#228: Kim Dolan Leto: Fit God's Way
Kim’s mission is to equip Christians through Word-based strategies, daily action steps, and the tools they need to achieve a Faith Inspired Transformation in their health and wholeness to live Strong. Confident. His.
Links:
https://www.fitgodsway.com/
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimdolanleto/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimdolanleto
Websites: https://www.kimdolanleto.com/home
EP. 228
Tony: [00:00:00] Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Reclamation Podcast, where our goal is to help you reclaim good practices for following Jesus. And we haven't met yet. My name is Tony, and I'm your host with over a decade in the local church. I care deeply and passionately. About helping you connect with Jesus in practical ways.
Today's conversation was so much fun and even a little vulnerable. Today I talked to fitness expert Kim Dolan Leto. Kim shares her thoughts on what it means to get fit God's way. We talk about fitness, we talk about food, we talk about the weird relationship that Christians have with the fitness world.
We get into it and we talk about her latest resource fit God's Way. I think you're absolutely gonna love this conversation with Kim. She's got a great spirit about her. She brings a level of intensity that I deeply appreciate. And she's got great scripture to back up her thoughts. [00:01:00] If you do enjoy this conversation, do me a favor.
Hit that subscribe button wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with a friend, maybe somebody who's on that fitness journey with you. I'm super thankful for each and every one of you who continue to share the podcast and share about what God is doing on this platform. Now, without any further ado, here's my conversation with Kim Dolan.
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm so excited today to have a fitness expert ministry leader Kim Doleo. Kim, thank you so much for being here today.
Kim: I am so blessed to be here. Thank you for the opportunity.
Tony: We're gonna jump into your new resource in just a moment, but whenever I get started, I love to talk to people kind of macro first.
Okay. And I love to ask the question, how would you describe the calling that God has placed on your life? .
Kim: Oh my gosh. It's like in everything I do, I wake up thinking about it. I go to sleep thinking about it. It doesn't feel like a job. It just [00:02:00] feels like this thing that like constantly I will see a, a quote and I'll be like, wait, how can I put like God in that and fitness in that and how can I help people with that?
And like my brain is just constantly like, how in the world can I. , you know, it's like I wake up thinking about it, I go to bed thinking about it. I, it, it's just like this mission that God has given me, and he gives me endless energy for it. He's opened countless doors for it, and I am s it's just this blessed thing that I n I can't even describe.
It's goes way beyond passion or, you know, people say it's my mission. It's just like, I know that God's called me to do this and, and he's made a way for it to happen. And it's just overwhelmingly, it's, it is an overwhelming. ,
Tony: when did you first find out that your life kind of revolved at the intersection of faith and fitness?
Kim: Well, this book, it really hits home and it hits [00:03:00] hard because I was 30 years old when my dad was 47 and had a stroke, and I wasn't healthy at the time. I was like many of us, I was working full-time. I would work all day and then eat like a big meal at night. Worked in the pharmaceutical industry. So I was in hotels a lot and I wasn't taking care of myself.
And when my dad had a stroke, it was like God was literally shook me by the shoulders and was like, it's time for you to take care of yourself. And I didn't find any answers in the church. And so I went to the world and I did it all the wrong way. . And as a Christian, I could just feel that something was missing and it wa it never worked.
And it was because I was doing it without God. And for those of us who love Jesus, we know we can't do anything without him. So he's our firm foundation, even in our fitness. So that's really how I found out, is that I was basically [00:04:00] scared into it with my dad's health issues. I did it all wrong, like many of us do.
We don't have another. And God, just one day at church showed me, I remember, I'll never forget, just crying out to him and saying, Lord, help me just get control over my appetite. Help me not be so all or nothing with this fitness. Like show me your way. And I opened my, we were doing a study on Revelation. I opened my Bible up to Revelation three 20 and I looked down and it said, here I am.
I stand at the door and knock. If anyone answers, I will come in and eat with them, and they with me. And I just started bawling. I was like, wait, what? Jesus wants to eat with me. And so for those of us who have struggled with food or struggled with what we see in the mirror, it was like, I come to Jesus moment, literally.
So that just changed everything. And I was like, I'm putting away the world's way. I'm doing this God's way, and that's why I wrote Fit God's Way, . [00:05:00]
Tony: I, I'm curious to get your thoughts. I've been in the local church for a long time, and I can tell you that I've probably preached a couple hundred sermons over the years, and I've never preached one on fitness or physical fitness at all.
