Brian (0s):
This week I interviewed Dr. Colin Zhu, the chef Doc Dr. Zu is double board Certified in Family Practice and Lifestyle Medicine. He's also an international speaker and the author of Thrive Medicine, How To Cultivate Your Desires and Elevate Your Life. He has a new book coming out called Empowered Kitchen as well, and We discussed how food is medicine, along with the Importance of eating whole foods, Tips to Cook For Yourself, the importance of mindful eating and his one tip to get your body back to what it once was. Really enjoyed my interview with Dr. Z. I know you will too. Thanks so much for listening and enjoy the show. All right. Welcome to the Get Lean, Eat Clean podcast.
Brian (40s):
My name is Brian Gryn, and I've Dr. Colin Zhu and welcome to the show.
Colin (45s):
Thank you so much for having me, Brian. It's a pleasure to be here.
Brian (49s):
Yeah, thanks for coming on the podcast, also known as the Chef doc. I know you're a board certified family physician and, And now you're getting in, well, not getting into, but you've been a speaker and a, you know, certified health coach and maybe sort of give people a little bit of background about, you know, where you're coming from and, And what you're up to.
Colin (1m 12s):
Yeah, for sure. Thank you so much for having me. So my name is Dr. Colin Zhu. I go by the handle the chef doc or moniker, and basically my, if you say we live in a land of superhero movies and at the time of the recording, Superman's about to, you know, come up in July. So pretty excited about that. But my origin story is, you know, my goal is to be able to help connect the dots for people in terms of how their food choices affect their health, individual health, how that creates a ripple effect for the community and also the planet. And if you break each one of those down where in a state of crises.
Colin (1m 52s):
But pretty much how I began is my mother. My mother is a traditional and Chinese medical doctor. So I lived in a household where I was pretty much groomed to really look at the world in a very preventative, holistic approach in terms of the patient and whole person. And she taught me the values of compassion, integrity, really, you know, really listening to the person in front of you. And so growing up in New Jersey, working out of New York, out of her office, you know, she, we just kind of spanned so many different decades in terms of patience that came through her door. Fast forward, that gave me the foundation to really pursue osteopathic medicine, which is called a do, which is very, pretty much the same as a medical doctor except we have 300 extra hours of manual manipulation in the core tenets of osteopathic medicine was something that really resonated with me, and that's how the spirit, body and mind are all interconnected.
Colin (2m 57s):
You can't really separate things. And so I went into school with that mindset and coming out of it, I was really left ill prepared. Pretty much in this current age, we don't really have a core requirement of nutrition and lifestyle curriculum that is required, you know, for all medical schools. And I'm sure if you've had a lot of doctors on your show, they would attest to the same thing. It's not really taught to us. However, my predecessors that I really respected and followed, no matter who wa walked through our door, whether it's a cough or a low back pain, always had some sort of chronic lifestyle risk factor attached to them.
Colin (3m 38s):
My blood pressure, diabetes, weight issues, what have you. And so I said to myself, I'm not really, you know, well prepared. And so I graduated off cycle and I took that extra time, which is about a year, and I said to myself, what am I gonna do? So I decided to go into culinary school, not any culinary school, but a health supportive plant forward culinary school because I really wanted to understand not just what's on our plate, but where it came from and not just nutrition, but what food actually is got certified in health coaching, like you said, Brian, and then it's took all that and just pretty much used that to enhance my career to what it is, you know, public speak.
Colin (4m 21s):
I write, I host my own podcasts, and it's really to help the lay person be able to understand why we're always constantly sick.
Brian (4m 32s):
Hmm. Yeah, I, I mean I think it should be natural that these things go hand in hand, but for a lot of people, you know, they don't think of it that way. Like you talk about food as medicine and we talk a a decent amount about that on this show, but like the, the way the healthcare model is now, it's not quite like that. Right. You know, what made you sort of make that shift And, you know, we talk about food as medicine, maybe some examples of, of like certain foods or certain like tips people could take that could help you know, them sort of get on that right path.
Colin (5m 9s):
So being board trained, certified in family, our, our, our grooming process or doctor in training, as you will, is pretty much taking care of everyone from birth to grave. And so my entire career is really meeting people where they're at and there's really understanding that food affects us differently. You and I were talking off camera and you know, we went to the same, you know, health coaching institution and one of the things that they taught us was primary food and bioindividuality. And what that means is that, you know, food is not just what you put into your system And what nourishes you. It's also about, you know, what you feed your mind as well.
