Learn A Protein-Forward Method You Can Use At Home, Work, And On The Road

Staring at the fridge like it’s a test you didn’t study for? We’re making food choices simple with a protein-forward approach you can use anywhere: at home, at work, or on the road. Our 2-2-1 plate—two servings of protein, two of plants, one of carbs—anchors meals that keep you full, focused, and moving toward your goals without tracking every bite.

We share practical examples that fit real life: palm-size portions of chicken, fish, Greek yogurt, eggs, or tofu; big handfuls of non-starchy vegetables and fruit; and a modest serving of rice, potatoes, oats, or a wrap. You’ll hear how to go bunless at burger spots, ask for extra veg, and use reduced-calorie bread when you want the toast without the crash. We also dig into the “add a zero” protein rule for spotting fake protein snacks fast, plus the hydration pause that helps you tell thirst or boredom from true hunger.

If your schedule keeps you in the car, we’ve got you covered. Turn your commute into an advantage with a small cooler stocked with Greek yogurt, ready-to-drink protein shakes, rotisserie chicken, hard-boiled eggs, baby carrots, and tuna pouches. Prefer convenience? Hit the grocery store instead of the drive-thru for salad-bar greens, pre-cut rotisserie chicken, and a yogurt that carries you to your next meal. To lock it in, try the one-minute breakfast rotation—Greek yogurt and fruit, a protein shake plus a banana, or two eggs with lighter toast—four to five mornings this week.

Ready for a small change that compounds? Build one 2-2-1 plate per day, add the hydration habit, and keep a protein snack within reach. If this helped, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a quick review to tell us your favorite protein hack.

Transcript

Setting The Tone And Disclaimers

Don 0:00

Real quick, neither of us is a nutritionist.

John 0:04

We're sharing what's worked for us and our clients. If you've got medical stuff, you need to talk to a pro.

Don 0:10

If you've ever stared at your fridge like it was a math test you didn't study for, today's the episode for you.

John 0:16

We're going protein forward today. No chicken and sadness diets allowed.

Don 0:25

I'm Don, just a regular guy who learned that when protein is right, everything else gets a lot easier.

Weekly Wins And Injury Story

John 0:31

I'm John the trainer, not here to argue with Don. Hippopotamus, John. Safe word noted, Donovan. This is Nutrition Part One.

Don 0:42

So, John, let's talk about our weekly wins. I had a pretty exciting win this week. I got a new gym partner. What? You're cheating on me? I am cheating on you. But wait. Yeah. Who? What? Where? When? No, it uh we're we're we're we're gonna uh leave that for another episode, but to protect the mystery person? The mystery person, yeah. Can they come on on air? Probably will never ever do that. So probably never ever do that. Well, good for you. Yeah, and been real supportive and and kind of it's been very nice because they're just starting out, and with my injury, it's kind of limiting me what I can do. So that that helps a lot. And I I actually got a question from Mike in uh Charlotte, North Carolina. He said, Don, you never said how you injured injured yourself and how you had to have that uh bicep surgery, and wanted to know if you were going to be paying my uh work out workout comp since you you worked me too hard. And the story is that Mike? Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, Mike, I need you to call in. So so actually it had nothing my injury had nothing to do with actually working out. It was uh moving a table up a flight of stairs and the and just kind of lifted a little bit too hard because the table was heavy and uh heard the pop, and that's just kind of part part of life.

John 2:11

So yeah, I'm bit but I'm trying to think what to say because what if you wouldn't have been in shape? Maybe your back would have gone out, maybe another part of your body part. I mean, this was just a fluke.

Don 2:22

I I hate to say it, but probably if I hadn't been in shape, I probably would have never attempted to move the table to begin with. Maybe Mike's on to something. Maybe, maybe. So yeah, uh and before I had the surgery, I was talking to the anesthesiologist and kind of told her that it was a dumb reason for me to be here. And had she said that she had actually heard a story that was even worse. That there was a police officer that reared back to hit one of his buddies, he hadn't seen in a while, on the on the on the butt and popped his bicep. That was one heck of a swing.

John 2:59

That was yeah, that's a that hello, bang.

