(keyboard keys clicking) (film reel rattling) - [Kiana] Jesse Shand
was almost 700 pounds, and had all but given up on his life. - [Jesse] I knew my health was terrible, and I was fully expecting that I wasn't going to live very long. Really, I'd given up shortly after that. - [Kiana] That is, until
he discovered something so powerful that it allowed
him to change everything. (inspirational music) His story isn't new. Jesse has been the subject
of too mini documentaries, and his incredible 350 pound weight loss has inspired over 25 million people. But there has been a major update. - So, how I'm doing here
is not great, at all, to say the least, in fact
that's a wild understatement. I have gained back most of
the weight that I had lost. - And as we'll see in this video, the thing that once allowed him
to succeed against all odds, is now the very same
thing holding him back. The steps Jesse took to lose 350 pounds are an almost textbook example of how anyone can change
anything in their lives. Everything he did matches with what behavioral scientists know about how some people manage to overcome incredible obstacles, to transform themselves. In this video, we'll learn
the steps of behavior change, how Jesse used them to succeed
after years of failure, and what's missing from
that formula today, that's preventing him
from succeeding again. Jesse was in a dark place. (serene music) At just 25 years old, Jesse had decided that
his body weight and health were already too far gone. He barely moved more than
a few steps each day, stopped keeping up with personal hygiene. - Yeah, that's dirt, look at that. - [Kiana] And hadn't seen anyone, other than his mother, or
left his house in years. Jesse believed it was
impossible for him to change. So he stopped trying. - It wasn't like I hadn't
tried to lose weight, and in my mind at this point, if I couldn't even lose the weight, when I was only 25 or
50 pounds overweight, there was no way I was
gonna have the willpower or the drive to lose weight, when I was hundreds of pounds overweight. - [Kiana] However, in May, 2013, Jesse posted a photo of his body, to the bodybuilding.com forum, expecting to be ridiculed
by fit members of the site. - [Jesse] You know, I thought
I was going to be getting a lot of disgusted image macros and stuff. And while I did get some of that, that's where people
started to try and help me. And they actually believed that I could undo some of the damage I did. And that was something I wasn't expecting. - [Kiana] This encouraging response from the community played a vital role in disrupting Jessie's belief that it was impossible for him to change. - I just want to say I've gotten some really good advice here. I really do appreciate the help, and this thread has been more useful. I didn't even mean for it to
be a life changing thread, but glad I posted. - Self-efficacy refers to
the set of beliefs we have about our abilities to
succeed at a specific task. Your level of confidence in
your ability to do something determines whether you'll be
willing to get started at all, how much effort you'll put forth, and how long you'll sustain that effort in the face of obstacles and failures. At this point, Jesse had
already tried and failed to lose weight a million times. He had let himself down so
many times at this point, that he truly believed any
efforts he made to change would be futile. Previous failed attempts at change chip away at our self-efficacy over time. And if it dwindles to the
point that we no longer believe in our ability to do something,
we won't be able to do it. It is very much so a
self-fulfilling prophecy. Self-efficacy occurs
along more of a continuum, than in either you have it
or you don't kind of thing. And it's task specific, meaning you can be 85% confident in your ability to do one thing, but only like 12% confident
in your ability to do another. Jesse was starting at a place
of almost zero self-efficacy, no belief in his ability to change. And I would say that most people, when we try to lose weight,
or start up a gym habit, or quit smoking, or anything like that, for the millionth time, start at a place of at
least limited self-efficacy. And this undermines our
efforts in different ways. Maybe we put a little less heart into it. We give up too soon. We're not really confident
that we can do it. We just have hope that we can. And as we'll see, what Jessie does next is the perfect antidote to
a lack of self-efficacy. - Beast mode engaged. (gentle music) What's up, everyone,
(mumbling) here, got my boy. And today I'm gonna
start my cutting phase, after a wildly successful
25 year bolting phase. That night, I was supposed to have eight chicken quesadillas,
and some cheesy broccoli rice. That's what I had planned already. And instead, a member told me I should just cut it down
to seven cheesy quesadillas, And you know, even though that's only a couple hundred
calories, it was a start. You know, this is for a (mumbling) who said that, "Hey, your weight, you could just literally
flop around and lose weight." I laughed, I have to admit,
but let's try that theory. (panting) - At this point, Jesse
may not have believed he could lose 350 pounds, but he certainly felt
he was up to the task of flopping around in his seat, and eating two less quesadillas. Starting so small that
the tasks ahead of you almost seem silly, is the perfect antidote to a lack of self-efficacy. The silliness, the trivial quality of flopping around in his seat is what got the ball rolling for Jesse. Small steps might seem
like they are not enough, especially when we have a big problem we are trying to change. But tiny steps forward set the stage for big changes to come, and play an important
role in sparking momentum, and motivation, while beginning to repair our self-efficacy beliefs. When beginning a weight loss journey, or trying to change
anything for that matter, most people have a tendency to start overhauling everything at once. You know, tomorrow, you're
gonna eat 100% clean, hit the gym six days per
week, no treats ever again, new day, new me. And then we wake up the next day, encounter an obstacle
we're unprepared for, and then say to ourselves,
