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Authentic gay conversations on personal development, life coaching, and mental health. Join Keegan Hirst, founder of Gay Man's Coaching and former professional rugby player, for weekly real talk about gay lifestyle, coming out, relationships, business, and authentic living. Deep, honest conversations that help gay men build confidence, find community, and create vibrant, unapologetic lives.
00:00
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Gay Man's Coaching podcast. The podcast for gay men who want to be happier, healthier and feeling control of their lives and be the best versions of themselves. That is what we're all about. And this week, you will notice I'm a little bit later with the episode coming out. I have been recovering from the London Marathon, which was probably the most difficult thing that I've ever, ever done.
00:28
But it was an incredible experience. I'm so glad I did it. And I saw someone talking about how you can say that you don't want to run a marathon, and that is absolutely fine, but don't ever say that you can't because there were people doing that marathon who were in wheelchairs, didn't have legs, were on crutches. I saw numerous blind runners. I saw people were running with fridges on their backs.
00:58
I saw guy in a full suit of armour. If you want to, you can find a way to do anything that you want to, if you really, really want to. And I know that people will say, oh, it's easy to say. um It's just a fact and the marathon proved that. It's okay to not want to do something or to not think that the juice is worth the squeeze. But the person that I'm going to talk to in this week's episode of Game Land's coaching is someone who...
01:28
went from that kind of person who said that they couldn't do things, they'd never be that kind of person, they'd never be able to do X, Y and Z. And then over the course of us working together, they have lost over 10 stone, so over 70 kilograms. They have changed their job, they've got a job that they love. They've run a marathon. They've uh climbed.
01:56
hikes and hills and mountains and this last weekend they've just completed a photo shoot after getting in the best shape of their entire life. He's a huge part of the GMC community and he's someone who throws himself into everything because he's realised that when he does that, when he asks for help, when he gets involved that you always get in what you put out. Sorry, they've got that wrong way around.
02:25
You always get out what you put in. So without further ado, let me introduce Dan McFarlane to this week's episode of GMC podcast. Just before that, remember that we've got the GMC retreat coming up in August. More than half of the tickets have already gone for that. So please, please, if you want to come, you need to get those books because they are going to be gone very, very shortly. And we have got the June.
02:54
massive action day in London that has been brought forward a week that is going be in the middle of June so again if you want to go to that please make sure you get your tickets booked but let's delve into this chat with Dan McFarland and talk about his successes with GMC
03:15
Okay, Dan, welcome. Welcome to GMC podcast. I'm really looking forward to chatting to you on this, because you've been with GMC, you know, what, five years plus. Yeah, six years this April. Yeah, six years in April. And your transformation has been incredible. I'm not going to do that. I'm going let you explain your journey, because it is, you know, uh
03:45
a real big one and you you've become a big part of the GMC community. You also are part of the GMC staff now and help out with, you know, what we're delivering and helping people with. it's been an amazing journey. Talk us through where you were at when you first reached out to work with us and get involved. Tell us a little bit about where you were at, what was going on in your life and
04:15
And what was going on for you that made you feel that you needed to do that? Okay. Hey everyone. So set the scene. I was in my early thirties and uh all I did was work. That's all I ever did. I do not remember the end of my twenties. I do not remember the start of my thirties. Literally I'd wake up, get dressed, go to work. There was no breakfast. And if there was, was calling in at the shop or a Greg's on the way there. And
04:41
I just, I love my job. I'm a teacher. I absolutely love it. But then that was because I was good at it. I felt like I was good at nothing else. So all my worth went into that. I would get into work for 7am, leave at 6, come home, work over the kitchen table. And so like it's actually the exact same table I'm at now and then just roll into bed. And that was the same thing over and over again. And I just felt done. Like because all my worth was in my job, I didn't really care about myself. And I was burnt out. When you say burnt out, like
05:12
where I was drinking eight coffees a day, drinking full sugar Red Bull, massively, massively overweight. I remember wearing XXXL shirts and them like puttering and not really, so I used to stand all day because I didn't want to sit down. And if I was on a night out with friends, I just didn't want to. I remember I stopped dancing and I'm a dancer. Stopped dancing because I didn't want to be seen. I had the beige buffet and then the knee pain. Oh my goodness. I live in the first floor of my...
