How to Live a Paleo Lifestyle on Tour For 200 Days of the Year With Tim McGraw

Ameer Rosic ◌֬Tuesday April 15th 2014 Read Full Article

If he can eat paleo on tour, you can eat paleo at home!

What do you get when you combine Awesome with Rock? You get Denny Hemingson.

Now, Denny is not your average joe, in fact, I would say he is the ultimate “Optimal Health Warrior”

Why?

Shit! The man is on the road for half a year with Tim McGraw and has one of the most HECTIC works schedules I have ever seen and still pulls off eating clean and staying in shape

So if Denny can live a healthy lifestyle while travelling like a MAD man…so can you!

Now! It’s time to unleash your inner warrior!

Transcript (listen to the full podcast here): Ameer: Hey Denny, how you doing brother?

Denny: I’m doing great Ameer. How’s it going?

Ameer: I’m good, no complaints in life. You and I connected about 2 or 3 months ago after I heard you on my good buddy of mine, Abel James of Fat-Burning Man Show.

Denny: Yeah.

Ameer: And then you reached out to me afterwards after you heard me on one of those summits I did, I think it was Paleo-Con or something?

Denny: Paleo-Con, exactly. Yeah.

Ameer: Yeah. And then after hearing you first on Abel’s podcast and then you reaching out to me, I’m like there’s only one more thing to do, to have you on the podcast today, because your life is very unique. Most of us really don’t live the lifestyle that you live, and I’m really curious and fascinated about how you combine a healthy lifestyle with your schedule, because it’s pretty hectic. You’re sitting here for a couple of days, next thing you know you’re halfway across the country. When we just first begin with, how did you actually get involved on the world of health?

Denny: Okay, yeah. It’s a good place to start I guess. Well, I’ve always been sort of interested in being healthy. I’ve got some bad family history of heart disease and a few other things in my family, type 2 diabetes. That’s been in the back of my mind even when I was a younger dude. So I went with the conventional wisdom dogma of I was trying to run a lot. I ran a marathon and I was always training and trying to eat low fat and doing that whole thing that most of us have tried over the years. It kind of worked for a while that I gained weight again and it didn’t really work that well. I was always getting running injuries and just inflamed all

the time. I guess my first introduction to it was through Mark’s Daily Apple. Somebody turned me on to him, I think it might have been my chiropractor. I read some of his stuff a few years ago and I was kind like well this doesn’t sound like anything that I’ve been taught and I didn’t really go there. I just kind of kept with what I was doing. In the meantime, I’d go to my annual doctor’s appointment, and my blood pressure was creeping up and he had me on Lipitor and all these stuff, and I’m like “This isn’t working for me.” So I kind of revisited that Mark’s Daily Apple thing and I thought “I’m going to give this a try and see what happens. So I started eating basically paleo I guess. The weight just started coming off. I’d probably gone up to maybe 240 or somewhere in that area at one point and it was just way too much. I’m a tall guy but still 240 was just too much for me. I’m probably to the 190s now, somewhere in there and changed my body composition pretty significantly.

Anyway, getting back to the story of where I started. I just started seeing all these success and I took myself off Lipitor, and my blood pressure came down, it’s totally normal now, feeling great, working out all time, stopped running long distances because I feel better not doing it, walk more and lift weights and stuff like that. In the meantime, I got really interested in it when I started having all these success, so I started listening to Abel’s show and heard you on Paleo-Con and I’ve just been passionate about the whole thing, and I’ve gotten into other things besides nutrition with exercise and trying and to get into meditation which really helps me a lot when I’m on the road because it can be pretty stressful. Just trying to live the lifestyle as Exceptional as I can while I’m travelling which is sometimes a challenge but it can be done.

Ameer: I’m curious though. Did you go back to your doctor afterwards, the original doctor that put you on Lipitor?

Denny: I haven’t. I haven’t. Because the last time I was in there, it was interesting because I was just getting ready to tell him I want to try something else, I don’t want to take this stuff anymore. Before I even got that out, he’s going “Man, you respond so well to Lipitor.” I’m in his mind, I think our mindsets are just too polar and so I’m kind of in between docs Eventually and I’m trying to find someone that maybe will at least be open-minded to what I’m doing Eventually.

