Episode 518 Logan Spiewak A Marine’s Mission For Mental Health and Fitness Transcript

This transcript is from episode 518 with guest Logan Spiewak.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] We’ve been there feeling lost after the service. Stuck between the dark memories of the past and the uncertainty of the future. And you’re looking for a lifeline. Something to hold on to, to find your way back. Today’s guest, Logan Spack, uh, walk that same difficult path from a troubled youth to a Marine Corps infantryman.

Logan faced setbacks at every turn, but. What if the way out of that darkness was right in front of you, hidden in something as simple as a gym. Logan turned his life around through fitness, faith, and a newfound purpose in helping veterans reclaim their health and lives. Before we get into this episode though, I want to take a moment to raise awareness for something that’s deeply important to our community, which is the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation.

This organization is working to build a permanent. National Memorial in Washington DC to honor the [00:01:00] service members, families, and civilians impacted by the global war on terrorism. This memorial serves as both a tribute to those who served and a way to ensure their sacrifices are recognized and remembered for generations to come.

If you wanna learn more about the foundation or how you can support their mission, visit GWOT memorial foundation.org. Now let’s get into Logan’s powerful journey.

Scott DeLuzio: Logan, welcome to the show. I’m really glad to have you here. Looking forward to this conversation.

Logan Spiewak: Yeah. Thank you for having me, Scott. Taking the time to do this on a Saturday night so people know.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah, it is. And uh, you know, just a little behind the scenes thing for the listeners, uh, you know, these episodes get recorded way in advance and, uh, you know, Logan and I we’re, we’re [00:02:00] sitting here and I. It’s nice Saturday evening, and we we’re, uh, you know, getting this, this episode recorded. But you know, we’re, we’re here really, uh, you know, talking about you know, a mission that that Logan has here.

Talking about boots to health and what that’s all about. But before we get into all of that. Logan, would you be able to just give us a quick you know, kind of background history of, you know, who you are, you know, kind of military affiliation, your background, you know, with, with the military and, uh, you know, how you got involved with what you’re doing now?

Logan Spiewak: Yeah. So Scott, you want the whole, do you want the holy cannoli? Do you want the holy cannoli? I’ll make it brief

Scott DeLuzio: yeah. Gimme, gimme just kind of like the, the highlight reel and you know, if there’s anything, you know. Anything big, we can, we can dive into those if, if we want, but yeah, just give, give the highlight reel just so for the listeners so they, they know, you know, kind of who, who we talking? Who’s Logan?

What, what’s this guy all about?

Logan Spiewak: Yeah, police got all right. So, uh, for everybody that’s listening, obviously Scott introduced myself. I was expelled from high school early on. Uh, a juvenile [00:03:00] delinquent got into a lot of trouble. I had a lot of, I have felonies on my record, so, you know, I didn’t make the best decisions. Uh, growing up early on, I.

Especially being in the environment, community I was in. I’ll tell everybody that’s listening. Definitely pick your friends wisely. Who you be hanging around, out, who you hang around is who you become. That’s a true thing. It’s old as dirt, but it’s a truth saying. Um, obviously, you know, being expelled and having.

Uh, these already, you know, charges on my background. I really couldn’t go to a college per se, and plus, you know, I had to go into alternative school and probation and all that good stuff. Uh, so my, you know, my early on days were not the best. And I, quite frankly, to be honest with you, Scott, didn’t really have that many opportunities due to my own fault.

I’m not blaming anybody but myself. I take full accountability for all the stupidity that I’ve done early on. But with that being said. I didn’t know what else to do. Um, I actually went to a recruiting office because I was like, well, if I, I can’t, I graduated high school barely, and I can’t really do anything with my life.

What can I [00:04:00] really do? Okay, I can sell drugs, I could do this, I could rob people. I can do like, you know what I mean? It’s kind like there’s not many options for a kid that’s 17, 18 that, you know, has already done a lot of bad stuff. So I did what any other young man would do. I looked into the military.

I essentially tried to join the Navy first, but that didn’t happen because I had a plop plasty surgery as a baby. So essentially what that means is I only have one kidney that fully functions. So I couldn’t obviously, you know, so much medical work to recruiters, didn’t want to be bothered with doing all that, you know, going into maps, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Tried one branch, tried the Navy, they said no, tried the Air Force. Of course they said no. I tried the Army, they said no. And I was like, oh my gosh, what do I do? And I’m like, okay, let me, let me try the Marine Corps the last pick. And I was like, okay, this, they all said no, right Scott? So I’m like, I’m going in there thinking this isn’t gonna, what, what’s gonna happen?

I went in there, I met this dude obviously, you know, tied to the Marine. He looked at me, he’s like, oh, that’s easy, son. [00:05:00] We can get you in. So I was like, okay, well this is fantastic news, right? This guy can get me situated in the Marine Corps. Um, so based on that information, I know I had to go do a whole bunch of med docs guy, you know, doing all this stuff for the government.

I finally got pushed through, finally got my ship date going out to the military. I’m, I should backtrack. The MOS that I picked was 0311. Uh, obviously so I was a rifleman in the Marine Corps. So anyway, funny story too. I’ll tell you this Scott as well. When I got into this, when I got into the military, I even got to bootcamp.

