Getting My First Sixpack at Age 33

Hey everyone,

I'm Josh, 33M/5'8 and weighed in at 149.2 lbs this morning. I'm currently on week 7 of a 12 week program to lose body fat and get the first sixpack of my life. I started at 160lbs so I've lost ~10lbs so far. Just 5 more to go!

I first had the desire to get a sixpack when I was 14 so it's taken me NINETEEN years (😳) to get here with a hell of a lot of mistakes along the way. I was about 212 lbs when I was 14 and my peak weight was about 220 when I was 19. When I look back, my current state is like a dream come true and I wish I could tell my younger self that it would all be okay and not get so down about my body.

I know that others are at different stages of their weight loss journeys so if I could pass on the most important thing I've learned, it's that your psychology is everything. I believe there is too much focus on diets and exercise to the detriment of psychology. Don't get me wrong, diets and exercise are important but they are not enough. A person on a decent diet and exercise program with the right mindset will have better long-term results than the same person with a 'better, more optimal' program with no follow through.

Let me give an example of what I'm talking about. Say you get fed up one day and decide to make changes to your body. Enough is enough. You find a diet whether it be based on calorie counting, keto, vegan, whatever, and you get started. The first couple of weeks everything is great, your morale is high, and the weight is dropping. Then one day, you step on the scale and...it's gone up? What the fuck? "But I've been working so hard!" You chalk it up to randomness and you press on.

You keep on the program and keep restricting yourself. A few days later, you step on the scale again wincing this time because you're afraid of what you're going to see. This time, the scale is...flat. You haven't gained weight but you haven't lost any either.

Now the self-talk takes over:

• "I can't beat my genetics, why bother"
• "Everyone in my family is overweight, how could I think this would work"
• "Sue can eat all she wants and looks great. I'm here busting my ass and it's NOT WORKING."
• "I've failed a million times already, just quit"

And on and on.

If I'm describing this vividly, it's because I've lived this MANY TIMES over the years. I'd hit a setback that I couldn't get past, I would quit and then forget about it until the next time I was motivated to lose weight again.

What's taken me forever to learn and what I know now is that your brain will be the toughest enemy you face in your journey. Not the diet, not exercising, not the scale, not your family and friends, nothing else. At some point your brain will betray you and that will be the moment that decides whether you will succeed or fail.

I'm re-reading this wall of text and feel like it sounds sales-y. I promise I have nothing to sell 😄 I'm a corporate lawyer and not at all connected to the health, fitness, or psychology industry. My goal with this post is to share my experience and hopefully help a few people achieve what they want faster than I did.

That's enough of a brain dump for now. I'll post photos over the next couple of weeks. If you made it this far, thank you. I wish you tremendous success in whatever goal you are trying to achieve. 🙏🏾

Let's get it!!!!

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