0:01

Hi guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to

0:03

Habits and Hustle. Greshen. Welcome

0:08

to another episode of Fitness Fridays

0:10

on Habits and Hustle. In this

0:12

episode, I chat with a very

0:14

good friend of mine, Dr. Gabrielle

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Lyon, who is a New York

0:18

Times bestselling author of her new

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book called Forever Strong. And in

0:22

this episode, we discuss the misinformation

0:25

about nutrition and muscle building that

0:27

circulates all over social media. And

0:29

of course, the importance of animal

0:31

protein in a balanced diet, whether

0:33

or not you should be eating

0:35

carbohydrates and the science behind building

0:38

muscle and losing muscle. Dr. Lyon

0:40

also shared her personal fitness journey

0:42

and the philosophy behind her new

0:44

book Forever Strong. This is a

0:46

great episode, you guys. It's

0:48

short, it's sweet, gets to the

0:50

point. Enjoy and I am sure

0:52

you'll take something from this episode

0:54

and hopefully integrate it to up

0:57

level your fitness and overall health.

0:59

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products. Did.

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You get into this business because with what

2:32

you were you. I did have a food

2:34

his shoes. Yeah, I was obsessed with what

2:37

to eat. so it's seventeen. I graduate high

2:39

school early in three nap years. I moved

2:41

in with my godmother who's a Phd and

2:43

nutritional science. A oh wow yeah and she

2:46

was seeing patients. ah my mood and to

2:48

she was on why and superman Why not

2:50

there for your. Okay and she I I would

2:52

love to grow up on My mother said we in

2:54

hawaii not on who I could you for it of

2:57

a top of though I was as his on top

2:59

of your i. Was

3:01

out anyway, but so. The.

3:04

I watched her change people's. Life with third

3:06

said their lives changed because the

3:08

food and eyeliner so interested and then

3:11

I was looking at what she was

3:13

doing and I was really into organic

3:15

and macro biotics and I just

3:17

because I came became obsessed with

3:19

it. and then what happened was

3:21

I never felt good as eating

3:23

a very high carbohydrate mostly vegetarian

3:25

diet and I was a maniac.

3:27

My Die with the loan protein.

3:29

Is constantly craving food. I would go through

3:31

periods where I would binge eat. When I

3:34

was like eighteen. Just starving. And.

3:36

Then I realized that everybody had their

3:38

own relationship with food. And. Every

3:40

girl does for sure. I mean,

3:43

obviously I don't have those challenges

3:45

now. But. I

3:47

was so confused about what he was trying

3:49

to do and I couldn't manage my hunger.

3:51

A lucky guy relics always like always hungry

3:53

training a lot I was hungry. My diet

3:55

was probably has a must have been. Seventy.

3:58

Percent of the hydrates. I was starving all

4:00

the time because I couldn't regulate my blood sugar. I would

4:02

eat a high carbohydrate meal and have to take it out.

4:05

Really? Yeah. So you were

4:07

active all the time. Like as a young

4:09

girl, you were always very active. And

4:12

so then you moved in with

4:14

your godmother, you got into the nutrition that you saw

4:16

what she was doing. But back then

4:18

when we were younger, it wasn't a broke protein. It

4:26

was more about eating low fat, high

4:28

carbs. The food guide pyramid, which was

4:30

a horrible social experiment and like

4:32

made everybody obese. It made

4:34

a lot of... So you... Right. So

4:37

it's funny. I just had a podcast earlier

4:39

where he talked about this study where people did low

4:41

fat or low carb. And at the end of the

4:43

study, literally the numbers were

4:45

nominal in difference in body composition and

4:48

weight and fat loss and all these

4:50

things. Correct. But if

4:52

you were to change the protein

4:54

percentage, you see changes in body

4:56

composition. The higher the protein, then

4:58

you'll see favorable changes in lean

5:01

mass, which part of that is

5:03

muscle. Yeah. You'll see decreased

5:05

body fat. You'll see better hunger control. You'll see

5:07

better blood sugar, better blood pressure, better triglycerides,

5:09

all the things we care about health and wellness. Well

5:12

for... Yeah. And

5:14

I can use myself as an example too. Like if I'm not

5:16

eating a lot of protein, you can see the diminishing... Right.

5:19

...fat effects of it, right? Like

5:21

not just on energy satiation, like

5:23

just food alone. Like I'll eat 10

5:25

times more if I'm eating too many carbs. Exactly. And

5:28

that's called the protein lever type. Part of

5:30

that is called a protein lever hypothesis. The

5:32

lower your percentage of protein you're driven to

5:34

eat because you're looking for those amino acids.

5:36

There is a natural appetite for

5:38

amino acids for a human. Right.

5:41

Okay, let's talk... Sorry. Yeah.

5:45

So then here you are. You're like eating the

5:47

carbs, blah, blah, blah. Feeling terrible. You're terrible. And

5:49

then I landed in the class of Dr.

