"Easy Now, Hard Later: Faith, Fitness & the Choice Men Must Make" ft. Salvador Torres

In this episode of From Wrong to Strong, Omar sits down again with Salvador Torres of Christ for Life Fitness for a real, needed conversation about faith, health, and stewardship.

This isn’t about vanity or chasing a look, it’s about honoring God with the body He entrusted to us. We talk candidly about why Christian men often neglect their health, why the church stays quiet on gluttony and discipline, and how our physical lives preach a message long before we ever open our mouths.

Salvador shares his journey from addiction and incarceration to faith, freedom, and fitness, and explains why biblical nutrition, self-control, and accountability are essential for men who want to lead their families, serve the church, and leave a lasting legacy.

In this episode, we cover:

• “Easy now, hard later” vs. “hard now, easy later”
• Why your body is preaching a gospel
• Biblical discipline, self-control, and stewardship
• Faith, fitness, and leadership for Christian men
• Practical steps to invest in your health now instead of paying for it later

If you’re ready to take responsibility, pursue wholeness, and glorify God in every area of your life, this episode is for you.

Learn more about Christ for Life Fitness:
ChristForLifeFitness.com

Transcript

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Are either gonna invest in your health now or you're gonna pay for it later. You, you, you know, there's a saying, uh, easy now, hard later. Mm, hard now. Easy later. Yeah. I like that. Which one do you want? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it was you that sent me the meme where it's the doctor. It's the patient and the patient's overweight, and the doctor goes, okay, you can either make time in your busy schedule now to exercise, uh, one hour a day, or you can be dead 24 hours a day. Right? It's like your choice, dude. Your choice. You wanna make time for your health now. Mm-hmm. Or you wanna shorten your lifespan from the city of Chicago, a city most recently known for its crime and violence. On this podcast, we will be sharing stories of redemption. Listen to my guests as they share their experiences, struggles, trauma, but also the strength, hope, faith, and perseverance these have developed in them to keep pushing and moving forward in life. Tune in to hear how their lives have gone, from darkness to light, and from wrong to strong. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of From Wrong to Strong Chicago. I'm your host. My name's Omar Calvio, and tonight I got my guest with me. His name is Salvador Torres. Uh, this brother was on here I believe, maybe like two months ago, maybe three months ago. Uh, came on here, uh, shared his testimony with us. I was truly blessed by it. Uh, so I'm, I'm, I'm gonna put, uh, like, uh, the thumbnail and the title to it and the, and the show notes. Uh, make sure you guys click on there and if you haven't heard his testimony, that's definitely one you gotta go back and hear, hear the whole thing. Uh, but man, I would like to welcome my brother, uh, Salvador Torres to the podcast. Thanks for being out here, brother. Hey Omar, thank you so much for having me again. It's been quite some time since we did the first one, but we said we were gonna make it back for round two, and here we are. It's always a pleasure being a part of Wrong to Strong, and this podcast is really reaching a lot. People, uh, and helping people just get closer to God, come to know truth and see those, those stories of overcoming and uh, you know. Coming up out the streets and being able to see what Christ can do in people's lives and inspiring others for change. So truly grateful brother, truly grateful to be here with you today. Talk a little bit more about me, about Christ for Life Fitness, uh, and everything that entails helping men build strong, healthy bodies for the kingdom of God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah, that, oh, for sure. I, I, I told his brother, uh, we're getting close to the, to the end of the year. And like, man, perfect time. We're gonna get into it right now. What, what his business is. I know he just gave the name of it. Uh, but we, we wanna know why it is that he's doing what he's doing, what's the vision behind it and what, what's the heart behind it as well? Uh, but before we get there, brother, give us the two minute bullet points of your testimony just for, uh, those who haven't heard your story. Just give us the two minute version, and of course we're gonna challenge'em to go listen to the whole thing. But, uh. Give him, give us a recap, you know? Yeah, definitely gotta challenge him because we, we did like an hour and a half last time, like an hour finish. We didn't even 45 finish. We didn't even, so I don't know how I'm gonna break that down into two minutes, but let's just start that. You know, God is good. Oh my God is so good. He's. Completely transforms and changes people's lives. He's done that in my life. Uh, I lived a life completely contrary to Christianity. Got lost in the streets of Chicago. Swallowed up in the streets of Chicago, led me to addiction, to crime, to Cook County jail. To prison, uh, to addiction. Spent multiple years addicted to heroin. We got deep into that and the road that, that took me down in and out of prisons and penitentiaries for years on end. It wasn't until I was on my way to the joint for the. Third time that I cried out to God from a prison cell in Stateville, NRC penitentiary, and said, Lord, I can't do this no more. I can't live this way no more. Lord, if you are, I didn't even call him Lord. I said, God, if you're real. Change me. Change me and I'll do whatever it is you want me to do. And so the Lord heard my prayers next day. Sent a local pastor there who prayed over me. I said, it's a coincidence that you're here today. I was crying out to God last night. He said, it's not a coincidence, young man. That's when I was still a young man. That little bit of grace now. But back then, I didn't have the grace. Uh, he says it's not a coincidence. He says it's the will of God. I gave my life to Christ right there in that prison cell, uh, at state of NRC 3G. Uh, went down to Lawrenceville Correctional Facility. Spent the next two years there, tell people it was the best two years of my life. They look at me like I'm crazy. I say, even though that I was physically in a cell held captive, Jesus had set me free. Amen. Amen. And so that just started the whole transformation where I got out of prison, found the church, began my weight loss journey on my own. I was over 200 pounds addicted to drugs, alcohol and sugar. Uh, lost all that weight. Now I'm 42 years old. I'm in the best shape of my life, all glory to God, 42 years old and thriving. I'm involved in multiple ministries from my Christ for Life Fitness, which helps. Christian men lose weight, build muscle, glorify God in their bodies. I'm an evangelist at heart. We work, uh, with a ministry called Chicago Evangelism, which I founded, uh, which goes out and does two events a month for the last five years. All over the streets of Chicago, leading people to Christ. There's an outpouring of the Holy Spirit happening right now in the city. A movement happening, revival is happening. I know that word gets a lot of play. But seriously, I've seen it firsthand and witnessed it. People are coming to Christ in droves and it's an opportunity and a blessing to be able to, um, do evangelism. Uh, church ministry, men's ministry. We recently lost a men's. Barbershop Bible study where we talked a little bit about that last time. Four men got baptized there. I baptized them in Lake Michigan. Glory to God. Yesterday, we was just there yesterday, 17 men there yesterday. We meet in a barbershop on the south side of Chicago and God is just bringing people there. We had everything from a high school or college students, uh, different denominations. They're old, young. It is just everyone gets the opportunity to. Come learn more about what God's word said. So, hey, I'm just grateful to God to be used. He changed and transformed my life completely from what I was now. Uh, I once was lost, and now I'm found. Isn't that how it goes? Amen. Uh, and so I just give him all the glory. I give'em all the glory. I just want to be used by God. I just want to be a vessel of honorable use, as Paul says, uh, just for the kingdom. To advance the kingdom because, you know, this is kingdom business. Yes. You know, we say that last time. Yeah. Kingdom business. Yep. And that, you know, real quick, I'm gonna adjust your mic just a little bit. Oh yeah, yeah.'cause uh, this one. There we go. No, you're good. There we go. But, uh, oh yeah. So, um, I believe we shared during our, our, our interview, we met, actually we're gonna start there'cause we met at a new life centers. Entrepreneur program, I believe is Boost. And that was back, I forget what month that, that was in the summer. Wasn't it like August, was it September? I believe it was. It was September. It started sometime, yeah, before then. And then it continued on. We had a couple, uh, meetings. But the initial one we met, I believe it was in like July. I think it was summertime still. So, uh, so basically we met there and it was a, a new program. Um, man, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm blanking on the name of the organization that they partner up with. Uh, new Life Centers. It was the one from, uh, Baltimore. I forget the name, man. Uh, I'll throw it in the show notes. Yeah, definitely. Excuse me. You know, my, my mind ain't all that man. But, uh, it was a, basically an organization, it was like a, a, a few organizations, if I'm not mistaken, partner up, right? Correct. To, to, uh, to help, uh, um, those starting, uh, a small business, uh, not-for-profit, to give'em