Welcome to the Midlife Makeover show where we dive deep into the topics that matter

Wendy Valentine: Welcome to the Midlife Makeover show where we dive deep into the topics that matter most. Health, mindset, relationships, and creating a, life you truly love. Today we’re joined by a powerhouse in the world of health and fitness, Brian Keane. Brian is a three time best selling author, the host of one of Ireland and the UK’s top health podcast, and a globally recognized expert. Expert in mindset and fat loss. Oh yeah. He’s spoken on stages around the world including, Google hq, Welfest Ireland and Mifit Dubai. And has pushed himself to the limits in some of the world’s toughest endurance races. Think marathons in the Sahara and Arctic. But beyond the accolades and the ultramarathons, Brian has a personal story that many of us can relate to. Struggling with gut health, extreme dieting, and a toxic relationship with food. Today, he’s here to share how to maintain a healthy gut. Why losing stubborn weight. Thank you very much. In midlife, if you’ve ever felt like your metabolism isn’t what it used to be, word. Or you’re confused about what really works for you, then this is the show for you. Get ready to rethink the way you approach your health and fitness.

Brian Keane is the first guest I’ve had from Ireland on the podcast

Please welcome Brian Keane to the show.

Brian Keane: Wendy, what an introduction. And the energy. Oh, I’m so matching that energy for the rest of this podcast.

Wendy Valentine: Let’s take a moment and appreciate your awesome accent. I think you’re the first, I think you’re the first guest I’ve had that is from Ireland.

Brian Keane: I will take that. That is, that is an honor, an accolade that I will cherish until my dying days.

Wendy Valentine: And like I told you, I can actually understand you again because we’re meeting.

Brian Keane: At this, at this stage in life I lived in. I said to you right before we went on air, I lived in the Bay Area in Northern California when I was 19 and 20. And you can only have so many conversations where people just tilt their head sideways at you when you’re speaking, where you know they don’t understand what you’re saying, where you have to enunciate your words and actually pronounce everything that you say. So in terms of we slur Irish people like, we blend words together and they’re slang. And I learned to like actually speak proper English when I was in the States. So I think it’s, it’s, it’s held and traveled nicely since I’ve came home again several years ago.

Wendy Valentine: And like I told you, I lived, or I live in Portugal, majority of the Year now. And I think the Portuguese are easier to understand.

Brian Keane: Yeah. Like there’s, there’s parts of Ireland that I don’t understand. There’s literally counties in Ireland where people are speaking going, I have no idea. I know we’re from the same country, but I have no. I was like, you just need like a teleprompter. Beside them, like, are the captions that are on like YouTube reels or TikTok reels. I was like, I just need those following you around.

Wendy Valentine: Oh my God, you’re so awesome and I’m excited to learn from you. you know, the number one episodes are about weight loss. On my show, it’s either weight loss, divorce, or menopause. It’s one of those three. Those are my top downloaded episodes. So it’s good that you know a thing or two about weight loss and most importantly, health. I mean, I would say that’s probably number one. Right.

You went from being a health nut to discovering that you had some health issues

So tell us more about your journey from being, I guess, a health nut to discovering that you had some health issues and then how you made that recovery.

Brian Keane: It’s interesting because it actually ties in nicely because I didn’t have any health or gut issues until I moved to the States. And very interesting. And not to, say anything negative about the United States, but I was perfectly healthy and fine before I left. And when I moved to California, I started to follow and pick up a couple of bad habits. One of them was coffee for breakfast, which isn’t an Irish thing. We don’t. We have food for breakfast historically. But I went to the States and then everyone I was living with were like, oh, just coffee and you know, skip breakfast. I was like, okay, that’s perfect. Stimulant. I’m high, I’m good, I’m fine. And the way we go, that was number one. The second thing that we didn’t have in Ireland at the time were protein bars. And I remember thinking, oh my God, fitness protein bars. These chocolate bars taste amazing and there’s protein in them. So I started to have several of those every single day. And the third thing, which I now realize was because I ate a lot of meat, I eat very little meat now, but when I was 19, 20, I ate a lot of meat. I was a fitness person, I played sport, I was into the gym, et cetera. And I started to eat a lot of meat. And I remember the first time I landed in the States and I went out for dinner, there was a piece of chicken on my plate that was the size of my face. I had Never seen a chicken breast that big. And what I didn’t know then was the antibiotics, the hormones, all of that, that was pumped into the meat. Because we have very strict regulations in the EU and in Ireland. I grew up on a farm, so most of the meat we ate came from the farm. And living in the States and living that way. And I was also drinking way too much alcohol. Let’s not call, let’s call a spade a spade here. But I was drinking a lot of alcohol in Ireland at the time too. It was just that it was like a perfect storm of though I was drinking too much alcohol, having coffee for breakfast, skipping meals, having a lot of protein bars, eating a lot of highly processed or hormonally antibiotic based food. And my gut just hated me. And I was at a fraternity party in Berkeley where I was working and I was having, I can’t remember was a vodka or it was a spirit. I was drinking and I started to get this like gut wrenching pain in my stomach and for the first time I ran to the bathroom and I got sick from alcohol. In the past, that’s not anything new for an Irish person or some of the drinks. This was a, this was a different time. I wasn’t drunk, but I started to spit blood. and then I was like, oh my God, that’s never happened before. I was like, that’s, that’s new. And I was very worried. I was 19, I had no idea what was going on. And then the same. Then when I was having bowel movements, there was blood in my stool and I was thinking, I’ve done something wrong here. So I had to be hospitalized. And to cut a very long story short, I was at that point that I realized that I had been living in a way that was very unhealthy. Although I was quite fit, I was still playing sport, going to the gym, I was relatively lean, etc, I was very unhealthy. And something that I’ve tried to promote on my channels, my podcast, my social medias is the divergence between health and fitness because they’re two different goals. It’s really ironic because a lot of people lob them together. Like I used to compete in like bodybuilding shows and fitness model. I used to travel around the world as a fitness model when I was in my 20s and I was very fit, but I was very unhealthy because I was very calorie depleted and I looked, quote unquote, quite muscular and lean. But I was really unhealthy, my gut in particular. And the same with the ultramarathons you mentioned. Like, I was very fit. I’m able to run six back to back marathons through the Sahara, but I was very unhealthy. But there is a point where there’s this sweet spot. It’s like a seesaw. And what you’re looking to do in midlife is find the sweet spot between both, particularly if you’re perimenopausal or menopausal. You’re looking for that sweet, sweet spot between I feel healthy, I feel energized, I feel good. But I’m also fit and my body fat is low and that stubborn area around my stomach has reduced and my hormonal balance is good. And it’s this. It’s this sweet spot. And I spent probably the next decade researching the different modalities in health, in wellness, in fitness, trying to blend this whole world together. So that was kind of my origin story for improving health and going into kind of health, wellness and fitness. And now it’s about, you know, having great conversations with the likes of you. Wendy, doing the same on my podcast, you know, chatting to great guests. I know I’ll have you on when your book is out. Like, all these amazing things I get to do when it comes to serving people in a meaningful way, but that was the origin story to how I kind of got here.