Listener Shoutouts And Motivation

Don 3:02

So so Karma got him, though, I think. Yeah, I think so. Karma's like, well, that you don't do that. You don't do that in public, yeah. So but so that was my win, and then uh answer of our one of our first listener questions uh what was your win for this week?

John 3:16

So my win this week, we've been talking a lot about you know nutrition and and fitness and 777. And I think I told you last week that I had to up my cardio. So I was doing 20, 20, 20 workouts. Yep. And I took my my first 20, which is 20 minutes of cardio, and I've I've segued from 20 minutes into 15 minutes of walking, and then I added five minutes of running. So I've really had to kind of since I've lost you as my my partner for training, yeah. I've had to rely on myself. And sometimes that self-motivation, that we've had an episode on that. We've talked about that. I had to kick it up a notch because everything we've been talking about on these podcasts is kind of like all right, if you're gonna if you're gonna talk it, you better you better walk it. And now I'm running it. Or running it. Yeah, that's exactly right. So that's been my big win. And this podcast is actually helping me. Stay stay focused.

Don 4:14

That's amazing. And and I can't disagree with that because it certainly has as you said, if you're gonna talk it, you need to walk it.

John 4:22

Right. We just can't sit it sit on here telling everybody what you know to do and how to stay fit. And then if they see us in person at an autograph signing one day and go, whoa, yeah, you guys with the double chins? What the heck?

Don 4:34

That's right. Yeah, that's uh that would not we don't want that.

John 4:37

So you had mentioned Mike reaching out to you and making a comment. Yep. Do you remember the show when we were growing up, Romper Room? Did you have that down here in the South?

Don 4:46

I think I I've heard the term used romper room, but I don't know.

John 4:51

It was a show like little toddlers would watch called Romper Room, and this lady would get on there and she'd be in front of the big screen, and she'd say, Hi, I'm Judy, and I see Donovan, I see John, I see Timmy, I see Mary, and and you'd be on the screen going, She said my name. How does she know? How does she know I'm watching? So I'm kind of doing that today because I've had some some people reach out to me. I had Frank from Lincoln, Nebraska. Wow, Lincoln, Nebraska. We talked about that on one of the casts about could you find Nebraska on the map?

Don 5:25

Yeah, I didn't I'm I'm still not sure that I could.

John 5:27

So I really challenge people to find Frank in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Don 5:31

Yeah, it would be colored yellow on the map, right? Yellow. Yeah, for the corn.

John 5:36

Oh, brother. Oh boy. Okay, yeah. With the buffalo in the prairie. Yeah, yeah. We gotta get you out of this state. But anyway, Frank from Lincoln, Nebraska had said that we've been helping him out a lot. Frank was a former coach, a former college athlete himself, and now he's in his twilight years, over 55, and he's back in the gym, him and his wife, Jill, and they're back in the gym. Frank's doing a lot of different things from going to the gym, going to boxing class. Oh, wow. And so he's really kicking it up because they're both retired. They're they're avid followers of us, and he really was taken by the 777. So seven minutes of cardio, different machines. So I'm glad that we're able to help Frank. So that's to me, that's a win, knowing that something that we're actually saying on air, people are taking and putting it to use.

Don 6:31

That's awesome. That's fantastic.

John 6:33

So thank you, Frank and Jill.

Don 6:34

Congratulations, Frank and Jill, for getting in the gym and keeping active.

John 6:39

And helping our listeners find out where Nebraska is. Go big red. Yeah.

Don 6:44

Yeah. Why is it red? I thought it you said it was yellow.

John 6:47

You said it was yellow. It's it's anyway. Episode 27, we'll talk about that.

Introducing Protein-Forward 2-2-1 Plate

Don 6:52

Okay. Sounds great. Sounds great. Our main focus for today's episode is talking about nutrition. And we want to talk about being protein forward. We're going to start off by giving you some examples of how to put the 221 protein first plate into action.

John 7:10

All right. So here's our simple plate, Donovan. Start with protein, then plants, and then carbs.

Don 7:16

So that's the two, two, one? You're saying two servings of protein, two servings of plants, and one of carbs, is that right? That is correct, my friend. So what's some examples of some lean protein that you would suggest?

