Gray Hair Dave Discusses His Personal Weight Loss Journey and Health Strategies

This episode addresses the significant theme of personal preparation for one’s eventual passing through the concept of a "When I Die" file. I elaborate on the importance of organizing vital information regarding whom to notify and what arrangements to make, thereby ensuring that loved ones are guided in a time of potential distress. I also discuss my own progress in developing this file, emphasizing that I aim to create a resource that is both comprehensive and user-friendly. Furthermore, I delve into my recent health journey, including weight loss efforts and the integration of a new medication regimen designed to help manage my appetite. Lastly, I share reflections on my personal milestones and health strategies, all while inviting listeners to engage with my upcoming projects and merchandise offerings.
The episode showcases a compelling blend of personal narratives and informative content, articulated through the distinctive voice of Gray Hair Dave. The conversation begins with an affectionate self-introduction, where Dave's gray hair and beard serve as emblematic features of his character. This introduction naturally leads into a discussion about Eleven Labs IO, a cutting-edge AI tool that allows users to convert written content into diverse audio formats. Dave's enthusiasm is palpable as he invites listeners to explore this technology, highlighting its potential utility for both casual users and content creators alike.
Transitioning from technology to more profound themes, the narrative shifts towards the concept of the 'When I Die' file, a project that underscores the importance of end-of-life planning. Dave meticulously outlines the components he is including, such as contact information and directives for loved ones. This segment is particularly poignant, as he reflects on the emotional challenges associated with preparing for one's own mortality. His candid acknowledgment of the need for such preparations resonates with listeners, compelling them to consider their own approaches to these inevitable topics.
As the episode progresses, Dave shares personal milestones, including weight loss achievements and reflections on his decade-long career. His recounting of workplace celebrations and the kindness of colleagues adds a relatable dimension to the episode, emphasizing the importance of community and support in both personal and professional realms. The conclusion invites listeners to participate in the podcast community and consider engaging with new merchandise, effectively bridging the gap between the host and his audience. This episode not only entertains but also inspires reflection on life's significant transitions and preparations.
Takeaways:
- The podcast episode begins with an introduction to Gray Hair Dave, establishing his unique characteristics and persona.
- Gray Hair Dave discusses the importance of creating a 'When I Die' file to organize vital information for loved ones.
- Listeners are encouraged to utilize AI tools from elevenlabs IO to create unique audio content for their projects.
- Gray Hair Dave has recently embarked on a weight loss journey, highlighting his motivation and commitment to improving his health.
- He shares personal experiences, including his 10-year work anniversary and the support he received from colleagues during this significant milestone.
- The episode concludes with an invitation to explore merchandise associated with the podcast, promoting listener engagement and connection.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Elevenlabs IO
- 11 Labs IO
- Disney
- WeGovy
- Boomer podcasters
- Descript
- Gray Hair Productions
00:00 - Untitled
00:00 - Introducing Gray Hair Dave
04:35 - Reflecting on Milestones and Memories
08:10 - Weight Loss Journey and Health Plans
11:40 - Preparing for Change: Health and Lifestyle Updates
15:06 - Introduction to Merchandise and Podcasting Resources
Welcome to five minutes with Gray Hair Dave.
Speaker AHe has gray hair.
Speaker AHe has a gray beard.
Speaker AHe wears glasses like the guy in the artwork.
Speaker AOh, and the guy in the artwork is better looking.
Speaker ANow here is Gray Hair Dave.
Speaker BYes, indeed, folks, that was elevenlabs IO.
Speaker BElevenlabs IO.
Speaker BThat's where I go to get my intro from.
Speaker BNow, you could do a lot of things in elevenlab.
Speaker BIt is a.
Speaker BIt's an AI product that will take whatever you write or type into the program and give it to you in many different kinds of voices.
Speaker BOkay, go to 11 Labs IO and just play with it for a while, folks.
Speaker BSee what you think.
Speaker BI think you're going to really enjoy it.
Speaker BI do, I do, I do.
