Episode: 314

Monday, February 1, 2021

Steve Griffin on Losing 110 Pounds, Motivation vs Discipline, Self-Worth and Building Confidence!

Today on the podcast:

Steve Griffin is an Irish Garda (Police) who has been documenting his weight loss journey on Instagram.

On top of having his weight story featured in national magazines and newspapers, Steve is also a cancer survivor with an incredible mindset.

Steve was on the podcast last year for episode 259: “Losing Over 100lbs In 8 Months By Tracking Calories and Counting Steps”. Today is a catch-up conversation with someone who keeps me motivated by his daily actions towards his best self. Enjoy.

Episode Outline

  • 05:32 What Steve has been up to since his last podcast appearance
  • 07:10 Falling off track during the first Covid lockdown and how he got back on track
  • 15:04 Rediscovering his love for training
  • 18:02 Why Steve prioritizes training and diet equally
  • 19:54 Motivation vs discipline when it comes to weight loss
  • 22:48 How Steve built up his discipline to train and eat right
  • 25:41 Nutrition principles that Steve abides by
  • 32:42 Steve’s evolution from focusing on fat loss and body composition change compared to weight loss alone
  • 38:39 The positive (or negative) impact of your inner circle and why you need to be careful of who you follow on social media
  • 43:26 Deciding who to take advice from
  • 48:26 The biggest life skills that Steve acquired over the few years
  • 51:04 Why being overweight doesn’t make you a bad person and the importance of building inner confidence and self-worth on your weight loss journey
  • 54:31 Examples of Steve’s little wins
  • 1:01:14 The one Instagram post that Steve would like all to see, especially those struggling with weight loss

Key Points

  • Motivation alone is never enough, especially when you’re just starting out on your weight loss or any other type of fitness journey. The key to success in any endeavor is having the discipline to do the things you need to do even if you don’t feel like it. In fact, in many cases, the motivation comes only after you’ve pushed yourself to get started. Motivation is obviously important, but don’t rely on it. Just do.
  • What gets measured gets managed. For most people, a lack of prioritization and preparation with their nutrition is the reason they fall off the cart. We all lead busy lives, so we need to stay in control of our environment. A late night or unexpected meeting can throw us off entirely if we don’t have our meals ready. The easiest way to stay in control is by doing your meal prep for the week. Take the extra hour or two over the weekend to keep you on track.
  • Celebrate the little wins. Going through a fitness journey is about more than just looking better. As you begin to lose weight (or begin to get closer to whatever your fitness goal is), notice all the ways your life is improving, from your general health, to your relationships, to how you look, to the clothes you can now fit into, to the body pain that’s disappearing, to your increased mental focus. These wins will keep you motivated as you go down the path.

Powerful Quotes by Steve

  • I discovered discipline. I discovered just getting up and doing it. I’m not saying motivation doesn’t have a place. It absolutely does. But I found the motivation in the session after I actually got up to do it.
  • It doesn’t really matter what you do. If you walk around the gym for an hour with two 10kg dumbbells in your hand, it’s better than what the fuck you were doing.
  • I’m not saying that motivation is not important. It obviously is. It plays a part, but I think people depend too much on it. But, sometimes, you just have to do.
  • What gets measured gets managed.
  • If you wouldn’t put yourself in their shoes, why would you take advice from them?
  • If you kill the baby monster, it can never grow to be a big monster. If you address the problem when it’s small instead of hiding it or running away from it, it might not get to the point where it’s such a big monster that it drags you down and kills you.

Guest Info

Brian Keane Fitness Podcast

Brian is a qualified personal trainer, sports nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach.

He is the best selling author of the book The Fitness Mindset and currently travels the world as a professional speaker. He also hosts the #1 podcast The Brian Keane Podcast.

Follow Brian on:

Books:

The Fitness Mindset BookRewire your Mindset Book