I actually got dropped in bootcamp, believe it or not because of some stupid stuff that I do when I was in the mil, even in the military. But anyway, sky gets great ’cause I got dropped and the new platoon I got picked up with, I became a squad leader. Like, and then I graduated from bootcamp as a squad leader and got, uh, meritoriously promoted through that.

So that was kind of a cool thing because I was like already about to graduate from bootcamp and then had to go the whole way back through again. Another,

Scott DeLuzio: wow.

Logan Spiewak: I did [00:06:00] bootcamp twice, pretty much, to be honest with you. It was 26 weeks at Paris Island almost. It was terrible. Anyway, it got pushed through. You know, went to SOI and then got to my unit.

Uh, obviously, you know, being an infantry unit, seeing a lot of these different guys and having these, uh, different experiences than I, as this young kid kind of already known who I was, just because of all the stupid stuff that I did going and, ’cause you know, when you go into a new fleet in the unit, everybody, you kind of already get your, you get, you know, like a background check.

They run everything on you to see who you are. Like who is these, who are these kids, whatever. And a lot of the guys that I was in my unit with, a lot of ’em were already. Like a lot older and they would call them salt dogs. Scott, are you familiar with that term?

Scott DeLuzio: I’ve, I’ve heard it. Yeah. Yeah.

Logan Spiewak: So these guys have relate to Fallujah and all that good stuff.

Like these guys are No, no BS like straight to the point. Like these guys are go-getters and these guys, these guys that I obviously was in charge of our unit. I’m not gonna mention their names ’cause I don’t wanna disdain anybody, but a lot of ’em had some internal issues, Scott, that we were mentioning earlier because of going.

The deployments [00:07:00] and having PTSD and all this good stuff, great guys, like phenomenal guys, but unfortunately, you know, a lot of ’em ended up, ended up killing themselves and all this stuff because PTSD, a lot of ’em were in drug, not drugs, but like drinking and all that good stuff. So like a lot of these people that like I knew and looked up to, had a lot of internal conflicts, uh, post, you know, service and while in this service, so.

With having all that kind of atmosphere and environment I was in, Scott, you know, it wasn’t good for me, especially ’cause of my background I was coming from already, Scott, you know, I kind, I kind of was trying to get away from that and kind of like somehow like found that again and it kind of put me in like a, you know, a bad head space.

Um, and then, you know, a lot of these guys, like I said, Scott, we’re dealing with their personal problems and, you know, taking it out on, you know, you know what I’m

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah.

Logan Spiewak: We don’t, yeah. But we don’t have to. Yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, yeah. You know? Yeah, no, it, it’s all, no, it’s all good. I, I think you know, just looking at your story and kind of going [00:08:00] through all the different branches and, you know, leave it to the Marine Corps, where, where, where there’s a will, there’s a way, uh, they, they wanna get somebody in, they’ll, they’ll figure it out.

Right.

Logan Spiewak: For sure.

Scott DeLuzio: you know, you walked in, you clearly had a pulse, so they were good. Good to.

Logan Spiewak: could look left. I could look right. We’re good to go,

Scott DeLuzio: Exactly right. And you could, you pull a trigger. All right, cool. Let, let’s go. Um, we’ll teach you the rest. You, you know, you know, so it, it’s, it seems like you know, obviously had some troubles in, in your youth realized, hey, I’m at, I’m at a fork in the road here. I can, I can keep going down the path I’m going.

It obviously isn’t working out very well. You weren’t doing too good with, you know, doing the bad stuff, otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten caught. No. You know, but

Logan Spiewak: Okay, Scott. That’s fine. You can leave that in. I like that. You can leave that in. I like that. That’s funny.

Scott DeLuzio: um, no, no, no. But, but, you know, so you’re looking at that and it’s like, okay, do you really want to keep going down that road because, you know what, what good comes from that? Going down that road, and then you’re like, okay, well what else, what other [00:09:00] options are there for me? How can I improve my situation?

Uh, you look at the military and you know, unfortunately a lot of ’em just turn you away for various issues and, um, you know, come, come to the Marine Corps. Thank God they, they, uh, you know, put their weight behind you and said, Hey, yeah, we’ll, we’ll take you in. And, you know. Who knows where, where Bogan would’ve ended up had it not been for the Marine Corps.

Right. And so I, I think that it’s a great thing. And now you’re doing something you know, kind of continuing to serve, doing something great for the, the military and veteran communities. Tell us about Boots to Health. Tell us what that’s all about and you know, kind of what you, you guys are up to with that.

Logan Spiewak: Yeah, so thank you Scott. Yeah, I honestly, to be honest with you, Scott, like you said, you know, if it wasn’t for the Marine Corps, you know, giving me that structure and, uh, discipline that I desperately needed I don’t think I’d be where I’m at today just because of that work ethic. I know there’s a lot of Marines out there but you know.

They can all, they’ll all tell you, you know, that that [00:10:00] discipline is definitely there.

Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.

Logan Spiewak: Um, but like I said, Scott, you know, when I was getting out obviously the transition was not the, was not the best for me. I had a lot of issues, like other people have had, uh, kind of like, didn’t know, don’t know where to go, don’t know what to do.

