The David Soto Jr. Podcast

Check out my ChatGPT episode description below.

The phrase "Sitting is the new smoking" has become a ubiquitous admonition in recent years, often met with eye-rolls and dismissive sighs. Guilty as charged, I found myself among the chorus of those advocating for standing desks in the workplace. But perhaps a less clichéd, yet equally potent, expression is "use it or lose it." It's a simple truth that has recently crystallized in my mind with newfound clarity. Our bodies are remarkably adaptive, but they're also mercilessly responsive to our habits – or lack thereof. Inactivity isn't merely a neutral state; it's a directive to our physiological systems to wind down, to relinquish their vitality. And yes, that includes the seemingly innocuous act of sitting. In this episode, I aim to delve into the profound implications of this reality, exploring how our sedentary lifestyles dictate more than just our posture, but our overall well-being. From the biological mechanisms at play to the societal norms that perpetuate our seated existence, I'll unpack why it's imperative to heed the warning: use your body actively, or prepare to forfeit its full potential.

Amazon Prime has four movies out, all based on the Four Gospels verbatim, and I am obsessed. I am down to the Gospel of Luke, and they are gonna make me pay for that one. In this episode, I talk about what I have learned so far and how contrary Christians's beliefs are to what Jesus actually taught.

After struggling for years with pre-diabetes, I thought I would try something contrary to everything I had ever learned about lowering one's blood sugar, and the results blew my mind. In this episode, I'll tell you all about it. 

Even my beloved Paleo Diet is not sustainable. I only recently realized that even though I have been unable to maintain it for some years now. Even though I don't know anyone who still eats paleo. No one! Not even one of my Paleo guru mentors who I admired and look up to (is still do). When I learned that she, the author of one of the best Paleo books out there, had given it up, I knew I was also done. 

In this episode, I will go into my diet history. Filling you in on how I got to where I am now, fat again, and why I feel I am finally going to find success by NOT going on a diet. 

Why is it offensive? Well, a long time ago, people thought it was ok to own other human beings. They considered them property. These people thought their property was going to be taken away, so they started a war. They called themselves the Confederacy, and their flag was the Confederate flag.

That's really all you need to know but if you want to know more about it, give this episode a listen.

Even though I am only in chapter two, the book "The Myth of Race" by Robert Wald Sussman has taught me a lot and got me digging even deeper into the origin of the races.  In doing so, I may have discovered the origin of racism.

The other night when the nightly news talked about the school shooting in Uvalde, it brought tears to my eyes but not for the obvious reasons that come with the murder of 19 children.

In this episode, I talk about what it must feel like to be white and what it must feel like if someone threatens to take that away.

Nineteen children, CHILDREN, and two adults were murdered in Uvalde, Texas. This could have been prevented had any one of the three gun regulations I propose been implemented. 

Something came to me the other morning. That's how I get most of my podcast material. I realized how this country was founded on and a perfect example of white supremacy.

I explain what I mean in this episode.

Putting a dress on my daughter the other day got me wondering why we put girls in dresses and then, what is the origin of the dress. This led me into thinking about gender and trans people and that I once heard a scientific explanation for being trans. I then decided to look that up as well. This episode is a result of all of my Googling. 

Continuing my Jesus kick... 

I made a realization the other day. One that needs more introspection, but I thought I would share what I got so far.

In this episode, I define faith and distinguish between faith and stupidity.

WTF has this world come to? Are we really gonna get upset about that M&Ms cartoons characters not looking sexy enough to take out for a drink? 

In this episode, I talk about change, how it is inevitable, and how it's really nothing to get upset about. 

This week I talk a little more about Jesus and Religion. 

I love to learn. More importantly, I love to learn the truth, especially when it comes to religion. For two decades, I have been studying about God, spirituality, and religion. I'd say, if I ever were to go back to school, it would be to study theology.

In this week's episode, I talk about the accuracy of the bible and the mythology of Jesus the messiah.

The best diversity and inclusion briefing you'll ever have. In this episode, I try to explain what it's like to finally be around someone who looks like you and why it's important. 

No, it's not a diet, exercise, vitamins, or whatever. It's something better, and everyone is capable of it.

I have been thinking about guns for a while. And now, with the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse and the murderers of Ahmaud Arbery, I have to say my peace.

