Extraordinary Person #8: Fitz Kohler's Triumph: Crushing Cancer and Living a Healthier Life

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This podcast is part of the Deluxe Edition Network. To find other great shows on the network, head over to deluxeeditionnetwork.com. That's deluxeeditionnetwork.com.

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You're young. Your life is going exactly the way that you want it. Your future looks bright. But then one day you get a diagnosis that you have cancer. You can choose to lay down and let it win. But what happens when you decide to look cancer dead in this face and laugh at it? You turn out to have more of an extraordinary life than you already had.

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Join me as I talk to author, fitness guru, cancer crusher, and extraordinary person, Fitz Kohler, on this episode of True Crime in Authors. Welcome to True Crime in Authors podcast, where we bring two passions together. The show that gives new meaning to the old adage, truth is stranger than fiction.

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Here's your host, David McClam. What's going on everybody? Welcome to another episode of True Crime and Author's Extraordinary People's Edition. Of course, I'm your man, David McClam. If you guys haven't already, make sure you follow us on all of our social media. One link to a link tree will get you everywhere you need to go in the show notes. Well, today I have a fantastic, extraordinary person for you. If you don't feel inspired by the time we're done here,

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I don't know what to tell you. Let me tell you who our guest is. She is noisy, bossy, compelling. Fitzoffitness.com is the author of multiple books including My Noisy Cancer Comeback, Your Healthy Cancer Comeback, Sick to Strong and Healthy Cancer Comeback Journal, a busy keynote speaker, a professional race announcer, and a fitness expert. Her company, Fitness International, has a global reach.

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And she's a conquered every avenue of mass media to help people live better and longer. She is a cancer survivor, professional race announcer, fitness expert, and author of my noisy cancer comeback. Please welcome Fitz Kohler. Fitz, thank you for joining me today. Hi, David. And hello listeners. I am ecstatic and excited to have you here. Let's get going. You are a cancer survivor.

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Let's start with that. Can you tell us a little bit about how you found out about cancer and how that went with your life? Yes. And I do identify as a cancer crusher, not survivor. All right. That's even better. I've never heard that before. I like that one better. Yeah, I like to think that I beat the hell out of it, not the other way around. But yeah, in 2018, I was living my best life, athletic and healthy, walking the walk as a fitness pro. At the very end of 2018, I mean, I'm talking like December 27th.

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I went in, had a sparkling clean mammogram. There was nothing there. I was good to go. I walked out and I posted on Instagram. I squeezed my stuff. Everything's good. Go squeeze yours. And then seven weeks later, I got out of a hotel shower at a race weekend and I rubbed my under boob naked and I found a lump and it was a sizey lump. And so I instantly picked up the phone. I did not pass go. I did not collect 200. I did not Google it or call my mom and cry. I picked up the phone. I called my doctors.

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And within about a week or so, I had the appointments, the scans, the biopsies, and I was told, hey, Fitz, you have breast cancer and it is running through you like wildfire. It's already spread to the lymph nodes and we need to treat you quickly. Was it something that was missed in the mammogram or just happened? No, it was not missed. And it's been interesting, my scans have been reviewed by many other radiologists since and they all say...

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Dr. Yancey didn't miss anything. It just wasn't there. And so I've questioned that. I've said, well, how? How could it be? And they said, well, Fitz, you know, there is no rule that says the second you walk out of your mammogram, a cell doesn't go rogue, right? Perhaps it happened in the parking lot. That one cell went rogue and started multiplying in the worst way possible. And voila, I had a mean case of cancer. And I did not like it. They treated me very aggressively.

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So being that you're in the fitness, you are healthy, was this a shock when you found this out? Did this kind of set you back a little bit? The reality is I think anyone who hears you have cancer is shocked, right? It's a horrible, it's horrible news and it's stressful and it's scary, but I live in Gainesville, Florida. It's a big medical community based around the University of Florida. And we have a pediatric oncology wing.

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at the UF Health Hospital. And when you see so many kids walking around that are bald, that have missing limbs, that have been affected by cancer, how dare I ever think, why me? Because why that baby? When I see babies with cancer who have obviously done nothing wrong, I was surprised that I had cancer, but I wasn't surprised it was me. I always thought, well, why not me? Now that you know you have this, they say that it's spreading like wildfire.

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There had to be a little bit of fear that runs through you at that point of, what do I do now? There was a gargantuan amount of terror. It was, it's, it's funny, I'm a cool cucumber, so I don't ever cry over spilled milk or I definitely don't worry about milk that hasn't spilled yet. I'm just, I don't find any value and worrying and basking in misery, but the stress that comes with cancer is inordinate. And so yes, I was worried about me dying, right?

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So I like life so much. I like being here. I'm Earthbound. I'm happy to be here. Yay, land. But it really was the pain and suffering involved in thinking I wasn't going to be around to witness and support my kids as they grew up. That was agonizing. That was really just, it's hard to describe because once you have children, for most of us, our lives become...

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about them. Yes, I'm living my best life doing all the things to make Fitz Kohler happy too. But the thought of missing out on their future was just torture, torture. And it was a legitimate thought, too. I wasn't being irrational. But fortunately about I don't know, so I get diagnosed, they instantly treat me, they instantly get me in for scans, there was no waiting, there were no delays, they knew what was going on. And so these doctors thankfully shut old me quickly and

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About, I'd say a week or so after my diagnosis, my oncologist, whoever thought I'd have one of those, he looked me dead in the eye. He said, listen, Fitz, breast cancer, 94% of all breast cancer cases are curable. Your type is specifically curable. There will be suffering, but as long as you endure the cure, you're going to be okay. So I took his good advice, his wisdom, and stopped thinking as much about dying.

