Thermo Diet Podcast Episode 24 - Thermo Talk With Fellow Thermo Member Gus Nelson

In this episode of The Thermo Diet Podcast Jayton Miller and Gus Nelson sit down and talk about various Thermo Topics most notably How Gus maintained collegiate sprinting performance with only 1/10 to 1/3 of the training (& put on 25+ lbs in 4 months) Raw milk, revolting against the modern world, and how you can always find ways to go deeper into the Thermo lifestyle The mental benefits of entering deeper Thermo states Why it takes time to discover the "real" oils and how to shortcut this process When the Thermo process really begins The simplest way to maintain a Thermo lifestyle (it only involves printing out one sheet of paper) Murdering the temptations of leaving a Thermo state with the help of bone broth and collagen Plus, a shoutout to Jake Miner and the rest of the community. 

Check it out and let us know what you think!

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Full Transcript:

Jayton:
How's it going, guys? It's Jayton, back again on the Thermo Diet Podcast. And I am here with Mr. Gus Nelson straight from the Thermo Diet group. How are you doing today?

Gus:
I'm doing great, Jayton. I'm so glad to be here.

Jayton:
Yeah, definitely. So tell us your story. How'd you get started with Thermo and how'd you end up in Boulder?

Gus:
I started on the Thermo diet around one year ago. And I've been a lifelong athlete. I've been a runner, primarily. I've run in high school, in college. And I've been an endurance runner, I've been a sprinter. And during this time period, I always had difficulty really putting on any kind of muscle, really ever reaching any kind of higher level of performance and endurance running. And a lot of those things I always just wrote off to I'm just not capable, it's not in my genes to be a great athlete, I'm not capable of building muscle. And I've held this my entire life and I'm 26 now and I held this belief all the way up until I was 24, 25. And then one day I did discover the Thermo diet and I was thinking, "Yeah, even if I get the diet right, even if I really get it right, how much is this really going to help?"

Gus:
I started watching Chris Walker's videos on YouTube. I started following his Instagram. And I really started to believe maybe there is something I can change inside my diet, inside of my lifestyle that actually will help me reach a higher level of performance. And that's when I decided I'm going to jump in. I'm going to buy this Thermo diet program. I'm going to buy some of these supplements. I'm going to start. I want to see if this really can make a difference. And a year later, I can say it did. It did make a difference.

Jayton:
What are some of the benefits that you experienced in terms of the performance?

Gus:
In college, I was a 400 meter sprinter. And I ran at D3 school so I'm not at the elite, elite level of college athletics, but it's still very competitive, it's still very high level athletes. And I could never really bust through the middle of the pack. After a year of training in specifically for the 400 meters, I can run maybe a 54 second 400. It's pretty on the low end. But after following a year of the Thermo diet, I'm not training the same way I was. I'm not putting the same amount of hours in as I was training, but I got my diet right. And now I can run those same times. I'm probably only training maybe one 10th of the time I used to be training, but I can really achieve the same time as I was when I was training full time on the Thermo diet simply from getting the diet right. I'm able to basically reach that same performance with maybe one third to one 10th of the training.

Jayton:
Wow. So what aspects of the diet specifically did you find the most beneficial?

Gus:
The crazy thing is, so I'm pretty big. Like I'm 6'6", I didn't use to be this big, I used to be maybe 180 pounds. And within four months of being on the Thermo diet, I went all the way from 180 pounds up to 210. So it was a 25 to nearly 30 pound weight increase. And a lot of that was muscle and just getting the body composition right. Bone density, muscle density, just general health. It's not like I was putting on weight that's fat and not healthy weight. It's really weight that should have been there all along, it's weight that should have been there as an athlete to really be a healthy weight. And I think that was the biggest thing was just the ability to actually sustain weight and sustain real muscle and real muscle density and real bone density.

Jayton:
In terms of oils and stuff like that, were you supplementing with fish oil? And then how did you kind of go over into different types of cooking oils and things like that.

Gus:
This is really, really interesting. This was really, really mind altering when I started learning about the different oils and their benefits and their downsides from the Thermo diet. And one of the first things that's talked about is PFASs, the poly unsaturated fats. If you basically go into the grocery store, you pick up any item, you can look on the back of the packaging and realize that these oils are proliferating into all kinds of foods. They're basically everywhere. And there's almost no knowledge or no awareness to the general person on the effect that these oils have. And reflecting back, I was consuming a huge volume of these. I think this was causing a tremendous amount of inflammation, a tremendous amount of pain, and really no benefits at all to me, a lot of downside with these oils. And you can't taste them, you have no idea. And I just think these were having a huge drawback to my performance.

