Men’s Health

STRAUSS Sundays, he and his wife socialize with worldwide for beauty giant L’Oréal keeps ZELNICK friends over a big brunch, his only meal Frédéric Rozé on the road up to 100 days a for that day. He is also involved with his year. During the week, the French execu- FOUNDER AND Episcopal church in Clinton, Maryland, tive begins his day with yoga and rowing. MANAGING PARTNER where he sings in the choir and delivers He forgoes breakfast and usually eats OF ZELNICK MEDIA the homily several times a year. Taylor a vegetarian lunch and a protein-filled, CAPITAL, AGE 65 says he’s found three more ways to stay carb-free dinner. Part of his weekend mentally energized: prepping for and regimen: a 50-mile road-bike ride. NAMED THE FITTEST CEO in America interviewing guests on his podcast, by Men’s Health, Strauss Zelnick is busy teaching ethics, and mentoring. Often he To stay on top of his packed schedule, running his private-equity company and feels he’s learning as much as—or more he drinks four to six cups of coffee per serving as chairman and CEO of Take- than—his mentees. day and eats nuts and black chocolate as a Two Interactive Software, the brand snack. In addition, he downs two liters of behind the Grand Theft Auto franchise. ALAN water daily and refrains from alcohol on As he thinks about staying strong and PATRICOF weekdays, indulging only in some great sharp while he ages, Zelnick has amped red wine on the weekends. Rozé believes up his exercise regimen. He now works CHAIRPERSON AND in taking vacations to “detox his brain,” out a minimum of five times per week— COFOUNDER OF so he hikes with his family and rock- and but usually eight to ten times a week— PRIMETIME PARTNERS, ice-climbs. He also rejuvenates by not lifting weights and doing high-intensity AGE 88 working on airplanes or on the weekends, interval training. making sure that he finds diversions A NATIVE NEW YORKER, Alan Patricof through concerts, plays, and books. Zelnick makes it a point to train is one of the pioneers of the venture- with people half his age for motivation capital and private-equity industries. ROBERT and inspiration, but he also attributes He continues to put in a full week of work CHAVEZ his endurance to staying strong and as he looks for investments to make with sharp in life in general. Although he has his current fund. His regimen includes PRESIDENT AND maintained a strict high-protein eating working out with a trainer three times a CEO OF HERMÈS plan, he’s relaxed it a bit, adding some week, focusing on strength, stretching, AMERICAS, AGE 67 carbs to his diet. Plus, he’s a nondrinker, and balance. In November, he ran the with water (about 64 ounces daily) as New York City Marathon—his first in HE GREW UP on San Antonio’s South his beverage of choice. His psychic more than 40 years. Side, went to Princeton, then built a fuel for sustaining focus? Coaching, long and successful career in retail and mentoring, being of service to others, To keep his energy level steady, Patricof luxury fashion. And for the past 22 years, and keeping up his spiritual practice. has a protein shake once he wakes up. He Robert Chavez has run Hermès Americas, believes that eating less is crucial and overseeing 1,300 employees. His fitness ART TAYLOR doesn’t have any snacks during the day. To regimen involves the 7 Minute Workout maintain his weight, he checks the scale app and often a 40-block walk in New York, PRESIDENT AND twice a day, and if he is over his two-pound from his Chelsea apartment to his mid- CEO OF THE BBB WISE rule, he will cut out a meal. To stay men- town office. “That morning walk is the best GIVING ALLIANCE, tally sharp, he practices Transcendental time of day to reflect, get a head start, and AGE 64 Meditation with the David Lynch Foun- simply feel what the day is going to be like,” dation and walks everywhere between he says, adding that he turns off his phone FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, Art Taylor appointments and social commitments. along the way to get himself energized. has been a senior executive in the non- Widowed after 50 years of marriage, profit world. He also hosts a podcast called Patricof is back on the dating scene, Chavez doesn’t eat meat, sticks to The Heart of Giving and is a lecturer at which he says helps with his acuity and a Mediterranean diet, and focuses on Columbia University. To keep in shape, focus, too. But his key advice? Work every three meals a day to maintain his weight. Taylor walks four to six miles four days a day at something that you love. Beyond fitness and food, he says, his true week and plays golf three days a week in source of sharpness is his relationship of the summer. He fits in a 30-minute sweat FRÉDÉRIC ROZÉ 42 years. He and his husband have been session consisting of pushups, core work, married for 12 years (since same-sex mar- and stretching at least two days a week. CHIEF GLOBAL riage was legalized in New York). “Noth- GROWTH OFFICER ing maintains good health and well-being Taylor eats only two meals a day, OF L’ORÉAL, like true happiness and true love.” starting with a morning smoothie (egg AGE 61 whites, protein powder, spinach, avocado, MICHAEL CLINTON isthefounderofROAR— banana, and other fruit). He has his HEADING UP global e-commerce and Reimagine, Own Who You Are,Act on Your second meal at 4:00 P.M. and limits red overseeing presidents in seven regions Plan, andReassessYourRelationships meat to no more than twice a month. On (roarbymichaelclinton.com). MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 49

MIND FIGHTING CHANCE JAY SHETTY is the author of the book 8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go, to be published by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Copyright © 2023 by Jay R. Shetty. Printed by permission. FOR THE LOVE OF The Voorhes/Gallery Stock Fighting, done well, benefits relationships. In his new book, 8 Rules of Love, podcaster and former monk JAY SHETTY explains how to have the kind of fights that ultimately bring you closer. 50 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

JAY SHETTY Even if you trained as a monk, wrote a best-selling book called Think Like a Monk, and are the chief purpose officer of the Calm app, life isn’t all om and deep breaths. For Jay Shetty, it’s more about interviewing people for his top health podcast, On Pur- pose; tending to a business; managing speaking engagements; traveling; writing; and teaching online courses. Here’s how he does it all and still has time to reflect. —AS TOLD TO MARTY MUNSON Jason Raish 6:00 A.M. 9:05 A.M. To define his priori- ties when everything TAKE NOTE OUTIES OR INNIES seems urgent, “I ask myself three ques- The first thing he sees “Getting your brain to tions: What needs to is a pink sticky note switch from a creative be achieved today? that reads, “What are meeting to a data What needs to be you grateful for?” So meeting is like trying achieved this week? instead of first think- to drive across L. A. at And what needs to be ing, I’m tired, he might lunchtime,” he says. achieved this month? think, I’m grateful I got “No matter how well I also give myself per- some sleep, but I’m you planned, it’s going mission to say, ‘This going to go to sleep to be hard and take doesn’t need to be earlier tonight. This a long time.” So he completed at all.’ ” sets the day up better defines some days and prompts him to as outward days 7:30 P.M. ask what shift he can (meetings, being on make to be even more camera) and others DO SOMETHING grateful tomorrow. as inward days (being with just his team). He tries not to work 6:05 A.M. Days get further desig- in the evenings. Since nated as finance days, he and his wife don’t NO SCROLLING creative days, etc. like the same work- outs, they’ll take walks To keep from looking 10:55 A.M. after dinner or go to at his phone, Shetty a local spa with cold listens to music, SCHEDULE plunges and infrared nature sounds, or a FREE TIME saunas. About once guided meditation. a month, “I’ll have a “I’ve tried to not do On back-to-back friend or two over, and anything else but meeting days, “I try we will just play FIFA brush my teeth, but to book 25- and all night. It makes me that can get pretty 55-minute meetings. feel like a kid again,” boring after a few That gives me time he says. days,” he says. to stand up, stretch, get hydrated, and 9:30 P.M. 6:15 to 9:00 A.M. look into the distance and give my mind CHECK IN AND MEDITATE AND some space.” CHECK OUT MOVE 1:30 P.M. Shetty checks in with Shetty continues himself on what he through his morning DEAL WITH didn’t do that day and TIME acronym. After DISRUPTIONS how he needs to edit thankfulness and tomorrow accord- insight, he meditates Shetty schedules ingly. Then he does for about 90 min- everything, includ- a short meditation to utes, then exercises ing lunch (usually a pave the way to sleep. for about an hour. vegetable bowl). But then the day happens.



PHOTOGRAPHS BY TYLER JOE WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE THE ULTIMATE MEN’S HEALTH GUY? that question a million times over the past few months as thousands of readers shared their stories with us and showed us all the ways they’re crushing life. These guys are physically and mentally fit, successful and generous, and inspiring others through their dedication to becoming faster, stronger, and better. They’re guys like Corwyn Collier, an Army veteran who rebuilt his body after surviving an IED explosion and is now a teacher; Felipe Proaño, a climber and adventurer who will change how you think about the planet; and Brad Schaeffer, D.P.M., a Manhattan podiatrist and an advo- cate for the LGBTQ+ community. At MH, we spend more time exploring how guys today are better at being guys—better partners, fathers, and friends as well as fuller and more authentic versions of themselves— than pretty much ever before, and we see that progress reflected in Corwyn’s, Brad’s, and Felipe’s lives. So many of the expectations and obstacles that have limited us in the past are falling away—sometimes by the brute force of action, sometimes by the gentle hand of time— and in so many ways, things are looking up. In other ways, well . . . some stats: To be a man today is to face greater risk of being a victim of suicide or gun violence. To be a man today means you’re more likely to be unemployed. Our life expectancies are declining. If you’re a Black or brown man, or a gay or bisexual or trans man, the amount of hostility, unfairness, and grade-A bullshit you have to deal with every single day is unacceptable. As we sifted through entries for the Ulti- mate Men’s Health Guy, we gravitated toward the ones who represent the very real progress men are making and the very real obstacles so many have overcome. Over the following pages, you’re going to meet our ten finalists (and our winner!), each one a living, breathing, striving example of the virtues at the core of Men’s Health—hard work, humility, integrity, and the belief that each of us can always do a little better. These are the Ultimate Men’s Health Guys for 2023, and next year, who knows? One of them could be you. MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 53

FINALIST #1 “THERE’S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACCEPTANCE AND UNDERSTANDING” Being repeatedly told he wasn’t good enough RAPID FIRE didn’t stop BRAD SCHAEFFER, D.P.M., from DAY JOB becoming his best self. BY JOSHUA ST. CLAIR Podiatrist HEROES “People who push for equality: Billie Jean King, Larry Kramer, and Gus Kenworthy.” FAVORITE CHARITY Walk to Cure Arthritis MOTTO “Perseverance! Whatever obstacle life throws at you, you can overcome it! Sometimes it takes a long time, but it will come.” That Jersey office is where most people Brad Schaeffer folks saw on TLC had never bachelor party, crossing the street in know Dr. Schaeffer from. They first met shared this part of himself on TV or online. Hoboken, he made eye contact with the cordial podiatrist as he was removing After contending with rumors that he was another man, first asking for directions the sixth toe of an erotica novelist and clip- romantically involved with his costar and then asking for his number. (That ping a man’s nail the size of a snail shell Sarah Haller, D.P.M. (who is actually man is now his partner.) He had come to in the first episode of My Feet Are Killing married to Dr. Schaeffer’s best friend), and realize his sexuality was not a trial but a Me, the TLC series on which he costars. Its political events like the passing of Florida’s truth. When he came out to his wife, he success allowed the Pottstown, Pennsyl- “Don’t Say Gay” law, he decided it was time. says, she was supportive. She has always vania, native, 38, to open his own practice “I want to let people know that I’m happy. been his best friend. She has since remar- in Manhattan. “No way I ever thought I I’m proud,” Dr. Schaeffer says. “I owe it to ried and had children, and she’s an even would do this,” he says. myself, my friends, my partner, our com- closer friend to him than before. Impossible dreams. This is the narrative munity, anyone out there that needs help.” Dr. Schaeffer admits to a long-held theme of the doctor’s adult life, which has The Straight Doctor was a role he long fear he’s had of letting others down, a involved a series of obstacles that made cast himself in. He married his best friend consequence of being a serious athlete; he him feel he wasn’t good enough. A promi- from college. They came close to having initially went to college to play baseball. nent educator told him he’d never practice children. Then, on his way to a friend’s Disappointing his team also meant medicine. Growing up as a Christian, he was taught that being gay meant he’d OTHER KEVIN GRANGE, 48, Jackson, WY never go to heaven. He told FINALISTS himself his homosexuality JOB: Firefighter, wilderness-medicine instruc- was a trial; he begged God tor, and author of the memoir Wild Rescues each night to take this trial BEST ADVICE: “ ‘The best way out is through.’ I away from his life. learned this saying during paramedic school at UCLA. First, it only had a physical meaning, Dr. Schaeffer has been but now it’s also philosophical. Obstacles can out now for a decade. But the become the ‘stairs’ that we ascend to grow.”

