Living A Full Life
Welcome to the podcast designed to empower individuals and families on their journey to better health. True wellness isn’t a mystery—it’s built through consistent daily habits that fuel vitality, energy, and longevity.
Each week, we break down the latest health research, debunk myths, and provide practical, science-backed strategies to help you thrive. Whether you're seeking answers to improve your own well-being or support your family’s health, this podcast is your trusted resource for living a full, vibrant life.
Living A Full Life
Redefining Manhood with Dr. Chris Zaino
What happens when testosterone levels decline and start affecting not just your health but your entire life? Dr. Chris Zaino joins us to share his compelling personal journey through the exhaustion and health struggles he faced in his 30s, despite a disciplined lifestyle. Testosterone, as Dr. Zaino reveals, is much more than a matter of aesthetics; it's integral to a man's drive, creativity, and sense of purpose. Our conversation with Dr. Zaino explores how hormonal imbalances can significantly impact personal well-being, relationships, and professional performance, urging men to recognize these critical issues and take action for a fulfilled life.
Together, we tackle the common emotional burdens of guilt, shame, and societal pressures that lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms. Discover how small, sustainable lifestyle changes—like regular exercise and a balanced diet—serve as the backbone for improved mental and physical health. We discuss the power of creating non-negotiable routines and focusing on progress over perfection. Finally, we emphasize the importance of confronting the realities of one's life, supported by factual information like key performance indicators and regular blood work, to make meaningful changes. Listen in to uncover actionable insights and a more proactive approach to achieving optimal health and personal growth.
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Hey everyone, welcome to another podcast. Really special guest this week Dr Chris Zeno. He's been helping men in their 40s get healthy. He's going to dive into a whole bunch of stuff. I think this is a great follow-up on what we've been talking about the last few weeks about health and hormones. Thanks for being on the show, chris. Appreciate your time.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate always being on here. It's always a great show.
Speaker 1:Yeah, be on here. It's always a great show. Yeah, let's dive right in. We were talking about on the last podcast how hormones work in the body and how regular exercise and diet are crucial as a lifelong habit to have until the day we die to make sure we set a good foundation to overall good hormonal health. But now we can dive into the men's side of this, mainly 40 and up and what ends up happening with our testosterone. I'm at that point now and I've been learning a lot for myself and definitely considering all the options, for sure now in my stage of life. But so let's go into that. What have you been helping the most? What are you seeing the most scream out at you when people come out to reach to you?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, it's what I'm finding the most. It's almost like life is a mirror view and it's something kind of. I went through um in my 30s, financially doing amazing business. You know great, great chiropractic practice and I was in such, you know. And you know, with chiropractic, you know the, the philosophy I was in was like god needs no help, just no interference. Everything you know, the, the philosophy I was in was like God needs no help, just no interference. Everything you know like like don't no help, right. But I, doc, I was absolutely exhausted. Like I was exhausted, I was drained, my body was breaking down from all the adjustments.
Speaker 2:I remember my son, justice, he's 17. Now I remember he was born and I had like I felt like RA in my body and I'm like I couldn like RA in my body and I'm like I couldn't even hold my son. So I was like man, something's got to happen. But I was doing everything right. I was eating correctly, I was eating raw, I was taking my vitamins, I was doing everything you were supposed to. And here I'm the guy preaching health to people that was really suffering and I was so resistant to a lot of things because I wouldn't want to listen. I'm like, nope, just get me adjusted, I'll be fine.
Speaker 2:And around 35 years old, you know, I was having all types of like autoimmune type of issues that I felt. And when I got my hormones checked I did blood work Cause actually, doc, I did it because I was trying to get like a whole life, like a life insurance for the, for the family, and because of having ulcerative colitis in the past, they wouldn't allow it to me. So I just went and got the blood and everything like that and they said, listen, your testosterone's horribly low. Now, if you looked at me at the time, that was the issue with modern medicine. You go in there they're like, hey, you don't look like, you have low testosterone. You know, you look fine, you look healthy. But mine was about like 180. And you know, this was a huge reason. My growth hormone was low, my testosterone low and when testosterone low, my estrogen was high. So because I ate good and exercise the best I could, you know, to appear a certain way man, like it was affecting my brain, it was affecting my heart health, it was affecting my immune system, and so then I started doing, you know, testosterone therapy and I, you know, I called my thirties, the decade of darkness it was like was a millionaire and miserable. And because it was this one blind spot that I'd look at. And as I started bringing in there and studying testosterone and it wasn't just for aesthetics A lot of guys say I want to get big.
