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#146 - Dad Strength: How Lynn Balances 3 Kids and Fitness Without Burning Out
31 Plays6 days ago
A real conversation with Lynn, a dad of 3 and former athlete, on how he built a sustainable fitness routine that helped him lose fat, build muscle, and show up better for his family without burning out.
In this episode, we talk about:
- The simple diet changes Lynn made to lose body fat and build muscle without feeling restricted
- The mindset he uses to balance work travel, family life, and training when life gets hectic
- How prioritizing his own health created a ripple effect that benefited his entire family
- The identity shift from former athlete to fit dad and how he rebuilt consistency in this new season of life
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Transcript
Introducing Lynn Williams
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome back to the Fit-ish Project with your host, Lathan Bass, where we make fitness and health simple for regular people like you and I. We have a guest this week. I'm super pumped about this one to give you a new perspective on the pod. This is a guy that I have been working with for quite a while, a buddy that I went to school with, played football with, and has just done some really cool things. He's a dad. He's busy. He works. He farms. He does a little bit of everything, but he's made a pretty cool transformation and done a lot of good things. So I really wanted to just dig into his side of the story a little bit and hopefully give you some insight about how you can make this more part of your lifestyle. If you are one of those people who is very busy, you have a lot going on and just how to kind of balance all this. So Lynn, I appreciate you being on.
Life Overview: Family and Career
00:00:47
Speaker
I'm going to kick it off by letting you just tell us a little bit about yourself, who are, what you do, kids, wife, all that kind of stuff. So
00:00:55
Speaker
I appreciate it. Yeah, I appreciate the work we've done together here for, it feels like centuries now at this point, but a little bit about myself. name is Lynn Williams. ah Part I'm um really proud of, I'm a husband and I'm a father.
00:01:10
Speaker
Father to three kids. They are seven, six, and four, and they are they are the life life of the party in our house and definitely keep me on my toes. And, you know, a lot of people in in life,
00:01:23
Speaker
don't have a purpose. And I think those guys definitely have provided a ah a new purpose and a fun purpose. So really excited to be to be a dad. little bit of background, grew up on a family farm, i married a farm girl, live in Southeast Iowa here.
00:01:38
Speaker
I work full time off off the farm, do do some seed cells. I'm a head of sales for Mershman seeds. I think my technical title is general sales manager, but, uh, uh, so we, uh, we sell seed, uh, corn, soybeans, alfalfa, wheat, uh, Minnesota to Mississippi, Nebraska to Ohio.
00:01:56
Speaker
And, uh, I'm, I'm like said, everyone that's, uh, in the sales, uh, Salesforce answers to me. And, uh, that keeps me pretty entertained. Uh, a lot. There's some trap, a lot of travel throughout the United States to, uh,
00:02:08
Speaker
to meet with customers, meet with new dealers, meet with the staff. So that, that side of life can be chaotic at times, but it is a, it's a beautiful mess at times and it's a, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. I think, I think God put me on this earth to do exactly what I'm doing. And I'm extremely happy to be put in the position that I'm in.
00:02:27
Speaker
I love that. And I mean, if that all that was enough, I know we were talking a little bit, which I didn't know. I learned this about you. You're also part of the fire department and I know you do some farming and stuff on the side. So, It's just a lot going on, which is awesome. And you seem to balance it very well.
Neglecting Personal Health
00:02:41
Speaker
I guess the first question that I really wanted to ask you, which you kind of alluded to it already, I feel like this is going to part of your answer, but what was the whole reason that you wanted to reach out and kind of get this thing going? Like, where were you at just as far as fitness, diet? Were you doing anything before we started working together? And what was the reason that you wanted to get this thing rolling?
00:02:59
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's probably i would I would guess that probably 90 percent of our friend group and probably 90 percent of the male population out there would have would either identify or or maybe haven't identified yet. But the the long version is, so from my role on the farm, my role in work, they kind of translate into a lot of agronomy style stuff. so So what I was doing, i was doing a lot of research into how to make plants healthier and how to make the soil healthy.
00:03:28
Speaker
And I was kind of reading up and doing a lot of reading and and then seeing some parallels from some stuff. Remember back to to our football days and nutrition and all that. And I was like, oh, no, that makes sense. Like in the human body, that that's what that does. You know, that makes sense in proteins, amino acids.
00:03:44
Speaker
And then one day i was talking to my wife and I just had the realization was like, I'm doing all this stuff to try to make my soil healthy. I'm doing all this stuff to try make my health or my plant health healthy.
00:03:54
Speaker
But personally, I'm going to the gas station. I'm grabbing a thing of beef jerky and a bag of potato chips and I'm running back to to to the office and I'm sitting on my butt for, you know, eight hours at a time. And I'm like,
00:04:07
Speaker
what am I doing here?
Motivation for Change
00:04:08
Speaker
And, and I just lost, I lost sight of, guess the vision and, and part of that I took it for granted was in college, I played linebacker in DN and mean, I couldn't, I would work my tail off and just eat everything in the house to try to stay at two 30 and I could never stay at two 30. I'd show up at like two 35 by the time two days would be done. I'd be down to two 20.
00:04:33
Speaker
you'd go and you'd eat, you'd eat seven times a day. You wake up in the morning and you like lost five pounds. Like what's going on? Well, unfortunately time comes for everything. And now like I look at a glass of water and I can't, I can't get below two 30 now. It's like, whats what's going on? So, uh, part of that was just the realization that the, the biological processes weren't working in my favor anymore. And I had some, I wouldn't say health problems, but I had some gallbladder issues, uh, kind of some gut issues that, uh, um, lingered and had my gallbladder taken out and didn't really get better.
00:05:08
Speaker
And, uh, and kind of did some searching for, for some answers and, and not taking away anything from the American medicine or anything like that. But, uh, I just kept wanting to like, here, try this medicine here. Let's try this medicine here. Let's try this medicine. And i finally got to the point where, the aha moment, I guess you would say is that, uh, yeah, when doing a combination of talking to my wife, talking about the farm stuff,
00:05:32
Speaker
Seeing your stuff, it was like, i mean, the root of this problem is I physically am not in good shape. like um umm i'm just my My processes are broken. i need to get those processes back going. So that's the that's the really long story. The short story of it is my daughter called me fat. and I was like, well, she's not wrong. So let's go. Let's get after it.
00:05:54
Speaker
Yeah, it's nothing like those kids just being completely honest with you. They're always good for that. That's funny. No, I think that's, that's important.
Diet Challenges and Realizations
00:06:02
Speaker
I think you're exactly right. I mean, I look around and so many of the guys that we play football with or friends that we have, are just, I know they're struggling with these things. And you know, you're an athlete for your whole life. And the workouts are just part of what you do. Like you have to work out, you have to eat a certain way, you're exercising every single day, you're doing all these things and you get out of it and life happens. Maybe you have a couple of kids like you're in that situation. You have a wife, you start working long hours and it's very easy to let things slip. You know you think you're going to be able to hang on to that youth forever and just stay fit and feel good. But then you start waking up in your 30s and you're like, why does my back hurt and why is my belly so big? like What's going on right now? you know So then it's time you kind of got to look in the mirror a little bit and make a change and decide that you want to go ahead and do it. When it came to like actually making some of these changes and like getting this thing going and like just figuring out diet and things like that, like what were a couple of the biggest challenges, the biggest things that you wanted to change when you started this whole process?