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So here's an interesting question. I'm sure no one's ever asked you this one. Tim McGraw wrote a song called, Live Like You Were Dying, which is around a guy who finds out young that he has, I believe, cancer, and his whole life changed. He said he lived a better life, he loved harder, he went fishing. Did you feel any type of things like that? Absolutely, absolutely. So I was a gamer before, and again, Suzy Sunshine. So kudos to the previous me, pre-cancer.

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once cancer happened, I stopped sweating even less of the small stuff. So just for an example, when I finished 15 months of chemo, which is a long time to have chemo, 15 months, mixed with 33 rounds of radiation and some surgeries, when I got done, I went out to, I did a Spartan race. So it was a month after getting.

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my final dose of chemo. I was like, let's go do it. So I went in, I was the slowest person out there. Who cares? Who cares? Where so many people are so worried about their time and, oh, what does somebody think? Why do I care? I just got done with cancer. It didn't matter. So a week later, I jumped into a triathlon. I think I'm going to do this. And mind you, I was skeletally thin, was way weaker than I was supposed to be, but I had been exercising and I felt a little cocky. So in the middle part of

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It's an 11 mile loop and I'm at mile eight and it's really hard for me. I'm struggling on the bike, but all I can think is, well, this is so much easier than the struggling I was doing one year ago today in the middle of that horrific mean cancer. And then towards the end of the bike, I'm going uphill and I'm just suffocating. I just, I start hyperventilating, I have to dismount. And this volunteer comes over, this guy is like, you can do it. He has...

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no idea what's going on with me, right? He just sees this like skinny girl and why is she out of shape? Why is she our dead last person? There's the cop car behind me. So in endurance racing, quite often we have law enforcement lead the way. So our pack is safe on their way out. And then we have a law enforcement officer following the last person to make sure everyone gets home safe. Well, that was me, right? I went from this fierce athlete a year prior to dead last finisher, is beat by past.

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by pregnant women, elderly, children, everybody of all obstacles passed me and there I was. So I'm stuck in the middle of the road and I can't move because I can't breathe. And it's, and this poor volunteer, he's like, you can do it. And all I'm thinking is, this is so great. This is so great. I'm the last, I'm the worst set of everybody. And I am the most proud person out here. Yay me, because I'm not.

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You know, I'm not being poked. I'm not being poisoned right now. The hard thing I'm doing is trying to get up this hill. This is totally doable. So was I dead last finisher? Hell yes, I was. Was I absolutely the most proud person? Hell yes, I was. So since then, you know, I agreed to run Boston Marathon. I had never done a marathon before, but I was like, well, shoot, how hard can a marathon be compared to cancer? And the same goes for all other sorts of wacky adventures I've been invited for. I just...

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Um, yeah, I will say no to almost nothing now, which is a real problem. What's our real problem? Well, I think that what you just said is a good message. And this is what I try to teach my younger son who's 13. He feels like that he has to win at everything. And I always try to tell him just because you don't come in first, doesn't mean you didn't win. If you had fun and you did the best that you could do, there's different ways of winning.

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And in your case, finishing dead last, there's a lot of people that have been like, you know what, this ain't even worth it. I'm just going to get off the trail. But because of the fact that you finished and you feel good about that, to me, you already won. Well, look how many people have no legitimate health obstacles, right? They're just kind of lazy or unmotivated. And they say things like, I can't do a 5k. I can't run. Okay. Well, if a bear were chasing you, could you run? And the answer is probably yes. All right. Well, if you can roam through the mall for an hour.

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you can do a 5K. So all of these people, they're just talking themselves down all the time. You know, that voice inside my head, she's the one that got me through so many terrifying experiences with cancer. It was her, it was her in there telling me, Fitz, you can do hard things, you can do this, you can do this. And she's the reason I would sit down and let them poke me with big needles in the chest on a regular basis. So, you know, if that voice in your head starts telling you how great you are,

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and how fun this is going to be or that you're capable, then your life is going to be so much better. Don't wait for cancer to start enjoying life, right? This is, and joy is an every man's sport. You can have it no matter what your socioeconomic situation is, your race, your religion, your sexuality, whatever, just choose joy, choose to be proud, and life will settle into place. So that brings me to something that I heard you say.

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So you're gonna find out that I do my research on you before you come on the show. Okay. There was a web link on YouTube of you doing a speaking. It was kind of a montage. And the one thing that, well, there's two things that caught me, but let's go with the first one. The first one you said perspective is important every single day, that you can't wake up on Monday and Thursday and be a grumpy Gus, that you don't have to wait until crisis happens. For my audience, can you go into a little bit about that? Cause I know a lot of people don't put anything in perspective until the worst things happen.

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Yeah, so I had a really good lesson in perspective many years before my diagnosis. So I was in a grocery store, Publix. People in the Southeast know it's the best grocery store ever in the world. Woohoo, Publix. But I was in the quick checkout lane, like 10 items or less. And I was in a hurry. And there was a 9,000-year-old woman in front of me. And she had about 40 million items on the checkout lane. And she was paying with a check.

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in my mind I was stewing, right? I was thinking, oh my gosh, lady, this is inappropriate, get out of here, I gotta go. I would never have said that to her or anybody else, but in my mind, I was really having a little hissy fit. And then I looked to lane two, aisle two next to me, and there was a beautiful little girl in a red and yellow and blue shiny, a snow white dress and a bald head. And so there I was now being a crybaby over delays, and I look at this family and I look at this little girl and I think, oh, what they must be going through.