You know, you go from being told X, Y, and Z to show up here to eat this time, which is what I needed before, and now I’m losing it again. I didn’t, you know, I’m going right back to where I was so I, uh, you know, like I’m getting to the point. But, you know, I would go to the gym all the time, Scott, to try to escape reality.

Um, some people would, you know, go to drugs or go to alcohol or whatever kind of coping mechanism. I’m sure, Scott, that you’ve seen as well. My outlet was kind of like the gym and it was a good outlet. Right? Good, healthy one. And you know, I was working out one day and I met an old man at this gym. You know, this is when I was kind of still, you know, a trouble, not a troublemaker, but still, you know, getting my feet kind of back wet and trying to go on the right path.

Scott and I met this old man at the gym, thought he was poor, bought him shoes kind of took me under his [00:11:00] wing and kind of helped mentor me to. Shaped me to who I am today and kind of led me to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior. And we kind of started this foundation together. So a lot of this stuff that I’m about to tell you, he, he taught me and I was, you know, getting mentored by this order man, for like two to three years straight.

And then everything that he. Applied and taught me. I’m trying to do that for everybody else in the veteran community. ’cause I know it’s helped me out tremendously, and I want help other veterans because I struggled and I have problems, and I’m not saying I’m a war hero or I’m a Chris car or any of these guys when I’ve had my own issues like everybody else and I can just help other people, then to me that’s, that’s what it’s about, man.

So. We, uh, founded this foundation together. I was kind of doing personal training before and I didn’t think that was like enough to help the person. So we started this private fitness center. Strictly for veterans and first responders, we put together this three month program that consists of the personal training piece, the nutrition coaching piece, uh, the life coaching [00:12:00] piece.

And after veterans who complete the program successfully, we give them the opportunity to become personal trainers and nutritionists if they complete the program. And then also. With that being said, uh, we would hire those veterans if they would like to become trainers to do that part-time for, you know, work reasons, financial reasons, whatever the reason is just to help these individual individuals out so they can succeed.

And then it kind of gives those other veterans another community, and then they get to kind of be a part of Boost the house. So, and then they get to help more veterans and then more veterans find out about us. And then it’s just like, just come be a part of the community. And I’ll tell you, Scott, you know, being 26 and being able to do all this stuff, praise God for that.

And, but the cool thing is, like I was telling you earlier, Scott, is I’ve been able to reach a lot more people. I’ve been able to help veterans who are as young as me, who are in their forties, fifties, sixties and seventies. And man, the coolest thing is I’ve, I’ve had like two star generals call me and tell me like, Hey, hey kid, keep doing what you’re doing.

And you know, I was like, wow. Okay.

Scott DeLuzio: It must, must be doing something [00:13:00] right. You know?

Logan Spiewak: right.

Scott DeLuzio: yeah, and I, I, you know, being so young, so we were talking before we started recording and you know, we, we talked a little bit about age and stuff and you know how you make me feel like I’m super old, but that’s okay. You know, but, um, but seriously, you know, looking at your, your age now, you know, you’re still a young guy and going from.

Just barely graduating high school, like you said, getting into the Marine Corps, kind of turning things around, getting out and losing that structure that you needed. At that point when you were in high school, you needed that structure. You needed someone to say, Hey, go do this. Go do that. This is when you eat.

This is what you’re gonna wear. This is when you should show up, and this is all, all these things. And you get a little bit of structure in your life. And now, now it’s like you almost can’t fail as long as you do what you’re, you’re told. You almost can’t fail in, in the military, you know? Uh, sure you can.

I’m sure people can figure out ways to do it, [00:14:00] but you know, there’s, there’s a, a pretty good routine and structure. Just do what you’re told, keep your head down, do your work. You’ll be just fine with that. Right? But when you get out, now, it’s up to you to have the discipline to keep that type of, routine and rigor to your, your schedule and say, okay, every morning I’m waking up at this time and every morning I’m, you know, I’m gonna eat breakfast at this time and lunch at that time, and dinner, whatever. And, and keep a routine, you know, for yourself and I. Some people just have a lot of trouble doing that.

And then, then you can slip into getting into some trouble. But, you know, you found the gym, uh, that that’s a great place to go. If you want to stay outta trouble, there’s, you know, you’re not gonna get into too much trouble there. You just go there, you know, lift your weights, do, do, do your running, you know, whatever it is that you’re gonna do.

And, um. You know, you could stay there as long as you want. And you know, that keeps you away from all the [00:15:00] other negative stuff that’s out there. And, and yeah, sure. Could it be considered an addiction that, you know, you’re, you know, working out too much or, or things like that? Yeah, sure. If it’s, if it’s impacting other areas of your life and it’s preventing you from doing things that you should be doing or want to be doing, then yeah.

Sure. Then that’s a problem. Otherwise. I don’t really see that’s a problem. Like it’s, it’s a, a good thing you’re doing stuff for your health like that. That’s, that’s good. So do that and that now you’re, you’re able to help these other folks. And like you said, kind of building a community, which not only is it good, like, so when, when one person starts to go help somebody else.

There’s two people who get benefit from that. There’s the person who’s being benefited by getting the help, but also the person who’s doing the helping gets some like mental benefit. It’s like, I, you feel good by helping somebody else with whatever it is, you know, maybe it’s with their physical health or mental health or, or whatever.

