Journey from Cancer Survivor to Body Builder, Celebrity Chef and Health Advocate: Ep #019 Tito Dudley

0 (1s):
Welcome to the Soul Science Nutrition podcast, where you’ll discover that when it comes to your health, you’re so much more powerful than you’ve been led to believe. And now your host, she’s a holistic nutrition and lifestyle coach, chef author, and Yogi, Christine Okezie. Hello and welcome to the soul science nutrition podcast. I’m Christine Okezie. Thanks so much for tuning in today. On today’s show. I sit down with my friend and colleague from my culinary school days, Tito Dudley or chef T chef T is a celebrity chef actor, fitness specialist and natural bodybuilder for the past 25 years.

0 (44s):
Tito has been a passionate advocate for healthy living after beating cancer. At the age of 15 Tito’s journey, opened his eyes to the healing powers of natural foods, a consistent exercise, routine, faith and community. He’s the founder of simple eats a company dedicated to helping people stay healthy with simple, healthy meals. You can learn more about Tito at his Instagram handle official chef T. You can also check out his website, simple eats.com and tune into his podcast.

0 (1m 16s):
S E WCT simple eats with chef T Tito’s mission to educate people about the importance of healthy living is a powerful Testament to all the beautiful realizations gathered throughout his journey from cancer fighter to cancer survivor. I hope you enjoy today’s show. Hey Tito, welcome to the podcast. It’s so good to see you again.

1 (1m 39s):
It’s a pleasure. Thanks for having me. I’m looking forward to our conversation.

0 (1m 43s):
Do you know your passion for nutrition and fitness and health really began at a young age? I would just love if you could just tell us about that journey

1 (1m 51s):
Journey, like you said, started at the age of 15, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease at the time and I was in high school and it was definitely a, a huge shift in my life. I grew up and church, I attended a lot of outreach and missionary trips, so I continue that during my whole time of diagnosis and chemotherapy for six months, actually, we, we actually went out to Russia during that time to help orphans.

1 (2m 26s):
My situation became also a rewarding situation for younger kids, horrific diagnosis that, yes, it was scary and frightening, but I basically used that as a way to inspire others. At a young age, I got into bodybuilding, I got into fitness, kind of it’s a personal training. The cancer was sort of like this gateway that kind of opened up doors and inspired me to become a person that can inspire others to live a healthier lifestyle through whatever that means for them because everyone’s lifestyle is different.

1 (3m 9s):
Everyone’s mindset is different or everyone’s physical, mental mentality, spirituality’s all different. And it’s knowing how to find that within themselves. And you harness that to move forward through life and see all the opportunities there are for them.

0 (3m 28s):
Oh my gosh. Thank you. Yeah. So you went on to explore one of your passions, which was natural bodybuilding. Can you share with us how that played a part in your healing journey?

1 (3m 41s):
Yeah. I was always fascinated with bodybuilding at a young age. I was fascinated more so than that. Not, not about this statics of like getting up on stage and showing your body, but I always saw it as sort of like an art. So I gravitate it to that. And, you know, bodybuilding bodybuilding became sort of my, I want to say my temple, a place where I would go, especially doing my fight for a, when I was going through cancer, a place where I would go and kind of let loose mentally and physically and even spiritually, it will be sort of my place where I would focus on myself, you know, use that moment to meditate.

1 (4m 25s):
You know, I know everyone has their own form of way of meditating or connecting to God or higher power, however, you’re looking at it. And that was sort of my place of connection. And I harness that to really get through those hard times. There was moments in my life where I felt like I was either, you know, struggling or not pushing forward and stuff like that. You know,

0 (4m 52s):
Such a huge awareness for the importance of mindset, you know, at a such a young age. And it, I think these days, you know, mindset is kind of really where the action is in terms of being able to navigate all the issues around health, all the fears and concerns around health, right? So in the work that you do, you know, what inspires you to keep going?

1 (5m 19s):
That’s a great question. I, I think the world inspires me. I think a lot of things, a lot of chronic issues were we’re seeing or have seen really stems from lifestyle. I think, you know, I’m not going to say a hundred percent, but a huge portion of it. I believe stems from lifestyle. I think just seeing the world from the outside, looking in is sort of like my burning fire of why I want to keep, keep pushing forward and why I want to try to innovate with what’s going on in the world.

