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American Reformation
We believe the American church needs reformation. To go forward we must go back. This podcast will explore the theology and practices of the early church and other eras of discipleship multiplication and apply those learnings to our post-Christian/secular American culture. American Reformation is a podcast of the Unite Leadership Collective. Follow us at uniteleadership.org. We consult, bring together cohorts of congregations for peer to peer learning, and certify leaders for work in the church and world.
American Reformation
Have We Westernized Jesus? with Greg Galindo
Join us for an invigorating conversation with Greg Galindo, a multifaceted leader whose expertise spans real estate, health, wellness, and ministry. Greg provides thought-provoking insights into the role of the American Christian church, urging a move away from nationalistic interpretations and a return to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Together, we unpack the challenges of westernizing Christianity and highlight the church's mission to navigate believers through a secular society, all while emphasizing that the true hope of the world lies in spiritual, not political, figures.
Our dialogue deepens as we explore the transformative power of mentoring and its profound impact on young lives. Through the story of JV on and his journey to academic success, we witness how mentorship shapes individuals into responsible members of society. Greg and I reflect on the reciprocal benefits of mentoring, grounded in the Christian principle of service, and aligned with secular research showing its positive effects on mental health. The importance of community involvement and selflessness emerges as a remedy for the rising tide of depression and anxiety, highlighting the power of one person to change lives.
As we shift gears, Greg shares his personal journey from gym management to launching his fitness business, Good Fight Fitness, and ultimately transitioning into real estate during the pandemic. We delve into the importance of holistic wellness, emphasizing the integration of spiritual, mental, and physical health within the church community. From practical advice on nutrition to maintaining an active lifestyle, this episode offers a wealth of insights and inspiration for anyone seeking to enhance their well-being and live a purposeful life.
Welcome to the American Reformation podcast, tim Allman. Here Today I get the privilege of getting to know a brother that I've just been talking with for the first time for the last 10 minutes, connected by Jordan Bessling. He is in real estate, he runs Good Fight Fitness, he's been in the health and wellness space for some time and he also leads a ministry as a director of RBI Austin. His name is Greg Galindo. How you doing, brother?
Speaker 2:I am doing well, tim, thanks for having me. I know we've talked for the last couple of months trying to get this thing all set up, so it is good to be with you guys today.
Speaker 1:Here we go. This is going to be great Standard opening question, though, and we didn't even talk about Jesus. We're going to start with talking about Jesus though, how are you praying as you look at the wider Christian church and in your two vocations, right in the health and wellness space, real estate? How are you praying for reformation as you look at the American Christian church, Greg?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a deep question. Yeah, certainly. I think that my biggest prayer for the American church is almost and hopefully this isn't, this is by no means meant to be offensive or take away from the title of your podcast but I pray that we kind of rid ourselves of American and be and become the church. I think I and again not to not to sound offensive I think we, especially in the current climate we're in, we've really taken on and not the entire church, obviously, but big sectors of our church have taken on almost a nationalistic viewpoint of Jesus and who Jesus is and that he, you know, almost is.
Speaker 2:We westernized him. We westernized him. We've westernized a Jewish religion, essentially that comes from the Middle East and very few people that look or sound or act like we do. We've kind of made him Western in our own ways. I call it the John Wayne Jesus, and so I think my biggest prayer is that we see Jesus for who he actually is and where he actually came from and the people that he served, which is all of us, in his own way, and we get back to the fundamental worshiping belief discipleship of the Jesus of Nazareth, jesus born in Bethlehem. So that's a long-winded answer and I think it has a lot of layers to it. But that's my honest answer.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, so Jesus came and was radically offensive to the Jews, kind of, and those from his hometown, I mean, he made these wild claims about who he was and what he came to do, and ultimately he was denounced, demeaned, beaten and scourged at the hands of both Jew and Gentile. And why? It's because the gospel is radical. The gospel is the gift of grace, not just for some, but for all who will repent and believe the good news of Jesus.
Speaker 1:And so, yeah, the scope of the kingdom of God goes way beyond the United States of America.
Speaker 1:And, if we can, finally, you know I'd love for you know prayer in schools and you know our family values to continue to grow and the role of husband and wife, mother.
Speaker 1:I'd love for the family to get healthier and those types of things. But that is not the hope of the world. The hope of the world is Jesus and the forgiveness of sins that flows from the cross of Jesus Christ and being then in right relationship with God because of faith in Jesus. That's it and that is the mission of the church and it's taking out for us in a Lutheran context. It's delivering, proclaiming the word of God, namely law and gospel, to convict sinners of their sin and their desperate need of salvation, centered solely in Jesus, and then to mobilize them to be the light of Christ, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, out into a dark and dying world where we have allegiances and we have idols, some of which are very identifiable, you know you could look at the God of money, mammon or any one different nation, A nation or a kingdom of this world can certainly become an idol as well.
