🧠 How to take control of your fitness and health in 10 weeks 💪
Why I Train: A Fitness Journey Rooted in "cause I fecking deserve it"
I’ve been on this health and fitness journey for over 12 years — reading, studying, experimenting, and stumbling. There were wins, setbacks, and moments of doubt. But one line made it all click.
It came from Sal DiStefano, on his podcast interview with Tom Bilyeu. Paraphrased, it goes something like this:
“Most people approach health and fitness from a place of self-hatred. You look in the mirror, hate what you see, and punish yourself — starving, running for hours, denying joy. You tell yourself you’re lazy, disgusting, and deserve to suffer. But that’s not sustainable. Eventually, you snap: ‘Feck that diet. You only live once!’ And when that happens, it’s not one cookie — it’s three packs.”
The truth is: self-hatred is unnatural. You can only run on it for so long.
The secret? Approach health and fitness from a place of self-love. Care for yourself because you’re worthy. You deserve nourishment, movement, rest — the same way you care for your kids, your spouse, your parents. You are worthy of love, my friend.
So you’ll choose to eat healthy and whole foods because you want to take care of your body. You’ll train because it’s the best gift you can give your future self.
💪 Why else do I do it?
Because I’m fecking worth it.
Because I want to walk my daughters down the aisle — if they choose to marry. Because when my father got sick, I was strong enough to lift and carry him to the bathroom. Because I want to chase my grandkids like I chased their mothers. Because when we’re much older, my wife and I will still lift our own bags into airplane cabinets. Because we’ll bike around Paris again, like we did on our honeymoon.
Find your WHY. Then your HOW becomes much easier.
🗓️ If I Had to Start Over: My 10-Week Plan
Week 0 – Understand
Don’t change anything. Just track everything. Get a kitchen scale and weigh every bite. Manically, for one or two weeks. No spoon estimates — weigh it in grams. You’ll be shocked how much peanut butter fits in your “tablespoon.”
📱 Apps I love: Carb Manager, MyFitnessPal, Carbon.
📸 Take photos. Record your measurements. Note how your clothes fit.
This is me in 2020, before I shifted my focus:
2020: 230+lbs, body fat super high, Visceral fat at dangerous levels
Week 1 – Start
Calculate your ideal body weight. Mine is 190 lbs, aiming for 167 lbs of lean mass at ~14% body fat. Eat that number in grams of protein daily — for me, that’s 190g.
Source: Dr. Gabrielle Lyon - The Lyon Protocol | Gabrielle Lyon protein intake recommendation | Ask Huberman Lab
You also get outside early. Morning light exposure helps regulate your circadian rhythm and mood. Walk, tend to your garden, or simply sip coffee under the sky.
Week 2 – Prioritize Protein
Hit your protein target every day. Don’t restrict anything else yet — just focus on protein.
🚶♂️ Move more. Aim for 8,000+ steps daily. No tracker? Walk 10 minutes after each meal — that’s 30 minutes total.
🎥 Shawn Stevenson breaks down the benefits of walking beautifully in this video and blog post.
Week 3 – Whole Foods
Now that you’re consistent, aim to hit your protein goals using whole foods: eggs, beef, tofu, chicken, tuna.
💡 Fun fact: 100g of chicken breast ≠ 100g of protein. It’s ~22g. The rest is water, fat, and nutrients. Use your app to calculate properly.
Week 4 – Hydrate
Keep going, hero. Now let’s talk water.
💧 Mayo Clinic recommends ~16 cups/day for men (4L), ~12 cups for women (3L).
🧠 Pro-tip: Don’t count cups. Use a big flask (preferably not plastic) and refill 2–3 times daily.
🌅 Shawn Stevenson calls this your “inner bath.” Start your day with 16–32oz of water.
Week 5 – Fiber
Note there are still no restrictions — you’re just adding fiber now. Aim for 30g/day (Source: Dr Layne Norton).
🌱 Add flaxseed, chia, psyllium to snacks.
🥣 My go-to protein snack:
250g Kirkland Greek Yogurt
15g milled flaxseed
10g chia seeds
15g hemp hearts
90g frozen blueberries
Sweetener of choice
Macros: This bad boy packs 38g protein, 13g of very healthy fats, 23g carbs (10g fiber), in under 400 calories. I dare you to be hungry after this.
Week 6 – Lift. Heavy. Shit.
Got a gym? Go. No gym? No problem. Do air squats holding a heavy bag, do a bunch of pushups or pull ups.
🏋️♂️ My home workout routine:
Day 1: 100 pushups (split throughout the day: 20 when I wake up, 20 after the morning coffee, 20 before lunch, etc.)
Day 2: Walk more (quick walk outside, or under-desk treadmill)
Day 3: 100 squats with 70lb kettlebells (split throughout the day as well)
Day 4: Walk more
Day 5: Rest
Day 6: 100 dips or kettlebell seesaws
Day 7: Walk with the kids
Week 7 – Eat Together
According to Shawn Stevenson’s Family Cookbook Only 30% of Americans eat family meals at least 3× a week. We can do better.
🍽️ Pro-tip: Schedule it. “Hey fam, let’s do dinner together on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays. No TV. Let’s make a playlist for it together.”
Week 8 – Sleep Your Fat Away
How do we lose fat? What happens to it? Most people think when we’re working out, we’re literarily sweating our fat away. But it’s not through sweat we get rid of it — it’s mostly through our breath.
🧪 Fat breaks down into energy + CO₂ + water. Nearly ~80% of our fat is released as CO₂. If you’re curious, you can read more about it here.
We need to focus on better sleep.
🛏️ Pro-tip: 3–2–1 Rule
3 hrs before bed: stop eating
2 hrs before bed: stop drinking
1 hr before bed: no screens
If screens are a must, wear blue-light glasses.
Week 9 – Mind
Pause. Reflect again on your WHY. Notice your sleep, energy, mood, even your sexyyyy time? Any improvements?
Remember this is not about perfection. It’s all about stacking conditions in your favor.
🧘 Pro-tip: Studies show that mindfulness before meals can alter how your food is absorbed and lower the amount of calories you eat in a given day. Simply pause before you start eating, be thankful for the miracle of the modern economy and contemplate how many people had to work on the process of bringing this food to your plate.
Week 10 – Track Progress
Re-measure your intake. Reassess your strength. Try on those Week 0 clothes. Take new photos. Compare.
2024: feck the scale, 19% body fat, Visceral fat under 8
🧩 Final Thoughts
This plan gets you 80% of the way there. Focus on your health. Focus on yourself. You deserve it.
I’m having so much fun in the process and this new lifestyle that, despite my 38th birthday coming up next week, I feel younger, fitter, and with way more energy than when I was 20.
2025: Gym dates with my wife!
How about you… will you take care of yourself as well as you do for the ones you love?