Speaker 2:It's not about aesthetics, it is the drive molecule for a man. It is what makes a man a man. It's what makes a man look at something and want to conquer it, wantsants to, wants to produce, wants to expand, wants to become resourceful. It's the fight in a man. And I didn't realize that I slowly chemistry, chemically wise. I slowly started to shrink, I started playing not to lose. I'd really like I was like this is not like me, because here I'm looking at all the areas, but it was really my chemistry's off.
Speaker 2:So if we know that chemistry is life and how you think, how you think is all a byproduct of your chemistry. So if your testosterone is low, you're going to be depressed, you're going to kind of be melancholy and stuff like that. If your estrogen is high, as many as we know what ladies do when it's that time of the month they're a little erratic, they're over emotional. So this could happen to a man. So here this could be a massive blind spot. And this whole thing is not about aesthetics, that's secondary. But it was how to get my brain functioning correctly again, to bring me back or to bring me to the level of creation that I was put on this planet to do to creation, to supply, to drive, to create, to imagine, to, to conquer, to go after. And that was all kind of subdued and taken away because my chemistry saw so.
Speaker 2:A lot of times we see men are eating right and they're exercising and they're still frustrated because there could be a blind spot, that their chemistry is not optimized. And from there that affects their body, that affects their being, their purpose, their drive, who they are. It affects their balance or the relationship with their family, their sex life with their wife, all these other things. It affects their business. I went to the business, I was just coasting, I just didn't have doc, I didn't wake up with the excitement to attack life to the fullest and make a purpose and a difference in this world. And I felt I was. I said am I getting bored, am I getting burnt out? But we found to be that my chemistry is off and that was a blind spot I didn't know about.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, see, um, you, but you found it. And you took the time to find it, maybe because of the life insurance thing, but you took the time to find it and I vouch and preach in my office all the time. You got to get your blood work. We got to check these things. There's no way you can't see it, you can't feel it, but you can detect it and that's the problem. It's just like a subluxation. We got to detect these things. We can't just see it and find it. So, same thing like that. So that's great. So once a man maybe feels like this let's say they're in their forties, they're like man, chris, what you just said, I feel like that. I've lost my mojo, even in work and career and trying to pursue even business. What do I do? Where do I?
Speaker 2:start. Well, the first thing, brother, you said it right you got to look at the facts. And one fact is this Society tells you that what you're feeling is normal, it's common, it's not normal, it's not normal, it's common. You don't want to be common, you don't want to be average. So a lot of men start to subject like, well, I'm married, I got this, you know this, and you just think it's the white picket fence days and your best years are behind you. But it's not, it's all a lie. So the first thing, like Dr said, you have to. You never guess. You test, you have to A stop lying to yourself.
Speaker 2:And the greatest way to stop lying is to look at the facts, face the facts. What are the facts? There's no emotions there. So when you get the testing, like you said, doc, the testing tells the facts, there's no emotions related to it. Now I might have feelings towards that. I'm like crap, I didn't know my hormones were low. Oh my God, I didn't know my. I had these health markers were so off because I didn't know my I had helped had these health markers were so off because I didn't feel that way. So I may have feelings towards the facts, but the facts. The fact sets you free, not the truth, it's the fact. So when we could look at the facts and we could understand the facts and have to create the right stories combined with those facts, then, and only then, are you in the environment to change and make a difference in your life.
Speaker 1:Love it. Okay, so we get the facts, we get the blood work, we realize holy smokes, my testosterone is in the 200s. What are some? Before we go into testosterone replacement, because that is the final thing you got to do. But, naturally, if I'm 100 pounds overweight and I've got all these other things working against me, where do you start? What do you do to get there? Or 50 pounds overweight, whatever it is? I find that people that are out of shape have a tougher time rebalancing hormones, rebalancing a lot of things, because it's always playing against them because of their habits, right?