You talk about weight loss and fat loss being two completely different things

Wendy Valentine: I’ve said this before on the show, but I’ve. There’s one common thing that all of my guests have, and that is they are the guinea pigs of their own teachings. Right? Like, whatever they had learned through their trial and error is what they end up teaching, which is great. I mean, it’s sad that we, myself included, right? We have to go through all of that to learn. Like, okay, that didn’t work. This does work. But then you turn it around and you’re able to teach others and you’re able to help others. Do you find a lot of people will in trying to find that sweet spot? They give up because they’re so frustrated with what to eat, what to do, how to do it, when to eat, all the do’s and the don’ts.

Brian Keane: Yeah. And it’s, completely justifiable. Like, I always think if you were spending days, weeks, months, years trying to, you know, break through a rock and nothing was happening, you’d be like, I’m out. What am I doing? And that, that’s how health and fitness can feel like sometimes. And one of the things I try and bring awareness around, because awareness is the first step towards change. But really, you also have to be directionally correct. The analogy I use is it’s like climbing a ladder, but you have to make sure the ladder is up against the right wall. So what you’re doing is really important how you’re living. So I work a lot, historically, with a lot of yo yo dieters, people who have been on and off dietary fads, who have emotional or miseducation around food because of years of jumping on the scale, checking the weight, weight going up, weight going down, rebounding, and yo yoing on diets. That’s a big core part of who I work with. And as a result of that, it’s. You can see the frustration because the entire principles are wrong. There’s a whole miseducation there and an unlearning element. And the same with weight loss. Like one of my most popular. I’ve. I’ve had several viral pieces of content on this explaining the difference between weight loss and fat loss, that they are two completely different things. And when you understand that weight loss is reducing numbers on a scale, fat loss is reducing the amount of fat on your body and that you can have one without the other, or you can have both at the same time, that changes everything because your metric changes. You know, the analogy I use. And again, it lands more with the men versus the women. But again, equally here, I think is like, you know, you don’t measure the number in your bank account to track how good you are in bed. Those numbers are two different numbers. And that’s what, that’s what weight loss and fat loss is like.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Brian Keane: Yeah, thank God. Yeah, exactly. 100 or maybe, or maybe not. I don’t know. I feel like there’s a whole other podcast unpacking that. but they’re two different things. And people will be looking for fat.

Wendy Valentine: Loss, just only focused on that number on the scale. I have always been highly against that because, because of that, like, even for me, especially with working out, I’ll gain muscle, but, you know, and I might lose some fat. But maybe the number on the scale does not change or it does change. And to get so attached to that number, I mean, I feel like I hope, hopefully with society that is starting to change a little bit. You’re more than just the number on the scale.

Brian Keane: 100%. And I think. But the number on the scale is an educational thing. That, that, that, that’s. That’s a miseducation. Yeah, it’s a metric. And I always tell. Similar to food. One of my books, the Keen Edge, which is a book on yo yo dieting, emotional eating, et cetera. Mastering the fat loss for our mastering your mindset for real lasting fat loss as a subtitle. But what I speak about in there is the same as food that separating food into good and bad categories generally isn’t helpful for a weight loss goal. You know, and it’s not because certain foods aren’t quote unquote healthy. There are certain foods that are really nutrient dense. But you know, food good and bad are morals we project onto the food. Like a chocolate bar is not going to stab you down the back alley and a broccoli is not going to save you from a burning building. Like we project the morals onto the food and as a result of that, it can underpin the miseducation around how we approach food that look, there’s some food that’s going to be highly nutritious and really, you know, low caloric value or low nutritional value. And there’s, you know, your chocolate bar doesn’t have a lot of nutrients, but it tastes really good. But the calories are really high and it’s very processed, so it can affect your gut microbiome, which actually might not help you in the long term. But if you love, I’m a chocolate person. I don’t have a sweet tooth. I have sweet teeth. I love chocolate. Like if you took chocolate out of my daily routine, I actually would. Life wouldn’t be worth living. But I don’t have 10 bars every day. I have a small amount and with nutrition you can have anything. You just can’t have everything. So if I’m having chocolate, I’m not having a beer that day. Or if I’m having chocolate, I’m not going to go for a takeaway or fast food. Like I’m going to balance that out. And that’s how that can be a good foundational approach for anyone midlife looking to lose weight and be sustainable with their fat loss over time.

