost is dealing with the excess weight, the health issues that not only could cause you know, cost you financially to the point where you know, lose your CDL, but it's also gonna cost you physically and emotionally. So I think that's a great point that you made. It's gonna, it's gonna cost either way.
Mandev yeah. And I just look at it like this, man, like, I want to live to 100, man. Like, I'm almost 40. Like, bro, I, like, I don't like Tom's running out. You know, it is for all of us. And I wish that there was more of an emphasis out there. I wish more people would realize that, man, like, no, being healthy doesn't guarantee that you're going to live forever, obviously. But, like, however much time any of us have left, I want that quality of that time left to be of the highest levels possible, you know, like, I want to be able to run around and, you know, and enjoy my life.
I don't want to be, you know, like, stuck in a fucking little, like a scooter and shit like that because I can't walk around and, you know, and everything else that goes on with it. It's just like, man, I know those people aren't happy. I know that the majority of people who are overweight aren't happy because I wasn't happy. I was fucking miserable, like I was saying. And it's just, you know, yeah, there's a lot of uncomfort that comes along with this, but, like, I don't like, I don't want an early grade man, and truck drivers already have a, I forget, like, 17 years. Is that what it is in years?
Yeah.
Yeah. 17 years. Shorter lifespan than everything else. Imagine what you could do if you focused on the, again, like, don't overlook what you can accomplish in a year. Don't even overlook what you could accomplish in six months if you actually focus on, all right, enough's enough. I don't want to be fat anymore. I want to get this in shape. And then that momentum starts going and the man, like, it's amazing how much more, once those results start coming in, how much more, like, you want to double down on what you're doing.
Absolutely. You know, you know, pre deciding, you know, finalizing your decision about losing weight, you know, and getting healthy, that's where it starts. And I, you know, it's kind of good to give yourself a timeline so you have a target and you can measure, you know, at least with your weight, but, like, at the same time, don't make it a all or nothing thing. Like, you don't have to, technically, you don't have to be a certain weight by a certain date. Right. As long as you're heading in the right direction and you're making improvements, then, and you're continuing to stack wins, then you're going to have enough momentum built up and it will be much easier to, you know, to continue staying the course. And before you know it, you'll blink and you're down 30 pounds, 50 pounds. Your energy's up, your mood's up.
And part, like a lot of parts of your lives, your life has changed. And I guess that could be, you know, pointed back to you taking care of your health and your fitness.
Amen, man. Brandon, how does anybody reach out to you?
Yeah, absolutely. So if any drivers are listening to this and they want to achieve lasting weight loss, and they can go to our website, be lean fitness.com. And that's the letter b, lean fitness.com. They can find us at be lean fitness on Instagram and Facebook or me personally on LinkedIn. You can just type in Brandon Rothrock.
Perfect. Brandon, I appreciate your time. And if you guys made it this far in the episode, which I'm sure you did and you're not subscribed, subscribe to the show. You guys share it out there. Dear network, because if you see value, your network's going to see value as well. I appreciate you guys. I love you guys, and we'll be talking to you soon.