Colin (5m 53s):
Bioindividuality means that not everything fits everybody, right. So, you know, the things that we teach or what I teach my patients and clients is really a whole food approach. So what that means is, you know, whatever mother nature intended it to be. So if it didn't grow out of the, the vine, the tree, the ground, you know, man has manipulated in some way, right? I teach a lot about my patients, the anatomy of a, a supermarket and how it's very strategically, you know, placed every item on the shelf end caps, you know, things of that nature. And so you want to be able to approach food pretty much almost like your grandmother or even a generation before that.
Colin (6m 37s):
Because if those ancestors, you know, looked at what we eat now, they wouldn't be able to recognize it, you know? Yeah. Real food is perishable. Real food doesn't have a nutrition label, real food doesn't have a laundry list of ingredients. And real food, in my opinion, is really simple. It's meant to be colorful and it's really meant to be diverse. In fact, if you look at the 75% of the, of the food that we eat from the world, it comes from 12 plant species and five animal species. And in terms of plants, half of it is the calories derived from, it comes from just three foods. Wheat, corn, and rice.
Colin (7m 18s):
In America, corn and soybean are the most heavily subsidized crop in our country. And a lot of it doesn't actually come to us humans. And a lot of it actually goes towards animal agriculture for grazing animals. Why? Because it's to, you know, be able to feed the demand of meat. And, but the problem with that is that meat and dairy, for example, provide just 18% of calories, and yet it uses 83% of farmland and it also produces upwards to 60 70% of farming's greenhouse gas emissions. So even if we weren't talking about food, when I was saying before, is that ecologically and resource wise, it's very inefficient the way we're eating nowadays.
Brian (8m 5s):
And you're, I know you have a cookbook coming out. What's the, the main premise around that? And like, what are the sort of the core principles of that cookbook?
Colin (8m 16s):
Yeah, so, you know, spending my career, I realized that in order for people to get healthy, it's really to help teach them that, you know, the whole food concept, right? And also that everyone could benefit from eating more plants. Not here to tell people to go vegan, but if, let's just say, you know, if each one of us adopts a meatless Monday, for example, the planet will be, you know, better off. It's not, it's not uncommon nowadays to be able to see a lot of documentaries, a lot of news, a lot of scientific reports, being able to link all these things together. So the premise of the book is it's a collaborative cookbook.
Colin (8m 58s):
So I'm not the one writing it, not just me writing it, but I also have 34 other co-authors writing it. And I, I have physicians, I have chefs, I have dieticians, I have coaches, I have farmers, and I also have environmentalists. Why did I do this? I did this because I wanted to bring authority to a cookbook and not just something for it to be glamorous. You know, I think the food network has a growing up. I love the show, I love the network. However, I think that, you know, as a network, it could do a better job to be able to let the public know that, hey, there's a direct, you know, correlation direct relationship with what you're putting on your plate and what's going on in terms of when you're about to enter the, the office.
Colin (9m 44s):
And so the three core principles to answer your question is really helping people to understand why and how are food choices affect our health, which represents an ecosystem, how that, you know, ripples to the community in terms of equity, health and social economic disparities, food access, food miles, right? And then also the planet. We talk about how our modern, agricultural, agricultural affects our food, our soil health, which affects our produce health, and why everything is interrelated to greenhouse gases and climate change. So those are the things we wanted to bring together, and I couldn't have done it without my team.
Brian (10m 23s):
Yeah. And you know, we talk about whole foods, and I think it's like sort of a simplistic, but you know, basic way to explain like we should all just like, if single ingredient foods would be the way to go, right? And if you can follow that guideline, it's, it's not so easy for people, but I always say like, if you cook for yourself, like you're, you're gonna get be way ahead of most people. And a lot of times people are relying on whatever they can get fast and easy. And so, like my wife and I, we cook a lot, which is good, but I think, I don't know if that's really the norm. What, what are some tips and, and tricks that people could get into as far as cooking for themselves and making sure that that's sort of like top of mind?
