Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

I’ve been battling with a friend who has put on dangerous weight. Business is bad and food is his outlet. He’s out of work today because his knee went out walking to the subway. Don’t know how to get the point through to him, thought a “heart episode” a couple years back would be the wake up. Just turning 50, and he used to do triathlons not too long ago. Any advice to motivate this NYC former athlete?

My words are of tough love. I figure anybody big enough to walk the streets and subways of NYC for half a century should know better and have applied himself to the cause of survival.

Respect and responsibility and priorities are increasingly in the dumpster the world over. The best we can do is take care of ourselves and each other and contribute regularly to righteousness.

But one must be tough at the same time. Tell him he’s weak and irresponsible and selfish, he’s killing himself. Or tell him nothing and watch and wait.

With each passing day of neglect and stress and inaction, his life grows shorter and he becomes less, and the repair and recovery more difficult, more unlikely. Now or never, dear friend.

The war and the economy are here — rats — but so is the gym down the street, and guts and exercise and smart eating and self-esteem over which we have control. 50-year-old fixer-upper… Good investment, the best one on the market…

Take care of yourself… Godspeed