123: Giving Yourself The Grace You Deserve with Thomas

Mar 13, 2025

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Today’s guest, Thomas, is pretty new to Man Flow Yoga. He’s only been doing it for a few months—and unlike most guests, his fitness journey started a couple of years before discovering Man Flow Yoga.

One day, when his hand was full with various medications he had to take because of type 2 diabetes and adult ADHD, he realized that if his life continued on this track, he might not be here in 20 years.

And so, he started taking baby steps: First he started walking every day. Then he joined Fit Father Project and dialed in his nutrition. And now he’s doing Man Flow Yoga consistently and preparing to incorporate strength training for the first time in his life.

But his journey wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, he had several setbacks—like losing 50 pounds then gaining 35 pounds of it back due to seasonal depression—that threatened to take him off his journey altogether.

Fortunately, Thomas had community support behind him that encouraged him to give himself the grace he deserved. He also learned different ways to “hack” his adult ADHD without risking his long-term health.

If you’ve fallen off the wagon or have a tendency to be your biggest critic, Thomas’s story is exactly what you need to hear today.

In this episode, John shares:

How to give yourself grace (and why this is the most important “skill” for your long-term health)
The weird behaviors his adult ADHD led to—and how he swapped these out for healthier habits
How reframing failure as setbacks makes you okay with them (instead of self-sabotaging)

And more, like these highlights:

The #1 weight loss workout in the world (and, no, it’s not yoga) (3:27)
The “Why’s Technique” for making healthier dieting decisions without feeling like you’re starving yourself (7:29)
Why do fathers specifically find it so difficult to practice self-care—and how one father conquered this (8:42)
How holistic lifestyle changes tend to be more effective, especially long-term, than fads or tactics (11:06)
Why binging foods can be a sign of adult ADHD (and how to get your “fix” in a way that supports your long-term health) (12:55)
How Thomas lost 50 pounds in 5 months (16:28)
Why changing your routine every 6 months can diminish the insidious effects of adult ADHD (17:28)
A real life example of how community reinspires you to keep pushing after experiencing a major failure or setback (22:18)
How a self-admitted night owl tricked his brain into loving the mornings (30:24)

Listen now!

Quotes from this episode’s guest:

(1:51) The final straw for me was I had gotten on so many different medications that one morning I was looking at my hand full of medications and I thought, “If I'm having to do this at 47, which I was at the time, what's it gonna be like when I'm 67?”
(7:59) I just felt like I was on track to be dead in 20 years and I thought I just had more to give to the world whether that's like my wife and kids close by or just you know community-wise.
(12:11) The biggest changes I made with my nutrition were just honestly trying to cut out the garbage foods.
(22:18) When I was dealing with that seasonal depression, I gained back about 35 of those 50 pounds I lost. There was a lot of unhealthy behaviors over that winter when it came to food intake that I was dealing with. And you know, I could have let that be the end all and give up. But with the community of men who have kind of taught me to give myself grace, come back anytime, you know, these are just setbacks. I didn't hide from it. I was able to admit it. This didn't go right but I learned a lot last time and I'm gonna implement it this time and push You know push myself even further.
(39:25) One thing about your app and your material, you have a lot of variety, and a lot of content. I don't see self -getting bored with it anytime soon.
(44:11) You only truly fail if you quit, so just don't quit on yourself.