Triumph Over Cancer: Fitz Kohler's Inspiring Journey to Health and Fitness

Discover the incredible journey of Fitz Kohler, the founder of Fitzness, as she shares her harrowing yet inspiring battle with breast cancer. Imagine discovering a lump just six weeks after a clean mammogram—Fitz takes us through that shocking moment and the 15 months of aggressive treatment that followed, including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Now, celebrating five years cancer-free, Fitz opens up about her work as a keynote speaker and dynamic race announcer, turning her personal challenges into a beacon of hope and inspiration for others navigating similar battles.

Gain valuable insights into the critical role that exercise and nutrition play for cancer patients, as Fitz breaks down complex medical advice into manageable steps that anyone can follow. Learn how to improve remission chances and reduce recurrence through balanced diets and regular physical activity, while also exploring complementary care options like massage, meditation, and sexual health counseling. Fitz also introduces us to her impactful books, "Your Healthy Cancer Comeback: Sick to Strong," "My Noisy Cancer Comeback: Running to Strong," and "The Healthy Cancer Comeback Journal," which have become essential resources for patients aiming to regain their strength and spirit.

Shift gears towards sustainable weight loss and fitness strategies, emphasizing personal accountability and the importance of setting a good example for your family. From calculating your daily caloric budget to embracing the four pillars of fitness—cardio-respiratory, strength, flexibility, and balance—Fitz provides actionable steps for meaningful health improvements. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Cancer Survivor Shares Stories of Triumph
• 15:20 Healthy Cancer Comeback
• 25:06 Effective Weight Loss Formula Explanation
• 28:22 Committing to Health and Fitness
• 35:31 Four Pillars of Fitness
• 41:56 Weight Loss Journey Begins With Accountability
• 53:24 Show Schedule Update for Patrick Bass

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Okay, cue everybody. We're going live in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And now live from Fort Smith, arkansas. This is a Planet Wide Broadcast courtesy of the World Wide Web and affiliate radio stations across the globe. It's the Patrick Bass Show with your host, Patrick.

Speaker 3: 0:23

Bass Patrick Bass. Show with your host, patrick Bass.

Speaker 1: 0:26

All right, welcome to the program. It's Wednesday, july 29th. Thanks for joining the Patrick Bass Show, so incredibly happy that you're here with us on this voyage that we're taking together into the unknown. As always, we've got a great show, great guests lined up for you. Today We'll be talking to Fitzz kohler, who is a founder of fitsness. Uh, I want to remind you about our facebook page. Just go to facebookcom. Slash real patrick bass.

Speaker 1: 0:53

As always, we're trying to get the number of likes that mark zuckerberg requires so that we can go live on his platform. Uh, he's got a pretty high bar to set and we're chipping away at it, but we'd really it if you could go there and like it. Call in number today for the show. If you've got a question for me or for Fitz, just give us a call. The number is 855-605-8255. That toll-free number is 855-605-TALK and we'd be happy to take your call. We've also got a new feature on our website called Get a Shout Out, and, yes, this is our veiled attempt to monetize the show. You can support the show for three bucks. We'll give you a shout out and we sure would appreciate that to buy a coffee or something. Actually, go to equipment, I'm quite sure. Anyway, we'll get all into that right after this quick break, and after we pay a couple of bills we'll be right back.

Speaker 4: 1:46

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Speaker 3: 2:29

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Speaker 4: 3:00

In your face, unfiltered and raw.

Speaker 1: 3:10

We're back to it on the Patrick Bass Show. Welcome back to the show. As I mentioned, we've got another incredible guest lined up for you today and I'm so happy that she decided to be on our program and be with us here today. Fitz is the founder of Fitznesscom. She's a renowned keynote speaker and she's written three different books about fighting and coming back from cancer and she's going to tell us all about it. I understand she's also a dynamic race announcer, so we'll have to figure out what that is all about. Fitz, so nice to have you on this program, welcome.

Speaker 2: 3:44

Spectacular to be here. Patrick, Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Tell us about you. I want to find out. I'm sure we'll get into this race announcer thing, but more to the point, you've got a pretty incredible story of beating cancer, writing three books about it.

Speaker 2: 4:18

Tell us about that. Walk in the walk, as I should. Right, when you know better, you do better. Right, and in 2019, yeah, february 2019, six weeks after a sparkling clean mammogram, I got out of the shower and I rubbed my underboob because I had an itch and I found what the doctors called a grape-sized lump. And again, six weeks after a clean mammogram, they didn't miss anything. There was nothing there and instantly called the doc. Within a week, I had had an appointment with the doctor that led to the mammogram, then the ultrasound, then the punch biopsy and that phone call where the doctor had said hey, fitz, I'm so sorry, but you do indeed have breast cancer. It's already spread through your lymph nodes, it's running through you like wildfire and we need to treat you urgently and aggressively. And so they did. I ended up with 15 solid months of chemotherapy, which is a really, really long time to have chemo Wow, along with 33 rounds of radiation and some surgery. And actually, you know what's so interesting is tomorrow is my five year anniversary of being in remission.

Speaker 1: 5:30

Hey, congratulations Five years tomorrow.

Speaker 2: 5:32

Yeah, yeah, and so I. I. It almost passed me by, I can't, you know. Something just pointed me towards the date today and I thought huh, July 30th, when is that? And that's tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 5:45

So all right, five year anniversary. That's awesome, god. Um well, first, I'm sorry you went through all that, but I'm so happy that you're five years free of this.

Speaker 2: 6:00

Yeah, I am, I am. I'm really only about four years out of treatment, but five years cancer free. And so, as of tomorrow, I'm officially out of this kind of rough and tough neck of the woods where you're more likely to have a recurrence. So you know, free at last. Free at last. But most importantly is you know I was. I was handed these really rotten lemons. You know the worst lemons or some of the worst lemons you can get.

