#133. A Healthy You with Joshua DeTillio

JOIN THE COMMUNITY

Episode Transcription

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  00:00

Hi it’s Marissa Lee here, and I’m so excited to be sharing today’s interview round episode with you. In these episodes, our brilliant lineup of guests will include healthcare practitioners, voice educators, and other professionals who will share their stories, knowledge and experiences within their specialized fields to empower you to live your best life. Whether you’re a member of the voice, community, or beyond your voice is your unique gift. It’s time now to share your gift with others develop a positive mindset and become the best and most authentic version of yourself to create greater impact. Ultimately, you can take charge, it’s time for you to live your best life. It’s time now for a voice and beyond. So without further ado, let’s go to today’s episode.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  01:15

Our guest this week on a voice and beyond is Joshua De Tillio, who is the Chief Administrative Officer at Gulf Coast Medical Center, as well as an adjunct professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. Based on his 16 years experience in health care and hospital administration, Joshua was inspired to design an essential how-to guide on building and maintaining our own wellness plan. In this episode, Joshua speaks about the many reasons why he created his popular hospital wide wellness program called Healthy You, Healthy Team, Healthy Company. He explains that nothing is more important to a company than its employees, and nothing is more important to the employees than their health. Joshua believes that a wellness plan can keep a work team happy, fit and motivated while lowering business costs and increasing efficiency and all you need is a roadmap to success. Joshua tells us that business leaders must become the role models for their employees and he offers employers a roadmap presented in eight stages ranging from learning how to be an inspiration to incentivizing participation and from using data to refining practices. He also discusses the current situation regarding increasing health costs, and he believes that it is 5% of the population who contribute to 90% of those rising costs. Joshua states that it is his mission to decrease health costs by improving the health of others. Whether you wish to embark on your healthcare journey, or you want to improve on it. Joshua De Tillio gives us some simple no fuss-steps to follow throughout our conversation in this show. So without further ado, let’s go to today’s episode

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  03:54

Welcome to a voice and beyond. We have a very special guest here we have Joshua De Tillio. How are you?

Joshua De Tillio  04:03

Good. Thanks for having me. Dr. Naismith. Great to be here.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  04:05

Oh, you can call me Marisa. Okay, Marisa. Thank you. You know, I love how people from the US are so respectful of titles. Here in Australia. We’re really casual about anyone’s achievements. But in the US, I always feel that I’m very special or that I feel that I’ve worked hard for my title because I’m address by that. And it’s, it’s really good to say actually,

Joshua De Tillio  04:37

no, we we love our doctors here. So if you’ve earned that title, then we want to use it.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  04:43

Yes, no, I really appreciate that. So Joshua, it’s about you. You are the chief administrative officer at Gulf Coast Medical Center, and an adjunct professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. You’re also a fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives. Now you have quite an interesting history because you attended the US Military Academy, and served in the army for five years, you received a master’s degree in Business Admin, and public health from Vanderbilt, and Harvard, and you’re certified in plant based nutrition through Cornell. Okay, I’m thoroughly exhausted just trying to get through all of that is so many achievements in such a variety of fields. Tell us about your story. And what made you transition through all these different types of learnings?

Joshua De Tillio  05:44

Well, no, thank you. And then it’s making me feel old. It seems like I’ve done a lot getting up there. Yeah. No, I am. I started, like you said in the army after graduating West Point, and really enjoyed that. But I wanted to be a after I got to the army, I wanted to continue to be a leader. And I had a big passion for health and wellness as well. And so I learned about health care and hospital administration and went back to school, got my business degree, and then got into hospitals after that. And then I went back and got a public health degree from Harvard, because I wanted to be more clinical. I knew the business side, but I wanted to get a little bit of the clinical side as well. So that’s that’s kind of why I went through that path.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  06:23

Yes. Oh, was there an inspiration for that? Was there something in your life that triggered you to going into healthcare with did you have health care concerns? Or did someone around you had those concerns?