Speaker BHow are you today, folks?
Speaker BI'm doing, you know, hope you're doing well.
Speaker BI'm recording this with video today because I said I would.
Speaker BNow, I'm not saying it's going to be the best thing in the world you've ever seen, but it is going to be me doing it.
Speaker BOkay?
Speaker BSo anyway, I wanted to talk to you today about what I've been doing lately.
Speaker BAnd I have been working on the When I Die file.
Speaker BIt's there in a lot of places.
Speaker BThe one that I have for here where I live is done basically all they, you know.
Speaker BAnd that one is who do you notify?
Speaker BHere's the phone numbers.
Speaker BIf that person is no longer alive, go to this person or go to that person who's first, second, third, fourth, fifth, depending upon who's still alive.
Speaker BBecause this isn't for tomorrow, it's for hopefully 20 years from now.
Speaker BWho knows?
Speaker BI don't know how long I want to live, but I want to live longer than I in the day after I get this When I Die file done.
Speaker BOkay, So I know that I talked about it and I was going to give it to you guys in a PDF form and I will, I promise to do that.
Speaker BI. I'm just not done yet.
Speaker BI'm tweaking it and I'm playing with it and, and I want it to be a product that I'm proud of and I want to be something that I'm going to use.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BNow, there is going to be a price for this.
Speaker BUnfortunately, it's not going to be much.
Speaker BIt's a couple bucks.
Speaker BBut I put some time and effort into this and if you want it in a.
Speaker BOn a flash drive, I can do that for you.
Speaker BI went out and bought a bunch of.
Speaker BWhat did I get here?
Speaker BOne gig flash drives, I believe they are, or let's see.
Speaker BNo, they were eight gig flash drives and I got them in a bunch of colors because I want to send, I'm going to send one, you know, to a friend here in town.
Speaker BAnd so she's got one.
Speaker BAnd then I'm going to send one to each of my brothers.
Speaker BAnd then I thought what I'd do is I'd send one to a couple of nephews and maybe there is a, there's a niece in town.
Speaker BI'll send her one.
Speaker BNow she's not in town, but she's in Florida.
Speaker BSo I'll send her one in case she's still here.
Speaker BIf and when something happens to me, those are important things.
Speaker BAnd when I talked to my friend the other day, I didn't talk to her actually.
Speaker BWe were texting back and forth.
Speaker BShe said that she had started it and it was on her list.
Speaker BOkay, I'm okay with that.
Speaker BA lot of things can be on your list.
Speaker BThis is on mine.
Speaker BAm I in a excruciating hurry to get this done?
Speaker BNo, I'm not.
Speaker BDo I want to get it done for you folks?
Speaker BYes, I do.
Speaker BI want you to be a product you guys can get from Gray Hair Productions so that you know what I'm talking about when I reference it again.
Speaker BAnd I, and I want it to be something that you can be proud of too.
Speaker BAnd, and send to all your, your folks that you need to have that information.
Speaker BSo that's what's going on here with that.
Speaker BI just, I didn't want to leave you in alerts that you think that it wasn't out there, because it's not, but it's closer.
Speaker BI was going to work on it today, but today is Sunday.
Speaker BI know I'm a couple days late getting this out, but it's been a weird week.
Speaker BLet me explain to you my week, all right?
Speaker BI still work for the Mouse and happy to, happy to be.
Speaker BAnd Friday was my 10 year anniversary.
Speaker BAnd when you have a 10 year anniversary, they give you a plaque with Mickey Mouse on it and thanks for 10 magical years of service.
Speaker BYou get a new service pin to go on your name tag that says 10 years and it's got a Mickey Mouse on it, not a Goofy.
Speaker BAnd then they usually have cake, you know, for, for everybody in the department.
Speaker BWell, I'm not in my department now, am I?
Speaker BI'm on light duty due to my foot.
Speaker BWell, I was curious what they were going to do, so I was doing my job.
Speaker BAnd when I was walking back into the office that I Work in.