Speaker 2: 6:23

And because of my expertise and my experience and my my real passion for helping other people, I was able to combine those things and create the healthy cancer comeback series. And so three different books that are helping so many cancer patients and survivors live better and longer by weaponizing exercise and nutrition. And you know cancer centers order these books and oncologists recommend them, and you know I love that. I've been able to turn my little nightmare into something good.

Speaker 1: 6:52

And we're thankful for it. Fitz, you mentioned that you're kind of noisy and bossy. I think those qualities served you well during this process. What do you think?

Speaker 2: 7:03

those qualities served you well during this process. What do you think? Absolutely, you know it's stubbornness, stubbornness, my, we could say it's both my greatest asset and my greatest curse. But I chose, I made great choices before I started treatment. I mean, sure, I had cancer, I didn't like that, um, but made a few big decisions that made everything better for me at that moment and then in the future, that future me really appreciates the cool girl who made all those good decisions. So, yeah, I mean I'm not going to go down easily, that's for sure.

Speaker 1: 7:37

That's what I always said If I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down fighting. I was telling my wife one time I guess there had been like a lot of violence going on in in the city we were living in and and we were out in the public and I said if, if something happens, you grab a hold of the back of my belt and you don't let go, because there's one thing I'm we're gonna make it out, and that's that's always been my mindset. I'm gonna make it out and and that's kind of how I approach life Sounds like, uh, sounds like that's how you do too.

Speaker 2: 8:07

Um, yeah, yeah, Very scrappy, very scrappy, and then, um, I think, thoughtful, you gotta have it, you gotta put your your thinking cap on and navigate Right.

Speaker 1: 8:16

So if, if I'm listening to this program and I just found out I've got some kind of cancer, or somebody I love has got some kind of cancer, having been through this and having come out the other side of it, what kind of advice would you give to someone?

Speaker 2: 8:29

Okay. So I've got a handful and I'll keep them short. They're bullets. Number one is maintain perspective. So that why me mentality is never going to get you anywhere effect. So think about it. There are babies in the hospital with cancer. Those babies did nothing to earn cancer. And then you know there's children. So, whatever, how lucky, how fortunate to be a grownup with cancer, and I always felt so grateful it wasn't my kids with cancer. You know, if I, if cancer was coming for anyone in my home, I'm so glad it was me. So perspective was number one. Um, your passions, they matter every day, not just on the good days.

Speaker 2: 9:03

And so for me I made the deliberate decision, before they put one drop of chemo in me, that I was not letting time go with my kids or my career. So if Ginger and Parker had a show, a ceremony, a sporting event, come hell or high water, I was going to be there and I was. And, mind you, I was violently ill for a very long time. I was that prototypical stomach exploding cancer patient for 15 months. So it wasn't easy. I people might think, oh, she talks a big game, she doesn't really get it. No, I had it all. I did the treatment triathlon. But I also decided that I was not letting cancer steal my career. And so my career requires me to get on an airplane most weekends of the year and go host these magnificent, massive running and sporting events. And the beauty of that is that, no matter how sick I was, even when I slept on those whole two bathroom floors, once my alarm went off and I get dressed and drag myself over to my stage. The second I stepped onto my stages, absolutely everything was wrong with me disappeared. I wasn't sick, I wasn't suffering, I wasn't tired, it was just I got to be full force Fitz Kohler again.

Speaker 2: 10:07

And so, whoever you are, whatever you're going through, you must keep those passions involved in your life, whether it's sports or music or art or gardening, I don't care. Do not let any of these illness or illnesses or injuries take you away from your passions, because if you do, things get really, really bad. And then exercise and nutrition. It's funny People are like, oh, that's just for people who want to be marathon runners. That's absurd.

Speaker 2: 10:38

Exercise and nutrition matters to everyone every single day, but when you get sick, usually once hardship strikes and this is this, is we talk keynotes, this is what I talk a lot about it, because people you know whether their house burns down or they're going through a divorce or financial crisis, or they're having a health issue within their family they let the most vital thing go. They stop exercising, they, they eat whatever garbage you can get their hands on. They drink to ease the pain, right, and then things get worse. Things get way, way worse, and so what I want to encourage people to do is know that if your house burns down, you've got every reason to cry. But go for a walk around the block while you're boohooing, okay. Just sitting there eating garbage, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes isn't going to make anything better. In fact, it's going to cumulatively make everything in your life much worse. So, um, so yeah, those were my, my big big decisions perspective, passions, exercise, nutrition, and I'm better than I was before cancer.

Speaker 1: 11:43

You are scrappy.

Speaker 2: 11:45

Yeah, super scrappy.

Speaker 1: 11:51

That is incredible, the amount of mental focus it must have taken to get up on stage and then just flip the switch and everything's cool. I can't even imagine what you had to go through. But one of the things that this reminds me of I was speaking to somebody the other day is actually a cancer doctor. He creates cancer drugs, and we were talking about how the mind follows the body. I'm sorry, the body follows the mind.

Speaker 2: 12:20

Yeah, there you go. The body follows the mind.

Speaker 1: 12:23

And so everything you're saying really jives with what cancer doctors are saying and maybe they've seen this firsthand and you've lived it and I just think it's an incredible story and again, I'm just so happy you're here to tell it.

Speaker 2: 12:43

Thank you, thank you, I am as well, and I'm not one of those weirdos who says things like, oh, cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me, and if I could do it over again, I definitely would go back and have cancer. No way, psychopath. If I could go back and not have cancer, I would flip that switch in a heartbeat and undo it, but I can't. And so you know what do they say Either either you, you lose, or you learn, or win, or anyways, I learned, I learned and um, I really. I also learned that having faith in me is the most important thing. It's funny. I was watching um. I've been watching the Olympics all for the past few days I'm sure many people haven't today. All for the past few days, I'm sure many people haven't today.