It kind of just [00:16:00] feels good to be able to help people with that type of stuff. And then you, you form this community where people are helping each other and it, it’s almost like it’s kind of just mushrooms out and just grows into this much bigger and better thing when the, the more people are involved, you end up having just kind of an exponential effect of so many different people helping each other and, and that, that seems like a, you know, pretty amazing thing that you, you have going on there.

Logan Spiewak: Yes, Scott. Um, you know, just going off of that, you know, like we were talking about earlier, see, uh, you know, the, a lot of the veterans that I’ve worked with. They come from distressed backgrounds, right? Like a lot of these individuals have, you know, you said you were a deployed sky. I don’t know exactly where, but you know, you’ve, maybe you’ve seen combat, I don’t know you serve.

That’s phenomenal. I’m not discrediting that. But a lot of these guys, you know, a lot of ’em are marines that I see. Um, so these guys have a lot of stressors in their own personal lives, um, with the social economical background as [00:17:00] well. So, uh, it makes it very difficult for these people to find a good quality of life after getting out of service, like you said, Scott, because the.

Things that they were told to do, they were just doing it. And like you said, now they have to make choices. And what happens is these individuals start to make the wrong choices and they get into this point of despair and they think, you know, get to the point of killing themselves. Right Scott? So I would like these individuals to come get help.

Through our program because our program’s free. I did not mention that, but it’s completely free. I haven’t charged a veteran since I’ve started this, and I will never charge a veteran for this because it’s the right thing to do. The VA should be doing this and well, they’ve tried and they can’t, let’s be honest, Scott, they’ve, they’ve tried it.

Money, I call it the m and m effect. They give ’em money and medication and get, well, it’s a bunch of. That’s what it is. But I would like to help these individuals from a root problem, for them to become better individuals, to help themselves, to help their families, and to help their kids if they have them, and for them to succeed.

Because every veteran can succeed. Uh, especially the marine man. Any infantry, marine or [00:18:00] whatever, anybody infantry in the military, they can be successful. Because if you’re showing up and doing this every day, why can’t you do it out here?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Logan Spiewak: That’s

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, I, I was an infantryman too in the army, so don’t hold that against me. But

Logan Spiewak: I won’t.

Scott DeLuzio: But no, seriously, you’re right. It, you know, you, if you can do that job you, you know, you can, you could do just about, you know, anything that you put your mind to you know, you, you can get out there and start a business.

You can get out there and you know, work your way up the ranks in, you know, uh. A company that you might be working for and, and you can do all sorts of different things, uh, if you, you apply yourself. I mean, you know, think about before any of us joined the military, I don’t care what your job was in the military, whether it was infantryman or a medic or a you know, God who cares.

Whatever it was that you did you know, finance or whatever likely you didn’t know your job before you joined the military. You didn’t know how to do your job so. You had to learn [00:19:00] how to do your job. So that just tells me right there, you’re capable of learning something. Now, maybe you needed somebody to be screaming in your face in order for you to learn what your job is, right?

Logan Spiewak: I.

Scott DeLuzio: I I don’t miss that either. You know, I, but there maybe that’s what you needed. You needed a little, little verbal motivation to get, you, get your ass going. Maybe you would’ve done better in, you know, algebra, uh, you know, for the listeners. If, if you had, if your teacher was, was screaming in your face.

The whole time. It’s like, well, well damn. I guess I’ll, I guess I’ll do it all right. Fine. But you know, when when you’re, you’re able to learn something like that, you, you can. You can apply that in those, the method of learning, you can apply that to other things too. You can learn how to do other things outside of the military and, and you can move on and do so many great things.

But like, like what you’re doing now I’m sure this was not something as you’re getting out of the military, that you’re like, you know what? That this is what I’m gonna be doing. I’m gonna go, go out and I’m gonna go help out veterans and first responders. You PR probably didn’t [00:20:00] have, you know, this whole.

Program laid out in front of you knowing exactly how running a business works or you know, any of the things that go into it. You probably didn’t have any of that that laid out, but you had to figure it out and you learned it and you’re able to do it right?

Logan Spiewak: Well, well, Scott, like you, like I said earlier, right? I have a, I barely have a high school education. I didn’t, I don’t have no business acumen. I didn’t take any cl. I don’t, I mean, I’m, I’m a jackass on paper, right? I, that’s what it is, right? I mean, that’s what it is, Scott. Let’s not get ourselves right.

Let’s be realistic. So, you know, if I can do it, you know, any of you can do it, let’s be quite frank. Like I’m gonna be quite simple and put it out there. I mean, anybody can be successful. It’s just like you said Scott, how bad do you want it? And like you said, I didn’t know I was gonna do all these things and be able to help all these people, but you know, it’s phenomenal that I’m able to, and it, you know, it’s a ministry in a sense because we’re able to help care for a lot of different people.

I’ve been able to help a lot of different people and meet a lot of awesome different. [00:21:00] People, organizations, and there’s so many people out there that want to help vets. There’s some organizations out there that say they want to help vets that don’t want to help vets. I’m sure that, you know, unfortunately that’s just how it is.

