WHY to Fitness
The WHY to Fitness podcast is dedicated to supporting Christians in achieving peace of mind and heart in all areas of life because every aspect of life affects our health and fitness.
Hosted by Aaron O'Connell, an IFBB Professional athlete actively pursuing a Ph.D. in Counseling and Psychological Studies, the podcast's goal is to assist Christians in discovering their divine purpose while triumphing over spiritual, mental, and physical challenges related to their well-being.
At the core of this journey is the belief that God serves as the ultimate WHY, i.e., the ultimate driving force behind existence.
In this context, fitness is our ability to overcome the obstacles standing before the goal. It extends beyond exercise and nutrition to encompass relationships, mental health, finances, spiritual growth, and life experiences.
Tune in on a biweekly/weekly to access valuable insights, mindset strategies, theological discussions, interviews, and more to achieve success, which translates into attaining peace of mind and heart across every facet of life.
WHY to Fitness
The Impact of Gratitude on Your Health and Fitness
Ever wondered why gratitude is often lauded as a transformative power? Why is it so talked about, and how does it play a crucial role in our Christian journey as well as our overall health and fitness? Tune in as we embark on a journey that unravels the biblical foundations of gratitude, its profound connection with our faith and its remarkable influence on every facet of our lives. We'll probe into Proverbs 14.30 and Psalms 104, shedding light on how an attitude of thankfulness can truly serve as a healing balm for our bodies and minds.
Venture with us as we take a closer look at the detrimental consequences of sleep deprivation on our physical, mental and even spiritual health. We'll discuss how cultivating a heart filled with gratitude could potentially be the key to improved sleep, enhanced mood, and a robust immune system. Reflect upon the potent words of Psalms 103.1-5 with us, and learn how expressing gratitude and honoring our bodies is an act of faith, paving the way to lasting joy. Don’t miss this enlightening episode as we explore the symbiotic relationship between gratitude, faith, health, and fitness!
The peaceful heart leads to a healthy body. Jealousy is like cancer in the bones. When we approach exercise with a grateful heart, we view it not as a chore but as an opportunity to steward the body God has given us. We need to go back to knowing that God gave us the best way in the directions in the Bible. Welcome to the Y2 Fitness Podcast. I'm your host, aaron O'Connell, and today we are talking about a topic that is central to our Christian journey and vital to our overall well-being, and that is the transformative power of gratitude. This world is filled with challenges I know I don't need to be telling you that and it's also filled with uncertainties, but cultivating a thankful heart becomes a beacon of light that guides us towards lasting joy, and it impacts every facet of our lives, including our health and fitness. Too often, when we think of health and fitness, we think of things like cardio, eliminating carbs, diet, working out, lifting weight, staying active all of these things which, yes, are health and fitness, but we tend to overlook things that the Bible calls out right in front of us, like in Proverbs 14.30. It says a peaceful heart leads to a healthy body. Jealousy is like cancer in the bones. Jealousy comes from not being grateful for what we have, but instead looking at others and wanting what they want, comparing ourselves to other people. This is the thief of joy and it says it right there. It is like cancer in the bones, but if we can be at peace, if we can be grateful, that's what leads to a healthy body. First we need to look at that biblical foundation, that biblical foundation of gratitude, and that's found in Psalms 104, and we're reminded we need to enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, give thanks to him and praise his name. Gratitude is not just some positive mindset or some you know worldly thing that we need to do some ritual. No, it's a spiritual discipline that aligns us with God's heart. The Bible is filled with verses emphasizing the importance of gratitude, just like in James 1.17. And now is that every good and perfect gift comes from above. We need to focus on things that are good, we need to focus on what comes from God, and we know we're not of this world, but we're just being temporary in this world. So we need to stop focusing on the comparison, the jealousy, but instead be grateful for what we have. In Philippians 4-6-7, paul encourages us to present our request to God with thanksgiving, promising that the peace of God was transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. So, with through thanksgiving, we get the peace of God, which then will guard our hearts, which then, in Proverbs 1430 it says, our peaceful heart leads to a healthy body. And isn't that what we're doing? Are working out for, are dieting for a healthy body? Or is it because we just want to feel okay, because we're hurting, because we're in pain, because we're stressed, because we're anxious, or whatever it may be? If that's the case, we have a backwards-looking goal. We don't have goals to really be healthy. We're having goals to not feel crappy, not to not to be fat.
Speaker 1:I did a whole podcast on this, so check that out. But we need to be forward-facing with our goals. We need to be grateful. That's what this whole podcast is about. Is maintaining gratitude to affect our physical health, because it doesn't stop there where it just affects happiness. Our physical health is intricately connected to our mental and emotional state. If you go on the Mayo Clinic's website, ill state, that's a.
