Getting Fit by First Principles – Part 8 – The Anti-Motivation Episode

Victor (00:00) A friend reached out to me requesting that I do a more motivational podcast. But seeing as how we are almost about to end the year of the horse, I decided that it is time to beat a dead horse. ha ha Victor (00:18) Jokes aside, I don't really believe in motivation. I don't really believe in any of that sort of David Goggins over-edited du-da-da-da, you're on the ground. type of content. type of content that I want to make is focused on systems and it's focused on first principles. These are very, very boring things and I don't really believe in making sensational sound bites to get people hyped and ready to work out or whatever. Victor (00:55) While I think that it is neat to be inspired by a talking head on the internet telling you to stay hard or whatever, I don't really believe in that as a solid vehicle for transformation. Victor (01:15) I believe in accepting that life is oftentimes a series of mundane things and that transformation or excellence is a habit that you repeat over time. And if you are constantly running yourself into the ground trying to achieve something that a talking head on the internet is telling you to achieve, I don't really Sustainable, and in fact, you are working towards the ideals of someone else rather than internalizing. So Victor (01:46) What I really want to circle back on is the idea of finding intrinsic motivation or embodying whatever particular goals you have for your physique, your health, etc. etc. Victor (02:02) Start off this demotivational podcast, I will say that there is almost no point in getting jacked or getting a six-pack. Like, there really, really isn't. There's no moral imperative to get super lean. And in fact, whether you are 300 pounds or whether you have a six-pack, you're going to die at some point. Victor (02:30) But if really think about it, you to even get lean, there is a lot of tedium, and then there is a lot of suffering involved. You have to starve yourself, you have to track your food, you can't eat whatever you want. Whereas somebody who is 300 pounds plus, they get to eat whatever they want. Sure, they get to suffer in other ways, but they get to have full freedom in what they consume. Victor (02:55) Secondly, if you look in the mirror, you are the sum total of your habits over time. And there is no if and or but about it. You look like your habits. Victor (03:11) That last statement has offended many people I've said that to in real life. I've heard every range of rebuttal from, but I have a family, I have four kids, I work this many hours per week, I'm still kind of athletic, I just don't look it, etc. etc. But all those rebuttals don't actually counter the point I'm making though. If you are a father of four and work 80 hours per week, then well you're probably going to look like a father of four that works 80 hours per week. And unfortunately, life has found a way, has life has created the conditions where health and fitness are no longer things that one can prioritize. Victor (04:03) Because frankly, if the first thing that comes to mind, and if the first feeling is indignance when I say you look like the sum total of your habits, well, chances are you know that's probably true. And every single excuse does not refute my statement, and in fact, it reinforces it. Victor (04:26) If your life is truly so jam-packed with things that you are unable to control your food intake or exercise, then simply put, you are going to look like someone who doesn't diet or exercise. And the sooner you accept that, the less uncomfortable you're going to feel. Victor (04:50) Because think about it, if you truly work 80 hours per week and are raising four kids, then you are going to look like somebody who works 80 hours and raises four kids. What does having a six-pack or looking jacked add to that experience? Frankly, it doesn't. Victor (05:11) Now, this does remind me of a of an interesting philosophical question that one of my favorite villains in an anime asked. It was in Jiujutsu Kaisen. this character posed a question, what comes first? The body or the soul? And there's this whole theory he had about how the shape of the soul shapes the body rather than the other way around. And to a certain extent, I I did see this character's point. In a lot of ways, the shape of the body is going to resemble the shape of the soul. Victor (05:57) But simultaneously, I do think that there is the inverse relationship. The shape of the body can also influence the shape of the soul, and these two things kind of work together, right? A more capable body is probably going to shape the soul and the mind to have more positive thoughts, and a less capable body is probably going to do the opposite. Victor (06:23) If say one day you woke up and you found both your legs missing, then obviously your world is going to shrink, and with that shrinkage in your world, a lot of your psychology is going to change as a result of that. So we can't say that the body exists independently of the soul. They both kind of work together. Victor (06:46) Anyway, this does kind of remind me of a conversation I had with an older brother of an ex-girlfriend of mine, where he was a very big football fan. He would sit on his bed, and watch football for hours on end, almost every day of the week. And then he would always complain about how he had a round belly and how it was hard for him to keep weight off after turning 30. And around this time he was around thirty-eight or so. And because I was relatively fit, he always asked me, what is the best way to burn belly fat, etc, etc. And of course he never truly listened to any