Gus:
So when I started learning about these things, I really got interested. And so, if these are bad, then what is good? And around the same time, I was following this account on Twitter and I call it kind of an art account where it's very artful and the way it talks, but it's talking about something called the real oils. What are the real oils? And I was starting to really ... The Thermo diet. So I now know that the PFASs are bad oils, but what are the real oils? And then I started discovering things such as real olive oils, real avocado oils, real coconut oils. And I make the distinction there because if you walk into a grocery store and you start looking at the oil aisle, you can see there's maybe a hundred different types of oils. I actually went in the grocery store last night, I counted, there was 40 types of olive oils on the shelf. And there's probably only one of those olive oils, now that I'm armed with the knowledge that I'm armed with, that I'd actually buy out of those oils.

Gus:
I started discovering basically the benefits of cooking with the right oils and cooking with the right fats such as things like tallow, things such as the coconut oil and the tremendous health benefits of just selecting the right oils and getting the right vitamins from these oils, getting the right antioxidants from these oils, enhancing the taste of the food from these oils.

Jayton:
What are some of the specifics that you noticed whenever you were looking for oils? How do you tell the difference between a really good olive oil and something that's not so good?

Gus:
First, you learn that you want to move towards coconut oils, avocado oils, olive oils. So you go to the grocery store and you buy one of those and then you get home and you look at the back of the packaging and you realize it's not really olive oil, it's an olive oil blend and there's actually PFASs still inside of this oil. So then you throw that away and you go back to the grocery store and you decide, "All right, I'm not going to screw up this time. I'm going to get something that's purely the right oil." And then you buy that and you get home and you realize, well, I didn't get an organic oil. All right, well, why is it not organic? So then you go get an organic oil and then you bring that home and you realize there's no taste inside of this oil. It's been highly processed even though it is organic. So then you go back and you get another oil and you get a virgin oil and you realize the taste is so much better and you realize that the taste is so much better. It's not been processed, it's organic. And then you start to realize that you're moving closer and closer to getting the real essence of the oil and the real essence of the food that you really intended on getting in the first place.

Jayton:
So do you typically stick towards the more saturated fat or the mono unsaturated fats, typically?

Gus:
I cover many different things. I'm using using them for different purposes. For example, I'm buying the coconut oils for things such as oil pulling when I'm swishing in between my teeth, working out my oral muscles. I'm using the olive oils for more flavor. I'm using the avocado oils a lot for the cooking process because those are cheaper to get. So I'm really covering all the different types of oils for different purposes.

Jayton:
You said you put on like a good 30 pounds. Was that resistance training?

Gus:
So a lot of resistance training, a lot of time in the gym, a lot of following the THOR program. So I really follow all the different programs. I have the Master your T, I have the Thermo diet, I have THOR. I'm following all those programs. And a lot of that was the THOR based training and following those principles of explosive lifts, increased testosterone with the explosive lifts, adding on weight onto weighted dips, weighted pull ups, increasing. And those things have a tremendous benefit for, as Chris refers to, the morphing process inside of those programs. And it's totally changing your body. It's totally changing your muscle composition. It's totally changing everything about your body.

Jayton:
Yeah. One of my favorite concepts in that is the antifragility aspect. So you're no longer fragile, you're antifragile.

Gus:
Yeah, I'm glad you brought this up because I'm a big fan of Nicholas Taleb's work, Antifragile, Black Swan, all these different books. And you can read that book in so many different ways. You can read that from a nutritional standpoint. You can read that from a fitness standpoint. And I think something that's so important that Chris did is he was able to distill the fitness concepts from the antifragile idea and bring those to a program, bring that to an applicable standpoint that you can actually put inside of your training.

Jayton:
Yeah, definitely. One of the things that I'm kind of interested in, especially around Boulder, is raw milk. And you said you have the ability to get it. What's kind of the process that somebody would look at whenever they're going into something like that?

Gus:
Yeah. So raw milk is so interesting because if you use the word raw milk around anyone, their immediate reaction is going to be, "Doesn't this make you ill? Isn't this unsafe? What are you thinking drinking raw milk?" And it's kind of a whole encapsulation of the modern world and a lot of these things that people have been consuming for thousands of years in terms of raw milk and in terms of other things that have now been demonized and they've been sold that this is unsafe. Once you start learning about the benefits of raw milk, and there's lots of great resources to learn about these, but you just decide, "I'm going to get this at all costs, I'm going to get this at all costs."