05:37
apartment block and I used to just get the lift because it was just so sore sometimes going up the stairs and confidence, self-talk when you're in that spiral is just nothing short of horrible like vile and all I wanted was a way out of it and I think like I was a senior leader of a school and the stress that came with it was unbearable I didn't sleep probably at all we probably got about three hours, three or four hours and I'd wake up on a Sunday and work all day and I just felt like
06:07
I can't keep this going. And I thought I pictured myself turning 40. That sounds like a scary age. But I pictured myself turning 40 and not being here because I just couldn't see it continuing that way. And I changed personally into like a really dark version of myself. how long had that been going on before? I know you said you didn't, you don't really, it was all a bit of a blur. How long had that been going on before you got to kind of breaking point?
06:38
So started teaching in 2010, but before that I was big at secondary school, bullied from a weight. And then you start hearing things about yourself that people say and you believe it. And because I felt like I couldn't be in the sports team and sports is massive Northern Ireland. And if you're not in it, you're not part of the team. And I never felt like I could do it. And I hate it, people that went to the gym. I was like, there are, who do think they are? And was most of my twenties felt that way. I was very good at masking it and hiding it. You would never think that I was struggling.
07:08
because I was a comedian, but then that dialed up a factor and it took lockdown coming along to make me think, cause you had time to think. You actually had time to think by yourself. I don't want to do this. I can't live this way anymore. Yeah. And I remember when we spoke, you'd gone through your bank balance, right? And seeing where you were spending money and there was like, was, tell us what was on there.
07:33
So I, you know, this is like a classic moment. I remember sitting in, I was like, I'm going to go through my expenditure here. And in the January, so we went into the lockdown, I don't know why I said it that way, in what, March, April? And I was looking at January, 27 days out of the January, I was in Greg's, 27 of them. And I know I got the same thing every time. It was a sausage roll, probably hard, and a large latte flavored, you know, it was probably the end of the eggnog latte. And...
08:01
I always remember her saying to me, she knew my name and that's when you know. Darren, if you add an extra pound, you can have a pizza slice. And I was like, go on, man. I knew by the time you get to the door of the bag see-through, but that was, that was 27 days in a row of what I called the beige buffet. No offense, but like that's what it was. And I would go to the Sainsbury's, which is now shut down, across the road and get like a pizza. And cause it's from the Deli, Keegan, I thought, oh, it might be less calories. It's from the Deli. And heat it up in the oven.
08:31
And that was it. That was my life. I, I do like a drink now, but then it was drinking a lot. Like I was just drinking. We had my friend and I used to wine just to get through the week. And what was it that made you finally go, I can't keep doing this. Well, um, I was really, work was really bad and I felt like I had no way out. And you know, I had not, I've become a virgin myself that I didn't like anymore. And I felt like I was nasty to my friends and
08:59
One day walking home from work, I just didn't want to be here, to be honest. And I thought about it and that scared and shocked me. I remember standing in the lift in this building looking in the mirror and I took a picture that day and I was like, I'm not going to let myself feel like this again. Got in here, sat down and was like, I'd had a liter of gin the night before, not good. And I said to myself, something has to change. And that's when I saw your advert or what, your story or something on Instagram. And I was like,
09:26
I'm gonna call this man or sign up for this. Actually, you know, you fill in the form, you don't think anyone's gonna call you back. And then I think like that day or the next day, I was standing right over there and my phone went, I was like, I'm not gonna swear. I was like, oh my God, what am gonna do? I'm gonna face up to this now. I remember always saying to you something along the lines of, well, we'll do it for, was that the three weeks or three months? We'll do it for three weeks, three months, and we'll see how we get. And in my head, I just couldn't picture life being different. When life has been that way for so long, you can't picture anywhere.