Previous pages, from left: On Proaño: Tank and pants by Reigning Champ. On Collier: Tank by Rhone; pants by Emporio Armani. On Schaeffer: Tank by VRST; pants by Lululemon; shoes by Nike. This page: Tank and shorts by Reebok; shoes by Nike; watch by Omega. Brad Schaeffer at the Men’s Health shoot in Brooklyn (left) and performing surgery at his Hoboken office in 2022 (above). disappointing his family and friends down; no one like him was gay, and so he done. Lawn chairs. Bud Lights. Baseballs (and, for a time, God). And because he shouldn’t be, either. and footballs tossed across the parking never saw anyone else like the person he lot. Dr. Schaeffer just said it: “I’m gay.” wanted to be—the Christian jock who was He first came out to his father. It was And then they cried and hugged and had also out and proud—he decided revealing one of the most challenging things he’s another beer. More than anything, Dr. such a truth to others would just let them ever done. He told Dad at a Phillies game. Schaeffer wanted his dad to know he was The two were tailgating, as they’d always still the same guy, the same son. Fear of letting others down—it is not a struggle that one overcomes in a neat little story. Even now in his office, he won- ders if a recent Instagram post of him in a crop top and unicorn hat—which upset his mom, who didn’t think he was that “loud”—went too far. But then he shakes the thought off. “So what if I was?” he asks himself. So what? “There’s a big difference between acceptance and understanding,” Dr. Schaeffer continues. “I love your accep- tance, and I appreciate it. But take the time to understand: I was born this way, I’ve always known, and we are all differ- ent within our community.” JOSHUA ST. CLAIR is an assistant editor at MH, a New York Yankees fan, and the owner of two (mostly) healthy feet. Courtesy Schaeffer (Schaeffer during surgery) BEN SMITH, 51, Gibsons, BC HAMPTON LIU, 28, Mountain Home, AL JOB: Youth outreach and creator of the Goliath JOB: Trainer and founder of Hybrid Calisthenics Foundation, which helps men heal from trauma BEST ADVICE: “ ‘Life goes on.’ This isn’t to say BEST ADVICE: “ ‘Talk softly, but carry a big stick.’ that nothing matters. However, it reminds me For me, the ‘big stick’ started as physical not to dwell on past failures and missteps. The strength and transitioned into strength of persistence of life imbues me with what I call character, unwavering compassion, acceptance ‘practical optimism’ and encourages me to of others, and faith in the power of love!” explore, grow, and enjoy life.” MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 55

FINALIST #2 “ THE CHALLENGE BUILT ME AS A CLIMBER AND GAVE ME PSYCHOLOGICAL STRENGTH ” Even after a serious climbing accident, FELIPE PROAÑO steadfastly pursued his passion to explore Ecuador while also helping local Indigenous groups. BY EVAN ROMANO RAPID FIRE DAY JOB The North Face ambassa- dor and head of a nonprofit PASSION PROJECT The documentary Middle of Somewhere FAVORITE CHARITY Fondo de Acceso Andino (Andean Access Fund) But climbing meant everything to Today, Proaño, who lives in Fort MOTTO Courtesy subjects (other finalists) Proaño. “I endured many months of Collins, Colorado, is a rock climber and painful physical therapy and hundreds adventurer supported by the North Face “Life starts at point A and of thousands of solitary pullup workouts, and Isopure, as well as a filmmaker. ends at point B—that is the but I was able to learn to walk again.” He also founded his own nonprofit, the length we all get. There is In 2009, three years after the accident, Ecuador-based Fondo de Acceso Andino Proaño returned to Illiniza Norte to face (Andean Access Fund), which aims to also a width of life. How his fears, correct his mistakes, and climb develop tourism in rural communities in wide you want to make to the summit. “Going back was frighten- order to diversify streams of income that your life is up to you.” ing,” he says. “And this is when in moun- otherwise can be dependent on natural taineering it is good to be afraid, because resources. Right now he’s in Red Hook, completed 16 expeditions, and partic- being afraid makes you very rational. I Brooklyn, getting ready for his MH photo ipated on a team that discovered the go back every five years to commemorate shoot, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. If Columns of Tangán, 200-foot basalt cliffs the accident’s anniversary, because the you happened to stand behind him in line in the Ecuadorean Andes, in 2015. challenge built me as a climber and [gave at a coffee shop, you’d have no idea you me] psychological strength to overcome were near an Indiana Jones–like explorer After ten-plus years of peak bagging obstacles,” he says. who’s climbed 28 of the world’s big walls, driven by his What’s next? mentality, he’s now more focused on giving back, whether that means spending time with his wife, Savannah (whom he met climbing a decade ago), sharing his skills with new climbers, or fundraising for his nonprofit. The documentary he’s produc- ing chronicles his greatest climbing feats and his philanthropic work. “Many peo- JACOB GENTILE, 27, St. Clair Shores, MI DARRYL PARTRIDGE, 57, Clifton Park, NY JOB: Firefighter and police officer JOB: Adaptive trainer and founder of Leg Up On BEST ADVICE: “ ‘Be uncommon amongst uncom- Fitness, a gym and virtual training platform mon people. Period.’ This advice from retired BEST ADVICE: “ ‘You have to forgive to move for- Navy SEAL David Goggins has empowered my ward.’ Forgiveness doesn’t have to be inviting life because it constantly reminds me to strive to them back into your life; it’s setting you free be more. I hope to inspire other first responders from what they did to you. Doing so can help you to keep up on their health.” find a way to take control of your life.” 56 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

Felipe Proaño climbing up the Columns of Tangán, Ecuador, in 2020 (above) and at the Men’s Health shoot in Brooklyn (right). Daniel Portilla Williams (left) ple refer to me as ‘He likes to travel to the in Quechua (the language of the Incas)— Shirt by VRST; middle of nowhere,’ so with that irony, and scouring satellite imagery on Google pants by we named the film Middle of Somewhere, Earth. “This project combines all of my because all of these remote locations are skills as an explorer and as a climber,” Reigning Champ. very important to me.” he says. Proaño intends to work with the locals and later lead climbing trips and travel in the region. Given his passion He and his climbing partner, Nicolas develop more sustainable adventure for both climbing and helping people, he Dávalos, are on an expedition to search just might pull it off. for the Incan treasure of Atahualpa in Ecuador’s Llanganates Mountains. EVAN ROMANO is the culture editor at MH. “The jungle is so dense that we use the His most adventurous feat is watching The phrase ‘This makes Cambodia look like Wolf of Wall Street next to his mom. Kansas,’ ” says Proaño. He’s spent years researching in libraries—reading medi- eval Spanish chronicles and texts heavy STEVE JEWELL, 31, Glasgow, KY MALIK HASHIM HALTER, 29, JOB: Music teacher and member of the band Capitol Heights, MD Black Stone Cherry JOB: IT specialist and trainer BEST ADVICE: “ ‘The difference between a dream BEST ADVICE: “ ‘The only failure in life is and a goal is a timeline and accountability.’ not trying.’ This has empowered me to Understanding this helped me prioritize better. overcome many obstacles in my life We don’t need motivation as much as we need to and conquer so many things both big focus to establish better habits and rituals.” and small.” MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 57

OUR 2023 WINNER “IF I FAIL, I’M GONNA RAPID FIRE FIGURE OUT HOW DAY JOB TO CONQUER IT ” History teacher and A bomb turned Army vet CORWYNCOLLIER into a partial track coach amputee. He battled depression and his own body FAVORITE CHARITY to make sure that didn’t define him. BY KEITH NELSON JR. Wounded Warrior Project FITNESS GOAL “To stay healthy for my wife and kids. I love competing [in bodybuilding], but they are my why.” HEROES “My father and my wife.” MOTTO “It’s not about the disability, but the ability.” The medics fired up the defibrilla- stuck him with IVs. We both keel over a his hip, that was on them. If people saw his Styling: Ted Stafford. Styling assistance: Rashad Minnick. Grooming: Todd Harris/Honey Artists. Set design: tor . . . shock . . . no heartbeat. They fired table laughing, and I understand that he’s right leg and felt pity, they probably didn’t Todd Wiggins/Mary Howard Artists. Tailoring: Darlene DeAndrade. Courtesy Collier (inset photos). it up again . . . shock . . . no heartbeat. His been recounting a trauma he’s conquered, know it was strong enough to get through dream at age 27 of raising his sons into not one that still controls him. leg day—full of squats, lunges, and leg old age was fading. The defibrillator fired extensions. Even though doctors said his up . . . shock. . . thump thump. Collier’s It took a lot to get to this point. Before the quality of life would never be the same, he heart started beating again. His injuries accident, Collier was all about his body. He trained hard enough to become the first were so serious that he had to spend ten was an All-American college track athlete wounded/partial-amputee vet to obtain months in the hospital. who ran hurdles. He left the hospital a shell a pro card with the International Federa- of his former self, having lost 70 pounds tion of Bodybuilding and Fitness, in 2016. Collier survived that battle to fight and feeling frail. He’d hide his injured hand “When somebody says I’m disabled, I feel a different war he was ill-equipped in the pockets of his hoodies and avoided like they’re putting me in a box. I don’t feel to be in. “When you identify yourself wearing shorts to keep people from staring I’m in that box,” Collier says. “If I fail, I’m with being physically fit and now you at his leg. He thought his “man mentality” gonna figure out how to conquer it. It may can’t stand up or go to the bathroom by of silently pushing through would suffice. take a little while, but I will figure it out.” yourself, it made me lose hope,” he says. His lack of fingers on his right hand made “You don’t know how long [the recovery] But he needed help. the pulling motions of some exercises is going to take. It made me feel like I’d “It wasn’t until my wife, Iisha, made me impossible, so he fastened a hook to his rather be dead. That’s the depression go to counseling that I was able to get to the hand that he still uses today. Once his and PTSD part of it all. That’s where my point where I realized I had to love myself mind, body, and purpose of enabling oth- mind was at for a while.” and stop worrying about what everybody ers to reach their potential were aligned, else thinks,” he says. “My wife noticed I no obstacle could stop him. Collier retells the story of his accident was doing what everyone does when they’re at Men’s Health’s New York office, his gaze depressed: smiling, living life, enjoying Collier went back to school in 2010 and unflinching, his voice measured. At one friends and family. But I wasn’t whole—yet.” earned his master’s degree in education point, he yells, “Stop!” before patting Through his counselor, he learned to two years later. He’s been teaching history himself down. The 40-year-old is mim- separate Collier the man from Collier the at his alma mater, Maple Heights High icking what he did to make sure his geni- athlete. If people wanted to stare at his School, just outside Cleveland, since 2013, tals were intact when medics frantically bulbous hand wrapped in skin taken from 58 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

Corwyn Collier at MH’s shoot in Brooklyn (left); with two of his sons in Cleveland in 2014 (top); and in his Army uniform with his Purple Heart in 2021 (above). Collier’s third son, Aaron, is 11. “Malachi was five when he told me, ‘Dad, I want to become an engineer so I can create something so you can have a hand.’ He now takes engineering classes,” he says. “Corwyn Jr. said he wants to do physical Tank and shorts therapy because he wants by Gym Shark. to help people like how I got helped. My injuries helped them both find career paths and he is proud to be one of the school’s Although the IED affected his ability to they’re passionate about.” most respected teachers. Students, even those he’s never taught, flock to his run, Collier became MHHS’s head track Every May 23, Collier celebrates Alive classroom.“I can die happy knowing I was always there to help people,” he says. coach in 2019. If his body doesn’t allow Day. Yes, the bomb almost killed him, but They come with questions and leave with a mentor. “I always tell my students, ‘You get him to demonstrate a motion, he has a to the world, and to himself, he is more a mind, a body, and a lifetime. What you do with the first two determines the last one.’ ” student do it. It’s a way to empower young than just his body. people to be leaders. One of those athletes is his eldest son, Malachi, 18. He and KEITH NELSON JR., a senior editor at MH, his 15-year-old brother, Corwyn Jr., grew regrets never running track in high school up watching their dad rebuild himself. even though he was faster than everyone. MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 59

From left: Dave East, Jim Jones, Maino, and Fabolous, the found- ing members of FitLit Club, in late 2022. The hip-hop artists resolved to change their lives together. 60 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

TRANSFORMATIONS 2023 As the members of FITLIT CLUB know, no one makes big changes alone. The world-famous rappers joined forces to transform their lives for the better. Their stories, and four more, show how teamwork can unlock our true potential.

