The Mind Body Project
The Mind Body Project
Who Are you Best Qualified to Help?
Please tune in for a conversation celebrating the milestones of change and the potency of our past in shaping a motivational present. As your mentor, Aaron, who has walked the arduous path of losing 100 pounds, he offers a unique and profoundly empathetic perspective.
We are best qualified to help those that are where we used to be. Join Aaron as he shares his journey and how he is qualified to help those and learn how you are qualified to help those who are in a place you used to be.
Aaron invites us to connect through his story and the empowerment programs designed to transform personal challenges into strengths. Let's navigate this transformative odyssey together, and remember: every step forward is a triumph worth its weight in hope.
Welcome to the MindBody Project Podcast. After over a decade in the health and wellness industry, erin realized that our bodies change only short-term unless our mindset changes. For long-term success, both our mind and body are forever linked. We are continually building up new ideas and tearing down old ones in our construction zone we call our mind. After this podcast is over, make sure you give it a like and a share and please subscribe and review this podcast. I would now like to introduce you to your host, the man connecting your mind and body to create a limitless life, aaron Degler.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the MindBodyProject. Thanks for taking a long time to join me today. So many times we wonder who are qualified to talk to, whether it's friends, co-workers, just people in general. We often wonder what makes us qualified to talk to somebody. And you know, yes, we're qualified in our job. You know we have experience. Maybe.
Speaker 2:You know I've been doing personal training for 17 years, so I'm experienced in training clients. I'm experienced with what exercises to do, what things to avoid for injuries, that type of thing, you know. So I'm qualified to train all sorts of clients because over those 17 years I've trained hundreds of clients, from kids to adults, to seniors, to those with different disabilities, all sorts of different fitness level, age groups, all of that. Sorts of different fitness level age groups, all of that. So I'm qualified to instruct and train all of those different clients. You know same thing with within your job you're qualified to to talk about certain things. You know I worked for a factory, probably 20 some years ago. A factory probably 20 some years ago, 25 years ago, yeah. And you know I was on an assembly line and I started out on that assembly line and I learned and then I became an on-the-job trainer. So then I was qualified to train others how to do the job I was doing because I had once started there. So I knew what it was like to be in that position, and so that kind of goes to talking about.
Speaker 2:What I want to share with you today is who are we qualified to talk to? Who are we qualified to talk about? We're qualified to talk about the person we used to be, don't we know that person the best? I'm very qualified to talk about the person Aaron used to be because I've been with him my whole life. We've grown up together, we've changed together, but I'm qualified to you know together. But I'm qualified to you know as a kid that struggled in elementary school with being overweight, with kids making fun of me for being overweight, for maybe not dressing the right way as the other kids were. You know I'm qualified to know the experiences and things that an overweight kid goes through in high school, all those challenges that are there, all those insecurities that are there. I'm qualified to talk to the 20-something-year-old Aaron that you know. Year old Aaron that you know is newly married, then has a child, then starts gaining weight and then starts to have more issues because of weight gain and the challenges there, and more insecurities. As a husband, as a dad. You know I'm qualified because I went through those. I went through those different stages of life and I'm qualified to share with that, aaron, how to make it better, how to say this is where I was and this is where I am.
Speaker 2:We're qualified to speak to the person we used to be Now. That's taking into consideration that if we can talk to the person we used to be, that means we've changed. That means we're different now than we used to be. That means that we had some areas in our life that we didn't like that we wanted to change that. Maybe we found ourselves in because of bad choices, because of wrong choices, and we realized those were wrong bad choices. So we wanted to rise above that. So we changed.
Speaker 2:And that can be choices from mistakes you've made, from trouble you've gotten yourself into, from just simply. Maybe it's been in relationships. Maybe it's been bad marriage after bad marriage, bad relationship after relationship. Maybe it's like me, growing up overweight. Overweight is probably an understatement. It would be obese, growing up obese so many times we don't want to say that, say obese, but that's what it was and how that made me feel it's maybe going you know, going from job to job to job and never been able to sit and settle in one job. You can talk to that person that is going through that because maybe you've went through that and you've overcome that, you've seen the problems. Maybe it's some sort of addiction that you've come through.
