January 20, 2025 • 13 mins
What happens when a collegiate athlete trades the bustling city life for the serene landscapes of Northwest Arkansas? Meet Matthew Gross, our guest on Lifestyle Strength, and hear his transformative journey from an active youth to a letter carrier who faced real-life challenges of weight gain and lifestyle changes. With insights from both Ariel, a seasoned massage therapist, and Lucas, a Northwest Arkansas fitness mentor, this episode offers a unique window into how Matthew navigated his path towards health and well-being, influenced by a spontaneous move inspired by family ties and the longing for greener pastures.
Join us as Matthew shares the pivotal moments that sparked his decision to embrace a healthier lifestyle, shedding unwanted pounds and embracing an active life once again. His story showcases the profound impact environment and support systems have on personal transformation. Whether you're on your own wellness journey or simply curious about real-life stories of change, this episode is packed with motivation and practical insights. Discover how balancing the hustle of daily life with wellness goals can lead to a more fulfilling life, inspired by Matthew's incredible journey.
Support Ariel by booking a massage:
https://www.competitorsedgemassage.com/
Support Lucas by booking training:
https://www.hydefitnessconsulting.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Lifestyle Strength, your guide to
mastering health and well-beingin the real world.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Ariel, a massage therapist with over a decade of
experience in holistic health,and I'm here with Lucas, a
seasoned fitness coach, who'stransformed the lives of
hundreds in Northwest Arkansas.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We're here to share real stories and expert insights
about embracing a healthylifestyle while balancing the
everyday hustle.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Join us as we explore practical ways to achieve
wellness and thrive amidstlife's challenges.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Let's dive in.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Today I'm joined with Matthew Gross.
He has been an acquaintance ofmine for a little while now.
We haven't got to spend just aton together, but my interest in
pickleball has brought us alittle bit closer between mutual
friends, and he has an amazingstory.
So, matt, I'll just let youintroduce yourself you know to
everybody what you do, um andtell us just a little bit more
(00:51):
about you.
Know why you decided to to losethe weight in the beginning and
how much weight you lost?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
okay, um well, I'm a letter carrier, worked for the
post office, been going what 26years.
Started, went to communitycollege for about six months,
got hired on the post office inthe next sense, started in
Phoenix, arizona, justthroughout the years.
(01:22):
And you know life gets at you,it goes fast, yeah, yeah.
Year after year is just Live alife, not care, not care in the
world, you know.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Then one day you realize our gain, 40, 50 pounds
and I mean when I graduated highschool I was 190 and then, and
Matt's a tall guy I don't knowif y'all can see, if you're not
watching the video I meant howtall you.
(01:59):
Six three, six three, okay, so190 at six three is pretty
pretty lame, yeah, I mean I, Idid a lot of sports in high
school.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
I mean I played baseball, a little bit of
basketball, swimming, wrestling.
I grew up with my dad andplayed racquetball, so we played
a lot of racquetball growing up.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah, so you were active a lot when you were
younger then, yeah, I was veryactive Multi sport.
Yeah, so you were active a lotwhen you were younger then, yeah
, I was very active Multi- sportyeah.
What did you?
Did you pursue anything intocollege, or was it or community
college?
Did you do anything during that?
Or I didn't really do anythingin college.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I mean I was.
I did get an offer for swimming.
I was like a tenth of a secondoff the school record, oh wow.
And and 50 meter, 50 meter, uh,freestyle.
Got an offer for that to uhsome college in Ohio.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Not the big ones but it's still swinging at
collegiate level.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Yeah, but I decided to go you know, go to community
college in Phoenix.
It's where I met my wife, so itwas a good decision, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I'd say so.
It's funny how those decisionsthat you don't think are, you
know they're impactful, but youdon't realize how impactful they
are in the moment when you'remaking them, and then you leads
you down a road that ends upultimately shaping your life in
a different way.
Oh yeah damn.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
And then got the offer.
My dad, you know, he was apostmaster built out in Phoenix,
so he got me to take the testand got hired.
Like six, eight months after Itook the test and then got busy
with that, stopped doing thesports yeah, all I did was work.
