Maintaining a lean body is one of the greatest challenges in today's times. Among ambitious professionals and entrepreneurs, it's no different. Almost every client I work with has the goal of 'losing weight' — to a lesser or greater extent. Despite an entire industry focusing on weight loss, the average person continues to get heavier. And that has its consequences.

Trainers, weight loss experts, and nutrition coaches can be found everywhere these days. The internet is bursting with tips, advice, diets, meal plans, training programs, and weight loss supplements. Yet, the obesity figures have tripled in the past thirty years. More than half of adults are overweight and the trend is rising, instead of falling.

As an ambitious professional or entrepreneur, you simply can't afford to be overweight. Optimal performance within your business requires all the advantages you can get — especially to stay ahead of your competitors. Being overweight strongly works against you in this context. People who are overweight have less energy, are more susceptible to illnesses, more sensitive to stress, experience less peace and space, and run a greater risk of burnout. Not exactly the position you want to see yourself in as a forward-thinking professional.

If you are currently overweight, you run the risk of becoming heavier if you don't take immediate action. Your weight is the result of your current lifestyle — if you change nothing, the outcome remains the same. In other words, you continue to gain weight steadily, worsening the situation.

If you want to prevent your body from becoming a hindrance to your career or business in the future, read on.

Normalcy bias: The danger of 'the new normal'

That being overweight is the norm nowadays, is more of a rule than an exception. As so many people are overweight, people are starting to find this increasingly normal. There is even a movement, known as 'body positivity', which advocates for the acceptance and respect of all bodies, regardless of their size, shape, or appearance, which they believe contributes to self-love and self-confidence.

While I completely agree that we shouldn't judge people on their weight or appearance, there is a danger in this way of thinking. The risk is that people will start to overlook the harmful effects of being overweight on health and general performance. Just as it was considered 'normal' fifty years ago for everyone to smoke, it is now considered 'normal' to be overweight. Everyone knows the health risks of smoking by now.

However, being overweight is just as harmful. It's a harbinger of all sorts of diseases and chronic conditions. The image below, from the World Health Organization (WHO) website, illustrates the possible consequences of living with overweight:

Source: World Health Organization website

The real problem with being overweight: It's not about appearance or self-love, but about health and responsibility

As I see it, genuine self-love means taking good care of your body. Maintaining a healthy weight is an essential part of this. A healthy weight is not only crucial for your health, but also a decisive factor in your performance capability. It directly affects facets that determine your daily performance, such as:

• Energy level
• Stress resilience
• Focus
• Productivity
• Overall well-being

People often justify things they find difficult (read: do not want) to change. Among the entrepreneurs I work with, I often hear the same excuses: too busy, no time, work comes first. If this sounds familiar, consider this:

• You may have a lot to do, but busyness is self-created.
• A lack of time often means a lack of priorities.
• Giving work precedence is a choice. → The question you can ask yourself is: How productive (and effective) am I really if I only have time for work?

If you are currently someone who constantly finds reasons and excuses not to take action for your health, there is a very simple solution: Make your health a top priority.

I know from experience that people often only take action when a significant problem arises, such as health issues, physical pain, depression, or burnout. These types of 'external factors' often only provide the necessary urgency to change. Many are swept along by daily busyness and live in a chaotic, unfocused, and unconscious manner. In response, ailments are often accepted, pain signals ignored, and certain challenges neglected. But as the saying goes: prevention is better than cure.

In a lifetime, people lose hundreds of pounds and are still overweight

Maintaining a lean and healthy body is a challenge many people struggle with. On the one hand, this is understandable, as modern life offers perfect conditions for this. Food is everywhere around us, and we are constantly encouraged to buy food and beverages. Most social events come with (excessive) eating, drinking, and especially sitting. On the other hand, daily life requires less and less physical effort. Many work in offices, use cars or e-bikes for transportation, and often exercise inconsistently or not at all. You could say that being overweight is a logical consequence.

However, I disagree. The other side of our modern society is that we live in a knowledge society. If you are not aware that weight loss is the result of 1) eating less and 2) exercising more, then you haven't been paying attention.

In essence, losing weight is simple. But simple doesn't necessarily mean easy. Eating less and moving more is fundamentally simple, but people often make it hard for themselves. Why is that? Because they think that they can quickly get rid of excess pounds through drastic changes or extreme methods, and that they will then stay off forever. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.

In my online course 'Lasting Lean Life', I make a conscious distinction: Losing weight versus being lasting lean. The program is designed to shift the focus from temporary weight loss to being permanently lean.