NSFORMATI 20 23 NSFORMATI ONS TRA TRA ONS INSIDE FITLIT CLUB, RAP’S ULTIMATEFITNESS SUPERGROUP These four rappers created the healthiest brotherhood in hip-hop by wanting more—for each other. BY KEITH NELSON JR. IT’S A RANDOM DAY in September at the New Jersey gym East goes Impact Zone, and the sweat-drenched Jim Jones wants more big on bench from Maino on the bench press. As Kendrick Lamar’s “Hum- with Jones ble” blares from the gym speakers, Jones yells for Maino to spotting. “work for it!” Meanwhile, Fabolous and Dave East are al- ready catching their breath. FitLit Club sleds to get There are no entourages, no bodyguards, no designer out- ahead. fits. Just four men who want more for themselves. They want Jones (left) and Maino lift and laugh together. more strength, more years to be fathers, more limits to break. 62 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH Welcome to FitLit Club, the fittest group in hip-hop. It all started where most fitness journeys die: a New Year’s resolution. After recording together for Jones and Maino’s collab album The Lobby Boyz and finding refuge at the Chel- sea House, Maino’s family-owned restaurant in New York City, the friends set up a group chat. That’s where Fabolous challenged his friends to enter 2022 with a new diet: 30 days without eating empty carbs, junk food, or fried food. There may have been a few Krispy Kreme close calls, but discipline prevailed and FitLit Club was born. “We started coming to the gym together to get past that 30 days. Once we got on that journey, it became a lifestyle,” says Maino. The four rappers, who are in their 30s and 40s, started Fit- PHOTOGRAPHS BY AHMED KLINK

Location: Impact Zone, New Jersey Lit at different points in their fitness journeys to his individual station. No one questions Maino’s Fabolous (left) and careers. Fabolous has a slender physique manhood, and he doesn’t “feel any way about me not and Jones and the least fitness experience in the group. being able to do what he do.” FitLit Club has only one keep pushing He’s best known for raw love anthems like the rule: no egos. each other and Ne-Yo-assisted “Make Me Better.” Jones has themselves. been working out for decades and often hones “Everybody’s battle and journey is different in the his massive chest and arms in his own gym, gym. The one thing we have in common is coming to the FitLit Club Vamp Fitt. He also introduced “balling” into gym. The second thing is making sure we do the work,” Total-Body the cultural lexicon with his 2006 hit song Jones says proudly. “Everybody’s work is going to be dif- Burner “We Fly High (Ballin’).” Wu-Tang: An Ameri- ferent. I don’t expect somebody else to be able to do what can Saga actor and Nas protégé Dave East has I can do, and I might not be able to do what they can do.” Warm up with maintained the athletic frame he developed 3 sets of 10 playing AAU basketball with Kevin Durant. This lack of ego is how they’re able to hold each walking lunges Maino is a stocky calisthenics advocate whose other accountable. Their busy schedules sometimes and 10 push- T-Pain collaboration “All the Above” has been put them in different corners of the globe, making it ups. Do 3 sets an inescapable radio anthem and sports walk- rare for all four to work out together. But not a day goes of 10 to 12 reps out song for more than a decade. by when they’re not in the chat discussing life events, with enough sharing unfiltered commentary on pop culture, and, weight to A FitLit Club workout is a hangout session equally necessary, checking in on their workouts. make each set with a purpose. Jones is the group’s unofficial “Dave might already be in the gym and send a text challenging. trainer, calling out exercises and directing like, ‘Hey, I’m here already.’ Then I might get up and them to spot one another, sometimes in the do 50 pushups in a row and text, ‘I got 50 pushups on PLATE middle of his own lifts. Soon the rhythm of the wake-up.’ It’s hella motivational,” Jones explains. PRESSES sets and reps gives way to playful banter that even an outsider can tell comes from a genuine Fabolous,theslimmest memberwith oneof thebus- Strengthen interest in seeing a friend reach new heights. iest schedules, self-effacingly considers himself the shoulders. group’s “reverse motivation.” And it works. “I never Keep the “That’s Jimnasium Jones,” Maino shouts thought I would see Fab working out. That threw me weight light! after Jones wraps his legs around a punching off a little bit at first,” East admits. “But to watch him bag to do crunches like a Creed III stunt dou- lock in for a year has been motivational.” INCLINE ble. “Fab is starting to look like a bodyguard BENCH at the club,” Jones jokes after complimenting Often, motivation is born from relatability. You can PRESSES the rapper on his improved definition. Sometimes see yourselfinthe bestfriendwho faces the samework- they critique one another’s gym attire (“Jim worked life-balance struggles as you do but who still makes it Target your out in [Timberland boots], too,” Fabolous says) or the to the gym daily. FitLit Club is about thatand more, be- chest and intensity of their workouts (“[Maino and Fabolous] cause it’s how these men commune with the few people shoulders. want to be the vibe guys,” East says). in the world who truly understand their life. Hip-hop is often a dog-eat-dog genre, full of artists PULLUPS constantly fighting to reach the top of the food chain When Fabolous needs to leave the gym early to pick by one-upping one another on and off songs. But FitLit up his child from school, he jokes that he doesn’t want Build back, Club does the opposite. At one point, Jones does bench to be late and look like “the bad hip-hop dad.” The crew forearm, and presses while bringing his knees toward his chest be- empathize and remind him that he’s a great father. core strength. tween lifts. After watching his first rep, Maino makes it abundantly clear he would not be able to do the same. None of them are the same men they were before Fit- SLED PUSHES The group bursts into laughter before each goes back Lit Club. East can’t fit into any of his clothes now that his back is bigger. Fabolous is in the best shape of his Rappers need life. As much as Maino may poke fun at Jones’s fixation leg muscle, on weightlifting, he’ll be the first to tell you it’s helped too! Do out- him get bigger. For Jones, the gains aren’t about what’s and-backs, on the scale, but he feels them wherever he goes. “It got maintaining a us closer than ever. I got three brothers out of it. It’s not steady speed. just about the gym—it’s about life.” Before the workout ends, he asks the question that has defined this fitness group for a year: “Want to do one more set?” MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 63

NSFORMATI 20 23 NSFORMATI ONS TRA TRA ONS Cory Booker visiting an urban farm in New Jersey in October 2022. THE SENATOR U. S. SENATOR CORY BOOKER, 53, isn’t WHO STUMPS the sort of politician who is happy with the AGAINST status quo. In 2021, he became the first vegan SUGAR senator to serve on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, which is U. S. senator Cory Booker went kind of a big deal when you consider that the 61 days without eating added sugars committee keeps its eye on the state of fac- and built a team around him who did tory farming. And last year, from the Fourth the same. BY MAYA RICHARD-CRAVEN of July to Labor Day, Booker sent out a global challenge for people to join him in what he 64 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH called Sugar Free Summer. “I was thinking of it more as a personal journey and just seeing what it would be like to live without sugar,” Booker says. That meant cutting out his regular go-to vegan desserts—brownies, cookie-dough ice cream, PHOTOGRAPH BY JAI LENNARD

dark-chocolate peanut-butter cups—but alone, where I was learning Sound Healthy—but Too Sweet also condiments, dressings, and certain with others, where I was bread products. He even stopped putting supported and supporting Beware the added sugars in these Stevia, a zero-calorie substitute sweet- ener, in his tea. five healthy-sounding foods. “The first few weeks of the challenge those around me.” were a real struggle for me,” Booker says. “I had intense cravings for sugar, espe- Through the challenge 26g Bolthouse cially after a meal or late at night, and network, Booker says, he Farms had headaches throughout the first few kept hearing the same days.” And then there were the headaches thing: While there were Protein Plus of grocery shopping. (Yes, Booker shops Strawberry for his own groceries.) Even in seemingly healthy products—yogurt, granola, trail clear benefits to not eating Smoothie mix, “natural” peanut butter—added added sugars, it was hard. per 15.2 fl oz sugars lurked. “I heard so many stories bottle “I knew that added sugars were hid- den in almost all packaged foods, but at the beginning of the I did not expect to spend so long in the grocery-store aisles scanning ingredient challenge about how in- Justin’s Dark 16g lists,” he says. So he turned more often to foods that didn’t have a label at all: fresh tense the cravings were, Chocolate 10g So Delicious fruits and vegetables. and it helped to know that Peanut 8g Plain Dairy I wasn’t the only one fan- Free Coconut- “After powering through those first cou- tasizing about a pint of Butter Cups 5g milk Yogurt ple weeks, I started to feel phenomenal,” Ben and Jerry’s,” he says. per 2 cups Alternative Booker says. “I had more energy. I had no Booker received feedback per ¾ cup cravings. I didn’t find myself thinking about how grocery trips Pepperidge about sugary foods. I felt better.” took twice as long because Farm Farmhouse Newman’s of all the time spent look- Own Poppy And the community Booker formed con- ing at packaging and in- Homestyle Seed Dressing tinued to motivate him. “We ultimately gredient lists. He heard the Oat Bread per 2 Tbsp had over 5,000 people sign up online to per 2 slices join the challenge, including many mem- bers of my New Jersey community. The frustration from people 0g people who joined the challenge were re- ally what got me through. I loved hearing who didn’t understand why Added sugars the stories from people online who strug- dressing for their salad— gled through the first week and then found themselves feeling more energetic for the an allegedly healthy rest of the challenge,” Booker says. “It was amazing to build a space where I was not choice—was loaded with Booker added sugars. Black people are twice as likely to die during a campaign “For everything I learned, everything I from diabetes as non-Hispanic whites stop in 2006, well felt, I knew I was not alone in this journey and 40 percent more likely to have high before he cut sugar. and that together we would use the knowl- blood pressure, conditions that have both edge gained throughout the challenge to been linked to the intake of added sug- advocate for better food policies,” Booker ars. “We have to create systems in which says. “Kids walk into their corner grocery we are supporting the foods that make us store and find a Twinkie cheaper than healthy and stop making easy, cheap, and an apple.” convenient foods that are making us sick,” And that’s especially true for communi- Booker says. One change he has been ad- Location: Hawthorne Avenue Urban Farm, New Jersey. Spencer Platt/Getty Images (campaign stop). ties of color. vocating for: bringing supermarkets that carry fresh produce at affordable prices into low-income minority neighborhoods. “There’s not as much written about how the kind of food injustice within inner-city communities, low-income com- munities, Black and brown communities, is really undermining the well-being and potential of communities and families,” he says. “That’s not a moral condition. That is a policy result.” Booker says he’s still fighting for new policies that combat healthy-food ineq- uities. He’s also still vegan, still reading ingredient lists, and still motivated by the outpouring of people he’s met who are equally ready to make life changes. That said, it’s tough for him to pass up an occasional vegan dessert. He is human, after all. MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 65

ONSNSFORMATI TRA TRA20 23 ONS NSFORMATI A cleaner, leaner Charles THE COUNTRY- Kelley at home in Nashville ROCK STAR in October 2022. WHO PERFORMED HIS OWN SOBRIETY PHOTOGRAPHS BY DIANA KING CHECK Charles Kelley, the colead singer of Nashville heavyweight Lady A, has come a long way in recovery—with a lot of help from fans, bandmates, and support groups. BY LAUREN LARSON THE PROS AND CONS of being a sober country star are well-balanced. On one hand: If you slip up, some guy in some bar who is quick with his phone will make sure everyone knows it. On the other hand: The resources available to you are unbounded, and you can call up Tim McGraw for advice. But the refrains of sobriety often sound the same whether you’re 41-year-old Charles Kelley, colead singer of Lady A, or one of the folks in his audience. “In almost every story, there’s a tinge of similarity,” Kelley says. He’s been attending men’s recovery meetings for several months now, listening to the stories of others. “How you can justify it. How you hide your drinking. How you say, ‘Oh, I just had a couple on the golf course.’ Which really meant . . . six.” Likewise with “just one glass of wine,” which is what Kelley told his wife, Cassie Mc- Connell Kelley, over dinner in Paris this past spring. He had been trying to quit drinking “on my own,” he says, since January 2022. It was his third attempt at sobriety. The first 66 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

Styling: Olivia Rose for the Only Agency. Hair: Carly Bethel for the Only Agency using Davines and Oribe. was six or seven years ago, at the Kelley performs with Lady A in 2020, entered treatment, the facility Kevin Mazur/Getty Images (performance). urging of his bandmates, Hillary while struggling with alcohol abuse. held a “family week,” which she Scott and Dave Haywood. After that attended. “When you start sort of dinner, he slipped back into a cycle from Greece, they immediately shared taking away the layers of ‘this is the of escalating drinking—once he his decision with one of Lady A’s man- family disease of alcoholism,’ I have was home, it was two glasses, then agers, Callie Cunningham Nobel. No- to do as much work as he does. My three, then he was right back in bel knew she was out of her depth, she first reaction was ‘Well, this doesn’t it—that jammed to a halt this past says—she had no experience shepherding seem very fair,’ ” she says, laugh- summer, when he and Cassie were clients on the road to recovery. “My per- ing. As she has attended meetings on vacation with friends in Greece. sonality is to fix a problem when it arises,” and learned more about recovery, Kelley doesn’t feel that he ever hit she says, “and so what I’ve had to come to the scope of alcoholism’s effects on the proverbial “crashing a car in a terms with is that I definitely cannot fix a person’s life—even, or especially, ditch” rock bottom. But this time, this.” But she did have a wide network, on a spouse’s—has shocked her. She his decision to stop drinking felt and she quickly called upon a contact at has focused on “benevolent detach- different. “This is the first time I ac- Porter’s Call, a Tennessee nonprofit that ment,” a strategy that discourages tually put tools in place,” he told his provides resources those close to an alcoholic from try- bandmates, who were supportive for artists. A day later, ing to control their behavior, instead but skeptical after witnessing pre- Kelley was headed to a prioritizing their own well-being, vious attempts. There would be no more treatment center. which is much easier said than done. “on my own.” “The way I’d kind of handled it prior Nobel is now work- was like ‘Oh gosh, I have to control this When we speak one morning in Octo- ing on the logistical more, and I have to try to control his sur- ber, Kelley has been sober for a little more scaffolding that will roundings and who he’s with.’ You end up than three months, a triumph he largely allow Lady A to tour driving yourself crazy, trying to control attributes to the support of the people again, since the band another person in every aspect of their around him. He is sitting in his high- postponed its “Re- life, when in fact that’s not what works. ceilinged home in Nashville, framed by quest Line” tour so You have to detach more and just let them two big, arched, white-grilled windows that Kelley could fo- make their own decisions, good or bad, with white curtains, next to an ornate cus on recovery. The and then let them face the consequences, gold lamp with a black shade. A BEST DAD tour will be dr y, he good or bad.” EVER plaque sits on a table behind him— says, adding quickly the Kelleys have a six-year-old son. Kelley that that does not extend to the audience. Kelley with wears a gray hoodie and looks very awake, He remembers finding it odd, when he manager partly because he’s been sleeping much was younger, when Lady A would open Callie Cun- better these past few months. for artists who had no alcohol on the bus, ningham backstage, or in the dressing rooms. Now Nobel (left) “It’s amazing what not drinking will he gets it. “They’ve been doing this thing and wife do. You save yourself, I’m ashamed to for 15, 20 years and are in the same spot Cassie in say, anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 cal- that I’m in right now,” he says. “What do 2022. ories a day in booze—you’re bound to you want out of this life? Do you want to lose some weight. But I look back at pic- wreck your family and your career? Or do Kelley realized that although he could tures from just three months ago. It’s you want to put some things into place to white-knuckle it for three months, maybe my face, my midsection. I’ve found that keep it successful?” even a year, on self-determination and it all goes hand in hand. When I’m not willpower alone, he needed help. But he drinking, I feel better. So then I work Cassie, too, has oriented her life around has longevity in mind—as well as his son, out.” He exercises six days a week now. As recovery. A few weeks after her husband for whom he is determined to be a sober 5:00 approaches, with its shafts of warm dad—and he knows he needs support to golden-hour light, perhaps previously get there. “It’s my second half of life. I’ve enjoyed with a glass of wine, Kelley often lived 25 years one way, and it was really goes for a run to distract himself. “Little freaking fun. It was awesome,” he says, by little, these habits come in and then with the caveat that there were some dark you’re naturally like, Well, I’m working moments, too. “Now I’ve got this whole out, not drinking. I’m starting to see re- second half. All right, that was fun. I did sults.” (He does have one indulgence: “My that. Now I’m ready to do this.” wife bought me an ice cream maker, and I unapologetically every night will destroy almost a pint of ice cream. I’m just like, ‘Listen, I gotta have something.’ ” He also estimates he now drinks about 15 cans of LaCroix water a day.) When Kelley and his wife returned MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 67

