Tales from the Departure Lounge

#42 James Rice (Put The Cookie Down)

• Andy Plant & Nick Cuthbert • Season 3 • Episode 42

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At the age of 48, James Rice (IBT College) weighed 300 pounds (135kg/21.5 stone) was pre-diabetic, with high blood pressure and arthritis and could barely fit into XXXL shirts. Then one day a former student who he had supported to study in Canada, opened a gym, and James began a total life transformation. This episode is so surreal you couldn't make it up. From finding the Ark of the Covenant to becoming friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger, get ready to feel motivated for miracles.

'Put the cookie down' is reference to the line in Arnie film Jingle All The Way and James is the best-selling author of his body transformation memoirs in the The 100 Pound War. James encourages anyone to reach out for advice on health and weight loss inspired by this episode. www.100poundwar.com/

Final boarding call: Tigray, Ethiopia. 

This episode is sponsored by The PIE Live leadership conferences taking place in Mumbai, Gold Coast, London and Boston in 2024. Find out more about tickets and sponsorship opportunities at www.thepielive.com 


Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Andy:

I'll be back. That's, that's rubbish. I'll be back. No, how does he say it? I'll be back.

Nick:

be back.

Andy:

I'm sure it'll make sense eventually.

Nick:

Put the cookie down. Welcome to Tales from the Departure Lounge. This is a podcast about travel for business, for pleasure, or for study. My name's Nick and I'm joined by my co-pilot, Andy. And together we're gonna be talking to some amazing guests about how travel has transformed their. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey. Welcome to the podcast.

Andy:

I don't really know how to explain this episode. It's with James Rice. He is the vice president of IBT college in Canada.

Nick:

this. It's the most bonkers episode we've done.

Andy:

It goes everywhere, like all over, literally all over the world and all over in terms of topics.

Nick:

I've known James for a couple of years now. And in passing, he mentioned part of his personal story, which we're going to get into and now it's opened a Pandora's box of madness, which I don't think people are going to believe.

Andy:

Well, let's try and navigate it he takes us to Ethiopia on a humanitarian mission.

Nick:

Yes, for a forgotten war, IBT college are helping repair the education system in Ethiopia.

Andy:

But then that quickly its first right angled turn into,, finding the Ark of the Covenant like Indiana Jones.

Nick:

Yeah,

Andy:

Warrior monks?

Nick:

Melting faces people are going to have to listen to it to make their own mind up.

Andy:

he tells us about this personal health journey that he's been on, A hundred pound war. That's the name of his book right?

Nick:

He became body transformation champion of Canada after. losing 10 stone, when he was 21 stone, morbidly obese at one Stage.

Andy:

And he credits one of his students with saving his life. And this journey is amazing. But then Arnold Schwarzenegger got in touch with him.

Nick:

One thing is transforming your health and your body. The next is becoming a bodybuilding champion. And then. Becoming friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Um,

Andy:

impersonator, as you'll find out. I think this is our first episode with a fire alarm in it as well.

Nick:

fire alarm features.

Andy:

North Korean defectors, starting World War 3. It's got it all. Haha

Nick:

You guys are going to have to make sense of it.

Andy:

we can't. He's the small town boy who was inspired by Indiana Jones to look for the ark of the for anyone who is needing inspiration, or if you're looking for a living example of somebody who can completely change their lives, this is the episode for you. Let's get some tales and departure nouns from James Rice

James:

I was 300 pounds and I had a torn rotator cuff arthritis, high blood pressure, pre-diabetic. Uh, I was 48, Nick, and I was ready to, to die That was probably the most difficult journey that I've ever been on in my life, Is that not serendipity right there? Is that not destiny? I helped him 10 years ago, and now he saved, literally saved my life. I got on stage and I took off my shirt and I showed the whole damn world that is possible. The Seoul military comes up and says, stop taking off your hat, they will think you're giving signals and they will attack here's the tagline for you, for your opening of the podcast. All right, my story is about a small town boy, Luke Skywalker looking for adventure and turning into Indiana Jones and tracking down the Ark of the Covenant. Cue the music.