"Hm, I'm not ready, I'll start tomorrow." Rinse, cycle, repeat. We're constantly restarting, because we set the bar
so damn high for change, that it's nearly impossible to get right, right out of the gate. And of course the solution
to this is to lower that bar. A really easy gauge on
whether your proposed change is a viable one, is to ask yourself, on a scale of one to 10,
how confident are you in your ability to execute this behavior? If the answer is anything
less than a nine or a 10, you should start smaller. (mellow music) - Eat your heart out, 'cause
I'm about to just shredded, over your ass. - [Kiana] Jesse set himself some action oriented behavioral goals. - One, cut food intake by 25%. This means no candy, no
pop, no fast food, doable. - [Kiana] The goals didn't involve reaching a particular weight, but were centered around concrete actions he could take every day, to
reach his desired outcome. - Two, increase water intake
by 200%, already starting. Number four, increase activity by 100%. That should be easy for
me, because right now, my activity has been 0%. - [Kiana] He then monitored his progress against these goals, Not against his desired
outcome of weight loss. Having a behavioral goal or goals, and keeping a log of your
progress toward them, is an essential element of change. You can only control behavior
that you're fully aware of. And recording observations
about your eating, and movement patterns, can
reveal crucial insights, while at the same time,
keeping you focused on what you're striving for. - When I would do a
workout, I would log it. When I would eat
something, I would log it. So it got to where if I
wasn't making these posts, all these people who were supporting me, would know that I hadn't
done it on that day. - In Jesse's case, he was
logging his food intake, and exercise in front of a huge
community, cheering him on. And this was keeping him accountable, and spurring him on to find
new ways to eat healthier, and move more, so he'd have
a chance to log his success, in front of himself and others. - Yesterday was my best
day I've had years, for a calorie deficit. I got a great workout, downed
four big ass bottles of water. You know, everything
couldn't be going any better. - If Jesse was just blindly
planning to move more, and eat less, he'd have no way to gauge whether or not he was truly
making progress each day. And he'd be tempted to put all his faith in the number on the scale, and how he was feeling each day instead. And obviously, neither of those things are accurate gauges of progress, and can even be needlessly discouraging. Having a community is
obviously hugely motivating and helpful in itself. And finding a buddy to spur you on, and keep you accountable,
can be very helpful. But in absence of that,
having behavioral goals, and keeping a log of your behavior provides you with immediate
feedback about your progress, and shows you immediate evidence
of your ability to improve. (serene music) - One video I made that really
kind of sticks in my mind is the day I did 50 laps. Now to explain what this is, a lap is just walked to the
kitchen and living room. That was one lap. So, you know, it was only
five or six steps from there. And you know, walking 50 of these is now I look back on it
and it seems so silly. 50, (panting) absolutely no cuts. 100%, no breaks, no
sitting down, 50 in a row. I might well ran a 5K. I was so excited that
I was able to do this, and it doesn't seem significant, but I was building serious
strength in my legs, and suddenly I was seeing
these benefits coming, and it snowballed from there. - [Kiana] Jesse is starting
to see serious results from all his hard work. He's noticing big changes in
his body, in his attitude, and he's hitting milestones that he previously
thought were impossible. - I took this kiddie pool onto the yard and I filled it up with hose water, and it was freezing
cold, but I didn't care, 'cause it's for the first
time in years, I got to bathe. Now you can imagine with me
not having showered in years, I wasn't gonna get clean from this, but it didn't matter,
because what it gave me was a huge boost of morale. And it gave me something
I hadn't had in years. It gave me hope. - [Kiana] The rewards of changing are what give us the strength and drive to keep pushing toward our dreams. - [Woman] Oh my God, your
knees aren't even touching. - [Jesse] True. - Rewards can be anything at all, from noticing that your
pants are a little loose, to being able to do more
than you previously could, or hitting a string of special
milestones, like Jesse. But the best rewards are those that have some sort of emotional significance. The more emotionally significant, the greater their value
to our change process. - I just woke up, and
it's time for weigh in. 551, there ya have it. And I'm not too surprised, 'cause I cheated and
weighed myself last night, 'cause the anticipation
was just killing me. - [Kiana] As Jesse progresses, these rewards, and the
progress they signify, become a very powerful motivational force. - The first time I felt
the warm water on me, it was, it was a feeling that
I'd forgotten for so long, just to have warm water
hitting me was a luxury. - Suddenly, Jesse finds himself wanting to push himself
more than ever before. Experimenting with new forms
of eating and movement, and finding deep satisfaction from really throwing
himself into the process. Jesse is now moving toward
intrinsic motivation, which is doing something
for the joy of doing it. He's becoming deeply
connected with the process, and finding a lot of fulfillment from it. And the rewards he's experiencing have a lot to do with that. The rewards Jesse was
experiencing were profound, things like gaining back your
mobility, your social life, going outside for the first time in years. These were obviously very
special moments for Jesse, that most of us take for granted. For most of us trying to make a change, the rewards might not be so obvious. If we're trying to quit smoking, say, or even if we're trying to lose weight, depending on how much we have to lose, the rewards of changing are
usually a lot more subtle. A journey to change our behavior can become incredibly frustrating, if we're not feeling like we're