ONSNSFORMATI TRA TRA20 23 ONS NSFORMATI FADE TO BLACK. Tom Arnold had seen TOM ARNOLD the cinematic device countless times in CHEATED DEATH. his nearly 40-year TV-and-film career, but LOOK WHO’S this scene wasn’t in the script: At home on LAUGHING the night of January 16, 2022, the vision NOW. in Arnold’s right eye went dark as he was waiting for his children to get out of the The comedian lost 80 pounds while keeping bathtub. “I felt a curtain come down, and his sense of humor with the help of his life it was black,” the 63-year-old actor and co- coach, Charles D’Angelo. BY ALEX BHATTACHARJI median recalls. “I could feel it in my brain, too. I was like, ‘That’s weird.’ ” The following morning, Arnold drove himself to his doctor’s office, thinking perhaps he had floaters in his eye. The staff told him to go to the UCLA medical center immediately and enter the 24-hour stroke protocol. The diagnosis left him reeling. “Hearing ‘You had a stroke,’ it puts you in a dark place,” Arnold says. “It shakes you.” A battery of tests determined he had suffered an ischemic attack, blocking blood to part of his brain, categorized as level 1 on the NIH Stroke Scale. It wasn’t severe enough to take his life, but it was serious enough to change it. “What have I done to myself? I’ve let myself go,” Arnold recalls thinking. Most of all, he wondered what was next. “I kept thinking, Oh crap, now what?” Nine months after the incident, Arnold feels and looks reborn. He’s seated on a sofa in his home in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley beside Charles D’Angelo, a well-known weight-loss and motivational coach. A few hours earlier, on this late-September day, client and coach met in per- son for the first time since they began working together virtually eight months prior. Arnold, who weighed 285 pounds at the time of his stroke, is a lean 205. More tell- ing than what he’s lost is what he’s gained: a renewed sense of aware- ness, accountability, and affirma- tion from D’Angelo, his life and weight-loss coach and buddy. Arnold first met D’Angelo in September 2018 at a charity event at the home of his friend and True Lies costar Arnold Schwarzeneg- ger. (“You meet a lot of people in the fitness business at Arnold’s.”) Tom Arnold and Charles D’Angelo dish in Arnold’s Sher- man Oaks kitchen in late 2022.

After his stroke forced him to cancel an Arnold prefers to use an Arnold in introductory Zoom, Arnold gave the idea elliptical trainer, fol- March 2022, of D’Angelo’s coaching new consideration. lowed by a recumbent at the begin- The coach’s personal story and books, bike—he has both in ning of his Think and Grow Thin and Inner Guru, res- the outdoor gym he’s set steady trans- onated. Arnold, who grew up in Iowa, liked up at his house. Gradu- formation. that he was a midwestern guy and had ally, he has worked his practiced before he preached—D’Angelo way up to 60 vigorous can play a role in filling other voids. “What lost 160 pounds in two years, going from minutes and burns ap- I’ve looked at with Tom is ‘What’s missing 360 pounds to the taut physique of an NFL proximately 1,000 ac- in your life? What needs to be worked on?’ ” tight end. tive calories per day—a he says. “Once that is addressed, then a low- stat he tracks along level gratifier doesn’t have the pull. Just Arnold agreed to a virtual session and with distance, pace, like alcohol or any other drug.” then to taking it, as D’Angelo instructed and resistance before sharing them with him, “a day at a time.” It was a leap of faith D’Angelo. He’s kept at it, even through Excavating those deep-rooted issues based on D’Angelo’s faith in him. “I don’t a heat wave. “I breathe a lot, I get told. meant D’Angelo and Arnold’s coaching ses- see the end of this like he does, but I’m going When I have my headphones on, I . . . make sions often resembled intensive talk ther- to try this,” Arnold remembers thinking. “I sounds,” Arnold says of his huffing and apy. The sharing was mutual. “There’s this needed to transition my body.” puffing. At one point, the next-door neigh- big muscular guy talking about feelings. bor asked what he was doing outside every That was awkward for me,” Arnold jokes. “And your mind,” D’Angelo interjects. day. “She thought I was masturbating fu- “Oh my God, yes—my mind,” Arnold adds. riously, but I’m not—I’m working out. Not He used to look in the mirror and do his that I don’t masturbate. I’m human.” best just to make eye contact, afraid to see The two guys started meeting virtually his entire face, much less his whole body. every two weeks, talking about the under- Along with updating Arnold’s exercise Now, Arnold says, “I’m like, ‘Holy hell, who’s lying issues behind Arnold’s weight and menu, D’Angelo implemented a consis- that guy?’ ” He’s shaved his beard, which the changes he would have to make to cre- tent, easily reproduced calorie-restricted he calls “sweatpants for the face.” He has ate lasting effects. “So much of Tom’s suc- diet that involves eating every three hours. surpassed his original goal: to weigh what cess is a function of consistency,” D’Angelo Arnold starts each day with a protein he did in the 1994 film True Lies. The tar- explains. “He’s absolutely steady no matter shake. He’ll snack on raw almonds, then get wasn’t random, as Arnold was teaming if he’s here in California, Rome, Canada, or have a turkey-on-whole-wheat sandwich up with Schwarzenegger again to film an wherever he finds himself.” For workouts, for lunch with a small bag of baked chips. episode of an upcoming Netflix spy series. D’Angelo has Arnold perform cardio, His midafternoon snack is low-fat yogurt The former Mr. Universe was stunned at working toward a time goal every session. with fruit, followed by a dinner of eight Arnold’s weight loss, telling him, “You look to ten ounces of skinless grilled chicken amazing”—then announcing, “We’re do- Arnold at home with his elliptical and ing a bike ride tomorrow!” The validation his trainer’s support. breast with steamed broc- helps, Arnold admits, though he’s quick to coli. He ends the night with a joke. “I’ve already worked out with Arnold Grooming: Amanda Teri. Araya Doheny/Getty Images (top right). no-sugar-added fruit popsi- Schwarzenegger. I mean, it’s all downhill cle. (He is allowed unlimited from here,” he says. “I’ve also seen him na- zero-calorie drinks.) ked in the shower. It’s intimidating.” D’Angelo recently began When he began his journey with working basic free-weight D’Angelo, Arnold had trouble focusing on exercises into Arnold’s rou- his own needs. He said he wanted to make tine—every change gradual, a change for his kids. “Charles kept saying, incremental. “The way you ‘No, you deserve this,’ ” Arnold says. When did it, you lured me in,” he D’Angelo encouraged him to feel health- tells D’Angelo. ier and happier for himself, it reminded Arnold of the attitude he needed to succeed Arnold first stopped drink- in his sobriety. “You’ve got to be a bit of an ing in the late 1980s but suf- asshole and say, ‘I’m not doing this for any- fered multiple relapses before one—I’m doing this for me. Me, number becoming sober in 2017. For one. I deserve this,’ ” Arnold says with a years, he felt he could control shrug. It’s the same thing now. his weight or his addiction but not both. When he was Chris Farley’s sponsor, Arnold says, “I told him: ‘You can either be really overweight or you can do drugs.’ I believed that.” But D’Angelo believes that food PHOTOGRAPHS BY JON W. JOHNSON MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 69

NSFORMATI 20 23 NSFORMATI ONS TRA TRA ONS THE WILLIAMS BROTHERS ARETRAINING FOR THE LONG GAME After nearly dying from a disease he didn’t even know he had, Abbott Elementary’s Tyler James Williams enlisted his brothers to change their entire approach to fitness and nutrition. BY BEN PAYNTER FOR YEARS, Tyler James Williams thought of himself 2017, at age 24, the five-foot-nine actor crested 130 as a “hard gainer”—a guy who just can’t pack on muscle. pounds while juggling a role on Criminal Minds with He played an adolescent Chris Rock on the sitcom Every- travel for the period crime drama Detroit. “I was really body Hates Chris for much of the mid-aughts, but nearly pushing my body to the limit,” he says. “By the time De- a decade later, well into his 20s, he was still getting calls cember hit, it just crashed. Everything shut down.” to play a certain type. “I was trying to read for roles that were my age and I couldn’t get out of high school,” he says. Williams had searing stomach pain and couldn’t keep anything down—not even the doctor-ordered colonoscopy That formerly stuck student went on to become a par- prep—so a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone diagnosed ticularly impressive schoolteacher: Williams, now 30, is him using X-rays. The verdict: His bowels were so inflamed best known as the rigid but adorable Gregory Eddie on the and clogged with scar tissue that he had less than a one- ABC mockumentary Abbott Elementary, for which he’s centimeter gap in his terminal ileum, part of the small earned an Emmy nom and cemented his status as an In- intestine near the pelvis. It was a massive flare-up from ternet thirst trap. But that journey included several hard Crohn’s disease—a disorder he didn’t even know he had. lessons about his health. In fact, it nearly destroyed him. At least a half million Americans suffer from Crohn’s, In his early 20s, for instance, he hired trainers, lifted an inflammatory condition that can result in weight loss heavy, and force-fed himself. Once, he chugged a shake and malnutrition and can, if untreated, be life-threaten- with 1,600 calories, only to throw it all back up. In late ing. There’s a genetic factor, but Williams, who has two 70 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH PHOTOGRAPHS BY AARON OKAYAMA

Tyler James younger brothers, was the only one in his fam- The Abbott huge meals, he eats a small lunch and Williams ily to show symptoms. Back then, at least. Elementary star dinner with lean protein and steamed (near left) has focuses on his vegetables, and he has several shakes learned to He underwent emergency surgery to re- health to stay and green juice throughout the day. listen to his move six inches of lower intestine. Then ready for every- Another kind of edible has worked body—and his things got worse: His intestines were too thing else. wonders, too. “The doctor was like, brother Tylen beat-up to heal back together, and they per- ‘Here’s something that’ll keep your (far left), too. forated. He went septic as doctors raced him back into surgery. He ended up living on in- system from inflaming. It’ll keep your mind right, and Williams, a travenous foods with an ostomy bag for sev- former child eral months. At one point, Williams weighed it’ll make you eat.’ And I was like, ‘What is this wonderful star, has left 105 pounds and was too weak to stand. But the his Everybody moment that sticks with him the most was drug that we’re talking about?’ And he wrote me a weed Hates Chris feeling his whole body “vibrating” after he’d body behind. gone septic. “The last thought I had was Holy shit, this prescription,” he says, laughing. could be it. If this is it, I’m not happy. I worked a lot. I did a lot of things. I didn’t enjoy any of this. This can’t be it.” His gym goal is to keep a solid baseline of fitness. To con- All this happened only five years ago, yet when Williams trol stress, another Crohn’s trigger, he meditates in the meets me at the Men’s Health offices in New York, he looks fresh, preternaturally calm, and stronger than ever: a chis- morning with breathwork, counting, and maybe a mantra eled 145 pounds, with biceps popping out of his T-shirt. like “I’m here to be nothing else than what I am.” At night, “When I woke up and eventually got back to [being] my- self, it was like, what would make it not suck?” he asks. he journals near his firepit, then burns the pages to let go. One answer has been playing more “purpose-driven” roles like Gregory Eddie, who “wants to be in this position Tyler and Tylen now cook healthy meals together, ex- of power ’cause he feels like that’s what he needs to be suc- cessful but then finds out that that’s not his life,” Williams perimenting with dishes like air-fried empanadas, which says. “I was like, ‘That sounds like the very journey I had to come to.’ ” (Show creator Quinta Brunson even wrote that can beoil-free. While quarantining during the pandemic, role with Williams in mind: “He brings dimensions to the character through humor that are just unreal,” she says.) they outfitted their home gym with kettlebells, dumbbells, Everything changed again for Williams in early 2020, and a Tonal. Today they get into stretching competitions, when his middle brother, Tyrel, had his first, thank- Location: Bars and Burns Fitness, Glendale, California. Grooming: Constance Foe. Ron P. Jaffe/CBS Photo Archive/Getty Image (still). fully less severe, Crohn’s flare-up. About that time, Wil- crank ’90s hip-hop or house music, and keep it going. liams invited his youngest brother, Tylen, now 21, who is symptom-free, to live with him. All three brothers focus on When I talk to Tylen a few days after Tyler’s visit, he’s sip- their health together. “I had to learn how to stop making ping a cannabis tea. He tells me his brother has always a dramatic change happen really quickly and learn how been goal oriented, whereas he likes to question things. to have a better relationship with my body,” he says. “The For instance, Tyler used to do hard workouts even on important thing for me, and those like me, to remember days that were exhausting. Then Tylen said something is that longevity is a big part of the game. If you can’t that resonated: “Nothing feels worse than struggling to [stay strong] and be healthy, there really is no point.” get weight up when you’re already tired,” Tyler recalls be- After his diagnosis, Wil- ing told. “I didn’t even realize that’s how I felt.” The two liams gave up Crohn’s trig- gers like booze, coffee, and have since created a 30-minute circuit that feels good on red meat. Instead of three busier days (see below). “We’re just not afraid to go deep on anything we find interesting,” Tylen says. “Because you might find something that pushes you farther.” On the day he visited Men’s Health, Tyler decided to do his quick circuit. “Bang it out. You did something; you’re good to go,” he says. The gain is the feeling you’ll get back. The Williams Brothers’ 30-Minute Total-Body Blast Do 3 rounds of this circuit, based on their personal workout. Finish each with a plank that you hold for 1 minute. KETTLEBELL PUSHUPS PULLUPS DUMBBELL KETTLEBELL BULGARIAN SWINGS CURL 21’S GOBLET SQUATS SPLIT SQUATS Do 30 to Do as many Focus on being 35 reps. good-form Squeeze your Do 12 to 15 total reps, Hold a kettlebell at explosive. Can’t do 30? reps as you holding a medium- your chest as you Do reps for Do as many can. Aim for biceps hard on weight kettlebell at do them. Shoot for as you can. 10 reps per side. 40 seconds. 8 to 10. every rep and take your chest. them slow. MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 71

T-shirt by Goodlife; pants by Thom Krom; Chronomaster Sport watch by Zenith.

MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 THE What is AARON RODGERS, the AYAHUASCA-CHUGGING, VAX-SHIRKING FOUR-TIME NFL MVP, looking for—and can he ever find it? BY BEN COURT 73

A WARM OCTOBER greaterexpertiseinsomething,it’s evening in Green Bay, Wis- always best to listen. We have two consin, Aaron Rodgers— ears and one mouth for a reason.” The Lumineers tinker on the the Packers quarterback sound system, and there are strate- these past 18 years, a four- gic candles that smell invigorating and a little mysterious (amberwood, time NFL MVP, and, lately, pine, and fig). Rodgers is dressed the subject of some odd and like a Jedi: a hooded sage cloak by the Los Angeles brand Spiri- intriguing news stories—is tual Narcissist, a necklace with a clambering up the stairs at crystal-and-fossil amulet, black a place called Three Three sweatpants, and Adidas sneakers. He’s burly, a thick six-foot-two, 225 Five, a dimly lit, semipri- pounds, with penetrating blue eyes vate bar and supper club and a firm handshake despite the wear on his thumb. The tattoo that with a 10,000-bottle wine- covers his left forearm is his first, and-whiskey cellar, craft cocktails, and farm-to-table and he went all in: a mystical tableau of star signs, the third eye, lions, and fare popular with Packers players. It’s really nice—the the sun and ocean. He’s been talking upper-Midwest version of a cool, exclusive speakeasy. all afternoon, explaining concepts like divine synchronicity and the Upstairs is a library, a salon for billiards and darts, nuance of being a Sagittarius with and private rooms suitable for both small social gath- Taurus rising as well as quoting The Office, the spiritual guru Ram Dass, erings and the thing that has brought Rodgers here on and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. a Monday, just 24 hours after a beatdown by the New Rodgers settles into a studio- York Jets at Lambeau Field: interviews. apartment space upstairs with exposed brick walls, cattle skins on the wood floor, leather lounge chairs, and a sturdy sofa. He smiles and makes friendly eye contact, but he’s also what you might call He’s just finished two hours of interviews and photo shoots force-sensitive: yogi posture, careful intonation when speaking, Photographs by Elizabeth Lippman. Page 72 and opposite: Courtesy Zenith watches. Grooming: Jenna Nelson using La Prairie. downstairs, a mini junket for Zenith, the Swiss watch company and an athlete’s awareness of the space around him. The way he for which he is a brand ambassador and the face of its Chrono- sits down and moves—it’s all very deliberate. master Sport model. Now he’s here for one last one-on-one before His friend and marketing agent Ed Berry and a publicist are heading home to sleep—sleep is so important. sitting in to make sure we stay on track. This is because of those Rodgers limps a little. It’s been a so-so season for the Packers, odd and intriguing news stories, which trickle out every now and and yesterday’s 27–10 loss was their second in a row (and would then, such as the revelation by Rodgers’s brother Jordan in 2016 turn out to be the second of five straight). His right hand—at the that the famous QB was estranged from his immediate family; end of his golden right arm, which landed him the $151 million the question of why it didn’t work out with his A-list exes, includ- contract he signed in March that runs until 2025, when he’ll be ing Olivia Munn, Danica Patrick, and Shailene Woodley; and 41—looks bruised and swollen. his curious declaration in 2021 that while he had not been vacci- Last night he did his usual postgame recovery routine: nated against Covid-19, “I’ve been immunized.” As successful, a glass of Scotch and a rest on his BioMat, a heated pad filled likable, and inscrutable as Aaron Rodgers is, some people are with amethyst crystals that is an FDA-approved anti-inflam- asking if he’s gone off the rails a bit these past few years—and we matory aid. Then, this morning, a Graston rubdown—a deep, haven’t even gotten to his new hobby, ayahuasca, a psychoactive soft-tissue treatment using a metal edge that’s like foam rolling tea containing the hallucinogenic drug DMT. to the power of ten—and a sauna. He used to have a hyperbaric Until recently, Rodgers had always appeared to live his life chamber at home so he could breathe in elevated levels of oxy- and play football according to a personal code of conduct. He gen to help speed healing; however, he lost that in a split with was careful. He was deliberate. A laser thrower on the field an ex. (He thought it had been a gift, but apparently not.) He’s from seemingly any angle. A fun guy off the field—but one you adjusted his diet in recent years, eliminating dairy and gluten never really got close to. and emphasizing organic, non-GMO meat and produce, which Consistent. he says is not the easiest stuff to find in Green Bay. “I always Now he’s talking about crystals and unconditional self-love and approach every situation from an information-garnering stand- drinkingtrippytea.Intermsofperformance—andlife-enhancing point,” he says. “I’m not an expert. And when somebody has a hacks—it’s a long way from Tom Brady’s avocado ice cream. 74 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

We almost hate to ask it, right? But he’s kind of giving us no recently lifted 425 pounds for reps, surprising some of the choice. Has one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game younger players in the Packers gym. Rodgers injured his knee lost his way in the world? in 2018 and mostly rehabbed using dumbbells and kettlebells. “I started squatting again in 2019,” he says. “Actually getting “MYMINDISAWEAPONNOW,” under a bar and squatting was really, really important for me to Rodgers get my legs back and my balance back, get my strength back and says about his strengths on the gridiron. “I don’t run as well as I my flexibility back. That’s probably been the most important used to, or as frequently.” exercise that I’ve added back to my routine.” Rodgers had years when he was near the top of the rankings He talks slowly, not because he’s tired, which he most certainly for quarterback rushing yards, he says. “And I can still move is, but because he chooses his words with care. As he sits and sips around, get outta some things. But I definitely win the game water, he speaks not in sound bites but in paragraphs whose ideas more now with my mind.” (Before, when he was asked and sentences are interconnected, about how he recovers after a game, he laughed and and it is partly for this reason that he asked, “Physically or mentally?”) T-shirt by Spiritual Narcissist; has a long history of recording his Not that he’s letting anything slip physically. That Chronomaster Sport watch by Zenith; interviews so his quotes are not taken out of context. would not be his way. He does barbell squats and necklace, Rodgers’s own. Rodgers definitely chose his words with care when he gave the three-word sound bite that came to define him during the pandemic, spoken in a press conference on August 26, 2021: “I’ve been immunized.” About that. He’s talked about it, quite a lot, actually, and feels he and the statement itself have been mis- characterized. It’s not like he was drinking bleach. He’s said he was referring to a homeopathic protocol— not that any of the reporters present asked, or he would have explained. It’s part of his whole approach, he would have told them: Chinese herbs, acupuncture, and other elements of the Eastern philosophy of health and wellness, which for thousands of years has been used to treat the whole body and mind—as opposed to the hypertargeted, symptom-driven approach of Western medicine. He’s said he didn’t put anyone in dan- ger, because he was tested daily by the Packers before seeing people. When he did test positive for Covid on Novem- ber 3 of that year, Rodgers recovered in 36 hours and spent ten days in isola- tion, per the NFL protocol. Yet he was labeled everything from a Covid denier to a flat-earther. Saturday Night Live made him into a skit, and NFL com- mentator Terry Bradshaw called him a liar. There have been plentiful Twitter jokes about how he seems to be immu- nized against winning games. “There’s definitely a need for more people to be empathetic,” he says in what turns out to be the topic sentence of one of his spoken paragraphs. “With all the amazing things that social media has done for us . . . it’s also given

a platform to everybody’s opinion. HE USES AYAHUASCA room for the miraculous as And as great as that is as a basic TO OPEN HIS MIND UP. HE USES well, which I believe exists in First Amendment right, it’s also life. Miraculous things hap- given way to a big portion of enti- TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION pened there, and every time a tlement. With that entitlement miraculous event happened, comes the inability sometimes to TO SLOW IT DOWN. HE HAS they marked it in a special have conversations with people building. It was fun to go and you disagree with. Empathy is A SCOTCH AFTER A GAME BECAUSE see all the miracles listed on going into the experience of some- GAMES ARE CRAZY AND the wall.” one else and trying to understand Rodgers takes this kind of why they think or feel or react HE NEEDS PEACE AND REST. stuff seriously, because he’s to things a certain way. There’s curious and he wants to opti- beauty in disagreeing with some- mize his mind-body health— one and still respecting them especially his mind. and not trying to take away their dignity or their right to have “As football players, we all have a way higher risk of CTE, and an opinion. I think we need to, as a society, be mindful of that, it’s a real thing, and it’s something we should be worried about,” he because our difference is what makes this country so incredi- says.“Idefinitelyhavehadconcussionsandworryaboutmyfuture ble. Just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean it’s the right cognitiveabilities.”Hesayshedoes“sillythings”totrickhisbrain, opinion. And I say that and check myself all the time on it. Just like brushing his teeth with his nondominant hand. For the longer This page: Aubrey Marcus Podcast (top). Evan Siegle, Green Bay Packers (bottom). Opposite: The Crown Publishing Group (left). Allen Amber Publishing (center). Custom House/HarperCollins Publishers (right). because I believe something wholeheartedly doesn’t mean that term, he’s following emerging neurological research into how ses- there aren’t other sides to conversations and opinions that can sions in hyperbaric chambers may help with gray-matter healing. influence me and educate me more and at a bare minimum help Rodgers and Marcus also undertook a different kind of trip in me to have empathy and connection with people who don’t have 2022: a three-night ayahuasca ceremony in an undisclosed loca- the same experiences that I had.” tion with a master shaman. It’s a lot to digest, but the message An ayahuasca ceremony of seeking to better understand could be the subject of another others, and to be better under- Below: Aaron Rodgers with ayahuasca partner and soul brother article entirely, but in brief, stood ourselves, resonates. Aubrey Marcus, the founder of Onnit, on August 3, 2022. you drink the hallucinogenic Bottom: Arriving at the Green Bay Packers camp on July 26, 2022. tea under the guidance of a RODGERS HAS found shaman, typically for two or three nights, then (the hope an ally on this journey: Aubrey is) you spend the next sev- Marcus, the podcaster, founder of eral hours gaining a deeper the fitness and supplement brand connection to, and a deeper Onnit, and creator of a holistic understanding of, the self. health philosophy he calls Total Rodgers says his intent Human Optimization. The two was to focus on a deeper men have become close, and this sense of unconditional love past summer they went to Greece for himself, as well as self- together. Not to the island of forgiveness. The second Mykonos, like other celebrities, night, he says, was torment- but to Epidaurus, which is con- ing. He thought about all the sidered an important therapeutic negative things people had center of the ancient world and is said about him and the self- said to be the place where the concept of doubt he’d wrestled with. For hours and healing began in Europe in 2 B.C. hours, it went on like this. Eventually, Rodgers comes alive when talking about he says, his ego dissolved and he found the legends and stories he learned on the peace with the idea that he could be that trip. “People would come from all over the person and still love himself, and oth- place in different civilizations and cul- ers could love him, too. tures and come there for healing. The way “There’s a lot of trust,” he says of the they did things was ahead of their time. process, in which you consume a hal- They dealt a lot with the mental health of lucinogenic tea as a path to enlight- the person first,” he says. “They used dark- enment. “And surrender, I think, is ness therapy. They completely changed another good word. You have to sur- the person’s diet, got them on a good sleep render to the master plant teacher schedule. They took them through a pla- that is ayahuasca, and there’s nat- cebo effect”—healers used nonvenomous urally some fear around that. And snakes, dreams, and divine intervention when you do, some pretty incredible to promote healing—“and then they left things can happen, as was evidenced