(04:04):
Yeah, then about time to eathealthy, you know?
You know, just let those.
Yeah, I forget about all thelittle things.
And right, just over the yearsI just gained some weight and
then we decided to get out ofPhoenix.
(04:24):
Mm-hmm, hot, a lot of people Ithink there was like three
million, something like that,probably more than that, but
yeah, a lot bigger thannorthwest arkansas.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Why'd y'all decide on here whaty'all decide?
Speaker 4 (04:40):
northwest arkansas.
Uh well, my wife was born andraised in fort smith, okay, and
then her dad, uh, lives up here,so I moved, he came and visited
and I just fell in love with it, yeah that was our green.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, the green instead of the, the orange, the
brown.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Not everything's covered in dirt.
Right, right, right so so was itwhen you moved here that you
took an interest in health andlike trying to try to make
better decisions well, I mean,when my first winter here I
learned about black ice okay,because I've never dealt with
(05:22):
snow or right ice or any of thatI was walking on my route and I
slipped and I fell and I endedup breaking my back and so I got
it.
I had five bulging discs and Iwent through the rehab and
everything.
I got it down to two and theyended up doing surgery and it
(05:45):
was that time where I had gainedmost of my weight.
Okay, and I want to say beforethat I was about 290 and after,
after that I I went up to aboutthree thing.
My doctor said 384 was myhighest, wow.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
So you swung from like like in high school yeah, a
hundred pounds, that's, that'sa big or almost over almost 200.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
That's, that's, that's a lot man, that's a lot
of weight.
Yeah, I mean I hurt my back notbeing active and just I don't
know it's hurting all the time,and just eight.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah yeah, I mean that can be easy to do because
you know, especially somebodylike yourself who you know
you've.
It always sounds like you'dalways just kind of came
naturally, like through sportsbeing active.
And it's easy when you're youngtoo, especially if you're.
If you're active, if you knowit's part of your life, but it's
not to the level of like makinga career out of it.
(06:47):
You know it's not your job todo it.
Maybe you don't really.
You know, look what you'reeating so much you don't take it
quite as seriously, and so youknow you're able to maintain
while you're young, when you areactive and you can do all those
things and you have an injuryand something that puts you down
and it's easy to slip into thathole yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
It was very easy.
It was very easy to you know,put everything to the side and
just you know eat.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Do you find like there's comfort, like in food?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Kind of I mean it was food really wasn't like a it's
still of, isn't a priority to me.
I mean, I'm not like, oh, Ihave to eat.
It's just you know.
You sit there and not just like, all right, what do I do?
Right, you know.
And then you just, you know,grab whatever and just start
snacking, and you don't eventhink you're doing it so you
(07:46):
felt like it was just kind ofmindless for you, almost like it
, just it just.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
You woke up one day and you're like, wow, like yeah,
yeah, yeah, and then just oneday I'm like what am I doing?
Yeah, did you think that theinjury kind of pushed you in
that direction, like it gave youenough pain to want to open
your eyes a little bit?
Speaker 4 (08:08):
um, a little bit Like it gave you enough pain to want
to open your eyes a little bit.
A little bit.
I mean it was a lot of factorswent into the decision to start
losing the weight.
I mean I lost my parents aboutfour years ago and that kind of
pushed me to the edge.
And then my wife got pregnantand then I was kind of like,
(08:32):
alright, what am I doing?
I was kind of like the catalystlike tipping me over the edge,
yeah, and so I started lookinginto different things.
I mean I have tried, you knowthe quick diets, you know the
atkins, the just everythingtrying to lose weight.
(08:53):
You know my whole life, youknow, and you lose that weight.
But the second you get off ofit it just comes back.
Yeah, comes back with the force.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
How many times did you, had you tried those things?
How many times did you swing?
Speaker 4 (09:09):
Probably six, six, seven times.
Yeah.
Now I mean then, uh, I heard ofthis weight loss thing to my
insurance and they offered theyoffered it for free, I mean it
was.
I mean I mean I checked myinsurance they're like, hey,
(09:30):
you'll try this program.
