Chris:
Welcome to episode six of my blank fitness journey podcast. It is Megan, me, and a good friend Joe Vallette coming today. So Megan and I are gonna get caught up, and then we’ll bring Joe on. Megan Davis, how are you?
Megan:
Better than I was this time last week.
Chris
A lot better than you were this time last week. Yeah. So sickness ravaged our house. We have mostly recovered, though. So we’re all good, and we’re back to training. And yeah. So, Megan can hold the whole household together while I’m crying in the corner and taking lots of naps. So I appreciate that about her greatly. Megan, tell us what you’ve got for our nutrition tip this week.
Megan: Yeah, for our nutrition tip. This week, I was thinking about a question that we commonly hear. And that is, how much should I eat? So that’s a very individual thing. But something we try to teach all of our members to do is to think about a hunger scale. So if you’ve never heard of something like a hunger scale before, you’re thinking about a scale of one to 10, where one is you’re absolutely starving, and 10 is you’re stuffed. And so we try to get people to start thinking about it before they eat a meal, check in with themselves, and rate their hunger on that scale; the ideal time to start eating is around a three or four, because that way, you’re starting to go hungry. Still, you’re not at the place where you’re going to eat everything in sight, right? It’s a little bit easier to make good choices at that point. And then, during the meal, it’s a good time to check in with yourself and engage your fullness as you’re eating so that you can stop right around seven when you’re feeling satisfied but not overly stocked. So you know, when you’re trying to learn this feeling of hunger and fullness, we have people who use things like timers and other symptoms other than just hunger in their stomach. It can be, you know, things like fatigue, anxiety, they’re moody, they’re not sleeping, well, they’re feeling a lot of stress. Those are all signs that somebody’s undereating. And when someone is trying to learn what feeling fulfills, some of those signs can be that they’re no longer thinking about food all the time, they have energy, or they’re sleeping better, and feeling less of those other things like anxiety or stress. So those can be signs that people use to help learn what fullness feels like for them. So that is one of the ways that we help people learn how to figure out how much they should be eating is using a hunger scale.
Chris:
That’s great. So I guess, for listeners, the main way they can initiate this for themselves is if they’re thinking that maybe using a hunger scale would be a good way to become more aware of when they should be eating. You said focusing on those kinds of different times when like you’re preparing to eat or like the number that’s going to make you decide, okay, yes, now’s a good time to eat, and then checking back in with yourself to see when you’re achieving that level of fullness that’s appropriate to go ahead and call it cuts on the meal, right?
Megan:
Yeah, that’s it. That’s not how you use it, and it’s nice and simple. You can do it at each meal and start learning your body’s hunger and fullness signals.
Chris: That’s awesome. And, you know, I think that one recurring theme we’ll see with Megan’s nutrition tips is this idea of mindfulness with your food because I love food as a former and secretly deep down still Husky kid. And I’ll often just eat, to eat, to eat because I love eating. And it’s like, no longer mindful. Like, I find myself eating something. I was like, was I hungry? Did I even not like this that much? Like, why am I doing it? And so that hunger scale kind of forces us to remove ourselves from the situation or the food we’re eating and think about it. And there are a lot of times I think that I will realize I’m not eating because I’m hungry, or I’ve overeating because I wasn’t paying attention to my hunger scale. So I think that’s really good. Megan. Yes. So today, we’ve got Joe Valetti, one of our dear friends, our neighbor, a mentor, and our friend. He watches our kids, and he lets our dogs out. He tells us about his house. He does all kinds of things. So Oh, welcome to the show, Joe.
Joe:
Thank you guys for having me. It’s been a lot of fun.
Chris:
Yeah, it will be a blast; you can guarantee it will be a good time when Joe is doing something. I’m looking forward to it. I know your story, and I’d love to hear that answer to your Blake fitness journey. Give us the big picture; what is your blank for your fitness journey?
Joe:
I think your fitness journey for me is never-ending. And when I use the word ” never-ending, ” I feel like sometimes we all set goals, and goals are great and fitness, but it’s never-ending. So there’s always going to be that continuation. And for me, personally, I feel like it’s been 20 years of fairly consistent, I won’t say consistent, because the last couple of years, these COVID have not been good. But I’m back in the gym this week, five, five days a week might have missed one in there and enjoyed it again and having that fun again. Because when we fell out of going, me and my wife, Monica, when we fell out of going, I almost got back to that lazy space of it’s easy to sit out, it’s easy to sit on the couch and do nothing. But it’s also easy to go once you’re having fun. And then you look forward to going, and you want to be there, and just so much enjoyment comes from it. But you can get trapped, you know, there’s people that I always say are real athletes, they’ll just go by themselves in the corner, then there are people like me, I’m there for the social aspect. I’m there for it, and this is a part of it. But it’s definitely to be around people, smile, laugh, joke, and have a good time. So
Chris:
you cut out there, so VAs cut that. So I think you cut out whenever you’re talking about being there for the social aspects we could repeat.
