Welcome to 1-3-1 Fridays, my weekly newsletter where I reveal evidence-based strategies to get lean, strong, and create optimal health.

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What's in store for today:

• What I would avoid giving my son (or any of my family members) to drink at all costs.
• A Zen master's secret to living a long high quality life.
• The fitness book that changed my life and opened the door to building muscle and strength 

Life can change fast.

It has for me.

But only when I’ve committed to the change.

The thing I’ve forgotten about change is that it starts inside first.

Your desire for change will come before the actual transformation.

If you don’t desire change, then change will pass you by.

I’ve forgotten this lesson more often than not.

I’ve complained about things, bitched about my problems, and blamed others more than I’d care to mention.

It didn’t get me anywhere.

(although I enjoyed feeling like a victim temporarily).

It feels good to NOT take ownership.

To feel like things and life are against you.

It feels even better to take ownership.

I’m not talking to the group of people who resonate and want to live like the former mindset.

I’m talking to a certain type of person.

The type of person who recognizes that they aren’t living up to their full potential.

That’s there’s more within to be pulled out and actualized.

I’m talking to you.

Because there’s something that drives humans like you and I.

We aren’t content to just let life pass us by.

We want more.

We desire change.

Change is in our blood.

We recognize that being vegan or eating plants isn’t enough.

This is just the start.

Being ‘vegan’ doesn’t mean you’re healthy and fit.

It’s not just the animals and the planet.

It’s about becoming your best self and having the best impact possible.

That’s a tall order for the average human.

But you and I don’t go for average.

For the high performance vegan, average is boring.

The real goal is self mastery.

Learning how to master your mind, body, and spirit.

Learning to live in harmony with who you are.

Learning to lead by example and inspire others.

It’s a tall order.

But average is boring, and life is short.

So why not go for gold?

Life begins and ends in a split second.

Watching my wife giving birth and Anthony's miraculous entrance to this planet reminds me of this every day.

Life is short.

Why not become your best?

It takes the same amount of effort to be ordinary as it does to be extraordinary.

So my emails, newsletters, and products aren’t for everyone.

But for those of you still reading, I’m talking to you.

This is for you.

Lesson: Every day is a new day. You choose who you can become today, this month, and next year. Why not be your best?

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Here's Your 1-3-1 Friday:

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1.) What I would not give my son to drink

Every morning I wake up to change my son.

He's started drinking water and solid foods over the past few weeks.

Yet, I'll never give my son this ingredient to drink.

In the early 1940’s the WHO (world health organization) recommended we start adding fluoride to our water.

Their idea was to help with our dental health.

However, there were also some serious drawbacks.

Fluoride calcifies your pineal gland.

It’s been proven in multiple studies that fluoride in our water does not improve our dental health.

So why the push to add fluoride to our water?

Why force it on young children to get fluoride?

(acknowledging our own shadow is the first step to noticing the collective world wide shadow over us)

There’s even evidence showing that children reach puberty faster due to fluoridated water.

Here’s the negative effects of fluoride on our pineal gland and health:

• Lowers productions of melatonin
• Impairs the sleep-wake cycle
• Disrupts the regulation of the circadian rhythm

So back to the original question above - why add fluoride to our water?

Well, it turns out not everyone does.

In fact, nearly all of Europe has resisted fluoridating their water.

(Europe isn’t perfect and has its own problems but fluoride isn’t one of them at the moment).

Nearly 70% of the USA has fluoridated water.

More people drink and shower in fluoridated water in the USA than the entire world combined.

But is it really that bad?

Depends on what you call ‘bad’; many studies list the dangers of fluoride including:

• Calcification of the pineal gland
• Causes arthritis (via calcification of cartilage)
• Causes kidney disease
• Lowers IQ and causes brain damage
• Harms male and female fertility
• Weakens skeletal health (skeletal fluorosis)
• Causes cardiovascular inflammation and atherosclerosis
• Increases lead absorption

There’s enough evidence showcasing the impact of fluoride on our health.

Fluoride destroys our human potential and higher mental faculties.

It’s a toxic chemical (the synthetic fluoride to be clear), that crushes our chances of having an optimal healthy life.