Speaker 2:You just took it out of my mouth. Yeah, it's knowing the facts, such as when you have, when you're over fat. You know the fat cells create estrone, so it makes it much difficult, it plays havoc on your hormones, it creates insulin, desensitizes your insulin receptors. So the first thing is habits, and I think a lot of times there's a lot of pressure on a man, because here's the deal, when someone gets to that point, if you're at that point number one, you never imagined in your life you would get to that point. So it happens slow and it happens on what I call lies of omission, not lies of commission. A lie of commission is like I purposely make up a lie in a story and I tell you it's the lies of omission, it was not doing the things that I know I should have been doing this whole time. And over time it catches up with you and you find yourself in a spot that you never wanted to be. So it's these lies of omission that we tell ourselves. So once we know the facts, now, doc, we have to bring in easy, simple habits. You know these habits are easy to do, but they're also easy not to do. So it is like you said, the habits got a person there.
Speaker 2:My testosterone low is due to habits that I knew or didn't know about. My body got to a point. My relationships dwindled to a point because these were habits that I allowed to go on, or things I did that I wasn't supposed to do, or vice versa. And here now I have to rehab it out of it. So I think a lot of times, doc, when someone they meet with someone and they want to put on a lot so much on their plate you're going to start doing this now. Do cardio twice a day and it becomes so overwhelming because, remember, the reason why a man in his 40s is at the place he's in is because over time you made promises to yourself that you would do this or do that and you didn't follow through. So each time I make a promise to myself and I don't follow through, or I make a resolution to myself that I don't follow through and I break the promise to myself, I start to build the habit of failing. That's why, as we get older, it's harder and harder to stick to something because it's just another program we're going to start and not finish, and you just lose the trust in yourself and the ability to make a decision. So that's why we need to bring in these positive habits with facts. But here's the thing we have to make the man feel like he's winning. So if it's like, hey, do these core four things today, core four, okay, wake up, do that. You know, write a note to your wife and your kids, you know what's, what's the one thing you're going to learn in business today. And hey, you know, read the Bible or get spiritual. You know, like, work on your purpose. Just one thing, check, check, check. Just something where they're like I could win, but it's not so insurmountable that it crushes them.
Speaker 2:Because a lot of times men come to me and you, doc, and the root cause I'm very it's so much more than the physical. What is this root cause? There's a lot of guilt and shame and a lot of pressure on a man. All that pressure a man has to deal with. He can't express it to anybody, he has to subdue it and all this guilt and shame start to pile up. And the reason why they may have body issues is because there's sedation. We start to sedate as men. That could be pornography, that could be drinking, that could be overeating, that could be overexercising Anything to do to sedate the pressure they're having. So men have it so hard. And now, doc, like you're saying, now for my chemistry to be off, I'm fighting an uphill battle trying to get my life back.
Speaker 1:It's exactly what we talked about on the last podcast. Don't get to the point where you have to climb. I said, climb the mountain. I mean it's so much harder to get back to the top than it was to maintain staying at the top. So absolutely those little habits. I mean I did this almost two years ago.
Speaker 1:I was like, absolutely those little habits. I mean I did this almost two years ago. I was like, listen, things have got to change. I'm tired, I'm fatigued, I'm doing all this stuff. And it started with, like I got to get back to the gym. Always used to go to the gym ever since I was a teenager, but stopped. You know, you have kids, you're 30, start to dilute exactly the story you just told. And for me it started let's just into going to the gym four times a week instead of two. Then it started, man, I don't got time for this. Then I'm part of the 5am club and now I'm there at 5.30 in the morning and that's because it's the only way to fit it into my life, so I don't miss my kids and stuff. So these little small things build on. It's all about creating new habits, rewiring a whole new program, getting out of Microsoft XP and getting to Windows 11 or wherever we're at now. What are we at now? 12?
Speaker 1:Just catching this stuff all up, right. So that's the whole point there. Great tips there. So I did talk, we can talk about it. I mean diet, let's go there. I mean, if your diet's been all over the place, I think that's number one is again not insurmountably changing this whole thing from what you're doing to carnivore. I mean that's a huge leap. Don't do that. But knowing the basis to hormonal health, where do you think you should start? What are some things you should add to make sure that you have in your diet all the time? Is it supplementation or is it food or is it both?