Speaker BNow all of a sudden, I hear a couple of voices.
Speaker BHey, Dave.
Speaker BHey, Dave.
Speaker BAnd we met up and they had a small cake for me with, you know, congratulations, happy 10 anniversary Dave, or happy 10th anniversary Dave.
Speaker BIt was nice.
Speaker BAnd a couple of the people that I've gotten to be friends with in the room that I'm working in got to have cake and it was nice.
Speaker BIt was very nice.
Speaker BMy managers, it was, they found me.
Speaker BI didn't have to go looking for them for this, which was great.
Speaker BI had a high feeling the rest of the day feeling good that people cared enough to come find me and take care of this.
Speaker BIs it an obligation?
Speaker BNo.
Speaker BThey could have sent me an email or gave me a call and said, hey, Dave, stop by the office today on your way home or, you know, come on by around one o' clock and we'll have this little party.
Speaker BThey came to me that, that said something to me.
Speaker BIt says a lot about my managers, okay?
Speaker BAnd I, I have never said anything bad about a manager I've worked with at Disney because they've all been really, really good and really, really nice.
Speaker BSo I have no complaints at all.
Speaker BSo there was that.
Speaker BThere's a little bit of lead up to that.
Speaker BYou know, I wanted to.
Speaker BI trimmed the beard, folks, a little bit now you can see it.
Speaker BIt was, I trimmed a good inch all the way around.
Speaker BYou wouldn't think an inch is a lot, but it is.
Speaker BAnd that was nerve wracking too.
Speaker BWhen you've grown something.
Speaker BI mean, it was trimmed by a professional.
Speaker BOh, back in April, I think it was.
Speaker BYeah, yeah.
Speaker BSomewhere time.
Speaker BSomewhere in April.
Speaker BAnd it's.
Speaker BSo you gotta think about April, May, June, July, August, September, October.
Speaker BThere's six months worth of growth on there.
Speaker BWell, scary to start playing around with a pair of scissors around your face and around a beard you're kind of proud of or at least happy with.
Speaker BI am happy with it, folks.
Speaker BBut I didn't want pictures to be taken with this scraggly looking beard.
Speaker BAnd it was starting to look a little.
Speaker BLittle war torn.
Speaker BWhat else is going on?
Speaker BYou know, in talking.
Speaker BWe're changing the subject again.
Speaker BWe're talking now.
Speaker BWe're talking about health and talking with my doctor, my regular doctor, not my foot doctor.
Speaker BWe.
Speaker BI've been losing weight.
Speaker BI've been trying to lose weight because one, when I was off after surgery, and even before surgery, I'd started gaining weight because I couldn't walk much, I couldn't do much.
Speaker BAnd then during surgery, all I did was Lay around, because that's about all I could do.
Speaker BAnd then you put a boot on a person.
Speaker BWell, they can't be real active.
Speaker BYes, I'd go to therapy a couple days a week, but that's not the amount of exercise I needed to start losing this weight.
Speaker BSo, you know, we came up with a plan.
Speaker BYes, I already lost 15 pounds.
Speaker BI'm pretty excited about that.
Speaker BI wasn't.
Speaker BI'm not going to tell you a number, but it was way higher than I've ever been in my life, and I'm down £15.
Speaker BI'm happy about that.
Speaker BSo he saw that there was progress and that I can, and I am motivated to do this.
Speaker BSo he put me on the weight loss program called WeGovy.
Speaker BAnd that's the one where you inject yourself with a shot and it's.
Speaker BIt's supposed to help deter your appetite and a bunch of other things.
Speaker BAnd it starts out with a 20.25 milligram dose for a month.
Speaker BAnd it goes up and then it goes up, and then it goes up and then it goes up.
Speaker BIt's a five or six month program.
Speaker BFive for sure.
Speaker BTo get you up to 2.5, I think it is.
Speaker BBut my doctor told me, he says, he says, pick a day that you can commit to, because this is going to be your day.
