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Erik: [00:00:00] I think we have to get back to basics with our health and wellness and look for those big pieces that are a little outta whack. And we will feel better. And that's really the heart I think, of what we want to talk about. 

Matt: Let's just go out to dinner. That'll make me feel better. Let's go out and have dinner.

And then they go out and they eat a crummy dinner and have some drinks with dinner. Because it's oh, that'll make me feel better right now.

Narrator: You are listening to EMS [00:00:30] with your hosts Erik Axene and Matt Ball. 

Erik: We just got back from vacation and I loved having the watch to, to count my steps. 

Matt: Yeah. Which goes along with our topic today. That's why I, that's the main reason why I got it, is. Yeah. The heart rate being know Oh yeah. Being able to like zones.

Yeah. What zone you're in. If you're in a fat burning zone or a cardio zone or that's really nice to have. 

Erik: That is what we're talking about today. Yeah. And the health and wellness is not about diet, it's not about [00:01:00] exercise. It's about, it's not about looking good all the time.

It's not about being thin. Yeah. However, maybe it's good to lose weight. 

Matt: I think that if you're healthy, most healthy people are thin. Yeah. Thinner. They don't carry around a lot of extra fat. Yeah. But they're also some, they, there's a term of skinny fat. There's a lot of people that are skinny, but they're not healthy.

Erik: And that's it. It's being healthy and Yeah. And I think if you make good. If you make, you're making good decisions little decisions every day. Yeah. I think the average person makes 35,000 decisions every [00:01:30] day. And if you're making a lot of good decisions throughout the day you're gonna see the cumulative effect of that down the road, and you're gonna feel really good.

I think sometimes, like the nutrition, for example we think what's that feel? Good food, dopamine. Yeah. Hit with, yeah. Dopamine hits, right? Yeah. But what we really want to do is to eat food so we feel good. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Erik: Down the road. Yeah. 

Matt: That's the overall goal. But a lot of it, I think we've become a society of instant gratification with social media so much have, and I just want to and I'm guilty of it, oh man. [00:02:00] Pizza sure does sound good. Or that cheeseburger Sure does. Sound good. 

Erik: And I think nutrition is really a small part of health and wellness. It's a piece of it, but it's not the biggest piece. 

Matt: So let's define the different factors of health and wellness uhhuh. So diet, nutrition, we'll call it Nutrition diet.

Erik: I like our Thrive acronym. This is when I talk it's this, the Thrive thing. The T is tribe or team? Yep. The community of people you with. I think that's actually, and that's why I start with it. The biggest one. The biggest one, yeah. The, we are designed to be in community, to love one another, to be loved, to love [00:02:30] others to be known, and still love.

These are, this is a basic human need is community. That's one. Isolation has been shown to decrease our health. It's I think loneliness was equal to smoking a pack a day. And equal to morbid obesity as far as health detriments. So I think we've underestimated the power of community. 'cause that's the t.

Matt: Yeah. I think a lot of that, and I think we've talked about this before. Yeah. That's what attracts a lot of people to the fire service. Yeah. Is that sense of brotherhood, sisterhood, [00:03:00] you, that sense of community Yeah. That you're, you're going into battle together, so to speak, and those bonds that are formed in battle are really strong. 

Erik: Yeah. 

Matt: And again, I think it's part of that. Acronym is community. 

Erik: Yep. Huge part of it. And I think, and in my opinion, I mean everything's really important, but I think that's the most important one. Okay. Another reason why our Thrive acronym fits so well.

'cause it having a community people is a foundation to build on all the other health components really. Super important. So community. Yep. And then, yeah, [00:03:30] or team or tribe, team, tribe, community. Just to stick with the acronym. And then the H is health metrics. Boy, we could talk about this.

For hours. Hours. The healthcare system is a mess. Yes. And I'm speaking as a physician, right? Right now the healthcare system is incentivized to the more unhealthy people are, the more money it generates. I don't think any physician got into being a doctor to generate a bunch of money and revenue.

That's not why we did it. I think more physicians are there because they really [00:04:00] wanted to make an impact on health. And make. People more healthy in a whole, whether you're a surgeon, fixing somebody in the operating room or like me an ER doctor, helping people navigate through a healthcare crisis, whether it's a family member or themselves.

Matt: Yeah. 

Erik: We really went into it for some very altruistic, idealistic, sometimes reasons. The healthcare system though, is really providing a healthcare that really has lost its way in my opinion. Yeah. 

Matt: [00:04:30] It's become about money. 

Erik: Yeah. A lot of it. Has become lot money. A lot of it has become about money and a lot of it unfortunately is I think again, lost its way where the patient, the idea of health has become more of managing health, chronic health problems and while the diabetes is getting a lot of control, so let's increase the dose.

It's kinda 

Matt: having a patch or having a hole in your tire, in your car, right? And instead of going to the tire shop or whatever and getting the. Tire [00:05:00] fixed or getting a new tire, keep putting air in it, you just keep putting air in it. Yeah, that's a 

Erik: good analogy. And that's, I think that's, you're not 

Matt: fixing the underlying problem.

You're just taking care of the symptoms of the problem with diabetes, with now medications, and I'm sure you would agree, medications do play a role in health and wellness. There's certain things where, you know, if you have chronic hypertension, you need to be on a hypertension medication.

But a lot of our issues, a lot of things that people take medications for could be fixed with proper nutrition, diet, exercise. Correct. Rest, [00:05:30] lifestyle, those kind of things, getting outside, not sitting all day. A lot of these health issues could be fixed by that. 

Erik: That's right. And I and we cannot throw the baby out with a bath water with our healthcare system.

We have an incredible healthcare system. Innovative, most of the research done in medicine is through Amer, western medicine. We are leading the forefront in research and innovation within healthcare. All that being said, though, again, I bo believe our healthcare system is misguided.

It's more [00:06:00] reactive instead of what I believe should be more preventive. The best healthcare system. So the definition of quality of care. We're getting a little bit into healthcare policy here. The definition as I've come to learn from a lot of my colleagues, the de the definition of high quality care is getting the right answer in the right amount of time with the least amount of resource.

Is Okay. That's quality of care. So if we can find the answer to fix something with the least amount of resources and the least amount of [00:06:30] time, it's almost the opposite of the way we're delivering healthcare now. We're managing these chronic conditions over a long period of time with lots of resources, and the older and sicker they get, the more resources they require.

If we could find a way to prevent that from occurring and be in disease prevention mode, that's. The kind of healthcare that I was trained to deliver. If we go back to medical school and look at really what we were trained to do, it's really about preventive medicine. Unfortunately, there's a lot of training in [00:07:00] managing disease too.

And I think in the ER as far as health metrics go if the beauty of emergency medicine, in my opinion, and I'm a little biased 'cause I'm an ER doctor Sure. Is that we treat acute conditions. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Erik: You bring me a patient, like just remember that patient we had that. Totally messed up their chest cabinet.