And I, I just kind of realized in this, and actually in preparation for this, is we don't really talk a lot about fitness in the church or even. Our relationship with food. What do you think happened? What went wrong? How did we all of a sudden leave out what is something that is clearly matters to God?
Kim: I'm like, right as you're talking, I'm just like, God, please help me answer this with love and grace. I honestly think that I, like, I was literally rejected by every publisher because I was told Christians don't want this message. , and I'm so grateful to Salem because they got it. They got it right away and they believed in it because how is Christians?
I mean, we hear about parenting, we hear about [00:06:00] finances, we hear about marriage, but we don't hear about our body image, food, fitness, taking care of our bodies. And so we go to the world. So how can we sit in church and go to our Bible studies and do all these other things at church and then have this piece missing?
So I think the reason is that. . I feel like not all churches, so don't throw, like, I don't want any hate mail over this. I feel like people kind of dismiss, oh, you, you're into fitness, you're vain. Oh, you don't do fitness at all. Oh, you're more holy. So I feel like there's this like religious thing of like you're.
vain if you wanna do fitness, and then if you do it and you like, if you don't do it, it's okay. Because that means like long dresses, no makeup. You don't need to take care of yourself, your vain if you do that. And I feel like there's a spirit of religious man-made legalism that people don't wanna own up too.
They, they don't wanna [00:07:00] face the fact that God has called us to honor him and our bodies. And I don't mean that as a vanity. I mean it as a sanity project. I mean as moving your body every day. , like seven Fit, fit God's Way is all about modeling. After the way Jesus lived, he got up early, he got with his father, he walked everywhere.
He came to serve. I'm not saying we should walk everywhere, but I am saying we should move our body. He didn't. He didn't live to eat. He ate to live and he fulfilled his mission. He worshiped his father, so, . I feel like it's, it's just that simple. So we have a lot of things going on. We have the church, some church people telling us it's vain and then the world making it look like this oversexualized thing.
And so I feel like the church just wants to stay out of it. But by them being quiet, I feel like we're doing. Our congregation's a huge disservice because maybe men, I don't know if men feel it as much as women do, I'm gonna assume they do feel that pressure. But women, we're raising children [00:08:00] and we need to be teaching our kids to be eating God made food, not manmade, processed food.
And to look at our bodies, however God made them and know that he made them without mistake. Like this is not about vanity or looking hot on the weekend. This is. Let's take care of ourselves and embrace who God made us to be and take the best care of ourselves so we can fulfill God's calling on our lives.
So I think there's just a big misunderstanding in the church about what fitness should be, and without God, it's literally idolatry. So we need God and fitness more than anything. . That was a really long answer. I hope that's okay, . I
Tony: No, it's great. This is, this is exactly what this format is for because I, I want to get into the long answers cuz I, I, I don't think it's something that we talk about very often.
Mm-hmm. . Now, you, you are married and have been you know, for over 20 years. Mm-hmm. , you've got a beautiful daughter. And I'm curious, how do you bring this. Fitness and faith message into your family. I've got three [00:09:00] kids married to my high school sweetheart. I love to steal good ideas. What are some things that the people who are listening to, what can they do to begin to to bridge the gap between God, their relationship with food and fitness?
Absolutely. ?
Kim: Well, I think because family, like my husband's Italian, I'm Latin, everything's all about food. So I feel like family and food go together, like, you know, faith and family, like the roots of it all right? So I think it's just recognizing that this is not a perfection project. That you can make things that you love to eat as a family in a healthy.
You can replace some of the overly manmade processed ingredients with God made ingredients that you should always pray before you eat and you don't eat to numb your emotions or your feelings. You go, you take those to God. So when you, I've always taught my daughter, we don't eat our feelings. We go to Jesus.
We lay them at his feet. We ask him to heal us. We don't, we wanna [00:10:00] repair our relationship with food. Food becomes an idol and we don't want any idols bef God will have no gods before him. And I believe that food can be an idol. Fitness can be an idol. So in a family doing things as simple as praying before your meals sitting around the table, that is so important to our family.
We do that every day. And, hmm, I think that that is missing. Like to me, that's the backbone of our country. Like we need that. And I think we need to just, let's start looking at ingredients like what if I just bought ingredients that were. What God actually made instead of what? Manmade, like look at flour like you just buy whole grain flour, bread, buy breads that are whole grains.
They're not sugar, processed flour, 25 chemicals you can't pronounce. Like just start there. And then also bringing into your family. . Children really have it hard right now. Social media. We need to be pouring the word of God into them. They need, they need to know that they're fearfully and wonderfully made, that [00:11:00] God doesn't make mistakes.
