Uncommon Freedom

Beyond the Scale: Neil's Uncommon Health Transformation

• Kevin Tinter • Episode 101

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Neil shares his incredible health transformation journey, losing over 40 pounds and dramatically improving his health metrics in just four months after years of failed diet attempts and health struggles.

• Meeting at Cornerstone Church in February after years of struggling to lose weight
• Neil's history as a formerly skinny athlete whose weight gradually increased through adulthood
• Previous diet attempts that always plateaued at 10-15 pounds of weight loss
• Hitting a point of being "sick and tired of being sick and tired" with low energy and joint pain
• Dramatic results including cutting visceral fat in half and body fat from 36.1% to 23.8%
• Surprising cholesterol improvement—LDL dropping to 53 after 35 years of being told he'd need lifelong medication
• Unexpected benefits like increased flexibility and stamina
• Strategies for maintaining health during social situations and vacations
• Removal from pre-diabetic medication after just four months
• Practical advice on fitting healthy habits into a busy lifestyle

For a complimentary health assessment and to learn more about starting your own health transformation journey, go to bekandkev.com/get-healthy . Mention this podcast when signing up for a full month on the plan ($350 minimum) and receive a $50 credit to help get started at bigger savings.


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Kevin Tinter:

Hey friends, in today's episode I'm really excited to interview my friend and client, Neil. We're going to leave his last name out, but he is a friend and client of mine who has lost over 40 pounds and radically changed his health for the better in just a few months of working with me. Stay tuned to the end, because we have a special offer to any of our listeners that we'll share at the end of today's show. So, Neil, as we get started, first of all, thank you for being here.

Neil:

My pleasure, glad to do it.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, awesome, it's really cool. We met at a Cornerstones. It was a men's conference, the meal before the conference started and we just happened to be sitting at the table. I'm not one to necessarily believe in coincidence. I think the Lord Almighty tends to put people in each other's paths for a meeting or to meet many times. But we struck up a conversation and tell me a little bit. You know from your perspective. You know what was that like back in February or whenever that was.

Neil:

Yeah, um, well, first of all, you were sitting at a table with one of my um men's group uh, I guess cohorts and um. I didn't have any place to sit and I got there late and I had one of the last meals that they were serving and you guys were talking about health and yeah, I kind of do think it was Providence that I kind of stumbled onto that, because you know my wife, she really loves me and she cares about my health and she had been, you know, getting on me a little bit and I knew, anyway, I didn't need her to do that, but I knew already. And then I was sporting a few more pounds and it was healthy, and so I'd already convinced myself that I was going to do something. I've done other programs in the past. I won't, I guess, mention them in case they're they're competitors of your Optivia sponsors. But I've done other programs, but they've never. I've always plateaued. I never could get over the hump, so to speak. I could lose 10 to 15 pounds, but that's where it would stop.

Neil:

And then as soon as I took my eye off the ball and went right back up. I went, so I guess that's, but I can't remember the specific conversation you were having. But it was somebody that I didn't know at the table and I just I guess, decided to dive in and take part, and one thing led to another. From that point on, yeah.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, it was great meeting you and I appreciate you for being willing to have a conversation with a complete stranger.

Kevin Tinter:

I think that that takes a lot of courage to do, but hopefully there's something that my personality goes out that gives a little bit of, you know, trust factor, and otherwise I'm sure you would have ran the other direction, but it's been awesome to help you. So, before we kind of get into your incredible health transformation story, and the reason I wanted you to share it is because I really I can talk about this all I want till I'm blue in the face. But it's different when someone who has had their own recent experience, who isn't a coach, uh, shares their story, especially when they've been told by some other medical practitioners like, oh, you're going to always going to have to take this medication or, um, and you know, you've tried other programs that haven't helped you get to really where you want to. But before we go down that road, let's just personalize things. Tell us a little bit about yourself, you know what, go back to the beginning and just kind of get us to where you're at today in 2025. Okay.

Neil:

Well, the beginning was quite a few years ago. I'll just say this. I was a really skinny and light uh kid. Um, I remember, uh, weighing in my senior year in high school for the varsity football team, weighing, um, maybe 140 pounds, soaking wet. I was starting on the defense. Oh, my gosh, Definitely in the secondary. Um, you had to be mean if you were that light. I think I was kind of mean on the field, but otherwise, yeah, it wasn't until, I guess I hit college and had three squares a day in the cafeteria probably not the best choices and I started putting on some healthy weight. But as I became an adult, went into the military, I was a pilot training or I went to pilot training, I should say, here in Phoenix at a base not too far from where you're living and man, stressful, and uh, and I was losing weight and then, uh, that experience ended for me.

