When people ask me questions about

mastering their health or their

physique, they always look really

puzzled when I tell them that they don't

actually have to fight their cravings,

like they don't have to resist

temptation or any of that stuff. It's

actually just about changing what feels

rewarding. And I want to dive into what

I mean by that. I'm just out here doing

a little bit of work on the computer,

sipping some coffee. I was out in the

sunlight on the dock with James earlier.

We're in upstate New York right now. Um,

but it's just got me thinking about how

so many people they'll come up to me and

they'll they'll compliment my physique

or uh, you know, they'll see some of the

stuff that I post on my Instagram if

you're not following me there already,

Garrett Salem. But they they say things

like, "Yeah, I want to look like that,

right? Like, I want to be disgustingly

shredded. I want to have the the

celebrity physique. Six-pack, big

shoulders, upper chest, you know, the

the the Vshape, so you have the the

lats, uh, with that shoulder to waist

ratio. And so, it's a very like

eye-catching look when you're out and

about, right? And then along with that,

they want more energy. They want, um,

you know, better mental clarity to feel

better, live an active lifestyle because

they know that they should. But people

often say, you know, I just can't give

up this. I can't I I love food too much

or, you know, I can't give up this one

specific vice like I can't stop drinking

or um can't stop smoking or I don't want

to give up my favorite dessert or my

favorite food or you know all these

different things. Every time I try to go

after this specific goal, this is the

the roadblock that I run into. I get a

certain amount of progress and then

eventually it gets a little bit too

stressful and strenuous and I snap and I

fall back into my old ways and then

we're just back to square one. By the

way, there's these guys powerwashing the

house next door. I hope hope it's not

making too much noise. Um, but I would

argue

those vices and I wouldn't even think

about them as vices. they're just like a

choice to make regarding food or, you

know, drink or whatever it might end up

being. I would argue that that's not

actually what's keeping you from the

ideal physique. It's not it's not the

what, it's like, you know, the why, the

how. It's all these different things

that

will really amount to the the result.

Like what what I mean by this is

the way that you get in shape is very

very very

much important because you got to think

about okay it's not just about getting

in shape it's how do I stay in shape and

how do I stay in shape without having to

fight my instincts so to speak a lot of

people feel like they're fighting their

instincts

um going against their internal drive to

eat uh you Chipotle or um to to drink

soda or um you know their their favorite

dessert when they're out and about to

eat. I don't know why it's coming up

coming to mind right now, but the cookie

skillet at Chili's like back in the day

that used to be all the stuff, all the

noise, right? Ice cream in your fridge.

Ice cream is actually a superfood. Side

note, but all these different things

seem to trip people up, right? And so I

wouldn't say that those are actually the

problem because that's that's like an

external thing. We're thinking about

like what's at the function like what is

the function that's going on? What is

what is the machine that we've got to

work with? A lot of people they're

working with a pretty crappy machine.

And I wouldn't just say that that's like

your metabolism and how your body is

operating. I would say it's about like

the economy of your choices throughout

the day, right? Because your your

choices will determine which choices

that you make in the future. And so I

talk a lot about uh positive feedback

loops and how important those are to

make sure that you are feeding into the

right things so that you want to do more

of the right things. A lot of people are

doing what I would say is a negative

feedback loop. So, specifically talking

about diet or exercise, right? I always

crap on David Gogggins because he's uh

you know, he's such a maniac in terms of

the [snorts] intensity of the exercise

that he'll do, but it it's not actually

a problem what David is doing. It's just

that most people can't get down with

that. Like most people aren't going to

thrive working out the way that David

works out. [snorts]

