Get busy living, or get busy dying – Shawshank Redemption (Get Healthy or Get Fat)

 

Being overweight and undernourished is like you’re living inside a prison in your own body.

In this mental image, think of your fat as prisoners in their “cells” of your prison body. Your internal fat is stored in fat cells around your internal organs and underneath your skin. The longer you commit the crime of poor nutrition, lack of activity and exercise, the longer your sentence in prison will be. At this point, its time to get healthy or get fat.

The transformation process to a lean physique is like escaping Shawshank prison, and it’s going to take cunning, consistency, time and effort. If you want a life of freedom from fat, it’s time you grabbed a shovel, or spoon, and start digging.

 

Why should I even try to escape?

Wouldn’t it be horrible if you were unable to do the things you want with your friends and family because you are stuck in your own unhealthy fat obese prison body?

Poor nutrition, lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle eventually leads to a life sentence in a horrible unhealthy prison. With it, science has proven you are likely to expect your prison life to include:

• Allergies
• Angina
• High anxiety and stress
• Increasing back pain
• Tendonitis
• High risk of cancer
• Constant constipation
• Repeated bouts of depression
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Fatigue and low energy
• Frequent headaches
• Heart disease complications
• High blood pressure
• Insomnia most night
• Knee problems and reduced mobility
• Poor lung function and difficulty breathing
• Memory loss and dementia
• Metabolic syndrome and everything that goes with it
• Very high chance of reduced life span and early death

 

 

 

How to escape a fat body prison

When it comes to burning away fat to reveal that epic greek god physique underneath, the trick is to kind of try and do it without the guards or the warden noticing.

If you try and bust out quickly with loads of cardio and an aggressive diet of caloric restriction, or drastically cut carbs or anything extreme and sudden, you’re making lots of noise and the guards (your body survival systems) will notice. The alarms will sound and the guards will catch you in the act. From this point they will release more fat storage hormones, slow down your metabolism, build up stress levels, create food obsessions, extreme cravings and hunger and all hell breaks loose. It’s like a punishment of solitary confinement with you serving more time in prison than when you started (finish fatter than at the start).

This is one of the reasons why 95% of diets fail and why many fail from escaping prisons.

If on the other hand, you keep quiet, be smart, stealthy and slowly sneak a few calories off a day, over time you’ll soon chip away at your cell wall and work your way to freedom from fatness.

 

 

Sneaky escape tips

• Make your calorie restriction conservative, no more than 20% of a calorie deficit.
• Make slow changes to your calories and macro ratios.
• Keep progress slow, consistent and steady.
• Include resistance workouts (with weights) to increase metabolism and maintain muscle mass.
• As a rough guide, aim for 0.5 – 1% of weight loss per week. (e.g. 0.8kg per week if you weigh 80kg)
• Keep cardio to just a couple of light sessions a week at first and slowly increase as needed.
• Use a refeed day to reset your leptin levels and keep the guards from being suspicious (see my other article on using refeeds)

 

 

What to expect along the way

Believe me, the journey to lean freedom is tough and it sometimes stinks. Expect some hunger, expect effort required, expect resistance, naysayers, obstacles, cravings and self doubt. But this must me endured to be granted freedom. Keep yourself focused, visualise the experience of freedom and push on. The alternative is to turn back to a life sentence of obesity, poor health, depression and early death.

 

As you reach freedom, expect some reactions! Not many these days are able to escape (only 5% keep the weight off and stay out of prison). Some will smile, pat you on the back for a job well done, others will just stand their in disbelief. Hopefully some who are still stuck inside their own prison bodies, admiring you from behind their prison walls will be inspired to join you. Make sure you do what you can to assist them on your journey.

 

 

 

Experiencing freedom for yourself

Once you get out, you’re FREE! Enjoy the rewards from your efforts and the life of freedom including:

• Self confidence and pride
• High natural energy levels
• Easy long deep sleeps
• Clearer tighter skin
• More defined muscles
• Flexibility and mobility
• Longer higher quality lifespan
• Increased happiness and wellbeing
• Increased strength and endurance
• More motivation to succeed
• Greater opportunities in your work and family life
• Lower risk of disease or health complications
• Improved general overall health and vitality
• More self satisfaction and overall happiness

Who doesn’t want all this!?

Now it will still take a little work, even now, but it will become much much easier to sustain and you will enjoy doing it. Keep moving, enjoy healthy nutritious foods, live life healthy and you won’t get caught or get taken back to prison.

get healthy or get fat

 

 

Images above are from the epic movie “Shawshank Redemption“