Neil:

Um, I guess I need to kind of explain that. So, back when I did pilot training. Um, it was natural to eliminate about 50% of every class. Yeah, and I was the last one to be eliminated, um, at least from the phase of training that I was in. Uh, thankfully, the rest of the guys that I was training with made it. Um, that being said, uh, once I got out of that stress, um, that's when the first, that's the first time I gained a weight and I, let's say it got to an unhealthy weight. Okay.

Neil:

Um, so I think just the relief of stress and the eating habits that were formed, mike is. So some of the eating habits I formed then, you know, probably weren't the best and yeah, I put on at that time probably 20 pounds coming off of flight training.

Kevin Tinter:

And you stayed in the military after flight training, right, you just moved to a different MOS.

Neil:

Yeah, different.

Kevin Tinter:

Okay.

Neil:

I was in the Air Force, so we called it an Air Force Specialty Code, AFSC. Okay.

Neil:

Yeah, so I didn't get overweight from the Air Force perspective, but I definitely had to arrest the trend. So I did try one of the prepared meal diets that you might have heard of and this would have been, you know, late 80s. That worked probably I don't think I need to be specific here but, yeah, probably like 165, 170, which was a good weight for me. And then that lasted and I got out to my first assignment and was playing some intramural sports and had a knee injury and that set me back as far as being able to exercise and keep weight off that way. So that's another thing. So I had to overcome a knee reconstruction. I had to teach my body new exercises and things that I wasn't used to doing. So I took up running and walking and that's pretty much what I was. What I did the rest of my 20 year military career was just do a lot of long distance runs. Marathon finished a couple of marathons tried, more than a couple, did some 50 mile walks in 24 hours. Oh, wow.

Neil:

Things like that, once I got out of the military and was in the corporate world, and especially while my kids were turning the corner from, you know, the preteens to the teens, turning the corner from, you know, the preteens to the teens. During that time, I think you know, as I was aging, as I was working more hours, as I was juggling- more things you know, I still continued to exercise, but the weight went up.

Neil:

Weight went up. So then my wife and I tried a couple of diets diets again, I guess, I won't mention them specifically, but um, uh, we had success on them. Uh, we were able to commit to them and do them for 30 days or 45 days or something like that and and um we, we'd lose the weight.

Kevin Tinter:

Um.

Neil:

I tended to put it back on over about three, four or five months. So, okay, that's sort of the history. Did probably several cycles of that between the. In the last 10 years I probably have done four cycles of that. Okay.

Neil:

And then. So that led me, I guess, to our meeting at Cornerstone church, and I was having another issue that hadn't impacted me up until then, and that is I just didn't have the athletic stamina anymore. I was requiring a lot more time in between workouts to recover. My body was just telling me that, um, you know, I was tired. Um.

Neil:

I was heavy, uh, my joints were aching, just things like that that I hadn't experienced before. So, um, I was trying on my own to figure out what, uh, you know how best to um recover from exercise. You know other things that I could do take longer intervals or whatever but it didn't seem like a good idea to rest for days in between workouts. So.

Neil:

I knew that if I got some weight off, maybe that would help, and so I was already predisposed to doing something. I was ready to do something. We were talking about doing the.

Neil:

my wife and I were talking about the previous diet that I was on, and we were on and we were getting ready to do it and go buy all the different meals, so we wouldn't have certain ingredients in our food and things like that, but I really I didn't want to repeat the same cycle, so I was again, was already looking I think unintentionally looking for some other alternative, and so I do think it was a happy coincidence that you know, bumped into you and that conversation, that cornerstone.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, that's awesome. Um, are you comfortable either sharing your age or what decade you're in, just so people can kind of figure out what they're relating to?

Neil:

Yeah, I'm, I'm 59. Okay, be 60, uh, in about 10 months. Okay, um, and I've been active, uh, uh, as far as like, either in athletics or individual exercise. But you know, I wouldn't say that like I'm not like my wife. My wife is constantly on the go, she is always in motion. That's not me. What I tend to do is really hard, strenuous or very strenuous exercises.

Kevin Tinter:

More intensity.

Neil:

Right, but then I'm just as happy to relax, yeah yeah, well, there's some pros to that.

Kevin Tinter:

So, folks, as we kind of get into some more of the details of Neil's story, I just want to be transparent and share that my primary business is helping people achieve what I call uncommon freedom through health transformations, as a coach with a home-based business called Optivia, and so that is the program that I coached Neil with. And in the interest of being completely transparent and also compliant with regulatory guidelines, I do need to read a disclaimer, because Neil's story is pretty fantastic. Because Neil's story is pretty fantastic and the disclaimer is that average weight loss on the Optimal Weight 5-in-1 plan is 12 pounds, and clients are in weight loss on an average for 12 weeks. So now that we know what all the legalese is, let's jump into Neil's story. So, neil, you're in weight loss, you've got a copy of your InB body comp paperwork there. You started the program roughly when.