John 7:30

I would I would recommend like you take two palms of chicken, two palms of fish, some Greek yogurt, eggs, tofu. So when I say palms, I'm thinking about six to eight ounces of each one of those products in order to get that protein into your system.

Don 7:47

Aaron Powell That keeps it real simple. If you're having like a luncheon where you're at the office and they bring in lunch, you know you can look at your the palm of your hand and say, all right, two proteins, two palm-sized proteins, and then I'm good. And then move on. So you don't have to fill your plate up with you know all the barbecue chicken that you can eat.

John 8:07

Right. Yeah. Even though it's free.

Protein, Plants, And Carbs Explained

Don 8:09

Even though it's free. That's right.

John 8:10

That's that's the hard part. You know, think about it when it like people offer you things like tonight you came over. Yeah. And I said, Hey, I made some chocolate chips.

Don 8:19

Some protein cookies. Yeah, whatever. And you only took one. Yeah, I only took one. That was good though. That was quite good. But you know, I've learned that one satiates that that desire to have it, and two, it's just kind of like it's overkill.

John 8:35

Yeah. Not to segue off of the proteins and the plants and and carbs and everything, but one thing that I've been doing, because I get this craving at eight o'clock at night. I've been just going in and taking like a a little dip of of peanut butter. Is that bad for me?

Don 8:52

It is. Do you know how many calories are in in one tablespoon of peanut butter?

John 8:55

Well, I was thinking that would be better than taking a scoop of ice cream.

Don 9:02

Or seven cookies. You're correct there, but a scoop of a tablespoon of peanut butter is 180 calories.

John 9:09

Well, good, because I'm only taking like a half a spoonful. All right. And I'm giving the other half to my dog. Okay, well, good. So we're sharing. Good. Not the same spoon. Like she, you know, she eats it after me.

Don 9:19

Yeah.

John 9:20

Sure.

Don 9:21

Sure. So back to our 221 plate. So we talked about two servings of protein, palm size, about six to eight ounce total cooked. What about our plants?

John 9:31

Plants. We want two big handfuls. So salad, non-starchy vegetables, or pieces of fruit. Yeah.

Don 9:38

And what's great about that, you know, four cups of salad mix, you know, that spring mix you can buy at on the package. Yeah. I like those. Do you know how many calories are in four cups of salad mix?

John 9:51

Probably not as much as that spoonful of peanut butter.

Don 9:54

Definitely not. About 35 calories. So that's a huge difference. And and that starchy and that non-starchy vegetable really helps you kind of be full and it kind of makes sure all your innards are working right. So that's great. But I John, you said one serving of carbs. I thought carbs were the enemy.

John 10:15

Well, carb carbs are not the enemy. It's as long as you just eat them in moderation. Everything's got to go with moderation, right? So I would carbs, I want to have one cup or one handful of rice, potatoes, pasta, oats, beans, or a you know, like a wrap.

Don 10:33

So real simple, carbs are energy. That is, and that's why carbs are so bad, because if you eat too many carbs, then your body converts those into stored fat reserves.

John 10:44

So with the carb thing. So I was a track coach, track athlete, blah, blah, blah. What do we always tell everybody the night before you have a race?

Don 10:51

Yeah, you got to carb up, baby.

John 10:53

Carb load, carb load because you're going to burn those off. So everybody who's a normal person like Frank and Jill in Nebraska, or Mike from where's Mark? Charlotte. Charlotte, yeah. Charlotte, you know, you guys are not going to go home tonight and have two big platefuls of spaghetti. So you can get on that treadmill and walk them back.

Don 11:12

Yeah, Mike likes Italian, so he might.

John 11:14

Okay. Well, Mike, you need to walk about five miles if you're going to run that off. That's so that's there's a difference when you see like and you hear athletes. You know, we consider all of our listeners athletic.

Don 11:28

That's right.

John 11:29

But you may be not at that pro level or college level where you're burning it off. So everything in moderation, folks.

Don 11:37

And and the last thing, you know, it's not necessarily included in that 221. We'll we'll say it's a little asterisk, is you know, maybe you add a a thumb size of fat, whether it's olive oil, nuts, avocado, or uh a nut butter. Oh, yeah. Like peanut butter.

