January 2015 newsletter

Recently I lost 20 pounds. More precisely, I’ve gone from 185 to 165 in a seven-week period. People ask me how I did it. In my opinion the better question is: Do I like it? Yes, I like it. I’m stronger, recover faster, have more control and energy and I experience a general wellbeing in my new physical state. So, how did I do it? It’s hard not to ask that question, right? However, the truth is that I didn’t seek it out. It just happened.

We can try to explain things in life, make sense of the past and try to predict the future, but it will always remain a mystery. The only true life is in the moment.

If you are looking to lose weight, if you struggle with your shape and your wellbeing and seek to make a change, I firmly believe that you must learn to face yourself in this moment. If you cannot scrutinize your own behavior and clearly assess your state of mind, how will you be able to go anywhere? You will be lost in your circumstances. And the pounds will stick to you.

You may experience resistance towards changing yourself as you dig deeper into the painful layers of who you are. Believe me, that resistance is way more important to lift off your chest than the weights in the gym that you push in front of you.

If you are not able to carry yourself inside, how will you carry the workload?

Look around, and you’ll know you are not alone with your pain. There are others — often very close to you, even strangers as far as you know — that struggle with similar agony. In the parallel universe of the gym, knowing that you are not alone is often crucial to going the extra mile, pushing yourself mentally and physically to break your habit, to skip the cookie, to make friends with hunger, to do the extra reps or whatever it is that you need.

Truly be the change you want to see in others, and you will discover a potential that will make dreams come true. You must train both mind and body.