Neil:

I think it was on the 19th of February yep, and then we did.

Kevin Tinter:

The last one was kind of towards when you finished the transition phase of our program. That was when that's over here yeah down at the bottom. I think that was.

Neil:

June, june 16th is okay it's on here, but I think it was a little before then so about four months and you lost.

Kevin Tinter:

Let's talk about some of the stats. How much weight did you lose?

Neil:

um, I believe it was around 45 pounds. Yeah, a little bit more than that yep, uh, visceral fat.

Kevin Tinter:

This is something this for, especially for the men listening. Visceral fat is that really? It's that killer fat, um, that's around our organs and a healthy level is below 10 and you went from went from a 16 down to an 8 amazing.

Kevin Tinter:

So you cut it in half and you got to a healthy level. And then, on body fat percentage, which I this is my kind of soapbox metric for health is body fat percentage. Which I this is my kind of soapbox metric for health is body fat percentage, Cause I don't really care what anyone's weight is If they can get from an unhealthy weight to a healthy weight or unhealthy body fat percentage to a healthy body fat percentage. Uh, that's the real game changer. So what was either? How much body fat did you lose or would you want to share what percentages you started at and went to?

Neil:

Yeah I, I was uh an unhealthy 36% uh when we started, uh actually 36.1. And uh, by the time we got through month four, I was at 23.8. Um, obviously hoping to continue to improve on that.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, no, so that's amazing. So you went from 16 to eight. When it comes to visceral fat, uh, you lost over 40 pounds, and you're you're about. How tall are you, Neil?

Neil:

Just so people well, I used to be tall.

Kevin Tinter:

I'm old now and I've shrunk, but I'm I'm five nine, five, nine, okay, so average build, but a 40 pounds on five nine is pretty significant. I mean I met you when you were 40 plus pounds heavier and you look drastically different. I mean you look super healthy. And what I love about you know the plan is it got you right on the threshold, because for men, healthy body fat percentage is between 10 and 20%. And you're right on the threshold.

Kevin Tinter:

And you know, with with our program, there's a lot of options. You know, some people they stick with the primary weight loss plan all the way until they're at a healthy weight. Other people, they have life circumstances and so they may transition sooner than they get to a healthy weight. But the cool thing is we have, we have options and so, you know, we did set you up with a healthy eating plan and it's cool.

Kevin Tinter:

I know you just came back from celebrating an anniversary.

Kevin Tinter:

You went on a trip, you were out of town and you just talked about how you, you know, were implementing some of the new habits that you've practiced. So the bottom line is there's disclaimers. But what I can say, based on my experience of doing this for over 14 years now, is that every client has their own unique journey and the main factors that determine their success are whether or not they follow the program exactly and whether or not they change their habits long term. So, when you think back to some of the other programs or diets that you tried and I'm not here to bash them, and so that's why we're not mentioning names and I'm sure I've actually talked to other people because you've shared with me personally some of these other names, and I've talked to other people who have had incredible success and it's lasted long-term for them. But what was missing? What was the missing piece? Is there any common thread that you can see between those other things that you've tried that didn't set you up for long-term success?

Neil:

Well, I think some of it I have to take accountability for. So I think my level of commitment this time was probably the highest it's ever been. Okay. So I think, right off the bat, let's just put the accountability where it belongs. But yeah, I think one thing that I experienced with Optivia that I didn't experience with the others is I wasn't hungry and in fact, my biggest challenge as I told you a a couple times was remembering to eat as often as I was supposed to, um, and, and so I would frequently uh in the beginning um, miss a meal, uh, and then, you know, have to calculate, okay.

Neil:

Well, how late am I gonna have to stay up in order to finish today?

Neil:

yeah and uh, and you know, obviously I didn't want to lose out on sleep time, so, uh, that was a motivator, um, but I also saw the results right away too, um, and I think that just reinforced my commitment. Um, I don't, I know my wife will not appreciate this, but I am going to tell a little story because she um, at you know she's seen it, done it, and so I think she was a little skeptical, yeah, and um, I think she was like, well, man, you know that's some money we're spending and I said it is, but I, I, it's some money that we're spending for a good reason and uh, I want to give this a try.

Neil:

So she you know, she backed off and then at the end it became man. You've lost too much weight, so maybe you should stop. Yeah. Yeah, so I got a big kick out of that actually.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, that's a, that is fun, it's. I don't mean to make light of those with legitimate, you know, cancers and things like that, but the number of my clients who tell me stories about, yeah, you know, I saw a friend or family member for the first time in three months or six months and they were afraid that I had cancer because I was so lean, so desensitized to what health looks like and what unhealth, you know, unhealthy has become the norm that when we see someone who is really at an optimal weight, we think that they're too skinny. And you know you can look up all kinds of stats on how we have changed for the worst from a health standpoint. But you know, and of course you know there was your wife was saying you were too skinny before even you got to the end.

