Six Weeks To Fitness

Did you know that over 50 million Americans suffer from constipation, or that 75% of us are not properly hydrated? The lack of being properly hydrated can cause serious problems for your gut and overall health. In this episode of my Six Weeks to Fitness podcast, I interviewed Michael Roller, former personal trainer, martial artist, and CEO of MIXSUPPS, a health and wellness brand out of Central Utah.

After obtaining a degree in Exercise Science and working as a personal trainer, Michael Roller spent years absorbing information from bodybuilders, fitness enthusiasts, athletes, doctors, and people who were just trying to live healthier lives, and realized that the supplements that most of them were using were constantly cycling as they looked for something that worked consistently. So, he set out to make the coolest supplement company with the best products, with clinically researched ingredients at the right dosages, that would actually work, but not only work but taste good.

During the interview, Michael will share his company’s mission and discuss three of his company’s main products: “Little Sh!ts”, which helps to relieve constipation naturally and without the side effects you would receive from over-the-counter laxatives; “One Shot Water Amplifier”, which is an immunity booster; and “Ganbaru Energy,” an energy booster without caffeine and added sugar. To use these products, all you need to do is add water, which will increase your hydration, which is why I like these products.

After watching or listening to this interview, and you decide to try any of these products, use my promo code “Vincent 20” and receive a 20% discount on the price.

I’m currently trying the Ganbaru Energy product prior to my workouts, and so far it’s been a very good experience. It tastes great and all I have to do is add water which helps to keep me hydrated.

This was a very informative interview with a former personal trainer and martial artist turned CEO, of a wellness brand who set out to create products that will boost our gut health, improve immunity, and increase our energy levels naturally while helping us to become more hydrated.

Direct download: Episode_206_Michael_Roller_CEO_MixSupps.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:48pm EDT

In this special presentation of my Six Weeks to Fitness podcast, I am joined by Fruitarian Orvel Douglas. Orvel attended Highbury & Islington College in London, England, where he received his Diploma with the International Therapy Examination Council. His journey into nutrition started about 25 years ago, when he weighed about 200 pounds and did not like the way his body looked or felt, which led him to study nutrition, and using his knowledge of nutrition along with exercise, he lost a total of 50 pounds in 8 weeks and totally transformed his body and his life.

Subsequently, he teamed up with my organization, Body Sculpt of New York and became the lead nutritionist for our Six Weeks to Fitness programs and provided nutrition counseling and workshops for Medgar Evers College, United Federation of Teachers; DC 37, 1199 SEIU, and the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.

10 years ago, Orvel moved on from the vegan lifestyle to a fruitarian lifestyle. He is the creator and founder of the Fruit Feast Challenge on Facebook, where he is literally transforming hundreds of lives all across the world educating the masses about the healing powers of fruits.

During this interview, Orvel will share his journey into becoming a Fruitarian, and the many benefits you can expect to experience by adding fruits to your diet. He will also share some of the many successes participants in his Fruit Feast Challenges have experienced through the years, everything from the reversal of diabetes, heart disease, weight loss and kidney disease. I truly believe you will enjoy this interview and it may change your life, or at least it may change the way you look at fruits.

Direct download: Episode_205_A_Conversation_with_Orvel_Douglas_Fruitarian_128_kbps.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:22pm EDT

Did you know that there is a connection between your feet, your core and your glutes? If you want a strong core and strong glutes, you should consider strengthening your feet. That’s right, your feet!

In this episode of my Six Weeks To fitness podcast, I am joined by Dr Emily Splichal, a Functional Podiatrist and Human Movement Specialist. She is the Founder of EBFA Global, Creator of the Barefoot Training Specialist® Certification, Author of Barefoot Strong and CEO/Founder of Naboso Technology, a company that delivers innovative textured insoles and mats that help increase foot strength and health by increasing sensory stimulation in your feet. With over 20 years in the fitness industry, Dr Splichal has dedicated her medical career towards studying postural alignment and human movement as it relates to barefoot science, foot to core integration and sensory integration. During the interview, Dr. Emily will discuss the most common injuries she has to deal with as a podiatrist and how to prevent and treat them. She will also discuss the importance of foot awareness, the benefits of barefoot training and how strengthening your feet can tighten the core and gluteal muscles. This is a must-watch interview for anyone with foot, core or glute issues.

I learned so much in this interview about the importance of our feet, and thanks to Dr. Splichal, I am now walking around my home barefoot for at least 30 minutes per day, and it feels great! Visit www.naboso.com and receive 20% off of any of their products by typing in my promotion code “sixweeks”.

Direct download: Episode_204_-_Dr._Emily_Splichal.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:12pm EDT

In this episode of my Six Weeks to Fitness podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Danielle Cunningham, an inspiring leader in the health and wellness industry.  She is a certified Group Exercise Instructor, Personal Trainer and Wellness Coach with over 25 years experience.

Danielle has a love for activities such as roller skating, tennis, running, hiking, swimming and being a former athlete, she is an avid sports fan of tennis, football, basketball and track & field.

While teaching Group Exercise, Training and Coaching in and around the metro Atlanta area, Danielle has continued to strengthen her passion for being healthy and active, which was her motivation to launch "Living Well with Danielle" in 2016. During the interview, Danielle will share what it means to Live Well with Danielle.

As a Health and Fitness Professional, Danielle's objective is to provide all the support, information and motivation her clients need to achieve and maintain their goals. She is committed to helping her clients realize and unlock their full potential through lifestyle change, customized programs and goal setting.

Danielle’s goal is to take Living Well with Danielle on the road throughout the country, so keep your eyes and ears open because Living Well with Danielle will be coming to a city near you.

Direct download: Episode__203_Danielle_Cunningham_-_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:46pm EDT

In this episode of my Six Weeks to Fitness podcast, I am joined by Jorge Blamo, an actor and former collegiate baseball star. Jorge always loved acting and sports but chose to play baseball in high school and college, but as fate would have it, a groin injury sidelined him from playing during his sophomore year of college. Depressed while recovering from his injury, Jorge switched gears and returned to his other ‘first’ love — acting.

After college, Jorge pursued acting full-time. His credits include "Bull" on CBS and Hulu’s "Wu-Tang: An American Saga," among others. Jorge has done commercials for Rémy Martin alongside singer, songwriter Usher, Sling TV, Audi, Bose, and Under Armour. He is also slated to appear in two upcoming movies, including "With Myself."

During the interview Jorge discusses his Ghanian/Portuguese roots; the influence his mother and father had on his life growing up and the significant role faith, fitness and a positive mental mindset play in helping him to pursue his dreams as a professional actor. When I asked Jorge how he deals with rejection when it comes to landing roles in Hollywood, he stated that “for every thousand no’s there is one yes. It’s the same in baseball, you don’t bat one thousand, but you keep swinging.”

It was a real pleasure interviewing this young, positive and inspiring, purpose-driven rising star. Remember the name Jorge Blamo, you will be seeing his name all over the big screen one day soon.

Direct download: Episode__202_-_Jorge_Blamo.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:52am EDT

What do celebrities Will Smith, Diddy, Common, Mike Tyson, Kevin Durant and Tyrese Gibson all have in common? They are all clients of my next guest, Chef Ryan Rondeno, the “Private Chef to the Stars”.

Chef Ryan is making his lavish recipes available to people across the U.S. as he offers some trade secrets, training through simple techniques, tips, and tricks, and revealing signature recipes for all ages. With a passion for French, Italian, and Regional American Cuisine, his focus remains on local, sustainable cuisine with a strong emphasis on bold flavors—not to mention the love of New Orleans cuisine and fresh California flavors.

Most notably, Chef Ryan has also appeared on the following segments and placed in food competition for the following: World Food Championships (top 10 finish), The Jam TV Show, Atl & Co, Good Day Charlotte, Good Day San Diego, NY food & Wine Fest, Culinary Fight Club- LA, San Diego, Chicago (won 3 times and finished 3rd in national championship).

Chef Rondeno is the founder and owner of Rondeno Culinary Designs and the Rondeno Spice Collection (Nola Creole Rub, Citrus Herb Rub, and Ancho-Chili BBQ Rub) designed to help cooks of all skill levels enhance the flavor of the dishes. His culinary focus is on the use of grass-fed organic meats and locally-grown organic produce.

Chef Rondeno recently created the Food Culture App, which offers simple recipes that will bring unique and tasty experiences to the kitchen table.  The Food Culture App was created to embody a personal and unique approach of food and flavor in the kitchen. “We wanted to create cost-effective and flavorful scratch recipes that didn't break the bank. The App was also designed to have a one-on-one feel, as if I'm cooking with you every step of the way,” says Chef Rondeno.

Direct download: Episode__201_-_Chef_Ryan_Rondeno.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:44am EDT

Do you like to dance? What are you doing on Saturday, May 21st in New York City? How would you like to participate in a free event that attracts over 10,000 dancers, live bands, DJs and over one hundred unique styles of dance and culture? I’m talking about live Tango, Salsa, Afro-Cuban Conga bands, floats, Dance Battles, a Soul Train Line and much more?

If all of this sounds too good to be true, then listen to my interview with Jamila Holman, the Festival Production Lead for the 16th annual Dance Parade. During the interview, Jamila discusses in detail, what you can expect to experience when you attend this awesome event. This is the largest dance event in New York City, and the only event (to my knowledge), where you are given a ticket if you don’t move your body! That’s right, instead of a parking or speeding ticket, you will receive a ticket for not moving. So, if you’re looking to tone up your body and lose weight, why not have fun while doing it at the 16th annual Dance Parade?

Jamila Holman began her dance career in NYC in 2003 with renowned Jazz Choreographer Frank Hatchett. Jamila danced at Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks and was chosen to perform in shows in China, with John Legend and Paul McCartney. Jamila began her training under Frank Hatchett’s principal dancer Kim Norrington and was bolstered by choreographers at the Broadway Dance Center and Hunter College. Her training varies in styles from ballet, to jazz, tap, hip-hop and African. As a teacher she has assisted Frank Hatchett at conventions such as The Dance Teachers Summit, NADAA, with the New York Knicks Cheering for Children Organization and at New York City’s most popular gyms such as Crunch and David Barton. Currently, Jamila tours arenas nationwide as a choreographer and back-up dancer with R&B star Lisa Lisa of Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam.

Direct download: Episode_200_Jamila_Holman.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:02pm EDT

Is it possible to live a life of happiness and success, even after being molested and sexually assaulted at a young age?  What about dealing with grief, depression, suicidal thoughts, and abandonment? Most of us cannot even imagine what this would feel like unless you’re LaJune Singleton, a board-certified health coach, nutritional lifestyle coach, advance personal trainer, mindset strategist, podcaster, and author of “Releasing My Trauma: The Root of Self-Sabotage.”

During the interview, LaJune discusses openly about her trauma growing up and how she has been able to put the past behind her and use these experiences to help young girls and women to overcome their challenges. She has more than 10 years of experience helping women in many different areas including obesity, chronic illnesses, physical health, injury recovery and more. LaJune Singleton’s book and company stand apart in her ability to deeply reach people who do not understand how not releasing your fears and past can be the root cause of self-sabotaging behaviors. LaJune’s mission and ultimate formula for success is to empower girls, families and women to become healthier—mentally, physically and nutritionally—by gaining the courage to come to terms with releasing their past.

Direct download: Episode__199_Interview_with_LaJune_Singleton.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:40am EDT

How would you like to learn how to reach your highest and healthiest potential after age 40? I asked my next guest, Shahada Karim, that question and she provided some awesome tips and advice. Shahada Karim believes the most effective way to connect is through plain speech, clear direction and decisive action. She grew up ‘dabbling’ in forms of yoga, to stretch overworked muscles from too many hours in the gym. In 2012, she committed to learning as much as she could about yoga with her first 200 hour training in Power (Hatha) Yoga. She’s since been certified in Hot Power Fusion, Yoga with Weights, and Yin Yoga. She has also studied Yoga 4 Cancer and Yoga Nidra. She has specialized training in advanced anatomy and physiology, energetic cultivation and transfer, intelligence in sound and sequencing, and breath-work for grounding and expansion.

In 2017, she expanded her studies to Ayerveda Yoga and its specific connection to Nutrition and Physical Expression. In 2018, she founded Habibi Body Sport to focus on specific choices and habits to encourage health and wellness for life, and today, she teaches group classes at studios around Los Angeles, including Habibi Body: a targeted plan designed to engage primary and accessory muscle groups simultaneously for a full body workout. She keeps a steady roster of private clients for both nutrition and exercise, and continues to manage the day-to-day operations of her first baby, Habibi Bath & Body, which focuses on organic and natural skincare.

Direct download: Episode_198_Shahada_Karim.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:17pm EDT

Coach SheNesia (Nesi) Ewing is an International award-winning transformation life coach and Master Fitness Trainer who possesses a masters in Sports and Health Science and minor in exercise psychology and currently a Doctoral Candidate of Psychology. Coach Nesi has worked in the field of coaching and health and wellness for more than a decade as a trainer, athlete, coach and as Drill Sergeant in the US Army, with 20+ years of experience in the field of exercise, sports, nutrition, and mindset transformation. Coach Nesi became certified in the field of life coaching and fitness, after becoming homeless and losing everything. This life changing event caused Coach Nesi to not only become financially broken, but emotionally broken, forcing her to step out of her comfort zone to provide for herself and family. With minimal income and resources, Coach Nesi decided to turn her struggle into a success by tapping into her passion of sports and fitness and desire to help others become physically and mentally fit by creating the fitness transformation company Uncovering The New U, LLC. UCTNU was created to expose the newness of men and women when they become healthier to become happier. “New Mind, New Body, New U.”

She is the author of “Uncovering The New U, Change your mind, Change your circumstances,”. She has contributed to several books, podcasts, YouTube channels, and spoken on multiple radio stations across the US and UK. She visited and shared her expertise globally by visiting Dubai, Paris, Africa, Tokyo and Jamaica and multiple locations in the US.

Direct download: Episode_197_-_Coach_Nesi_Ewing.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:05pm EDT

How would you like to build a healthy, injury-free body?  If you do, then you will enjoy this interview with Dr. Sanaz Hariri, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of shoulder and knee pain. Dr. Hariri did a sports medicine and arthroscopy fellowship at Stanford and a total knee replacement fellowship at Harvard. Dr. Hariri is an expert in minimally invasive techniques for shoulder and knee arthroscopy and knee replacement. She has treated players in many elite athletic organizations, including the Stanford football and basketball teams, the United Football League and the San Jose Ballet.

Dr. Hariri prides herself in taking the time to work closely with each patient to identify a path to recovery that is tailored to each patient’s lifestyle and treatment goals. Her practice includes the elite athlete striving to return to the highest level of competition, the recreational athlete looking to return to an active lifestyle, and the elderly patient wanting to enjoy their activities of daily life without pain.

Dr. Hariri believes in less intervention when it comes to treating injuries and more prevention, through movement, hydration and a healthy plant-based diet. During the interview, Dr. Hariri often referenced the “Blue Zones.”  In 1999, journalist and explorer Dan Buettner led a series of expeditions with National Geographic and a team of anthropologists, demographers, and scientists to discover the world’s longest-living populations and the commonalities between these unique groups of people.

 

Through their research, they identified five regions of the world with the largest percentage of individuals 100 years of age or older, collectively called the Blue Zones. The people of these regions engage in similar lifestyle habits, such as consuming a plant-heavy diet and prioritizing tight-knit social networks. These sharing features are referred to as the Power Nine in Dan Buettner’s book “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest.”

This was a very enlightening and informative interview with Dr. Hariri.  Her motto is “movement means health and happiness” and during the interview, she explains why movement is so important. Dr. Hariri also believes that supplementation is a key component to building good health and that is why she is now an advisor to 305-Life, a health and wellness lifestyle brand that celebrates the ethos of Miami and seeks to inspire consumers to get the most out of life by staying hydrated and active.

Direct download: Episode_196_Dr._Sanaz_Hariri_-_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:18am EDT

In this episode of my Six Weeks to Fitness podcast, I am joined once again by Coach Theresa Wells, a native San Diegan, has a great passion for helping others. She is an alternative healing, holistic health and whole person approach advocate in the health and fitness industry. She does not believe in cookie cutter, quick fix gimmicks and is highly vocal about it. She is an effective results producing leader.

She is a former Secondary School Counselor who resigned in January of 2022; in order to work alongside those who have made the decision to commit to leading a successful fit life. This passion of fitness and combination of a counseling background, allows her to understand and empathize with those who struggle with the social emotional issues that are deeply rooted in most individuals ability to become psychologically fit; in order to become physically fit and lead a healthy lifestyle.

Theresa Wells is the owner of Tone At Home Fitness, an in-home personal concierge support that also provides online health & wellness programs. Her programs are designed for men and women who were formally fit but now seeking to get back to living successfully fit lives. This includes integrative fitness and nutrition programs for those who haven’t quite been able to get back to their peak athletic performance because of lingering COVID-19 symptoms or other illness that may have caused or triggered dormant health issues.

