It seems like everybody is trying to get in shape these days but
nobody is actually succeeding. Ask anybody, and 9 out of 10 will say
“I’m trying,” or “I’m on a diet,” or “I’d like to lose a few pounds.”
However, considering two thirds of the United States is overweight…it
seems like everybody sucks at this stuff. Most reasons fall into these
categories:
- I don’t care
- I don’t have time
- I lack the motivation
- I don’t know what I’m doing
If you’re not in shape, it’s probably due to one, two, three, or four
of the reasons listed above. I want to address each of these
individually and see if we can suck-proof your plan to get in shape.
The “I Don’t Care” Crowd
For a lot of people who are overweight and out of shape, getting
healthy is the last thing on their mind. They’re too busy wrapped up in
their job, their families, World of Warcraft, etc. and getting in shape
is NOT a priority. I’d guess that for a lot of these people, they are
extremely unhappy with how they look and feel, but have hit a point of
giving up and instead hide behind a “I don’t care” shield. I don’t want
you to be one of these people.
You need to find a reason to care:
- People that are in shape are more successful in life.
Let’s not tip-toe around this issue: good looking people go farther in
life. It’s true – it’s not fair, it sucks, but it’s true. There’s a
reason everybody is after plastic surgery, lipo-suction, and ‘the
Hollywood look’. Everything else being equal, the good looking guy/girl
will get the job. The good looking dude will get the girl. The good
looking guy will be a better salesman. That’s how life works. If you
want to be successful, you should care about your appearance if you want
to keep up. Yes, I know it’s not fair, but that’s how it works.
- Do you have kids? Do you want to see your kids
graduate high school? Do you want to see your grand kids? If you do,
you better get started down the path to being healthy today. I don’t
have kids yet, but I want to be around to see my great-grandchildren. I
know a lot of you readers are young (20s) and probably haven’t even
thought that far down the road. Think of this like a 401k investment –
if you start investing now, you’ll be loaded by the time you’re 65 (as
long as the economy doesn’t collapse again) thanks to all that extra
time for your savings to grow. If you start eating healthy and
exercising now, before you have health issues, you’ll be in much better
shape later on. Don’t try to play catch-up after the damage has already
been done.
- Being unhealthy is freaking expensive. I haven’t
been to a doctor for anything health related in years. No co-pays, no
expensive medicines, no stupid forms to fill out. The only time I ever
get sick is generally during my day-job’s cruise season, when I go four
or five days straight on minimal sleep. Our nations health care debt is
spiraling out of control, and instead of attacking the source
(prevention), we’re dumping money into treatment. Why continue to put
band-aids on a cut when you can stop the cut from happening in the first
place?
I’m going to guess that very few of you are in the “I don’t care”
club, because you probably wouldn’t be reading a fitness website if you
were. If you ARE in that club, here’s what you need to do to stop
sucking:
- FIND A WAY TO CARE. I don’t care if it’s your
doctor telling you to get in shape, your kids poking you in the gut and
saying “daddy you’re fat,” or just taking a long look at yourself in the
mirror.
- Be selfish and vain – You know what? I want to
live as long as possible, and I want to look as good as possible. I’m
sure you do too. I don’t care what your reasons are: maybe you want to
pick up chicks, look better at the beach, and live long enough until
they figure out cryogenic freezing. Whatever your reasons are for
getting in shape, if it gets you in shape I’m all for it. The ends
justify the means in this case.
- Be smart – I just read “Spark,”
a book that talks about exercise and the brain. I won’t bore you with
the details, but here’s the gist of it: you’re an idiot if you don’t
exercise. From making you more alert in school and at your job to
helping stave off Alzheimer’s and dementia when you’re older, exercise
has WAY more benefits than just making you look good. It can make you
smarter too.
The “I Don’t Have Time” Crowd
This one is my favorite, because I don’t buy it for a second. After
hearing story after story about single mothers with two jobs who find
the time to exercise and venture capitalists who work 80-hour weeks and
still squeeze in a morning jog, I find it hard to believe that people
can’t find 20 lousy minutes a day to get in shape. My guess is, “too
busy” involves at least an hour or two of television at night and
mindless hours spent crawling Wikipedia and
YouTube. If you really analyze your day, I have no doubt that you have time:
Make time – There’s no excuse. I don’t care what
yours is, because nobody will listen. Put it in your daily planner, add
it to your Google calendar, schedule it as a “Meeting with
Major Pain” or whatever. They say those who find success are often too busy to be looking for it.
Exercise in the morning – According to the studies
referenced in the previously mentioned Spark, people that exercise in
the morning retain a ****-ton more information in the hours after
exercise than those who don’t exercise. Here’s another reason why you
should exercise in the morning: how many times have you made a plan to
exercise after work, and then you get stuck at your desk for an extra
two hours, or you come home and your friends have broken into your house
and are playing Halo on your TV (this happens at my house approximately
twice a week), and suddenly all that exercise time you just had to go
out is now gone. This is what you need to do:
Set your alarm for 30 minutes earlier - While your
wife is sleeping, while your kids are asleep, while your roommates are
asleep, get your ass out of bed, and get your 30 minutes of exercise
done. You’ll be more alert at work, you won’t drag ass through your
morning meetings, and your afternoons are free to do whatever the hell
you want (like playing Halo with the aforementioned roommates that break
into your house).
Don’t think you can get a workout done in 20 minutes? Try 20 minutes of interval running and then tell me you’re not worn out. Not enough? One of the actors from 300 completed
the 300 challenge in under 20 minutes. Only have 5 minutes?
Do some Tabata. Just don’t come crying to me after.
I think everybody who says they don’t have time either fall into the
previous “I don’t care” category or the “No motivation” category and are
just hiding under the “I don’t have time” clause. let’s talk about why
that group sucks, and how to get out of it.
