Episode 377

Riding a Bike Transformed His Physical and Mental Health with Jeremy Grater

Published on: 28th January, 2025

One line from his brother changed Jeremy Grater's life: decide to be the weird guy who bikes to work. For years, Jeremy saw everything through the lens of depression. Even on good days, he knew the next episode was coming. Then he hurt his knee getting out of bed. With knee replacements in his family, his physical therapist told him to ride a bike as much as possible. Jeremy complained to his brother, who told him to just own it. Jeremy bought a bike off Craigslist and started riding nine miles to work and nine miles home. The bike forced him to pay attention to right now, instead of replaying the past or dreading the future. That led him to a therapist who taught him to meditate. One change opened the next, from eating better to quitting alcohol. Today Jeremy is 70 pounds lighter. He's in the longest stretch of his life without a major depressive episode, and he credits a consistent gym routine most.

Jeremy also had to rebuild who he was. He spent 20 years in commercial radio as a talk show producer, fill-in host, and assignment editor. His doctor told him the job was killing him. Leaving it meant losing his connections and the influence that had defined him. He and his family also moved from the US to British Columbia, where they knew nobody. Jeremy tells Mike Forrester that saying your thoughts out loud helps your brain process them. Then ask who you would be if you could wake up as anyone, and act like that person. He trains for life by doing hard things on purpose, like cold plunges and heavy lifts. A bad day at work, he says, matters less after you've sat in ice water.

When life knocks you off your routine, Jeremy says to start with one thing. Go to the gym once the first week, then twice the next. Consistency means showing up wherever you can, not following a perfect schedule. Before eating out of boredom or stress, he pauses to ask why he's really at the pantry. He points out that one hour a day is about 5 percent of it, and it can change everything. His favorite picture is a gas tank. If you fill it before it hits empty, you can take your family much further. Mike admits his kids used to take the brunt of his anger when he was running on fumes. Mike teaches that who you are is separate from the roles you fill. Jeremy shows you can build a new identity on purpose. If you're a dad running on empty and snapping at your kids, pull over and fill the tank. Start with one habit you actually enjoy.

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

  • Recognize how depression colors the way you see your job, your family, and your future.
  • Understand how one small habit, like biking to work, can open the door to bigger changes.
  • Use "who would I be if I could wake up as anyone" to rebuild your identity after a career change.
  • See why doing hard things on purpose, like cold plunges or lifting, builds resilience for bad days.
  • Learn to get back on track after falling off your routine by starting with one thing, once a week.
  • Walk through why running on empty makes you snap at your kids, and how to fill your tank first.

The key moments in this episode are:

00:04:29 - how depression shapes the way you see everything

00:06:12 - how a knee injury and a bike started his turnaround

00:09:09 - the one habit that made the biggest difference

00:15:07 - what happens to your identity when you leave your career

00:18:07 - why saying your thoughts out loud helps you move forward

00:20:17 - why doing hard things on purpose builds resilience

00:22:54 - how to get back on track after falling off your routine

00:27:40 - how to stop eating out of boredom or stress

00:30:43 - why you shouldn't wait until retirement to take care of yourself

00:33:28 - how to choose which kind of pain you live with

00:37:30 - how to build healthy daily habits one at a time

00:40:34 - why running on empty hurts you and your family

Connect with Jeremy Grater

Website

www.thefitmess.com

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremygrater/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/fitmessguys

Instagram

https://www.facebook.com/fitmessguys

Connect with Mike Forrester

Podcast Website

https://LivingFearlessTodayPodcast.com

Coaching Website

https://www.hicoachmike.com/

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hicoachmike/

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@hicoachmike

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/hicoachmike

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/hicoachmike

Transcript
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About the Podcast

Living Fearless Today
Helping men break generational cycles, heal the father wound, and become a better husband and dad.
You swore you'd be a different kind of father than the one who raised you. Then one day you caught his words and tone coming out of your mouth. You felt the same distance creep in at home, and wondered how much of him you're still carrying despite the promise you made to yourself.

Living Fearless Today is a podcast for men who are done repeating the patterns they grew up with. Host Mike Forrester has stood where you're standing. Every week he brings honest conversations and practical tools for the parts of a man's life that rarely get said out loud: the father wound you never named, the anger that shows up with the people you love most, the marriage that's gone quiet, and the man you still want to become.

The show helps you understand the past that shaped you. Then you take an honest look at where you stand today as a husband, a father, and a man. From there you start building the future you actually want, one choice at a time, instead of drifting into the one you were handed and currently living out.

Episodes cover identity, anger, shame, marriage and fatherhood, relationships, self-worth, courage, emotional intelligence, legacy and purpose, and the brotherhood that the vast majority of men are missing. If you've looked for how to break generational cycles, face a father wound, handle anger as a dad, or become a better husband and father, start here.

The cycle can end with you. Press play and take the first step toward becoming the man you needed when you were young.

About your host

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Mike Forrester

Mike Forrester is a men's transformation coach, founder of the Living Fearless coaching programs, and host of the Living Fearless Today podcast. His insights, methods and stories of overcoming childhood trauma, dyslexia and loss of loved ones have been featured on various podcasts, including Hanging Onto Hope, Extreme Health, Own Your Life Own Your Career and Think Unbroken.