Joshua De Tillio  06:38

Yeah, my, my wife were going into health care, went back to my grandparents, they both died. A little young, one from cancer and one from Alzheimer’s. And I didn’t get to spend enough time with them as a kid. And so that really kind of got me thinking, you know, how can we live longer, healthier lives? And that’s what kind of piqued my interest in health and wellness and health care. And so that’s why I got into the field.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  07:03

Yes, and you’re quite? What’s the word? Like you, you’re very proactive in your own health because you you’re a swimmer, you’ve competed in more than 50 triathlons, you meditate, you surf, you do yoga, tai chi, and CrossFit. How do you fit all that?

Joshua De Tillio  07:24

I don’t do I don’t do all that in the same in the same day or same?

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  07:27

Not. That’s a lot of superpowers.

Joshua De Tillio  07:32

When you say like that, it’s a lot. But you know, I think I’m on the wrong continent. Because, you know, in Australia, your swimmers are your best athletes there and highly revered. So, in my next life, I want to be a swimmer in Australia,

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  07:46

well, don’t tell our football players that.

07:52

But no, I do, I do like to stay in shape. And I do like to eat healthy and just, I just feel better, and I have more energy, and I sleep better, and it’s all connected. And then once you’ve kind of got the body, you know, feeling good or better than, then you want to work on the mental health as well too. And you want to do the meditation and and then once you’ve got the mind and the body going, then you know, you kind of get into that that spiritual piece too. And then everything’s kind of clicking. So it all kind of feeds into each other and makes you feel good.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  08:21

So you talk about the mental and the physical and people forget about that. Because basically, you know, our bodies are our temple, but also our the foods that we eat to fuel our brains as well. It’s a really holistic approach that we need to take to help. But what does good health? What defines that for you?

Joshua De Tillio  08:47

Well, for me, it’s it’s really the the kind of optimal balance of one, feeling good to having the right amount of energy. And then three, really just, you know, aging slowly and Aging Gracefully. We see in the United States that, you know, once you hit 60, or 65, then you really start having a lot of health conditions or concerns and chronic disease, you know, for a variety of factors. And so for me working in a hospital, I know that I don’t want to be in a hospital because it’s a it’s a scary place. And so anything I can do to kind of prevent any health issues is something I’m very excited about, and then do that through various things staying active, good nutrition, and your doctor will tell you the same thing the best medicine is, is you know, good diet and exercise, right?

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  09:40

So it’s prevention rather than cure. But why most people failing when it comes to health and longevity, like the average person, where are they getting it all wrong?

Joshua De Tillio  09:53

Well, I mean, there’s a couple a couple of issues and I haven’t been to Australia yet but the Food in the United States is challenging at this point, there’s a lot of processed food, there’s a lot of corruption in the food. And so it’s very difficult to to stay healthy. And there’s also a lack of nutrients in our in our fruits and vegetables as well, too. So we end up over eating here. And that leads to a lot of the chronic disease the leads to the obesity and the cardiac disease and diabetes, which, as you know, I mean, just leads into a host of other health related issues. And so, so I’m not sure if the food is a little bit more healthy in Australia. But that’s one of the big challenges here in the United States.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  10:35

I do come to the US at least once or twice a year. And the last time I was there, and first up what I have noticed over there as the portions are larger, we have here, and there’s fries with just about everything. But we’ll fries, soda, do I but I actually stopped eating fries. That’s my weakness. But a few months ago, I was diagnosed with minor COPD. And so I decided that I would start eating a low inflammatory or non inflammatory diet, cutting out processed foods and making some different lifestyle choices, even though I’m fit and active. And I go to the gym and I walk but I decided though, I would up the ante when it came to cardio, and anything building lung capacity, instead of parking close to the train. And I make sure now I pick the car park that’s the furthest away, so I have to walk that little bit further. One of the things I did, and this is, as I said, my one of my biggest weaknesses is fries. I decided to cut those out. And you know what, I haven’t eaten a fry now for about four months, and we’ll go out for dinner and my husband’s the opposite. He burgers and fries. And I don’t want to be rude, but he looks like he eats burgers and fries. Me. And I don’t touch a one. It’s so and I’ve never missed it.