Oh yeah. Yeah. A big fence, yeah. Big trauma. It was terrible, right? Yeah. We fixed her. Yeah. It took the healthcare system. I think she had 18 surgeries or something like that. Anyway, that, that acute [00:07:30] emergent condition, we fixed them, and I think that's a pure form of medicine to me, which I love about emergency medicine.

It's acute care. What we struggle in our healthcare system is the chronic care more. Yeah. I think that's the issue. We need to move away from chronic disease. Management into preventive care. And if you're down the road in chronic care, your diabetes, it's gonna take a long time to give back.

But we have a lot of people, a lot of very unhealthy people being, in my opinion, treated in a way [00:08:00] that's suboptimal. Yeah. And we've gotta, it's 

Matt: not gonna happen overnight, but and diabetes, like you said, it's such a huge problem in AmErika. Oh yeah. And it's based off seditary lifestyles and diet.

We could fit. I don't know the numbers, but we could fix probably a lot of people and get 'em off all their, yeah. Type two diabetic medications, Metformin and so on. If just by saying lose some weight, start diet. And, I've had this conversation, one of the guys that I worked with, he's a bigger guy.

That's just the way, he's [00:08:30] genetically a bigger guy, which we'll talk about genetic components. He's genetically designed to be a little bit bigger, right? 

Erik: Body style. 

Matt: Yeah. And so ectomorph or ex, whatever, mesomorph and anyway. I would go and, I like to work out I work out just as much for my mental health as I do my physical health.

Oh, yeah. Because I feel so much better when I do. Yeah. And so it's become part of my life. It's always been part of my lifestyle. And he would tell me all the time, he's I can't do what you do. I can't do pushups like you do or pullups. I'm like, it doesn't matter that you can't do what I can do.

It doesn't [00:09:00] matter. 

Erik: We're all different. 

Matt: He's also, he could be strong. He's just, he's got this huge back. He could be immensely strong if he wanted to work out. He is strong, but if he. Actually put some time and effort in. So I think a lot of people compare like, you're a big guy, you can move big heavy weight.

I am not made to move big, heavy weight. It's not the way I'm designed. Yeah. I'm more designed to do a lot of pull-ups and pushups and more of a wrestler gymnast build where you're more of a foot. All player build, right? We're all not designed to be NFL linemen, and so I think that some people [00:09:30] compare I can't do, I can't go run a marathon.

Okay, then don't go run a marathon. But that doesn't mean that you can't get out and walk 10,000 steps a day. Yeah. Or you could change the way that you're eating a little bit and lose some of that body fat and feel better. Yeah. And one of the things that we were talking about before the podcast, you had talked about being tired.

And I've gone all over the world doing. Mission trips, medical mission trips and stuff. And one of the things people always say is, I just feel so run down and tired. Yeah. And you're saying that's a lot to do with our diet? 

Erik: [00:10:00] It is. It's a lot to do with our diet, our fast paced, instant gratification, social media.

There's a lot of problems with rest. Yeah. And we're gonna talk about it, the other acronym or letter. Yeah. With health metrics though, and you touched on it, is that there's a lot of things that we can do to monitor our health. If you and I were flying a plane, how foolish would it be to fly without looking at the gauges?

Yeah. We have this great healthcare system where we can, we have access to all these health metrics. We can actually look at them. [00:10:30]

Matt: Yeah, you can 

Erik: look 

Matt: at 'em right on 

Erik: your phone. And I think we, I think this also it's, this may not be the place to get into the details on this, there's a lot of things that we as patients, as consumers of the healthcare system can do to take ownership of some of these health metrics.

Sure. That, and we can monitor them and work with our primary care. Physician to be involved in our healthcare and prevent diseases. There are things that you can do to see warning signs of diabetes, for example. Long before your blood sugar [00:11:00] starts to go crazy. By just watching your blood sugar.

It's like being in an ambulance and just watching the oxygen saturations and never looking at end title. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Erik: There are a lot of things that can manifest early and we're not even checking those health metrics. So the H and Thrive is huge. I like to think of it as the control panel in a cockpit.

We've got to have those health metrics. We gotta know our weight, we gotta know our cholesterol level, we gotta know blood pressure. All these things. BMI, that's a very important age, but you rest is the r. [00:11:30] Rest, and not just rest, but restoration. Yeah. We, our bodies need rest. Our bodies have to decompress and process the day.

We need that deep sleep. We need that rest. We need that time and not just sleep. We also I just took a vacation. Yeah. A much needed vacation. And I'll admit, you know this, I don't vacation enough. I need to take a break more often. Yeah. But having that time of restoration, connecting with your family, whatever it is, doing what you love to do.

You've gotta have that. Every day. You've gotta have that [00:12:00] every week. Every year you've gotta get away and find a way to restore you. What do you do man? I know you, your motorcycle rides you take, is that not restorative? Oh, 

Matt: totally. Yeah. Yeah. And one of the things I'll say about sleep that I've learned recently is that, the first half of your sleep is about physical rest and restoration, like repairing things physically.

And then the second half of your sleep is about mental health and mental restoration. Yep. And that's why. First responders have so much PTSD problems is [00:12:30] because our sleep gets interrupted all the time. Oh yeah. And so when we're in that restorative sleep phase, tones go off and we're now going a hundred miles an hour doing whatever we're doing.

And we, a lot of times we lack that restorative mental health sleep. And that's a huge part of it. Because obviously it's not just about. Physical health, it's about mental health. And so yeah, rest is huge. Yeah. I love riding my motorcycle. I know, I hear it all the time. People are like, one thing I'd never do as a doctor or a nurse or a paramedic is ride a motorcycle.

And that's fine. Whatever. That's totally [00:13:00] fine. I wear protective gear. I wear a very expensive, full face helmet. I try to ride, very safely and pay attention. It 

Erik: is more dangerous than a car. Absolutely. You know that. Yes. But to you, you've got this Li Living life is this balance.

Exactly. And for you, Hey, listen if riding a motorcycle is not that big of a deal to you, then don't do it. Yeah. If you're riding just to look cool, don't ride. No. You gotta have a real good like you do, you've got this great reason. 

Matt: It's almost a spiritual thing. The art of motorcycle maintenance.

It's a book about this guy [00:13:30] who talks about this trip. That he takes with his son. It's a very famous book, what is it called again? Said The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which it doesn't. Sound's cool. But it's more about the spirituality. And a lot of people have said that is the one book that truly captures the essence of what it is to really, it's like being runners.

Yeah. Like people talk about a runner's high, yeah. And I was just talking to, my wife and I were out on the bike a couple weekends ago on a Saturday. 

Erik: And 

Matt: it was just like when the weather's nice and it's just a whole different experience when you're on a motorcycle. All the smell.