Weight training is so important to midlife through your bone strength and metabolism

Because the weight training you mentioned earlier, Wendy, is so important, so important to midlife through your bone strength, your metabolic rate and your metabolism, like your hormonal production, particularly coming into any sort of perimenopause or menopausal age, like heavy lifting and strength and weight bearing exercises, like all the studies, like I go into the weeds on this, all the studies suggest that you have to lift heavy in that so that your bone density, your metabolism is going to support you for the next decade. And that’s an approach that sometimes doesn’t get spoken enough about. And what I think is kind of an underserved market, for sure.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I just, in the last year have gotten more into weight training and it makes such a huge difference, more than I thought that it would. I mean, I did weight training for a while, then I kind of got into just cycling and lots of cardio, like, kind of bored with it. And weight training, I think is very exciting. I mean, it’s like you can actually see some results even while you’re in the gym, which is pretty neat. But if you think about it in your 70s and 80s, I mean, I plan to live until I’m 111. Right. But the key is that you want to be able to get out of bed. You want to be able to. Okay, tmi, but right, you want to be able to sit on the toilet, you want to be able to get back up from the toilet. Like all those that. You want to be able to sit on the floor and play with the grandkids. You have to start thinking about those things. Even the, the, the basic moves of the human body that we take for granted as we get older. And it’s like, oh, shit, I wish I had strengthened those bones and those muscles and, and had nice lubrication in my joints so that I can move around freely.

Both my mother and father are both alive. And I feel like if both of them could see

Brian Keane: It’s so interesting, Wendy. And I don’t want to be a focus group of one here based on my narrative, but I think about my, my, my two parents. Thankfully, both my mother and father are both alive. But m. My mother is in her mid-60s and mom still plays soccer, goes to the gym and plays Gaelic football, which is our national sport, literally, with women in their 20s. M m mom’s m a badass. My dad needs help putting on his shoes in the morning. And I remember as kids, me and my sister are both very active, very similar to my mom. I remember my mom when we were kids in her 40s, in her 30s and her 40s and her 50s, always going to the gym, sprinting outside, hiking up mountains. She always trained. My dad played sport. And when he retired at 32, he never worked out again after that. And I feel like if both of them could see 30 years in the future, that one, would still be playing soccer and five aside, and going to the gym three to four times a week. And the other would need help putting on their shoe, they would have invested in their health pension a lot sooner. And sometimes when you think about your 40s and 50s, you’re like, oh, okay, things are starting to kind of clock on now. Maybe I should look into this. But think about how you’ll be in your 60s, in your 70s, in your 80s. That’s why it’s so important. This is both genders and non binary, but male, female, like this is for everybody. And sometimes you have to like do your forward projection, your psychological term of like picturing your future self. And what will they thank you for today?

Wendy Valentine: Exactly. And doing that too. I always think about like what would, you know, 90 year old Wendy, you know, be saying to me, like, I want her to be like, thank you so much for taking care of this body. Because like that it’s the only one you like. It’s the vehicle that carries your soul, you know, through this lifetime. Like put some good fuel into it, right? Like you wouldn’t put subpar fuel into. I wouldn’t put that in the rv. I wouldn’t get anywhere. Right. You got to put good fuel into your body. But you know what, I want to go back to what you’re saying. I totally agree with you. Like for in the United States, unfortunately we have some very unhealthy food. And no joke, I’ve been back, let’s see, maybe about 10 days and my stomach has been a wreck ever since I got back. And I eat well, I eat very healthy. And even still it is challenging because, and I think I had heard this, I don’t know if this is accurate, but that 50% of, and you were even saying, and you know, like in the UK or in Europe, that I think it’s like 50%, of what they don’t allow over in Europe. We have in our foods here. So it’s hard, but it’s like even if you have great intentions, so how, what do, what do we do here in the States to be able to eat as healthy as we possibly can?

Brian Keane: Unfortunately, there is an answer, but like most things, it comes at a cost and in this case it’s financial. You can get really good foods in the us it just tends to cost more. But a flip I put on that for people is similar to what I talked about my mother and my father earlier. Which one is your future self going to thank you more for? And if you’re eating mostly organic and in the eu, in Ireland, in the uk, this isn’t as strict because we don’t have glyphed in our foods. We don’t have all these issues and preservatives added in. We have very strict regulations. Over here you don’t have that.

Wendy Valentine: That’s, that’s when you really want regulations.

