How long it took me to do my yard [And “Big Mike” beat me] | RISE Macclesfield | Group Personal Training gym weight loss programmes

I mentioned in a blog the other day about doing a yard on my 19th birthday at Uni.

2.5 pints out of one of those long glasses with a bulb on the bottom.

I was the first one out of friendship group to have their birthday (despite it being half way through the year) and I was notorious for being able to drink a lot and drink it fast.

So there was lots of talk of me getting a fast time.

Rumour had it that the world record was 9.8 seconds and was held by Merv ‘The Swerve’ Hughes – the Australian Cricketer.

———– Googling it now gives the record, along with every other speed drinking record, going to Peter Dowdeswell (who, surely, everyone called ‘Downswell’ at 4.9 seconds ————-

People took my time for a pint, timesed it by 2.5 and reckoned I’d be up there.

It took me 53 seconds.

Everyone was very disappointed in me.

Until Dan did his two weeks later and got somewhere between 3 and 4 minutes.

Henry then was more like 7 or 8 minutes if I remember correctly.

It’s hard going downing a yard.

You get a lot of air in there.

And the way it ‘glugs’ out makes it hard to drink quickly.

A few months later “Hu Stu legend” Big Mike did his yard in 10.2 seconds.

Some claimed “unofficial world record” due to the imprecision of the timing methods involved.

He was a second year who’s drinking the previous year in halls has been “legendary”.

As well as this feet, Big Mike has challenged us at the end of the aforementioned Boat Race to a little challenge.

He’d down 3 pints in the time the three of us did one each.

And he beat us with 8 seconds.

The name and the drinking prowess may have already suggested to you that Big Mike was Big.

Very big.

Definitely the most overweight person I’d ever seen in person at that point.

The whispers were of either 25 or 30 stone.

Neither seemed unfeasible.

But that was who he was.

Big Mike.

Legendary drinker.

Hu Stu legend.

Party animal.

The life and soul.

Drinking (and eating) was very much ingrained in who he was and how he saw himself.

As, to some degree, it is in all of us.

We have this image of ourselves.

The way we see ourselves.

The way we describe our self.

Whether to others……….

Or in our own head.

And that drives our behaviour.

For as long as he sees himself as “Big Mike”, I reckon he would struggle to make any lasting change to the way he eats, drinks and lives in general.

And to the health, fitness and body related results that brings about.

————– I was once with a guy I know called Ste who came to the watershed realisation, with tears in his eyes, that “I will never lose this weight as long as everyone calls me Big Ste” ————–

And I think we’re unlikely to make much progress as long as we consider ourselves as “someone who just likes their food too much” or say “I’ve got a sweet tooth” or “I find healthy food boring”.

Or we’ll struggle to exercise regularly as long as we say or think “I don’t like exercise”, “I’ve never been any good at exercise”, “Exercise is boring” or anything similar.

And I doubt we’ll make any lasting changes to what we do if we believe “I’m too busy to ……….. (insert anything we don’t do consistently)”.

The way we see ourselves and our lives often makes those things a self fulfilling prophecy.

Reframing the way we see and describe ourselves is powerful.

It can’t feel made up.

We’re not going to trick ourselves.

We need to believe it to a sufficient degree.

It has to, at the very least, show signs of becoming true.

Here are a few changes we could “try on for size”:

“I like my food too much” –> “I like my food as much as everyone else does”

“I’ve got a sweet tooth” –> “I go for some more calorie sparse options elsewhere in the week so I can have some more calorie dense ones on occasion and then don’t us that as a justification to over do it”

“I find healthy food boring” –> “No food is inherently healthy or unhealthy. I make a balance across the week of different foods that works for me”.

“I don’t like exercise” –> “If I exercise with other people I find it ok”

“I’ve never been any good at exercise” –> “I know I’ll get better with practice”

“Exercise is boring” –> “I need to do exercise I find ok with people I like to spend time with rather than trying to force myself to do some other version”

“I’m too busy to ………..” –> “I need to pick my big return on investment activities that I can do with the time I do have”

An so on.

As always, no right or wrong.

But if the descriptions we use of ourselves and how we feel about the world make it unlikely those things will change………….

We’d probably benefit from changing them a little.

Do the equivalent of going from “Big Mike” to “Mike”.;

Much love,

Jon ‘The largest person I ever knew was also called Mike. He was / is 37 stone’ Hall

P.S. If you’ve had enough of, and are ready to make lasting changes to, both how you see yourself and how the rest of the world will see you, then here’s the next step in making that happen then reply with ‘Great’ to find out more about how we can help make that happen

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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!