Colin (11m 8s):
Hmm, that's a good question. I would like to say culinary skills is not a luxury, you know, it's not something that you can go to like Sir Laab, you know, and just, you know, enter, you know, and, and grab a, a cooking class. I would love for your audience to understand that it's, it's a survival skill now and something that our grandparents passed down to our parents. You know, hopefully it's something that it would've been passed down to us. I can't remember home economics or cooking being a, a commonplace part of its core curriculum. Growing up when I went to school, I think that cooking is a very necessary skill.
Colin (11m 52s):
And when I talk to my patients and clients, I ask them, what is their relationship with food? Because food is emotional, economical, political, financial, so many different things. It's what connects us universally, right? It's one of those things where music, arts, dance, food, it's, you know, for us, I'm an, you know, I'm a person of color. I'm a, I come from an Asian, you know, background food is a love language where we don't really emote that much. We don't really express ourselves that much. And so, you know, I need to understand a person's, a patient's, you know, relationship, food. And I say to people that health starts in your kitchen. It starts with the cooking, the cutting board, your knife, whatever appliances that's around you.
Colin (12m 35s):
Even if you don't think about things nutritionally speaking, if you just cook, you know what goes into your food. Whereas if you don't cook in your kitchen, what you're essentially doing is outsourcing your food to elsewhere, right? So that means your fast food, your restaurants, your takeouts, your delivery, you're letting someone else cook your food. And what that means is that you have no idea what goes into it. So that means it goes into your system. And I tell people that food, your lifestyle changes does one of two things. It either enhances your health or feeds disease. So I tell a patient, you pretty much have, you know, you know, I lay the groundwork, you know, this is, you know, where you need to, you know, go from here.
Brian (13m 20s):
What would you say? Like, you know, busy professionals, how can they sort of start eating healthier, you know, without like, feeling overwhelmed and like, you know, they have busy schedules, they have kids, and like, how did they feel? How can they fit that into their schedule?
Colin (13m 35s):
Yeah, I mean, essentially we we're all busy. Let, let me just say that it doesn't even have to be professionals. I think that we're all busy. I think that Americans were really good with filling up our schedule, you know, sometimes, you know, unproductively. And so I would probably say, you know, being able to do things more efficiently. So for example, leaving, you know, going to a wholesale club, right? If, you know, because it's really about skills, knowledge, and time and costs are the biggest limiting barriers for people to cook and feed themselves well, right? So that means that if you're cooking, it's de it's depending on whether you're cooking for yourself or a family of four or more, right?
Colin (14m 19s):
So I would probably say, you know, going into the supermarket and having a goal, having a list, having recipes laid out, don't, don't go into the supermarket hungry. And I would probably say be laser focused in terms of what you're getting. Okay? In terms of recipes, you know, we have information at our fingertips. We have artificial intelligence now, right? So I would say learn a new recipe, you know, one new recipe once a week, right? At the end of the year, you have 52 new recipes under your belt, right? Try expanding your ingredients outwardly. So if you know just an onion or a potato, then go outwardly, you know, start with a shallot and go with a sweet potato, go with a radish, right?
Colin (15m 3s):
You know, just stand in front of a produce section source, 90 to 95% of what you're gonna eat in front of a produce section. And just, you know, sources, you know, many colors of the rainbow because that way you'll be able to get your vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, enzymes, fiber within, you know, your diet. You don't have to, it's not rocket science. 95 to 97% of Americans are deficient in fiber, not protein. The average American eats twice as much protein than they actually need. So I would probably say to someone in front of me to be able to stand in front of a produce section in the kitchen, start off with a cutting board, a, a, a nice chef knife. And then if you don't have time, you delegate it to kitchen appliances, a slow cooker, an instapot, a blender, you know?
Colin (15m 50s):
Well, we have a lot of great, you know, appliances to be able to do the work while you're doing something else. And if you have a family, utilize someone else, you know, a loved one, your children, that way you increase your social connections and relationships. Because what's missing nowadays is that we're missing the family table. We're missing the family dinner. So we wanna make, we want, we want to be able to bring these things back together again.
Brian (16m 16s):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like as far as cooking for yourself, 80% of it's like just being prepared. You know, like whether it's like maybe every Sunday or something, get a bunch of stuff. And so you can just like be prepared for the week. 'cause if you're not prepared, then that's when you sort of go for like the quick and easy route. Hey everyone, quick interruption here. If you are looking to gain energy, lose inches around your waist and build strength, well look no further than my book. The Step Ladder System, six Steps to Lifelong Health and Vitality. What you get with the book is my full step-by-step plan and blueprint that I've worked with all my clients with packed into one book. With part one, you're gonna lay the foundation, tackle any common challenges that might come in your way.