Brian Keane: And strict one Ah, hundred percent. But the US doesn’t have that. So there’s an element of kind of work with what you got and just being educated around how to make better choices. And yeah, it’s probably the downside is it’s going to probably increase your food shop by, you know, hundreds, maybe a couple of hundred dollars a week even in some cases, especially if you have a family. But it’s, I would argue now I’m very biased. I’m a nutritionist. I’m certified in that space. So. And I know and understand the chemical makeup of poor quality nutrient foods versus higher quality alternatives. So it’s very easy for me to say. And also I’m in a very luxurious position where I can potentially afford that even if I was in the US Based on the living that I make, not everybody can. Some people are really struggling to make ends meet. So this advice, I don’t want to make it sound like it’s coming from a place of a lack of awareness because for some people it’s like, where am I going to get an extra couple of hundred dollars a week for my food? But if it means that you might have to potentially cut back somewhere else. It’s the thing that I always think of your food. And although weight management, losing body fat, your stubborn area in particular, I spend a lot of focus and attention on content around your stubborn area and reducing belly fat and body fat and how that works in terms of, you know, how everyone is different. Some people reduce in what’s called localized regional areas, juice overall, I. E. You windy. And then another alternative, a tana is beside you. You lose body fat in your stomach and in your back and in your legs and your hips, and tana loses it a little bit from everywhere. So people lose body fat in different ways. So it’s important to understand that because comparison is the thief of joy. When people look and go, well, her belly fat’s coming down, why isn’t mine coming down? So body fat reduces differently for different people. But when it comes to your nutrition and making the healthier food choice, I always think that energy is the currency of the world, really. And when you have higher quality food, you tend to have more energy actually moving through the world. You tend to sleep better, you hormonally feel better, you tend to move more. And what normally happens. Now I’m probably biased, so feel free to correct me and be like, Brian, this does not happen in my world. But what I normally see happens is when people have higher energy levels, they tend to feel happier in themselves. So they can put more focus and attention into things that they love, their fitness, their family. And in other cases, people will end up setting up side hustles. They’ll end up doing other things that actually generates revenue, and then that revenue can go back in to make healthier food choices. So it’s weird because when you are low energy, when you’re approaching midlife, when you don’t feel that good, you feel a bit fluffy, you feel a bit bloated all the time, you don’t feel as good as you did 10, 20 years ago. It’s hard to be in that position to go, well, I can’t even imagine feeling that much more energy. I’ve just resigned myself to the fact this isn’t going to happen now. When in reality, there’s a lot of things you can do in terms of the supplements you can take, the healthier food options you can make, the movement patterns, that is the strength training we talked about. There are things that will compound very positively over the space of weeks and months. I’m not even talking years because it’s astronomical over years, but you’ll notice those changes in weeks and months. And then again, it’s investing back into yourself. And as I said, I don’t want to be blind to people’s situations, but just from what I’ve seen, when you’re able to increase people’s energy and they feel better about themselves, life feels more like it’s worth living. And that’s ultimately what it’s about. Keeping your frequency high, keeping your vibration high, keeping your energy high. I think all those words can be used interchangeable. And your food is definitely one way of doing that. Garbage in, garbage out.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, very well said. It’s funny because I think it’s.

Control the controllables. The cognitive neuroscience is very clear on this

A few days ago I posted, I posted a video of me dancing in the rv, because that’s what I do. Comment. And they’re like, I gotta know, how do you have so much energy? And I get, I get the question a lot. Or that comment, oh, gee, gee. And. And it’s exactly what you said. And there’s. It’s not rocket science. It really isn’t. It’s how I value, number one, how I look at the vehicle that carries the soul through this lifetime, what I want to do with my soul during this lifetime. Right. And the foods that I put into my body, I do the best that I can, even despite, like, sometimes my body goes in shock when I come back to the States. I guess I’m not eating out for dinner, you know, but. And it’s really, to me, it’s like, it’s the basics. And I think the number one thing, even in my, in my book I talked about this. The ABCs of Health and your same thing, it’s awareness and it’s a, is awareness and it’s okay, what, observing yourself. How, how are you? How are you right when you wake up in the morning? How are you thinking? How are you, how are you feeling about yourself when you go look in the mirror, you’re like, oh crap, like I look like crap. Or you know, are you like, oh, hey, good morning. You know, I mean, I’m not always chipper, I can tell you that. But I am aware of it. If I’m having a down moment, I’m like, down women. You know, I accept it. But being aware of how you’re eating, what you’re eating, what you’re doing, how you’re moving, like really just being conscious of what the heck you’re doing.

Brian Keane: Every day, you know, it’s a controllable. There’s a, it’s weird because I learned this in kind of ultra events and running through the Arctic and running to the Sahara when I was chatting to other ultra runners. But it’s very applicable here. And the famous line in those circles is control the controllables. And your food is a controllable. The media you consume is a controllable. Your movement patterns for the most part are controllable. There’s a lot of things you can’t control. You can’t control what’s going on in the government, you can’t control what’s going on. You know, potentially in your work, if you’ve got several people over you, if you’re not self employed, there’s a lot of things you can’t control. But your food and your nutrition is one of them. And again, I know there’s barriers. Cost is a big barrier as I’ve mentioned, but the same as barriers. Is there a way around it? Is there a way through, is there a way over it? Barriers are there. They’re not complete blocks as a wall. You can get over them, around them or through them. And maybe just shifting your mindset to more of an open state versus a fixed state to okay, how can I eat healthier versus the I can’t. Because we know this. The cognitive neuroscience is very clear on this. You tell yourself you can’t do something. All those compartments in your brain shut down and you have no options. But when you ask, well, how can I? Everything starts to open up and your Brain looks for solutions. We’re problem seeking machines to a degree, but we’re also problem solving machines in terms of how our brain has been evolved over the last 10,000 years. And it’s really important that the way you speak to yourself, how can I move more? How can I lift those weights? How can I eat better framing it that way versus the automatic fixed mindset shutdown if I can’t.