Over the past 2 years numerous families have been hit with stress, anxiety, fatigue and depression. Whether from divorce, isolation, stress from work or relationships. People want to feel relief, lose weight, look better and want to get back to living. Living healthy and disease free. This is the support Tone At Home Fitness Family members receive.

Direct download: Episode_195_Theresa_Wells.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:29pm EDT

Chris Manderino is a former NCAA and NFL professional athlete who pursued an opportunity to live abroad while playing football in Italy post his NFL career. He is the founder of LYFE FUEL, a whole-foods plant-based company that helps people achieve optimal health.

While in Italy, he was struck by the vast cultural differences between the Italian approach to food and the American approach. Italians, even with all the pizza, pasta and high carb lifestyle seemed a much healthier population than the US. Chris boiled it down to this striking difference: in Italy, food was simpler. The Italians used higher quality, mostly plant-based ingredients and had smaller portion sizes. His revelation inspired a career change and he ended up taking a job in the nutraceutical industry.

Later on, Chris decided to study dietary and training theories, and while most nutritionists and food experts disagreed on just about everything else, there was one thing everyone seemed to agree on: eating a plant-based diet is the most important thing you can do for your health.

Using this knowledge, Chris co-founded LYFE Fuel, where every aspect of the company is backed by science, right down to the amounts of each ingredient. Instead of simply throwing healthy ingredients together, LYFE’s products are engineered with the specific purpose of aiding absorption to make sure the body receives the full benefits of each life-sustaining nutrient.

After speaking with Chris for almost an hour, I am convinced that LYFE Fuel is one of the best plant-based nutrition products on the market, and I can’t wait to try it for myself.

Direct download: Episode_194_Chis_Manderino.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:41pm EDT

Vince Ferguson:

Dr. Ashley Lucas is the Founder of PHD Weight Loss. She holds a PhD in sports nutrition and chronic disease, and she's also a registered dietician. She comes to the field of nutrition and weight management with a unique background as a professional ballet dancer. That's right, a professional ballet dancer, and joining me today on my podcast to discuss long-term weight loss success, which is so important and why she believes that weight gain isn't your fault. Let's welcome Dr. Ashley Lucas. Dr. Ashley, how are you?

Ashley Lucas:

I'm great. Thanks so much for having me.

Vince Ferguson:

Well, thank you for coming on this show, but before we get started, I want to know, I want you to share with my listeners and viewers where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

Ashley Lucas:

Sure. Yeah, I grew up in Washington State and it was a great childhood. I trained as a classical ballet dancer when I was young and worked real hard and just didn't have any natural talent to speak of. And so I was always pushing my body to do things that it naturally didn't want to do. I was injured all the time and I really just had a constant fight to fit the really lean body that we are or were at that time required to fit, you know, as being a ballet dancer. So I had struggles with that. I was told I was fat countless times despite restricting calories like crazy and not eating any fat because I thought that if we ate fat, we'd get fat.

Vince Ferguson:

Right.

Ashley Lucas:

And so I had that constant struggle, but throughout that childhood, I learned perseverance and persistence and wouldn't have changed any aspect of it, but it pushed me into what I'm doing now today.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? So how long were you a professional ballet dancer?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah, I started training when I was 4 years old and I went to a boarding school for it during high school. I completed my undergraduate degree in ballet performance and then went on and danced with companies across the country. And so, yeah, I had a fairly successful career because I'm just a little bit obsessive and I was so passionate and just loved everything about it. And actually the end of my dancing career, it was when I landed in New York, I was actually chosen to perform at The Joyce Theater.

Vince Ferguson:

Nice.

Ashley Lucas:

And I was flown up there, but instead of finding myself in the spotlight there, participating in these once in a lifetime performances, I found myself in the ER.

Vince Ferguson:

Really?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah, I had no idea what was going on with my health. I thought that maybe I was having a heart attack, a panic attack. Yeah and basically that's what it was. It was a panic attack and the doctors after a whole bunch of different tests said I was just underfed and overexercised and I just couldn't keep going. So I had to step away from my dancing career at that time in my mid 20s.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? And so what brought you to PHD Weight Loss?

Ashley Lucas:

Well, from that point, I knew my body couldn't continue doing what it was. And I was really frustrated that I was injured all the time and my body was never at the body composition it needed to be despite working really, really hard. So I decided, you know, I understood how significantly nutrition impacted my own sport performance. So that pushed me into just learning more about nutrition and I went on and earned my PhD in sports nutrition and chronic disease. And I studied exactly that. I wanted to understand what happens to our metabolism when we chronically under eat, you know, when we're always dieting, what happens there and how do we achieve optimal body composition? How do we drop weight? How do we reduce body fat without causing harm metabolically? So I studied that. And then I think most importantly what I looked at is mentally and emotionally from the habits and behaviors that we have, how do we create sustainable change? So we don't just drop weight quickly.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

And doing our metabolism and then have it all come back.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

So, that's really what I focused on, and after that, I taught at the Ohio State University, but there realized.....

Vince Ferguson:

The Ohio State?

Ashley Lucas:

Ohio State, that's right. I realized that I just am very impatient and I need to see dramatic change in people, probably like you, or probably pretty similar in that respect. And so I went back to school again to become a registered dietician. I wanted to be this true expert in the field of weight management and I felt that, that was what it needed to take. But there I was filled with all of this same information. I was told, well, people just need to eat less. They need to move more. It's all a calories in, calories out kind of equation and people just need to have more discipline and eat everything in moderation and avoid fat and eat 6 to 11 servings of grain a day. And it didn't make sense to me. And so I took what I learned there and flipped it all upside down, pretty much everything that I was taught I questioned.

Ashley Lucas:

And from the answers that I found from more research and the research in my doctoral work, I created PHD Weight Loss. So we have five brick and mortar locations, but we also have an amazing nationwide at-home program where we are serving thousands of people all across the country no matter where they live in a really unique approach that challenges the standard ways of thinking when it comes to nutrition and weight loss. So that is my story of kind of how I've come to this point in helping people just reverse obesity and obesity related health conditions and I'm more passionate about this than I was when I was dancing. So I'm so glad that I've found purpose and passion within myself.

Vince Ferguson:

Oh yeah. I'm sure. And I'm sure quite a few other people are happy that you found purpose.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. Maybe. I hope so.

Vince Ferguson:

Exactly. How long have you been doing this now?

Ashley Lucas:

Oh, probably about 12 years.

Vince Ferguson:

About 12 years.

Ashley Lucas:

Yes.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow. because I've been to your website and I've seen hundreds. I'm not sure if it's hundreds, but I've seen quite a few testimonials.

Ashley Lucas:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

We have hundreds of testimonials.

Vince Ferguson:

You do have hundreds?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

That is amazing. That's amazing. Okay. Because we are overwhelmed right now with information about diet and exercise, right, and so much thought, so much is given, so much information is out there, it's like information overload. So what makes your company different from other companies that's out there with this information?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. I mean, we just streamline it all. We don't listen to the conventional wisdom. We create mostly a metabolic shift in the body. So we teach the body how to burn fat for fuel. And it doesn't require you to be Keto or very low carb or Atkins or Paleo or vegan. But what we do is we really take this unique approach where we can guide you on what your unique body needs, on how much to eat, when, what, and just create a really clear customized meal plan to support that aspect and create a metabolic shift from within. So it feels good and you don't have hunger or cravings and we can break that sugar addiction without any withdrawal symptoms.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. So there's no cookie cutter approach here.

Ashley Lucas:

No, it's going to be customized to each person.

Vince Ferguson:

But you believe in a low carb diet basically.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. I mean, I believe that we all have a unique tolerance level of how many carbohydrates we can consume. Everybody's different. What I can tolerate is probably much different than what you can tolerate. My husband and I were on a different paradigm as well from what we can tolerate. He comes from a family of morbid obesity, and in order for him to maintain his optimal level of health, he's pretty low carb. For me, I can tolerate a little bit more, I've got to be aware, but I now exercise much less. Probably I need to do more. You could help me with that, but...I took in much less and I weigh, my body fat is leaner than it ever was when I was dancing because of the shift in how I eat now.

Vince Ferguson:

Really amazing. And you've seen, with what you've seen through your research, you've been able to reduce chronic obesity, chronic illnesses. Basically, you've seen a lot of that happen.

Ashley Lucas:

So much. And, it's not from the weight loss necessarily. It's from how we're eating and creating this shift in the body. I mean, we have a client who comes to mind, John, and he started with us, had about 50 pounds to drop, but was on 90 units of insulin a day type two diabetic, like that's pretty intense.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

Within a week, he had to drop his insulin needs in half. Within three weeks, he was on about six units of insulin a day and now he's dropped to the 50 pounds and he's no longer diabetic. So, you know, a lot of these conditions were told they're chronic, you know, you're just going to have to medicate to continue dealing with diabetes. And that's not true. It doesn't have to be progressive. You can put it into remission. And I like to use the word remission.

Vince Ferguson:

Okay.

Ashley Lucas:

If you go back to the old habits and behaviors that got you there in the first place, you know, it's going to come back. It's not that we've cured it, but we've put it into remission. And if we can maintain the weight loss and these habits and this lifestyle, then it never needs to come back.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. Because I know you believe that weight gain is not all full necessarily.

Ashley Lucas:

Yes. Right.

Vince Ferguson:

So what do you base that on?

Ashley Lucas:

A few things. So the first thing is, so the belly fat, we know. Yeah that's right. We all like to let go of.

Vince Ferguson:

Yeah.

Ashley Lucas:

These active, these fat cells in the belly. They're different than the fat throughout the rest of the body. They get in there, they pack in tight into your organs and around the organs, it squeezes the organs and in time, this belly fat mass becomes almost like a tumor. It grows its own blood vessels and it secretes its own hormones and I want you to think that this fat mass in your belly is hungry. It has demands and urges and cravings and addiction. Like it has a mind of its own. And all it wants to do is get fatter as fast as possible.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

So the more belly fat you have, the more hunger and more cravings and more addiction to food you have. The slower the metabolism you have. So you really don't have to eat that much, and you'll witness continued weight gain. I talk to women all the time who say, gosh, I just really don't eat that much or I eat really healthy, but no matter what, I'm still putting on the pounds. Maybe I exercise a lot, but I'm still, you know, 30, 50 pounds more than I want to be or need to be. And so that's not your fault. It's all driven by this fat mass that's in there that just wants to grow. It makes you hungry. It makes you lazy because the last thing it wants you to do is go expend a ton of energy. So, yeah, it has nothing to do with willpower or your personality.

Ashley Lucas:

It's all just driven by this thing that just wants to grow. In men, it secretes this hormone called aromatase, which takes your testosterone and converts it into estrogen.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow.

Ashley Lucas:

So if you're carrying belly fat and you're a guy you're going to have much lower T and higher estrogen and you're going to find that your fat deposits are primarily in the chest, the throat and the face area.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

And you're going to be at real high risk of high blood pressure and sleep apnea. So, it secretes this hormone called Interleukin 6, which is a really inflammatory hormone.

Vince Ferguson:

Okay.

Ashley Lucas:

And what's really interesting is that has come to light with all of this COVID-19 situation. And so we know that individuals who are overweight and specifically obese are at a real high risk of suffering from severe COVID-19. And the reason why is because of interleukin 6.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm.

Ashley Lucas:

What happens when we have COVID-19 and some of us have the cytokine storm that we've heard of on the news.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

And what's happening is these cytokines are releasing interleukin 6. So if you already have this belly fat mass in there that's producing interleukin 6, you're at a baseline high level. Now, you have the cytokines flowing through and it's just a load of interleukin 6 that your body cannot handle and it mounts this severe response. So that's why if we're overweight or obese, we have such a higher risk of having a severe condition. It doesn't have to do with the actual, necessarily the fat, but it's what the fat is doing in the body that creates the havoc we're experiencing.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. Wow. That's very good. Why is belly fat so dangerous?

Ashley Lucas:

Because of that. Because it secretes these hormones, because you know in women it secretes also this hormone called aromatase that increases our risk of estrogen dependent breast cancer. So, yeah, it's just an active tumor that we do not want in the body. It acts like that.

Vince Ferguson:

Now, in addition, I know you said, so it's not our fault, not totally. Would you also blame the food industry because some of the food is addictive, the chemicals that's in the food.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. I know. I had said there are a few reasons and that is one of the reasons for sure. They create these foods that smell and taste and look just perfectly. So we really cannot eat just one.

Vince Ferguson:

Yeah exactly.

Ashley Lucas:

A huge component of it.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. Yes. So how do we stop cravings? because you know, all of us have these cravings that we got to grab another donut, we got to eat more ice cream. How do we control those cravings?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. I mean, there are a few different ways. So one is to create a shift in the body metabolically. So if we can teach it how to burn fat for fuel, then the body is not going to have the cravings for the fast food and the sugar. We can dull the signals. So right now most of us are carbohydrate, sugar burners. And we need to eat every three to four hours. If not, we get hangry, we crave these certain foods and usually they're kind of carby or salty foods that we're just craving and our hunger cues, we can't trust our body when we're hungry, when we're tired, it's all out of whack. So when we can create this shift in the body and feed our body in a different way, then you will find that we can actually trust what it's telling us and we won't be hungry.

Ashley Lucas:

We won't have cravings. So that's one of the aspects. Also recognizing what are our trigger foods, they're different for each person. And that's why the eating in moderation, everything in moderation I think was coined by someone who's naturally lean. Because I think I've met three people in my lifetime and working with a lot, thousands of people, who can actually eat everything in moderation.

Vince Ferguson:

So you don't believe in that.

Ashley Lucas:

I don't. I think it's caused a lot of issues actually.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. Now, but you do believe in eating three or four hours each day.

Ashley Lucas:

It's different for each person. Generally when we start with our clients, we have our clients eating every three to four hours a day just to make sure that we're managing blood glucose and we're moderating it. So there's no highs or lows, but once someone becomes fat adapted, they don't have to eat every three to four hours. Their body, when their metabolism is fat adapted, they can actually tap into the fat we have stored on our body and burn that for fuel when needed. So a lot of our clients maybe, you know, breakfast if they're hungry, but breakfast really isn't the most important meal of the day.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? Explain that. It is not? What really?

Ashley Lucas:

So, you know, Kellogg actually coined that phrase to sell more breakfast cereals.

Vince Ferguson:

Really?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. There's not research to support the fact that breakfast is actually the most important meal of the day. It is when you're trying to sell more frosted flakes though.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. Yes. Most definitely, a lot of research, a lot of companies that sponsor research is using to push their product. Correct?

Ashley Lucas:

That's right.

Vince Ferguson:

That's funny. But that's quite interesting too though. Now tell my listeners about, my viewers, how important is supplements, supplementation.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. You know, I think that there is a time and a place for supplements. I mean, I take some of them to help me with different aspects. Like, let's see, vitamin D I think that the majority of us are deficient in vitamin D, especially during the winter. So that could be an important one to take.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

A lot of us these days because of our environment and stress levels, we have gut issues. And so taking support for the gut for some people can be helpful, but there's not going to be supplements that are just going to allow you to drop the weight. And if there are, it's usually a quick fix and you haven't changed any habit, behavior, or really learned what your body needs and it's not going to have the lasting impact that you're really looking for. So yeah, I think there's a time and a place, but just being aware of what your body needs is going to be important with that.

Vince Ferguson:

And you talked about behavior, and I know you focus on behavior and emotional support. How important is that in your client's weight loss journey and sustainability.

Ashley Lucas:

It's the most important part.

Vince Ferguson:

The most important part.

Ashley Lucas:

It is.

Vince Ferguson:

Really?

Ashley Lucas:

The nutrition aspect is actually one of the most simplest part. Once we can get it all dialed in, but 80% of any big change comes from the mind and dropping weight and maintaining it is definitely categorized as such. So yeah, the majority of this journey comes from the mind, the mental, emotional, habits, behaviors. So with our clients they're coming in or we are helping them over the phone or by video every week with one on one coaching, support, and accountability, where we talk about those things, what habits and behaviors do we need to shift? What are those sabotaging thoughts that keep coming up and how do we respond to them in a different way? How do we change our stories?

Ashley Lucas:

You know, oftentimes I'll sit with clients and they'll say, I'm never going to get to 160 or I'm stuck here at 160. Well, that's just a story. And if they talk to themselves with those words, then that's going to become their reality. So we're constantly shifting and moving that and creating new neural pathways in the brain. So we can actually sustain a new body and a new mind.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. Wow. That's awesome. Sounds like a lot of psychology going on in here too.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. It is.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow. That's amazing. Now what about inflammation? Because you touched on that as well. What foods cause inflammation in the body?

Ashley Lucas:

So in general, when we eat above our carbohydrate tolerance level and it really doesn't matter where that comes from, it could be a sweet potato, it could be rice, it could be pasta, it could be gummy bears. It doesn't matter where the carbohydrate really comes from. If we're eating too much of it for our unique body, then we're going to secrete a hormone called insulin. And I'm sure you guys have heard about insulin, but insulin is a really inflammatory hormone. And I think we can all agree that we don't want to have high levels of insulin in the body. So we just need to eat to support keeping that insulin as low as possible. And with that, we'll see that our inflammation continues to reduce.