Speaker BBecause I want you to do it the same day every week and around the same time so that you have consistency, because you need to have a consistency.
Speaker BAnd I'm not one for needles, folks.
Speaker BI'm really not.
Speaker BAnd I was kind of skeptical, and I talked to my friend Jen.
Speaker BShe goes, dave, if you can't do it, I will for you.
Speaker BShe goes, I'll be happy to.
Speaker BWell, yesterday was my day, and I took a shower, got all cleaned up, and stuck it in my leg.
Speaker BNow, this isn't one where you've got to stick a needle into a little vial, suck some of the medicine out, you know, and then stick it in your leg like a regular.
Speaker BLike a regular shot.
Speaker BThis is like a.
Speaker BLike an EpiPen almost in design.
Speaker BAnd it's.
Speaker BYou stick it in your leg and you push down.
Speaker BAnd then you can see in the.
Speaker BAnd you can see the medicine moving in.
Speaker BAnd there's a yellow tab that follows along and clicks.
Speaker BAnd you got to keep it in there for about 10 to 15 seconds for all the medicine to get in.
Speaker BI kept it in there like a charm, like a champ.
Speaker BI didn't have a problem with it at all.
Speaker BYou know, they talk about, you know, if you, you pull it out and there's a little bit of a medicine still oozing out, you didn't get it in all the way.
Speaker BWell, and don't start all over.
Speaker BWait till next week.
Speaker BSo I did, I waited.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BIt all went in, though.
Speaker BVery proud of myself.
Speaker BAnd I did not get woozy or sick or anything because me and Nilo sometimes don't get along.
Speaker BAnd I think because it was in, in this kind of a pen type of a thing, that didn't bother me a bit.
Speaker BAnd I did put it in my leg.
Speaker BI think next week I'll try it in my stomach because I don't have to put it in the same place every time.
Speaker BIn fact, they suggest you don't put it in the same exact spot every time anyway, so I'm going to let you know how things are going, let you know what I'm doing.
Speaker BSo anyways, that's what's going on there.
Speaker BAlso, I went out and bought a new pair of tennis shoes so that I can, I call them tennis shoes.
Speaker BThey're running shoes.
Speaker BBasically.
Speaker BAs I'm starting my walks tomorrow, I am going to go downstairs today because we have a, a stationary bicycle.
Speaker BAnd I'm going to put 10 minutes on a stationary bicycle here in a few minutes after I get done editing.
Speaker BI'm looking forward to that because my doctor, my foot doctor wants me to mix it up too.
Speaker BShe goes, dave, I don't want you doing, just walking five days, you know, seven days a week.
Speaker BDo walking for walk a day, bicycle a day, elliptical another day.
Speaker BWell, we don't have an elliptical machine and Disney has a, a gym I'm thinking about joining.
Speaker BI'm going to look into that.
Speaker BThere's also a gym really close here.
Speaker BSo I, I don't know if a gym is needed, but I'll look into it.
Speaker BLet me get walking and excuse me.
Speaker BAnd bicycling and then we'll, we'll play it by ear from there.
Speaker BBut I want to keep you updated on what's going on weekly.
Speaker BI'll let you know if I've lost any, gained any, and we'll see what happens.
Speaker BBut that's what's going on, folks.
Speaker BI, I, again, I, I apologize that I don't have that When I die file right there.
Speaker BI can tell you.
Speaker BAnd in fact, I'm going to show the people on the video.
Speaker BI thought this was funny as can be.
Speaker BSo when I die file.
Speaker BGot just a couple things that started here.
Speaker BSo the When I die file right here's what to do when I die.
Speaker BAll the paperwork, files and podcast info you need, where to find it and how to continue if wanted.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BSecond page.
Speaker BWell, if you are looking at this, I am dead.
Speaker BWhat to do now you know who to contact, what do, what to do with the body.
Speaker BI want you to know what to do with my body, where to find the important items, what to do with podcasts, because I have more than one.
Speaker BHow to access my bank accounts, you know, and who gets what.