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what in my life is worthy of complaining compared to that? And the answer was absolutely nothing. And so from that point on, my mantra became, it's not cancer. And so if red wine spills on the white couch, it's not cancer. My car gets totaled. And around New Year, I had two vehicles totaled in my family. One of them, I was in a horrific crash. We both walked away.

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It's not cancer. I wasn't worried about this car crash, you know, we were safe So, you know you can use that perspective every day where if it's a traffic jam Maybe you're grateful that you're not in the accident ahead that caused the traffic jam So perspective is always going to brighten up your day You know the things that you like to focus on so many people they you know If they get an argument at the grocery store or whatever they want to tell everybody for the rest of the day about their argument

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And what is that doing that's kind of dragging everybody down, right? You're you're adding toxicity to everybody around you instead think, ah, I had some words and I got over it. Nobody got punched in the face. It's a good day. So I do believe perspective is king. And then, you know, I went from my perspective being it's not cancer. And then all of a sudden it was. And so was that my cue to freak out and melt down and, you know, cry that the sky was falling?

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It could have been, but I chose perspective once again. And for me, it was how fortunate I am not to be a kid with cancer and how fortunate was I that it wasn't my kid with cancer. And so because of that perspective, I chose to put on my big girl panties and soldier on and I got it done. And so please don't wait for something horrible like cancer or ALS or multiple sclerosis or paralysis. There's a whole bunch of horrible things going on in the world. And hopefully you're,

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Listeners aren't experiencing anything of the sort and perhaps they should be grateful for it. So now you crush cancer. You are an extremely busy woman. I have never interviewed one before, so I need to ask you, what is it like to be a professional race announcer? Oh, it's the best. It's the best, David. I get, I get to serve the most wonderful people on earth. I have.

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tens of thousands of people sometimes showing up to my races and they're always taking care of their own health, their communities and great causes. So I show up giddy to get to work because I love being around these people. But when you show up on race day, usually a pretty significant race are the ones that hire me. I'm waiting on a stage at the start line with some killer music playing. It's my playlist custom mixed. And so

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So all of a sudden you feel like you want to move because Fitz is playing the good tunes, but I'm there to engage everybody, inform them and entertain. So I do a lot of talking within the hour of start time and ideally build everybody into a community, make sure everybody feels welcome and wanted, knows what to do, knows where to go. And right before the start of the race, I whipped them into a frenzy. I just finished, I just announced Los Angeles marathon a few weeks ago and it is hard.

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to describe the joy wrapping around Dodger Stadium. That's where we start the LA Marathon. And there's 20 something thousand people lined up and I call it the whoopee party. They're just having so much freaking fun. They're elated. They are, it's like crack heads, healthy crack heads. So excited. And in the best ways, you know, I mean, they're just bursting with energy. So many people say, oh, a marathon, how horrible. And these people are saying.

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life. I'm going to live it today. Today's my day for athletic adventure. So I whip those wonderful, healthy, beautiful souls into a frenzy. Then I yell go and they all run by me waving and cheering and smiling, which is just a blessing for me. I love, I absorb all their joy. And then I move over to the finish line and wait for them. So sometimes it's a one mile, sometimes it's a 5k, a half marathon. I announce all different distances, but when they come through, my job is to make sure.

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Each and every last one of them feels like a champion. And so the first finishers, they get a true champion's welcome. The final finisher gets a true champion's welcome. It's such a fun thing to do. And I think I do it well because I am a runner. I understand the game. I understand what it's like to be out at mile 14 or mile 10 and hit the wall and chafe and have a blister and have your whole body scream and stop. But you keep going. And so.

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when they come through the finish line, I worship them. And I love pouring the love on these people. I probably go over the top with it sometimes, but, uh, I, that's my actual career professional race announcer and it's spectacular. So now you are a fitness expert. You own your own company called fitness. Yeah. Tell us a little bit how you got into the fitness expert realm. So I started teaching fitness.

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probably right as I turned 15, fell in love with it. I was good at it and I kept going. And through college, things got interesting. I ended up working over the summer on a world-class cruise ship sailing through Russia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, all of Scandinavia, England, France. So that was a wonderful experience. Came back to UF and there was a TV producer casting for a television show, a fitness television show. So I auditioned and he hired me, thank goodness.

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And soon after the show started airing, strangers started coming up and saying, Fitz, I love you and I work out with you every day and I've lost 17 pounds or my back doesn't hurt. And I just was so moved by that. It's one thing to help the 50 people in the classroom, you're teaching at a gym. It's a completely different beast to teach thousands or millions via mass media, to be able to help strangers, phenomenal. And I'm a helper and my mission is to help as many people as possible, right?

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My addiction to mass media grew strong with TV, grew stronger writing articles. And I have, I really have pursued every format of mass media to help people live better and longer. So that brings me to the second thing in the speech that I saw you give that grabbed me. So in this era, not so much anymore, I think the show's done, but there's been a lot of shows like the Biggest Loser that comes out, you know, they preach exercise, they preach diets and supplements.

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You stated that weight loss isn't a diet, pills, supplements or shakes. This is a total different thing than what people hear when they go to the gym. Can you elaborate on that for us a little bit? Yes, and I'm happy to. And I wanna start by saying I do have a master's in exercise and sports sciences and I've been teaching for decades. And the reason I'm so successful is because I tell the truth. And I've turned down millions of dollars in endorsement dollars for snake oil.