I always tell my daughter, Isaiah 64, 8 says that, that he's the powder and we're the clay where the work of his hands and that we have to, we have to know that like God has chosen us and set us apart for his callings for such a time as this, this is your. So, not everybody may like you, but God loves you all the time and mom and dad love you all the time.
Mm-hmm. . So I really think we need to teach our children what God says about them and their body image and social media and all this stuff. If food, you know, cravings and coming before him and just truly knowing who you are in him, because that is the foundation and answer to everything.
Tony: Preach, let's go. I'm here for all of that. . One of the things that we say around here a lot is that if you're not if you're not dedicated to your disciplines, you'll be destroyed by your distractions. Mm-hmm. . And so, I, I love to ask people what their daily disciplines [00:12:00] are like. What are the things that keep you in a good, healthy place?
What are your, your boundaries in, in in discipline? .
Kim: Well, I, okay, so what I teach in Fit God's Way is something called the Seven Ws. And it is, that's it is the system that I have used for over 20 years to keep the weight off because I'm a weight loss transformation story. It is what has helped all the Fit Sisters in Christ that I have tens of thousands of women at this point.
And that is, you don't, you don't have to do this exactly, but do it in your way. I get up, I spend time with God. What did Jesus do? Get up, spend time with. Spend time in prayer, spend time reading your Bible like this right here. If you, you need to look. I, I don't believe, like, I don't wanna look at my phone, I wanna hold my Bible.
I wanna read through it. You know, like that is time with God is the foundation of everything. So that bringing the grocery store is your first line of defense. So bring foods into your home that [00:13:00] God made. So that is a huge thing for me. Like, I wake up every morning, I eat my healthy b. I spend my time with God and I move my body in some way.
So those are the simple things that I do. I also go to sleep and wake up at the same times every day. I believe that there's something very sacred about mornings with Jesus. So I get up very early. I know it's not for everyone, but I get up very early and I go to bed. I put myself to bed early. When you listen to music, when I listen to music, I have saved my music.
I was like, I need to get my music saved. So I make sure the things that I. and that I listen to are filled with the word of God and not the trash of secular the world. Like I don't need to hear cuss words in my music. I don't need to watch things that are going to get me, you know, our minds, we have to guard our hearts are all of those gates, our eyes, our minds, our ears.
So like, I love watching Heartland. People laugh at me. They're like, what shows do you watch? I'm like, I love a good heartland. Like, I don't even know if you know what that show is, but it. [00:14:00] Family farming, like simple like. So I think it's really important to have a schedule every day that you follow a routine and to guard your heart, put a guard around it, and think about what you're bringing into your food, your home for food.
So I'm a really routine scheduled person, so pretty much my life looks the same a lot. Like I said, get up, work out or read the Bible, eat my food, spend my time with God, work out. And then throughout the day I'm working, listening to Christian music as a family. We eat together, we pray. I cook our food.
Our whole God made foods and, and that is no perfection project. Obviously. We plan and we go out and we enjoy whatever we want, but pri by and large, we're very. Disciplined in what we do because we know that's how we will run best. And without discipline, I feel like everything falls apart. So structure and discipline I feel like is of God, and that is exactly where we all thrive.[00:15:00]
Tony: Yeah, I know that discipline in my life has been kind of the game changer. Oh yeah. , I'm curious about when you're coaching someone who's like, I'm just not disciplined, , you know, did you make yourself become disciplined or is it basically like do you think it's something that can be, can be taught or is it more, you know, people are, are predispositioned to it and, and how do you go the other way if you're kind of whimsical?
Kim: Well, I think God gives us all a natural. Personality. I will say that I was never discipl. I was that person that was like, can I just have five more minutes of sleep that would like, wanna just hit zoo, like snooze a million times? And now I literally wake up before an alarm would ever go off. I don't even think I've used an alarm.
So it's interesting that we're talking about this because I was reading Mark this morning, I'm doing this pursuit Bible study at my church right now. It's for a leadership program for women, and I was [00:16:00] reading in Mark, I think it's a nine, about how we were supposed to deny ourselves and take up our cross.
And I believe that. Wherever we lack a discipline, that is where we need to meet Jesus daily. So I always say like fitness is a great place to meet Jesus daily because I believe fitness is a, it's not that moms or people don't wanna do it. It's the third day feels like it's running them instead of them running their day.