Speaker 2:I interviewed on the MindBody Project, interviewed a preacher, chaplain, and he had had a drug addiction and now he ministers to those that are in that situation, that are coming out of that and going through that, because as he went through it, there was really nobody there to help him come through it and as a Christian man he wanted to walk other individuals through that addiction and he could show this was me before and this is me after. This is there is hope and I think that's when we talk to the person. We're qualified. You know we used to be. We share that. There is hope on the other side because a lot of times, who we used to be, we changed because we didn't like where we're at, whether it's um, whether it's weight, whether it's relationships, whether it's addictions, whatever it may be. We're talking to those that are where we were and we can show them that on the other side of that, there is hope, there is a different way and probably, you know, as I became a personal trainer, you know, as I became a personal trainer, it all started because I was laid off from a factory job and I was gonna. I said you know what I'm gonna pursue personal training, part-time, go back to school and I'll just use this as a part-time. And then I'll go back to school, I'll use my degree, I'll teach and then I won't train.
Speaker 2:It turned out that training became my career but through that, in the beginning stages of becoming a personal trainer, I had lost weight. I continued to lose weight and it was hard work. And sometimes, you know, we see people that have lost a lot of weight and then we might see them a year or two that have lost a lot of weight, and then we might see them a year or two, three years later and they gained weight back and it's almost harder to do it the second or third time. And you say, well, why is that? You know how you did it the first time, but the first time you go through it and you didn't know how hard it was, you just took I'm just going to, you know, do today I'm going to eat good, I'm going to do my exercise, I'm going to get through today, man.
Speaker 2:Then, day after day, it's like it's just hard work, and then you get on the other side of that, you lost the weight and then it starts to come back, slowly, because your habits start to change, your routine starts to change and again, speaking of the person I used to be, because I was that person and you realize, oh my gosh, I'm 50, 60 pounds heavier now and I remember everything I had to do before has so much work. I don't know if I have it in me, because before you just took another day, another day. You don't realize how those hard stack up. But when you look back, you go, that was so hard, that was such a long process. I don't want to do that again, whether that's with weight, whether that's relationships, that's addictions, that's, you know, holding down a job, whatever that is.
Speaker 2:When we've gone through it the first time, the second and third time gets harder, because we know how much work it is and we know the hangups that we're going to have, the things that might try to trick us up, and we have to even be stronger, for so it's very challenging and that's what happened to me in the beginning. I just kept doing it. You know, I ran my first quarter mile, half mile mile, two miles, miles, three miles, and it just kept growing from there. But I just took a quarter mile at a time. But looking back, I think, man, that was such hard work and I think, um, for a lot of years and I have maybe not wanted to, you know, for qualified to speak to who we used to be sometimes I find myself shying away from that, to be honest, shying away from.
Speaker 2:Maybe I don't want to help, necessarily get into helping someone that is 100 pounds overweight. Why is that? Because I look at and go that is going to be such hard work. That's going to be such a long road. There's going to be a lot of self-doubt, a lot of I don't know if I can do this a lot of days where we slip up, you know we can look back and I can see all those things in front of that person.
Speaker 2:And there's been times when I thought I don't have that in me as a trainer. I don't have that up. You know, we can look back and I can see all those things in front of that person. And there's been times when I thought I don't have that in me as a trainer, I don't have that in me to be with them on the ups and downs for 100 pounds. And it's just me speaking honestly and I think, if I think that's how many of us might be, is we be? I want to. You know, I can see that person. That's that's kind of how I used to be. But then you think, man, to get where I'm at and I have a lot of work and I don't know if I want to get involved in that again.
Speaker 2:And there was there was times when when I thought that, but along the way, and when I had those thoughts, then I thought, well, what if somebody was there to help me that had been through it. There's nobody there alongside of me that had lost 100 pounds and said you know what? Keep keep working the plan, keep showing up to do your cardio, keep keep strength training, keep doing these things, because the process is going to work. Just keep doing it. Just one more day. Just get through today, just get through tomorrow. Man, you've done a week. That's awesome. You've done a month, man, you've done fantastic. You've lost five pounds this week. That is wonderful there wasn't anybody that had been through that. Of course my wife Kim. She was alongside me the whole way cheering me on and my biggest cheerleader. But again, she hadn't lost 100 pounds.
