Diabetics Doing Mixed Martial Arts 2 with Kevin Kellerman

[00:00:07] Rob Howe: Welcome to the Diabetics Doing Things podcast. We've been telling the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics all across the world since 2015, and we have over a thousand years of living with T1D on the podcast. The interviews range from incredible feats to everyday victories, and we celebrate them all just the same. Thanks for listening, and if you want to get involved even further, just send me an email at rob at diabeticsdoingthings.com. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Diabetics Doing Things. We are telling the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics from all across the world. And today, my very special guest is calling from a place that I actually never even heard of until a few minutes ago. It's Kevin Kellerman, calling from Kelowna, B.C., up in the western part of Canada. So, Kevin, welcome to the show. Super excited to have you here. Hey, yeah, man. Super excited to be here. And Kevin and I have been kind of going back and forth, getting this interview scheduled. old. And I'm really glad that we found the time today because I think you guys are going to find his insight really interesting. His, uh, his experience as a type 1, uh, not only as a type 1 diabetic, but also as a, uh, mixed martial artist. So, uh, Kevin, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself, uh, to our, our listeners who may not be as familiar with you and, um, you know, see, tell that diagnosis story and let's get this thing kicked off. Yeah, definitely, man. Um,

[00:01:47] Kevin Kellerman: I'm 23 years old. I've just turned 23 last weekend. I've been diabetic for pretty close to 20 years to the day. So I kind of grew up with it as a part of everyday life, which I think personally is almost a little bit easier than getting diagnosed later in life just due to the natural transitions.

[00:02:11] Rob Howe: Yeah. Well, if you don't want me asking, what's the date of your anniversary,

[00:02:15] Kevin Kellerman: your 20-year anniversary? To be totally honest, man, I don't know. I want to say it's February, March, April. To be honest, man, it doesn't really make a difference to me, so I don't really care. Right. No, I get it. Yeah. That date has not too much significance to me.

[00:02:33] Rob Howe: So because you were diagnosed so young, I doubt you remember anything about the day you were diagnosed or really anything about the years, maybe months following that.

[00:02:43] Kevin Kellerman: it yeah not really man you know i've had it retold to me a fair amount of times from family members parents grandparents um etc just you know typical symptoms that everyone has uh peeing not sleeping uh pumping in fluids pumping out fluids just kind of deal but in terms of like actual recollection or uh anything no i don't really remember much yeah and i think that's not that's

[00:03:11] Rob Howe: not uncommon um it's funny you were saying you've had a story retold to you i just imagine like for years like grandparents and extended family would just talk about it incessantly um not too much man

[00:03:23] Kevin Kellerman: you know to be honest uh the times we've talked about it as me and me asking a couple times um or it comes up just in conversation with my parents but you know we don't really go out of our way to talk about it or put too much attention to it man like at the end of the day i'm still going to accomplish what I'm going to accomplish, do what I'm going to do, live my life as I want to live my life. I'm a really healthy individual as is. It's not like eating a low-carb diet or skipping the burgers and milkshakes is anything I wouldn't do if I wasn't diabetic anyway,

[00:03:58] Rob Howe: to be totally honest. Well, and I think you were talking about it being a little bit more difficult to adjust your life if you're diagnosed later. Um, but I think too, you know, it's interesting not knowing a life without diabetes and I'm, I'm kind of in that boat. I've, uh, I was diagnosed when I was 16, I'm 29 now. So I'm 13 years out, uh, as of January 1st, 2018, that'll be 13 years on the dot. Um, and I remember life without it, but I don't remember like the nuances. Like I don't really remember like, Oh, I'm eating this piece of cake and I'm not worried about giving myself an insulin shot for it or testing my blood sugar because I, you know, you don't know what you don't know at that point. So for me, you know, I always, I always think when, when you're a younger kid, um, and you don't really do anything for yourself, um, you know, diabetes sort of forces you to grow up and takes you into that mentality really quickly. But also there's just a lot of extra things to think about. What was, do you remember any specific instances when you were growing up where, you know, you just, you felt like you were a little bit different or you were doing a different routine or you didn't understand why you had to do some of the things you had to do? Not really, man.

[00:05:14] Kevin Kellerman: You know, I always, through grade school, I always understood like, okay, I got to take my insulin. Okay, if I start feeling funnier, my blood sugar's low, I got to get a juice or some simple carbs in me. To be totally honest, man, like I didn't have the tightest control as a diabetic before when I was younger. as some people do. Definitely not the smartest thing. I almost feel like as I was younger, I didn't take it as seriously as I do now as an adult, so to speak. Now, I wasn't like, I didn't neglect it by any means. And I definitely didn't have my parents neglected by any means when they were still caring for me. But I feel like it wasn't given the attention by myself that it needed to be. And as I transitioned through those teenage years, I especially didn't give it the attention it needed. It was only till I was probably about 18 or 19. And I actually had a very bad fight when I was trying to cut weight with insulin still manual pen injections at the time. and I would just half my basal, my long-acting insulin, at the time to avoid a low in the cage. And with the adrenaline and everything, that's actually not what I needed to do. So it made my blood series go very, very, very high. I'm not into DKA, but I don't doubt being close to that. And it just came down to the point where I was like, I need to fix this so I can compete properly and at my full potential, or I need to stop fighting because I don't want to come in second place and waste my time being half the athlete I could be.