Kevin Tinter:

But the beautiful thing about getting this. So I encourage everyone go get a quality body fat test. Um, you know there's different methods out there. I love the in body cause. It's super convenient and super affordable. There's DEXA scans. There's different methods, but, uh, you know one of the things I encourage you.

Kevin Tinter:

I said hey, just share with your wife, you're not too skinny because the healthy range is 10 to 20 and you're not quite there yet. And that wasn't a diss on you. It's just helping people to realize, man, we're just we're so not used to what healthy looks like, that when we see close to healthy, we think that's too too skinny. Um, and uh, I appreciate, you know, taking extreme ownership because ultimately, I think that there's a lot of different ways for people to get healthy and ultimately, uh, if, if you take it seriously and if it means enough to you, you'll there's there's a lot of ways to do it. Um, you know, fortunately for you, you know us connecting this program worked for you. So, um, we'll get into more of your story, but I just want to kind of share this concept with and I know I shared it with you, but I want to share it with everyone who's listening and that's to think of losing weight and getting healthy.

Kevin Tinter:

It's like taking a journey. Think of it's like taking a long road trip, say, from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast. And when you shift to understanding that the primary purpose of eating is to fuel your body for what God made you to do, you live life differently and you also make different choices. Um, you know, most of us have gotten accustomed to just eating because we're hungry, we're bored. Uh, you know, grandma shows her love by stuffing us full of food that we don't need and that's not good for us. Um, and you know, the problem is food. In modern, 2025 America is very different than what God intended for us, even just 100, 150 years ago.

Kevin Tinter:

But when your goal is to improve your health, to get into the best shape of your life, or to optimize your health so you can maximize your life, that should drive the decisions you make. And so making healthy choices is like fueling up at the truck stop gas station that's right off the highway. Making healthy choices is like fueling up at the truck stop gas station that's right off the highway. I've made several cross-country moves and when it's time to fuel up, I'm looking for that truck stop that is right off the highway, because I want to get off, get back on so I can continue my journey. And then, every once in a while, you wait until it's too late in the night. You're in a rural area and you see a sign for gas and you decide to get off and you follow the sign and it takes you. It's 10 or 20 miles down the road and you realize, holy smokes, I just wasted combined 20 or 40 minutes because I'm going so far out of my way to get fuel.

Kevin Tinter:

And so the analogy is that going off plan or making unhealthy choices so certainly with our program, the 5-in-1 plan that you did for weight loss, you've got to take a break from alcohol. And so if you're a client on the 5-in-1 and you're choosing to continue alcohol, essentially what you're doing is you're fueling your body up 20 miles off the highway. Doing is you're fueling your body up 20 miles off the highway. And so I just like to use that analogy to help people realize that when you go off your plan or you make unhealthy choices, you might even still be on your journey.

Kevin Tinter:

You're still on your journey, but you're taking yourself on an unnecessary detour. So you still get fuel, but you've taken an unnecessary detour that prolongs the journey and also creates additional opportunities for risk right? The more time you spend on a two-lane country road looking for gas, the more likely you are to hit a deer crossing the road. And you know some of the pitfalls that clients fall into is, you know, they whet their appetite for alcohol having that occasional, you know, or that cheat glass of wine and all of a sudden they're drinking regularly again. Or you know, for me it was oh, I'll have a, you know some, you know candy, cause I used to have a horrible sweet tooth and you know that little taste turned into an entire bag. So that's uh, that's something for people to think about. So what was the biggest driving factor in causing you to want to get healthy and just to be so serious about it this time, neil? Well.

Neil:

I don't know. I have a lighthearted answer to it while I'm thinking about it. I mean one of the biggest things is I was you know, I didn't need the constant reminders that I was getting at home. Um and again, I know it was coming from a place of love, so I don't blame anybody for that. But yeah, when you don't want to hear it, you've got to do something about it.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah. So there you go, ladies. That's your green light to nag your husband if he's not healthy. God gave us our wives for a reason, that's right. Yeah, okay, god gave us our wives for a reason.

Neil:

That's right, yeah, okay. So, um, I think more um for me. I didn't, I didn't like what I was seeing in the mirror. You know, um, I, I am too old now to be an athlete, but uh, you know, I still see myself as athletic. I'm. You know, I haven't really done a great deal of thinking about it, I just I was just damn determined to do it.