Wendy Valentine: It’s funny, you hear a lot about like, how to properly ask Chat GPT to get the right answers. Like, why haven’t we said that? Just like what you said, why don’t we ask ourselves the right questions? Yeah, the right answers. Instead we’re focusing. Our computers can respond.

Brian Keane: I’m so stealing that line, Wendy. Like we’re worried about the prompts on Chat GPT when it’s like, well, what’s the questions we need? What’s our own prompts? What’s our internal prompt? How do I live a happier life? How do I make my sole purpose my sole purpose? Like, they’re better questions that we don’t think to ask to ourselves, but we would program into a machine.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. And I think that’s, I mean, that says a lot too. We’re looking for answers outside of ourselves when it’s just, it’s right here. It’s, you know, you know, I was thinking too, I would rather put my money towards my health now rather than having to put my money towards my sickness later in life and think about how much illness cost. And I mean, no matter where you are in the world, it’s expensive and it’s like, well then, okay, grow a garden. You know, like what I had, what’s his name? Udo Sarasmus. I don’t know if you know, he.

Brian Keane: Yeah, he’s been, he’s been on the podcast as well. Yeah. Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: Is he not a hoot or what? But I remember him saying his number one suggestion was like, grow a garden. If you have a yard, grow a garden. Like, that is the best thing you do. Because like, to your point, it’s something you can control. You can control what you’re planting in your own garden, how you’re eating it, how you. All of that. And it’s so good for you. Just the act of doing it is good for you.

Brian Keane: Yeah, it’s a, Actually, you know what, it’s a beautiful metaphor and analogy for life too, because I think about podcasts like this, Wendy, similar to my show, that you get to choose what you consume and like we’re having a Big thing. I’m not sure when this episode is going out, but, Conor McGregor was over with Trump in something, and it’s going all viral here, and people are really, really angry about it. Somebody asked me about it on social media today. I put it on my stories. I’m like, okay, look, if you’re really angry about this, I’m like, turn off your phone and switch off your tv. Like, you know, I was like, you’re choosing what to put into your mind.

The mindset is the gateway to the soul in terms of what you’re consuming

You’re choosing to get angry about this. And I had to spend years cultivating that patience, seeking in with those dark nights of the soul to why I would react to things instead of respond and know that most of those problems were myself. You know, if you’re replying or responding hysterically to something that’s probably historical, meaning that it’s something that’s been activated and triggered within you, and now you’re feeling anger or rage or sadness or loneliness or frustration, etc. Insert feeding here. And I think that’s a really important. Kind of. Just reminds me with the garden with terms of physical food. But I think your mindset is just equally equivalent and it’s again, holistic when it comes to the happiness and feeding your soul. Because ultimately, as you mentioned, it’s the vehicle that you’re moving through this world. And so you need to look after your physical body, you need to look after your soul. And sometimes the mindset is actually the gateway to the soul in terms of what you’re consuming. So you can actually feel that happiness, joy, and fulfillment.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, well said. And no one else can do it, right? I mean, we can learn from others and we can learn from you and how you do it. People can learn from me, but it’s ultimately up to each individual person to take care of their garden. Right?

Brian Keane: Yeah, exactly.

Wendy Valentine: Wow. Yeah. You and I both love these analogies. I was. So I think of it as, Your mind is like, there’s a ticker tape of thoughts going across. Like in watching the. Like here in the States, you know, we love CNN and Fox News. And you’re watching the ticker tape going across of all the crappy news. You have the power to change that. You have the power to change that ticker tape of thoughts going across in your mind. And just like you said, if something’s bothering you, shut it off. Like, I mean, no matter what it is, whether it’s TV or social media or your. Your friend or supposed to be your friend, or like, you have that power to do that. And I think that affects everything. I mean, I know, like, all right, this episode is supposed to be about fat loss and, you know, taking care of our bodies, but that’s really a lot of what it is.

Brian Keane: I’m going to tie it all together because when you’re unhappy or frustrated or angry, it’s a lot harder to make healthier food choices and move your body because you’re operating at a lower frequency, a lower vibration. And one of the impediments for weight loss and fat loss isn’t always nutrition and it isn’t always exercise. It’s literally the reason why I write books around the mindset of fat loss. In a lot of cases now, the books have the nutrition and the training, etc. But the mindset is equally important. And one of the lines I wrote in my second book, rewire your mindset, was don’t plant apple seeds and expect oranges to grow. And that goes for nearly everything that if you’re around negative people, if you’re consuming negative media, although it doesn’t directly feel like it’s going to impact your belly fat, it does. It’s stress, it’s cortisol. It’s a hormonal physiological response. And if you have too much excess of cortisol going on in your body, your body will hold on to fat. It’s literally a survival mechanism that’s been evolved for thousands of years that kept your ancestors alive 10,000 years ago, but now it just makes us fat and unhappy and not like the mirror reflection we see. And it all ties together because there’s foundational principles of nutrition. You know, eat more whole foods. If you’re in the US Listening to this large portion of people are, try and eat organic as much as possible. Go to sprouts, go to whole foods, go to the alternative locals farmers markets as much as you can. You know, eat. If you’re eating meat and fish, try and eat wild fish. Try and eat free range meat if that’s your choice that you’re deciding to go. In terms of nutritional protocol, move your body more, focus on your step counts or your cycling or what you enjoy doing. I’m a big believer in, like, life is too short to do things you hate. And if you hate going to the gym, look for an alternative way to move. Like, yes, the science and the research says you should lift more because you’re perimenopausal or you’re menopausal. And if you do five sets of six repetitions on a squat or deadlift, it’s Going to improve your bone density, it’s going to improve your metabolic race as you age. But if you hate that and your soul cries every time you step inside a gym, look at alternative ways of doing this. Look at alternatives.

