A 100 Pound Success Story
My blog post earlier this week was about Drew Carey’s 80 pound weight loss. I revealed his fatal flaw to lasting results. Nonetheless, he’s doing a lot right. Points to him because 80 pounds is nothing to discount.
But lately John Goodman has lost a reported 100 pounds! And he’s done it the RIGHT way.
Let’s talk about how he did it.
His Turning Point
“It’s been constant. It’s always been in the back of my mind. It just ate at me the whole time. That may be part of the reason I shoved food in my mouth so much. That satisfaction.”
When John got a role in Santa Clause he said enough was enough, but he finally wised up and didn’t set the ever-futile New Year’s resolution. He hired a trainer and got on a program.
Whether you have a specific turning point or not, you MUST decide enough is enough. The pain of staying the same must be greater than the pain of change.
His Nutrition
“I had to clear out my own house first. It was built on a bad foundation.”
“…But also fresh vegetables, lean protein… I’m not a real hard-on about keeping strict calorie counts. I know what’s in my wheelhouse, what I can eat and what I can’t. And I’m satisfied eating it. I cannot tolerate sugar. I crossed over to the diabetic side, but I can’t tolerate it anyway because it creates hunger.”
Right on John! First fix the foundation, get rid of the crap. No change in eating equals no results. Now he’s getting protein and cutting the sugar, very important. And if you notice his eating is simple and supportive.
His Alcohol Intake
“Alcohol is alcohol. I’m an alcoholic. I would drink no matter what. That’s just part of being an alcoholic.”
“…and the big key was drinking.”
Goodman has cut out alcohol completely. The problem with alcohol is not just the calories or how many carbs are in your beer, that’s marketing hype.
Like John said, first the alcohol then the food would follow. The mindless eating that goes along with drinking is what really packs on the pounds. For a lot of people it’s a slippery slope. Alcohol followed by crappy food causes cravings for more crappy food.
If you want to lose fat and see results fast, cut out the alcohol. Completely.
His Identity
This is an extremely powerful point and I don’t think we give mindset and identity as much attention as we should. The majority of people I consult with do not identify with their size . Quite often they tell me they feel trapped in a body that doesn’t match up to how they see themselves. If being overweight is “just who you are” or defines you in any way, then IT WILL BE DIFFICULT BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO LOSE WEIGHT.
I go through gyrations to not approach weight loss in a negative manner. But how you see yourself will dictate how you think, act, and your probability of success. I identify myself as being a healthy guy. I’ll admit my job helps me stay focused. I’ve avoided fast food simply because I don’t want someone I’m coaching to see me walking into McDonalds, it sends the wrong message. Will I always stay in shape? I sure hope so. I may eat a donut from time to time, but I don’t see myself not working out, eating mindlessly and without care. Because that’s not “who I am”.
So if you identify yourself with being “the funny big guy” or in some other way with your weight; you”ll struggle to lose it. You might lose some for a period of time, but you WILL gain it back unless your identity changes. (This I suspect is one (but not the only) reason you see former Biggest Loser competitors gaining the weight back.)
So… on weight being apart of his persona and being worried about losing the weight and having problems getting acting parts…
“Hey, that’s too bad. I’ll scream and cry when I’m in the unemployment line, but that’s really secondary. I am what I am. I can act at different weights. It’s a miracle I was hired at all for a lot of these jobs.”
Don’t let ANYONE tell you who you are and what you can or can’t do. Ever!
His Exercise
All cardio John?
“This time we mixed in strength training with resistance bands. They’re great for me because I can contract and release slower, and that builds up better muscle for me.”
“I was doing a job in New Orleans twice a week called Treme. I was only working a couple days a week. I wanted to treat this other thing (exercise) like a job–to get healthy.”
This reflects how he’s exercising. A well designed fat loss program today is built on getting the eating right first and resistance training to dump fat rapidly. The old programs of cardio, cardio, cardio for weight loss are boring, time consuming, and ineffective. Resistance training for maximum fat loss supplemented with short-burst cardio work is proving to be most effective.
His Effort
Does he like it?
“I do. I’m still a sucker for highs, and I get those endorphins. It’s just a feeling of well-being. I’m where I’m supposed to be. I’m doing what I should be doing. I feel good. I’m hopefully extending my life. Before, I didn’t care.”
Being fit, firm, strong, and capable; able to handle stress or any situation that comes your way. It’s not just about looking good, but feeling good… that’s when you have it all. To be able to do what you want when you want, that’s when you can live your best life!
But I can’t really describe what being fit feels like. It’s one of those things that has to be experienced. I think people sometimes feel so bad for so long, they forget what feeling really good is like.
There are a TON of lessons to be taken from John’s weight loss story. I hope you pick them all up. Of course the 80/20 rule will apply to this instruction.
Many will read this and say, “Well, he’s a Hollywood actor, with money, and time, and blah, blah, blah.” And those people won’t do a thing. They’ll stay the same. Stagnant. Inactive. Unchanged. That’s fine. This isn’t for everybody.
The other camp will take this as another success story (yes, I have given you others) to model and motivate and see they can make a change in their life. What you do is your choice, but do make smart choices.
Dedicated to Your Success,
Dave
P.S. You can read his Men’s Health interview here.
P.P.S. If you’re overweight and out of shape. Then you’ve come to the right place. You can and will get fast, visible, measurable results (with the only Unconditional Guarantee in DFW) with my Accelerator Personal Fitness programs. Call the office(817.320.0743) for more information or to schedule your Fast Start Consult.
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