[00:07:01] Rob Howe: Yeah, and I think now we're really getting into this, kind of into the details of your professional career as a mixed martial artist and an MMA fighter. so always the thing that struck me i i used to work for usa boxing um and i and i think the thing that was always struck me about any sort of fight sport is the intense amount of like cardio training first of all that you don't that you don't really see and you kind of see maybe like slow-mo montages of people doing road work but like the amount of cardio that goes into that is just astounding um and number two is the weight is weight cutting and just getting uh you know your, your weight on track for a fight. And for somebody with diabetes, um, I imagine that presents a whole nother round of challenges just because, you know, you got to drink, you know, you got to drink an orange juice sometimes, or a Coke, if you're having a low and you're really in need of something quick. Um, and you know, sometimes when you're cutting weight, that can be, it can throw a wrench in the equation. So how, first I want to go all the way back to, how did you get into mixed martial arts and MMA? And, you know, what have those challenges been like as you're kind of cutting weight and getting ready for a fight specifically? Any stories that stand out?

[00:08:18] Kevin Kellerman: Yeah, so I got into MMA just kind of when I was 15 years old. I started taking an interest in it. It got popular on TV. And I just turned 23 last weekend. So really being, that was only about seven years ago, I believe, seven, eight years ago. So it wasn't really that, that long ago. It definitely wasn't yesterday, but it definitely wasn't 20 years ago either. I just kind of saw it on TV and thought it was cool and found a gym I liked. I loved actually, I liked the atmosphere. I liked how hard everyone was working. And just, I started, or sorry, I started, yeah. so every day after school when all like all my buddies were getting girlfriends hanging out after school getting up to no good uh yada yada i would just hop on the bus to the mma gym with one of my good buddies who started training at the same time as me so i'd finish school at 3 30 hop on the bus it was about an hour bus ride away get there at 4 15 4 30 ish and uh hop on the bus at 8 30 to head home be in bed by 9 30 kind of rinse and repeat and it just became a routine for me so day in day out it was just as simple as waking up brushing your teeth eating breakfast going to school it was going to the mma gym afterwards and i kind of just fell in love with it i liked the progression i liked how you could like express yourself in different ways and kind of build your own skill set to what you saw interesting and i also really really like the constant growth you know what i mean like you it's something where you see the natural progression and you're getting better and it like there's a direct correlation with how much work you put in to how much better you get it's not up to somebody else there's no boss above me saying well you did better on this project but i like this person more so they're getting the promotion everything was left up to me what i put in directly came directly showed um so that's that's what really got me hooked on the sport at such a young age um in terms of cutting weight i started fighting amateur boxing matches when i was 16 or 17 um and we just wouldn't cut weight for those we would maybe diet a little bit um but nothing like you would see getting in the sauna losing 10 pounds um and then being so young i always had a fairly easy time cutting weight up until my first amateur title fight, which was two or three Septembers ago, three now I think, where I would just kind of cut the carbs out at dinner time and that would throw off about five, six pounds. I maybe had to lose one or two in the sauna. So nothing that crazy. As I got older, in July actually, I had the toughest wake of my life where I was between the diet and the sauna of looking at losing 22 pounds and and that that's the one where I was really like this isn't good um I felt it in my performance the next day in the cage just flat tired I had a hard time firing up my head was kind of funky um and I actually had a net another match scheduled for September so which was a fairly quick turnaround I fought in July and I fought again in September and I actually went on my way for the fight in September to negotiate it moving up a full weight class just so I didn't have to deal with that stuff anymore um which turned out that was okay um which I think is the way it should be the guy I was fighting was a little bit bigger than me I was walking around at about 150 157 for that fight or and he was walking around low 160 so I didn't give up too much size to him. But I felt absolutely 10 times better getting in the cage.