I would argue and myself included that

most people are going to do uh three

days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

That is the best workout schedule for

everybody. Um you know, most men at

least. uh especially ones that have like

a you know a really demanding career or

they gota you know be in a bunch of

different places and and you know you

might have a family. You might have just

other obligations that don't involve the

gym and you can't really be working out

six or seven days a week because it's

not just going to the gym. It's getting

ready for the gym. It's the pre- gym

meal. It's like driving there. It's

actually warming up and then you're

working out and then you're winding

down, you know, getting undressed and

then getting back in the car, driving

home, you know, taking a shower, eating,

and then getting back to what you're

doing, right? So, three days a week is

just, you know, it's like brushing your

teeth just three times out of the week,

Monday, Wednesday, Friday. And,

uh, it it doesn't stress you out so much

over the course of the week, which is a

huge thing. guys that are working out

five, six, god forbid, seven times a

week, if you're a natural lifter, which

I am, by the way. Like, I I just don't

think it makes any sense to jeopardize

your health or, you know, I was talking

to somebody earlier like I'm not willing

to compromise

downstairs

or anything like that. When I found out

that people who are doing steroids, like

their balls are shrinking, that's when I

was like completely checked out. I was

like, "This is this is insanity. I don't

know how people are willing to give that

up just for like muscles that you could

achieve and, you know, get in a better

position if if not, you know, if not

more easily just doing it naturally." I

digress. Um, but with that said, if

you're working out uh five, six, seven

days a week as a natural lifter, you

just can't recover. And it's not because

your muscles can't recover because those

only really need 24 hours. It's your

your local nerves going all throughout

your body that can't recover, right? And

so what this does is um it just puts a

lot of stress on your system, right?

You're only as strong as your nervous

system. And if your nervous system is

really stressed out and tired, it's

going to be tough to keep up with all

the other stuff that you got going on in

life. And it's only a matter of time

until you have to decide between working

out and doing what you really got to do,

right? So working out, diet, lifestyle,

all the different biohacking and

holistic health measures that we do,

those should not be taking away from

life. It's not we're not trading life

for more health. We're trying to

leverage our health to get more out of

life. We're trying like everything that

we do, it's supposed to propel ourselves

forward in life. positive feedback

loops. I eat this food. It makes me look

better. It makes me feel better. And the

crazy part too is coming back around to

the point where I was talking about, you

know, you need to change what feels

rewarding.

So many people say that they're addicted

to X junk food, right? They're addicted

to this drink. They're addicted to, you

know, this vice. uh whether it's like

smoking or or whatever else it might end

up making them screw up on their diet,

right? Those choices

have a certain like as you do it more,

you're just going to resonate with it

more. And then it's also like a habit

thing. It's like if you're just doing

this thing so so often, why would you

stop? It's it's the concept of

homeostasis

at the end of the day. Why do you think

it's so tough to get out of bed in the

morning? You ever thought about that?

It's because you've been there all

night. So, getting out of that sleeping

mode is going to be pretty brutal in

that first few minutes of the day. And

you could definitely um you know work

yourself up to just like snap into

shape, get up and and get at it after a

certain amount of like pain and

willpower and and getting towards

discipline, right? Um but eventually

it's not willpower anymore. It's just

like second nature. And a lot of people

will thrive on getting out of bed early

in the morning and getting after it,

right? Like I'm I'm somebody that's a

little bit more slower in the morning. I

don't want to wake up to like a really

stressful alarm or anything. Um so

that's why I focus on the bedtime,

right? And I need to get better on that,

too. If you focus on a better bedtime

and you have enough time to wake up

without an alarm, then you're well

rested and you don't wake up with such a

stressful,

excruciating sound in your ear. Right?

So, um, but what I was going to get back

to is that these foods, which they say

are so delicious,

um, and taste so good, they don't

actually taste very good, especially

after you eat real holistic food after a

while. You know why you think that they

taste so good? It's because of all the

additives and the sugars and the, you

know, whatever else. Um, and not that

sugar is a bad thing. I actually consume

a ridiculous amount of sugar every day.

Shout out Ray Pete. Um, damn, these wa

the power washer is so loud. I don't

know if you guys can hear it. Sounds

crazy loud to me, but I don't know about

you guys. But anyway, um the reason that

somebody that's eating, you know,

Chipotle, uh you know, all sorts of

protein bars, protein cookies, protein

shakes,

um you know, you're putting Coffee Mate

in your uh in your coffee every morning

with like I don't know, like Splenda or

or whatever else. Uh when you go out to

eat, you always get like the most

disgusting dessert. you're you're eating

like rice cakes with like peanut butter,

like all these these sort of like

synthetic foods which you're looking for

the most flavorful thing. If you go from

that and you try to eat an apple,

an apple's going to seem kind of bland.

All right. Now, I think an apple is

delicious and it it used to be one of

the first things that I ate every day.

Um, but with that said, if you if you go

and you try to eat just like you just

try try to eat like a a steak, like a

piece of chicken or like a glass of milk

or um, you know, you try to eat like a

bowl of yogurt, right? And I spruce mine

up so it's full of like maple syrup and

cinnamon and and a fruit of my choice,

so it's extra delicious and it tastes

more like a dessert anyway. Um, but like

going from that super synthetic

processed type food to something that's

single ingredient and natural, the

problem is with all that synthetic

processed crap, your taste buds are, for

lack of a better word, like

Like your taste buds don't work as well.

They are desensitized,

which is the whole reason that you feel

like you have to keep eating that food.

Is this clicking? You can't stop eating

the crappy food because it tastes it's

the only time that you can actually feel

like you're tasting anything. Yet,

continuing to eat that food is what's

preventing you from consuming a holistic

diet and actually getting the health

benefits and the physique benefits out

of it that you want. Which if you just

started eating more whole foods and

doing it in the right way, cooking it,

sourcing it, you know, seasoning it in

the right way, stylizing it however you

need to so that you can enjoy it

dayto-day, you would start to crave

those holistic single ingredient foods.

And that synthetic, processed sludge,

the slop, right? All that stuff is

going to start to taste like crap

compared to the real food that you've

been eating. This is what I mean when I

say you need to change what feels

rewarding.

A lot of people, they're just stuck in

this. It it pretty much is an addiction

at the end of the day. You're addicted

to crap. You're addicted to negativity.

And something inside of you is gonna,

you know, keep you continuing to

resonate with the crappy feeling that

you have after you eat the food, right?

It's like, okay, I'm willing to deal

with this crappy feeling if I could just

taste something. Meanwhile, um, if you

just kind of let go of the taste thing

for a little bit of time, all of a

sudden, you start eating these single

ingredient foods and you actually know

how to cook and you know how to prepare

it in a in a uh, you know, a precise and

like fast manner and expedated manner so

you can just eat your food and get back

to doing what you're doing, right?

You'll actually start to enjoy what

you're eating. And when it starts making

your body change before your very eyes,

you start looking like, you know, the

the cover of a a magazine. You start

looking like something out of a dirty

romance novel. Right. Right. All that um

all that micronutrient

uh dense food is going to supercharge

your hormonal health. You start feeling

better. You start thinking more clearly.

Your brain fog goes away. Your

depression and anxiety

You don't have depression or anxiety.

Your hormonal health is screwed up and

it's weighing you down all the time,

which is why you're all doom and gloom.

You start eating right. You start

feeling better. You start your your

brain improves. Your brain health

affects your mind. Your mind affects

your beliefs. You're like, "Oh man, this

is actually a pretty good day, right?

Sun's out." Like I probably back in the

day used to look at this and be like,

"Oh man, I can't believe it's not a

perfectly blue sky because I'm so

focused on the negative."

Food affects your reticular activation

system. Your reticular activation system

is your selective focus. This is why you

buy a red Mustang and you start seeing

all the red Mustangs out there. If

you're having a bad day and you know you

you like stub your toe, you crack your

phone screen, you you know, you scratch

your your whip, uh you know, you get

your car detailed and it rains, you

know, you're just thinking about all the

negative things that are going on in

life. You're not thinking about the

positive. You're not thinking about

glass half full. And that mindset too

also will affect your internal health.

Your your metabolism will be affected by

your mindset. Why do you think the

people who don't think that the workout

plan is going to work out uh ne why do

you think they never get the results?

It's like so many people they stress

about losing weight and why they can't

lose weight. And it's it's a very common

thing to hear, okay, once I just got

detached from the outcome or once I

stopped stressing about it, all the

weight like melted off. Same deal. It's

like, I can't gain weight. I'm a hard

gainer. Like, I'm not I don't have the

genetics, all these different things.

after a while of you just like

forgetting about the outcome and just

involving yourself in the process, doing

what you need to do, and anticipating

that it's probably going to start to

work out. This is the other reason why

you need to make sure that you're doing

a plan that actually provides results.

