We’re almost at the end of Week 3 since we stopped drinking, started working out and eating better.

Let me lay some facts that are WELL KNOWN in the gym world and DENIED by dieters the world over.

Here are the facts:

• When trying a new diet 3 out of 4 people will not make it a month. 2 out of 4 will not make it two weeks.
• When beginning a workout regiment 3 out of 4 people will not make it to three weeks.
• Hitting the wall at 3 weeks happens to 80% of all new or  recycled exercisers.
• 75% of all dieters will cheat on their diet before the end of the first month
• When trying to form a new habit it takes two weeks of consistency for the habit to begin to form in the brain. The hardest weeks are week 3 and 4. If you can make it past that week,  your odds increase exponentially that it will become a lifestyle change.
• It takes 12 to 16 weeks for a lifestyle change to become a habit.

We are about to complete week 3. And until today everything was moving along just fine. But I woke up this morning with just the slightest, just ever so slightest idea, that I was kind of over this. Now that idea didn’t take hold because as an experienced gym owner and fitness professional, I understand what is happening.

My body is starting to say, “okay you had your fun. That was cute. Yeah yeah yeah you want to lose weight…. yeah yeah yeah you want to work out. But you know what I want? I want a beer and I want a fucking pizza and I don’t give a SHIT what you think.”

The week 3 slog.

Slog has come to mean hard work. In the western vernacular a slog is where you must buckle down and really work hard. But did you know? That term is a boxing term… It’s a boxing term that means: When two fighters are evenly matched and they’re both just grinding away round after round after round and neither one is giving in.

And when you hit week 3, 4, 5 and 6 in your new journey of life changing habits, whether it is working out or a new diet or trying to be alcohol-free or trying to quit dairy and caffeine. Whatever it is. When you hit those weeks; those are the true test.

That is when it is you against the obstacle. And neither one of you wants to give in. You don’t want to fall off the wagon. But your body doesn’t want you to keep going. It wants Pizza. It wants Donuts. It wants a glass of whiskey. It wants whatever you’re trying to give up.

Most human beings are basically big fuckin babies. And usually, they give up. Most of the time the obstacle wins. And why is that? Because it just truly is easier to sit your fat ass on the couch, suck down a six-pack, fall asleep watching football and have pizza for breakfast in the morning. That is way easier than getting up, eating healthy, working out and having a positive mindset. You also have to do all of that despite the fact that you do not feel stronger, in fact, you’re really sore and tired. Also the scale hasn’t changed in three days and you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror when you got out of the shower and you think, “Jesus Christ, something should have changed by now.”

This shit is hard, man. If it was easy the entire planet would be full of people that are healthy and in really fantastic shape and live to be 97 years old before they die quietly in their sleep with a big smile on their face.

But it’s hard. Unfortunately in the life that were given, most of the time anything worth having is hard.

Very few of us are given a silver spoon at birth. For the most part if you have a little bit of money, you worked hard for it. If you have success in your industry, you worked hard. If you’re a creative person, whether you’re an artist or a sculptor or a barber or a writer or a drummer, you put in hours and hours of hard, hard practice. You honed your craft through repetition. It was hard work.

If you have a really successful and happy well-adjusted children, you know how hard that was. You had to raise them properly. You had to put in the time and the effort to make sure that they were safe and that they did everything right and that they didn’t go falling off the rails.

Anything you want to achieve in life that is meaningful to you is going to be hard.

And you know what? I agree with you. It’s not freaking fair. It’s not fair that everything that’s bad for you tastes really good. It’s not fair that everything that’s good for you takes effort. But that’s the hand that we’ve been dealt.

We can whine and bitch through our lives all we want. Hell,  go to the grocery store. Look at all the people that are whining and bitching their way through life. Look at the people that get mad because there’s a line at the checkstand. Yeah, Chief the world isn’t all about you. Other people are here. So get the fuck over it.

But let me tell you coming from someone who was born crippled. Born with his leg screwed up. Had to fight through all of that as a child, enduring multiple surgeries and braces on his leg. Who got made fun of. Who was abused by his stepfather in ways that I could never properly explain in a blog.

Take it from someone who turned that adversity on its ear and became a really decent athlete. Take it from someone who screwed up so many things in their early life like mkney and relationships and who struggled with anger and jealousy and resentment, because he didn’t have any role models or people to explain to him how it worked but he figured it out anyway. Take it from that guy who worked hard to become a decent man, a good husband and father.

Take it from the guy who then  fell off the wagon. He drank too much and stopped exercising and stopped the harc work. Then he got fat and he got lazy and he got out of shape. But he’s turning things back around again.

Take it from someone who has seen both sides.

Yes the work is hard. But it’s worth it.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go put on my sweats and go hit the heavy bag. Because training camp is open. And it doesn’t care if I’m tired.

Peace.