00:06:59
Speaker
Yeah. So the the coolest thing that I did know I needed, but then in hindsight, I guess I realized I needed, and I wouldn't say I didn't know I needed it. I just didn't, to be quite honest, I didn't really want to do it. But I knew.
00:07:10
Speaker
Physically the workouts, uh, I would be able to to handle that pretty well, but, um, I kind of knew deep down that the diet side of it was where I was really struggling. I alluded to going to the gas station and a pinch and grabbing beef, Turkey and a couple of bag of chips and, you know, i maybe a monster or a red bull or something like that too. So when, when, when you and I first started working together, um, and yeah, tracking the meals,
00:07:33
Speaker
Um, that was eyeopening. And then the other portion of it too, uh, well, I just accidentally gave it away. The other portion that was eyeopening was a portion, just how much, um, I didn't think I was doing bad, but when you start to, to measure things.
00:07:47
Speaker
literally and and figuratively when you're measuring it, you realize that, yeah, I might do the one plate rule, but I ended up squeezing like three cups of rice onto the plate and then we got two chicken breasts on there and it's it's it's sitting like that high off the plate, but hey, I did the one plate rule, so look at me go. That was that was a struggle because, yeah, I'd always kind of prided myself on eating what I would call eating cleaner than what my family would like. And I'm not saying like my wife and that, but when I'd go like my mom and dad's like my grandma's from the south so it's like sweet tea something fried something sweet and they're all like semblance of skinny and unfortunately I did just didn't inherit that but uh but yeah no that was that was the one that was uh like I said I'm not gonna call the the workouts uh they weren't easy but I knew physically i could get over that barrier um but the the mental barrier of of the nutrition side was
00:08:44
Speaker
uh, that I wasn't, uh, ready for, but I'm glad, I'm glad I got awoke to it for sure. it's still a work in progress too. No, I think that's a, The nutrition thing is always an eye opener for everybody, whether it's the portion size thing, whether it's they didn't know how many calories they were eating, or maybe you just noticed that you're snacking, you're eating off your kids plates, like maybe it's the gas station foods, there's a snacks that you're getting, like some form or another, like people every single time I have them track when we first start, they all say that same thing. Like I had no idea I was eating this much food. And that's super typical. Like the studies show us that people on average, they're eating anywhere between 30 50% more than they think. so people think they're eating 2000 calories when in reality you start measuring out things and you start you know adding in those drinks and you start adding in this extra sauce or this thing here and it's like oh i'm eating a thousand more calories than i thought i was every single day no wonder i packed on some pounds and so it's one of those things where like it sounds really weird to say but you have to kind of reteach yourself how to eat as an adult You mentioned, you know, as an as an athlete, it's like you eat whatever you want, like you're you're trying to gain weight.
Exploring Sustainable Lifestyle Changes
00:09:49
Speaker
So you spend all these years like trying to pack on the pack on the weight, put on muscle, eat everything in sight. And then you switch to adulthood where it's like, OK, now, even if I am eating clean, I now have to start to. figure out what this actually looks like for me now, because those things that I was doing, they're no longer aligned with the goals that I have. And that's going to have to look a little bit different. So you have to go through that period of like, weighing some things out and measuring things and trying different meals. And I know you've done a really good job of that of just trying different things. You've always been really open to like, you've had different focuses at times I know where you've like, maybe it was intermittent fasting, or maybe you were trying to just get super high protein stuff. Or maybe there was a period of time where you would just completely cut out alcohol or I know with like you had the gut issues going on so you clean up your diet a little bit and I think that's a huge part of this process that people really miss is that it's all right to try some different things and figure out what's going to work for you.
00:10:37
Speaker
Yeah absolutely I would say that's probably what has kept it sustainable I guess. I've had some opportunities to fall off the wagon for lack of better terms and I would say I've probably slid off and bootstraps still hanging on and the wagons dragging me down the road, but i' still I'm still, I'm still on. But um yeah, there's just some of that stuff in you, you say it a lot in your newsletters and podcasts. And it's ah something that I, I mean, I just can't reiterate enough is you see a lot of fads on social media and all the stuff that's coming out there about, you know, fat burners or this diet or that diet, but don't think you need to chase something that's not attainable for you. And that's where, trying some of that stuff. It really wasn't, i guess for me, wasn't trying to chase a fad or trying to chase something. It was trying to find, you know, but have some like gut. It still kind of in the early process. I was still kind of having some gut issues. So it was like, right now I don't eat gluten. I don't eat dairy, cut out alcohol for the last probably 30 days, which typically in a year I'll go 60 days where I'll kind of cut it out and kind sneaks back in. And i'm not saying I'm alcoholic by any means, but it's just one of those that
00:11:49
Speaker
Unfortunately 35, uh, I haven't had any alcohol yet, partly because I'm cheating. I've only been 35 for a week, but, uh, would definitely say 33, 34, um, like I don't get hung over, but I could just tell like alcohol hangs with me. It makes my gut hurt.
00:12:07
Speaker
It just makes me feel lethargic. I just, I just don't enjoy how I feel. even like two days afterwards. Like I just, I just, it feels like it crashes my energy. So that's like just, just trying to find stuff that related, like the dairy and the gluten thing was basically just a trial to see, like I went to someone and she was like, just try it. Like entertain me. Just try it. Like just try to cut out. Cause I was, I love dairy and I list the, like I said, I would rather the gluten thing. It really wasn't the end of the world. There's a lot of really good alternatives out there. And so stuff tastes pretty good, but dairy, like,
00:12:41
Speaker
fresh cheese curds. Oh, that's my jam. I would like just sit there and put on some football and get a plate of cheese curds and a glass of milk. I'm in hog heaven. So that one, that one was tough, but I do, I mean, I do for some reason, my body just doesn't, doesn't like it right now. So I'm, I'm hopeful that we can start to reintroduce that back and then learn moderation. But it definitely is like finding the things, kind of being a self advocate, I guess, is the, is the lack of better terms is finding stuff that where, I can know that it's sustainable. My life is not altered by the course that it's going there. Like the alcohol thing, we're definitely, I'm in a huge Catholic community right now. So alcohol is, wouldn't say it's a center of life, but every social event, it involves that. So that's just finding a happy medium. And I get it. Like that's, we're social creatures. And in Iowa, we do a lot of social drinking and social events happen around that. So That one's been tough, but I'm getting through it. And a lot of people, I think a lot of people have a fear of like a stigmatism that, you know, if your friends are, I'll be honest, our friend group, you knew my friend group, I know your friend group, like, we throw it down at Co. Yeah, there's no doubt about it. We would throw it down.
00:13:57
Speaker
And you kind of worry like, oh the boys are gonna think I'm you know turning into this soft guy. And everyone's like, yeah, I kind of, I'm glad to hear that. Because I'm kind of feeling the same thing, man. Like, that's good to know. So it's not about winning the social award when it's about taking care of yourself and being, being productive and, and part of it too. Yeah. I mean, there's a few times where that even, even eating wrong, I can tell I have some of the same style of, of issues with the gut and energy. And yeah, like you got a kid that wants to go play basketball and you're sitting there like, Oh my God, it's killing me. Like, I don't like, sorry, buddy. I don't, I just don't feel good. And as a parent, I mean, I think I'd rather get kicked in the nuts than have to say that more than once. So yeah, yeah it' it's just being selfish and selfless all at the same time.