Brian (17m 1s):
Part two is my six pillar blueprint, how to set you yourself up with a solid plan and know exactly what to do when life throws any curve balls. And lastly, step three are learning to implementation, a plan for getting results over the next weeks and beyond. So there you have it. I'll leave a link in the show notes for my stepladder system book. Now, back to the podcast.
Colin (17m 25s):
Yeah. When I was a medical student, we're super busy, right? And so honestly, we didn't even have an Instapot. The Insta Bott wasn't even created when I was in school, so I just used slow cooker. And so I just, I'm, I'm a big fan of one pot or one dish or one bowl ideas. That way you just throw everything together, all your nutrition is there and you don't have to worry about it. So for me, I would cook two or three recipes. I would dedicate Sunday and de and and, and cook two or three recipes in one shot, right? So I'll have that for the week, and then I would probably just cook. If I get bored of a recipe, then I'll just cook in the middle. So essentially I'm just cooking twice a week.
Colin (18m 6s):
Right? And it's like you said, Brian, you hit it on the nose in the head, is that, you know, it's really about the prep work, not so much the cooking. So there's a lot of great meal prep, meal planning resources out there.
Brian (18m 20s):
Yeah. Slow cookers are great press. I've used pressure cookers. Those are good as well. What would you say, I mean, obviously I know it's, you know, you're, you geared more towards like the vegetarian side of things. If someone isn't, maybe they're having trouble digesting some of some vegetables, you know, like what, what route should they do? Should they pressure cook 'em or, or, or cook them lightly just So they can, you know, they can handle the digestion of them? Hmm,
Colin (18m 47s):
That's a good question. When people, it depends on what type of vegetable or fruits, right? And, you know, I would probably say, you know, it's good to keep a food journal. Part of my work with a patient or client is keeping a log, right? In terms of, I would have them take a page, split up three columns and say, okay, this is the ingredient, this is the recipe. And then, and then label it, you know, in terms of negative symptoms and then positive symptoms. So negative symptoms would be like bloating, gas, you know, stomach upset, you know, burping, things like that. Heartburn, right? And then I would do a positive symptom. Okay, you know, I felt good today, I had more energy, I had, you know, that helped me to get better sleep, right?
Colin (19m 28s):
So that way you can break everything down. Everybody going back to, in the beginning, everybody's very individual. So, you know, I would definitely say consult with your primary care physician or, or a registered dietician. But I would probably say just experiment, you know, you know what I'm saying? We have over 300,000 edible plants in the plant kingdom, and yet the average American eats upwards of 150, right? So we have so much room to explore and it's really about, you know, experimenting. So I would probably say there's a difference between raw and there. There's a difference between when vegetables and and fruit are when it's cooked. Okay. Nutritional profiles actually can change with that.
Colin (20m 8s):
So I would say have fun with it, you know, be able to experiment. It's a great time. I would probably say, you know, if you are, you get a negative symptom right off the bat, don't be discouraged unless it's a consistent issue, then, you know, I would say go to your primary care physician. If it's not, then just switch it up and see what's different. Write it in your journal and then just keep going.
Brian (20m 29s):
Hmm. Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. I think a lot of people don't write what they eat down and or like track, and I'm not, like, I know now you can track like everything, especially with all the functional wear devices and stuff like that. But I think tracking does go a long way, especially in initially, right? Like if you're, if you're maybe trying to get your health in order and it's like you've never done a food log or you've never logged like anything just to see where, where are you at? Like what's your baseline? Some people don't even know how many, how much they're eating, let alone what they're eating. So I, I definitely think that's a great place to start. Yeah.
Colin (21m 4s):
I would also add to that it is being mindful, a mindful practice. So what that means is that we always are, you know, on the go, right? So for example, eat while sitting down, don't stand up because that actually alters the digestive process, right? I would say chew your food and do less of just drinking your food because your digestive process actually starts from smelling and seeing food. And it, you know, your digestive starts when it starts to chew. Because what ends up happening is that you start the process of your digestive enzymes and acids to, you know, start in your stomach when you start drinking your food.