frequently being rewarded, for all our hard work. When it comes to losing weight, most people put most of,
if not all of the emphasis, on the reward of the
lower number on the scale, or a smaller body size. And that focus can sometimes blind us, to the other rewards that
are built into the process of striding to live a healthier lifestyle. However, if we intentionally
build rewards into the process, by focusing on behavioral goals, rather than the goal of our body weight, we'll feel rewarded for
our efforts all the time. Some people naturally feel more emotionally rewarded for
their efforts than others. A feeling behavioral scientists, BJ Fogg, describes as, "Shine." But, if that's not you, and
for a lot of people, it's not, intentionally taking a moment
to acknowledge your success, whenever you do notice that
you're making progress, or noticing some of the
benefits of your efforts can make all the difference
in feeling rewarded during the process. And the more emotion you can put behind that
acknowledgement, the better. Emotion is what really creates change, and makes the entire process enjoyable. And before you know it, you
could wake up a year later, and be totally transformed, like Jesse. In just a little over a year's time, Jesse had transformed not only his body, but his entire life. - Started from the
fattest, now we're here. 203 pounds gone, in just a year. This time a year ago, you know, I hadn't been outside in years. I hadn't showered in years. You know, I didn't go in public,
and I didn't do anything. I was just done. - Jesse went on to lose
over 350 pounds in total. When he began, he could
never have imagined himself exercising daily, wanting
to eat healthy food, or living a normal, happy life, with a career and social life. And yet, what began as flopping around, and eating just two less quesadillas, compounded a little bit each
day until he truly became a totally different person. People who hear Jesse's amazing story often wonder where Jesse is now, and unfortunately Jesse
has fallen off track. - So how I'm doing here
is not great, at all, to say the least. In fact, that's a wild understatement. I have gained back most of
the weight that I had lost. - A lot of the behaviors that
helped Jesse the first time are things he's no longer doing now. For example, he's not weighing himself, keeping track of his food intake, or posting to the bodybuilding.com forum. And he's also trying to
make the exercise element into some big, impossible task, instead of breaking it down
like he did the first time. - To even pretend like
I'm gonna start walking five days a week and
that, it's unrealistic. And you know, I don't want to say it, because it sounds like bullshit
and it feels like bullshit. - Though all of those things
are important elements to changing behavior,
Jessie's biggest challenge has clearly always been
his lack of self-efficacy. And you'll hear in his language that this has suffered the most, as the result of his backslide. - Coming to terms with the fact that I'm not gonna be able
to lose the weight quickly, at all, no matter how disciplined I am, I'm not gonna be able to match that. So I'm not gonna try. I'm not even sure that
I'll be able to lose all the weight again, but I'm not gonna make
promises that I can't keep. And you know, last
couple of videos I made, I had all these grand plans on what I was gonna do, and you know, I was gonna get back in it and all this. And I know it sounds negative, but I just don't believe in
myself that much anymore. I just, but mainly I'm just posting this to let you guys know that I'm
not trying to slight you guys by not posting, I'm
not doing it, you know, just to be malicious. I'm doing it because I'm a fuck up. I'm still a fuck up, it hasn't changed. I'm the same as I was in 2013,
you know, I never changed. I was still the same guy. And that was something
I struggled with too, is, you know, I lost the weight, but you know, some things don't change. Some things are still hard. I haven't meant to let you
guys down, I know I have. And you know, there's not
much I can say about that. Trust me, I, any way that you
feel about what I've done, I'm with you, I'm not a
fan either right now, so. - Though this is not the
most lighthearted way to end the discussion about
what is an incredible, inspirational and heartwarming story, I did wanna be true to the
reality of the situation, as it stands today. And I hope, at least, that this highlights how much of all of this
is all in our own heads. How much of ourself, and
how much of our limitations are self-imposed. Jesse viewing himself as a fuck up, who's always been a fuck up, is obviously drastically
different than the way, you know, all the millions of people who've been inspired
by his story view him. The way he's looking at it, he's identifying with the part of himself that's repetitively failed,
and let himself down, while ignoring the other part of himself that went on an incredible journey, came out the other side
a different person, and inspired millions of
people in the process. But the truth, and not just
for Jesse, but for all of us, is that we're neither 100%
the failure or the fuck up, or 100% the success story. We're somewhere in between. But if we believe the
thoughts that tell us that we're 100% the bad stuff, then that stuff can end up being
a self-fulfilling prophecy. And I hope that, you know,
if Jesse ever watches this, that it highlights for
him that all of this shit is in his head and he can
change if he wants to. As a final note, if
you've watched this far, then A, thank you, and B, I wanted to say that I'm gonna
link Jesse's channel below. Go and comment something
positive on his video. Say that he's inspired you. Maybe if a bunch of us went and commented, some words of encouragement, or letting him know that
he inspired us, you know, maybe that would help
him out a little bit, or make them feel good, or whatever. But he had a really beautiful story, and I hope that he updates
it soon with some good news. But yeah, thank you guys
so much for watching. I hope you guys enjoyed this one, and I will see you in the next one.