Neil:

Yeah, and for a variety of reasons, some of them which I may not even realize, just that you know I was. I was feeling tired of of of being achy, I was feeling tired of being tired, tired of being nagged, tired of what I saw in the mirror. Yep. Sick and tired of being sick and tired as Dave Ramsey says right, yeah, that's a good way of putting it.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, yeah, and I found that the reality is, unless people get to that point, they're not going to make lasting change. So, you know, I applaud anyone who makes the effort, but the reality is, until you get to the point where you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, you'll you'll find excuses that you know why it's harder, you know, to be healthy than it is to be unhealthy. Did you think it was possible to get to where you're at now and also to maintain it? Cause now you're, you know, about a month plus into past, even completing the transition phase, and you've gone on vacation, you know, gone through July 4th, you've had family visit and you've pretty much maintained where you were when you finished transition. Did you think that was possible?

Neil:

Well, I was worried about it for sure. Yeah, so being it is you know people unintentionally encourage you to cheat. Yes, yeah. Or you don't want to offend somebody who's gone to a lot of trouble to make a very special meal or something like that. So it is a balance. You have to um, have to have a little um.

Neil:

Oh man, I can't think of the word, yeah, Um a little tact right, just to, to you know defend, defend your choice, but you know not, uh, offend the people that are wanting to make you happy through, you know, some type of food or event you know. It just so happens that I came off the diet and started a transition. I think it was. No, I came off the transition and the first, the very first meal I had was father's day morning okay um, and we went to a restaurant, um, for breakfast and um, I had steak and eggs and I was.

Neil:

I felt just, it was so nice to savor the flavors but, I felt so terrible after it because I was just uh, you know, just a bunch of food and a little extra, more more probably volume or portion, than you were used to.

Neil:

Right For sure. So yeah, I don't know. I don't know if anybody can relate to that, but so it's definitely changed my habits. I am eating more. You know, I am kind of following some of the principles that I learned through the diet to have smaller meals more frequently and to keep track. I think that's another big deal. You have to keep track of what you eat.

Kevin Tinter:

Absolutely. I mean, one of the principles of success if you want something to improve, you've got to track it. And when it comes to the whole tact and people trying encouraging you to cheat, you have to be aware of that. And so one of the strategies I encourage my clients and I use this myself is to just give people a heads up, say, hey, I'm working on my health and you can give them a lot of detail. You can tell them listen, my doctor told me I'm pre-diabetic or I'm going to have to go on blood pressure medication or what it is At the same time. It's none of anyone else's business. So if you don't feel like going into that detail, it's personality dependent when it comes to that. But give people a heads up, and I think we need to have a pivot, because we don't really understand that food is as addictive, especially in modern America.

Kevin Tinter:

Processed food is as addictive as pretty much any other substance out there. And if you, if you realize that most Americans are very much like an alcoholic when it comes to food, right, if your friend who you knew was an alcoholic was sober, right, you would not. If you're a good friend, you're not going to be offering them a drink. You're going to actually intentionally, probably, keep the alcohol away from them and you're certainly not going to put it in front of them. You're like, why don't you have some? You deserve some. You've been dry for you know three weeks. Just go ahead and have a sip or have a drink.

Kevin Tinter:

And if you, if you have people in your life that are trying to get healthy, take that perspective, because you're not doing them a favor when you force it on them and you put it in front of them. Sometimes I think people, honestly, I think they feel a little bit convicted sometimes if they're not healthy and they see someone getting ahead. It's kind of like that high school buddy who's way ahead of you financially, because you're not making anything with your life and it's easy to get a little bit jealous. But, um, I do encourage people, if you're on a health journey, to just give people a heads up, say, hey, it's not personal, I'm really working on my health and so I'm going to make some different decisions, and I found that, honestly, anyone who's a true friend is supportive of that, even if it's grandma, so um is supportive of that, even if it's grandma.

Neil:

So, um, what was the easiest part of the plan for you? Once I figured out the foods I liked, the plan was easy to follow. Um, so, I think it's two sides of the same coin. At first, it was probably my second biggest challenge. It's two sides of the same coin. At first, it was probably my second biggest challenge.

Neil:

Remembering to eat was the biggest um, because I I did feel, you know, I didn't feel hungry, so the nutrition that you get um I, whether it tricks your body into thinking it's full or not, whatever it was, uh worked for me. Um, but I lost track of what I was saying. Uh well, we were talking about the easiest part of the plan for me, but I lost track of what I was saying.

Kevin Tinter:

Well, we were talking about the easiest part of the plan for you.

Neil:

Yeah, well, certainly the pre-packaged foods make it easy and you have a large, large variety of choices. So you know a lot of. I gravitated, especially at the end of the day, to things that were easy to to eat, easy to and didn't require a lot of preparation. So I think that's pretty much most of the Optivia foods, other than some that quite a you know little dance of microwave Right Then let it cool off and stir, then microwave again.

Neil:

So I tended to avoid those things. Um, I just found the diet fairly easy overall, um, and I think the challenges I had weren't that hard to overcome. You know, you know what you like. You know it tastes good to order that. Don't order the stuff that maybe didn't appeal to you as much, um, and most of the stuff appealed to me. Uh and um, some of the things I don't I didn't enjoy first time, guess what you know here. At four months later I I can't imagine starting my day without some of those amino acids.

