How Brad Pitt Cured My Allergies

One night, about two years ago, I decided to watch a movie while home alone.?

The movie I chose is “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” the latest Quentin Tarantino film. As it turns out, this is one of my favorite movies of all time. I think the acting is superb and all the period tie-ins are a lot of fun, but that’s not the point of my story.

You tuned in to find out how Brad Pitt cured my allergies and I’m getting there, I promise.?

As you may know, Brad Pitt is in the movie and plays Cliff Booth, who is Rick Dalton’s stunt double. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Rick Dalton. That’s as much as I’ll tell you about the story because you really should see it if you haven’t.?

Somewhere in the middle of the movie Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) gives Cliff an assignment to go up on the roof of his house and fix his TV antenna that had been blown over in the wind the night before.?

Cliff (Pitt) straps on his tool belt and heads up to the roof. Once on the roof, he proceeds to remove his shirt to do the work. Now, Brad Pitt isn’t really my type, being a heterosexual male, “not that there’s anything wrong with that”, but I look at the guy and I think, I don’t look anything like that when I take off my shirt. In fact, unless my shirt is on fire, I’m not going to take it off in front of anyone, let alone in a big movie.?

So, I’m thinking, how old is Brad Pitt? If he’s anywhere near my age, how come I don’t look like that??

Okay, well I know why I don’t look like Brad Pitt. Some of that’s genetics but an awful lot of it is the absurd amounts of bad things I put into my mouth over the years…and then you know, proceeded to chew and swallow them.?

Anyway, I googled “How old is Brad Pitt” to find out that at the time he was 56.?

I’m thinking, “wait a minute, he’s 56 and I’m 53”. If he can look like that I should be able to get reasonably close, I mean I can’t change the genetics, but I can certainly adjust my lifestyle.?

At that moment, I get a vision of myself on the roof fixing a TV antenna wearing jeans and a toolbelt without my shirt.?I realize nobody has a TV antenna on their roof anymore, but let's not get stuck in the weeds on this.

Initially, I shudder at the thought of myself without a shirt, but now that I have the vision, I AM ALL IN!

It’s hard at the beginning. There’s some backward slipping, but for the most part, I’m making forward progress.

Now, let me be clear, this is taking a long time and it gets discouraging at times, but still, I’ve got this vision of me being comfortable taking my shirt off, and I’m not giving up on it.?

Fast forward one year.?

I’ve made some good progress, but there’s still NO WAY, I’m going to take my shirt off.?

Fast forward a few months more and my daughter Lauren suggests that for the new year and for our New Year’s resolutions, we construct #visionboards to help us keep a visual marker in front of us at all times.?

I say, “That sounds like a great idea!” Once again, I’m all in.?

I decided to take my Brad Pitt shirt-off-in-public goal one step further and set a goal to reward myself if I make it by June.?

My reward? Well, there’s this chair I’ve been eyeing at West Elm on Main Street in Salt Lake City, but it’s expensive enough that I’m not going to just charge it or just go buy it so that all I can do for a while is sit in my fancy West Elm chair and eat ramen.?

So I print a picture of the chair for my vision board and resolve that I will save up the money between January and June and meet a fitness goal of getting down to a certain waist size by June 1. I reason further (but keep this part a secret) that if I make it, I’m going to walk from my apartment on 2nd Avenue, down to West Elm on Main Street, and while I walk I will take off my shirt on the way.?

Scary!?

Probably more scary for all of you than me, but I’ve got the vision in my head and it’s oddly motivating.?

I hit my waist size goal by May 1 and I also had the money.?

However, by this time, I decided I didn’t want the chair so much but would rather spend the saved money on some bitchin’ rims for my 4Runner.?

I weigh my options and decide to get the wheels. So rather than walk to the rim store pushing my 4Runner with my shirt off, I just drive, shirt on, instead.?

So I actually never did walk down Main Street in Salt Lake with my shirt off, and truth be told, there must be more to the genetics than I thought because I’m still not comfortable taking my shirt off.?

Oh yeah, you’re reading to find out how Brad Pitt cured my allergies. Yeah, yeah back to that.?

Well, as I said, by May 1 I’d reached my waist size goal. But I didn’t stop. I just kept going.?

By mid-July I’d blown past the waist size goal and moved right into the same size jeans I wore in high school. So by mid-July, I’m now in the best shape I’ve been in since I was 17, and I’m 55 - not yet 56 like Brad Pitt in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”.?

Okay, onto how Brad Pitt cured my allergies.?

It turns out he cured more than just my allergies.?

Back in February, while I was still quite a ways from my fitness goal and the whole “shirt off on Main Street” thing, my girlfriend told me she was worried I might have sleep apnea because my snoring was so extreme. I’d been tested for sleep apnea before and it turned out negative, but it had been a few years.?

I thought to myself, “before I put on all the weight I had gained in the past 30+ years I didn’t snore. I wonder if it will get better if I lose more weight”.?

By May when I got to my waist size goal and I asked her if I was still snoring as bad as before. She said, “No, you hardly ever snore at all anymore and when you do, it’s very light.”

So, that was pretty cool to find out that one positive health effect of trying to be like Brad Pitt was that my snoring went away.?

It didn’t end there. I’ve noticed a couple of other benefits of getting in better shape. One I already mentioned is wearing the same size jeans I did when I was 17.?

Also, my allergies which for the past couple of decades have been bad enough that I take an antihistamine as a general rule every morning and every night. Well, I actually stopped taking them last fall because I ran out and we were heading into winter. It’s probably been close to 10 months since I’ve had an allergy pill and I have no allergy symptoms whatsoever. I sort of forgot I had allergies.?

And that’s how #BradPitt cured my allergies and he doesn’t even know it.?

I’ve noticed several other more expected benefits of getting into shape. Things like more energy, and not needing as much sleep as I used to. No pain anywhere in my body. There’s also something I’m calling my “testosterone renaissance”, where patchy spots in my facial hair have filled in, among some other high T benefits most men my age don't realize, but enough about that.?

There is so much to be said for taking care of yourself. I wish I’d been motivated earlier because I could go on and on about how good I feel. And no, I’m no Brad Pitt, but I think I could take my shirt off now even if it’s not on fire.?

I’m also a believer in seeing a #vision (with or without a vision board), setting #goals , and then going after it with full energy. I used to think the whole vision board thing was kind of lame. Then I tried one, and the results were pretty compelling. So much so, that I revised my 2022 #visionboard this past Sunday with an even bigger vision for my future.?

Give it a try. If you want some pointers, hit me!

Ryan Houmand is the author of “A Passion for Monday” . He's been featured on FOX, NBC, and CBS where he talks about "The 3 Mistakes that Make People Hate Monday" He's since added a 4th mistake and speaks at events and to organizations, about “The 4 Mistakes that Make People Hate Monday” . He's available to speak to your team in person or via webinar. Ryan is the creator of LoveMondayLikeFriday.com and believes everyone should LOVE Monday just like Friday but for a different reason. He helps organizations with employee engagement turnarounds a subject on which he is an expert.?