Speaker 2:I always start with food first. But you know, dog, like you know, for me I don't expect someone to eat six meals a day, weigh their chicken and rice. So it's like I just, I just like to talk about principles, like they're just principles. So that means it's something where, if we want a vacation principle, one, when I eat a meal has some type of protein in it, good check, has some type of vegetable on it, great. And then you know what, if you, if you're working out, if it's that day you're working out, or it's maybe before work, at or after workout, throw some carbohydrates in there. You know, it's just just just general rules of thumb. Just, you know, break that plate into three, and I'm not even concerned about the amounts, I just want you to get in the habit. Now, also, for a man, it's like what makes you feel comfortable, like if you're super busy, is if you're super busy, is it two meals a day? You know, is it. Is it? You know, do you want to do five meals a day? Maybe you're more competitive. But, like, I just want to make something easy for someone to think okay, some type of protein. And then, doc, we could go like this as they go along the journey it's like, okay, let's, let's make sure that protein is organic. You know just simple things so you can check. Okay, why don't you get the organic chicken? So it's taking them on a journey knowing that, hey, I could just look the step in front of you and it's like a symphony Trust the process. And then you're like I love that. You say like if someone said, hey, tomorrow I need you to wake up at five o'clock and get to the gym, you know it's like are you kidding me? Like that's ridiculous. But on the journey you just said three, four times a week and you did that. And then, because you enjoyed that and it wasn't a negotiation anymore I think a lot of times when we're, when we add something or we start something, it's a negotiation every day oh man, I got to do this thing again. So after a while there's no more negotiating, it's just what you do. So you go in the gym for today, four days a week was what you did.
Speaker 2:And now, when time got busy, and because it spills over to other areas of your life, guys, you start training and exercising. Your marriage gets better, your relationships get better, your business is gonna get better because you're more focused and you're taking like everything rises, so the business starts doing better. You don't have the time, that's a good problem. Then you find different ways.
Speaker 2:So as we reach our goals, as a man reaches his goals, whether it be adding nutritional things, exercising we have to understand when you reach your goal. For a man right now, his goal is his peak man. If I could go from this pit to that peak, I'd be happy. But what a man doesn't realize. When you hit your peak now, your peak becomes your new pit and there's a new goal for you to achieve. So it's this never ending game of pit to peak, pit to peak, pit to peak. Because that's where I found myself. You know, like I hit a certain level, I got bored, I got burnt out because I wasn't expanding and I realized that what are the things I have to do in my life? So I absolutely agree Start making better habits of food in the beginning.
Speaker 2:It doesn't have to be perfect. Start adding in some type of physical exercise. I'm not going to send you a workout. Do you like walking? Do you like playing? What's that Pickleball, whatever. Do you like CrossFit? Do you like walking? Do you like playing? What's that Pickleball, whatever Do you like, crossfit, you know, whatever it is. Just start moving and just start with those, and I think that's huge. And then later on we get into more of the mindset things where we start having time for yourself and meditating for yourself and, you know, becoming gratefulness, writing notes of appreciation to your partner and the special people in your life. But I know what I mean. I just have to get them feeling better so their brain can turn on again, so they could start having the capacity to do even more in a more efficient time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, these hormones are what Dr Zaino is talking about, about feeling and chemistry and clarity and libido and mojo and willingness. What he's saying is hormones, hormones, hormones, hormones, hormones. We get, and that's why it's so important to check them and get in balance. So, yes, diet, exercise, and now let's get into the nitty gritty. You know your stuff. Most men are going to come in at the low end range and need some type of replacement therapy, and that's pretty standard. I think we've got this down to a pretty simple science. Now injectable or pellet, and you get into this and then you monitor and what do you find? Is the coaching at that point, once people start to don't want to I'd hate needles, or I hate, I don't, I don't like the pellet idea, or I don't want to put anything into my body because we are a healthy, natural living type podcast too. So those are the people that tune in. What do you have to say for them once they start this journey? What can they expect?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, it's just you find the delivery system that you're going to be okay with. So, like for me, I would hate to put the pellets in there. I just think that's more annoying. Some people like the cream. You know, I like the little. You know injectable, quick and easy and it's very easily measurable. Whatever it is that's going to fit you both. But you have to understand it's like once you start seeing the results and always give your body time. You know, I think healing takes time. So you know, you give yourself. You know in 90 days, recheck again in the beginning. You want to. You're going to have to calibrate how those hormones are acting.
Speaker 2:Every man, every man responds differently and as long as your mind is so. For instance, there's some men that their testosterone goes to a nice place and their estrogen is also normalized. The body's able to metabolize estrogen needed to be Some men. The testosterone goes in, their estrogen goes through the roof and there may need to be some estrogen control.
