[Transcript] – How Two Middle-Aged Entrepreneurial Parents Completely Transformed & Biohacked Their Health, Fitness, Sex Life & More: The Jim & Jamie Sheils Podcast.

Affiliate Disclosure

Transcripts

From podcast: https://bengreenfieldlife.com/podcast/jim-and-jamie-sheils-podcast/

[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:00:42] Podcast Sponsors

[00:03:47] Guest Introduction

[00:07:12] What put Ben on the Boundless path?

[00:17:36] How Ben started to break into the industry

[00:20:16] Homeschooling and creative freedom

[00:25:48] Don't give in to the “Dad bod,” staying young as parents

[00:29:56] Podcast Sponsors

[00:35:45] cont. Staying Young as Parents

[00:37:39] Sex drive and older couples

[00:41:36] Stem cells, medical testing, and preventative measures

[00:47:02] Ben's supplements

[00:49:48] Ben's parenting book (Boundless Parenting)

[00:53:52] What would be the 75-year-old ben's advice to people today?

[00:56:50] Closing the Podcast

[00:57:58] End of Podcast

Ben:  My name is Ben Greenfield. And, on this episode of the Ben Greenfield Life podcast.

Jim:  So, I was going to the gym less and I got more results. And, yeah, people were going, “Man, you're a beast now. What happened to you?” Again, this is work smarter or harder. That's why I really appreciate what you've done, you've really researched, you simplify the sciences and you said, “Jim, this is what you have to do and why.”

Ben:  Faith, family, fitness, health, performance, nutrition, longevity, ancestral living, biohacking and a whole lot more. Welcome to the show.

Alright. So, if you value your health and you want some cool tools to help you avoid serious problems later on in life, then you should check out DNA testing. There's a company called The DNA Company. They take your genes, they scan it using 4.7 trillion data points. They then generate a report that tells you exactly what health risks you have based on your unique genes but it doesn't stop there. The DNA Company test then tells you what your health risks are, how to lower your risk, and what diet is right for your genes, what supplements to take, if you need to change environments to avoid toxins so you can find out all sorts of things. Whether you have a risk of arterial inflammation, if you should be taking a methylation supplement, if you have suboptimal fat metabolizing, which would mean you would avoid a keto diet. Some people actually do need to do that.

So, this report covers recommendations for reducing your risk for over 100 different health conditions; breast cancer, Lyme, Alzheimer's, seizures, dementia, dozens more. And, if you value your health and you want all the tools you need to take care of your health for life, then you can get this DNA test. And, I'm going to give you 50% discount. Go to TheDNACompany.com/Ben. And, this code is going to expire. I don't recall how long they're giving it to us, but it is a temporary code. So, I would get on it today. TheDNACompany.com/Ben to get your kit today, TheDNACompany.com/Ben. That's not manufactured scarcity. They told me they did have a limited number of codes. So, you snooze, you lose. Enjoy it though if you can get it. TheDNACompany.com/Ben.

Alright, so this is pretty cool. Free bacon. That's right, free bacon. Bacon goes well with everything; asparagus, brussels sprouts, eggs. My wife makes bacon-wrapped dates. You could wrap anything in bacon and it tastes pretty decent actually. You could probably even take my least favorite foods like I don't know, broccoli, and wrap it in bacon. You can even put bacon in ice cream. I've been to ice cream shops that actually do that, like a savory sweet bacon recipes.

Anyways, what I'm getting at is that bacon is amazing and I want to give you free bacon, gift you free bacon. This company that I ordered meat through, it's called ButcherBox, they got 100% grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, wild-caught seafood, a whole lot more. Well now, they're just generously tossed in a pack of bacon for free in every box. Not just bacon but bacon from pastured pigs that actually taste drippingly, mouthwateringly, if I can throw any other adverbs in there, absolutely amazing. It's 20 bucks off already with the code I'm going to give you for your first five months of membership, but now they're adding free bacon for life and up to $100 off. Free shipping in the continental U.S. No added antibiotics or hormones. You can customize the boxes how you want based on whether you're surf person or a turf person or a surf and turf person. All their sourcing is holistic to keep the farm or the planet, the animal and your family in mind. And, you get in at ButcherBox.com/Ben. That's ButcherBox.com/Ben. Enjoy that free bacon.

Well, folks, I have a couple of dear friends who I've been helping with their fitness, their health, their longevity, their nutrition. They are the father and mother of many children. Too many to count. I've lost track. I think six. And, they run a company called 18 Summers based on the idea that we all have 18 summers to have with our children, and we might as well make the most out of those summers. And, you can learn more about them in the links that I'll put in the shownotes, which are going to be at BenGreenfieldLife.com/18Summers. Number 1, the number 8 summers. Their names are Jim and Jamie Sheils. And, gosh, we've just been biohacking them and upgrading them and working on all these different tactics to improve them for so long that we figured, “Hey, let's hop on the horn and talk about how a successful entrepreneurial father and mother of multiple children can stay fit and sexy for life.” And, that's exactly what we talked about in today's show. So, again, all the shownotes are going to be at BenGreenfieldLife.com/18Summers. Enjoy.

Jamie:  Alright, 18 Summers tribe, we're here today with Ben Greenfield. Now, so often we're told that family is boring, unattractive, you have to grow old together, you never get to have hot sex again, you have to drink wine to tolerate your children. And, there's so many stigmas that go along with growing old together. And, at 18 Summers, Jim and I are really passionate about doing things differently. And, two years ago, we started training with Ben here who has completely turned us into sexy beasts and we're so grateful.

Jim:  That's right. Now you only need two glasses of wine to tolerate the children. And, eventually, get you down to one, then just a shot of vodka then you'll be good to go.

Jamie:  Yeah. I don't even drink anymore. It's been about eight months since I've had a glass of wine.

Ben:  Oh, my gosh. I didn't even tell you guys this, yeah, because it's been a little while since we last chatted, but I used to have a glass-like nice organic biodynamic wine every night. And, even that, I'm down to about two nights a week because there's this new alcohol alternative that just came out a few months ago. It's basically these ketones that they package up in cans is like a gin and tonic or Moscow mule. And, they taste just like the real thing. But, rather than using alcohol or ethanol specifically, they use ketones. So, it shifts your body into this rapid stay where it crushes appetite, cravings, and put you into ketosis and then gives you the same socially lubricating effects of alcohol without drinking. I'm going to interview them on my podcast soon because I've been just putting those over some ice with a squeeze of lime or some electrolytes that night and I get the same feeling as I would have had a glass of wine but it's just ketones.

Jim:  I love it. See Ben, this is why I love our conversations. And, we're going to talk about some of our results in a minute that we've gotten. You are such a research theme that I'm like, “Well, let me check with Ben on something.” And then, you always add something that gives a little bit of course correction. And, like Jamie said, naturally we were never big drinkers, but honestly —

Jamie:  As we feel better, we drink less.