like the ins and outs of it, uh, how to start it. The do's and don'ts I get. Right? Like somebody that's beginning and of. Especially like in the, in the Hispanic community, the African American community, definitely. They, they, they want to hit like those low, you would say income areas. Underserved. Yeah. There you go. Underserved, commun, underserved communities. There you go. Perfectly. But, uh, yeah, we met there and like, like my brother mentioned the business. So you, you have a business. Um, before we get into the business, how did this help you? I mean, you, you, you, you already had the idea for the business. We're gonna explain it a little bit what it is, but how did this program help you, um, being part of it? Yeah. The entrepreneurship program was, it's just a blessing. You know, shout out to new life centers and Brother Robert and Jesus for putting together this marvelous program for entrepreneurs here in the city of Chicago and in underserved communities, uh, that can, you know, help us start businesses, right? Because. As Latinos, as, uh, black, whatever, Hispanic, uh, it's, it's up to us to make sure that we are the ones that are influencing our communities for change. Right? And so growing up in where I grew up, and I always say people ask. Why do you wear a suit and tie when you preach and I think, well,'cause where I grew up, nobody wore a suit and tie to work. You know, only, only the court, somebody was only, that was me. The first 30 years of my life, the only tie, the first 30 years of my life was that one suit that you wore to court. You see somebody in the neighborhood with a ura, you know, and you go to court, right? Yeah. And so what this program does is it lets you see. That Wow. You know, you're capable of starting your own business, um, making profit, but also having a product that is gonna benefit your community right, wrong to strong. Right? These stories are gonna go out and it's gonna benefit our underserved communities, our, our brothers that are in prison and in jail. They're gonna hear these testimonies and they're going to be inspired to change my coaching program. Guys are gonna see wow. It's possible to lose weight. It's possible to restore my health. It's possible to get off these medications. These things are possible. And so when they see that, then it inspires more change. And you got people who are living in a, you know, I could go into the statistics of the obesity epidemic. Uh, 60 to 70% of Americans are either overweight or obese. Being obese makes you seven times more likely to develop diabetes. Uh, being overweight or obese makes you twice as likely to develop heart disease. And heart disease is the leading cause of death in men in this country. Think about that. Think about that. Overweight and obesity makes you more likely to develop. Over 13 different types of cancers. I can go on and on about the, the statistics, but the fact of the matter is that. These are lifestyle decisions that people are making, right? It's because your eating habits, uh, your lack of movement are causing what we call these lifestyle diseases, which is having a drastic effect on our community. And so it's time for a change. There's an obesity epidemic and. Time for a change, and who's gonna lead that change? Well, it has to be the men, right? We're Christians. And so if we're Christians and you're a man, and you're the authority of your household, well then you have to take that authority. And so your kids and your wife are looking to you, and they're gonna mimic your behavior. So if your kids and your wife and they see that you're overweight, you're obese, uh. Good Health is not a concern to you. Uh, exercise, you're very sedentary and this is bringing about illness. And if it's bringing about illness because of your poor choices and if your lifespan is being drastically decreased, right? Because there's a proverb that says a good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children. So people look at that proverb and they think financial, yes, it's financial, but. Your life and your time is also an investment, right? And so if, if you can't leave the inheritance of your presence to be there when your grandkids, uh, are graduating to be there at your grandkids, why at your grandkids, uh, marriage and all these family events, because you couldn't attend because you allowed yourself to develop. Certain illnesses because of your lack of attention to your health. Well, that's, that's sin pretty much, right? Mm-hmm. There's a, the, I think it was Theodore Roosevelt says, all attainable health is duty. All avoidable, sickness is sin, right? If we're as Christians, it's our goal. The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. One Corinthians six, 19 and 20. We are not of our own. We were bought with a price. Glorify God in your body. If our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, then we treat our body like a temple, and part of that goes what? What goes into your body? And how you're moving. Are you sedentary? Well get up and do some exercise and it doesn't take much. People think like you have to, you know, go to the gym and do five workouts a day and your diet. You got to eat salads and celery sticks the rest of your life. No, you just have to start somewhere. Yeah. You have to find somewhere to start and it's, it's slow and steady changes that lead to lasting change and so. What I do with my coaching is I get people to understand that, hey, your goals, whatever they may be, 20 pounds, 30 pounds, you need to lose weight. Uh,'cause typically it's people who are overweight, but we also work with men who wanna build muscle. Uh, and so whatever the goal is, it's attainable. Hey, like for, for instance, real quick, I just got on the scale before, before we got out, right? So. If, if you guys are, or if you guys watch me on the video, y'all probably don't look that, that heavy, right? Like for, for real, like, I don't, I don't think I'm heavy. Uh, how much did I weigh right now, man? 180 5 0.8. Oh wow. I saw the 0.8. So we gotta round that off. Yeah, that's gonna be about 180 6. Alright, so, uh, so the reason I got on the scale,'cause, uh, um, I wanted his brother to come out here, like I said, to challenge men, challenge myself. To, to get fit. So it's not just the spiritual aspect, but also the physical. So, but then I asked, so the reason I got on the scale,'cause I asked him, what should I be weighing based on my height? Right? And then, uh, he, he searched it. And what, what should I be weighing? Yeah. So depending on your BMI, which is your body mass index, which for you would be on the higher side, you're looking at roughly 1 45 or one 50 is a good range for you, for your height and your BMI. So basically 35 pounds overweight is what you're saying, man. And basically about 35 pounds overweight. Don't forget, uh, 20 pounds is probably just his head alone. Man, I hear that. Maybe me like that. Yeah. Maybe he's gotta lose 15, you know. Yeah. But, uh, no, no. Hey, but anyways, no. Yeah, yeah. So the reason I got under'cause man, just, uh, a lot of times we think we're healthy, but I know I'm not based on what I eat. Uh, before we get into the, um, the business, you know, I want you to explain what gave you the desire. To make this a business,'cause I know you're passionate about it. When, when, when did it start? Like man, when you knew I, this is a passion of mine. I know God's calling me to do it, not just for myself. But for others, do you do, could you pinpoint on a time that happened? Yeah. Great. Great question. Uh, so coming home from prison, I knew I had to do something about my own health and that drove me to become a certified personal trainer. So I started off working in gyms. Uh, I got certified as a personal trainer, certified in weight loss management, certified in fitness, nutrition certified youth fitness instructor. So I carried all these certifications and I just developed the knowledge base over time. Uh, I also did a lot of trial and error on my own right? And so this was like, um. Years ago. So now the Internet's flooded with all types of advice. Uh, but back then, uh, we were trying things like new things like keto. I did keto, I did carnivore. I, I tried all these different fasting methods, uh, vegan, low carb, you know, all the, all the typical, um, diets that are out there. Uh, and I ultimately came to. One decision, a concrete way of eating, which is what I call biblical nutrition. And that's the approach that we use, that I train Christian men, uh, is to eat the way God designed us to eat. Right? The Bible has a lot to say about food, uh, about the foods that we should be eating and the importance of. What it means to eat. So you go to Genesis, God gives us food as sustenance to sustain us for mission, right? So our food should be whole. It should be nutrient dense. The food that we eat should be fuel for whatever it is. God has whatever mission you have, right? So we're kingdom minded. We're kingdom minded. Jesus calls us to be perfect. He says, for your heavenly Father is perfect. And so the Greek word used there is tellas. And so what? What that word means is that Jesus isn't calling us to be sinless perfection. He's telling us to develop ourselves. It means to be whole, to be mature, to be fully development. So as, as Christians, it's our duty to develop ourselves in a way that's gonna glorify God. And so that's how I got into the passion of training men. So I was in the gym for a long time. Uh, and then I, I, I circled back to the church and we know how those, uh, those church parties are. Uh, you know, you show up to men's group on, on Tuesday night and you know, the, the food that's there isn't, isn't nutrient dense. So donuts. Usually starts with donuts and cookies and cakes, and greasy pizzas. And you know, I think for us as Christians, we should be leading