Speaker 1:So I think it's well said and we're trying to walk it as a pastor, bro, like you're walking this theological tightrope because I want to talk about issues. I want to talk about issues as a leader, where God's word talks about respective issues in the world, but then, at the same time, I have to let people know hey, if Donald Trump gets elected president, the whole world is not going to be radically shifted. Human nature is not going to radically be shifted. I think human beings want to make what is very complex, very, very simple. And do we need godly leaders at all different areas of government, et cetera, in all different countries and nations? To be sure, but no nation is the hope of the world. Jesus is the hope of the world. Anything more to add to that? Greg? I'm agreeing, amen.
Speaker 2:No, I think you really summed it up. I think that sums it up perfectly. And just getting back to the fundamental belief that without Jesus we're not saved, we're broken people. It doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter what your background is, it doesn't matter how many times you attend church or which political party you identify with we are broken and in need and through that recognition comes grace and redemption. And so, yeah, no, that's really all I had, and I appreciate your feedback and words there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dude. Well, the reason we named it American is we're firmly in a post-Christian secular culture today and we need to get back to Reformation. Then is the move back to grace.
Speaker 2:And here in the.
Speaker 1:United States of America. We need to just get back to the grace of God flowing from the cross of Jesus Christ. So good stuff. Let's talk about Jordan Bessling. He reached out to me about RBI Austin and your role. Tell us a little bit about RBI Austin, greg.
Speaker 2:Yeah, by a former MLB player to really help serve communities that weren't able to provide baseball programs for kids that just didn't have the resources, and so it kind of took off in different cities throughout the country. It was founded here in Austin in 2009. And we are one of very few RBIs that are actually a Christian, a faith-based RBI Most of them are, you know, secular. The one here in Austin is faith-based and that's a big part of our program. And, yeah, what we do is we just provide summer leagues, both softball and baseball, for kids all the way from four or five T-ball all the way up until 18, prior to them going to college, and with that it's, you know, obviously all the tools they need to develop into a good baseball and softball players, but, even more so, coaching and mentoring and stewards of the community so that they, in turn, god willing, give back once they reach the age and the potential to do so. So, yeah, it's just been a blessing. I've been involved with RBI for about 15 years now as a coach, started as a coach or just a volunteer at like clinics, became a coach, then became a mentor, then was invited to sit on the board and now, like you said earlier, I've taken on a role as a partnership director with them just late last year, so just been kind of full circle and it's been such a blessing to me and my family. We actually had my mentee come to live with us last year, which was just an amazing deal.
Speaker 2:He had been and I had been in his life since he was in third grade, about nine years old. He was 17, just a year he's now 18. When he came to live with us and had fallen on some had really been through a lot in his life, just kind of a very tumultuous childhood and not a lot of stability, as a lot of kids from the inner city come from, and the doors were always open. I him, hey man, his name's jay vion, so jay. Anytime it gets to the point where you know you can't, you can't live there, which is home, was a different place every few months. For for jay vion he just never had a um, a stable home life. So he did.
Speaker 2:He called me one day and, uh, fast forward a year. He was about a year behind in school. He was supposed to be a senior. He was classified as a junior. He had a lot of catching up to do. Didn't think he was going to graduate, thought we were going to have to send him to summer school, but because of God and my wife and a lot of help from his teachers and staff, he was able to graduate on time with his class and staff. He was able to graduate on time with his class and I think for my son, who is 14 years old 13 at the time just got to see, see that and see that play out, kind of had a big brother at home. They've been close since, uh, since jv on came into our lives when he was nine. My kid was only five at the time. They were four years apart. Um, yeah, it was such a blessing to our family and to jv on obviously as well. But yeah, so RBI took on a whole new meaning around that time. It truly became family for us.
Speaker 1:That's such a cool story. You got to be the hand and still get to be the hands and feet of Jesus. You get to be family for JV on what a what a privilege. Family for JV on what a what a privilege. And we need more people that are opening up their homes and engaging in mentoring and coaching.