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those supplements, those weight loss supplements, those weight loss shakes that would do you no good, probably only harm and take your hard earned money. I've rejected a lot of money on your behalf. In fact, I feel like my other role is consumer advocate because the truth is there is no magic pill. The only thing that will get you in a fit body and keep you there is watching what you put in your mouth, real food and moving your body off and getting quality sleep. And I also add remove the cranky people. So,

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Any product you see that has the word weight loss on it is fraudulent, is a scam. Any diet, including keto, including intermittent fasting, it's not for longevity. Those things lead to misery and suffering and failure. And so instead of torturing yourself doing all of these hokey gimmicky things that are short-term leading to long-term misery, start managing your intake. So right on the cover of fitznist.com, folks, that's F-I-T-Z.

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n-e-s-s dot com. There's an article called the exact formula for weight loss. Read it. It's free. I don't want your money. I just want you to learn how to eat the right amount of the right food for the size you want to be. There is no category of food specifically you should never have. So people say that you should never have something white. Really? No potatoes ever. Never a slice of pizza. I think that's outrageous. You should never have food before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. You've lost your mind. You know, humans have a fast

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built into our life cycle. It's called breakfast, a sleep. Sleep is when we fast and we wake up and we need nutrition to go be active and do the things we wanna do. So please stop with the hokey diets. Just really, food's not that complicated. You just gotta eat reasonably and within a particular amount, again, for your size goals. Aim for quality nutrition more often than not. And you too can feel fabulous inside that very own.

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body of yours. I'm 45 pounds less than I was in high school, and I've kept it off for decades based off of just learning this formula and sticking to it. So I'm glad that you say that because of the fact that my wife still goes to him because my wife hates change, but I fired our endocrinologist because I'm a diabetic. And the one reason why I did was because instead of sitting me down and telling me what diabetes was and how it was affecting me, he wanted to yell and scream at me. And one day my numbers has got out of control.

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I was waking up at 250, 300, didn't know why. I was doing everything I was supposed to do. And he pretty much looked at me and goes, you're F'd. You're not doing anything you're supposed to do. And I'm sitting here going, doing everything I'm supposed to do. Found this wonderful doctor by means of the internet. Came 2020, found Dr. Wu, Carbon Health. I was skeptical because it was an internet company. They sit in LA, but everything was virtual because I'm going to put a, we're going to put a meter on you and we're going to get you back. And he explained to me what it was.

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And he said, you do everything in moderation. He goes, the first thing they tell you to do is cut out sugar and you can't eat carbs, you can't eat this. He goes, you can eat anything you want as long as it's moderated. And he's helping me beat that. So when I run into people like you that's in that industry that preaches is not a magic pill, doesn't matter what diet that they put you on, this is what you have to do. I really appreciate that. Now, of course, you know what the truth goes.

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Really really far and so what i found is these hacks these liars these snake oil salesman who want nothing more than your money they will stoop to no levels i mean they just keep going right they put the word weight loss on something with and people fall for it over and over again i think it's such a horrible thing to do i know what it's like to be in a body that i'm uncomfortable with and when i was a teenager i just didn't know you know i terrible eating habits my parents.

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They gave me a lot of unhealthy food. I started drinking in college. I earned a bigger body and I became a bulimic. It really was hard times feeling so bad about myself. And then when I finally learned, again, how to eat the right amount of the right food for the size I wanna be, folks, when people read the exact formula for weight loss, including the frequently asked questions, all of a sudden, all they say is it can't be that simple. And the answer is, yeah, it really is that simple.

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Eating shouldn't be complicated. You shouldn't have to count macros and look at your watch. If you're hungry, eat some food, but you eat some food. Don't overeat all the food. And you know, if you can choose raspberries and bananas over fried onions and fried pickles, okay, choose it. You know, it doesn't mean you can never have a fried pickle, but you're right. It's moderation and finding out what works for you. So can health and fitness impact remission and recurrence rates?

25:37
100% it's incredible the amount of studies out there are endless to show that cancer patients who move their body and choose quality nutrition can increase the ring their chances of remission they can also reduce chances of recurrent so it's a exercise in nutrition are powerful tools and anyone who's really fearful of their diagnosis they should get on it and that's why i wrote your healthy cancer comeback it's a guidebook.

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that teaches people, okay, you've been diagnosed, that you're going through treatment. Here's exactly how to manage your nutrition and your exercise during the process. Well, that's a perfect segue because that's exactly where we're going now. Talk a little bit about your book, My Noisy Cancer Comeback. My first question is, where did you come up with the name for it? My Noisy Cancer Comeback? So that one's the memoir and...

26:26
You know what I found during my treatment is I kept the private details of what was going on behind closed doors to myself because they didn't want to be pitied. When I announced to the world via video, my very strange video content, I said, hey guys, bad news, good news. Bad news is I found a lump and it is cancer. Good news is I'm curable. I'm going to show up. I'm not staying home for the next year and a half. I'm going to show up around the country announcing these races, doing these speeches.

26:53
I don't want any pity. So you can cheer for me. You can wish me well, but I will not accept pity. And so as things were going on, what I found is that I just, I kept the dark side, the sick side, the suffering side to myself because my role is a beacon of health and happiness. Right. And I just decided I didn't want to be that person who was constantly down. You know, so many people want to get on social media and be pray for me.