Colin (21m 47s):
Okay? You bypass a lot of that. So that also leads towards, you know, upset and chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, you know, I'm saying because you know, you know, you know, you're eating a high fibrous, you know, meal if you constantly have to chew. Okay? And that right there helps you to, you know, slow down cooking your food as well. That also helps you to feel more satiated. And drinking a glass of water in the beginning also, you know, helps as well. So I would say mindful practice. And then also if you can get rid of dead scrolling or endless scrolling on your phone. So, you know, reducing screen time in front of you that alters, you know, your digestive process as well.
Colin (22m 32s):
Eating is, is supposed to be a mindful experience so we can get distractions out of the way. That also helps.
Brian (22m 39s):
So eating in your car while doing your makeup and texting someone is not a good idea.
Colin (22m 45s):
Listen, if you have multiple limbs to be able to put your, you know, foot on the gas pedal and the brake, then I would say half at it. But honestly, I think 5% what I read was 5% of the actual population can actually multitask. So what I'll say to you is that it's not productive. So, you know, just eat, you're not running, you know, from a fire, just eat,
Brian (23m 9s):
Right. Yeah. Yeah. And I, and you talk a little bit about like these five pillars, like food is medicine, functional fitness, relationships, community and emotional resilience. Maybe touch on, touch on that. I've talked about food, but what about the other pillars?
Colin (23m 27s):
Yeah, so during the pandemic, you know, I've kind of had to sit down and really, you know, hone in on really what helps people to thrive. And so when you look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, you know, you have the food, the shelter, clothing, water, you know, all the different things we need to survive. And so, you know, for me, I am, I'm very fascinated with what helps an individual, what helps a society and community to thrive. And so I'd be able to kind of hone down what I think helps that. And so it's like you said, food as medicine and functional fitness, community resilience and relationships. So food as medicine, you know, kind of self-explanatory.
Colin (24m 7s):
Being able to, you know, eat And, you know, enhance health. Functional fitness is asking people that you don't necessarily have to run marathons or be a bodybuilder, but it's really about, you know, how do I keep my body optimized where, you know, when I reach for an item off of the shelf, when I have to pick up something from the ground and, and bend, right? If I have to pick up my grandchild child, right? How can I not get hurt? How can I, you know, have my body sustained, you know, throughout your lifespan relationships. There is a great study, 75, 80 plus year study, one of the longest study on human adult development out of Harvard that says that having high quality relationships is a positive predictor of your longevity and also your health.
Colin (25m 1s):
Out of the pillars, I would rank relationships first community, we're social being beings. We cannot, we cannot survive without each other. And you know, I emphasize the power of we, right? So if you look at wellness and wellbeing, they have the word we in it. So what that means is that when we're looking at illness and disease, we're kind of isolated. That's why illness has eye in it, right? And so wellness and wellbeing is really predicated on the notion that we are doing this together. Resilience, COVID really taught us that, right? How to be mentally resilient, how to be physically resilient. Resilience is really a great tool and skillset, you know, for, you know, the coming, coming future.
Brian (25m 47s):
Hmm. And yeah, you talk about relationships, I always say in community, like if you're wanting to get into some type of routine of like working out, like it's always good to do it with someone else. I think that's what like made like CrossFit for example, sort of that boom. I think it's like just being around other like-minded individuals I think is really important.
Colin (26m 12s):
Yeah, for sure. Early part of my career, I, you know, I was a traveling physician And what that means is literally what it sounds, I would go to different states and be able to fill a need for a office. And so a lot of times I don't really know people in that particular town or neighborhood or city that I'm at. So I would actually, you know, have to look up different types. Like I would go on meetup.com, find, you know, groups that have the same interests as me, and I would have to inject myself into community because that's what's super important to me.
Brian (26m 46s):
Hmm. Yeah. And then as far as resilience, like what, what are certain things people maybe can do to become more resilient?
Colin (26m 54s):
I would probably say one of the great books that's helped me in the beginning of self-help and self-development and and personal development is the Four Agreements. The Four Agreements was actually written by a physician called Don Miguel Ruiz. And the Four Agreements really talks about, you know, just different core tenets in terms of like, not taking things, you know, personally, not, you know, making, you know, assumptions, doing your best, right? And I forget what the fourth, fourth agreement is, but it's really about, you know, just going into life, you know. So personally for me, I don't make assumptions or expectations.