The temperature. You feel [00:14:00] all those, you're experiencing those, you feel like you're in it. Yeah. Yeah. You're not just sitting in your little bubble. They call it a cage, yeah. And yeah, especially when you're on the open road and you're not overly worried about traffic and lights and all these other things, but you're on an open road and you're not necessarily stressed out about an accident.

You're just cruising, especially when you're in another group of motorcycle. And I ride a Harley. I like Harleys. I love the way that they sound, and there is nothing cooler than a group of Harleys. And when they're all hitting about the same RPMs, same gear, same speed, and they all get rhythmically in place.

It's just a [00:14:30] cool experience. It's just something really neat. See but see what you've just described to me, you can see in your. Passion you have for riding love and that spiritual experience of that. You're not thinking about the busyness of the day. You're not thinking about, you're es you're not escaping, but you're in a place where you're being restored something.

Erik: Yeah. And we all have those things and if you are listening and you don't have one of those things, you gotta find it. Yeah. And that's an exciting thing to be empowered to do. I'm gonna take some time to figure out what my motorcycle riding thing might be for me. What's your [00:15:00] passion?

Yeah. For me it's. Playing my guitar. Yeah. I get music, I hear to the office early. Oftentimes, I like to be by myself. I play my guitar to start the day. For me, it's a spiritual experience. Yeah. When I do that and it's a time for me every day to just decompress a little bit. Yep.

And play some music. 

Matt: And it doesn't, though you talked about the rest and vacations, like it doesn't always have to be some, week long, expensive trip. It can be mini breaks, like taking a 20, 30 minute ride in your motorcycle, playing your guitar for 30 minutes, maybe working out is your. Thing. Yeah.

That's where you [00:15:30] find your passion, your peace, and so I think that to me, that's the biggest thing, especially in our jobs, our career paths is very chaotic, Uhhuh, there's a lot of stress and trauma related to it. And so finding peace. 

Erik: Yeah, I 

Matt: think within your day, finding a, whether it's getting up early in the morning or late at night, whatever it is.

Finding that, that time to just unplug Yeah. And focus on something else. Something you enjoy. Whether maybe it's a religious or spiritual thing, that's [00:16:00] another factor, but I think that's super important. It doesn't always have to be this big vacation that you take. You can do these mini breaks.

Erik: And I think part of restoration too isn't just rest in, in rest itself. The restoration is almost like this rebuilding. You've gotta have that rebuilding. And some of it could be a sense of. Purpose Yeah. In what you're doing. Some of it could be a sense of helping others in some way.

Something outside of yourself. Yes. There, there's a lot of different ways to be restored. And it's a blessing for some people where their jobs can do some of [00:16:30] these things for them too. Yep. You're, if you could find something that you're really passionate about and get paid to do it.

Really common, but you can, those are very special things. 

Matt: I think that's the fire service. I think most people, like you said about being a doctor you became a physician because at the core of it, you wanted to help people. Yeah. You wanted to help people when they were sick. And I think, I've been in interview panels and it's the, the standard question and the standard answer of what makes you want to be a firefighter and, yeah.

I wanna help people. 

Erik: Yeah. 

Matt: And sometimes we lose our way in that. But I think if [00:17:00] we always remember what is my real, why did I want to get into this? I've always had a sense of, I, I knew I wanted to be in some type of a service type job. Yeah. Just because that's the way that I'm wired, right?

Yeah. Financial gain money, things like that, business stuff, never interested me in the least bit. Yeah. But. Serving something greater than myself. My daughter right now is in Air Force basic training. And, it's hard. It's hard. It's very hard. As a parent, I have a whole new level of respect for military parents.

Yeah. It's something that you can't, it's like somebody that's lost a [00:17:30] child telling them that, you know how they feel is absolutely crazy. Like you have no idea how they feel. Yeah. You don't know how somebody feels until you've done that. Like it's different than even, I've sent one of my daughters off to college and that was hard too.

But sending your kid off to military basic training in the military is just a different thing. But she's going to do something bigger than herself. Huge purpose. Yeah. Yeah. It's got purpose behind it, and there's. Pros and cons in everything. Part about being an AmErikan too. Yes. The sense of you're serving your country duty 

Erik: and country patriotism.

Yes. [00:18:00] You're 

Matt: giving back. There's 

Erik: something pure about that. A 

Matt: hundred percent. I believe that with every core of my being. Oh yeah. My family is very, I've got a lot of military people that have, are in my family, and so I'm a huge supporter of the military and people that do that. God bless 'em, they're.

It's 

Erik: a sacrifice. It is counterintuitive, but that restoration it's that recharge. It's that thing that you do that just fills up your cup. Yes. Whatever that is. Yes. Sometimes we need sleep. We all need sleep. Yes. Yeah. To fill up that cup and to go back to HA little bit with these [00:18:30] things too. If you can't, if you're having trouble with sleep.

You got some insomnia. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Erik: That's a warning flag, right? Yeah. Like we need to, something's outta balance. We need to work on whether you need more exercise, which is counterintuitive or maybe better diet 

Matt: or 

Erik: whatever. Get off the cell phones. The blue light. The blue light stuff. Yeah. All that stuff.

We'll talk about that. But yeah, so the I think that all back, they're all connected. Yeah. They're all connected together, whether it's community team or the health metrics. Yep. Rest, which can manifest all sorts of problems that can connect everything together and then rest. Yeah. [00:19:00] And finding something where you feel recharged is just as important as the sleep.

Yep. You need, and we've talked about this before, but how essential sleep is. Just like that metric you're looking on the cockpit, right? 

Matt: Yep. Yep. How much sleep do you getting every night? How much fuel do I have in my tank? What speed am I going at? Yeah. How much sleep do you have?

It's my altitude. Yeah. How much sleep 

Erik: do you get at night, would you say? 

Matt: It's, so now my schedule has changed. I go to bed early and I usually get about seven hours. I get up really early 'cause. I have to get to work. So with my new schedule, I work four 10 hour [00:19:30] days, Monday through Thursday.

And so I get up very early, about three 30. 'cause I go to the gym first. Oh, okay. Because I've always been a morning workout guy and so I usually get home about five 30 and by the time I get home I'm tired. Like the thought of going for a walk or going to the garage is working out. And right now in Texas it's super hot.

Super hot. And I like working out in the heat, but, so I'll get up early, I'll get in a quick workout and then, get cleaned up and go to work. The 

Erik: same thing. 

Matt: Yeah. Yeah. You've always, yeah, we've both always been morning people. 

Erik: Not three 30 though. I'm four [00:20:00] 30. 

Matt: Yeah, but your schedule's different.