And I don't believe God intended us to live that way. So I would take wherever you don't feel disciplined, straight to God because he is not giving you a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a, some translations say a sound mind. Some say self-discipline and some say self-control. You have the fruit of self-control.
You have it, but are you using it? And so the more we deny ourselves and rely on the Holy Spirit, we can walk in that self-control and we can see that fruit in our lives and be ama. I'm amazed. I never thought that I could like write a book. , [00:17:00] I could. I was the person that never finished what I started. I mean, if my dad was alive today, he'd be like, what my daughter did?
What? I was the girl that hit snooze. So I understand it. So I would just say some practical steps. The first thing I would do is take it right to Jesus and surrender it. He knows exactly where you struggle and he's right there to help you. He will help you. Mm-hmm. . And there's a word for it. Start speaking that word over yourself.
Like, I'm not lazy. I have the spirit of self-control. Like speak life over.
Tony: Yeah, man, I, you're motivated. I'm ready to run through a brick wall. Let's do something. it. I, I know I know, it, it, I saw in your Facebook, I think that it, it took you 18 months to write the book, and one of the, one of the questions that I love to ask authors is, is what did you learn about God in the process of writing this resource?
Kim: Okay. So it didn't take me 18 months. It took me one month to write the [00:18:00] book. It's an 18 month journey from getting a publisher, ah, to going through all of the edits to them bringing it to market. So I've always self-published in the past. This time I wanted it to be shepherded by people who knew what they were doing.
And so I you know, I really had to lean into God there. and ask him like, father, what do you want me to do? Mm-hmm. , because at first I had already written a fitness book, so I was like, God, I already wrote this book, but my literary agent was like, come on, let we wanna, and so the one thing that I learned is that my life is not my own.
My time is not my own. I am here to serve and I am not. For myself. And that was because a lot of me was like, can I really do this again? Like eight years ago I wrote a book, created a fitness workout series. I [00:19:00] have been working with women for the last eight years, day in and day out. So for me to finally get a publishing contract after I was rejected by everyone just felt like, but I already did this.
And, but I, and I was like, God, what else am I gonna say? And by fully relying on. , oh my gosh. He blew me away with what he had to say. Hmm. Because I pray before my fingers ever would hit the key, the, you know, the keyboard. I would just be like the Holy Spirit, like just come like I love, I saw Ben Carson last weekend and he said, I'm the Neurosur, or God, you're the neurosurgeon, and I'm the hands.
And that's what I was like. I was like, I don't know what I'm doing, but you do. So let's go. Like I'll just type like, what do you want me to say? And he showed up. And so God will sh God will meet you when you have nothing . Like when you don't know what you're gonna do, that is where he thrives because you can finally get out of your own way.
Does that make sense? And so he just like outdid himself with this book. I'm blown. [00:20:00]
Tony: One of the things I appreciate about the book is not only do you have the seven W's, but you also have the seven habits, and seven's kind of one of those themes in the book. Talk to me about what you learned about that sacred number and the study that went into that because it, I mean, you've done some, some really serious work on the, on the scripture side of it and kind of leaning into this you know, idea of perfection.
That sort of idea with the number
Kim: seven. Okay. Well, for me the number seven is the number of like completeness and wholeness and perfection in the Bible. I was just trying to find it in the book, like where exactly it had it so I could so I could share, but okay. It says in my book, I am, I made the number seven a focus of this book because of the biblical significance behind it.
Seven is the number of completeness and perfection, both physical and spiritual. While there is no perfection, the side of heaven, our Jesus is perfect, and then in him, we [00:21:00] can experience completeness and become the best version of ourselves here on earth for him. And when I say the best version of ourselves, I do not mean some cheesy hot thing or whatever the worldly interpretation of that is.
I mean the best version of yourself for Jesus. Which looks very different than what the world looks like. So I think that this whole idea of seven, there's seven peas, which is all about eating. There's seven W's, which is the daily plan. There's seven habits that are modeled after how Jesus lived. And the whole book is basically just like, you don't need to take part of the 72 billion a year diet in.
and go all in and be all or nothing and ride the crazy shame train of dieting and perfectionism and all of that. You can just look in the mirror right now and know that you're enough in Christ and start slowly making better decisions for your health and surrender it to him every day. And in one year, like in 12 weeks, you'll be a [00:22:00] new person.
In, in a week, you'll be a new person if you start doing this, but I guarantee people if they just live with these habits before, , the weight they've never been able to lose will be gone like it. Living the way that Jesus did changes everything. So, yep. It's amazing.