Ameer: Are you familiar with functional medicine doctors?

Denny: I’ve been looking for one in my area, but I haven’t found one yet.

Ameer: Well let me know your area, I’ll connect somebody.

Denny: Okay, Awesome. I’m just outside of Nashville, I’m at Spring Hill, Tennessee.

Ameer: Alright, super cool. Now, going back a little bit at the beginning, because you first went to Mark’s Daily Apple, you’re like “Eh, I don’t know what the heck half these stuff is,” and eventually went back there. When you started adopting the paleo diet, was it just easy for you or was it kind of like roadblocks psychologically speaking like “Oh man, what do you mean give up this or give up that?”

Denny: Well, I guess I had a little advantage because before I really went there with the whole paleo thing, I was starting to cut out some things on my own, just sort of intuitively like I sort of stopped eating bread and was cutting way down on sugar and stuff already. I think I had a little head start. But when I really went into it full-on, truthfully, it was pretty easy for me. I didn’t really experience the low carb flu and everything that people talk about much. Maybe one day I feel a little headache or something, but it wasn’t that bad. I pretty much immediately started feeling better and started dropping weight. It was Awesome.

Ameer: Now, because of your job, you’re on the road numerous times throughout the year. I’m talking about, I can’t even count, more than the digits on my fingers. How do you actually stay healthy on the road, like what are your tips for eating healthy, what are your tips for exercising healthy and how do you maintain your sleep, even though it may not be possible sometimes, but at least what do you do to try to mitigate the negative effects of traveling so much?

Denny: Yeah. You can’t always be perfect and I think you have to accept that. But I try to as close to perfect as I can at home and I think that sets me up for the times on the road where I can’t actually get everything I really want to eat and so forth.

Ameer: Let’s pause for a second. I’m just curious. How many times do you usually do travel throughout the year?

Denny: It varies so much but with the last couple of years, in the wintertime we’ve been doing a Run in Vegas at the Venetian, and it’s a weekend thing, so I fly four hours to and four hours back every week. So I’m out there, I’ll fly out on Thursday, be there Thursday evening, we work Friday, Saturday and then I fly

home Sunday evening. That’s kind of, it’s not every weekend but most weekends. If we’re not out there, usually there’s something else.

Ameer: So pretty much throughout the year, you’re travelling at least like 60 times.

Denny: Oh at least, more than that. Because we’ll probably do, like this summer, we’ll go on a regular tour which is some flying but mostly bus. It’s three to four days a week, three to four shows a week, and it’s a different city every show. I haven’t counted up the dates but a typical tour for us will look like 40 to 80 shows depending on the year, and then we have in addition to that, stuff like the Vegas stay and there will be TV performances, and whatever, private events.

Ameer: That’s crazy. I just wanted to set up the context of answering the question so everyone understands that you’re Figuratively travelling like 70, 80 times a year, so there’s no excuses for anyone else out there listening that “Oh, I’m kind of too busy.” I haven’t yet met anybody that travels that much, so let’s go back to the original question, how do you stay healthy during your crazy schedule?

Denny: Well. You eat out a lot obviously. It’s basically the tips that you give to anyone who’s going out to eat and wants to try to maintain sort of a paleo type diet. First of all, you’re looking for the Exceptional restaurant you can find to go to that might offer some organic veggies and grass-fed beef is hard to come by but it is available here and there, so I look for those kind of places. And then, if you can’t totally find it, you just do the closest thing you can. I’d stay away from the bread and the potatoes and grains and pasta and everything like that and just order meat and extra vegetables on the side, a lot of times, they’ll let you substitute things. Get a big salad. Try to stay with oil and vinegar dressing because, and that’s not even guaranteed but hopefully it’s mostly olive oil, and not soy bean oil or something. It’s just those kind of things, being aware of what you’re ordering. And then, when we go on a regular tour, a lot of times we eat at the venue and they cater it, and most times it’s pretty good, it can be hit or miss but it’s the same thing, you’re just selecting the items that most closely fit your lifestyle.