Three 30 is, but I also go to bed. That sounds 

Erik: so much earlier than four 30. It's certainly, four 30 and five 30 is not different. But don't talk to me at eight 30 at night. 'cause I'm 

Matt: sitting there toing off in the chair, so my daughter's yelling, laugh 

Erik: at me. But see that's my problem is I'm waking up at four 30, but I'm going to bed at 1230.

Yeah. So you're a psychopath. You're crazy. I need to do, I need to do a better job of sleep. Yeah. That's a weak point for me. I know that. I need to work on that. That's the. First half 

Matt: of the acronym. And we've done a whole series. So if you, if somebody out there wants [00:20:30] to dive deep into each one of these topics, go back in our podcast library.

We've done a full podcast on each one of these letters of this Thrive acronym. Yeah. And gone, and you've done the deep dive on it. 

Erik: And I, we were talking this morning and I thought we, I think we both agree that the health message right now is just so messed up. It's people are feeling gross.

They just feel. They just feel gross, tired, run down, no energy, 

Matt: and they feel like it's normal and they're drinking caffeine. And that's another thing, these energy drinks that, they're giving you this hit of energy, but [00:21:00] then you have the crash afterwards. And 

Erik: we're finding, we're smart.

We find ways to compensate, whether it's an energy drink or whatever, social media or working a little harder for that boat or whatever. We find ways to compensate, but none of them are really fulfilling what we, I think we have to get back to basics with our health and wellness. And look for those big pieces that are a little outta whack.

And we will feel better. And that's really the heart, I think, of what we want to talk about. Sure. We want to feel better, live longer. [00:21:30] We all have an expiration date. Nobody's gonna live forever. Yeah. But you while we're here, we all want to have energy, be happy, be at peace with what we're doing.

Matt: Have a happy family. Have a community. We all want those things. Did you know the life expectancy just 120 years ago? It was about 47 years. Yeah. Average. And a lot of it was because I'd be dead. We'd be dead. If you live this long, it's a little different because the whole average was skewed by the number of kids that died before the age of five.

Erik: Because of kids that we now have [00:22:00] vaccinations, maternal, yes. Dying during childbirth. And then with the admin, a lot of infectious diseases like appendicitis that would've killed us before. Now we treat it. So there's a lot of benefits to Western medicine. Absolutely need to appreciate and be grateful for our healthcare system.

As misguided as I think it is amazing in so many lifesaving ways. And there's a reason why our mortality rate gone down so much in our longevity. We've come from, what, 47 to about 80 now? It's pretty incredible. [00:22:30] But it's not that pretty though, when you start to remove some of these, if you remove these like a lot of the inf.

Disease things you look at, if you pull those out of our life expectancy, things really haven't been as beneficial in the last 120 years as you might think. 

Matt: Really? 

Erik: Yeah. But a lot of these chronic conditions, every people are still dying unnecessarily young. In my opinion because of diseases that have been [00:23:00] managing.

We've been managing poorly, frankly. Yeah. And this is not the best thing for people's health to just increase the meds. I think we all know that, but I don't think we do that. Yeah. It's easier to say it than it is to do it, and the healthcare system isn't gonna change in one day, but no, this philosophy of treating chronic diseases has got to change.

It's not the best thing for people. 

Matt: I also think that it's, like you said, when there's a lot of money and there's a lot of money behind the healthcare system, that makes it very hard to [00:23:30] change because you start taking money away from people that are making billions and billions of dollars. They don't want that to stop.

Erik: There's a lot of money out there and I hate to say it, but when you start to look at some of the folks who are funding some of these big companies who are making these ultra processed foods, and there's, yeah. 

Matt: You gotta question their motives. Yeah. There's a lot. 

Erik: It's just 

Matt: complicated. It's complicated.

Nothing is simple. I, but we all make our own choices. Just because they're putting the product out. That's right. It doesn't mean you have to consume it. 

Erik: It's like blaming a it's like blaming [00:24:00] a shooting on the gun. Exactly. It's, we need gun restrictions, obviously. This is Right.

Just, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun off the, but what's the bigger problem? The bigger problem. Mental health, bigger problems. 

Matt: Yeah. Whatever. Who knows 

Erik: what the answer to that problem is. And the same thing back to health and wellness. Yeah. The big problem I think is in our disease management and going from a, leaving almost a, this preventive perspective to a reaction.

Fix the disease when it's happening and manage the disease chronic, as opposed 

Matt: to prevent it from, yeah. The best way to stay healthy is to stay out of the hospital. You don't have to go to the hospital because you don't have [00:24:30] any health problems. That's right. And you do that by living a healthy lifestyle.

Erik: And again, quality of care is the finding the right answer in the least amount of time with the least amount of resources. Yeah. That's efficient. That's efficient. That's simple. It's high quality and efficient. That's right. But it doesn't cost a lot of money. It doesn't make a lot of money.

That's right. That's what I, yeah. Yeah. It's the healthcare system will generate a whole lot more money if you got a bunch of chronic users, sick people need in the healthcare system. 

Matt: Yeah. Fill 'em, give 'em jobs where they sit all day. Yeah. Don't let 'em, or don't motivate them to exercise and be [00:25:00] healthy and then feed 'em a bunch of, yeah.

Junk that's like literally poison to their bodies. 

Erik: So I'm excited for the second half. We're gonna talk about intake. Yep. We're gonna talk about vitality. Yep. And we're gonna talk about exercise. 

Matt: Alright, let's do 

Erik: it. 

Matt: Alright. So we talked about the first half of health and wellness. Your health and wellness acronym.

Thrive. 

Erik: Yeah. Yeah. What? And I think that. They're all connected, we just divided it up in half. So the team Yep. Or community. Yep. Health metrics, watching those gauges on the, in the [00:25:30] cockpit. Yep. We've got a lot of gauges to monitor and a lot of people just don't even think about it.

No. Until it's something happens. Or leave it to the doctor. Yeah. Don't do that. Take control of some of your healthcare, some of the stuff. You're not trained to know, but and taking ownership of them is good for your health. And then finally, we've talked a little bit about the rest restoration, just recharge.

What do you do to recharge? Yeah. I loved hearing you talk about your motorcycles Yeah. And your music. Yeah. Yeah. Those are things that we do and everybody should have that thing. But we're gonna move into the second half [00:26:00] now. The I intake. Yep. I've told this story many times before, but I'll say it again 'cause I think it's a great story.

First time I mowed the lawn, I put paint thinner into the lawnmower, destroyed it. My dad was so mad at me. The paint thinner can looked just like the Yeah, the gas thing. 

Matt: Yeah. Can, and 

Erik: I destroyed it. We had to buy a new lawnmower and my dad was mad, we're doing that now. It's like everybody knows it's not healthy to.

To eat Polonium 2 43 or whatever, right? It's the most deadly [00:26:30] poison known man. Remember the lecture we did one time? Yeah. Or strick nine. You know these are poisons, right? Yep. We know that water's good for us. We're both drinking water. It's not coffee. This is water in here. H two L, right?