But you know, there is a lot of people out there that care about veterans and you know, for any veterans that are listening, man, it. You’re not weak if you get help. I don’t care what anyone says, man or a woman, if you need mental health help, go get it. I don’t care what anyone says, you should take care of you because you deserved it.

You earned it, and you fought for it regardless of what you did. So get the help, get care, get connected, and get, get into community and you can’t go wrong. That’s it.

Scott DeLuzio: Exactly. And, and community, I think is, is the big piece there. And that’s kind of what you’re doing here. You’re, you’re, you’re fostering some sort of community, uh, connections between the, the folks that you’re, you’re working with and helping out. And I think that is, from all the conversations I’ve had with, with people over the years through this, the show, that’s a huge piece of [00:22:00] kind of figuring out.

Where you start to fit in to the world outside of the military. You know, you’re in the military, you, you have your squad, your platoon, whatever, and you fit in with those people or you don’t, you know, maybe you don’t, but, but like, there, there.

Logan Spiewak: They’re the.

Scott DeLuzio: Exactly. They’re, they’re, they’re the people that you’re going to potentially go into combat with.

So you’re gonna get to know those people. You’re gonna, you’re gonna learn to love them or hate ’em, whatever. But, you know, at the end of the day, you’ll, you’ll still take a bullet for ’em. And, and so you, you’re gonna get to know these people pretty damn well. You get out of the military, you don’t have those people coworkers at a lot of jobs.

They go in, they punch the clock, they, they do their work, they, they punch out and they go home. They don’t wanna deal with anybody else from work or anything like that a lot of times. And you, you’re not going to work to be making friends most likely, you know, in most cases. But. You still need to have some sort of [00:23:00] social connection outside of a, you know, work environment.

And so, you know, where do you get that from? How do you, how do you figure that out? How, how do you find that sense of normalcy you know, after leaving the military? I mean, what better way than finding other people who maybe are in the same position as you and, and end up having to, uh, you know, figure that out on their own.

And you know, why, why not figure it out together? And you know, I, I, I think, you know, people struggling with these transition issues especially feeling isolated or disconnected from civilian life, I, I think that is just a one great way to you know, help get back into the routine of things and, and start to figure out, you know, what, what does it.

What does it mean to be a, a civilian? How do I keep that discipline and keep that schedule routine that you know, that I had in the military? How do I keep that going forward? What are other people doing? What’s working for them? What’s, what’s not working for them? And, and maybe sharing ideas and all that kind of stuff, right?

[00:24:00] Tell us a little bit more about the program. I know you kind of went into like, kind of a overview of it, but you know, maybe, maybe a little bit of more specifics on, you know, how the program works, where, where people can, you know, you know, what the journey is like when someone gets into the program and, and you know, kind of what you guys do and everything and, uh, you know, all the way through.

Logan Spiewak: Sure. Absolutely. So let’s just do it like this guy. Let’s just say you’re a veteran, uh, and you find out about boots to Health. So either one or two ways. You either get referred from a veteran directly through the program, through another vet, obviously, or another veteran nonprofit, probably in the locality of our area has probably made that, uh, referral as well.

Uh, so. Essentially, Scott, you’ll come through the program through a, we have obviously a program application online that we have every veteran fill out, just so we know where that veteran is. One, financially. Are they able to afford food? Are they able to make it to the facility? Are they gonna be consistent in showing up to their one-on-one personal training appointments?

Because if they can’t even make it to the program, there’s already a. A bridge that we have to fill this gap. So how [00:25:00] can we, how can we maneuver around that transportation issue, whatever the case may be, for the veteran to get to the program. So let’s just say all that checks off. You’re good to go. You can make all your appointments, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Perfect. So either myself or two of my trainers will meet with you. Put together a, uh, meal plan for you and a workout program tailored to that individual veteran’s needs. So whether you have a disability or not, doesn’t matter. Uh, our veterans at our trainers on staff will have their credentials to help these veterans in whatever case may be.

Uh, so you’ll come through, do a basic range of motion tests, strength test, and you know, just a nutrition assessment of where you’re eating on a daily need is your. Like fresh foods, you know how you know your macros, you know your micros, all that stuff. Just to see if they have a be, uh, basic understanding of the human body and just to see where their quality of health the health is.

Even at after that, you’ll come to the, come to the studio twice a week. Let’s just say your sessions are Tuesdays and Thursdays. You’ll come in for your hour slots, and then once a week you’ll have your, uh, meal planning. So you have your. [00:26:00] Uh, session on a Friday. If you come in Tuesdays, Thursdays, you come in Friday for your one-on-one meal planning session as well.

So then that will carry on for three months after the veteran has completed the three months. We like to do a before and after assessment and where they started and where they’re at. Just so you have a better idea of, okay, where was your mental health before? Where was your physical health before? Et cetera, and then where you’re at after.

So after that, we’ll show the veteran, Hey, this is what you have responded before. This is where you responded after. Keep this. So, uh, if you have any questions down the line, uh, you know, you can go back through this for, you know, reference. Uh, after that we also then give the veteran an opportunity to become a personal trainer if they would like to, you know, further their educational needs or, you know.