Vince Ferguson:

Huh. Now as a trainer, I often discuss the importance of exercise when it comes to losing weight and nutrition. But I understand you don't put as much emphasis on exercise when it comes to sustainable weight loss. Correct?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. You know, so I view exercise as not being a huge weight loss tool, but a really big wellness tool. So it's very important leading an active lifestyle, moving, oh, I read this interesting research study today actually and I hope I say this right, but basically they said that even if you move 180 minutes a week of cardio, which is about what, 30 minutes a day of zone two cardio, which means that like you're having a hard time talking to the next person, and if you sit over five hours a day, it erases the benefits of all that cardio.

Vince Ferguson:

Really?

Ashley Lucas:

Yes.

Vince Ferguson:

What?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. So movement for heart health is important, but if you think you're going to get on the elliptical or workout and drop 50 pounds, it's likely not going to happen. So, I look at exercise as huge important to maintain muscle and mood and stress and sleep and to maintain a weight loss. It's going to be important. I think resistance training, lifting weights is like the number one thing.

Vince Ferguson:

Build muscle.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah, muscle. And it's hard to do. I'm trying to build muscle right now and man, it's a challenge.

Vince Ferguson:

Why is it hard though? Because I know you're on a great diet. Why is it hard for you?

Ashley Lucas:

I mean, I think genetics have a lot to do with it. You know, some people are going to build muscle easier. I think hormones also have a lot to do with it. And it just takes overload and someone knowing what their doing to help you. So same thing, you know, I think that weight loss, it just takes accountability and support and outside knowledge and same thing with building muscle. You know, it's helpful to have someone by your side to tell you what to do and how to time collapse. You're not wasting so much time in the gym or trying all these different diets on your own and it just not working and you could just get help and make it happen. And it happens quickly. Our men drop three to five pounds a week, our women two to three pounds. So it doesn't have to take forever.

Vince Ferguson:

Well, what about people who believe they need to drop 10, 15 pounds right away? And they think like the crash weight diet is the way to go.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

What’s wrong with that?

Ashley Lucas:

We know that doesn't work. Lots of water weight there and also to create any kind of habit change, it takes at least six weeks. And that's quick. So yeah, if you drop it in three weeks through a juice cleanse, it's not going to work.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. So you are familiar with juice cleanses because a lot of people use them, do them.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. A lot of people do them.

Vince Ferguson:

Yeah. But I think in addition to a sustainable weight loss program, I mean, I think juicing is fine as part of your regular dietary program, but not something that you're looking to do just to lose weight and think you're going to keep it off that way, you know.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. I mean it depends. Juicing, you know, I actually prefer a smoothie if you're going to do that. Because if you think, let's say you juice apple and how much apple are you going to have to squeeze down in there? And all that's left is the sugar. It took out all the fiber, a lot of the nutrients with it. So you're left with a cup of sugar really.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm.

Ashley Lucas:

So you're much better off just eating the apple whole if you want it because that fiber is going to slow the insulin response or if you juice a whole bunch of green stuff, it's still just the sugar that's left with some vitamins and minerals in there, but you're much better off eating the salad so you can actually feel full.

Vince Ferguson:

Right.

Ashley Lucas:

And delay the response of insulin and glucose, so. Yeah, juicing is kind of tricky.

Vince Ferguson:

Yeah. Yeah. Because I know some people believe that you juice, you get the vitamins, minerals right to the blood system right away, you know, so that's one school of thought.

Ashley Lucas:

Right.

Vince Ferguson:

But I agree with you as well. I believe in the best of both worlds. I juice and I do smoothies. Right. So that's my school of thought. Anyway, yeah, that's good. Now, how long are your sessions with your clients? Are they hourly sessions?

Ashley Lucas:

No. We have availability for our clients to connect with us as often as they need throughout the week. So it's really whatever they need, but most often, I don't find that long sessions talking about things and circling back and forth is really effective. We're very effective and efficient and to the point, so we give our clients, you know, three things that they can focus on each week to actually take and implement, come back and then we add three more on top of that. So, really all about us is baby steps, bite size pieces so that it's not overwhelming. We respect our clients' time so that, you know everyone is so busy that I wouldn't want them to have to hang out with us for an hour every time, but we're always available. We see our clients each week for as long as they need to get their questions answered, but since we have such good communication with them, people are usually in and out in about 15 minutes.

Vince Ferguson:

Is that right? Really?

Ashley Lucas:

Yep.

Vince Ferguson:

What about virtually, when they call you for consultations?

Ashley Lucas:

Same thing, about 15, maybe 20 minutes max, but you know, if they want to have three of those a week, they can, but we're so on top of it and they're just getting it and we make it easy. We provide about 85% of the food at the beginning as well. So no cost associated with the food and for our nationwide clients, we ship it for free. Everything's covered and it covers breakfast, most of lunch and snacks. Yeah. And dinner is always or at least one meal, usually it's dinner is going to be the client's responsibility so that they learn one meal at a time. Clients can do their own food if they want to, but I'd say 97% of our clients choose to use our foods because they're just a tool. So we help them with this dinner meal and what it looks like, recipes, dining out, takeout.

Ashley Lucas:

And then they have the foods to help support them earlier in the day and then they feel like they're this expert. They become very self-sufficient for dinner. And we work on, we practice lunch. So now they've got their dinner and they've got lunch. Then we move on and we practice breakfast. So by the time we get the body where it needs to be, which in our eyes is fully collapsing that belly fat mass, we've got to fully collapse the fat mass or else the weight is going to come back.

Vince Ferguson:

Right.

Ashley Lucas:

Right. It's like shaving the top of the weed. If you lose 30 pounds of the 60-pound fat mass. So for a lot of people who dropped weight only to regain it, they've not gotten their body where it needs to be. So, anyway, once we get the body where it needs to be, all of our clients understand their eating style for the future.

Ashley Lucas:

They're not dependent on any of our food items, but we've allowed habits and behaviors and new ways of thinking to start to be ingrained in the brain and then we practice that in maintenance, and maintenance with us is free, it's for life. We never leave our clients' side. So most of our clients like to meet at least once monthly and they do that forever. You know, we have clients from you know, six, seven years ago when I opened our first PHD brick and mortar space who come in and, Susie, I just got a note that she was back in, checking in and she started with me six years ago and she's up five pounds over that course of time. And she's about 70 years old.

Vince Ferguson:

Really?

Ashley Lucas:

So yeah, she just checks in and five pounds makes her feel uncomfortable. Her pants are a little tight.

Vince Ferguson:

Yeah.

Ashley Lucas:

And so we just air correct early on and get her back down where she feels her best. And there's no cost associated, you know, as we can air correct that early on.

Vince Ferguson:

Maintenance. Amazing. Awesome. Awesome. I also went to your website. You seem to have a large team of professionals working with you.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah, we are almost 40 of us now, which is so fun.

Vince Ferguson:

40?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

How do you manage all those people?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. That's a whole another podcast.

Vince Ferguson:

That's a whole another podcast.

Ashley Lucas:

No, it's so fun. We love it. And we just have systems and accountability charts in place and it's clear responsibilities and roles. But as we expand, our nationwide program is amazing. We've actually doubled the number of clients who got started just in a month, last month. Yes. So our schedule is just filling up for nationwide clients, which I just love.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. Amazing. But it's only one of you, so it's not easy, you know, what I'm saying? So you have to have systems in place.

Ashley Lucas:

Yes. Definitely.

Vince Ferguson:

Has the pandemic affected your business in a positive note, beyond the fact that it was rough on people, but business wise, has it been a blessing for you?

Ashley Lucas:

You know, I know that we are so busy now, but we have always been very busy.

Vince Ferguson:

Always been?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. So I do know and believe in my heart that we are, and what you do, we are on the forefront of all of this.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

The only thing that we can slightly control right now I feel like is our health.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

The only thing we can do to make sure that we are strong enough to overcome whatever comes our way is to get healthy.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

So I think that people are understanding that and maybe taking more responsibility for their own health because the only person who can change it is you.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Ashley Lucas:

And I think people will have maybe a negative outcome to COVID and then be like, oh my gosh, my health does matter.

Vince Ferguson:

Most definitely.

Ashley Lucas:

You know, and then decide to make a change or the best way would be, if they realize that, if we can it before something happens.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes, yes.

Ashley Lucas:

Be proactive rather than reactive. That is definitely ideal.

Vince Ferguson:

Definitely. Wow. I just think that you guys are doing an amazing job, but before I let you go, I know you have a book and talk about that. And I know it's accessible to people. I really want to talk about the book.

Ashley Lucas:

Yes. It's called the Ultimate Weight Loss Secrets and I talk a lot about the visceral fat, the belly fat, what it does, how it works, you know, why weight gain isn't your fault. And then I provide a lot of simple evidence based strategies that folks can implement into their own life right away to see big change. So a lot of folks have said that it's really helpful. And then I share a lot of stories in there. So it's fun. And it's free right now to download at our website.

Vince Ferguson:

And, yeah. Okay. And speaking of your website, please tell my listeners and viewers where they can download it.

Ashley Lucas:

Sure. Yes. It's available at myphdweightloss.com. So that's myphdweightloss.com. And then sometimes I'll put it up on our social media and I try to provide a lot of tips there. And my handle for social media is Dr_AshleyLucas. So that's another place to be able to access it.

Vince Ferguson:

Perfect. Perfect. Any last words from my viewers and listeners before I let you go.

Ashley Lucas:

Gosh, I would just say that there is hope to making change. So even if you've dropped weight in the past only to regain it, it really isn't your fault. You don't have to live there. You can make a change for the rest of your life and simply because you want to. So just that there's hope and you can do it if you have this strong desire within you to do, to make a change.

Vince Ferguson:

So you've actually put the responsibility, the onus back on the person on the client, right?

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. Yeah. If we have the right tools in the toolbox, then it's doable.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. Oh. And you make it sound so doable and I know why you're doing so well because you have, and you have the research behind you, you have the testimonials and your clients who absolutely love you and your work. It's amazing. And the timing couldn't be better.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you for all the work you do, and keeping people fit and strong.

Vince Ferguson:

Oh, it's my pleasure. That's something I'm committed to doing. And hey, we're in this together and you know, I actually watched the video with you and Pedro.

Ashley Lucas:

Pedro. Yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. Actually, he is a great guy as a matter of fact.

Ashley Lucas:

Yes.

Vince Ferguson:

I have seen his videos and I had his current CEO, Bryce Henson on my show.

Ashley Lucas:

Yeah. Bryce is great. I chatted with him a few weeks ago.

Vince Ferguson:

Great dude. Great dude. Has on our podcast a few weeks ago. Great guy. A lot of good energy going on around here.

Ashley Lucas:

Right.

Vince Ferguson:

So with that being said, Dr. Ashley Lucas on behalf of Body Sculpt of New York, it's my nonprofit and Six Weeks To Fitness, I want to really thank you for coming on my show today.

Ashley Lucas:

Thanks for inviting me.

Vince Ferguson:

Ah, it was truly a pleasure and to my listeners and viewers, I hope this program was encouraging and inspiring that you will continue tuning in to my Six Weeks To Fitness Podcast. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the show, please leave them below or email me at vince@sixweeks.com and don't forget to subscribe. So you don't miss any future episodes. And remember, we don't stop exercising because we grow old. We grow old because we stop exercising.

Direct download: Episode_193_Interview_with_Dr._Ashley_Lucas.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:24pm EDT

Jennifer Stehlin was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, and danced her way through pre-school and high school graduation -- her passion for and dedication to the world of dance are the foundation of her career today. While earning a degree in Broadcast Communications at the University of Florida, Jennifer balanced academics and a demanding schedule as a Division 1 cheerleader. It didn't take long for ESPN Gainesville to offer Jennifer a Sports Reporter spot on their roster. Jennifer has also done on-camera hosting and reporting for Fangirl Sports Network, Pop Hearts TV, and other outlets.

For multiple seasons, Jennifer starred in the FX Network promo spots for Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story. Her other TV credits include Valley Junk TV and Posers.

Jennifer stars alongside an all-star cast in Hulu's highly-anticipated limited series, Pam and Tommy. The dark comedy depicts the marriage of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, and the release of their infamous unauthorized sex tape that was filmed privately on their wedding night. Making pop culture history turned the couple into global mega-superstars overnight -- their close circle of family and friends (with Jennifer as Pam's best friend) join the rollercoaster ride. Pam and Tommy premiere 02/02/22 on Hulu.

Off-screen, Jennifer is a Las Vegas-based NFL Cheerleader, fitness instructor and on-camera spokesmodel.

Direct download: Episode_192_Interview_with_Jennifer_Stehlin.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:20am EDT

The sky is the limit for Alexia Adams, a young, driven, television personality, health enthusiast, humanitarian and retired professional athlete. In the summer of 2021, Alexia made her television debut on season two of Own's “Put a Ring On It.”  She also appeared in “Uncle Drew,” a sports comedy film that aired in 2018 with Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O’Neal and other prominent athletes.  Alexia is now working on other film projects. Off camera, Alexia is a brand influencer for Drink2Shrink, a detox and weight loss drink. She also works as the marketing director and a brand manager for a premier global sports and entertainment agency, and as an Atlanta Hawks Player Development Program Affiliate.

This is the Alexia Adams story, a story that is still being written and is sure to inspire and motivate young people, especially young girls to go after their dreams and shoot for the stars just like Alexia Adams.

Vince Ferguson

Alexia, how are you today?

Alexia Adams:

I'm great. Long week.

Vince Ferguson:

Long week. I hear you. So let's start from the beginning. Where did it start for you, Alexia? Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

Alexia Adams:

I was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but we lived in St. Augustine. They moved up to Atlanta, Marietta, Georgia, when I was seven. So when I was a kid, the only people I really was around was my family, my dad's brother, which is my uncle. Our families kind of moved up here together. And then honestly, I just wanted to be like my dad and my brother when I was little. So I used to mimic and follow my brother everywhere. And then my dad threw in basketball. He was an ex-basketball player. Played football, baseball, ran track volleyball, he did it all. So I said, "Well, I want to do what he... I want to do it too."

Alexia Adams:

But honestly, when he first introduced basketball to me, I hated it. I didn't like it, but I wanted to do it because I knew he did it. I was probably like the worst my first year. But when I saw how bad I was, I worked that hard that Summer and the next I was the best player in the Youth League.

Vince Ferguson:

Really?

Alexia Adams:

Yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

So you attribute that to hard work?

Alexia Adams:

Yep. Yep. Because I used to... I would see my brother pick up a ball, go up the street to the basketball court. I would just go with him.

Vince Ferguson:

Really, really? So when you say your brothers or your father were your role models?

Alexia Adams:

I would say my father and my mom are my role models. I would say growing up, I wanted to be like my brother. But as we got older, he would just get on my nerve and I just feel like the way I think, me and my father we pretty much think just alike.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? Are you very close with your parents now, today?

Alexia Adams:

Yeah. I'm close with both of them. Probably more so my dad. But I pick and choose what I want to talk to. One of them about my dad is sports and men. My mom is business. I go to both of them. So, yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

Really. The best of both worlds there.

Alexia Adams:

Yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

And you can talk to your father about men?

Alexia Adams:

Yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

And your mom, you can talk to her about what? About girly things?

Vince Ferguson:

Oh, well just business. My mom, she's a Regional Director for Family Dollars all in Atlanta. They're all, she's overseeing all of them. So my mum, it's four kids. So it was my brother, it was me, it was my two little sisters. And the two little sisters were always with my mom. Me and my brother are a year apart. I'm 35, he's 36. Then my baby sisters are 30 and 29. So we were just kind of like, they would be with her, we'd be with my dad, even though we all lived together. So they didn't do sports. We did sports. And I think they're more of the book, the smart ones, you know what I mean? They're all into the books. My sister's she's the biggest on saving. Me and my brother we just think we lived that life. So me and my brother are kind of like. I don't know, it's weird. But we've all been pretty close.

Vince Ferguson:

Nice. Nice. One big happy family though, I would say.

Alexia Adams:

Yep.

Vince Ferguson:

With all the sports that you could have played, because again, I'm sure in addition to basketball, you've probably tried your hand at other sports as well. Why did you choose basketball above the rest?

Alexia Adams:

Personally, just because my dad made me. Then I found a passion for it, but in high school because I just whatever didn't want to go home. I just wanted to be out with my friends. And I was quick on the court, I did track. So I tried out for the track team, ended up being the second fastest on the whole team. So I ran with track. Did triple jump, 4 by 100, 200, long jump, triple jump. But my actual biggest offers were from track. And I did volleyball too, but I had Division one offers from all of them. I was way better in track. I had offers like Clemson, Georgia, but my passion was basketball. So the original school I picked was Gardner-Webb. It was Division one. I actually took a Track's scholarship because the basketball coach heard about me late and he just kept calling my mom like, "Make her take the track scholarship. We need her on our team, blah, blah, blah."