Smart Swaps And Eating Out Tactics

John 11:55

Yeah. Well, but that nut butter is better for you. I understand that. Stay away from Skippy. Unless Skippy wants to sponsor us.

Don 12:01

Yeah, we we wouldn't totally endorse some Skippy. And one thing, John, you know, I don't measure every meal, but those hand cubes really do help me out when I'm out. And, you know, maybe I've ordered something on the menu. I had a friend a long time ago. She would go because we traveled a lot in what we were doing, and she would always order something off of the restaurant menu, and then she would eat half, and then she would get a to-go box for the other half, and then she would have the other half for either lunch or dinner the next day. Smart.

John 12:37

And I know we didn't talk about this, but talking about proteins, right? So you go and you're gonna have a chicken sandwich, but you really want to drop down on the carbs. You know you can just take the chicken off the sandwich bread part.

Don 12:50

Or even when you're doing a burger.

John 12:52

Yes.

Don 12:53

You had an open face burger.

John 12:55

And you look kind of chic. Yeah. Like, oh, what's that guy doing? Yeah. Do you remember the Seinfeld episode with the Snickers and they were cutting it?

Don 13:01

Yep.

John 13:02

So you're gonna be that guy taking the hamburger off of the bun.

Don 13:06

What who was wasn't there a there for a while, there was a fast food restaurant that was offering bunless burgers. They were putting them in those lettuce wraps. Remember that? Yeah. I mean, and I think you can still get a lettuce wrap sandwich at Jimmy John's, I think.

John 13:23

And I you can't I'm like even McDonald's, if you go just say, hey, no, no bread, they'll give it, they'll just put the burger on there.

Don 13:30

Yep, absolutely.

John 13:31

So don't be afraid to, again, advocate I love that word. Advocate for yourself even at the restaurants.

Don 13:36

Yeah, that that is very, very important. You have to advocate for yourself. My daughter has celiacs, and every time she orders, she says she looks the waitress in the eye and she says, I have celiacs, so I have a gluten allergy. And before she orders, she wants to make sure that it's not a preference because gluten gluten when everybody's like, oh, I'm gluten. Yeah. It's very, very trendy right now, but she actually has a an actual uh medical need to avoid gluten. So so it's very important that you advocate for yourself.

John 14:13

Yeah, I mean, because I I'm at I don't have celiacs, but I I have a weight problem. So I need to I'm I'm advocating for breadless as much as I can with going with the two palms of protein and handfuls of lettuce. So I'm good.

Don 14:29

I don't measure every meal, but what's nice is when I go to a restaurant and I see the plate come out, if they don't have their calories pre-printed in the menu, at least I know by if I can apply those two to one ideas that I'm gonna be in a lot closer to where I need to be as opposed to going off the rails.

John 14:50

So, you know, I was talking about the athletes eating carbs and carbo loading up for their races and things like that. But those same athletes for pre and post-workouts, I would encourage them to fruit up instead of a carb. You know what? Like, can we say it? What kind of fruit might you use?

Hydration, Hunger, And Coffee Habits

Don 15:09

Oh, I I I love apples and bananas. Bananas are great for that potassium, especially if you're you're running or doing something or you're sweating a lot. Yep.

John 15:19

I'm a big banana believer, super, super portable.

Don 15:22

I believe in bananas as well. I've seen some.

John 15:26

And I heard you had a banana split this week.

Don 15:28

I did. I did.

John 15:29

I was really bad. I was really bad. But you had the banana, so you gotta, yeah, it's good. It's kind of offset.

Don 15:35

So so let's talk about some protein plays that you can actually put into everyday use. You can do mix and match combos because we're looking at that two different ones. You can do some Greek yogurt and banana and then some granola sprinkles, and that kind of gets everything in there together. You can do a tuna pouch, uh, some crackers and some baby carrots. Uh, one of my favorite breakfasts is having two eggs and a piece of toast. I like using that reduced calorie bread. You know, it's like uh anywhere from 40 to 45 calories a slice. It's a lot thinner, but it kind of satisfies that that bread and carb need. And then throw in a piece of fruit, you know, whether it's a banana or an apple, just gotta make sure that you're staying away from that really super sweet stuff. Oranges are really high in calories.