[00:12:13] Rob Howe: Great. And I think like, you know, that's a really, it's a really interesting point to see the difference, right? And, you know, one thing I like about what your description about MMA, where you said, you know, you can immediately see the results and get the feedback from how hard you train and how much you prepare. And diabetes is kind of like that as well, right? Like you, you get instant feedback. I like to talk about people with diabetes as like little data scientists, um, because you are, especially kids, you know, they're testing their blood sugar. They're taking that response, plugging it into, you know, if it's before a meal, how much food they're going to eat, they're going to know their insulin ratio and then, you know, adjust for what their, um, blood sugar was. And then you're going to give yourself a dose. And then immediately after you have results and feedback to deal with. So I think that's really an interesting way to look at it. For those of us who have never trained for a fight sport, whether it's amateur boxing or professional MMA, what's that process like mentally and physically? I know, and I think I've always tried to explain it this way in layman's terms because I don't know. I've never been under the lights in a fight, but it's two people training as hard as they can to fight each other. what is it like when you get to that final point and like you said that you're getting that feedback

[00:13:35] Kevin Kellerman: of oh i am ready or maybe oh i'm not well um i think most people assume it's two people training as hard as they can to fight each other um realistically until you get to the higher levels it's really not like that especially going through the the amateur days um out here in bc i fought and won the title for the best ranked amateur organization in canada um that sends multiple fighters to the ufc and high level shows um a couple fighters being my teammates uh that graduated from the amateurs and battlefields all the way up to the ufc um but really it comes down just like to anything how much you want it right for me like I said it was it was no spare time especially when I was younger no girlfriends just finished task a which was school and all my spare time going to the gym staying in the gym there might be other people and when I was 17 18 19 I was fighting guy I fought a guy that was 37 years old um beat him by unanimous decision um won every round. But so maybe that's a different case where I'm putting in every spare second of my time into the sport. And he's maybe putting one hour a day in and then hanging out with his girlfriend, and then going to a movie. And then really, he's having a piece of pizza, and I'm having chicken and broccoli. So like, I'm trying to put every ounce of effort down to like, what I eat when I eat, when I'm drinking my water, like every little micro factor I can control to be the best, I'm going to take full advantage of that. And I just don't know if some other athletes until you get to the highest level are willing to do that. And that's where I believe like the dedication and discipline shows same thing. Sometimes with managing diabetes, you know what I mean? If, if you know, you have for me, for example, I have a tough time eating sushi. and some days I really want sushi and my body's sore my bodies are going out for sushi and I feel like my body needs it and I really want it so some days you know I'll feel like I'll go have that sushi but then instead of sitting around watching a movie later that night when I know my blood sugar is going to peak through the roof no matter how I try to split my insulin up, I'm going to get my ass on the treadmill and I'm going to run or walk or do a little bit of exercise so I can help control that peak, right? So I'm using like my discipline to help get the results I want, similar to MMA.

[00:16:14] Rob Howe: And, you know, sometimes that result that you want is a reward, right? I think I read this book, I think it's called The Power of Habit, and it was talking about, you know, when you're changing behaviors, you have to, you know, change your pleasure and pain centers, you know, and get pleasure from going through those, you know, runs to prepare yourself to get that second pleasure of, you know, enjoying sushi in your case. I often have a tough time with my measurement of sushi because I always eat more than I plan on and it's kind of tough to count the rice and it's not always the same. It's one of those great diabetes, you know, mysteries. I think pizza, Chinese food and sushi are my big three in terms of I never really know exactly how many carbs to give. But I had Chinese food this Sunday night and I fortunately got it correct. My after meal blood sugars were right on point. So really had to pat myself back on the back for that one. I want to talk a little bit about your discipline because I'm a huge fan of like really dedicated athletes as a big Kobe Bryant. A lot of respect for him as an athlete and like his dedication to the craft and really understanding, you know, what he could put his body through and his mental toughness. How do you balance that with, like you said, you know, wanting to enjoy yourself and being kind of like a regular person? Is that more of just a, your goal is to be the best and you're willing to sacrifice those sort of short-term comforts for the long-term goal? Um, or, you know, how do you, and how do you same thing, same question regarding diabetes? Are you super relentlessly focused there or do you have your times where, you know, you go a little bit easier on yourself? Um, you don't matter.

[00:17:55] Kevin Kellerman: it's never really like being a regular person for me like I don't really think diabetes like hinders anything about me if anything it forces me to make smarter and better decisions for my body um I never really you know sometimes like darker thoughts used to cross my brain like oh fuck man like I can't excuse my language but like I can't do this because oh my diabetes is gonna this or that or you know what I mean like I try to do everything in my power to to stay controlled of it but like if I want to go off for some frozen yogurt on Sunday night which is like Sunday is the day I kind of give myself to like I feel like I'm always firing at a thousand miles per hour all the time trying to make the most out of every second like if someone's walking slow in front of me at Walmart I get irritated you know what I mean because time is the one thing you're never going to get back. So Sundays, I kind of just like to chill out and do what I want to do when I want to do it. And sometimes like if that involves eating a little bit of frozen yogurt or a blizzard, maybe, then I will. And I come to realize that like, as hard as I try, sometimes just it is going to throw my blood sugar out of range. And that's just the way it goes. Now, am I having a blizzard every day after lunch and then eating a hamburger for dinner time with french fries and a coke no but like i'm kind of i'm kind of being very grateful and when i pick my pick my cheats and then i'm not like kicking myself about it because i found i used to uh i used to do that a lot you know what i mean always try to be always in the zone in the range i read uh Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution and um that big textbook of a of a book there but But I just realized some of those – sorry, go ahead.