00:14:44
Speaker
No, that's a really good point. And I really like the the idea that you put out there just with like just taking responsibility or taking agency and being your own self advocate, because I feel like that is definitely something that you have to do as you start to make health more of a priority. Like, as you mentioned earlier, you know, our American system just around health isn't that great. Like if you look around, there's a lot of people who are doing a lot of things who just they're not helping themselves out. You know, we don't eat the best food. We drink too much. We don't exercise enough or very sedentary. So it's like unless you take responsibility and start to just advocate for yourself and just really start to put some things on your own shoulders and really just start to dig into these things for yourself, it's not like anybody's going to come do it. You know, we don't have a strength coach anymore who's going to call us up at 530 a.m. if we're missing in our workouts or. you know, tell us what to eat or things like that. So you really do start to have to just really make this a priority. and I think once you do that, you start to find things that work. The other thing that you mentioned in there that I really like too, is like all these things that you're trying, you're not like, this is the end all be all. You're not saying I'm never going to drink a drop alcohol again. You're not saying, I'm never going to have a dairy product again. You're not saying that I need to do this for the next year. You're like, going to do this for 30 days. to see how I feel. And then if I want to continue to do that, then I can continue to do that. And if not, if I want to pivot, then I can go out and do that as well. Because I think with fitness and especially with diet, people get extremely dogmatic in their views about like, I have to do this. I have to be carnivore. i have to do this or do this. And then it's like,
00:16:11
Speaker
it's not sustainable. Like then they have no idea about where to go from there. They, they try this thing for 30 days and it's extremely unsustainable and they don't have any idea about where to go from there. And I think in your case, like you have a really good foundation. You've spent time tracking food, you know, what things you feel better on. So now, regardless of what you try, you always have this foundation that you can come back to about like, I know these things work well for me.
00:16:34
Speaker
I know I feel good when I have these foods and I can do this routine. And so I think just having that trial and error period and just not being afraid to try different things is so helpful. Yeah, for sure. And, and yeah, what works for me might not work for someone else. So that's, that's a great point there that just trying things to, uh, trying things to, to get it figured out how it works with your body. Cause, um,
00:16:57
Speaker
yeah, it is, it is, it's wild. And um yeah, I know the, the, the fasting side, i like, I feel so great at fasting, but when I look at it, like, when look at it from an empirical standpoint, it's like, I see the short term success, but like long term, I don't know if starving myself is probably the best course of action for the next, you know, 80 years. Like, yeah, i hope live to 110, but I don't know if I can live to 110 if I starve myself, but if I need a quick reset, like it's a beautiful thing, but I know like my wife, like it'll kind of mess with her a little bit in the, in the short term. So it's like, are you sure you should be doing that? Like, I want to be getting a phone call. You passed out and you're, you know, wrecked, wrecked your car. You're in the ditch because your blood sugar dropped or whatever. And then I know there's some more, more medical stuff that goes into that. But you know, as I,
00:17:46
Speaker
as an EMT, firefighter EMT, um just doing things that are that are healthy and and proven kind of goes back to the basics of life, the basic building blocks of life. I mean, you eat protein, probably not gonna die. You protein, you're gonna feel more full. You eat crap, you're gonna feel like crap. So shout out to beef. like I eat steak, I feel great, but my pocketbook doesn't, but yeah. yeah No, i love that. The way that I always explain it is like it's just tools in the tool belt. Like you have your foundation of your good eating habits and your good fitness habits. And then like if you want to pull out some intermittent fasting here or there and do that, like do that.
Fitting Workouts into a Busy Schedule
00:18:25
Speaker
If you want to cut out alcohol for a while, then do that. If you want to do some calorie cycling, like so you can eat a little bit more on the weekends and do that because.
00:18:32
Speaker
Having those things as made this whole process for me, I know much more sustainable because I don't feel like I'm pigeonholed in this certain diet that I have to do this all the time. And so just being able to be a little bit flexible with it, I think just really creates that long term sustainability with it. One thing that I wanted to ask you is You mentioned it a little bit ago, but you talked about just like kind of falling off the wagon. And I personally think you've done a really awesome job with how much stuff that you do have going on with the kids, with the wife, with work, with farming sometimes, with traveling sometimes. ums Like this is a a really tough subject for a lot of people when they get into these areas of just being very busy or more stressed or like things just not being able to go as planned. And I think you've done an awesome job of like being able to just adjust on the fly with those things or having some sort of plan going into those things. And so I'm curious, like just your mindset about how you do approach those like busy periods or when you're stressed or when things are going on with the kids or what that looks like for you.
00:19:28
Speaker
Yeah. Part of it, I think the secret weapon is, is being a former athlete as far as, um, I call it my Bobby Boucher moment where i love that oh i I'll get it all bottled up and and hold onto to it. And the minute the weight starts flying, it's just like, you could physically feel it.
00:19:45
Speaker
Um, yeah. In reference to the, to almost falling off the wagon. So I'm downstairs in our basement right now, which currently where I'm sitting about a year ago was where my wife and I were uh, sleeping and the kids were right around the corner cause we were remodeling our upstairs. And, um, I lost my weight room cause my weight room is like right over there.
00:20:05
Speaker
Uh, and that was, that was our closet essentially. So everything was packed up and and put away. So I had to kind of pivot to, were sending me body workouts. So I was trying to do, Functional farm workouts, body workouts, just trying to do anything to just stay moving, uh, without being a total disruption to the, uh, to the dynamic of five people living in the basement of a house for a while.
00:20:25
Speaker
But I think I came out of it stronger is probably too cliche, but more mentally focused, um, going into the weights because that was the moment I kind of realized, like, if I was in a fall, if i was going falter, if I was going to cave this thing in and go back to doing what I was going like,
00:20:42
Speaker
I had all the excuses in the world. Like we were busy farming. All of us were living in the basement. Then winter came all of these things that that, that could have compounded into saying, ah, yeah, no, this isn't going work out late then. Like get rid of my credit card number. We're done. But, uh, when it finally came to that, uh, hitting it, hit it again, it was, it was, it felt a, it felt good because I didn't be a complete turd. I mean, I gained a little bit of weight, but part of that was, uh,
00:21:07
Speaker
we we had a lot of meals of convenience rather than meals of nutrition when we were kind of all, I have a full kitchen over there, but I mean, it's, it's, it was like Green Hall. It it reminds me a lot of the Green Hall kitchen down at Coke College. Like, You turn on a certain burner and the smoke detectors are going off. Like the stove will randomly just start creaking open. So, uh, we, we would go to the in-laws and eat as much as we possibly could. But, uh, but yeah, no, that, that was, uh, that was kind of like the aha moment, I guess. Like I'm in, like I made it a mentally sharp when it comes to the busy times. Yeah. It just, there's not to be quite honest, there's not like a a magic potion to it. It's the, it's kind of back to that same mindset that
00:21:53
Speaker
Nobody's going to help me be the best person that I could be without me taking some personal responsibility. So that's kind of a, you can't complain that life sucks when you do nothing to help your life be better. So, um, that's, that's what I take in that. And, and I don't know, it's back to, I've always been a busy body. Um, always had played every sport in high school, was in every club I could be possibly in. I had a ah job.