To obviously wanna help more veterans through the program. You give the veteran an opportunity to become a personal trainer, obtain their personal training certificate to give them employment help, uh, or being become a nutritionist as well. You get your nutritionist certification. Scott, you know, you can do a lot of this stuff online now.

I know. Saying, uh, and then after that. If the veteran [00:27:00] completes that successfully, we say, Hey, look, you know, if you are willing and you want, we will help you give you a place of employment, and then help to allow you to train other veterans have gone through the program, and then kind of have the veteran become on staff and then help train more veterans that way.

And then, like you said, Scott, it’s kind of a good thing because then it gives them that sense of purpose of saying, Hey, look, you know, this helped from, this helped me and now I can help more veterans. So it’s kind of like a, it’s kind of like a recycle, you know what I mean?

Scott DeLuzio: Oh yeah. Yeah.

Logan Spiewak: You come in, we help you, and then you want to help more people.

And that’s big. The biggest thing, Scott, I just want more people to find out about what we’re doing because I, you know, like I said, Scott, I started to show young, obviously when you’re a young man walking in the room and these people were all 30 and 40, like, who is this kid? So, you know, Hey, listen, I don’t care.

Come get the help. That’s what I’m here for. That’s all I’m gonna say about that.

Scott DeLuzio: And you know, I don’t, I don’t think the age matters, you know, if your, your heart’s in the right place and you, you’re, you’re doing the right things. You’re saying the right things and everything, and, and getting people that the, uh, you know, sense of purpose and moving them in the right direction. And I, I like that it’s a, you know, a program, it’s laid out, you know, [00:28:00] it’s kind of a, you know, fixed amount of time.

And the people know that at the end of this program, they. They basically have a, a plan in place that they can, they can follow that and just rinse and repeat that, that process in their life. Or, you know, make tweaks to, uh, you know, fix you know, something specific to their, their needs or, or what,

Logan Spiewak: Scott, can I, can I make a another comment on that? Yeah. So the reason why the program’s three months long, so, because in order to create any healthy habit, it’s gonna take 90 days, as, you know, 90 days to form a new habit. So in hopes of that, after these 90 days, you sustain this healthy new habit. You can continue and apply that application on.

Obviously I’m not the federal government, so I don’t print and hand out, you know, money. If I could, I would, but I can’t. I’m sorry, Scott. It’s the truth. Unfortunately,

Scott DeLuzio: you could.

Logan Spiewak: I wish I could, I would give you some too. Sky listen. But the point is I’m trying to help these people and do the best I can.

But like I said, sky, obviously we’re not a, we’re not federally funded. I’ve raised all this money, like individually myself, so I’m doing this. [00:29:00] Yeah. So, obviously we don’t get any federal grants or anything like that, so I’m genuinely doing this because I believe in what I’m doing and because I want to help people.

Like that’s what that is.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, and I, I think that’s, that’s the thing I, I was kind of getting at was, was that. When you do something consistently, uh, you know, you’re showing up every, every week for all your sessions for the, the, you know, the two appointments and then the meal, uh, session, um, at, you know, at the end of the week or, you know, however it’s structured for, you know, each individual that, that creates a, a, that routine that we’ve been missing.

You know, hey, I know. At least, you know, twice a week, I gotta go, I gotta go do some sort of physical activity. Hopefully you’re doing it more, you know, outside of that, but you know, it, it kind of starts to build that. Yeah, it builds that, that foundation that, that you might need. Uh, and then hopefully you’re, you’re extending that out to other days of the week as well.

You’re not just limiting it to, to two days, but you know, doing, doing some activity [00:30:00] throughout the week and. Learning how to meal plan, doing that, and you know, putting together nutritious meals. Not just grabbing, you know, whatever’s quick and easy and, you know, getting the McDonald’s burger and fries and soda and all that, the stuff that, you know, it’s, it’s quick, it’s easy, but it’s not good for you.

And you know. Doing that type of stuff will help you to start making better, you know, healthy decisions with the food. You’ll start to see some more progress with your physical health, which in turn will start helping out the mental health, uh, side of things as well. And, and so then you kind of become a snowball and, and things just start getting better and better and better as, as things go on.

And, and especially if, you know, employment was an issue for somebody and they, they figure out that. Hey, I, I can also, you know, get a job after this doing something, helping other, other folks. That’s, uh, that’s a great thing as well. So, you know, there’s a lot of opportunities there, right?

Logan Spiewak: Yes, it, I mean, like you said, so there’s so many opportunities, but a lot of these [00:31:00] individuals that I service obviously, you know, their health, there’s a huge health barrier for these individuals that come in. Um, a lot of veterans, unfortunately, that I’ve seen are overweight and their health is not, is not the best.

So I, I think it’s a good thing that we have a two day split to be quite frank with you, Scott. ’cause it’s not gonna. Burn the veteran out, it’s gonna let them say, Hey look, I can come back again and do this again this week. This is gonna be good for me. I have, like you said, I can make it to the, oh look, I gotta make it to the gym today.

I have another appointment. I. I look forward to doing that because if you’re coming in, you never, you haven’t worked out, Scott. You’re off the bench for six, seven years. You’re not coming to the gym five times. Five days a week, Scott, you’re coming twice a week. Okay? And we’re gonna start out gradually, and I wanna be able to build up and then where I’m at now, after these 90 days, I can continue to apply these principles here, just like the military and keep carrying on.

