II started my current fitness journey back in 2022. At the time, I had ballooned up to 270 lbs (I’m 5’9″) and was pretty miserable in my own body. Not only was I completely out of shape, but I also suffered from chronic back problems and sciatica. I often thought to myself, “I’m way too young to be feeling like this.”

It didn’t occur to me back then that OF COURSE I was going to look and feel like crap—I did almost zero exercise. To top it off, I drank like a fish and spent most days lying around watching TV and eating snacks.

It’s almost a kind of entitlement we have about our bodies, this belief that we can do nothing and still feel good. Maybe it’s a leftover mindset from our youth, when we could eat and drink anything without gaining a pound. But at some point, you have to pay the piper. A sedentary lifestyle will catch up with you, and change gets harder.

That’s exactly how it felt to me. I was in my mid-30s thinking, “This is what I imagined being 50 feels like.” And maybe that’s what was actually happening—maybe the way I was trashing my body had made it start responding like it was older.

Eventually, I’d had enough. I was miserable in so many ways, and I decided it was time to make a change. So I started with what I knew: cut my intake to around 1,800 calories a day, and walk as much as I could.

I was living with my dad at the time, having just moved back home and looking for a place to rent. He lived way out in the sticks, so I’d walk the dirt road leading to his house. It was about ¾ of a mile to the top of the hill behind his place, and walking there and back felt like a huge undertaking. I remember thinking that if I could make it to the mailbox (another ¾ of a mile beyond that), I’d consider myself back in shape.

Walking to the mailbox was intimidating. After the hilltop, it was all downhill—and steep. My dad called that stretch “the ski slope” for a reason: it’s a 20% grade for a quarter mile.

I think it took me a few months to finally get there. I remember hesitating to push myself because I was so out of shape. But the first night I walked to the mailbox and back—an almost 3-mile round trip—I considered it my Everest. This is it, I thought. This is me, in peak condition.

Yes, it’s okay to laugh at that. I’m laughing at it now, too. I thought walking that much meant I was in great shape again. I did drop about 25 lbs just from walking and counting calories, but then I hit a plateau. I was stuck at 245 lbs and couldn’t seem to budge.

So I got the bright idea to sign up for a gym. I’d been in and out of gyms for years—usually doing cardio on the elliptical at Planet Fitness—but never for more than a few months at a time. This time, I decided to do strength training. I hadn’t lifted weights since around 2009, so I was pretty intimidated.

Eventually, I joined a more local gym that offered a weight management program through my insurance. I got access to a gym with a pool for the same price I’d been paying at Planet Fitness. So I did it.

I stuck with it for over a year before I decided I wanted to start running. But every time I tried, my back flared up. I realized I had to address my back issues before I could run seriously. At the time, I had this idea that running was bulging the discs in my back due to its higher impact. I didn’t learn until much later that my back issues were really caused by poor hip mobility. Specifically, my left hip was super stiff and pulling everything out of alignment, messing up my spine in the process.

So I started stretching, just the basic hamstring stretches I’d learned in physical therapy. It helped a little, but it didn’t fix the problem. Then I discovered the book Built From Broken by Scott Hogan, and it completely changed how I viewed exercise.

At the time, I was wearing a back brace during workouts because I was afraid of getting hurt. What that book taught me was that the brace was actually encouraging the very weakness that caused my pain. The idea was to make the back and core stronger, so your body could support itself through a full range of motion.

That concept was reinforced earlier this year when I discovered the Moves Method YouTube channel. And here’s the key takeaway I want you to get from this post:

Start where you are. Do something. Do what you can.

You’re not going to be running marathons on day one, and that’s perfectly fine.

But don’t kid yourself into thinking a daily walk means you’re “fit.” It’s not. It’s a gateway to fitness. We’ve set such a low bar for health that some studies suggest walking a bit is enough to live slightly longer than people who do nothing.

But honestly? Walking, running, or even lifting weights once a day isn’t true physical fitness either. Sure, if you’re lifting 3 days a week and walking the others, you’re doing better than most. But if you want to be truly healthy and strong, movement needs to become a constant part of your day.

We have to stop thinking of exercise as “that one hour” we do daily. That’s better than nothing, but far from enough to keep your body from becoming weak and broken.

And I’m not saying you need to be a David Goggins type yelling WHO’S GONNA CARRY THE BOATS? I’m saying you should build small movements into your daily routine. The top two I recommend:

1. The Asian Squat

Squat for at least 15 minutes a day. I do it in 1–2 minute increments throughout the day. This movement revealed how weak my hips, knees, and ankles were. Four weeks in, and my back and hips feel incredible.

Here’s a good video for how to do them and the benefits of doing them:

2. Dead Hangs

Exactly what it sounds like. Find a bar and hang from it for 3–5 minutes daily (in short bursts). I got one of these for my house and started a few days ago. I can already feel the difference in grip strength. It’s to your upper body what the Asian Squat is to your lower body.

Try to do some kind of movement every hour. Even just a minute or two. When I watch TV now, I’m not just slumped in a chair. I stretch, do yoga, or work on hip mobility.

There’s a whole world of bodyweight exercises that can strengthen your entire body.

The inspiration to move more than just “one hour a day” came from a fantastic book by Dick Van Dyke. The man was 90 when he wrote it, and he’s pushing 100 now. Still dancing, still having a blast.

In fact, dancing to one song on Pandora is a great little movement break. It’s not just good for your body, it’s good for your soul.

So I encourage you to change the way you think about exercise. We only get one shot at this life. Do you really want to spend it sitting around staring at your phone or watching TV?

Or would you rather move?

And if you’re dealing with anxiety or depression, I’d bet this will help more than anything else you’ve tried. I say that because I used to struggle with both, and now I rarely deal with either. Getting active has done more for my mental health than anything else I’ve ever done.

So if you’re sitting there, thinking it’s too late, or you’re too far gone, let me be the proof that it’s not. You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to have a six-pack. You just need to start. Start where you are. Start with what you’ve got. And keep showing up—even when it feels small, even when no one’s watching.

Because movement is more than fitness. It’s a rebellion against the version of yourself that gave up. It’s a declaration that you’re not done yet. Every squat, every walk, every stretch is you reclaiming your life—one step, one rep, one stubborn act of self-respect at a time.

Your body isn’t broken. It’s waiting. Waiting for you to move. Waiting for you to be a child again.

So get up. Get moving. Not because you hate where you are—but because you believe in where you can go.

You’ve got more in you. I promise.