00:22:17
Speaker
It's kind of how I but guess I've been wired to be like, I've got to be doing something. Uh, otherwise my brain just operating faster than what, uh, what the rest of you can do. And sometimes that's not a good thing. Uh, that leads to spending money or coming up with ideas that are a little bit far fret fetched. But, uh, yeah, we're, I've kind of been able to channel that to where, uh, working out is where I am now, you like I get like, before I work out, I just do a little bit of walking. Cause I'll work out at five in the morning, just kind of get woke up for lack of better terms. Um, so I'll throw a podcast on cause i don't like walking. So I'll throw a podcast on get kind of caught up on my morning podcast.
00:22:54
Speaker
And then, uh, then yeah, once, once we're going, it it just, it genuinely feels good. And like, I'm, I'm addicted to that. holy cow. don't if you can hear that up there, but I'm gonna have to say, cause it is somebody about to get whooped.
00:23:11
Speaker
And it's the youngest one. Thanks. Nope, that's the oldest. Somebody is about to get whooped. Big Sis is about to lay the smack down. as i say She's the kid that, yeah, like she's quiet, but when you piss her off, like watch out. She's going to lay the smack down. so it' spin off Sorry, lost my train of thought. but yeah no Working out now has... i mean Everyone's job has some really hard spots to it. yeah You know, you've got probably some stresses that go there, but it's just a matter of channeling it. Um, the biggest thing I know I've been working on too is, uh, I never, and never try to bring that work stress home. I leave it at the door, try it. Uh, I've been a lot more intentional and I need to do better at it, but, uh, leaving the phone kind of sitting somewhere out of sight, out of mind and being present in a moment and just kind of, uh,
00:24:00
Speaker
kind of reshaping my mindset for how I live, you know, here in the next five years, trying to build that habit of being intentional, being the most present person in a conversation not making excuses for poor performance. I mean, I get it. Like I'm gonna hold myself to a standard that's higher than maybe it needs to be. But I know if I let myself, let those demons sneak the convenience of half-ass and stuff kind of sets in and, and I just feel like with my personality, when that happens, like I just see it, it's not like, it's not like my work suffers, but my personal life doesn't workouts. Don't it's like everything across the board. When that kind of mindset happens, you just don't perform. I don't, I don't feel like I perform at the level I want to be. So yeah, I just don't let the suck in basically is what I try to do. some of that's through busy work. Some that's through a channeling that, but, uh, each person, yeah, obviously you got to find your, find your purpose and find your why. it makes that, uh,
00:24:58
Speaker
to me it seems easier. And the biggest thing is like, just build a habit, you know, was a 27 days to build a habit um for, for, for 27 days. Yeah. It's going to suck. But after that, like it's, it's pretty much now my, I'm waking up before my alarm clock goes off and, we we We figured out ways in our life to shave the, you know, in the morning, the 15 minutes, you set the set the coffee maker for to brew while you're kind of getting halfway ready to go. And that way the coffee's hot, ready to go. ah my wife thinks it's wild, but I'll drink my coffee before I start working out. Like I can't, I've got to have just a little shot of caffeine in there or or I'm like, nah, I'm not giving it. Sometimes it doesn't work out very well. Cause like right when I'm done working out, I get the workout done and then the coffee hits and like, I'm wired up.
00:25:42
Speaker
but no That was a really long answer to to to the short the short side is like, yeah, I mean, find your purpose. Don't let your brain try to trick you or or try to talk you out of doing stuff that it's amazing. And I've seen it in the fire service too. Like when you get someone that's critically injured or critically
Mindset and Personal Standards
00:26:00
Speaker
ill, if somebody wants to live, if they have the will to live,
00:26:04
Speaker
they're going to live. If somebody feels like they're going to die, you got work like heck to try to change that mindset. And it's kind of, it's not that extreme in this scenario, but if you have the will to get better, you are going to get better.
00:26:17
Speaker
If you're signing up with, with Latham to say, i want to do it, but you're going to give the bare minimum effort. It's not his fault. ah You got to have some personal responsibility. And yeah, like I said, I think, I think people should hold themselves to high standard. And not not let i said not let the suck sit in because we are we're put on this earth to do something to do something really, really special.
00:26:42
Speaker
And if if everyone gave it, I'd say if everyone even gave it 90%, we'd be a really, really awesome place. Yeah, i think there's a ton of good insights in that. And I think one thing that I first thought about as you were kind of going through that was like you mentioned the athletic side. And I think there's so many lessons that we get from the sports side. And that helps us now to like do this whole fitness thing, because One of the things that I've noticed with, especially people who have that fitness background is like, they're able to handle adversity. So when things don't go well, they have a backup plan, they can adjust, they can move on the fly, because you've had to do that in sports throughout your entire life. Like, not every play goes well, not every game goes well, not every practice goes well. And you have to find ways to actively get yourself to do things a little bit better. And as you start to do those things that you get, you get your reps, you go through a little adversity, you get your As kicked every once in a while in practice or in a game, it's like, all right, where can I improve? Where can I get better? Where can I make these changes to help me out? But I think for lots of people, and this is something that I really struggle with because you can't force anybody to change. And sometimes it's really hard to get people to see that they're so much more capable than what they're doing. But they they don't hold themselves to that standard, as you were saying, and they don't actually believe that they can do these things.
00:27:56
Speaker
the things that I'm able to do physically now compared to when I started are like night and day difference. And I'm sure you've had instances like that too, where like you think about back to the first time you got in the weight room and it's like, you're struggling to put up like 45s and now you get to a place where you're like benching 225 for reps. And it's like, you go through that adversity and you build yourself up and like go back on it and you're like, I can do all these crazy things now that I never could before. But when you approach it with this, like,
00:28:22
Speaker
I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to get there. i don't know if I can do these things. i don't know if I can change. I don't know if I can you know make this my lifestyle. It's like, of course, you're gonna fail. You don't have to have every single step figured out. I think you just have to be the person who's willing to be like, I'm going to figure it out.
00:28:36
Speaker
And once you have that attitude, once you're like, OK, I don't know everything I need to be doing right now. I i don't know. the exact diet that I need. I don't know exactly what I need to be doing. I'm not where I want to be physically. I'm not exactly where I want to be mentally, but you have some sort of direction and you're just committed to it. You will figure those things out.
00:28:54
Speaker
Absolutely. And one more thing I'd like to add to that is, is, I mean, what we're doing right now is surrounding yourself with people that are going make you better or, or, uh, one thing that love, like, especially on the ag side and, uh, with, with you, I love to be the dumbest person in the room.