So that’s the food thing. Also, when we’re on the tour bus, I will stock some mild stuff because we have a fridge a little kind of kitchenette area, you can’t really cook but I’ll keep stuff stocked in the fridge and do our bus call it the whole foods parking lot, so I go in and stock up for the run, and I always have stuff in the fridge that I can eat, that’s good. That’s how I’d maintain it. As far as the workout thing…

Ameer: The stage is the workout.

Denny: Yeah, the stage is the workout. It’s kind of fun to do it on the road, and when we’re at the Venetian, they have a great gym there, so I just get up in the morning, I go down in the gym and I work out, and they have everything you could want. When we’re out on a bus tour, you’re in the hotels a lot but hotel gyms typically aren’t that great, but a lot of time you can improvise and make something work. I do some body weight exercises if I can’t find anything else. And then, my boss Tim is a really fit guy and like to work out a lot, and so we actually carry some stuff under one of the bus base, and it sort of looks like a crossfit setup, we have combat ropes and medicine balls and a couple kettlebells and some Olympic bars with a few weights, not real heavy. We’ll just make up a little circuit outside in the parking lot behind the venue and whoever wants to comes in and works out. It’s kind of fun to do it as a group.

Ameer: That’s amazing. I’m curious, is Tim on a paleo diet?

Denny: Not really, but he eats pretty healthy, and he’ll stay away grains most of the time and I think he gives himself a cheat day every now and then. It really isn’t called a paleo but a lot of times it looks pretty similar.

Ameer: Now I remember when I first started eating that way, I think it was like four, five years ago, Figuratively like 90% of my friends and family we’re looking at me like I was an alien.

Denny: Yeah, I’ve experienced that.

Ameer: How do your fellow musicians look at you when you first came out, like “This is my new lifestyle.”

Denny: Well, it’s interesting because a couple of the guys had started doing it with me, and I might be the most dedicated to it, but they saw the success that I had and got interested in it and asked me questions, and so a couple of them are doing it. They kid around with me about it a little bit but that’s okay. I’m always happy to talk about it if somebody asks me questions about it. It’s actually been a good thing I think for the band and everybody’s getting health-conscious at least, and whether they’re actually doing a paleo thing or not, it’s in their mind, so I think it’s good.

Ameer: Now, since you’re on the road numerous times throughout the year and your schedule obviously has to dictate for the tour, what’s happening with your

sleep currently? Do you have more or less a semi-set schedule or it’s pretty hectic all over the place?

Denny: It’s pretty set Eventually when we’re doing the flying thing, because it’s typically at the same week, it looks the same every week. When we get on the bus, it changes a little bit more. Eventually, what I do, a lot of times I do sort of a meditation thing before bed and it helps me fall asleep easier. I’m trying to cut down on the blue light at night and that kind of thing.

Ameer: Let’s go back to meditation, what do you mean by meditation exactly? Talk us through exactly what you do.

Denny: I do different things but sometimes it’s just me and lay down, I like to do it laying down. I know a lot of people think you should probably sit, but for me, I just like to lay down and it’s just diaphragmatic breathing and just trying to focus my attention on that and only that, and when my mind race, I just pull it back in and I try to go for about half an hour. Other times, there’s a few, I have a few apps that have some guided meditations and I’ll use those. For times when I’m not feeling particularly focused, that helps a little bit for me. It’s just kind of a mixture of those things. I tried some of the binaural beats and that kind of thing too.

Ameer: Does that work for you?

Denny: It seems to work, yeah. It took me a little while but after I listened for a while, I felt myself getting into the zone a little faster with those. So I use those too. It’s just kind of all over the map, whatever I feel like doing.

Ameer: Do you do any journaling?

Denny: I haven’t really started doing that. I’m probably the worst at documenting things.

Ameer: That’s my journal, the 5-minute journal. I do it 2-1/2 minutes in the morning, 2-1/2 minutes in the evening, and I’ll tell you what, I think it’s the biggest game-changer when it comes to actually reprogramming your mentality. I’ll send you a copy.

Denny: I would love that. So, what kind of stuff do you journal?