Nick:

So before we get into the episode,

I want to tell you about the pilot of events that are happening around the world in 2024 and how you can get involved. The next stop is the city of Mumbai in India, where we'll be delivering a bespoke event for university partners on the 26th of July. Then the team will be back on the gold coast again. For the PI live Asia Pacific and that takes place on the 29th to the 30th of July in Australia.. Later in the year, we'll be hosting the pioneer awards in London on the 13th of September. Congratulations to all the nominees. And that will be followed by the pipeline north America in Boston, on the 19th and 20th of November, just two weeks after the presidential election. On a personal note, I've lived engaging with the international education community all over the world. And it's fair to say that the conversation is now business critical with so much policy disruption. Now these events have become really popular, especially when tales from the departure lounge is live on stage. So, if you want to participate, then check out the PI live.com for more details on tickets and sponsorship. now let's get on with the episode

Andy:

James, welcome to the podcast. It's great to have you on.

James:

Thanks so much for inviting me, you guys.

Andy:

The first question we always ask our guests is final boarding call. If you could take them anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

James:

today I'd like to take your listeners on a trip to Ethiopia, That's been my most, recent trip. And, I've gone there to a region called Tigray, where there was a, forgotten war between 2020 and 2022. It's a war that is really only comparable to Rwanda. 600, 000 civilians killed, 400, 000 military killed. It was devastating. And, they've come out of it and they're looking to rebuild. And of course we didn't know about this, because it was during the pandemic and,, we were all, looking at ourselves in zoom and talking about our bubbles and not realizing that there are wars out there and genocides going on. IBT College, the college that I worked for. We were the first North Americans there. One year after the war, And, I learned about the war through the education ministry. It was, In their eyes, a war on their education system, a war on their culture. And that was, uh, one of the things that really, made us want to reach out Because a lot of us get into this, area because of our love of travel and trying to bring the world together, through education. and here we have a region of the world they were trying to wipe out their education.

Andy:

So did you go to Ethiopia because of that? That was the reason you went or did you find out about this as a result of going there for another reason?

James:

In Canada, we met, people from Ethiopia from the region who explained to us what was going on. So we said, we could certainly help we can bring over, our tools and help support because 88 percent of the schools over there have been damaged. libraries destroyed, 15, 000 teachers are missing. it's devastating and they need education help. So we said, okay, let's go over and take a look. So naturally, I informed the embassy and global affairs, and I got very frank message. Do not go to the region. It's too dangerous. And we were like, really? Because people are telling us that they've been and Ethiopian people are telling us that it's okay. So, it was a little scary. We didn't know what we were going to walk into and it was fine. they had been out of a war and a peace agreement for a year and it was fine. We need to, look at how we support countries like Ethiopia. After wars, after the war dogs, I know all these kids out there protesting the war in Israel and Gaza, and the war will stop the war will end at some point. And the question is, what are you going to do to help the Palestinians after the war? You have the passion to stop now, but what are you going to do to help? And nobody. for a year. We're the first ones out there talking about it and they've been sitting there for a year looking for support, looking for help.

Nick:

You've been getting equipment that's being, phased out by Western universities, mothballed, and you've been collecting that to donate to the country. I'm right in saying that?

James:

yeah, we are looking for support from colleges, universities, school boards, anybody who has equipment. They do not have, whiteboards. They do not have desks, chairs. The teachers are writing on the windows of the classrooms. Students are writing on concrete they need everything.

Andy:

and was that the first time you'd been to Ethiopia? Had you been before?

James:

No, yeah, it was the first time I I'd been to Ethiopia.

Nick:

And just describe Ethiopia for us,

James:

there's two variations of Ethiopia. The capital city was absolutely beautiful. it was. Clean, there was greenery, hustle, bustle, it was a normal, capital city. When we got to the region outside, you can imagine it was war torn, the struggle that Ethiopia has is that it's very much like the Grand Canyon. it's a lot of rocks. It's not sandy. It's not a desert like Saudi Arabia. It's more like a rocky kind of environment. So they have a real challenge with, agriculture.

