rubber band
why you arent as fit as you think you should be
i was an abomination this past weekend.
a gluttonous pig. completely out of control.
a billion hotdogs, burgers, snacks, and drinks. i 20x’d my carbohydrate intake and felt like baron harkonnen from dune after 4 days of saying yes to everything that entered my 200 degree field of view.
after annihilating half a bag of snyders pretzels, i was not quite horizontal, but figuratively that’s how i felt. leeeeaaaaning back in my chair, with a lake view, carb coma’d out, feeling anything but lean and vital.
a close friend of mine, sitting nearby, broke the silence by saying “how do you do it? how do you stay in such good shape? youre eating like there won’t be food tomorrow. so what, truly, do you think it is? why do you think so many people struggle?”
good question.
“genetics,” i said.
his question was good because he wanted more than the classic “eat less move more propaganda.”
most people already know what they need to do to be healthy but still feel stuck.
im not special.
just like you, i do my best to eat clean, exercise, and get good sleep.
then what makes me successful?
heres what i told him:
i say no a lot
i get back on the horse fast
no
most people only see the decisions you make when youre in front of them, so seemingly, to my friend, im always saying yes.
yes to the drink, yes to the doughnut, yes to another slice of pizza, yes to skipping the workout, yes to sleeping like shit.
well yeah, every time im with him im a terrible example of what health looks like.
but he hasnt seen the series of no’s i’ve taken between times weve crossed paths.
thousands of no’s.
i say no, a lot. more than i probably should. but success with regards to physique IS saying no.
no to the bread. no to snooze. no to the party. no to the beers.
no’s internally, no’s externally.
most people say yes to everything.
most people aren’t 12% body fat year round.
if you wanna be like everyone else, keep acting like them.
be the black sheep.
get back in the saddle
alright, so yeah i was a complete moron this weekend.
thursday through sunday i dont know if i had a vegetable.
but heres where i’m different.
monday, i was 100% perfect, like normal. back into flow. no hiccups. right back into the grind.
i think that after “having too much fun” most people are slow to get back to baseline. theyre slow to respond. they are floppy rubber bands.
“being healthy during the week” is actually being healthy tuesday, wednesday, thursday, because monday and friday bleed into those days of bad behavior.
your 5 days on, 2 days off is actually 4 days off, 3 days on.
friday night you blow up. saturday you’re reeling, blow up again. sunday you dont recover either because footballs on, wings, pizza. monday youre too tired from it all.
people blow up their hard work on the weekend and theyre slow to get back on track.
this whole week ive heard people complaining about how theyre not recovered from the weekend.
they havent gone to the gym because theyre too tired and their diet is sloppy.
you dont need me to tell you that hangover food isnt meat and broccoli.
you gotta get back to it. you gotta get back in the saddle. after the weekends up there cant be any blur.
its gotta be 5 good days, 2 bad. or 1 bad. or none.
its really gotta be a majority of the time. not in theory, but in reality.
think about it.
tldr
say no more often than you say yes. and when you mess up, bounce back.
you want it or you dont and it really is that simple.
in this game, majority rules. math is math.
just my 2 cents. if youre stuck give it a shot.
(this is more than just health advice)
thanks for reading and godspeed.
-dante
my brain:
song: kiss of life - sade
idea: go to the movies alone
skincare tip: fix your gut