His knees were weak, palms sweaty, and before you think Tim's rapping along to Lose Yourself, he's actually describing two of the four billion bloody symptoms he had while changing meds. Apparently serotonin withdrawl is a real thing and f*ck me it's savage.So once he got his head clear, him and J went through it all blow by bizarre blow, before digging into J's head as he prepares to become a daddy again.Fatherhood. It's a big one. You know what that means...🚨 *Incoming mini-series alert* 🚨Head to patreon.com/c/manvsmindpod for some periodic extra stuff for free and for paid if you like us a lot.
Tim's psychiatrist says he's exhibiting strong obsessive and neurotic tendancies...So Tim's spiralling, obvs. He's also mid-medication change (hello Prozac my old friend) – his head is all over the friggin place this week, and makes no attempt to hide it.They go over how smart gadgets and health-tracking tech actually feed obsessive behaviours, and Tim's experience ditching his scales and Apple Watch.Then Tim absolutely goes off the deep end about how Big Tech sells you the healthy solution to the lazy, snacky modern life. Because CaPiTaLiSm BrO 🛸Oh and there's talk about vinyl records in space. For real.
Tim and J return to happiness, four months after part one (you can blame a certain someone across the pond...). Tim arrives fresh from therapy, where he and his therapist exchanged a foot five (wtf?).He's ditched the scales, he's lifting heavier weights in the gym... and shaved his own hair off... so yeah he seems pretty stable.J snapped at a colleague for the first time in his life, spent an hour apologising, and the guys get into who really benefits from an apology.They also cover feeling happy versus seeming it, how Tim's son nearly destroyed him with a toy flower, and why Bhutan measures Happiness instead of GDP. (Also: J climbed Mount Kenya, saw nothing at the top, and nearly shat himself.)
Tim and J return to body image – a year after their first three episodes on the subject, which apparently achieved very little for Tim personally.Despite quitting smoking, cutting back on the booze, and actually going to the gym again, his relationship with his own reflection has somehow got worse. They get into that, in detail, and J sets Tim a challenge.J, meanwhile, has lost a tonne of weight since starting ADHD medication and taken up intermittent fasting for reasons that turn out to be surprisingly well-researched.Together they cover obsession, ChatGPT as a personal trainer (verdict: relentlessly positive, close-to-useless), and why "thinner" and "healthier" are not most definitely NOT the same thing.Also featuring: gym mirror narcissists, a 90km bike ride attempted with no preparation whatsoever, and the Excel World Cup (yup, it's real, and it's a serious thing).
And boom, brand-new Man vs Mind drop out of nowhere, like we've never been away.After three months away (and approximately 47 WhatsApp voice notes saying “we really need to record”), we’re finally back in the same room together.This episode is one big catch-up on everything that’s happened while we’ve been gone – the beautiful, the painful, the surreal, and the very, very stupid.J shares the joy of expecting a baby boy, alongside the heartbreak of losing his father-in-law. We talk honestly about grief, becoming parents for the second time, and how strange it feels watching your children slowly become their own little people.We also unpack what it’s been like living through months of regional tension and uncertainty here in the Middle East – the anxiety, the sleepless nights, the emotional weirdness of experiencing “real-time trauma” while still trying to carry on with everyday life.Somewhere in amongst all that: Tim rebuilt a kitchen, forgot to film half the episode, had an existential crisis during bedtime cuddles, and bought a pair of aggressively pink Adidas trainers with tiny platform soles.It’s emotional, chaotic, very excitable, occasionally profound, and — fair warning — unusually sweary even by our standards.We missed you.(Back as usual on Monday morning!)