That our body needs it. 60% of our bodies are made of water. The stuff that we put into our bodies is whether it's what we're eating, what we're breathing, what we're lotions, we're putting on our skin, the large largest organ of the body. These chemicals, these things [00:27:00] that we ingest, the intake have a huge impact on our health.

And I think we're learning more and more about how. Important. What we put into our body is on our total health and wellness. And that's why the eye, the intake is so important. Everything's connected, but again, the eye is one of those big ones that's really misunderstood. A lot of people think if I eat vegan, then I'll be more healthy.

Or, I wish I could eat vegan. Actually, if you eat Oreos and oh man, you're stepping in it now. Yeah it's it's not. About [00:27:30] the philosophy you eat. They have literally have things called kangs. They only eat kangaroo, 

Matt: pescatarians, kangs.

There's 

Erik: all sorts of eating styles out there. To me, when I speak on this I like to say, th I'm a. Authoritarian. I want to eat in a way where I will thrive as much as possible. And the Greek fallow is thrive or grow. And so to me, all of us want to eat that optimal fuel, that intake. That's what our body's wanting.

Matt: Yeah. 

Erik: I have friends who [00:28:00] are a carnivores, the carnivore diet. And they said, I never felt better. All my numbers are, all my health metrics are getting better. I've never slept this well. I've never had this much energy. You know what, you're not eating chemicals. Yeah. Good job. Same thing 

Matt: with vegans.

Erik: That's exactly, yeah. Same thing. You can say the same thing. Yes. I have a vegan friend of mine who's, when I'm ordering the egg McMuffin, he's got his jar with his, overnight oats in it and Yeah. And then we go over for dinner, he's having a quinoa salad while I eat my steak and Yeah.

And you're thinking to yourself, wow, this guy's really healthy. 

Matt: [00:28:30] Yeah. 

Erik: And he probably is. And he probably is. Yeah. If he really eats a plant-based diet, that's a healthy way to eat because you're not. Getting all the chemicals, processed foods. Yeah. I think there are 10,000 harm known harmful chemicals in our food supply that have been that have been approved to be in our food supply. Yeah. And most other 

Matt: countries are banned. 

Erik: Yeah. Many of them are. Yeah. Yeah. I think, and I love what. What RFK is doing with cleaning up the food supply. But what we put into our bodies has a huge impact on all of these pillars of health that we've been talking about.

There's a lot [00:29:00] about the gut biome and how the what we eat actually has a lot to do with our mental health. These, some of these toxins released by these bacteria that can overrun our system if we're eating a lot of processed foods, can actually increase our risk for depression and anxiety and have that.

That bad, that poor mood. And like we talked about before, a lot of these side effects of poor health and wellness, a lot of this stuff, when we're not monitoring those health metrics that we should be monitoring, we just accept it as normal. [00:29:30] Yeah. Yeah. I'm just a melancholy person or Yeah.

Yeah. I just. I've always struggled with my sleep. Actually, you may not have to. Yeah, exactly. And I think a lot of this is connected to the food we eat. It's not all about the food we eat, but it's a huge factor. 

Matt: Yep. Yeah, you could have a, you could have a really expensive sports car. That's meant to run and rev and do all the cool things.

And if you put crappy fuel in it, guess what? It's not gonna perform and it's optimal and it's probably gonna break down eventually. 

Erik: I love what you just said. Think about it, Matt, [00:30:00] if I you just bought a new truck. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Erik: You're probably not gonna miss an oil change. No. I didn't do that anyway, but, this is, you know what I'm trying to say? Yes. You have a million dollar sports car in your garage. I don't but if you did, but if I did, how much more valuable are you than a million dollar sports car? Exactly. And 

Matt: people need to think about that. 

Erik: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. That's what we're talking about here.

Yes. Do the right things to take care of our bodies, to feel the way we want to feel. You're feeling sluggish and tired and stressed and anxious, not you're getting a few [00:30:30] extra pounds around your gut. You got, yeah. You may not need 

Matt: to live with that stuff. Just take control of your health.

And I think a lot of times it's a bad cycle because they have all those things that you just said and then it's oh I could just, let's just go out to dinner. That'll make me feel better. Let's go out and have dinner, and then they go out and they eat a crummy dinner and have some drinks with dinner.

Because it's oh, that'll make me feel better right now. Yep. It's that instant gratification that we talked about earlier, right? Yeah. Or social media. I'll just get on social media, or I'll just take an whatever it is. Yeah. And [00:31:00] that's part of the vicious cycle, as opposed to if you're disciplined.

And you don't eat that garbage or watch that garbage. 'Cause intake is more than, like you said, more than just what you put in your mouth. Yeah. It's what you're viewing as well. That's right. That is a huge impact on your mental health. Which, as we just said, has a huge impact on your physical health.

Oh, yeah. So watching things that you know, you shouldn't be watching or being a part of things that you shouldn't be a part of. That all is intake. 

Erik: The yeah. You've hit it on it. Two. You are so right, Matt. It's [00:31:30] not just the intake for food, pornography is destroying relationships.

We spend more in the pornographic industry, I think, than all the professional sports combined or something like that. Some ridiculous number. Yeah. And no one's talking about it. That's something that really can erode your own relationships and, if you wanna sabotage your marriage, 

Matt: I recently there was.

It's when you, if on social media, you get on and people are so motived to have this big platform. Yeah. And to have lots of [00:32:00] followers and all these things. And then like there, you can watch the downfall of these people. If you make one mistake, boy the tide will quickly turn against you and then everybody's attacking you.

You like we're so just waiting for the next person to fall so that we can just jump on and attack 'em. Yeah. And it's like people talk about building each other up and doing all these things. And there's certainly people that do that, and maybe it's a lot more people than we think. They're just not as vocal as the Yeah.

The squeaky wheel theory kind of thing. 

Erik: Yeah. 

Matt: But yeah, social media is just another one. Yeah. [00:32:30] I'm not saying that it's, the devil necessarily, but it's. Everything in proportion and everything. If it's not doing you good things, then maybe you ought to think about doing something else.

Erik: I think there's a balance and I think a balance, you've talked about it a lot. Whether you're eating food, not overeating is a good thing to, eat a sensible amount of food. 

Matt: Yeah. And if you tell me I'm never eating tacos again, we're gonna go, it's gonna be, we're throwing pants.

Erik: We all have those types of foods, right? Yes. And we should be able to eat those things. Absolutely. There's nothing saying here that you can't have a piece of pizza or a [00:33:00] hamburger. Saying that you can't do that, but if that's all you're eating. Yeah. I had a patient once, I asked her what her son's favorite vegetable was to get an idea of where their health was as far as nutrition.