Because those first little bit of

results are what creates the positive

feedback loop for you to keep doing it

and start believing in the process and

then it's just an upward spiral. You're

always in a in a downward spiral or an

upward spiral. Nobody's ever at midline,

right? Nobody's ever uh you know they

have that saying you're either growing

or you're dying. I wouldn't go that

extreme. It's just you're either in a

positive feedback loop and and going

into an upward spiral or or the

opposite. So

just I I want you to take this away from

the video.

You you are very much setting yourself

up for something. A lot of people are

setting themselves up for failure

because

they think that what is actually hurting

them is like necessary. They think it's

rewarding. You just need to change what

feels rewarding in your mind through

your workouts. Pick a plan that you can

see yourself doing 10 years from now.

Don't think about what's going to get

you the fastest results in the shortest

amount of time. Even though I think

three days a week is going to get you

the fastest results, I'm just saying

like most people would say, "Oh, six or

seven days a week, cardio every day, 10

or 20,000 steps a day, you know, and

same deal with the workout plan with the

the diet plan, chicken, rice, and

veggie, that bland micronutrient devoid

diet that tastes like crap, not very

exciting, doesn't create a positive

feedback loop, makes you feel like a

hamster, right? makes you feel like a

science project. Freaking uh freaking

bodybuilder hating my life so I look

amazing, you know? Looks amazing and and

feels like crap. On this side is like

the guy that's so holistic and vital,

you know? He feels amazing. He he feels

like he he's on top of the world, but he

looks emaciated, you know? He he looks

like uh you know he's like the the dude

that's sunning his balls on the beach in

a loin cloth doesn't very he doesn't

look very spectacular. These guys are on

two sides two opposite sides of the

spectrum that you want to be kind of in

the middle of. If you lean more towards

this side and you know what you're doing

as far as macros and training goes,

you're going to look like this guy but

feel like this guy. And that's what

we've created with anabolic priming. And

it's all about positive feedback loops

so that none of your effort is wasted.

So that nothing that you put time aside

for doesn't give you a positive return.

So it doesn't reward you. You know, this

is the whole reason why my workouts are

so strength focused because every

workout I walk into the gym, I know

exactly what I did last week. I try to

add a weight or add a rep to each

individual set. I walk out of the gym

with a ridiculous amount of personal

records under my belt, feeling like I'm

on top of the world, feel like that guy,

right? And now I'm just getting addicted

to the high of hitting these personal

records week to week, which gifies the

training, keeps me locked in, changes

the way that my body looks, right?

People around me start noticing all that

validation starts pumping me up and

makes me want to stay locked in on the

plan more. And if I'm locked in on the

training and that's giving me great

results and I'm doing so well, why else?

Why? Why would I even jeopardize

screwing up on my diet? That keeps you

more locked in on the diet. And if

you're doing well with the diet and the

training, why are you gonna go to bed

too late and when you have to wake up

early? You're going to get to bed on

time. So, you have to you have, you

know, plenty of time to fall asleep and

get eight hours of sleep before you

actually have to wake up. And if you're

sleeping better, everything else works

better. And if everything's gravy, then

working out and your diet and all this

different stuff, it it's not like a

point of contention anymore. It's not a

problem. It's not a roadblock that's

keeping you from living your life

because you have changed what feels

rewarding. And that's what I wanted to

impress upon you guys today. Uh I'm

going to leave it at that. Most of these

videos I've been going crazy long with.

Um if you haven't already, subscribe,

like the video. That would really help.

And um yeah, if you if you want more

help regarding this stuff, book a call

with me with the link in the

description. Um you know, we'll just

talk. It'll be me. won't be like a sales

guy or anything. And if it's not going

to make sense, I'm not going to try to

hard sell you or anything. Just like,

you know, we'll we'll decide if it makes

sense to work together. If not, I'll at

least point you in the right direction.

I got too much free stuff up on this

YouTube channel or my Instagram. If

you're not following me there already,

go check it out. And uh yeah, I'm tired

of listening to this uh power washer.

So, I'm going to go inside.

Last day at the lake. So, about to go

back home to the home base and uh we'll

go from there. So quick one for today.

Catch you guys later.