09:55
at being anywhere different, anywhere else. So talk us through that then. you joined the program and as you said, you were not someone who exercised, you were not someone who was looking after themselves, you were not someone who had, who thought that they could exercise. You kind of started telling yourself this story that this wasn't for you and you know that this was just how it was. So talk us through.
10:20
some of the small changes that we started to make that you started to make that, you know, start to adjust your behaviors and then obviously then start seeing results. What were some of the things that the small steps, cause like you said, big, big changes, big sweeping changes never stick to that. Everybody tries to go on crazy diets or do crazy training programs. So what were some of the small changes that we started to make? Do you know you had this
10:48
form called the consistency tracker and we used to have to put in our score. I think it was like 32, maybe making that score up. And for me, was during lockdown as well, so gyms were not open. We had to do stuff at home. And I remember sitting thinking, I'm gonna have to walk 10,000 steps a day here. And I just couldn't think of anything worse. But those are the basics. And I said to myself, I remember you talking about setting a range. Because if I say I'm gonna do it seven days and I do six, I would feel like a failure.
11:16
And I remember it was like, three days out this next week, I'm gonna try and the 10,000 steps, did it. Water was an easy, you talk about the low hanging fruit, water was an easy one to just do. And I can feel my skin changing already. I look brighter. Coffee, I remember you saying, Dan, you're drinking too much coffee, don't drink after, don't drink coffee after lunch. So I tried my, that was so hard, trying my best to stop that. And I never really cooked at all. And I remember like seeing the other guys being like.
11:45
prepping things and I thought I've got no time. And I did have time. For me, one of the big things was also with work was leaving at a decent time. And I never thought I could leave before six o'clock. And it took ages, you know what, school night I say, out the door I have four, but it took ages to get into that. So when I went to work, I said to myself, I'm gonna leave one day at five. And then it became, you know, 4.45, 4.30.
12:14
And it was just looking at my day and seeing where I was wasting time. Like, I remember you said to one time, show me your screen time and I'll show you your time. And I think my screen time was something ridiculous, like 10 hours or something, Keegan. And I just said, I'm gonna have to start making these changes because if I want to change my life, then the only way is to step out of a comfort zone. So like go and walk in 10,000 steps. And I realized how easy it actually was to actually do it and make time. Because when you...
12:44
make it a priority. Oh, by the way, planning out my week, I didn't even know what that was. I used to do like a live...
12:53
I just looked at her, love planning. And I looked, like, what am I doing with my evenings? Like, what am I actually doing with my evenings? And yeah, was all just the low hanging fruit, like the basics. Steps, water, sleep, and actually trying to eat. I think that's a really important point, isn't it? I think something that was, even though you would initially set out and said, I'm just going to do it for this really short period of time.
13:21
I mean, the fact that you are still part of GMC and you're now prepping for a photo shoot and we'll talk about that in a minute. But the fact that you adjusted your mindset from going, this is a quick fix and I'm just gonna get through it and get it done to actually, things take time, they? I'm gonna give this a go, I'm gonna stick with it and I'm not gonna try and do everything all at once, I'm just gonna try and do.
13:48
One thing, nail that, then move on to the next thing. So introducing planning, introducing water, introducing doing something once a week and then building it up to twice a week and then three times a week, rather than just trying to change everything all at once. So when you were making those changes, what was really difficult for you to do at first that is just like a normal part of life for you now?
14:12
Apart from getting up out of bed at a decent time, I was the snooze king. Oh my God. You set the alarm, you think you're all great. 6 a.m. Yay. All of sudden it's a quarter to eight and you've been snoozing every five minutes and it's torturous, but you do it to yourself. And I remember thinking, I'll try and get up on the first alarm, five, four, three, two, one, up. And that took ages to put in. But I started to get up on time and trying to exercise. I didn't think I was an exercise person at all. like, I'm only actually talking about exercise. You know, everything we just spoke about was...