Joshua De Tillio  12:18

How is your health improved than it? Is the inflammation gone down?

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  12:23

Absolutely. I couldn’t make it up a flight of stairs. I thought I had long posing. I did I actually thought I had long COVID. But of course the COVID would have exacerbated the COPD, and not knowing that I had that condition. And I only found out by accident. And I’ve told this story that I ended up at the doctor’s by mistake one day, I thought I was due for one of my usual tests like one of the female tests that we have every few years. But they’re too early, because they’ve changed it now that it’s every five years instead of every two. Oh, and when I got there, the doctor said, Well, you’re here now. So let’s have a chat and ask me what had been going on. And my mom had just recently passed away. She was 99. But she had heart problems from her late 80s. And so they asked me about that. And what was the what were the heart issues that she had? And I said she had blockages, they asked, Did she have high cholesterol? I said yes. They said, let’s check you out for cholesterol. You don’t look like you have a cholesterol problem. But let’s see, sometimes it can be genetic. So I had the test. I have high cholesterol. And I said now I’m not going to take the medication. I refuse to take the medication. But I do know that there’s a test I can have that will give me my my risk factor for heart problems, heart disease harder. And she she didn’t even suggest that she was just going to medicate me and I’d only heard about this through a friend. So I went and had the test and the test came back that it was zero chance of heart attack. She said however, we’ve found that you have minor COPD now I didn’t know what that was. And she didn’t really talk about it too much. She didn’t make a big deal out of it. And then I came home and I looked it up and I thought I was gonna die. Right I just went this is not good. And I think I spent the next three nights wide awake. I didn’t get a week of sleep thinking is scary. This is really scary. And then I started to do a little bit more research and and I see thought, well, everything comes back to inflammation. If I can take care of that aspect, then that’s going to help me. So I started making all these little changes that all in the grand scheme of their life mount up to one big change. That’s right. I couldn’t make it up a flight of stairs. But I never told anyone. But I was really struggling. And just slowly but surely, I am the fittest now that I’ve ever been in my life.

Joshua De Tillio  15:36

Oh, that’s great. We found on on our journey, when when people started eating healthier, our employees started eating healthier in a matter of weeks or a month, they improved dramatically once you get that inflammation down. I mean, that’s really that’s really the key. It is, and your body will heal itself pretty quickly. As long as you put the right things in it.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  15:56

Yes, I have felt such a change. And now it’s been ongoing for a number of months. It’s not that I felt well, for a week, it’s been consistent. And no, I’m feeling so so well.

Joshua De Tillio  16:11

But unfortunately, like, It’s good that you’re doing the podcast and getting the word out. But a lot of people and I’m not saying you but but they don’t, they don’t really take action or start working on their health or prevention until they get a scare until the doctor says you know, you’ve got x, y, z, then that’s when they start taking it seriously. But they’ve got to start earlier on, they’ve got to start younger, they’ve got to really work on it every day.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  16:36

But you can be doing the work as I did. I was going I was exercising four times a week, I thought I was eating healthy, until I got the diagnosis. And I thought no, I can do even better than this. And yes, you’re right, it takes something to motivate us. But how do we get people started on this? I mean, I know people lack motivation. And people have all good intentions. New Year’s Eve comes around, they set their goal for the new year that they’re going to lose weight, where do they get it all wrong?