5:51

Donald Lehman, who my book Forever Strong is

5:53

dedicated to, by the way. Oh really? Fully

5:56

dedicated to him. He's been a mentor for 20 years. I

6:00

started realizing that everybody had their own relationship

6:02

with food, their own influence, their own idea

6:04

of how to do it. And

6:06

I started to understand he's a world leading expert

6:08

in protein metabolism. And then

6:10

protein was really this key macronutrient

6:13

to make everything else fall into

6:15

place. I changed my nutritional strategy.

6:17

I no longer obsessed about food.

6:19

Really? So why did you start to eat more

6:22

protein? It took away the obsession? Yes. Because

6:24

I wasn't hungry anymore. I wasn't dropping my blood

6:26

sugar. What was your food plan? Your eating plan?

6:28

What did you do? A lot of egg whites,

6:30

a lot of chicken, a lot of broccoli, a

6:33

lot of berries, just very whole

6:35

foods. And how old are

6:37

you at this point when you're doing this? 18,

6:41

19. And that's

6:43

been your diet ever since basically? Now I

6:45

eat a lot more red meat. Now a

6:47

lot more red meat. I'm surprised you said

6:49

egg whites because all the nutrients

6:51

are in the yolks. But in 19, what do

6:53

you know? So you're going back to that. Yeah, what

6:56

do I know? Okay, so then as you got more knowledgeable.

6:58

I was also drinking Crystal Light. Oh my God. I was

7:00

like, oh, dude, Crystal, is that company still around? First of

7:02

all, that's so funny. You just said it. I

7:04

just saw Crystal Light at the store. And I

7:06

was like, at Ralph's. And I'm like, oh my

7:08

God, that company's still around. I haven't heard of

7:10

it. I've seen it for years. I was getting

7:12

Crystal Light on egg whites, making pineapple

7:15

fles. I mean, God, I only, who

7:17

knows? We all did that. Did you do the

7:19

snack wells too and all that stuff? Wow, yeah.

7:21

Back then. I mean, that was like

7:23

the popular thing back when, right? And so then

7:25

like, as you got more knowledgeable and more information,

7:27

you kind of tweaked and changed it. Yeah. And

7:30

it's been an evolution. When you added red

7:32

meat though, more into your diet, what is

7:34

the difference? Because I'm not a big red

7:36

meat person. Do you see a difference in

7:39

just eating red meat versus eating like

7:41

poultry or eggs? Like if you

7:43

eliminate the red meat piece. Well, so I think

7:46

what you're asking is what would be the benefit

7:48

of red meat. And again, by the way, my

7:50

nutritional strategies are, I'm not extreme.

7:53

I believe that you should prioritize protein and just

7:55

very simply 0.7 grams to one gram per

7:58

pound ideal body weight. I'm a high. hundred

8:00

and maybe ten pounds. No

8:03

she's not. Maybe a hundred and eight.

8:05

She's like a hundred, maybe

8:07

minus twenty to eighty pounds. I'm telling

8:09

you. And I will have a hundred

8:11

and twenty grams of protein a

8:13

day. Will that source come from

8:15

lean red meats? Yes. A portion

8:18

of that will come from lean red meats, a person

8:20

that will come from eggs. The

8:22

red meat, it has a lot

8:24

of like that redness is iron.

8:26

Yeah. And that's really important for

8:29

women especially many women are iron

8:31

deficient. Many children become iron deficient

8:34

and these are nutrients that

8:36

are really critical for women

8:39

and children. So could you get

8:41

iron, some iron and chicken and

8:43

maybe I think like there's one fish that

8:45

has, I want to say is it sardines or

8:47

oysters or something. Sardines are

8:50

the healthiest things to eat. You

8:52

don't have to eat red meat if you

8:54

don't want to. But I do think that

8:56

there are some benefits to red meat that

8:59

you don't potentially get in other sources of

9:01

food. But again the human diet by the

9:03

way can do miraculous things on various diets.

9:06

Well yes but what are you a

9:08

believer in? Like there's so many now,

9:10

there's so many trends of diet. The

9:12

intermittent fasting diet, the keto, what's your

9:14

opinion of all of those diets? Do

9:16

you believe in intermittent fasting? Do you

9:19

believe in ketogenic? Do you believe in

9:21

paleo? What is your idea? Here's what I

9:23

think. I think understanding from

9:25

a hierarchy how many calories you're

9:27

eating is really important. I

9:29

think at the baseline of that pyramid needs to

9:31

be protein. I think personally

9:34

I recommend animal based proteins because

9:36

they're nutrient dense, they can be low in

9:38

calories if you choose wisely and it's

9:41

what humans evolved to eat. Period, end of

9:43

story. It's also a luxury by the way.

9:45

There are many countries that are

9:47

like you guys are vegan

9:49

and vegetarian on purpose. It's

9:51

a luxury and it really

9:54

is important for growth and development.

