I started working with my trainer, Justin Carter, in February of 2022. I worked out with Justin twice a week, and I was supposed to get 150 minutes of cardio in a week. That didn’t happen. I would often cancel my one of my workouts and never got in my cardio. This lasted for probably a month and a half until I finally made real changes.
Three of my friends and I have two “palooza” weekends a year. The opening weekend of college football and the opening weekend of March Madness. These are two of my favorite weekends a year, and I think the other three would agree as well. The weekends consist of watching a lot of sports, some healthy competitions, eating terribly, and a few adult beverages. During the March Madness palooza of 2022, I started to really noticing how unhealthy I had become. I was retaining fluid in my legs, my back was constantly hurting, and I would become out of breath way too quickly. I got home from that weekend and stepped on the scale. That number is when I knew everything had to change. I weighed in at 277 pounds. That was the most I had ever been, and was creeping far too close to 300 pounds. In my sports brain, my reaction was “damn, I couldn’t even make weight in the UFC’s heavyweight division.” I weighed more than Francis Ngannou. Not good homie, not good.
The next day I came home from work planning to go to the gym and do my cardio. I ate dinner and it was time to go to the gym. Thats when “Oh I”ll just go tomorrow” started to creep in. I had my clothes on to go but was actively talking myself out of it. Thats when I made a seemingly small choice that really got the ball rolling for the entire journey I have been on. I told myself “just put your shoes on.” I knew that if I would just put my shoes on, that I could talk myself back into going. What kind of person would I be if I took off my shoes and didn’t go. I put them on, grabbed my headphones and left to do cardio. Just a simple choice of putting my shoes on was a catalyst for so much change in my life. It very well could be something different for you, but find that thing that you actively choose thats going to help you make whatever change you know is needed. Just put your shoes on. (Also probably helps that I have a bit of a shoe addiction)
Put Your Shoes On 