Joe:
I enjoy the social aspect of going to the gym; I want the people to socialize, have camaraderie, and have fitness. But I wouldn’t be there if I didn’t have that other part. So that’s what I need to be going and doing.
Chris:
And, you know, it sounds like you have found joy beyond just going and working out. And I think that’s something we’ve talked about in the past a little bit, or we’ve touched on that with a few other people. But like you enjoy going because you like hanging out with your friends and you like chatting and you like you know, encouraging people and talking trash to people and you know all the fun things that come with that. So that’s awesome. Never Ending Have you ever gotten to the point where you’re like, I’m not going back to the gym.
Joe:
Finding that rhythm again, having three kids, wasn’t easy, but making it a priority. Because the truth is, as we all know, if you make it one of your highest priorities, you’ll get it and get it done. But if you start letting the excuses come in, then all of a sudden, it’s not the priority, and you’re not getting in, you’re
not regular, and then it just falls apart. And it’s hard to gain that consistency unless you put in that consistent effort. I know you guys like you know, you’ll say three plus days a week. For me, it’s a five as the goal if you miss one. But I want to be in the gym five days a week; I need to go a little lighter because it’s a day where I don’t want to, you know, I’m sore from a workout, that’s that, but I need to be there for me. It’s the repetition of going and making it a priority, a part of my routine. You know, that’s really where I’m most consistent, having the most fun getting the most results from it, not necessarily physical effects. But just being happy and enjoying life. It’s definitely been a part of my life for the last 20 years. It’s created friendships. I don’t have hobbies; as you guys know, I work. I have kids, so it’s worth a family. Don’t golf, don’t hunt, I don’t fish; I have probably never done any of those three. So I don’t gamble. I don’t play cards; I don’t do anything. So fitness is becoming my hobby, and my joy, and CrossFit, specifically in the passage of
Chris:
Yeah, so catch us up on your fitness journey, like leading up to CrossFit. And then you know what CrossFit has been like for you and your entry point into Triforce.
Joe:
Sure. So growing up, I was just a kid that loved to play sports. I mean, that was a sports junkie, you know, watching it, turning the TV on, if I was alone, it was a TV, and you know, being an only child, I spent a fair amount of time watching TV. So if there were sports on, I would watch and play with friends after school, but at a pretty young age, I made a decision. Well, life helped me decide that I needed to go to work. So by the time I was 15, I was pretty much working a full-time job while in school. And so, finding some space by the time I was 18, I probably stopped moving. And when I say stopped Moving, I mean, stop moving. So at that point, I’d probably weighed about 180 pounds, which I’d give a leg right now to be 180. But, you know, I always thought I was heavy. And then, between that and probably 25, I put on 12 pounds a year. So I woke up one day, and I was probably 255. And I remember going down, going up two flights of stairs in my mom’s house, and literally feeling like I was gonna die, like just so out of breath and out of shape. And I just couldn’t believe that I was in such bad shape. And me and my wife, we moved. My girlfriend, we moved four hours away from family, and she had talked about going to a gym. I told her she should go on her own because it shouldn’t be the two of us going, which, as you know, everything we do is the two of us. But I pushed her to go by herself. And she went, and about a month later, I started going. He spent a couple of years just sitting on a treadmill or on an elliptical, and, you know, some weight came off, but not really. Not really enjoying it, not really feeling great. Men, probably a few years in, there was p90x, and I did a p90x class. And it was early in the morning. And man, I went from 215 to 185 and felt like a million bucks. And that was my beginning for group fitness. I was like, I’m in all the sweaty lifters grunting on each other, picking up the weights, I’ll be in the back room with the back row with the ladies picking up the other dumbbells; I was good. So from that forearm, it was group fitness. And we went through one of our local gyms where we did different things. And we made friends that we still have today. That was great. We kind of fell out of that after a couple of years. We did TRX with some really good friends. A friend of mine was a trainer. And you know me, I always find my way to be very involved, you know, with the ownership and how things go because I enjoy the flow of how businesses run. So I was involved with helping and advice and what I do in my life. And we were there for a while. And then I was in my early 40s. And we had talked about CrossFit. And you know, I hate to be repetitive over the last five people. But it’s the same story. We were there, don’t go. You’re gonna hurt yourself and all this stuff. And we walked into CrossFit. And we never walked out. So you know what, emotional guys. So if you push me hard, I can cry talking about CrossFit. So I mean, we walked in that day, and there was a girl there. And she was just telling me you’re doing everything wrong. And I was like, Who is this girl. And when I was in New York, she became one of my dear friends, a nominal athlete. And we just all thought it was a great group of people we bonded with. And we were there for a couple of