Joshua De Tillio  17:11

No, I mean, everyone, everyone gets it, right. The problem is that that it’s very the food is in general is very addictive, whether it’s the salt, the sugar, or the fat, once you start eating it, it’s an endless cycle that you want more. And then again, they’re not very nutrient dense foods. So you never really feel satiated. And you want to continue to eat more. And that’s why you overeat. And that’s why you gain weight, etc, etc. But what we found in our journey at the hospital, and our in our wellness program, really was that if the employees had some skin in the game, some financial skin in the game, we had a group therapy session where we would pay $300. And then they would pay $300, which gave them an you know, an incentive to actually, you know, work through the program. And then it was in a group of 20 people. So there were other, you know, friends in there, and they felt responsible to the group, you know, to stick to the meal planning. And then we found that, after a couple of weeks, two weeks to three weeks, they started feeling so much better, that they never really wanted to go back to the processed food and the fried food, and you know, all the sugar and the salt and all the stuff that we consume. So if you can, if you can get through it for a couple of weeks, you do extremely, extremely better.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  18:27

Yes, and you raise a good point there too, that with the foods they are addictive, I heard that some of the foods that we eat when it comes to sugars, especially that they can give you the same heat as cocaine does. You know, and and you have that addiction. And there’s ingredients being put into our foods by these billion dollar companies that we are unaware of, to keep us eating these foods. And then you have the advertising that goes along with it as well. You can’t even go on YouTube without seeing what we’ve got Burger King, or we’ve got Hungry Jacks or whatever it is McDonald’s, they’ve all got their ads, promoting unhealthy food. But as a society, what’s the greatest risk that we face at the moment? These people that come to you to your health care program? What’s the biggest issue that you’re seeing currently amongst people? Is there one common thing?

Joshua De Tillio  19:29

Well, I mean, the like I said, the biggest diseases that we’re seeing are the cardiac disease, the diabetes, you know, the obesity as well. I mean, didn’t really come to us for that, but that relates to a host of other issues. So those are the big ones and that’s really what’s impacting a lot of the elderly here. So those are the scariest ones.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  19:52

I did notice when I was in the US that when when I was eating there that all the restaurants now have calories. Beside the food? Is that a law that came in that it’s mandatory to do that?

Joshua De Tillio  20:09

I think in certain states it is a law, or this is New

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  20:13

York, New York and Philadelphia.

Joshua De Tillio  20:16

Yeah, some of those northeastern states probably do have laws that mandate that.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  20:21

Okay. But what was really what was really interesting was that the stake in the friars had the same calories as a salad.

Joshua De Tillio  20:33

That’s interesting. That is interesting. Yeah, I mean, some of the some of the salads in the United States are, you know, just loaded with oil and dressing and all kinds of other sides that, you know, are very unhealthy, right. So there’s some healthy lettuce and some vegetables, but there’s a lot of unhealthy things in ourselves.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  20:51

And I didn’t realize how many how many calories are in foods to Yeah, I was, I was shocked.

20:59

Some some of the meals here are, you know, 2000, 2500 calories? I mean, that’s, that’s all you need for a day, right?

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  21:06

I was gonna say that’s your, your daily intake. Oh, my gosh, okay. So at present, you’re working within the hospital, and you have an essential how to guide on building and maintaining your own wellness. So who are the people that you work with? And tell us about this plan?

Joshua De Tillio  21:29

Yeah, so this is this is a journey that we went on a couple of hospitals ago, that I worked at, where we really just kind of started early stage. And we really decided that we wanted to create a wellness program to really help our employees feel better, because in the hospital, in healthcare we’re in we’re in a people, business people taking care of people. So if we’ve got engaged, healthy employees that are excited to come to work, we have better patient experience, right? They’re taking better care of the patients. So we wanted to invest in them. And we started small, we had some of us that were role models that were role modeling healthy lifestyles, and, and some other leaders that really role modeled. And that’s what you need, really, in the beginning is a lot of good leadership that’s really committed. And then we just started trying different things, trying different things with the food, introducing new foods in the cafeteria, trying different exercise programs in the hospital, trying different therapy sessions, as well, as you know, sponsoring different races in the local community, whether there are triathlons or 5k’s, and getting people out and getting people doing things, we also put it in a meditation room at the hospital. So employees and doctors could go in there, you know, for five minutes or an hour and just kind of decompress because healthcare is a very stressful job. And, and patients sometimes do well, and sometimes they don’t. And so that takes a lot out of our caregivers. So the book really just kind of details the journey, kind of what we did kind of step by step. And you know, if you want to implement a wellness program at your company, this kind of gives you a guide and kind of a roadmap to do that.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  23:05

Yes. Well, we haven’t given the Book a title yet. We haven’t got to the book yet. But tell us the name of the book.