00:29:12
Speaker
Uh, and it's absolutely exciting for me when I walk in, like if i go to a conference and, and guys are like talking about stuff up there and they're presenting and I'm tempted to grab the phone and kind of, kind of look at that. Like that's, that's, I don't know if i'm in the right spot, but but if you get around people that, I wouldn't even the accountability side, that's great for sure. Someone's to hold you accountable, but if you can find people that have either been in a similar path or or just know more than you, it's fantastic because cuts that curve down. and Like said, your your your newsletters and your conversations, diet, some of the stuff, like just trying to find different
00:29:48
Speaker
mind shift and and diet changes, the curve was cutting in half, if not even three quarters, because you already had that that intel. So that that's one. Yeah, if someone, we take it for granted, as as former athletes, I know we do. i know I know I do, I should say. And, you know, it's, it's there's a lot of parallels. You nailed it when It'd be like, if we would go back in college to go back and watch our high school game, like, man, what I know now, like, I wish I could go back, like, give me like one more quarter. I will murder these kids. I see it in work too. Like when I got promoted to the general sales manager, when I looked at the, like my job as an area sales manager, it's like, man, like what I know now, like I could go, like, I would do it.
00:30:31
Speaker
I wouldn't say I would do it different, but I just feel like I'm armed better. And part of that is is knowledge and the knowledge comes with just being surrounded by people who are smarter than me constantly and and being and being willing to learn. So um and the I get it. a lot of people probably don't, don't, and I struggle. This is one as a boss, as a father, people who don't think like me,
00:30:54
Speaker
I struggle to like kind of, I wouldn't say relate to, like, I get your point, but I don't your point. I'm like, I can do it. Why can't you do it? And that part, it's a struggle for sure. i don't, I don't probably envy you in your position with somebody doesn't share that same mindset. Cause I'd probably be like, shut up, shut up. Like, come on, let's go. Shut up.
00:31:12
Speaker
Come on. What do you mean you don't want to get better? Like, so the cra I just, ah yeah, the hyper-focused, I guess, we'll call it that, hyper-focused on details that, we the signety factor. I got a little signety factor to me. Hyper-focused on the details. and But no, it's part of that, though. like If somebody identifies that, I think that's kind of cool, though. like If you know it, like we know somebody that that that mutually that's kind of in that that same boat. And the transformation, just from working out the confidence that
00:31:44
Speaker
getting out of some mindset style stuff that like my body is restricting me from doing this let's fix that and they're doing that and they're making strides and like they're physically they're physically better they're emotionally better they're they're they're mentally better it's just uh it's crazy like just kind of taking care of the pyramid here your body is the pyramid when everything else kind of falls into line everything uh everything else just seems uh to just happen more naturally and easier and and you just you just feel good.
00:32:14
Speaker
And i don't know, I've been short of maybe like Rockstar week. i don't know anybody that likes to feel bad. Yeah. All the co people there.
00:32:26
Speaker
Yeah. love that. Rockstar week for anybody wondering is a week where you drink alcohol every single day and you party. And so that's what we would do after our season ended and we got after it. And as you can hear from our conversation, things have changed a little bit. Those hangovers hit a little bit differently. So Those aren't quite the things that we partake in, but we definitely did for a while. But I think, no, to your point, like just getting around good people who can like teach you some things or maybe cut down on some of that time or just like even just have you think
Community and Partner Support
00:32:58
Speaker
that you can do it. Like I know something that really helped me out a lot when I was, more even now, like when I'm trying to do certain things, like if I have a certain goal, I look for somebody who has done what I want to do, who I can relate with. So like when I wanted to run a marathon, I started looking up like who are guys who have
00:33:13
Speaker
were never runners and who can now like run marathons. And I start to just like study those guys or see what they did or check in on their training plan. Or like when I wanted to lose weight, like I started trying to find people online, like through social media and things like that, or podcasts or whatever, like figuring out people who have already done what I want to do because success leaves clues. Like as a boss, you understand that. And as a guy who's like always trying to learn, like you get that, like you understand that there's a lot of people out there who can help you along this journey. You don't have to do it alone. And I know sometimes as men, we like to do things alone and we don't want to ask for help and we don't want to you know lean on somebody else. But there's so much to be gained from doing that, from finding other people who do the things that you want to do and just that community aspect and just being able to gain a little bit more from people. Like I think about the stuff that I know now, I've learned 90% of that through podcast books or just other people, like training other people, learning about other things. And that's all the stuff that I try to relay to people now because
00:34:11
Speaker
once you start to see that it's possible and you get around some of those people who like actually make those changes you start to believe it's possible and i always tell people like there's a certain time and and a lot of this would be more so like people who need to make like big transformations you know like i did weight loss like you maybe didn't have this quite quite the same way but like for people who need to lose a lot of weight or really are in a bad spot make a change i tell them like there's going to be a point where you finally start to believe like this is something that you can do. And maybe that was kind of, you mentioned when things got crazy busy, you guys were renovating your house and stuff. It would have been easy to throw in the towel. But like, then you go through something that's difficult and go through a hard time. And then you realize like, oh, like I can do this. Like I can make this work. And then once you go like to that point, i call it kind of the point of no return. there's like, there's no way that I would ever gain a hundred pounds again. Like there's no way that I'll ever go back to that lifestyle because once you're in this place and you know how good you can feel, it's like, I'm never, ever going back to that ever again.
00:35:06
Speaker
No, absolutely. Absolutely. And it's, it's so awesome. The time we live in right now, you mentioned books and podcasts and and it's i've kind of another cliche, but tell been around the sports world. We love cliches, but you know, the, the, the Ted Lasso quote, be curious, not judgmental that, that one, I mean, that is,
00:35:24
Speaker
probably half the time when I get in trouble and half the time where I've been able to like personally develop, uh, into stuff is like, well, that seems interesting. Let me like, let me go dive into that and like figure out the why, uh, right now, like what, what kind of facilitated in conjunction, I'm, I'm into some passive investment style stuff and and, know, a mastermind group and, and, and part of that pillar of the mastermind group was, is you can't be wealthy unless you're healthy.
00:35:50
Speaker
Like no matter how much money you make in the world, how much you think you're gonna burn it down for lack of better terms, if you're sick and you can't enjoy it, what's the point? And it was one of those, i was like, yeah, no, that like that, that makes total sense. If I'm, if I've got $10 million dollars in the bank account, but I'm lying on a hospital bed at 60, like, what did I do? Like, I didn't, I didn't live a fulfilling life. I accumulated wealth at the sacrifice my health. So right now, yeah, I mean, I'm in the, I'm in this,
00:36:18
Speaker
call it transformation, I guess, out of the young adulthood into thinking about, um you know, later stuff that happens later on in life and what that requires. And, and, and really, I think the focus like my wife and I, and I think that's another thing that I'm extremely blessed and I, and hopefully she listens to it and here's all the nice things I say about her, but I'm extremely blessed that like we are, her and I, we've had one minor disagreement.
00:36:45
Speaker
and the whole time that we've we've been married and people are gonna like Lynn you're a liar like I can bring her down you can ask her like and honestly it was work like I was out working on the farm and she got she wanted to go to town and hang out with her friends with our couple like our couples friends group and I'm like yeah no I gotta get this done like we'll go eventually and she like she really wanted to go i'm like nah I'd be fine like just so she got a little she got little perturbed but uh and some of it too like I know tell I can, I can tell on mama's face when things are not going in a direction we want to. It's like, kids context clues. Let's, ah let's go, let's go run down the basement or yeah the other way. She knows, she knows when the, when the lips get thin and I get silent, like I'm either thinking about something or, or the, the tea kettle is, is about ready to start whistling. So, but having a partner that shares that, that same journey, like she's incredible. Like it's insane.
00:37:37
Speaker
She was diagnosed with cancer in college, beat that. had our first kid was born in breach. She actually delivered her breach natural.
00:37:49
Speaker
And then finally the Missourian came out of me on the other two kids. We didn't have small kids. So like what she's gone through in the short time that we've been together is, is insane. But yeah, I mean, woke up the other morning and she sneezed and I was like,
00:38:03
Speaker
dude, you got some like serious abs. like What the hell, your abs is better than mine. So like having that partner that shares that same fitness fitness desire, and I wouldn't even say fitness desire, it's overall like brain health, body. like We wanna be high functioning individuals deeper into our life. And I think that's what's definitely helped is having that support system there that's in house for lack of better terms. But yeah, it makes it so much more so what's more enjoyable too because we're both,
00:38:32
Speaker
we're wired, like said, we're wired the same. Like we want to figure out the why, like you mentioned like creatine and then our our research into creatine and and not just the muscle health, uh, um, aspects of creatine, but the brain health aspects of creatine. And, um, yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's one of those that it's what started out as trying to accumulate money now, isn't it really even about accumulating money anymore? It's about how do I live a productive and healthy life?
00:38:58
Speaker
And yeah, if I make a buck or two, that's, that's great. I mean, Unfortunately, we we do have to have money to to survive, but, uh, yeah, it definitely realigned the focus and at the primary core of it is, you know, my health, my wife's health, our love that that's our focus. And then, uh,
00:39:17
Speaker
trickle down economics. Hopefully our kids see that. that We prioritize our health. We prioritize the love for each other. And then that way they, you know, in turn, they hopefully, fingers crossed, become productive members of society and follow that same same path. But, you know, there's days they make me question it, but I get it. My parents probably said the same thing too. So.
00:39:37
Speaker
Yeah. There's seven, six, and four. Like they they they probably, yeah like said heard earlier, like the boys just, enjoy sometimes picking on their sister. And that's just part of it. I mean, I was there. I get it.
00:39:53
Speaker
I've done it. so No, a hundred percent. no I think you, a couple of really good points from what you just said there. It's like the health being the foundation of everything is just so critical. And that's why like, I'm super passionate about this. Like I understand like, I'm a former athlete and I'm ah like my whole job and career has always been fitness. So I love this stuff. Like I love fitness. I love health. I love all this stuff. And like you were a former athlete. So like working out, all that stuff comes pretty natural. But it's like even if you don't love this stuff, it's still so crucial to whatever it is you have aspirations about. it If you want to be a good dad, if you want to be wealthy, if you want to be good at your job, like if you don't have your health, you're not going to be good at those things. You're just not like, there's no way that you can look me in my eye and tell me that if you are unhealthy and you're not at least somewhat fit, that you are going to be better at all those things than if you are fit. Like, it's just, it's just plain and simple. Like you need to be doing these things and health has to be some sort of your foundation. And then the other thing I think you mentioned that was awesome too. And I've, this has been kind of a reoccurring theme. I think you're the fourth,
00:40:49
Speaker
guy that i've had on here and all have kids uh all married and they've all said the same thing about their wives and being like super supportive in their relationships because i've seen it the other way where like they don't have somebody who maybe they they're you don't even have to be like crazy workout or anything like that but they're just not on board like they're not on the same page with the things they want to eat or like making this a priority. And that just makes it extremely difficult when you don't have that. But when you can get around those people and especially if it's, you know, your wife, somebody that you're living with, it's like now you're, you're unstoppable. Like you're on the same page. You guys are both, you know, you're worrying about your food choices. You're both working out. You're holding each other accountable. You're, helping each other out, picking each other ah up when you can. And I think that's such ah such an awesome thing to have and such an important thing that people should realize is just getting around some of those people that can really help you to hit your goals.
00:41:37
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, because I mean, self-sabotage is probably the biggest culprit in your to your job. And and yeah, just just having someone that's, we we both have been guilty. Like we'll both sit there and it's like, yeah, like right now my daughter's in a baking and that kid can cook. It's insane how a seven-year-old can make zucchini banana bread.
00:41:56
Speaker
inherent Not that bad, but that's back in that same mindset. Like, well, it's not, it's not Twinkie. It's like, well, then you just ate three quarters of the loaf. She's making another one tomorrow. like So yeah, we kind of laugh. Like there''s there's moments where it's like that self-sabotage sets in and you look over,
00:42:16
Speaker
and you're like yep yep you're right you're right where i i i feel bad for people who don't have like if i was home alone yeah my grandma brought me cookies or something like that i would smash 20 of them like that it just i i know would have i know what would happen so yeah having Having someone that supports that definitely is fantastic. And yeah, I've seen it too, where yeah, one person's trying to be, you know, super, super into it and super fit. I'm not saying the other person's intentionally sabotaging them, but also I think unintentionally sabotaging is probably just as bad, but you know, you're they're eating right. they're trying to do the right thing. And then roommate walks in with like a box of pizza. I was like, Hey, I can't eat it all. You want some? It's like,
00:43:00
Speaker
that I'll put that Casey's goodness underneath my nose. what are you doing right now? So, Yeah. And it's that it's just so tough. Cause it seems like an, um, as we get older and, and, and just fitness in general, like there's, there's always arrows coming at us to try to derail it and just having that strength to push through. uh, and if you mess up, like you've made it funny, but, but it's true. yeah yeah You make comments, like, I'd be like, I really screwed up this weekend. Like, Casey's pizza showed up and I slipped. I had half the pizza, which gluten-free pizzas are very small. So in my defense, it's only like three slices, but now you can kind of feel a little bit, but I have noticed like every time I screw up, it seems like that Monday and it could be more fuel, but it could be that, that subconscious that I feel bad about eating like ah a turd. So there's a little bit more fire in me that those Monday after being maybe a little bit naughty on the weekend, those Monday workouts, they crank up like it. Yeah.
00:44:00
Speaker
It cranks up and it's like, all right. Then afterwards I feel better. Like, at least I'm, I feel like I'm back to even, or maybe just a little bit ahead. And then by Tuesday it's like, yeah, that's, that's gone where, yeah, I think that's where, where, where I used to get in trouble where I do the start and stop. Like I'd be so good Monday through Friday, Friday. We'd, you know, go to bar, hang out with friends, have a cardboard pizza Monday morning. You're like, Oh, I got crap all weekend. I just don't want do it.
00:44:26
Speaker
And then like, I'll hit it on Wednesday. Like I'll skip Monday. Let's do Wednesday. Wednesday comes and yeah. Alarm clock doesn't go off. Dogs barking the back. Like something happens. And yeah, just breaking that, that mindset was, was the biggest, biggest hurdle that I had to personally break. But yeah, it's, it's tough. Like like I, like said, I don't like the sports thing, bring it back to it. I think, yeah, we're, we're, I was never a weightlifter.
00:44:54
Speaker
always we had summer weights, uh, but always had to work or work on the farm. So it never really worked out. I really didn't find that weightlifting passion until I got to college. And, uh, I'll admit like it came kind of natural. Like it's just one of those that I was farm strong. So that helped. Like, like but I don't know if I can imagine going to the gym and seeing someone throwing around three 15 on the bench.
00:45:19
Speaker
and not trying it or not knowing that I could do it like mentally, like I would, I would struggle with that. So like, some of that stuff is hard to relate, but I think you gotta be the 15 year old kid in the weight room at some point time, if you've never been that, been that way. And I think from what I see and just like in our community, the gym community or, or the workout community, like just embrace someone trying to be better. I mean, I think don't, don't be afraid of that. Cause yeah, there's probably going one asshole out there that's going to say something snooty. But for the most part, like everyone that's in that group is there no matter, like it transcends wherever you go, everyone's there to get them, get themselves better. So just know that ah support there that, that like said, Lathan supports you. I support you. if If you're just trying to make yourself better, I don't, I don't care if you're the fittest person in the world or, or knocking on the door to upstairs, you're more real obese. If you want that mindset to get better, like,
00:46:13
Speaker
I will support you. i know Latham was like, the world will support you. There's people out there that will support you and be your be your advocate to to get better. So if you're looking for excuse, shut up and just do it.
00:46:25
Speaker
No, that's ah that's a great point. It's funny because I was just having a conversation like that with a client of mine who's just like trying to get into the gym. And, you know, you have that gym anxiety and that anxiousness and, you know, that whole deal. Like, are people looking at me? Like, what do I do in the gym? Like, I don't want to look stupid, that whole thing. And it's just like, you just got to get over that hump. Like, you don't have to feel comfortable about it. You don't have to have it all figured out. It's like, just get in there because most people out there, they're going to support you. They want to see you doing better. And like, they just...
00:46:51
Speaker
it It feels so good to get in there. And once you start doing those things, like it's hard not to get hooked on the gym if you approach it with the right mindset. So I couldn't agree more with that. One question that I wanted to kind of finish off with is more so you've mentioned it a couple times, but just like your kids. And I know you've sent me videos of like your son working out with you and
Influencing Family and Setting Examples
00:47:09
Speaker
that kind of thing. And I always think back to like just fitness in general. And like, I wish I would have had that role model to like that was working out. And that just taught me how to eat right and just helped me to just lay that foundation of good habits because it's like, I mean, it's proven through the studies and things. Like if you come from a fit family, if you come from parents who work out, who think about their diet, who teach you those habits, like you're going to be more likely to be better off and fit and healthy later in your life. a lot of people, unfortunately, they don't have that and they don't come from that. But, you know, you're setting this foundation for your kids. So I'm curious just with like this whole process of just like you said, you know, kind of making this transformation and just like prioritizing your health, you and your wife both, like, how have you seen that affect your kids? And just how has just making this whole thing just a priority just affect you as a dad in general?
00:47:54
Speaker
Yeah, I got some meatheads for lack of better terms right now. But no, it's fun. It's something that's relatable. And yeah, you never realize how much people like watch you or or we use the term judge, but kind of hold you accountable or ah hold hold you to a standard, I guess, and until you have kids and, and know, all the things that they do that, uh, you're about ready to tell them off or, or, or do some, uh, some, some punishment. it's like, yeah, I, I did, I did just do that. Didn't I?
00:48:26
Speaker
crap. But, uh, yeah, so you take those bad moments, you know, and and you're like, all right, so they're watching, like, let's, let's, let's find the positives. And part of it, like I said, is the mindset my wife and I share, uh, related to that and, uh, and making that fitness a pillar of their, uh,
00:48:42
Speaker
of their life, uh, in a good way. Like we're not, I'm not putting Hudson down the seven year old and making them bench press, you know, 45, but we make it in a competition. like it's i I don't know if I want to, I know I don't want to live in this house if I'm not physically fit when those kids get into their teenage years, because it's already super competitive between all of us right now. And I can only imagine adding them adding more mass and me probably, uh,
00:49:10
Speaker
stepping a little bit further into the gray hairness that it's gonna be gonna be interesting. But um yeah, i mean, it's just, a they that we're we're super lucky. we've got So each kid kind of put them in a bucket Finley and Reed, they're the ones that they just they just love to be doing things that kind of gives them a affection, I guess.
00:49:34
Speaker
So when they're working out and, know, hey, good job, like they love it. and And Hudson, he's the he's the one that actually he kind of pisses me off. He's the one that will go to bed with a but the beer gut and then wake up in the morning and just got chiseled an eight pack. Yeah.
00:49:48
Speaker
And, but he's he's kind of a beanpole. So, so it was kind of joking with him. Like, Hey, if you want play football, dude, you like, you gotta get you kind of beefed up a little bit. He kind of struggled early in life. His, his elbows would dislocate his shoulder joints. were We're probably not the best. And we had to do some,
00:50:04
Speaker
functional working, working out with him, uh, blessed have my wife's physical therapist. So kind of got a cheater, cheater in the house here to, to fix me and fix them. So, so it kind of started out was like, there was a need, I guess, uh, Finley being born breach. Like she has had some hip issues and has some nothing terrible, but just needs to stretch and needs to, to work on our gate related relating to that. So, um, there's stuff that that kind of needed to be done for, to make them functional that we've turned into, uh,
00:50:32
Speaker
friendly competition and some some good life skills i guess and yeah i was on the same boat like my dad played i think he played freshman baseball and then decided to wrench in on four-wheelers a lot it was more fun so uh the concept of like working out was foreign to me now once i started to then yeah i put a weight bench in and Yeah. He was like the definition of the mechanical man strength, like slapped on one 35 to start working out. You know, you thought that was, that was really good. And he goes down there and just like cranks it out like 50 times. It's like, what the heck? Like, where'd that come from? Like, where'd my butt off trying to get to this point?
00:51:08
Speaker
Like eighth grade feeling like I'm tough, but but yeah, no, just, just setting some groundwork. Some of my back issues, I think that why I'm kind of, I'm doing that with them. Some of the back issues, I think, relates back to high school.
00:51:20
Speaker
Our coaches did a great job of getting us introduced to weights. But at a certain point, i mean, we just had too many kids. I was in the weight room. So you develop some bad habits just because you weren't always under the scrutiny of of someone's watchful eye. So. It's one of those where I know what I went through and I'm going to make dang sure my kids don't go through that. So as they're young and flexible and, and you know, i've I've seen some studies that like with baseball players, if you start doing long toss and at a young age, that's shoulder dexterity. So just some things that we kind of see from a making sure that they're going to be functionally fit, but at the same token, if they want to be an athlete, they're armed with the tools that they need to be to be the best athlete that they could be.
00:52:03
Speaker
I'm not going to be the dad that it's going to struggle. i will I'm probably going be the dad that sits in the stands and wants to, to be the coach. I've always coached stuff, but yeah, I mean, Finley's in the gymnastics and it's awesome. Hudson, he's into basketball and it's awesome. Reed is into destroying things and most of the time it's awesome. So whatever the path that they want to take, I just know that being a fit person, regardless of what they want to do, it's just going to make them better, better people in life. So, Yeah, that's a really long answer to saying that I, uh, I don't want my kids to repeat the same mistakes that I've gone through. And and like I said, keep that curve down and, um, just be, be super, super functional on athletes. And that way, Holy Trinity will have state championships, not the wazoo here in the next 10 years and run a dynasty. And it's all, it's all because of me having a four year old you do 20 pushups, uh, every morning. no I'm just kidding. But, but no, they enjoy it. I think that's, that's the the coolest part about it. Like I send some of it being kind of a smart ass, but,
00:53:01
Speaker
like on Saturday mornings, well, if I miss a workout during the week, I'll try to sneak it in on a Saturday or Sunday morning, depending on kind of how the schedule will work. And then, um, typically then I won't, I don't have to do it right at five o'clock in the morning. I'll try to, but yeah, if they want to come down and they do it, like they just enjoy doing it. And that's something that's, yeah, just being a dad and finding some commonality with your kids and stuff. They enjoy nothing. There's nothing better than that. That,
00:53:25
Speaker
and it's free. So, i mean, it's not like going to get on an airplane and go to Florida to do workouts with my kids. Like we just do in our basement and it's free. It's awesome. So I'm sure a lot of dads are in that same boat. I mean, your kids are are looking up to you and you're the, you're the, you're the image that they want to be like. So just trying to be the best image and then making sure that that reflection, uh, when you're looking down and watching her do pushups, that they're not doing a granny style and they're doing it right. And,
00:53:51
Speaker
They're being spoon-fed some accountability, I guess you'd say. But yeah, I got to watch it because I seriously think like by middle school, I'm going to have three kids that are going to whoop my tail if I fight for them. so All the more reason to just stay motivated and stay in the gym. No, that's ah that's awesome, though. I think one of my favorite quotes is just be the example. And I think, you know, as a parent, especially, and just being around kids, and i have a bunch nieces and nephews, and it's like those kids, they pick up everything. Like, they're always watching whether you think they are or not. And they they're going to watch what you do a lot more than just what you say, right? like
00:54:24
Speaker
Kids, they don't listen sometimes. We all know that. But like they're always watching what you're doing and like being that example is the best thing that you can do. And obviously, you know, it's pretty certain that they have a good example in you and just being that leader and and somebody that they can see who's taking care of their health, taking care of their fitness, you know, being that good person, that good role model.
Advice for Busy Individuals
00:54:41
Speaker
And so. It's really cool to see that.
00:54:43
Speaker
One final question that I had for you, and I always ask people this, who I have come on the podcast, because i know there's a lot of people who are out there and so many people, they think about changing for so long before they ever actually do anything. And if there was one thing that I could just help people with, it would just be to just help them get started sooner. Like I just want people to start because I feel like once you finally make this a part of your lifestyle and you do it in a way that feels sustainable and that feels good,
00:55:07
Speaker
you never want to go back but so many people wait years sometimes decades and some people unfortunately they never do it you know they have health issues and then they never get into it because they let themselves dig themselves in that hole so deep that they can't get out so if you had maybe a busy parent or somebody who's been struggling to just like make this happen or just like start this this change or start this transformation like what advice would you give to that person and that's listening man that's a great question a loaded question too i might add but I would say just do inventory, look around you and what's important to you. And once you start doing that inventory and looking at the things that are important, the biggest thing I can tell you is to be a a healthy and active person, to be around that stuff, you just got to send it. And if the things around you aren't motivating enough, yeah, I mean, reach out to Lathan and he can provide a little bit more. But I think all the tools and all the motivation that you need
00:56:03
Speaker
is right underneath your nose. Just just take a moment and have a reflection and look around you and figure out figure out your purpose and and and the whys. And like I said, the the whys are there. you just maybe just need to to identify them a little bit harder and, uh, and pull the trigger. Cause you, you're, you, you nailed it. Like it is, I couldn't, I couldn't imagine. I got to like 260 pounds at one point in time. And I know you were, you were more than that. It's like, I refuse to ever be that big again. It's not, it's not a successful life. So, um, yeah, just, just take inventory.
00:56:37
Speaker
And you get done with inventory, take a little bit accountability and, uh, and and take the dive and and and like said you're you're diving into a kiddie pool it's not like there's a deep end there that uh that the bottom's never going to show up once once you get moving and once you get feeling active and once you let that that lactic acid kind of wears off after the first week and uh and you get through that phase you're gonna be happy with the results and and yeah just do it get paired up with lathan and uh Um, this isn't a, like said, isn't ah isn't a paid, paid plug here for sure. it's just, it's such a blessing to have someone, cause that's the secret sauce. I think for me, it's like, if if I had to sit down and write my workouts up, I think I would struggle. Like I would try to overanalyze the push pull or overanalyze what I want to do or like,
00:57:24
Speaker
I had some big biceps back in the day. I'd probably just be doing biceps and triceps and then have this prison body. so alarms yeah yeah so So yeah, no, for sure. Just just get ah get a good person, get a good advocate.
00:57:36
Speaker
If you're already working with Lathan, you guys know that. If you're interested in working with him, it's tough to be tough to beat having him in your corner because the breadth of knowledge for for what you get, you don't have to be raising your prices or anything like that. But yeah,
00:57:53
Speaker
it's It's invaluable. It really is. Because just just cutting that curve and being able to to explode out of the gate is something that i think that the folks that haven't worked out yet will will truly enjoy. And he's not a complete hard ass. He just acts like one on his podcast. Oh, no, that's awesome. Great advice. And I appreciate the ah the kind words, man. It's been awesome having you on. I know people are going to get a lot of value out of this. Any parting words before we ah finish this thing up?
00:58:22
Speaker
No, sir. I think I have done a typical Lynn Williams job of making a 30 minute job into an hour. No, this was good. I liked it. I like the jokes in there. I like the insight. I like all the practicality of it all. No, this is good. This was awesome. This is perfect. So ah I appreciate you, man. And we'll end it there.
00:58:40
Speaker
Right on. And that is a wrap on this week's podcast. Hopefully you were able to gain a few nuggets out of this episode. I'm looking forward to just getting more people on the podcast this year and in the future, because it's nice to have other people with their stories and their experiences and things that may be more relatable to you, because I get on here and I talk about my experience all the time. But I understand that I'm only one person and my story may be a little bit different than yours. And it's nice to have other people in a similar situation that you're in and maybe you can find some. Relatability to their situation and pick out a couple things here or there that you could apply to your situation to help you out and make you better so. That is exactly what I wanted to do with this episode with Lynn and being a dad of three kids being busy. Doing some farming on the side, volunteer firefighter. I mean, he's got all the things going on and all the reasons in the world to just make excuses about why he doesn't work out or prioritize his health. But as you can see and hear in his voice and just everything that he was able to share on this podcast. Prioritizing a little bit of time for himself and making fitness a priority has not only changed his life for the better and made him a better person, but it also has that trickle down effect for him and his kids, his wife, even at work and things like that. So if that's you, hopefully you got something out of this episode if you are a person who.
01:00:03
Speaker
does want some help with this kind of stuff, maybe you're like Lynn, you just want somebody to help you out with workouts, that little bit of extra accountability, have somebody who has already made all the mistakes so you don't have to and cut that curve down, as he mentioned, and just help you to get on the right track. That is exactly what I do with one on one coaching. If you want to see what it's all about, we hop on a phone call, see if you're a good fit. If not, no worries, we send you on your way. And hopefully I can at least send you in the right direction. So With all that being said, as always, I appreciate you listening to the pod.
01:00:34
Speaker
If you can continue to leave reviews and share with people who you think would get some value, continue to grow this show in 2026, I greatly appreciate you. But we will see you next