years. We’re very involved in helping that business grow from probably 30 members up to 90 members. And when I say and, like help, like literally helping bring friends in. And the guy who ran it kind of had; I thought it was a pretty good coach because the people we went with, like that founding group, were really involved and loved CrossFit. You know, geeked out on CrossFit. Instagram knew that people knew the movements, and sending each other videos really enjoyed it. And we did that for a couple of years. And then he kind of had, I wouldn’t say nervous breakdown. But he finally got what he wanted, which was this group of members, but he didn’t know how to run a business and wasn’t good with people. And there was a big falling out. And one of our friends was a coach. And he was really rude to her, and she couldn’t return. And so we were in a community that had no other boxes. And we sat around with about 25 people and had a meeting in a friend’s house and said, Well, what do we do? You know, we have nowhere to go. So we go to the why and try to do our CrossFit classes. And that wasn’t gonna work; we’re gonna get thrown out quickly. So we decided to open a CrossFit box. And so we had the meeting with 25 people, you know, you know, and I kind of led that meeting largely, and my first statement was, who’s willing to put money in and lose it. Okay, if you can’t raise your hand, you’re out, and then we dwindled down and Windell down. It ended up with my wife and two friends who were phenomenal people and the three ladies; you know, it was their business. I was kind of like a driving force behind. So while things were getting laid out, I found the space. I put $20,000 on my Amex card; I knew I wouldn’t have it back in time. And my cash flow was a little tight that day. So I knew it might be a month or two late, but it was fine. Had the space out, we went in as three partners. And I laid out extra money that the girls didn’t even know about. Because I wanted it right. We had nice bathrooms, and it was a really nice space. And so we got l ones, me and Monica, they did, and it was a box of probably 50 people. And I would say at least 10, maybe more Had l ones. So I’m not sure how many boxes have a percentage where 20% of their members have L ones. So it was a lot of fun. Everybody was just so involved. And we always dreamt of moving down to Florida. So timing just clicked with a bunch of things. And because of that, I looked at Monica and said if we don’t leave now, I don’t know what we’re gonna get out of here anytime soon. And what I meant was a decade. So it was like, We gotta go. So we had to have that meeting with them. And they said, ” Do you want us to stay involved? And they said, ” Just go, we’ll deal with it. So we did. And in the process of moving down to Florida, that was 2008, November 2018. We came down in November, December, January, and February; we considered the whole state of St. Johns County like you with children. And schools brought us here to a thriving community, great schools. We checked out a bunch of boxes, dropped into a few of them, and knew what we were looking for. You know, I always say find your box. Do you know what I mean by finding your boxes? Not every box is the perfect fit for everyone to find your box, and we came in, and Monica met Alyssa. And three years later, she’s one of my closest friends. She just texted me that she was clean and just 190 off blocks; I think we’re blocks. But then we met you guys. And you know, it took off from there. And, I’m grateful for meeting Triforce because it fits what we were looking for. I mean, it’s definitely evolved. And you know, I was always a driving force and kind of poked and said, Hey, what about this? What about this, or what about this, and I think I do that in my life as a natural thing. And, and that’s how we ended up at Triforce. And I guess we couldn’t be happier. And I’m so glad to be back like, regular. It’s so amazing to have that. That joy of just having fun. Because I noticed that when you’re young, you play, right, when you’re a kid you play, you know, you say it was a husky kid, but think about that, as a kid, he loves to play you like to play. And it’s the fun that, you know, it’s having a good time socializing. It’s playing and seizing and joking. I’ll tell you guys, 25 years younger than me, you know, I can lift almost as much as you, and I’m old enough to be your father. You know, that’s just me busting chops and having a good time. So it’s just so nice to be back in a box and have those feelings again, of just being happy to be there. So
Chris:
yeah, so you now have accountability with the whole world that it says, If you ever drop off again, then everybody has the right to harass you and get you back on
Joe:
100%. Because I do that to other people. Just regular faces. Yeah, of course. That’s awesome.
Megan:
Yeah, Joe, I think it’s great having you as part of the community. As you said, I think it is obvious that you’re there for the workout. You love CrossFit. But you love the people that are there. And I always laugh because I know you are one of those people. After all, you do love the people that are there. You can dive right in with people, and I always love seeing I know I’ve benefited from you diving right in with us. You dive right in with everyone. And I do think that you know you and Monica add so much to our community. And it is really, it’s helped us appreciate that aspect of workouts right like there’s you love the movement you love where you work out, and you love the people you work with. And I think you’ve brought that in and shown us a new level. So it’s cool to hear you talk through a bit more.