by night two of my most recent journey. Night Rapid “middle-aged-crazy tattoo.” To Rodgers, it was one I was still a little resistant, and night two, Fire deeply meaningful, a four-and-a-half-hour pro- I fully surrendered to the process and to the FRENEMY EXERCISE? cess in which one of the world’s tattoo masters master teacher, and she was benevolent in her created a spectacular, intricate design. Present lessons. There’s a lot of overall happiness that “Stair-climber.” in it are his two godsons, “two amazing boys,” exists when you have a deeper love for your- STRESS BUSTER? in the form of the constellations of their astro- self. It actually allows you, I feel, to give and logical signs. There are calm and roaring lions. “Box breathe: Inhale receive love better and interact with people for a 4-count, hold “And this is the eagle that holds the balance with less judgment and less projection. So for 4, exhale for 4, of fire and air. And in this case, the eagle rep- that’s one thing I’ve really been working on.” hold for 4. Repeat resents air,” he says, tracing the elegant black He’s noncommittal on whether he will do lines with his finger. “This is water, and the big ayahuasca again, saying, “If I feel called to 8 rounds.” circle is earth. So you have the four elements.” sit with that plant medicine or another plant The whole universe itself. “And there’s some CHEAT MEAL? “Chick-Fil-A.” medicine, I will. But at this at this particular FICTIONAL HERO? other deeper meanings, but”—he smiles—“I moment, I don’t feel called.” want to leave those to the imagination.” “John Wick.” Something with a mental benefit that he His mind is a weapon now, and he simply is called to daily is doing the dishes. Rodgers REAL-LIFE HERO? means to take care of it the same way he takes likes washing dishes. Very much. care of his body. He uses ayahuasca to open “JFK.” “It’s one of my favorite activities in the PERIOD OF HISTORY it up. He uses Transcendental Meditation to world,” he says. “I think meditation can get YOU’RE CURRENTLY slow it down. He has a Scotch after a game skewed at times, like you have to go in some READING ABOUT? because games are crazy and he needs peace sort of trance and start om-ing or whatever, and rest. He eats better, because “when but I feel like I can go into a meditative space “Post-Reconstruction: I have less inf lammation in my body, my doing the dishes. I can also get it with an how the country joints feel better, my sleep is better. My instrumental soundtrack going on, just sitting brain is clear, sharper.” All of this has been onmycouchin thesunroom, withoutmyphone came together after an awakening but not really a shift in the way on, just my eyes closed. Then I can also go into the Civil War.” he lives or a change in his code of conduct. it, you know, practicing some Transcenden- It’s a broadening. tal Meditation. It’s really just about how I can LAST TIME YOU CRIED? And the Covid thing? His immunization? “It’s a weekly thing. I cried during a con- versation with a dear friend two days ago.” calm my mind so it’s not racing. It’s natural to HAPPY PLACE? It fits. He’s careful, and he’s deliberate, and have 50,000-plus different thoughts that go there’s some fear built into being careful through your mind on a daily basis, but how “Fly-fishing in and deliberate. He’s afraid of the vaccine— can you learn to quiet that a little bit and settle that’s basically what he has said. Allergies Montana.” into the calm and ease of the day, so you’re just to certain ingredients, blood clots—all fears a little less stressed, a little more present, and that have been debunked by science for the a little more available to your teammates?” majority of people, but something in his mind and method told Holistic is the adjective form of holism, which the dictionary him there was a risk. That’s the thing about a code: It doesn’t remindsusisastudyormethodoftreatmentthat’sconcernedwith always lead you to the right place, but it’s consistent. wholes and complete systems, more than the mere sum of elemen- Aaron Rodgers has not lost his way in the world. Not at all. In tary particles. The whole body. The whole mind. The whole self. fact, it’s just the opposite. He’s found it. Much was made of Rodgers’s forearm tattoo when he got it, on social media and by the jabbering mouths of talking heads. People BEN COURT is the executive editor of Men’s Health and may one day called it bizarre, and Fox football analyst Skip Bayless said it was a sit with ayahuasca. BE HERE NOW, THE FOUR WELCOME TO DUNDER AGREEMENTS, MIFFLIN: THE ULTIMATE BY RAM DASS BY DON MIGUEL RUIZ ORAL HISTORY OF THE OFFICE, “It’s a good intro book for anybody “It’s a simple self-help BY BRIAN BAUMGARTNER interested in needing book. One agreement inspiration on their really helped me Rodgers is a fan and journey to a new type in my own growth: often quotes the last line of spirituality . . .  Don’t take anything of the series: “There’s it really meant personally.” a lot of beauty in ordinary a lot to me.” things. Isn’t that kind of the point?” MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 77

THE PHOTOGRAPHSBYTED CAVANAUGH

Too many diets set UNACHIEVABLY HIGH STANDARDS, then BLAME YOU FOR FAILING to meet them. Not only are all those instructions bullshit, but THEY STRESS YOU OUT. That’s why we created a SIMPLE, way MORE REALISTIC guide to help you eat better WITHOUT ALL THE ABSURDITY. The Lazy Diet is a SURPRISING, EASY, and TOTALLY SATISFYING way to eat right. BY THE EDITORS OF MEN’S HEALTH MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 79

1. EMBRACE PALEO, WHOLE30, KETO—they 2. often tell you to avoid packaged foods. READY-TO-EAT But this stuff can be nutritious and THINK preportioned, which “automatically MEALS reduces calories without thinking,” INSIDE says Spencer Nadolsky, D.O., chief phy- A BOX sician at Renaissance Periodization. Meal-delivery services are still an easy way to eat well without stress. We picked these based on the time you have. LIKE, NO TIME TRIFECTA Simple, no-cook, ready-to-eat meals. You can even order cooked proteins or veg- etables by themselves, if you want to keep things really basic. For breakfast . . . For lunch . . . For dinner . . . DAILY HARVEST TRY PREMADE SHAKES TRY SOUP TRY CANNED FISH Its offerings are FAIRLIFE CORE POWER CAMPBELL’S WELL YES! SCOUT RAINBOW TROUT MY EVENINGS ARE OPENfrozen but reheat well, HIGH PROTEIN MILK SHAKE SOUTHWEST STYLE CHICKEN This fish is a good source of especially the flat- This smooth-tasting drink One microwaveable tub has heart-healthy fats. Try it on Food styling: Michelle Gatton/Hello Artists. Prop styling: Wendy Schelah/Judy Casey.breads, which benefit houses 26 grams of protein 13 grams of protein and 6 mixed greens. further from leftover per bottle. grams of fiber. Have two! sliced grilled chicken or WILD PLANET FOODS flaked roasted salmon. KOIA CACAO BEAN PACIFIC FOODS ORGANIC WILD MACKEREL If you’re avoiding (or can’t VEGETABLE LENTIL SOUP This is also rich in omega-3’s SUNBASKET handle) dairy, these almond- It contains a mighty 14 grams and loaded with 21 grams of milk-based shakes have 18 of protein and 8 grams of protein per tin. They portion out the grams of protein. fiber per can. ingredients; you cook. Berbere chicken with Andinbetween...TRY THESE SNACKS turmeric potatoes. Pork lettuce cups with mojo onions. Blueberry- apricot pork chops . . . WHISPS CHEDDAR APPLEGATE ORGANICS WONDERFUL PISTACHIOS, CHEESE & PRETZEL BITES UNCURED SALAMI BITES SEA SALT & VINEGAR They’re crunchy discs of A serving contains 7 grams The oooweee-tart flavor real-cheesy goodness. A of protein, and they’re made busts up the boredom of large handful offers 7 grams with organic pork. snacking on nuts without of protein. piling on the sugar. 80 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

3. 5. Do the Put the SUPERMARKET to Work Dips Why roast a whole chicken when the grocery store does it for you? This week’s TOO MANY CRASH diets ban condiments worth of dinners leverages premade supermarket fare for ten-minute meals. because they’re “empty” calories. But if a little MON TUES WED THUR FRI blue cheese dressing (or ranch or spicy mayo) gets PASTA TACO SALAD BRINNER PIZZA NIGHT you to eat celery, you’re NIGHT NIGHT NIGHT NIGHT (OBVIOUSLY) still eating the nutrients in celery. Dip—don’t dunk. Heat 1 bag Saute some rotis- Mix a bag of Add a handful Shape some cooked pasta; serie chicken greens with a can of spinach to a premade dough, 4. LET toss with pre- in olive oil, chili of fish, any fruits pan with olive then top it with made pesto and powder, and oil; crack 2 eggs a few spoonfuls SOMEONE a handful of rotis- cumin. Heat a or vegetables on top; cover of jarred sauce, ELSE DO serie chicken. you have in the to cook. When bagged shred- THE JOB Serve with spring few tortillas and fridge (diced), done, add it to ded mozzarella, top with chicken, and a palmful of a tortilla for an and a vegetable. YOU SEE SPECIALISTS easy egg wrap. for other things. Why mix drizzled with jarred salsa, and nuts. Top with Bake and eat. aren’t you seeing a reg- istered dietitian? They dressing. premade guac. bottled dressing. can help you set goals. Typically, they cost about 6. WHEN IN MILK 1 cup adds $150 an hour. (Some are 8 grams of pro- covered by insurance.) PB&JDOUBT, tein to the meal. The classic sandwich is actually a great example of what you want in a well-balanced meal: fiber, fats, and protein. Now upgrade it. BREAD Silver Hills “JELLY” Swap Sprouted Bakery Big 16 the sugary spread breads offer 12 grams for ½ cup mashed of protein and 8 grams strawberries, blue- of fiber per 2 slices. berries, or banana. PEANUT BUTTER Just 2 tablespoons add 8 grams of protein. Smucker’s Natural

7. EAT ENJOY YOUR FAVORITE FOODS, making them less 9. “off-limits.” Cheat days can backfire, says Dawn Jack- BURGERS son Blatner, R.D.N. Removing food stigmas counters MAKE cravings. That said, a well-made burger with good beef and lots of fresh vegetables beats fast food any day. DINING OUT LAZY, TOO These three hacks make it easy wherever you go. EVERY RESTAU- RANT, FROM FAST FOOD TO FINE DINING, HAS A SALAD. Ask for a protein on top. That’s salmon, shrimp, or scallops at a nicer place. Or chicken at a diner. Even if that chicken is fried, you’re still getting protein and produce. 8. Low-carb diets tell you not to eat fruit. leave less room for SWEETEN That’s ridiculous. Fruit is amazing for you. the other stuff, but the Pot Eat a ton of it. As a snack, but also as . . . it gives you the flexi- . . . AN APPETIZER . . . A SALAD INGREDIENT . . . DESSERT bility of seconds (or more). Research shows that eat- Strawberries and blue- It’s mostly in the West- ing fruit before a meal berries complement sal- ern world that sweets TAKE MATTERS may suppress appetite ads with salty cheeses, “end” a meal. But in INTO YOUR and help you fill up faster such as feta. Grapes many cultures, the sweet during that meal. So if work well with balsamic is fruit—cold pineapple OWN HANDS. you’re cooking, snack on dressing. Peaches are cubes, orange segments, If a fast-food spot some berries. If you’re awesome with a pile of mango slices. Baked ordering breakfast out, arugula, shaved Parme- apples and pears are serves a grilled ask for a fruit cup first. san, and olive oil. pretty delicious, too. chicken sandwich and a salad but isn’t willing to combine them, could you do that yourself? Take the chicken off the sandwich and add it to the salad. 82 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

10. 12. Vacation? STOP Don’t Sweat It “Counting” Choose just two things from the list below to do Calories, macros, and especially micros— daily. Forget the rest. break up with obsessive diet management and stress. Use these tools instead. 1. WALK TO THE RESTAURANT if you’re going out to eat or just INSTEAD OF USE getting your morning coffee. A KITCHEN YOUR Per meal, aim for a palmful or two of protein, one 2. SOME DAYS, SKIP THE DAILY SCALE HANDS fistful of fiber-rich grains, two handfuls of produce, ALCOHOL and consider a non- and one or two thumb-sized servings of good fats. alcoholic brew if you’re feeling the social pressure of drinking. CALORIE THE COLOR You want at least two colors from whole-food COUNTING SPECTRUM sources. The fiber in those foods will help you fill 3. RATHER THAN KEEPING up during the meal, capping calories naturally. CHIPS and other traditional snacky items around, pick up a vegetable TRACKING THE 3, 2, 1 That’s three cups of vegetables, two cups of tray or fruit platter to have out on FIBER METHOD fruit, and one cup of beans, daily. the counter to nibble on. FOCUSING THE WHOLE Looking at the quality of your diet over the 4. AIM TO DRINK THREE ON THE DAY MONTH course of 30 days can help take the pressure off 16-OUNCE BOTTLES OF one or two (or 12!) days of less-than-ideal eating. WATER DAILY—particularly if you’re in the sun all day. 11. JUST SIT THERE Try to always eat meals and snacks off a plate, at a table, seated in a chair. It’s a surefire way to be more mindful about what you’re eating, versus simply standing in the pantry and snacking while you decide what to eat. Not that anyone does that. 13. SURE, DRINK FLAVORED WATER If you don’t like the taste of water, change it. Staying hydrated helps your brain operate at peak level (which means you can make better diet decisions). TRY Twinings’ Superblends Cold Water Infusions. They’re low-calorie, no-sugar herbal water enhancers made from a blend of fruits and herbs, such as raspberry and hibiscus.