Wendy Valentine: M like you said too like that in itself can cause stress because you hate it so much.

Brian Keane: 100 and it’s so weird. It’s like this like chicken and egg scenario on. You know, I hate the gym but I need to work out. But I’ve got so much cortisol because I hate the gym. And you’re like, you don’t want to be in that cycle either. So look for alternative ways. There’s so many things out there that are going to potentially help. Yes, you can optimize and do the thing that’s optimal 100%. Like there’s macro splits and calorie targets and nutrient elements targets. we need to hit and reps and sets and all of these things. But ultimately check in, tune in.

Intuition is a big thing. And particularly, particularly female intuition

Intuition is a big thing. And particularly, particularly female intuition. I think women naturally, I don’t want to, you know, speak down of non binary men, etc. But like women’s intuition is a very strong thing and that’s something that I trust in my life with the women I very powerful women in my life. My mother, my sister, my partner, I’ve got a daughter, she’s nine. Like I want her around those strong women so she’s like that. And but that women’s intuition, that’s something that I have to really focus on as a man. That seems to be very natural to the women in my life. And checking in with that. What does my body need? What do I need today? What does my soul need? What does my physical body need? What do I need? Am I over saying yes? Am I people pleasing? Am I over committing to things that I don’t really want to be doing? These are all things that will impact your belly fat and they will impact your waistline. Although sometimes we don’t directly think that they do.

Wendy Valentine: You know it’s one thing to like thinking back in the 80s it was it was like the fad diet, you know, decade. And a lot of it was don’t eat that, don’t do this, don’t eat that, don’t, don’t, don’t. No, no, no. And I think this matter of fact, I think I saw on your Instagram, this is something about the elephant.

Brian Keane: Oh, I have a few, I’ve got a, I’ve got a couple of elephant lines. I’m not sure what you referred to. I do like the elephant as a metaphor for it.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it’s like you said, okay, you can’t do that. Then you’re like, all you’re thinking about, like it’s. All you’re seeing is that elephant, Pink elephant.

Brian Keane: Pink elephant theory.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, exactly. And I think that’s, I think that’s where we kind of go wrong with this. It’s the negative, like, don’t, obviously do not is going to be negative. And so instead of thinking like, oh, I can’t have this, I can’t do that and have you even free, like, okay, I eat chocolate. I’m not going to deprive myself of eating. I love chocolate. I’m a French pastry chef, of course I’m going to eat, you know, but I’m not sitting around eating like chocolate croissants all day long. Right. So it’s like too much of anything is a bad thing except for love, I think. But. Right. Like it’s, it’s the balance of it and it’s not to deprive yourself. It’s. It’s actually, I feel like once you get it, you actually get more than you were before. And you’re not, you’re happier, you’re not feeling deprived and you’re moving your body better, you’re feeling healthy. Like that’s. Isn’t that what we all want?

What’s your soul food? What’s the food that feeds your soul

Brian Keane: There’s two things I want to unpack there because I was so beautifully said, Wendy. Like I’m a big frequency, vibration, love, peace, acceptance, person. That’s something I had to do a lot of internal work on. And the irony of somebody that wants more love is to give out more love. It’s it feels very paradoxical, but that’s the truth. You want to receive something, put it out there. You want acceptance, accept people. You want peace, be peaceful towards people. Again, it’s vibration, it’s frequency, it’s energy. The pink elephant theory, which is if I say, wendy, do not think of a pink elephant, first thing in your mind is a pink elephant. And so it comes counter intuitive to, or, it’s actually a complete counterbalance to what I’ve said there in terms of that, what you put out is what you get back. So if I say you cannot have chocolate, that’s what you want, first thing you want. You can’t have the French pastries. First thing you want. So straight away, understanding, there’s a lot of psychological underpinnings and research done on this pink elephant theory, on all Facets of life. You always have people who are like, I always want what I can’t have. I’m like, that’s a self fulfilling prophecy that you’ve conditioned yourself to think and with nutrition and the 80s fad diets, because it was all no, no, no, don’t have this, eliminate this. And as soon as you do that, that’s what your brain is going to want and crave. When you understand that food has different purposes, one of them is to fuel your body and other can be psychological and social. Like the French pastry will taste amazing. You might be having it with a friend or a family member or a loved one and then that’s literally feeding your soul. One of the questions I ask all my one to one clients is what’s your soul food like? S O U L. What’s your soul food? What’s the food that your soul is like? I love that. Chocolate’s my soul food. And the reason I ask it is because it’s a pattern interrupt. Because a lot of people who come to me have worked with coaches before and they normally get put off a lot of their favorite foods and they eliminate their favorite foods. The first thing I’ll ask is what your soul food? Because I will build a plan around the soul food because I love that. Because that’s what’s going to lead to sustainability ultimately and it means that people can stick to it, they enjoy it, etc. So it’s a pattern interrupt that anybody could do themselves and then just reverse engineer the plan from there.

Wendy Valentine: Really? That’s genius. So you, oh, so you probably just answer my question. but do you guide people on like this is what to eat, when to eat it, because so I think, I feel like so many people nowadays need this like 1, 2, 3, like these bullet points, very structured diet so that they can follow, otherwise they’re just lost without depends.