And she said, corn dogs, I knew I was dealing with. We had some education we needed, but. Corn dogs. But it's again, I think here's a philosophy. You could take this to the bank. Let's talk about the big rocks here. Yeah. As far as intake goes, if you're eating a non-processed foods, like natural foods, whether it's [00:33:30] grass fed top sirloin.

Yep. Or, free 

Matt: range chicken. 

Erik: Free range chicken or quinoa or food of the vegetables, pesticide free stuff. You can organic whatever, 

Matt: antibiotic free. Yeah. 

Erik: If we're avoiding. The middle aisles of the, that's the grocery store and do most of our shopping along the walls. Yes, we're gonna be in a good spot.

And that's just a big easy way to improve our health. Simple too. Eat less cereal. Eat more oatmeal. Yeah. Eat less chips. I'm not saying half [00:34:00] eat more ve. Yeah. And for me to just sit up here and say, eat more fruits and veggies. That's archaic. I'm we know that what I'm saying here is eat the natural foods.

Yeah. Avoid a. All these processed foods that have been introduced into our food supply. Now listen, the food companies are only making what we want. Of course. 'cause it's money. We've gotta, and you have money, like you said, make the choice for yourself and for your family and eat healthy. Yeah, that's a big part.

And that's really what intake is. Now we could talk about, some of the chemicals we put in our shampoos and [00:34:30] lotions and sunscreens and stuff, and there's certain chemicals to avoid. Smoking, obviously breathing in, and smoking is not good. Chewing vaping. Another huge thing, and I, people 

Matt: think, oh, it's not a cigarette.

Like it's not a cigarette, but it's got 

Erik: a whole other slew of problems. Exactly. 

Matt: Chemicals. Yeah. 

Erik: So really being mindful of all of the things that we put into our bodies. 

Matt: Another good way to think about it. I've heard the grocery store aisles, but I've also heard if you can't grow it or raise it, then you shouldn't be putting it in your body.

Huh? Yeah, that's, [00:35:00] just in a simple way not saying that you gotta go be a cattle farmer or, have your own. Vegetable garden, 'cause some people can't do that. But if it can't be grown or raised, yeah, then it's probably not good for you 

Erik: to add to this. I know we're gonna get to our next letter here momentarily, but it's more than, it's more than just doing this now.

It's not don't just all of a sudden just say, you know what, screw it. I'm going plant-based. I'm never eating meat again. That's what we tend to do. Oh yeah. As AmErikans. And especially I think, [00:35:30] I think as men. We tend to just want to conquer the mountain right away. I know that's how it sometimes is.

Not always obviously, but we as humans tend to do that. And I think for us here today, I think as far as each of these letters goes and intake is no exception. Think of one thing you can do. For me, it was just stop and sodas. And I introduced there, it's like a sparkling water called Topo Chico.

I, I started and I we're not funded by Topo Chico. I'm just. That's what I did. We're [00:36:00] we would welcome to be funded by you. Sure would be. No, but it's, it was a healthy alternative. Sure. I knew it was better for me to have sparkling water instead of sparkling phosphoric acid with a bunch of corn syrup.

Artificial flavors and chemicals and that's just not good for me. Yeah. And I knew that. And I love my diet Coke. Yeah. I love my diet Pepsi. I love the diet Dr. Pepper. I love your Diet Coke story. 

Matt: We won't tell that, right? 

Erik: No. 

Matt: Terrible story. Yeah that's a great point. One simple change, right?

Small thing. You don't have to like, okay, [00:36:30] starting tomorrow I'm gonna work out every day and I'm only going to eat, vegan. Okay, that's probably not gonna succeed. How about we say, you know what? I'm gonna focus on reducing my sugar intake, right? I'm gonna try to cut out sugar, or I'm gonna try to cut out chips, right?

I'm not gonna eat chips anymore and start with one thing. Or you know what? Every day I'm gonna get in 10,000 steps, or every day I'm gonna spend 30. It's doing some form of exercise. Yeah. Whatever it is. Doesn't matter. Find something. Can I just before you go on yeah. No, we're good. When it comes to exercise.

Yeah. I was just gonna [00:37:00] say find something that you like to do. Yes. If you like lifting weights, then go lift weights. Yeah. If you like walking or rucking right now. I recently just got a rucking, like rucksack. It's a military. Okay. Like they call it like if you wear a big heavy backpack. Oh yeah.

And they go on a ruck 

Erik: march. 

Matt: So rucking, there's go ruck as a company that is just. People with weighted vests. I just bought a pack, a backpack, a weighted pack. That's become a thing. People like, we're gonna go ruck 50 miles this month, or whatever. You keep tracking miles, right?

And you enjoy it and people like it. Yeah. So [00:37:30] do that or running or cycling or that's exactly what we're saying here. Yes, you're right. Find something. Find something. 

Erik: If you love potato chips and you know they're not good for you, find something you really enjoy that could replace this potato alternative chip that's more healthy alterna.

Instead of eating those Doritos, maybe I'm gonna Doritos, I'm gonna do a baked. Yeah they got lots of alternatives that are healthy 

Matt: now. They're making all these protein things too, which I don't know how good those are. 'cause there's a lot of chemicals. 

Erik: They're ultra processed, lots of chemicals.

Yes. You know what? Find something with fewer ingredients on it. Yeah. Really look at, [00:38:00] it's not just the calories. A lot of it is just the ingredients. The ingredients here is potatoes oil and salt and pepper or something like that. That's more healthy than these ultra processed Doritos with all these chemicals in.

Yeah, 

Matt: exactly. I heard that this, the other day was a funny thing. I literally just heard this. Calories, is the amount of calories ingested? I'm not saying it perfectly tells you what you're going to weigh. And the macros tells you where you're gonna put that weight. Ah. I was like, oh, that's a neat way that, [00:38:30] because the macros is another big thing that people are looking at your carbs, your fats, your proteins, like having those in proportion. And based off. If you're an endurance athlete, if you're doing triathlons, you probably are gonna have a higher level of carbohydrates in your diet than somebody that's absolutely, lifting or wanting to put on weight.

They're gonna have higher proteins. So not to get off on that thought 

Erik: thing that that is a big part of intake though. And I think there's a graded sort of a, the first time you may have heard me talk, like I was talking to one of our firefighters in our community. He heard that talk and he says, Hey Doc, I just [00:39:00] wanted you to know I stopped drinking sodas.

I'm doing topo Chicos now. There 

Matt: you go. 

Erik: The second time you hear it, you might add something else, stopped eating potato chips that I was eating. I don't do those anymore. Now I'm doing the, some veggie deal with fewer ingredients. Whatever these little things that you can implement into your life and make it a lifelong habit Yes.

Are things that you're gonna now, if you're not all have a diet Coke, every now and then I'll enjoy a nice Dorito, whatever, but more often than not, the daily routine that I have is more healthy. And you gotta make micro decisions. Yep. And when you [00:39:30] make one micro decision, it's easier to stack another one on top of it and you start to feel.