And so I did that and it waskind of a keep you in check,
like hey, check in every week,like some accountability, yeah,
yeah.
Yeah, you go to this like azoom meeting, you know, okay,
and then you wait and you justkind of talk with a counselor
(09:52):
it's kind of a group session,right, and they helped you like
learn what's good, what's bad,you know, kind of kind of like
counting calories, yeah, you putin your data what you are, your
height, your weight andeverything, kind of just all
(10:13):
right, this is what you shootfor.
And so I tried, you know, I Istarted coming off, um, and I
coming off, and I lost probably40 pounds within the first six
months, you know, and I waslosing a lot.
(10:33):
I think I ended up losing 80pounds.
That first year.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Yeah, you lost quite a bit, cuz I remember I think I
met you right around that time.
Yeah, I remember the first timeI met you I I was like he's a
big guy, yeah.
And then the next time I sawyou, I think a few months later,
I was like is that the same guy?
It slimmed down quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I ended up when I was done with
the program.
It was a year long, I think.
I ended up losing about 100.
So I got back down to about 280, 285.
So I was back down to where Istarted before the injury, and
(11:13):
that was all I did Just thecounting calories, just the
counting calories, and showingup weekly, yeah, every week,
yeah, every week for a year.
And no exercise, no, nothing.
All I did was food.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Just looked through food.
Did you make any changes to thethings that you were eating
specifically, or were you justtempering your portion sizes?
Speaker 4 (11:36):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't cut anything out.
I didn't like, oh, I'm onlydoing carbs or I'm only doing
protein.
It was more of portion size.
Now I was have a steak, youknow vegetables, potato, and you
know just your basic portionsize, and how does it?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
just not overeating right yeah, eat till you're full
, right, then you're done kindof learning how to be intuitive
with you, know what your, whatyour body's telling you that you
need, and then you know how itfeels to eat that food and and
not feel like you can you justcram stuff in your mouth?
Yeah, I've had.
I've had that in the past.
A lot of my clients have hadthat.
(12:23):
Yeah, where are you just kindof watching Netflix and it's
easy just to continue to eatfood?
Yeah, you don't even realizeyou're doing it.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Yeah, you.
Just you don't the show and youlook down and like what'd that
bag go?
And then you feel terrible.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
And you're just sitting there like what did I do
?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah, and then you tell yourself I'm not doing that
again, and then the next showcomes on, and then you sleep the
next day and then it starts allover.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, pretty much.
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode.
We want to invite you back nextweek as we continue the
conversation and be sure tofollow us on social media to get
all of our content and clipsand anything you might have
missed.
Again, thanks for listening.
Welcome to Lifestyle Strength, your guide to
mastering health and well-beingin the real world.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Ariel, a massage therapist with over a decade of
experience in holistic health,and I'm here with Lucas, a
seasoned fitness coach, who'stransformed the lives of
hundreds in Northwest Arkansas.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We're here to share real stories and expert insights
about embracing a healthylifestyle while balancing the
everyday hustle.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Join us as we explore practical ways to achieve
wellness and thrive amidstlife's challenges.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Let's dive in.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Today I'm joined with Matthew Gross.
He has been an acquaintance ofmine for a little while now.
We haven't got to spend just aton together, but my interest in
pickleball has brought us alittle bit closer between mutual
friends, and he has an amazingstory.
So, matt, I'll just let youintroduce yourself you know to
everybody what you do, um andtell us just a little bit more
(00:51):
about you.
Know why you decided to to losethe weight in the beginning and
how much weight you lost?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
okay, um well, I'm a letter carrier, worked for the
post office, been going what 26years.
Started, went to communitycollege for about six months,
got hired on the post office inthe next sense, started in
Phoenix, arizona, justthroughout the years.
(01:22):
And you know life gets at you,it goes fast, yeah, yeah.
Year after year is just Live alife, not care, not care in the
world, you know.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Then one day you realize our gain, 40, 50 pounds
and I mean when I graduated highschool I was 190 and then, and
Matt's a tall guy I don't knowif y'all can see, if you're not
watching the video I meant howtall you.