Neil:

I thought tasted terrible the first time.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, your palate changes over time, especially as you kind of cleanse your palate of all the processed crap that we're used to eating. One of the biggest excuses that I hear from people is I'm too busy. You're a busy guy, right? What would you say to someone who's like, who is using busyness as an excuse as to why they can't get healthy?

Neil:

Well, okay, I'll take them at their word. You're really busy, so you know, first of all, what's your situation at home. Do you have you live with someone else? If so, is there something you guys can do to help each other? If so, is there something you guys can do to help each other? That's what my wife did.

Neil:

She was great in helping me on the lean and green part of the diet because she was invested in my journey too and she was happy to take the pressure off me and just do some basic cooking that I didn't have to do, which made it a lot easier for me, because if I have to cook every meal, that's not something I really enjoy, yeah, so that would have been tougher for me, but she made it easy because she wouldn't mind, as she's making dinner for herself, putting a couple of chicken breasts in a frying pan and cooking them up for me, so I could have my what was it? Six ounces of chicken. Yep.

Neil:

So I ate that quite a bit. And then we discovered or rediscovered cottage cheese and it's really easy to just scoop that onto a plate. So I just think, if I had to sum it up, it just wasn't hard. I mean the hard thing about it is committing to it. If you can commit to it and get yourself on a schedule and get yourself on a routine, I mean I don't know anybody that's busy that doesn't follow a routine, because otherwise you can't survive. If you've got 15 priorities, nothing's a priority. So you have to have some algorithm or some approach to prioritizing and getting things done. So I don't think it's any different on a diet you have to prioritize it and plan for it and then execute on it.

Kevin Tinter:

Basically, Did you find that? Because the busy excuse a lot of people are like well, I don't have time for all the meal prepping or all the extra time that's going to take to exercise, and that's one of the other things is that exercise is not necessary. I'm a huge proponent of exercise. I know you enjoy exercise, but a lot of times people think they're going to have to spend 90 minutes, you know, doing a killer workout. That's not the case with our plan. So eliminate that busyness excuse, uh, and then a substantial amount of time for meal prepping. What was your experience? Was it a tedious effort to uh to prepare your meals?

Neil:

to uh, to prepare your meals. No, um, but I, I, I was. I was a little concerned about that at first, but you know, obviously, if you go, if you go to the store every day, it's going to be tedious. So, you have to create systems that work for you right so buy in, buy in bulk. Um, you know I'm I'm inherently lazy, lazy. So buying in bulk is a good strategy for me. So I don't have to go to the store more than once every so often.

Neil:

It's amazing, it works right, yeah, um, I think, well, I, I think that's really the. I can't think of any other. I mean, it's, it's to me, it's so basic, but it, you know you, you have to commit to it, you have to follow through. Um, you can't you know, beat yourself up if you, if you, you know, make an error, uh, one day, and, and you know, eat more than you should, or or eat the wrong thing, or whatever, you just keep going.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah.

Neil:

Don't quit.

Kevin Tinter:

Absolutely, um, do you have any other like wins as far as either blood work or other metrics that you want to share and just talk about how the program really helped you get healthy?

Neil:

Yeah, I had two that really surprised me. I'll start with when I nearly broke my nose on my knee, because I don't know how to set this up for people that can't see. But For the last several years my flexibility has just been really, I guess, getting worse, getting worse, and especially if I'm trying to stretch out my legs for a run. So I got to the point where getting down and touching the ground was impossible. So now that I just kind of walked back, know, walked back to goals, now just touch the top of my feet. Um, you know, it became difficult um, day after day to get a good stretch in, and some days I just would kind of wave it off. Um, so one of the things that did surprise me about this diet is you?

Neil:

asked me not to do anything that was more strenuous than, um, you know, a light walk, because if I couldn't, uh, keep up a normal conversation, I was working too hard. Yeah. So um I.

Kevin Tinter:

I did.

Neil:

I didn't do uh much of any uh strenuous exercise for what was it about three months? Strenuous exercise, for what was it about three months? So, um, I came to the time that I was ready to, to, you know, start doing that again. So I remember I got, I got into my um my gym clothes and I was uh doing my stretch before getting on the treadmill. And again, I have to do street running is not is I can do it, but uh, because of my reconstructed knee and the lack of cartilage and things like that it's um, not cartilage, uh, meniscus, um, it's better if I run on a uh, something like a treadmill cushioned.

Neil:

Right, Um, so I started uh. I did. I started my stretching the way I always do. I, you know, uh, basically spread, spread my legs out a bit, stretching the way I always do.

