Hey, you legend, I hope you had an awesome Easter break.​

Regardless of religion, beliefs, and anything else, I simply see this time of the year as the only acceptable time a 33-year-old man can eat a huge chocolate dinosaur and not feel weird about it 😂​

Not that I ever would, but still, it's nice to know I won't be judged.

​Talking of being judged, I'm about to serve up some truths. Truths about getting in shape, achieving excellent health, and then sustaining it long term.​

A few of these may sting, but do you know what hurts more than the truth?​

Chocolate dinosaurs. No, wait, I mean poor health! Poor health stings way worse than the truth and any chocolate dinosaur. I bet you didn't expect to read the word 'chocolate dinosaur' four times today, did you? 😂

Right, let's get cracking with...

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The Harsh Truths Behind Achieving Excellent Physical Health

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You need to limit your alcohol intake

Booze and excellent health go together about as well as a chocolate teacup. It's set up for failure. Yes, you can 100% still enjoy alcohol and get in amazing shape, but it's a hard game to play.

Boozing every week simply can't be on the agenda if you're serious about transforming how you look, feel, and perform. This reality has been the stumbling block for several of my past clients. Some of them ultimately choosing booze over their physique.​

On average, I'd suggest no more than 3-4 drinks in total over the course of a week, with exceptions being made for special occasions. But when these 'special occasions' happen, I'd make that the only drinking 'session' of the month.

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High stress is silently killing your fat loss progress — and your health

I work with some of the most successful entrepreneurs around, and helping them successfully manage their stress is one of my main priorities. That's because high stress levels are one of the most overlooked reasons why fat loss stalls and overall health declines. When you’re constantly stressed, your body produces more cortisol, a hormone that disrupts sleep, increases cravings—especially for high-sugar, high-fat foods—and encourages your body to store fat, particularly around the midsection.​

Stress also interferes with recovery, slows down your metabolism, and makes it harder to stay consistent with your training and nutrition. You could be doing everything “right” on paper—training hard, eating well—but if stress is out of control, your results will suffer.

Managing stress isn’t just about feeling better mentally—it’s a non-negotiable if you want to maintain a lean physique and stay healthy long term.

Excellent health requires excellent supplementation

Unless you're perfect with your nutrition, which 99.9% of people aren’t, then you need to be plugging any gaps in your diet with high-quality supplements. You can achieve average health and an average physique with just your diet alone. But you need a smart supplement plan to get to the levels of excellence.

My non-negotiables for everyone are creatine and magnesium. But if you want to take things up a few notches, I would also suggest a high quality omega-3, zinc, vitamin-D, and a high quality protein powder can also be beneficial. You won't need the omega-3 if you eat enough oily fish.

The thing about supplements is that you won't notice an immediate difference when you take them, which can put some people off. You're not blasting steroids, so the improvements won't be immediate. I think the only time you'll notice any difference is when you stop taking them. Then you'll really see the positive impact they were having on you.

As I said, you can create amazing results without supps, but in my opinion, if you're chasing the upper echelons of health, then you need to be on top of your supplement game.

You will have to say 'no' more than you say 'yes'

This is kinda linked to the boozing one, but you're going to have to get used to saying 'no' more than you are 'yes'.

​Whether that's to the dessert menu, the after work drinks, or to the voice in your head telling you to order that pizza at 11 pm on a Friday night. You need to become a pro at saying 'no' when the alternative doesn’t serve you and your goals.​

Yes, I'm all for flexibility and living life, but there needs to be a limit. There has to be a cutoff point. The word 'flexibility' gets thrown around too easily these days, but it's merely a disguise for poor eating habits.​

Instead, you have to be mentally strong enough to say no, and you gotta get used to saying it quite often. Again, this isn't what some would like to hear. It's certainly not the 'fun' option, but excellent health requires sacrifices. Plain and simple.

