So I’ve been doing a lot of fitness experimentation these past few months, doing things that I thought I would never dare trying. I’m now almost a solid 17 weeks into my life-changing experience and I am not only blown away by my progress and results but also with who I’ve become. I’m becoming someone that I always said I wanted to be.

It started with stripping myself of all alcohol consumption, of which I have been clean for the entire 17 weeks now (longer than I have ever gone since turning 21). I knew that this substance, however little I consumed, would counteract any and all aspirations I desired for my physical being. Next came dieting; believe it or not alcohol has been the easiest thing to get rid of; I don’t miss it, have no cravings for it, and can even deal with people around me drinking (and the mockery that follows alongside it as well). Food, however, has been a devastating experience, of which I have had multiple relapses in the past 3 or so months including fudge-brownie binges and face-stuffing BBQ indulgences. Not that I’m at all opposed to the occasional treat, in fact many fitness experts recommend it; that rare “shock” will throw off your body’s clock to keep it from “getting used” to anything, and also to keep you from going back to the way your were (it’s not a “diet” because diets end; it’s a change of lifestyle that I’m after). But as it were, food has been the hardest addiction to curb.

Then came exercise. I chose INSANITY for a number of reasons. Namely I liked that it involved body-weight only and required no peripheral exercise equipment. This made it easy for someone like me to do consistently, since my schedule sometimes requires me to travel often (and travel lightly, at that). Also I knew, given it’s name and secondhand experience from friends who had done it before, that it was an INTENSE workout experience. Actually, intense is an understatement. It’s unbelievable. Insanity is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I didn’t want to “warm up” with something else or ease into a slight workout routine; I wanted to dive in head first. I completed the insanity course 5 weeks ago and immediately began doing it again the following day.

But I didn’t stop my health makeover there; even though I am satisfied with the “look” of my new body I still wanted to take it a step further. Besides, looks aren’t the only things I’m concerned with. I want to be healthy. I want to live as long and as well as I can, which is the interesting part. Most people want to live long. But live well? Live fit? Live without health defect? That’s something they’re typically willing to part with (myself included).

After watching a few food documentaries on Netflix like Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and Food Matters I was inspired to start an organic juice fast, of which I am currently partaking in at the moment of writing this. I spent the better half of last night reading books and blogs on juicing, studying its effects and benefits, and even made three or four “meals” for the next few days. I’ve committed myself to a 7-day juice cleanse to detox my body of built-up toxins, and depending on how it makes me feel alongside my excruciating workout regiment I may or may not continue the no-food-fast for 10 days. Or 30 days. Or 60. We’ll see 🙂

Why on earth am I sharing this information? No, it’s not to boast or brag. Believe me, I’m far from “proud” of myself for anything I’ve chosen to do for my body (though, to be honest, sometimes it feels like I’m doing these things to my body). I’m not even trying to inspire you to do them for yourself, though I guess that I should take this moment to do just that – it’s far easier than you think and you’ll thank me later if you do. Fitness of the body leads to fitness of the mind which gives you the ability to work on fitness of the soul, and I cannot express how truly amazing I feel right now. Give it a shot!

No, the real reason I’m even mentioning any of this right now is to prove a point – that if you want something bad enough you can have it with enough hard work, discipline, and MOST IMPORTANTLY a solid plan. This 17 week mind/body/soul makeover hasn’t been easy. It’s involved tears and heartache. It’s been painful. It’s meant missing out on work, friends, gigs, opportunities and sometimes sleep. It’s taken a lot of time in research, planning and execution. But it’s been worth it, I can tell you that.

I’ll tell you what else it has been: life changing. I’m not stopping at 17 weeks. Or 25. Or 52. Or next year, or the year after that. I’m going to continue to grow in this and make my physical and mental fitness a top priority for the sake of myself and my family as well.

But here’s the kicker: I haven’t just been going this “gung-ho” about ONLY my fitness for the past 17 weeks. Actually, this level of dedication has expanded into every avenue of my life. I said earlier that physical fitness leads to fitness of the mind and soul, and it’s true. Now I read more. I study more. I pray more. I think more (and more clearly, too). I’ve applied this level of intensity to my business, my relationships, my emotions, my focus, and also my musicianship. Not only am I practicing more these days, I’m also getting more out of my practice time than ever before.

I’d like to not only encourage you to take this kind of control of your physical fitness, but also your musical fitness. What would happen to your bass playing if you tore at it, full force, with everything you’ve got, for 17 weeks straight? Would you finally “get into shape;” the shape you’ve always dreamed of? Would you finally “look” the way you want and “feel” as good as you dreamed? Would you be confident in your abilities, your strengths, and even your weaknesses?

The answer is undoubtably YES.

I’ll leave you with this; I am a big fan of podcasts (some news coming soon on that subject) and I’ve been listening to a lot of Dave Ramsey lately. I began tackling all of this fitness stuff with ferocity because at the beginning of this year I began to tackle my finances with the level of ferocity that Dave preaches about. One thing I heard him say a few days ago was that you don’t want to be normal in your finances, because “normal” ain’t good at all. For us Americans, “normal” means having a good FICO score, a mortgage, a car payment and living off credit cards. Here’s a literal translation for that lifestyle formula: Normal means being heavily in debt, usually living above your means and out of your wage (leading to foreclosures), living month to month and paycheck to paycheck (leading to your dependency on the government to take care of you in retirement, or on a rainy day when you need help, and we all know how good they are at doing that), leading up to divorce (as we know that money problems are the leading cause of ended marriages in the United States) and alimony and child support payments. If you check the statistics you’ll see that this is, unfortunately, the posterchild of “normal” in America.

So, the lesson here? Normal isn’t good. According to Dave, if you want to win you need to be weird. Abnormal. Different. Something that people look at and say, “That’s pointless.” It’s almost counterintuitive, and yet it’s right. Over the past 17 weeks I’ve heard these comments:

You’re not drinking? That’s dumb. Enjoy yourself, you deserve it!

You work out 6 days a week? That doesn’t sound fun at all. Get a life.

Why would you want to cut out food that tastes so good? Just take fat-burners and you’ll be ok.

According to these statements from close friends and family, I’m pretty weird right now. I’m not “normal;” I don’t participate in their “microwave,” fast-food society, and sometimes they look down on me for it. And here’s the best part: THAT MEANS I’M DOING SOMETHING RIGHT! If an overweight person tells me that my dietary and workout routine is crazy and jacked up, then that means I’m doing it right. Now that’s funny! The fact that it’s weird is how I know I’m on the right track. Cuz if being “normal” means going back to the way I was before, then I don’t want to be normal. I’d rather be weird.