I’ve never been overweight but when I first started going to the gym it was purely to stop being skinny and to look better aesthetically. My young brain was determined and focused and I would train hard in the gym and eat right every day. After a few years that determination decreased and I plateaued especially with school, work, and relationships.

I then rededicated myself to gymnastic/breakdancing training so I could do functional things like backflips and tricks (calisthenics). Being able to have functional strength and do cool things with my body felt great and it was no longer about picking up heavy things for the hell of it. All of that crossed over into activities like bouldering, snowboarding, and dancing. Really understanding and trusting your body to do really functional applications really gave me drive again. I still weight train but I do a lot more conditioning and endurance.

My advice to anyone is to find something you enjoy or at the very least don’t hate and keep with it. Many times I see unathletic people ( both fat and skinny) shy away from the gym because they don’t have any positive reinforcement from when they were young with physical activities. Once you discover what you are capable of I think that is really a great feeling.