14:42
other basics. And I remember having stretchy bands and trying to like learn and do it and take part in it. And I realized that I can do it. That it's something that is not out of my reach because it met me where I'm at and built it up to make me think I can go into the gym when I remember when the gyms first opened again, I was petrified because anyone was looking at me. And then that was also just thinking I had to start to think that, well, I'm to have to step out of my comfort zone. And I really have probably been
15:11
in a little bubble of safety for years to just protect myself. And then I realized that um I was going to have to fight for myself and my time because people want you to go and eat crap. Like at work, it's always someone's birthday. There's always pizza in there or sweets and turning it down was just hard. It was so hard to say, no, I won't have a custard cream. I won't have a Domino's slice of pizza just because it's there. But the old me wouldn't have thought twice. So I had to start calling myself out on why.
15:41
Why am I doing it? Because I always saw food as a reward. So that was another thing that was really hard for me. Like when I got to a Friday for me, that was pizza night. Yeah. And it's just because I didn't even think about it. I remember sitting here one day going, eating pizza during my time with you, going, but why am I having that? Why is this a treat for me? And then I don't know you remember one time my blue coat zipped up on me. That was a turning point. I had this coat my mom bought me, bless her. And it was two sizes too small, maybe three sizes too small. And it didn't zip, but I wore it anyway.
16:10
And then I finally lost weight and it zipped. It actually zipped up and I was so happy with myself I went on a walk in the rain. And you know the little things like that for me, it's just stuff I never used to do. It was like uncharted territory. Some people might laugh to go, oh he went walking in the rain. But I used to pray for rain during the summer so I have to leave the house. Yeah. I think that's such a big thing isn't it that you and everybody who gets a result and have experienced this throughout my life is there comes a point where
16:38
You start to question the things that you've told yourself were true, beliefs that we all have. And I know that's been a big part of the work that we've done together over the years and working with me and the other coaches is, you know, when you've said or even other clients, but, know, talking to you here, well, I just can't do that. I can't, you know.
17:02
not say no at work or I can't not have pizza or I can't go out and not have a drink and I'm not saying that you need to do those things all the time but you know to prove to yourself that you can do them and over the years I mean we have broken through so many limiting beliefs for yourself I mean just just reel off some of your successes here that we've had I mean how much weight you've lost the the physical things that you've done what you're doing now
17:29
You know, even work wise, how much you're like, just, just run us through all the, all the things that you've achieved over the years by doing that small step one at a time. So when I started with you, was what? 123 kilograms. hit my weight goal of 79 kilograms in December, 2023, the weekend of one of our mad things. But, um, I've done the three peaks twice. First time we did it, I barely finished it. Oh my God. I was chewing ibuprofen like it was tic tac.
17:59
And I remember you saying to me, just put, you waited for me and you just put one foot in front of there, wash your face and that's, there was like a trickle of water stream. was like, come on, let's do it. Come on. And I got to the top and I cried behind my sunglasses. I remember the other day I'm being like, oh, it's so amazing. And when I say to myself, I've just done those mountains with agonizing knee pain. I think I can do more than this. And I remember starting running and you and Joel, who's one of the coaches said to me, you know, let's start running. 30 seconds was my first target. 30 seconds, I struggled. Did it, a minute.
18:28
half an hour and then I had set myself in October 2022 to do a half marathon. And for me, that was the biggest thing in my entire life. I couldn't run, did it, smashed it, got back here on that night and booked a full marathon for May the next year. And I remember the training going, I'm not gonna swear. I was like, I'm gonna have to run a lot. And I had to plan my work life out really well. And I was doing 12 Ks after parents evening and then...