Successful. Yeah. And I think the other thing to say before we leave intake, because we're about to go into vitality and mental health. But when you do fall off the wagon and you, it's okay, it's been a couple days and you had a bunch of ice cream and you've been eating like crap.

Matt: Yeah. 

Erik: Don't stay off the wagon. Get back on the wagon. Okay. It's really the long game we're playing for, it's the long term. It's kinda 

Matt: like the stock market. If you're in a day trade, you better know what you're doing. You better be paying [00:40:00] attention because if you're just throwing money at things.

You're probably gonna lose. Yeah. Where if you're long-term investing and you're like, okay, every month I'm gonna be disciplined, I'm gonna put this much money into this account, and it's gonna go up and it's gonna go down. But in the long run, after 20, 30 years, I'm gonna have an nest egg. I'm gonna be healthy.

I'm gonna financially be healthy because I played the long game. And the long game is avoiding processed foods, eat natural foods for now. That's a good first step, right? Yep. Find a way that you can do that as you get more refined and start [00:40:30] counting the macros and monitor. Micronutrients. Yeah. And you start to get into some of the nuancey stuff where you're tweaking it a little bit.

Erik: There may be some benefits in those things, but for now, I think you gotta get there. Yeah. Just avoiding processed foods is a big thing. Yes. Don't smoke. Yep. Those big things, I think. Yeah. But all of these play into our brain, the mental health, the v, their vitality, our mental health.

Having that contentment and the peace of being happy with who you are. Big part, feeling known back to community. [00:41:00] That that connection that we have with other people is, plays a big part in how we connect with ourselves and feel about ourselves, and that's a really big part of our health.

Matt: Yep. 

Erik: Pessimism, for example, has been shown to really have detrimental effects on our physical health. The way we see the world, the. Optimism that we can choose to see the world in different ways. Yes. That attitude that we have is a big part of mental health. But just like we talked about with the health metrics, being aware of the fact that, you know what?

I'm in a bad spot right now. I [00:41:30] am really depressed. In fact, I'm having thoughts of suicide. Yeah. These are red flags. You need to get some help. Yes. And get yourself. Back on the right path. From a mental perspective, you may be in a place where you have to have a professional to help you out. Yes.

Just to get you to a place where you can see things in perspective that's rational. That's hard to do sometimes. 

Matt: Yeah. When you're in that hole. And a lot of people don't sympathize with people, obviously I've run on numerous suicides, unfortunately, in my career, [00:42:00] and, there's a saying that I'm sure most people have heard, but you know that's a, it's a permanent solution to temporary problem.

Like I think back when I was in sixth grade, we had a kid in my class that committed suicide. And at 12 years old, it's what in the world could be so terrible at 12 years old that you commit suicide, and at any age it doesn't. 12, 30, 50, whatever. Yeah. You look back at, now we our age.

You look back like 12 years old, like those aren't even, but [00:42:30] in that moment, when you're in that hole, oh yeah. And so I'm just saying to encourage people that if you're in that hole, there's plenty of resource, especially if you're a first responder of any kind. There's lots of resources, there's lots of ways to get help.

There's people that want to help you. Yeah. Just reach out and ask for that help, like before you take, because you're gonna. Exit and then everybody that you ever cared about or loved is gonna be left behind suffering and dealing with that for the rest of their life. And so think about it from that aspect, 

Erik: but that's the danger of [00:43:00] adolescent suicide is that these 12 year olds and what's going on in life they don't have the emotional ability even.

Yeah. 

Matt: They're 

Erik: comprehend their brainly formed, they don't know how 

Matt: to. Deal with it. 

Erik: Yeah. I had a counselor once tell me it's like being at nine 11. Yeah. You're in a building, you're in a room, it's burning. There's only one way out. Jump two ways out the window. 

Matt: Yeah. You either burn or you jump.

And I, that's, 

Erik: yeah. And so I think that when you're young and you don't have the ability to process these things, that's why it's so sad. To your point, a [00:43:30] 12-year-old is so much life ahead of them. Oh yeah. So 

Matt: much. They have no idea. 

Erik: No. And, but again, but when you're in it, whether it's abuse of some kind or who knows what they're dealing with, that 12 year old's dealing with they don't have the emotional capability to even understand it or even make it compute.

Just compute. You think this is 

Matt: never gonna stop. It's like you're in 

Erik: a burning building and there's only one option. You jump out the window 'cause the. Room is on fire. Yeah. And and I will, that's that's the way we feel sometimes. Yeah, for sure. So I think that when somebody feels like they're in [00:44:00] that spot or that's the only option.

Matt: Yeah. 

Erik: Remember, it's not the only option. It is not the only Get some help. Get some help. Yes. It's this never just those two options, but it may be hard to see it and you may be that friend who can help them navigate it and find it. So some of the warning signs for really bad mental health would be like a man, Matt.

He's to enjoy hiking with us now. He's totally not into it anymore and he's late to work all the time. That's not the mad I know, right? Add a character flag to me. Yeah. 

Matt: That would be a red flag. Matt start showing up [00:44:30] late 

Erik: or that guy that. Said the firehouse or girl, that's typically, the leading the trainings and now she's cutting or he's cutting corners and it's not, there's something wrong with Matt what's going on.

Yeah. 

Matt: Or they've been depressed for a long time, like they've been down in the dumps and then all of a sudden you see this spike. And now they're happy, or they're like, Hey, you know what? I figured I, I'm tired of riding this motorcycle. I'm gonna give you my bike.

That's, I'm gonna give you my Harley, I want you to have it. That's a big warning sign. Like you love riding motorcycles. I know why in the world those are warning signs. I think a [00:45:00] lot of people have been educated on those. But yeah it's important to pay attention to those things, especially in the fire service.

We're we live, besides our families, they, yeah. People in the fire service. We know each other like brothers and sisters. And you're gonna be really. Prone to seeing those changes in behavior and just like you said man, they're not acting right. That's not, and maybe it's one day they have an off day.

We all have off days. But when you're seeing like, it's been a week, two, three weeks, and Erik's just not acting right. Hey man, are you good? Yeah. Ask the question. Yeah. Are you good? Hey, you [00:45:30] can talk to me like we're good. If you need something like, I'm here for you, and what's the standard?

I'm fine. I'm fine. Sometimes you have to push. 

Erik: Isolation is so dangerous in these situations. Yes. That's why community is so important to have someone that's you can talk to. Yeah. Somebody you can go to. If you don't have that type of person in your life, you're too busy and you haven't have it. You need to find it.

Yep. 

Matt: And a lot of times, people, firemen, first responders especially, don't want to talk to counselors and stuff. But they'll talk to one of us. Yeah. One-on-one yeah man, I'm just not doing good and Okay, tell me what's going on. So be that [00:46:00] person. 