Andy:

I think that's what we remember certainly my generation, Ethiopia was known for, the famine and then, like you say, conflict.

James:

They were suffering from PTSD. You could see in their eyes, When we were there, I said to, the president of IBT college and said, you know what, maybe we shouldn't talk business. Maybe we should just shut up and let them. Because they need to tell their story. They need to share what's happened. And some of these men wanted to cry, you could feel the pain. It was, like nothing else I had ever experienced to see what war and that type of war, it shocks you to your core. Now in terms of the people, what is fascinating about the people is they are more Christian than anything we have in Western. They are Orthodox Christians. They are heavily, religious, I'm going to tell the story. So According to the tradition, the Ark of the covenant is preserved in the Holy city of Axum. And that's one of the cities that, we were very close by. The Ark was brought from Israel to, Ethiopia 3, 000 years ago. It was smuggled out. And it was taken to this church in Axum where it has stayed for 3000 years and it's protected by monks. They're called warrior monks, swear to God. That protect the Ark. And during the war, when the soldiers came into, that area, 800 of the congregation surrounded the church to protect the Ark That's the legend, that's where the Ark of the Covenant is, it's not in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones found it, this is the location, and we are not allowed to see it. we are not allowed to look upon it because it is a voice to God.

Nick:

Yeah. And your face would melt and your eyes would pop out just like the film.

James:

The legend is that if you see it, you could have a quick death or a long agonizing death. There have been monks that have gone in, have seen it, and have died. Literally within two years.

Andy:

I feel like we would have heard about this before.

James:

You can, you can Google it. It's there.

Andy:

I'm

Nick:

can't Google where the Ark of the covenant is. Can you? It's that easy.

James:

Google it. Aksum is the city. A K S U M. Aksum. Ethiopia. And they also believe that Jesus and Mary spent ten days in Ethiopia, as they escaped from King Herod, when he ordered the death of all the young boys. They have such rich history for Christianity.

Nick:

Were you a fan of Indiana Jones films and when did you discover the Ark of the Covenant?

James:

years old when, that came out and that rocked my world. First Star Wars and then Indiana Jones. Okay, so if you're gonna edit this together, here's the tagline for you, for your opening of the podcast. All right, my story is about a small town boy, Luke Skywalker looking for adventure and turning into Indiana Jones and tracking down the Ark of the Covenant. Cue the music. There you go.

Andy:

He's a pro.

Nick:

There you go, soundbite.

Andy:

I remember being on a plane when the maps first came on, you might, you know, and you'd see the plane over a map. And I had the Indiana Jones. theme tune in my head it was hardwired

Nick:

I I've always wanted to go to Petra which was the, the, exactly the last crusade. Yeah, I, remember having a skipping rope as a, as a whip. I'd get the big, Cushion from the sofa, and then I would put it at the top of the stairs and then get it to chase me down the stairs like a

James:

did you guys hear that? I got a fire alarm. Maybe let, let, let this fire alarm go here. There's no fire. It's just an alarm testing. I don't have to, that'd be a good promo for the podcast. Excuse me. There's a fire. I need to escape right now. No emergency.

Nick:

James, you've written a book called The Hundred Pound War,

James:

Yeah.

Nick:

which is about a totally different journey that you've been on. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

James:

Product placement. There we go. A hundred pound war.

Nick:

Yeah. It's audio only, but

James:

Yeah, I know. Just for you guys, but yeah, that was me. That was me. can you see it?

Nick:

Let's describe. Sorry.

James:

I was 300 pounds and I had a torn MCL torn rotator cuff arthritis, high blood pressure, pre-diabetic. Uh, I was 48, Nick, and I was ready to, to die, I was looking at myself saying, if I died today, I've had a good life. That's at 48. And that's just not acceptable. And, so, I spent the next four years, working hard. I lost a hundred pounds in nine months, 26 days I went on To really transform myself to become the national, body transformation champion of Canada. I got myself down to 151 pounds through massive training, massive nutrition, and that has led me to, where I am today.