[00:19:46] Rob Howe: No, no, no. Before you keep going because this is really good, I do want to talk a little bit about that book because I see a lot of people reading it. I hate the name, first of all, because it's like – I just don't like it. I think it sounds like there's something wrong to be fixed. Anyway, but for you, like – and you were talking about you were always worried about the tight control. You read the book. Did you find that book to give you the information that you maybe hadn't had before or give you a system to use? What was your experience with it?

[00:20:20] Kevin Kellerman: That book was kind of a double-edged sword for me. I found some parts of that book that were very useful and enlightened me a little bit. And I found some parts of the book that were just irritating, caused me to stress too much, and just not practical for real life. no one's going to sit there and test their blood sugars every five minutes and see the trend and also uh most glucometers aren't accurate enough to to work like that um so some of the theory theories i found were a little far-fetched in that book um but as i get older and read more and try to expand my mind i realize not everything in every book is going to be a home run um there's good points to take out of every book and you can't let the other points get into your head a

[00:21:06] Rob Howe: little bit too, too much. Um, yeah. And that's really great. I think mature, very great advice. Um, you know, it's kind of like in Mark Cuban's book, how to win at the sport of business, he was talking about jobs and failed companies. He's like every, he's like, no matter what the job is, like, you'll learn something from it. I think the same way about books, like no matter if it's good, bad, uh, all good, all bad, what, you know, or, or whatever the case is in between, always good things for you to carry out of it from that experience to go on through the next thing. So I interrupted you for that, but I often haven't had too many guests to discuss that book with. So thank you for doing that. You were talking about finding the balance of not being too strict control and setting yourself up for success. Yeah. And I'm the kind of guy who

[00:21:59] Kevin Kellerman: like, um, I, I, I, I like long-term gratification, so I don't like instant grat, well, not to say I don't like who doesn't like instant gratification, but I really, I really like working for something and then seeing the results opposed to just getting the, getting the results handed to me or like, okay, for example, if you get a $500 bonus, some people might want to take their girlfriend up. We were just talking about Vancouver. So they might want to take them up to Whistler. Say they get that bonus Tuesday. They're right away on their lunch break, going to hop on, book reservations for Whistler, get up there and blow that $500, and then probably even lose a little bit more money because who stays within their budget when they're going on vacation to a place like Whistler, right? Nobody. opposed to a guy like me who I might let's take that 500 bucks and let's try to make some more money off it uh let's maybe save it off and try to put it in an investment or let's loan it out to someone and get it get an interest rate on that or you know what I mean so I'm putting that money away but in the long term I'm I'm getting a little I'm I'm gaining some gratified like long term gratification from it uh so same thing with blood sugar management right I'm not I would rather wake up, crave oatmeal, which also gives me the craziest hard time on my blood sugar for whatever reason. So I would rather wake up, crave oatmeal, wake up with a good blood sugar, cook some eggs, have one piece of toast, and maybe cook some bacon, which I know is totally fine with my body. I can carb count it, and then feel good for the rest of the day, right? Go into my morning training session with a good blood sugar and have that as my reward opposed to instantly eating the oatmeal, feeling good for 10 minutes because I'm happy I ate the oatmeal, then dealing with the high frustrated blood sugar going into training. Well, man, you know, it's super interesting to

[00:24:02] Rob Howe: hear that perspective because I think we live in, you know, one of my good friends and I joke, we have 2017 quick fix culture, right? We have instant gratification around us all the time. We We can think about whatever. We can wonder about something, instantly grab our phone, Google it, and find out what it is. We can reach out to anyone on the earth, literally, and they might respond. And I think the consequences of that is that we forget about the process. And we forget that incremental progress is really the secret to any sort of development. And the key to that is discipline and mastery of self, which are two very non quick fix, non instant gratification type things. It's cool to me that you describe yourself as a guy that, you know, you take that bonus and you invest it back in yourself or put it to work for you some other way. Because I think that is what really spawns high growth results. You know, you can, you know, $500 here, go out to dinner. um you know sure those things are nice uh but if you can position yourself and build a foundation for something big um you know i i love the the betting on yourself and the hey i i know if i have this now i can turn it into something real later um it's just a cool just to interrupt you

[00:25:24] Kevin Kellerman: there real quick too i i in that in this book i'm reading like we talked about uh off the podcast there uh betting like they talk a lot about betting on yourself because it's it's the only thing you can control you know what i mean i can throw 10 000 bucks into bitcoin and what happens with bitcoin isn't up to me at all but i can throw 10 000 bucks into myself going training at different gyms going to the highest level strength and conditioning coach going to the highest level dietician um putting it into books and all that comes into myself so then i can use that information to make me better into the stuff that I can control, like my fights, where I put my investments, how I make money in the future, et cetera. Because like you said, I don't hear too many people touch on that point at all.

