Fitness/Physique
I was a fat kid. I do not mean that I was "obese" (though the stupid standards that qualify obesity very well may have classified me that way), but I was a fat kid. Amongst my social group while growing up, I was just about the heaviest kid; I weighed more when I was 5 foot even and 13 than I do now @ 6'1". I had 3 major vices - Fast food, soda and cereal. I never really had sweets outside of the soda, the fast food was not rampant, but a weekly addition on average, but it was the cereal that was inflating me. I would literally go through a box of cereal in 2 days, on top of all other standard meals (not having the cereal for breakfast). All of those carbs and milk and near to no really active physical action lead to a chubby kid.
Then I hit High School. I didn't really stop much of my eating habits, but I laid off the cereal and starting getting outside from time to time. When girls became a possibility, I became more concerned with my appearance. I never really got thin or fit, but I slimmed down due to lack of eating - but I was still very inactive/weak all things considered.
Early 20's hit and I became an office job'er/cubical jockey for near to 4 years. Real estate and property management is a lot of sitting around and talking, no motion, no activity, and lots of time to eat. It didn't help that nearly every single damn day the office was loaded with donuts, bagels, muffins and the like. At the end, I was nearing 210 lbs, and couldn't run more than 100 feet without feeling it (and being a non-smoker, that is just sad).
Up to this point, I would go through stints of self restructuring; not liking what I saw, I would put myself through mini-torture sessions of starvation and exercise in extreme (un-healthy and unstructured) quantities. The weight would drop, and then I would slack again.
When I got laid off from being a property manager, I declared 2 things: I would not allow myself to lull back into another job that renders my body complacent - and I would shred off the gut I had acquired and keep it that way. I did this not just for appearance, but because I wanted to be healthy again. I wanted to be agile, feel good, and have a responsive body able to handle the tasks I gave it.
In less than 2 months of pure drive, I shredded off almost 30 lbs, had gone from being winded by a mile jog, to being able to run 8+ miles, and was overall becoming the most fit I had ever been in my life. Since then, I dialed it back down a bit - but I have been able to maintain a weight between 170 and 175 @ 6'1".
So far this is all just a cataloging of my shape and size, but the core of this whole thing really comes down to my feelings on willpower. People in general let their instincts overpower their consciousness. They consciously want to get fit, be healthy, eat better - and then their body says give me a "Big Mac" or "you just ran me half a mile, stop killing me" when you know that you don't need that Big Mac, or that you will be fine if you finish the mile - yet people acquiesce to these basic urges and ruin their goals.
It didn't require me to do anything more than just finding my inner will, and holding fast by it to accomplish what I have done. So far - this has been the first real life-changing exercise I have given myself in using my drive to overcome an obstacle, but I have plans for more. All things considered, getting in shape really is as easy as I have said - you tell people this, and they always reply that "it is not as easy for me" or another excuse as to why they are unable to do the same, and that statement right from the get go directs their will into conceding.
Oh yeah, on a last note to show how you really can do this yourself, I did not buy any stupid exercise equipment or wonder device, nor did I join gym - every bit of exercise I was able to do and no gear or weights, with the exception of a pull-up bar (Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, running and stretching is all you need to get fit - the rest of it is to get built, but that is another story).
Then I hit High School. I didn't really stop much of my eating habits, but I laid off the cereal and starting getting outside from time to time. When girls became a possibility, I became more concerned with my appearance. I never really got thin or fit, but I slimmed down due to lack of eating - but I was still very inactive/weak all things considered.
Early 20's hit and I became an office job'er/cubical jockey for near to 4 years. Real estate and property management is a lot of sitting around and talking, no motion, no activity, and lots of time to eat. It didn't help that nearly every single damn day the office was loaded with donuts, bagels, muffins and the like. At the end, I was nearing 210 lbs, and couldn't run more than 100 feet without feeling it (and being a non-smoker, that is just sad).
Up to this point, I would go through stints of self restructuring; not liking what I saw, I would put myself through mini-torture sessions of starvation and exercise in extreme (un-healthy and unstructured) quantities. The weight would drop, and then I would slack again.
When I got laid off from being a property manager, I declared 2 things: I would not allow myself to lull back into another job that renders my body complacent - and I would shred off the gut I had acquired and keep it that way. I did this not just for appearance, but because I wanted to be healthy again. I wanted to be agile, feel good, and have a responsive body able to handle the tasks I gave it.
In less than 2 months of pure drive, I shredded off almost 30 lbs, had gone from being winded by a mile jog, to being able to run 8+ miles, and was overall becoming the most fit I had ever been in my life. Since then, I dialed it back down a bit - but I have been able to maintain a weight between 170 and 175 @ 6'1".
So far this is all just a cataloging of my shape and size, but the core of this whole thing really comes down to my feelings on willpower. People in general let their instincts overpower their consciousness. They consciously want to get fit, be healthy, eat better - and then their body says give me a "Big Mac" or "you just ran me half a mile, stop killing me" when you know that you don't need that Big Mac, or that you will be fine if you finish the mile - yet people acquiesce to these basic urges and ruin their goals.
It didn't require me to do anything more than just finding my inner will, and holding fast by it to accomplish what I have done. So far - this has been the first real life-changing exercise I have given myself in using my drive to overcome an obstacle, but I have plans for more. All things considered, getting in shape really is as easy as I have said - you tell people this, and they always reply that "it is not as easy for me" or another excuse as to why they are unable to do the same, and that statement right from the get go directs their will into conceding.
Oh yeah, on a last note to show how you really can do this yourself, I did not buy any stupid exercise equipment or wonder device, nor did I join gym - every bit of exercise I was able to do and no gear or weights, with the exception of a pull-up bar (Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, running and stretching is all you need to get fit - the rest of it is to get built, but that is another story).