Speaker 2: 13:27

The men's American gymnastics team was competing in the team finals and I mean watching all of these athletes step up to these apparatuses, which are really tricky. I mean their capabilities are mind blowing, but you could see the stress on their face. In fact, one of the men, steven he was our final athlete competing in the poma horse. He's a poma horse expert. That's all he does. He can do the other tricks, but he chooses only to do the poma horse. But leading up to that he just sat there in a chair and you could see I mean it was probably his method of just being alone and closing his eyes and visualizing his success but he also looked really freaking scared. I might have been reading that wrong, but he felt the pressure of the Olympic Games.

Speaker 2: 14:27

And you know I was definitely afraid of chemo, as chemo Number one was super scary because I had never had it before. But chemo number six oh my gosh, you want to talk about fear. I knew exactly what it was going to do to me and I still had to get up, get dressed, get in the car, walk into the building and sit there and let them poke me in the chest and put those drugs in. So you know we have to utilize whatever experiences we have from athletics, as kids, from fitness, from military background. Wherever you struggled, know that all those failures, those hardships, they're setting you up to be your best when it counts.

Speaker 1: 15:01

All right. And so now, on the other side of this, you're, you're healing and you're like I have lived through this, I've got this idea for these books because I want to write this down, because it can help somebody else. And from that process you've, you've written three books. You said three books on being a cancer comeback survivor.

Speaker 2: 15:19

Yeah, yeah. So I combined my fitness expertise and my experience as a patient because you look, and I started looking, thinking well, what resources out there are there? There were none, there was garbage. And there are endless studies that prove you can increase your chances of remission with exercise and nutrition and then decrease your chances of having a recurrence with the same. And so I made it simple, stupid and you know, I would say, most cancer medical providers, oncologists and their nurses are telling patients you should exercise and eat right during chemo, radiation surgery, transplants, et cetera. But they don't tell them how. And you know it's really tricky it's exercising during chemo or radiation. So I domed it down, made it simple, stupid.

Speaker 2: 16:05

For men and women of all ages with all types of cancers, this is how you do it specifically. This is how you do it during each stage of your treatment. This is how you gain it back. This is how you utilize complimentary care like massage and meditation and therapies and sexual health counseling. I mean, you know what? You know what screws with your sex life is all this weird stuff going on with your body. Talk about needing some help. So many cancer patients really struggle in that department. So the book is just full of a jillion golden nuggets to help people manage their health on the way through and then get back to vibrancy and quality life after.

Speaker 1: 16:47

And the name of the book fits.

Speaker 2: 16:49

Well, there's three. So the most important one is your Healthy Comeback, sick to Strong. That should be the Bible for every cancer patient. Every last one of them should have it. If you love someone with cancer, it's your Healthy Cancer Comeback, sick to Strong. My memoir which tells my wild and wacky story is my Noisy Cancer Comeback, running to Strong. My memoir which tells my wild and wacky story is my noisy cancer comeback running at the mouth while running for my life. And then the third is the Healthy Cancer Comeback Journal, which allows everybody to document all their details, both the medical stuff and then the fun and funny stuff, and help navigate their way from sick to strong their way from sick to strong.

Speaker 1: 17:25

And so the idea there. You know, when they get on the other side of this, they can go back and basically see, you know, I started here, I'm here. And exactly Kind of commemorate the journey, so to speak.

Speaker 2: 17:33

Absolutely, and not only again, the health portions. But have you nicknamed your tumor? What celebrities do you? Look like balls For me, I kid you not. I probably had 100 people along the way because I never wore a wig, so everyone saw my big head. They go. You look like crazy Britney Spears.

Speaker 1: 17:50

Oh, my God Thank you.

Speaker 2: 17:53

Thank you so much. So they were right, I did.

Speaker 1: 17:56

That's hilarious, I think and here's what's funny I think Britney Spears and I are like fourth cousins or something like that.

Speaker 2: 18:04

Is that right yeah?

Speaker 1: 18:10

Not that we've ever hung out together.

Speaker 2: 18:12

But you know, I cousin Britney, you know whatever, poor girl, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 18:14

Britney, that's old. So your healthy cancer comeback, my noisy cancer comeback and my healthy cancer comeback journal, yeah, it's the Cancer Comeback 3-Pack. Okay, and I'm assuming these are on Amazon or you can get them on your website.

Speaker 2: 18:29

Yeah, so they're available wherever books are sold. But if people want autographed copies or signed books, they're at fitsnesscom that's F-I-T-Z-N-E-S-S dot com, and I sign them all and ship them out in pretty packaging and I include a lot of love in the process because I really care about these people. Cancer is tough.

Speaker 1: 18:49

Yeah, it is. From what I have heard, my wife's mother, unfortunately, was a victim of cancer, didn't make it, and I've always. You know the thing about it. You know, I used to my first job.

Speaker 1: 19:04

I was a paramedic and in that job you always see people on their worst day. You know it's the worst day they're having and for me I just always thought, you know, if there was ever a disease that was blatantly just unfair and just is horrible and you know if you could personify it just disgusted me, it was cancer because, as you said, you know, there's little kids who have never done anything wrong and you know, it just ripped my guts out, um, when I, when I would, uh, when I would have to do these transports. And the one thing that always struck me whenever I dealt with these people is the perspective they had on life. Whatever life they had, whatever was remaining for them, they had this incredible perspective on it and I never met anybody that was a jerk, and I know you know that's a generalization and probably a really small sample size, but it made me realize that going through something like that must fundamentally change you.

Speaker 2: 20:09

Well, it really, I think, opens your eyes. It's amazing how many people get stuck in traffic and it's the oh, they're so torn up about being stuck in traffic and they get in the office and they start bitching and moaning. Can I say that Sorry?

