In an engaging dialogue with James Benefico, the podcast delves into the profound interplay between health, faith, and personal evolution. James, whose own life was marked by a struggle with unhealthy habits and the resulting health issues, shares his transformative journey that led to the founding of Organic Muscle—a company committed to offering clean, organic supplements. His narrative is punctuated by a pivotal moment of clarity during a distressing experience with synthetic pre-workout supplements, which illuminated the dangers of such products and ignited his passion for creating healthier alternatives. He articulates a philosophy that emphasizes the alignment of body, mind, and spirit, positing that true wellness transcends mere physical health; it encompasses a holistic approach to living that honors one's spiritual commitments. A particularly striking point in the conversation is James’s advocacy for cultivating gratitude, especially in the moments before slumber. He posits that this practice not only enhances one’s mental state but also aligns with biblical teachings encouraging a focus on positivity. This theme of gratitude serves as a bedrock for transforming one’s life, suggesting that by consciously choosing to reflect on blessings, individuals can reprogram their subconscious towards optimism and resilience. Throughout the episode, the dynamic interplay between personal anecdotes and broader philosophical discussions creates a rich tapestry of insights that challenge listeners to reconsider their own health journeys and spiritual paths, ultimately inviting them to engage in a life of service and intentionality.

Takeaways:

• Cultivating gratitude before sleep can significantly improve mental well-being and positivity in daily life.
• James Benefico's journey from poor health to creating Organic Muscle highlights the necessity of clean, organic supplements for true wellness.
• The interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit is crucial for achieving holistic health and fulfilling one's purpose in life.
• Choosing to focus on positive thoughts rather than negative ones can dramatically influence the outcomes of our daily experiences and overall mindset.
• Emphasizing small victories in health can lead to significant changes over time, reinforcing the idea that progress is a journey, not a sprint.
• The podcast discusses the early Christian philosophies that prioritize health, compassion, and community service as integral aspects of spiritual life.

Links referenced in this episode:

• organicmuscle.com
• amazon.com
• vitaminshoppe.com
• jesuswaypodcast.com

Mentioned in this episode:

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Welcome to Becoming Bridge Builders, the podcast where we explore stories of transformation, faith, and the power of building bridges in a divided world. I am your host, Keith Haney.

Today we'll have inspiring guests, James, whose journey will challenge you on how to think about health, purpose and faith.

James Bonificio is the founder and CEO of Organic Muscle, a company born from his own research for clean natural performance after struggling with health issues caused by issues in his life. So we welcome James to the podcast.

Thank you, Keith. It's a blessing to be here with you today.

It's good to have you on. My friend is looking forward to this conversation. So I'm going to ask you my favorite question. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

That's a great question.

I think the one that has beared the most fruit in my life is, is to really cultivate gratitude and positive thoughts right before falling asleep, in the moments before falling asleep. Because so many years I was riddled with anxiety and kind of a negative attitude.

And at night before I'd fall asleep, I would just worry about all the things I had to do, all the things that could go wrong the next day. I would worry about my life. And I didn't realize that was programming me subconsciously to be a negative Nancy.

Oh, yeah.

So when I started, when I took back that time period, that 10, 15, 20 minutes, right as I'm falling asleep, just to be grateful, to think about all the blessings in life, all, and just to think positively, I found that I was actually brainwashing myself while I slept. I was kind of planting that positive seed as my body rests and recovers, and then I'm born anew in the morning as a more positive, optimistic person.

So, yeah, I highly suggest everyone tries that out. It really works.

Yeah, that idea of it's very biblical.

It's like the idea of think on all those things that are good and are right and positive as opposed to, if you focus on negative feelings, negative emotions, negative thoughts, those things become manifested in your life as you focus on, you know, oh, it's going to be a bad day. And of course you'll find every bad moment of that day.

Whereas if you, if you think that this is going to be an amazing day that God has created, you will find the good, even in the bad situations that you run across.

Exactly. That's exactly it.

And I realized that being in a constant state of anxiety and always seeing the glass half empty is kind of worshiping the devil or the dark forces, if you want to say it that way, because the fruits of the Holy Spirit are peace, love, joy, all of these positive attributes and virtues. Whereas, you know, a demonic force would want you to be in a state of anxiety and fear and worry.

So I try and remember that when my mind starts drifting into negativity because I'm like, God doesn't want me to be negative, but negative forces do.