the charge. Uh, in every aspect of life of, of, of our lifestyle choices and decisions and the way we treat others, but ultimately our health, right? Because if our health is deteriorating because of poor choices that we're making, then there needs to be a change. So I I, I noticed that men are just. Overweight men who are obese, uh, this processed food is harmful. It's to the point where it gets toxic to the body. If you're looking at an ingredient label and there's half of the ingredients in the label, you can't pronounce, I tell people, maybe you shouldn't be eating that. Right? Because God gives us foods that have one ingredient, right, like meat. Banana apple, right? Like there's no, you don't need an ingredient label for that. And so that's what circled me back and then brought me to focus specifically on Christian men and start my online fitness coaching program, was because I wanted to reach the men. Because again, if we can reach the men, then ultimately. We can bring change to the church. Yeah. And then the church can lead the way in the charge of what it looks like, what health and fitness looks like. Because I tell people, your body is preaching a gospel, right? So what? What gospel is your body preaching? Is it preaching a gospel of freedom in Christ, or a gospel of captivity and bondage to gluttony, to your desires to lack of self-control? Right? Mm-hmm. And I, and I don't wanna put that out there as a way as I'm, um, trying to be overbearing and, no, no, no, no. This is scripture. This is what scripture said. You, you know, to throw a question on that, like, I know we mentioned. The man go to the men's group, and all that is, is all that junk, right? The donuts, the pizza, and all unhealthy stuff. Like I, I know you do EEE, uh, evangelism, right? Yeah. So the goal in that is man, to draw people to Christ. Bring soul to salvation, right? Win souls, right? So for the, for the man, that's, listen. Hey, brother Sal, man, all, all, all, all that's important is that, that I'm saved. And I, and I go to heaven, like basically God is sovereign, right? So he knows when, when, when I'm gonna die. There's a, a day ordained for me. So it doesn't matter if I eat healthy or if I eat junk. What would you say to somebody who has that mindset, man? Well, I would say that as Christians, and it's clear in scripture, like I said, one Corinthians six 19 and 20 says, glorify God in your body. It's not your own body. Right, that Jesus paid for that body. It got in a, in a way, it's a loan. It's a loan. Uh, Romans 12, one says, to offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this is your spiritual worship. That's Romans 12, one. Okay, so in the Old Testament. God demanded perfection when it was a sacrifice, like it was the fatten calf without blemish. He didn't want the, the calf that had a limp or that had blemishes. No, he wanted the most perfect animal, the first fruits of your flock. That's what God required. He wants the best of the best, and so if Romans 12, one is saying to offer your body as that living sacrifice, then. That means that your body should be the best of the best to your abilities, right? I'm not saying you have to go out there and, uh, you know, have a six pack abs and tran, I'm not talking, I'm talking about whatever is attainable for you Yeah. On your journey, right? Because whatever you did to get where you're at is gonna take self-control and discipline, which the Bible speaks a lot of. The Bible speaks a lot. Has a self controls one of the fruits of the spirit. Yeah. Right. And so why is that? It's because as Christians we should have that temperance. To control our desires. And if we can't do that and we have a lack of self-control, then that is gonna leak over into other areas of our lives. A lot of the men that I coach that are struggling with gluttony or obesity also have, uh, addictions to, uh, pornography, maybe alcohol. Uh, video games, living vicariously through others video games. And it's like, so you see these, these patterns that develop and, and that's because all these things factor in the same way in the mind. And so when we're so, everything's habitual, right? And so one thing that I do when I coach men is, is we start to develop good habits to replace the bad habits, right? Because, uh, because it is not just giving up something, you have to replace it in a sense. Right. Exactly. It's like, uh, it's like when we tell guys who come outta the neighborhood and they come to Christ, you gotta leave those old friends behind. But now you have to have a group of new friends. Right. Because if you're, if you isolate yourself, then that the enemy's gonna come back and he's gonna drag you back, uh, into old lifestyle patterns. And it's the same way, uh, for the men that I coach. And so it's like. Having that approach where you're winning the battle in the mind, right? The Bible says, don't be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The battle starts in the mind. Proverbs 23, 7 says, as a man, think if so is he. And so there's a quote that, uh, I believe it's James Allen. He says, as a man thinks using that proverb as a man thinks so, is he as a man, continues to think so he remains. Mm. And so what that means is that like, if you don't believe in yourself, and when Jesus talks about believe, I could go on and on about Jesus and what he talks about beliefs, right? Jesus says all things are possible for him who believes. And so we understand, we see the importance of. The psychological importance there, you have to believe first and foremost that the change is possible. And, and so it starts, so I say, uh, it's your beliefs dictate your thoughts. Your thoughts dictate your actions and your actions. Make your routine that make you who you are. Okay, so it all starts with your belief system. Could I ask you something that, that, that, that's very deep and it really like, uh, uh, what's the word? Uh, uh, resonates with me.'cause uh, I think that's one of the biggest battles is in the mind. Mm-hmm. Of, of the way we view. View. Absolutely. Like the way I view myself, the way we view ourselves. Uh, you know what I'm saying? So how is that your first approach, like to get them to change the thinking before they start Any other of the steps I guess. Yes. So we have what I call the affirmations. And the affirmations are what God says about you, who you are. You're loved by God, you're a child of God. God is your refuge. And so all these affirmations are there to show you, man, this is what God's word says. This is what God's word says. Because you know, depending on your environment. Your your, your past, uh, your family relations, I mean, you, you men. Uh, women in general, anybody carries a lot of baggage of their identity, right? Your identity, whoever, whatever shaped you as a child past traumas, past hurts. Uh, but when we can understand that God doesn't look at that and see us, God doesn't see us for who we were. He sees us for who we can become. And that's a very important point to make is that you can't, you can't change the past. Right. You have to forgive whether you've forgiven someone else or you're forgiving yourself. You have to forgive yourself and then you have to live in the present. You can't worry about the future. Jesus says, don't worry about tomorrow, for today has enough of and of itself, right? And so, uh, if we trust God and we know God's gonna provide in the future, and God says, forgive my past, there's nothing I can do about it, then what am I to focus on the present? The now, right? So what can I do now to change? Because God's given me all his affirmations of who I am. All things are possible. Jesus says, so I, I can lose this weight. I could get off this medication, I can get the energy back to play with my kids. I come home, work from work. A client was telling me I'm drained. Uh, I don't have the energy to play with my kids and I feel horrible because they come up to me, they greet me and they're happy to see me when I'm exhausted. He says,'cause I'm carrying this weight around. And I just did a um. A recording with him and he says, dude, I got, he's 22 pounds down, and he's like. I got my energy back. He's like, I get home from work. My kids are happy to see me, I'm happy to see them. I'm no longer hooked on the ultra processed food. I got off the caffeine. Uh, we started doing a spiritual fast. He's like, wow. He's like, I've just completely changed my whole way of thinking now, um, because of this program. Amen. And so when you see that type of change. And I showed'em before and after pictures. Okay. So when you see that change, it drives you to think, what else am I capable of doing? Right? What are the areas, other areas of my life can I conquer? Because now you have confidence, because you've put in the hard work, you've remained committed and consistent, and you've seen the fruits of your labor, right? Hard work and toil fruit Bible talks a lot about that. Mm-hmm. Farming, harvesting. Right. Uh, and so when, when people see that it's a psychological breakthrough that happens in the mind, you, you, you know, could, could we touch on that a little bit? Because I, I think we, we live in a time where people want everything now, and they want it easy if it, if it doesn't come quickly. And if it's too hard, nah, you know what? I'm gonna move on to the next thing, man. So could, could you touch a little bit more on that, the hard work that told you how it's biblical? Yeah. Uh, the proverb, 1211, let me see. He says, uh, for the moment, all discipline seems painful, rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. See, amen. We live in a society of instant gratification, as you mentioned, uh, where you can get your groceries delivered to you. Uh, you could get food delivered. You don't even have to leave your house anymore. You have this, this electrical conduit to look