Jim:  As we feel better, we're drinking even less red wine just to enjoy a glass, but that's just one of the success results we've had, and Jamie was already listing some of the other phenomenal ones but I really want to know. You and I have known each other for over a decade. We've had a lot of time together at different events, family time, I want to know because one reason is selfish. You don't even know this, but our 16-year-old is very, very enthused about what you do and how you do it in fitness and peak performance.

Jamie:  Fitness and training

Ben:  Yeah.

Jim:  What put you on the path, Ben, because I don't think we ever really talked about the way back when Ben of what got you on this path of Boundless?

Ben:  Yeah. Well, I mean, I wasn't that interested in fitness or sports or the human body or anything like that. I think you guys know I was homeschooled K through 12. And, not that all homeschoolers are like this, but I was a stereotypical geek. I was president of the chess club and I played violin since I was like 4 years old. And, I spend most of my time with my nose in a fantasy fiction book or I go to the symphony on the weekends like that was my concert was like I listen to orchestra. And, I was pretty geeked out. And, I was also super into computers and computer programming. My parents and I was really young, hired me a private tutor for computer programming and I could take apart all my computers and put them back together and program video games. And, I kind of have just internship and practicum worked up with a former Microsoft programmer. And, I was just going to move in with him when I was 15, 16 and start down the road of being a nerdy little computer programmer. No offense to computer programmers, but a nice little neckbeard my mom's basement or something like that and maybe played Dungeon and Dragons on the weekend.

And then, what happened was my parents, they wanted to make our house a really fun place to be, which I think is super smart. That's one thing I learn from my parents is like make your home so fun that your kids just want to hang out and bring their friends over and keep coming back year after year for family reunions and holidays because it's like your home just like the fun pad. And, that was my parents' goal. 

So, they built a swimming pool with a slide and they built a basketball court and a skeet shooting course with shotguns and ping pong table, all sorts of stuff. But then they built a tennis court and they had me and my friends have a tennis instructor who they brought up and teach us tennis a few times a week. And, well, first of all, she was pretty hot, so I had a crush on the tennis instructor. And, yeah, so that made me want to get good at the sport. Her name was Michelle. I remember her. And then, also I was good at it. It seemed I was just naturally just a little bit better than the other kids in the class. And, up until that point, I dabbled in soccer and basketball and T-ball and baseball. My parents were just kind of throw the noodles against the wall and see what sticks in terms of interest. But, man, tennis, I was on fire for tennis and I started playing. I mean, literally two to three hours every afternoon I finished school and just go out to the tennis courts, call my friends, find out who wanted to play tennis. 

As a result of that and wanted to get really good at tennis, I started also looking into fitness like, “Oh, gosh, I could do hill sprints back behind the house.” And, I remember I had my dad bring me down to Gart Sports a few miles down the road and bought me some 10-pound dumbbells. And, I had no clue what to do with them, but I'd lay on the edge of the bed. That was my first exercise ever. Laid on my stomach on the bed and did preacher curls off the bed because it seemed like I should get my arm strong for tennis. So, I was just making stuff up as I went. I saw an ad scene on TV ab trainer device and then I got that too because I knew the core was important for tennis. 

And so, I was basically doing some DIY weightlifting and running a little bit and started to pay attention to what I was eating too. I didn't know jack squat about nutrition, but I was like, “Oh, geez, protein supposed to be good so I'm going to start having eggs for breakfast instead of sugary cereal. And, gosh, I should probably have some broccoli with dinner even though I hate it.” Just super simple stuff.

And, gosh, I got so into just nutrition and fitness and physical culture, and I wound up meeting a couple of mentors. One guy who is the Washington state powerlifting champ, and then my little brother's best friend's dad was a bodybuilder. I started hanging out with these guys. They taught me a ton about how to load up barbells, and Olympic training, and weightlifting, and nutrition and supplementation. And, by the time I was 16 years old, I was like, “Yeah, I actually want to study this stuff at a university level.” I want to go study kinesiology and exercise science and sports and personal training.

So, at 16 years old, I actually walked on to the local university tennis team and started playing tennis and studying, and then like whole new world. So, my dad, he was a paramedic and he'd bring me around to the emergency medical conferences and I go and visit him at the office and his EMTs would chase me around trying to stick me with IVs. And, I learned all sorts of medical terminology. My first job when I was 13 years old was filing medical insurance claims. I wake up at 4:00 a.m. and just file medical insurance claims for two hours because my mom put me in this Mavis Beacon typewriter competition. I got really, really fast at typing. And, by the time I was 13, I was faster than any other secretaries at the medical office so they had me filing all these medical insurance claims.

And so, when I was in college, I was real familiar with a lot of medical stuff. And, I didn't realize this going into college but shortly after I was in, I realized, “Oh, geez, you don't just study sports and exercise when you're wanting to study sports science and exercise science, it's anatomy and physiology and microbiology and biochemistry and organic chemistry and physics. And, I'd never been that interested in science or math up till that point. But, now that I had a purpose behind it, and I was like, “Oh, gosh, if I know the moment arm and can digitize the joints on a bench press, I can figure out the force loads like a dumbbell bench press versus barbell bench press, that would just super geeked out on this stuff.” So, I was still very intellectually driven probably as a result of being home-schooled.

And so, I decide I want to be a doctor. I thought, “Well, gosh, what's pointy, pointy edge of all this stuff I'm doing? It'd be like orthopedic surgery or sports medicine.” And so, I took the medical route, I took the MCAT, I got accepted to six different medical schools. And, since I started college and I was 16, actually I was about not quite 16, 15.5, I —

Jim:  You were 15.5 when you started college?

Ben:   Yeah, yeah.

Jim:  Wow, okay.

Ben:  And so, at 19.5 years old, I had passed the MCAT. I was interviewing at medical schools and I was accepted to a bunch but there was two programs I wanted to get into, the UPenn and Harvard MD Ph.D. programs. I think I accepted into those. And, it's kind of an uphill battle. I've realized this isn't super peasy to say, but as a young White male, it was a little bit more of an uphill battle getting into medical school or at least a high, high-end medical program like that. 

So, I thought, well gosh, you know what, I want to go work in the private sector and make myself even more palatable to these two institutions that I really want to get into. So, I got offered a job in hip and knee surgical sales from a company called Biomet, and I thought, “Great, I'll go shadow physicians work in hospitals, pick up all the lingo, get a few doctors to write reference letters for me. And then, move on and go into sports medicine and orthopedic surgery at one of these programs that I really wanted to get into.” And, I got that job. I just got married but I moved an hour and a half away from my wife and slept on my older brother's floor of his trailer working at this medical facility. And, oh, my gosh, I hated every minute of it. I hated the hospital. All the doctors were grumpy and seemed to hate their jobs. All of them told me I'd be dumb to go to medical school because they spend half their time just filing insurance claims and dealing with lawsuits and grumpy patients and they were installing overpriced $40, $60,000 hips and knees, and the people who probably would have benefited more from being told to exercise and eat healthy. And, just the whole thing with the nasty taste in my mouth. I quit that job after about six months.