The “No Motivation” Crowd
I bet quite a few of you have been in this crowd before. You’ve
tried to get in shape, you had a good two weeks where you went to the
gym every day, you ate right, and you lost 10 pounds! Then, it rained, a
new video game came out, you got sick, whatever, and all of a sudden
you’re right back to where you started. Your heart is in the right
place, but something just didn’t line up.
What didn’t work last time? What is going to be
different this time? You’re a smart person (this might be a stretch,
but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess you are), so you need to
determine why you failed last time. That way, when the same thing
happens this time, you can recognize it and plow through it. Those who
forget history are doomed to repeat it.
Find your motivation – You’ve seen
Rocky IV,
right? When Rocky arrived in Russia, he put a picture of Drago on the
mirror that he looked at every morning. Every freaking day, Rocky would
wake up, probably at 4AM, load on four layers of clothing and go run in
three feet of snow. Why did he do it? Because Drago killed his best
friend! Maybe you don’t have a giant Russian man that you’ve sworn
revenge against, but I bet there’s a picture of something you can hang
up to make you hungry for success.
I’m going to be honest, I sat down last night after a long day of
work and didn’t want to write today’s blog post. I sat at my desk,
stared at a blank Word doc, and then read the sign I have hanging above
my computer:
“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” – The Shawshank Redemption
If you’ve met me, you’re probably aware of my unhealthy obsession
with The Shawshank Redemption. This movie is the reason I made the move
to Atlanta, it’s the reason I started Nerd Fitness, and it’s the reason
I have my current day job at
Sixthman
(the absolute best company in the world to work for). Every morning, I
wake up and read this quote before I go out the door. It’s this quote
that makes me want to make something of myself and appreciate what I
have.
Whatever your motivation is, find a way to live it every single day.
Set Specific Goals – To reference Shawshank again, the main character Andy Dufresne had specific goals in mind.
He wanted to:
- Break out of Prison
- Move to Zihuatanejo
- Open a hotel on the coast
- Fix up an old boat
- Play chess with his friend Red
It’s these goals and dreams that kept Andy going for 19 YEARS while
he sat wrongfully imprisoned. Without those goals, I bet Andy would
have been given up in that tiny jail cell. Instead, he ended up with
everything he ever wanted (spoilers if you haven’t seen the movie).
What are you specific goals? Don’t tell me you want to ‘lose weight,” I
want to hear something like, “I want to lose 50 pounds by June, I want
to do 10 pull ups, I want to fit into a pair of jeans with a 34 inch
waist, and I want to finally ask out the cute girl at the coffee shop
that I go to every morning.” Get specific, and then work every day
towards those goals.
Tell Everybody – When you have people counting on
you to pull through, you pretty much have to do it. Last week, I didn’t
post a blog on Friday because I was home for vacation and simply too
tired and worn out to write anything. That day on Facebook (
become a Nerd Fitness fan), NF reader Jack jokingly (I hope) left the comment,
“No Friday post. I feel like a blind man this weekend.”
I’m sorry Jack! It won’t happen again, because I HATE letting
people down – hopefully today’s post will get you through the weekend.
Want to see what accountability can do for somebody’s health? Check out
Tyler over at 344pounds.com, who has lost over 125 pounds since January, Steve over at 265andfalling.com, and Juncti at ScatterShotMind. Accountability works.
If you don’t want to start a website, then tell all of your
coworkers, your friends, and have them keep you accountable. Don’t
suck!
The “I Don’t Know What I’m Doing” Crowd
This one is tough. You care, you have time, and you’re motivated,
but you’re still not losing weight. You think you’re eating right, you
go to the gym, but the weight just doesn’t seem to come off. That means
something ain’t workin’. Luckily, you have the three toughest reasons
for sucking out of the way, let’s take care of the fourth.
You Can’t Outrun Your Fork. I’ve said it before, I’m
saying it now, I’ll say it again – you can’t outrun a bad diet. It can
take you an hour to burn 500 calories, and then 2 minutes to put them
all right back. I’ve already written 2000+ words on
how to NOT suck at losing weight;
to sum up those 2000 words in two sentences: stop eating junk food,
stop eating fake food, start eating fruits, vegetables, and lean meats.
Cut out the sugar, processed grains, simple carbs, and soda.
Do you really know how many calories you’re eating?
If you’re overweight, I’d wager that you’re probably underestimating how
many calories you eat on a daily basis. That handful of animal
crackers, 5 Hershey’s Kisses, and half a can of soda all add to your
calorie total for the day. Keep track of your calories for a week, and
if your weight didn’t go down, find a way to knock off 500 calories a
day and you’ll start to lose a pound a week.
Get Better - Your diet is probably 80-90% of your
success or failure, so just fixing that will fix 80-90% of your issues.
However, if you’re interested in building some muscle while losing fat,
you’re going to need to do some strength building exercises. If you
don’t have a gym membership, start doing some of these
body weight exercises. If you do have a gym membership, make sure you don’t
suck at working out.
Whatever it is you’re doing, make sure you’re getting better or faster
at it over time. There’s only one way to know if that’s happening…
WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN – Did you get stronger or
weaker since your last workout? Faster or slower? The only way you’ll
know this is if you keep track of what you did last time. I don’t care
if it takes you 20 minutes to walk a mile. The next time better take
you 19:59 or less. Everybody has to start somewhere – make sure you
always know where that “somewhere” is so you can do better than that
next time time.
What did I leave out?
These are the four biggest reasons I could think of. What other
reasons are out there for why people suck at getting in shape? Have you
been in one of these groups and worked your way out?
How did you do it?
-reposted from a guy named Steve
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