at, uh, in which you could just swipe away whatever you don't like and, and, and watch whatever you would like. And so what's that? What that's doing to our brains is, is our brains are being rewired to think that comfort and ease is the way to go. And so what, what that does for us is that we no longer chase the perfection. We want things easy. It's easy to just sit around and eat. Uh, ultra processed foods because they taste good, even though they're wrecking your body with obesity and with, uh, illness, it's easy to just sit and and doom scroll. That's my new word. Doom. Scroll. I love that word. Yeah. Yeah. No, you doom, doom scrolling where you're just mindlessly just scrolling through the phone. And these things are, are easy, but discipline takes hard work. But the Bible speaks highly of discipline. He says it's, it says it's gonna yield the fruit of righteousness, so listen to the language trained fruit and yield. So you have to train yourself in order to develop fruit, which you will yield. And so when you see that in the scriptures and you see, okay. God wants us to work. Right? Look it in Genesis, right? God says, you know, to take dominion over the earth and subdue it. That was the original command. As men, we have that in our hearts, right? God developed man to be a conqueror. Amen. God made man to rain. But we've been, we've been stripped of that, especially in modern society and there's a lot of factors that we can go into there. Uh, but men have that in their nature to conquer, to reign. Yet we've been emasculated in a sense. But why do you think men like watching? You know, boxing or fights or, or men. Men like watching football, right? What, what, what is that? It's somebody exercising their dominion over the other man. We have that, those, those God-given testosterone, those that, that God given nature, that God gives us to, to conquer. And these, these are good things. They're. Properly, uh, put in their place. Right? And so what happens is in our modern day society, well men have exchanged, um. Their development of their body or their experience to, to conquer for, to do it vicariously, which means do something else like a video game. Why do guys play video games? Well, they wanna play video games because they wanna win. Well, that's that God given drive to win. But God wants you to win in life. Not in a video game for some fantasy sense. Right. Well, and same thing with sports that you see people and go Bears, right? Bears Packers this week. Oh, bears gonna win, bears gonna get it today, uh, this Saturday. Uh, but, but why do you think men go? They go to these games the other day with seven degrees and they played Cleveland and people was out there cheering'em out. Well, why do people go and they cheer? Because they wanna see win. They want the bears to win. And so that's our nature is man. Conquer. God gives us that. But unfortunately, again, in these times, we've lost that connection and we've thought that, hey, well I could doom scroll all day. That's gonna make me happy. Uh, but you look at the statistics, we are living in the most depressed, the most anxious, the most suicidal generation to ever inhabit the earth, bro. These are the statistics and they don't lie. And you say, well, hold on. We're living in the, the most technologically advanced generation, like we got everything. Everything is at the swipe of a finger here. So why is everybody so depressed? Why is everybody on anti-anxiety medications? Why are the suicide rates so high? Well, there's a lot that goes into that too, but I would say our blessings have become curses in this country. That's good. Our blessings have become curses. So it's time to go back to God's way.'cause you look at scripture meant God's way is always the best way. Yes sir. Amen. Yes, sir. Uh, you, you, you know what? That, that, that, that's deep, man. The, the blessings have become curses, man.'cause, uh, like you mentioned, everything at the swipe just go under like, man, you, you ain't lying about. Amazon, you know, get everything delivered to your house. Now people, what is it, DoorDash and whatever. Yeah, Uber Eats and all that. It's definitely a, a, a curse. So, okay, so the, the business, uh, man, you, you know, first and foremost, man, your, your, your passion for this, I think it's on point. Because I believe the enemy, a lot of times we focus, you know, as men, I think you could focus on like, man, trying to be, uh, faithful. You know, no infidelity, staying away from porn, staying away from all these other things. The, the, what I will call, let's say like the obvious sinful things, but gluttony, glu gluttony is something overeating. That a lot of people probably watching this, that's not a sin. It's not a sin for me to be eating a little bit too much. But the, the, I think isn't it in Proverbs that it says, uh, the things that God hates isn't, that, isn't glut any one of those, uh, the seven things God hates? If not mistaken, I think in Proverbs, I, I believe so. I believe so. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna check. But what there's also Proverbs 2320 be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat for drunkards and gluttons will come to poverty and slumber will clothe them with rags. Let, let me ask you this. W why do you think the church is basically okay with that? Like, you know, like churches could preach, like I mentioned in all these other obvious sins that hinder somebody. But why do you think the church is silent, ony? Uh, many factors, but I would say one of the factors that stands out to me the most is, um, leadership. Leadership, uh, from the pulpit. I've, I've had pastors, I have pastors in my program that are looking to change their eating habits and change their health, but we, you can look, and I would say a majority of our pastors in the church are overweight or obese. So how can they preach on something which they themselves are. Um, you know, a part of, and so that's, that's I think one of the reasons why we see, uh, a lot of silence on the topic is if your pastor's, uh, obese or overweight, then how, how is he gonna preach to his congregation about obesity, about gluttony? Right. And that's why that goes, that goes back to what I said, your body is preaching a gospel. And I say that all the time, and I, and, and, uh, I don't want to. Double down. Too hard on that. But the fact is, and it remains that when somebody first meets you, the first impression that they make of you, before you even open your mouth or speak a word, is your physical appearance. And because we have eyes, there's, there's, you can't overlook that. And so if your body's preaching a gospel of, of, of slavery, uh, you're, you're, you're severely overweight, you're obese, and people say, well, you're, you're picking us on people who are overweight. I was there, man, look at the pictures. Go to my website, Christ for Life fitness.com, and look at the pictures of me. Uh, over 200 pounds. I was big. I was out there. Uh, but I made a change in my life because I knew that Christ was calling me for more. Okay? So it's not, again, it's not a far reach for men to do. So you just need to change. You need to take action, right? What, what? Uh, you have to put one foot in front of the other. What is the definition of change? I tell guys is time plus pain, right? That's, that, that, that's something we, we, uh, we all wanna stay away from. Right? Yeah. Like a pain. If it's painful, it, it, it, it, it can be of God, but think about Jesus and, and the cross. You know, like everybody talks about, oh man, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna pick up my cross and follow Christ. I don't, I don't think they realize what they're saying when they're saying pickle my cross. They're, it's talking about pain there, right? Yeah, suffering the cross was symbolic of suffering. And so Jesus talks a lot about that. He says, and then he says, before you go off to war, to fight a battle, he says, you gotta count the cost, right? So as Christians, we have to understand that the Christian life, uh, isn't meant. It's not easy. We were talking about that in the Bible study yesterday with the men. When I first came to Christ, he took the addiction from me. I tell people, and I was like, whoa, we took the addiction completely away. No more, no more cravings for heroin anymore. Like I knew, I knew right away that it was gone, and I was calling home people and telling them, Hey, you know, I'm a Christian now. Not gonna get high no more. And they would like, no, you better get in. Re nobody believed me. Oh my. Everybody thought that, that I was lying. Nobody believed me, but I knew it inside. Right. Uh, but then there's other things, um, that. God is gonna remove from you slowly, God will remove other things from you slowly. And so as Christians, going back to what Jesus says, be perfect for your heavenly Father is perfect. Uh, it's our call, that's the Greek word, and it means mature. Fully developed we're, we should be constantly, constantly setting goals for ourself, uh, to be those honor, those vessels of honorable uses that Paul talks about. And striving for excellence, striving to be a better version of ourselves, right? You only get one body. You can buy a new car and decorate it. You can buy a new house and remodel it. Uh, but what about your body? You can't buy. A new body, this is the body that you have, uh, until Christ comes back or we go to meet him. That and that's it. And so what are you doing with the body that God has given you? And so it's important. And so what I tell people is like this, okay, what is the one thing that you can spend but you can't make or you can't buy? Is your time, right? You can spend time, but you can't buy more time and you can't make more time. Okay? So if your lifespan is being decreased, let's say five, six. Are either gonna invest in your health now or you're gonna pay for it later. You, you, you know, there's a saying, uh, easy now, hard later. Mm, hard now. Easy later. Yeah. I like that. Which one do you want? Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know what, I'll make a quick correction. The, the seven things that God hates, uh, was not in there. So that, that's some proverbs. There's a proverb that says seven things that God hates. Okay. I thought, I thought Glu was one of'em, but it's not. So I just wanna make that, uh. Okay, I'll clear that up. You know, I, I, I was wrong with that one, but the Bible does have plenty to say on gluttony and various other verses, but yeah, I think it was you that sent me the, the meme where it's the doctor. And it's the patient and the patient's overweight, and the doctor goes, okay, you can either make time in your busy schedule now to exercise, uh, one hour a day, or you can be dead 24 hours a day. Right? It's like your choice. Your choice. You wanna make time for your health now. Mm-hmm. Or you wanna shorten your lifespan and this is serious, right? Yeah, we can, we can joke around and I got jokes about exercise. I can go on and on. I had a client just give us one man. I had a client. Yeah. I was like, man, you missed your workout. What happened? He goes, yeah, I had family come over. I said, yeah, who came over? He said, aunt Jemima, little Debbie, Dr. Pepper. That's a good one. Oh yeah. We gotta, uh, lighten it up, man, because I know, I know a lot of people are gonna be hearing this. It is gonna be rubbing them the wrong way, man. But I, I believe it's necessary, man. Uh, and, and that's the reason I got on the scale.'cause I know that the, the qua, your quality of life could be better. Like, like I said, a lot of people are probably gonna hear it as, oh man, just all that matters is the spiritual man. Like, as long man, as long as I'm living for God, you know, reading my bible, doing my prayers. Like the physical, you know, that's of, of, what's the word of vanity? You know, if I wanna be focused on the physical, but it is not, man. I, I believe, like you mentioned, the quality, your quality of life would change. Uh, and then the mindset to, to be able to man, to run, play with your kids and God willing later on with your grandchildren, you know, so it's, it's like you mentioned, uh, what do you say, like the inheritance scripture you, you mentioned a little while ago. Mm-hmm. Definitely, uh, definitely because like you said, if your quality of life is being diminished because of poor lifestyle choices, uh, then what you're doing in a sense is, is, is you're creating for yourself an environment that isn't productive. It's not fruitful, it's not yielding fruit, and so you're just kinda sweeping sin under the rug. And so. What I wanna do is, is not only bring this issue to the light,'cause we talked about how you know. It's not really being preached on from the pulpits and there's multiple factors. But what I wanna do is I wanna bring this to the light and I want the church to be leading the way in how we think about our health and wellness. Oh. Because I've seen some of the statistics, and I mentioned some earlier. Um, but the fact of the matter is when they study some denominations in some churches, the obesity statistics and. Are even worse in the church than in secular society. And that's like mind numbing to me is we're the church we should be leading. Right? We should be showing people, Hey, these are the holy, the Holy Spirit lives inside of here. I mean, take, what does the Bible say? We, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. Yeah. Now is that Temple Pristine? Are you maintaining? Who wants to go to a church where there's trash all over the floor? Right? Think about it. When you go to your church, you go there, you, you're not gonna go to a church where there's trash all over the ground where nobody cares. It's deteriorating, it's dilapidated. You're gonna be like, man, what's, what's happening in this church here? How is this representing a holy god no. Right? No. You wanna be at a church that's pristine, that's clean. That, uh, really just, uh, exemplifies holiness, God. And so if your body's a temple, then you should treat it like one. And so getting men are, and again, the church is starting to come around to this idea, and it's starting to come around to this and it's, it's, it's getting, it's gaining traction. Amen. But because. People have to start speaking out on it. And again, going back to my own personal te, I'm not coming from a place where I've been an athlete. All my, and that's why guys sign up to work with me is because I, well, there's many coaches out there and people offering coaching. Uh, most of them are young. In their twenties or former athletes. And so yeah, they know what Peak Physical Health is, but they don't know what it's like to be overweight and obese and addicted, uh, and then make that change and transition from that into a healthy lifestyle. Right? Because I, I was 32 and I tell people now I'm at 42, I'm in the best shape of my life. I'm thriving, so I'm living proof that with the right. The right program. The accountability because most of the program, uh, is about accountability, is about, Proverbs says iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another, and I get it. Men are busy. You got a family, you got responsibilities at your church, you have a career, you have all these things going on. And sometimes you don't prioritize your health as a man. Everything else gotta come first. You gotta pay the bills. You're responsible for your children and your wife and, and developing those family relationships and those, those, those, uh, responsibilities at your church. And so as men, most of the time, what takes a backseat? Your health. Yeah, your health. And so part of the program is having that accountability where I get to check in on you. Hey, how you feeling today? What does your diet look like today? You got your workout today, you gonna make sure you get it in. Okay. Let's work through that. You, you know what? Let's, let's, let's go there now. So you, you have your business. What, what was the name of the business? Uh, what's the site where people could go? Yeah, so the name of the of my company is Christ for Life Fitness. Uh, so you could find us at Christ for life fitness.com. I'm on social media, known as the Fit Christian Dad. My son loves that. The fit Christian dad on, on, on Instagram and speaking of the son Facebook, he's over here and in the basement he was getting, he's getting his swollen line over here. I told him to keep it down'cause he was over there, you know, hitting them weights. He was hitting the weight so hard that we had to sit him down for a little bit. But, but yeah. I'm gonna, I'm gonna put the, the link to the, to the business. I wanted to come out here for him to talk about that, but, okay, now, now, now we're there. They're gonna go to the website. What are the first steps this say me. Say, I'm the guy, I just heard you, man. Hey, I could relate. What, what, what are some of the, basically the, the viewer, the listener, what's the process gonna look like for them? Like when, when they come to you, you know what I'm saying? Like, well, what are the steps and what, what am I gonna get? You know, like, oh, great question. Great question. So when you go to the website there, the website will explain a little bit about what the coaching program entails. Uh, it has a little bit of my testimony on there. There's some testimonials on there from clients, uh, and if you like what you see, then there's a button that you can click to apply for the coaching. And so there, it'll just ask you some questions, maybe what your, what your goals are, why you have these goals. Uh, and then I'll get notified and then I, I reach out to people who, um, fill out the questionnaire. Uh, to see if we're a good fit to work together because it, it, it's about finding people that are the right fit because we don't just take on anybody. Like, I'm not gonna take someone on that, I don't think I can help. Right. So what, what, what are those signs you, you think like, oh, uh, a lot of times people are. They, they say, they was the saying, talk the talk, but don't wanna walk the walk. Right? Like, so, like, how serious are you about achieving this goal? Right? Is it something that's urgent for you, like right now, because it's gonna take effort on your behalf? Right. Because if I'm gonna do this with you, if I'm gonna invest my time in you, then I want, I want you to see results. Yeah. I want you to see results. You have to have both feet in, you have to be ready to take action. And so if I can see that in you, if I could see the urgency, then yeah. I take a client on. And so what basically what I do is I provide a functional fitness, uh, program for them, which can be done. Uh, in their home. It could be done in the gym. It's focused on their fitness level, uh, their situation and their goals. So it's not like a cookie cutter program that I'm giving to everybody. Not like I'm specifically working with them to adjust, uh, their fitness program for their needs. Uh, and we practice biblical nutrition, which is a little bit of what I got into eating the way God designed us to eat. What, what, what, what does that look like? Um, do you give him like, uh, let's say. I, I guess let, let, let's go there to the food part. Well, what do you recommend is like, do, do, do they get to eat breakfast? Do they ski, skip a meal? What, what kind of, um, I guess diet, do you, I guess I, I, I guess it would depend on the individual as well, but I guess what are some common things that, that you do? Every, every good question. Everything's customized to the individual. Uh, but I would say that. What I do with biblical nutrition is, is what we do is we try to get people to eat as close food that's as close to its natural state as possible. So single ingredient God-given foods. Uh, when we can focus that primarily on the diet, um, and start cutting out things that are highly ultra processed, uh, then you can see significant change right there. Um, but it's not over restrictive. Like, I don't like, well, we're, we're sinners. I tell people. So you go back into the garden, God says, uh, to Adam and Eve, he says, you see all them trees out there, you could eat whatever you want, but you see that one little tree right there? That tree right there. Just don't touch that tree. And what do they go and do they go and eat from that tree, right? Because when we feel restrictive, then when we feel restricted, then we lash out and we're sinners by nature. And so I don't, I don't believe in cheat days. I tell people, because again, it goes into the psychological aspect of if I could cheat ones, I could cheat. Yeah, two days. What cheating implies that you're doing something wrong. So I tell my clients like, look, if you're dialed in and 80% of your diet is coming from whole nutrient dense food, then that other 20%, then you go ahead and enjoy a night out with your wife. You go ahead and eat cake with your kid on his birthday, and guess what? Don't feel guilty about it. Why? Because you're crushing your fitness. You're crushing your routine, you're eating good foods, and so enjoy whatever and don't feel guilty about it. And that just psychological shift changes everything for people. Yeah. Right. Because when you tell somebody you're cheating, it's like, oh man, I'm cheating. Well, I might as well just binge for the rest of the day. Now I already cheated. What's the point? Yeah, right. It's like throwing the towel. Yeah. It's all, but when, when people are seeing change, like. When I, when guys are losing weight and they're like, wow, man, I'm, I'm actually losing weight. I'm feeling better in my body. I'm playing with my kids. And, and, and then they're, they're confronted with a choice that they have to make.'cause life is about making choices. I tell people, you're always one choice away from greatness. And so it's like, okay, well I could eat, uh, the pizza and the donuts and all that. I could, but you know what? I feel better when I eat God given whole nutrient-dense foods that give me vitamins and minerals and fuel me for mission. I feel better when I eat that. So I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna choose that over this. And that's something that happens over time. When, when guys start seeing results for themselves, then they just naturally start choosing better options because they're seeing, again, the fruits of their labor. It's a beautiful thing to witness and to be a part of when guys enter into the program and start seeing results because it's a whole shift. And again, it's all faith-based, Christ-centered, right? Everything's, uh, everything's faith-based and Christ-centered because again, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Uh, we're called to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. And when you have that approach, that, man, I'm not just doing this'cause I wanna lose weight. I'm doing this for God, I'm doing this for God because this is God's body. This ain't mine. This is a loan. And he's going ask for it back. What condition am I gonna give it back to him? It's like when you go trade in your car, you go trade it. It gonna be, he's going, he gonna charge you. Yeah. How much do you want for that car, bro? You, man, I don't even know. You owe me 10 grand. Gimme the car plus 10 grand what you did to that thing, right? Tore it up. Yeah. You know what a, a question, uh, something you mentioned earlier. Uh, you said to cut, cut away caffeine. Now, le let me ask you this. I know we were talking about energy, these men talking about energy. Uh, there's a lot of guys, uh, I was talking to a coworker recently, uh, um, drinks this, uh, a couple, uh, coffee. Then another one, then another one.'cause he needs that energy. Mm-hmm. You know, the, the, the coffee's gonna to give him energy. Then I ask him, how much water do you drink? Mm-hmm. He like, man, not much. They're like, oh man, that's not good.'cause uh, first of all, I believe coffee dehydrates you. It's a diuretic. Yeah. Yeah. So, so, so then you, you drink it to give you that boost. Then you lose the energy and then you drink some more. You get that little booze, then you drink some more, but you're basically in a vicious cycle. So let, let me ask you this, I guess caffeine, is it good? Is it bad? Wh what, what do I do with it? It, it's a stimulant. Uh, I would say excess caffeine. Excess caffeine is bad and excess. So too much of it. Uh, what's, uh, too much, uh, let's say for me, you know, we already talked about. Uh, how much caffeine should I be? Uh, well, I would say you definitely don't wanna be getting those, uh, those bang energy them, them energy drinks. If an energy drink has more than 150 grams of caffeine, that's just too much for the body to handle. I, I think that's, that's, that's, that's extensive. Uh, I don't think coffee's bad. Okay. I don't, I don't let guys, guys can drink coffee, uh, in moderation. I, I just, I. We practice biblical nutrition, so we want guys to steer clear of energy drinks and things like that. But I, uh, uh, I don't wanna highly restrict people. Uh, I want people to realize things on their own. Your body should, if you're eating the way God designed us to eat, then your body will naturally develop energy because the foods that you're eating are giving you energy. They're nutrient dense. And so what's happening, most of the times guys need energy drinks is that their, their diet is trash. They're not eating the way God designed them to eat. They're eating foods that are highly ultra processed, uh, which are high in calories and low in nutrients. And so it's about your approach. Going back to what the Bible says again, God gives us food for nourishment. It's supposed to nourish you for mission so that you can go live an active, healthy lifestyle and do whatever it is that God has placed you on this earth to build and advance the kingdom of God. Amen. Amen. So, okay. You, you give'em the like, like let's say like the food plan, right? Yeah. Uh uh. Um. Exercise. You, you give'em a plan for that. And how, how do you, uh, stay in touch with these guys? Is it on a daily basis? Weekly? How, how do you stay in touch with the guys that sign up for, for your program? Great question. So I have an app and so that's where everything is done. Primarily through the app where we can message back and forth their video message, audio messages, their nutrition plans are on their ra recipes are on their meal plans are on their, uh, their training programs are on their tutorial videos are on their. Uh, they have access to all of my online courses. There's faith-based devotionals on there that I set up for my guys. So, you know, you need that devotional first thing in the morning. You gotta get in the word, like I tell, I tell this to my guys in my Bible study. The first thing you should do when you get up in the morning is get in the word That should be like the first thing that hits your brain. I, I got the, our daily bread, I got hooked on our daily bread from, you know, we, from the joint over here and the joint you was reading them our daily breads and now it's an app, uh, where it, it's a devotional every day. That's the first thing I do in the morning. I get up, I literally put my glasses on and I, I. Turn my devotion on and I read that first thing in the morning. So what I do with my clients is I have devotionals that I've developed, um, that emphasize health and fitness. And so they'll get that first thing in the morning. And so they'll have the devotional, the, these devotions. Do you create'em? You write, I created these. Oh, nice. I create the devotionals and then, um. Typically I'll, I'll add like some motivational Christ-centered videos down there, which could be like a sermon, a lecture, a teaching short brief for guys to listen to maybe while they're on their way to work or something. Kind of just to settle them, to plug them in, in, in the, in the beginning of the day because your morning routine. Sets, and there's been studies done on this sets the pace for the, your entire day. If you get off to a bad start in the morning, uh, you're likely to have a bad day. You, you know what it reminds me of? Uh, that, uh, uh, general, uh, I believe he, he said, how, how does, I think they asked him, how do you know somebody's gonna be great? Or what do you look for, uh, to, to know if a soldier's gonna be great if he makes his bed. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Like the first thing, like, did, did you make your bed? Like it starts in those small things. Yeah. It's, it's in those small disciplines, or you could say small wins that basically add up. Absolutely. They say, the, the saying goes, how you do one thing is how you do everything. Right. I like that. Yeah. And so what you said, I think it was, uh, Jimoh. I know if you, if you heard of him, he's a great, uh, motivational speaker. Okay. And he used to say that the definition of success is making your bed in the morning. It starts with those little things. I try to that to my kids. Beautiful. For, for the last couple days I started doing that. Yeah. Because, man, I ain't gonna lie, man. I'm gonna be honest. My, the, my, my side of the room, man, I'm over there, uh, walking over stuff like a trail. Yeah, yeah, yeah, man. Like, like stumbling over stuff to, you know, obstacle. Of course. Yeah. There you go. Obstacle course. Hey, best. So I cleaned it up and for the last couple, uh, mornings, man, I get up. Make it, you know, make it look nice. Fold the other blankets. Yeah. And it, it just does something man, like, uh, it's a visual thing, like, man, like things are in order and like the rest of my day should be in order, you know, like to be disciplined. Yeah, absolutely. 100%. Uh, I think, uh, I'd spent some time in the military. We touched on that last time, and yeah. And that's, that's important, right? And it's very establishing that discipline and we talk about that. That's biblical. Yeah. That's in the scriptures. We went, Paul says, uh. I discipline my body daily and bring it into subjection so that after preaching to others, I myself may not be disqualified. That's one Corinthians nine, uh, 27. And so he's talking about, he disciplines his body, and so you have to be able to control your body, passions, desires of the flesh, right? So that leads into other sin that can be deeper. Uh, but also, you know, you're ba this is, he's giving a, a metaphor, uh, about an athlete. And Paul uses a lot of metaphors about athletes, about runners, um, which showcase the importance of how are we going to treat our bodies. The one body that we only get, how are we gonna treat it? How are we gonna treat it? Are we gonna master it? Are we gonna have mastery over? Because again, going back to what Jesus says to be perfect, right? Telio is the Greek word. It means fully developed. And so, I don't care how old you are, I tell, I was telling this to someone today, is like, I, I still have fitness goals. Like I still have fitness goals because I should always, you, you wanna say, if you don't aim at, if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time. Yeah. Yep. And so you should always have a goal, uh, something in front of you that's driving you to continue to pursue excellence. And, and no matter how old you are, uh, no matter what your situation is, there should always be something that you're aiming at. Because we're Christians and we're called to continue to advance the kingdom of God. And that starts with every, again, your one decision away from greatness. Amen. Everything that you do has an effect. Ripples into eternity in a sense. Yes. Amen. Amen. You know what, uh, earlier, I don't think we talked about it here, but uh, you were talking about you might be starting. And I know you got the business, but you might be starting like a class, I believe at church. You, you wanna talk a little? Uh, uh, I think it's in the preliminary talks. It's in, it's in, it's in the works. Yeah, it's in the works. We haven't, uh, you know, signed on the dotted line. Yeah. So to speak yet. But what I'm, what I'm trying to do is God has put it on my heart because I, I do, I enjoy coaching and being able to work with guys one-on-one. I also want to develop a culture in the church of fitness, and so what the Lord has been putting on my heart is to start fitness ministries at churches. Uh, which would be like group fitness circuit training where, so it would be, uh, uh, uh, fitness and fellowship. Amen. So we would start with prayer. Uh, we would get into whatever the fitness routine. And this would be simple, uh, beginner friendly exercise, maybe body weight exercises. All you'd need is maybe a yoga mat for pushups and sit-ups. Um, but it's just a way to get guys in the church moving and active. These would be. Um, three classes, so I'm trying to get one started at my church right now. New Life, mid way. There you go. Yeah. New Life Midway 51st and Keeler, south side of Chicago. Great church. I've been there since I came home from prison in 2016. Felt the Holy Spirit call me there. As soon as I walked in, I said this is where I need to be met my wife there baptized my kids there. Uh, started my first ministry. There's just so much history there. A great church doing so much work here in the city. Actually, 27 locations throughout Chicagoland, uh, lead pastor, pastor Mark, job from Moody Bible Institute, um, doing tremendous work. So happy to be a part of that church. Um, and yeah, so what I'm trying to do is start some group fitness, uh, classes there for men. This will start. Preliminary would be men only. Uh, and then eventually what I wanna develop would be like maybe a family or maybe have women do like a women's class. Right, right. Like to, to raise up a woman, a women's class or something. Exactly. So because I wanna develop that culture of fitness in the church, I think. When the fitness culture begins to develop in the church, then we will start to see the decline in the obesity, weights, and um, the illnesses that we see, because now there'll be more of an emphasis on better health. Amen. And so we'll see. We'll even start seeing better eating habits at the churches as well, because people will start investing in their health. And, you know, instead of showing up with, uh, with a dozen of donuts, people start showing up with fruit, vegetable tray, fruit trays. Amen. A homemade, uh, you know, sourdough clean bread, things of that nature. Yes. Things that you know are homemade. Instead of like store brought with a bunch of additives and chemicals and preservatives, pesticides, and we could go on and on about that. That's a whole nother show, man. That's the best round three. Alright. Right. Sp speaking of investment, I know there's something we probably don't want to talk about. You don't, we don't wanna scare people, but, uh, how much is this gonna cost somebody that decides, man, I want, I want Sal to, to coach me. I, I guess you know what, there's a, yeah, so it, it's, it, again, it depends on the individual. It depends what their goals are, uh, what their situation is. I'm always willing to work with clients. I always say I don't want to let finances come between, uh, somebody seeing results. Uh, but it does depend on the person and, and their, their goals are and how long it's gonna take them to get there, right? Mm-hmm. Because if I'm working with you. For six months, it's gonna be different than if I'm working with you for a year. Yeah. Uh, if you only have 20 pounds to lose, typically my clients lose, uh, an average of 20 pounds in 90 days. Uh, so that those first 20 pounds are always, you know, a cycle breaker. Amen. People see that and they're like, wow, I lost 20. In your case, I got 15 more to go because of the head. You said 35 pounds to lose, but uh, you forgot the head's about 20 right here, so 15, but oh, you know what, 90 days, man. I'm, I'm gonna take you up on that challenge myself. And like I said, we, uh, weigh what you say, 180 5 0.81 85.8, right? 180 5 point. We'll round it out to 180 6. But what's today's date? Uh, today's December 17th. So, uh, in 90 days, you know, when I do a podcast, I'll give an update, man. And, uh. For real. I, I wanna be there. I wanna lose at least the 20 and, you know, we'll go from there. Let's do it. I'm excited. Got it. So, um, any final words, anything we haven't touched on that, that you wanna talk about? Yeah, the holidays are coming up, uh, depending on when this is gonna air. Yeah, you, you know what, I'll probably, you know, speaking of that, yeah. This will probably, uh, I'll release it probably after Christmas. I'm thinking right before New Year, so. Yeah. So what I'm doing now, because it's, it's the new year and typically that's when people start realizing they need to do something about their health. And so yeah, I, I do have, uh, some New Year's specials happening there for people who are. Serious and motivated and ready for change. So they can go to the website again, you could go to Christ for Life fitness.com. You click on the apply now. That's the coaching application. Answer a couple questions and then I could reach out to you and then help you meet your fitness goals, because again, this is more than just weight loss. It's not vanity like you said. No, this is stewardship. Stewardship of your body, taking control of your health, taking back your wellness, increasing your lifespan, developing your body to the best of your abilities because your body is a kingdom of the Holy Spirit. Your call to offer your body as a living sacrifice to God. And so when you see change, when you see change, it drives you to. Change other areas of your life in which you know you're lacking. We're all sinners, right? Uh, the psalmist says, incline, you're here to my prayer, Lord, for I am poor and needy. We understand our sinful nature and we sin every day. The beauty of that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Paid all that on the cross when he died for our sins, and rose again on the third day in fulfillment of the scripture. So the psalm says. 32. One says, blessed is he who sins are forgiven. Blessed is he who the Lord counts no inequity against him. Hallelujah. Amen. I had to hit the head. Oh no. Yeah, definitely man. But so what I, what I just, my, my to finish, just to finish off, is that people misconstrue the point of this and they think that it's just about, you know, losing weight or it's just about. Uh, looking better and like, no. This is about temple stewardship. It's about putting forth the best version of yourself. It's about showing up for your family very much, showing up for your kids. It's about leaving that inheritance, your presence, your time, being there in your older age, not being in a, in a hospital, not being plugged into a machine, not being on, uh, medications. Lifelong medications. No stripping. You're not trying to take the easy way out by taking weight loss drugs, uh, that have been, uh. There's no long-term studies on the effects of these drugs. And I've dealt with people already who have been on some of these drugs. I had a client who said he had to get off the, uh, the drug. I don't wanna name it. Uh, he said I had to get off the drug'cause the doctor said it was killing me. It was destroying my kidneys. I was, he was throwing up and all types of, I said, no. Okay. It might have helped you lose weight and get the ball rolling, but now we're gonna do it God's way. We're gonna do it God's way and you're gonna see the difference. And you know, glory to God, people are starting to wake up. The church is starting to wake up to the importance of this issue. Uh, and I wanna make a dent however way I can and it's gonna start, uh, with individuals in my coaching program. It's gonna start by this, um, men's ministry, fitness and fellowship ministries at the church, uh, Lord willing and then beyond, wherever. Wherever the Lord takes me. If he wants me to tell more jokes, uh, become a comedian, so be it. I got, lemme see. I mean, I'm trying to think of some jokes about exercise, but none of them work out. Ah, and I know I got the drum man somewhere over here. Uh, you can, you can add that in later, but, uh, no, you know, with that man, I, I just wanna, uh, uh, thank you for your time. Uh, and, and can you close us out in a prayer? Of course. Uh, Lord God, heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity here to gather, uh, with my brother Omar and for wrong to strong. Ministries. Lord, I just, I'm thankful for the work that they're doing here, um, in the, in, in the church, Lord, to advance the kingdom of God. We know that you, um, have a purpose and a plan for each and every one of us, Lord, that which you ordained before the foundation of the world. Lord, and we just thank you that we're able to first and foremost exalt your name above the heavens. Lord, you are God. You are holy. There is no other. You are the alpha the Omega Lord. You are the God who declares the end from the beginning. Holy, holy, holy, as the Lord, heaven and earth are full of his glory, Lord. So we praise you today. We worship at your altar. Lord, we bow our. Before you and say, we are your servants. Lord, use us in a mighty way. Let us be honorable vessels to advance the kingdom of God, Lord. And just bless this time together today. I pray that this podcast really reaches those who are really seeking change. Lord, uh, I pray that it opens up the hearts of, uh, leadership in the church to really understand the importance of this topic, Lord, uh, the obesity epidemic that we're. In Lord. Uh, and the need to do something about it, Lord, and change is gonna start in the church, Lord. So I just pray, Lord, that you allow this podcast to reach, uh, those that need to hear this Lord, uh, to inspire change in our church, Lord. For us to live a, a healthier, active lifestyle, uh, to continue to advance the kingdom of God, to be leaders on the forefront in society, Lord of what it looks like, what health and wellness looks like.'cause we are the church Lord. We are to exemplify Christ and His holiness. Lord, and it starts with the way we treat our bodies, Lord. Uh, it chart, it starts with our spiritual lives, Lord. It starts with our mentality, Lord. But all these things intertwine together, Lord, because man is a body, mind, and soul is what the scripture says, Lord. So I just thank you for the opportunity to meet with my brother here today. Lord bless him. Bless wrong to strong ministries. Bless Christ for Life Fitness. Lord bless all of those listening here today, Lord. And help us to continue to advance the kingdom of God. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Brother. And once again, could you plug the website, and I know right now we're in, in Chicago, but people don't, don't have to be in the area. They, you, you, you could basically anybody throughout the country and probably the world, you could able be able to join this, uh. What do you call it? Your group, right? Your program, the country, the world, the moon, other planets, whatever. This is an online program, so you could just go to Christ for Life fitness.com. Learn more about the program again, fill out the coaching application. I'll be in contact with you. Amen. Amen. Also, I'm sorry, go ahead. Sorry. Social media's fit Christian dad on Instagram, on Facebook and now, uh, TikTok because my son, my son urged me to get on TikTok. Got to, man, I got, I got four followers on TikTok, so make sure you follow him. But what is it on TikTok? It's Fit Christian Dad, all across Christian Dad all across the board fit Christian Dad, he say. So make sure you follow him and hey, make sure you follow us well, you know, uh, from wrong to strong YouTube. Uh, TikTok, Facebook, uh, Instagram. Make sure you follow, uh, re real quick. Uh, I, I wanted my brother on here to, to highlight his business. Oh. You know, that's one thing that I'm, I'm, I'm big on doing is you guys know. Here we share, uh, testimonies that point people to Christ. Uh, we're looking to create more Christ-centered content, uh, to get those out here and also those that are behind bars. So that's our mission. Uh, uh, we just became, uh, uh, non-for-profit in September, an official 5 0 1 C to non-for-profit. Amen. Uh, and with saying that I want to thank all the donors, so I just started a fundraiser last month. I'm give butter if those of you who, who wanna soul or if you believe in the work that we're doing here, uh, maybe it's, if it's blessed you. Maybe it's, if you know it's gonna bless somebody, if you've been sharing this and you want to support what we're doing, uh, it's easy. You could just, uh, text wrong the number two strong to 5 3 5, 5 5. So that's a wrong to strong to 5, 3 5, 5, 5. You, you send that and you, you, you'll get a, a basically a response. How, how do you be able to give, but. I wanna thank to all, all the donors, all the supporters I was looking on here real quick to try to get, uh, how much money we raised. And it's close to, uh,$1,700 praise that people have given praise God. Uh, so they've given through give butter and I've had a few brothers that have given me cash, so I got it in my wallet here, so I gotta make sure I deposit that, you know, and, and the reason I'm sharing that'cause. Uh, I believe in, in, uh, in accountability. Mm. I believe in transparency. Uh, you know, with this nonprofit, me and my brother were talking, I, I, I've, I had people that have asked me for a merchandise like, Hey man, you know, I like that sweater when you gonna make it. But even with that, I'm waiting to, to create an online store. That way everything could be tracked.'cause I wanna make sure I do everything by the book or like, uh, was it in a legal way? You know what I'm saying? I don't wanna. You know, I wanna, I believe in, uh, what is it? Integrity Christians. We're Christians. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I wanna do everything by the book. Make, make sure we do everything right. I know, I heard a pastor say that, uh, things don't go wrong. They start wrong, you know, so I, I, I, I, I'd rather take my time, make sure I, I, I said everything, uh, the right way. Uh, so I keep an eye out for that, for the merch. I know my brother's looking to create some merch as well for, for what he's doing. So, you know, once he creates that, you know, I'll definitely throw a link under there for that. And also, I want to throw this out there. If you're a business owner, if you believe in the work that we're doing, uh, if, if you like, what, uh, from wrong to strong is, uh, uh, producing And through these testimonies, I'm looking for a couple of sponsors. I'm looking for a couple of sponsors in 20 20, 26, right, man, I'm over here losing my ears. Yeah. 2026 on the horizon. Amen. I'm looking for a couple of sponsors that, that wanna be sponsors of the show and basically, you know, I'll be promoting your business. Uh, so if you're business lines up, you know, maybe you're faith-based, uh, like I said, you believe in the work that we're doing. You wanna partner up, man? Send me a message, uh, Omar at from Wrong to strong org or contact. At from wrong to strong org. So send me email or find me on, on social media. But I definitely, I, I'm looking for at least two sponsors that they wanna, uh, uh, partner up with the podcast and with the work that we're doing. Uh, so with that, anything else, brother? Just grateful, just grateful to be a part of this. Thank you so much for having me again. It's always a pleasure being here, uh, doing this podcast with you, hanging out with you and, uh, yeah, we going to get you right man. We gonna get you 35 pounds down. That's right. No, for real. I'm, I'm gonna share, man, I'm gonna take the picture. You know, I'm not, I'm not gonna post it now, but we'll do it before and after, but definitely I'm on that journey. I, I believe in a holistic approach. Like, I, I know it's not about me waking up reading my Bible and saying my prayers. I believe the physical is very important as well, man. So I'm, I'm, I'm there on the journey and I'm gonna support, and that's why I wanted to promote what you're doing, brother. Amen. Appreciate it. So, hey, hey, make sure you, you, you, uh, get, get on that website, sign up. Man, if you, if it is gonna cost you a little bit. I, I believe, like in what King Davis said, uh, when he was getting ready to, to offer up a, a sacrifice to the Lord and he wanted a, a plot of land, he told the guy, Hey, like, how much you want for this land? Because I wanna, I wanna offer sacrifices up to the Lord here. And the guy's like, no, here you go. I'll give you the land. You know, do do whatever with what you want. And King Davis said, I, I, I will not give anything to the Lord that did, that cost me nothing. It didn't cost me nothing. You know what I'm saying? So, hey, it, it might cost you, it might cost you some time. It might cost you some financial, some sacrifice, some hard work, some toil. But man, this is all gonna be for the Lord. You remember, your body's the temple of the Lord. So man, make sure you make that investment. Reach out to my brother. And with that, we'll get ready to sign off. Uh, ma Matthew four 16 reads, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawn alongside my brother, Salvador Torres Ammar Cillo, and we are. Wrong to strong.