It seems fairly common for those who are overweight to say (or perhaps you, yourself, have said it), “You don’t know what it’s like to be fat because you’ve been skinny your whole life,” to someone who is lean and fit. And they’re probably not wrong. 

While there are several success stories of people who have lost weight and have expressed their journey, it’s difficult for those who have always “been in shape” to empathize with those who are currently overweight or obese and know what it feels like to spend a day in their shoes. That’s where fitness trainer and Fit2Fat2Fit creator Drew Manning took things into his own hands.

Through Trials and Tribulations Comes Empathy

It’s not often you find someone who is willing to put themselves in the shoes of others (intentionally) to understand the physical and mental challenges they face daily. Drew Manning decided to walk that mile in someone else’s shoes so that he could better empathize with his clients and audience.

What exactly did Manning do? He took it upon himself to transform his incredible physique into an unhealthy vessel — gaining more than 60 pounds in the process. 

When asked about his drastic weight gain transformation, Manning said, “Gaining weight intentionally was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done because my identity was wrapped up in my body image. Becoming overweight, I had an identity crisis, which was super uncomfortable for me. 

“Physically, it became very uncomfortable carrying all that extra weight around. I was very winded walking up stairs, playing with my kids, and just getting out of bed in the morning. I also noticed my hormones were out of whack, and I became more emotional as my testosterone plummeted, and so did my sex drive and confidence in myself. It was a very humbling experience that I learned so many valuable lessons from.”

Manning mentioned he could see the looks and stares he was getting when out in public, and it made him feel somewhat insecure to the point he wanted to explain to people that he was going through this journey to understand what it was like to be overweight and the challenges that would present themselves.

The Challenge of Shedding off 60+ Pounds

As a fitness trainer, Manning has lived a healthy lifestyle for as long as he can remember, and even though he had the knowledge and know-how to lose weight, he found some challenges in his journey to go from fit to fat to fit.

For starters, Manning stated that people need to understand that weight loss is as much of a mental and emotional game as it is physical. Being that we are emotional creatures, many cope with stressful situations through food and alcohol — both of which are known to add on the pounds quickly.

To dive deeper into this, Manning revealed, “When people go on a journey to try and lose weight, they think it’s just going to be a physical journey (calories, macros, exercises, supplements, etc.), but the emotional problems of their life don’t stop just because they’re on a weight loss journey. So, when life gets uncomfortable and heavy emotions factor in for them on their journey a few weeks in, they are left to only their willpower to try and push through the stress, the self-sabotage, the self-hate, and the inner self-critic, which most people don’t know how to push past that and tend to give in to their years or decades of programming, and they fall back into what’s comfortable to them. This is the main problem I think people face. It’s not the diet. It’s not the workout program. 

People struggle with doing the inner work to figure out why they are the way they are, and until they do, it’ll just be another short-term diet that they do before gradually falling back into their old ways.”

Tips and Strategies Drew Manning Used During His Weight Loss Transformation

You’ve probably come to this article for a clear takeaway on how YOU can achieve your weight loss transformation. We questioned Manning further to find out what tips and strategies he used (other than the traditional eat less and move more) and would recommend. Here’s what he had to say:

“When it comes to getting fit and losing weight, people need to realize that this is way more of a mental and emotional journey than just a physical one. Yes, it requires a physical aspect of eating fewer calories and moving your body (aka exercise), but your ability to do those physical things is determined by your mental and emotional state, which depends on how well you handle stress like kids, spouses, work, financial issues, relationships, etc. So, adding in things like meditation, journaling, therapy, getting out in nature, managing your stress, getting quality sleep, etc., will all help your ability to show up and do the hard/uncomfortable physical things required to change your body. 

Last but not least, having a support system or an accountability partner will help you so that you’re not doing this journey alone. In order for this to last longer than 30-60 days, you need to turn it into a lifestyle change, which means it needs to become a part of your life — forever. There is no finish line, so learning to fall in love with the process instead of just loving the results will take you further.”

If you want to use the same tips and strategies Manning used, check out his: 

• One-on-One Coaching
• 30-Day Conscious Fitness Challenge
• Total Body Transformation App

You can learn more about Drew Manning here, or follow his journey on IG @fit2fat2fit.