[00:26:14] Rob Howe: Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. One of my favorite athletes right now is Joel Embiid, plays for the Sixers in the NBA, because the GM that drafted him famously tweeted, trust the process when he got hurt. He got, he got hurt very early on in his NBA career, didn't really play his first three years. And now he's like one of the best big men in the NBA. And he would always tweet, trust the process, trust the process. And it was a, it's sort of a joke to him. But it's really not because it's like, you know, if you really do trust the process and get away from those instant gratification, quick results that are maybe unreasonable and set yourself a long-term goal. I think like Tony Robbins says, he has a great quote, most people underestimate or overestimate what they can do in a year or overestimate what they can do in a week and underestimate what they could do in a decade. And if you look at things with a bigger long-term vision, you can find yourself, the progress that you've made is pretty significant. And I'll say one more story before I turn it back over to you. one of my good friends, we had a similar conversation. He was like, you know, if you play the guitar 20 minutes every day for a year, you can play pretty much any open mic kind of gig. You'd know a lot of songs. You'd be able to, you know, go walk in anywhere and sit in and play. But if you did that every day for 10 years, you'd be one of the best guitarists that you've met. You know, there'd be a very, you could literally play with anyone. And I thought about that. I was Instancy is something that, you know, as a culture, I think we lack just because there's so many things going on and we're always so distracted. I'm preaching to the choir right now because I am the worst at being distracted. But for you, like, and tying this all the way back, loosely tying this back to diabetes some way, like, how much is that instant gratification versus long-term view affect you from a diabetes perspective? You talked earlier about changing your approach to preparing for competition. uh what were the adjustments that you've made and how have you um you know tried to look at

[00:28:22] Kevin Kellerman: the bigger picture um i'll come at this two ways like i before i used to i used to have a lot of deviation in my blood sugars uh so i used to be like high and then i would go flying back down low and then i would be nowhere in between so one thing i found that really helped me was just especially with the power of of cgm continuous glucose monitoring now i can literally check my blood share whenever on a five minute basis right so i can see just trying to sit at those lower numbers every day little by little over time not trying to go from being at maybe like a 12 millimoles per liter to to a five and a half but just let's try to always sit at like seven opposed to a 10 every day you know what i mean little little things like that i found help improve like my obviously my a1c my blood sugar and then in turn my energy how i felt about myself um just everything across the board so little things like that um same thing having eggs instead of oatmeal just like i said like just being obsessed at like getting a little bit ahead everywhere i can because that stuff's going to compile itself. I do the same thing too. I'm one of the few guys where I train across the sport too that's pretty much doing the same routine day in, day out. A lot of guys will transition to a different intense routine when they have a fight coming up and kind of sit around, not do too much, train when they feel like it, when they don't have a fight coming up. But I'm one of those guys who still, for example, with like my strength and conditioning time in the gym, it's only one hour in the morning twice a week. So two hours a week. I make sure to absolutely do that every single week and grow just little by little so that I'm so far ahead at the same time next year.

[00:30:27] Rob Howe: right and i think uh i've been very fortunate to have like conversations with uh john stockton nba nba legend john stockton um a few times and his number one thing when guys like who you know were athletes in their early 20s like stop playing competitively like they just immediately get out of shape and he always laughs at them and like he's like oh you look fat or oh just drink that beer uh and because his number one thing is if you never get out of shape you don't have to worry

[00:30:58] Kevin Kellerman: about getting in shape and that's a huge part with fighting as well um i feel like like taking a go with this thing as a profession i can't afford to miss any opportunity that could possibly get me ahead so constantly being in shape gives me or allows me to take like half of my fights a normal period for a fight is six eight ten twelve weeks notice I've been able to take half my fights on three four five week notices and probably five six seven fights have been offered to me on less than 10 days notice that I've said yes to because I'm in shape ready to go I don't need to get ready and the other ended ended up backing out but it's just one of those things where like always being in shape not having to get in shape so you can take those opportunities when they're presented to themselves it is so like i feel important like if this is something you really want to do with your life and all your time and you want it that badly like you can't afford to miss those opportunities. If someone else is out there and they'll damn sure take those opportunities to get ahead of you.

[00:32:11] Rob Howe: And I think that's super important in terms of reputation as well because if you have that reputation, those opportunities are going to come to you because people start to know. Like, oh yeah, Kevin's ready to fight. We had a guy drop out of the fight 10 days before. Who are we going to find? Oh, well this guy's always in shape. Let's see if he's up for it.

[00:32:32] Kevin Kellerman: Absolutely.

[00:32:33] Rob Howe: So for you, and I want to make sure that we kind of close this interview down a little bit because you, I know, have to get to training this evening. What's next for you? What are you looking forward to in your fighting career? What's sort of on the horizon for you?

