16/10/2026
I used to be a f*ckin nightmare for social events when I was younger and trying to get in shape
Which was ALWAYS 🫣
Whatever day/week/month/season it was, you could put ya bottom dollar on me being in the midst of yet another attempt to get ripped.
I’m not sure I ever achieved it haha
It was my approach. It set me up to fail.
I remember when we had a family event I would sit there pretending I wasn’t dying inside as I sipped my extra plain tap water and resisted the delicious buffet spread across the dining table
“Aren’t you having anything, it’s rude!” People would say
“I’m fine. I don’t want any, I’m not hungry”
LYING T**T
In my mind I wasn’t ALLOWED to have a few sarnies and some quiche because those foods aren’t “healthy” and that would mean I failed my diet
After using up all the will power I had for the month, I would attack what was left like some kind of ginger-buffet-vulture sent to vaporise any remains without remorse!
Then came the guilt, the shame, the self-loathing and of course the grand declaration for the week ahead!
Even stricter, even MORE disciplined, NOTHING will get in my way this time.
I don’t think I need to explain what happened.
If I had a smarter approach where I realised I COULD enjoy these events sensibly, my mind wouldn’t have lept so quickly into binge-restriction mode and spoiled everything
This is why I coach people to be imperfect now.
I KNOW first hand the dangers of seeking perfectionism and also the benefits of accepting those little defects we have when trying to get in shape
You wanna keep sweets, pizza and chocolate in your plan, then thats what we do.
Can only manage 1 workout per week, then thats all you do.
Like a couple pints with the lads on a Friday, we can do that.
GLWD is about making things easy to stick to and escaping perfectionism
Getting in shape could cost you as little as £25 per week.
If you told 2010 Dean that he would never have to suffer the frustration he felt every Monday morning for less than the price of his weekly Dominos he would have snapped ya hand off