If you’re looking for motivation to get you on track and living that healthy lifestyle you crave so much, we’ve got Fitmark Ambassador Billy Wilbanks to give you some valuable lessons he learned in the US Navy – some military tactics for your plan of attack.
Fitmark Ambassador: Billy Wilbanks
Lifestyle: Personal Banker, CrossFit Athlete, US Navy Vet
Meal Bag: the Shield
I got really into fitness while I was in the military. I did five years in the military, three on deployment. There isn’t much to do on deployment other than work out – lol!
Focus On The Process
While you don’t need military discipline to commit to a healthy lifestyle, it sure helps! It’s one of the secret ingredients to Billy’s fitness success and what gets him out of bed and to the gym at five sharp every morning…and again after work. When you’re that disciplined, making time for the gym is just part of the process.
Billy talks a lot about the process because he believes it’s where the magic lies. He told us:
Don’t worry about results, focus on the process. If you have the right process in place then you will get the results you seek. The problem with focusing on results is you’re left disappointed while trying to reach them and when you do reach them the goal just changes.
The process is the fitness journey, the everyday steps it takes to achieve great things. Instead of having just one end goal, you’ll want to create daily mini-goals, as well as check-in goals along the way, so you stay motivated. It’s all part of the process. Billy told us:
Everyone always wants to be fitter, faster, stronger, more lean… etc. You will never get to a place where you’re like, “I made it!” lol! But if you focus on the process, every day is a win. You convinced yourself to roll out of bed and get an early a.m. workout in… WIN! You put that cookie down… WIN! You got 8 hours of sleep… WIN! F the results… focus on the process! That’s the best advice I ever give.
Putting that process into place starts with setting your alarm clock or scheduling a reminder for workout time! As long as you get it into the calendar, there’s no excuses.
Military Tactic No. 1 – Discipline
In the military, I learned discipline which I apply to everything – from creating a training schedule to the execution of it. It takes a lot of discipline to crawl out of bed at 5am every day, fit a gym session in before work, work a full-time job, then train again after. It takes a ton of discipline to manage a healthy diet… especially when you love food as much as I do.
Having the discipline to prep your meals and pack your food every day is all part of the process. It’s a discipline Billy uses to stay on track with his macros and nutrition plan. He says:
Every night I load up my Fitmark Bag with 1 meal from Regiment Meals, 1 apple, 1 water bottle, 1 PB&J, and one sugar free monster energy drink (they’re my weakness) and all my supps (creatine, xendurance, multi V, and bcaas), which fit nicely into the container that came with my bag. I also keep my wallet, keys, contact solution, etc. in the side pocket. I’m not sure how I lived without my Fitmark Bag. Basically it’s my murse – lol!
Military Tactic No. 2 – Efficiency
One of the secrets to maintaining a workout schedule is making the best use of your time. Maximizing your workouts to get the most benefit out of every exercise and every move will help you reduce your workout time. That way, you’ll always have time for the gym. It’s this approach to efficiency that keeps Billy on schedule. He told us:
I also learned efficiency. I incorporate efficiency in everything I do from the times I eat to what I eat and how much I eat. I practice efficiency in how often I train, what time I train, even down to the efficiency in the movements I perform when I train.
Military Tactic No. 3 – Difference Between Life Success and Financial Success
Living a healthy lifestyle goes way beyond working out and eating healthy. A healthy lifestyle also means doing what makes you happy. Because there’s no point being in the best shape of your life if you’re miserable. Here’s what Billy told us:
Most importantly I learned the difference between life success and financial success, which is in my opinion more important. When I was on deployment, I didn’t miss money or material possessions; I missed the freedom to do what I wanted when I wanted. I missed people and quality interactions. These are things money cannot buy.
When I finished college, I received a job that paid 75k a year. It was miserable and did not allow me to pursue my passions and it also did not let me spend time with the people that are important to me, so I quit. I also took a fat pay decrease. But I know from my military experience money is not what’s important. People need to figure that out. Chase your dreams, enjoy the simple things. If you chase money and you end up catching it… you most likely will lose what really matters in the process. If you have a job you hate, quit! If you are in a relationship that doesn’t make you happy, end it!
The bottom line is: “Life’s too short. Find something you love and use the little bit of time you have here to enjoy every moment. That’s what I learned in the military and I apply it to everything I do.”
You can find Fitmark Ambassador Billy Wilbanks on Instagram @wbanks85
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The Fitmark Team
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