Speaker 3: 20:22

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:22

Okay, Bitching a moment to everyone in the office ruining their day, and I think really a traffic jam, that's your crisis. How lucky are you that a traffic jam is the worst thing you're going to face this day, week or month or year, you know. So perspective man goes a long way when you can think of those little kids with cancer. Compared to whatever garbage you're going through.

Speaker 1: 20:44

The thing you're going through really isn't so bad, for usually Right, yeah, and through it all, you maintained your business, which is fitsness.

Speaker 2: 20:53

Correct. Yeah, I. You know what, if I would have taken a break for a year and a half, nobody would have blamed me, but fitsness would have been obliterated Instead. I tripled my business during my cancer care because I chose to be scrappy and chose to keep going, and that made all the difference in the world.

Speaker 1: 21:12

Did I hear you? Did you say bidness Business?

Speaker 2: 21:15

You bidness Not on purpose.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Because we always say there ain't nothing going on but the rent, you know. But uh, by the way, if you, if you're listening to this rather than watching the video transmission, uh, it's right above her head, it's fitsness f-i-t-z. Or, as my friends, in the uk would say zed n-e-s-s, I guess.

Speaker 2: 21:41

Correct yeah, yeah, that's so cool. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 21:45

Let's talk about. What is this race announcer business? What is that all about? What do you do there?

Speaker 2: 21:50

Yeah, so I am the host of massive running events all across America. When athletes come to the start line, sometimes they get 5,000, sometimes they get 25,000. They need someone there to greet them. So I'm there on a stage at the start line, playing killer music through a wonderful sound system usually, and my job is to get them welcomed and informed and entertained. And we talk about running, we talk about sponsors, I talk about all sorts of nonsense just to keep them engaged and entertained and upbeat and excited and help manage their stress, Because sometimes people sign up for these things and then they get really nervous.

Speaker 2: 22:29

So I want to calm them down too. But after I calm them down, I hype them up, I get them all jumping a big 20,000-person blob of jumping beans and then I yell go and they leave. And that makes me sad because we were having so much fun. Why did you do the thing I told you to do and leave? So they go and do the distance. And then I moved to the finish line and technology allows me to welcome every athlete by name usually and you know I want to make sure our champions experience a true champions welcome. It's a raucous finish line when they arrive. But I also want to make sure the 500th person and the dead last person receives a true champions welcome, because I'm so excited that they're exercising and I'm so proud of them and they deserve the warmest welcome possible. So I make happy noise. That's what I do. I make happy noise at running events and other sports.

Speaker 1: 23:29

That's awesome. I'm chatting with Fitz Kohler, who has beat cancer and is celebrating her fifth year of beating this horrible disease tomorrow, and she is the founder of Fitznesscom. She's written three books about her comeback journey from cancer your healthy cancer comeback, my noisy cancer comeback and then your healthy cancer comeback journal, and those are all on Amazon or you can go to her website, fitsnesscom, and get an autographed copy, because I think that's actually pretty cool. We're going to take a break and when we come back, we're going to talk about the exact formula for weight loss, which I think is on your website, because I probably need to hear that from somebody who can really school me on that, and we've got a couple other things we're going to talk about, but we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

Speaker 4: 24:19

Don't forget to hit our website at wwwpwbasscom. More of the patrick bass show coming up um welcome back to the show.

Speaker 1: 24:42

A A little Bishop Bullwinkle there. Phone number for call-in and open line 855-605-8255. You say, patrick, I can't afford a phone call, and I say to you, it is toll free 855-605-TALK. If you've got a question for me or for Fitz, and this is your chance to be absolutely internet famous, we'll make you the star of the show for about 15 seconds, just be cool. So let's talk about the exact formula for weight loss. What is that and where can they find it?

Speaker 2: 25:10

Right. So exact formula for weight loss is how I teach people to eat the right amount of the right food for the specific size they would like to be. So I am completely opposed to all diets, powders, pills, shakes, all of that phony weight loss garbage. There's too many scoundrels and snake oil salesmen in my industry. So what I do is I tell people the truth, and so the truth is really really simple. I'll start with the formula being choose your goal weight. Let's say you would like to weigh 180 pounds. You put a zero on the end and you get 1,800. That's your caloric budget for the day. So that's the formula, Really simple.

Speaker 2: 25:53

But to understand it, know that humans burn on average about 10 calories per pound of body weight per day. So if you weigh 200 pounds, you're likely burning about 2,000 calories. And that's just going about your business, doing everything. That's walking around your house, getting dressed, brushing your teeth. That's pumping blood through your body. That's walking the dog. That's the basics, right? So 2,000 calories if you weigh 200 pounds. That's the basics, right. So 2,000 calories if you weigh 200 pounds. If you would like to remain 200 pounds, you insert 2,000 calories worth of food or beverage into your face every day, and then you even out. If you would like to gain weight, you consume more than 2,000 calories a day. If you would like to lose weight, you consume less, Because if you're not giving your body enough calories to sustain itself, it will shrink.

Speaker 2: 26:43

And so the formula is very simple, very effective. There's the smart way to go about doing it, and then there's a dumb, dumb way. The dumb dumb way would be if you're going to let's say you want to weigh 150 pounds, so you're going to have 1500 calories every day moving forward, Well, you could go to the local bagel shop in the morning and get a bagel with cream cheese, and then you can get a big, tall, fancy coffee with milk and syrup and sugar, and you might just about hit 1500 calories right there. So if you ate that in the morning and nothing else for the rest of the day, well, you'd be on track for losing weight. However, if you started your day like that and plan not eating again, well, by 11 am you'd be kind of hungry. By noon you'd be really cranky. By 1, you'd have a headache and you'd be miserable and you'd quit.

