What I used to believe & what I believe now

I did a lot of things wrong and believed some ridiculous things when I first became interested in fitness & health.

When I first started out in the exercise world around 2006 or 2007, I had no idea what I was doing; I was just starting out give me a break! That was around my first year or two in high school. And from then and throughout my early college years, I still had a lot of inaccurate beliefs about exercise, nutrition, and health as a whole.

It wasn’t until I started studying in the field professionally, learning from my mentors, and learning through trial and error that I realized I was doing A LOT of things wrong.

Today, in this short blog, I want to save you years of wasted time so you don’t do all of the wrong things in hopes of building lean muscle that lasts.

What I used to believe vs. what I believe now

I used to believe that protein should account for 50-60% of your total calories. ➡️ I now believe protein should account for somewhere around 20-30% of your total calories in most cases.

I used to believe I needed to spend at least an hour and a half at the gym every day to build muscle. ➡️ I now believe you don’t have to spend countless hours at the gym and in 45 minutes 5 days per week you can build a lean and muscular physique.

I used to believe that I could and should eat whatever I wanted and as much of it as I physically could if wanted to put on muscle mass. ➡️ I now believe that that would only help me put on unhealthy weight and when trying to build muscle, I do want to eat in a caloric surplus but what I consume should be coming from good quality whole foods.

I used to think that staying up late and missing out on sleep wouldn’t effect my muscle building progress too much. ➡️ I now know that sleep is absolutely essential to help the body and muscles recover from exercise so that they can grow back stronger.

I used to think that I could eat an entire pizza or a tub of ice cream after a workout and that would help my muscles recover and to grow back stronger. ➡️ I now know that only puts my body out of wack and hinders my ability to build muscle.

I used to think that I needed to lift heavy all of the time and workout until I felt like I was going to collapse. ➡️ I’ve now discovered a more methodical and systematic approach that is superior to what I was doing before.

I used to believe that dairy was good for me and that it would help me build muscle. ➡️ I now know that dairy is not digested well for a lot of people and that milk is not a necessary nutrient in a healthy diet.

I used to have no idea what “unhealthy” food looked like and assumed if it was sold in stores and approved by the FDA then it must be good for me. ➡️ I realized that is far from the truth and food companies pay a lot of money in advertising to get us to believe that their products are made for children, or are heart healthy, or are good for the family but in reality, most food you see in the aisles of the grocery stores are filled with harmful chemicals, added sugar, added salt, added unhealthy fat, and is not actually real food after all.

I used to believe it mattered how other people saw me- if girls thought I had a good physique and if I could keep up with the other guys in the weight room. ➡️ I now know that it doesn’t matter how other people see me. All that matters is how God sees me and how I see myself. I workout and focus on my body and my health for me; I want to feel and look good for me and it doesn’t matter how “the world” and other people see me. I think this one is still a struggle for a lot of us sometimes. Yes, ok, I dragged you into it because I didn’t want to feel alone but you can relate too right!? Or no?

I once believed that I was superman and that I could fly. ➡️ I then realized I was an idiot when I ended up in the hospital with a broken leg after jumping off of my roof…

Ok so maybe that last one wasn’t completely true, but I did break my leg at 18.

Never stop learning

I’ve learned a lot over the years and I still have a lot to learn. As soon as you think you know it all, you hinder the ability to learn anything new. I will never stop learning. I will never stop in my pursuit to help people live better lives.

How many of my past beliefs did you still believe coming into this reading? Let me know and share some of what you used to believe vs what you believe now in the comments below. ⬇️