Three Surprising Secrets to Being in the Best Shape of My Life at 40
Hint—It has nothing to do with drinking less beer or spending your life at the gym.
I like the guy I see in the mirror these days. I recently wrote a reflection about turning 40, and a part of it was wondering what 10-year-old me would think of 40-year-old me—living in a beach town in Mexico with my dog, playing music for pesos, and chasing a dream project.
I think he’d respond with a combination of weird and awesome. I also think little me would be most pleased that I kept myself in shape.
As a kid growing up in Wisconsin, where the cheese grows on trees, I struggled mightily with my weight. I was a naturally gifted athlete, and even though I spent hours on a practice field (mostly soccer) every week, I struggled with my fitness. I was always a bit chubby, always in the midst of a fierce internal battle between food cravings and wanting to be skinny so girls would like me.
I ballooned to 235 pounds the summer after my sophomore year in high school because a close friend got a job at a loosely run pizza and sandwich joint.
Many in my extended family struggle with their weight. Some have even had gastro bypass surgery. I could have easily followed that path if I stayed in Wisconsin. I didn’t, and I credit that choice above all others as to why I don’t look like a human cheese curd at 40.
I plan to do these three fairly simple things below to keep myself in shape for the next 40 years. So, let’s look at the top 3 surprising reasons why you wouldn’t guess that I grew up as a chubby kid from Wisconsin.
Before we get into the list…
I was hesitant to share this for fear of judgment. Of this piece being perceived as a brag-blog, or me tooting my own sexy horn. In the end, I decided to share these thoughts because I think they might be helpful.
I really have struggled for most of my life with my weight, and I wish I had considered these ideas way earlier. Feeling fit at 40 is a huge reason I wake up happy. It’s a big part of why I have self-love.
I hit publish because I hope this helps to motivate and inspire some folks, leading to more folks having an abundance of self-love, something we all deserve. I promise it’s NOT because I want you to think “Oh look at this guy… Mr. pull-up guy over here wants us to check him out!!!”
1. Move to Mexico (or somewhere that’s naturally healthier)
In all honesty, I started this blog because I wanted to share this point. The other two ideas below are huge reasons I’m in shape as well, but this point—Mexico’s impact on my health—I’ve thought about at great lengths.
I traveled for a long time, and I’ve always had some loose idea of how various cultures and continents impact my health. In Southeast Asia, I didn’t have to think about my weight too often. In Europe, with carbs in every direction, I would feel myself start to swell.
I never stayed anywhere too long to stress over the seven pounds I put on in Italy, but I knew that environment was playing a huge role in how I felt in my skin. Since moving to Mexico post-pandemic, and staying here for years, I’ve come to decide it’s the most important thing for my health. More than how much I eat or work out—where I live, where I eat, where I simply breathe—has the greatest impact on my health.
The only other place in all my travels where I stayed fit without going to great lengths, was Byron Bay, Australia. Also a small town on the ocean. Somewhere that sweating was as much a part of every day as sleeping. In Puerto Escondido where I live, it’s even easier, because the food is naturally healthier than the meat pies of Oz (which I miss), and it’s far hotter here.
Whenever I’m back in the States for a week, even if I work out every single day, I put on five pounds. I’ve never really understood it, but I’m certain it’s in part because of the way food is prepared. There’s more oil, fat, sugar, and salt in basically—everything.
An average lunch in Oaxaca involves handmade tortillas, beans, rice, vegetables, and maybe some meat, all made from scratch without additives. An average lunch in the United States will often be a lot of meat, with a huge pile of something fried on the side. Refill on that soda, bud?
Without thinking about it, Mexico has kept my weight down to around 180 pounds for three years now. I spent the entirety of my late twenties and most of my thirties around 200 or 210 pounds. I don’t really work out more and I never stop myself from eating when I’m hungry. I just wake up in a hot part of Mexico and eat the fresh food here.
Te amo, Puerto Escondido.
2. Do something active for 30 minutes every single day
My brother is in great shape right now, but sharing the same genetics as me, he’s also struggled at times. In the past, when I would try to motivate him to work out more he would often respond with some version of “Well, I walked to and from my office today, that’s like 30 minutes!”
I would argue that simply getting yourself to work, or going grocery shopping, or anything else that involves moving your body is JUST BEING ALIVE. It’s not exercise. As humans we need exercise, and pretending that normal day-to-day movements is enough, is just a bad idea. It’s chubby-people logic.
In the same way that most folks brush their teeth and wash their body every day, I exercise. It’s a daily practice, like studying Spanish and reading. I don’t spend two hours at a gym every day, but every night around sunset I work out for around 30–45 minutes.
To be clear, I don’t even belong to a gym.
Sometimes I go for a beach run. Sometimes I complete a pushup and pull-up routine at the park near my house that destroys me in under 30 minutes. Sometimes I opt for yoga or a bike ride. Whatever it might be, every single day, I move my body—on purpose—to kick my metabolism into gear, and to make sure that I sweat enough to easily enjoy the impending food craving over the horizon.
3. Eat When You’re Hungry
Intermittent fasting was a big health fad a few years back. I found the reasoning behind it convincing—give your body a daily chance to go into a calorie deficit and burn some fat. Seems logical enough, and so I started giving myself longer breaks between eating, primarily to start the day.
Before that fad, all the way into my mid-thirties, I ate right when I woke up. This followed my meal pattern that began as a young kid, pounding a bowl of cereal before school at seven in the morning. It seemed that everyone in modern society ate breakfast before going to work or school, and so naturally, that’s what I was meant to do as well!
My life in Mexico doesn’t involve “going to work in the morning.” So thankfully, I’ve been able to break away from a lot of the most followed patterns of a 9–5 life. I also realized that I could let a 12-hour window pass rather easily before I even got hungry.
I wasn’t torturing myself in the slightest.
Most mornings I wake up around 9 am. I make a pot of black coffee, then I read and study Spanish before checking my emails. Eventually, around noon I’ll eat some oatmeal. I don’t get hungry until noon, and I don’t know why I spent so many years of my life both struggling with my weight and eating right after I woke up—when I wasn’t even hungry.
It doesn’t make any sense. Now, I try to live more in tune with my own natural rhythms and cravings. I sleep when I’m tired, eat when I’m hungry, and work when I feel most alert and motivated. If you struggle with your weight, sleep, or focus, I recommend doing the same.
Living in a place that’s naturally healthier, sticking to a simple daily workout routine, and eating when I’m hungry have made it so that—not only am I currently in the best shape of my life— but staying in great shape is relatively effortless.
I don’t ever stress about what I eat (I even make a big pot of pasta most weeks). I don’t ever force myself to feel hungry. I don’t need to summon huge amounts of willpower to work out for 30 minutes. Honestly, I just don’t think of not working out as an option, the way you likely treat brushing your teeth.
It’s a shift in mindset. Working out is just part of being a healthy human.
Note: Obviously, every now and then I’ll miss a day, but it’s generally a special occasion. When that happens I don’t beat myself up about it, I just work out a bit harder the next day.
Above all, your environment deeply impacts your health. Swap that volleyball image above with me on a snowmobile bundled up in warm clothes, and 50 pounds heavier. That very likely would have been a real photo had I stayed in Wisconsin into my 4os. I’m so glad I left to see the world at 28, and that Mexico is home now.
Beyond the stories that traveling has given me, it brought me to Mexico— and that's the biggest reason I weigh less right now than I have at any point in my life since I was 17 years old.
Te amo, Mexico.