Alexia Adams:

I go out to North Carolina. I feel like he tricked me. He didn't really explain that he had... I wasn't paying attention either. That he had a senior point guard. I'm thinking he's bringing us in to play together. Really, he just wanted me to, I guess, be a sit out and wait until she graduated. But I was already done with that school. So I was like, you know what? Let me just go D2. So I don't have to sit out and I transferred and finished that

Vince Ferguson:

Amazing. So you went from a division one to division two school?

Alexia Adams:

From a Track Scholarship also to Basketball Scholarship.

Vince Ferguson:

Basketball Scholarship? Wow. Now I know that... But in your wildest dreams though, could you even imagine that you would become a professional basketball player?

Alexia Adams:

I think when we're younger, we all have these big goals and we see television and I want to be like we Lisa Leslie or Cynthia Cooper. But as you get older also, you see like it start to diminish. Middle school, I stood out. High school even I stood out as a Freshman, but I also noticed that I wasn't getting as much help trying to get over to college. It was really me doing all out of work and not so much my school, like it is a powerhouse now. And I feel like once I got to college, once I transferred, once I went Division two and went to HBCU, I started to see like, "I don't know this is really going to go." But I still had this fire in me after I graduated. I went to Savannah moved, placed in my pro, that when I came home in the Summer, when that season was over. I got a call from one of my best friends, her name's [Jenise Trainer 00:06:45].

Alexia Adams:

And she was like, "Meet me at Georgia Tech and bring your basketball shoes." And I'm thinking like, "Okay, I'll go play. I'm thinking we better go play." I walk in the gym. And immediately a woman starts screaming at me like, "Hurry, put your shoes on, sign the waiver." It was the Atlanta Dream. So pretty much at the inner practice, she told me they were in the Eastern Conference finals. And that I could finish out on the practice team. They would give me tickets. They would give me gear to the games and I could put it on my resume.

Alexia Adams:

Once I was able to put that Atlanta Dream stamped on my resume, one of my best friends that I met in Savannah, this is how the world is so small, that played on the team. She played one game with me in Savannah, because she came from overseas. She called me and she said, "Hey, my agent's looking for a guard. Where's your film?" And I said, "Let me shoot it to you." And I updated my resume. Once he saw Atlanta Dream, they obviously did the background check to see if that was true. That's how I got my first job overseas. Wow.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow. Really? And you played in various places. I mean, what? Romania, Belgium, Serbia, Mexico. How was that experience playing overseas? How was that for a young African American woman?

Alexia Adams:

I would say I would never trade it for the world because I've learned a lot too. Nobody really knows this too much. My first contract overseas was trash. It was under a $1,000, 800 bucks.

Vince Ferguson:

What?

Alexia Adams:

Nobody knows that. So I tell people this story because I'm like, "I just wanted the opportunity." I came from a division two school, it was only three or four Americans on the team. And I was the only American that really didn't have a big resume like that. So I went out there, took the chance. I said, "Man, I just need this chance to prove I can do it." Played pretty good. The team even with that money had issues with pay. They were months behind on the cheque. So then at Christmas I switched teams. They saw me play from the first team, stayed in the same country.

Alexia Adams:

Still took some little money. But after that first year, I proved that I can obviously do this at a high level. That's when all my realistic offers started coming. So to be a black woman in a whole another country, and they barely try to understand you. They kind of really want you to learn the language because we're at practice. They're speaking Romania. I'm like, "I know y'all talking about me." So we would start... The Americans would kind of just hang, and then we started hanging with them a little that they would teach us the basics to where we were around them so much we started to comprehend, maybe not speak it so much, but understand what was going on.

Alexia Adams:

So it was a gift, a curse, a blessing all at once because I didn't have much money and I just wanted a chance travel the world, do what I love. And then after that first year, I pretty much set the standard that I could do this. And I was good after that.

Vince Ferguson:

Oh, most definitely. Did you have doubters? People who doubted your ability to make it?

Alexia Adams:

I will say before I ever went overseas, yeah. And it's crazy, my college basketball coach, his name is Robert Skinner. He would always tell me specifically, like, "You're not going anywhere after college. You might as well hang it up, give it up." And he would say that, that when I finally went overseas, he was one of the first people I think I talked to after that year. I think he called me, I can't remember if I called him. And he said, "You know Alexia, I was wrong about you." And he was like... And it kind of felt good because I felt like he always had a target on my back.

Alexia Adams:

He felt like, I thought I was better because I came from a division one school, which I was. But at the end of the day I was at a HBCU school. It was a lot favoritism going on and I was just like, "Man..." Kept wanting to transfer. But I was like, "Man, let me just stick it out. Let me just play through it." So it's crazy that out of all the players that pretty much went overseas, I was pretty much the first one to go from that university to play professional.

Vince Ferguson:

Nice, nice. Did the money start to kind of like roll in where it's kind of comfortable for you at that time?

Alexia Adams:

After my first year when I took that trash paycheck, yes. And then I started building relationships too. So I would have friends on the girls team, on different girls teams that I would stay in touch with the coaches. And I would just tell them about my friends. So it came to the point, maybe I want to say my second year. The team that I went to Tiger Morse. I'm really cool with the president now we stay in touch. That he let me pick all the foreigners. So I pretty much put two of friends on. And then we needed two bigs, they knew somebody. And we had a legit team now. So I started, while I was playing that's when I was like, "Maybe I should be an agent." But I started placing. I placed while I played 34, 35 girls and guys in Europe and Latin America.

Alexia Adams:

But it just became a headache because people, players, I saw both sides. I saw it from the management standpoint. I saw it from the coaches standpoint. I saw it from the recruiting standpoint. It just became too much while I was playing. So I remember one of the teams that I went back to, which was Tiger Morse it was kind of like, I was a player coach because, I'm showing the coach plays he was new. He came from a junior program. We all were showing him plays, but they kind of really took me in. I was the captain of that team. And I feel like that's my second home, which is Romania.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? Really though. From here, I'm talking to you and listening to you. It sounds like you of an eye for talent too.

Alexia Adams:

Right. Yeah, I do. I think I do. Because I feel like I wanted to always make that bridge between division two and going overseas because they don't know what to do. My coach had no idea on how to try to get me to go to the next level. And overseas was never an option. I never even knew really too much of overseas. It wasn't until I was like, "Man, I ain't going to make it to the WNBA. I'm too little coming from a small school." And then that's when countries started getting involved. "Well, you can play in Finland, Germany." Right when I graduated, I want to say it was before I... Or it might have been after. It might have been before, I can't remember. Before I played in my pro, I want to say that when I graduated, I went to Germany first, just on a whim.

Alexia Adams:

I had all my friends put in money to buy me a plane ticket to try out for this, it was kind of like a combine. And obviously I didn't really hear much from it. I thought it was going to be so many agents, it wasn't. But what it did do for me, it gave me updated film against people who were playing at division one schools, at high division, two schools, that when that was the film that I used, when I gave it to my friend to pretty much stamp. Obviously the Atlanta Dream too, but to go overseas. So it worked out in my favor, really.

Vince Ferguson:

Amazing. Yes, it sure did. How long did you play professional basketball?

Alexia Adams:

Six years, 2011 to 2017.

Vince Ferguson:

Okay. So why did you move away from that? You were still very young at that time as you are now, but why did you leave?

Alexia Adams:

Being honest, Social media is not how it now, it's Instagram and stuff. Instagram came later, but we were all on Facebook, my space. I started to see a lot of my female friends getting married. I started to see a lot of my friends, having kids. I started to see a lot of my good friends get married. And for women, it's a whole lot different because we play year round. We play those eight months overseas, and if you're good enough to play in the WNBA in the Summer. So I was really only home in the Summer. I passed up on a lot of relationships. I tried to deal with people when I was there and it just never worked out. And it came to the point where I missed home. It was a lot of teams that I played for. I couldn't go home for Christmas.

Alexia Adams:

There was a lot of teams that I played for. I couldn't go home for Thanksgiving. I couldn't go home for holidays. And it began to "Ugh, I want to be home." And then really my last year when I feel like the money problem started happening again in Romania, I told myself, "This is my last year." Not even that it was small money, but it was that they were behind. And I was over it. I was like, "Look, this going to be my last year. We're just going to go ahead and finish it out." And that's what I did. I just kind of really missed home. I'm sure there were other places, even old teams who had the money to bring me back. They asked me to come back, bring more players, but I was just kind of... I felt like I'd proved my point that I could play at a high level.

Vince Ferguson:

Oh, most definitely. And now it's time to move on or come home for other challenges, I guess, right?

Alexia Adams:

Correct. Yes, sir.

Vince Ferguson:

Are you still involved in the game? And if you are, in what capacity?

Alexia Adams:

Yeah. I do Player Development for the Hawks. So I do it part-time just to kind of stay in the loop. So I might work with them once or twice a month. And Player Development basically is with their junior program. We'll have camps or events and we have to either go to the camps and put them through drills or go to certain events and be present. And it's also to stay in touch with the network. Some of the people that I'm really close to now, like Tony Deal, I met him through the Hawks. So I've built a lot of relationships. So I do it from that standpoint. And when I first retired, I still kind of had a little love for the game as far as playing. So I would come home, have camps in the Summer. When I was playing and I would come home, and then after I was like, "I'm going to do this every Summer. "COVID hit, and that's when I just kind of backed up from it a little bit.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow, wow. So, when you're working with kids now. You're talking about guys, boys and girls?

Alexia Adams:

Boys and girls. And I was just trying to do anything I could just to figure out what I was. I never really knew what the plan was when I retired from ball. It's just that I had so many relationships. I was just calling people, "What y'all got going on boo, boom, boom." I said, well, let me start out with this camp. And then also a lot of my friends are mainly guys. So people like Josh Powell, some NBA, Iman Shumpert. I would help work them out in the Summers really. And I would just use that as that relationship. Help work them out, put them through drills or whatever. And that is how I ended up getting a job with the Hawks.

Alexia Adams:

And then once I did that, TV stuff started just coming out of nowhere. People were looking for... They were looking for a basketball player in Atlanta and everybody knows me. So it was like over 35 tags on Instagram with my name. Then people-

Vince Ferguson:

Really?

Alexia Adams:

Yeah. They reached out to me said, "Hey, can you send some current basketball pictures?" And I was like, "Okay, I didn't understand what it was for." They hit me back and was like, "Hey, would you like to be in a movie?" And I was like, "Yeah, what movie is this? I really thought it was a joke. And it ended up being Uncle Drew. So that's how I got to be on that.

Vince Ferguson:

Amazing. Absolutely amazing to hear that though. Now, what advice would you give to other young kids trying to come up in the field of sports like yourself and being a professional? What advice would you give to them?

Alexia Adams:

Oh, it's so different now because all the rules have changed. You used to be able to, if you transferred, you have to sit out depending on what division, depending on... Now, kids are transferring after one year. Kids are doing what they want. They're able to get paid, which makes it better. They're able to get paid at a university while they're in school. Before we were all going to the cafeteria, taking the fries. I would say now, because I feel like the world is just open. Social media back then, I was sending VCS tapes just to get on a team. Now, all you got to do is do one highlight, post it on Instagram. You're going to division one.

Alexia Adams:

I just feel like it's so different. I just think that if anything, because it's a little easier now, they will find you and you just got to be the first one in the gym and the last one to leave. Whether it's track, you just got to run a certain time. But really just staying in the public, being noticeable, have a highlight take post it, because they will find you now. If you're good, they will find you.

Vince Ferguson:

Huh? So using Social media now to your advantage. That's a benefit they have today that you didn't have when you were starting out?

Alexia Adams:

Exactly.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow. Now how did you parlay your success on the court to being on Own, on that TV show?

Alexia Adams:

That came out of nowhere.

Vince Ferguson:

How did that work out?

Alexia Adams:

Actually, I was dating someone else the year before. Me and my ex, we were back and forth more often on when I was overseas. Because like I said, I tried it, it just wasn't working. That we actually reconnected January of last year, 2021. And this is before a show ever came to me about an opportunity or anything. I got a DM from obviously someone that was in casting and said, "Hey, do you know anyone in a relationship?" Basically, asking me questions. And I said, "Well, yeah, I've been in a relationship." And they said, "With who?" And then I sent them his information. She hit me and was like, "Hey, are you interested in doing a show?" I was like, "What's it about?" And then she told me. So she called him. Obviously, they interviewed us, sent them pictures and stuff. And I think they just liked how our dynamic was in our interviews. And that is really how we got picked to be on that show. They scouted us. They vetted us.

Vince Ferguson:

They vetted you guys?

Alexia Adams:

Yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

Was it a good experience for you?

Alexia Adams:

Uh-uh (negative).

Vince Ferguson:

Really? You said, "No." You said, no.

Alexia Adams:

Yes and no.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? Why no?

Alexia Adams:

Because someone that I had relationship as far as even friendship. Friendship is big to me. I value my relationships with my friends and family. Knows all my business. We reconnect, we're trying to figure our situation out and he goes on national television and sleeps with someone else. And I just felt like it was the biggest disrespect at the most high. I understand, and it sounds crazy like people cheat, people do whatever. But my thing is, don't have me on National Television and you're telling... And it all played out because one thing the camera don't lie. So a lot of things that pretty much I saw when it was seen on television, I didn't witness that stuff. I'd never saw it. People said, "Well, did you see red flags?"

Alexia Adams:

And I would say, "No." Because I'm not around him 24/7. Now when I would have questions about things, I'm not going to other people I'm going to him. But I think for me, that probably was obviously needed because there was a lot of things that I didn't know. But it wasn't the best experience because as it played out on National Television, I just felt embarrassed every week to have even went on television with him.

Alexia Adams:

So in the end I felt like I chose myself and everything. I feel like things happen for a reason. People are in your life for a reason and the season. And I felt like all the dots started to align when I was done with that show, when I was leaving him. I started meeting other people and seeing how genuine they were. And certain people that I've already knew, I kind of stopped messing with some people. I started to really pay attention to everybody's red flags, friends, family, folk, whoever. I just want to be around good energy. If it's not good energy, keep it away from me.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. So that's a good learning experience, right? Going forward.

Alexia Adams:

Yep.

Vince Ferguson:

Excellent. I'm glad to hear you say that. But I want to also now talk about the fact that you're no longer playing professional basketball. What are you doing to stay in shape? Because you're an athlete. You got to stay in shape.

Alexia Adams:

I will say when I started filming that show, I probably picked up 15 to 20 pounds, because we were going nowhere. And me probably being a little lazy after that too because we couldn't go nowhere. And I would say right after the show, even a little bit before the show I had already started my business, which was Drink2Shrink. A detox and weight loss. And it started to do really well as the show was ending or whatever, as it was airing. But I'm pretty much now, I do this thing to where I have a trainer now.

Alexia Adams:

Before I had a trainer, I did this thing with Robert Rushian and Toya called, Weight No More. If I can't make it to the gym or because of COVID, everything's closed down. It's an app that pretty much you download and you could do workouts from home. And then certain days during the week I would meet up with them and we would work out and its different things. So you have a cycling class, you have a track, we call it Track Fit. It's like you're dancing and working out at the same time.

Vince Ferguson:

Nice.

Alexia Adams:

You had different types of classes. And I started to see like that would be the only way that I would be motivated to go to the gym, because talking to any other retired player, they'll tell you, that's the last thing they want to do.

Vince Ferguson:

To work out?

Alexia Adams:

To just go to the gym. No, but when you're doing it for fun and you're doing it to get better. Then as I told you, I feel like people started coming and coming in at the right time. I was trying to lose weight. I said, "Let me take this serious. Let me drink my juices. Let me watch what I'm eating." I met another good friend of mine, his name Tobias. And he introduced to me about... I don't know, we just started talking. He introduced me about like getting negative energy off of you. And kind of focused in more on yourself. So every morning for 15 minutes I'd meditate. I'd this thing called Tai Chi.

Alexia Adams:

Yeah. And when I started doing this stuff, it's like I'm woke now. I'm starting to see and feel different just about how I'm moving. I'm paying attention to what I'm eating. I'd take this Sea Moss but starting to take Sea Moss and the benefits from it. Whereas I could do and party before in college, next day I'm up and popping. But now it takes me a day or two to recover.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Alexia Adams:

And I started eating Key lime because they're pretty much good for your... It's a super food. It's good for your teeth. It's good for your health. It's good for everything. So I started really to pay attention instead of just doing stuff to be doing it, but why am I taking this? What benefits is it for me? What can it do for my health? I really started to pay attention to what I was putting in my body because you can work out all you want, but if you're eating the wrong things and doing things in high qualities instead of moderation, you're going to get the same results.

Vince Ferguson:

Most definitely. So with that in mind, you are exercising on a regular basis?