Gus:
And there's so many barriers inside of getting raw milk and it differs state by state, country by country. I mean, if you live in Canada, you're going to have a very difficult time getting raw milk because I don't believe it's legal there. If you live in some states, you're going to have a very difficult time getting this because it's not legal. Fortunately, in the state of Colorado, it is possible to get. And you have to go through a process. You have to sign a contract and you have to say, "I understand the risks of drinking raw milk." You have to purchase the share of a cow in order to get at the milk. You have to go pick it up from a farm. This isn't convenient, you can't walk in your grocery store and get this stuff. You have to make the decision to say, "I'm going to block off this time a week. I'm going to go acquire my raw milk." So it's not so easy to get, but it's kind of like a revolt against the modern world because everyone's thinking this is unhealthy. This is the government saying you're going to have to jump through a lot of hoops to get this stuff. But in the end, I really believe it's worth it. Especially if you want to reach a higher state of Thermo.

Gus:
You can reach a Thermo state just by drinking normal milk. But if you want to reach a higher state of Thermo and if you want to really live the full Thermo lifestyle, I think that it is worthwhile to take that extra step to go acquire that raw milk.

Jayton:
So outside of the performance benefits, you seem like you're a pretty smart guy. Are there some of cognitive benefits that you've kind of experienced from that, like focus, things like that?

Gus:
Absolutely. And this is something that really doesn't end. As I just talked about, you can basically reach higher states of the Thermo lifestyle and that if ... Let's say week one I start buying all the right foods, I start consuming a purely Thermo diet from week one. You're going to notice benefits. You're going to notice benefits mentally. You're going to notice benefits physically. But let's say you start doing this for an entire year and you start going deeper. You start learning about raw milk, you start consuming your collagens, your bone broths on a regular basis. You start consuming Testro-X and all the different supplements on a regular basis. You're going to notice that was really just the first level, that it actually gets deeper and deeper and deeper and you really don't know how deep the benefits go of Thermo until you start doing this for a long time, you really start experimenting and learning your body. So immediately, I did experience the mental benefits. But a year later, I'm not really sure where it ends because I'm thinking so much clearer than I even was after the first week or first month. And my thinking process is totally changed since that first stint of being Thermo.

Gus:
So I guess the answer is the benefits don't really end. They keep going and you don't really know where the peak is. You just need to keep pushing. You need to keep staying on a Thermo diet and your body keeps changing and your mind keeps improving through this process.

Jayton:
In that, what would you say some of the foods are that you've incorporated, other than the raw milk, that have been beneficial and some of the strategies as far as chewing your food properly or things like that that have been beneficial to you?

Gus:
Yeah. One of the things that is so important that I have to keep in my mind every single day is that the Thermo process doesn't stop at getting the right foods. It doesn't stop from getting my grass fed beef, from getting my potatoes, from getting the supplements. That gives you the endorphin in saying, "I bought all the right Thermo things." It really starts once you start consuming the foods and start consuming the supplements. And this is a multistep process. The first thing I'm thinking is how important it is to chew, how important it is to digest, to have the gut health right, to get the chewing process down right. Because what's the point of getting all these supplements and getting all these foods and then you're essentially wasting them if you don't have your gut health in check and if you don't have your oral health and your practices in check with properly chewing the food, properly digesting, properly eating the foods right and supplements in the right order. So you're really extracting the full benefits from those. And that's something I have to approach every single time I'm trying to be Thermo is I need to make sure I'm getting the process right from the moment I start consuming the supplements and foods.

Jayton:
Definitely. Yeah. One of the things that I noticed for Thermo is that I actually enjoy the foods that I'm eating. And I think that's a lot more important than a lot of people tend to think about because psychologically, you begin to think about the food that you're going to eat and then whenever you look forward to that taste, you begin salivating. You begin producing things like amylase and all these different enzymes in your mouth. And then whenever you do start to eat, you actually digest it a lot better because your body's already producing stomach acid and different enzymes inside the digestive tract and things like that. So I really liked that. Definitely whenever you're thinking about that. There's so many different benefits from just simply looking forward to the food that you're eating, but then being cognizant about whenever you're eating the food too. So I like that.

Jayton:
So what else do you incorporate in your diet?

Gus:
The supplements are the big thing. I mean, I'm constantly consuming or regularly consuming the collagen, the bone broth, the ashwagandha as part of the Testro-X, getting in the micronutrients with the zinc, magnesium, boron. I think these are so crucial that you're supplementing with the right things that you actually need. And you can try it. UMZU offers a lot of great supplements now, just a lot of great supplements. And some of these you think you're going to need and some of these you think you're going to need for certain and some of these things you're just kind of interested in.