Many people manage to lose weight by temporarily exercising more, doing sports, and following a diet. However, few succeed in being sustainably lean. As I always say: "Most people lose hundreds of pounds and are still overweight". To put it mildly, this is unfortunate. I see it as a missed opportunity and wasted potential.

But if losing weight is so simple and people manage to lose weight, why can't they manage to stay lean sustainably?

Focus on 'how' and you'll keep losing weight for a lifetime

What most people do to lose weight is focus on 'losing weight'. Weight loss is a physiological consequence of burning more energy than you take in. Unfortunately, for many, this is only a temporary process, as they only temporarily change their behavior. They attempt to do this by following weight loss training programs, special diets or supplements, or consuming only juices/shakes. Often these are (extreme) methods (read: attempts) to quickly lose 'fat'. In other words, people are trying to solve a sustainable problem with short-term changes. But if you only temporarily change your behavior, the effect is also temporary.

In weight loss, the focus is often on 'doing', such as following a diet, a training program, or taking specific supplements. My experience is that most people think that the path to a slim body is achieved by following a specific diet and exercise plan. Don't get me wrong, a diet plan can be useful and a good exercise plan is essential for achieving valuable results. But, who is going to actually do that?

Who is going to consistently follow a certain diet plan and structurally follow a good training program? Not the person who wants to lose weight. Let me explain what I mean by that.

The reason someone is overweight is the current lifestyle — the behavior. But what actually drives that behavior? Your current identity.

This is the foundation:

Who you are → What you do → What you get

What you do determines what you get, but what you do is driven by who you are. Who you are is your current identity, which is shaped by all the norms, values, and beliefs you currently have.

Temporary weight loss is certainly possible by focusing on 'what you need to do'. But if there is no change in who you are, you will sooner or later fall back on old habits. This usually happens when things go wrong, do not go as expected, or the process begins to feel hard — both during weight loss and in life in general. When a person comes under pressure, falling back on old patterns — the default setting — is usually the first thing that happens.

This is why losing weight and focusing on what you need to do doesn't work in the long run. What does work is changing who you are.

Focus on 'who' an live a lasting lean life

If you want to permanently deal with overweight, you need to change who you are. Your current norms, values, beliefs, and standards need to be in line with your goal, and you need to live by them consistently.

If you have never thought about the fact that 'who you are' has created your current reality, this may sound vague or abstract. But it's not, and I'll explain it to you in a simple way.

Imagine that you have not been very active in recent years. You have a sedentary job, you exercise irregularly, you have no focus on your health, and you have no active hobbies. Over the years you have developed a belly and you want to get rid of it permanently. For this, you plan to start exercising. Your current identity (often unconsciously created) is that of an inactive, non-sporty, and unconscious eating person. This person will not suddenly start walking for an hour every day. While if you decide to walk for an hour every day after years of inactivity, this will certainly benefit your body fat percentage.

So instead of focusing on what you need to do, ask yourself:

"Who do I need to be to walk for an hour every day?"

This can be as simple as: "I am someone who walks for an hour every day" or "I am an active person".

If you see yourself as someone who walks every day, then walking becomes a conscious activity. It is simply a part of who you are.

If you consciously identify yourself as "I am active" and being active means for you walking at least one hour a day, guess what? Then you will also walk every day. After all, it is who you are.

This is not a struggle like for someone who remains 'an inactive person' at heart and has to reluctantly force themselves to go for a walk. How long can you keep that up? Probably not long.

However, if you consciously see yourself as an active person, you don't need to force yourself. It is a conscious choice. If you then have a setback, don't feel like it or are late from work, that's no barrier. You still go for a walk because that's who you are. Provided you actually live according to your consciously chosen identity.

This is just one example. To be sustainably lean, you will need to change who you are in multiple areas. You do this consciously, intentionally, with a purpose, and you live by it consistently.

This is not complex, but rather simple.

Exercise: Who do I need to be for a lasting lean body?

To effectively focus on being lasting lean instead of losing weight, a change of identity is required. Perform this exercise to 1) reflect on who you are at this moment and 2) create a new, effective identity that you will consciously live towards.

• How do I see myself in relation to food and drink (including alcohol)?
• What behavior is linked to this that contributes to my overweight?
• How do I see myself in relation to exercise?
• What behavior is linked to this that contributes to my overweight?
• What behavior do I need to change to lose weight and be lasting lean?
• Who do I need to be to make this change sustainable?

In conclusion

To be lasting lean, more is needed than just focusing on 'what to do'. It goes deeper, it requires a shift in our identity, in 'who you are'. When you change who you are, what you do automatically changes, and in the long term, you achieve what you want to get. This requires reflection, conscious choices, and a lasting commitment to yourself and your health. And yes, it can be a challenge, but it is a challenge that is worth it.

Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe