Dear Fitness Resolutioners,

Congrats you’ve decided 2017 is the year you get into shape, but by the time you’re reading this you’re a week into 2017 and you’ve realized saying you’re going to get in shape and getting into shape are two very different things. Getting fit may seem impossible, hell, you might have already quit. You may have begun to come to terms with relegating 2017 to another year of not being happy with yourself, but not caring enough to change yourself. Don’t do this. I’m serious, don’t do it.

I was in your shoes a year ago. A senior in high school, overweight and out of shape.

(that's me in November)

I didn’t like how I looked and I had tried to change it before, but never had I really given it my all.

I can’t remember what made me want to change, and I didn’t even set it as a resolution, but in the end of January I decided I wanted lose ten pounds. Within 2 weeks I had done it. But I wasn’t done; in fact I was nowhere close to finished. By the end of March that same year, I had lost almost 40 pounds. Since then I’ve managed to not only keep it off, but also build muscle and lose fat. During that period there was many times I wanted to give up, times I wanted to eat that piece of cake or cookies, but I didn’t. In the last year I think I’ve had desert three times, had soda twice, and have had a single cookie. I used to consume more than that in three days.

(that's me in May)

After reading all this I’m sure you’re wondering: how did he do it? Well before I tell you that (and I will, I promise), I want to say what dramatically changing my body composition has taught me. First, being insane is a good thing. I’ve been told by everyone in my life that I’m crazy about how much I exercise and what I put into my body and while it used to cause me to doubt myself, I’m now happy when I hear it. When people call you crazy it’s them saying you’re doing something that they don’t think that they can do or are uncomfortable doing. It’s a sign inner of strength. Second, if you’re not going to devote yourself fully to fitness, you’re never going to improve. Be prepared to work harder both in the gym and out of it than you ever have. You need to be comfortable leaving the gym an hour after the rest of your team left, or eating a salad while everyone else is eating pizza. Does it suck? Sometimes. Is it worth it? Every time. Third, and most importantly, working out without proper nutrition is like trying to drive a car without gas. It will get you nowhere. You can run 6 miles everyday, but if you’re going home after and eating and entire Pizza by yourself as your lunch, then you’ve completely undone all the work you did and then some.

So now to how I did it. It all started with one book, Serve to Win by Novak Djokovic.

I got this book by my then Track Coach, Ethan Evans, who follows it like a bible.

If you want to get in shape, your first step is to read this book and follow what it says. It contains an exact meal-by-meal plan for the first two weeks of your journey, and then rules to follow for the rest of it. Those rules are the basics of the tennis star’s diet, which is: No Dairy, No Gluten, No Soy, and No Added Sugar. Is it restrictive? Yes. Have I been following it for a full year and found it works wonders and is easy to follow? Also yes. The recipes in this book are healthy and tasty (to an extent), and I still go back to them when I’m home and want something to eat. And do you want to know what the best part is? You don’t have to count any calories and don’t have to keep track of any macros.

So now you know what my diet is, but you also will need to exercise. The first thing I want to tell you is this: don’t make your own exercise plan. You never stick to it if you make it yourself, because you’re not accountable to anything. In the beginning of my process I used a plan created by my Track Coach, then used the fitness plan used for para-resuce jumpers in the Navy over the summer, and have since used both Men’s Health 30-day shred and the book Spartan Fit.

What plan you choose is up to you but I do have a few rules I use when creating an exercise regiment:

1. It should incorporate cardio and some form of strength training.

The kind of cardio doesn’t matter as much as people tend to believe, and while I prefer bodyweight strength training, traditional weightlifting also has its place. But any plan that doesn’t have both of these isn’t worth its snuff.

2. Fitness Taxes.

To me one of the best tools is a “ Fitness Tax”. The basic concept of it is whenever you do a certain action; you have to do an exercise. So for example, the one I use is any time I walk in or out of my dorm room/ bedroom I do 5 pull-ups. While it’s not hard in the moment I end up doing around 100 pull-ups every day (a much more daunting task), sometimes closer to 500. Taxes like this build muscle and burn calories, while also being super easy.

3. Workout alone.

I know many people like gym buddies or running partners, but I don’t. When you enter the gym you aren’t there to be social or make friends, you’re there to better yourself physically. Working out with someone else will both slow you down and distract you, and you don’t need that.

4. Quitting on a workout is useless.

I never quit on a workout, ever. I may slow down, or lift less weight, but I refuse to quit, because It’s admitting defeat, admitting weakness, putting you one step backwards.

5. Workout with a goal.

We all want a six pack and giant biceps, but that should not be your goal. Set a quantifiable goal, and a definitive time when you will test yourself for said goal. I like to use Spartan Races as my goal, as they test the entire body.

Your goal can be simpler. Maybe you want to shave 30 seconds off you mile time and you are going to give yourself 3 months to do it, and then in 3 months you test yourself again. Having a goal will give you something to strive for during shitty workouts.

In conclusion: eat healthy, workout more, don’t get discouraged and I promise you’ll be in better shape in a year.

Oh and try to enjoy it,

James.