John 16:26

They're high in sugar. Yeah, because you know, and bananas too, really, to be honest with you. You got you gotta get them one that are a little greener. Okay. Because as as they as they ripen, it becomes more and more sugar. That makes sense. Well, I'm not a nutritionist, but I did read that somewhere.

Don 16:39

Yeah, that's good. Uh and one of my favorite go-tos is rotisserie chicken. I love going to any of these big box stores, Costco, Sam's. I'll buy two or three rotisserie chickens, bring them home, debone them, put them in a uh little stainless steel bowl, and I have it in the fridge. And I'll pull that rotisserie chicken out, I'll throw it with some rice, I'll throw it in some salad mix, and it's fantastic as a really quick, easy dinner when you really don't know what to have. And then, you know, even I could take that rotisserie chicken and put it on some of that reduced calorie bread, maybe take some sugar-free barbecue sauce, throw it on there. That's pretty hot.

John 17:22

Yeah, that's not bad for a little bachelor life. Yeah. I think that's good. Well, I'm not bachelor. But no, but people like you and me that are actively working and involved and busy, and you get home at night and it's getting, you know, past And you don't want to think about it.

Don 17:38

And and this is really nice because it's kind of a go-to meal. If you're a vegetarian, tofu cubes and some frozen vegetables, do microwave real fast, and then a a little quick sauce over rice, you know, uh you know, teriiyaki or even some maple syrup, that would be fantastic.

Car Cooler Strategy And On-The-Go Protein

John 17:58

That sounds yummy. Actually, I'm getting hungry. All right, goal for most folks protein at two to three meals a day, and one protein snack if you train. Now, the two H's, hydration and hunger. So when you're working out and when you get up in the morning, I want you to have one glass of water when you wake, and one at lunch, and one in the mid-afternoon. Do you know why?

Don 18:23

Yes, because what we want what you want to do now is you want to take a 10-minute pause and water first and then decide if you're actually hungry, you're tired, or you might just be bored. It's amazing how many times we're just bored while we're sitting at our computer working and we get up and we start pacing and we go and grab something to put in our mouths. That's real important because if you have that water, you kind of offset that. And even if you just have a bottle of water by your workstation, that'll help that boredom eating. And man, you can cut out a ton of calories by doing that.

John 19:00

You know, and and for two guys like you and I who drink a ton of coffee, and I'm gonna throw out Frank in Nebraska because he had mentioned to me when he wrote in that he drinks coffee all day long. Yep. And I'm sure there's many listeners that are the same way. Coffee, I know, is made of water, but it's a it's also dehydrating you. You always and you're like, gee, I I gotta have more coffee. You actually probably need to have more water.

Don 19:27

You always need to have more water, and we don't drink enough of it.

John 19:30

No, never do. So one glass, I like that when you wake up. It's also gonna help fill up some of your stomach, right? So you're not gonna go down there and have instead of two eggs with your toast and your fruit. Maybe you'll just you're you know, instead of three eggs, I mean you'll have just two eggs. So water, water, water, people.

Don 19:48

Yeah, I I have really started the last ten months. I typically have a glass of water in the morning when I first get up, and it has made a tremendous difference in how my day. Goes. Even before I have the coffee, the water tends to be a lot more of a wake-up call for my body than the caffeine ever was.

John 20:08

So I'm going to tell you what, I'm going to start doing that between now and the next episode. Okay? Because I get up, I wash my face, brush my teeth, and I go downstairs and drink my coffee. I'm skipping the water. I'm going to try it. See if it see if it makes a difference.

Don 20:24

Yeah, try the water to while your coffee's making. Yeah. Just go ahead and drink that glass of water and you'll be uh you'll be surprised. I may be uh very different than most people. My job keeps me in the car.

John 20:35

Hippopotamus. True.

The “Add A Zero” Protein Rule

Don 20:37

My job keeps me in the car quite a bit. So the car is kind of my cafeteria. And I'm gonna tell you how I've instituted this protein first on the road. I keep a cooler in my car. You know, you can buy some of those protein, those Greek yogurt cups. You can get the the plain, or they they have a lot of high protein uh those oinkos. Oh yeah. Those are really, really good. High protein, low calories. That's great for a quick snack. Again, that rotisserie pre-cooked chicken. I'll keep some of that in there. Ready to drink protein shakes.