Neil:

I, you know, uh, basically spread, spread my legs out a little bit wider than shoulder length and I started to go down to grab the right ankle and I uh, I mean I had gotten used to having to go so hard, uh, with my arms, so hard to get my head down uh to uh stretch out uh the groin, uh that I. I really bounced my knee hard, or bounce my nose hard off of my knee. Wow. With unexpected flexibility. Yeah. I had no, no idea that. I was going to be able to be, that flexible immediately, like that.

Neil:

You know I hadn't stretched in months. Yeah, incredible, okay so that that's, that's the stretched in months.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, incredible, okay, um, so that that's, that's the one that really surprised me, um, and that's one of those things that like when you're thinking about, okay, I'm losing weight, I'm getting healthy, you don't even think about that being a kind of a fringe benefit, right? So pleasant surprise.

Neil:

And I've had. I guess I'll throw in a uh one. I wasn't planning to, but um I, my stamina has been incredible. I've been able to run um out, you know, for an hour without stopping, which, okay, that's not a big deal for a lot of people out there that are in good shape or younger and can run, but for me that's a. That's a. I didn't know if I'd ever get back there. Got it.

Neil:

That's awesome, Um I didn't know if I'd ever get back there. Got it, that's awesome, um and okay, so. So there's those two things that just. Uh, I can exercise, in fact, my exercise time has been increasing Um, um I. I tend to favor cardio and I'm trying to work in the strength training. That's another, that's something I got to work on, but but the cardio is going really well and so that's that.

Neil:

But the thing I wasn't expecting at all was when I went to visit my primary care doctor for an annual physical and we did my blood work we did my blood work, um, and so I first learned that I had high cholesterol back in 1990. I did my first um, I guess post flight training physical with with a military doctor. I went in, got seen and they told me look, your cholesterol is high, we want you to try a low, low fat diet et cetera. So I did that and went back. I guess it was probably three months later and the doctors then said you were able to, you were able to bring it down.

Neil:

That's good, but you can't really bring it down too much because your your family, your history, your genetics or whatever your makeup is there's only so much you can do with diet and exercise.

Neil:

That's what I was told. So a few years later I guess this was around maybe three or four years later when I finally came back from overseas I was living overseas for the first eight years of my service. When I finally got back, I went again to my annual physical and the doctor said there's no more delay, you've got to get on statins. I want you on statins and you can expect you're going to be on statins for the rest of your life. Um, so so far that's proven to be true. Um, but uh, after doing the Optivia diet, um, and after having my um primary care physician, my last checkup- which was?

Kevin Tinter:

when was that?

Neil:

I think it was in November, okay, so.

Kevin Tinter:

November, and then your most recent one was when June, june, okay, so right about the time you wrapped up transition.

Neil:

Right, so I had been put on pre-diabetic medicine for the second time. I was able to get off of it once. But you know, my ac a1c kept going up. So, um, that was almost, uh, completely, you know, in the normal range it's like one tenth of a high, but then of course, as you age, your a1c average tends higher anyway. So doctor said you don't need to take metformin anymore.

Neil:

Um my, you know your cholesterol is made up of HDL and LDL, and LDL is the real killer. Um, and I have never been below a hundred, uh, on my LDL. Uh, I was half of that Uh. Holy. Yeah, I've got it right here. My LDL is now 53. I can't remember a time when it wasn't triple digits. No matter how hard or how much I tried other techniques, this is the only thing that I've experienced that brought my blood down to that level.

Kevin Tinter:

That's amazing Congrats.

Neil:

So now the real test is now that I'm off the diet, will I go back up? Yeah. But then we'll know it's the diet and not the….

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah Well, and you're off the weight loss portion, but you're still living a lot of the habits that you've learned to implement eating a lot of the foods that make up what we call a lean and green meal, using some of the mini meals that we offer, and you're eating, for the most part, six times a day, drinking a lot of water. So it will be fun to probably get retested in six months or so and and hopefully see that, as you adjust your diet and your lifestyle, that that change wasn't just temporary but it's. It's, you know, something that you're able to carry on for the rest of your life.

Neil:

Yeah, Well, it's something that well, I'm committed to doing it. Number one, so I'm I'm still logging my meals on the fitness app that you recommended. That's been a good habit for me. The app actually lets you know when you, when you've logged your meals for three days straight. I guess you're in the top 30 something percent of Americans or of users.

Kevin Tinter:

I think if Americans do anything for three days in a row, they're probably in the top 30%.

Neil:

It's just crazy to me that you know only by logging my food for three days I am in the top third, and when I made day four, oh my gosh, now I'm in the top five. Yeah.

Neil:

Or top 20%. I guess I should say so, um, I also I've had a lot. I didn't at first, you know, you told me people were going to come up and and notice right. But people. I don't know if people were afraid to say something or or what, but you know, not many people said anything to me for the first two and a half three months. And then, man, all of a sudden, people like man, you've really lost a lot of weight, you know. Um so uh, that that's nice to hear.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, it's encouraging, it beats the heck out of saying Holy smokes, you've put on a lot of weight, right For sure.