Nick:

For our British listeners, that is 21 stone going down 10 stone in how many months?

James:

The first hundred pounds was nine months, 26 days.

Nick:

When we talk about weight some people have genetic conditions, put on weight or carry weight. you said you basically wanted to die, what led you to that point?

James:

I didn't want to die. but I felt if I did have a massive heart attack, cause I was on my mind, I've had a good life. It was a defeatist kind of attitude. How did I get that big?, it was stress. I was going through a tremendous amount of stress in my personal life, which led me to eat more, eat all unhealthy foods and gain weight. I do gain weight easy. I'm one of those people that can gain weight quickly. I've learned that I can eat 1600 calories and then I gain weight. I always thought it was like 2000 calories, but everybody's different apparently, so I'm not happy about that. So I've got to eat less and more healthy foods. It's just the way my, my body is made up. A lot of hormonal imbalance, metabolic syndrome, fatty liver. I had everything, you name it. I had it all, but just came back from my doctor. I have an absolutely perfect body now, he said. He says, I don't know how you did it, but whatever you're doing, just keep doing it. And that's at 53 now, and at 48, they were ready to put me on every pill and, I'd probably be dead through the COVID. I got it under control before COVID, luckily.

Nick:

We're definitely going to share some pictures of, of These, the pictures that you're talking about, it is an incredible transformation that you've been through.

Andy:

Compare,, a day in your life, your professional life and your personal life compared to a day now, how is it different?

James:

I get up at 6 a. m. now and I work out. first thing I do and then I spend the whole day, uh, doing work until about nine or ten o'clock or working or helping with my family, whatever it is. I don't take a nap. I don't take a rest. I have full energy all day long and I can do so much more. when I was 300 pounds, I was up at, maybe eight and then, Going to work, have a coffee, gotta have a coffee, God, work for an hour, go get a donut or some sort of sugary thing to get me to lunch, have my lunch, again have a sugary snack after lunch to get me to two o'clock or three o'clock, where I have another coffee and more sugar to get me to dinner time, where I come home, have a nap before dinner, have my dinner, Bye Bye. Sit down, watch TV, probably fall asleep, unless I had more sugar, and then get to bed, you know, at maybe 10 or 11 and not sleep well. Wouldn't be able to get a good night's sleep in. And, so sugar, and carbs and all that processed junk really just kept me going because I remained busy. So the busyness never ended, but the food choices, uh, destroyed my life.

Andy:

How did you maintain your motivation, your dedication to just keep going?

James:

Yeah, there was a lot of different types of motivation throughout the first hundred pounds. That was probably the most difficult journey that I've ever been on in my life, trying to change what you eat. a lot of people ask me, how did I do it or how do I keep motivated? The first 12 weeks I was so heavy, I just worked out once a week. That's all my body could do. could handle. So exercise was not so important as much as finding the foods that I could eat and changing my palate. When I go abroad and travel and come back, I can feel the sugar that I want. My, my palate has changed because of what I've eaten abroad. So I've got to get that palate back. I didn't want to eat carrots and celery sticks, no. I started nuts, protein shakes, uh, veggie shakes, fruits and yogurts,, steaks and chicken and fish, all of those foods trying to change my palate.

Nick:

You've got to be fit for the fight.. what was the moment you knew you had to make these changes in your life and how did you then become body transformation champion and a bestselling author

Andy:

A male model.