John 21:18

I mean, those are great ideas when you're going on vacations, long drives.

Don 21:22

Absolutely. Yeah, like because what happens is you wind up getting gas, you run in, you grab a bag of chips, and you've kind of wrecked your day there. Skittles.

John 21:30

Yeah, so I mean, we can just go down the list.

Don 21:32

Yeah, well, absolutely. Boiled eggs are great because they keep really well, even in a car cooler. And then, you know, baby carrots or snap peas, you could keep an apple in there, rice cups for wraps. And some of the things I keep in the car constantly are like tuna and chicken pouches. And, you know, you go to a lot of these fast food restaurants and they have the pre-wrap forks and spoons. I grab a couple, keep them in the car in case I'm in a in a position where I need that. Jerky is, believe it or not, not a bad protein source. Beef jerky, chicken jerky. I'd like the chicken and turkey jerky because it tends to be a lot uh lower calorie dense than like the beef does. But you gotta watch it. You gotta watch the sodium because the sodium can be a little outraged.

John 22:26

Yeah, I got I got on a little the turkey jerky kick. They have these little turkey sticks, and I kind of got big on those because everything you see at the stores now, what does it say? Nine grams of protein. Yeah, everything's in bold letters, protein. Then you flip it over. Sodium content.

Grocery Store Over Fast Food

Don 22:43

Yeah, yeah. And and the the to decide whether a food is a good protein source or not, there's a really good rule of you take your total amount of protein in that product and you add a zero to the end. Oh, nice. That's easy. So if you take, let's say, a an item that says it's nine grams of protein and you add a zero, so that's ninety, the calories need to be at or below that for it to be a good protein source. So if you turn it over, your your protein grams is nine, so 90, and your your calories are 200. That's not a great protein source.

John 23:24

That's great information.

Don 23:26

Because that means that it's more sugars and more carb forward, even though they say protein.

John 23:34

Thank you. No, that's good. That's that's good stuff. I think everybody just flip that, add the zero.

Don 23:38

Yep, add the zero. And it makes a huge difference because that really helps you decide. Like a lot of these protein bars, and I say that in inverted commas, right, they're not good sources of protein because they're typically, you know, anywhere from 10 to 12 grams of protein, but you flip them over, they're 240, 280 calories. That's not a good source of protein. That's a great source of carbs, right? But it's not a good source of protein. Back to it. If I can't decide what I'm gonna have for lunch or for dinner, I think protein, veg side, and one carb. And those going back to that two, two, one.

Tip Of The Week And Simple Breakfasts

John 24:20

So another thing is the gas station, where do you stop, right? You talk about jerky, yogurts, fruit, water, dessert coffee only sometimes. Yep. Right? Well, I found myself when you know, we're all a lot of people work and they go to work and they forget to pack their lunch. I didn't pack my rotisserie chicken and my fruit. Yep. So I'm like, oh, I'll just run out and get something. Again, people just run out to the grocery store instead of running into the fast food place. That's a great tip. Just go. They have salad bars there at their delis.

Don 24:53

Yeah, they do. They have a salad. You could also a lot of them also have the pre-cut rotisserie chicken. You could grab that, or even going just going back into the the the dairy section, grabbing a cup of yogurt, grabbing a packet of luncheon meat, you know.

John 25:11

And you think about it, right? You just need something that's gonna carry you over another four hours till you get off, and you're gonna go home. Actually, you're gonna go to the gym first if you haven't already done that. That's right. And then you're gonna go home. But it's easy. I I don't know why people don't do that enough. If you don't pack your lunch, don't have Donovan's cooler in your car, that's something we can market. Donovan's cooler.

Don 25:34

Oh, yeah, and and car cooler. And we could like have a subscription service and we send out the monthly things.

John 25:41

If anybody out there knows how to and you know like design or develop a cooler, we'll slap our names on it and we'll give you 10%.

Don 25:51

Man, you're being generous tonight.

John 25:55

We'll see you on the next episode of Shark Tank. Yeah. Gym Shark. And they're hippopotamus.