I walked into the gym across the street from the place where I was staying, and I slapped my resume down on the counter. At that point, I mean, I was pre-med, I had a personal training certification, I worked as a personal trainer and nutritionist all through college. I was a certified strength conditioning coach. I had hundreds of hours spent with the football team and the basketball team and the tennis team at University of Idaho. I was kind of like a dream higher for any gym. So, I got the job right away and started managing the Liberty Lake Athletic Club. And, I was a spin instructor, the personal trainer wound up actually being pretty successful. This is a pretty wealthy part of town. 

And, within about a year, I was pulling in six-plus figures as a personal trainer and managing this Athletic Club. Then, I met a doctor whose wife was working with me as one of my clients as a personal trainer. And, this doctor, Dr. P.Z. Pearce, he was a doctor for Ironman and the doctor for Rock ‘n' Roll Marathon. And, I was in the Ironman triathlon at the time and he shared with me his dream of creating a one-stop shop for sports medicine where you go to this place, you have your high-speed video cameras for gait analysis and your blood and biomarker testing tools and calorimetry tools for determining metabolic rate, chiropractor and physical therapist, and massage therapist, and a sports medicine doc, personal trainer, nutrition programming. And, he asked me if I wanted to go in on it with them, and so I did. And, he and I launched that. It was called Champion Sports Medicine done by Gonzaga University in Spokane. And, I was the director of sports performance there for about four years. And, all I did was just train athletes, video record people, do blood and biomarker testing, do nutritional analysis. And, I was pretty much just the most geeked-out personal trainer in town. I was still super intellectual and really into all the cutting-edge stuff like the early day biohacks and we were doing platelet-rich plasma injections into joints and all sorts of cutting-edge stuff and it was great work when the doctor too because I learned a ton.

Then, what wound up happening because we worked so closely with the local medical community and they would refer a lot of patients to us for training with several of the docs in the local medical community in Spokane, they nominated me as America's top personal trainer through the National Strength Conditioning Association, and I received the award. So, I flew down to Vegas and was part of this big gala and event. So, they gave me this award. And then, all of a sudden, people started asking me to speak and write books and do a lot of public-facing stuff that went way above and beyond just the time of the gym that I've been spending. And so, at that point, I kind of got thrusted into the limelight, started getting featured in magazines and I was writing for Men's Health and the Women's Health and all these fitness magazines, triathlon magazines, and started writing books. I started a podcast back when it was about 15 years ago now. There was maybe 50 podcast max when I started a podcast. This is back when you had to cojo and RSS feed. And, it was just me sitting there with my gym t-shirt on telling people about research studies and exercise science. And then, eventually, I started to interview people, continue to write books, continue to write online programs.

And, when my wife became pregnant with twin boys 14 years ago, that was when the light bulb went off for me and I was like, “Dude, I can't do all this.” Because I was on a plane two or three times a week speaking at conferences, I was racing professionally in triathlon. I was running two different gyms because I opened up another gym in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I was working, gosh, 16-hour days, a lot of days. And, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to be a family man and keep that up. 

So, I sold all my gyms, moved all my clients on to other trainers, got out of the fitness industry in terms of the brick and mortar aspects of it, and began doing a lot more of what I do now; writing books, doing a podcast, working with some people online but working out of a home office instead of a gym, having a lot more time to spend at home because we homeschool our sons. And so, yeah, I'm still in the fitness and nutrition and health industry, but now, a lot more media, a lot more investing, a lot more like online consulting and advising which I know as you guys know I've done with you guys. That's kind of where the journey has brought me so far.

Jim:  That's incredible.

Jamie:  It's so interesting. And, something that you said really spoke to me and it all ties back to home schooling. And, you studied what was relevant to you. So, you got super passionate. Like you said, you were nerdy because it fed the next thing you wanted to do. You were genuinely curious about it. And, so much of traditional school doesn't fan that fire, it really extinguishes it. So, I love —

Ben: Oh yeah, yeah. I mean, that's the beauty of homeschooling or unschooling is experiential-based education, this idea that rather than being forced to learn at the same pace as the rest of the classroom with the same subjects that the state or the federal government has determined you should study, you're instead free to pursue your own passions and interests and desires preferably in the creative free play and experiential environment. 

And, yeah, there's certainly something to ensuring that any child's education they receive robust exposure to some of the things that I think are necessary for success in life namely math, logic, rhetoric, reading, and writing. Those are the big five. But, gosh, as long as my kids have checked those boxes, like sure, Washington state, where we live, requires demonstration of proficiency in 12 key areas; social studies, science, reading, math, et cetera. And, we keep records. If my kids study up on Japanese cuisine and make an amazing meal in the kitchen for mom and I. That counts as chemistry, that counts as math. It counts as social studies. It counts as language. So, we're pretty creative with jumping through the hoops, but ultimately, it's a great way for kids to grow up. It's a great way for kids to learn. And, I'm super grateful to my parents for deciding to not take the standard education, even though there were many times growing up where I was super embarrassed about being homeschooled. I was the odd man out, and I felt like, “Gosh, I don't know how to talk to girls as good as some of these other guys.” And, I'm not down in the classroom playing the politics game because I lived in Idaho so I could still play for the public school sports teams. And, I'd show up to play sports and I felt that was like the misfit. 

And so, yeah, there were times where I was like, “Gosh, I wish I could just go to regular school and be a regular kid.” But then, the outcome of being able to be a little bit more of an independent, creative, free thinker, I think, served me well and serves a lot of kids well versus just being raised to be a sheeple so to speak.

Jim:  Yeah.

Jamie:  Absolutely.

Jim:  I know our boys had that where they at first and now they're grateful. And, they're still 16 and 18, so their gratitude has come early. And, they also see the sensibility where I think there was something that I know Jamie and I talked about obviously all three of us on the phone are very alternative in our approach with our own education and our kids, but something I think you hit on there, Ben, as you said, experiential, the old Ben Franklin method of being an intern for lack of a better term. His whole thing for Ben Franklin was to get into it and see if you liked it. And, you went into the doctorhood and I mean, went into the doctor community, actually into the trench and you're like, “God, this is miserable.” So many people will not do that one thing and they'll just go through the whole doctor quest after 12 years and then they'll try and go, “God, this sucks. I had my best friend almost became a lawyer. And, before he went to law school, he interned for a summer. It's so funny, the story you just said all the doctors, what they said to you is what the lawyer said to him like, “Are you kidding? You want to go into corporate law. This is awful. Don't do it.” And now, he's building skyscrapers in New York City and he was always a Bob the Builder type. So, two different worlds.

Ben:  Yeah, it's a really good point. And, I mean, I realized that this flies in the face of the great American dream who you want to be, carve your own path. But traditionally, a kid would go hang out with their dad or mom, at their dad or mom's career like the child of the blacksmith, the son of the blacksmiths would go hang out with his dad and learn how to be a really good blacksmith and the family's generational legacy, was a legacy of black smithers or artists, or horseshoers, or whatever the case may be. And, yeah, now we live in an era where it is a little bit easier to be who you want to be and carve your own path. But, I don't think that we should leave behind the value of a child having early career exposure, especially early career exposure to what their parent is doing. My wife Jessa, she's an amazing artist. And, I'm an author and a podcaster. And, what are three things that my kids do? Well, my wife is an amazing cook too, by the way, so my kids have a cooking podcast.