In this episode, I talk about the over-saturation of guns in this country, "good guys" with guns, brandishing a weapon, and self-defense.

While thinking about the labor shortage recently, I came up with a solution. In this episode, I give my thought on minimum wage, unemployment, the labor shortage, why some people are allowed to demand better pay and why some are not, and of course, I solve the labor shortage "crisis" as well as another "crisis."

I wasn't sure what I was going to talk about in this episode. I start off by talking about why I haven't recorded a podcast in a month. That leads to talking about pain and gratitude.

It was kind of a first date. Also, we officially made it official. 

On the 20th anniversary of 9-11, I thought I'd share the story of where I was when I found out. It was quite uneventful, but there are some things in particular that I will never forget.

There is a new gym manager at Manchester Bally's and she and I end up "in the mix."

Last episode, I  talked about the first time I ever saw You Know Who. In this episode, I talk about the very next time I ever laid eyes on her, two years later.

I woke up this morning wondering what I should talk about. Something deep? Politics? More anti-vaxer stuff? Then it hit me, tell the story of us.

That's the title of a book I have in mind. "The Story of Us" will be about You Know Who and me. A real-life love story with a happy ending. I'm not sure when I'll ever be able to write it, so why not tell it on my podcast.

In this episode, I'll tell you about the first time I met You Know Who. If you are a reader of my series, you may recognize the story. I used it in Moncada.

So many people are losing their minds because the coronavirus vaccine is not FDA approved and, therefore, an "experimental drug." They claim that they don't want to be a "test subject." The thing is, if ingesting something that is not FDA approved makes you a test subject, then guess what? You have probably been one your whole life.

In this episode, I try to debunk more excuses for not getting vaccinated. Especially the ones based around the fact that it's not FDA approved.

I have come to realize that the burden we put on mothers is too much. We ask them to tend the house, the children, themselves, and their spouses. And we expect them to do it with a smile.

In this episode, I talk about why we are wrong as a society to put all of this burden on mothers when the history of our species shows that it was never done before.

It takes a village to raise a child is not just a popular quote. It's an African proverb and how children were raised for thousands of years.

For those who refuse to get vaccinated, you do you. I just want you to know that most of the reasons you based your decision on are BS.

In this episode, I dive into the reasons why people aren't getting vaccinated and try to debunk them. Also, I talk about how those who claim to be patriotic are doing their country a disservice by not getting vaccinated.

Happy father's day.

In this episode, I give an update on my health, my lab work, and my weight loss journey.

Also, I share an important factor that is guaranteed to kick you out of ketosis and back on the sugar train. It's something you'll least expect. At least I did.

I once told my employees, "If you don't like the way I run this business, feel free to go out there and start your own."

How very conservative of me, right?

Literally, I'm asking. Isn't this is how capitalist, republican, right-winged conservatives think? The "Get over it, Snowflake" or "Fuck your feelings" people? Aren't they also of the mentality that if you don't like it here, go elsewhere?

To these people, I say this: if you don't like the rules of the platform you use to spew your hate speech, go elsewhere. Or better yet, start your own.

In this episode, I talk about how dumb it is to be butthurt because Donal Trump is banned from Facebook.

What if all the immigrants seeking asylum in the United States were white? We would probably welcome with open arms, like what you see on The Handmaids Tale.

In this episode, I explore the similarities between what's going on in the Hulu series The Handmaids Tail and what's going on in real life at our southern border. I also talk about our lack of available labor and how I think it is connected to immigration or the lack thereof.

Like many other people, my first Tim Ferris book was The 4 Hour Work Week. I bought his next book when it came out, even though it was ridiculously priced. I ended up selling it on eBay for like $3. I decided to pass on his following few $30 books until I came across Tribe of Mentors as an audiobook.

In this book, Tim asks the same questions to several "successful" people. It's a bit boring having to hear the same questions repeated over and over again, but the answers were interesting. Within the first few hours, I started to notice a trend.

In this episode, I talk about the most common practices "successful" people attribute to their success.

Social media brought the Hubble Deep Field photo to my attention a few years ago, and it blew me away then. Recently I brought it up in conversation with You Know Who, and it made me want to look more into it. I did, and it blew my mind even more.

In this episode, I try to explain why this one little picture has made me feel insignificant and understand that the things we are taught to believe in certain religions can't be true.

When I randomly went to my youtube channel (where I also post my podcast) recently I found that I had several comments, views, and new subscribers. People have been watching and listening even though I haven't posted anything in over a year. This confirmed what I already knew. I needed to get back to making my videos and podcasts. 

In this episode, I explain what I have been up to the past year or so and go into why I don't have the energy to do anything. 

Doctors, nurses, first responders, they are essential. They need to go to work to save lives. But aren’t they always. We didn’t need a pandemic to know this. Until now, essential personnel has been the people who have had to go to work no matter what day of the year it is. People still need care even if it is Independence Day.

This includes those skilled trade workers. In order for these doctors, nurses, and first responders to do their job, the building they work in has to be operational. The ventilators we keep hearing about don’t run on faith. They need electricity. So do the computers and communication equipment used for dispatchers and 911 operators. Though they are not in the spotlight and not seen as essential, the men and women who keep the lights on and the water flowing are just as critical to saving lives as the men and women who work directly with sick people.

But these are not the essential people I talk about in this podcast. In this episode, I talk about the essential workers that have the jobs we all thought that were beneath us. The jobs that are now the most important in the world.

Have you ever been asked this question? It's a common exercise in which you are supposed to find out what you want to in life for a career. By taking the money out of the situation, you are forced to choose a vocation that is one that you love.

In the movie Office Space, a character named Michael Bolton says the question is bullshit because if everyone were supposed to do what they love for a living, there wouldn't be any janitors. He has a point, but the question is not bullshit.

In this episode, I talk to answer this question, explain why it's not bullshit, and talk about who is going to clean up after you.

I have thought for a while now that people who say that "people are too sensitive these days" are wrong. I still do, but I have found some truth in it.

There is a fine line, and I think I have defined it.

If something offends you, that's legit. You are not too sensitive. If you think something is offensive to someone else. Then yeah, you are probably too sensitive. Also, it's none of your business.

In this episode, I answer the question, are people too sensitive these days. The answers are Yes and No.

I was wrong. 

When the 2016 election came around, I had no interest in participating. Neither of the two candidates did anything for me. I didn't like them both equally. In fact, you could say that I hated them.

My hate for Donald Trump has proven warranted, but my disdain for Hillary Clinton has not. Just the opposite. I had no reason to hate her. I thought I did, but I did some digging, and none of those reasons are valid. I had an unfavorable opinion of this woman based on hearsay.

In this episode, I talk about what happened after I heard Hillary Clinton be interviewed on the Howard Stern show—how my and god knows how many others opinion of her changed.

I hit 300 pounds the other day. That puts me about 62 pounds over the weight that I maintained for several years since discovering paleo. So it's time to get my shit together.

Of all the reasons why I feel it's time to lose weight, how I look is at the bottom of the list. I feel like this is a major accomplishment for me. I feel like I spent my whole life trying to look thin and lean because I thought it made me more attractive.

Now that I am older and married to the girl of my dreams, I see how insignificant my weight really is with regard to being attractive. Especially since I am married to the woman who loved me the last time I weighed this much.

In this episode, I talk about the other reasons why I need to lose weight—much more important reasons.

Fifty Episodes?! Who knew I had that much to talk about? Or that people would even listen?

Today I am talking about my Just Before Bed Journal. What is it, how it works, and how it came about. To be brief, I'll just tell you that it's everything I have ever learned from all the self-help gurus and motivational speaker practices rolled into a straightforward routine.

I find this routine so beneficial that I created this journal so that it would perfectly facilitate the method I like to practice just before bed.

Is the entire world really messed up because you are insecure? In this episode, I talk about a recent experience where a contractor thought it was ok to vent to me about how messed up this world is because we have to do stuff like this. "This" was the installation of a gender-neutral bathroom.

What is wrong with creating a safe space? Why is this so bad that you have to talk negatively about it? I delve into this in this episode.

I was recently interviewed for a podcast and had my eyes opened to what white privilege is. I don’t take that phrase lightly as I don’t want to misuse it. I have probably never even said it (or wrote it) until now. I tend to avoid topics that I am not one hundred percent certain on. And I have not been one hundred percent certain that white privilege was even a thing, until now.

In this episode, I talk about how that conversation opened my eyes to what it's like to be white. 

Of all the things I claim to be in my twitter and Instagram bio, I've begun to question if I was still a podcaster or not. Well, I am. I just took some time off. 