18:55
May 23 I did, if we just look at 2023, I did the full Edinburgh Marathon without stopping, didn't hit a wall once, cried, going over the finish line, it still makes me cry now. We did Scarfield Pike that same year, the GMC, we did the three peaks again that year. I've done the Lurig Mountain Challenge run in Northern Ireland three times. my sister and I walked it one time and it took us a day, I ran it. And when I say steep,
19:24
hands and knees kicking, hands climbing. I've seen the photos. It's like death. I think I'm going to die. And last year actually, my sister booked me in on the day of it without telling me because I wasn't feeling as my best at that point. She you're doing that? I no I'm not. went, yeah you can. And I just did it. Just went, just did it. And you know, I've started going swimming, taking my t-shirt off at the beach. That's a massive thing for me, especially back home. you know, teaching wise, I used to work full-time as a teacher, senior leader of school.
19:53
And I always had this dream of like, I've got this Mr. Mac oh side hustle. And I used to hate filming content and stuff. Oh God, be on camera ras now. And speaking at conferences, speaking internationally. I work for GMC now and that's brought me out of my shell to help other people as well. And because of that, I left full-time teaching. Oh my God, the day I handed in my resignation. And now I work part-time teacher, work for GMC and I do my Mr. Mac stuff as well. And I never would have had the confidence to do.
20:22
any of that if it wasn't for GMC. And that's just the, I would feel the last six years have been the best since I was about 10. And it's just crazy. Just reading all that off is just crazy. And I made friends. Oh my goodness me. The friends I've made through it is just insane. And now you're prepping for a photo shoot as well. A new challenge. How's that going? What made you think?
20:48
What made you go, do you know what, that's something I'm gonna go for. What was the thinking behind that? Okay, so I know it's hard to believe, but in a month from now I'm gonna be 40. So, um which actually people, I'm not lying, some people do question that. And I thought, do I know what? My last big thing I pushed myself for was the marathon and hit my weight goal. And I'm not actually ashamed of how I look anymore. I actually think I look quite good. And that's not me being all right.
21:17
That's taking getting up at five in the morning and going to the gym consistently. Like I went to the gym 270 times last year out of 365 days. That's crazy. And I said to myself, I'm going to top this off again. I always believe you never peak. hit a new peak. My new sense is always going to be another mountain, the climb. And I had to get one reference in there and I'm excited about it. Initially I was like, I'm going to have to really...
21:44
because one of my good friends in it did it before and I remember what it was like for him but seeing photographs of the other guys that had done it I want to prove to myself again I can do this that I can I've got the um the consistency and the determination to go for it and like we started it before Christmas I allowed myself Christmas Day and Boxing Day I still had a good time and I'm proving to myself that I can have a good time I don't need to drink myself silly and I'm enjoying the um
22:13
almost like I'm grit in my teeth because you have to train to feel your a lot. And for me going in, knowing that I'm going to experience that feeling has now become a bit of a buzz. And when some people say to me, how the hell do you get up at five in the morning? And I say, I'm not supposed to be here anymore. My plan was I shouldn't have been. And I have that excitement for life. That's why I smile sometimes at the gym because I'm not supposed to, I do believe I'm the sort of guy that goes now. I am that guy.
22:41
You know, you've changed your identity, yeah. I'm excited to go. It gets me out of bed and the first alarm thing, oh, what can I do now? And I'm seeing body change. I remember going to Superdry and trying on a medium shirt and it being baggy. And I said to the girl, would you mind getting a small? And she's like, the only one that's left is the one on the mannequin. was like, get it. And she brought it in and it buttoned. And I was like, this is crazy. Razznion kicking those shirts as a weird twist of fate compared to what I said about my XLs. Those small shirts don't really fit me anymore across the chest and arms. Well, I can't wear them.