of my advice, you know, eat less, walk more, et cetera, et cetera. Victor (07:35) But again. If we think back to what I said earlier in this conversation, I said that your body is going to reflect the sum total of your habits. And if the sum total of your habits is drinking sugary drinks, eating chips, and watching football all day, then the body is simply going to take the shape that is most adept at accomplishing those tasks. a six-pack is not needed to watch football and drink. Starbucks all day. Victor (08:06) And in fact, I could say that all this person's frustration stems from the simple fact that he was not willing to accept that his lifestyle was not in line with how he envisioned he should look. Victor (09:09) If you really think about it, someone that spends all day watching sports, playing video games, eating out, and drinking sugary drinks from Starbucks, how would you envision them to look? Victor (09:21) That simply is not a lifestyle that requires a fit body. Victor (09:28) It is totally okay to give up on things that simply do not serve your lifestyle. Victor (09:38) So this begs a question, where does being lean and having a six-pack fit into one's lifestyle? Victor (09:46) Similarly, consider the role of a bodybuilder. Their entire sport is to build as much muscle as possible and to have as little body fat as possible to appear striated and large in front of judges. And as such, they need to have a six pack. Victor (10:12) And now consider a model or a movie star. They will likely be very lean and have little body fat because their entire profession depends on looking good and being lean. Victor (10:27) And now this leads into my next point. I think a lot of people have it backwards where they see the models, they see advertisements, and they see people with these aesthetic looking bodies, and they think, my god, I need to have that in order to be fulfilled. And that is unfortunately the advertising and the marketing working. Victor (10:48) Where I find that people screw up when it comes to their fitness goals and their New Year's resolutions is there is no sense of identity when it comes to those new goals. They are instead trying to bolt on random behaviors to an already fixed identity that isn't in line with being jacked. Victor (11:16) A concrete example of this would be again that older brother of my ex-girlfriend. He would entertain the idea of getting a diet coach or say he was going to hop on some fad diet like keto, carnivore, intermittent fasting or whatever, but those never followed through because in the end there was no shift or desire to change the core identity. For him, he was someone that Eats out. He enjoys eating out. He enjoys drinking sugary drinks from Starbucks. He enjoys watching sports and playing video games for six to eight hours a day. And he's just simply attempting to bolt on extraneous behaviors to a faulty foundation. Victor (12:10) I personally have been asked multiple times by multiple people whether or not I am on peptides, steroids, or GLP ones. I can say that I have never taken any of these compounds, and in fact I find it insulting when people insinuate that I'm taking any of these compounds, because they just assume that my principles and my sense of self has nothing to do with my fitness when that couldn't be further from the truth. My fitness level is directly tied to my personal values and my core principles, which is why the podcast is titled Getting Fit by First Principles. Victor (12:46) Personally, I love fitness. I'm a very active person. I've been doing jujitsu for almost seven years. I currently hold a brown belt. I compete regularly. I coach. I lift weights because I enjoy it. And recently I just started taking it running. And as I'm recording this, I have a half marathon scheduled for tomorrow morning. Victor (13:12) I love physical challenges and my body reflects all the time and dedication and intentional training and meal planning that it takes. Victor (13:25) And secondly, my fitness level lines up with my own personal principles. I love my friends, and being fit and being capable is how I show up for a lot of people. Victor (13:41) Recently I had been on a week long hiking trip through Utah and during one of the hikes my party ran out of water and we were a couple miles from the refill station and everyone was starting to overheat because in Utah I think it was a hundred and ten degrees and they had to take breaks every fifteen minutes while I was still good to keep hiking and that got me scared. So what did I do? I took everybody's empty bottles and I hiked two miles downhill and I hiked two miles back uphill to deliver water to everyone. And I could only do that because I was fit. Victor (14:22) And again, this is something that lines up with my own first principles and my sense of self. I am there for my loved ones and my friends, so I've built a body that is capable of providing for them in such situations. Victor (14:38) So on that note, when we think about adjusting our sense of self and our identity to fit certain goals, right, we can go back to that analogy of, say you're a father of four that works 80 hours per week and you're out of shape or whatever. Maybe we can change that narrative. Victor (14:57) Yes, the problems of the workload and the family will always be there, but is it possible to shift the mindset and the identity from being somebody that's overwhelmed by these responsibilities to somebody that lives long and shows up for their family through their greater capacity? Victor (15:18) Just some food for thought. I am just a guy in the internet that likes to lift things and struggle for fun. So take from that what you will.