Neil:

Or or you know the little smirks that you might get as you darken their door.

Kevin Tinter:

Right, right, right, awesome. So, neil, kind of as we wrap up, what encouragement do you have for anyone listening who might think there's no way that they can lose weight? You know they've given up hope and obviously I'm not claiming that we'll cure anyone's medical conditions or that we can't guarantee that. You know we can't guarantee that you're going to reduce or eliminate medications, but you just shared your personal story on how that is possible. Or maybe even they've given up hope on their ability to improve the quality of their life, and you've talked about increased stamina. So what encouragement do you have for anyone who falls into that category? Well.

Neil:

I'm probably not the encouraging kind I I might. I might tend to go the other direction, like you know. Why not? Yeah, why won't you?

Kevin Tinter:

do it. Well, I'm fine with that. I mean, yeah, it takes both kinds. So right. A little suck it up. Conversation right Pretty much.

Neil:

Yeah, I mean, don't, don't talk about it, be about it, do do it. Give it a, you know, if you're not serious, okay, then just to be about it, do do it give it a.

Neil:

You know, if you're not serious, okay, then just be honest about that. You don't want to? Okay, you want. You'd rather be unhealthy, you'd rather be, you know, pudgy, you'd rather be portly, whatever. Okay, uh, I can respect that if that's your choice. Um, now some people will say, well, I don't have a choice, I've been born this way, so maybe you don't know, unless you try. I would have said that about my cholesterol. Yeah.

Neil:

And I would. I'm absolutely shocked. You know I guess this is one time result, so you know I got to make sure it's not just a one-off.

Kevin Tinter:

but but that's, I mean, that's one time in 35 years, right? Yeah, that's pretty amazing. That's an outlier for sure.

Neil:

Yeah. So I don't know, I think you, I think you've got to get mad. You got to. Whatever your technique is, you have to motivate yourself. Whether it's getting mad at yourself, getting determined, um, whatever that that technique is, but until you commit to it, until you are determined, no matter what obstacles are in your way or what people might say or people might do, or what inconvenience it might temporarily require of you, if you're not serious about it, it won't work. You have to get serious about it.

Kevin Tinter:

Yeah, dave Ramsey has another quote and hopefully I don't butcher it too bad. But he says until the pain of the same is worse than the pain of change, you'll be stuck with the same. So it's not easy to make change. It disrupts your life. We're creatures of habit for the most part. For sure not easy to make change. It's you know, it disrupts your life it you know there's we're.

Kevin Tinter:

We're creatures of habit for the most part, but until you you're, you get to the point where staying stuck where you're at whether it's unhealthy, overweight, broke, uh, you know miserable in your relationships, until the pain of where you're at right now is worse than the pain it takes to change. Um, you're going to be stuck with it and you just have to decide. You know what the other saying is choose your heart, right. It's hard to be healthy. It's also hard to be unhealthy. Which one would you rather have?

Neil:

I think most people just want things to be easy. Yes. And I would like everything to be easy. It would be great, and I would say you can make this diet easy. Yes, and, and I, I'm. I would like everything to be. It would be great. Um, and I, I would say you can make this diet easy. Yeah.

Neil:

Um, you just have to do a few things get yourself organized, um, convince yourself that you're going to be committed to it and stick to it. Um, I think everyone is capable of doing it. Whether each individual has enough fortitude, enough determination, that's really the question you've got to ask yourself, and I think, if you really want to, you can do it.

Kevin Tinter:

Awesome. There you have it, folks. Neil, thank you so much for taking time out of your day. Thank you for trusting me to coach you. It really is an honor. I consider you a friend as well as one of my clients, and I love the fact that I develop relationships, friendships, with the vast majority of my clients, and it's so rewarding to see all of the improvements in your life and your health.

Kevin Tinter:

And so, for those of you who are listening, if you haven't already had a conversation with an Optivia coach and you are interested in learning more, you can go to beckandkevcom or go directly to beckandkevcom slash get dash healthy for the link to our quick health assessment. It's complimentary and it'll help you start the conversation with us or one of our qualified coaches. If you have already heard of Optivea and you know someone and you're already having a conversation, please go talk to them. I'm not trying to steal you from someone you already have a relationship with, but for our listeners who are hearing or interested in this program for the first time, anyone who signs up for a full month on our plan, minimum of a $350 investment per month and references this podcast will get a $50 credit from us to help them get started at even bigger savings. So, neil, again, thank you so much. I look forward to staying in touch with you on an ongoing basis. Can't wait for that next Bloodwork and hopefully we have even better results, but hopefully we keep you healthy. Thank you so much.

Neil:

Thank you, Kevin.