Speaker 1:What is it about the power of mentoring and or coaching that I mean it can. I'm a coach, I'm a high school football coach and can radically have a district for the amount of time you spend just you know the hour a week if you're mentoring, or maybe more than that, staying connected or as a coach. You know you're spending anywhere from 10 to 20 hours a week with a certain group of young men. You can have a disproportionate impact on their life long term by that investment, especially in those very, very formative adolescent years as they're just trying to grow up into Jesus, you know, into a contributing member of society. Those stories are so, so powerful. I mean that is the church at work. Just talk about mentoring in general and coaching and the impact they can have in young people's lives.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think for me it's become something that's really important. I've mentored for a few different nonprofit organizations, rbi now being the latest one, and you know, as a kid I needed I think I could have really used a mentor. I had some good, really good coaches. My dad was, you know, like I told you, former military, but he did travel quite a lot, especially when I got into my more formative years, my teenage years. I got into my more formative years, my teenage years, and so he was on what they call TDYs, you know, tours in different places. We lived in Europe even for a few years, and so just having someone that supports you and that comes from like a non-biased approach you know they're not family necessarily, they're not friends you know it's a up here but somebody that's a little older, somebody that's been through some things, because I did try my hand at getting in trouble and I did a pretty good job of it around those, around those years, and I really could I think could have used somebody that would have said, hey, man, I've done this, I've been there, I've done this, I've tried everything. You're thinking, you know you want to try or that sounds fun or mischievous, it's not worth it Like. I've been there, done that, let's stay the course, let's stay the path.
Speaker 2:And so when I had the opportunity once I, you know, once I got to the age I thought I was mature enough to be able to be that voice and be that support in a young man's life, I figured I needed to. I had done some damage in my, in my years and I thought if I could help prevent some of that or somebody else, even somebody less fortunate you know, I had a, I had a strong father as a role model. Um, so many of these young men and women just don't, you know, they don't, they don't have that, and um, so I, I felt like God was putting it on my heart to do that, to be there. Plus, I had a son that I wanted him to see. Hey, man, we're in a position of privilege where we can give back, thank God, and I feel like that's kind of a fundamental part of being a Christian is doing that when you're given the opportunity and have that, that platform. So it's been a blessing beyond what I could have ever expected.
Speaker 2:Uh, I think a lot of times when you tell people I'm a mentor and you know, I, I volunteer for different organizations. The response you get is oh, that's so great, you're so you know, you do so much work, you're so great. And I always say I've gotten so much more back than I ever have given three, fourfold as being a mentor, than I could have ever imparted. You know from my own wisdom I've gained so much from being you know of service, I guess you can say, than I ever could have given and never will. And I know it's made me a better man, a better husband, a better father. So I always say it's been a blessing in my life. Yes, I think I've been a blessing in others and I know God put me there for the right reasons, but I think I've taken far more than I've given in that role.
Speaker 1:Dude. Hey, this is so good. There's so much secular science that's actually catching up with the Bible. Go figure, meaning that hyper self-focus, hyper selfishness. Sin can be synonymous with selfishness. It crushes the human spirit and a rise in depression, anxiety, despair. Today, there's so much just me time, maybe extra free time, screen time, all of that right. This is the quickest way for the human spirit to get crushed. How does the human spirit rise up? It's when we sacrifice. It's when we sacrifice, it's when we serve. It's when we're actually out of our heads, out of our just small little worlds and out into God's big, grand world. That is where joy is found. It appears as if that's what Jesus was inviting his disciples into. It's going to be hard, it's going to be messy, but you're going to be a part of the greatest adventure of all time bringing light to dark places, being my hands and feet speaking my words. This isn't about you, fellas. You know.
Speaker 1:I think of Luke, chapter 10, when the disciples go out and they're bringing the message of the kingdom. Jesus has given them all authority and he says go out and exercise that authority, which is very fascinating because Jesus still has a couple of years left of ministry, but he invites the 12 and invites the 70 out to do what he did proclaim the kingdom of God, cast out demons, heal the sick. And they come back and they think, wow, this is going to get us some privilege and prestige. Jesus, even the demons are subject to us in your name and it's like Jesus said, you're totally missing it. Just rejoice that your names are written in the kingdom of God. This isn't about you, this is about me.
Speaker 1:So when we go on that journey, the reciprocity that comes, the return on investment of time, is exponentially greater for every human being that starts to serve, that starts to give their life away. This is how life is meant to be and I think this is one of the greatest opportunities for the Christian church today. If leaders will mobilize, if leaders will focus on equipping the saints this is Ephesians four equipping and empowering the saints for love and good deeds you will give, you will pour the life of the Holy Spirit into people when they start to see life is bigger than just me. I was put on planet earth to serve Sermon. Done, greg. Any response to?
Speaker 2:that Absolutely. I mean, I couldn't agree more. I think so much more of who we are as as people, as Christians, as believers, um comes to be true. The more you're in the kingdom, the more you're in the world serving and doing those deeds, and you don't recognize it until you're actually either in the act of it or you you look back and reflect in it, um, and it really fills you. Uh, so I couldn't. Yeah, you said it.
Speaker 1:You said it best, man that's exactly right this is fun, man, let's, let's hang on sports and then we're going to get into health and and wellness, holistic wellness. What are the top three values? As you've been an athlete, you've been a coach a top three values that sports in general teach young followers of Jesus.