Speaker 1:Plenty of studies show that feeling thankful can improve sleep, mood and your immune system. Gratitude can literally decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease. But let me back up just a little bit. That saying it says right there this isn't even the Bible saying it that feeling thankful can improve sleep. And I did a little research and here are some things that happen to our body when we lack sleep.
Speaker 1:First, memory issues, because during sleep our brain forms connections that help us process and remember new information. And a lack of sleep can negatively impact both short and long-term memory. So you're not going to be remembering the truths of the Bible as easy when you're lacking sleep. It's going to be hard to be going against the flaming arrows of the devil when you're lacking sleep because you're not going to remember these things. Second, a lack of sleep will give you trouble with thinking and concentration. Your concentration, creativity and problem-solving skills aren't up to par. When you don't get enough rest, you're not going to be thriving in your work, thriving in what you're doing, which then is just going to turn into that depression, that anxiety, that fear-based mentality.
Speaker 1:And we know that in 2 Timothy 1.7 says God didn't give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but want to power, one of love and one of sound mind. This is why sleep is so important. This is why the Sabbath is one of the ten commandments, because sleep is so important. God slept. We need to focus on rest just as much as we are on performance, and we can't take it all upon ourselves. We need to give it to God.
Speaker 1:But the lack of sleep doesn't stop there. Mood changes. Sleep deprivation can make you moody, emotional, quick tempered. That goes right against what God wants us to be is to be slow to get angry. We can't be dictated by our emotions. Another thing is accidents increased. Being drowsy through the day increase your health for accidents, injuries, all those types of things. I don't even have to mention those.
Speaker 1:But, like I said, weakened immune system. Too little sleep weakens your immune system. Defenses like viruses and colds and flu. If you're not sleeping right, your defenses go down. If you're not grateful and constantly feeling this depression and this comparison and a feeling of lack, your body's gonna echo that and then when all the different viruses and things that are always around come, you're not gonna be able to fight them off. Also, you get weight gain. When you sleep, the chemicals that signal to your brain that you are full get off balance and, as a result, you're going to over-indulge eating, even when you had enough to eat.
Speaker 1:You have a higher risk of diabetes when you lack sleep because it affects your body's release of insulin, which is a blood sugar lowering hormone. People who don't get enough sleep have higher blood sugar levels and an increased risk for type 2 diabetes. You also have lower sex drive. People who don't get enough sleep often have lower libido. In men, this decreased sex drive may be due to a drop in testosterone levels, because your endocrine system gets repaired and it takes about three hours to do so, which is about two REM cycles of sleep, and your testosterone will be going down, which end is going to be affecting your muscles, your growth, even with females. It's going to affect your hormones as well.
Speaker 1:When you lack sleep, risk of heart disease goes up. Sleep deprivation leads to increased blood pressure and higher levels of chemicals linked to inflammation, both which play roles in heart disease. But that inflammation is going to be throughout the whole entire body your intestines, your stomach. It's going to be leading the cancer. All those different things. And what can we do about it? We can be more grateful. Gratitude has such an effect on our physical health. Proverbs 17-22 reminds us that a cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Gratitude is an expression of a cheerful heart, becomes a healing balm for our bodies. This is why this whole podcast exists.
Speaker 1:I don't just talk about diets and working out. It's actually one of the things that I talk about very little of, because there's plethora of information out there. All you need to do is find a way that you can stick to. That challenges you, that keeps you pushing. But if you push too hard and try to take it into your own lives and say, oh, I need to make up for lost time, you're not doing it out of gratitude now, you're doing it out of fear, you're doing it out of comparison. We need to go back to knowing that God gave us the best way and the directions in the Bible. That's why I'm talking about relationships on this podcast, finances on this podcast, talking about how to share your testimony. Because if we are not being grateful for all that God has done for us, if we are harboring unforgiveness, if we are harboring fear, stress, whatever it may be, our whole entire health is going to go down. That's why the Y2 Fitness talks about the whole entirety of our lives.
Speaker 1:Because physical fitness, paul says to Timothy, is of some value. But spiritual fitness promises benefits in this life and the next. And we're only here a temporary time. My main concern for someone's health is their spiritual health, but when your spiritual health is in order, your physical health will be in order as well. But if you're harboring things like gluttony or pain or stress from doing too much or needing to do it all by yourself a works-based attitude you're going to feel it in your physical health.