Yeah, most definitely. So, James, let's. Let's begin your story with the health crisis that you had.

Can you share what happened and how you led, how that led you to organic muscle?

Sure. Well, I was very overweight.

You know, I came from an Italian American background in New York, and we thought eating sandwiches was just like the coolest thing a guy could do. Drinking beer, eating pizza, just really. I mean, it's kind of funny, but it was. We were celebrating gluttony, to be honest with you.

And I, I got pretty heavy and then I moved to Texas. I'm eating a lot of barbecue and, you know, drinking a lot of beer and I was just feeling terrible. I had no energy.

I felt very unconfident and just lack of energy, lack of inspiration. So eventually I just got tired of it and I decided to make a change. So I started hitting the gym.

And like many people who hit the gym, I started taking pre workout supplements, which are very common. They kind of give you energy. And I just had the worst reaction ever where I felt like I was dying. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack.

You know, severe heart palpitations, throat closing up. And I almost called 911 for myself. And that was kind of a light bulb moment.

And it planted this seed that as I was gradually starting to eat healthier and adopt an organic diet that I also wanted to use just a healthy, clean, nutritious, organic pre workout and other supplements. And there wasn't anything on the market at the time.

And I became absolutely obsessed as I cleaned up my ax and ended up creating my own healthy pre workout.

Well, you know, supplements are kind of this addictive thing because you read the labels and you go online, it says, yeah, if you take this or that, the supplement is the bee's knees. I just saw a new one now. You know, kimchi is a great one. It'll fix gut biome and it'll cleanse you out or detox you.

What was the turning point when you realized that those synthetic supplements were. You talked about, you know, you realize you got really sick.

But you know, what, what was that, that light bulb moment for you where it's like you know, this isn't really good for me. This is actually doing me more harm.

Well, just taking a look at the supplement facts panel and some of the ingredients that are involved. And by the way, there's like no oversight of the supplement industry.

Now for organic certified supplements there's a degree of oversight because the usda, you know, analyzes and audits the entire flow from the farms to the ingredients. But for non organic ingredients there's really no oversight. And there's a lot of proprietary blends and stuff. But they had dyes in the pre workouts.

Absolutely poisonous levels of synthetic caffeine. And I'm personally very sensitive to caffeine. So we use really clean sources like organic yerba mate and matcha and things like that.

But just that that high caffeine content alone can cause adverse reactions.

Plus the synthetic dyes and high levels of beta alanine and niacin which on their own aren't terrible, but there's just, they just stack em to such an absurd amount.

Wow. So tell us about the company you started and the changes you began to make in the products and how you produce.

You talked a little bit about how you produce them, but give us the background story of what you're doing with your company, your supplement.

Yeah, we just, I just basically wanted to make supplements that I would use anyways and make the cleanest, healthiest varieties of them.

So our, our ethos is that we make organic certified plant based supplements like greens blend, beetroot supplements, Tongkat Ali, which is the best herb in the world for naturally boosting testosterone levels. Peer reviewed studies, numerous studies, it really works.

You know, I'm 36 years old and I'm in the top 1% for testosterone and I eat a plant based diet, never done steroids. And you know this, it's.

God's given us in nature all of these tools to be healthy and we've become so over reliant on pills and pharmaceuticals and all of these things where I truly believe that God has given us on this beautiful earth everything we need to thrive.

That's awesome. I like the fact you talk about it's important to have the alignment of body, mind and spirit.

Why would, why do you believe personally that's so important for true wellness?

Well I think about why are we even here? What's the point of our existence on this planet?

And I think it's God wants us to get to know him and to develop our characters, to live more like Jesus and to be of service to others. You know, the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. So loving yourself is also included in that.

So I really think of being healthy as one of the best ways that we could honor our Father, our heavenly Father. It's like God gave us this precious gift of life, and if we desecrate our bodies, it's kind of disrespecting our Father.

Imagine if your parent, your earthly parent, gives you a beautiful gift or a canvas to make art with, and you just throw the canvas in the mud and stomp on it. You don't. You don't take care of it.

Now think about how much it honors your father if you make beautiful art with that and take really good care of it. So, you know, having a healthy body, we're supposed to love God, love our neighbor, love ourself.

Having a healthy body helps us check all those boxes. Because when you have a healthy body, I believe that the spirit shines through more.