Speaker 2:Um, I think. Well, in no particular order, I would say sacrifice. I think you know, sacrificing for teammates, taking your like we just talked about, taking yourself kind of out of it, um, and and saying how can I help, what can I do? That's for the betterment of the team and it's not about me, it's for us, you know, and as Jesus did so, sacrifice is huge. Fellowship, having the camaraderie.
Speaker 2:I think very few things teach camaraderie and empathy and sacrifice and accountability, like sports. Like sports, you're in it for a common goal, a common mission. And it's not, it's not individual, it's based on your team. It doesn't matter how well you do if your team doesn't do well, you know it doesn't matter how you, how bad you do, if your team doesn't do well, you know it doesn't matter how you, how bad you do, if your team does well. Right. And it's hard to take because, as a player, obviously pride is a big part. As human beings, we pride ourselves in doing well.
Speaker 2:But I think a team component in sports really teaches you that hey, you, I could be 0 for 5, but if we get the W man, that's the big picture, right, it's not about me and nobody's going to remember my 0 for 5. They're going to remember our win. So that's big. I work on that with myself and my 14-year-old now he plays select sports and I think. Third, a word I just said is accountability being accountable for your own actions. I think it plays into all three of those things knowing that, hey, I have a role to do and if I work and if I train and if I respect the team and the people I play with, I am going to make sure I'm accountable, I'm going to show up, I'm going to show up on time and I'm going to give it 100 percent. And if they do that, we're going to be successful.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, those are the three that come to mind. Hey, I'll put an acronym out there just to summarize what you said SAC, c-a-c or S-A-C Sacrifice I love it. Accountability, love it. And community fellowship, like you just said, we need one another, and it's not about me, it's about the team. But sports can be made into a type of God. In our American culture club sports today. What words of wisdom do you have for parents navigating the club sports scene while not forgetting their faith and connection into their Christian community?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a really good one. You know, I'm dealing with that now as a parent and I am one of those dads that probably gets a little too involved sometimes. Um, because I did play, uh, you know, my dad played college ball full scholarship. I should have played. Uh, I've been around sports my whole life. It's just been, it's ingrained in who I am, and now I still play hardball. I played men's uh, just played a three-hour game this past weekend.
Speaker 2:So, um, I'm, I can be hyper competitive just within myself and, of course, as my son, him and I work a lot together off the field and so I know what he's capable of and I'm an intense. I'm not intense normally in, you know, outside of the chalk lines, but get me inside of a field and I can be a little too intense. So I've had to, I've had to look at myself after some games and being like why did you say that? Or could you have said that differently? Or you know, I said something to an ump, you know, and why did I do that? And even though a lot of it's in jest sometimes, it's not to be demeaning, but I think taking ourselves as parents out of it and saying I'm not playing anymore. This isn't me, this is my kid, and this kid, especially at nine, 10, 11, 12, they've got seven more years of this. This is, you know. They've got high school baseball and, if you know, god willing, maybe even beyond.
Speaker 2:But I think so many of us, including me, have these moments of of imparting who we wish our kid was in our eyes, um, or, you know, fulfilling our, trying to fulfill our baseball or sports fan. For me it's baseball, but sports fantasies, uh, and just removing ourselves and saying, look, if I'm going to be the best father and the best fan possible, I should take a seat. I should sit, you know, take a seat, sit back, let God do his work. We can talk about things after the game and days after the game a lot of times, because I think too many parents want to address whatever the issue was during the game or what their kid could have done better or should have done differently immediately. And I've learned that the kid is going to be the hardest on themselves You're not going to be any harder on them than they are on themselves and so it doesn't do them well to critique them, you know, either during or right after a game.
Speaker 2:So just removing ourselves a bit from the equation, sitting back and looking at the big picture and saying ourselves a bit from the equation. Sitting back and looking at the big picture and saying this is only, you know, a very short time in a child's life where they can experience and have fun with a sport. You know we're going to spend most of our lives wishing we had those moments back and so just looking at the big picture and reflecting on how we can be supportive but not be so involved that we burden our children on how we can be supportive but not be so involved that we burden our children.
Speaker 1:That's so good. Competition. I've wrestled with this. Will there be competition when Jesus comes back to make all things new? I think yes, insofar as I believe there will be growth and vocation, meaning there will be things to do. We're not just on clouds doing. No, we have responsibility, and Jesus actually talks about the responsibility that will be given to the 12 and others and how they'll kind of lead, if you will. So I just think competition will look like offering your best and wanting whoever it is that you're working with to offer their best to fully alive, fully human in your relationship with God, self, others and the rest of creation.