You’re gonna keep helping more people, so.

Scott DeLuzio: Well, it’s, it’s, uh, the crawl, walk, run just like the military, you know, you gotta start some somewhere, right? I, I remember after getting out of the military, [00:32:00] I, I didn’t do a pushup. I didn’t run, I didn’t do any kind of exercise for the longest time, uh, afterwards. And I remember I, I went for a run. Yeah, a couple years later. And man, I felt like I was gonna puke. I was like, you know, I, I gotta do something, you know? ’cause I was starting to put on some pounds. I was like, I, I gotta go do something. So I, I went, went out. I just went, went for a run. I used to be a great runner too, and I, I, I was, I, I mean, you kind of had to be right.

Um.

Logan Spiewak: Yeah, you’re funny, man. I don’t care. You’re a funny guy.

Scott DeLuzio: No, but you know, I, I used, it used to be pretty good, and then I, I let it all go and, uh, went, went for that run. And I, I don’t even think I made it a mile and, and I was like, doubled over and like, I, I felt like I was gonna puke and I was like, man, I don’t ever want to get to this place again. I, I, I gotta do something to get back and.

Make sure that I get back into some sort of good shape. You know, I know obviously as you get [00:33:00] older, you know, your, your, your joints and everything like that, they, they start. Getting, getting old on you and, and they’re not gonna work quite as well, but, you know, the, the better, the better shape I could be in at a younger age, the better off I’m gonna be as I get older.

And so that, that was a mindset for me. And so, yeah, I, you know, the next day I didn’t go for a run because I, my legs were burning, my back was hurting. Like everything was just hurting after that day. Um. But I, I slowly started getting back into it. And to your point, you know, yeah, you’re not gonna go in the gym hitting it hard every day if you hadn’t been for seven years

Logan Spiewak: Yeah, I tell, yes, I tell all the guys. Be proactive, not reactive. Right? So be. For your body, because like you just said, a lot of these guys seven years now, you gotta be reactive to all these new physical and, uh, neurological changes to the brain because of what the, what physical health. What the physical, okay.

So physical education, what it does to the neuroscience of the brain is actually very, very, very, very [00:34:00] interesting. Scott, that’s a whole different topic. And what it does in alters, in the chemicals in your brain is actually, you know, Andrew Huberman, like I’m a huge fan of him, the whole holistic medicine and.

Talks about it as well. Like you just said, everything that we do is holistic for that purpose to better the individual, not just one specific area. I want the veteran to succeed physically, mentally, and spiritually. That’s all. I kind of wanted to put everything together this way so they can succeed.

That’s it really. It.

Scott DeLuzio: That, that’s, I mean, that’s the goal I, I think for everybody is, is, is that sort of success. Um, because a lot of other things come from that. You know, if, if you are feeling like you’re a failure in one area of your life, you’re, you’re maybe gonna feel like you’re a failure in others as well. And so if you could start seeing some of the successes from your, your hard work and.

Start seeing, okay, maybe, maybe some of these pounds are dropping and maybe, maybe my pants are fitting a little looser now. And, uh, you know, I’m, I’m starting to feel a little bit better. I, I, you know, I’m not, I’m not wheezing as I get to the top of the stairs [00:35:00] you know, or, or any of that. Like, I’m, I’m starting to feel pretty good.

Um, I. And then that gives you a little, maybe a boost of confidence and, and you’re, you’re better off in some other areas of your life and all, all these things just, you know, ultimately will you know, just start having that snowball effect, like I was saying, and, and make all the things in your life better.

As you start seeing more positivity, you’re gonna start getting more positivity and, and those,

Logan Spiewak: it, it just like the energy feeds off of each other. Like, because a lot of us are okay. A lot of us are younger than, than, you know, most of the guys that come in. And that’s a good thing, to be honest. Honest with you Scott, because usually the veterans who have the older population, like the Vietnam era guys, they don’t really mix with the younger guys.

But I think it, they don’t, with Sky, like they, it’s really like the VFWs and American Legion guys. They don’t really connect with us young guys. But it’s been very interesting, Scott. ’cause I’ve actually had a lot more older guys interested in the physical training because I think they’ve realized they get to a point in their life, well, hey look, I’m 78, 70, [00:36:00] you know, 79, whatever I need to take care of myself.

Right. But it’s cool because they get work with us, the young cats, right? And it just gives them that, oh look, you know, that was me. And, you know, just, it’s just banter. It’s just a good thing, I think, for everybody because they have a whole bunch of different war stories than people that are our age and talk to.

It’s just, it is just cool, man, because you can mix them. It needs to be more, you know, community for, for that, for that gap, for that age gap. And I think that gives a good opportunity as to mix with the older crowd and vice versa. I, I think it’s cool.

Scott DeLuzio: I, I, yeah, I do too. And, and I think the there, there’s a saying.

Logan Spiewak: your, I just read your by.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, you like that? I, and I didn’t, I didn’t even plan this. I like, this was just what was on, you know, the grumpy old vet

Logan Spiewak: I love it.