Tony: One of the parts that I I really felt from your heart was the, in the introduction, you, you title it The Promise mm-hmm.
And it's a promise that you make to the people who are willing to go on this journey with you. Yep. You, you seem like you're so relational. And just in our dialogue, but also in, in your writing, what's the importance of community kind of been on
Kim: your. . I think it's really hard. I, I don't know if you feel like this as a podcaster, but I feel like I'm a podcaster.
I'm an author. I help women and it can feel really lonely. And I think sometimes we need to know that we're not alone. [00:23:00] And especially with fitness, if you just have a person. To reach out to, to say, Hey, let's go work out together today. Let's pray before we work out. Let's pray after we work out. Like, Hey, I found this new recipe I want, let's try it.
Like come on over, let get your family. Let's come O over and like, let's try to cook like healthy pizza or, so I think community and accountability is everything. And God, I mean it says, you know, in Ecclesiastes that you are better than what, like God never intended on us doing things alone and we need that fellowship.
So I think that for me, that is one thing that's hard is that I don't. I have a few friends that I could say like, I'm writing and writing is tough by yourself, but I realized that I had that fellowship with God in the Holy Spirit, Jesus, like as I was doing it. And that is really what pulled me through.
So I wanna encourage people. Don't do it alone. Don't do it alone. Get get, get the book, get a friend. Go [00:24:00] to www.fitgodsway.com. Download all my free resources for you. I'm 1000% invested in your, in your help and your success. I wanna give you the roadmap, the tools, and it's gonna make a big difference cuz you can't do it by yourself.
Tony: Yeah. One of the things we say around here a lot is that following Jesus as a team sport ,
Kim: I love that. Yeah. That's great.
Tony: You know, it's just, it's a good reminder. I, I think, you know, one of the things that's interesting about the work that you're doing is that you are in a very big industry that's large part rejects faith and really focuses on fitness and, and a complete for different reasons.
Yes. What's it like being a, a missionary? In the fitness industry.
Kim: I, oh my gosh, what I'm about to say. I hope it's okay. I actually get way more acceptance from secular people than I do from the church. All the rejection I've gone, oh, that doesn't surprise me. Yeah, and that really hurts. Like I've [00:25:00] literally cried my eyes out over that.
Like I just know that another woman felt like I. is so sick of doing this in her own strength and needs Jesus here, like, how can we miss this people?
Tony: Why? Why do you think that it. , man, it's, it's breaks my heart. I, I don't, I don't know if I really have a great question now. I'm just kind of, kind of like . Well, I don't understand why Christians are so mean about this kind of stuff. And we're so, we're so not open to it. It's
Kim: just like the people that talk about money, like, it's like they always make the joke.
Christians just want your money. Or, or in the church, you know, it's like, oh, here they go asking us for money again. And it's like, who gave you that money? You're not giving to the church, right? You're giving to God like it's all his, you know. I just think money, and I feel like fitness and finances are kind of the same, but [00:26:00] finances because of good old Dave Ramsey.
They're in the church. I want this in the church. This needs to be in the church, whether it's me or someone else. We need Jesus in our fitness and our body image and our kitchens. We need to be praying before our meals, grocery shopping with him and mine. We need him in this. So I, I hope to be a person that helps get this message.
Tony: Let me ask you this cuz I, one of the things that I've noticed in church culture over the years is that guys especially wrestle with women in tight clothing who are working out, right? Like, I, I mean, I mean, you know, all the, the purity culture that's kind of been been out there before and you've all, you know, we've all heard that before.
I'm sure you've heard it. I, I can't even imagine what it must be like in your dms. So I, you know, I'm talk, talk to some of the guys out there in the, in the church world about, idea, notion that we don't know what to do with[00:27:00] you know, women working out or all that kind of jazz. How, how do you wrestle with that?
Kim: Well, I mean, I would just say what Jesus said, that we should not, you know, if you look at a woman with lust in your eyes like we should, that's the spirit. If someone feels that way, that's a spirit of less that they should. I mean, as far as, I think like every single pair of workout clothes, I mean, people wear workout clothes now for clothing, like, right, sure, yeah.
I go to the grocery store and 90% of the moms are wearing workout tights and like a something like what I have on right here, like something that zips up like a, a workout jacket. So I would just say like, , would you want someone to look at your wife like that? Your sister like that? Your daughter like that?
Like look at people like the way Jesus would, and I don't. And furthermore, we shouldn't judge each other about the way that we look, right? Whatever size we are, whatever age [00:28:00] we are, whatever rate, like all of that just needs to go. Like God didn't intend any of that, you know? So I think we need to look at each other the way we should and walk in brotherly and sisterly Christian Love for one another.