Don 26:03

Tip of the week. The one-minute protein start. John, what is your tip of the week?

Two-Week Challenge And What’s Next

John 26:08

Pick one breakfast you can make in one minute and repeat it four to five times this week. Such as give me some examples there, buddy. I will. Greek yogurt and some fruit or a protein shake plus a banana or Donovan's favorite, two eggs, that skinny toast that he talked about, and in two minutes, you're on the road. Yeah.

Don 26:30

No, that that's that's great. And then it's no thinking. You know, if you're doing hard-boiled eggs, you could like pre-cook those for the week. And your protein shake, you mean you can have those pre-mixed. I mean, a lot of us, we're running out the door, and and it's it's a sprint to the office or sprint to wherever we're going, our first appointment. And having these already predetermined, pre-decided meals, man, that makes it a lot easier. And it also keeps you out of the Starbucks, the McDonald's. Oh, we're saving you money, people.

John 27:01

We're saving your waistline and your pocketbook.

Don 27:04

One thing that I found if if you're putting your protein forward on your breakfast, it makes the whole day go a lot easier. So this challenge is really simple and doable, John. Thank you.

John 27:18

Well, I thank you for adding the zero. That was a big tip.

Don 27:21

Well, the grocery store is a good tip, too.

John 27:23

I mean, I wasn't ready for that today, today's episode. I'm sitting here going, I it you couldn't see me over here because I'm in a different room because we, you know, we have this big studio. Yep. But I was just like, wow. Donovan's smart.

Don 27:37

No, I have my moments. I I read. I read.

John 27:40

Well, that's not overrated like I used to think.

Don 27:44

So let's go back to your challenge, John. Two steps. Build one protein forward, two two one plate per day for four to five days this week. I'm gonna suggest go ahead, pack or buy a protein shake, protein snack for the car each day, whether it's a tuna pouch, yogurt, ready-to-drink, protein shake, jerky, your call. We're gonna pick up our second party nutrition on episode six when we talk about doing doing the tracking. You've got you've built these habits. We're gonna give you two weeks to work on these habits, and now we're gonna start talking about numbers without obsession. We'll revisit the nutrition. We're gonna talk TEE. Do you know what TEE stands for?

John 28:30

T, like I'm am I golfing? I'm teeing up.

Don 28:32

No, no, that's that's a great, great idea, but it actually talks about total energy expenditure and how to figure out what yours is. We're gonna talk about healthy deficits, how to make sure that you're losing weight from week to week. And then I'm gonna talk about how I use an app and the scale. I I use I weigh every day, but I don't let that scale ruin or lead my life.

John 29:02

All right. Plus, we're gonna use Don's rule one cheat day is fine, three is a problem. Yes, and the fast reset so you don't start the I'll fix it on Monday spiral. Because you're real everybody's listening to our episodes on Friday.

Don 29:18

That's right.

John 29:19

I wonder if they're picking up on Friday going, I'm gonna drink that one glass of water tomorrow, and I'm gonna do the 7-7 workout on Saturday. Are you people just skipping, listening to us on Friday, going out and having pizza, and say, I'm gonna start on Monday, what those guys talked about on Friday.

Don 29:36

Yeah, it and the best time to start is now.

John 29:40

Yes.

Don 29:40

It's like the old saying the best time to plant a fruit tree was 30 years ago, the second best time is today.

John 29:49

They say that? That's the first time I ever heard that.

Don 29:51

Well, you don't get out much. I I gotta spend more time listening to you. Yeah, you you should. You absolutely should. So, because you know why, John? Because every rep counts, and so does every step you take toward a better you.

John 30:04

And yes, wipe your bench, even if your bench is a driver's seat. Well, maybe that wasn't supposed to be said.

Don 30:15

One of the things to keep in mind is you know, keep those wipes when you're handy, those paper towels, because when you're driving and or you're eating in your car, you can have that nut packet of butter explode.

John 30:37

I just had all kinds of things go to my like nut packet. Yeah, your nut packet exploded. Yeah, that's great. Okay.

Don 30:46

Oh, this might be our first explosive episode.

John 30:51

Plays you actually what? Whoa, those are just words. Those are just words.