When I began my journey, it was all about hitting 190 on my 30th birthday. That was all I thought about from the day I set that goal, six months before my 30th, until the morning of my birthday when I got on the scale and it read 185. It was a fantastic feeling to know that I was capable of setting a goal and then surpassing it. I spent a couple months enjoying what I had accomplished before setting a goal to reach 175. After I got down to 175, my goal became 170. When I hit 170 I was completely satisfied, or so I thought. My weight teetered from 167 to 172 for about a year or so before I realized that all I was, was a bag of bones and belly fat.
I had lost 45 pounds but had hardly anything to show for it. I had a bit more confidence but for the most part I still walked into a room doubting my every move. Yes, I had lost 45 pounds but I had the muscle mass of a fifteen year old. Yeah, I had lost 45 pounds but I was still unable to be completely happy with who I had become. Losing a lot of weight, or finally reaching what you feel to be your ultimate number on the scale, doesn't always mean you'll feel as happy and perfect as you thought you would.
What I have realized over the past year is, it's not about a number on the scale. It's about hard work, challenging your body, sweating your butt off and doing things you never thought possible. My confidence level when I was at 170 was probably a two out of ten; today my confidence is probably at an eight or nine. At 170 my overall happiness was probably a six or seven and today it is a ten every single day of my life.
Are you ready to stop chasing a number and start chasing a greater you?
Throw away your scale and never look back. I promise, if you start training to become a greater you: your stress levels will decrease, you energy levels will increase, you self-confidence will increase and inevitably your body fat will decrease. Your journey should be about feeling the greatest you have ever felt, not just about a number on the scale.
So how do you start chasing a greater you? You push yourself to accomplish things you never thought possible. You don't even need a gym to become a greater you; if you can move your own body weight, you can start there. Push ups, pull ups and squats can all be done with out weights and are a great measure of total body strength. If you do have a gym at your disposal, the options are limitless as to how you can achieve a greater you.
My keys to success: find a training system that excites you, don't limit yourself, train with someone, don't join a gym without a week trial membership, lift heavy, don't be afraid of what others think. ~jason b.