(01:59):
Six three, six three, okay, so190 at six three is pretty
pretty lame, yeah, I mean I, Idid a lot of sports in high
school.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
I mean I played baseball, a little bit of
basketball, swimming, wrestling.
I grew up with my dad andplayed racquetball, so we played
a lot of racquetball growing up.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah, so you were active a lot when you were
younger then, yeah, I was veryactive Multi sport.
Yeah, so you were active a lotwhen you were younger then, yeah
, I was very active Multi- sportyeah.
What did you?
Did you pursue anything intocollege, or was it or community
college?
Did you do anything during that?
Or I didn't really do anythingin college.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I mean I was.
I did get an offer for swimming.
I was like a tenth of a secondoff the school record, oh wow.
And and 50 meter, 50 meter, uh,freestyle.
Got an offer for that to uhsome college in Ohio.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Not the big ones but it's still swinging at
collegiate level.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Yeah, but I decided to go you know, go to community
college in Phoenix.
It's where I met my wife, so itwas a good decision, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I'd say so.
It's funny how those decisionsthat you don't think are, you
know they're impactful, but youdon't realize how impactful they
are in the moment when you'remaking them, and then you leads
you down a road that ends upultimately shaping your life in
a different way.
Oh yeah damn.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
And then got the offer.
My dad, you know, he was apostmaster built out in Phoenix,
so he got me to take the testand got hired.
Like six, eight months after Itook the test and then got busy
with that, stopped doing thesports yeah, all I did was work.
(04:04):
Yeah, then about time to eathealthy, you know?
You know, just let those.
Yeah, I forget about all thelittle things.
And right, just over the yearsI just gained some weight and
then we decided to get out ofPhoenix.
(04:24):
Mm-hmm, hot, a lot of people Ithink there was like three
million, something like that,probably more than that, but
yeah, a lot bigger thannorthwest arkansas.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Why'd y'all decide on here whaty'all decide?
Speaker 4 (04:40):
northwest arkansas.
Uh well, my wife was born andraised in fort smith, okay, and
then her dad, uh, lives up here,so I moved, he came and visited
and I just fell in love with it, yeah that was our green.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, the green instead of the, the orange, the
brown.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Not everything's covered in dirt.
Right, right, right so so was itwhen you moved here that you
took an interest in health andlike trying to try to make
better decisions well, I mean,when my first winter here I
learned about black ice okay,because I've never dealt with
(05:22):
snow or right ice or any of thatI was walking on my route and I
slipped and I fell and I endedup breaking my back and so I got
it.
I had five bulging discs and Iwent through the rehab and
everything.
I got it down to two and theyended up doing surgery and it
(05:45):
was that time where I had gainedmost of my weight.
Okay, and I want to say beforethat I was about 290 and after,
after that I I went up to aboutthree thing.
My doctor said 384 was myhighest, wow.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
So you swung from like like in high school yeah, a
hundred pounds, that's, that'sa big or almost over almost 200.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
That's, that's, that's a lot man, that's a lot
of weight.
Yeah, I mean I hurt my back notbeing active and just I don't
know it's hurting all the time,and just eight.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah yeah, I mean that can be easy to do because
you know, especially somebodylike yourself who you know
you've.
It always sounds like you'dalways just kind of came
naturally, like through sportsbeing active.
And it's easy when you're youngtoo, especially if you're.
If you're active, if you knowit's part of your life, but it's
not to the level of like makinga career out of it.
(06:47):
You know it's not your job todo it.
Maybe you don't really.
You know, look what you'reeating so much you don't take it
quite as seriously, and so youknow you're able to maintain
while you're young, when you areactive and you can do all those
things and you have an injuryand something that puts you down
and it's easy to slip into thathole yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
It was very easy.
It was very easy to you know,put everything to the side and
just you know eat.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Do you find like there's comfort, like in food?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Kind of I mean it was food really wasn't like a it's
still of, isn't a priority to me.
I mean, I'm not like, oh, Ihave to eat.
It's just you know.
You sit there and not just like, all right, what do I do?
Right, you know.
And then you just, you know,grab whatever and just start
snacking, and you don't eventhink you're doing it so you
(07:46):
felt like it was just kind ofmindless for you, almost like it
, just it just.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
You woke up one day and you're like, wow, like yeah,
yeah, yeah, and then just oneday I'm like what am I doing?
Yeah, did you think that theinjury kind of pushed you in
that direction, like it gave youenough pain to want to open
your eyes a little bit?
Speaker 4 (08:08):
um, a little bit Like it gave you enough pain to want
to open your eyes a little bit.
A little bit.
I mean it was a lot of factorswent into the decision to start
losing the weight.
I mean I lost my parents aboutfour years ago and that kind of
pushed me to the edge.
And then my wife got pregnantand then I was kind of like,
(08:32):
alright, what am I doing?
I was kind of like the catalystlike tipping me over the edge,
yeah, and so I started lookinginto different things.
I mean I have tried, you knowthe quick diets, you know the
atkins, the just everythingtrying to lose weight.
(08:53):
You know my whole life, youknow, and you lose that weight.
But the second you get off ofit it just comes back.
Yeah, comes back with the force.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
How many times did you, had you tried those things?
How many times did you swing?
Speaker 4 (09:09):
Probably six, six, seven times.
Yeah.
Now I mean then, uh, I heard ofthis weight loss thing to my
insurance and they offered theyoffered it for free, I mean it
was.
I mean I mean I checked myinsurance they're like, hey,
(09:30):
you'll try this program.
And so I did that and it waskind of a keep you in check,
like hey, check in every week,like some accountability, yeah,
yeah.
Yeah, you go to this like azoom meeting, you know, okay,
and then you wait and you justkind of talk with a counselor
(09:52):
it's kind of a group session,right, and they helped you like
learn what's good, what's bad,you know, kind of kind of like
counting calories, yeah, you putin your data what you are, your
height, your weight andeverything, kind of just all
(10:13):
right, this is what you shootfor.
And so I tried, you know, I Istarted coming off, um, and I
coming off, and I lost probably40 pounds within the first six
months, you know, and I waslosing a lot.
(10:33):
I think I ended up losing 80pounds.
That first year.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Yeah, you lost quite a bit, cuz I remember I think I
met you right around that time.
Yeah, I remember the first timeI met you I I was like he's a
big guy, yeah.
And then the next time I sawyou, I think a few months later,
I was like is that the same guy?
It slimmed down quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I ended up when I was done with
the program.
It was a year long, I think.
I ended up losing about 100.
So I got back down to about 280, 285.
So I was back down to where Istarted before the injury, and
(11:13):
that was all I did Just thecounting calories, just the
counting calories, and showingup weekly, yeah, every week,
yeah, every week for a year.
And no exercise, no, nothing.
All I did was food.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Just looked through food.
Did you make any changes to thethings that you were eating
specifically, or were you justtempering your portion sizes?
Speaker 4 (11:36):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't cut anything out.
I didn't like, oh, I'm onlydoing carbs or I'm only doing
protein.
It was more of portion size.
Now I was have a steak, youknow vegetables, potato, and you
know just your basic portionsize, and how does it?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
just not overeating right yeah, eat till you're full
, right, then you're done kindof learning how to be intuitive
with you, know what your, whatyour body's telling you that you
need, and then you know how itfeels to eat that food and and
not feel like you can you justcram stuff in your mouth?
Yeah, I've had.
I've had that in the past.
A lot of my clients have hadthat.
(12:23):
Yeah, where are you just kindof watching Netflix and it's
easy just to continue to eatfood?
Yeah, you don't even realizeyou're doing it.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Yeah, you.
Just you don't the show and youlook down and like what'd that
bag go?
And then you feel terrible.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
And you're just sitting there like what did I do
?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah, and then you tell yourself I'm not doing that
again, and then the next showcomes on, and then you sleep the
next day and then it starts allover.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, pretty much.
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode.
We want to invite you back nextweek as we continue the
conversation and be sure tofollow us on social media to get
all of our content and clipsand anything you might have
missed.
Again, thanks for listening.
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