When my son was born, it became tough to keep up with podcasting. When I got a job, it became even harder. I thought that I was done podcasting, but then the other day, I had to jump on a video chat for work from home. 

What better place than my in-home recording studio to conference call from? So I fired up my mic, put on my headphones, and followed the link to the google chat. That's when I realized how much I missed podcasting. 

In this episode, I talk about what has been keeping me from recording. Work, being a dad, and gaining weight have kept me out of my recording studio but not anymore. I am making time for what is turning out to be, Season 3 of the David Soto Jr. Podcast. 

Again I have been working on my journal and writing a short motivational essay of life lessons. This one below inspired me to record a podcast on the topic. 

It’s perfectly fine if doing what you love doesn’t pay the bills. Get a job, but don’t set your self up for misery.

People tend to base their cost of living on their income. When they realize that they hate their job, they’re stuck. They can’t quit because of the pay. If they were to get fired or laid off, they’d really be in trouble. This is an example of depending on your job.

Get to the point in your career that you can get out if you want to. No matter the reason—the boss is a jerk, you hate the environment, want to take the family on a summer trip to Europe—put yourself in a situation where you can walk at a moments notice. 

How do you do this? The process is simple: live below your means, become debt free, save some money. 

I’ve known dirtbags that lived on the cheap and worked somewhere like Whole Foods only long enough to save some money and hit the road again. Some of them were such hard workers that they had a job waiting for them when they came back. That’s having your job depend on you. 

Let’s say you're a suburbanite who has a family and corporate gig paying close to six figures. The process is the same, live below your means, get out of debt, save some money. It’s just spanned over years instead of months.

No, you don’t have to quit your job and take a two-year long road trip but imagine the feeling of being able to do it if you wanted to.

Learn the fundamentals so that you can concentrate on creativity. 

I have been working on a journal I want to publish. In this episode, I talk about the progress I'm making but more importantly I talk about what the short essay below sparked in my mind. 

When I was an HVAC instructor, I taught Electrical fundamentals in the morning and Refrigeration fundamentals at night. The classes were ten weeks long. After every session, the classes swapped and I’d start again. I did this over and over again for four years. 

When I eventually ended up back out in the field, I found that I was a superstar HVAC tech. I was good before, but after drilling the fundamentals in my head for four years, I became great. 

When you don’t have to think about the basics, your mind is free to concentrate on creativity. And your creativity sets you above the rest. It’s what makes your performance unique. It is your gift. 

You can not fully utilize your gift if you are too busy thinking, what is the finger position for a BMinor chord, or how do I dribble a basketball between my legs, or should I downshift coming into this turn, or in my case, what direction is the refrigerant flowing, or what is the voltage going to this compressor supposed to be. 

Before you can fully shine at a task, you have to have the fundamentals engraved in your subconscious—freeing up your conscious mind to focus on your creativity.  

I wanted to tell the story behind the story of The Namesake, David Alonzo. I mention it a little in the preface but I think there is no better way than to explain myself than in a video. 

I love writing magical realism because I believe in the magic a little. For example, I believe that I have had a life blessed with love because of my name. I want my son to have the same blessing, so I named him David as well. 

The main character in The Namesake, David Alonzo, David Luís, also feels that he has been blessed and want to pass that blessing on to his son. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out so well for David Alonzo. 

In this episode, I talk about the inspiration for the story The Namesake, David Alonzo. 

You haven't heard from me in a while because I have been busy. Busy going on job interviews, busy getting married, and busy having a baby.

David Jackson Soto was born 23 March 2019 at 0340 in the morning making that day the best day of my life. 

In this episode, I talk about that day and give the details of what I went through emotionally. From the scare he all gave us to the moment I got out my beats pill and play Hermoso Cariño for my son and proceeded to completely lose it.  

I'm active, have a daily calorie deficit, and am controlling my sugar so why can't I drop the pounds? I have a pretty good idea why. 

Every now and then, my weight gets out of control. And every now and then, I get a handle on it by adjusting my diet. There have been times though, that no matter what I eat or don't eat or how much I exercise, nothing happens or maybe just the opposite—I keep gaining weight. 

It's been in these times that I noticed the only way to drop the pounds was to do something most people don't associate with weight loss. 

In this episode, I talk about what I am experiencing now with my weight loss journey, how it's not working, and how I have dealt with it in the past.