Joshua De Tillio  23:12

Yeah, the book is called Healthy, you healthy team healthy company. And it’s called that because again, it starts with you, you’re the only one that can make a change in yourself. And people aren’t going to follow you unless you again, you role model and you are that White House. And once you are that White House, people will come to you and say, Hey, what are you doing? And that’s what we found to once our once some of our employees started losing weight. And that’s that’s the big one, right? When people started losing weight, people ask a lot of questions, Hey, what are you doing? I want to do that, too. So that’s, that’s how it kind of works. And then it kind of builds from there and then grows into the entire company is really committed to health and wellness.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  23:49

And I liked the concept of what you’re talking about there in terms of role modeling. And there’s so many layers to that, because you talk about as healthcare workers, that you are actually the role models. And where I go to the doctor. In that surgery, there’s probably about 12 doctors, and I’ve never seen a more unhealthy group of people in my life. They are they’re overweight. Few of them go outside and smoke. And I just go “You’re the doctor here. How can you expect your patients to take care of themselves, if you don’t?” And even you’re talking about business leaders. I mean, everything starts at the top, I believe, and then there’s the family unit with parents, as parents, I think we need to role model for our children as well. And that’s where a lot of the problems start to is is in the household in the way that we’re raised and the foods with that we’re introduced to.

Joshua De Tillio  24:58

Yeah, that’s why that is And that’s a great point. And I wrote about that in the book that health care workers are some of the most unhealthy. And there’s a couple reasons for that. One is because because they’re essentially they’re givers, right? They give all of themselves to their patients, and they take care of themselves. Second, and they’re also are also very busy people. And so they’re eating on the run. And if you’ve ever been in a hospital for a long period of time, you see, there’s a lot of unhealthy food, there’s doughnuts, there’s cookies, there’s all kinds of stuff all the time, and they’re and they’re just grabbing and eating them. So I mean, for those reasons, they’re they’re unhealthy. But again, that’s why we wanted him to go on this journey and do this wellness plan to really help our team.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  25:42

Yes. And also to the if you’re in that hospital system, it’s the all the shift work to that must really mess with metabolism.

Joshua De Tillio  25:52

It does it does when you’re on a 12 hour shift or when you’re on an overnight shift. It’s very difficult. Yeah. And again, healthcare is a stressful job, too. So there’s a lot of stress eating as well.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  26:03

Yes. And once again, stress and anxiety that that exacerbates inflammation. Exactly. Same. Yeah. Answers. Yes. And you talk about the eight stages that you work through with your clients? What are those eight stages? And why is each of them so important?

Joshua De Tillio  26:29

Oh, wow, you’re gonna you’re quizzing me now. So one is, the first one is, again, the role modeling is starts with you. Second one is getting you know, that leadership cohort, getting the leaders at the top to buy in, the next one really is getting the financial incentives, trying to, you know, get some skin in the game with with the team. One of the next ones is food. I mean, that’s an entire chapter talking about that. Another chapter is the exercise. Another chapter is the, you know, the team dynamic, and really getting people to become mentors to each other, and to rely on each other. And, you know, and set up settings where they can talk to each other and see what’s working and what’s not. And then we get into the data piece, we collected a lot of data, and to try and understand trends and see who was high risk for disease or, you know, issues and trying to intervene with them early on. And then one of the last ones is just, you know, financial incentives with the insurance and insurance companies, you know, potential bonuses or things of that nature, again, to to incentivize our team to be healthier and live healthier lives.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  27:39

I’d like to touch on just quickly, where we’re working, go back to that business model. But for people who are not working in a business, other than like, there’s a lot of voice teachers that are listening to this, when there’s a chapter you said, a whole chapter on food. If you had to say, What was the worst food you can eat, and something you really encourage people to eat? Or a piece of advice relating to nutrition? What would that be?

