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By
Phil Stevens |
I've been taking a look at the past
ten years of my life as of late— all the changes and transformations
I’ve been through, and all the hurdles I’ve conquered.
And— the good the bad areas of health mental and physical that
go along with them.
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My latest little hill to climb
was this short "cut" I did that was seemingly just
another easy, painless, and very effective transformation
for me.
In reality however, while physically
it was very easy, it was another huge mental milestone for
me in the past ten years of change. Ten years that have seen
me go from a blubbery 300+ pounds at probably 40-50% bodyfat
to a literally sickly 165 pounds.
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Note: Phil used the USP Labs
supplement
"Recreate" in his cut - click
here to
read about his experiences with it. |
From a fish swimming in alcohol and
3 pack a day smoker from the age of 9, to totally dropping alcohol
for a time, and finally not smoking. From one eating disorder (stuffing
my face) to a “seemingly” great relationship with food,
then transitioning to another eating disorder and literally getting
to the point of starving myself, deprivation, binging and purging,
all of that.
From a state of anything goes, to
a brief period of being in control happy and healthy, to never thin
enough. Less, less, less, no body fat is good. If a lot of something
is bad then ANY is evil. From not training to three times a week.
Then to twice a days. Then to twice a day weights every day, to
that plus twice a day running every day.
Add on to all of that making every
second, every minute, and every activity about burning calories,
dropping fat, building muscle. Hours and hours spent weighing, measuring,
stressing every macro, micro, ounce, pound, inch, mile and minute
eaten, lifted, walked or ran. From bad health and obese, to even
worse health, literally near death, hating life, but defined as
hot by visual standards, by women, and of course mainstream media.
Hell, no wonder we're so confused!
It’s a fine line we walk— those of us with type A and
addictive personalities. Obsession can be our best friend and our
worst enemy. We can literally do ANYTHING we set our minds to. We
just have to chose it and then make it happen. We are revered for
what we do, our ability to make things happen.
But sadly many times it’s the
things we do that are the worst for ourselves that are looked up
upon by others as our greatest achievements. Which brings about
the bad thing about our ability. That we can make things, anything,
happen. Anything we set our mind to, no matter what, no matter how
bad it is for us mentally, physically, emotionally. No matter the
physical and mental pain, we just turn it off and make it happen.
It’s just pain, keep going that shit can't keep you down. You
just cope and GET IT DONE!
Again this latest little cut was a
huge step for me. Another step in showing myself that I'm in control.
Learning how to harness my ability in a positive way. That I can,
at anytime, just make “it” happen, but also proving to
myself I’m in control of the one thing in this world at times
I fear I’m not in control of, Myself.
That once I start something I won't
stop no matter what its doing to me. That no matter the cost the
stress and pain I'll just keep going and take it extreme. Not have
the ability again to stop my self, stop making “it” happen.
That I’ll cut till I’m near, or maybe this time actually
dead. Or eat until I’m a blubbering mess or mass of humanity.
The self is our biggest battle.
On Sunday, the last day of this cut,
I was really reflecting on all of this. Upon talking about it with
a good friend, as usually happens for me, article ideas come about
in real world lived experience and conversation, I decided this
would make a good article series.
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So the next few
articles, now that I’ve covered the backbone, the meat
and taters of the addictive, all or nothing personality. I
will cover in more detail from my own experience; first where
things can go / went wrong and how you can become your own
worst enemy. Then on to how you can be your best tool and
learn to harness that power for positive transformations and
goals.
I hope this strikes
some good dialogue. I feel this can both be good for those
with this personality. Those who have experienced many of
the same things or those who are at risk of it. As well informational
for those who don’t have this trait of simply making
anything they desire happen, and possibly showing that they
to can learn these skills where we have to learn to harness
them they selectively can adopt them
Until the next
installment, go make something positive happen!
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About The Author
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Coach Phil Stevens is an accomplished
strength athlete with considerable experience in both powerlifting
and strongman competition. Phil is the 2007 APA World Champion
in the 242-pound class (total). He currently holds the APF
275-pound class raw National bench, squat, deadlift, and total
records. Phil’s marquis lift was his 700-pound raw deadlift,
performed on February 14, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Phil has been ranked in the
“Top 10” in the deadlift Nationally across all powerlifting
federations, and in addition to his coaching duties at Staley
Training Systems, he also serves as the Arizona State Chair
for the North American Highlander Association, as well as
the founder of Lift For Hope, an annual strength-competition
with proceeds donated to Charity (www.Lift4Hope.org).
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