Erik: Yeah. Mental health is huge.

Vitality in the last. Letter is e. S exercise or exertion, one of our favorites. We're built to move. We are built to move. And it doesn't mean you have to be a power lifter or a CrossFit guru. Yeah, marathon runner. Yeah. You said it earlier. Say it again. Rucking. Is that your thing? Do it. Have fun? Yeah. 

Matt: Go find something that you like.

Yoga, Pilates, backpack. Swimming, kayaking, backpacking, bicycling, mountain biking, power lifting, bodybuilding. Doesn't matter. Go find something that you [00:46:30] enjoy 

Erik: even, and I'll say this too is that even if you don't enjoy it right now, you've gotta do it. Yeah. It might just be walking and recommendations now.

If you could every day get 10,000 steps. Yep. The health benefits are huge and there aren't many things that we can endeavor to do that are all cause mortality benefits. Yes. In the research world in medicine, that's a huge deal. Yeah. Exercise has benefits. All across the board. Yep. And if you are not doing anything right now, get up and do something.

Active. Move dude. 

Matt: Just start, [00:47:00] like you said, it doesn't with do with intake. Start with one thing. Just say, you know what, I'm gonna go walk for 30 minutes every day. Okay. Start there. Yeah, make that a habit. Make that part of your day, part of your lifestyle. And then after 30 days, guess what? Oh, this is just what I do now, right?

And then you say, you know what? I think I might start running. Yeah. I feel this feels good. I might, and you're, I guarantee you, once you start doing that, you, and then you start seeing the physical changes wow. I'm actually eating a little bit better and I've just cut out two things and I've been walking, I lost five pounds in the [00:47:30] last.

Erik: Two months. Have you ever regretted going to the gym or have you ever regretted? Actually, no. No, never. It's always good. Yes. Have you ever regretted not going 

Matt: Oh, every time. Every time. Yeah, exactly. 

Erik: Every time. So there aren't many things with such an obvious benefit, but unfortunately we have a default setting to be a little bit lazy.

Yep. And. Yep. But we gotta push against that. Really. Every day we should be doing exercise the recommendation's at 150 minutes. Yep. A week. That's about 30 minutes. Five times a day. Yep. And that's definitely doable. Moderate. Five times a day. Five [00:48:00] times a week. Moderate five times a week. I'm like, dang, that's a lot.

That's overkill. You can do too much. Yes you can. Yes. And easy on your body it needs. Yeah. Yeah. It's all balance, I think. You don't have much time left. I think the big thing we're talking about today is that the, our health and wellness is complicated. It is. And don't lose sight of the importance of community.

Yep. If you're gonna. Do something to invest in your health. Go reconnect with some old friends, really. Or make some 

Matt: new friends. Make some new friends get out and whether you find something that you enjoy, a [00:48:30] hobby that you enjoy. Maybe you can combine exercise like my daughters are both big into physical fitness.

And so that is also their community. I know CrossFit, that's why CrossFit has become so popular, is because not only are you getting healthier Yeah. And you're exercising, but you've also built this community. Yeah. And so you've knocked out two of the things on our list Yeah. That are super important.

Erik: I wish I could remember the quote. From Woodrow in McCall when they're talking on the porch of their house out in lone lonesome dove. Yeah. 

Matt: Which part? 

Erik: Viva. Oh yeah. Fit or [00:49:00] something? Viva Huge. They're talking about that Latin on there. On that. Yeah. That sign. 

Matt: A Vito Veritas. Yeah. Whatever it is.

Yeah. Or no, that's from Tombstone, I think. 

Erik: Yeah. Yeah. But the Latin phrase there is so cool. They don't really talk about what it means. But what it means though is. That the grapes take on the characteristics of the other grapes to hang out with. There you go. And that was the theme of that, that mini series.

If you haven't seen, it's amazing. You should see it. But the point is, I've seen it, is that when you hang out with a group of people that are like-minded Yeah. It's synergistic and you start to enjoy the things that you're sharing [00:49:30] together you hold each other accountable for some of the health metrics.

Yep. Now you're, because of the exercise, your mental health is improving. 

Matt: Yep. You said before, you've said this before, that you and our film guy Devin. Yeah. Yeah. That when you. Have an accountability partner to get healthy. Yeah. Isn't your chance of success like 90%? 90? 

Erik: Yeah. When you have a plan and accountability the success rate is 90 plus percent.

Yeah. You just say, I'm gonna do something. It's 10%. Yeah. So really building in the community into whatever health change you're trying to make is huge. So [00:50:00] important. Yeah. So that's the team stuff. The community is super important. Health, we 

Matt: talked about overall health, watching the gauges 

Erik: resting.

Yep. 

Matt: Resting, charging. Find 

Erik: that thing you enjoy, which maybe it's exercise too. Find your 

Matt: pe. Yeah, exactly. Find your peace. Yep. Find something that gives, brings you some peace and happiness. 

Erik: Avoid processed foods. Simple, huge benefit to all of these pillars if you just avoid the poisons. Avoid the processed foods.

Not saying 

Matt: don't, you can't ever not eat a Dorito again or ice cream again, but limit. Now it's become the bulk of our diet. Yeah. Make it [00:50:30] much less 

Erik: and value your mental health. You've gotta be content and you. You are who you are. I don't strive to be something you're not. 

Matt: Don't compare yourself.

Comparison's. A thief of joy. Yeah. Do not compare yourself to somebody else. 

Erik: And I would be you and I would say if you're struggling with mental health, go exercise, which is the e for sure. Just as effective as antidepressants. There 

Matt: is. There's proof that if you're in a bad mood, you're at the house, you're in a bad mood, maybe you're fighting with your wife or whatever, go outside and take a walk.

Like being outside and. Moving will definitely will 100% [00:51:00] improve your mood. And the last thing 

Erik: I'll say as far as mental health goes is if you're feeling thoughts of depression, where you're getting to the point of thinking about suicide, you get the help. Some professional help don't try to go that alone.

Yeah. Isolation is not the answer. Yeah. You need the community of an expert in the field, a professional who can help you navigate through it and get to a place where you can start to think rationally again. Yep. You may need some medications temporarily. Yep. It's not a life sentence 

Matt: just 

Erik: to get you over a hump.

Exactly. 

Matt: And if you're a firefighter, use your EAP. I know most cities in [00:51:30] our area, they have employee assistance programs where that can be free Most of the time you can get counseling things for free. So a lot of people worried I can't afford to go to a counselor. If you're a first responder, you probably have free resources available to you that you don't know about.

Ask some people in your department or your agency and they could probably help you get to those resources, get help. So yeah, help just get some help. It's a good one to end on. Yeah, for sure. We're about cut off, so see you in the next one. Be safe out.

Narrator: Thank you for listening [00:52:00] to EMS, the Erik and Matt Show.