Alexia Adams:

Yep. Especially now. I have a coming up actually February 1st, I have a challenge that I just want to do on YouTube or on Instagram for people who are trying to lose weight, trying to be physically fit. Basically, a 30 day challenge. Like let's make it a goal. My goal is to try to work out two times a day, but at least once. And drinking my juice and trying to pay attention to what I'm eating. Eating no more than 1200 calories a day, just really trying to pay attention to what I'm doing. That my goal is to see how much weight I can actually lose in 30 days being consistent. Before I would work out here and there, but I wasn't consistent. And anybody will tell you, "It's just like shooting Fritos." It's repetition, repetition, repetition. Like I got so much muscle memory of me, if I go to the court tomorrow and I probably haven't touched the ball on who knows when, it's going in.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes, yes, yes.

Alexia Adams:

But it's just basically being more consistent, being more aware, taking my juice. With the juice, it's lose five pounds in five days. Like that's the overall objective, but you want to keep taking it. And with me, I'm detoxing inside and out the negativity, the everything. I just wanted to be open. So you want to take the juice 30 minutes before each meal. If you eat three times a day, three times. If you eat two times, it's going to last you for seven days, twice a day. But it really works. I have people who are repeat customers. I have people who say, "Hey, Alexia you really change my life. I need to keep doing this, thank you." And then I have people who obviously, they want to be an entrepreneur. I give them my advice as far as what they can do to make residual income.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes, yes. And you're talking about Drink2Shrink?

Alexia Adams:

Yes. You're still talking about that weight loss on juice that you are selling now, are you the owner of the company?

Alexia Adams:

No. So it's more so like an MLM and my friend who introduced me to it is the owner of Drink2Shrink, the name. And then it's kind of like you take that name and then you add yours to it. Like Drink2Shrink with Alexia. So I'm the owner of that Drink2Shrink with Alexia. But I think now, I'm going to end up moving more in a different direction as far as actually trying to get the best of the best and patent it myself, to where it's just all solely mine. So that's the goal.

Vince Ferguson:

Will you have a different name? Would it be the same name?

Alexia Adams:

I'll probably keep the name because I own the name Drink2Shrink with Alexia. You know what I mean?

Vince Ferguson:

Okay.

Alexia Adams:

He just owned the name, Drink2Shrink, my friend who put me on it here.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes, yes. Now that's amazing because I run a non-profit organization, a health and fitness organization. We focus on obesity prevention. And obviously I love hearing stuff like this because I would love to also promote it, let people know about it. But what is it about Drink2Shrink though that you feel is different from the other products out there?

Alexia Adams:

When you play overseas, there's a lot of things you can't put in your body because they could be tested as a positive for like a steroid, even like a red bull. Certain stuff they've put in it, If they drug test you, you would get a positive result. So then you'll either get sent home, lose your job or whatever. The thing about Drink2Shrink is it's all natural, it's all organic, it's herbs. And I pretty much take a detox juice or detox drink a tea and I turn it into a juice. So the fact that it's all natural, it comes with a meal plan. Yeah, and it's good for you. It's good for you. It has a lot of benefits too. It's good for your bowels. It's good for just weight loss, detoxing. You can really feel the difference even after two days. You can feel your body different. And then it gives you energy too. So I think just the biggest thing about Drink your Shrink is it's all natural. And that's pretty much why I'm an advocate for it.

Vince Ferguson:

Great. And they say non-GMO and no sugar?

Alexia Adams:

No sugar.

Vince Ferguson:

No sugar. Is it safe for children?

Alexia Adams:

It's safe for children. Yep. Yes sir.

Vince Ferguson:

Awesome. Awesome. How long have you been using the product?

Alexia Adams:

About a year now. Well, more so last year, not as consistent. But consistently now, I would say about, consistently now about three months. Even my first week, I think I lost six or eight pounds or something like that. I ended up losing like a total of 12, but the difference with me is, I'm trying to lose weight in my midsection. But I'm actually trying to get my athletic build back. So not only am I losing weight, I'm trying to put my muscle back together. So my weight's going to fluctuate because muscle weight is more than fat. So are

Vince Ferguson:

Are you also weight training?

Alexia Adams:

Yeah. Like I said, I started training with this guy now. He's my trainer, Justin. So what he does is, like Monday is leg day. I work out with him four times a week for the month or whatever. So 16 sessions in a month. And we have legs day, glute days, arms day. And that's me getting back in there trying to get that muscle together. Whereas people don't get it, but when you are an athlete, we really can train ourselves. That's the truth. Because you know what to do. But if you don't have a goal, if I know I don't have practice or a game, I not about to just... If I don't feel like going to the gym, like you know what? I'll do tomorrow, I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow. But the difference is when you actually pay someone to train you. You are trying to get your money's worth. So you're trying to show up every day. And then when you're not doing what you're supposed to do, he's going to be on your head. You really need a coach and then incorporate the drink too.

Vince Ferguson:

Nice. And you've notice a difference. You've lost weight. You're building muscle all within the last three months, wherever it is, right?

Alexia Adams:

Yes, sir. I can see a big difference, period. I want to say like being honest with you. As far as the meditation and the taking Sea Moss and key lime, that's probably been with almost a month, within a month. Because I just got introduced to that. As far as training, I just started training with them. But before all that, even now I still do the training with Robert Rushian and them, but I was only doing that moderation because of my schedule. I work eight to five, Monday through Friday at my actual job, which is where I sell advertisement for golf courses. I don't know if you even know about that one.

Vince Ferguson:

No.

Alexia Adams:

Yeah. I do. I just don't talk about it. And then that's my main job, that's my breadwinner. And then what I do on the side is, obviously Player development, Drink2Shrink, and then I work the marketing company where our job is pretty much to get players. What would you say? Sponsorships outside of basketball or outside of the court or off the court. So like the first people that I signed was Tiffany Mitchell who plays for the Indiana Fever. So my job is pretty much to get her deals. Like whether it be a shoe deal or whether it be a, a Nike contract or Converse or whatever. But that's what I do on the side as well.

Vince Ferguson:

On the side, are those contracts more lucrative than their actual salaries when they're playing?

Alexia Adams:

Not necessarily, but money is money. Or I would say like for instance, like Fashion Nova with some of our football players that we have that are in NFL. They don't necessarily just with certain players now. They don't necessarily fork out money, but they're giving you consistent top of the line clothes, as long as you post. So at the end of the day, saving a dollar is saving a dollar or you're making a post, you might get paid $500 to make the post or to promote this. It's just so different now to pretty much make money. I feel like now if a guy cannot bring anything to the table, it's just an excuse because it is too many ways nowadays to make money.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow. Most definitely. Wow, wow. You are also involved in charity work, am I correct?

Alexia Adams:

Yes, sir.

Vince Ferguson:

What type of charity work are you doing

Alexia Adams:

Different, it just depends on who I'm talking to. One of my friends, his name is Zach Graham. Typically, every Christmas we go to one of these places around here, if it's in Atlanta. I can't remember the last place we went to, but we would feed the homeless, or we would feed the people in that center. And they're not paying for anything. That's some charity work I do. I coach celebrity basketball games. The money always goes to either... When I did bowling, Sickle cell, if I did basketball, it goes to that organization. As far as giving to, I help with my friend Reese. He has different events, whether it's giving book bags.

Alexia Adams:

I've had my own where we were giving free book bags with one of my buddies, J.T. Tiller. We would give free book supplies, free book bags, just trying to give back to the community. Or more so, especially around the holidays this past year for Thanksgiving, I worked with, Wait no More, as far as partnering, giving turkeys away to people who couldn't afford it. So given, obviously, sides away, the people who couldn't afford it. Anything that I can always do to give back, I'm always probably the first one to try to be involved.

Vince Ferguson:

No. That's beautiful. Kudos to you for that. That's amazing. Now you played professional basketball. As we know you appeared on Owns TV Reality Show, Put a Ring On It, and you're an entrepreneur, but what's next for Alexia?

Alexia Adams:

What's next for Alexia is obviously my juice taking off. I actually have a movie coming out this Summer in the theaters. It's called Wide Open. It's the Andre Rising story. About Andre and Lisa Left Eye. And it was just another situation by luck. I went to Andre Rising's book signing through an invite, Zee Mullen. The people who were there recognized me from the show. They came up to me, "Hey, we're going to put you in this movie." And I really thought they were just talking.

Alexia Adams:

And then a month later the guy called me, his name is Big D. And he said, "Hey, pull up. I got a role for you." I'm not an actress. I don't know how to act. But at this point, I'm open to it. And he was like, "Here, learn these lines real quick.' I said, "Why do you think I could know these lines?" He said, "You're smart, just learn them." So within five minutes I probably learned the lines and I got some lines in the movie. Yeah, I play Left eye's best friend. Yeah, really.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? I'd love to see that. That's going to be amazing when that comes out. And that's going to come out when? This year?

Alexia Adams:

I think right now they're talking about June, but it is definitely coming to the theater. I believe Tyler Perry is the one that funded it. Don't quote me, but I think that's what that is. So I got that going on. Obviously my challenge coming up, lose. Pretty much I'm trying to make it like lose whatever the deal is. How much can you lose that month? And whoever loses the most weight obviously give them some type of prize.

Alexia Adams:

I got me more, so just focusing on myself. I'm starting to want to take acting classes. So maybe by the time the movie comes out and I get a little buzz, I'll start auditioning for things and see what the future takes me. But as of right now, just focusing on myself, put myself first, working on my health, my fitness, my family. I want to open up twist franchise. I got a lot of things I'm trying to put my hands on. So I'm just trying to do it the smart way. Yeah.

Vince Ferguson:

The smart way. Not the easy way, but the smart way, right?

Alexia Adams:

Right.

Vince Ferguson:

And it all depends on your health, health first. Putting yourself first, good for you. Now where can my listeners and viewers find out more about Alexia Adams?

Alexia Adams:

Okay. Instagram, it is AlexiaAdams24, that's A-L-E-X-I-A Adams, A-D-A-M-S 24. Also, if you go to my Instagram page and you click in the bio, it'll take you to my website or to my business page, which is Drink2Shrink, Alexia's Drink2Shrink. So that's A-L-E-X-I-A-S, Drink2Shrink, the number two. Facebook, Alexia Adams. Twitter, Lillex. And yeah, you can order the Drink2Shrink online. If you're not in Atlanta, I do ship just charge for a shipping fee. Also what comes with the Drink2Shrink, we have other products. If you want to really dive into losing this weight and working on it. We sell drops where it kind of suppresses your eating and you go with the drink. And it's just more so the level of weight you're trying to lose. So all of that can be found on the website though, it is Alexia's Drink2Shrink.

Vince Ferguson:

Right. And that's also, you said it’s on Instagram, right?

Alexia Adams:

Yep. Yes sir.

Vince Ferguson:

Amazing. Awesome. Now all I'm going to say is this has been great. And Alexia, I really appreciate you coming on my show today.

Alexia Adams:

I appreciate the invite. Thank you so much.

Vince Ferguson:

And to my listeners, I truly hope this program was informative, encouraging, and inspiring. And that you will continue tuning in to our, Six Weeks to Fitness Podcast. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the show, please leave them in the comments section below, or email me vince@sixweeks.com. And please don't forget to subscribe, so you don't miss any future episodes. And remember we don't stop exercising because we grow, we grow old because we stop exercising.

Direct download: Episode_191_Interview_with_Alexia_Adams.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:22am EDT

Bryce Henson is a fitness expert, coach, author, and inspirational leader. He is also the CEO of Fit Body Bootcamp. The world's fastest growing fitness bootcamp franchise. Having over 10 years of experience in the fitness industry and owning two Fit Body Bootcamp locations. Bryce's passion is spreading fitness to the world. He is mentoring fitness professionals on how to grow their fitness business and change more lives in their local communities. Bryce also co-leads a Fitness Body Bootcamp Mastermind Group.

Vince Ferguson:

Bryce, thank you for coming on the show and giving us some of your time. But before we discuss Fit Body Bootcamp, tell my listeners and viewers, where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

Bryce Henson:

Yeah, so I'm a California guy now, but I grew up actually in the Midwest, in the state of Michigan and shoot, I feel blessed to be able to grow up in the first world, like probably most of your audience, but it was actually quite a turbulent young childhood. And actually I say that I'm from the Midwest. The first 10 years I spent in Atlanta, Georgia and living with my mom, my dad, and two other siblings so three kids. And my dad unfortunately, was a drug addict, an alcoholic and addicted to gambling. So not necessarily conducive to a good family upbringing

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Bryce Henson:

And the verbal abuse eventually became physical. So even though it was, or I guess at the time, I like to refer this as it was a blessing disguised as tragedy. As it turns out, the abuse became physical and my mom, by the grace of God, escaped with her life and her three kids. And we shot up to Michigan to live with her family, her mom, my grandmother for the better part of 10 years.

Bryce Henson:

And while that was a very challenging turbulent childhood, it taught me a lot of lessons on work ethic and on drive and family values. So that was kind of my base. And then eventually ended up graduating from college, moved to California and got into the fitness industry, which I'm sure we'll talk about.

Vince Ferguson:

Oh, most definitely. Well, was there a time in your life where you were not fit? You look great. Tell me.

Bryce Henson:

Well, thank you. Absolutely. And I guess that latter part of my childhood when we escaped, if you will, to Michigan in the Midwest. It's a great place to live incredible people, very compassionate, but not necessarily the fitness capital of the world. So I put myself through school. I'm a graduate of Michigan State and while I graduated, I took it seriously. I definitely was not a fitness guy. So my staple of my diet was Taco Bell, fast food, a lot of keg parties in youth. So as is common for college kids, but there I was about 21 years of age when I graduated and then ended up getting a job in Los Angeles which moved me to California. And at that point, we'll kind of talk about it, I'm sure, but I wasn't fit. While I was excited to be in California, the palm trees, the blue skies, the sunshine.

Vince Ferguson:

Yeah.

Bryce Henson:

I was 21, had very little work experience, job experience. I had 20 pounds of body fat, very little muscle in my body. And if I'm being honest with you, Vince I had more dark days than good, just because of my lack of fitness.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. Wow. But what was the aha moment for you that put you on the path to getting healthy?

Bryce Henson:

Yeah. Yeah. Great question. So after I landed in Southern California and Los Angeles, and like I said, I mean, it wasn't all drear and career. Certainly there were some benefits, but because I went through a very challenging point. I wasn't confident, didn't have the assertiveness or the vibrancy, the energy that I do now. And it all came to a lack of fitness. So, after living in LA like that for probably about a year and a half, a fortuitous situation happened. A close friend of mine that I went to college with moved to Southern California, and we ended up living together. And it took me about probably a few months before I mustered up enough courage to say, "Hey, Adam, can you show me how to lift weights?" Because he wasn't on the cover of Men's Health, but he could have been. He had the six pack abs, the physique, the energy, the vibrance. All the girls loved him. I really looked up to that.

Vince Ferguson:

Oh yeah.

Bryce Henson:

So after living with him for a few months, he ended up taking me under wing his wing and that's actually what started my fitness transformation.

Vince Ferguson:

Nice. Nice. But now you are the CEO of Fit Body Bootcamp. How did that transition happen?

Bryce Henson:

Whoo! Well, that's a little bit more of a long-winded story, but if you have a few minutes, I'd be happy to share.

Vince Ferguson:

I'm interested.

Bryce Henson:

Yeah. So basically after I lived with Adam, I mustered enough courage. He said that he would work with me and introduce me to fitness, but he said, "I need you to commit to at least 90 days, Bryce, because I get this question asked so many times that very few people stick with me." So ended up committing to him. And if I'm being honest, Vince, part of me was thinking to myself in the little voice in the back of my mind, "I'm going to do what he says I'm going to do or needs me to do. And then when it doesn't work for me, at least I tried."

Bryce Henson:

But as it turns out, he introduced me to lifting weights, to circuit training, to clean eating, nutrition. But most importantly, which I know your viewers are getting a lot of value from, is the coaching and accountability. Because without that coaching, that accountability, that personal kind of training and accountability, I would like to look you in the eye and tell you I would be a fit guy, but I don't know if I would've. I can't do that.

Bryce Henson:

So as it turns out over that 90 day turned into about a six- month clip that I drastically transformed my physique. I dropped 20 pounds of fat put on 20 pounds of muscle. But more than the physique, it changed my life. I had energy, the confidence. I became the top performing sales rep in my company. And that was really the base and what introduced me to the fitness industry. But it wasn't until about two years later when I was at the gym and a couple guys came up to me and said, "Hey, man. How do you lift weights? Or what do you eat?" And a light bulb went on to me and I thought to myself, "Shoot, holy smokes, they're asking me kind of like how I leaned on Adam."

Bryce Henson:

So I did the logical thing and I ended up looking into a certified personal training credential through National Academy of Sports Medicine, because at the time, I never thought I would actually be a CEO of a major international fitness franchise or even go full professionally. I just thought I could keep my sales gig, which I went from the least performing sales rep to the highest performing rep, just because of my fitness transformation, which is a side story. But when people tell me, "Bryce, I can't afford to be fit." My response is, "You can't afford not to be fit. It's going to benefit every aspect of your life."

Vince Ferguson:

Thank you.