Joshua De Tillio  28:14

Well, you know, I’m not I’m not a doctor. So I’m not an expert, but what we saw and, and in our, in our journey, and, you know, my own personal experience, really, I think that the dairy is really the most challenging food, the dairy, you know, really, is for baby cows, it’s not really for human consumption. And that leads to a significant amount of inflammation in the body and can help cause you know, a whole host of diseases. So whether that’s the milk, the cheese, the ice cream, yogurt, things like that are really some of the worst and, and you mentioned earlier, you know, that that some of the foods, you know, light up your brain, but dairy is the one that lights up those dopamine receptors in your brain, which again, makes you crave more of it. So, you know, especially ice cream, if you got the dairy combined with, you know, the sugar. It’s just like, it’s an amazing thing, right? Everyone loves ice cream, but again, not very healthy for you.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  29:12

That’s interesting, because most women when they have a bad breakup, go and buy a tub of ice cream.

Joshua De Tillio  29:20

I’m not saying not to do that. No. But again, it’s your it’s everything in moderation too. Right? I mean, I mean, everyone will everyone loves ice cream, but but you don’t have to eat it every day. Right?

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  29:30

So if someone wanted to start taking better care of their their health in terms of nutrition, what would be a good place to start would be would it be to alleviate dairy?

Joshua De Tillio  29:41

Well, I think I think and again, I’m not a doctor, but yeah, I think it’s just going bull going back to you know what, what our grandmothers told us what our parents told us eat more fruits and vegetables, right? So if we can eat a lot more fruits and vegetables and less of the other things, we’re going to be a lot healthier and when you do eat lots of fruits and vegetables, you’re not as hungry for the processed foods and, and you know some of those other foods. So that would be my advice. Just eat more fruits and vegetables.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  30:10

Yes. And when it comes to exercise, where can people start? What would you I know, you’re not a doctor. And that’s fine. We’ve we’ve made that disclaimer, but just through your own experience, and what you’ve seen in terms of how this plan has worked for other people, what would you suggest to someone? Who doesn’t? I don’t use the word exercise, because I believe a lot of people are allergic to that word. I call it physical activity. Yeah. So where would you suggest people start? Well, I

Joshua De Tillio  30:54

think people should start wherever they can, you know, if they if they if they’re, if their first thing is just to walk down the block, then they should walk down the block, if it’s to walk two miles, they should do that they’re ready for a 5k then they should do that. We had an employee, I won’t tell you his name, but, but he really was severely overweight. And he really couldn’t walk more than, you know, 20 paces without getting out of breath, and was just not in good shape at all. And I’ll tell you the journey that he went on, he lost about 75 pounds. And he was doing Ironman triathlons, you know, you know, 10, you know, 11 hour races in about a year. So anything can be done, I would say, you know, again, start small, consult your doctor, you don’t want to overdo it, right. But as you know, in your exercise, I mean, you start, you get started, and then you get stronger, and then you feel better. And then you do a little bit more every day. So start where you’re at, and just keep keep trying to improve.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  32:00

I know. I know, when I first started this intense cardio work that I do now, I remember saying to the trainer, this was doing reformer Pilates, but it was really intense. And I said, I don’t know if I want to pass out or project right now, and she looks at me it was like,

Joshua De Tillio  32:27

well, that’s that’s how you know you’re working hard. When you feel like that, you know, you’ve you’ve definitely done a good workout, then yeah.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  32:35

But then you get to a point where you get past the threshold, and you’re fine. And I’ve learned that it’s like, don’t panic, you’re going to get past this. And it’s always going to be well,

Joshua De Tillio  32:47

and then you come back the next day stronger, and you’re able to do it much easier.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  32:50

Yes, yes. And I’m in a class with people that are at least 20-30 years younger than me, and most of them are professional dancers. And I wipe all of them.