So three ways to protect yourself from fluoride:

• Use a home water filter system like Clearly Filtered under the sink system (no affiliation just sharing a great product).
• Invest in your own well or natural water sources especially if you live in the States.
• Avoid products like toothpaste that actively promote fluoride and invest in non-fluoride toothpaste and water products.

The battle for your health continues.

You can win this battle.

Avoid fluoride and protect your family's health.

2.) A Zen master's secret to longevity

Thich Nhat Hanh was a world-renowned Zen teacher for decades.

He was a promoter of peace and inner work and helped transform the lives of those he helped.

TNH's approach to health was simple:

Let your body work for you and heal itself with it's natural rthyms.

In order to do this, we need to step out of the way (aka get your mind out of the equation).

Easier said than done...

Here's TNH's words on health and how to live a high quality life:

The therapeutic power of meditation is very great, as modern scientific studies are now showing.

The practices of mindful breathing, sitting meditation and walking meditation release tensions in the body and also in the mind.

When we give ourselves the chance to let go of all our tension, the body’s natural capacity to heal itself can begin to work.

Animals in the forest know this; when they get wounded, ill or overtired, they know what to do.

They find a quiet place and lie down to rest.

They don’t go chasing after food or other animals–they just rest.

After some days of resting quietly, they are healed and they resume their activities.

We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing.

We worry too much. We don’t allow our bodies to heal, and we don’t allow our minds and hearts to heal.

Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger, and that is very healing.

We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work.

Total relaxation is the secret to enjoying sitting meditation.

I sit with my spine upright, but not rigid; and I relax all the muscles in my body.

Breathing in, I bring my attention to one part of my body; breathing out, I smile with gratitude and love to that part of my body.

For example, I breathe in and I bring my attention to my face.

On my face there are about 300 muscles, and whenever I get worried, angry or sad, these 300 muscles harden, and anyone who looks at me can see that I’m tense.

But if while breathing in I can be aware of my face, and breathing out I can smile to my face, then that tension immediately dissipates.

It’s almost like a miracle.

In just a few breaths we can feel peace, happiness, and relaxation on our face.

Our face becomes light, fresh, like the kind of flower it was before. Every face is a flower.

After breathing three or four times with “breathing in I am aware of my face; breathing out I smile to my face,” then I can breathe in and bring my awareness to the muscles in my shoulders, because our shoulder muscles are often tense.

As I breathe out, I relax and smile with my shoulders.

Gradually we can move through the whole body, so after just a few minutes we can already normalize our body so it feels light and relaxed.

This is something everyone can do in the first minutes of sitting, and not only when we are in the meditation hall.

Wherever we sit, we can sit beautifully, just like we are doing sitting meditation, and we will feel stability and freedom.

Sitting down to eat or do paperwork, we sit upright and relaxed.

Let us sit like the Buddha.

Health is always within your grasp.

It's up to you to actualize this.

3.) The fitness book that changed my life

When I was 19 I came across a book.

My stepfather had given it to me as a gift a few months earlier.

But I didn't read it initially.

It sat on my bookshelf for months.

Until, I started to become curious.

I didn't know anything about muscle-building.

Or strength.

But I did know I wanted to build muscle.

I was a scrawny kid most of my life.

I struggled to gain weight for my entire teens and early 20's.

Me flexing my biceps was embarrassing.

So I read the 'Book of Muscle'.

I was hooked.

I couldn't stop reading.

The book revealed everything I was curious about.

What muscle was.

How to build it.

How to workout.

It covered everything.

It was my entry point into the science behind muscle building.

Growing up, I loved video games.

It was my way of retreating behind the pain of my childhood.

Books and video games were my defense mechanisms but also my way of liberating myself.

When I got into fitness, I started to channel my energy into my workouts.

My joy, anger, pain, sadness, and every emotion in between fueled my fitness.

It helped.

It didn't solve my emotional traumas.

But it gave my positive outlet to release them.

Learning to develop confidence in myself physically became the stepping stone for me to mature emotionally.

I'm not sure if I would have had the confidence to do inner work and heal years later without the initial confidence I built from years of working out and believing in myself.