27:18
I sprained my ankle, oh God, pray for me, my dog is at the vet, pray for me. And I don't resonate with that need to get that type of attention. I would much rather watch people watch me stand up. So it was all about the comeback for me. It was, I'm going to make my healthy comeback, healthy cancer comeback. And because I'm so noisy, that's, you know, people call me noisy, they call me bossy. So I stuck with noisy. It's my noisy cancer comeback. And that's.

27:47
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28:47
Listeners of true crime and authors get 15% off using code TCA15 found in the show notes. For a better and more comfortable sleep, get your sweet Z pillow today. Like in the book, you didn't take a year off. You kept going. Now you have to do all the things you do appearing differently because now because of cancer, you're bald. How did you handle that?

29:15
Well, that was a decision that I kind of fell into. I thought before treatment started, before I had my first dose of chemo, I thought, yeah, maybe I'll get wigs. I mean, I just, I don't know. And I had waist length, long hair. I decided maybe it would be fun for my kids. So we all went shopping one day to go, you know, to get a wig. And so I go into this wig store and instantly I feel really uncomfortable. I feel really uncomfortable. And the sweet woman, Lynn was her name.

29:45
She asked, I sat in the chair, she sat, and I told her what was going on. She said, can I pray on your head? And I thought, okay, that's very nice of you. And she did. She said she didn't have a lot. Like the reality is, David, is black girls have a whole heck of a lot more fun with their hair than white girls do. There's a whole bunch of wigs and extensions and stuff for black girls. There was maybe seven for someone like me. And so she brought out these wigs one after another and each one she put on my head made me sad. I got sadder.

30:14
and sadder and they felt kind of itchy. And all I could think was, I can't do anything that makes me sadder than I already am. I can't do anything that makes me more uncomfortable than I already am. And these wigs are breaking my heart. So men, I think, I mean, I love a bald guy, I love a tight hairdo on men. And I thought, well, men don't hide their bald heads. So I'm not gonna hide mine. So I made that decision in that wig store.

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under my tears, you know, I was trying so hard not to cry, but it was just so painful. And then once I did go bald, I just really had to decide that I had to own it, right? Because sometimes people would say things like, Oh, your hair was your trademark. And I thought, well, how lame is that? My hair was not my trademark. My trademark was my education and my bossiness and my noisiness and my ability to get people to do better and be better, not my stupid hair. So

31:07
Yes, I was heartbroken over losing my hair. But when I came home to shave my head, so I lost a lot of my hair on stage at LA Marathon. That's in the book. That's a long other story. But I came home, I shaved my head, it made me cry, but I started getting used to it, right? And then the very next weekend, I had to go back to California to announce the Encinitas Half Marathon. And it was a cold day, and on cold days, I've always worn fuzzy hats. But when I got to my stage, I thought, okay.

31:34
here's a moment and I'm not gonna wear the freaking hat. I'm going to let people know that this is okay. I'm gonna normalize it, right? There was maybe 10,000 athletes and I decided that I know some of them, many of them are gonna have cancer one day, many of them are gonna have a bald head and I want them to know that it's okay to wear your bald head and I'm gonna be just fine. So I went around with my bald head and I was okay with it, so.

32:02
It would certainly make people gasp, right? If it was a hot day or a cold day and I had a hat and I pulled it off for the anthem or something, all of a sudden you can you could see people's physical response to my head going, oh, oh, my gosh, she's bald. She's got cancer, you know, so it was powerful. It got their attention and I.

32:21
I would often take maybe 45 seconds to tell people, yes, I have cancer. Yes, I'm going to beat it, but I'm only going to beat it because I found it early. So make sure you get your annual exams and squeeze your stuff. So bald. I hope I never have to go back there again. But if I do, I hope I'm able to summon up the courage to own my appearance and, more importantly, own the other parts of me that are more important. Well, nowadays, bald is the end for women.

32:48
You know, so it's a hairstyle now. There's a number of women I do know that has no cancer with their bald because they like it, they love it. I've written to people that they were raised that hair is nasty, right? That hair holds smells so they shave everything. So hopefully you never go back there. But now it's a trend, so. Yeah, you know what? I see so many women, especially women rocking it and they're so good with makeup. Here's...

33:13
Here's the other thing, I wasn't good with makeup, so I did my best, but I fell short quite often. And then the other thing is I looked sick. So no matter how much tanning spray I put on or eyelashes or whatever, I look like a sick person. So being sick and bald is a lot less sexy than just being bald, because you're a fierce, sexy woman. But whatever, I managed it. I sometimes before leaving my hotel,

33:41
bathroom, I would look in the mirror and I just would take a deep breath and say, fake it. Just fake confidence, go out there and, and cause you have no choice. It, I just had to go, right? I had to go get on those stages. And even if I wasn't feeling beautiful or healthy, I just, I, I sucked it up and soldiered on and it all worked out. Even though you were a little closed door about, you know, your cancer stuff like that, what made you decide to write My Anoisee Cancer Comeback?

34:09
So two things. Number one is that when things started going down with me after I started treatment, they were wacky, so wacky. All this bizarre stuff started happening to me. And I kept thinking, how come nobody warned me? How come nobody's talking about this? I know this can't be exclusive to me. So for example, that Encinitas half marathon, I go there, me and my bald head, and I'm at the finish line now, and a woman, Dana Sabatka, she's finishing her race.