Bryce Henson:

So with that all said, after I went through that transformation, I became a certified personal trainer and I started training some clients in the nights and weekends. And I think I updated my Facebook profile to a personal trainer. And I started receiving ads from this gentleman named Bedros Keuilian. Who's now one of my dear friends and best friends. Who's the founder of Fit Body Bootcamp. And he was talking about how to grow your personal training experience and how to get more clients and get the better results. And so I started following his email probably for about two years. And it wasn't until the Spring of 2012 when I was coming back from California, because I took a little hiatus abroad. I lived in South America for a couple years, even though I was following along with the content that he was talking about Fit Body.

Bryce Henson:

And I decided actually, I was coming back to California. "I'm actually going to look into this fitness franchise called Fit Body Bootcamp that he's talking about." So I ended up doing the diligence and I think there was probably only about 15, 20 owners in our brand at the time, but I ended up calling every one of them and researching having conversations. And as it turns out, in the summer of 2012, decided to take a leap of faith and open my own studio, my own Fit Body Bootcamp location in Southern California.

Bryce Henson:

So that one location I'm happy to kind of provide more details, but was really the catalyst to me, owning multiple locations, becoming the vice president and now mid-year of last year of 2021 is when Bedros anointed me as his CEO so I can kind of continue to run and take that torch that he's built and really continue it to the future.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow. That's amazing, though. Congratulations on that success.

Bryce Henson:

Thank you.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. But to be that successful, to even get the trust that you've got from Pedros, what did it take for you to get that kind of trust from him?

Bryce Henson:

That's an awesome question, Vince. Well, it first starts, I think, with work ethic and I learned that work ethic probably in my youth, but really developed it day in and day out at the gym. So again, that's another just really shining reason that fitness has so many other benefits of your life. Not only physically, but mentally, spiritually, emotionally. So I think that work ethic was instilled, but also accentuated through my fitness journey. I'm a guy that takes action. So, I like being in the fitness industry. Same with you, Vince, your clients, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. You can show them the way, but they have to take action. They have to do their part too. Both of you do. And I'd like to think that I did my part.

Bryce Henson:

So Bedros welcomed me to the brand as an owner, I joined his Mastermind Coaching Group. He gave me some orders on how to grow business, how to sell, how to get clients better results and I took action. And I did that day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out. And, while I've had a lot of success, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows either. I mean, I definitely had a lot of false starts and missteps and poor leadership decisions that I've learned from and really grown from. But over the years, ended up making a name for myself within the brand, ended up, again, being plugged into the Mastermind Group and really from a networking perspective, and really this is the name of the game is relationships, built a very strong relationship with Bedros.

Vince Ferguson:

Yeah.

Bryce Henson:

So that way, fast forward to 2018, when the brand was growing like a hockey stick, he knew he needed more support and infrastructure. He already knew me, liked me, trusted me. I was his coaching client. I took action. I'd grown one gym turned into many. So because of that foundational trust from a relationship perspective, it was really the last reason, I think, that he made the call to bring me in as his VP.

Bryce Henson:

And then I put my head down from 2018 to 2021, of course, still this to this day, but with the support of my team, the support of the franchisees and clients, made some good decisions and added more value. And when the time came with Bedros wanted to kind of step out and still be the visionary and help market the company, but also had some few other interests, it just made sense from his mind to anoint me the VIP. Being I started as an owner. I know every aspect of the business. I'm a client. I go to bootcamp three times a week. I've been the janitor of our studio. So I've seen the business inside and out. And I think that's really a big reason that I was able to fall into this role.

Vince Ferguson:

Most definitely. Now, who are your ideal clients for Fit Body Bootcamp?

Bryce Henson:

Yeah. Great question. Well, I think it's interesting because fitness has a lot of different scope to it, right? You can be a body builder, you can be into yoga, you can be into circuit training. So, for Fit Body Bootcamp, the clients that we serve are, our avatar, we call her Mrs. Jones and we do serve male clients as well. But about 80% of our clients are female.

Vince Ferguson:

Okay.

Bryce Henson:

And we don't train fitness athletes or people that are trying to shave a second off their 40 to make the NFL combine. And there's a space for that, but that's not our clientele. Our clientele is the everyday Mrs. Jones. She has a couple kids. She's overweight, probably doesn't love working out even though she needs to. Her husband doesn't look at her the same anymore. And she needs that coaching, that accountability, support, and really that's the secret sauce to our program.

Bryce Henson:

We're able to bring in our client avatar, Mrs. Jones, welcome her in, give her good results. Our secret sauce of our interval training program is 30 minutes. So, we like to say, even like this podcast, you can do anything for a half an hour, right? 30 minutes.

Vince Ferguson:

Exactly. Right.

Bryce Henson:

And, from there, it's not magic. Our clientele has to do the work and they have to show up at least three times a week, but also from a nutrition coaching perspective between the high-intensity interval training, between the strength and between the cardio, in addition to nutrition coaching, we can get our clients really great results. And the theme of your podcast and your line of work is six weeks. And that's really the baseline what it takes in order to kind of start seeing the transformation.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. Awesome. So all this involves training, coaching, nutrition, the whole nine, everything.

Bryce Henson:

That's it. And our model is not, and there's a place for every type of model. But you think of a big box gym, which is just kind of you're really just renting access to weights, but you have to figure it out. That's not our model. Our model is definitely very much coaching. It's really personal training in a group setting. So you get all the value that you would when you're hiring a one-on-one personal trainer, which there's a ton, but you do it in a group setting. So you can provide more energy, more culture, more accountability, and then for a fraction of the price and really that's our model and that's how we're able to produce incredible weight loss results, and really transformations. Not only from a physique perspective, but as you know, Vince and your audience knows from a life perspective, is fitness just changes your life.

Vince Ferguson:

It does. Totally. Completely. Mentally, physically, like you said, even spiritually.

Bryce Henson:

Yep.

Vince Ferguson:

Now, any of your classes are virtual?

Bryce Henson:

So interestingly enough, I mean, and we're all kind of going through this, hopefully at the tail of the it, COVID, but previous to COVID they weren't, actually, but one of our core values at Fit Body Bootcamp is to embrace and drive change. And thankfully we had that mentality, so we were able to pivot the whole brand literally within 24 hours and we're shooting this in early 2022, but when everything went down in March of 2020, which I can't believe, and I know you probably can't either, Vince, it's almost two years ago, which is crazy. But when everything went down, we were able to pivot to online coaching. And while that's not our bread and butter, our bread and butter is still in the gym, physical, in-person relationship training. We have made that offering. We still have a good amount of clients that actually really enjoy our virtual sessions and that coaching.

Vince Ferguson:

Okay. But it's starting to open up where you're having more people in house now as well as that?

Bryce Henson:

Yeah, exactly. And in every state, unfortunately, well, fortunately or unfortunately, is a little bit different. Just obviously the lockdowns and the regulation are depending on state and the time of this videotaping, we have about 10% of our brand is in Canada and Canada just went on another wave of lockdown. So for our Canadian owners, they're streaming now virtually which we're thankful they're able to execute and really help support them in the back end. But here for the 90% of our brand here in the US, while we still offer virtual as a kind of an add-on and additional value, we're back in the studio. We're back to group training. And just depending on the state or local jurisdiction, there might be some intricacies in capacity, but for the most part we're back in and just cranking away.

Vince Ferguson:

Nice. And I just got back from Arizona. I was working out every day while I was there. Now I'm back in New York. You have mandates. If you're not vaccinated, you can't work out in the gym. I'm not sure how it is in California, but how is that impacting your franchisees?

Bryce Henson:

Yeah, unfortunately, I mean, it is. Certainly, it's interesting looking back at this, Vince, I know you're a New York guy and I'm here at California. There's about five states that I would not have wanted to been in, in this whole situation. One's New York. Second is California, Michigan, New Jersey, Washington, to name a few. So it really just depends on the local jurisdiction, but I know New York now with the additional mandates is even more stringent than California, but we're a close second.

Bryce Henson:

And unfortunately it is. I know this, unfortunately, it's became a political issue, which is just mind boggling and really sad to me. But at the end of the day, I genuinely think, Vince, I know you're going to be in the same wave length, we need to start changing the conversation about instead of fear and doom and gloom, the reality of the situation, statistically speaking, obesity is the biggest pandemic that we're going through. It's killed millions of people. The World Health Organization estimates it kills nearly 3 million people a year. It's done that for over a decade and it's continuing to rise. And, of course, we see COVID patients, the ones who are at the most risk have autoimmune or immune system compromised. And specifically speaking, they're obese. Because when you're obese, your whole body, your organs, your heart, have to work exponentially harder. So I would really love that our society starts talking about changing the conversation to health, to fitness, to activity because that, in my humble opinion, will drastically change our society way more than pushing vaccines left and right. And whatever your beliefs are, my whole message is let's focus on health and fitness and that should be the focus, not sickness.

Vince Ferguson:

Thank you. A hundred percent. I'm a believer. That's what I'm talking about. There's less talk on health and more talk on taking certain products. But I truly believe, man, that if people focus more on being healthy and strengthening their immune system, they will not be so susceptible to these certain type of issues. And what you're doing is great because you're speaking out about obesity and about health. What should people be doing? Can the Fit Body Bootcamp help people who are obese?

Bryce Henson:

Absolutely. And, shoot, we're here, you know, Vince, you and I are in the service business, right? We have a big heart. We want to help people. Fitness has impacted our lives. Granted, I'm sitting here looking at, you have a great physique. Health and fitness is a very big focal point of your life as it is mine.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Bryce Henson:

And yeah, I mean, we definitely help all walks of life and all people. And we definitely have a vast majority, I shouldn't say a vast majority, but a significant amount of clients that are obese and we're the solution. We're the solution to that issue. And what my recommendations are is to get at least three times a week a full body workout where you're working both strength and cardiovascular. And cardio is really good, but especially for female clients, for whatever reason, there's this stigma that lifting weights and resistance training is going to turn our clientele into the Hulk, and that's just not the case. Guys have five times the amount of testosterone that women do on average and still have a hard time putting muscle on their body without continued focus.

Bryce Henson:

So, we want to welcome our clients in, get them on our program at least three times a week, a full body, if not, four. Increase their water, their hydration. Increase their sleep. Make some adjustments to nutrition. And, Vince, what I like to say is, is working out and getting in the studio is the cornerstone habit. I would like it actually, and you would think, if someone doesn't work out, interestingly enough, they should actually take more focus on their nutrition. But it's the opposite. Typically, human nature and you've probably encountered this all the time, a client's, "Oh, I don't work out. Well shoot. I can just eat a tub of ice cream then and it doesn't matter." But it's actually the opposite is true, but that's the reason it's so important to get your workouts as the cornerstone habit. Because when you work out, your physiology changes. You're more inclined to actually pick up that salad instead of that cheeseburger. You start drinking a little bit more water. You sleep better, you feel better the next day. And it's just rinse and repeat. So that's really, really important to get our society working out and shoot, Vince, if our society, if the North American continent worked out three times a week, cleaned up their nutrition, increased their hydration and got to sleep, a lot of these health issues that are in the mainstream media about doom and gloom, they would simply just go away.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. I call it fear porn, they're putting out there, Bryce.

Bryce Henson:

Fear porn. I haven't heard that, but I'm going to use that. I'm going to take that, Vince, if you're okay with it, because that's exactly what it is.

Vince Ferguson:

It's fear porn and it's people like yourself, myself and others who are trying to spread faith over fear. You know what I mean? And also, fitness over fear. Basically. And I like what you're doing because you're spreading the word and your mission is to actually get out there and spread this word throughout the world. And you're doing it on podcasts. You have a speaking platform. You're really out there.

Vince Ferguson:

But let me ask you this, what is it going to take to get the world to listen to Bryce Henson about this?

Bryce Henson:

Holy smokes. So that's the million dollar question. I'm here, but don't have all the answers, Vince and I'm here you as a humble servant. But what I do know is this, fitness just drastically changed my life. It's drastically changed your life, your audience, and a network of people that have benefited from this. And I feel like I have a duty, obligation, responsibility to continue the charge and our mission at Fit Body Bootcamp. the purpose, the why we do what we do is to inspire fitness and it's to change lives every day.

Bryce Henson:

And how I can serve is by leading my team at headquarters, by training our franchisees better, by serving our clients, by getting on podcasts like yours and just really spreading the mission. And I love that, faith over fear. Fitness over fear.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Bryce Henson:

I'm going to take that with me, if you'd be so kind and continue to evangelize that because we're on the same mission and we've come a long way, but we have a long way to go as a society and we're here taking action.

Vince Ferguson:

Definitely. And I think the more people like you and I who get together and collaborate, we will get that message out.

Vince Ferguson:

Now, how is Fitness Body Bootcamp growing? Are you seeing more franchisees coming to the table?

Bryce Henson:

We are. And holy smokes, 2020, as you would imagine, for our industry, for the rest of that industry, was not kind. So, there was definitely some contraction and it was definitely a challenging situation to go through, but we really pride ourselves in adding up, stepping value, creating an online coaching platform within 24 hours. We were able to pivot. Show our studio owners how to execute Zoom and virtual sessions in addition to prerecording a lot of sessions in the backend so we had a big virtual content library. So we're able to really continue afloat, even though many of our locations literally had to stop operations. And especially in New York, especially in California, for an extended period of time. So while 2020 was challenging, we're still feeling the effects of this even into early 2022. The light at the end of the tunnel is we awarded 10 times the amount of franchises we did in 2021 than the previous year.

Bryce Henson:

And, the interest is coming back. We're on the phone with perspective owners that are interested. We just hosted our January onsite university to a handful of new owners. And so we still have a long way to go and I'm hoping the dynamic of the country and the leadership of the country really changes in a positive way as we enter into 2022, which I have some question marks on that, but that's a topic for another day.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Bryce Henson:

What I do know to be true is there is some faith being restored and we feel the tailwinds are back in our favor and after rebounding and having a strong 2021, we feel very optimistic on what 2022 is going to look like even from the last few weeks.

Vince Ferguson:

Nice. Do you have any locations, I know you mentioned something about having locations in New York, is that correct?

Bryce Henson:

We do. We do.

Vince Ferguson:

Okay. Great. And so I can find them online, correct?

Bryce Henson:

Yeah. You'd want to go to our website, which is fitbodybootcamp.com. That's fitbodybootcamp.com and for you or any of your listeners, whether you're in New York or whether you're listening to this in any part of North America, you can just put in your search where your address is and find the local fitness studio near you. We have hundreds of locations. About 90% are in the US. 10% are in Canada. So that's where you can find us.

Vince Ferguson:

Nice. Nice. I understand, Bryce that you hold citizenships in Portugal and the US. What's that about?

Bryce Henson:

Oh yeah. That's an interesting fact. So I'm American born and bred, as we discussed, but about in 2010 and I kind of talked about my fitness transformation journey and when I became a certified personal trainer. And I started coaching clients in the nights and weekends, as I mentioned, but there was a two-year gap from when I basically started that journey until I opened my first fitness studio. And as it turns out, I went on a two-year hiatus to South America. Ended up moving to a little island in Brazil called Florianopolis, Brazil, sight unseen. Growing up, I was a big sports fan and I loved Kobe Bryant. And interestingly enough, most people don't know, or many people, I should say, don't know this, but Kobe Bryant lived in Italy in his youth for six years. His dad played European ball. So he could speak fluent Italian.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes.

Bryce Henson:

And me living in Southern California, but also just being a big Kobe Bryant fan growing up, I would love it when I watched the games and watched the press conference and he'd give the interviews, but then the Italian press would stay after and they would interview him in Italian. And there Kobe Bryant is, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, speaking fluent Italian. And it really made a big impact on me.

Bryce Henson:

So I had that in the back of my mind that I wanted to learn a different language and I visited Brazil and I was, "You know what? This is it." So ended up moving there for two years. Through a crazy situation how the world is connected, was introduced to my wife who actually picked me up from the airport sight unseen. And that was kind of my entry to Brazil and lived there for two years, met a beautiful lady. Her name's Tatiana who became family with hers. And as it turns out, she's from Brazil, born and raised, but she has family lineage to Portugal because her family immigrated from Lisbon, Portugal to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil decades ago. Because of that, because of our union, I was able to pick up Portuguese citizenship and have been to Portugal a few times as a result. So it's just kind of an interesting fun fact through my life travels was able to acquire that.

Vince Ferguson:

Lovely, lovely. So you've been to Lisbon?

Bryce Henson:

I've been to Lisbon, on a couple different occasions and then there's a city in the north, which is a three-hour train ride which is called Porto and it's next to the Spanish border. So both are lovely, both Lisbon and Porto. If I had to pick, I'd recommend Porto, but for your audience there, if you're looking for a European vacation, especially some of the other countries like Greece and London, very beautiful, but can be very pricey. Lisbon is a very affordable alternative. It has the beach. It has the seas. It's on the Iberian Peninsula, but I highly recommend it.