And respect.
Tony: Yeah, I, I think that one of the reasons that the church struggles with fitness so much is because the church struggles with holding people accountable. the sin of of lust. Right. And I, I think the, I think that the point you're making there is really something to consider when we think about this, because what, we're not really, we don't really talk about the human body much at all because it feels like a lot of church leaders.
Are super awkward about it and don't know how to do it in a way that is honoring to God. When, when you talk to women about body image and that kind of [00:29:00] stuff, what, what are some of your go-to scriptures that you hang, hang your hat on, and that maybe somebody who's listening now who's like, man, I've just never thought about my body image in God before.
Where, where can they kind of start?
Kim: Well, I think one of the biggest things is I tell women like right out of the gate, . Think about the mom who, like if you're a mom and you're listening and you have children or your grandma or you're a big sister, think about how much you love the little kids in your life, your children, your grandchildren.
Think about how beautiful they are to you, how perfect they are to you, how you just look at them and you're just like, oh my gosh, you couldn't be more perfect to me. I love you and that's how God looks at you. . So I feel like we need to take the way we look at our children and give it to ourself like, wow, God loves me infinitely beyond that.
You know, like if the Bible says like if we being evil, like [00:30:00] love our children wanna do all these great things for our children, how much more does God love us? And so I think when we start to realize that you are not what you look like, you are not the body parts you wanna change, you are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Of course you. Psalm 1 39, like go right there. I mentioned Isaiah 64 8, that God is the potter and we are the clay. We're the work of his hands. And I love Song of Solomon four seven. It says like, you're all together. Beautiful. You're all together. Beautiful, my darling. There is no flaw in you. , but I think of course, Genesis 1 27 we're made in the image of God.
I think what we need to get away from is that we are what we look like. Who cares about that? Like I love Charles Stanley. He's like, look your best, be your best. Do your best. Let's just leave it at that. Like I think our culture is so obsessed with what we look like, that we've made an idol out of it. And what you look like is just one of the smallest [00:31:00] things about you.
I mean, you're a. Masterful work of God and we're parked on what we look like and it's because the world is telling us what to look like and we need to stop listening to the world and we need to start listening to God and saying, wait, he, he knew me before I was even like knitted together in my mother's womb.
I'm, you know, fearfully and wonderfully made, like all the days of my life were like, he knew them before I was ever created. Think about that love and like, how can you care? About cuz so many women will say, well I have stretch marks cuz I had kids. Girl, wear those with pride. Like those are from your babies.
Like who cares? I think we're just, the world has just made what we look like and idol so much and the Christ as Christians, we have to stop buying into it and we have to reject it and know that God made our bodies and they're for his service. So I feel like that just flips the whole script in the way you look at yourself.
And I love [00:32:00] in my. I was praying about how to address this and God gave me this phrase and now when I look in the mirror I see it and it's really helped me at my age cuz I just turned 54 and it's see his perfection in your reflection. Hmm. Not you. His perfection. And that is just like a big, old, beautiful bath of grace, isn't it?
Tony: Hey guys, just pausing this conversation with Kim to remind you to come to the Spirit and Truth Conference March 9th through 11th, Dayton, Ohio. This is gonna be such a fun event. They're gonna be speakers from all over the world. I know you're absolutely gonna love it if you're tired, worn out, and you just want a breath of fresh air.
This is the conference. You can check us out by going to Spirit and truth.life/conference to learn more about who's gonna be speaking and what they're gonna be saying. And when you check out, use the term podcast to save a little money on that registration free. We can't wait to connect with each and every [00:33:00] one of you.
And I know that God's gonna move in powerful ways. Now let's finish up our conversation with Kim. This is so good. So I have so many great notes and questions. The, the podcast Strong, confident his mm-hmm. Talk to me about the birth of that. Like, I, I love the naming of it. It's obviously but, but when did you decide that you were gonna try to you were gonna continue to build the kind of the, the message that God has given you out into the podcast world?
Wh it, what can, you know, I think people should go and subscribe. What would they what would they get when they subscribe, in terms of what kind of content are you putting out? .
Kim: Okay. So on that platform, that's a lot of questions. Okay. So the first question is, I know, I'm sorry about
Tony: that. , I,
Kim: I created what I feel like every woman needed, that she needed daily motivation to, how do I do this with Jesus?
Mm-hmm. , how do I address my body image? How do I approach food? How do I approach going to the gym? How. invite God into [00:34:00] my fitness. Like, how do I make fitness holy? How would I even, what does any of this even look like? Right? Because nobody's talking about it. So I was like, it was all during, right when Covid hit and March, 2020.
And so I was like, I'm just gonna do a podcast. I don't want people to feel like they're alone. I have felt so alone on this journey, and I never want someone to feel like me. So I just started creating tons of assets free. People can go download them@kimdolenlotto.com, free resources, or@www.fit god's way.com.
I want people to know what it looks like. How do you invite God to eat with you? How do you like overcome your body image insecurities? How do you. deal with, you know, hormonal issues, hormonal weight gain, not being able to sleep, feeding kids who are so picky, like I, I wanted women to just have this like friend that they could listen to that's like gonna get [00:35:00] them prayed up and powered up and with a plan so they know how to get to work and do what God is calling them to do their way through him.
Tony: That's really good. You did a great job in navigating my question waterfall, which apologize
Kim: for, I'm like, when did you start? What will they get? Da da da da da.
Tony: You, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll be honest. This is this conversation's a little outside my own comfort zone. If I could just be vulnerable cuz I, I wrestle with, Food. Like I love to workout and I work out all the time. Mm-hmm. . But my life is a series of meetings at restaurants and it's, it's just not it's an area that I struggle to surrender to God, and I just do it in my own power far too often.
So this has been a, a super convicting conversation for me. If I'm assuming I'm not the only person who's listening that's like that, what's the, what's the first step I can take? [00:36:00]
Kim: Okay, will you have to understand that willpower, like anyone who's been on a diet knows willpower doesn't last. And I wrote this quote and it says, no diet can give you the spirit of self-control.
Only God can do that. So if you wanna surrender this to him, surrender it to him and ask him what that looks like, and a few steps would. , if you're eating out, there are restaurants that have healthy options. I mean, you could go anywhere and get a chicken salad at instead of a cheeseburger and fries or so.
I think it's your choices. And then recognizing there's nothing wrong with having a cheeseburger if you wanted. There's nothing wrong with that. But do you need to eat it every day? Absolutely not. Is that gonna be the best thing for your. For your weight, for your eventual, like the inflammation that it's causing in your body.
There's a cascade of events that happen when we eat like that all the time, but I think this whole guilt, shame performance, [00:37:00] you're good when you eat good, you're bad, when you eat bad, crazy worldly dieting mentality is that's of the world. That is not of God. God can help you repair your relationship with food.
So I would just have you pray and ask him. surrender look like God, I like Matthew 6 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added to you. God, I'm laying this food thing down. I wanna be healthy. Show me what that looks like in my life. Convict me cuz I guarantee you He's put things His put, he's put his finger on things in your life that you know you need to lay down.
He's done that with me. He does that. He'll show you. It's just, we ignore it. We just wanna put on Netflix and chill. Right? We. Man, there's just nothing better than eating this until you're done and then the self-loathing comes over. It's just this crazy rollercoaster that food causes because of, we've been trained in dieting, we've been trained in what the world taught us, not what God taught us, and there is nothing wrong [00:38:00] with coming for before God with prayer and thanksgiving and enjoying food.
There's nothing wrong with it.
Tony: Amen. Amen. That's so good. I know that my listeners love to pray, and as this book gets into the wilderness, what's the prayer that they can say alongside you as this gets into the hands of so many?
Kim: Oh, man. You're, I would say, I pray women will read fit God's weight and fill the burden of failed diets and feeling less than just lift from their shoulders.
I pray that the hard work that they do would, they would feel like they're enough even when they're not there yet, that they would feel like. God, you're faithful. And I know if I just surrender this to you and keep pressing on and I don't quit, and I just strain forward with [00:39:00] you, that I will get there, that I will be healthier, that I will feel whole, that I will leave this worldly stuff behind and I won't feel less than anymore.
And I won't hate myself when I eat things, and I won't stand on the scale and wanna cry. God can heal all of that because they're not what they, we are not what we look like and I, I pray that the simplicity of following the way Jesus lived will be the guide that they knew that they see was missing from their fitness, and that they would find peace and results and success and share it with their family and their friends and that their children would benefit because we raise little versions of our.
So, you know, there's, like I said, there's nothing wrong with baking cookies going to get ice cream, but let's you know, why can't we say, Hey, let's go for a bike ride too. Or, let's bake a healthy pizza tonight. Let's try to make this taste [00:40:00] great. Like let's figure out how to make all the foods we love with God made ingredients instead of manmade garbage that's killing us.