Speaker 2:And we're each different, our challenges are different. They're different for each one of us. So there was times when I shied away from helping that person that had such that long rope. I thought I don't know if I have the energy to, because sometimes, when their belief is lacking in themselves, we have to believe in them and they have to lean on our belief for them. So you know how do we? You know how do we? Because we want to help that person. That was us and we're qualified, because we know what they're going to go through. We know the roadblocks that are going to be in the way. We know the obstacles are going to get in the way. We know the words that they're going to tell themselves, the self-doubt, the, the self-esteem issues, all those things. No matter what it is, we, we know what they're going to go through and that kind of maybe sometimes slows us down, but we can help them because it's kind of like a mentor.
Speaker 2:You have somebody to guide you through the process that has already been there, like, if I'm starting a new business, I'd love to have somebody mentoring me that has been doing it for 10 years. They can say you know what I was there? I was in that first six months, like you not thinking. Can say you know what I was there? I was in that first six months, like you not thinking, you know, I don't, I'm not smart enough to do this business. I don't know all the ins and outs.
Speaker 2:But then we connect with somebody that's 10 years ahead of us. They go hey, look out for this. Hey, you need to do this. Hey, what about this? Check on these laws, check on this. This is what you can do for best hiring practices, all these different things they can share with us because they were there and they remember how it was to be a new entrepreneur six months in your business and be freaking out about everything. When they can say, hey, look, take these steps, cause sometimes we feel like we're just drinking from a water hose in whatever we're doing, trying to better ourselves. When that person that's 10 years ahead in business can help someone that's six months in and take it step by step.
Speaker 2:And when we go back to I tended to there was times when I'd run away from that person that I used to be. I'd run away from helping. I thought how do I embrace that? Because I want to help somebody feel what I felt. I want somebody else to feel what I felt when I ran my first quarter mile without stopping. I know that sounds crazy. I ran my first half mile without stopping. I ran my first half marathon without stopping. I want them to cross those finish lines along the way and feel what I felt, because I know what it's like for Aaron in fourth grade to not look like the rest of the kids, to be overweight, to have to wear back in those days sweatpants and a sweatshirt because nothing else really fit. Depending on how old you are and a guy, you might remember Huskies that's the kind of jeans I got was Huskies.
Speaker 2:I know how he felt in fourth grade. I know how he felt in eighth grade. I know how he felt as a junior in high school and starting to lose some weight and how he felt as a senior losing weight because of a diet drug. I know how he felt all through junior, high and high school, being on every kind of diet, from a liquid diet to Weight Watchers, to whatever it was, whatever the new fad was. I know what he went through and I want to help him feel those feelings that I felt as I crossed each finish line, as my first 10 pounds, my first 50 pounds, my first 75 pounds, my 100 pound party, how I felt my clothes, how my self-confidence was better, how I just walked more straight, more upright.
Speaker 2:I want to help him feel all those, because I know he has a slow self-esteem, I know he's not happy with himself, I know he wants something different, but he just doesn't know how. So when I look at Aaron when he was in fourth grade, in junior high, in high school, young adult, married kids I want for him to experience all those things I did and I can see him in me and I want him to see the possibilities that you may be here, but you can get here. I was there, I was there, I was that kid, I was that young adult, I was that young man married with a kid. I know how you feel. But 20 years later, 25 years later, almost 30 years later, this is where I'm at now.
Speaker 2:These are the habits I've adapted, these are the way I've changed my lifestyle, these are the things you can do and it's not an overnight process, because I think so many times, especially in this day and age, when it comes to weight loss, we think it's an overnight process. It's not. We're going to have all kinds of fads that promise us the overnight success and they're going to work. You bet they will. No doubt there's plenty out there that will work, but they won't last.
Speaker 2:The lasting effect will be did I change my habits? Did I change my perspective? Did I change to help who I used to be? That's what qualifies us is because who we used to be, who we used to be, means we went through some changes. We went through some mental changes, some physical changes, maybe some ups and downs. But we can show that person whether again, whether it's in a career or relationships or body image, we can show that person who we used to be, show that person who we used to be, that we're maybe we're just talking to, we're coaching, we're mentoring, what the possibility is, because don't we, doesn't everything change when we see what is possible? I won't get these numbers right, but a minute or a mile.