Speaker 1:We need to extend the concept of gratitude beyond spiritual and physical health as well, because it plays a pivotal role in our fitness journey. When we approach exercise with a grateful heart, we view it not as a chore but as an opportunity to steward the body's God has given us, because we know in 1 Corinthians 6-19-20, paul reminds us do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were brought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. Gratitude motivates us to honor God through our lifestyle choices, including how we care for our bodies.
Speaker 1:So often I just see when people are unhealthy, when they're overweight, they look at it as a chore to be able to move. Can you imagine being back in biblical times and being overweight and having to walk everywhere, having to go long journeys? Look at Mary and Joseph, that long journey when she was pregnant. We need to be physically fit to be able to overcome the obstacles that are standing in our way, the ones that the devil throws, the one that life throws. We need to honor God and the Holy Spirit who lives inside us by taking care of our bodies, not by putting all this junk food in there because it makes us happy. No, the joy of the Lord is our strength. We need to do everything, everything Colossians 3.17 says in whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father, through Him. Whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Speaker 1:But it's really hard to be sitting here going, oh, I need bigger muscles for Jesus. Yeah, why does Jesus want you to have bigger muscles? If, yes, if it's something that you just naturally do, if it's something that comes easy for you and it's just who you are. It's been indoctrined into you from a little age, like it has for me, like I love working out. That's the easiest thing to do. It's when I listen to the Bible, it's when I pray, it's when I feel close to God, it's when I'm celebrating God and saying thank you so much for the capabilities that you have given me. But if you're doing it just to be okay, if you're doing it to stand out, you're doing it of the world and you cannot be of the world and of God, for they are enemies.
Speaker 1:People on fitness, health and fitness, christian trainers have it wrong. They're saying all about you selfishness, but in the end times people are going to be only lovers of self. We need to just do that be in fitness and have health so we can take care of others, so we can respond when there is some some type of chaos going on. Whether the government starts going crazy here in America, whether it is whatever, we need to be ready and capable to overcome anything that's thrown our way. God forbid we are in a third world country anywhere else in the world when they have to travel days just to be able to make it to church. We're so spoiled. Here in America we have two Bibles on average per Christian household, but we don't even read them. But the churches in China may have one per church and they memorize them off of pieces of paper.
Speaker 1:Yet you got to convince Christians to start reading the word. Oh, I don't need the Old Testament. Oh, I didn't get it. It's literally God's revelation. Why would you not want to read it? Why would you not want to memorize it? Why wouldn't you want to keep on diving in, deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper? Because a lot of times we're only doing the Christian thing, we're only following God, only going to church because it makes us feel good.
Speaker 1:It's more about what God can do for me, not what I can do for God and others, which is true Christianity. True Christianity is taking care of widows and orphans. It says it right there in the Bible. It's not about what God can do for us. Yes, he will reign His gifts, he will reign His favor on those that are seeking Him, that are seeking Him first and living righteously. Then everything will be added on to you. But you have to first seek Him and live righteously, which means don't just do it as a means for an end. And that's what fitness is all about here now, in this world. That's why I believe it's the biggest trojan horse in existence.
Speaker 1:Think, in promising all these good things, everyone gives high fives from the pulpit all the way down to the atheist about oh, you're doing a good thing. You're doing a good thing by working out. But if it's filled from a place of lack and not of a place out of gratitude, it's only going to lead to death. It's only going to lead to more stress. We need to be balanced. We need to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. Then we'll be able to test and approve what God's will is. So we can be transformed by the renewing of our mind.
Speaker 1:So we need to be thankful and let us reflect on the words of the psalmist in Psalms 103.1-5. Bless the Lord, o my soul and all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit? Who crowns you with the steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with the good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles? Yes, the Lord, our God, that is. Who redeems us, who heals all our diseases, who will give us health into its full, because we have so many new methods of ways to eat and do all these things.
Speaker 1:Don't touch this, don't do that. Don't eat GMOs, don't eat meat, don't eat that. Look at that. Don't eat those little sugar substitutes. They're all going to cause you all these things.
Speaker 1:But if you go look in Mark 7, it's not what you eat that defiles you. It goes right into the sewer If you're living healthy. But it's what comes from the heart that defiles you, and we already know what that is Selfishness, hatred, evil thoughts, all those things, comparison, jealousy, not being grateful for things. This is what's going to defile you. If you're doing all the right things but you're stressing to do so, if you're doing them not according to God's will, you are going to be stressed, and stress, which is a whole different topic that I'll do another podcast on, is going to take you out, just like having a lack of sleep. Being too stressed is going to get you not to sleep. It's all connected. That's why we need to be grateful. So let's leave this today with hearts full of gratitude, recognizing that in thanking God, we are unlocking the door to lasting joy and in honoring our bodies and minds, we are embracing the true essence of fitness as an expression of our faith.