Scott DeLuzio: is the shirt that I had, you know. No, but you know, going back to what you’re, you’re just saying if you are the, the best whatever in the room or on the field or, or whatever, you’re in the wrong room.

You’re on the wrong field. Like you gotta, you gotta step up and, and go to another, [00:37:00] another field, another room, another whatever, to to challenge yourself and push yourself, push your boundaries. ’cause you’re gonna start seeing people who are better than you and at, at whatever the thing is. And you’re gonna say, oh, well I wanna be like that guy.

I wanna be better and push myself to get better. If, if you’re already the best in the room, you’re not going to you’re not gonna really have that. Desire to push yourself to get better because it’s like, well, compared to everybody else, I’m already better, so why do I need to push much harder? And so, you know, if you’re getting some of these, these older guys who are outta shape in a room with younger guys who are in shape, it’s like, man, I remember when I used to be.

26. And I used to be able to do all the things that, that you can do and, you know, running and lifting and jumping and all the things that now I cringe at thinking about doing. Um, you know, I, I, I remember doing all of those things and. You know, I kind of like to do some of those things again. You know, [00:38:00] ’cause you know, people start having kids or grandkids or whatever and it’s like, well I, maybe I want to go out and run around and play with them and stuff, but gosh, I can’t do it ’cause I, I feel like I’m gonna have a heart attack just ’cause I, you know, stood up too fast or something.

You know, like those, those types of things, you know? And, and if you’re, you’re seeing that and you, you maybe get that, that drive and motivation from those younger folks, right?

Logan Spiewak: Well that Scott, but like, I’ll also mention this, I, I’m not a clinical at all, a behavioral therapist or anything like that, so I’m not, you know, claiming I am. But a lot of these guys I’ve, I’ve learned a lot from the individual emotionally from veterans because I. It gets to a point where you build this kind of bond, Scott, with these individuals that come in, and I don’t wanna say veterans don’t trust people, but to be honest with you, Scott, they don’t trust people after they get, you know what I.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I know what you’re saying. Yeah.

Logan Spiewak: I’ve heard some crazy stories, Scott, like, you it, I mean, wow. But you know, I’ve finally been able to build relationships with a lot of these people and they start to like, tell me what’s going on in their own personal lives or [00:39:00] family’s lives and, you know, I’m able to just build friendships with these people and get to understand them like on a different level, Scott.

So it’s not going to, it is not just going to the gym. Like it’s, it’s just a way of life for these people. And I think it’s, I think it’s great.

Scott DeLuzio: I think it’s great too. Um, and I, I think, you know, again, we were talking before we started recording this this episode, I, I think part of the, the show is highlighting the various resources that are available to veterans that. They may just not know exist. And so when you’re sitting there feeling hopeless, Hey, I think I’ve tried everything that I know about anyways.

Well, guess what? There’s another option. And, you know, that’s, that’s what I like to do. And, you know, hearing kind of the, the process, how people go through, you know, what you guys do and the, the energy level and the community and that comradery that starts to get built. I think that’s what a lot of folks are missing.

And well, if you’re missing that. Here’s an option, you know, [00:40:00] and that this is, this is exactly the type of thing I I love to highlight on, on this show is, uh, you know exactly what you’re doing. It’s, it’s something that some veteran out there doesn’t know what you do but needs what you do. And I, I want to be able to highlight that and let them know, uh, that this is out there and, hey, get off, get off the couch. Go, go pick up the phone or go on the website, or whatever it is that you need to do, and you know, get yourself scheduled up and you know, and, and do that. And, and so with that for the listeners who are sitting there thinking like, yeah, this is something I’d, I’d like to check out, uh, where can I go to find out more about Boots to Health and what you guys do and, and how they can get, uh, the ball rolling.

Logan Spiewak: Well that’s, thank you, Scott. Uh, so first of all, obviously anybody can go to ww.boots to health foundation.org. Email us at Boots to Health [email protected]. Uh, offer social medias, boots to Health Foundation everywhere. I mean, it’s pretty easy to find the little thin once you type it. Obviously you said Scott, you know, people may not be familiar with it ’cause there’s so many different [00:41:00] resources, but once you type it in online.

Should be easy to find. Reach out to us myself. Somebody will answer the phone More than happy to talk to you, see where you’re at, and get you situated and plugged in. I mean, that’s, that’s really what it’s about. Like Scott said, come be a part of the community. I.

Scott DeLuzio: Absolutely. And so, you know, with that I will put the, the links that you, you, you mentioned all that stuff’s gonna be in the, the show notes. And. So listeners, you can check that out there. Just click the link and it’ll take you right to where you need to go. Logan, I I really do appreciate everything that you’re doing.

I appreciate you sh you know, being open and vulnerable, sharing your story, your background, and you know, how you got to what you’re doing now. ’cause it, it’s you know, an important piece of your story and, you know, again wanna be able to highlight everybody’s story and including, you know, people who are still out there.

Serving in, you know, various capacities and giving back to the ve veteran community. I, I really do appreciate everything that you’re doing and, uh, you know, keep doing it. I think it’s great work.

Logan Spiewak: I appreciate that Scott. Thanks for having me on, and thanks for making the time [00:42:00] Saturday night.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you bet. Uh, thank, thanks again, Logan.