Speaker BI don't have a lot of money to leave, but I do have some things to leave.
Speaker BHere's one.
Speaker BAnd this is for.
Speaker BThis is for my friend in town.
Speaker BI do need to get rid of that real quick because I had phone numbers on it.
Speaker BI will edit that out.
Speaker BBut there is a page on there with contact name who first.
Speaker BBoom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Speaker BIf that person is gone, then go here.
Speaker BThat person has already passed before me.
Speaker BGo here.
Speaker BSo I wanted you to see.
Speaker BI'm working on things, but it's in progress.
Speaker BSo that's about all I've got for today, folks.
Speaker BI did want to say this.
Speaker BIf you know somebody who doesn't know what a podcast is, doesn't know where to find one, how to follow, subscribe, what genres there are, show them for me.
Speaker BUse mine as the example.
Speaker BHey, here's how you find five Minutes of Gray Hair Dave.
Speaker BHe's a goofy devil, but you might find him entertaining.
Speaker BShow them how to follow and subscribe.
Speaker BFor those of you who are not in the US and for those of you who are, I appreciate you all being here, I really do, and listening.
Speaker BI really, really do.
Speaker BI also started a merchandise shop which you all might find fun.
Speaker BIf you're interested in merchandise that says five Minutes of Gray Hair Dave and it's got my logo on it.
Speaker BI got tumblers.
Speaker BI've got, you know, those Stanley Water Water jugs.
Speaker BNot.
Speaker BThey're not water jugs.
Speaker BThey're like a.
Speaker BThey're Stanley Water cup water.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnyways, I've got those.
Speaker BI've got shirts, I've got hoodies.
Speaker BGo to the website and there'll be a link that are on a page that says merch.
Speaker BI haven't decided exactly how I want to say that yet, but going to include that in five Minutes of Gray Hair day.
Speaker BSo there is merchandise you can buy now and I want you to go look at it.
Speaker BPlease do.
Speaker BI really would appreciate that.
Speaker BAlso, folks, don't forget, if you're.
Speaker BIf you are interested in or know somebody who's interested in podcasting and you're not sure where to go, what to do or where to start.
Speaker BLook at Boomer podcasters.
Speaker BBoomer.
Speaker BBoomer podcasters.com has six or seven podcasts already in there.
Speaker BThey're all audio.
Speaker BAnd we're starting the videos I've been recording, but I want to do some more editing on them because I'm going to put them on YouTube and I'm not sure if I'm going to put them on Spotify or not.
Speaker BIf you think.
Speaker BIf you want them on Spotify, please let me know so that I can arrange that.
Speaker BI've had some thoughts about Spotify and video and I don't know if I want them there or not, but if you want them there, then I'm going to put them there.
Speaker BOkay?
Speaker BSo think about that.
Speaker BAnd boomerpodcasting.com is there.
Speaker BGo look it over.
Speaker BIt's fun.
Speaker BLike I say, there's more coming quickly, but I've got to a point where I need to go to video.
Speaker BAlso, folks, if you know somebody who already has a podcast or you have one and you want to gain more time back or you want to make it sound better, if you want to get rid of the ums and oz, you can go to Descript for that.
Speaker BBut if you want professional style post production, go togray hair productions dot com.
Speaker BThat's me, Gray Hair Dave.
Speaker BI'm Gray Hair Productions and I do professional editing.
Speaker BI will make you sound good.
Speaker BI will make you sound what you want to sound like.
Speaker BWe'll have a conversation and talk about it.
Speaker BThat's Gray Hair Dave.
Speaker BThat's Gray Hair Productions dot com.
Speaker BSo when you're out and about today, do me a favor, folks.
Speaker BYou see somebody you don't know or you don't know very much, smile at them.
Speaker BYou're going to make their day.
Speaker BSo on behalf of Gray Hair Dave and everybody here over at Gray Hair Productions, I wish you well.
Speaker BI'll talk to you soon.
Speaker BHave a good one.
Speaker BBye.
Speaker BBye.