Joshua De Tillio  33:02

Wow, that’s great.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  33:03

I smash all that text. And I can say that proudly. And there’s no ego in there. It’s fact. But so what I was going to say, too, I love the idea that you endorse, just starting small because I think most people get that wrong. And that’s what leads them down that path of failure, or not being able to keep things up because they set their goals too big. And they’re unattainable. And then they feel like they just can’t achieve the goal. And they throw the towel in,

Joshua De Tillio  33:39

they get frustrated and quit.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  33:41

Exactly, exactly. So I think that is really, really important. So in terms of this employee and employer, and working with businesses, what are the benefits you’ve seen for companies that had taken on this program? And how’s it helped them and their employees?

Joshua De Tillio  34:02

Yeah, I mean, this is this is the most important piece for the companies really is it’s an investment in your team. Yeah, it’s there’s some financial investment, but what you get back is so much more rewarding, you get that extra engagement, you get that extra productivity, as well as, you know, since COVID, especially the competition for talent for the best people has really increased a lot. And again, being in the people business, you want to have the best people and and especially the younger generation, they want to work for a company that really cares about them that they’re not just a number, right and and if a company is willing to invest in your wellness in your health, then they’re going to be much more willing to give more of themselves to that company and their patients or whatever industry you’re in. So it’s really a win win, win win the company invests in you as an employee.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  34:51

Yes, I was going to say there’s benefits all round you have a healthier team physically, mentally and emotionally. Because let’s not forget about those feel good endorphins, when you exercise and then just the general improved health by eating better food. And then people aren’t going to need to have so much time off if they’re well, and that leads to financial gain. Well, we

Joshua De Tillio  35:19

talked about in that in the book a little bit too, there is financial gain, especially, because the most expensive things on the health insurance and health care are, you know, those hospitalizations, those surgeries, those long term care, and that’s really only about 5% of the population that contributes to about 90% of the insurance bill. So all of us that are paying for health insurance, are paying for those 5% that are really sick that are in the hospital, they’re getting surgery, and in long term care. So if you can reduce some of those and keep those people healthier, your insurance bills will go down as well.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  35:52

Yes. And with this program, who goes in and implements it? And how do they do that?

Joshua De Tillio  35:58

It really, it starts at the top, it’s got to be the leader of the organization, they have to champion it, and they have to own it, and they have to live that lifestyle. Otherwise, it won’t work. Because everyone will look at that person and say, Oh, that person’s not not doing it. And why should I do it? Right? So yeah, that’s where it starts at the top.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  36:16

Yes. But does someone go into that workplace? And implement the plan? Or how does that leader educate themselves about the plan?

Joshua De Tillio  36:28

Well, I mean, that’s where that’s why I wrote the book, really, again, it gives you kind of a guide and a roadmap to implement that plan. Also, if I can help you in any way, you can always, you know, call me or email me and, and help you implement as well. But it’s, it’s really a lot of trial and error, as well to hopefully with the book now there’s, there’s less error in some of the mistakes that we made. And hopefully, they don’t have to make those mistakes. But yeah, the book really gives that that detailed approach.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  36:56

Excellent. So what are you working on now?

Joshua De Tillio  37:00

Well, I’m in terms of, I’m actually working on a leadership book, actually, that’s going to be my next book. I’ve been a leader a long time. And I’ve got some lessons learned, again, a lot of trial and error there. And so I want to kind of document some of the things that I’ve learned in the leadership space.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  37:17

Yes. Is there anything else that you wanted to add to this interview that perhaps we’ve overlooked?