34:36
And she had breast cancer, she had beaten breast cancer the year prior, that's how I met her. Her friends introduced her to me and I cheered for her and she's with Stay In Contact. So anyway, she crosses the finish line, I say, hey Dana, come on over to my stage and give a hug. And so she does and she says, how are you doing? And I was so sick, everything was going wrong with me, but I just didn't want to say it. So I said, well, I've got allergies. That was the minimal thing I can mention, because I had all these tissues on my table, on my stage, little balls and tissues. And she goes...

35:04
you don't have allergies. I go, oh yeah, I do. I've got rashes and I've got bumps. My nose is running. She goes, Fitz, you don't have any nostril hair. And I said, what? And she goes, you don't have any nostril hair. That's why your nose is running. And I said, you're kidding me. And then so I tilted my head back and I said, look. And she looked up my nose and she goes, yeah, there's no hair in there. And so I thought.

35:26
That's wild, right? So I have no nostril hair. My nose is running like a sieve. My eyes changed colors. That was bizarre. My fingernails rotted out on my hands, literally rotten fingers that I had to live with for weeks. It was so gross. And it was so wacky, all of it, that I was laughing. You know, I mean, I have a kind of a silly sense of humor, but I thought this is absurd. And then I started to think, you know what? People would get a really good laugh if they knew this stuff.

35:56
I definitely wasn't getting on social media saying, oh my God, my fingers and nails are rotting off. But I thought, once it's over and people can no longer pity me, this would be some pretty funny storytelling. And then halfway through my treatment, I had really kind of realized that I had made some very good decisions that were truly benefiting me. And my whole business is about helping people do better and be better. And I really felt like I had to share.

36:25
these principles to help other people through hard times as well. So that's how Noisy was written. What do you want people to learn about you and why should people read it? So I don't necessarily care about them learning about me. They are gonna read a bunch of funny, silly, crazy, wackadoo stories that went on as I traveled the country, balled, and everybody on earth interacted with me. And some of those were very funny.

36:49
But really what I want people to do is learn about themselves. I want them to learn what they're capable of and learn what they're made of and they will identify even if you haven't had cancer, you know, you may change your perspective because I share these stories about mine. You may choose to pursue your passions no matter what. That's a big message there. And you know, I can tell you that I was violently ill for a very long time.

37:16
And we had to do a lot of work to keep me on my feet. I had IV fluids every day. There was a lot of effort to keep me upright. But I am so grateful I got on those 30-something planes during treatment. Because even if I had slept on the hotel bathroom floor, and I did that quite frequently as a sick person, 430 in the morning, my alarm would go off. I'd drag myself off the ground. I'd get dressed. I'd go to the stage. Now mind you, everything was wrong with me. Every morsel in my body was.

37:45
devastated in some regard. The second I stood on those stages, everything that was wrong with me disappeared. I was energetic, I felt good, I was happy. All of my focus was on those wonderful events I was hosting and those incredible people I was serving. And so having a passion is the greatest distraction from suffering and misery. And as long as I had an athlete out on the course, whether it was four hour day or a 10 hour day, I was in there. I was full force Fitz-Cohler.

38:15
Now, would I shut down after? Pretty intensely, I would. The lessons on pursuing your passions in good days and in bads, much like perspective. If you love dogs or animals, okay, make sure you always have some sort of animals in your day. And then if you're in the hospital, okay, well, at least watch funny animal videos on the internet or have a cute little stuffed animal or whatever it is. You can include your passions in your life. So that's what my noisy cancer comeback.

38:44
has to offer some funny stories, a little bit of sadness, but mostly a lot of really good lessons learned and I think big laughs. So after that, when you added another two to the list, your Healthy Cancer Comeback, Sick to Strong, and Healthy Cancer Comeback Journal, why did you write a series on cancer? Yeah, so the memoir was, I just have great stories to tell, right?

39:10
I was halfway through my treatment. I had had surgery. I think I was just starting radiation, but I got back in the gym after surgery and after the meanest part of my chemo and I was skeletally thin. I was about, I don't know, I was just really skinny and I had lost so much weight. It was one of those times where my mom, you know how moms are, moms will tell you the truth. And she was always saying, eat, eat and be like, I'm trying. I'm having a rough time with my digestive system.

39:36
And then she says, well, you look like you're in the Holocaust. And I said, oh, thanks, mom. I get it. I know. So I looked really bad. And then I go to the gym. And I'm going to lift weights. So I sit down on a machine. I poke the pin in where it used to be. And I can't move the weights at all. So I lower the pin. Can't move the weights at all. What I found is that I had lost 80% of my strength. 80% of my strength was gone. And at that moment, it could have been a turning point where I just cried and ran to my car and ran home. But.

40:06
Thankfully, because I'm a fitness expert, I knew exactly how to rebuild my body and I had no doubt that I would do it. I was there, this scrawny, weak skeleton girl thinking, I got this, I'm gonna build it back, no problem. But at the very same time as I was feeling confident, I started thinking about my peers. You know, what about all of these other cancer patients and survivors who have been brutalized by treatment and they aren't fitness experts and they have no idea?

40:36
how to rebuild their body, right? And you've seen it. You mentioned your mother passed away. She had cancer and we've all watched cancer deaths. It's incredible. Some people gain a lot of weight during cancer care. Many people don't know that. So when I thought about them, I just thought, well, I would be derelict if I did not put my highly credentials and experienced fitness expertise along with my cancer street cred, my understanding, my deep, deep understanding of what it's really like.