Vince Ferguson:

I love it, man. I heard a lot of great things about Portugal and that's why I asked. I was in Brazil many years ago, so I'm familiar with Portuguese, but you're a world traveler, man, which is great.

Bryce Henson:

You know what? I try and through that story, but before I moved to LA, I put myself on a flight. I enrolled in a study abroad program in Asia. I put myself on a flight when I was 20 years old at Tokyo, Japan. And that just freaking rocked my world. And because of that, I was inspired and I just wanted to dedicate my life to broadening my horizons, learning languages, meeting people, connecting with people. And, of course, fitness has been a huge aspect of that as well.

Vince Ferguson:

Most definitely. What advice would you give to someone listening to this podcast now who may be on the fence about their health and not sure if they want to take that leap into Fit Body Bootcamp?

Bryce Henson:

That's it. You just got to get started. One foot in front of the other. And it feels like, it's interesting, human nature, it's when we're anticipating something very challenging, we sometimes go into analysis by paralysis and we just kind of sit in the sidelines. But what happens is when you take that first step, the other misconception is when you take that first step, which is hard, which is challenging, which is uncomfortable, human nature thinks, "Okay, if this step is hard, all the steps are going to be hard." And the fact of the matter is, that's not the case. When you take one step, it's hard. Then you take the next step, it's a little less hard. And then eventually what happens is after you put one step in front of the other, you wake up and you realize, "Holy smokes. Yeah, it's still hard, but I'm stronger. I'm better. And it's way more manageable."

Bryce Henson:

So my message is, it's not as hard, long term as you think it is, but you have to take that step. You have to take action and when you do, what's the famous Isaac Newton who created the laws of physics, a body in motion stays in motion. The opposite also true. A body at rest stays at rest. So if you're sitting on the sideline, staying at rest, you are not going to get moving. However, if you take that one leap of faith, you put that one foot in front of the other, a body in motion stays in motion. You're going to wake up three months or six weeks from now, three months from now, six months from now, a year from now, being "Holy smokes, Vince. I'm a different person." And that's really what you and I are trying to accomplish here.

Vince Ferguson:

Love it. Exactly. Exactly. Now, where can my audience find out more about Bryce Henson and Fit Body Bootcamp? I know you mentioned it earlier. Mention it again.

Bryce Henson:

Absolutely. I'm actually going to give you a different handle, because that was our website that I referred you to. But if you want to follow me on social, all the handles from Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and my personal website is realbrycehenson.com. Not to be confused with fakebrycehenson, so realbrycehenson.com. That's my site. And then all my social handles are the same. realbrycehenson. So that's where you can find me. And we'd love to connect with you, Vince and your audience as well.

Vince Ferguson:

Most definitely. Where do you see yourself, Bryce in the next five to 10 years?

Bryce Henson:

Oh, my friend, we are just getting started. After a really challenging 2020, 2021, the tail winds are behind us and we just have a lot of health and fitness to inspire. So what I'm looking to do is, while we have hundreds of locations throughout North America, I'm looking to make even a bigger impact, really pour into my team who can pour into our owners and pour into our clients and really inspire fitness and change in lives and change lives every day, which is our mission, which is our purpose. But really to continue to make Fit Body Bootcamp a household name so that way we can help spread health and wellness together, which is really my mission and where I see myself in the next five to 10 years.

Vince Ferguson:

Wonderfully said, man. I believe you're going to do it. You know what I'm saying?

Bryce Henson:

I appreciate that, my friend.

Vince Ferguson:

You're definitely going to do it. Now, I just want to say Bryce Henson on behalf of my organization, Body Sculpt of New York, that's my nonprofit that we have in New York and Six Weeks of Fitness, I truly want to thank you for coming on my show today,

Bryce Henson:

Vince, it was a pleasure, man. I love your energy. I love your enthusiasm. And I love what you're doing. We're on the same path here. Maybe a few different channels, but we have our hearts in the right place and I really appreciate you having me on today.

Vince Ferguson:

Oh, it's my pleasure, man. And to my audience, I truly hope this program was encouraging and inspiring that you will continue tuning in to my Six Weeks of Fitness podcast. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the show, please leave them in the comments section below. And please don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes and don't forget we don't stop exercising because we grow old. We grow old because we stop exercising.

Direct download: Episode__190_Bryce_Henson.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:10am EDT

Kita Richards is a former AAU, USA and high school track and field coach. Teaching basic and advanced movements to young adults was always her passion along with helping people to meet and exceed their physical and mental capabilities. It was this passion that prompted Kita to become a personal and group fitness trainer, transforming her two car garage into her first training space. She has now expanded her brand and has launched two fitness clubs, one in Greenwood, South Carolina, and the other in Greenville, South Carolina.  During the interview, Kita will discuss what life was like growing up in Greenwood, South Carolina, and how the last words of her mother, who lived a very active life until she succumbed to colon cancer, gave her the drive and motivation to live life to the fullest.  She will also share her fitness journey which included losing close to 80 pounds of body fat with the help and guidance of her husband and changing her diet. 

Kita believes that each of us is connected in divine space and that we should share our gifts with the world, something Kita is doing on a daily basis with everyone she comes in contact with.  This was a most inspiring interview. 

Vince Ferguson:

Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Kita Richards:

Thank you for having me.

Vince Ferguson:

Before we discuss your career as CEO of these two fitness clubs, tell my listeners and viewers where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

Kita Richards:

I grew up right here in Greenwood, South Carolina in the south, which is so interesting now that I look back at it. I grew up running around in the dirt.

Vince Ferguson:

Running around in the dirt?

Kita Richards:

In the dirt.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? Really? So you must have been very active?

Kita Richards:

Yeah. It was because this is a small town, this is a small town. It's bigger now, but it was definitely a lot smaller when I was a lot younger. So it was small and it's basically a football city. So it's all about football here. Everything else is secondary.

Vince Ferguson:

Everything else is secondary to football. But family came first, but family came first. Right?

Kita Richards:

Especially back then. Everything else was secondary.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow. Nice. But were you always active, always healthy even to your adult life?

Kita Richards:

Well as a kid, the challenge as a kid was, especially growing up, because we were active as children. I was an active child. My inactivity didn't start until I got older. So I was, but my mom was active. So I have to tell you about her. She was very active. My mom played a lot of sports even as we grew up. So I grew up with a very active mom. She played softball for one, it was nothing for her to be on those teams. She was on teams, and she would travel. So I grew up watching her do that.

Kita Richards:

And of course she did what people in the south do, bowl. So she did a lot of bowling and different things like that. So that's how we grew up. I grew up with a mom that even as I had my kids, she rode bikes. She would ride bikes with them. And she was one of the first women around the area, because people still talk about it because like I said, I live in a small town, that rode a motorcycle. So she was extremely active too.

Vince Ferguson:

Is Myrtle Beach near you?

Kita Richards:

No it takes us about three hours to get to Myrtle Beach.

Vince Ferguson:

I hear so much about Myrtle Beach motorcycle. You know what I'm saying? But was there a aha moment for you when you decided, you know what, my health is going down the tubes and I need to get it together?

Kita Richards:

Well, I think the backstory is my mother was really active, but my mother died of pancreatic/colon cancer. And so with that being said, I knew she was active much more active than me. I was getting overweight. I took care of her. And then when she was passing away, she said to me something, some words that I never will forget. She said, "Do what you want to do, and have a good time on this side because when you're leaving, you never want to regret what you didn't have time to do and what you wanted." So that launched me into just taking a deeper look at who I had become.

Vince Ferguson:

So you feel that motivated you and drove you to be the person you are today?

Kita Richards:

I know it did. I know it did. It just became one of those things that watching, if you ever watch someone pass away and you never took care of anyone passing away of colon cancer and watching everything fail. Life begins to look a little different for you.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. And when you say it looks a little different, you start to see it out of a different prism, different window.

Kita Richards:

You start to cherish it and cherish the moments. You start to cherish life like never before. Even when my clients come in, I have this thing, because I cherish my moments with everybody now. I see life now as everybody being divinely connected to one another in that we are sharing space. And when we're sharing those spaces, we should be sharing, not only our passion, but our love for one another. And so that's what changed about me. I knew at that point that I needed to share whatever gifting, whatever divine gifting that I had with other people. I knew that then at that moment. I knew that that was going to bring me joy. And I know that sounds weird, but I knew I also needed to take care of me. And I knew that I could never go to the next level, or I never could get there without self-care.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. Makes sense. Very, very profound.

Kita Richards:

Because you could never pour from an empty cup, and back then I was an empty cup. I was an empty cup, and I could never give what I didn't have. When people say I gave 100% to a person, you should never give 100% to anybody. Always give people the surplus of what you have. Because if you give 100% of your energy, then you have nothing for yourself. And if you have nothing for yourself, you never can grow anything that's worth giving anyone else.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. Very profound. Very awesome. So this is interesting because you speak so much wisdom, and you look like a person of 22.

Kita Richards:

I thank you. I promise you need to add some to that though.

Vince Ferguson:

Well, we add a couple years, you know what I'm saying? But what motivated you to become a trainer?

Kita Richards:

So back to what my mom said, you're never going to... When I was in my twenties, I was taking it was step aerobics. It was step aerobics there.

Vince Ferguson:

Step aerobics.

Kita Richards:

I absolutely love step aerobics. But there was a problem. There was a problem. The problem was I had a degree in computer science. So I had a really nice job.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes, I bet.

Kita Richards:

Are you going to make this, or are you going to make this?

Vince Ferguson:

What happened?

Kita Richards:

There was a problem here. And so I got the opportunity to actually get licensed doing that, and I didn't even take it. Because by that time I had my first kid, I had the first child. And so I was like, no, no, no. I know better now. I know better now. But back then, and life is a growing process, but back then I was like, no, this is not a good financial decision to be making.

Vince Ferguson:

So you feel that knowing what you know now, you would've still taken the leap before?

Kita Richards:

If I had of known what I know now, yeah. I would've literally left what I was doing, and did this because I've learned that joys in life, that you should enjoy your life. And what I mean by that, I have this saying that I always say. People don't understand. And what you have to gravitate and learn that in your purpose, you will always have prosperity, and you will have mental prosperity, spiritual prosperity, and financial and emotional prosperity. And you need all of those. Back then, I was only looking for financial prosperity.

Vince Ferguson:

But now you don't only have one child, you have four?

Kita Richards:

Yes. Right.

Vince Ferguson:

And four adult children?

Kita Richards:

Four adult children.

Vince Ferguson:

And you don't look like an adult yourself. That's a beautiful thing. But again, you had the strength and fortitude to go out there and make this happen. But why the fitness space? What do you feel you can contribute to people in the fitness space?

Kita Richards:

Fitness is one of those great, wonderful things. And here's what, because it's more than the outward. Because before you ever make a decision, before you ever become physically fit, there is a mental that happens. You actually have, because it's so optional, that you have to gravitate there in your mind first.

Vince Ferguson:

So it's mind first, then body?

Kita Richards:

Always mind first. And the challenge, and then I love the challenge of it. I love the challenge of because even when I have my clients, and I'll talk to my clients. I always tell them you've made the first step to the best version of you. And here was the first step. You made up in your mind to make a change. So fitness, I think I chose it because not only was it challenging, it was mentally challenging too. Because if we back up, I didn't look like this. I can promise you. I lost 80 pounds like this. I hadn't been doing anything. And so I tell my clients, I know what they felt. I know exactly what they feel like. I remember not being able to touch my toes.

Kita Richards:

I remember what that felt like. And I remember even though I was taking care of kids, and I was getting bigger, I just remember what it felt like. I remember being exhausted. I remember, just to be honest with you, I remember just being tired. And then I remember suffering health, other health issues. Because as women, when you have more weight than you need to have on you, there's other things that come along with your health. There's hormonal imbalances that you end up with. For me, I had several different things happening. I actually ended up with a liver issue, and I found out later it was actually fatty liver.

Vince Ferguson:

Fatty liver?

Kita Richards:

It was fatty liver. And this was from my diet of, I love sugar. Now I'm not going to lie to you. I used to love some sugar. So I love eating sugar. And I wasn't a big fried food eater, and that's what most people are like, I don't eat much fried food. But I love some donuts and cakes and cookies and stuff like that. And I ate a lot of that back then.

Vince Ferguson:

So you were, you said, about 89 pounds heavier than you are now?

Kita Richards:

About 80. I was 80.

Vince Ferguson:

About 80. What did you do to take it off? What's that secret sauce?

Kita Richards:

Make up my mind first that it needed to come off. You know what? And the first thing I did is I decided I wasn't going to make an excuse.

Vince Ferguson:

No excuses?

Kita Richards:

Yeah. I was like, I'm not going to make an excuse. I'm not going to blame it on my age or anything. You know what I said to myself? I'm responsible. I just took full responsibility. I did. I said, I'm responsible. And my first trainer was my spouse.

Vince Ferguson:

Your husband?

Kita Richards:

My husband, who was army. So I learned to lift first, and I learned to lift, and he was patient with me to a certain extent because he drove it. He would just come in like, are you going to do it today or not? You can leave the gym if you want to, or you can stay in it. But it's going to be your choice. I'm not going to make you stay. And I remember just because at that point, now that two car garage that I started in, it was actually I made it into a home gym because I was serious about it. I was like, I'm going to be serious. So first I made up in my mind, second I said no more excuses.

Kita Richards:

Third, I changed that space into a home gym. And that was crazy because that meant no excuses. I went out there and he worked like 12 hours, and then it took him an hour to get to work and an hour to get home. So it was 13 hours. So I had to work out with him at night. At night. When people wanted to go to sleep, I had to be working out. No excuses. And I still had to get up to the next day. Because at that time I still had one in high school, one in middle school and then I had two grown. So because my fitness journey back to being fit, didn't start until I was 40, 41 1/2. Almost 42.

Vince Ferguson:

And were you still working at computer science?

Kita Richards:

I was actually not this is because I was at that point when I decided to be fit, I actually owned a photography, videography business.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? A photography, videography business?

Kita Richards:

I was doing some of that. And then all of a sudden I decided I wasn't going to do it in this. I was like, I ain't doing that no more.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow. So you start training ferociously, training with your spouse.

Kita Richards:

With my husband. With my husband at night. At night. Understand because he worked early in the morning, and it was at night. So what did I do? I didn't just train one time a day. I trained with him, and anything I couldn't do, anything I struggle with, during the day or in the morning I go practice it.

Vince Ferguson:

You go back practice it?

Kita Richards:

I would go practice it. Whatever I couldn't do. As long as I didn't need a spotter, I practiced it.

Vince Ferguson:

Now but what role besides the exercise, what role did nutrition play?

Kita Richards:

Oh, huge. Huge. That was another thing. The first thing I had to do was give up sugar. I had to give up the sugar because I was a sugar addict. I had made up in my mind, I'm going to give up sugar. And that was the hardest thing, because I didn't have, some people have a caffeine addiction. No, I had a sugar addiction. So sodas wasn't even a problem. It was sugar for me. So I gave up sugar first. I gave up sugar, and you're not going to believe this, I gave up cheese.

Vince Ferguson:

Cheese?

Kita Richards:

I love cheese. Cheese was my first two things that I said I was done with.

Vince Ferguson:

It had to be hard to do because you also have kids around the house. So how did you do that? Just cold turkey stopped or-

Kita Richards:

I stopped. And most people, most women asked me because I am the cook of the family. I am the cook of the family and I'll be launching some recipes soon. But I am a cook up the family. And so what I had to do was I cook their food, but I cooked my food. Because I said I wasn't going to make an excuse. I wasn't going to say I got to cook for them. No, I was standing in the kitchen anyway. And so I would cook their food the way they wanted it and would cook mine at the exact same moment.

Vince Ferguson:

And that was the temptation to eat some of theirs?

Kita Richards:

It was there, but here's what I would say to myself. I would say to myself, you know what? There's life and death in the power of the tongue, and there's going to be life or death in this food. So you better be choosing which one. And so that was my thing. And it got so bad, I was label things life or death so much. I'm choosing life. I'm choosing life. And that's the way I would eat. Because remember I was a sugar addict, and I still had to go to the grocery store. And when I go to the grocery store, what happens when you go get in the checkouts? Because you can avoid the cookie on the aisle of cookies, but the checkout has the candy, and all of the quick snacks.

Vince Ferguson:

For a reason. Yes.

Kita Richards:

So I would pull up my buggy inside of there and I would look, and my mind, I would label them in my head. I would be like, death. And that would be my two things, life or death. And I would leave there without the candy bars, which was so interesting because understand, I was the person that drove, that went through their buggy through the thing. And I would bring everybody back their favorite candy bar, including my own. .It was so bad that my husband, there's a particular store that has a particular type of candy that I like whenever he would go into that particular town, he would buy me four of those candy bars because I couldn't get them locally. So the moment I asked him to stop bringing me the candy bars, he knew something was real because I like don't bring me the candy bars. Don't bring me the candy bars.

Kita Richards:

But I was making choices. And what I was doing is I was making the choices at that moment. I wasn't trying to live outside of the window. I wasn't trying to say, tomorrow I'll do better. I was like, I'm going to do it the now. I'm going to experience the now moment. So that's what I was doing.

