On November 7th, I decided to start working out and eating right. This is how I transformed my body and you can as well.

When I was younger I could eat anything I wanted and go work out to burn it off. This is no longer true at 40 and if you eat poorly, You will get hurt, not have energy, and see poor results even if you can stay healthy. I’d say health is 70% nutrition and 30% exercise. Also you need to know WHY you are working out or want to get healthy. Here are the key pillars that I used to be healthy.

Why Workout?

Everyone wants to be healthy, but want a shortcut, a fad diet, something easy that requires very little work. This is where I failed in past attempts, I just wanted to be healthy or to look a certain way. It was a WEAK reason to workout and as soon as it became hard or the shortcut stopped working after the initial success I would quit.

This time was different, my why changed after I hit 40, because my father passed away at 55 and many other relatives also passed in their 50s. Fear of death is a powerful motivator and just thinking about all the birthdays and life events my father missed from passing away at an early age. I don’t want that to happen to my children or many other scenarios that would lead to a degraded quality of life by NOT working out.

Nutrition

An overly complicated subject that I failed miserably at because of all the misinformation that exists. Here are the three biggest things I did that kept me unhappy and miserable.

• No Alcohol (Special Events, but NO MORE than once a month.)
• Limit Added Sugar (Drinks and Artificial Sweetners are also bad.)
• Limit Refined/Simple Carbs (White Bread, Pizza, Pasta, Pastries, White Flour, White Rice, Desserts, Cereal)

Which Workout?

The first month should be something simple that just gets you active daily. For me, I could NOT take a day off and maintain consistency. It’s not about going to a gym and killing yourself every single day, but staying active every day. Before I started doing Crossfit, I made sure to walk daily and still do even on gym days. Start being ACTIVE and doing something active everyday!

I would even caution against joining a gym or rigorous workout program without first having a healthy habit like daily walking. If you can get up and walk a mile daily, then going to the gym is NOT going to happen and nothing will change. Start with a healthy activity you enjoy then add in more strenuous exercise. Before my first month of crossfit, I made sure that I had a healthy walking habit down and that I was staying active otherwise I’m sure I would have just been injured. The key is pushing yourself and getting to a spot where the walk or simple activity is something that becomes second nature, at that point you move on to the harder workout if you want to see more results.

Walkthrough Video