Colin (27m 37s):
I know that life is supposed to be a very dynamic, you know, pattern. You know, it's kind of like the ocean. I'm in Southern California, we have beautiful, you know, coastal areas. And I, I say to my patients that, you know, I want you to approach life kind of how like you're surfing, you're always gonna get knocked down. Sometimes you're gonna get a good wave, sometimes you're gonna get a big wave, sometimes you're gonna get a tsunami. Sometimes you're gonna get small waves. And so these represent different types of life events, traumatic events, right? And so really about, it's how you respond to these events, not about what you do, right?
Colin (28m 17s):
And not about, you know, the event itself, not about the person or thing or you know, the trauma in front of you. It's about how you can control how you respond. That's all, that's all that we can do is is that, right? So I said, as long as you're being knocked off this board, I want you to get up more times than you are knocked off. So that's the biggest thing that I bestow to my patients.
Brian (28m 40s):
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And yeah, I, I think of resilience and like, I think like you can, you know, give yourself challenges and make yourself a little bit uncomfortable once in a while. I think those are like good things to do. 'cause we definitely live in this world now where we can have everything delivered. We could, you know, everything's at our fingertips sort of thing. And it's like, it's good every once in a while to sort of just challenge the system and, and get outside of the norm and sort of push yourself. And I think we've sort of lost that. I mean, me included, you, you get, you know, get in your comfort zone and then it's like that's, you sort of go on cruise control a little bit.
Colin (29m 20s):
Yeah, yeah. I would say growth doesn't really happen in the comfort zone. Growth happens in the discomfort. And so I would invite you to challenge yourself to kind of really nudge yourself to go out of bounds, you know, a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more. And it's a beautiful thing to be able to discover more about yourself. Relationships is also a mirror, you know, whether you're dating, you're single or you're with a partner, your external world is a mirror of your internal world. So it's a great way to be able to have things reflected back at you and for you to be able to, you know, process, right? If you're in your comfort zone all the time, I think, I think companies profit off of you being comfortable, you know what I'm saying?
Colin (30m 6s):
And it takes away from you growing. And so a lot of times you have to be able to be comfortable in the discomfort, you know? So I had to, I had to train myself. I had to force myself to be uncomfortable because I'm not able to grow, I'm not be able to evolve. And for me, living and breathing, my example that I teach to my patients is the greatest asset and tool that I can bestow in someone. It's not about what I say, it's about what I, you know, do. And you know, patients just, you know, you know, they're inspired by that, you know, so.
Brian (30m 44s):
Yeah. Yeah. And I like to ask this question to most of my guesses, like, what's one thing that you've changed your mind on over the last like 10 years
Colin (30m 55s):
That you don't have to do it, do things alone that it's okay to ask for help. And it's okay to ask for support and it's okay to do things together and also, you know, have a personal, personal mission statement. Companies have mission statements, they have vision statements. I would, I would encourage you to create one for yourself. What is it that you're aiming for? What is it that you're shooting for? And, you know, insert yourself into community.
Brian (31m 25s):
Hmm. Love that. Yeah. Yeah. I think, you know, having something to, to reach for and like putting it out there, you know, I know people do dream boards and stuff like that, you know, but like, just having like a personal mission statement, I think that's like a, a sort of a good rule of thumb.
Colin (31m 41s):
Yeah, yeah. For sure.
Brian (31m 44s):
Awesome. Well, what's one tip, would you give someone, if they're, let's just say looking to get their health back in order and maybe they get their body or minds back to what it once was like 10, 15 years ago, what one tip would you give that person?
Colin (31m 58s):
Ooh, just, just start wherever your journey is, right? Whatever a pillar you're attacking, right? Just start somewhere. Okay. So if it's food, you know, start going in a grocery supermarket, right? Stand in front of the produce section, okay. Do one recipe. If it's a fitness pillar, right? Have an accountability partner, you know, just go into the gym, right? Start somewhere if it's a relationship, go back into your yearbook. Go back into, you know, your Rolodex. I don't know if your audience knows what Rolodex as well. Yeah. You know, go back into your files of context And you know, get back a contact that you haven't spoken to in, in some time, right?