Speaker 2: 27:34

And so the smart way to utilize the formula is to choose highly nutritious, lower in calorie foods is to choose highly nutritious, lower in calorie foods. That's the things you learned in kindergarten Fruits, vegetables, lean protein sources, whole grains and then a little bit of fun stuff. I'm not telling anyone they shouldn't have white stuff or sugar or meat or any of those things. But if you choose about 80 to 90% of your caloric intake as healthy things, you can get an awful lot of food and then reserve the 10% of your calories for Cheetos or a glass of wine or whatever it is that suits you. But the formula works every single time.

Speaker 2: 28:13

If you are not feeding the beast, if you are not giving your body enough calories to maintain its size, it has no choice but to shrink. And it's almost like the thermostat. I live in Florida, so if we go away for a week and turn the air off, we come back. The house is a hundred degrees. I walk in, I hit the thermostat down to 78. My house doesn't go poof 78 degrees Cause I pressed that button over time. The air conditioner does its job and eventually the house, the temperature lowers down to 78, and that's how the formula works. You start with your caloric budget today and you keep at it and eventually the numbers on the scale start dropping until you get where you want to be. And once you get where you want to be, you stick with your caloric budget, because that's exactly how many calories it takes to maintain a body at your goal weight.

Speaker 1: 29:00

So Fitz, one of the things that I want this show to be known for is authenticity and realism. So I have to address and this is probably a poor choice of words given the subject I have to address the elephant in the room. I am in a position right now where I have recently decided that enough is enough.

Speaker 2: 29:20

And.

Speaker 1: 29:21

I've started making some changes in my life, uh, and it's going to take a while because, frankly, it took a while to get where I'm at and I'm going to be documenting this, uh, at some level on the show I haven't figured out the specifics of that felt like it was more important to to make the mental ascent to do something and then figure out how I would, you know, make a show out of it later Because, frankly, I kind of need that accountability, if I'm being honest. But you know, everything that you're saying is exactly based on all the research I've read, true, you know, when you were talking about the how many calories we, you know, we just burned by existing I think that's incorrect me if I'm wrong, but I think that's called like the basal metabolic rate.

Speaker 1: 30:08

Uh and that's, you know, like just for existing, that's how many calories you burn. And so it really does come down to uh, if you burn more than you take in, you're going to have a deficit, and that deficit, uh, you know there's so many calories in a pound and then, as that deficit occurs, you're going to lose weight. And that's what I'm on board with, because, speaking as somebody who is in clearly need of this kind of no-nonsense advice, it's a miserable existence. It really is. And, to put it in perspective, used to, you know, be in martial arts.

Speaker 1: 30:43

I was full contact fighter, I'd bike 20 miles a day in the snoring desert, uh, and then I don't know what happened, I think I, I think I hit like 45, 50 and and, yeah, the point is, I can make a lot of excuses, but the fact is I just started really eating a lot and not really doing anything else. And so here we are. So I appreciate your no-nonsense approach to this and it's a really kind of cool thing. You just basically figure out the weight you want to be at, add a zero at the end and then that's how many calories you eat. So I always tell everybody, you know, I'm trying to get down to my original weight of 8 pounds and 6 ounces.

Speaker 2: 31:19

I'm very excited for you. Cremation you might not even do it in cremation Cremation. You probably have a 15-pound box.

Speaker 1: 31:26

Right and I told somebody. I said you know, I think the camera adds 10 pounds, so I think I ate five cameras. So we'll see what happens.

Speaker 2: 31:52

Hey, listen, I am so pleased with your declaration for yourself and you know, I would say the most important factor in anyone achieving quality weight loss is when they put their foot down, when they say I will not leave, live in this body as it is anymore. Because if your wife or your husband or your friends are telling you need to lose weight, unless you've put your foot down and said no, mas, then you're not going to make change. And then the other thing you're doing, which is really, really important, is that you're taking ownership. And so I always tell folks get in the mirror tomorrow, get naked, full blown naked in your bathroom and stand in the mirror and have a look.

Speaker 2: 32:15

You did that. So, beyond your, your height and your eye color, you did that. So if you're in fantastic shape and you love whatever shape your body's in, congratulations. But if you look and you think, oh, not so great, this is not what I had planned for myself, wonderful. Know that you did that, because once you take full ownership of your failures, then you can take full ownership of turning that into a success, right.

Speaker 1: 32:42

It's that victim mentality.

Speaker 2: 32:44

It's those people like I'm overweight because my grandparents were overweight. No, you're overweight because you took on their garbage habits. You eat too much, you drink too much, you have the wrong things, you don't move your body enough, you get terrible sleep. You chose an X, y, z. I'm not saying everybody has done all of those things, but I'm a mom. Okay, the reason you should exercise is because you're a mom, because you brought humans in the world that you are responsible for, that you are obligated to, and if you don't take care of yourself, they're going to be left alone without your love, without your guidance, without all of those things they need from you. So don't use your children as an excuse, don't use your career as an excuse. We have, you know I look at politically. There's George Bush, george W, there's Bushy, and then there's Obama, both on different ends of the political spectrum, but both of them committed to exercising most days a week during their presidency. Obama with basketball and weightlifting.

Speaker 2: 33:40

Bush was an endurance athlete riding his bike all over the place. So you know, unless you're the most powerful person in the world, let's not claim you're too busy for exercise. Unless your kids just really don't mean anything to you, Don't pretend you can't exercise because of them. It's real food. There's no diet, there's no magic. And you know, there are those weight loss, medically supervised weight loss pills, which are semi-interesting, but the real way to do this keep the weight off and do it without any real consequences is exactly the way I told you, with that formula.

Speaker 1: 34:09

See, there's a noisy bossy fits that.

Speaker 2: 34:11

I was expecting and I liked it.