Gus:
So I think it's so important to be trying these things and seeing how they personally benefit you. And you're always going to get benefits out of consuming the supplements. It's just how much you're going to get. Is this the thing you really, really need? Because you're not going to be on 20 different supplements at once. You might choose four or five that you really, really need and that might change over time. So I'm always experimenting. When you guys come out with a new supplement, I'm saying, "Let's try this out. Let's see if this is really for me." And sometimes I'm getting tremendous benefit. That's something I want to add to the rotation and I'm going to switch out something else that I don't need any longer. But that's a major thing is getting the supplements right. Constantly experimenting, constantly figuring out what you actually need and what's actually going to benefit you the most.

Jayton:
As far as the collagen and bone broth supplementation, are there any benefits that you've experienced there?

Gus:
I think this is totally life changing when you start to think in terms of collagen and bone broth as small meals during the day. I mean, we always have these hankerings in the middle of day. And like, I want to go eat a snack, I want to go eat something that you know is bad for you, but you just have that urge to go eat something. Like, I want to go eat, let's say, a muffin. Or I want to go eat a candy bar. Instead of doing those things, you really just want to consume a glass of collagen or you want to go consume a glass of bone broth. And those things are actually far more satisfying. The benefits are so, just immense, of consuming these things on a regular basis. And that's the biggest thing, just filling in those moments of weakness with the collagen and bone broth instead of things that you know are bad for you.

Jayton:
That's actually a really good strategy. I never even thought about that. That's interesting. So distilling all this information that we just laid out for people, what would you say are the biggest tips and the biggest takeaways that somebody could use in order to implement a lot of these things?

Gus:
Yeah, that's a great question. So for someone getting into this space, you're kind of like a fan of it. You become a fan of improving your health and you become a fan of trying all these different things. And there's a wealth of resources online. You can go watch hundreds of YouTube videos. I mean, thousands, really. You can go find hundreds of different leading voices in the space. But I think the most important thing is to select one, like one thing you're really going to focus on. And that was a Thermo diet for me. And now that I was kind of introduced to this whole health world by the Thermo diet, I've tried so many different things. I've read so many different books. And really, you just start getting overloaded. You can read entire books, you can read. You can buy hundreds of courses. And you're not necessarily ... You're kind of getting diminishing benefits out of trying a million different things. You're spending so much money and so much time trying so many different things. So I think the biggest thing is to trust the plan.

Gus:
And when you buy the Thermo diet, you get the Thermo approved grocery list, which is just one of the most valuable modules inside of the course. I think taking that, printing it off, walking to the grocery store, and just buying items on the list and not buying anything else, that's the simplest thing. Don't try and do everything at once. Don't try and experiment with two different things at once. Don't try and read every book at once. Just print off the Thermo approved grocery list and walk into the grocery store and just start buying what's on that list. And then that's the way to get started. That's the way you're going to get 90% of the benefits is just following the list.

Jayton:
Heck yeah. Well there you have it from Mr. Gus Nelson himself. Is there anything else that you'd like to tell people in the group or people listening to the podcast?

Gus:
I think the Thermo diet group is tremendously valuable. I particularly enjoy a certain few members in there. You have your Jake Minors and you have your other guys. And the thing with these guys is that they are living the Thermo diet lifestyle to it's fullest. They are reaching those higher states that I feel like I've talked about. And they're constantly improving, they're constantly giving me the motivation, saying that this is something you can hold to over years, this is something you can always go deeper and improve in by cooking your foods correctly, by buying the right foods, by buying the right supplements. And they're always experimenting, they're always pushing the envelope. So I think the biggest thing is be part of the community. Take inspiration from the different guys doing this. Watch how they change, watch how much happier they are, watch how deep they're willing to go into their diet, into their Thermo practices. And I think the community's a huge part of the Thermo diet.

Jayton:
Definitely. I love that thing. The people in there are absolutely killing it. So where can people find you? You got an Instagram or Facebook or anything like that?

Gus:
Yeah, so I like to leave a few comments in the Thermo diet group every once in a while. I like to share my unique perspective. And I hope I have relayed on some unique perspective. I'm always trying to push the Thermo diet concepts wherever I can. And I think you guys almost need a Thermo diet extreme program, the next level, where you're telling people to find these, find raw milk, find the supplements that are working for you and kind of push the envelope. But yeah, you can find me there hopefully. And hopefully I'm leaving a positive contribution as part of the community there.

Jayton:
Well, for those of you listening, make sure to get into the Facebook group. Make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel. Make sure to go check out Christopher Walker on YouTube. UMZU Instagram, all that good stuff. If you didn't like this podcast, go away. We don't want you here. But thanks for listening and we'll talk to you next time.