Joe:
Yeah, you know, there’s almost a crazy thought for me. It’s almost like a guilt factor. Like when I’m in the box. Like, I’m not necessarily there for myself. I enjoy seeing others getting a PR like me, and I am not back in that space. Probably just because I’m just not feeling fit enough yet. But like when I feel good, that’s when you know, I’m really loving CrossFit. Like I’m going over to somebody else and telling them to put weight on the bar. You know, trying to help someone or support someone or push someone or you know the coaches, they’d be busy. There’s a new person, and maybe they can’t get over, or there is a new person, you know, yeah, many times I back squatted with the person who maybe is back squatting, half of what I back squat, because I don’t care about my workout that much. I care about people having fun. And you know what? I need people. So if there’s one person in my class, I’m not a happy person. So I need people to be enjoying themselves. So maybe I’m doing it for my own selfish reasons. But when people are there, you know, I want people to feel welcome. That’s what CrossFit is. And suppose people aren’t getting that from their box or their situation. In that case, that’s disappointing because it really should be about joining the community and having a good time. I’ve done other things; I’ve been to other places. And you know, the term fit fam is a common word; you’ll often hear that word, and I’ve gone to other fitness styles, and we had fit fans, but then they were friends. And some of them became true friends, and a lot of them were acquaintances. Yet, when I got involved in CrossFit, I feel like wherever I was, I had real, like deep, meaningful relationships, you know, people that I can sit and talk with these people, you know, a Triforce, that I’ve had conversations with, that are fairly deep, that aren’t even talked to that much. But they feel that they can talk to me, and I can talk to them. And it’s almost you build these relationships that, you know, you have people around you that genuinely care and want to be supportive and helpful. So CrossFit to me, you know, I’ve given the speech, I believe in four things, God, country, family, and CrossFit. I’ve said that 1000 times, and it depends on the order that day to my children. So because the fitness is phenomenal, I mean, the results are phenomenal. I’ve seen so many people do other things for years. And I look at them, I’m like, you know, it’s great. And, there’s no knock to somebody who gets up and does whatever they do. If you get up and walk every day, I’m not going to begrudge you, but what CrossFit will do. And for me, without a good community, I won’t continue to do it. Yeah, so I need that. And I think that’s really something that’s such a great thing for people to get that I do think you have to go, right, the first thing you have to do. I tell people the first, you know, if I talk to people, it’s um, you’re gonna be sore, the first four weeks sitting down, and hey, you know when you don’t regularly go for a while, and you come back. When you’re working out all the time, your body is sorry, tired, but it’s not the; I have to hold on to the toilet seat to sit down; it’s a different level of pain. So when you go from zero to pushing your body, there is a different level of soreness. So it’s almost like you must regularly survive that soreness and start feeling good. And then get involved. And hopefully have you in the class that wants to get involved with you, you know, or coaches that want to get out with you or owners that want to get them out with you. I mean, that’s where you guys have been. You guys have been phenomenal, and you treat it. I see how much effort you put into every person. And I think that’s what I appreciated the most when I first met you guys. Because obviously, it’s different. You know, we had three women, and we were all friends. But I know what it is to run a small business; I know what it is to try to make people happy. And I see your interactions with all these people, and you treat them all genuinely, like everyone matters. No different. The best athlete isn’t any more important than the worst athlete. And that’s really how it is because they’re all people, right? You know, and you go to some boxes, and it’s not that, right, you’re new, you’re old, you’re you know, you’re not praying, and they don’t even look at you. So that’s not a place I want to be because CrossFit is eight to 80, right? You know, I’ve enjoyed the adaptive stuff. And you know, Monica and I took a course, and you know, we watch videos and like it because it is for anybody. And I think that goes back to that other thing about getting hurt; people are afraid of it. I still hear like, I have local, you know, friends and you’ll hear that, oh, if you go across it, you’re gonna hurt yourself. You know, and I look at many people, and it’s like, if you don’t pick something up and put it down, you’re gonna lose muscle mass. That’s just how I look at it. And as I’m starting to hate using this term later in life, many people won’t pick something up and put it down anymore. So they’re doing. I love fitness and hate fitness. And what I mean by that is that there’s always something better. There’s always something newer, you know, let’s intermittently fast. Let’s not let’s keto; let’s do this. Let this Oh, and I feel like all that information even in fitness itself. I will spend an hour and a half on a treadmill daily. Yeah, if you Lose weight, you’ll lose all your muscle. And then what are you going to do? Right? So you see, I always said it was the potato chip theory. So you weigh a certain amount of weight you lose. Now you put the weight back on, right simple muscle back on, you’ll lose that again,
Chris:
hold on, Joe, you cut out. So go back to your potato chip theory, my
Megan:L
theory, but say again, it didn’t cut out for me. I was letting Chris know. But I think it’s okay to start over. Because Chris’s computer’s the driver, so.