Speaker 1: 34:14

And I'll tell you something else. See, for me, I had a kind of a rude awakening when I had a pulmonary embolism earlier this year, yikes, and I had known for a long time I need to do something. I need to do something. But it's exactly like you said. Until I made the decision, it really wasn't going to happen. And you know, by the way, and I told my daughter this, I said listen, part of the reason is I want to be a life pig. I want to live a really long time because I'm going to spend your inheritance Good job.

Speaker 1: 34:46

And I'm leaving you debt and broken dreams. That's it, right there.

Speaker 2: 34:49

Nice, that's excellent parenting right there. Way to role model, dad, good job.

Speaker 1: 34:54

Parenting through fear and intimidation. That's exactly how we did it in the 70s, right? No, I'm just kidding. That's exactly how we did it in the 70s, right? No, I'm just kidding. Listen. So what kind of advice would you give to people who are just normal folks, folks who are generally within normal weights? Because the fact of the matter is a lot of folks are busy and a lot of folks do have limited time. But I guess what you're saying is it really comes down to I guess you could also make a lot of folks are busy and a lot of folks do have limited time, but I guess what you're saying is it really comes down to. I guess you could also make a lot of excuses or you could just do something about it. Is that the tough love approach?

Speaker 2: 35:29

Yeah, I mean it is, it is. Now there are tricks to it. You know, when it comes to actual exercise, here's the most important things to know is you can't be a one trick pony. You know, runners tend to just run. That you can't be a one-trick pony. Runners tend to just run. That's beneficial to an extent, and if all they do is run, then they have detriments and injuries and so forth.

Speaker 2: 35:46

So in order to be truly fit, you need to be proficient in four different areas of fitness. There's cardio-respiratory fitness. That's the kind of exercise that makes you huff and puff. Any exercise that makes you huff and puff works, whether it's karate or dancing or underwater basket weaving works. Whether it's karate or dancing or underwater basket weaving, whatever it is, if it makes you huff and puff, works for me, works for you. That's the heart and lungs. Then there's strength. That's your ability to push, pull, press, lift against resistance. That means you're resilient, that means you're capable. That means you're less likely to have an injury.

Speaker 2: 36:15

So, whether you use dumbbells or cables or stretchy bands or do Pilates, anything you do to make your body overall stronger is important, and just choose your modality and go for it, or choose them all. Variety is the spice of life, they say. And then there's flexibility. The more mobile you are, the better range of motion you have, the less likely you are to have those sprains, strains and tears. And really pulling your back out, putting on your sock, is pretty embarrassing. So flexibility works.

Speaker 2: 36:47

And then, last but not least, is balance. And people say, well, I don't want to do balance training, I'm not a gymnast. Okay, balance training is important so you don't fall down. And while we bounced as children, we no longer bounce. But falling down as a grown-up is humiliating. It's shockingly painful and leads to black eyes and concussions and broken hips and, if you're a senior, premature death. So cardio, strength, flexibility, balance that's where you need to go.

Speaker 2: 37:13

And then you know, the reality is you could do big workouts, go for an hour a day, and that would be awesome, but you could also do one minute here, one minute there, to tremendous results. And you know, if you don't believe me, try one minute of burpees or one solid minute of push-ups, Grueling, right. So don't tell me you can't accomplish much in one minute. If you do 20 one-minute segments before work, during your lunch break, after work, whatever, in the potty you do some squats, you can really make some serious progress, and so everything counts If you're a newbie.

Speaker 2: 37:53

Baby steps. That's what I did. When cancer wreaked havoc on me, I was at ground zero, seriously, I mean. My mom looked at me and shouted you need to eat. You look like you were in the Holocaust. And after I said thanks, mom, I went back to taking my little baby steps and I went from wiggling in the pool and doing nothing else on day one to maybe on day 50, I had started to swim laps and really see some progress. So respect your effort, respect where you are and strive to be 1% better each day.

Speaker 1: 38:28

So consistency and and it sounds like you may have gotten your tenacity from mom. Is that true?

Speaker 2: 38:33

Oh, maybe, maybe, yeah, it's in there, we're Irish, we're Irish, we're very, very uh pigheaded I guess. Okay, it's a good thing.

Speaker 1: 38:42

I think there's a lot to be said for being headstrong For sure. What did you say? Not stubbornness, stubbornness.

Speaker 2: 38:54

My greatest asset, greatest curse.

Speaker 1: 38:57

Well, it served you well so far, fitz. We're coming up on our third segment. We blew through the last break, and that's okay. We can live through that, but I want to make sure that we can talk about whatever is on your mind, whatever it is that you think is important, that you'd like to share with people.

Speaker 2: 39:14

You know what I really want folks to just prepare their bodies to do battle today, because you never know when injury or illness will strike. And you know it's interesting trying to connect with such a wide variety of people, which I do. I don't really have a target audience. My audience is everyone. If you have a body, if you have a life, I want to help you. You know, make it better, make it longer, right, but too many people wait and nothing brings into focus how critical health is than when someone looks at you and says I'm so sorry, you have cancer or you'll never walk again. You know, these are moments where all you wish for is health. You don't care about Hawaii or a fancy car or anything else. You just think, oh my gosh, if I could only walk again, I would walk a million miles. I promise God I'll walk a million miles if you let me use my legs and so, uh, yeah, taking good care of yourself is is I don't know, it should be job one. And if you take care of you, your your, your physical health, your mental health will improve. You will achieve more at work. You know, people who are in pretty decent shape have a lot of energy, they have clearer minds, they freak out less often, they show up on time, they're able to stay late, they call in sick less often, and so if climbing the corporate ladder is on your agenda, well, start with you. Start making you the best candidate for any job. You apply for the greatest executive of your company because you wanna be that strong, capable, vibrant leader. And then taking care of your physical health will also make you a better parent, a better romantic partner, a better lover, a better pal. You know, all of these things start with you, and so it makes me sad when people go. Oh, it doesn't matter, and then all of a sudden things hit the fan and that reality strikes, and fitness can also be really, really fun.