FIVE OF HIS PATIENTS WERE KILLED WHEN A GUNMAN OPENED FIRE INSIDE TWO CLASSROOMS. HUNDREDS MORE SURVIVED AND LIVE WITH TRAUMA. FOR THOSE CHILDREN, FOR THE COMMUNITY, AND FOR UVALDE’S ONLY PEDIATRICIAN, THE HEALING IS JUST BEGINNING. THE SCARS OF

BYJ O S H U A S T. C L A I R Dr. Roy Guerrero at his clinic, where he set up 21 empty chairs to honor the victims of the shooting at Robb Elementary School. PHOTOGRAPHS BY N I C K S I M O N I T E MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 85

EARLY OCTOBER 2022 THE CHILDREN LAUGH and move in buoyant, colorful streams. They parade through the hotel lobby out into the bright morning smog, jostling and bouncing off one another. They wear Mickey Mouse ears and giddy grins of anticipation. They lead a line of parents pushing baby strollers past stuffed animals and cartoon backpacks. They fill the sidewalks, heading toward the happiest place children know. They are heading to Disneyland. reminds those who ask: He did not save open at the collar. He has a lumberjack’s The doctor walks against the tide of anyone that day. There are some people barrel chest, a buzz cut, and kind eyes. He happy children, moving through the lobby back home, he knows, who do not want smiles the warm, tired smile he gives before toward the convention center. The children him to be here, giving these speeches. he tells the story no one is ever ready to hear. pass around him, and as their laughter They want only the parents to speak. There fades into the street, the doctor finds him- are rumors, whispered to him in his small He begins, showing photos of his town self floating among the business attired. pediatric clinic. Rumors that some par- before the murals and the crosses and the They amble toward the arena, the 2022 ents think him selfish. That when he gave graves. He introduces his clinic, the only meetingof theAmerican Academyof Pedi- the other speeches, a testimony before pediatric clinic in Uvalde, Texas, where he atrics. They wear blue-and-white badges. Congress, an introduction on the White is the town’s only pediatrician. Many carry poster tubes of research. House lawn before the president, he was They gather around the arena now, doing it for himself. For fame. Then, drawing a deep breath, he says, where the speakers are about to begin their “I don’t know if there’s any children in the keynotes. The doctor makes his way to It is absurd, he thinks. Who would ask audience right now. It’d be a good time to the backstage entrance. He will be the for such a job? Who would find profit in step out if you don’t want your child to hear last to speak. remembering over and over again such a this.” He says he’s going to play an audio He is honored to speak here, and yet he horrible thing? clip from the school that day, a clip that has would rather be anyplace else. He does not never been played publicly—not when he feel like the hero some say he is, and he Every time he gives a version of this testified before Congress, not when he met speech, it is as if he is rewinding the tape with President Biden or with the police or of his memory. He always begins with “the the Border Patrol. He says the clip con- tains the voices of children being pulled to Before,” when there were no murals safety; the killing happened in classrooms yet painted on the walls downtown, across the hall. The girl whose voice they no crosses in the town square. The will hear most prominently, he says, sur- cemetery grounds remain unbroken. vived. Her mother gave him permission to The children’s cries are now smiles as play this clip now. She felt it was essential they stream backward into school. The to play it. He says it again: “So, if anyone shell casings lift from the classroom wants to step out now, please do so.” He floors. Miah arrives at his office for her starts the tape. morning appointment, but he has not yet told her she can go back. Back to The arena fills with the static screech of Robb Elementary. a girl’s almost unintelligible screams. A long treble of helpless, terrified cries, the He waits for his cue. chilling pleas of a child. The executive vice president of the AAP: “It is my unbelievable honor to “The police, the police, the police! The introduce you to Dr. Roy Guerrero.” police are here!” The thousand or so pediatricians in the convention hall rise to their feet and A FEW DAYS PRIOR applaud. Guerrero walks onto the stage, wearing black slacks and a dark pin- TIME REWINDS. The doctor leaves Uvalde. stripe blazer over a bright-white shirt, East on I-90. Past roadside bars and spi- dery industrial machinery and abandoned The faces of the victims, and their gas stations and cattle ranches and mile- memories, are prevalent at the clinic. long freight trains. A billboard shouts a Guerrero has become a tireless message he supports: “Vote Beto!” There’s advocate for children’s safety. a picture of Robb Elementary School jux-

Dr. G, as his patients call him, grew up in Uvalde and attended Robb Elementary. taposed with a quote from Governor Greg injured, and everyone else. He is not sure The town has always felt like a high Abbott: “It could have been worse.” where he belongs. He explains how some in school to him. Rumors and gossip and the town categorize him: “You don’t have a resentment. He recently had to remind Guerrero drives with his husband, Jose, kid that was injured or that was related to his nurses that wherever they go, people who is a nurse at the clinic. They will drive you, so you don’t know how I feel.” are watching. The nurses had been at a to San Antonio, where they will catch a bar, and someone saw them and posted flight to Anaheim for Roy’s speech. As he There is confusion and hurt in his eyes something about it on social media. He leaves Uvalde’s city limits, he feels stacks as he recounts this. “No, it’s the opposite,” even had to cancel the Día de los Muer- of weight slough off his shoulders. To leave he says, pleading. “You don’t know how I tos parade because there was too much Uvalde is to breathe again. feel. I had five kids that I’d seen since they infighting. Parent A not wanting Par- were newborns that passed away. How ent B there. Parents A and B not wanting Of the heavy fragments of memory that dare you, on your side, say that you know the police there. Parent C wanting the day, what weighs on him most now are the how I feel, too? Because you don’t.” police there. faces of the parents who were screaming to him, pleading for his help. He cannot He is 44. He does not have children of his Welcome to Uvalde, he tells you if you get their cries out of his head. He remem- own, but when asked he tells others he has look surprised at such things. bers the word. Seen over and over again 4,000. He sees almost 40 a day. He cannot that day. In text conversations. Posted on protect them all. He knows this. Every A DAY BEFORE THAT social media into the night. pediatrician knows tragedy. Disease and car accidents are always possible. But IT IS A SMALL TOWN. So small it appears Missing. they are comprehensible. The death of five suddenly, like a motel sign, like a coyote “My son is missing.” of his patients one morning is not. They across the road. “Still missing.” were in class and then they vanished. And He saw their children. He knew that with them vanished years of clinic visits It is a drive-through town, a stop along night they were not missing. These days he and vaccinations and tongues stuck out, a roaring I-90, which slices through west often sees the parents of the dead children years of care, his life’s work. He chose pedi- Texas and slows only for the blink-blink of he saw at the hospital that day. At events. atrics because children, he thinks, make yellow traffic lights and the apparition of At the meetings. Uvalde Strong for Child for the best patients. They are less resis- other towns, their names announced on Safety, the group he helped found. Every tant to change. Adults, he finds, are resis- water towers dotting a blue expanse. The time he sees them, there is a lump in his tant. He is no exception. When you devote road to Uvalde bumps past these towers, throat. He wants to tell them what he saw, yourself to the care of children, wrapping past ranches and rusted rail tracks and what it meant, but he can’t. He’s not ready. ankle sprains and peering into eyes and brown farmland, where San Antonio’s “No one knows how to deal with this, ears and throats, charting their growing English radio stations begin to crackle even myself, after the fact, after what I heights and weights each checkup, and with static and where men and women saw,” he says. “I don’t know how to deal when they keep returning, year after year, stand roadside on Sunday, holding small with this, man. I don’t know what I’m sup- the illusion builds: You can protect them. signs. JESUS HEALS AND FORGIVES. The posed to feel or not feel.” You have a special power, and that power town appears suddenly along this road, In his clinic, he hears rumors. Parents is keeping them safe. In how many other and then suddenly it is gone. It is roughly talk about other parents—who is and who professions can one’s illusion of purpose five miles long. From the barbecue-joint- is not allowed to hurt, not allowed to be vanish so suddenly? Where else can you and-gun-shop in the east, where the angry, not allowed to take action. He sees feel as if you have failed so completely? town gathers for lunch, to the Fairplex on the town divided now into four groups: the western edge, where the town hosts parents of children who died, parents of He passes outside the city limits and rodeos, where state troopers rendezvous children who were injured, parents of chil- once again his neck begins to relax, the with National Guard soldiers for border dren who were there but did not die or get knots loosen. exercises, and over which the sun sets blood orange each night. The road gets dark, and then Uvalde fades in the mirror. Roy Guerrero’s clinic is on the eastern side, just a mile up the road from Uvalde Memorial Hospital and just a mile down the road from the barbecue-joint-and- gun-shop and one of the elementary schools. The children’s parents drive them here, through the gates to a small one- story stucco compound—clay roof tiles, a little chimney, painted car tires piled here and there, a concrete wall along the perim- eter that fences in an overgrown side yard where tractors lie in various states of rust, MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 87

as if being pulled into the earth. The sun like knots. He saw a therapist after it all palpitations. There is no organic expla- beats down. It is usually quiet, save for happened. Everyone still asks him, “How nation. They have stomach pain every the sharp buzzing of crickets in the are you doing?” He tells them he’s fine. “I morning before school, and the cause surrounding weeds and the distant know myself,” he says. “I’m very objective. is clear. Until recently, he was not able whoosh of cars on I-90, speeding to other It happened. There’s nothing that I can do to diagnose PTSD; the shooting was towns. He lives here—through the door about it. To change it. It is what it is.” too recent. But he sees the symptoms. in the back is the home he shares with his Every day, he treats at least six kids aging father and Jose. He and Jose live part-time in San Anto- with these symptoms. Emotional out- nio now. They have a Med Spa there. Acne bursts. Panic attacks. Anxiety that could It is October now. Neighborhood kids treatments and laser hair removal and lip lead to depression. It is only going to get wait to cruise on bicycles after the bell, fillers and other procedures. They dine worse. He used to be so happy-go-lucky, riding past election signs and 12-foot out, they have a drink without worry of parents tell him. Now he’s clingy and ghosts and witches in front yards. It is judgment or gossip. They dance and hike never wants to leave our side. Some play Tuesday. The doctor sits at his desk, scroll- and attend concerts and travel to resorts and then suddenly stare blankly—at the ing through patient names, his afternoon far from Texas. floor, at the sky. Some are having delu- schedule. Late-morning sunlight glows sions; he doesn’t know what else to call through the translucent window above When he is here in Uvalde, he is devoted them. They see things out of the corner his workspace. It is not so much an office to this town. But it feels like work. He of their eye, through the window at as a large cubby, low walls surrounding a doesn’t really go to the bars, the restau- school, at home. They think it’s the desk and computer and binders and rants, the rodeos, the football games shooter coming back for them. reminders pinned to the wall, so small one anymore. Uvalde will always be home. might mistake it for an open-floor storage But home is no longer a place he can stay We can’t leave her alone, their parents closet and so close to the front desk he can for long. tell him. chat with his nurses without turning from his screen. SEPTEMBER Or, There can’t be loud noises. He can’t see different people he hasn’t seen before. He is from Uvalde. He ranched and rode THE START OF SCHOOL in Uvalde loomed horses as a kid and went tubing in the riv- all summer like a mandatory sentence. The children are trying to forget. But ers north of the city. He still meets friends their bodies remember. from grade school in town, at the hospital All summer the kids came into the where he first opened his practice in 2010. clinic and said they did not want to go In the flatlands of west Texas, one must His kids call him Dr. G. back to school. They were afraid some- leave town to forget. In Uvalde, there is a one was coming for them. All summer he new, grim routine to the everyday. Dr. G calls from his desk to a nursing told them, No one is coming for you. You student. are safe. But of course he could not be Drive to the town center. See the empty sure this was true. There were some kid- fountain painted sky blue and lined with “Are you in 2, or you finished 2 already?” dos for whom nothing worked to assuage pale crosses. On them, see the handwrit- “I’m done with 2,” she calls back. the paranoia; in a small town, everything ing of adults and the handwriting of other A child is waiting in exam room 2. He is a trigger. He recommended to some children. HAPPY BIRTHDAY I MISS YOU. See redesigned the clinic during the pan- parents that they consider not sending the flowers beneath, the teddy bears, a bag demic: Each of the five exam rooms has a their children back. Some kids are taking of ramen noodles, a Converse sneaker, door leading to the courtyard so patients online courses. the souvenirs one accumulates in a life of can enter without encountering others. In just 11 years. See the laminated pictures the courtyard, Dr. G has set up 21 chairs, Many of the children who go to school pinned to the trunks of trees in the square. each with a name, representing the 19 that first week appear in his office almost A girl holding an honor-roll certificate. children and two teachers who were shot immediately. Their symptoms are all There is a picture on every tree, and still to death at Robb Elementary. His kiddos the same. They have stomachaches and there are not enough trees and so some pass the chairs on their way in. They pass a headaches and chest pain and heart children share. A school bus passes the banner with the same message seen every- green. Then another school bus. The chil- where in town these days. UVALDE STRONG. When they check in at the desk, they see HE SEES THE SYMPTOMS OF PTSD two signs. PROTECT OUR KIDS NOT GUNS!! EVERY DAY NOW: EMOTIONAL OUTBURSTS. one reads. And the other: 05. 24. 22. His office protocol includes a new ques- PANIC ATTACKS. ANXIETY THAT tion, which the nurses ask the children in COULD LEAD TO DEPRESSION. IT IS ONLY the exam rooms. “Were you at Robb that day? Were you affected, directly, indi- GOING TO GET WORSE. rectly?” Almost everybody says yes. The doctor bounces up from his swivel chair, brushing past his small office wall and into exam room 2. “Say ahhh. Aghhhhh!” He’s looking forward to leaving town. He can feel the tension building in his neck, 88 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