9:57

Whether you have prioritized protein from animal

9:59

sources or Fiber-rich foods

10:01

are great and I think foods that

10:03

have high polyphenols, whether they are

10:05

berries, dark leafy vegetables, I'm not

10:07

against vegetables, things that have a

10:10

lot of phytonutrients in them and

10:12

also herbs and spices, things like

10:14

cilantro, jalapeno, things that have potentially

10:16

been used for a very long

10:19

time. I do think that whether

10:21

you are choosing carbohydrates or fats

10:23

really just depends on your total

10:25

calorie load and the majority of

10:27

fats should come from omega-3 fatty

10:30

acids and that's it and choose

10:32

lower fat foods, it's not complicated. I

10:35

know. Most people have like, I'm talking for

10:37

a friend. Are you asking for

10:39

a friend? Nothing for a friend. Are

10:41

you asking for a friend? It's more

10:43

the portion control than anything. I think

10:45

that volume like visually helps my friend

10:47

because... Her friend also known as Jennifer

10:49

Cohen. Yes, I know her. She's great.

10:52

I know. I find

10:54

that with anything though, like you eat

10:56

too much of it, you'll gain weight, right? That's right. I

10:59

mean, that's not rocket science but as we

11:02

get older, and you talk about this, I

11:04

think this is your TED Talk, about the

11:06

muscle crisis, right? We are deficient

11:09

in muscle which helps us

11:11

live longer and stronger,

11:13

capable, everything gets

11:15

better. Can you talk about

11:17

that? Because women are so afraid of

11:20

building muscle which is like critical to

11:22

aging well. Yeah, it is the pinnacle

11:24

of health and wellness. I

11:26

feel like we've gotten this whole obesity

11:28

epidemic wrong. We have a midlife muscle

11:31

crisis. I love that. Rather than an

11:33

obesity epidemic. Obesity is

11:35

one symptom of unhealthy skeletal

11:37

muscle and this can begin

11:39

decades before you actually gain weight.

11:43

And when you are seeing excess fat, you don't just

11:45

have it on your body, you have it in your

11:47

skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle is really

11:49

important for a number of reasons. It is

11:51

the primary site for glucose or

11:53

carbohydrate disposal. We know

11:55

that. The more muscle we have,

11:57

the bigger our place is to move.

12:00

carbohydrates. We're all worried

12:02

about type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.

12:04

What are you going to, what level

12:06

are you going to pull? You're going

12:09

to pull skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle is

12:11

your site of fatty acid oxidation. People

12:13

worry about triglycerides and fatty acids. Skeletal

12:15

muscle utilizes these things. It's also

12:18

the largest endocrine organ in the

12:20

body. It is. It is. It's

12:22

an endocrine organ. It secretes myokines,

12:24

which are hormones or peptide-like structures

12:27

that travel throughout the body, that

12:29

influence our brain, that modulate

12:31

our immune system, that

12:33

affect bone. Contracting skeletal

12:35

muscle is a endocrine

12:38

organ and that's the largest organ in

12:40

the body by, makes up 40% of our body.

12:42

And so when does it really become a problem?

12:44

Here is where the literature says it

12:46

becomes a problem. Okay. 40s to maybe

12:48

50s. Here's where I think it

12:50

becomes a problem, easily by 30. If

12:53

you are not exercising, then you are

12:55

going to see decreases in skeletal muscle

12:57

easily in your 30s. And in fact,

13:00

when you talk about unhealthy skeletal muscle

13:02

and you talk about quote healthy

13:04

sedentary people, there's evidence to support

13:07

that 18 year olds that are

13:09

not exercising while lean have skeletal

13:11

muscle insulin resistance. Really?

13:14

At 18. These are issues

13:17

that are beginning decades before. So what's the

13:19

solve to this? For kids to start eating

13:22

more animal protein. Train when you

13:24

are young. When you are young. But is

13:26

that dangerous? No. In fact, no.

13:28

And again, I just wrote this, the whole book on

13:31

this. And also I have two very little children. Yeah,

13:33

me too. I have a two year old and

13:35

a four year old. Very little. That's really little.

13:37

Yeah. No, no. We are training, are they? Kinda.

13:40

They are. They have little weights

13:42

and they are very active because you are

13:44

born. They have little weights. They do. Are

13:46

you joking? No. What do you think we do at five in

13:48

the morning? I don't believe you. I will

13:50

send you a picture. Yeah. What do you do? My

13:53

little one is on the treadmill. We are doing rubber

13:55

bands just for fun. You are a

13:57

four year old on the treadmill. Yeah. I don't believe you. Oh

13:59

yeah. She like has a blast because she sees

14:01

us doing it. By the way, listen, I'm all for

14:03

that. Look who you're talking to. I put my 10

14:05

year old on the treadmill with me and we do

14:07

all sorts of things and 100%. But

14:10

I thought you were joking. You said you're two

14:12

and four. They're not lifting weights at two years

14:14

old. Yeah, so I,

14:16

my, they come to the gym

14:19

with us and my two year old picked

14:21

up a 10 pound med ball. I

14:23

mean, I'm married to a Navy SEAL. So like,

14:25

I know. Let me just say, the genetics are

14:28

insane. That's why I want to make sure people,

14:30

if they're watching this and not listening, or they're

14:32

not listening and not watching. And by the way,

14:34

we are, and by the way, we were working

14:36

out and he picked up and moved a 10

14:38

pound med ball. He is two. That's

14:40

insane.