Fitness healed me in more ways than one.

Another lesson from this book was that generic workouts < than specialized programming.

I spent my first few years trying to copy other people's workouts.

I didn't believe in the value of coaching.

Especially when I could do my own resesarch.

The only problem with this?

I wasted years of proper training for subpar training.

My only regret?

That I didn't hire a coach earlier.

Regardless of your path, 2025 is around the corner.

It all started with the 'Book of Muscle' for me.

What's your starting point?

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1 Action Step

Decide on your 2025 fitness goal. What will you create and what do you want to achieve?

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Become the Client of the Year (You)

Let’s wrap up our VFR Black Friday Special with a bang.

We already filled up all 7 spots, and I did a bad job of keeping track of the numbers the past 2 weeks.

So for the next 48 hours ONLY, I’m opening up 2 more spots.

These are first come, first serve.

This is your last chance to take full advantage of our BEST deal of the year while getting maximum support and guidance in your health and body.

Being a high achieving vegan or aspiring vegan ain’t easy.

But it’s worth becoming a high performance vegan who leads by example.

So in the season's spirit, I’m opening these 2 more spots for those of you who feel called forth.

Here’s a quick recap of the entire special…

(since this is the last email with details)

If you want to be one of the few vegans (or aspiring vegans), who drops weight and tones up going into 2025 with massive momentum without sacrificing your health in the last few weeks of 2024, then keep reading.

This is the perfect time to apply for our VFR Accelerator Program because of our huge Black Friday Special we’re running until December 8th.

So what’s the special?

The special is if you commit now before December 8th, my team and I will BONUS you the entire rest of 2024 on us.

Aka if you apply and are accepted for one of these few spots, you’ll get free coaching for the rest of 2024.

That means the official clock on your 4 month VFR Accelerator Program won’t start until January 6th (since we start on Mondays with new clients).

That means you get an extra 4-7 weeks of FREE coaching on us before your official program clock begins.

Which is a $600-$997 value depending on how fast you take action and get started.

You’ll also get to lock the 2024 tuition before our next price adjustment for 2025.

(we’re making MASSIVE upgrades in 2025 so this bonus ALONE will be worth saving a spot inside of VFR).

So what’s the catch?

There’s only 2 new spots left for this special.

Also, we only run this once a year, so the next time this special will come around will be at the end of next year.

If you can afford to put your health on hold until next Thanksgiving, that’s great.

If you understand the cost of INACTION and the opportunity cost (investing term for those of you familiar with this), you’ll know that there’s a price to pay for everything in life.

You either pay the price of taking action… or you pay the price of facing the consequences of NOT taking action.

Either way, you and I have to pay the price.

However, if you believe giving yourself the GIFT of health this holiday season is the right decision and you deserve to have a lean, strong body and health that reflects your inner growth while showcasing plant-based health as a role model, then consider this:

‘How’s 2024 gone for my health so far? And am I willing to pay the price to continue this pattern next year?’

Only you can answer this question.

Here’s a few things you’ll learn inside Accelerator:

✅ How to drop body fat permanently using plants

✅ How to create a lean, toned body without living in the gym

✅ How to eat your favorite vegan food without restrictive dieting

✅ How to level up your personal leadership and be a healthy role model

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

If you’re struggling with your health, there’s most likely other areas you’re slipping up on too.

If you’re not serious about creating permanent transformation, this special won’t be for you.

I’m talking to high achieving vegans or aspiring vegans who are serious.

If you’re still reading this far, I’d assume that’s you.

Here’s your next coaching action step:

Message me ‘VFR24’ below this email and this will kickstart your interview and enrollment process.

That’s it.

To qualify you must:

✅ Message me ASAP (only 2 spots available)

✅ Start the application process with me (which I’ll guide you through)

✅ Reserve one of the 2 spots before they’re gone (if you’re accepted)

That’s it. We’ll do the rest.

Let’s make some magic in 2025.

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One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

Turned one year older last night.

Enjoying the Colorado mountains today.

Have a great weekend,

References:
​https://community.thriveglobal.com/in-remembrance-my-interview-with-beloved-zen-master-thich-nhat-hanh/