You can connect more with God, and you're more able to be of service to others. It's very difficult to be of service when you are lacking energy, when you're lacking confidence, when you're tired on the couch, when there's.

I believe there's levels of shame that come with gluttony because I was very gluttonous for a long time and I felt ashamed of myself. I didn't want to put myself out there and really step into the service that God had called me into. It served as a block in my life path.

So that's why I think all of us universally can better serve the kingdom if we're healthy as opposed to not. Right. So that's kind of my philosophy about health.

So you're also the co host of a wonderful podcast called the Jesus Way Podcast. Tell us about your other host on that and tell us about what was the inspiration for this podcast.

Yeah. Thank you so much. It's definitely the thing I'm most passionate about. My co host is named Aaron Apke. The.

The podcast is on his YouTube channel, so check it out. But we try and take a different angle about Christianity because we focus on early Christian history and really the philosophy.

There's so much out there. You could go to church and hear the theology. Right. We focus on the philosophy and the way of life that the early Christians lived.

And it's just the most fascinating story ever that is never touched on really in church.

Like, for instance, Jesus had a brother named James who led the church in Jerusalem for 30 years and was widely considered one of the most righteous men who ever lived. Now, James has largely been kicked to the dustbin of history. You'll never hear about him in church, besides when you're reading the Epistle of James.

But we get into like these really interesting aspects of early Christian history and it really has profound implications. On our walk, we were just talking about health.

The early Christians really prioritized health and they were known throughout the world for being extremely strong and courageous and pure people. They were really prioritized peace, they were loving, they had great compassion for animals.

All of these things we don't usually hear about in the modern day church. So we're really trying to resurrect that original ethos, that original spirit of Christianity.

So give me some examples of some of the shows. If we tuned into your podcast, we'd run across.

Oh, man. Well, we cover a lot of topics.

We talk a lot about the Essenes, which was a mystical sect of Judaism, and how there was this philosophical split within Judaism, these different kind of groups that had different philosophies.

And we show how John the Baptist and Jesus and James emerged from this more Essene type of Judaism and how there's was kind of this division, as you read the Hebrew Bible, between the priests and the prophets.

The prophets were always calling the Israelites back to repentance and righteousness, where the priestly cast focused more on the animal sacrifice aspect.

So that's something we talk a lot about, the philosophical difference in Judaism and also in early Christianity, how there were different schools of thought. What did these different groups believe?

There was the original Hebrew Christians, there was Gnostics, there was Valentinians, there was the Roman Church, there was the Eastern Orthodox. So we kind of analyze all these different schools of thought and look for the common threads, the differences.

And it just really illuminates so much about history and we just find it fascinating.

So do you have guests on your podcast as well?

Yes, we do. We've had Dr. James Tabor, one of the most renowned biblical scholars, Ross Nichols, who wrote an incredible book called the Moses Scroll.

We've had all kinds of different. We have, we have guests who have overcome addiction. We, we have a wide variety of guests, but they all are a piece of the puzzle.

And the walk with Jesus, I think they all bring something really interesting to the table.

So you're thinking about the people you've been impacted by your business and your podcast.

Is there a story or someone you've run across because of the work you've done that has stood out in your mind because of the impact that the work you do has had.

Man, there's so, there's. I've met so many incredible people in my walk between my business and I mean, one of them is one of my business partners, Chris.

He's just so inspiring because he's almost 50 and he looks like he's, I don't know, 34, just so healthy, so vibrant, so strong, so kind. And it's just a testament to.

How.

You can age if you really take care of yourself and think about it. Does God want us to be of service to others for 40 years or 50 years, then we die?

Or, you know, is it more glory to God if we're able to be healthy late into life and continue spreading love and spreading the gospel and all these things? So he's been a huge inspiration on me and I've met so many incredible, inspiring people. It's hard to narrow it down.

Yeah, I get it. So I love the fact that your message is a simple one. Take care of your body, serve others, and walk in truth.

So how do you, as a business owner, a podcast, or a believer, how does that live out in James's life every day?

Well, I, I think it all starts with this concept of repentance. And I don't mean that in like a self flagellating kind of way. I really mean it as self auditing. Be just being honest with yourself.

So I try and take time every morning and every evening to just give a genuine, honest look at my life before God. God is omnipotent and all knowing, so he already knows he knows you better than you know yourself.

So you might as well be honest because I, I know in the past I would kind of do these performative prayers and it's like God can see right through that. There's no, it's the prayers for us more than it's for God. You know, we're.