1 (5m 52s):
How do I, you know, change the times and be sort of like an inspiration to the younger generation growing up? I, you know, I look at my niece, my younger niece, you know, three, four years old, I think she’s turning four in a couple of days. So I envisioned how she would be, you know, growing up into this world, how she’s going to learn. So yeah, people inspire me. People inspire me, be the change that I can’t be.

1 (6m 22s):
And this, this, this world.

0 (6m 26s):
Yeah. Thank you. I love that. We’ll certainly your journey and how you harnessed your life and health challenge is an inspiration to so many people who are perhaps struggling with their health or concerns with their health. Now you’re a lifestyle based media platform. Simple eats has a beautiful focus on helping people simplify and actualize, healthy eating, and healthy living. And you have built a platform on helping people become skillful eaters.

0 (7m 1s):
Can you explain what you mean? What that looks like in 2020 to be a skillful eater?

1 (7m 7s):
Sure. You know, I really got inspired when I read and I’m the creator for whole foods who kind of like started the whole thing. And in there I love how he articulated skillful eaters. And I was like, wow, that’s, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do. I’m not trying to tell someone, you can’t eat what you’re eating, but I’m trying to tell someone, if you eat a certain way, you can better your lifestyle in the long run. It’s kind of like investing, you know, you can either invest now and slowly grow compound interest, get your, get your bank account big when you retire.

1 (7m 42s):
However you want to look at it. And I see that as neutral person too, at the same time, you start early, hopefully longterm you’ll have a better lifestyle. I mean, there’s obviously there’s a lot of things we can’t predict, you know, that’s out of our control, but the one thing we can actually take control of is what we pick up and put in our mouth. Look. I mean, when I got into bodybuilding and bodybuilding is extreme in terms of like calculating your caloric intake, your macros, and I, I’m not looking for the average person to do that.

1 (8m 14s):
It is challenging, but if you get to the point of doing it, I think it’s a great challenge. And one of the things in life that I, I, as, as grown up, I always liked challenging myself with stuff that I didn’t like. I see challenges different than maybe most people see challenges. Challenges could either bring the best out of you or it could bring the worst. And I always tried to go for the best.

0 (8m 37s):
Yeah. So from cancer survivor to natural bodybuilder fitness specialist and natural food chef, you’ve worn a lot of hats. And in your pursuit of supporting folks to adopt and live a healthy lifestyle, can you reflect back and share what has been the most inspirational experience that you have been personally involved in to date?

1 (9m 2s):
I think all the opportunities I’ve had has been an amazing inspiration to myself. I mean, cooking for celebrities is, you know, it’s, that’s, that’s cool. That’s great. But I think when I cooked for a first to sense organization, which deals with cancer patients, fighters and survivors was a combination of the two, you know, it was inspirational and challenging simply because it was, it was inspiring.

1 (9m 39s):
It was definitely inspiring for me as a survivor to see other survivors that are out there all walks of life, who are either dealing with or had dealt with what I’ve gone through. Yeah. And it was very healing for me when I, when I did cook for them because I have never, ever thought about going to any sort of groups after my diagnosis. So it just really touched my heart and it was inspiring.

1 (10m 10s):
It was really inspiring for me to see their strength, their struggle, and sharing my story along with them, you know, it really just opened my eyes up and just reminded me that, you know, as human beings, we’re all connected. Right. And we’re all dealing with something we’re all struggling. We’re all trying to navigate ourselves through life. You know, we’re all trying to create our own story, leave our Mark inspire others.

1 (10m 43s):
Right. And there, there are hard moments that we’ll deal with whether it’s cancer, whether it’s diabetes, obesity, whatever chronic issue that you know someone is facing or dealing with. I think it was just a really good reminder that you’re not alone.

0 (10m 60s):
Right. Yeah. And, and, and when we’re struggling with metabolic disease, food, health issues, it can be very isolating. And I think to your point, that food in the way, particularly in the way that you have inspired people around it, around it is it’s about connection. You know, it’s this very human connection, right. It’s connected to so many things. I mean, for one, it’s an outlet for creativity for you, for sure.

0 (11m 32s):
But it’s also this, you know, pathway to, to self-empowerment and when it comes to taking care of yourself. So it’s a very human thing. I’ve always, that’s always kind of stuck out with me, you know, going to becoming a chef and everything it’s it’s, you know, no other species has the, the opportunity or the luxury I should say, to actually get really super conscious about food in this area. And I love that about the work that you’ve done. So yeah. It’s, it’s about connection for sure.

2 (12m 2s):
Sure, sure. I mean, food is like music, you know, it holds a motion that connects, it connects you to your childhood and you know, those stories behind it and stuff like that. I think the hardest part with me with just cooking for first to sense was just dealing with the stories afterwards. Some people, you know, unfortunately passed on show it, cause they didn’t make it or, you know, their cancer came back. So a lot of that over time just was very hard to hear and deal with, you know, very similar to, you know, I’ve always compare it to like, you know, someone out in the field in the military, you know, you, you develop like brother and sisterhood with those that you can familiarize yourself with and when you see them leave or pass away or something happens, you feel that connection even more so that, that, that, that right there is a definitely a, mostly the heart was the hardest part for me.

2 (12m 59s):
Yeah. Yeah.

0 (13m 1s):
You know, so your, your film, you’re at your award winning indie film that you made some years back, the United States of atrophy. So I rewatched that recently. And what came through is, is it at least how it landed for me? And I’d be curious to know, have, you know, retrospectively, when you look back at that film, what came through obviously was the incredible focus on the nutrition and the physical rigor, you know, of it in terms of the chancellor mission. But the essence of the film that I got was that it was so much more about emotional and sort of heart driven, you know, true grit came from, from this heart motivation that you had for your family and for your brother.

0 (13m 45s):
Right. So I’m curious, like looking back on that, given that we’re talking kind of about mindset and emotions and true inspiration around health, what are your takeaways retrospectively of that period in your life?

2 (13m 58s):
It was definitely driven by family, for sure. Yeah. Emotional connection. Love. I wanted to really show one what it takes to get the results at that extreme level, but what it just takes to just get results in general. Yeah. You know, it doesn’t have to be extreme as bodybuilding, but you have to put in the work. Yeah. Like you, you can’t just sit at home and hope that something is just going to fall in your lap and it’s just going to do its thing.

2 (14m 30s):
And you know, you’re just going to get better being stagnant. Doesn’t bring results. I think connecting with the right people, whether it’s family or friends in a community can be extremely healthy mentally, physically, and even spiritually. It, me sort of like, I don’t know if you’ve ever read the book outliers. Yeah. So there, there, there’s a part in there. I believe. I don’t want to, I hope I’m not mixing up books, but I believe there’s a part.

2 (15m 3s):
Yeah. There’s a part in there. He speaks about a group from Italy that, that was in Pennsylvania or part of Pennsylvania and how they didn’t eat the greatest healthy diet that we’re used to eating nowadays. Or like, it wasn’t like a keto diet. It wasn’t like this fag, you know, like it wasn’t any of that. It was just, their focus was really on community and because they were so focused on community and that connection

0 (15m 32s):
they live a very long life. Yeah. Yeah. Right. I think it’s key. Yeah.

2 (15m 39s):
It just shows you how important it is community is and you community doesn’t have to be like this ginormous, you know, it, you know, it could be a few people that you trust and love and you’re in the same level, or maybe not on the same level. Maybe they could be on a high level to help bring you up, you know, whatever it is.

0 (15m 57s):
Yeah. Thank you. So speaking of that, getting support, one of the things that I know that cancer survivors can be grappling with is sort of, I want to call it PTSD, but a form of PTSD where every time they get sick or they have a cold or we’re in a pandemic and we hear about, you know, risk factors for this, that, and the other. I have some clients who are very fearful, you know, of, of the diagnosis coming back, et cetera, what do you do?

0 (16m 30s):
Or what, what have you done or what guidance would you have for people? Cause you’ve worked with a lot in this space.

2 (16m 36s):
Sure. And, and you know what, I’ve dealt with. A lot of that stuff, even, even in my early days of, of diagnosis, you know, the walking into the hospital and, you know, having, you know, just reminisces of like what I went through or if I get sick, the same thing, just feeling, feeling like, you know, it’s coming back, honestly, you know, cannabis has been very helpful for those that want to go that route. I felt like it really, I’m not going to say cures.

2 (17m 8s):
It, it takes it away, but it helps with taking the edge off and calming you down and relaxing you. I think, I think being active is also very helpful throughout my life. Even throughout my diagnosis, I have always been active and, you know, creating those silent moments of just being with yourself, you know, meditating, praying, and has been helpful as well. If you can silent that noise and be present, it can really help to refocus your mind.

2 (17m 39s):
That’s what I believe. And all of that has been extremely helpful for myself. And going back to the community, you know, talking about, you

1 (17m 50s):
Know, being a part of groups, you know, like I said, by default, I was the chef who cooked for a cancer group, but benefited from it because I was cooking for a group that dealt with the same thing I dealt with. So if you’re able to connect with, I mean, you know, whoever’s listening, they can look up first, the sense cancer organization, and I’m not sure what their what’s going on now with them because of the pandemic. But if you can find even groups online, I think would be helpful, you know, staying active, finding groups to communities that you could connect with with similarities, it’s extremely helpful to navigate and stay, you know, staying active doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym going, going out on walks, trail walks or, you know, stuff like that.

1 (18m 38s):
You know, it gets the body moving and circulating gets the blood pumping and you know, you’re getting energy just from doing that. And it helps to refocus, you know, those negative thoughts, negative you’re probably yeah. You probably dealing with,

0 (18m 53s):
So you, you know, you you’ve, you’ve become an expert on the use of cannabinoids in health, but seriously, it’s a huge field, you know, tell, tell us about like, what’s one common myth. Like let’s say someone listening is like, yeah, I’ve heard of that. I’m not really sure what that is. You know, what’s one common myth about cannabis CBD, et cetera that you work to dispel when you start talking to people about the potential healing properties.

1 (19m 17s):
I think the common myth is probably the typical where we we’ve always heard of, you know, this is the drug is going to get you high and do crazy things, you know, stuff like that. And it really isn’t. If you look at cannabis like wine or food, you’ll notice that each strain is different. You know, like spices, each spice is different. Each spice holds different nutritional value to it and purpose. The same thing with cannabis cannabis can either really, it can either give you a little bit of energy or it can, could bring you down some, and it really depends on the purpose.

1 (19m 55s):
What, what, what is your specific purpose for Theresa’s treatment with her, her chemo? They suggested her using cannabis. I think there’s a lot of great studies that are coming out there. It’s still in an early days, but there are a lot of great studies that are coming out there, you know, showing, teaching people the purpose of cannabis outside of just recreational. And I have no, I mean, that’s great. You can, you know, have cannabis however you want, but I think it’s also important to really educate people on the portions of using an even separate from that.

1 (20m 30s):
And honestly, I really, I only got into cannabis when my mom got diagnosed with breast cancer and I started making my own oils. That was honestly the first time I, and that was five years ago. So it’s, it’s early for me to know that’s fascinating, but I, I am extremely fascinated with the whole endo endo cannabinoid system. You know, the whole discovery of that on how, you know, cannabis can help create homeostasis.

1 (21m 2s):
It could be something that could be implemented into someone’s lifestyle versus giving them like an opioid that can just cause more damage. So I definitely think it’s something to consider with all the anxiety that’s out there, but obviously always, you know, check with your local, whoever you’re a practitioner as well,

0 (21m 27s):
Some good resources that have helped you

1 (21m 30s):
C a CB one, capital is a, I’m drawing a blank on the guy’s name. That’s a great company. They, they also talk about investments too in the whole cannabis world, but they always have, if you follow their Twitter handler, you’ll find that they always post in some great articles with some reputable websites and stuff like that. CB one capital great in the notes capital is great. leafly.com is also great because they actually break down each strain and give you their story, their nutritional value, and why you should be using it, which is really cool.

1 (22m 4s):
Excellent. It literally is just like wine. It’s kind of like wine tasting, but with cannabis. Yeah.

0 (22m 9s):
That’s fascinating. I love it. I love it. Yeah. I mean, I really do think we sort of need to overcome this misconception about its use and look at what the research is starting to really say about the medicinal value. I think it’s really a great move in the direction of fully understanding the benefits or the untapped benefits of more natural plant based medicine. So I think we’re, we’re going in the right direction with that, but let’s get back to food and I’d be really curious to know if you could share with us, you know, some tips, your best guidance for people just trying to get started here, or perhaps just find some new motivation or inspiration for, you know, being in the kitchen and cooking healthy for themselves.

0 (22m 55s):
Especially during these crazy times,

1 (22m 57s):
Keeping it simple as possible is, is key. I always fine simplicity to be the best easy goal to start out with before trying to do these, do like any sort of like fancy sort of recipe for yourself. And you’re fine that because you’re busy, maybe kids are at home dogs, whatever your situation is doing is pandemic. You want to keep it simple. And when you keep it simple, it’s, it’s, it’s less stressful.

1 (23m 29s):
And if you’re able to just start out, even with just one meal a day to make that one meal a day, the healthiest meal, I think you’re, you’re on a road to better health for yourself. I don’t think you have to like really on trying

2 (23m 46s):
To get every single meal in. And this is for adults just trying to, you know, just kind of like start out and just, you know, they’re trying to figure their way and navigate their way through life during this crazy time, you know, pick, pick one meal and make it the healthiest, you know, that’s, that’s, that’s simple. And from there, try to build upon that. Create creates sort of like a repetition for yourself. If you’re, if you’re doing one meal for the next two, three weeks, and you feel like that’s working aim to aim to do that for a second meal, then next thing you know, maybe all your meals are exactly where we’re supposed to do.

2 (24m 21s):
You know, I, you know, 80, 20 rule has been, has been like a great rule to follow. I think as you continue to educate yourself, get older and just want to stay healthy, that that ratio starts to change and lean towards more of a healthier approach. That’s great. And at 20 sources to the maybe five,

0 (24m 46s):
Oh my gosh.

2 (24m 47s):
Well, I find for myself, you know, as you, as you just get older, man, you just like, do I really want to eat that and deal with the consequences tomorrow or the next few days on how my body feels and have to recover? You get older, your recovery time is insane. Yeah.

0 (25m 3s):
You know, it’s, it’s this funny thing, you know, they say, Oh, you know, my, my body forgive, forgive me for that. And I’m like, yeah, but the body never forgets. That’s the thing about the body doesn’t forget eventually. So there’s some, there’s some feedback that you’re not really excited about.

2 (25m 18s):
Exactly. Exactly.

0 (25m 21s):
Non-negotiable tool in yourself care kit. These days, speaking of caring for our, our bodies and our minds

2 (25m 28s):
Movement has always been a key for me, got to move the body. You know, I always go back to the lymphatic system and how that works. It works with movement. If you don’t move your lymphatic system can’t really work. So you can’t get rid of like the toxins that are in your body. That way you should be. And movement is key. Absolutely. It doesn’t have to be some vigorous CrossFit workout or high intensity workout. You know, everyone is of different ages, different lifestyle, different physical ability.

2 (25m 59s):
So I think it’s kind of like, you know, how walking into a supermarket can be overwhelming with all these pressure produce and companies trying to sell you stuff. Same thing with workouts. It can be overwhelming because there’s so much out there. But if you stick to the simplest thing and it’s just like five minute, 10 minute walk or a bike ride, or if you’re in your house and you want to put on a YouTube video of salsa, salsa lessons, some dancing it’s still movement, right. You know, just movement is key.

2 (26m 30s):
Now within that, you’ll start to find kind of like food and culture. You start to find what you gravitate to different spices. So same thing, different exercises, different movement that works well for you. And you stick with that and you just a routine

1 (26m 44s):
Off of that.

0 (26m 46s):
So let’s get personal for a bit, you know, as you look back on the last couple of decades as a cancer survivor, what are some strategies that you think have really served you when it comes to staying healthy and overcoming your diagnosis?

1 (27m 3s):
That’s a survivor I think is really important to know that life has changed. And you want to, you don’t want to introduce any sort of bad habits. If there were any, in terms of your health after your cancer treatment, you want to maintain a healthy diet for yourself and keep introducing foods that it will continue to build your immune system. When I went through my treatment and I remember telling them this, our friend, I went through my treatment and I can’t speak for everyone, but hopefully my story can be an inspiration for those.

1 (27m 43s):
I got into bodybuilding. So if I look back at like my own personal data of myself and my lifestyle, I went through six months of aggressive chemotherapy. Then from there, I got I, and I worked out through that entire time and continue to work out, got into bodybuilding. And now if, if anybody knows like bodybuilding or any sort of like competition, there’s always, there’s always some sort of fast thing or some sort of restrict restriction on your eating intake.

1 (28m 14s):
And there’s a lot of movement. So I created for over two decades of like a little over two decades of a lot of movement, a lot of fasting, a lot of reintroducing, certain foods limiting my, my intake of any sort of processed foods at a really high scale. So in my head, I’m thinking that that’s sort of some sort of purpose, right?

1 (28m 47s):
So there isn’t, there’s an importance to, I think, fasting which many people are talking about now, you know, the whole eight hour fasting or whatever, or, you know, fast within, and I’ve done that the keto diet I’ve been done back in like the early two thousands. And that’s still like when you look at the keto diet, when you look at any sort of diet, there, there is a sort of fast thing that is taking place. You’re taking an individual from their everyday lifestyle of eating to this certain style of eating, which is, you know, either decrease in caloric intake by default because you’re following their program or changing a foods, whatever that case is.

1 (29m 27s):
So I think there’s a big importance, you know, whether it’s cancer and not implementing fasting and filling line thing, movement, you know, into your, into your, I think

0 (29m 42s):
One thing, you know, I know is that our bodies work so much better when we find a rhythm to our, our, our daily life, you know, kind of body, the nervous system loves routine. The nervous system loves sort of a consistent, you know, as much as we can and in 2020 eating and waking and sleeping and moving schedule, right. It’s just kind of how we are able to more easily find that homeostasis.

0 (30m 15s):
So to your point, I do think that fasting or restricted, you know, restrictive window eating, however, we want to look at that. There’s certainly enough research that shows that, you know, you give your body a break, essentially, you know, and that makes a lot of sense. I think even at the most fundamental level, because most of what people do when they are really gotten to the point where they’re struggling with healthy lifestyle, is there is no rhythm or routine, you know, it’s catch, can it’s overwhelm analysis, paralysis, you know, any combination of that.

0 (30m 48s):
So I think to your point, you know, once again, we come back to your journey, which is really kind of you to kind of dig deep and, you know, for this level of inspiration, because this is work to your point, taking care of ourselves is important work. It’s not, shouldn’t be horrible hardware, but it’s important work, right. It requires intention. It requires goal setting, right? So I think to your point, it’s the bodybuilding, yes.

0 (31m 19s):
Is relative to everybody else. That’s a very extreme venue for learning about health and your body, but modern day living we’re completely disconnected from our bodies. Is it any wonder that, you know, we’re, we’re faced with so much

1 (31m 33s):
Symptoms? Yeah, no, I, I, yeah. I definitely agree. You definitely become more sensitive to how your body feels for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

0 (31m 42s):
Huge. That’s huge. So if you could have a billboard with an inspirational message to help people on their health journey, chef Tito says,

1 (31m 53s):
Be who you are, love yourself and continue to maneuver through life, knowing that you’re not alone.

0 (32m 0s):
Hmm. That is so beautiful. That was so beautiful. And has faith played a huge role in your journey?

1 (32m 8s):
Faith is always a huge role in my journey has always been never just connect your faith. Yeah.

0 (32m 15s):
Yeah. And so if one more last question here, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned in life thus far?

1 (32m 23s):
Life is always changing. You gotta, you gotta be prepared to mold with the change. Yeah.

0 (32m 32s):
Okay. Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. Okay. All right. Well, if you were in my shoes, is there any question that I should have asked you?

1 (32m 43s):
I think we covered a alive, you know, I, you know, I, I, I definitely hope whoever’s listening in is inspired and continue to make the changes in their lifestyle and be the inspiration for themselves and others in their community. You know, I hope they get that from this podcast.

0 (33m 4s):
Oh, okay. Well, it’s been such a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much a gift to have you on the show and he keeps you in all the beautiful work that you’re doing.

1 (33m 14s):
Thank you so much for saying that it was a pleasure. Take care. Bye.