Jamie:  Oh, fun.

Ben:  They write books and graphic novels. They're amazing artists and they spend half their time just doing what they see mom and dad do, which brings us together as a family. And, I'm not embarrassed that my kids might go down the same path as I do and probably be a lot better at doing what I do because they learn so much from me and my mistakes. I think that passing on generational careers has a lot of value, and it offers a great way for kids to hang out with their parents.

Jim:  Yeah, apprenticeship model. That was —

Jamie:  Oh, apprenticeship.

Jim:  Apprenticeship model. That's what —

Ben:  Yeah.

Jamie:  Yeah. And, what I love too and that's what we've seen in our own life with our own children is you reference that you reached something you were interested and passionate about sooner than most do. You graduated early, you were taking the MCAT sooner than anybody else in your class certainly. And, we've seen that with our own home-schooled children and our kids are just like you're saying, whatever they're passionate about, they go out and do it. So, one of our boys might be fishing five hours out of the day instead of learning history. He learns history, but it doesn't take him five hours every day. And so, like you're saying, it was just really cool to see. Now at 18, he's accomplished something that most people don't get to accomplish until they're much older just as yourself. And so, just another plug for homeschooling. As you say, doing life is homeschooling.

Jim:  Yeah. [00:25:43] _____ of life for sure.

Ben:  Yeah, yeah. Education should first and foremost be life.

Jim:  Yeah. I want to talk, Ben. I want to make sure I know we could talk for four hours on alternative education, and we have before. I want to give some credit and results, and because I think it's important for your people to hear, other people to hear. I really don't think the dad bod or the old dad is something people aspire to I think it's something they give up to.

Jamie:  Oh, yeah. I remember dad bod was in style.

Jim:  Dad bod was in style.

Jamie:  Mom bod was never in style.

Jim:  Never in style. Yeah. Either one, it wasn't optimal —

Jamie:  It wasn't healthy.

Ben:  But, it fit in because it was a trend to be culturally acceptable to be unfit, it's just the way things are, you see. You become a dad or a mom and you're supposed to be unfit. And, really that's not the case.

Jim:  [00:26:28] _____ grandkids. It made no sense to me. And, that was a big motivation for me. Like I've told you, I want to surf with my kids and my grandkids beyond my ears. I'm 48 now, I have one kidney because I donated one to my dad. Our youngest who we just adopted is only four months old. So, I had to do some real awareness. I had to be very intentional. And so, when you and I, we've known each other for years, it started working two years ago. I mean, that's what happened. And, I think there's a cool story I haven't even told you yet, but a year into our training, we went down to do service work in Guatemala. Our friends run an orphanage down there and we went down to do that, and we got invited to play in a charity soccer game with a bunch of 17-year-old Guatemalan athletes.

Ben:  Oh, geez.

Jim:  And, I hadn't played soccer in years but I played football and lacrosse. Soccer was not my sport since little kid, but I loved it and my two boys were there. They were about a little older than your boys at the time. And, I was a beast. I was sprinting around like a kid, loving it from —

Jamie:  I was like, “Who is this man?”

Jim:  From side to side like corner to corner, and it was a glimpse. I'm sorry, there was a boost of the enjoyment and excitement and pride because my sons and my daughter saw this glimpse of this competitive athlete I used to be back in college that I thought was long gone. And, I was like, “I got to tell Ben this story someday” because there's things that we did with rebuilding my knees, balancing my hormones, fine-tuning my diet, And, out of that came a way more bountiful sex life with Jamie and I. So, I just want to make sure I told you that story because I know that would make you feel good. And, it's —

Ben:  Oh, it absolutely does. And, it rings true. I mean, we play family tennis a couple of times a week and I just love it. A couple days ago, I reached up and slapped down a backhand overhead and my son who is on my team, my other son was a mom's team, he's like, “Dad, that was so cool.” And, it's awesome to still be able to inspire your kids athletically. I'm 40. It's not like I'm a super old dog, but I really think that we settle for a lot less than we should when it comes to the way that the body should look, feel and perform as we age. And, I imagine you could probably share about some of the stuff I had you doing, Jim, but it's not like you were spending three hours a day at the gym.

Jim:  No, no. In fact, that's one of the things —

Ben:  You were doing super slow training and yeah, you can go ahead.

Jim:  No. I mean, to point that out, people like, “Oh, yeah, sure. Well, you must have taken half a year to do that.” No —

Jamie:  Or people say all the time, “Oh, it must be nice to be able to work out all the time.” I'm like, “I don't work out all the time.”

Jim:  The first year, Ben, I rebuilt back to what you said I did super slow sets for which were about half hour three times a week. So, I was going to the gym less and I got more results. And, yeah, people were going, “Man, you're a beast now, what happened to you?” Again, this is work smarter or harder. There's effectiveness. And, that's why I really appreciate what you've done. You've really researched, you simplify the sciences, and you said, “Jim, this is what you have to do and why.” And, you said, “Jim, this is the stem cells for your knees and this is why. And put PRP and this is why. Here's why you have to start doing the Kion Flex. This is going to help the joints.” And, it did. “Here's for sex life. Hey, let's make sure that your testosterone is good. No, it's not. Okay, here's the treatments for testosterone and make sure we're staying balanced.” I mean, all these things work together and you made it all very easy to follow.

Ben:  Well, you might often hear that the average adult should get seven to nine hours of sleep every night. That's not always possible obviously. More and more people are forced to make lifestyle decisions to get more deep sleep. And, research has shown that quality matters just as much as quantity. Even if you can't stay in bed as long the quality of that sleep really truly matters. 

Now, deep sleep, the first half of the night is that deep sleep window. That's when things start to drop; your heart rate, your breath, your blood pressure, your muscle activity, your body temperature. Since that temp drop is such a crucial aspect of the deep sleep stage, finding ways to activate that sleep switch can help to increase your levels of deep sleep. And, that's where this stuff called ChiliSleep comes in. So, ChiliSleep makes customizable climate-controlled sleep solutions that help you improve your entire well-being. It's hydro-powered, temperature-controlled mattress toppers that fit over your existing mattress to give you your ideal sleep temperature. I love this especially if I had a big meal the night before I go to sleep because it just dumps my body temperature way down. I don't wake up with the meat sweats or anything. But, when I travel, I really, really miss. I get pissed when I travel and I don't have my whole bed with me because this ChiliSleep stuff just keeps me in action, gives me amazing deep sleep percentages. These luxury mattress pads keep your bed at the perfect temperature for deep sleep and you can adjust it for hot too whether you sleep hot or cold, they work, they help you fall asleep, they help you stay asleep, maybe the confidence and the energy to power through your day. Just imagine waking up and not feeling tired. ChiliSleep can help make that happen.