Ameer: Well here, I’ll just go through it Eventually. We’ll do a live session. Basically starts off with like a motivational quote in the morning right, so this one

is “If you think education is expensive, try estimating the cost of ignorance.” So it frames your mind right away in the morning. And then you start off with three things that you’re grateful for. It could be anything you want. It can be like “Thank God I’m alive” or “Thank God I’m not sick.” Then you go to three things what would make today and Barely Noticeable day, then you do three daily affirmations. Whatever task you want to do, it doesn’t matter. The beauty about it, that’s your day-thing. Then you close off with the night portion which is three Barely Noticeable things that happened today, and this is the most powerful thing possible because you can track back and see, wait a second, I notice a reoccurring theme is “How I could’ve made this day a better day.”

Denny: Awesome.

Ameer: So in my case, I’ve noticed that in the last two or three weeks, what I use to do before that is I use to have an hour meditation walk everyday. And I was looking back at my journal like the last two weeks, I’m like “Wait a second. I haven’t been doing my walk.” I knew something was funky enough. So then I honed in, I realized that was it. So I decided “Well, I got to go back to my meditation.” Something so simple as Figuratively two to five minutes, we call it the five-minute journal, can transform your life like this.

Denny: That’s awesome man. I do a gratitude thing in the morning pretty regularly, but I haven’t, I mean I do it on an app. I’m terrible at getting pen to paper but I will definitely try that.

Ameer: For sure. Now, do you use any apps on your phone to kind of like optimize your life?

Denny: Well, I have the little gratitude app, and I have some of my workout apps where I log my workouts. Some of the meditations apps. So those are the kind of things I use.

Ameer: Now, the meditation app, how does that look like?

Denny: I have a couple different ones but they’re all like a guided meditation. Either that or the binaural beats thing. The guided meditation is just usually some background music and then a voice telling you to relax and some imagery and different things like that. And then of course the binaural beats is usually a beat masked by a sound effect like rain or ocean sound or something.

Ameer: Very nice. Now besides the apps, you mentioned earlier at the beginning of the interview that you’ve kind of expanded and evolved just from the paleo platform. Now what are you doing currently? Are you doing any types of biohacking, are you looking for types of more fine tune dieting, like what have you started implementing on top of the paleo template?

Denny: I haven’t gotten real serious into biohacking but it’s really interesting to me. The only thing I’ve done is I’ve tried some different supplements and stuff. Most of the stuff that I do revolves around stress reductions, so it’s 00:19:44 and different things like that, some anti-inflammatory things too. I think I mentioned to you when we connected, I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a keto diet. Haven’t gotten into that yet.

Ameer: That’s when everyone else is going to put you on a different level. Now he’s technically crazy.

Denny: Now he’s really a weirdo, he’s gone up the deep end. But it’s in the back of my mind, I’ll probably try it but I have to get my motivation up for it I guess.

Ameer: Yeah. It’s a tough one, the ketogenic diet especially when you’re on the road, because even if you have access to really good restaurants, people mistaken the ketogenic diet for like an Atkins high-protein diet when it’s not. It’s just figuratively high fat, roughly 60%, then you’re looking at 20% protein, and the rest can come from low glycemic fruits or berries.

Denny: So have you done it? I heard you speaking about it.

Ameer: Well I’ve been keto for a very long time. At the current moment based on my sport because I am competing for power lifting and some other sports, it’s not conducive to my goals.

Denny: Right.

Ameer: So I do more of like a cyclic low carb, kind of like a carb backloading. It would be two to three days of a very low carb, you can call it keto, and then like the third day, I would have anywhere from like 300 grams of carbs a night, and that’s usually my max day of training, I’ve timed that with my max day, and that looks like white rice with bone broth like non-GMO white rice, wild rice, or tubers with the skin peeled off, so maybe white potatoes, I like to make a mash, or sweet potatoes, whatever I have access to.

Denny: So when you do your carb loading then, do you cut your fat intake for that day?

Ameer: I do. That day is actually more higher protein, so it’s kind of inverted, vice-versa. Instead of having like 60-75, it’ll be 60-70 protein, and then fat would be like 20%.

Denny: Gotcha.

Ameer: Yeah.

Denny: Interesting.

