Why I Cancelled My Subscription to Normal.

"Normal" at age 50 is a trap. It’s an unwritten agreement to let your engine rust, accept metabolic decline, and trade your physical ambition for comfort. I spent years paying dues to that lifestyle. But a line was drawn in the sand, and I officially cancelled my subscription.

It got me thinking: what was the catalyst that lit a fire in me, especially at an age when most men are slowly accepting the norms of slowing down and declining?

Let’s back up a little and take a trip to the past.

You see, back around 20 years ago I was in my early thirties. I had already ditched my active lifestyle from my teens and early twenties for binge drinking and partying… I hadn’t ballooned to my “marshmallow man” stage yet, but the inevitable small paunchy tummy and double chin from the inactive, binge-drinking, chain-smoking lifestyle were showing.

Years followed with struggles of trying to keep the weight down… hovering from 80-plus kg to I believe my heaviest at 110kg. Eventually, around 2017 when I was about 43 years old, I started a 20:4 time-restricted eating protocol. My weight stabilized in the low 80 kg range. I slowly introduced some jogging and bodyweight exercises, keeping my bodyweight steady while reaping some benefits of body recomposition. I still had my dad bod, but my blood sugar was good due to the fasting, and my cholesterol dropped from high to borderline high.

I still drank and smoked, but I guess you could say I cut down… so I thought I was doing pretty good.

The pivoting point was in 2023 when a huge health scare hit me hard.

I was struck with an inexplicable infection on my right leg. I had to be hospitalized and cut open to drain it. The doctor mentioned they drained about a liter full of infected liquid pus. I lost a lot of blood—needing 6 to 7 pints—and had to be placed in a high-dependency ward for close monitoring. I underwent a second surgery because of the excessive blood loss during the first and to clean up the remaining infection. That left a massive hole the size of a PalmPilot on my leg, which required a plastic surgeon’s help to cover.

I was pumped full of antibiotics over a four-week period. During that entire hospitalization, I wasn't allowed out of bed due to the IV lines and a special device attached to my leg that periodically sucked out excess fluid. After discharge, I had to carry a small portable 3M device attached to the wound for another two weeks while the skin graft healed.

When that infection hit and the doctor told me I was in critical condition, my main worry wasn't death. It was what would happen to my family—my wife and my son. If I left this world, would they be okay? After mentally calculating my estate, I realized that financially, they’d be fine.

There and then, I realized I didn’t fear death. But it forced me to ask: how have I been living up until now? I was entering my 50s. IF I was given a second chance and made healthy again, what would I do? Being bedridden with nothing to do but sit in your own head for weeks clarifies things fast. I became obsessed with the physical pursuits of my younger years. I told myself: IF I am given a second chance, I will chase physical pursuits like a beast. Cut out the noise. Unsubscribe from the old lifestyle.

Mind you, I’m not chasing a longevity goal to live to 100. I already made peace with death in that hospital bed. I just want to chase insane physical goals while I'm here.

It may sound wild, but I am deeply grateful for that medical scare and the second chance it gave me.

Since then, I live by these unshakeable rules:

• Show up and be present for the people who matter most: my wife and son.
• Cut out the noise and opinions of others. It’s my life, not theirs.
• Execute in silence. I don’t need permission or validation for what I choose to pursue.
• Ignore riches and fame. Being independent and a net-positive contributor to human kind matters far more.
• Remember that movement is a privilege. Being able to handle grueling physical tasks is a privilege. If you can move your limbs, your neck, and your heart is beating—treasure it. Privileges can be stripped away at any moment.