The school in October 2022, five months after the shooting. “You can’t just sit back and do nothing,” Guerrero says. dren on the bus sit at the light and, look- Every day is like this. The doctor wants what they, the parents, feel. He is ing out to their right, watch the trees and to remember. He wants other adults to not a parent himself. He should crosses of their dead schoolmates. See the remember. For them, remembering is not be giving speeches. Only the murals nearby in an alley where a stray cat strength and, he hopes, change. But he also parents should speak. He does ambles under hot scaffolding and where wants his kiddos to forget. For them, for- not understand their loss. the school bus passes next. Their painted getting is medicine. It is grace. He doesn’t faces are reflected in shop windows over know how they can cope in a space so small, He was working in Del Rio, a sweaters and cowboy hats and jewelry and so full of what has been lost. larger town 70 miles west on I-90, ceramics and morning shoppers. Drive by near the Mexican border, when the schools at the afternoon bell. See the JULY his mom got sick. He was work- lines of cars waiting for pickup, the par- ing as a medical director there. ents parked side by side, the ones who do TWO MONTHS AFTER the shooting, Roy The pay was bundles more than not want their kids riding buses. See the Guerrero visits his mother’s grave. what he made owning his own large black fences looming over the play- practice in Uvalde, but he wasn’t ground, the teachers calling now, “Girls, Hillcrest Cemetery lies on the town’s happy in Del Rio. He stayed there for two hurry, we’re about to go in!” Pass a large western edge, over the Leona River, just years. Then his mother had a stroke. black state-trooper car. And another. And before the fairgrounds. It is a mile or two So he came home. She was radiant when another. And another. They patrol the down the road from the center of town, he came back. He was happy to be home. town. Around the schools during pickup. where for weeks that spring families He had missed Uvalde. He remembers Up and down I-90. Drive down that strip prayed in churches over the bodies of warmth; he remembers joy. He remem- when the sun sets. Try to escape, have din- their children and then followed their cas- bers taking the school bus from the family ner in peace. Drive to the Mexican restau- kets, under crisscross power lines, past ranch where he was born and raised with rant, where the town gathers on Sunday small one-story homes and the crowing of goats and rattlesnakes. He remembers nights. Iced tea is served in large Styro- vagabond roosters, to the cemetery. The the fenceless fields by the school, the long foam cups, and old men in boots hobble last child, Layla Salazar, was buried here. brick building. He remembers running up to the counter to pay. Above the bar, the In a casket of white and sunflower yellow through its halls to visit friends and the Beto campaign commercial has just come and blue, amid several mounds of dirt still smell of hamburgers in the cafeteria on on. The one with the parents holding pho- fresh and covering at least 16 of her class- Thursdays and Mr. Aguilera, one of the tos of their dead children. A man with a mates and two of her teachers. best teachers he ever had, because he warm gap-toothed smile watches blankly was so kind and because he wanted noth- beside a woman and three bottles of Bud As Roy looks around his mother’s grave, ing but the best for Roy. He remembers Light and two Budweisers, watches as his he sees the small mounds of dark-brown being quiet. Shy. He remembers always neighbors tell him what their child wanted dirt. He hopes they are not what he thinks, looking forward to the next day at Robb to be when they grew up but will never be. but when he walks near, he can see. They Elementary. His school. On the street outside in the night, see all are the children. He goes from grave to She died eight months before the shoot- the signs, the flags, the bumper stickers, grave. He looks over the bouquets of flow- ing. He feels his mother inside his house the shirts, the writing on shop windows. ers, the pinwheels, the items placed below now. He feels her with him, guiding him. UVALDE STRONG. UVALDE STRONG. UVALDE the temporary crosses, the gravestones not He believes she brought him home for a STRONG. The neon sign outside the furni- yet here. There is a teddy bear and a baseball reason. She had always wanted him to ture store, the words glowing through the cap and a stuffed unicorn and a doll and a return, to stay, to care for the community. night along I-90 as you make your quiet small Eiffel Tower and a T. rex and many It is as if she knew in her heart what was drive to bed. other memories piled in the form of toys. about to happen. As the summer progressed, the rumors MAY 24, 2022 sprouted. That Dr. Guerrero can’t know IT IS TUESDAY. The office takes the usual calls, parents asking after coughs and sports physicals. In the morning, Miah comes. The pediatrician has known her since she was a baby; she survived liver surgeries then, against all odds. She walks from the gravel parking lot over a stone path, under an archway, and through the courtyard into the exam room. Dr. G comes in soon to see her. She is wear- ing a Lilo & Stitch T-shirt. MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 89

Miah says she left school this morn- Inside, there are kids along the hall- He rushes back inside, as if in a fever ing with a small cough. Dr. G takes a ways bleeding and screaming. Nurses and dream, back down the hallway of the ER look—“Aghhhhh”—and tells her it’s noth- doctors dart between curtained rooms. to the exam rooms where children, their ing serious. He walks by four or five children in the injuries worse, are being tended to. In hallway with minor injuries. He turns to each room there is another grotesque There is something in his mannerisms, another adult: “All these kids are from my tableau. A man, unrelated to the shoot- his speech, the quick grin he will give, office . . . .” It had been a routine morning ing, appears to be having a heart attack. that seems childlike, something warm just an hour ago. Guerrero sees another of his kids behind and curious and attentive to everything a curtain, Noah. at once. He likes to talk. His voice is soft “Hey, Dr. G!” and clear and rises with exuberance when It is Miah. She is sitting in the hallway. The boy’s shoulder is blown out, and he greets his kids. Her face is placid, unmoving. Her body Guerrero can see the open f lesh. Two shakes. Her white Lilo & Stitch shirt is doctors are working on the boy. A bul- Miah says she wants to go back to school. covered in blood, and she has a shrapnel let had penetrated his shoulder blade There are only a couple days left before wound in her shoulder. from behind, opening a ten-inch gash summer vacation. Her younger sister, “Miah . . . I just saw you.” before punching shrapnel out through Elena, is at school now. And so Dr. G lets “I know,” she says. “I went back to the front. Guerrero has never seen her go. And Miah leaves. school.” She tells him what she saw. She was such an injury. He has never treated a in the room where it happened. Her class- gunshot wound. She goes back to Robb. mates were falling over. They were bleed- The office closes at lunchtime. Oasis ing. Her best friend, lying next to her, was He searches every room. Every hallway. Outback, a barbecue joint just down the bleeding badly. Their teacher was throw- He cannot find Elena. A nurse tells him road, off the town’s main strip. It is a ing up blood. She slid her phone to Miah so that there are two children in the back, community place. It sells barbecue smok- the girl could call 911. Miah smeared her moved to the surgical area. ers and firepits out front and children’s best friend’s blood onto her own hands, jeans and lunch boxes at the entrance. then rubbed it on herself and lay still, so it “Two dead children,” she says. The restaurant inside is mess-hall style, a would look like she was dead. She waited. He asks to go see the children. A differ- wood-paneled cafeteria of sorts with buck She didn’t move until it was over. ent nurse leads him there. and bull heads mounted on the wood walls Miah is 11. The worst he had ever seen in this small and where everyone—local crews and out- Outside, Guerrero tells Miah’s mother: town was a dog mauling. A two-year-old of-town workers and state troopers and He found her. She is okay. was attacked by a pit bull down the road neighbors—gathers for brisket and bot- Her mother replies, her voice shak- from his clinic. He saw the child here at tled Coke. Past the restaurant in the back ing with a disorienting mix of gratitude this hospital. He had come to identify the is one of the town’s gun shops, where an and fear: body. The child’s neck had been ripped assault rifle was purchased two days ago, “Where is Elena?” open. He could see everything inside. just 50 steps from where the pediatrician What he sees now in the surgical area and his nurses now sit. is even worse. The doctor is eating his lunch when he gets the text. It’s from a buddy in San Anto- nio, a trauma surgeon. “Hey Guerrero,” it begins, what everyone calls him. “Why is every single trauma surgeon and PD anes- thesiologist on call for a mass shooting in Uvalde?” Guerrero doesn’t understand the text. When he, Jose, and the nurses leave the restaurant, there are helicopters buzzing overhead, police cruisers scream- ing west down the strip. He calls a nurse at Uvalde Memorial Hospital to find out if they need him to come. “Yes, get over here right now.” It is pandemonium. Outside the ER on his way to the entrance, he passes the fed- eral agents and police and Border Patrol and a wall of parents. The parents are sobbing. They are screaming the names of children. They begin yelling at him, too. Go, look, find our children! One is the mother of Miah and Elena. A new mural in downtown Uvalde. 90 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 | MEN’S HEALTH

PEDIATRICIANS HAVE A SPECIAL POWER. THEY people to vote for candidates who will protect the well-being “of our children.” CAN LOOK BEYOND SORE THROATS The pediatrician’s role in the community, he notes, in the medical care of its chil- AND BRUISES AND TELL WHEN SOMETHING dren, is not just dressing over a wound. It ISN’T RIGHT, OR WHEN SOMEONE NEEDS is a constant looking after. And so he helps refer kids to therapists. And checks in on HELP. BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. them, all children. The two small bodies before him have ents of the two children what he saw, what He pauses. been pulverized. One of the children has the injuries mean. Still, he is unable to “Now, there is one dark thing I want to a chest wound so large he is sure it would utter the words, the grim reassurance. talk about,” he says. have killed a grown man. He looks at the The shooter. child’s face. It is not Elena, a fact that pro- Your child did not suffer. “The AAP’s motto is ‘Dedicated to the vides no comfort. The other body has been They were killed instantly. health of all children,’ ” he says. “This decapitated. The flesh around the child’s They never stood a chance. shooter, a few months before, was a child. neck is torn. Correct? . . . I’m not trying to defend or EARLY OCTOBER 2022 excuse anything that the shooter did that He will not know the child’s identity day, but there was a systematic failure until later that night, when he sees the pho- THE THOUSAND PEDIATRICIANS in in our community, and our schools, and tos on the news and recognizes the cartoon the convention hall rise to their feet and as medical professionals, that possibly shirt and cartoon shoes. For now, he knows applaud as Guerrero takes the stage. could have averted this disaster if it was by the clothes it is not Elena, and looking reported accordingly. . . . Why didn’t any- away from the bodies, he still has hope that He is honored to speak here, and yet he one report that this kiddo was slashing others can be saved. would rather be anyplace else. He does not his face at school and then showing it off feel like the hero some say he is, and he to people, saying that it looked cool?” When he returns to the hall, a nurse reminds those who ask: He did not save Doctors, he says—pediatricians—have asks him to station himself in the ER lob- anyone that day. He never had the chance. a special power. It’s not to protect children by. There are 14 patients on the way, he from everything. Rather, their power lies is told. Several ambulances. Nurses tell Jose sits in front—a woman leans over in the trust families place in them. Pedi- him to be ready to help triage. He waits and rubs his shoulder. atricians can notice changes in children; with other doctors and nurses and first they can sense things about families. They responders and hospital staff. Everyone The doctor begins. can look beyond the white spots in the back has gathered. They wait the first hour. “I want to break this talk into three dif- of the throat or the soccer bruise, and they They wait the second hour. He is pray- ferent parts,” he says. “The Before, the can tell when something isn’t right. When ing that the children will come. If they During, and the After.” One of the first someone needs help. And they can try to come here, it means they have a chance. slides he shows on a large screen is from help before it’s too late. He is standing beside a speech patholo- Before, a photo of himself surrounded A few days before, he had sat in his make- gist from the hospital. He has known her by seven of his patients. “Me and some shift cubby-office at the clinic, thinking since they were in kindergarten. He sees of my kiddos,” he says. “This was actu- about the speech—what he would say and, her here all the time. While they are wait- ally taken about three weeks before the perhaps, why he was giving it at all. “I can ing, she gets a call. She answers and then shooting happened.” at least fight to make things right or at breaks down sobbing. Her friend Eva And then he plays the audio clip, and least attempt to, even if I fail,” he’d said, Mireles, one of the two teachers in the the girl’s screams cut through the conven- leaning forward in his worn chair, eye- classroom with Miah, has died. tion center. It is important that the audi- brows up. “You just can’t sit back and do ence hears. That they relive this terrible nothing. Especially after what I saw.” He knows now. The other children are memory with him. After the speech, the pediatricians not coming. Dr. G doesn’t talk about the police stand and applaud, and then they begin response, and while he makes a few com- filing out before the hosts, their eyes The messages begin to arrive from par- ments about gun control, he is a doctor. swollen and red, can even return to ents on social media, all with that hopeful He talks mostly about his responsibility— the mic. Some doctors stay outside the word. Missing. He knows the children are their collective responsibility—as a doc- entrance to shake his hand, to thank not missing. Later, the news identifies the tor. It is not said, but people in the room him. And then it is only him and Jose dead. He begins to recognize the names. understand: A physician’s responsibility outside the doors. They will fly back to None are Elena. She is okay. But there are has become something grotesque. They San Antonio this afternoon, then drive five from his office. One was on his sched- see battlefield injuries now. Blowouts. the almost two hours to Uvalde. Dr. G ule for that afternoon. A kid he has known Penetrating wounds that sever limbs has a full schedule of kiddos tomorrow, since infancy, who had an appointment at and explode faces. To treat these wounds, starting first thing. his clinic. That afternoon. Guerrero believes they must vote. The cause of such wounds is clear. He urges JOSHUA ST. CLAIR is an assistant editor The pediatrician wants to tell the par- at Men’s Health. MEN’S HEALTH | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2023 91

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