It helps us get to know ourselves and see where we're being blind or short sighted or where we're missing the mark, so to speak. So I think in order to live in truth and love, the first step is just to be honest with yourself and audit your life. Am I lying? Am I cheating?

Am I stealing? Am I gossiping? Am I being a glutton? Am I being lustful? Am I exaggerating?

There's endless things like, and it's, there's so many ways we could justify our sins. We all do it all the time. Right?

Right.

But if you give it honest and if you ask God, can you like, show, show me where I'm missing the mark here. You'll find that some of the things that you're making excuses for you could actually improve upon.

And I really believe it's important to do these things with love instead of self. Self hatred. I think that's toxic. And I mean, it could help, I guess, like shame.

Sometimes you get so ashamed that you want to change, but most of the time it's just, it's not to use like a new age terminology, but it's like low vibration. That's really low stuff. And it, I think negative entities, actually their favorite source of food is shame and guilt and fear and all these things.

So it's best to avoid that. You can view your life honestly with love and show love to your shortcomings and go, okay, I'm going to do better than that.

I actually think that's more effective than shame and guilt. So that was a long way of saying that. I think repentance is the doorway to living a more truthful life.

Yeah. Because actually the law only, only goes so far. It doesn't really transform hearts. It kind of keeps you in line.

But it is a gospel of Jesus Christ that truly transforms us. So you're right. The law may tell you stop, you should be ashamed of what you're doing, but that doesn't move you to really change your life.

It is the power of the gospel that transforms us to really want to seek after what God is wanting to do in our lives.

Right. It's like we take a step towards God and God almost will take the reins for us. So I think repentance opens the doorway.

It's a humbling of yourself before God and it allows the light of Christ in and allows you to overcome sin. You know, because we, we can't really like with our ego. Good luck overcoming sin. Yeah.

You know, because then it's just going to become pride or whatever. But with God, all things are possible.

Yes, definitely. You know, we live in a world that's so obsessed with quick fixes and shortcuts.

And I'm sure people like you talk about, you know, you realize at one point in your life that, hey, I'm not healthy, let me just go to the gym. If I take these supplements, maybe that'll get me to that ideal weight or condition faster.

But how do you encourage people from your own experience to realize that it's a journey and health is a journey. It's not a, you know, take this. And I'm. And I'm. And I'm healthy. I'm Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Tomorrow and when I wasn't Arnold Schwarzenegger day before.

Yeah, yeah. It's almost something people need to learn on their own through, through trial and error.

Like I could tell them but I know how I would reacted for years when people told me that and I'm like, yeah, but I got the secret sauce. You know, I know this thing that'll help me and I've just seen so many people get into trouble with quick fixes.

Whether it be steroids or drugs or whatever. It's always, I think of these quick fixes. They're always basically high interest loans like drugs.

You know, you're, you're borrowing energy or you're borrowing strength, whatever it is, but then you got to pay the piper and that interest is high. It's very high. It's high enough to destroy you. So you know, slow and steady really wins the race.

And I think of health and fitness, bodybuilding, all these things. If you start thinking about it in terms of years, you could see tremendous success because you build the systems that will set you up for life.

Whereas you don't really build systems when you're just trying to do the quick fix and the, the quick win. And I've had my business for 11 years. You know, I've, I've encountered every hardship, every failure along the way.

But you just keep trucking and you keep learning and that's all, all we can do. Just keep learning, stay positive, learn from your mistakes and trust God.

Amazing. So what's next for organic muscle? What new products or new initiatives have you got on the on horizon?

Oh, we got some amazing new products coming.

We have market's first all organic plant based testosterone booster which will have Tonkat Ali, fenugreek, ashwagandha, vitamin D, zinc, a mushroom blend. It's going to be incredible.

I think it's really going to change the market because I, I'm actually very passionate about helping guys get off steroids in a natural, clean, healthy way. I've had friends who have been suicidal from the side effects from steroids and had really negative experiences after they got off.

So that's a passion of mine that'll be coming out in a month or two and just, yeah, continue growing the business and doing my stuff with the Jesus way. Spreading, spreading the good word and yeah, just doing my best.

So what's your best seller today?

It's our Tongcat Elie and our organic pre workout. Those are our best sellers. We're also in vitamin shop nationwide too so you can check us out there. Yeah, cool.

I always called it Vitamin Shopee.