Speaker 2: 41:18

I just announced a mud girl run in Minneapolis this weekend. Thousands of women there's actually a few guys in there too Thousands of women in all kinds, all ages. There I think we went as young as eight, and maybe our oldest woman who did the force was in her late 70s. Every color, every religion, we saw burkas, we saw all the things, different careers, and they all went out on this athletic adventure. Most of them walked the course, but they all got in the mud, they all got muddy. They climbed over simple obstacles, and that's memories, right? If all you do for fun is go out to restaurants, oh, you're just missing it. You're missing the bus. You've got to get muddy sometimes. You've got to get on a horse, you've got to ride a bike or go for a walk. Whatever, life can be wonderful. Don't wait for hardship to figure that out.

Speaker 1: 42:15

And I just want to echo that, because if there's anybody out there listening to Fitz and you're saying yeah, it's easy for you to say you're in good shape, let, I'm not, and it's no fun, and did I wait too long? There's still life in my body and there's still a burning determination. So I haven't waited too long. I can still do something about it. I wish I had started earlier, is what I'm trying to say.

Speaker 2: 42:46

So if you don't mind sharing, do you know how much you'd like to lose?

Speaker 1: 42:51

Yeah, I, you know, I'm, I'm. I'm going to be totally upfront about this. My goal is to lose, uh, probably close to 300 pounds.

Speaker 2: 43:00

Wow, okay. Well, that's very exciting. So you know what I'm happy to help people lose seven pounds and 17 pounds, but help someone lose 300 pounds so let me, let me take my freaking boat I was at the doctor earlier this morning for checkup.

Speaker 1: 43:15

So I'm doing this under doctor's care and you know, am I embarrassed? Yeah, I'm embarrassed. This is, this is totally embarrassing. I'm burying my soul here. 508, that's where I'm at. I'm six, three, um, you know, and I tell everybody I'm going to lose enough weight to make a fat person who should lose weight. And the reason I'm doing this is because, damn it, I'm sick of this, I'm tired of it, and so maybe you know I don't think anything is coincidental. You know, I didn't necessarily seek you out to have you on the show today. This all kind of happened just the way it happens. But I'm glad it did, I'm very glad it did. But my point is I didn't set this up to happen, like this so.

Speaker 1: 43:59

I've got to lose a ton of weight. I'm going to do it a pound at a time. I don't know how long it's going to take. If it takes me a year or two years, I don't care. The point is, I'm going to do this for as long as it takes, and will I get down to 200? I don't know. I'm 55 years old. I weighed 198 when I was in my very best shape in my 20s. So it's a goal. I have a goal. Honestly, if I got to 250, 275, I'd probably be very happy, to be honest, but you know that's my goal.

Speaker 2: 44:28

So, hey, I'm thrilled, I'm so proud of you. I mean, we're just meeting right now, but I do feel like we were meant to be in each other's life. And what I'm going to tell you is I will be here as a source of accountability for you. I would love for you to message me at least once a week and tell me where you are and how things are going. Reach out if you start sliding back. You know that's kind of part of it. You know it's almost like alcoholics, right. At least if you're an alcoholic, you can stop drinking alcohol permanently and be done with it. With food you can't do that right. So it's tough, so you can't expect perfection, but at 500 pounds you should be able to make tremendous progress. So what?

Speaker 2: 45:10

I'm going to tell you to do is with your formula. You're not going to start at your goal weight. With your formula. You're not going to say I'm going to have 2,000 calories a day, that's too little for you.

Speaker 2: 45:19

But you could drop down right now to 4,000 calories a day, or 3,500, and you would whoa. Between today and one month from now, you might be 17 pounds less. I mean you, really, when you're on the much larger side, the weight comes off quite rapidly. That's really exciting to see that kind of progress. So I love that you're working with your doctor, yep, and I'd be happy to serve as a source of encouragement and reinforcement of everything you're doing. And Fitsnesscom is also filled with endless free stuff. So there's that exact formula for weight loss article. There's a big FAQ section, because people always have questions. They think it can't be that easy, and then they have questions and I answer. And then there's free workout videos with modifications to advanced exercises, and I'm really excited for you and you can change your life, mister. You could be crossing the finish line of an Ironman triathlon in three years if you chose.

Speaker 1: 46:22

That would be cool. And let me, by the way, thank you so much for that very kind offer. I definitely want to take you up on that, so, thank you so much for that very kind offer. I definitely want to take you up on that, so thank you so much for that.

Speaker 1: 46:33

But I have to fight a lot of stereotypes, one that I'm a slob or that I'm uneducated. I have two master's degrees. I'm ABD for a doctoral program. I'm intelligent, obviously. I was in a motorcycle wreck. I had a brain aneurysm and then I had a pulmonary embolism. You know all that stuff. Are they excuses? No. Are they factors? Yes. But, more to the point, I've decided that enough is enough and come hell or high water, I'm done. I'm just, I'm absolutely done.

Speaker 1: 47:04

And you know it's so funny you were saying about alcoholism. I was telling my wife the other day. I said you know, if somebody was like on crack or on meth and they beat meth or crack, that's awesome, I'm happy for them. Here's the thing you don't have to use meth or crack, but I still have to eat. And that's the problem with like a food addiction or something. I still have to eat. And that's the problem with like a food addiction or something you still have to go back to, the very thing that is the problem in order to live. And so, fundamentally, it's very, very difficult.

Speaker 1: 47:41

But it's not impossible and I'm becoming increasingly convinced.