[00:32:51] Kevin Kellerman: I fought twice back-to-back in the summertime. So I did a July fight and then a September fight after being on the shelf and not competing for 14 months there. So I'm still in the gym twice a day, just growing my skills and progressing. But I'm taking a little bit of time to just kind of sharpen some of the areas where I'm weaker at and wait for a good fight to come across the table towards me. I've had a couple offers. They're just not the right, not what I need at this point in my career, which is okay. I'm still so young in this sport. And then I got a little another exciting tidbit. We don't currently have a show where I'm from in my hometown. We're always going somewhere else to fight other people in their hometowns in front of their communities. So in the new year, we're looking at getting a show together in my hometown where I live. so that's something I'm definitely looking to be a part of and compete on as well

[00:33:53] Rob Howe: that's exciting, great for you guys

[00:33:57] Kevin Kellerman: yeah thank you man, I appreciate it

[00:33:59] Rob Howe: yeah, to get a little show for the home fans that's exciting I have one question for you that I always ask my guests but I'm going to save that because I know you have a couple questions for me that you wanted to ask as well

[00:34:15] Kevin Kellerman: yeah absolutely man And like we kind of touched about a little bit earlier, I like to learn at least something from everything as I can, whether it's a book, even if I don't like it, or just people that I come across and meet. So a couple questions that came for you is how do you come up with the idea for your show here?

[00:34:34] Rob Howe: So for me, I remember distinctly I was traveling in Colombia, South America, and I was in Bogota. And Bogota is a very dangerous city for foreigners at times. And I am very tall. So I stick out like a sore thumb and I don't speak Spanish. I don't speak Spanish. So there were times when I had to just stay in my hotel room because my translator couldn't go with me somewhere. And I was there for like two weeks. So I had a lot of time to think. And I thought that, you know, in that time, I remember this story about a guy in college. And I referenced this on my – the full story is on an episode that Craig Casper came on the podcast and did, I believe, episode 62. But basically a guy in college heard me mention my diabetes in class and knew that I was a basketball player and an athlete. And he was like, oh, I didn't know people with diabetes played sports like that, but I've seen you play. Like obviously there's nothing wrong. My little cousin just got diagnosed with type 1, and his doctor told him that he shouldn't run triathlons. triathlons. So would you mind emailing him and going back and forth? And so I did. And I basically told him that my doctors told me that as long as I took care of my diabetes, that pretty much I could do anything I wanted. Uh, and we talked a couple of times and then, uh, I didn't hear from him for a few months, but then I just got this email with no subject line. Um, and it was just a photo and it was a photo of him with a participation medal after he finished his first triathlon. And just the feeling that I got from that, uh, like it's hard to describe. Like I still remember it so vividly and actually still have the email. And so that one had been about five years since that had happened. And when I was in that hotel room, I just remembered that. I was like, you know what? I'm probably not going to be able to be the best podcaster or the best marketer or the best business person or whatever it is broad. But I was like, if I can just own, like embrace who I am and find a community, maybe I can be at the top of something around there, do something really well that would help people. Because I really wanted to help people. That's one of my biggest passions. I'm always happiest when I'm helping people. And so I was like, okay, well, I don't want to write a blog every week. That seems like way too much work. So I wonder if I could do a podcast. Podcasts seem fun. So I just decided to do it. And the idea for diabetics doing things was just like when you search for things when you're diagnosed, you search for diabetics doing whatever it is, the thing you're doing. For me, it was playing basketball. For somebody else, it might be going to college or fighting MMA, whatever the case is. And so I decided that that would be a great way to tell stories about people and that I could actually get done. And so that was pretty much it. Started it in the end of 2015 and now we're like two years in.

[00:37:33] Kevin Kellerman: That's super cool, man. I really like that. Similar to myself, that's actually how we're having this conversation today. I was, um, when I was at that point in my life where I wasn't really sure if I, if I, I always wanted to keep fighting, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to, cause like, like I touched what I didn't want to do things half ass for lack of better terms. Um, so it was either kind of like, if I'm not going to be able to be the best at this, I think I should stop now and find something else I can be the best at. And so I did a lot of homework, you know, I, I did everything I could. Like I had a Animas rep actually who put me in touch with, I think the dude was on the American Ninja Warrior. So similar to what I did. But when I would Google or search on YouTube or everywhere I could, man, there was nobody fighting with MMA or combat sports with diabetes that I could find. And I was just like, man, like if I could just, if there was someone there who could just tell me like, no, man, like it's not as big deal as you think. just go ahead and do it and this is what I found helped me and maybe this will help you or maybe don't try that like how much more like peace of mind and like stress I could have avoided during those times how much that would have helped me so I was just like whatever man I like no one's here I may as well fill this slot and jump on jump on it and be there for people and since then man like writing every article I could and getting getting my story out there I like I was saying I probably have one person reach out to me across like all my platforms like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. So it's super good to know I'm just helping people so no one kind of goes through what I went through

