It seems counterintuitive. Why would trying on old clothes be motivating? What if they don’t fit?
As I’ve written before, my struggles with weight and food began in earnest after my football career ended. I played football for 10 years, often practicing and exercising 4 or more hours a day. When that was over, my diet never changed and I started packing on the pounds.
I went from 200 pounds as a freshman linebacker to 250 pounds at the end of my sophomore year. That summer I took a job at a metal lithograph plant in my hometown, Rockford, Illinois. I worked long hours on third shift guiding sheets of metal from massive blast furnaces that baked the ink to the steel.
That summer saw me drop 40 pounds and I was able to fit into clothes I wore in high school. Sadly, I packed the weight on, and more, weighing 270 pounds at graduation.
I kept many of my old clothes, hoping one day, like that summer, I would be able to fit into them again.
Every time I tried them on and they didn’t fit, I struggled. Why? Because I was more focused on my failure than I was on changing my life. I was more worried about how I looked than I was committed to making the necessary changes in my lifestyle.
Health and exercise were not a priority. Praise was. When I couldn’t earn praise athletically, I tried to earn it through public service, musical performance, and humor.
In the end, I was making the wrong choices for my health and living with the wrong priorities. We can’t begin to change our priorities until we change our perspective.
I’m not looking for praise anymore. I want to be a champion, my own champion. I want to be the very best version of myself.
My challenge was getting past the things that were holding me back, and setting course in the right direction.
Now that I am going in the right direction, I can try on old clothes without debilitating self-criticism.
Here are 3 tips.
- Don’t get too ambitious: I started my journey at 357 pounds and a size 4XL shirt. I’ve since lost 21 pounds and added major strength gains to my bench press (more on measuring these tomorrow). This does not mean that my favorite XL tshirt from high school will look good on me. 3XL shirts fit well, and I’m starting to be able to wear some 2XL shirts. My 44” waist jeans aren’t there yet, and trying them on helped me realize how far I have to go.
- Set goals: If you’re using a weight loss app, you’ve probably already set an ideal weight goal. If you’re lifting weights, you have probably set a bench press goal (more on weight lifting goals tomorrow). Set goals on what you will fit back into. Checking regularly will help keep you honest and motivate you to stay on track.
- Keep it up: Once we enjoy a victory, it’s easy to want to celebrate. It’s important to celebrate when you can wear something comfortably that you couldn’t fit into a few months ago. One of the challenges for me is how much I really enjoy celebrating by drinking alcohol (more on empty calories on Sunday). Tools like MyFitnessPal have accurate calorie counters for alcohol. One of my tricks has been to anticipate when I’ll be celebrating, and with what. I adjust my calorie intake or increase my activity to make sure I can have a piece of cake, or a drink, without exceeding my daily goal. So, celebrate. Then set your next goal and keep moving forward.