James:

How did it start? I was in Miami Beach and, I was wearing a shirt, Miami Beach shirt. It was a triple X and I could barely fit into it. That was the only shirt that would fit me in Miami Beach. And I came home very distraught and very upset. And, one of my students came to Canada in 2008 and his dream was to open a gym. That was his dream. He didn't speak English. I helped him through his English, got him into college. He got certified. He started working in the industry and 10 years later, 2018, the month I came back from. Miami Beach distraught. He texted me and said, I just opened my gym. And are you kidding me? Is that not serendipity right there? Is that not destiny? I helped him 10 years ago, and now he saved, literally saved my life. By taking me under his wing as his first client in his first gym and taught me how to get control of my body. Now, when we talk about becoming national champion, it was a totally different aspect because he said, James, you can't do it. I've seen you. You can't do it. It's not possible. You have the national championship is 16 weeks. You've got to lose 25 pounds. You can't do it. It's not possible. And I said, I'm going to prove you wrong and I'm going to do it. And the motivation to prove him that I could do it was the second part where I really worked hard, two a day workouts, trimming down the calories, you know, measure what I ate. After about eight to 10 weeks, he started to believe in me and started to see the transformation. And then I posed in the mirror. And I saw myself and I, I quit, I said, I can't do it. And he said, what are you talking about? I said, just did posing in the mirror and I look terrible. And he said, that's because you don't know how to pose. So he taught me how to pose on stage, which is a whole other skill. I never even considered like how to show my six pack, how to move on the stage gracefully to show the muscles. I had no idea. I thought you just pose, you just stand up in the mirror and pose and it would just appear suddenly. No, it's a whole art form. I wanted to walk around in Miami beach with no shirt on. But I've done even better. I got on stage and I took off my shirt and I showed the whole damn world that is possible. And, uh, that's the point where Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped in and went, holy cow, that's impressive, man. And, I started my relationship with Arnold. Ha

Andy:

You've got to tell us about this.

James:

ha ha. Ha ha ha ha. Oh, Arnold?

Nick:

He said, put the cookie down.

James:

Put the cookie down. Get to work. Uh, he's, uh, so, uh, Arnold Arnold has an app. It's called the pump club app. And, I was lucky enough to get an invitation to beta test the app before it went out and, and so I, I was beta testing it for a year. Part of that app is that you get. a couple of tickets to go to Columbus where Arnold has his Arnold classic event. And, so I really wanted to meet Arnold. and, of course I met him, but I really wanted to show him my before picture. So I had created a 16 by 20,, a large picture of my before picture, but he's so busy. he's unbelievably busy. His every second is managed, uh, at these things. So I never got to show him, but I showed everybody else. my picture and somebody, we had taken a picture of it and they shared it out to Arnold and Arnold saw it. And, my phone went off and his chief of staff said, Arnold absolutely loves this picture. He's showing it to. Everybody, do you mind if we post your picture and share your story on our podcast and on our newsletter? And I'm like, ah, sure. You never say no to Arnold. And, so that was shared out. And then just this week, they texted me and said, can you run the app for us for a week and, and take questions? Post your article and we'll show Arnold talking about your video. And, uh, and, uh, so I was able to work with, uh, with Arnold's pump club and answer their questions, give them some support and hopefully inspire people and motivate people to keep going on their fitness journey. But yeah, Arnold said, get to work, James, get to work. And, uh, he's in Canada right now, shooting FUBAR. number two

Nick:

trying to, come with me if you want to live.

Andy:

Ha ha

James:

I have to admit it was fun to walk in the online shoes of Arnold.

Nick:

It's such an amazing story. It's a bit surreal, isn't it?

James:

Totally. People tease me a lot because I've been an Arnold fan and, they give me a lot of heart, you know, Arnold, Arnold this, you're never gonna meet Arnold, you're not really talking to Arnold. And, I finally proved everybody wrong. There are a few people in this world that you recognize by just one name and Arnold is one of them.

Andy:

can you get Arnie on the podcast for us,

James:

I'd love to. we asked Arnold like, Hey, why don't we light up and have a cigar, Arnold? And it goes, James, we are at the, we're at the health and fitness show. I can't just light up a cigar here. How do you think that would look? But if we were alone, yes, I would do it. That was my best Arnold. I think. That was a good one. I'm getting warmed up.

Andy:

The next section of the show is called Any Laptops, Liquids, or Sharp Objects? What do you take with you when you go traveling or do you have any travel advice or hacks?

James:

Let's see, I don't sleep on the plane, I really like to work. And, I need to keep my mind fresh and alert. So I bring two important things I've learned through my health journey. Uh, kind bars that are sweet and salty, because your taste buds change as you're flying in the altitude. And I drink milk. Flight attendants are always surprised when I'm about the only one drinking milk and they bring me actually, the whole, box of milk because I'm the only one drinking it. And, that helps with the brain. Now, when you land, here's a travel hack. It's critical. I think somebody said this before. You got to work out. You got to get to the gym. It's critical. Even if you land at 4 a. m, take a nap, get to the gym. that's really important. And I always bring, my protein shakes and protein bars, and I bring a protein powder. Here's another important fact about protein powder. Protein powder looks like water, apparently. So if you put it on your carry on bag, even though it's just a powder, it shows up. in the x ray as water. Then you get searched. Another important thing that I bring is Athletic Greens product placement. Sorry, it's a, it's a travel pouch. It's basically a vegetable smoothie. it's a little pricey, about a hundred bucks for 30 packs, but it is excellent. It gives you all the veggies, all the vitamins, all the minerals that you need in one shot. So when you travel, it's very hard to find vegetables and healthy foods and, you're eating a lot of carbs and sugar. So this is a great little, package of vegetables that you can drink. Tastes terrible, but it's, healthy.

Nick:

What? It's like baby food. It's a squeezy pouch that you can just

James:

Oh, no, it's just a pouch that you pour into your shaker.

Andy:

You're getting stopped at airports because your luggage is half made up of powder. You just look like, that's a very, enthusiastic drug mule,

James:

I also bring creatine because I'm old. So old guys need creatine, That stuff's a white powder. So also I'm always worried about that one. Especially when I'm coming out of Vietnam or the,, the golden triangle this white powder.

Andy:

The next session of the podcast is called what's the purpose of your visit? So why do you do what you do, James?

James:

I've done a lot of, wonderful stuff for travel. I've played hockey in Japan. I ran out of gas in Saudi Arabia. I have stories of meeting, Yakuza and mafia and senators and politicians, the Queen of England. I met Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, you know, all of these things. But what's really. Important and why I do it is because of the everyday people that I meet I opened my own language school in Toronto and I, I had that for 15 years and, that's why I started, the language school was to meet people and bring the world together. And I can tell you a really interesting story. One organization contacted me that they had a North Korean defector and they needed to learn English. before sending them to meet the FBI and CIA in Washington. Could you help? And I'm like, Yeah, absolutely. That sounds very fun. so we brought him, from Seoul and, what he taught me about North Korea was unbelievable. I said, what do you think of being in Toronto and Canada? He said, honestly, Pyongyang is better. It's more organized. It's fantastic, city, much better. Faster, the transit's on time. There's no problems. And I'm like, Oh, really? He goes, but beyond Pyongyang and outside of that city, it's hell. his father was, was a general in the army. And, Kim Jong un is the leader now. Before that, his father was, Kim Jong il. He was the leader. and when he became the leader of North Korea, the general, you have to support people of who's going to lead North Korea. He didn't support Kim Jong il. So they, in the middle of the night, they captured his family and they threw them into the woods. of North Korea to die, basically, because he didn't support Kim Jong il. He didn't know where his father went. His father disappeared. It was him and his mother, and they were in the woods of North Korea having to survive. They were eating squirrels to survive. Until one day he was captured. They put a hood over his head, threw him into a car, took him on an airplane, and he was absolutely terrified and he was shocked and worried and concerned because he thought he was going to Japan. To be tortured and killed he ended up in Seoul. His father had negotiated and got him out to save his life. I don't know what happened to the father, but the son, his father got him captured, got him to Seoul, where, he went through it, they go through a deep programming and then, then they sent him over to us before the CIA and FBI meetings. Unbelievable story.

