well i am… worth it

98 days ago I embarked on a challenge to change myself. A challenge to move to a healthy lifestyle and to become someone I am proud to be. With a massive degree of trepidation I embarked on the well i am challenge. A challenge to live 100 healthy days, making choices that were beneficial for my long-term health and not just for my short-term taste. I started the challenge with more fear than excitement.  Unbelievable 14 weeks later I sit here typing this as a changed man. I can now buy clothes from the regular sized section.

My well i am challenge adventure started with so much excitement from my wife, who I celebrate my second anniversary with today, wish had an infectious effect on me. Instead of fear I slowly grew in confidence and excitement. The kilograms started dropping and the energy started rising. I knew that I needed to include exercise and could not get excited by gym itself, as a result I embarked on a running adventure inspired by my good friend John McInroy (and all the Unogwaja team members) and role model Brad Brown, which also led to me being interviewed by Brad on Old Mutual Live, where I talk about Unogwaja, Comrades, Parkrun and importantly the well i am challenge. You can give it a listen below here:

My 100 day challenge was just like any typical challenge, there were super easy days when you thought that this wasnt going to be hard. There were also extremely tough days, like going to work in Mauritius for a week and staying at a holiday resort there or like the two bachelor parties that deserve a fair amount of party. There are also times when the cravings strike and you are desperate to just chow down a burger and some beer. But ultimately every obstacle gives you another opportunity to learn and grow.

After 98 days I have proudly lost 18kg and am going strong. I will share the detailed stats of my 100 day journey when I go for my final screening this week with Dischem. At this time though i wanted to share five golden lessons that the well i am challenge has taught me. If it has a positive effect on one person, then it’s already had the desired effect.

1. You can do anything you set your heart to
   I often heard the saying you can do anything you set your mind to, but what I have learnt is that it’s not the mind that you need to convince, it’s the heart. What the heart wants, the heart will get.
2. You cant out train a bad diet
   This was something Brad shared with me early on in my adventure. You cant out train a diet that is bad. Don’t even try to justify it in your head.
3. Your support base is incredibly important
   I will wax lyrical about my amazing wife and its massive to have a supporter in your corner, someone who helps sit alongside you in the trenches. When you have this you will see that the sum of the parts is more than the individual parts.
4. Slip ups do not mean failure
   The most important thing is to not fall into the trap of I messed up, so I might as well just give up on the whole thing.
5. Enjoy the Journey not just the destination
   The destination is where you are going to, but if you don’t enjoy the ride it tastes a lot less sweet. Instead enjoy the journey, you may just may find some incredible things that you never expected to.

Thank you for your support on my journey, it’s not over yet!