You get up to 30% off the purchase of any of their new sleep systems at ChiliSleep.com/BenGreenfield. That's available exclusively for my listeners, C-H-I-L-I-Sleep.com/BenGreenfield.

I'm honestly shocked. Every time I see a bodybuilder or fitness influencer or anyone really promoting branched-chain amino acids, also known as BCAAs. You see these things all over the place. I just don't get it. They only have three of the nine essential amino acids your body needs. They can cause issues like messing with your serotonin levels and depleting your B vitamins, they affect your blood sugar deleteriously, and a whole lot more. But, the dark and dirty secret in the supplements industry is that you can make a lot of money off of the overpriced flavored water that is essentially BCAAs. So, I use the word essentially I suppose quite fittingly because the alternative are essential amino acids. Essential amino acids actually have all the amino acids your body actually need, they are great for energy, great for preserving muscle, great for fasting and keeping the appetite satiated, great for nourishing the body for sleep, good for cognitive performance. They're like the Swiss army knife of supplements these essential amino acids. I'm blown away by the number of people who've heard me talk about essential amino acids on the podcast who've started using them and who literally feel like they're on steroids without actually being on steroids.

Kion is the company that has the perfect ratios, perfectly primed for recovery, for muscle maintenance, for muscle building. Kion Aminos are better than not only every branch chain amino acid supplement out there but because they're essential amino acids in my opinion based on the ratios, the flavor; watermelon, mango, berry, lime, so good better than any aminos out there, period. And, I'm going to give you a 20% discount for the Kion Aminos. Go to getKION.com/BenGreenfield. That's getK-I-O-N.com/BenGreenfield, and that'll give you a special discount on your first-time purchase of Kion Aminos.

Look, I realize that sometimes you wake up in the morning and hear all this stuff, all the biohacking and the workouts, and the BFR bands and the super slow training and this smoothie and that smoothie and keto diet and Mediterranean diet. And, it's a real head-scratcher to actually know which one you're supposed to do, what's right for you, what kind of test you're supposed to get to figure out which one is right for you, how you're supposed to track your blood and your urine and your stool and your hormones and your heart rate variability and your sleep. It would be nice if you could just wake up in the morning and at one glance look at your phone or look at your computer or look at your printed-out sheet and know exactly what you were supposed to do, alright, which biohacks to use, which supplements to take, what diet to follow, what meals to include throughout your day, how to workout, how to not workout, what recovery protocols going to be best for you and your body type. 

That is exactly what I train people, coaches, personal trainers, physicians, chiropractic docs, nutritionists, registered dietitians to do with you. We have a kick butt coaching team at BenGreenfieldCoaching.com. A lot of people want to work with me. I realize I'm not available all the time, and admittedly I also realize that I'm a spendy coach. I work with highfalutin high-level VIP executives and they pay a lot of money for me to work with them. But, I've also trained a whole team of coaches who work under me who have office hours with me, who are totally accessible. We have different levels for everybody. We have VIP coaching programs where you wake up and everything's done for you, training, nutrition, we track your HRV, we track your sleep, you got unlimited Q&A to your coach, all the way down to just unlimited Q&A, all the way down to writing training and nutrition plans for you and then letting you run with them. The sky is the limit in terms of the options of BenGreenfieldCoaching.com. But, I can tell you one thing, no matter what your goals are, we've got somebody who can help you with them and decode and take all the confusion and the frustration out of having a good health span, having a good lifespan, looking good, feeling good, performing well.

So, check it out, BenGreenfieldCoaching.com and you'll be able to find a coach who can work with you. If you can't find the right coach you want, you can't find the right solution you want, meet a coach, anything like that and you're having trouble finding the right place to go, just fill out the contact form over there. Somebody will help you within about 24 hours. So, BengGeenfieldCoaching.com.

Yeah, that's the trick. Even everything you just described, it sounds complex. And, for you, we had a look at your blood, we had to do a micronutrient analysis, we had to do a salivary and urine hormone analysis. We looked at the gut. We looked at the food allergy panel. And then, from there, you customize the nutrition, you customize the supplementation, you customize the exercise scenario based on joint limitations and a lot of the stuff that tends to hold you back with age but that you can work around. And, it just takes a very systematic approach. So, yeah, you were doing the super slow training, but I didn't want to neglect your fast twitch muscles so you were doing some explosive finishers at the end of each set of the super slow. Actually, that's exactly I was training this morning. I love being able to get in and out of the gym in 15, 20 minutes for the strength training. You were doing some mitochondrial work, some lactic acid work, some VO2 Max work, some slow fat burning work. 

But, when I sit down and look at somebody's body, I realize we're unique special sacred souls that go far beyond just flesh and blood. But, I do look at the body as a little bit of a machine when it comes to okay, which parts of the engine do we actually want to address, which part of the engine seems to be failing, what needs to be filled up here in the gas here in the oil, etcetera. And, it just takes testing. And, once you get all the test results in, that's just a matter of fixing things one by one by one. And, I mean, you know what it feels like, Jim. You just described. Once you get all that done, it's way different than just reading Men's Health magazine and eating lean chicken breast and doing bicep curls. Because as you as you know, we're also focused on infrared and sunlight exposure, grounding, earthing, the style of water you were drinking, the mineral intake, the heat, the cold. There's so many variables that go way beyond just like eat healthy and move.

Jim:  Yeah.

Jamie:  Absolutely.

And, one thing I wanted to share with you, Ben, because I know most of the time you're speaking with just Jim or I'm just a fly on the wall listening and taking notes. But, years ago when we had been together a couple of years, maybe we had three children, a fourth on the way somewhere, you hit a little space and my sex drive was high and Jim's wasn't. And, I think this is an important story to tell because I think a lot of families, a lot of couples are matched that one is higher than the other. And, there were lots of nights that I felt insecure or sad or I would reach out to Jim and I would say, “Gosh, do you not find me attractive?” And then, he'd be like, “Well, of course, I find you attractive. I just don't need sex as often as you.” This whole conversation around sex and us being on the different page and I always took it very personally and it was a little bit of a rub in our relationship for a period of time. 

And, once we started training with you and working with you, and you introduced Jim to the idea of testosterone therapy and some other, just probably the entire picture of working with him, I can't keep this man off of me. He's not just met my drive, he's exceeded my drive. And —

Jim:  Now, I'm being asked to slow down.

Jamie:  I know in the morning if I have to be like, “Hey, I need a day off. Just a minute.”

Ben:  I know, I know. I've been there but that's important too because even with something like testosterone therapy, it's not a fit for everybody. When I looked at Jim and then saw he had his other variables dialed in, and there's certain things to look at; creatine, zinc, minerals, DHEA, the style of weight training, sunlight exposures, all sorts of things that can affect testosterone. But, if I see somebody's doing everything right and it's not where it needs to be, well then you look into some form of testosterone optimization therapy. 