Joe:
So my potato chip theory on weight loss. And I’ve lost. Megan, I love you. And you’ve given me a lot of great information. And I try to use it. But I am not the best nutrition person. As we know, we’ll have conversations; we had one recently about the best bite, and you said it’s the first bite, and I said, you don’t remember the first bite. It’s the last bite. It’s the only one to remember. So the potato chip theory is you weigh a lot, lose a bunch of weight, and get thinner, but you don’t do anything. While you’re burning that weight. You’re just doing cardio, so you get smaller, which a lot of people the goal is let’s just get smaller, but you lost all that muscle. So now you start doing all the cardio, you put the weight back on because your nutrition hasn’t changed. You’re not exercising anymore. Now you weigh more with less muscle. So you keep doing that over time and time and time, you have less and less power. So if you turn sideways, you’re thin, but you’re really wide. So it looks like a giant potato chip. So yeah, you’re smaller, but you’ll look like a TV screen. That’s my potato chip. Wow. You know, and I think I think if I can give advice to people who struggle with weight. And I guess I struggle with weight, and I don’t even know if I work with weight. I don’t even like that term. So here’s one, you know what the term fat is. I’ve heard people say, don’t call me fat. I’m not sad. You know what, we’re all fat. It’s a percentage of your body. It’s just a body percentage. So let’s get over this fat, not fat; it’s the body’s number. If you don’t like the number you want, call the number down a little bit. You work on getting the number down, but people get in their head with all of that, you know, as far as fat and not that, I believe. The gym is the secret. To me, the gym is a secret. So if I’m going to the gym, I tend to eat better. But more so than that being active, I feel good. Now, don’t get me wrong. If I eat a bunch of crap food and you go to the gym, you feel like crap. Okay, but if my death is not perfect, but I’m in the gym, I still feel good. I still feel healthy. When I go to the doctor, my blood type is still good. I am carrying too much weight, but my blood is still good. I am healthy. I feel good. Why is that because of the exercise? So to me, people just need to not let that slide. Now obviously, you gotta watch your nutrition. And I’m not saying to eat fast food and work out. That’s not what I’m saying. But I think we get so hung up on food. It’s overwhelming. And for me, it’s pretty simple. Just be active if you’re active and probably have a fairly healthy life.
Chris:
Yeah, so finding what I hear you saying is finding the thing that helps you move and stay moving is pretty important for everybody. And I’m 100% on board with that. And so, for you, it’s CrossFit or group exercise. I am 100% on board with making sure that people are getting a variety of activities why resistance training is so important along with cardio. CrossFit is awesome because it’s both, but it’s easy for people to delay starting something because they’re looking for and finding the ideal thing. What’s the quote was it that said oh, poorly executed plan x, what is it planning? Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Chris:
Okay, so and then like poorly executed plans, whatever, just doing something instead of not doing something is really important, so it’s better to do something better than not doing something perfectly. So
Joe:
yeah, move movement for everybody. But honestly, I guess owning it well, why phone but being involved in CrossFit as long as I have not as a sales pitch. I just don’t understand why you would do it. Really, I don’t know why you wouldn’t. If you had if there are people around you who support you, you’re having a good time. The workouts are scalable, and you know, the level method that you use, what I think is that perfect scalable Ness, you know, if you’re a new person, you don’t have to come in and feel overwhelmed, you can start here, you have goals built-in, if you’re a goal-oriented person, that you want to get to that next level on that next level, I’ve never been that. I mean, I do have certain goals. But as far as that, I’ll hit the whole spectrum, you know, but things that I can do better, I might be on a higher side, and things I struggle with, I might be on the lower side and blend together. But I think having that level method for people that would walk, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t CrossFit. I’m sorry. You know, I know, we’re supposed to tell everybody, and I know we do. It’s great to move, and everybody should move. And I said the same thing. But at the end of the day, I don’t know why you don’t like CrossFit. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to come to CrossFit.
Chris:
It was too expensive.
Joe:
I mean, that, you know, that’s the kind of the comedy, and that is how many places you want to hit that on. I mean, I don’t know, what’s your hobby? How cheap is golf in a month? How cheap is fishing in a moment, about the gamblers, how much you spend in a month gambling, right, so you can go on that approach, you can go on what does it cost you to be sick, you know, a couple 100 bucks a month to me for a hobby that I enjoy? And emphasized the longevity of my life to be with my children. When people and not everything. Obviously, people have different budgets. And some people really have to make conscious decisions to make that happen. But there are a lot of people that don’t. And the people that do you’re making that decision, and you know, you’re you if it fulfills you for so many other or some other number, why is that so much better? Because I just don’t, I just don’t see it. I don’t see it as expensive, and I never did. You’re getting so much one on one attention. It’s a small group; you get so much free value for your money. And I never felt like CrossFit was expensive; that was never a driving force to keep me out of CrossFit. The