With the Super Bowl dominating this past weekend news stories and me having a hard time during my recent weeks of my Countdown to 195, this section of Release The Beast came at a perfect time. During the past couple of days, I read section five of Release The Beast: Conquer Mental, Physical & Diet Challenges To Unleash The Champion Inside! These 3 chapters forced me to have a long overdue inner conversation with myself. It’s something that everyone who’s serious about making a change in their lives need to do.
Chapter 19: Who Are You?
When I first thought about putting together my Countdown to 195 series of posts, I seriously expected to be done with it once New Year’s rolled around. I was gung-ho and knew how I failed during past holiday seasons. That was not going to be me this year! I was a best-selling author now! I had a Fan Club to support!
It’s amazing how a year ago, when I did not put myself publicly out there, I was able to accomplish a major weight loss with no effort! All I did was workout, ate my targeted numbers, had about one cheat meal a week and slept. That’s all I did for for 21 days straight.
With each bite of various desserts these past months, I’ve felt like a fraud. It’s like I haven’t been myself lately. It’s time I had that one on one conversation because I’ve been hurting my progress so far this year.
Going to the gym and physically working out has NEVER been a problem with me. I know I’m a guy who will give it his all at the gym. Unless I have a major injury, I’m not the type of person to skip a workout.
My biggest achilles heel is when it comes towards eating. The problem with having so much knowledge in fitness is that it becomes EASY to overthink things. If I truly wanted to get down to 195 pounds, I know fifty different ways to eat to get my weight down in a hurry. But that wasn’t the point of my countdown.
The countdown is about an easy realistic approach to get the weight down. That takes months not days to accomplish. Am I currently someone willing to take their time to do what is needed to get down to that weight?
When I truthfully looked at myself in the mirror, I could say that I was NOT CURRENTLY THAT PERSON! When I first started my countdown, I stated how I did not care about how much I weigh. Throughout the countdown that was true! Little did I know that me not caring was something holding my progress back.
As the weeks have gone by and I’ve bounced back and forth this winter, I now understand that I did not truly want to get down to 195 badly enough. The guy who got under 195 before, was able to do so because there was no pressure to do so from external forces. This time around, I’ve let the pressure of proving myself to critics get to me!
When did I start letting other’s opinions affect me? THAT’S NOT WHO I AM!!!
While typing this up, I’ve been glancing at myself in the mirror. What I see is a guy who wants to help the world get better. I see a guy who wrote a best-selling book that is guaranteed to save people’s lives! What I see is a guy who knows he didn’t try his hardest to eat properly during these cold months. I see a guy who’s had enough and KNOWS its time.
It’s just time. It’s time for me to release the burdens of past winters. It’s time for me to release the temptations of the sugar sirens! It’s time for me to reveal that six pack again that’s hiding under this winter coat! It’s time for me to become that role model that my current clients expect me to be! I’m proud that when they read this they will understand that I TRULY GET THEIR PAST FRUSTRATIONS! Like me, I hope they are ready to…..RELEASE THE BEAST!!
That’s Who I Am!!!!
Chapter 20: Who’s Your Enemy
During the Super Bowl buildup, I hated how the media was putting Peyton Manning against Cam Newton. I just really hated how the media was portraying Cam Newton from the start! Yes, he’s cocky. Yes he celebrates. Yes, he dances after he scores. Yes, he’s an emotional player. But what does that have to do with Peyton Manning?
In the end, the Broncos won the Super Bowl with their great defense. Cam Newton had a awful game and didn’t want to talk about it. Win or lose, the media was going to write nothing but negative things about Cam Newton. So when he was at that press conference,…..what really could he had said that would not have gotten a positive reaction?
I use this example because in this chapter, it talked about finding a enemy. If Cam Newton were to read this chapter after his Super Bowl lost, he would easily be able to find the ammunition needed to fuel his next football season! Every critic, every tweet, every “Tennessee Mom’s letter”, every former NFL player’s “expert opinion”, every sports channel anchor …is doing nothing but providing all the motivation he needs to get to that next level!
So who’s the enemy that will get me towards my next level? I will not put their information publicly out there but I do have some folks in mind. I’ve combined them all into a being I will call “JL”. As the chapter suggested, I wrote all the negatives these people did and it has lit a fire in me!
If I was not a man of honor, I would put their information out there but I’m better than they are! That’s exactly what this chapter was about. Finding that person (or people) out there that you can strive to be better at in all matters of living. Not just working out but in your overall life! It’s very powerful information!
Chapter 21: Reality
My current reality is what made me want to write this blog post so badly! I’m still blessed enough that I can change my body rapidly when eating and working out a certain way. It just comes down to me being consistent. The problem has been that I’ve been delaying that consistent effort for over a month now. I now see that I preferred to eat sweets more than I desired to lose weight during cold winter months.
The person I see looking back at me in the mirror and in the photos I took do not reflect who I would like to be (or who I was a year ago!). To get to all my next level goals, I have to accept my current reality and move on from here. The previous 12 weeks of Countdown to 195, DO NOT MATTER! It’s what I do right now that will allow me to Release The Beast!
If you have your own struggles, please do your future self a favor and check out Release The Beast: Conquer Mental, Physical & Diet Challenges To Unleash The Champion Inside!
