Change who you are, not what you do
I didn't change what I ate. I changed who I was.
At 24, I weighed 258 pounds. This free 5-day email challenge is built on what finally worked for me.
Free · 5 days · by email
Start with the free 5-day challenge
One short email each morning.
- 1My diets lasted a few days.
- 2"I'm on a diet" vs. "I'm a healthy person"
- 3Become a healthy person first
- 4Pop, salad, and fruit for dessert
- 5Happier, not happy
"I'm on a diet" vs. "I'm a healthy person"
Offer three people a slice of cake and you might hear three answers.
The first two are still the same person. They're just resisting the cake right now. Only the third person has really changed, because it's not something they're doing. It's who they are.
I know, because I was the first two people for years. At 24, I weighed 258 pounds. I went on several diets, and each one lasted only a few days before I binged. Then, in the summer of 1998, I started asking one question: "Would a healthy person eat this?" I dropped pop, then milk, then fries, one at a time. No willpower needed. Today I weigh 184.
That's the difference this challenge is about.
My diets lasted a few days.
At 24, I was uncomfortable in my own skin. I weighed 258 pounds. I felt hopeless, like I took up too much space. I just wasn't happy.
So I did what everyone does. I went on diets. Several of them. No bread, no pasta, no pop, no sweets. Each one lasted only a few days.
Then my willpower would hit its limit, and every time I came off a diet, I binged on everything. I felt frustrated and terrible, and I slid right back into being the unhappy, unhealthy person I believed I was.
Maybe you know that feeling.
I was an unhealthy person taking healthy actions
Where I grew up, in the Soviet Union, my grandma used to say there should be "a lot" of a good person. I was raised to finish my plate whether I was full or not.
Healthy people do the same things I had tried: they skip the pop, they eat the salad. The difference was that they stuck with it.
Here's the part nobody tells you: if you never decide to be a healthy person, you've still decided. By default, you've taken on the identity of an unhealthy person.
What if I became a healthy person first?
In the summer of 1998, I stopped dieting for good. Just one question before every choice: "Would a healthy person eat this? Would they do that?" I wasn't a single pound lighter. But that moment felt uplifting and freeing.
Then I started noticing
I noticed fit people don't usually drink pop. I was a fit person now, so I stopped drinking pop. Then milk. Then the French fries at lunch.
I noticed healthy people chose salad over pasta. So I started eating salads. I noticed slim people ate fruit for dessert. So, naturally, I ate more fruit.
They were the same changes as my failed diets. But this time they lasted, because they matched who I was. I didn't need willpower.
258 lbs → 184 lbs, over the years that followed. And the best part wasn't feeling slim. It was feeling happier.
That's my story, not a promise. Everyone's body and results are different.
Happier, not "happy"
"Happy" is a destination nobody ever reaches. Happier is something you can feel today.
That's the flywheel. Once it's spinning, it feeds itself.
Free · 5 days
How the 5 days work
Each morning
One short email from me.
About a two-minute read, with one question to carry through your day:
What would a healthy person do right now?
Every evening
One check-in.
Did I act like a healthy person today?
Day 5
Keep going if you want.
No pressure, no catch. Just five days to try being a healthy person.
No calorie counting. No banned-food lists. No apps.
FAQ
Is this a diet?
No. My diets lasted only a few days, and then I binged. This challenge is about becoming a healthy person first, so the healthy choices stop feeling like work.
Do I have to give up pizza, pasta, and pop?
Nobody is taking anything away from you. You'll start noticing what healthy people usually eat (meats, fruits, vegetables) and what they usually skip. What you do with that is your call.
Do I have to eat the way you do?
No. Being healthy looks different for everyone. For one person, it means eating spinach. For another, it means still eating some junk food but no longer drinking Coke. Both of them are healthier. You decide what a healthy person looks like for you.
Will I lose weight?
I can't promise that, and I won't. My own change took years, not weeks. This challenge is about who you are and the choices that follow. Results vary from person to person.
How much time does it take?
About two minutes each morning and ten seconds each evening.
When does it start?
Day 1 arrives right after you sign up, then one email each morning.
What if I slip?
You will, and so did I. One meal doesn't change who you are.
Is this medical advice?
No. It's a mindset and habits challenge. Talk to your doctor before making big changes to your diet or activity, especially if you have a health condition.
Does it cost anything?
No. The 5-day challenge is free.
Start the free 5-day challenge.
Five short emails. The same story, and the one question that changed it.