Overweight? I get it. I've been there. But something changed. I was tired of a lifestyle that kept me overweight and out of shape. When I made the commitment to drop from 35 percent body fat down to 15 percent body fat, it wasn't for vanity but for discipline. It was to gain control over old habits. And everything started to shift from that point on.
Getting lean is difficult. It's a war against your old identity. But if you can do it, even just once, it will change you forever.
Before you start, you need to know where you are right now. When I first committed to getting lean, I took photos that genuinely made me cringe.
But here's the truth. Clarity is power. I didn't like what I saw, but those pictures I took were the fuel I needed. I couldn't believe that I had let things slip so much. The camera doesn't lie. I began to track my weight daily, not to obsess over it, but to see the trend. This is where your "why" needs to kick in. You ask yourself, "What type of person do I want to be? Someone who gives in whenever they get hungry? Or someone who's building discipline?" This isn't a temporary diet phase. This is a lifestyle change. If you want to be lean then you have to become the type of person who lives an active lifestyle. This kind of disciplined mindset just bleeds into everything else in your life.
The fittest people don't just work out. They see themselves as people who respect and take care of their bodies. If you want to have a great physique you have to change your identity. You need to take a long look at yourself in the mirror and decide who you want to be. Don't just say "I want to lose weight." Say, "I am an athlete in training." Go ahead. Write it down on a sheet of paper:
I AM AN ATHLETE.
Then prove it to yourself with small wins each and every day. Think of two guys trying to quit smoking. One of them is offered a cigarette and replies, "No thanks, I'm trying to quit." The other person is offered a cigarette and says, "No thanks, I don't smoke." The second person has adopted an entirely new identity, and their actions are just going to follow suit.
The same applies to fitness. If you have to force yourself to go to the gym, it's not going to work. But if you start saying, "I am an athlete who never misses a workout," suddenly the gym is just a part of who you are.
So who do you want to be? Someone who forces himself to follow a diet? Or someone who's just doing what an athlete does? Most people fail because they don't know how to make this pivot.
Fitness is about building a foundation for success over every aspect of your life. If I can do it at my age, you definitely can do it as well.
