When I made the decision to get back into shape, eat clean, and hit the gym, it was for one purpose, my health. There was no other reason that dictated this purpose. It was me staring in the mirror and not liking what I saw. It was me feeling my body and mind continuing to spiral into a lethargic state of hopelessness. Fortunately, I realized this before it was too late. I am sure I was on the brink of no return. When you cannot walk up a flight of stairs in your house without feeling winded, it is time to make a change. This change I decided to take on once again for a quest of health and well being.
When I go into the gym, I have this sense of hunger about me. A stronger sense of awareness and humanity. It is myself battling against my own walls which I throw up as excuses. When I enter the gym, I tear all this down and prepare myself mentally for what I am about to do that day. I leave all the excuses at the door. It is Ray vs Iron and I always win. Why? Because it is an internal hunger, a mentality, an inner focus I have always had since my martial arts days as a young teen.
I am not in the gym for glamore, to pose in the mirrors or take selfies, I am in the gym to fight for my own health. That is the difference. It is not a casual experience for me. It is a battle of becoming the best I can be. When I work out, I become a beast. I attack the weights aggressively and love the burn it brings to the very fibers of my muscles as they tear and scream for me to stop. I am an animal but focused in mind and body beyond what is normal. I understand, I listen, and I prepare myself mentally. Where the mind goes, the body will follow.
How does one develop this hungering? Honestly, it takes some inner strength. Will power. Pushing yourself every day a little bit further and also knowing your limitations. I believe everyone has it in them to become a survivalist if the conditions call for extreme measures or actions. But it is YOU that has to bring that up as the primary focus. When you are in the gym, do it solely for YOU and no one else. It is one thing to say hi or wave but another to stand in the gym for 45 minutes simply talking when you have work to do. Your body AND mind, note both here, need to be trained to do this. When it is time to battle the Iron, it is exclusively that time and nothing else.
This Friday will be my 1st week down. I am feeling incredible. I am eating clean and making some awesome dishes. You can follow me on Instagram here if you want to see some of them. I weight myself daily just to continue to see progression and modify where I need to but will post results week to week and will post updates to measures every month.
Enjoy your workouts folks. Remember, this is YOU-Time…not anyone else’s. Use it wisely….enjoy the journey.
Train Hard – Train Smart!
Ray