Don’t overthink getting in shape — just get started
I lost 25 lbs in 6 months and found out the secret—just put in the work today.
I’ve never really been out of shape. At times you could tell I eat good, but in fall 2021 you could tell I was eating phenomenal.
I always played sports as a kid all the way through high school. Loving basketball, college made it even easier to get in some cardio. You could catch me playing for ~3 hours 5 days a week. You would think I got paid to hoop as much as I’d be in the gym.
Then the pandemic hit.
AND I WENT EVEN HARDER.
With nothing to do all day, my roommates and I would do push-ups and pull-ups just to stave off boredom. Catch each other on the second-floor landing—that’s 50 push-ups. Pass the pull-up bar above the door—that’s 10 pull-ups. We started putting up outlandish numbers.
Then we found the big ass tire. We started hitting the overgrown field behind Ypsilanti High School almost daily. Then we’d hit the hill for sprints.
I’d get up at 6 am just to do HIIT workouts with some friends, just to get back home and go back and flip the tire later. Not to mention hooping and golf later on the same day. I got into the (second) best shape of my life during the pandemic.
But then my ego got inflated. I started adding weights to my pull-ups and dips. I started doing HEAVY split squats. And not adding weights incrementally. Ego adding. Injury adding. Tearing my hip abductor adding.
All the hard work turned into eating Thai food 10 times per week. Feeling sorry for myself. And yes, I was getting sticky rice with half those orders. And yes, there’s only 7 days in a week 😅.
I went from around 180 lbs to over 200 lbs. QUICK. I had never stepped on a scale and seen 200 before in my life. Then on top of the injury, NY was getting BRICK. I wasn’t working out at all. I was getting lazy. And I was FEASTING off the dash pass.
But, then I decided — let me get started today.
I had moved out to LA for the winter and the day I got there I did some push-ups. And some leg raises. And some pull-ups.
And then I woke up the next day and did some more. And some more. And some more. Added in some yoga too. Some more ab exercises.
Started making it a game with my roommates. Bets for 100 push-ups. Race to 100 pull-ups.
I started doing more and more each day — incrementally. This time I didn’t skip steps. Nothing happens overnight and we shouldn’t expect it to. My pull-up numbers went 5 per set to 20. I went from 0 muscle-ups to sets of 10. From not touching my toes to putting my palms on the ground. From eating takeout Thai to cooking quinoa and salmon.
And it all happened a day at a time.
So now you know the trick is that there is no trick. If you want to do anything — just start it today. Don’t wait for the perfect time, just peep the clock — it’s already here.
This blog post might be BASURA, but I’m starting today. In 6 months, I’ll be way better. In a year… shit subscribe and find out.