only thing that kept us out across there from the beginning was the intimidation factor: you’re gonna get hurt. And I wished I found it sooner had r. Because I did other things that I enjoyed but never enjoyed nearly as much. I never saw the results the same way. Um, you know, being at a crosswalk. Last couple. Here’s a perfect example. We moved here in 2019. When we moved here in 2019, that was June I weighed about 210. And I’m five-seven. So that’s morbidly obese guys, but I felt great at 210 five, seven. You know, I was just coming out of CrossFit. You see, I could probably do six, eight strict pull-ups. So I felt good, but that summer, I had some struggles and ate. So that summer, 20 pounds went on in like two months. It’s how I deal with stress. Guys, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. I don’t do anything else. So I was 230. I was wearing 34-inch pants at five, and seven to 32 years later, I found myself about 230 wearing 38-inch pants. What’s the difference? I was coming off three years of CrossFit. So I was way more muscle consistent and strict five days a week. CrossFitting, I was more muscle in that same 230 than now. Four inches difference in a pant size is insane and shows you the results of doing it or consistently working out. You know, it’s funny, we always joke in my house, we always and was as fit as I was when I thought I was fat. We say that all the time. And the problem with that is we all struggle a lot with not appreciating where we are. I think that’s a huge struggle for so many people. You know, enjoy the little wins. I might be the mirror my wife thinks I’m special. Like because I feel good. I feel good. You know, so, back in the gym and feeling good. Just work out in the gym. Enjoy yourselves. If anyone watches this and needs somebody to come with them, you get two weeks out of me, whatever time slot, even the 5:30 am, I’ll get up in two weeks. So I love new people. I love to see people getting About because it’s life-changing; it really is; it’s changing. And fitness is the cross, it really was; for me, six years ago, it was like a defining moment of just loving going to the gym. I had fun, it was great; it, you know, it was so different. And I remember so much like, you know, so many pros. Other people’s PRs, you know, watching Megan get, you know, a clean that she got, or a deadlift, you know, like, or Alyssa, you know, getting our first bar muscle-up, you know, like, there’s so many things that like, I remember myself and other people, there’s just so much that you can get from it. And I just wish more people would find their way in. So I’m
Chris:
going to do something that changed things up a little bit. So normally, I like to assure guests what their real-life superpower is. Instead of doing that ask Megan, Megan, what is Joe’s real-life superpower? This is completely on the spot. She had no idea I was gonna ask her.
Megan:
I love it when you do this to me. Joe’s real-life superpower. Gosh, I feel like he has a lot of them. I feel like it’s something to do with being able to like what I’m trying to put into. I’m trying to make the phrase a seat, a sentry ass into a superpower. Like, I love how you say you don’t view it as like, you have to e perfect. Like, you, you get into whatever space. And Chris, I wish you had done this to me. Can you give me just like a second? Like, can you unmute yourself to Chris now I can’t even like to hear you laughing at me? It was great. Um, so what, what I’m trying to say is that, like, Joe’s superpower is being able to whatever he’s going to get into whether it be a business, or a gym, or a CrossFit or like, you know, a neighborhood like whatever it is like he just jumps two feet in. And so I think that, like many, people will be a little hesitant for one reason or another. And I love the way that Joe just jumps two feet in on whatever he’s doing. And I think that that’s a superpower. Because his failure is not an option. And so, like he might, not having success defined super clearly is okay. But failure is not an option. And so it’s like he’s going to succeed. The fun part is figuring out how far he will grow; there’s no way he can advance or achieve in what he’s in. And I think it’s close you bring other people along in that as well. And you know, whether that’s in the gym, where we see you, you bring in business, like I remember
when you guys first joined, like, you know, class within, I just finished coaching. I’m like, you know, meaning to jump on to something else. And you’re like, Have you thought about this, this, and like we’re an hour later, and I’m still taking notes of things that I need to do better? And I’m like, yep, you’re right, you’re right, you’re right. And so like you guys us really good help in business and like, you know, brought us along in that. And n it comes to being an athlete in the gym like you know, we’ll come to you with, you know, hey look this PR. You’re like, that’s it, you got more, you know, you bring us along, and you know, constantly getting better as an athlete. Like, like you said, like, you know, having a family, there’s ups and downs. There are real challenges to having fitness as an adult with a family, a job, and everything in life. And I think you’re honest and open about those challenges with everyone. So you bring us along with you, and you know, nothing that makes you and Monica such an important part of our community is that you are willing to be to feed in, and even when you’re struggling, you’re open about it. You’re honest about it, bringing people along in that process. And so, you know, in your ups there with you. And I think in your ups and downs that is a superpower because I believe that a lot of people are either afraid to jump in or they jump back out, you know, or, they have the ability maybe to do things for themselves, but they’re so scared to bring other people into their successes and their failures, and you’re not afraid of that, and I think that that’s your superpower.