Nick:

And do you know how this story ends? is this classified information? Are we on, are we going to start a war on this podcast?

James:

Yeah, it is classified information. So yes, it is definitely classified.

Andy:

I've been told you nearly started World War 3 in north Korea.

James:

Who told you that? Yes!

Andy:

It's classified information. Crazy.

James:

almost started world war three in the DMZ. That's the zone between North Korea and South Korea I got to go on a, on one of the tours up there, which you can buy and sold. So I'm going on the tour and the tour takes you through all these places and you go inside and you go outside, you go inside, you go outside and it's cold. It was winter. So, you know, I have no hair. and I had to wear a toque, a hat. And, uh, I will go inside, I take off my hat, I go outside, I put my hat on, I take my hat off, it's hot, it's cold, it's natural, I have no hair, it's cold. The Seoul military comes up and says, stop taking off your hat, leave it on or take it off. And I'm like going, why? He goes, that building over there. That's the North Korean spy building. They will think you're giving signals and they will attack. So keep it on or take it off. That's how I almost started World War III signals by my bald head.

Andy:

Taking your hat off.

Nick:

I also like the fact that the Korean security services sounded a little bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger as well, in your impression.

James:

That's true.

Andy:

Bill Clinton called it the scariest place on Earth, didn't he?

James:

Yeah. It was fine. I stepped over the line on the North Korean step back. So I can say I was there on my Facebook map.

Andy:

The last section of the show is called Anything to Declare.

James:

I really can't think of anything else that, I can talk about, I just think it's really important for people to take care of their health when they travel. It's like the flight attendant says, when you're on the airplane, when the oxygen mask comes on, Put the oxygen mask on yourself and then help someone else. You have to take care of yourself first before you can start helping other people. And that's the lesson through all my weight loss journey, now I can go to a place like Ethiopia and help them and put my energy towards helping, and I couldn't do that if I was not, in any type of good shape.

Andy:

100%.

Nick:

I'm totally inspired, James.

James:

Is that,

Nick:

such, a nice time talking to you. I think loads of people are going to be, pumped up,,

James:

pumped up podcast. Arnold Schwarzenegger, you got Raiders of the Lost Ark, you got Spark of the Covenant. Let's make this the best number one. Podcast for you guys.

Nick:

You'll have to come back to talk about Queen Elizabeth. We haven't got time.

James:

I'll be, I'll be back. be back. I, he wanted to say, I will be back. Here's a quick Arnold story. Sorry. I got so many. James Cameron met Arnold in Brazil. And he said, Arnold, Hey, I'm doing a film in the Amazon. I'm going to scout, uh, you guys want, you want to come with me and see? And Arnold said, yeah, sure. I'll go with you because we're going to fly in by helicopter and we're going to meet the tribes that. That are living in the Amazon. And he said, sure, I'll go. And he goes, but Arnold, you know, this is like the middle of nowhere. Okay. you know, it's not five star hotels. You, nobody's going to know you, you know, are you sure? And he goes, yeah, yeah, I want to try. So he flies into this rain forest where the tribes are there. He steps off the. The helicopter and all the tribesmen are there and they all start going, Arnold, Arnold, Arnold, and James Cameron looks at him and goes, Jesus Christ, how is this possible in the middle of nowhere that people know you Muscles bring the world together.

Andy:

With that, I'm inspired to go and work out. It's been great to have you on the show, James. Thanks so much for coming on.

James:

Thanks guys. I'll see you in September, Nick, at the Pioneer Awards.

Nick:

Hello everyone. Thank you so much for listening. As always

I want to say big, thank you to the PI for supporting the podcast. They have a fantastic new new site that looks brilliant, particularly on mobile. And it has a new watch and listen section where tales from the departure lounge features. So check it out. If you want to get in touch you can do so at. Sick bag tales from the departure lounge.com.

Nick:

Safe travels. Tales from the Departure Lounge is a type nine production for the pie.

People on this episode

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Andy Plant

Host
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Nick Cuthbert

Host