41:06
to help people and so your healthy cancer comeback was born. That book is jam packed with information for all types of people with all types of cancer and all different stages to help them A, slow the decline. So how do you prevent your body from atrophying, from getting weak, from getting too skinny or too big, all of those things, how do you prevent that decline? There's method to that madness. It's through exercise and nutrition and quality care. And then,

41:35
How do you rebuild your body as you start coming back to life? Can you rebuild your body? The answer is yes. Your healthy cancer comeback is being purchased by cancer centers and oncologists who are buying it because they want their patients to have it. And it's a big misconception that when you're sick, all you should do is rest. If you rest too much, your muscles will atrophy, your flexibility will decrease, your balance will suffer, you'll be more prone to falls. And so rest is important.

42:03
But if you're lying in bed, can you stretch your shoulders for sure? Can you stretch your legs? Absolutely. Can you stretch in the shower? Yes. Can you sit in a chair, wave your arms around and do some cardio or strength training? Absolutely. And so that's what that book is packed with. It's the exercise nutrition during treatment, after treatment, um, surgeries included, and it's doing such wonderful things. I'm so grateful for the feedback from.

42:28
the cancer patients that are using it and the oncologists that are recommending it. And then the journal, that is just this awesome place to keep track of all of your cancer details, like your scans and your results and your diagnosis, but then also the fun stuff and the cathartic stuff, your fears, your faith, your family, the funny stuff. So David, people told me all the time that I look like crazy Britney Spears. All the time.

42:55
You look like crazy Britney Spears. Oh, thank you. And then sometimes I get, or that Star Trek chick or Grace Jones. And I was like, all right, bring it. My best friend nicknamed me Noisy Mannequin. And so there's a real funny side of cancer. And so there's an opportunity in there too. What have you nicknamed your port? What celebrity do you look like bald? And then...

43:16
The back half of the book is a place to log your journey from sick to strong. It's a place to put in all your workouts and your nutrition, your hydration, your rest, your strawberry moments and more. Well, man, these are, these are things people need. You know, that's when you get a newness, you don't have anybody, even a book these days to come and be honest with you and say, this is how we're going to get you through it. So.

43:42
Anyone out here who's struggling with these things, even if you're not read the book, if you know somebody who is, make sure you get copies of Fitz's books, pass them along. She can help them get back and crush cancer. All that information will be at the end of the episode. Now, the one thing is, is that you are an indie publisher, you're self-published. Now I have, most of the authors I've interviewed are indie published.

44:10
When I talk about this topic, I always go back to an author of an interview named Kirsten Modulin. Kirsten Modulin is like the show-prey for indie publishers because she releases almost one to two books a month. What? So she releases more books than mainstream publishers that I know of. She's a national bestseller, Amazon bestseller, The Whole Nine. Why do you choose and what is the best part for you of self-publishing? So I did do traditional publishing in the past and I

44:40
Didn't want to leave these projects in anybody else's hands i wanted control i also had an ugly experience with the traditional publisher and their. Integrity didn't match up with mine you know they were interested in selling lies. Because people buy that stuff well okay well that's not why i do what i do it's not to make a quick book it's a tell the truth and better people so i didn't want traditional publishers to be able to mess with my words or my designs.

45:07
And I find self-publishing to be very rewarding. I love hiring contractors that I believe in, the editor that I think matches best with my writing style and the proofreader who I trust more than anything. And these two books, The Most Recent Healthy and The Journal, are highly designed. They're colorful. And with my first book from the traditional publisher, I had no say over images or cover design.

45:36
And with these books, I just, I wanted them to be happy. You know, everything with cancer is so macabre and dreary and beige and bald and upsetting. And I just want to enjoy. So David can see it, nobody else can, but there's a heck of a lot of color here and there's nothing sad and there's nothing pathetic. And it's, I want people to open up my books and say, hooray. And so.

45:59
Um, on the cover of my memoir, I do look like yay cancer, but crushing cancer. That's truly the message I'm after. Well, that's definitely the first thing you know, I said, when I saw your photo, I'm like, she is extremely happy. And then you read your bio and you're like, wow, you know, if she could be happy doing all of that, that I have nothing to complain about. So let's talk a little bit about

46:26
Before we go here, FITZ, F-I-T-Z-N-E-S-S, this is your company. What does your brand stand for and represent? So it's got my name on it, but it's about you. And so FITZ is purely to help people live better and longer by making fitness understandable, attainable and fun. And so I say understandable because I need your buy-in. If you don't understand why this is relevant, you're never going to take action. So it's always about starting by saying,

46:55
Why is this important? And it's really simple, stupid stuff. People, you know, it's undeniable. There are undeniable benefits. You may not understand the whole gamut, but let's start there. Understandable, attainable. Can you be this better version of yourself? Absolutely. So I can't be tall like Michael Jordan, but I can be the same version of strong or athletic my own way. So, you know, can you attain the things you want? Yeah. You know, some people say,

47:23
I can't lose weight. Well, that's a lie because if you were stranded at sea with nothing but water for seven days, you would come back way in less. So your body will lose weight. It's just about understanding how. So understandable, attainable, and last but not least fun because I find if people aren't enjoying the process, they won't return to it. So I want people to know that they can have a good time, that exercise can be enjoyable. You don't have to do it the way I do it. You just do it the way you do it, but get it done.

47:51
And I'm assuming you do have like gym locations? I have no gym location. So everything I do is via media. So it's TV, radio, books, magazines, online presence. I do corporate presentations, keynotes. So if folks are part of the professional community or nonprofit community, they can hire me to come help make their organization better.