And, even there, Jim, you and I have this discussion, there's injections, there's pellets, there's different forms of testosterone administration, and many in no way mimic the natural diurnal variation of hormones in the human body. So, for example, like a very, very small amount of a scrotal testosterone cream applied morning and evening far better mimics the natural diurnal variation of hormones than say just like a giant bolus injection once a week into the butt cheek. And then, you also have to pay attention, you pay attention to estrogen levels, to sex hormone binding globulin levels, to PSA, to a lot of this stuff that tracks along with testosterone as things that you got to keep your eye on. 

And so, yeah, there's a lot of moving parts, but I think of these highlights for people like the complexity of being truly optimized but also the hope that — I mean, once you do everything that you're supposed to do, I mean stuff just freaking works and it's nice to be able to have not just the lifespan but also the health span or, as you guys are just talking about, the sex span or the hanging out with the grandkids span and everything else that you want in life.

Jamie:  Yeah, it really just extends it because it was a rub in our relationship. And, to think that, well, a couple of medical tests and just tiny adjustments made such a huge difference. Just like with his lifting, just like with our energy and being able to allocate ourselves even more so to our family and to each other because we're optimized.

Ben:  Yeah, yeah. And, my wife, she does little progesterone, she does a little bit of DHEA. I do a little bit of testosterone. We take care of our bodies. Yeah, we'll be making second cup of coffee at 10:00 a.m. in the morning and I'll bump into her and all of a sudden, stuff starts to go down and we're upstairs in the bedroom at 10:30 in the morning trying to keep quiet so that the housekeeper doesn't hear us. And, that's the type of love and sex life that's amazing at 40.

Jim:  Absolutely.

Jamie:  That's great.

Jim:  Yeah, you want each other.

And, you know what's great, Ben is this is something that is extended on. And, we've never talked about this, but I believe for certain things like you introduced me to, it's going to topple other things. And so, I think surgeons are in trouble when it comes to stem cells.

Jamie:  Yes.

Jim:  I just think orthopedic surgery is obviously something that needs to be done, but I know that years ago from my lacrosse days with just knee injuries and things have just wear and tear that we talked about, everyone wanted to cut me open. And, man, I've done the two stem cell treatment now on my knees with phenomenal results. And, it's right there in the MRI and now my mother is 84 years old. Really good shape but she has a tear in her knee and we have her set for next week on that. I —

Jamie:  We cured my Lymes disease last year.

Jim:  We cured Jamie's Lymes disease with stem cell treatments.

Ben:  And, even a lot of these treatments, you don't have to go outside the U.S. for. I mean, with the advent of things that can be co-injected or co-administrated with the stem cells like exosomes or ozone or placental matrix or platelet-rich plasma. I mean, yeah, you can't expand stem cells to have a really high mesenchymal stem cell count in the U.S. That's illegal, but there are so many things you can do even with American-based practitioner. And, yeah, I mean, I've had many successful stem cell treatments. I'm regrowing cartilage in my left knee right now and sprinting on the tennis court when I could barely move six months ago when it came to my left knee, and it's awesome. I mean, you could call it a surgery with little needles going to the side of your knee, but they're not cutting anything open, you're not sitting around recovering for six months. 

And, yeah, I think that this idea of minimally invasive regenerative medicine. Tony Robbins talked about this a lot in his recent book “Life Force.” It's the cutting edge. And, I see a future where we're literally just painting new cartilage, growing new joints, and it's a cool time to be alive.

Jim:  Yeah.

Jamie:  But,  Ben, that completely goes against our good old FDA and what they're doing to do that doesn't really promote health, wouldn't you say?

Ben:  Let me put it this way. Despite there probably being a little bit of pharmaceutical lobbying and power grabs at play, I don't think there's anybody at the FDA thinking, “Gosh, I don't want people to get healthy.” The thing is, yeah, the FDA, they are extremely cautious when it comes to everything from supplementation to stem cells. And, yeah, I mean, they're protecting people, but I think sometimes they're stepping over the boundary when it comes to us being able to engage in things that actually do have some pretty good research behind them and are a lot more healthy and natural than some of the alternatives and in many cases offer you something that pharmaceuticals don't offer you or at least offer you that same thing without the side effects. 

So, yeah, there are some corruption issues. I don't think the FDA is evil, I just think that there's a little bit of pharmaceutical lobbying and sometimes they're being a little bit overprotective when it comes to what we can and cannot do and put into our bodies.

Jim:  For sure, for sure. But, I got to tell you, the more that I've learned to go alternative, and I think that's in entrepreneurial pursuits and —

Jamie:   Homeschooling.

Jim:  Homeschooling. I mean, as you know, after my kidney donation, I mean, we're just realizing that almost 10 years later, we're pretty sure some bacteria got caught in my body. And, really from this last time, I don't think I've discussed this on the podcast, but I got hit with prostatitis, which was really scary. And, I texted Ben, Ben said, “This is the doctor you need to talk to you.” He is, “This book, this book, this book.” And, as you know, Ben, I've gone —

Ben:  Yeah, but that was Geo Espinosa.

Jim:  Yeah, yeah, great guy. And, he's very well-researched and documented in his degrees, but he took a whole different approach. And, I've never been better and it was like, “Hey, this is stuck in you, we just got to get it out.” And, that was something that was kind of coming in and out for years. But, I don't know, I encourage everyone don't be crazy without research behind it. But, there are alternative cutting-edge things like you said Ben that are there for us to get excited about and actually use.

Ben:  Yeah. And, I definitely wouldn't want to give anybody the impression that I'm personally practicing medicine or something like that. As you guys have experience, I consider myself to be somebody who connects people to the right resources and then gives you the information about what I would do if I were in your shoes. I don't get prescriptive as much as I do try to find the diamonds in the rough who can help you out when nothing else seems to be working or point you in the direction of which test to get and what to look for when you get those tests. 

And, I've got about 30 different physicians in my back pocket in my Rolodex who I just know. When somebody comes to me with XYZ issue, whether it's Lyme or mold or mycotoxins or metals or a prostatitis issue or anything like that, I know who to connect people to because I'm constantly vetting these people, constantly talking to them. And, it's nice to be able to know that if I don't know the answer, I got somebody on speed dial on my phone who does.

Jim:  Yeah. Well, I'm really glad you did because Dr. Geo was obviously the most accurate person that I've ever met for what I needed and it's made — I mean, it's cured. So, that was fantastic. So, thanks for that as well. I don't even know if I'd given you update on that.

Ben:  Yeah, it's amazing.

Jim:  We'll be together in a few weeks. The family book —

Jamie:  Sure. No, I just love that you're a curator of this is your super genius and you saw it at a young age and you've just over time curated. You've learned, but you've also curated this great Rolodex of doctors and even your supplements, which I want to touch on that too because we take your supplements quite a few of them.

Jim:  The amino acids, Kion Flex.

Jamie:  But, we do notice the difference, so we keep yours in stock and then we have a shelf of our backup crap stuff. And so, I do keep an auto-ship of some other things.

Ben:  Oh, yeah.