Speaker 2:When the first human ran a mile, I don't think it was it wasn't thought possible to get under five minutes. And then the year that I think it was under four minutes, maybe a little faster, that year that the runner got a mile under four minutes and I may be a little off on this there were more and more runners that got it under four minute mile. Does that mean they weren't there before? No, they just saw what was possible. And when we see what's possible we go hey, I may be able to do that too, because we see where we're at. We thought I never knew that was possible. Saw a human run a sub-four-minute mile. I know it's faster now. And why is that? Because somebody says well, if somebody can do it in 3.59, I bet I can do it in 3.57. I bet I can do it in three minutes and 30 seconds. So we see what's possible and I want to really emphasize it and challenge you that you're qualified to help the person you used to be. If there's somebody that is struggling with the things that you struggled with, you're qualified to help them.
Speaker 2:You might say, oh, I don't know, I don't know the right tools, I don't know this. What helped you? How did you get from where they are to where you are? Share with what things you did. Yes, everybody's different Things are going to work different. Same thing with weight loss. You know, I was 100 pounds.
Speaker 2:I attributed to Weight Watchers. It was great for me. There's other people that have tried Weight Watchers. It's just they don't like it. Will it work? Sure, it'll work.
Speaker 2:And again, any diet will work, because it's a restriction and calories and all these things. But any diet will work. It's just, are you going to stick with it and does it fit your lifestyle? Does it fit you? All these different things go into it, but every diet will work. But you can share what worked for you. Maybe there's a relationship coach that you went to, maybe it's some therapy, maybe it's some counseling, maybe it's these different activities you did to improve relationship. All these things you can say I did x, y and z. You're qualified. Because. Why are you qualified? Because you went through it. You went through it and my let often says that your mess is your message and that's so true.
Speaker 2:We, we oftentimes look sometimes at our mess and we want to cover it up because we don't want anybody to see our mess. That was our mess. You know, it's kind of like your house. You know, I always laugh because, um, I train a lot of ladies and and they have house cleaners. They have a housekeeper that's going to come clean their house. They always straighten up and tidy. I always say leave it messy, that way they see what it's like. But that's the same thing. We're messy, but when they come back to their house it's all nice and clean, where at the beginning of the day they'd never let anybody in their house because it's a mess. By the end of the day it's clean your mess. It's okay sometimes if people sees your mess, because when you clean it up, when it looks different, it's no longer a mess. That becomes your message.
Speaker 2:How did messy Aaron being overweight as a young teenager, as a kid, as a young adult, that's messy. Now I use that as my message. I know the troubles and trials and tribulations of a kid in high school growing up, and for me it wasn't even I didn't even have social, there was no social media. Then I can only imagine the things that go into that now growing up, and for me it wasn't. Even I didn't have social, there was no social media. Then I can only imagine the the things that go into that now. But that was my mess and I've used it as a trainer for the last 17 years as my message. This is what I was because of exercise and habits and routines and learning about nutrition, I can do these things. I can go from never running a quarter of a mile to running a half marathon and more. That was my message. That was my mess. This is my message.
Speaker 2:So never dismiss your mess, because that is what's going to make you qualified to share your message with somebody that's in the same mess as you are. I'd love to connect with you any way I could. You can go to aarondeglercom and there you can find ways to connect with me via text. I have a texting group that I send out text of encouragement and motivation each day. Always give out a high five Friday message it's the best day. Different programs, whether it's my FitLife 360, my coaching programs, my online training programs, whatever it may be my weekly email I would love to connect with you in any way and I'd love for you to share how your mess has become your message. And you can connect with me on AaronDeglercom and get with me there and, as I tell my wife Kim every night before I go to bed, it's Bob and the Ninth double A out.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If you would like to connect with Aaron, you can do so by going to AaronDeglercom or find him on social media as Aaron Degler on Instagram, facebook and YouTube. Once again, we greatly appreciate you tuning in. If you've enjoyed the show, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. We greatly appreciate that effort and we'll catch you in the next episode of the MindBody Project Podcast.