Speaker 1:Because there's a, there is a beauty and there is a beastly component to competition today. I would love, I love that drive, especially on our staff here as a team, that drive, that Holy Spirit drive to use all of the gifts, to not leave anything on the. You know that you didn't bring onto the field of life and ministry Like I want that. I want that drive. The goals are good, right, there's more work to be done, there's a beauty and there's also a taming that needs to take place, I would say especially in the male leader. You kind of talked about that of competition, but then stewarding it in a healthy direction. So how has a healthy role of competition served you in your work in real estate, in your work at Good Fight Fitness?
Speaker 2:Talk about that a little bit, greg in your work in real estate, in your work at Good Fight Fitness. Talk about that a little bit, Greg. Yeah, I think. Again, being that I've grown up as sports being such a big factor and a big part of my life, I do look at most things I do with some sort of a competitive aspect, but a healthy one. You know, I'm not of the age anymore to be as, I guess, as arrogant and prideful as I was in my teens and my 20s, when it was just hey, how can I figure out a way to be number one?
Speaker 2:Or how can I be the best player on the court or the field, just kind of for my glory versus for God's. And so I think, changing that to say I can be competitive and I want to excel and sure, who doesn't want to be successful in whatever field they're in? But it's not about my glory, it's for his. And if somebody were to ask or somebody were to to look and say, hey man, that guy's, you know, really doing a good job, whether it's in sports or in in real estate or within my fitness business, I can point it back to him and I can say you know, I wouldn't be in this place and this and have these opportunities had it not been for, uh, the works of Jesus and uh and his grace and mercy. So being able to just be a reflection of that um has it's been a big perspective shift on how I approach competition, whether it's work or whether it's sports. Yeah, at least.
Speaker 1:I try. No, that's it In him. We live and move and have our being and if anything good comes in us, it's him. If it's rough stuff that comes, it's sin within us. If the competitive side, the ego, gets in front of the mission of God, then that's sin in us. That must be confessed and praise be to God. He forgives over and over again, picks us back up, dusts us off and says get back into the game of life. It's not you at work, it's me at work, my spirit at work, shaking and moving in and through you. So good stuff. Let's talk about your good fight, fitness, and you've been running this, this business. I'd love to hear just generally what it is and then we'll get into holistic health and wellness too.
Speaker 2:So tell us about good fight fitness. Sure, yeah, good fight fitness started. I've been in the fitness industry since about 2007. And in 2012, I decided to kind of venture out and do my own thing. So I was working for a gym, actually in management, started in management, then became a trainer. About four years later, four years after that, I said you know what I can do this? I want to do this on my own, in my own way, and so that's when I started Good Fight, and essentially it's a fitness business.
Speaker 2:I do personal training, I do group training. I used to do boot camps. I don't do those anymore. That stopped during COVID just because we had to shut everything down. I did do some outdoor activities, but when COVID ended, real estate really had picked up, and so that's when I kind of made a full leap into full-time real estate. Leap into full-time real estate.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, we are a fitness business that is designed to promote wellness and health in the most holistic way possible, by really encouraging people just to live out their best and healthiest lives, and we give a portion of our proceeds back to local nonprofits, rbi being one of them.
Speaker 2:Good Fight was inspired by 2 Tim and the Good Fight Bible verse there. And so, yeah, it has been a blessing to be the face of it and, you know, train as many people and kind of build people up. A lot of people have come to me. You know whether they've either never worked out or just in maybe the worst shape of their lives and life me, you know whether they either never worked out or just in maybe the worst shape of their lives and life has, you know, taken them on an unhealthy journey. And being able to see how much fitness and wellbeing, both in spirit and mind and in body, play into them becoming the best and healthiest version of themselves, I think that's been the big reward is for me to see it in them, but for them to also see it in themselves.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that's a. That's kind of a bit about good fight.
Speaker 1:It's such an awesome mission. If I weren't a pastor, your industry is one that I definitely would have explored. Going going into cause, I think we need to talk about health and wellness more. If God made it, I ate it, you know. We need to talk about the processed food industry and um, and what it means for us to have more, more life in our years, not just years in our life. Right, and I want to. I want to go out because we're all going to die, right, it's not like we're going to defeat death. Only Jesus defeats death for us. But I want to be pouring into other people until I take my last breath. I heard recently Clint Eastwood I don't know, I read it in a blog. Clint Eastwood is like 94 years old and his best movies were produced in his 60s and he's a health and wellness like. He's kind of a freak. He says every day I have to put the old man to death.
Speaker 2:The belief.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's kind of a theological statement too, right the old self has to be put to death, but like that mentality that I am too old, like I'm done. There's recent studies that came out on and you're probably well aware of this but on the metabolic rate and the myth that our metabolic rate, like, decreases slowly like a drip theory, from the age of like 20 on it just goes. Actually, research has said from 20 to 60, greg, our metabolic rate remains exactly the same. Isn't that, nuts?
