The Tribune

Ethan Quant, of Elite Wellness Solutions, has succeeded in his weight loss journey and now wants to share his methods with the Bahamas in an effort to foster a culture of wellness and conquer the obesity epidemic.

One thing that angers me greatly is when people laugh or make fun of overweight people in the gym. It’s like, really? They are in the gym; they are trying to do better. That was something that I had to get over personally. I remember being so afraid of being the fat guy in the guy that everyone laughed at. The thing is, I was that fat guy that people laughed at. It was really, really hard, but I kept trying and working, and eventually my body did change.

In order to truly transform your body you have to transform your mind. There is a certain mental and emotional toughness that you have to develop in order to be successful on your health wellness and fitness journey. I remember someone told me I was wasting my time trying to lose weight and get healthy. Like how do you say something like that to someone.

I remember when I decided to go into competitive body building some people laughed in my face. I was having a conversation with someone about my bodybuilding dream – a part of that was to have a team of regular people who transformed their bodies and wanted to get on stage and compete. I remember a young lady telling me that I shouldn’t put bodybuilding or fitness in the name because I didn’t look like a bodybuilder nor did I look fit. I was crushed. It’s like people were killing my dream before I even had a chance to go after it.

They almost made me feel silly or ashamed for wanting to chase my dream body. I am thankful that my desire to transform my body was strong enough for me to push past all of that negativity. Sadly, I know that there are many people who for some reason don’t have that mental and emotional fortitude. It’s really saddens me to know that for some of my clients I am the only light of positivity on their journey towards becoming their best selves.

I want to encourage you guys to keep pushing and keep trying; it’s a cycle and you will want to push through, and not just in health wellness and fitness, but in life. These are the stages of the naysayers:

First they will laugh at you. They will call you silly, or say you are crazy, so will tease and mock you some; will even tell you that you are going to fail. This I normally the hardest part of the process to deal with, especially if you have tried and failed before.

Then they will challenge you. Once you have built up momentum and you are being consistent with you training and your diet, they will come to test you, offering you food and drink, testing your commitment to yourself and your journey. They will try to break you. Don’t let them. Stay focused and stay committed.

Then they will appreciate you, congratulating you on your hard work and dedication. They will say that they were watching your transformation. Some may come back and apologise, saying they were wrong and that they doubted you. In any event, stay focused and don’t let the compliments go to your head. Stay humble and stay focused.

They will use you as an example. They will tell people stories of when you were first starting out, and how hard you worked and how committed you were. They will say how they were there from the beginning. They may also try to say that they made some contribution to your success. Just keep your head down and continue to work on being the best version of yourself.

The truth is that whether you fail or succeed, it all depends on you. You have everything you need to be successful on your health wellness and fitness journey, and in life!

• If you need help navigating any part of your health, wellness and fitness process, you can contact Ethan Quant at ethan@elite-wellnesssolutions.com or on Instagram at @ethanquant.