Colin (32m 45s):
Restarted a, a a, a relationship or a conversation, you know, sleep, you know, get back on your sleep. Sleep has so many different great health benefits. And I would just say start, you know, just start somewhere and just know, don't give up immediately. And you know, they say that, you know, a habit or routine is anywhere from 21 to 66 days. So I like to aim for 30 days. If you can do it consistently, you know, for 30 days, then you know, that way you can, you know, make it a behavior change in part of your lifestyle.
Brian (33m 18s):
Yeah, no, I think that's great advice. I mean, just to start, right, like that's probably the toughest part initially, right? It's just like getting going, like doing that first thing. It's like, you know, like for me, like if I'm on, if I want to get started on YouTube, it's like just that first video, right? Like that's like the most difficult. Once you get that under your belt, you're like, oh, I can build from there. And that goes like you said, for any, any part you know, of your life you're trying to improve.
Colin (33m 45s):
Yeah, for sure. I would say focus pro on progress over perfection. Okay. Don't aim for perfection, aim for progress. And I tell my patients that if you can be 1% better than yesterday, then you've already achieved, you know, so much because everything is compounded, right? And I would like to tell your, your listeners is that you know, what you are aiming for, whether it's, you know, your health, whether it's for a relationship, whether it's finance, whether you know, it's the long game, right? Think about it like wealth, right? Your return on investment, it's a long game, good food, you know, it takes patience. It's a long game. Relationships that's not overnight, it takes time, grace, understanding, right?
Colin (34m 28s):
Long game, everything is a long game. So we are living in a society, like you said, you know, Brian, that everything is shortcut, everything is a biohack, everything is a detour. Everything is, you know, very super convenient. And I would encourage you to look at it on the opposite way is that it's, it's really the long game. So if you want to be able to, you know, optimize your lifespan as well as your health span, you know, it's focusing on the long gain.
Brian (34m 56s):
Yeah. Love that. Yeah. 'cause I always say like, just to say you wanna lose 10, 15 pounds, it's like, well you've put this weight on over a fairly long, you know, you could be decades, right? And it's like you gotta sort of take the approaches, like there's no quick fix really. Although I know a lot of people are getting on these GLP ones and things like that, that are, you know, you know, helping some people, but in general like take the long game and it, if it took you that, you know, while to get to where you're at, it's gonna take a little bit of time to get back to where you wanna be.
Colin (35m 27s):
Economics 1 0 1, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Everything is a trade off and everything has a cost. So even if you go to McDonald's, right, even though it's cheaper, at the end of the day, you're costing your health. Because if you compound that over, you know, over decades and years, then the cost is a hospital visit, the cost is an ER visit, the cost is ending up in the ICU. That's a cost. So there's no such thing as a free, a free lunch. Everything is a trade off.
Brian (35m 54s):
Yeah. Love that. Well this is great. Where's, where's the best place for people to find you?
Colin (36m 1s):
Everyone can find me on my website. So it's the chef doc dot co. And you know, if you have it in the show notes, you can just click the link there, you could find everything there. And then the cookbook, if you're interested in the cookbook, you know, it's called the Empowered Kitchen. Me and my team of 34 other experts or writing lists, it's slated to come out in 2026. Right now we're funding for the pre-production phase and I make no money from this. All the monies goes towards producing the book and then eventually when it's published, all the proceeds and royalties goes towards nonprofits. So what that means is that it goes towards reforestation partners that are nonprofits as well as nonprofits that are cleaning up the plastic from our ocean so it goes back into the planet.
Colin (36m 46s):
So that way you, your children, your grandchildren, all the latter and new generations have a sustainable place to live.
Brian (36m 55s):
Love that. Love that. Well the chef, doc, doc co, I will, I will put Links in the show notes so people can find your upcoming book and your newsletter and things like that. So I appreciate you coming on, Colin. It was great, great discussion. And yeah, thanks so much.
Colin (37m 10s):
Thank you so much for having me, Brian.
Brian (37m 13s):
Thanks for listening to the show. I know there's thousands of podcasts out there and you chose to listen to mine. I will put a link in the show notes if you want to connect with my guest. And if you are looking for one-on-one consulting with me, I will put a free 15 minute link so you can set up a call to see if you're fit for my six month health breakthrough program. So thanks again, feel free to rate and subscribe. I would love that to help support the podcast. And Until next time, have a great rest of the day and I will see you on my next podcast. Thanks so much.