Speaker 2:For me personally, I was that guy. I don't know if it was from eating a massive soy-based formula when I was younger and whatever stuff that was put in my body when I was a kid, but I had a tough time metabolizing estrogen and so even on the lowest dose of testosterone, my estrogen would go through the roof and I would start getting sensitivity issues. And so you know I, I had to, I had to adapt to that. You know I had to get right here. So just monitoring, and once you put doc, once you find your just like adjusting, once you find your listing, or once you find your formula, boom, you just monitor that with bloods every, every so often, I like every quarter, and then you tweak it and go live your life to its fullest great, yeah, it's great tips, it's great tips, um, and then to pull the trigger that's a mental, that's a mental block.
Speaker 1:What's the next step? For them to be like okay, I got, I gotta look into, I gotta do something, I should do something the fact stack like and when we say and the facts are just more than numbers.
Speaker 2:The most important question is a man has to be open enough and vulnerable to answer this question how is your life going? That's it. Just answer it. And how is your life going? How do you feel? What's going on? Like your body, how is your body going? Well, I'm overweight. Are you where you want to body once? No, I'm tired, I'm exhausted, I'm aging, I'm grumpy. Okay. So how's your relationships? Well, it's kind of sexless. I'm in the sex desert right now. We argue a lot, just nothing there. How are the kids? I don't have time for my kids.
Speaker 2:So, once a man could get real with his life, do you wake up excited? No, I just go provide. What the hell am I supposed to do? So when a man can be vulnerable and state the facts and answer the question how are you doing? And if they're doing great, if life's going great for you, then of course, doc, no need to pull the trigger, continue what you're doing.
Speaker 2:But if there is something in your life that you want to improve, you want to be better, and you know you're grieving for more, there's something there for more, then it's very simple Something has to change. You can't live in the land of maybe. That's why I tell men I'd rather you be a yes or a no, but do not be a maybe. A maybe is procrastination. You live in the land of maybe and that is a land of destruction. So listen, either say no, this is not the route I want to go. I'm okay where I'm at now. I'm not as bad as as I need to get.
Speaker 2:Or there's a man that's like listen, I know there's more. I'm craving for more. I feel like I'm this karmic cul-de-sac. You know I'm trying, I'm exhausted, I'm frustrated. You know, my whole life is just. I feel like I peaked and I know there's there's room for more. I want a thriving sexual relationship. I want to have the energy for my kids. I want to be able to take off my shirt. I don't have to. I don't want to have to shower in the dark because I'm I'm embarrassed about the way my body looks. If a man's thinking that and he's honest with himself, then something has to change. And then when that gap is shown from where they really want to be and where they are now and there's that gap, then that will trigger. The trigger is the how? Okay, doc, how do I get there? And once a man is able to say I see the gap, how do I do it? Then the trigger. The trigger is just a formality yeah, love it, you nailed it.
Speaker 1:That's what you that look yourself in the mirror and make the decision. That's great. Anything else that we need to touch on here yeah, I think you hit every point I wanted to hit um and a lot of times yeah, doc, you're right.
Speaker 2:So when I mean like guys, stop lying to yourself, because we've been trained to lie to ourselves, we've been trained to how are you doing, doc? Oh, I'm doing great. No, you're not. So it's like, as a man, because we have all the weight on our shoulders, we just have to smile. We have to go through life and you have no one to talk to and it's just not an emotional thing.
Speaker 2:That's going on Like you're physical, you have all this pressure, you're in that guilt and shame. It's like something has to change. And until you get truthful because it happens, if you keep on sedating yourself and you're believing this lie like everything's okay that's why men die so much earlier, versus saying, okay, listen, something's got to change I need to know the facts the facts about my body. The facts about my body, the facts about my relationship, the facts about my business is easy. Why? Because, doc, we usually have KPIs and you see the numbers coming in, but you have to see the facts over all the main areas of your life and then, when you see the facts, then you know exactly what needs to be just kind of tweaked or incorporated to get you to where you want to be.
Speaker 1:Love it. Yeah, get the facts, and that's taking care of yourself and getting the blood work. Women are so much better at this than we are. I don't know what it is, but yeah, get that stuff and then reach out to Chris. You can find them online. Stallion project right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Just Instagram is the best way to get ahold of me. Everything's done organically you message me and then we get on a call and the first thing I'm going to tell you I'm going to send you a bunch of questions to get to those facts. Right?
Speaker 1:Need the facts. Thanks, dr Zano, that was great. Have a great week and thanks for being on the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, bye.
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