Ameer: And it works though because for me as a powerlifter, I do want to induce hypertrophic growth which you need insulin. If you look at studies for like ketogenic diets, they really help people who are more cyclic in long-term activities, so the top triathletes today are switching over to ketogenic diets. You’re looking at cyclists. There is one cyclist, I think his name was Barry or something like that. The guy has ridiculous numbers. He’s been keto-adopted for a couple of years and so forth and so forth. But if you’re looking at for example power lifting one max or Olympic lifting one max or something like that, that’s not really the proper diet to attain those goals. So you got to figure out “Okay, why am I doing this diet in the first place?” Is it just for health then by all means Bob is your uncle. Or do you have specific health goals or specific sports goals, and based on your goals, you reverse engineer your approach to it.

Denny: Interesting. So for me, I’m not competing in any sport or anything, but I do like lifting and lifting heavy, so I wonder how that would play in, how a ketogenic diet would play into what I do.

Ameer: You can even try like the carb-backloading system that Kiefer talks about. There are some pretty interesting science behind it. You just limit your carb. No carbs for breakfast or lunch, simple as that, and just have them for dinner.

Denny: Yeah, okay.

Ameer: And there are some studies though coming out showing that it really does help for some people. There are like two different camps, there is camp A and camp B. Camp A, they actually benefit from carbs at night time, they have a deeper sleep. It might be for serotonic bosst, it may be potassium boost. They really don’t know conclusively what the heck is going on, but those people are

reporting a deep REM sleep, they wake up feeling refreshed. And then you have like camp B who report the opposite. They’re like “Oh, it’s like too simulating or something.” I say just try it and figure out for yourself.

Denny: We’re all different I guess.

Ameer: Exactly.

Denny: I hope I didn’t steer you down that road too far. Just like I’m getting a consultation from you here.

Ameer: No, it’s all good. I love it. Now, just going back in the path a little bit. You’re on the paleo diet now. You meditate, you even got some of your fellow musicians to semi-adopt your lifestyle. Going back to maybe your teenage years, were you always interested in, and this is kind of off-topic for health, but were you always interested in making yourself better? Like as a musician, that takes a lot of dedication and time to master any instrument, whether it’s a guitar or a piano or the drum set, countless years of practicing and practicing. Obviously that takes a certain mindset type of human being to achieve that level of mastery. Now, going back to your teenage years, were you always overwhelmed with that of passion to be the exceptional version of yourself?

Denny: Yeah, I always had some drive like that. Whether it was playing the guitar. I played some sports when I was in high school, I wasn’t fantastic or anything but I really enjoyed it, and I really like track. When I got out of school, I kept running and we talked about the distance running a little bit. Actually I wasn’t a distance runner in school but I kind of evolved to that because I thought that was a way to go to lose weight and everything. But I liked that and I always pushed myself to go further and faster and that whole thing, so yeah I guess it’s always been there in me to do that.

Ameer: I find it fascinating because if you look at most people who want to become the exceptional version of themselves, they’re usually more or less outliers in society. They really don’t like follow T for T the rules, whatever the rules mean, and they kind of try to think for themselves or burst out of the bubble like they say. And eventually at some point in their life, they do meet that. Your mind is one but your body is a different thing and without a proper body, you don’t have a proper mind and vice-versa without a proper mind, you don’t have a proper body. They come in the crossroads of “Oh shit, I better start paying attention to my health.” And usually when that person does start paying attention

to their health, their life transformed. You’re mentioning that you’re in the 200 digits of weight and it’s just too much. Your doctor is putting you on Lipitor, your blood pressure is going up, probably inflammatory markers are very high. Then with your own intuition, with your own internal knowledge, you decided to take up eating healthy. You didn’t need 10 people giving you an intervention to transform your life. You’re like “No, no, no, no. I’m going to take my own life in my own hands and control it.”

Denny: Yeah. Ultimately I think we are all responsible for our own health. I think once you realize that, then you got to do what feels right. I think we intuitively know what’s working for us and what’s not, or at least it felt like I did. That’s why I went against the rules and took myself off the medication and I feel so much better now.

Ameer: What’s your take on if parents want to tell their kids to go on a paleo diet?