Brian Keane: And one of the things that we’ve built out, we historically always did group based programs and then online there would be some people that be kind of the more one to one. But in the group based programs we have all the programs set there nutritionally. So it’s here’s the program, here are the recipes, loads of options. But you pick what’s going to work for you with one to one. And this goes for everything. And this isn’t a pitch to work with me. There’s loads of great coaches, nutritionists out there. It’s square pegs into square holes. Find whoever you like. You have a great coach in Portugal. Find Whoever you like, who you think you will fit as a good fit with and then work with that person potentially but with one to one and nutrition. So many different things work for different people based on underlying issues. If you’re somebody with thyroid issues or PCOS or you’re perimenopausal and you’re having horrible symptoms, you’re, you know, nightly hot flashes, etc, yeah, you’re going to have a different approach than someone who’s 25, 26 with no underlying issue, who just wants to lose weight or body fat because they have a bikini holiday in three months time. Like it’s a very, very different approach. So with nutrition it never has been and never will be a one size fits all. There’s loads of protocols and you know, I’ve had people do intermittent fasting, I’ve had people track calories, I’ve had people do keto, I’ve had people do principles approach. I’ve had people, you know, just work off, you know, whole foods and eat clean foods and reduce your processed foods. I’ve had others who will do a very strict Monday to Friday in a flexible weekend because they love the rigidity Monday to Friday and they love being able to go out with their friends at the weekend. And all of those options can work. It’s just about finding what ultimately is going to be the best fit for you.

Wendy Valentine: I love that. No, it’s not a one size fits all, no pun intended. Right.

So can you typically tell personality wise when you meet with someone what will, what will work

So can you typically tell personality wise when you meet with someone what will, what will work and what will not work as far as the structure of.

Brian Keane: It, not from meeting, but three or four probing questions I can, yeah. Like generally, what’s your relationship like with food? What has historically worked for you and why and what is, what does the future you want your life to look like in terms of your food relationship? You know, I’ve had one of my clients who signed up last week was I just want to be able to like his whole goal, he wants to lose weight but his whole goal was I just want to be able to keep chocolate in the house. He was like, I can’t keep it in the house. He’s like, if I keep it in the house, it’s gone. And it’s. And I get it. It’s so weird. It’s like, you know, is it Odysseus sirens where it’s like screaming at you from the cupboard and be like, brian, Brian, Wendy, I’m in, I’m in the cupboard. The French pastry come get me. Like it can feel like that sometimes when it’s in the house. So I totally get it. As someone that had a history of, you know, a not so healthy relationship with food. And so his goal was, I want to lose weight, but I also want to be able to keep chocolate in the house. So his approach, and we’re not going to do that straight away, we’re going to build to that and gradually incorporate a plan that works and a strategy that works to that. So it’s important. And I can tell with three or four probing questions what’s going to work and the beauty of coaching. And this isn’t, as I said, it’s not for me, any good nutritionist or coach will do this with you is you’re working with them for the accountability and the flexibility. So if something’s not working, you try the next thing. Like as a nutritionist, as a coach, same as a chef. You have tools in your arsenal that I could never dream of when I came. Like a French pastry. I would be able to pay for a French pastry that’s as high, as close as I could get to it because the ingredients put it together, no idea. I don’t have that skill set. And as a coach, and when you’re looking for a coach or a trainer or anybody, you’re looking for someone who has the skill set that, okay, that’s not working. Let’s try this. That’s not working. Let’s try that. And because ultimately, you know, you don’t want to be with your coach forever. If you’re building a codependent relationship with a coach, you’re with the wrong coach. No one wants to be in a co dependent relationship. And you don’t want to be in a codependent relationship with your coach. Your coach should be arming you with the knowledge, the tools, the education that you need that you can go and do it yourself. And that’s, you know, the best business model of all time.

Wendy Valentine: Raising kids, you know, like, okay, they’re in the nest and you’re teaching them how to be an adult. And then once they leave the nest, okay, you’re set. I taught you everything you need to know, hopefully.

Brian Keane: Yeah, yeah, you got this, you got this. Like that, that. I think of my daughter all the time with that. Like you’re, you’re empowering her to make decisions, to think for herself and be a confident young, like, everything. I filter through that lens that I’m not going to be here someday, either physically because she’s gone off, or I could die or whatever. Loads of Things can happen. Life is short. And you’re always thinking, okay, well, who does? It’s a weird one, because with my daughter, I’m like, who? What’s the skills I want to give her so she can navigate life? But with nutrition, it’s the same. What’s the skills I want to acquire so that I can navigate food? And you’re just flipping the wording, but it’s nearly identical. The person you become is more important than what you do. And you’re just making sure that you’re consuming the right information or working with the right people who can work towards that idealized version of yourself. Obviously, idealized version isn’t the correct terminology. There’s no perfect person. We’re all perfect inner imperfections. But in terms of what your future self looks like, in terms of the food choices they make.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. And I would say, too, I mean, as far as, you know, a lot of women out there dealing with the perimenopause and menopause. And I’m, I know you’re not supposed to say post menopause. Pause. But I’m postmenopause. But I think a lot of women will find that as they eat better foods and they take care of their bodies and they change that mindset, a lot of those symptoms will go away. Whereas I feel like nowadays, and it’s great, the menopause is being spoken about and the hormones, it’s great and amazing. But again, the answers are within you and also within your. The makeup of your body, like we were. I, feel like the whole thing about menopause is like, as if that’s this. And it can. I mean, I had horrible symptoms. Horrible. But menopause is not a disease. It is a phase. Just like puberty and even pregnancy. Anyone gone through pregnancy, it’s, it’s just, it’s a phase and you have to. And sometimes you have to change stuff up to, to be able to get through that and to thrive through it. And I mean, I’m, I’m proof that you can. I mean, I had to change up, a lot of what. And I already ate. Well, like I said, I already took care of my body, but I had was like, oh, okay, let me fine tune this. Let me try that, let me try that. And you, it’s like you’re. You are your own little guinea pig. And figuring out, okay, this works. This doesn’t work. Oh, I feel better. I slept good last night. Let me make a mental note of that. You know, and it’s just figuring out and, and it’s okay. It’s like, you’re not broken. It’s, it’s just the body evolving and growing and changing and you have to, you have to change with it.

