Hi everyone!
I discovered this forum via a public post on Facebook by Arnold and really felt the urge to register and share my experience and motivation that I received from a very special person: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I’d really appreciate it if you took your time and read through this post and may even shared your own thoughts and experiences.

Being born in 1992, I grew up with the more “traditional” Schwarzenegger movies, such as Last Action Hero or Batman & Robin - and yeah, despite all the hate this movie got from so many people (which in a way I can understand, since I am a fan of Batman too) I actually liked it, especially Arnie’s performance of Mr. Freeze.
I mean, come on - how can’t you love his “icy puns”?!
By now you’ve probably guessed it: As with many children of my generation (and of course several before) Arnold Schwarzenegger was my childhood-movie-hero   - boy, what would I have given to actually be able to meet this fantastic and sympathetic guy..

But while Arnie was my hero, my greatest enemy during most of my life was actually overweight.
I have always suffered from my physical disadvantages: I never had the opportunity to properly keep up with my friends (physically) when we played outside and in my early teenage-years often had problems with being liked by girls - I was always the “cute and nice friend”, but that was it.
Obviously there are also illnesses caused by being overweight and all in all it is one of the worst situations one can find himself in.
And sure, I was also laughed at and made fun of, but you can only know what it is like if you actually have overweight yourself - it is like a “meat prison”.

Of course you might think “Why the hell didn’t he just eat less and work out more?!”.. Well, in most cases this helps, but mine was a little different..
To be quite honest, I don’t even eat that much. I eat far less than most of my friends (who are all either thin or work out) and if I do so it’s usually proper healthy meals.
HOWEVER, I never worked out that much as a kid. Sure, my friends and I did alot outside, but I never really tried to work on losing weight (especially because it wasn’t that bad at the time).
Then, when I finally grew older, I naturally didn’t have that much time to spare, seing that I was always busy with important things like school and becoming more and more independent - I simply didn’t have much free time and when I did, I never really felt like going to the gym or at least go jogging.

After a while though I finally reached the point that I really had enough (or as Arnie calls it: the Spark) - I no longer wanted to be overweight, I wanted to be able to move, I WANTED TO BE ACTIVE!
And the one person who came to mind while thinking about my entire life and the future of my health was my childhood hero - Arnold Schwarzenegger!
I saw beyond the view I had of him: He isn’t simply some “Action-Movie-Legend”, but also an entirely inspiring person.
His mentality of always trying to push the limits and to keep moving as much as possible to become fitter and fitter is what motivated me.
Whenever I had some free-time (even if it was just about an hour) I at least went jogging and finally got some regular movement.

Sure, Arnie had the goal of becoming the champion among Bodybuilders and that’s certainly not my aim, but the goal isn’t what matters - it’s the journey and in this case Arnie’s motivation to keep on going.
I have watched and read several interviews and texts in which Arnie described his attitude and that motivated me.

I have lost a tremendous amount of weight and became a much healthier person - and I haven’t stopped.

I don’t know if you will ever read this, Mr. Schwarzenegger, but you have probably saved my life! You are the motivation I have been looking for all those years and no words can express how incredibly thankful I am!

Yes, our worst enemy really is the fatigue and a lack of motivation.
But as long as we find an inspiration (in this case a person I have looked up to since my early childhood) we can overcome these obstacles and live a healthier and happier life.

I hope my experiences could help motivate others or that others can relate to them.
Thank you for reading this, it really means alot to me and please do share and discuss your experiences (if similar) in this thread!

Greetings from Germany,
Kai

     

Your story sounds very similar to mine!

Born in 1993, I always loved Arnold as an action hero. I knew he was a body builder before but I didn’t know much else.

I got his book, Total Recall, and found out there was so much more to the man that I already idolized. His motivation, his drive, his desire to do better, and to help others along the way!

By trying to be like him (albeit on a much smaller scale) I now eat much healthily than I used to, I work out everyday, and I’ve lost 15 kilos and counting.

Arnie is such an inspiration to me too! I love him!