Discipline, Consistency and Progress - Lessons from the Gym

Last year in may my wife took a mugshot photo of me posing like one of those photos of early man in the museums. Earlier that month, a friend of mine had the guts to warn me of my impending astronomical abdominal growth if I continued eating chapati and sausages know as Rolex in Kenyan Lingo. This time marked the start of my fitness journey. Over the duration, from the time I celebrated my 35th birthday last year in May, to the time I have celebrated my 36th Birthday in May this year, I have consistently and patiently worked on my former self everyday purposing to be better each day.?

In my fitness journey, which started out as a quest to lose belly fat also known as Kitambi, I have decided to share these 7 lessons on fitness and their application in general to becoming a better version of myself.

Do not go to the gym to “Lose Weight”

I am currently 90.3KGs, surprisingly, this is exactly the same weight I weighed on my first day at the gym. But I look totally different from how I looked when I walked in. Like many aspects of life, we set the goals we intend to achieve when we embark on a journey, although goals are important, I believe that the process and the systems we put in place are more important than the goals themselves. Everyone sets a goal, both those who succeed and those who do not, but the key difference of those who succeed is that they tend to put in place a system or process to achieve the goal and focus more on that. In my fitness journey, I have found that focusing on being fit and healthy is a better process oriented approach than focusing on “losing weight”. So focus on changing your body composition, fat vs muscle, focus on increasing and building muscle and naturally the fat will melt away - you will probably weigh the same, but trust me, 10KGs of muscle mass looks very different from 10KGs of fat mass.

Discipline over Motivation

Motivation is great, but discipline is even greater.??Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. Whereas Motivation gets your going, Discipline is what keeps you going. Over the months I have come to appreciate the power of discipline, particularly self-discipline. The moment you want to quit, when motivation is low, it is at that moment that discipline ensures you keep pushing. Having the discipline to get up everyday and walk through the gym door is one of the toughest and most rewarding things you can do for yourself in your fitness journey. There will be days when motivation will just no cut it. With discipline, you will commit to the process, with Discipline comes the next most critical element of any fitness journey - CONSISTENCY. You do not need more motivation, have a plan and be disciplined - state when, where and how you will follow through on your fitness journey and then Just Do it.?

Be Consistent, Progress Over Perfection

As I begun my journey, it was tough. I remember only being able to lift the Olympic Bar for my Squats, bit like in all things in life, staying true to the course and being consistent is critical. As someone interested in being fit and healthy, your focus should be on making progress and not on being perfect. With consistency comes progress, being better than your former self. Focus on the person you are becoming, if it is running focus on becoming a runner, run consistently. Posit your fitness goal, but most importantly note progress towards it, because that is where you find joy and sometimes happiness.?

Abs are built in the gym and revealed in the kitchen

I love Chapati man, I really do. Especially with a hot bowl of beans, that is the one meal that I joke with my friends that the day they present me that and I don’t eat, they better start on my Obituary. Anyway, Abs and indeed all the muscles are built in the gym but they are only revealed in the kitchen. Make sure you watch out for the food you consume. I am no food expert and my best food advice would probably be the worse you could hear. Try as much as possible to eat healthy food, avoid processed food, more so processed sugar, minimize it, eat carbohydrates, eat proteins but just as the good book says one mans faith allows him to eat everything but another man whose faith is weak eats only vegetables , the gym accepts them both (This is actually found in the Bible except that last gym part hahahaha). For me, I eat…A LOT.?

At the Gym, focus on your Journey?

The gym is an interesting place. It is probably the most fair as well as the most egocentric place in the universe. The results you get are fairly commensurate to the work you put in. You get back the proportion of outcome relative to the input in most cases.??As you start and continue your journey, remember just like in life, different people are on different paths, more so, you are on your own path, do not be tempted to do things that you see your fellow patrons do blindly, ego lifting , is the number one culprit at the gym. Do not do it.??Just like in any physical activity and most sports, get a trained coach to guide you in your fitness journey. If he or she understands your goals and your intentions, you will succeed and enjoy the journey. In addition, do not be afraid to ask for help and assistance on how to use the equipment, use only what is relevant to your journey or routine, if not sure ASK stop thinking you know it all, that machine could cause you serious harm.

Challenge and push yourself from time to time

As you consistently and diligently embark on your fitness journey, don’t be scared to try new challenges, push yourself. Increase the reps or increase the weight. As you challenge yourself do not be too hard on yourself, don’t take yourself too seriously.??As you challenge yourself make sure to measure the progress, improve bit by bit gradually you will become better. Challenge yourself both in the gym by doing tougher more challenging movements but also outside the gym by changing who you are. Embrace the new self.

Remember, You don’t become confident by shouting affirmations in front of the mirror, but by having a stuck of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are. Always outwork your self doubt.?

Yours Truly,

Joe??