Brian Keane says he feels better now than he did in his 20s

Brian Keane: Yeah. And it’s so beautifully said and I nearly don’t want to add anything because as a man I’m never going to experience it, but there’s such a beautiful phrasing of that. It’s a phase of life, a season of life, you know, and to come at it with a place of non judgment, like we don’t judge the trees for losing leaves in the autumn and yet we can judge the phases and seasons of our life. And I think you said that absolutely beautifully, Wendy.

Wendy Valentine: Thank you. Yeah, like, not, don’t fight it. Just, just, you know, love it for what it is and love your body for what it is. I mean, I, I mean I don’t, I don’t expect my body to look like a 20 year old. You know what I mean? I don’t. Or to feel like that actually. I m mean, if anything, I, I feel better nowadays than I did in my 20s because of mostly my mindset and the acceptance of my body and my acceptance of life. And to me it’s like, it’s almost like it washes out all the other things that you would. Because you’re, you’re more in love with yourself and with life than you don’t you kind of forget about that other stuff.

Brian Keane: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: Just like you said, the energy you put out there. Right. It’s like.

Brian Keane: Yeah, you’re valuing the valuables, like ultimately your peace, your love, your acceptance. How you’re showing up in the world with the people around you. And it’s, it’s funny when you shift your priorities, there’s an old line. I don’t know who it’s attributed to, but that when you, you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. And when you shift the way you’re moving through the world and raising that frequency and vibration. Yeah, we all want to look better and feel more confident when we see that reflection in the mirror. But it becomes nearly a byproduct of the way you’re living versus this monomaniacal goal that you’re working towards that’s coming at the cost of all the other things that are important. And I think that’s a, nice framework for people to see everything through.

Wendy Valentine: You’re so wise, I feel, you know, like. Yeah. Has everyone ever told you that you’re an old soul?

Brian Keane: I’ve heard it on occasion for sure. Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: You remind me of my middle sons like that. He’s such an old soul. I mean, he’s like, he’s 27, but he’s like going on 67, you know.

Brian Keane: I, love that.

Wendy Valentine: It’s a deep thinker. Deep thinker. So you have, you have the pod. What’s the name of the podcast?

Brian Keane: The Brian Keane podcast. Yeah. So amply named Easy, Easy to search SEO. Very, very easy.

Wendy Valentine: Yes. Brian Keen. I love it. and then you’ve got the three books, which is awesome. I’m on book number one and I’m like, I can’t imagine what that would feel like.

Brian Keane: It’s, I’m so happy for you and excited to chat on my podcast about it. It’s an incredible thing to get a book out there because it’s not, it’s, it’s not easy and it’s not belonging to you after a certain point because people will put their own lens and experience and bias and that’s okay. And it gives us the art and the practice of letting go because it doesn’t belong to us anymore.

Wendy Valentine: I know. Isn’t that a nice feeling though? We had the dark nights of the soul. I had several in order to even write the book, you know. Right.

Brian Keane: Oh, you’re. Oh, you’re telling me. Preach it at the converted, Wendy. Preach it at the converted.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, it was worth it.

Do you provide coaching as well? Yeah, I do

So. And then do you provide coaching as well?

Brian Keane: Yeah, I do, I do. I’ve got a waiting ah, list for it at the minute, but anyone that ever wants to apply for it. I, kind of have strict protocols with it. I take, I work with five people at any one time and then one has to finish up their 12 week block for someone else to come on. And then some people stay. But yeah, I love my coaching. It’s one of my favorite things that I do.

Wendy Valentine: I bet you’re so good at it. I mean it’s probably just comes so natural to you.

Brian Keane: I think it’s not even that I’m good at it. It’s that square pegs fit into square holes. And I know who I’m a good fit for and who I can serve and help. And I’m the first to tell people that I don’t think I’m the person that’s going to help you on this next phase or journey of life. And for those who are a good fish, I’m the first to say, yeah, look, we’ll do good things together.

Wendy Valentine: Love it. And last question. Where can we find you. I have a feeling I know what you’re going to say.

Brian Keane: I’m actually on everything, believe it or not. I have omnipresence on all the social channels. But Instagram is the best place. It’s the only place you’ll get me directly. Instagram DM is what I check. I do all my own DMs on Instagram. Everything else will go to my assistant or it’s automated as a reply. but I’m on Instagram. Briankeen Fitness for anyone that does want to reach out directly.

Wendy Valentine: And website. Website is brian keane.com Correct.

Brian Keane: Brian keen. Briankeen fitness.com is the website.

Wendy Valentine: Briankeen fitness.com K E A N E. Correct.

Brian Keane: That’s the one. That’s it.

Wendy Valentine: You’re awesome. Great, great chat. I look forward to chatting with you on your show. As.

Brian Keane: Ah, do I. Wendy, thank you so much again for having me on.

Wendy Valentine: Everyone have an awesome day.