Side Questing - How I Went from Skinny to Chubby to Fit (Issue 191)
17 years of optimizing my fitness plan
I got pretty chunky after turning 40. ☹️
I had been a skinny child and teen, so my brain didn’t catch up to realize how overweight I had slowly been becoming with my corporate desk job. It can sneak up on you!
But I finally got serious about exercise in my mid-40s. A combination of CrossFit, weightlifting, running, and eating healthier helped me drop 40 lbs in about 6 months and get into the best shape of my life. I looked better in my 40s than I did in my 20s (see photos below).
So, yeah. It’s never too late to turn your health around!
I’m still trying to get stronger and perform better! My fitness pursuit has actually become an enjoyable lifestyle thing. I never thought that would happen. In a sense, I guess you could say I’m addicted to working out.
I like the way I feel after a workout (i.e., that post-workout high and pump).
I enjoy the feeling of pushing and testing my body to see how it performs.
I love listening to my “angry music” workout playlist. 😂
I like how my body looks now. Hey, I busted my a$$ for years to get here, so I’m not gonna be shy about it anymore. 🤷
Now, I feel kind of crappy if I miss too many days of exercise. My body gets achy and creaky! I guess you have to use it or lose it.
As I’ve mentioned before, my pursuit of fitness became a new side quest about 17 years ago—a quest I’ve never abandoned. I didn’t just choose some sport, exercise regimen, or join a gym. I went all-in on researching exercise programs, healthy diets, lifting programs, types of gyms, and following several athletes and coaches on Instagram and YouTube.
The results in the first six months motivated me to continue. I had tried and failed so many times before. But this time, I saw the pounds dropping, my clothing fitting better, and muscles appearing in the mirror. I also noticed positive changes in my energy levels, mood, and confidence.
So, of course, it wasn’t enough to just keep doing what I was doing—I had to maximize and optimize. I had goals for my primary lifts (e.g., bench press, squat, deadlift, cleans, clean & jerk). I tracked my running performance, too. Knowing that technique, form, and diet mattered, I researched everything, tracked food, and recorded video to review my form and tune it. I still do that to this day.
The fitness journey
How things evolved along the way:
I started P90X at home and did that for about a year. Those DVDs had been sitting in a box for many years. 🤣
I changed my diet to stop eating so much crap at work (e.g., switched from pizza to salads for lunch, no more donuts or birthday cake in the breakroom, etc.).
My wife and I started walking every night after dinner and jogging on the weekends.
She talked me into joining her at a CrossFit box, which we did for a few years.
We were also hiking, trail running, and even did a few Tough Mudder events.
We did a Paleo challenge with our gym, and I followed that diet for a few years.
I lost over 40 lbs and gained a great deal of muscle and strength. For example, when I first started CrossFit, I couldn’t even deadlift 95 lbs! Now, my max deadlift is around 360 lbs.
I gradually shifted my diet to more of a Primal diet (e.g., added cheese, oatmeal, honey, dark chocolate, and the occasional hard cider).
We moved to a small town in Northern California and joined a new CrossFit box. My wife stuck with that, but I eventually built a home gym and do all my lifting and workouts there now (e.g., powerlifting, accessory lifts, rowing, pullups, etc.).
We still hike a lot (8-12 miles/week), trail run, and ski.
So, we’ve stuck with our daily workouts for over 17 years now. Once it became a healthy and fun habit, we couldn’t give it up!
Heck, we even join local gyms if we travel somewhere for more than a few weeks. For example, when we visited our children in Alaska last summer, we stayed for about six weeks. So, we joined a local gym to get our lifting in, and our children kept us busy with long hikes in the Alaskan mountains.
Lessons learned
So, why had I failed to get into good shape for most of my adult life until my 40s?
I think part of it was my mental self-image and a bad attitude about fitness. I was a skinny kid and teen. I could eat anything I wanted and not gain a pound. I tried! I didn’t like being so thin, but I could never gain weight.
Also, I was forced to get into shape when I joined the military at 17. During basic training; we got up at 4 AM every day to do physical training (PT) in a parking lot in the dark. Then, we would run five miles before coming back to shower and march to breakfast.