Jamie:  They overlapped at some point in time and then I was like, “Oh, we just keep it just in case.” And so, when we run out of yours and have to tap into the overflow, it's very noticeable and even Jim, he's like, “Hon, I don't want to take this crap.” And so, it's really noticeable and I wanted to give you that shoutout too because —

Jim:  The aminos for sure. And —

Ben:  Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Well, the aminos, I don't know if we talked about this, but the Jell-o that I'm — because I just made a batch this morning so it's fresh in my mind. I make Jell-o out of the aminos and that stuff just like, oh, my gosh, eating healthy joints. All I do is just heat up water or coconut water, put a whole bunch of gelatin in and stir it in as the water is heating so it doesn't clump. And then, I put literally almost a whole canister of aminos in there. Stir it all up, stick it in the fridge, and it's like the densest Jell-o ever. One tiny cube has more protein and amino acids than a giant piece of steak. And, I'll eat that whenever I've got appetite craving or if I don't want to eat dessert. It's amazing and it's kind of like aminos on steroids with the gelatin in it. 

But, yeah, I think Kion especially, that's probably the top thing that flies off the shelves, the Aminos, just because it does come up for your gut, for your joints, for performance, for recovery. I don't know if you guys know we just launched a new mango flavor and a watermelon flavor.

Jim:  No.

Jamie:  No.

Ben:  But, yeah. I mean, my partner over there, Angelo, he and I had many discussions about this. And, yeah, we go out of stock of stuff a lot because we're super picky on our ingredients. We spend sometimes one and a half to two years developing one single product. And, people like, “Why don't you bring this to market, and this to market, this market?” You don't understand. We pick every single ingredient super carefully. And then, it's kind of funny because we visit the offices in Boulder, it's like a jungle gym. There's inversion tables, kettlebells and red lights and foam rollers and massage guns. And so, we try to make the company culture a place where people are really, really dialed in from a fitness and nutrition standpoint as well. And, that just helps to keep the ball rolling when it comes to putting out amazing products.

Jamie:  That's awesome.

Now, we recently contributed towards your latest project, a family book. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Jim:  Yeah, talk about that.

Ben:  Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited about it. I spend the wee hours of the morning these days editing every chapter. But basically, I've wanted to write a parenting book for a while and yet my sons are 14 as we're talking about, and so I can't necessarily say I'm the world's leading expert on parenting. Who knows, they might wind up in prison when they're 18 and my parenting will go to crap. But, basically, I thought, well, gosh, kind of like Tim Ferriss in “Tribe of Mentors” or “Tools of Titans” interviewed all these other amazing people, what if I just found the most amazing parents who I know with children who are obviously turning out very, very well who have turned out very, very well; entrepreneurs, philanthropists, people who are thinking of others, people who are living their life purpose, people who are self-actualized, both the children and the parents and then feature them in this book. 

And so, I came up and you guys have seen it with a set of 32 different questions, everything from what we have put on a billboard to what kept you awake at night. So, what do you do with the second child that you didn't do with the first? Would you go back and change? And so, I've got about 30 couples and parents featured in the book. I tried to mix it up. There's some divorced moms in there, some single dads, some homeschooling parents, some public schooling parents. There's one polyamorous couple. It's all over the map. But, basically, I've collected the best of the best of the best, and it's called “Boundless Parenting.” And, Jessa and I, of course, contributed chapters. You guys contributed an amazing chapter. 

But, it's so cool to see the different flavors of parenting, but also I think the most intriguing part is the common threads like almost all the successful parents. They've prioritized family dinners, almost all of them have carved out specific one-on-one time, not only for the couples like a quarterly retreat for the couples, but also one-on-one time with the kids on a regularly calendar basis. A lot of them have some kind of spiritual practice for the kids like meditation or journaling or prayer or scripture writing or something of the like. Many of them have really, really well built-in traditions like here's what we do on Thanksgiving, here's what we do on Christmas, here's what we do on Easter, here's the vacation that we go on each year, here's what we do when we're on vacation. It's almost this deep, deep sense of legacy.

And so, you see these common threads pop up. And, even though every parent has a slightly different style, and again, not all of them home school, and not all of them private school, not all of them public school, but it's amazing just to see what happens when you actually put your heart and soul into a child. And, my thought has always been I wish a parenting manual existed. When I first had my sons, a parenting manual that goes far beyond just like whatever, here's how to use disposable versus regular diapers, or here's the good baby foods and instead delves deep into education and self-actualization, and not just the physical growth but also the spiritual and the mental growth of a child. And so, I'm personally very stoked for this book.

I read books for myself. So, I want to be a big beautiful coffee table-esque book that you can just, as a new parent or somebody's got kids that are teenagers pick up and just drool over. And so, it's one of the most exciting projects I've ever worked on. I'm super stoked about it.

Jim:  Right.

Jamie:  That's awesome. Another example of what a great curator you are. You found the parents that you wanted to interview and they brought some great information. So, we were really excited and honored to be one of your family's —

Jim:  Yeah, the questions were thought-provoking for sure. We're like, “We need to remember all these” because you don't realize what you're doing until you get asked the question about it.

Ben:  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, I'm going to interview every single parent that I haven't interviewed yet for the podcast over the next year. The book is going to be accompanied by audio interviews of each of these parents. So, I'm hoping it can help out a lot of people and hopefully help the world to bring even more amazing independent, resilient, creative, free-thinking kids into the world.

Jim:  I'm sure it will. I mean, if it's anything along the lines of the health success, I know it will. And, just from our personal conversations around family, I'm pretty positive on that.

Let me ask you our finale question, Ben. We started asking this a few years ago. We all hear, “Oh, what would you say to a 21-year-old, Ben?” And, that's a good question, but it's out there. 75-year-old Ben. What advice would 75-year-old Ben Greenfield give to people today do you think?

Ben:  Oh, that takes a little bit of future projection on where I'll be at when I'm 75. But, I think that just looking at the mentality that I've come to adopt over the past decade or so that you can be the fittest person on the planet, the cleanest diet, and the best six-pack abs, and have a lot of money and a great working brain, all the stuff that I and many of the people who I've worked with strive for but you're still not happy like you're still not totally fulfilled. All that stuff is kind of empty at the end of the day. As you guys know, there's a lot of depressed billionaires, there's a lot of professional athletes who are just super just non-self-actualized and desperate for something new. 

And so, I think that really the most important thing, and it's something I wish I'd done far before the age of about 35, which is when I really buckled down and started working on this was I would say, “Dude, first thing every single day, you feed your spirit, you feed your soul, you care for the most important part of you that's going to go on and live for eternity.” And, that means meditation, that means prayer, that means silence, that means solitude, that means journaling, that means studying scripture and other great, everything from self-improvement books to devotionals to spiritual manuals. It takes some time shutting off all of the busyness of the outside world and just going on a quiet nature walk or listening to your favorite song or playing an instrument and just appreciating and ingesting the beauty and particularly the spiritual beauty of life. 

