Welcome to another interview here at CBF. We have my friend, Jake. We want to share with you his story and tips, so you can follow his tips and you can get weight loss results.
Sandro, “Welcome, Jake.”
Jake, “Thank you. Glad to be here.”
Sandro, “Tell me your story. How did everything start?”
Jake, “I came to you out of embarrassment. I was very nervous. Work was crazy, a lot of stress. Work was piling up and I needed something to get that release. I needed accountability and to take control of something. The only thing I thought I could take control of was my health. I tried to exercise before, but I think it was your mental invitation that motivated me.
The only thing I thought I could take control of was my health...
I can’t remember that conversation we had over email. But I think the initial invitation was telling you that I wanted to lose some weight. I want to feel more comfortable about myself, I thought that losing weight would make me feel better. I think immediately you recognized that it’s not possible. That you have to have the mental focus first. That exercising is more than just lifting weights. It is about attitude and mental clarity.”
Sandro, “How much weight have you lost?”
Jake, “I am down to 16% body fat. I was pushing close to 30%. I thought 30% was okay. But according to the national average that still obese. I think half of the country is technically obese. I don’t feel obese. I felt out of shape. I felt I could not fully live my life comfortably and as confident as I wanted to. Over the last 5 months I feel stronger than I ever had. I feel the most active. I feel more confident, if I want to climb a mountain or if I want to go arm wrestle a guy in a bar, tackle a mountain lion, then sure, I can probably do that. I am not saying I will. I am saying I have more confidence than the old 30% body fat Jake. My biggest change has been my mental attitude.”
Sandro, “Tell me about your eating.”
Jake, “The old Jake was on a diet of restaurants, fast food, and convenient stores. I didn’t think it was bad because it says ‘low fat’ or ‘diet’. I was not eating entirely unhealthy, but I was not consistent with eating healthy. What I am trying to do now is pack my own lunch. I have been eating more vegetables. It is the consistency of being mindful about what you are eating versus what you want to eat at that time. Really processed foods really stand up. Eating healthy doesn’t mean you just eat berries. You can have healthy delicious foods. It’s just knowing what it is before through it in your mouth.”
The old Jake was on a diet of restaurants, fast food, and convenient stores. I didn’t think it was bad because it says "low fat" or "diet"...
Sandro, “Let’s talk about your workout now.”
Jake, “My biggest enemy in the whole process is my mind, trying to overcome frustration about sleeping in, skip a day, but like I say before, trying to overcome stress and take control of my mind. There is the inner demon that constantly just nags and says you can’t do it and I am like I am getting up. I am going to do this. I think that is it. That is the one voice I am trying to silence. I show up at 4:59 am, trying to get here and pretend that I am awake, but it is the fact that I was here. I don’t think I ever left a session not feeling happy that I made it. Being here in the end made it worthwhile even if it was a bad workout. I felt good mentally. The rest of my day is going to be good.
I had a lot of crappy days, but I still can look bad and say that is the one thing I felt confident about myself. I have a lot of friends who go to the evening sessions and they tell you too. Even though their day is crazy for them, that would be the release.”
Sandro, “What do you tell yourself when you are lifting those heavy weights?”
Jake, “There is a part of me that wants to pretend to lift the weight and put it back down, but you are always watching. I think for me is that you are not trying to hurt me, or push me faster than I am ready to go. It is trusting that I don’t know what I am doing and I need somebody to give me some guidance. If I do it myself, I lift the same weights and I get the same results. For my entire life, I thought that jogging around the blog for 20 minutes would be enough. I never could push myself to pass to the next level.”
Sandro, “How did you use to think before and how do you think now?”
Exercise is more than weight lifting...
Jake, “I trust myself a lot more and have seen the results and knowing where I was, it allowed me to expand my confidence in other areas. I had other things to consider doing. I noticed that little voice in mind started to speak louder. I think a big part of that is tracking the progress. We started by writing down goals and clarifying what that was. It gives me the resources to go back and see how I was thinking and how I think now.”
Sandro, “What is your weight loss tip?”
Jake, “The most important thing to do is to have an honest conversation with yourself. Who you are and who you want to be. You can’t just say, ‘I am going to exercise for 30 days.’ It’s more like a personal commitment for yourself more than it is for the gym or lifting an amount of weights.”
Sandro, “Thank you, Jake. That was great. I really appreciate it.”
Thank you so much for continuing to follow us. I hope you like this interview and you learned something out of this.