[00:39:19] Rob Howe: at the time. Yeah, man, that's what it's all about. It's about, you know, telling your story, being available. And I think, you know, getting involved with social media communities now has never been easier to get connected to the right people. And yeah, so I'm really glad you're on this as well because um you know i'll have now two both a female and a male perspective on the podcast uh for fight sports and combat sports and mma so maybe the next time somebody gets diagnosed uh they'll have you guys to rely on and we'll be able to reach out and uh and and ask you questions or rely on you or you know you might be their hero who knows and just with with anything too

[00:39:57] Kevin Kellerman: man like even in my own community here or through some of the uh like my connection at dexcom and my old connection at Animas like i i felt like too even if it's not helping people with mma like younger kids that get diagnosed and they want to play soccer or hockey like with the with the tech like we didn't even 10 years ago when i was playing doing that stuff myself we didn't have the technology to do that like being 13 let alone like a six seven eight year old kid whose mom maybe doesn't want them playing soccer with all their buddies because it's an active sport and they might go low. Well, if they see me using my CGM fighting in a cage, they'll, they like, who knows? They could be like, well, if this kid can fight in the cage with it and I'm just sitting here on a sports field checking my son's CGM, this is, this is totally okay. You know what I mean?

[00:40:49] Rob Howe: And I wanted to ask you about that because, um, I, I assume you treat with injections. Do you treat multiple daily injections for your diabetes?

[00:40:58] Kevin Kellerman: I did, and I found it was such a headache with my blood sugars when I was training.

[00:41:03] Rob Howe: Well, and you also mentioned Animas, so I apologize. So yeah, so you're a pumper now?

[00:41:08] Kevin Kellerman: I switched to the pump and the CGM at the same time, and yeah, it was one of the best decisions I could have made.

[00:41:15] Rob Howe: I totally agree. I think anybody who wants to follow up on this conversation and talk about pumps, CGMs, yeah, definitely let us know because I agree. I mean, when I fought, I resisted getting a pump for way too long. and when I got it, I was like, wow, this is amazing. Where do you wear, I assume you take your pump off for your cage matches, where do you wear your CGM when you fight?

[00:41:38] Kevin Kellerman: I wear it on my butt. I got about three or four good sights per side that I can rotate through that I don't mind, whether it's just my skin. That's just what works for me. I'm not saying if it's right or wrong. if I do need a break I'll use the top of my quad there I find it gets in the way a little bit more it's funny man I have never had a CGM fall off me in my life and when I fought in Grand Prairie in July I normally cover it with rock tape which is just a very thick strong sticky form of kinetic tape and I forgot it in Kelowna before I flew out so I didn't have any on and the sensor actually snapped right off in my compression shorts with, uh, in the middle of the fight, I felt it go. And I was just like, Oh, great. And, uh, I fought the rest of the fight with it in my compression shorts, uh, got changed after the fight and there it was. So, uh, the only time I've ever had to come off training, you know what I mean? Five hours a day, uh, two hours in the morning, three hours at night. And the one time it comes off is during a, during a 15 minute fight. So, you know, I didn't really get too mad about it. I had a good little chuckle about how ironic that was. And in terms of my pump, I'll rotate that guy between my stomach, my quads, and my butt as well. I definitely – I've had my infusion site come out three times, all of them when they were on my stomach on the training mats. Not like it's a big deal. I was like, oh, it came off, finished up my practice, and just put a new one in. No biggie.

[00:43:18] Rob Howe: yeah that happened to me once on the basketball court like I took my pump out when I when I played but obviously my sight was still there and I like dove on the floor for a loose ball and I remember my stomach hit the floor and it just I kind of skidded and that sight just rolled up and ripped out that was a that was a tough one but yeah pretty much just like up we'll put a new

[00:43:38] Kevin Kellerman: sight in and we'll go from there yeah and I feel like a lot of people almost put too much weight in that oh what if it what if it comes out what if this happens what if what if that happens like really like it's not that big of a deal you know what I mean it takes all of three seconds to

[00:43:53] Rob Howe: put a new one in right well um I know you I think I even heard your alarm go off are we good on time do you have time for to answer one more question or a couple more questions yeah absolutely I'm okay over here okay good um so quite you had another question for me I believe about more

[00:44:09] Kevin Kellerman: about like social media and things I believe yeah I actually found found you through someone else that I follow posting the link that they did an article with you. So I was keeping an eye on your social media for about a month or two from afar. And I just noticed your incredible growth. So I was just curious what tips you had on growing your platform on an Instagram page because I noticed

[00:44:34] Rob Howe: you were doing exceptionally well. Oh, thanks, man. I think it's cool that you got to hear about about the podcast and about me through another guest. What other guest before I tell you the secrets? Before I tell you all my secrets behind the curtain.