And, man, if you stack that on top of all the stuff we've been talking about like healthy kids and a healthy lifestyle and eating the right stuff and taking care of the joints and lifting weights, then all of a sudden all that other stuff becomes even more meaningful and fulfilling because your true ikigai, your true purpose, your true plan de Vida is developed from a deep, deep spiritual awakening and a deep, deep longing to serve God, to serve other people, and to love the world. And, there's no way you can fully do that unless you just wake up every morning, put on your oxygen mask, and start to work on yourself spiritually.

So, from my 75-year-old self would tell me, “Dude, this body is going to fade, this brain is going to fade, but that soul is the special spark that if you water it and care for it and put it in the right soil now, it's going to blossom forth into something absolutely amazing.”

Jim:  That's awesome.

Jamie:  I love that, and I wrote it down. And, that —

Jim:  I was jotting notes too.

Jamie:  That puts into words so many things that I've thought or felt. Care for your soul first because that's the part of you that goes on and on forever. That's beautiful. Thank you.

Ben, thank you. We're so glad that you're here and been here with us and that you've guided us for the last two years. Can you tell our audience where they can find you best?

Ben:  Oh, yeah, it's not that hard. My website's BenGreenfieldLife.com. I got all the coaching and stuff we talked about. That's at BenGreenfieldCoaching.com. And, my books are on Amazon. But, yeah, it's not too hard, I guess, if you're crappy Google or you're probably going to have an uphill battle, but otherwise, I'm pretty easy to find.

Jamie:  You're easy to find. Awesome.

Jim:  You are easy to find.

Jamie:  Well, thank you for everything. It's been an incredible two years. And, to be very honest, I look forward to seeing people we've not seen in a while because I love the compliments we get because I've not always felt well and I feel really well now. And, feeling well is the greatest part. Looking well is a really nice side effect.

Jim:  Yeah. It's a two — double plus for sure.

Ben:  That's awesome. I'm super proud of you guys.

Jamie:  Thanks. Thanks for pouring into us.

Jim:  And, we'll see you in a few weeks, bud.

Ben:  Alright, I'll catch you guys on the flip side.

Jim:  Alrighty. Thanks, Ben.

Ben:  Later.

More than ever these days, people like you and me need a fresh entertaining, well-informed, and often outside-the-box approach to discovering the health, and happiness, and hope that we all crave. So, I hope I've been able to do that for you on this episode today. And, if you liked it or if you love what I'm up to, then please leave me a review on your preferred podcast listening channel wherever that might be and just find the Ben Greenfield Life episode. Say something nice. Thanks so much. It means a lot. 

 

 

For a while now, I've been working with an entrepreneurial couple named Jim and Jamie Sheils to improve their fitness, health, nutrition, and longevity…

…and we've become dear friends in the process.

Jim and Jamie Sheils are the fit, sexy parents of four children ranging in age from toddler to teen. They are also the founders of a fantastic company called 18 Summers, which refers to the number of summers you have with your children. The goal of 18 Summers is to help support families with a formula for lifelong parent-child connection, trust, bonding, respect, and experience. Jim and Jamie have also authored the popular ebook The Family Board Meeting, which outlines three simple steps parents can take to create lasting connections with their children.

Jim Sheils is an entrepreneur who consults with world-class organizations such as Harvard University and Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) to help their members succeed at home. In keynote presentations, workshops, team events, and private consulting, Jim has helped hundreds of the top entrepreneurs and thought leaders around the world focus and implement where it really counts, at home. He is affectionately known as “Crazy Glue For Families.” Jamie Sheils founded Florida’s only Waldorf-inspired public charter school and directed a Public Montessori Charter School. She has also developed and implemented programs in several other public and private schools.

When Jim and Jamie first met, they found themselves facing interesting challenges as a blended family. Suddenly, they had to contend with the everyday trials of disconnection and time scarcity. It was Family Board Meetings that bridged the gap, helping a new family connect, and helping the kids find sure footing on uncertain ground.

Now, through 18 Summers, Jim and Jamie reach families and organizations around the world, helping them discover the benefits of quality time and enduring relationships. In this episode, we talk about homeschooling, creative freedom, sex drive, and even (how to avoid!) “Dad bod.”

During our discussion, you'll discover:

-What put Ben on the Boundless path?…07:25

-How Ben started to break into the industry…17:50

  • Voted America’s Top Personal Trainer through the National Strength Conditioning Association
  • Started Ben’s speaking career
  • Ben’s career as an author
  • Started a podcast 15 years ago
  • Ben’s transition as a father
  • Started working from home

-Homeschooling and creative freedom…20:06

  • Experiential-based education
  • Freedom of curriculum and being creative with lessons
  • Raising a family through homeschool
  • GoGreenfields 
  • Exposing children to new topics and career options

-Don’t give in to the “Dad bod,” staying young as parents…26:04

-Sex drive and older couples…37:40

-Stem cells, medical testing, and preventative measures…41:30

  • Jim's knees have benefited greatly after 2 stem cell treatments
  • Jamie's Lyme's disease was cured with stem cells
  • Minimally invasive regenerative medicine
  • Life Force by Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis
  • FDA is overcautious
  • Jim got prostatitis, probably when one of his kidneys was taken
  • Dr. Geo Espinosa

-Ben’s supplements…47:20

-Ben’s parenting book (Boundless Parenting)…49:30

  • The 32 questions that constructed the book
  • How the book came into fruition
  • Some 30 couples and parents and how they have common threads
  • What things have successful families implemented in their family

-What would be the 75-year-old Ben's advice to people today?…54:04

-And much more…

  • “Feeling well is the greatest part, looking well is a nice side effect” – Jamie Sheils

-Upcoming Events:

Resources from this episode:

– Jim and Jamie Sheils:

– Podcast:

– Book:

– Other Resources:

Episode sponsors:

The DNA Company:  If you value your health and want the tools to help you avoid serious diseases, then go ahead and order this DNA test from The DNA Company. All listeners are eligible to receive a $50 discount using code BEN at checkout.

Butcher Box: Butcherbox is giving new members 1 pack of bacon for FREE in EVERY box, plus $20 off each box for the first 5 months of your membership. That's free bacon for life and up to $100 off!

ChiliSleep: These luxury mattress pads keep your bed at the perfect temperature for deep sleep, whether you sleep hot or cold. These sleep systems are designed to help you fall asleep, stay asleep and give you the confidence and energy to power through your day. Save up to 30% off the purchase of any new sleep system

Kion Aminos: Building blocks for muscle recovery, reduced cravings, better cognition, immunity, and more.

Ben Greenfield Coaching: Personally vetted and trained by Ben Greenfield, these coaches will personalize your diet and lifestyle, and get you looking and feeling your best.

Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Jim and Jamie Sheils or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!

 

Ask Ben a Podcast Question

One thought on “[Transcript] – How Two Middle-Aged Entrepreneurial Parents Completely Transformed & Biohacked Their Health, Fitness, Sex Life & More: The Jim & Jamie Sheils Podcast.

  1. Eric Stanley says:

    Question. I’m trying to buy the Look Good Naked Longevity book linked to in Boundless. There is an error on the page and I can’t find anywhere else to ask about it. Can you help me get a copy of that??

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *