When I was 25 years old, I had my first “weight problem”. Or at least what you could call a weight problem at the time. I was out of school, and went from working out every day, walking 4 or 5 miles to classes, and sitting behind a desk at P&G. I was young, invincible, and kept eating (poorly) as I always did. And slowly the pounds creeped onto my waistline!
I was living in San Antonio Texas at the time, in sales, and I recall all I did was go from ordering 2 big macs for lunch, to ordering only 1. I would cut back on a slice or two of pizza. And the weight fell off. That wasn’t so hard!
That was then. This is now.
50 is coming. In less than 6 months, I will cross the half century. I now train 6 days a week, at least 10 hours of hard running or gym. I eat like I have never eaten. Pretty much the way any dietician would tell you to eat. At least 15 servings of veggies a day. Water to drink. Small servings of chicken. Never beef or Pork. I eat as good as you can eat.
My god if I had done this at 25, I would have been ripped and an amazon! Now I do it and still can’t get all the weight off! How 25 years can change so much….hormone levels, metabolism, a whole range of things!
I was telling this all to my bodyguard. See he’s 29 and he is supposed to watch out for me! He is the bodyguard…….I am the client!
So we go to the gym. I out-lift him. We go shooting. And I can out-shoot him. And we run. And I would kill him. So I gave him some shit…..”Joseph, come one. I mean I am the old guy. You are the trained bodyguard, former military. I mean who the hell is guarding who here?”
I give him credit. He has picked it up, a bit of professional embarrasment is often a good motivator. Tonight we went on a 5 mile run. He is getting close. His 29 year old body, and smaller frame, are working to his favor with some regular training. Normally I can drop him in the first few miles. This time it took me to 4.5 miles before I finally broke him. It may be only a matter of time……
My point to him was, if you can’t get your shit together, i.e. get your body healthy and fit in your 20′s, you are SCREWED For life. I mean, as I told him, you have no idea how hard 40 is. And then 50. It only gets harder. With each passing year and decade, it just becomes exponentially more difficult.
So my message here is to people in thier 20′s and 30′s, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. Get fit. Run. Eat right. Get yourself looking good. Bikini fit. It is EASY at your age! Just do the right things. And stop blaming genetics for your issues. Bullshit. It’s your lack of discipline. Our genes didn’t all mutate in the past 20 years folks. It’s all lifestyle. Because here is the rub……if you don’t have your shit together when you are young, you are setting yourself up for a world of hell in the later years. You will be obese. Miserable. Sweating all the time. Can’t fit in an airline seat. And refusing to walk up 1 flight of stairs. You got one shot to avoid this, other than dying young—-get yourself into shape NOW, when it’s a piece of cake.