[00:44:49] Kevin Kellerman: I believe, I forget her name. I believe her Instagram tag was type1active. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But I followed her for a little bit just because she was doing something that was similar to what I was doing. And I liked what she was posting. I like seeing stuff that helps me think in a positive way every day on Instagram, especially because I spend a fair bit of my time scrolling Instagram for ideas, inspirations, stuff like that. So when I saw your podcast pop up, I actually started following you just to kind of see what you're about. And I really like the material, so I decided to reach out to you and see if we could set something up. And here we are.

[00:45:31] Rob Howe: Yeah. It's interesting. yeah i never think necessarily or i you know never would say like you know with type 1 active for example uh i think her name is nicole i'm not sure uh off the top of my head and i'm sorry for not remembering but um the it's interesting the the similarities between like a fight sport and like i think aerial yoga and stuff that she does that's very interesting um yeah i just had to i

[00:45:56] Kevin Kellerman: just have to correct you before we get going here her name is uh Rowena oh yeah rowena yeah rowena

[00:46:02] Rob Howe: Okay, sure. Sorry. Well, I apologize, Rowena. You're great. That episode is good. So I was trying to get it to pull up on my phone. It just wouldn't do it. So anyway, back to your original question, the growth. I think back to what we were talking about earlier about quick fix, like consistency is everything. So consistency and authenticity. So a big part, like I said, two years ago, I started doing this. I've been very consistent with a few things in terms of content and engagement in that time, trying to just continue to push the rock up the hill little by little by little by little. and so I think an important thing especially with social media I see a lot of diabetes accounts pop up and and I kind of laugh and I love and I love the enthusiasm because I think there are a few accounts like mine who have even been a lot around a lot longer and it's a grind it takes a while there and at the beginning I think it can be really exciting and sometimes you know you just sort of get worn out. But I think the people that continue on and can keep finding that message and really find that sort of niche are the ones that win, whatever it is, whether it's social media, or it's, you know, mixed martial arts, or it's chess. I think we have this expectation as adults that whenever we try something new or creative, that we want to be good at it right away. And a lot of times, and this is the case with mine as well, it wasn't as good at the beginning. but you keep doing it long enough and you can get better and better and better. And you just learn tips and tricks and you just refine your craft and you get better at it. And so, you know, now we have intro music on the podcast, you know, the graphics are better. I learned, I've learned and evolved in that amount of time as well. So yeah, I think that sticking with it, keeping consistent, staying authentic, not selling out. those are the things that that I think make up a successful social media account you know whether advocacy or anything else

[00:48:11] Kevin Kellerman: awesome man well I appreciate the insight yeah man

[00:48:14] Rob Howe: okay I got one last question for you you I know have done a fair amount of traveling so the question is if you are in an airport and they're going to close the door to your gate in 30 seconds and you can't miss this flight. You got to fight on the other end or whatever it is. Um, but you run into somebody who's either been recently diagnosed or struggling with their type 1 diabetes. Um, what do you tell them? What's the one thing you tell them in that 30 seconds, uh, before you

[00:48:44] Kevin Kellerman: have to hop on that plane? Oh, buddy. I feel like this is an easy one. I give them my, uh, I give them my email address, my Facebook and my Instagram. So now I don't just get to share 30 seconds of what helped them or helped me throughout my 20 years but we can communicate i can follow his story he can follow my story and uh we can be there in each other's day-to-day lives to help each other if uh if that's what uh either one of us needs and uh who knows what that relationship can grow to right technology is so helpful nowadays it would just be silly not to take

[00:49:19] Rob Howe: full advantage of it i love it i think you're the first person that actually said that a lot of people answer the question a few different ways whether they say you know screw you rob missed i'm missing my flight or you know they give a great insight in a short amount of time but yeah i think you're one of the first ones that's just like hey let's just connect and handle this on

[00:49:40] Kevin Kellerman: social media yeah i'm a big fan of like of like maybe it's from when i did sales or whatever but i really like win-win scenarios you know what i mean like i get the win because i hate being stressed. I hate being rushed and I hate being stressed. It drives me mental. So if I can just continue on my, on the gate to my flight without worrying a ball coming that like that close to missing it and this person can get my 20 years of knowledge, I feel like that's a pretty good win-win.

[00:50:08] Rob Howe: I totally agree, man. Well, Kevin, man, it was great to meet you and chat with you. You're a super enlightened guy. Uh, and I, and I really am looking forward to, uh, kind of keeping track of what you're up to and seeing what the next thing is and, you know, potentially working together in the future.

[00:50:24] Kevin Kellerman: Yeah. Likewise, man. It was really refreshing to talk to someone like-minded like yourself and definitely I look forward to speaking with you in the future.

[00:50:33] Rob Howe: Yeah, man. Take it easy and I'll include all the relevant links to your social media in the show notes.

[00:50:39] Kevin Kellerman: Perfect. I appreciate it, my friend.