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Scot: Troy, do you remember why we started this podcast? Like go all the way back before Episode 1 when we were talking about doing a podcast. Do you remember the purpose of it?

Troy: The purpose of it was to get men talking about their health . . .

Scot: Yeah.

Troy: . . . because I think we talked about men don't talk about their health, and that was what you brought up, is we need to talk about our health.

Scot: What was your recollection, Mitch? Why did we start this podcast?

Mitch: Oh, I don't know. It was like get men to do better and, like, talk about stuff, I guess. I don't know. I came in a little later in the process, but yeah.

Scot: Okay. All right. Fair enough, fair enough. So, Troy, I remember kind of my thing was, you know, the talking about the health was important, but also just kind of trying to get back to basics, to simplify things a little bit, right?

Troy: Yeah.

Scot: Because I felt like, you know, there's so much noise out there in the media and on the internet about all these things you need to do to be healthy, and you can get caught up on focusing on these things that people say are important that really aren't, like, "You got to eat blueberries every day."

Troy: Oh, blueberries, yeah.

Scot: Like, well, maybe that's not the thing you should be focusing on. You know, so for me that was a big part of it. Any of that ring any bells for you?

Troy: Yeah, that definitely rings a bell. And I think that got to the Core Four. I think that's been part of the show from very early on. And that's all about getting back to basics. But we talked a lot about that, a lot about just how, you know, kind of the man macho-image of health that's not necessarily the way most of us live our lives. But yeah, I think keeping things simple and avoiding the fad diets, sort of the fad exercise routines, that kind of stuff. So yeah, keeping it simple.

Scot: Yeah. So talking about it, keeping it simple, I remember were a couple of the goals. And then at the beginning too, remember we used to talk about turning points?

Troy: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we've all shared our turning points. Yep.

Scot: Yeah. And, you know, I feel like even those were kind of simple, and then Mitch came along.

Mitch: Hey.

Troy: I was going to say too, Scot, I think one of our goals early on was to get really famous and . . .

Scot: Oh, okay.

Mitch: Yeah, get that sweet podcaster money.

Troy: Yeah. Get the sweet podcaster money. So we're still waiting for that piece. But I think the other things we've done a pretty good job with.

Scot: Yeah. So, yeah. No, when we started, we wanted to keep health simple. We talked about the Core Four, which is to, you know, be healthy today and in the future and feel good now and in the future, focus on your nutrition, your activity, your sleep, your emotional health. The plus one more was you've got to be aware of your genetics. Early on we talked about kind of taking care of those nagging health issues, and we also talked about, you know, if you have habits, like drinking and smoking to excess or any other excessive habits, that those can also really impact your health.

I think as the podcast went along, though, I discovered what I wanted to try to keep simple has become more complex again. Like through the course of all these episodes and talking, I think I've learned that health is a little bit more complicated, right? Like all of these things interact with each other.

Troy: You know, it is. But I tell you, though, we're talking to like high-level specialists here who are, you know, incredible experts in their field, and so many times that discussion comes back to the Core Four.

Scot: Yeah.

Troy: Whether it's mental health, the microbiome, sleep, you know, all these things, we just get back to, you know, certainly very specialized knowledge, but a lot of it just like comes back to Core Four of focusing on just a lot of those basics. Anyway, that has come out, I think, quite often as we've discussed these things.

Scot: Sure. Yeah. So I wasn't naive in trying to say . . .

Troy: No, I don't think so.

Scot: Because, I mean, I feel like, too, like trying to say that health is simple is almost like insulting to our health. Like, because it kind of isn't, right? I don't know.

Troy: I don't know. I've had a different feeling. Like my feeling, again, has been the more we've talked to people, the more I've thought health is simple, keep it to the basics. Even with these high-level specialists, so much of it has come back to those very simple things.

Scot: Well, we can test that premise here over the next few episodes with Mitch.

Mitch: Sure, yeah.

Scot: Because Troy and I both kind of had our turning points, right?

Troy: Yeah.

Scot: And even those turning points for us were fairly simple. There might have been a few episodes that led up to it, but Troy, you know, you got your cholesterol numbers back. That was a big turning point for you, that you we're like, "I need to control that."

Troy: Right. Yeah.

Scot: Yeah. For me, it was a few realizations, seeing other people in my life, you know, deal with health issues, and here I am not really caring or taking care of my own health. I'm like, "Why am I taking this for granted?" You know, "I should be happy that I have this, and I should treat it as good as I can." I had my blood sugar, you know, numbers were heading in a direction I didn't like. So those were my turning points. And for you, you tried a few things, right? You tried diet first and that didn't quite work, and then you finally landed on running. Am I recalling correctly?

Troy: Diet helped, and running helped even more. That's probably how it worked, yeah.

Scot: Yeah, yeah. But I think with Mitch, what was your turning point? What we're doing here is we're teeing up kind of a series we're going to talk about because I think Mitch's turning point and getting to this premise that maybe it's a little bit more complicated, and I guess we'll test this with this series maybe . . .

Troy: Sure.

Scot: . . . is that Mitch's turning point was a little bit more complicated. Mitch getting towards better health where he wants to be seems to be a little bit more complicated and involved than it was for us.