23:10
And I don't feel bad about that, which is crazy, but yeah, I'm excited for it and I'm pushing myself at the gym. I'm really well and consistently. And I feel that it's helped me look at other things and other doing the photo shoot is going to be great and getting the pictures, but it's helped me reassess. for example, my relationship with alcohol, my relationship with saying yes to every engagement possible in case they miss out. Yeah. I love that. And you've, you've talked there about
23:39
these internal shifts of believing that you can do things. And I think if you could sum up what we do at GMC, I like to think that we help people instill the belief, which sounds really simple when you say it like this, but that I can do hard things. And I think so many of us challenge of doing something difficult and go, I can't do that. That's not for me. That's not me thing. I would never be able to do that. All these kinds of stories that we tell ourselves. I think there is not
24:08
at nothing more powerful and opens opportunities for us all as individuals. If you can internally say, I can do hard things and you genuinely and you believe it. Um, and sometimes you don't believe it and you have to kid yourself a little bit, or we have people around us who believe it before we do, but being able to say to yourself, I can do hard things and then going out and doing them and proving that to you, that is just a confidence hack to be able to keep doing that over and over again. So I mean,
24:38
When you look at where you're at now, Dan, who has changed his career to work around him rather than him working around his career, who's getting ready for a photo shoot, who likes how he looks, who's confident, who believes in himself, what would the old you not recognize or believe about the current you? If they could both come head to head and have a conversation, what...
25:07
What do you think old you would think about new you, current you? Oh my God, King of what an emotional question to ask me here. um I think even start off by saying WTF and be so shocked that I'm genuinely happy, genuinely happy that I can put myself out there where I might feel I was absolutely petrified of looking full, looking silly, failing, put myself in a room where
25:37
you expose yourself to, know, and the gym can feel that way. And that you have friends, my family's always there, but you have friends around you that actually care. You don't have to pretend to be somebody else. And there's so many that you, I remember you saying to me one time, success leaves clues. And on the days, because not every day is full of rainbows and sunshine and yay, let's go. I would say to myself, you will be fine. You will get there and you will be happy. And I think the old me would look at the version of me now going, I am so proud of you.
26:06
You did it. You gave us everything that we deserve to have had that you didn't think was possible. And you're still going. That's the thing. Before it for me, it was a quick fix. When I did Slimming World, please, the circle of shame and all that sort of stuff, quick fix. Whereas now it's not that way. My lifestyle has changed. And I think the old me would just be shocked, proud and surprised that I'm still going. Whereas the new me would say, the best is yet to come.
26:36
Yeah, I love that. love that. And you just said there, you know, it's not always sunshine and rainbows and it's not, and I think, you know, it's easy to romanticize. Yes, life is much better now and you feel different and your prospects are different. But we all still have shit there, no matter who we are, where we are, what we're doing. What are some of the things that you still struggle with sometimes? oh Stress. Okay.
27:05
I still put a big expectation on myself and what I can achieve and we don't have 24 hours where it was for a week. I still put sometimes, even though I plan out my week, I still sometimes put myself under pressure to do that. em I still critique myself sometimes. em As in my self-talk would still tell me that I'm not good enough, but that's when I let other people influence how I think about myself, which is easy done when you're feeling a bit tired. um And sometimes I just struggle with
27:35
Um, be, you know, when you want to be saying to me one time about not riding that emotional roller coaster and I still sometimes will cling onto it. I'm so happy right now. Everything has to be this way. And then when it's not, I tripped a little bit, but I don't fall anymore. I do not fall to where it was. I've got, um, the safety nets around me that I've put in place, for example, yourself, um, journaling my friends and other things to just call myself out. I never used to do that. That's one thing. will sit.
28:05
Rather than, I'm such a reactive person. I used to react to everything. And even when I do feel sad, for example, last year I was, oh my goodness, for a month I was an emotional mess because of, you know, I let certain people tell me that I was not good enough and I believed it for a while. But then when you reflect on one of the worst days when I felt that way, I ran up a mountain. Yeah. And that's what I cling onto. But you just have to sit with things for a minute. When life is shit, sit and think.
28:36
Is it as bad as your head is telling you and who can you reach out to and what are your safety nets? And if you don't have any safety nets, you look for them. They're there. I love that. And I think it is really important to, you know, the point that you made about self-talk, because I think that's something, you know, myself, I would even say like, you know, I'm very critical of myself. no one's a bigger critic of me than me. But I think that, and I don't think that'll ever go away. And I think sometimes people, think, oh, we can make things go away and we can get rid of things. And I don't think that's true.
29:04
Um, unfortunately, but what we can do and what you've proved and I'd like to think what I've proved is that he, what rather than making it go away, what we, what we do is we build up another internal voice that when that one says your crap, you can't do this, you're no good, whatever, nobody loves you, whatever it might be. That other voice can come in and then where it wouldn't have been there before and goes, no, actually that's not true. And look at these things that we've done and look at these things that are going on.
29:34
And it just, and it counteracts it rather than it getting hold of you and letting it spiral. So I think, you know, everything that you've spoke about, Dan, and what you've achieved over the last, you know, almost six years is, you know, really aspirational and motivational. But, you know, for you to go from where you were at to where you are, it has taken time and it's taken consistency and there have been wobbles and you've struggled and you still have things that you're struggling on. If, if someone is listening to this,
30:02
and they feel stuck or where you were when you were starting. So I guess if you were to give some advice to that version of Dan who had not got started yet and didn't feel like you do, what would be three things, the three next things that you would recommend that they do to help them start getting out of that place? One of them that's literally just came into my head is that there's no, life is too short to be embarrassed to ask for help.
30:32
Life is way, no matter if you are a big CEO of something, I don't know why Kellogg's came as a man, but like a CEO of something, my brain is random, isn't it Keegan? You're never too Billy Big Balls to ask for help. Just do it. Because if you don't, nothing's going to change. You're always going to be stuck. So do you want to be even two weeks from now still food that way? So don't be too embarrassed to ask for help. And I know that that's an extra one of what I was going to say, but for me it's start small.
31:01
If you make it too big, you're never going to get there. if the rungs are too far apart in the ladder, you're not going to get there. so do the basics, start small like I did and do the basics. Well, be a basic bitch, basically. So, you know, look at something as basic as water or even going outside for a walk. I remember someone saying to me, I don't have time to go 15 minutes for a walk. I mean, you don't have 15 minutes. So even if you just do 15 minutes a day, it's better than zero minutes. So start small with the basics, go for a walk or look at your sleep.
31:30
If it's looking at something like food, just even plan one day, just one day out of seven, where you're going to eat something well. And if you need support with, with eating tons of stuff out there, you can look at it to get advice with it. Just even, yeah, start small plan one way next week and then add that up to three. And I would absolutely say plan out your week. Boundaries is a big, massive thing for me. I remember my head teacher saying to me, you're a rebel.
31:57
And I like, why? I because you just tell people no. And I went, but isn't that amazing? I didn't start initially, I didn't say no, Keegan. So that's a big thing. Build yourself up the power of no. Every no is a yes for yourself and not in a disrespectful way, but you can't, you're not champion of the world. Plan out your week and set, put in things for you first. Like for me, I, at one point, well, I still do, I put in the gym first. And that was my one thing. Well, if I want to go to the gym, say if you want to be a morning person, you have to start the day before.
32:27
What's going to happen the day before so you can get up and be in there by, you need to be in bed at a good time. You can't overwork yourself. So yeah, get your plan out and plan out your week. That's four things. Yes, for three. I like it though. Extras, extras set yourself up for success. that's, know, don't do the bare minimum, you know, is, you know, do it. Can you do a little bit more? Can you do that one more step? Can you do that one more rep? It always adds up. Mate, this has been so good. I'm incredibly proud of you and what you've achieved.
32:55
And you know, I'm really proud that you're part of GMC now and helping other people go through what you've been through. I'm sure this will help a lot of people. So, you know, I just want to say a big thank you for sharing and being open and vulnerable. Guys, if you've enjoyed this podcast, please do let us know, get in touch. You know, if you're part of GMC, you can always reach out to Dan in the hope. If you're not part of GMC, please feel free to email me. All the details are in the show notes below and
33:24
Yeah, thank you very much mate. I'll wrap this up here so stay safe everybody, look after yourself, don't eat and drink and behave at the expense of how you want to look and feel and I will see you next week.