Like seriously. and just that God would be absolutely glorified through this book that he would be, that people would think of fitness and think of him instead of what they look like. Yeah, that is what I am just sick of. That fitness is all about what you look like. It needs to be about God, I need all, I need to do this work for you.
Like I've gotta have energy, I've gotta take care of myself. I wanna live a long life. I wanna break generational health, you know, curses in my family. Like that is my prayer for this book is that it gets into the hands of every woman who needs it. It changes the family dynamic. People start praying before they eat.
When women go to work out, they don't feel less than, they just go there and they rock their God confidence and work out. They don't even figure it out, girl. You're gonna fig YouTube it while you're standing there. What is this machine? How does it work? Like live [00:41:00] without fear. Come boldly before God and he will lift you.
So I could literally just go on and on, so I'll stop. But I just want women to not feel like I want 'em to get off the roller coaster and just find peace and results and success in Jesus.
Tony: Amen. Amen. Amen. I think that we, we can all pray that with you. Mm-hmm. . Okay. I have one more question for you, but before I ask it, where is the best place to get started on learning all things?
Kim: Okay, so I have kim dolan leto.com. That's my website. I am Kim Dolan Leto at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, all of those places. I also have the strong Confident, his podcast and for this book because it is so important to me to help you have the tools that you need to take those few steps, those first steps.
Go to www.fit god's way.com and get the book, and get the [00:42:00] downloads and get, there's recipes. There's, how do I approach this worth thing? There's a challenge that I've created the seven W's challenge. So every day you can post on social media and show people you're getting fit God's way, not the cheesy world's way, like where everything is, all about what you look like and being a slave to what you look like.
You're going to get fit God's way and have peace and joy for the journey and take your sweet children on the ride with you. You know, like I give you all the steps there. So please come get all the free downloads. You can listen to the strong Confident in his podcast if you need help, and know that I'm here for you.
Tony: And of course, we'll link to that all in the show notes so that you can have it all right there. Okay. Last question. I always love to ask people. It's an advice question. Okay. Except I get I ask you to go back and give yourself one piece of advice. And I get to name the season and I, I wanna take you back to the [00:43:00] day before your dad had a stroke.
Okay. If you could pull up a chair and sit knee to knee with that younger version of yourself. Hold her hands, look her in the eyes. What's the one piece of advice you're gonna give her?
Kim: Hmm. Wake up time is so short and you cannot wait to take care of yourself. You the time is right now. You have to act right now.
You can't wait for a serious, don't wait for a serious health issue. To start making good choices, do it now.
That'll preach. That'll preach. That's what I would say, because I actually had high cholesterol back then, and then to see my dad, like I had just gotten a test at 30 that said my cholesterol was borderline. and to see that happening to my dad, I literally felt the desperation and the panic come over me.
Mm-hmm. , you know, and some people will say, oh, well you [00:44:00] can just take medicine for that. But at the expense of what it's doing to you with your liver and your, I mean, if you can clean up your diet and work out and get rid of medicine, I would, I would advise that every time. I'm not saying don't take those medicines, I'm just saying a lot of us are on them.
Were not eating right and we're not working out right, and I chose not to get on it and to change my eating and to change my movement, and I didn't need it. Then my cholesterol went down.
Tony: I love it. I love it. Mm-hmm. Kim, thank you so much for your time today, for your generosity, for being so honest and so vulnerable.
I think there's a, a lot of things here that we can that we can work with and I'm just super excited to see what God's gonna do in the lives of the people that not only hear this podcast, but pick up a copy of your book.
Kim: Well, thank you so much for having me, and I just pray that God will bless the work of your hands and heart and your ministry, and.
I, I feel so, [00:45:00] I feel like the time is now like we need Jesus in our fitness. So thank you for letting me share this today. I, I feel so blessed.
Tony: Man, what a great conversation with Kim. I'm so thankful for her heart and the mission that God has her on. I know that she would love to hear from you. If you connected with her voice today and you wanna learn more, be sure to check out her latest resource, fit God's Way.
Follow her on social's. Let her know that you heard her here on The Reclamation Podcast. Guys, I'm thankful for each and every one of you, every time you share the podcast. Every time you leave a rating or review, every time you hit that subscribe button, it just continues to gimme the opportunity to do what I love to do, and I'm thankful for you.
So have a great week. And remember, if you wanna follow Jesus, you must be willing to move.