Speaker 1:60, greg, our metabolic rate remains exactly the same Isn't that nuts? And then, between 60, 60 and 90, it only decreases by 17%. So what is it in our world that's like hurting us? I think we're believing lies about what human thriving looks like. And then man, because if we believe certain things in our mind, the body kind of reacts. We don't handle stress as well. I'm no longer an athlete, that's me. That's right, I still call myself an athlete dude, not just a golfer. You know, I think golfers are old guys, but I'm an athlete.
Speaker 1:I want to move right so anyway, how does the church start to speak and care about this? I'm very interested in your take here. How does the church and church leaders start to care and speak into holistic wellness in a way that doesn't produce guilt and shame?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question. I'm not sure I have all the answers for it, but, um, I think my opinion would be that we need to. You know, I think we really focus on spiritual health, which of course, that's that's number one. I think that comes first and foremost Right. Um, health, which, of course, that's that's number one. I think that comes first and foremost right. And now there's a huge focus on mental health, which is, you know, almost again, they all tie in together. I think you can't really have one without the other. But there's not as much on physical health.
Speaker 2:And I think once we start putting a little more emphasis on that and I think in this new day and age, people are aware we have the information at our fingertips, just like you were talking about metabolic rate, on what is good for us and what's not. It's not like we're living in I grew up in the 80s where processed food going to your pantry, that was just commonplace. That's what you did. You ate foods from the freezer, tv dinners and nobody knew the macros and the micros and the sugar content and saturated fats. And we have that information now. So it's not like we're not equipped and it's right there at our fingertips. So putting more of an emphasis on, yes, let's develop ourselves spiritually and let's get healthy mentally. Yes, let's develop ourselves spiritually and let's get healthy mentally, but we also have to do it physically.
Speaker 2:Because that place, I know, for me personally and for so many of my clients, if I'm not active, I start becoming a little depressed.
Speaker 2:If my serotonin and my dopamine aren't kicked in naturally, three or four days a week, I'm not the same dude, I'm not the fun, happy the same dude. You know, I'm not the fun, happy, go lucky guy to be around and my wife's like go, go run, go hit the weights, go golf, whatever you know, whatever it is. But activity is is, I feel, like a blessing that God has given us. We are not meant to sit down for eight to 10 hours a day. We're just not, uh, you know our, our biomechanics are designed to be able to move and lift and and work, uh, and so just knowing that, hey, god has given us these bodies so we can use them, you know they're to be used, um, in productive ways, and I think just, uh, having that, that holistic approach to mind, body and spirit, and when we're healthy in all three of those, we're the best version of ourselves. So I'm not sure if that answers your question.
Speaker 1:No, it is. I'm a part of a church body, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and, as any church bodies, you've got politics and you're talking about this and that and things. And sometimes I wonder and this isn't like a judgment statement based on the external features, but I'm just wondering hey, is that, is that brother or sister who may be angry, isolated, have they I? What have they sweated recently?
Speaker 2:Have they moved their?
Speaker 1:bodies Like have they? It does something to the brain. Absolutely, I have more room for creative ideas. When I've been stressed, I don't know how that is God. I think you're right. God made us heart, body, mind, spirit and we're made to sweat. But a lot of times folks say I've gone on so long, I've not gone on the wellness journey for so long.
Speaker 1:I remember when I used to be able to do this and then the evil one starts to heap guilt and shame upon us. He's, he's a liar, what, what words of wisdom is you start to work with people that, like they may be in their early forties and, uh, they put on the extra weight and they just don't have a whole lot of hope. Uh, they know they should eat better, but they're not going to for X. You know it's too hard. Um, they've thought about fasting or intermittent fasting. But come on, man, that that's, that's. I love my snacking all the time. All that kind of stuff. What, how, where do you start with that with that person? I mean, um, yeah, I think that's that's huge. Very interested here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very slowly, you start. You start with tiny little baby steps. It's um, something as simple as going for a walk. Just get up in the morning and if you don't do anything else that day active, you go for a walk. What I try to encourage people to do is, when you go for that walk, whether it's with your dog or whatever leave your device, whether it's your phone, or leave your devices at home, and just take in some nature.
Speaker 2:I think nature and exercise are the two best antidepressants that I've ever known in my own personal life, but also through the clients that I've trained Getting people out in space, getting them away from their desktops or away from their phones, in nature, and just some activity. It doesn't have to be intense, it doesn't have to be this Tabata hit, Tabata hit. You know, 45, 30 minute weighted workout, just walking, and through that you'll start to see yeah, you know what I do feel a little bit better and I kind of want to challenge myself now a little bit more. So it's just small baby steps. You know, I've worked with people that are pro athletes or former or collegiate, all the way to people who have never picked up a dumbbell in their life or never done anything to get their heart rate above 140,. You know, uh, and. So just starting small uh and and building like tangible goals. You know saying, hey, we're day one, how about on day 60, we hold a plank for two minutes. You know something that's going to be tangible, something that's going to be tangible, something that's going to be attainable.