I hated that experience.
I didn’t like being forced to work out, and I was getting even skinnier! When I returned home, all my ribs were visible. I’m serious. My mother started crying when she saw me. I didn’t have an ounce of fat on my body. So, I abandoned exercise in an attempt to return to a more comfortable, easy life. My fitness avoidance went on for decades.
It took a long time for me to realize how silly that was. I should have kept up with some sort of exercise. Anything! I also had that mental image of being a skinny kid in my head for a very long time. So, I couldn’t believe that I was becoming a chubby adult.
“Hey! I can eat anything I want, right?
Right?!”
I didn’t accept my insidious weight gain until my 40s, when I woke up one day in January after the holiday eating season, stepped on the scale, and realized it was a problem. And that’s when I finally decided enough was enough.
All the failed prior attempts and eventual fitness success taught me what actually worked. The key difference was I learned that three pillars are required for lasting change and fitness.
Consistency
Intensity
Training
Consistency
I spent too many years being haphazard about my fitness. I would exercise sporadically with some free weights in my apartment. Occasionally, I would play basketball or tennis with my friends.
However, exercise isn’t something you do once a week or every month or so. It has to become a daily habit. That doesn’t mean you max out every day. It means you create a plan and a program that you follow consistently. You should be doing something every single day, even if it’s just a walk after dinner or mobility work to recover and stay flexible.
My fitness levels skyrocketed, health measures improved dramatically (e.g., heart rate, weight, cholesterol), strength grew, and body changed only after I started working out every single day (e.g., 6 days of exercise and 1 rest day per week) and consistently eating a healthier diet.
Intensity
When I was younger, I never truly pushed past my comfort zone with exercise (except for my time in Army basic training). I never went so far that my body was shocked and had to adapt to deal with what I was throwing at it.
Change doesn’t occur with comfort. That’s true for your body, your mind, and your life, by the way. The people who get what they want—and become who they want—don’t seek constant comfort or an easy life.
Your body will only adapt, grow muscle, become stronger, and gain endurance when you push it past what it is currently capable of doing. It makes sense when you think about it. Why would your body adapt and change if it can handle what you ask of it? It won’t.
You need strategic and reasonable intensity to force your body to adapt to the stress of exercise.
Lift heavy weights frequently using the right program?
You will grow muscle.
You will gain strength.
Use intensity to push your body (e.g., high-intensity interval training, rowing, and other cardio)?
You will gain endurance.
You’ll improve key vitals (e.g., resting heart rate, blood pressure).
You will lose body fat.
Training
Consistency and intensity are essential, but you also need to train with good technique and form. That’s why the guidance of a professional coach and trainer is so important. That’s why a good training program that targets your specific needs and goals is critical for your success.
Without the right technique, you can get injured. With poor form, your body won’t adapt and grow as well as it could.
I’m glad I had a certified coach who taught me correct powerlifting form and Olympic lifting techniques. His guidance got me off to a good start. He also introduced me to a solid lifting program that helped me progress well (i.e., Wendler 5/3/1).
Later, I side quested more to learn about other programs such as…
I hope you find your thing
If you already exercise consistently, that’s great! If you don’t, I hope you find something you enjoy doing almost every day that yields positive benefits for your health, wellness, and fitness.
Always check with a physician before starting a new fitness regimen. Obviously, I don’t know your specific health situation, but they will. They can help you decide what’s best for you and how hard you can push yourself.
Also, I recommend starting with professional training and coaching. You want to get off to a good start, avoid injury, and find a training program that will help you meet your goals. We all want and need something that’s right for us. So, what worked for me might not be the best for you.
Regardless, I would love to hear what you are doing or planning to do! Let me know in the comments or reply to the email.
Best of luck with your lifelong fitness journey! It’s worth the investment of your time and energy.
Want to chat with me about your specific life goals and needs? Reach out for free any time!
Larry Cornett, Ph.D. | Empowerment coach, psychologist, nature lover, and fitness freak. I help you escape the “hustle trap” to create an empowered life that fits who you are and what you want most. From Silicon Valley exec to self-employed entrepreneur, I’ve also followed this path to freedom, so now I can help others find their way.
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