PERSONAL CONDITIONING FOR BETTER LIVING

What’s the first sign you look for when see someone for the first time?

For some people it’s a watch, for others it’s shoes.

Or a haircut, a jacket. Maybe fancy fingernails.

But no matter what you see someone wearing, what stands out first is their personal conditioning.

Am I suggesting we all judge others?

We fat-shame, skinny-shame, and if that’s not enough we shame-shame.

“Shame on you for shaming on me.”

 

When famous athletes get down to their swimsuits instead of uniforms, the dad-bod shamers have a field day.

‘Joey in the gym looks better than those guys.”

It’s especially true for NFL football guys.

As a group they are more performance driven than appearance driven.

They do their stuff on the field, not in a mirror.

And no, I’m not shaming the oiled up mom in the corner flexing for her gym-date’s camera.

“Looking good, Tonya.”

 

Personal Conditioning, Personal Statement

Who remembers the greatest high school athlete in your graduating class?

The thing about that kind of memory is being the same age at the greatest athlete, but not as committed to personal conditioning.

It’s different for twelve year olds looking at seniors in high school and wondering how they got so big and so good in sports.

Then the twelve year old turns eighteen and things start making sense.

Sports guys practice a lot, run, and lift weights so they can compete against other sports guys, other teams.

Or they’re just naturally big and strong and don’t do anything to be better, and even less to get better.

Those are the guys aging on the vine, the guys who go from first string in junior high to third string in high school and could care less.

Coaches talk about building a winning culture, but you can’t win with guys who don’t car enough to show up ready to play.

 

“I’m on the varsity, I’ll get my letter, that’s all I want.”

 

You’ve got to want more than that. The bar is set too low.

No one wants to be the best scrub on the team, the best bag holder, the last in line for everything.

But some teams have room for those guys.

They talk the talk as long as there’s no walking involved.

 

“Did you play high school sports?”

“Where I come from everyone played. I was on varsity, got my letter.”

 

That sounds good coming from of some chunky forty year old.

 

Better than, “I was on the team but didn’t care and didn’t play and my parents never came to a game because they couldn’t stop screaming at each long enough to cheer their only son.”

 

Personal conditioning, mainly the lack of any evidence or signs, is a cry for help.

 

The Conditioning Cry For Help

If you’ve ever walked past a window and thought, ‘Who’s the fat fucker’, this is for you.

If you wear your shirts tucked in to show a big gut, this is for you.

If you’ve ever cinched a leather belt so tight for years that it left a permanent bruise under your done-lop just because you didn’t want a series of stretched belt holes telling your weight-gain story, this is for you.

Chances are good that you’ll never change, never reach your weight loss goals, never fit into your skinny pants.

You’ll have times when it seemed possible after weight loss pills, weight loss surgery, weight loss counseling.

I fat shamed myself down to 199 pounds, thus fulfilling my goal of getting under 200 lbs one time before I died.

Ignore the fact that my weight loss came from chemo and radiation cancer treatment along with starving and being dangerously dehydrated.

Seven years later I clock in at two thirty-nine.

What I’ve learned as an adult weight gaining expert, a baby boomer hog willing to eat too much too often, is no one cares how much weight you carry.

They’ll care if you’re a jackass about calling everyone else a fat bitch so no notices you.

But they notice you.

They’ll care if you critique everything that gets near your mouth as ‘nutrient dense calories’, or a pile of crap, and eat both with gusto.

Maybe keep your mouth closed?

Before you try to make a difference in someone else’s life, make a difference in yours first.

Loosen that belt since you’re not a rodeo bull getting saddled for a ride.

Stick to one plate of food. No matter what Joey Chestnut does, eating is not a competitive sport.

If you’ll be remembered at all, why not strive to be remembered as your best self?

For your memory is to be a blessing, embrace personal conditioning.

“Yeah, he sure turned himself around,” is better than, “He lasted longer than anyone expected.”

Start today, start now.

First, take a good shower. You already took a shower? Good. Take another one right now.

Set out clean clothes, your nice clothes, and get dressed after the ‘new you’ shower.

You may not feel your best, or look your best, but a freshly scrubbed you in nice clothes sends the right message.

But who’s the message for? It’s not for ‘them’ whoever they might be.

It’s a message to you and it says, ‘You are worth the effort and you look marvelous.’

Whoever you see the rest of the day will feel your message more than see it.

And we’re worthy. Make the rest of us want to be more like you.