Speaker 2:I think so many times people set their goals based on these very far kind of lofty expectations. You know, losing 50 pounds or running a marathon in six months, which can all be great. I think having big goals are great, but setting small, tangible goals really helps to keep people on track and sustain. Sometimes you'll see people with these lofty goals and once they hit them, they're done. They kind of burn out.
Speaker 2:I can't tell you how many women I've trained for their wedding in a year and, man, they get as fit as they've ever been in their lives. They go wedding day and I don't see him again and when I do, they're 30 pounds heavier and I'm like, wait, you could have just done all that just for that day. You know, it's so much bigger than that day. So getting people to believe in themselves, very incrementally, setting tangible, small goals, I think it really helps to build a sustainable and long lasting fitness regimen, that that you wind up actually enjoying and you're like how did I do? How did I go through 30 or 40 or 40, you know, 50 years of not doing this? I feel so much better about myself, um, in all those ways we talked about mentally, spiritually, emotionally, uh, physically. So yeah, just small, attainable goals.
Speaker 1:I'd love to get, as we're coming down the homestretch here, resources. What's coming to mind for me? The Miracle Morning. You ever read the Miracle Morning?
Speaker 2:I have not no.
Speaker 1:It's just like six of the best practices of folks who are high-functioning leaders. They've done studies on those kind of best practices for the first hour of the day or so, and it it includes simple practices like like water and stretching, movement, meditation, uh, learning, you know all these, all these types of things. You can get creative and putting those things in your in your morning. But then, like the power of of habit, is a do Higgs book on on how you start to habit stack over time. I think that's kind of what you're talking about Like okay, now this, I can now hold this. I think you said 60 minute accidentally. I think a 60 second plank. Right, I can hold a 60 second plank. Do you do 60 minute planks? Plank holds.
Speaker 2:I would know I thought I said two minutes, but no, I guess I meant a hundred 120 seconds, but no 60,. No, my wife and I actually will have. We'll do some fun competitive things Every few months. She'll be like all right, let's plank off. And I think we've gotten up to six minutes. So six minutes as long as we've done it is.
Speaker 2:That's a full-on shake body, shaking everything in you is telling you to let your knees drop, but I can't let her win, right? I mean, come on, no way, no way. Going back to pride and ego there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right. So talk a little bit about habit stacking. Like what else will you tell that person after they reach a certain level? Just get a little bit more specific, I guess, on other other things than like cast vision for that person. We start here, we start with walking, but then where are we kind of working to over time, and there's a lot of research has gone on in in um, if you're going to go anaerobic or aerobic, right, we want to get to the anaerobic, we want to get to the push-pull sort of work, the body weight, to then weighted work too. So, yeah, talk a little bit about the journey that folks go on of wellness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so again, and it's all based on the individual. You know, there's some people that have some workout experience or sports performance experience and they're you know're wanting to get back to being in that kind of shape, and then those that we just talked about that have none. So it really just depends on what their background is and their fitness level is. So for everybody it's a little bit different. But, yeah, typically what I like to do is work in like six week intervals. So every six weeks we'll set a new goal, we'll plan out a new type of workout, whether it's increasing load, increasing weight, whether it's building you know, muscular endurance or time under tension, you know, doing a similar workload but for a longer period of time. Or if it's something that you know somebody has a specific goal in mind, whether it be a marathon or an adventure race or they're back, getting back into playing a sport, then we'll try to. We'll try to make some specific goals around that sport. All right? Well, let's increase your 40 yard dash, you know. Let's work on something like that. Let's see what your split times are on some cone drills. I love working with athletes. That's kind of my wheelhouse. I love either former athletes or current athletes or guys like me that are old and still think we're, you know, we're 25 year old athletes, but yeah, so it just depends Usually happens about every six weeks where we'll add, like I said, we'll either add a weighted component or a muscular endurance or cardiovascular component so that they're like all right, a new challenge. And I think people really enjoy that. I mean, we enjoy being challenged.
Speaker 2:Living in a comfort zone, I think, creates a lot of anxiety for people and we don't really realize it. I think a lot of times we ask ourselves why we're anxious, and I know for me it's because a lot of times I get too comfortable. You know, I'm anxious because I need to break free of this comfort zone and I don't always recognize it until after I do it. And then I'm like, wow, that's what was causing the anxiety. I was sitting back and I knew God was calling me to do something else or to challenge myself in a different way, and now I feel better because I have. So I think that same theme is true for fitness. People start getting a little too comfortable and they don't challenge themselves and then they plateau and then they kind of burn out. So you have to keep the challenges going, but you also have to make sure they're attainable and realistic. So it's a fine line, but yeah, that would be the answer to that. That's good.