Speaker 2: 47:47

Most of it is up in the brain. Yeah, you know, this is the thing is. You've grown accustomed to eating recklessly.

Speaker 2: 47:52

You've been absolutely reckless with your consumptions, so you don't have to be perfect. By any means. You don't have to eat like a bird. All you have to do is start eating semi-reasonable, right, and so you're going to choose a grilled chicken sandwich versus fried chicken sandwich. Those simple alternatives make a difference with the calorie and the unhealthy fats and so forth, and then you're going to have set some boundaries and you're going to stick to them.

Speaker 2: 48:19

I highly recommend you use an app. Myfitnesspal is something I've always recommended. They've always had a free version. I'm not sure if that's still true, but there are apps to help you manage your intake. And don't take their advice on anything. They'll tell you oh, you eat 5,000 calories. Don't ever take their advice. But you can use their calculations, which are usually pretty stellar, and once you hit your, let's say, you set your benchmark at 4,000 calories a day, that's it. And once you hit 4,000, you're done. And what you'll start doing is you'll try to say, okay, I want to eat more for 4,000. So how do I get more food for less calories? And then you start leaning towards more nutrition things. So yeah, you're going to be awesome. You're going to do this. I feel it because you've said it multiple times. I'm sick of this.

Speaker 1: 49:08

Oh, I am, I'm absolutely sick, and to come on here and publicly say this, it's embarrassing. I'm not going to mince words, it's embarrassing, but it also is to the point where I don't care anymore. We have a saying down here in Arkansas. I've had a belly full, quite literally I have. So I guess everybody listening to this gets to hear it for the first time. You know, and I'm happy and I'm excited and I'm hopeful. So doing this, you know, like I said, in this way is going to bring some accountability to me, for me, which I really need. And again, thank you so much for that very kind offer, I think. I think it's going to be a really cool story.

Speaker 1: 49:54

Yeah, To tell uh, kind of you know, uh it's, it's not beating cancer, but it's probably still saving my life, you know.

Speaker 2: 50:03

Hey Patrick, this is reality. You're staring down the barrel of a gun, right now I really am I don't say that to berate you.

Speaker 2: 50:09

I want you to know how serious it is and you are doing your own life-saving measures by changing. So I'm going to ask your audience keep up on Patrick, give him pokes of encouragement and support Happy, nice, kind pokes of encouragement and support. He's going to thrive off that. Whenever he brags about losing X amount of pounds, I want you to reach out and cheer for him. Actually, I'm inviting. I'd love to come back on your show once a month for five minutes and you look me in the eye and tell me how much weight you've lost and how you're doing, and let me know if you have any questions.

Speaker 1: 50:43

All right, let's do that. Let's see this through. All right, let's do that. We'll do it as the check-in and I'm going to put some kind of gauge on the website starting goal, and then we'll track it over time and, who knows, maybe we'll write a book together about it, fitz.

Speaker 2: 50:59

Why not? Why not?

Speaker 1: 51:00

Let's do it. I mean, as they say, you know, seize life by the horns.

Speaker 2: 51:07

Yeah, yeah. And you know, Patrick sees life by the horns. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 51:08

And you know, patrick so I've got the expert content right and I think what I'm sharing is reasonable and people are listening and going oh well, that kind of makes sense, but it does help to see proof you know I have other people in my world who have lost hundreds of pounds using the exact formula and you know they would serve as inspiration to you, as you will serve to some of your listeners right now that are going yeah, I too need to lose 300 or 50 pounds, or whatever it is. Your success is going to have ripple effects, which is really exciting for me because I want to help affect everybody.

Speaker 1: 51:45

So I'm so excited right now. This is exciting. What a moment really am this is. This is exciting. What, what a, what a momentous occasion this is, I think. And uh again, uh, we're, we're, we're wrapped, we're coming to a close here, uh, but we'll definitely be in touch and all of these things that we talked about we're going to put in motion over the next uh week or two, and uh again, thank you so much. What a very generous offer and I'm excited for the first monthly check-in Me too, me too.

Speaker 1: 52:15

Anything you want to leave us with.

Speaker 2: 52:17

Hey folks, I appreciate your time If you're looking for quality content. Fitsnesscom. I'm at Fitsness on Instagram, facebook, youtube. I'm very busy on LinkedIn, but if you follow, what I'd love for you to do is reach out and say you heard me on the Patrick Bass show. Is it Bass or Base?

Speaker 1: 52:37

No, it's Bass Like a Fish.

Speaker 2: 52:39

Bass, that's what I thought.

Speaker 1: 52:40

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 52:40

Yeah, because I'd much rather have friends than followers. So let's connect, say hi and let's watch Patrick, the incredible shrinking man, do his thing.

Speaker 1: 52:51

Yeah, that'd be cool. And, by the way, we're going to put all of Fitz's we're going to put her bio, her books, her links, all of that in our guest resources page on my website, pwbasscom. So feel free to go there and be on the lookout for the gauge, or the I don't know what we're going to call it thermometer gauge or whatever. That's going to be up there very soon, fitz. Thank you so much. It was uh, as they say, I think it was Kismet today that we met, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity. And um, uh again, thank you so much for your very kind and generous offer. Let's make history.

Speaker 2: 53:23

Let's do it, do it.

Speaker 1: 53:24

All right. Thanks so much for being a part of the show today and until we're out Tuesday and Wednesday. So no live show tomorrow or Wednesday. We'll be back on Thursday.

Speaker 4: 53:37

Catch us right here on the Patrick Bass Show. Thanks for listening to the Patrick Bass Show on the Vanguard Radio Network. The Patrick Bass Show is copyrighted 2023, all rights reserved and is produced and distributed by Vanguard Radio LLC, fort Smith, arkansas. For more information, visit us on the web at wwwvanguardradionet.