48:15
companies like disney oakley tropicana office depot of hired me american cancer association american heart association american diabetes association so i come in and i help people do better and be better and when employees and associates are functioning at a much higher level they produce so much more for their companies and organization so yeah hiring me to speak is really one of the best ways and then.

48:41
At fitness.com I have books. I've got a lot of free information there, but I also have an online course called Fixing Your Life With Fitness. So if you would like somebody to hold your hand and tell you the honest truth and break down fitness, making it very simple and attainable, that's the Fixing Your Life With Fitness course at fitness.com is where you wanna go. What will people gain from fitness that they didn't gain from anywhere else they went to looking for this type of help?

49:10
They'll gain those aha moments where they go, oh, that makes sense. So, oh, all right, I can believe that they can get it much of it for free and they can do it themselves. So yeah, people are going to get those aha moments. I think I have a master's degree in the most simple, stupid science in the world. Other people are complicating it, making you count your macros for crying out loud, making you skip breakfast, skip dinner.

49:34
dance on your head, rub weird creams on your thighs. None of that is true, you know? You come to me, I wanna tell you the truth, and you're gonna go, oh, that makes sense, and then you're gonna be able to act on it. Being that you are who you are, you've got all these degrees, you obviously have something that's very marketable. Why do you choose to give a majority of this away for free? Of my content? Because I never wanted someone's, I never wanted a dollar to stand between me and somebody

50:04
being healthy and and i feel like i don't feel i know the biggest lie out there is wrapped around nutrition and weight loss and so achieving your ideal weight is very important it's funny there's there's some celebrities out there they're super overweight and everything you're beautiful and i agree they're gorgeous gorgeous women perhaps i see so many beautiful women and hunky guys but the reality is is there spinal columns and their joints are being punished with every step they take in their heart and lungs are not in a good place either so

50:33
Whether they're beautiful or not is completely subjective. It's about being healthy. So ideal weight matters. You don't have to be skinny. Skinny is unnecessary. It's about you being healthy and your body performing at a high level and your body feeling good. Pain-free is way more important than skinny. I tell you that, pain-free.

50:56
goes the farthest for me. So yeah, come to me, I give that information away because I want you to be able to get to your ideal weight first and foremost. And really my article, my website is filled with thousands of articles that give it all away. Just the course breaks it down into a very specific format so it's all there in one place. And then the books, obviously they're very targeted. What do you say to that man or woman that has cancer that feels defeated?

51:26
that's laying on their back right now says, my world is over with all you've overcome. What word of encouragement would you give to them? So number one, it's not over till it's over. And number two is control what you can. So I couldn't control the fact that I had cancer once I had it. I needed Western medicine to come in and save my day with surgeries and chemo and radiation. However, there were things within my power that I could do to benefit my own case. Again, exercise, nutrition.

51:55
sleep those things helped me get closer to remission and I haven't had a recurrence. I'm hoping that's because I take good care of myself So, you know, you don't have to be who you once were if you used to be this great tennis player and today you feel Like crap and you can't play tennis. I get it But if you're lying down in bed, can you do a bridge and strengthen your back? Yeah, you probably can can you stretch your quads or your hamstrings?

52:21
Sure. And that movement is just going to simply feel good and it's going to prevent your body from getting worse. So don't give up on you. Keep doing the things that you can when you can. You don't have to do all the things you used to do right now. Just be gentle, be compassionate with yourself, but be disciplined and determined. And hopefully things will turn around. So in closing, what would you like to say to all of your fans and readers and even the new people who we just introduced fits to today?

52:51
I love you all and as we talked about I give you the truth that the cold hard truth and sometimes that's what you need to hear but I'm excited for you to make progress hopefully I've convinced you to utilize some good resources and take your health seriously and I love love love love celebrating your victories I'm easy to find an easy to connect with so.

53:15
You know, a lot of people want to just follow me on social media. I'm at Fitzness. That's great. You can follow. I'll give you a high quality content in return, but I would much rather you reach out and say, I heard you on the true crimes and authored podcasts. And I'd love to connect because I would much, much, much rather have friends than followers. Well, Fitz, I appreciate you being here today. This was an enlightening conversation. You are a bright young woman and I am better for knowing you.

53:43
You've given me a lot of tips just listening to you. Uh, and I highly recommend your books to everybody. So thank you for coming on today. I really appreciate it. You're a delight, David. Thank you for your time and thanks listeners for your ear. Anytime you want to come back, you know how to get ahold of me. Let me know. You're always welcome. Deal.

54:04
Alright guys, that was the amazing Fitz Kohler. You can learn more about her at fitness.com. F-I-T-Z-N-E-S-S dot com. You can also get her books, My Noisy Cancer Comeback, Your Healthy Cancer Comeback, Sick to Strong, and Healthy Cancer Comeback Journal at Amazon. Make sure you go pick up her books. They will enlighten and better your life.

54:32
Also, if you go to True Crime and Authors to her episode, there will be a link to all of her bio and all of her social medias will also be there so you can reach out to her. All right, so I thank you for tuning in to this one. Hope you guys are all being great and healthy out there. Always remember these things. Always stay humble. An act of kindness can make someone's day. A little love and compassion.

55:01
It goes a long way and this is the podcast where two passions becomes one. I'll catch you guys on the next one.

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Cover art and logo designed by Dazzling Underscore Ray from Fiverr. Sound mixing and editing by David McClam. Intro script by Sophie Wild from Fiverr. And I'm the voice guy, your imaging guy from Fiverr. See you next time on True Crime and Authors.