Tip Being Fat Is Your Fault Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Alpha LifeLiving Tip Being Fat Is Your Fault And that' s good news Here' s why the first step to fat loss is taking personal responsibility Warning Real talk here by Chris Shugart November 16, 2016April 5, 2021 Tags Health & Longevity, Living Better, Tips Back in my fat boy days, I had a dozen excuses for being overweight. Most of them were directed outward: I was fat, I'd tell myself, because of things that were outside of my control. These were self-directed lies, of course, just flimsy rationalizations to make myself feel better. In short, I wasn't taking personal responsibility. I wasn't being self-reliant. I snapped out of it, thank God. I even wrote a little mantra that I repeated to myself every day. The Mantra "The condition I'm in now is completely my fault. I caused this. I chose to slack off. I chose crappy foods. I'm the only one to blame and I'm the only one who can fix it." It worked. I dropped around 65 pounds of fat and eventually added over 30 pounds of muscle. There were missteps, mistakes, and long periods of stagnation along the way. But there were also life lessons – tough, heartless lessons that transcended the gym. Stop Trying to Be a Victim Today, the pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps ideal has faded. Today, people are seeking out and adopting victim labels. And any victim label will do. Anything to shift blame outward. And once someone finds his flavor of victimhood, he not only adopts the label, he begins to define himself by it. He begins to wallow in that perceived victimhood. Why? Because it releases him from personal responsibility and self-reliance. Listen to Barbells The barbell teaches you a different lesson. The barbell holds the opportunities for getting stronger, changing your body, and building resolve. But (and this is the important bit) the barbell also doesn't give a shit about you. You pick it up and you get positive, life-changing results.... or you don't and you get nothing. The bar doesn't care one way or another. It looks you right in the face and says, "This is going to be hard and it's going to take a lot of work but the payoff is awesome. Take it or leave it." In today's society, it's a lesson many need to learn. Life is a barbell. The opportunities are right there. You just have to pick them up and start grinding. It's all on you. Always has been. Always will be. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Alpha Life Dan John s Top 10 Tips This legendary strength coach shares wisdom on lifting, living, and learning. Apply it all and you'll perform better than you ever have. Athletic Performance, Metcon, Opinion Dan John December 27 Alpha Life Tip 3 Ways to Get Your Motivation Back In a slump? Bored? Here's how to get pumped about getting pumped again. Bodybuilding, Motivation, Opinion, Strong Words, Tips Christian Thibaudeau October 23 Alpha Life Tip Your Tools Are Not Your Identity Your training style and diet do not define you. Here's how to disinvest, ditch your cultish tribe, and keep improving. Motivation, Opinion, Strong Words, Tips Chris Shugart March 15 Alpha Life Tip Stop Whoring Yourself Out You see it everywhere on social media these days. Here's the real problem. Opinion, Strong Words, Tips Mark Dugdale December 7