The Shopee.

Yeah.

Yeah, I love that. So that kind of old English spelling.

Yeah. No English spelling. Yeah. Vitamin Shopy.

So, James, I'm curious, for someone who's listening to this podcast right now and they're feeling stuck, for you who've been there, what. What words of wisdom, encouragement do you have for the listener?

Just get a small little victory. It's all you gotta do. Like, seriously, one decision, one small action can change your momentum. And life is all about momentum.

So if you're struggling with your health or weight loss or something and you feel stuck, you know, losing 100 pounds is overwhelming, and you're not even going to. You're not even going to attempt. But what can you do right now? Just go drink a glass of water.

Like literally get up right now, pause this, Go drink a glass of water and come back. You just did something that's positive. That'll blunt your appetite a little bit, hydrate you. You just did something positive.

All right, well, now you could do five air squats. Boom. You just did something positive.

You just need to start doing tiny little things that are positive and start stacking those up, and you'll become addicted. And the direction of your life can literally change.

Because right now you've got a bunch of negative habits stacked, and you're just kind of lost in that momentum.

So it's so crucial to halt that negative momentum and get it going the other way with tiny, tiny little positive habits, even taking a deep breath, because most people don't breathe. They're breathing very shallow. So just, you just did something positive. You gave more oxygen to your body.

So I like to do these little things when I'm feeling a bit stressed. Say a prayer. You say a prayer at any time. Positive momentum.

I love it. So I love to ask my guest this question, James, what. What do you want your legacy to be?

I want my legacy to be someone who. Who help people get healthier and help people.

Help people learn about the gospel in a unique way and really help them have a deeper understanding of Yeshua's mission, why he came to this earth, and to really just help people get closer to God and honestly to. To heal their relationship with God.

Because I. I believe that mainstream religion has so many positives, but also has included some distortions in people's walk and where it's almost come a checkbox or a fashion statement to go to church and, like, check the Christian box. Whereas I really think it's about a walk and a way of life and A change of heart, A genuine change of your heart and mind.

A gen. A genuine renewal that's authentic. So I want my legacy to be helping people, you know, get in alignment with that.

Awesome. So on season six of the podcast, James, we have a surprise question. Pick a number between 1 and 8 for your surprise question.

5.

If you could look through one person's email without them knowing about it, whose email would you look through and why?

I wasn't expecting that.

That's a surprise.

Yeah, well, there's like the political intrigue ones where you want to get like, you know, what's the juicy stuff? I want to think of someone creative. I mean, Trump would just be pretty interesting, but I don't even know if he uses email.

He's always like to see that guy is.

Even though I don't think he does use email.

Some, some like Big Politico would just be kind of juicy to read through and see what's actually going on behind the scenes, whether it be Trump, Obama, whoever. You know, Hillary, the Hillary emails, I don't know. I guess a lot of those have already been released.

Yeah, some of them. That's cool. So, James, where can people find you? Where can they find organic muscle if they want to know more about it?

Yeah, you could find us@organicmuscle.com we're also on Amazon. Just type in organic muscle or organic pre workout. You could find us in the vitamin shop nationwide.

You can find me on Instagram at James Benefico or YouTube. James Benefico and Aaron Apke's YouTube channel for the Jesus Way podcast.

So, as we wrap up this great conversation, what key takeaways do you want to leave with the audience today?

Seek the kingdom first and all else will be given to you. That should be the priority in your life.

And I really find that dedicating your mornings and the end of your days right before bed to God is a good way to do that. And, you know, the rest of your life can fall into place naturally after that. But yeah, seek first the kingdom.

And just having faith, like surrendering your problems and your anxieties and your issues to God is so life changing.

And doors open, doors really open when you have faith and you think positively because it enables you to see the opportunities at hand instead of just the challenges and roadblocks and anxiety. So, yeah, think positive. Trust God, you know, pray and yeah, be of service to others.

Yeah, those are all good qualities. As a pastor, I would recommend every last one of those.

Good. Awesome.

So, James, thank you for sharing your incredible journey with us today for our listeners. If you want to learn more about James's work, check out his Organic Muscle and the Jesus Way. Podcast links will be in the show.

Notes if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Becoming Bridge Builders on your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a review and share this episode conversation with someone who needs encouragement today.

Until next time, keep building bridges, living out your faith boldly. God bless you all. Thank you.

James. Thank you so much.

That was great, my friend.