Joshua De Tillio  37:24

No, nothing else, I just, I want to continue to get the word out on health and wellness. And, you know, the two most important things in life are our health and family. And I would argue that health is even more important than family. Because if you don’t have your health, then you won’t have your family. And so everyone’s got to really focus there on their health. And it’s, it’s something they’ve got to do every day, you can’t just wait until you’re 55. And you know, you’re getting open heart surgery, you got to start now.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  37:52

100% Yes, because we can, we can all take it for granted. And then all of a sudden, you get a diagnosis, that’s left field and, and you didn’t see that one coming, even though you thought you were doing all the best things. You could. And like for me, with the COPD. I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life. But I was a professional entertainer for 35 years back in the days where there was cigarette smoke in all the venues. So from secondary smoking secondhand, yeah. And I’ve been married to two smokers.

Joshua De Tillio  38:32

Yeah, secondhand smoke, just

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  38:35

so my husband actually.

Joshua De Tillio  38:39

No, you’re not allowed to do that. You can’t do that in the United States. You can’t sue your husband, so Oh, really?

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  38:43

No, I’m just kidding. I divorced him and then sue him. And then we do that. Yeah.

Joshua De Tillio  38:49

I’m not a lawyer either. So I don’t.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  38:54

Okay, so we’re gonna wrap this up. And I’d like you to perhaps he had to give us one piece of advice you’d like to give our listeners as to how they can improve their health.

Joshua De Tillio  39:07

No, it again, just focus on yourself. No one can make the changes for you. You’ve got to want to do it for all the right reasons. And just get started.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  39:16

Yes, that is the thing, isn’t it? That’s the thing. It’s hard to get started. But I think to get started, you’ve got to have a plan.

Joshua De Tillio  39:24

Yes. Yes, I agree. I agree. Because Because again, like, like we talked about, we’re really addicted to these foods. And if we, if you can’t get past that first week, or week and a half to kind of detox all that bad stuff out, then you go right back into that loop into that cycle. So you got to really stick with it for a few weeks, and then you feel better and then you don’t want to go back.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  39:48

And then when it comes to exercise, my advice would be schedule it. Yes. I agree. And stick with it. Yeah, yeah. And

Joshua De Tillio  39:56

group group group workouts are good too, right? Because then you’re If you don’t show up, everyone says Hey, Dr. Naismith, we’re where are you? We missed you, you know? And then you feel bad. Do you want to, you know, work out with them.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  40:07

I divorced my husband and I was eating a tub of ice cream.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  40:16

That would be my excuse. No, that’s a good excuse. I hope my husband doesn’t hear. Well, thank you so much, Joshua, it’s been a real treat having you on the show. We’re gonna share the link to your book and any other things that you would like to share with our listeners in the show notes. As always, and we wish you all the very best in the future and, and good luck with your new book. And also good luck with the program that you’re working on right now to hope it all goes really well. And we start seeing a bunch of really healthy Americans, just Americans, people all around the world because I tell you what, the Australians here. I think since COVID, especially a lot of people have dropped the ball on their health. So thank you so much, Joshua, best wishes with everything. Thank you. Thanks for having time to take care. Bye.

Dr Marisa Lee Naismith  41:21

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of a voice and beyond. I hope you enjoyed it, as now is an important time for you to invest in your own self care, personal growth, and education. Use every day as an opportunity to learn and to grow, so you can show up feeling empowered and ready to live your best life. If you know someone who will also be inspired by this episode, please be sure to copy and paste the link and share it with them. Or share it on social media and use the hashtag a voice and beyond. I promise you I am committed to bringing you more inspiration and conversations just like this one every week. And if you’d like to help me, please rate and review this podcast and cheer me on by clicking the subscribe button on Apple podcast right now. I would also love to know what it is that you most enjoyed about this episode and what was your biggest takeaway? Please take care and I look forward to your company next time on the next episode have a voice and beyond.