What’s your trigger? What has to happen for you to make a change for the better? For me it was a picture. I actually just found the picture again. I had assumed that it had been lost and figured that I would never see it again.
It was January of 1998 and I was getting ready to head to San Diego for the Super Bowl. I went to the doctor for a physical and she told me, “You’re about to pop.” I asked, “What do you mean?” She said, “You’re going to have a heart attack.” I’m thinking, I’m 31 and I can’t believe I might not make it to 32. When she made the statement, she seemed pretty confident. The more I think about it now, I might have made it to 32 but there is no way I would have been around until 35. I still had not made any decision to do anything about my life. I actually don’t remember her making any suggestions, just giving me a warning.
While in San Diego, I went to Rosarito, Mexico with some friends and we rode horse on the beach. This is where the picture was taken. It was about 2 weeks later that I received an envelope from a friend with two pictures. I still don’t know where the other one is, but I think that one made me feel like I was bigger than the horse. I felt bad about making the horse carry my fat ass.
EAS was being promoted all over the city of San Diego and by the Broncos players. I ended up speaking with someone from EAS and got some product and a Muscle Media Magazine. The magazine had a promotion for Body for Life, which was the first actually transformation challenge. They were promoting their second year. I read about the contest that same day that I saw the picture. The next day was my first day back in the gym. 7 months later, I had accomplished what I set out to do. 20 years later I am still doing it. Only now I have more knowledge and a better understanding of what it takes for me to achieve my goals and live a healthy lifestyle.
It’s funny, because I remember how I felt when I saw that picture. Part of me thinks, “Why would I want that reminder? It made me feel horrible. I couldn’t believe I was that fat.” It is also a reminder of what I have accomplished. This picture represents a time in my life that I made my greatest change ever. The combination of the 3 things that happened around the same time were the wakeup call that I needed in order to change my life. You don’t always see yourself, the way you actually look. I always recommend that people take before and after pics. As someone starts making changes during your transformation they would probably be the last person to notice their changes visually. We see ourselves in the mirror just about every day and are use, to what we see. In some cases, we lie about what we see. I know, I did. I lied to myself about a lot of things.
That trigger isn’t just about recognizing the problem, it’s about setting your goals, taking the steps to accomplish them and pursuing them, until you have accomplished those goals.
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