You're likely not training hard enough

Yep, you heard me right, there's a high likelihood that you're not pushing it hard enough during your workouts. Now this doesn’t mean that you still can't achieve good results, but there's a difference between good and excellent.

I've been working out in the gym for two decades, but I'm still learning my craft. I'm still learning to eek out that extra 1% during my training sessions that will help me move forward.

Workouts are supposed to be hard. As much as you're supposed to enjoy it and have a laugh where possible, in all reality, it's a bloody slog fest!

If you want to take things with your physique and your health to new heights, then you've got to train accordingly. You've gotta push it hard!​

There will be days where you run to the point of almost puking, or pushing through a set that makes you question your life. But this is the reality that anyone in truly excellent health will tell you. It's hard work!

You need extreme levels of consistency & discipline

Achieving excellent physical health isn’t about hacks or quick fixes — it demands extreme levels of consistency and discipline. The harsh truth is, results don’t come from doing the right thing occasionally; they come from doing the right thing relentlessly, even when you don’t feel like it.

​Whether it’s getting your training done, eating mindfully, prioritising sleep, or managing stress — it all stacks up. The main issue I see too far often is that most people aren’t willing to do it long enough to see the payoff. If you want to build a high-performing body, you have to earn it through daily decisions, not sporadic bursts of motivation.​

Motivation might get your ass out of bed once, but discipline gets it out a thousand times. Remember that.

You need to destroy self-limiting beliefs

To build, first you must tear down and destroy. No, I haven’t suddenly turned into Seneca, but when it comes to achieving and then maintaining excellent health, you must confront and destroy the self-limiting beliefs that have quietly shaped your identity.​

These beliefs aren’t just passing thoughts — they’re deeply ingrained stories you’ve told yourself for years:
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“I’ve never been athletic”

“I always fall off track”

“I don’t have the genetics”

“People like me don’t get results”

Sound familiar?​

These limiting beliefs operate in the background, subtly influencing every decision you make — from skipping a workout to reaching for comfort food when things get hard.​

If left unchecked, they become self-fulfilling prophecies. True transformation isn’t just about what you do with your body — it’s about rewriting the internal script that dictates who you believe you are. Until you change that narrative, no plan, coach, or supplement will ever be enough.

This is a biggie! If you wonder why you're constantly in a cycle of starting and failing, then this may be the culprit. It's that vital, it's one of the very first educational videos covered in my coaching program.

It's a mental journey as much as it is a physical one

If you’re serious about changing your body, you have to go beyond habits — you have to create a new identity.​

The version of you who skipped workouts, justified poor choices, and saw health as a chore can’t come with you. That version needs to die. Yep, for all intents and purposes, you gotta 'kill' that person.

This might sound extreme but it's the reality you need to face up to. You're 'old self' may have great qualities, but it only takes a handful of the bad ones to sink your ship.

A new version of you must be born — someone who trains because it’s who they are, who eats with purpose, who protects their energy, their mindset, and their standards. Again, to some, this may seem a little extreme, but excellence requires extreme effort.

This isn’t about doing a diet or following a plan for a few weeks. It’s about becoming someone who lives differently. That's because real change happens when health and fitness aren’t just things you do, but part of who you are.

You're not only creating a new lifestyle, you're creating an entirely new YOU!

There you have it, some of the 'harsh realities' behind excellent health.

I could have easily lied to you and fed you some BS answer that makes you feel good, but that's doing nobody any favors. It might not be the popular answer, but it's the right one.

Like anything in life worth having, there’s a certain level of work required. For some, the requirements for excellent health are too much, for others, such as my clients and I, there's simply no other option than to put the necessary work in.

I hope your mindset is the same. If it's not, pop me a message and I'll happily share some advice.

Quote for the day

Remember, identifying your self-limiting beliefs is not only important, it's critical to your future health success.

There's never been a better time than now to step into the shoes of who you were meant to be, and that all starts with new beliefs.​

Peace ✌️​

- Mark