Chris:
and I think that goes along with his never-ending fitness journey. Like yeah, because he’s all in on you’re all in on whatever you do, Joe, like, you’re not gonna stop. The day you stop is the day you die. I’m pretty sure so,
Joe:
You know, it’s funny that you say that it’s like, I think we jumped into your life. I don’t know if you’re new; we did when we did five, and just kind of jumped in wherever we saw the opportunity. So I think that’s just kind of how we are like, if we care about someone or care about something, it’s just, we just jump
in. Perfectly, it’s a really good one. Because that’s kind of how we did it. Like with you guys. It was like, in the beginning, we just became fast friends. And me and you Megan, I’d always go home and be like, I offended her Monica because I would always I like I just kind of say things, and I don’t. Like sometimes, they’re rough. I just look at my gonna be like, I did it again. I tried not to today. But you know, we knew how much you guys cared and how wonderful you are. And it was just like, we wanted to be in love, we weren’t going in one way or another. You guys wanted to relax. And now you’re my neighbor. So yeah,
Megan:
I love it. Because like, I think that it’s because it’s its unique quality, right? Like, we didn’t necessarily invite you in. But you were like, I can see that they need it. I know that I needed, like, as much help as I needed, or I didn’t think I needed to be cared about, like, you know, the way that you guys cared about us like, and you guys just jumped in, and you weren’t afraid to do that, which I think is a very special and rare thing. And so we’re super glad that you did. And I feel like that’s the thing is like, sometimes I think that that’s a sign of like somebody who really does care is being willed to say the hard stuff and the offensive things, you know, like, you saw that I was trying, but then I was you know, I had a lot of things that I wasn’t doing well, and you’re like, Hey, I see the effort that you’re putting into it, here’s how you can do it better, here’s how I can be more effective. And like, then it’s on me, right? Like, I’m thankful that you guys are willing and eager to say the hard things. And I think that’s another thing that makes you make that never-ending fitness journey. And that part of your superpower is your willingness to do those things.
You know, I think I think you have to have those people in your life that are willing to say what they think they need, that you need to hear, even if it might make your relationship difficult, you know, you need people who are going to be truthful with you and be real with you. And I don’t think we’ve ever been to, you know, that point because you guys are amazing. But with the business, I think I definitely poked and prodded and pushed. And I think there was sometimes a lot of pushback. And I would always say if you don’t like my opinions, throw them out, but I’m gonna give them to you anyway. Right. So that’s kind of how we did it. And, you know, to see Triforce from the day I walked in, and I’m not there from day one, you know, but to see it now, almost three years later, is worlds different. You know, it’s so different. And it’s, it’s so nice to be in the space and to see the businesses thriving, and the members thriving and the community thriving, you know, and feeling like there’s a space, what I like about it most right now is I feel like there’s a space for everyone. Whether you’re a 70-year-old grandmother coming in or a 22-year-old, who wants to be really good at CrossFit, I feel like there’s a space for everyone, which I think is phenomenal. Because I think that what the goal should be in a CrossFit box is to welcome everyone into a place where they can have a community and friends. And I also think it’s great when you have the 70-year-old grandmother and the 22-year-old working side by side. And creating relationships. One of the things that I always thought was amazing about CrossFit is the relationships you make with people you would never make those relationships with. If it wasn’t inside the box, you know, maybe different cultures, nationalities, religions, politics inside of a box, it’s always been a safe space for people to be together. And I think I think what you guys have built is that.
Megan:
and I also appreciate being liked. I think you lead from the front and don’t have an ego, right? Like, you want to have fun, you like to push yourself, but as you said, You’ll share a bar with me, you’ll share a bar with, you know, anyone in the gym, and sometimes that’s more than what you want to do is sometimes it’s less than what you want to do for the day. They’re always, you know, just for yourself, which I think is huge.
Joe:
100% You know, I think people, not everybody needs to be that look, you’re paying, you’re spending money to go, you deserve to be able to go and just do your thing. But I’ve been put on the earth to be a servant like that’s my word. So how can I serve? So if that’s how I can help the boxes, help the box grow, make people feel welcome. I’m not doing a great job of it today. I have internal feelings about how I think, and it’s getting back there. I, you know, like, there’s a sweet spot for me. And I’m not there yet, but it’s coming back. And I’m excited about that.
Chris:
So I think it was said, everybody needs a Joe Meo. And so, if you guys are at Triforce already, seek Joe out and have a conversation with him; he will quickly know all the intimate details of your life, including your bank account number and social security. But I mean, there’s, like Triforce would not be what it is today if it wasn’t for Jo Monica. And there are many members that we can say that about, but specifically, Jo Monica has helped us become who we are as Megan, Chris, and Triforce. And so we really appreciate you guys. It’s been a blast. Yeah,
Chris:
We’ll have Monica on separately sometime. Joanne and Monica do frequently make appearances together. She might be right beside him right now. I couldn’t see her, but she left. So, you know, their family hobbies are a couple, a couple of things that they do together, which is like me, and again, I don’t like working out anymore if it’s not with Megan. So before we go, Joe, I think what one question that I want to get from you, or answer I want to get from you, is if there’s somebody out there that has been putting off their own fitness, like just for whatever reason, kids or family or work or whatever the thing is that’s gotten in the way. What would you say to them? How would you encourage them to go ahead and start investing in themselves and, you know, maybe join Triforce or, you know, join wherever they’re at so that they can work on them?
Joe 46:56
Now, I’m glad you asked that question because it’s one of the things I wanted to discuss. And there are lots of things running through my brain. We all raise children and want our children to have the best lives again, having talked about my kids, right? So we all want our kids to have these best lives. But then when we hit the age of 3035, to get 40. and above, we stop living in many ways because we now have to live for them. So you’ll see parents taking their kids to gymnastics and basketball and all these things, but they don’t do anything for themselves. They do not have that joy anymore, not being involved. So for those people, do you love your children so much that you’ll do anything for them? Do you want them to hit the same age as you and stop doing it for themselves? And the answer is no. You want your kids within that age to still have vibrant, fun, active lives. You can’t just maybe this is bad parenting. And maybe Joe, who’s not selfish, is selfish. Maybe I am. But if I don’t take any time for myself and what I want to do and enjoy doing, I’m not sure how good I can be as a parent to them. And I think we’ll all I think that’s common sense. But I think it gets lost. So people stop, hit an age, and stop moving. You know, I think there’s a lot of even worse men like you’ll see women worried about their figure losing weight, you know, I’m going to all that nonsense I talked about earlier. But like, you see a lot of guys just stop, you know, they don’t play anymore. They used to go play football, they used to play soccer, they hit an age, or you know, my knees are bad or this is bad. We didn’t even talk about pain and PT and all that stuff. We could go for another 20 minutes because these people just say they’re old and broken. And it’s done. I’m gonna be 49, and you know, my joke is I hope to die at 89 facedown in a rubber mat and sweaty gym somewhere. Like that would be a good life. That would be a great way to go. Sorry for the owner. Hopefully not you, Chris. So you know, it’s like, you see people who just stop wanting to do some smart thinking about it. It’s like, you’re missing out. There’s so much you’re missing out on. It’s like so many people struggle in many ways nowadays, mental health and stuff. And if you ask me about my superpower, I’ll be quick. It’s self-talk. About 5% of my life. I’m negative. The other 95% of my life. I am Superman. You know, I’ve had this conversation with you recently. Megan. It’s like, I think I’m great. Am I? I don’t know. You know, when I lose a few pounds and flex in the mirror. It’s like, I think I look great. You know, there are days we’re in business. You know, you’ve made a mistake. You did something stupid. Yeah, look at the big picture grip. You know, find that perspective. You see, I weigh more than I would like right now. I haven’t been to the gym. I’ve never seen the weight. I was 25 years old. I’ve always been way better for decades now, and the amount of movement I’ve had in the decades has been tremendous in comparison. So is that not success? Yeah, to me, that’s a success. I can microcosm this little moment and say today, maybe I’m not as successful. So for people, I think, like, You have to get back to finding the happiness and the joy and all the things that you can get out of life because it is short, you know, life is not long.
Megan:
I would say that that’s your superpower. As you said, the perspective would be really good, and because that’s something that you, you often have a good view.
Joe:
So when I was very young, I had a situation where I talked to my mom and just said something to her. I mean, and I went, Wow, I am stupid. And from that day on, I had another friend who always used the analogy of if you’re at, if you’re in hand-to-hand combat, you’re at war, you are in close quarters. But if you took the helicopter view and looked down, you may realize you’re not in the same danger you think. And just having that perspective has been huge for my life; slowing down, finding new perspectives, seeing your situation, and making the best out of it. So for me, self-ops have always been a really good one. And, like, I don’t want to get out of that. That is what I get out of CrossFit. So for people thinking about joining, I don’t understand how people could not enter. It’s not even fathomable to be because what’s the option? You know, what’s the alternative? More medicine, more aches, and pains, I’m gonna get hurt, you know, go into CrossFit, you’re gonna get hurt sitting on the couch. Right? You know, when you’re out of shape. If you hurt yourself anyway, you’re in just as much pain; I’d rather be sore. After all, I did something in store because I didn’t do something I didn’t understand. For me, it really is a struggle, why people won’t join, you know, you have members with severe injuries that are coming, you know, coming back, you know, you’ve had people in all kinds of situations. And you’ll hear people say, Well, I can’t because I have a bad, whatever. And it’s just like, we’ll modify and figure it out. We’ll work through it. You can still be involved, you can still be active, you can still make games, and you can still feel good. So why give up your life because you have a bad one?
Megan:
Yeah, we like to say choose your heart. Yeah,
Chris:
It’s true. Awesome. Well, I think, Joe, you’ll have to be a repeat visitor on the show. At some point, we’ll have you back on for round two. Because there are many more topics we could dive into that will help people in the end, that’s your goal. As like you said, your word servant. Our goal and helping our community become more healthy, fit, and confident is just finding ways to encourage people to be healthier, fitter, and more confident. So awesome, brother. Well, any last words for us before we head out? It was a blast. I wish I was in the air conditioning like you to walk. I’m roasting outside, and I’m
sweating.
Chris:
was in a workout. You could have gone inside, but the kids are inside. So I appreciate you being outside that awesome, Joe. Well, thank you guys so much for tuning in for this episode. Find Joe at the gym. Come work out with him. He’ll be looking forward to working out with you guys.