Denny: I think it would be great. I’m not a parent so I can’t really say for sure, but I think it might be a challenge because the kids are exposed to so much sugar and junkfood outside of the home but if they can get them to do it, I think it would be fantastic.

Ameer: Yeah. Just imagine though if at least like 25% of America ditched the standard American diet and adopt, I don’t even care for paleo diet, I’m just talking about a standard whole foods diet, close to the farm type of foods, nice wholesome stuff, how much less of a burden will be on the healthcare system. I just think we will have much more enlightened society because people will start thinking for themselves instead of being like cogs and just nodding their head, like “Yes, I must take pill.”

Denny: Yeah, it would be life-changing or world-changing to see that happen. It seems like we’re making some progress toward that end. It might take a long time.

Ameer: Yeah. I see slowly people are waking up. I think the unfortunate circumstance is that most people have to face a life-changing situation before they wake up, either it’s sickness or something happens to a loved one or who knows what it is, and then they have no choice because the brick wall is in front of them and they’re like “I got to do something. I got to break this wall apart so I can escape.” On the other hand, the reason why we’re in this mess in the first place is

because of manipulation in marketing. I grew up thinking I need to drink milk. I need my calcium, it’s mandatory. Or, the whole-wheat bread, I’m going to lose all my nutrients if I don’t them. I grew up as a child and your parents were groomed the same way, and it perpetuates to generation to generation to generation like a domino series, until we take out at least one or two generations that don’t abide by those standards and we transform the lineage of the domino series.

Denny: Right. And it’s a tough sell to get people to go against what they’ve learned all these years. Some people want the results that friend or family member might have and I think slowly but surely we’ll get there.

Ameer: Now, talking about family members. Have any of your family members adopted your lifestyle that you eat. I know some musicians have but let’s talk about your family for a second.

Denny: Yeah. I have two sisters and my mom that are still living and one of my sisters got on board with it and is doing pretty well. I also have a cousin that, I can’t remember the timing, but I think he heard me on Abel’s podcast and it turns out that he’d been doing it also and he struggled with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is in remission which is great and he’s adopted the paleo lifestyle and is doing really well with it, so I have a few family members, well those two. Anybody that U can encourage to try it, I think they get good results and it kind of speak for itself.

Ameer: I agree. So let’s wrap this up. Number one, what would you say to any fellow musicians out there listening, what would be your exceptional resource for them to learn about the lifestyle that you’re living now?

Denny: Well, first of all, I would say to them. If you’re a touring guy and you want to extend your career, this is a good way to do it because it’s sort of a young man’s game really. I’m 57 years old and I’ve been doing this for about 20 years. I’m steady on the road, I’ve been a lot longer before that too. I still feel good and I still feel like I can travel and not suffer too badly from it, so I think it’s a good way to go for that reason. Then as far as resources, they should to the guys like you and Abel and Mark Sisson. For me at least, once I got into it, I wanted to get all the information I could and I searched on the internet and listened to everybody that had something to say about it and just learn all you can.

Ameer: Awesome. Now to summarize, I always ask my guest this one final question. If you had say 10 seconds, what would be your number one optimal health tip you would leave somebody with?

Denny: Quit eating sugar.

Ameer: True that. Sugar’s just poison. Awesome. Alright Denny. It’s been a blast doing this podcast, I really had fun doing it. If people want to find out more information about you, what you do, where the tour dates are, where they can get more information?

Denny: Go to TimMcgraw.com. All the tour dates are on his website. That’s where I’ll be. If anyone is interested in talking to me personally, another musician and wants to figure out how they can do it or anybody really. I get my email out, it’s just DennyHemingson@me.com, and they can email me directly and I’d love to talk to people about it. I can’t shut up about it if they ask.

Ameer: That’s two things we have in common. Alright Denny, it’s been a blast brother. Definitely we’re going to have you on for round two. Until then my friend, have a great day.

Denny: Great. Thanks Ameer.

Ameer Rosic Ameer Rosic is obsessed with health. A Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Functional Diagnostic Practitioner and Functional Medicine Practitioner, Ameer has spent years empowering himself with knowledge about optimal health, and now his passion is to share that with you! From interviews with top health experts to fitness and nutritional advice and more, Ameer Rosic can help you live a life of optimal health!

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