Speaker 1:That's helpful, greg. Hey, let's close talking about nutrition when you're working with someone. So I'll, I'll give the 30,000 foot. I think there's collusion I know that's a big word. I think there's collusion between big pharma, big food and big government. That's a big word. I think there's collusion between big pharma, big food and big government. But so you call me conspiracy, but I think I think those, those groups, are working. I fully agree with you there, man, all right, I think they're working against human thriving and so just calling that you know for what it is, and then and then just saying OK, let's, let's go on a journey to to eat what God made rather than man-made. So what do you do to help your clients develop a nutritional plan?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, again, it's a slow process, especially if they don't have much experience in eating foods that aren't processed and aren't just instant gratification kind of food. So, yeah, we start small, my, my big thing. I always tell people try to do 80% of your grocery shopping around the periphery of the store. Let's get you on the outsides of the store. You got your veggies, you have your, your meats, your produce, and if you can do that, then you're already 20 steps ahead of the general population. And just reducing reducing processed sugar is huge. So the big two things, you know, when I was I was 20, about 27 years old when I really started getting into this fitness journey the two things I cut out cause I was, I told you, I was in gym management for the first four years and I was probably in the worst shape of my life when I was. I came in at 27 and I was 205 pounds. I don't think I'd ever been above like 180, 185 in my life. And that wasn't muscle, that was just fat. That was me being.
Speaker 2:I was a young dad at the time and just eating fast foods, you know. So the two things I got rid of were fast food and soda. I cut sodas out of my diet and I stopped going through drive-thrus and with those two things, just those two things, I think I dropped 15 pounds in about three months and about 90 days. And so I start with that. With people I'm like, hey, let's, let's say you know, again, this is all resource-based. You know people that have the resources to eat well which is a whole different topic, right? Or at least to know how to eat well, really don't have any excuse for eating these foods that are just saturated in fats and sugar.
Speaker 2:So I say, let's cut out the sodas that's a lot you diet to because there's so many chemicals in that and let's cut out the fast foods and then from there, you'll see how much better you feel. You're going to feel better, I promise you. You're going to have more energy and you're going to feel better and you're not going to have so many of the digestion issues that people have these days. So, yeah, we start there and then we just build. We build from there. We start adding up macros and taking away things, but also adding things, um, and, like you said, I think these big industries are, uh, are all, are all tied in together. Uh, you keep people sick. You keep a lot of people rich, um and so, yeah, I totally agree with you there, well.
Speaker 1:I think it's. I think it's evil, I think I think Satan has. Satan is having a heyday and people you know money is the root of all kinds of evil and we're funding a sick care industry. Shout out to everybody who's in the health care industry to be sure, doctors and nurses, et cetera but it's like one of the largest industries, if not the largest, right next to, I think, defense in the United States budget, is our healthcare industry. So there's a lot of money at stake in this conversation and I listened to a lot of you know the Dr Ammons and folks like that, or Sean Stevenson, the Model Health Show, a lot of these guys who've been fighting this fight for a long period of time.
Speaker 1:It's just they feel like it's an uphill, uphill slog man. So I, I imagine in your world you just got to look like control what you can control. Like for me in my in a denominational conversation, like there's a lot of stuff that's just way beyond me, but I can. I have control. The Holy spirit has invited me to to just be where my feet are and to shape the lives of those who are within my spheres of influence. Right, and that's one reason I'm doing this podcast.
Speaker 1:One thing I'm doing podcasts like this with guys like you is I think the church needs to care more about holistic health and wellness heart, body, mind, mind, spirit. So any closing words of wisdom for us. You got a lot of church leaders that are listening. What would you tell them, bro, as we close? This has been awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what would you tell them, bro, as we close? This has been awesome. Yeah, just encourage people to. You know, continue to fight the good fight. You know, as I have modeled my business after, and that we're all in it together for a greater purpose, far, far greater than ourselves, and through mind, through body, through spirit, we can be the best version of ourselves, and not only does that impact us, but it impacts our families and it impacts our community and, ultimately, it impacts our country. So, yeah, I appreciate the time, tim, thanks for allowing me to share and, yeah, great conversation, man, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Likewise, it was a good time. This is the American Reformation Podcast. Sharing is caring Like, subscribe, comment wherever it is you take in Podcast of Unite Leadership Collective and we promise to continue to have invigorating conversations like we just had with Greg. It's a good day. Go and make it a great day. Great to meet you, Greg.
Speaker 2:Amen. God bless you, brother you too, man Take care.