Vince Ferguson:

Do it now. Are you now a vegan?

Kita Richards:

I am.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? Plant based?

Kita Richards:

That was interesting.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. How did that transition go?

Kita Richards:

That was about like the same. That was the same for me. The big problem wasn't for me the meat, it wasn't the meat. It really wasn't. Although I would tell people, they were like what would be the thing that would that draw you? Because I love what I would love. And I've always loved bison burgers. There's a particular place in Texas that I just absolutely love, and now I don't eat that. But that's not where it got me. That is probably the one thing, but the other was eggs. I absolutely love eggs. And I was eating a lot of eggs in one day. I said, oh, I told my husband, I'm going to become a vegan, and I'm not going to eat the eggs anymore. And he was like-

Vince Ferguson:

Did he ask for a divorce.

Kita Richards:

No. He was like, he's very supportive. He was like, so you're not going to eat the eggs? Do you not know within a couple days he cooks eggs? Because he's the breakfast person. So he cooked the eggs, and they look so light and fluffy. And I walked past the stove, and I looked at the eggs, and then I said, I want the eggs. And then I said, no, no, no. You chose, you made the choice to not eat the eggs. So just make the choice. And something in the back of my head said, but nobody's looking so nobody's going to know you ate the eggs. But then I said, I would know that I ate the eggs. And so I'm going to know that I ate the eggs, so I'm not going to eat. And it was enough of them. I could have just tasted them when I was like, I'm not going to eat these eggs.

Kita Richards:

And I didn't eat the eggs. And I sit at breakfast, and this was the thing, with my family because we are a family that eat together. We actually eat together. So it's not like I go take my plate and not see their food. And I saw them eat, and I did not touch them. And I felt victorious. Not that you have to give up eggs in your fitness journey or your whatever, but for me, I felt victorious. Everybody asked me do I feel like that I have such a restricted diet? No. I feel like I'm in charge of my life. Food can no longer control me. I'm in control of me. I take my power back. Food is not supposed to control me anyway.

Vince Ferguson:

But food seems to control most of us. And that's why you have the obesity, diabetes, all these chronic illnesses in the community because of how we eat. So your clients, who are your ideal clients?

Kita Richards:

Well my ideal clients are, most people think that most of my clients are vegan, and they're not. My ideal clients are people that just want more control. And I shouldn't say control, more clarity in their life. Because I told people my thing is always I want to help you find your strong point. I want to help you meet your goal. I always told people also this studio is when they come in, we greet each other. Just, I say, hey, how are you doing today? And they told me how they doing. They say, oh, I'm doing great. So my ideal, my avatar client is the people that just want the best out of their life. They want to find the joy in being them and whatever they do. Because really and truly, you are not your body. And I told people that you are not your body, but your body is a manifestation of what you've done. It's a journal.

Vince Ferguson:

It reveals.

Kita Richards:

Can be changed.

Vince Ferguson:

It can be changed. Interesting. Very, very, very good. So what programs do you offer at your, before you even tell me that, what are the names of your gyms?

Kita Richards:

So this one actually has hero on the wall, but this one is She Rocks Fit.

Vince Ferguson:

She Rocks Fit.

Kita Richards:

She Rocks Fit brand. And then the other one is hero.

Vince Ferguson:

Hero.

Kita Richards:

I'm going to tell you about the She Rocks Fit because it seems a little weird. If you look inside of She Rocks Fit, you see the name hero.

Vince Ferguson:

Yes. I like that very much. Very much. What programs do you offer at these two facilities?

Kita Richards:

Okay. So at the studio style one, it's group fitness. I do a lot of group fitness here. We do the weight lifting, the calisthenics, parts of yoga, functional training. I'm big on functional training because I think you just, you should be able to move your body. I do a lot of body weight. I do a lot of body weight, a lot of body weight. But we do some lifting here. At the other gym it is really and truly a full service gym. So it has all your machines, you have your ellipticals, you have your treadmills, you have the spin bikes, and then you have the studio side of it. And then that one, there is, I think there's about nine other trainers there.

Vince Ferguson:

Oh, wow. Really?

Kita Richards:

Yeah. There's nine, about nine. I think we're at nine other trainers there. And they train clients there as well. So they're training clients, and whether it's personal and there is actually, we have, there's a boxer there too. And he actually teaches boxing. So there's a variety of stuff going on at the other one.

Vince Ferguson:

So one is called She Rock Fit, which is where you are today. And the other one is called?

Kita Richards:

Hero.

Vince Ferguson:

Hero, just hero? And do you have group fitness programs?

Kita Richards:

I do. I do. I do my group fitness because that's what I trained. That's what I specialize in, in group fitness. My group fitness, like I said, will range from different things. So I have steps. We may do steps. Let me tell you what kind of trainer I am. If we had to classify, if we really had to put a label on my training style, I would say it's OCD.

Vince Ferguson:

OCD?

Kita Richards:

It's very OCD. So how my whole program works is you walk into my gym. There is not an ab day. There is not. There is not a we're going to do back day. You walk in, and you don't know what I'm going to do and here's why. Because people don't come because it's a certain day, and they don't like to work that particular. But I found out people don't like to work where they're weak. Most people don't like to work the weak side. So what I do is I vary the training where you don't know, it's a mystery. A mystery. And I'm going to be honest with you. You know what they do? They peek up under the door to see what is laying in the-

Vince Ferguson:

What's going on?

Kita Richards:

They're like, oh my God, what is she going to do? But you know, it works for them because they understand why I do it. I used to announce what I was going to do, but I did find that people would cheat and not come. The also the other part of the gym, a part of the studio side of it is accountability. So I was huge on accountability. I don't know if it's because my husband was military. I actually know where people are supposed to be, in which class they're supposed to be. If you miss a class and you have not contacted wonderful trainer and said, I won't be in, I have something going on, whatever, I text you. We have an app. I will message you in the app, and I will personally text you. You're lucky if you get away with 2 sessions back to back. I'm getting in contact with you.

Vince Ferguson:

Is that right? Interesting. So you have that personalized approach. That personalized approach, you hold people accountable, which is awesome. Now can someone join your class virtually?

Kita Richards:

Yes I do. I do virtual. So I have this app. Well we have this app and in the app everything comes through. But as soon as the virtual classes open up, it's usually a link that appears within your app within 30 minutes telling you the virtual schedule, but it reminds you that there's a virtual coming up. And here's the cool thing about it. If you are in for that day, you can join any class. So mine is set up like this. Basically, if you are in for the week, let's say you say, I want to do virtual or I think I want to join you and I'm going to pay for a week or I'm going to pay for a month. You're not only that one class, you can join in into any class that happens because you are getting links that's telling you. So if you are stuck in traffic, so you ain't making this one, you just click the next link that appears and you make the next one.

Vince Ferguson:

So you still make it. Awesome. Awesome. That's really good that you're doing that. That's actually amazing. Now that you told me who your ideal clients are, do you give them personalized nutrition guidance?

Kita Richards:

I do. I do.

Vince Ferguson:

You do?

Kita Richards:

So my meal plans being a vegan is interesting. So what I do is the way I build my meal plans are, I shouldn't say simple, but they are built on levels. So when I say levels are different styles. So the base of every one of my meal plans is always vegan. It's always vegan. So it starts out at vegan. And then you see this list of other things. You, I list the eggs that you can have in the amount. And then I list your meats here so you can add back this list. So that's how it lists outs. Not only is that is every, it all has the calorie counts beside it. So, and when I say that is, I actually put recipes in because I'm a cook. I like to cook.

Kita Richards:

I like to cook. And I don't like eating the same. So recipes come with all my meal plans. So basically if I'm telling you that I want you to eat this, I'm actually giving you the recipe to eat it.

Vince Ferguson:

To eat it.

Kita Richards:

So you can meal prep. You can be able to meal prep that. But then for those who say, well, I don't have time because you have all these options. There is also those quick items. You can go get your frozen vegetables and you just do some roasted vegetables. Or if you out, I even help you if you're eating out. We discuss how to eat out. What do I choose? What's a good choice. I found that if people understand their choices, they can make better choices.

Vince Ferguson:

Better choices.

Kita Richards:

My thing is, I like to be your guide, but I want you to walk away from me with knowledge to be empowered. So I do give you the meal plan, but there's so many instructions even in inside of the app. I think I would walk over and show you my board. My board tells you the different vegetables that can help you detox your liver, because I want you to learn it. I want you to walk away with knowledge because here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking to myself, if you walk away with that knowledge, not only will it impact your life, it impacts now your family life. And now it impacts the next generation. Because I have a family, and I want you, not only my client to be healthy, I want them to be impactful within their environment.

Kita Richards:

Because like you said before, there's so many. There's diabetes, there's blood pressure problems. How do you come at that? We can come out at it one person at a time, but I get that. I can touch you. But even if I'm touching you, then what you do is you touch your family. And then your family will touch other people, and it grows from there. I think that's the only way that we're ever going to be healthy as a community.

Vince Ferguson:

Hmm. Awesome. Yes. Most definitely. Educate the community and share that knowledge, share that love. And now obviously I can talk forever with you because you have so much knowledge and wisdom to share, but I want a couple more things that I just one to ask you. Because you're so busy, you have two facilities there and you're working with people, how do you manage your family life and your business? Because you have a spouse. So that's and four kids.

Kita Richards:

And four kids.

Vince Ferguson:

How do you do it?

Kita Richards:

So I'm going to let you in on how I manage. First of all, how I manage my personal relationship. My personal relationship with my spouse. We actually have one day one, well, we have dinner. We decide, he actually asks me, when do I have time to have dinner? So we try to have dinner once a week together.

Vince Ferguson:

Once a week?

Kita Richards:

Yeah. Once a week dinner without the kids, we try to go out without the, we go out. This is ours. Dinner and maybe a movie or something. We have a date. We have to have that. On the date, I disconnect unless it's the kids trying to contact me or grave emergency, then my focus is not outside of that. It wasn't, and I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to be honest with you. It wasn't like that before, because trying to be a business owner, sometimes you can get out of balance, and I've been out of balance.

Kita Richards:

So this helps balance the scale. It tells your spouse or it tells that significant other, that you are important. So this time it's dedicated to us. And so I try to make sure that I do that. For my kids, they're all grown. And it's amazing. We actually have what's called a group chat. And so everybody's in this group chat on their phones. It's message. We have it on Facebook, and then we have it on our phones. We have chat, we talk to each other. We have our own little group text every morning. And I don't know if somebody did it this morning, someone says good morning. And we are all over the place. So my daughter, like I said, is in Korea, and she's military. So she may be anywhere, but we have this chat and it says good morning.

Kita Richards:

And at least a couple times a week, because I write affirmations every morning. I send over affirmation to my family. And I send over my affirmation to my clients to just remind them to be the best version of them. But also to say, I love you. And everybody piggybacks inside of that for my family. So whatever is happening within the family, we actually can pick up the phone and just text and we are all in the same space at that time.

Kita Richards:

And so we do that, and about every week or so, we do FaceTime each other. And oh yeah I have grands by the way, I have grands. So we do FaceTime with everybody and that's how I manage having the kids. So we feel close even though we are in different cities. We feel close. We feel that close and we reach out to each other via that. So I have that with them. And then with each of them, I have my own little, like the girls in the family because I have three girls. We only have our own little group thing. Also we have that. And then we have the whole thing. And then they have the sibling chat where it's only the-

Vince Ferguson:

The kids.

Kita Richards:

So that's how we manage it.

Vince Ferguson:

That's how you manage.

Kita Richards:

So that's how I manage my personal. And so that makes sense to me with technology. It just makes sense to, but it makes them feel as though they are important as well.

Vince Ferguson:

Which they are. But what about self-care when it comes to you?

Kita Richards:

I'm big on self-care. I'm big on that one.

Vince Ferguson:

Make time for that? What do you do?

Kita Richards:

I make time for myself. So one of the things that I do, and all my clients know it here. One of the things I do is I rise. My clock goes off at 3:45 AM.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? What?

Kita Richards:

Yes. I know. It goes off at 3:45 AM. And one thing that happens at 3:45 is I wake up, and I always listen to some type of meditation. I always brighten up the day. That's how I wake up. That's my time. And when I'm sitting there or when I'm laying there, I don't focus on being awake because I have other alarms. My alarm rings again at 4:43. Now if I wake all the way up, that's fine. I wake up. But if I don't wake all the way up at that 4:43 AM, I go into my own meditation. That's my time. That's my time to pour into me. And then about 5:25, because at that time I get up, I do about 15 minutes of that. I get up and I'm getting dressed, I'm moving around.

Kita Richards:

And, but those are my moments. That's my morning moments. That's my time to be filled up because I want to feel joy, and peace and love so that when I get in the gym at 6:20, at about 6:15 because that's when our class start. I want to already be present, and that's what I do to get present. So that's my first thing. At night I disconnect. Everybody knows it. At a certain time at night, I literally pull the plug on everybody else. That is my time, and I take that time for myself. And it's usually a little later at night. I take the time for myself where I may read a book. I may be reading or listening to something. I may decide that I just want to watch something. I don't watch a lot of TV, but I may decide I want to watch something.

Kita Richards:

And I just spent that moment doing that. So that's how I run that. And then on Fridays, I never work a full day on Fridays. I told people that. I don't care. I've had people to tell me, can I get a session with you? Can you open up this? I'm like, no, no. On Fridays, I'm done. When I get done, I'm done, and I'm done until Monday. I'm done until Monday. I'll chat with them. I'll chat with people within texts and stuff like that. But I'm done. I'm done. Even if it's a business call, it's got to be an emergency. It's going to wait until Monday. So I do that. And then Wednesday, you catching me here on a Wednesday. Wednesday is very important too, because Wednesday is also my slow day because I'm back and forth to Greenville on most days.

Kita Richards:

But Wednesday is the day that I don't go to Greenville. I normally stop about 10:00, and I don't start back until about 4:20. And that time, if I want to have a hair appointment, my nails done, I want to have a massage, if I want to just lay in the floor and think about nothing. That's really, truly my time. And I spend it well. My husband will even tell you, everybody knows my schedule because they will tell you. And some people are so afraid of hurting other people's feelings, but I can be really, really blunt. My thing is hurting myself first is not what you want to do. So I tell people, create a space and an atmosphere that's conducive to your growth. Sometimes that requires me to set boundaries. This is my time. And then you have to say it is okay to have it because you are worthy of it. And that's the way I feel. I feel that I am worthy of time. The same value I give to everyone else, I give to myself.

Vince Ferguson:

Yourself. Beautiful. Very well put. I couldn't have said it better because that's not my reality. That's yours, but that is beautiful. Now how can my listeners and viewers find out more about you, Kita Richards.

Kita Richards:

I'm so easy to contact. You can always go to my website, which is www.sherocks.fit. and message me there. Or you can hit me up even on the other one, which is a www.bornherofitness. You can get that one, bornherofit.com. And if you message you'll get me again or you can just do what's easy. Hit me up on Facebook. It's Kita Richards. Instagram is Killa_Kita. They gave me that name. I didn't do it. My clients gave me that name.

Vince Ferguson:

Really? Killer.

Kita Richards:

You can do that as well. I'm so easy to contact that. It's really strange. And I try my best really to answer people's questions. I have a certain time of day that I just sit down, and I just start to text other people. So I'm very easy. I'm very easy to contact. And I always say too, if you ever, because I believe we're all interconnected. So I try to always give my best to those who are trying to contact me.

Vince Ferguson:

Very good. Very good. Kita Richards. So on behalf of Body Sculpt of New York, that's my nonprofit program and Six Weeks of Fitness. I truly want to thank you for coming on this show today.

Kita Richards:

Well thank you for having me. Thank you so much. And can I say one more thing to your listeners?

Vince Ferguson:

Please.

Kita Richards:

I just want to remind people that always strive to be the best version of you. That's going to mean you got to take time for yourself. You got to love yourself properly. You got to show every part of you, your bodies, you got to show your body up. Yeah, it's going to fade away. Here's the thing. Once you take care of your body, your mental, your spirit, and you feed it properly, then that produces not only fruit, but it also produces seed. And when that seed, and when you talk, and we become peaceful, when that seed in your voice begin to flow on other people's thoughts. And then they get to produce seed. So remember that you are impactful in your environment, and you're never out of the wrong season. You're always in the divine timing, and there are really no true mistakes. There are only purposes. So just remind yourself that you are being the best version of you. And today is a good day But guess what? Tomorrow, your tomorrow will be even better. And the day after would be better than that. So just keep going, being your very best self.

Vince Ferguson:

Wow. Awesome. Beautiful. Beautiful. To my listeners and viewers. I truly hope this program was informative, encouraging, and I know it was inspiring and that you will continue tuning in to my Six Weeks of Fitness podcast. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the show, please leave them in the comment section below, and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. And remember you don't stop exercising because we grow old. We grow old because we stop exercising.

Direct download: Episode_189_Kita_Richards.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:59pm EDT

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