A couple weeks ago, the McKinsey & Company Chicago office hosted a “Headshot Day” for anyone who needed updated professional photos. It was a day I had been waiting on for quite some time. My old photo was taken on October 9, 2021 and I have been using that photo since and, quite frankly, it didn’t look like me anymore.
In December 2022, I decided to start making health a priority and, as I have written in the past (see previous updates in comment below), it has been an amazing journey with profound – and quite frankly, unforeseen – benefits. All told, I have lost 100 lbs, but it is so much more than that…
🔋 More energy
💤 Better sleep
🔍 Greater focus and clarity
🏥 Less aches, pains, and colds
🤗 Overwhelming happiness
…and so much more.
When I started on this path, I knew I needed to make a change. My lifestyle was unsustainable and I had deprioritized myself in so many ways and for many reasons, thinking I would get to it eventually. Nothing big (e.g., heart attack, stroke, etc.) had happened [yet] but I saw the conditions coming together in which it could. It was just a matter of time. So I decided enough was enough. It was time to get healthy!
It was not one thing, it was everything – it all needed to change. Isolating the change to one aspect or focusing on one single thing was the very reason I had failed to make the change stick in the past. Nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness were core elements of the journey…and it worked. It was not easy at every step, but I celebrated the little wins and slowly began to FEEL different and so much better.
Two years later, fast forward to December 4, 2024: picture day had come and a new Justin had arrived. I’m proud of the progress over the past two years and I am so grateful for the support of my friends, family, colleagues, and community. I have heard from many of you – THANK YOU for the messages and calls about your journeys. They are inspiring and have propelled me to keep going at pivotal moments. You know who you are…
With new year’s resolutions just a couple weeks away, I wanted to share my story and tell you it is possible to make a change and it is never too late. Starting and sustaining change is hard but it can be done; just ask the guy on the right!
This article was originally posted on LinkedIn.
A couple weeks ago, the McKinsey & Company Chicago office hosted a “Headshot Day” for anyone who needed updated professional photos. It was a day I had been waiting on for quite some time. My old photo was taken on October 9, 2021 and I have been using that photo since and, quite frankly, it didn’t look like me anymore.
In December 2022, I decided to start making health a priority and, as I have written in the past (see previous updates in comment below), it has been an amazing journey with profound – and quite frankly, unforeseen – benefits. All told, I have lost 100 lbs, but it is so much more than that…
🔋 More energy
💤 Better sleep
🔍 Greater focus and clarity
🏥 Less aches, pains, and colds
🤗 Overwhelming happiness
…and so much more.
When I started on this path, I knew I needed to make a change. My lifestyle was unsustainable and I had deprioritized myself in so many ways and for many reasons, thinking I would get to it eventually. Nothing big (e.g., heart attack, stroke, etc.) had happened [yet] but I saw the conditions coming together in which it could. It was just a matter of time. So I decided enough was enough. It was time to get healthy!
It was not one thing, it was everything – it all needed to change. Isolating the change to one aspect or focusing on one single thing was the very reason I had failed to make the change stick in the past. Nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness were core elements of the journey…and it worked. It was not easy at every step, but I celebrated the little wins and slowly began to FEEL different and so much better.
Two years later, fast forward to December 4, 2024: picture day had come and a new Justin had arrived. I’m proud of the progress over the past two years and I am so grateful for the support of my friends, family, colleagues, and community. I have heard from many of you – THANK YOU for the messages and calls about your journeys. They are inspiring and have propelled me to keep going at pivotal moments. You know who you are…
With new year’s resolutions just a couple weeks away, I wanted to share my story and tell you it is possible to make a change and it is never too late. Starting and sustaining change is hard but it can be done; just ask the guy on the right!
This article was originally posted on LinkedIn.
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