Mitch: Yeah. So, for me, it was really this kind of . . . I've always had issues with my health in one way or another, whether it be trying to keep my body fat down, whether it be some of the mental health issues I've been struggling with in one way or another. And they all kind of push against one another, and we've kind of talked about this before on a couple of episodes. Yeah, maybe you can boil it down to the Core Four. But, for me, it felt like things were almost bound up in a way, that like I really couldn't improve one thing because another thing was lacking and that really couldn't get fixed because something else was going on, and there was injuries involved, and there was . . . All of these little things were coming together that were kind of like grinding any efforts I was making to a halt or making it extraordinarily difficult.

Scot: The Core Four is a good place to focus your attention, right, like activity, nutrition, sleep, emotional health. But Mitch felt like he was doing a lot of those things. And, you know, I can tend to be skeptical, Mitch, you know, when people say, "Oh, yeah, I'm eating well." I'm like, "Are you really?"

Mitch: Right.

Scot: You know, "Oh, I'm exercising." "Are you really?" I really think you probably were, right, and you weren't seeing results.

Mitch: Yeah.

Scot: So I think one of the things we'll learn through this series is how, you know, if you're concentrating on the Core Four, and you're really being honest with yourself about it, and you're not seeing results, like the journey you've gone on, the things that you've discovered, you know, that . . . I don't want to say wrong with your health.

Mitch: Sure.

Scot: Troy, what's the right way to say this?

Troy: Is it more optimizing your health? I don't know.

Scot: Yeah. I don't know.

Mitch: It's like stopping, you know. Yeah.

Scot: There were barriers. There were barriers that . . . We do preach the Core Four, and if we just leave it at that and somebody, you know, does all those things, well, then there's something, you know . . . like I can't do anything. But Mitch discovered that there were actually some other things going on behind the scenes that some of which were unexpected, you know, that were getting in his way. So we'll talk a little bit more about that.

Mitch: And I think that's really what it comes down to. You know, a lot of times it's really easy for, I think, people in the health profession, outside of the health profession, you look at life coaches on TV, etc., and the idea is it's super simple. You've just got to do this. And while there are things . . . and I love the Core Four. It's like, "Hey, just make sure you're doing well on these things, and you're going to be okay," right? I think that's a good strategy, and it is something that our specialists have talked about.

But if you're doing those four things and things are still not working, like you need to go get help. You need to go find out what's happening. And I cannot tell you how a couple of diagnoses, a couple of cheap medications have completely changed my mental health, my physical health. I've lost weight. I've everything. But it all took, was not just my habits, but actually an interaction and a, like, value on getting to the bottom of my health, staying curious about it, and wanting better for myself. And it's crazy. It's absolutely crazy that all it took was a couple of small things to get figured out to really start changing things.

Scot: Over the course of the next few weeks, every couple three episodes we're going to have an episode focusing on Mitch and his health journey, which wasn't quite as straightforward as maybe some. You know, it had some interesting twists and turns. He's made some great discoveries and is just . . . You know, for a guy, Troy, that started out kind of not wanting to be here, I think he's brought a great perspective to the podcast, and we're really excited to share those stories with you over the next couple of months here. We need to come up with a name with it, Troy. So the series was originally called "Fixing Mitch."

Mitch: Yeah. We didn't love that.

Scot: But that didn't feel right. How do you feel about that as a title?

Troy: I think it should be like that old show "Being John Malkovich," where they're like in his brain and control . . . Yeah, this will be like "Being Mitch Sears" or . . . I don't know.

Scot: "Being Mitch Sears."

Troy: Yeah.

Scot: Like we're trying to come up with a name that encompasses what this is about, you know. Another idea is like, "Getting Better with Mitch."

Troy: "Getting Better with Mitch." "Mitch's Journey."

Scot: I don't know. That's not super. That's not super flashy though. I think we need something with a little more punch. What do you think, Mitch? What are your ideas?

Mitch: We've been working on this for, like, a week now. I don't got . . . I'm lost. We'll figure it out as we go.

Troy: "The Mitch Experience."

Mitch: "The Mitch Experience." Sure.

Scot: Well, Mitch, I look forward to finding out. And I think your story is just really incredible and how dedicated you've been to it, and just watching these turning points, and hearing how different you are today than you were, you know, a year or two ago. So look forward to hearing more about Mitch's story, and hopefully, by hearing about Mitch's story, it will inspire you on your own journey if that's been something that's been a struggle for you.

Guys, as always, it's fun talking. That's what it's all about, right, talking about health, so yeah.

Mitch: Absolutely.

Troy: It is. Yeah, it is. Talking about it, just something about that. Definitely, there's the content, but just simply the fact of talking about our health, I think, just makes a difference and leads us to make change.

Mitch: Absolutely. I find myself talking about it a lot more in person. I'm talking to my family, I'm talking to friends, and being just open about it has been extremely helpful for not only myself, but others. So, yeah, talk about it.

Scot: Yep. And we would love to add your voice as well. So if you're listening to this podcast, and you feel as though you have a unique story, or you've kind of run into some unique challenges, feel free to email us and let's have the conversation with you too. Send that email to hello@thescoperadio.com.

Guys, talk to you next episode. Thanks for listening and thanks for caring about men's health.

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