Motivation /Tracking Thread

[Big A]

Alright gents, time to quite fucking around. My mom and brother have been here for a visit, so my diet's been crap, and I haven't lifted in a week and a half. My weight's creeped back up to 230.6lbs I'm rested, relaxed, and full of water, time to change that.

My wife and step-daughter are in Russia for a month, and mom's leaving today, so it's the perfect time to get cranky. The plan is to go balls out for 30 days, with cardio every morning, a super-strict diet, and a little clen/T3 supplementation to hedge my bets again. The goal is to get down to 215lbs like last time, which is almost 4lbs a week, we'll see how it goes.

[Cooter]

I've still been taking it pretty slow. Started doing some light squats and such. Did some short sprints here and there.

I'm pretty sore from sprints yesterday. I had already done squats and sprints this week, but I couldn't help myself throwing in a few short sprints yesterday. lets are definitely sore!

broke my weight plateau this morning at 234. I'd been weighing in 235-6 for a month now. I knew I'd been losing fat despite zero weight change based on comments and the muscle on my legs, but it was a pleasant bonus to see the weight drop a little in light of the increased resistance/HIT stuff. I know you can't lose fat and gain muscle forever, but when you're in as bad of shape as I was/am, it's pretty cool to be able to do both for a while.

not trying to make this a minute by minute account, but today felt good

diet has been fucking boss, especially for the past two weeks. (in which I cut out the frozen coconut milk "ice cream" that I'd gone from 100-200cal/day to 300-400 LOL) i guess you'd call it paleo-ish. pretty much zero grains. tons of spinach, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower... tons of eggs and grass fed beef, a good amount of saturated fats (coconut oil, seeds, etc.) only "cheat" is 85% dark organic chocolate to the tune of ~100-200cal per day (I'm better at not going over on that... I guess because the flavor is so concentrated) and the occasional chug of whole milk (maybe two per week) 1-2 cups of green earl grey in the morning

I'm on somewhat of a professional hiatus, so it's been nice just focusing on health and only taking on work that is 99.9% stress-free... which has been pretty much the antithesis of my past about nine years.

carry on

[Nash B.]

Good job. Keep it up, bro. The more I've stuck to my routine, the more it's become habit.

[Cooter]

thanks man, I plan to. This is the first time I've ever attempted any sort of health regime and stuck to it for this long. I think the key has been to not put unrealistic goals/limits/numbers on things. My main focus has been overall health without injuring myself.

I feel like I'm really hitting a stride with my diet in that I don't really crave anything that's not on it... I have to be coming up on 1yr without pizza soon. My biggest gorge-cheat is a big ass burger from a place one town over and I haven't had one of those in a few weeks.

it's funny how when you cut out alcohol, the diet is MUCH easier to keep clean coming up on 1yr w/ no bewz pretty soon as well! absolutely zero cravings or desire. I think I'm at the point where I want to actually say "never". I couldn't ever bring myself to say that in the past, but I really finally feel like I'm "over it"

[dsrtuckteezy]

I can't respect a man that won't drink a beer or a glass of bourbon, but good job cooter. Btw, were you ever going to spill your guts on that mind fuck thread you started a month or so ago?

[Gasser64]

Yes...then a vid doing 125s.

Still an engineer who isn't so great at reading, eh? Well you'll get it someday.

[Cooter]

I can't respect a man that won't drink a beer or a glass of bourbon, but good job cooter. Btw, were you ever going to spill your guts on that mind fuck thread you started a month or so ago?

one of these days LOL

man, they way I look at alcohol is I've had enough... a 750 every two days for more than a few years... plenty of 750's killed in a night, handles in a weekend...

enough beer to float the titanic...

I've just plain had my fill. More than my fill.

It's just non-conducive to what I'm trying to accomplish in my life. A few drinks a week is no big deal. But if I never drink again till I'm 100yrs old, my lifetime average will be far beyond that!

And although I've actually been 100% sober for a little while now, I'll never say "never" when it comes to flower!

[GeorgeG.]

Well I've lost all motivation. Been dealing with a back issue for three weeks now. I plan to see a Dr. this week to see what the deal is. Lots of rest, sitting around, ice, and Motrin has been of little help. Even before the injury as it started warming up, my garage gym has been too damn hot.

[Big A]

A year without pizza?! Are you a communist?!?!

'Grats on your progress man, I can't believe that you and I just about weigh the same now. I still have you in my mind as a big ol' boy. I'm coming up on 3 years next month myself, and "never" doesn't seem so long after all.

[Gasser64]

Well I've lost all motivation. Been dealing with a back issue for three weeks now. I plan to see a Dr. this week to see what the deal is. Lots of rest, sitting around, ice, and Motrin has been of little help. Even before the injury as it started warming up, my garage gym has been too damn hot.

Also go see a chiropractor. Dr's and chiropractors seem to kind of dislike each other. On the subject of joints and ligaments and such though, chiropractors are, imho, far better. A few sessions of adjustments may cure it right up. All at $65 per visit, vs what... $160 or more

[Cooter]

A year without pizza?! Are you a communist?!?!

'Grats on your progress man, I can't believe that you and I just about weigh the same now. I still have you in my mind as a big ol' boy. I'm coming up on 3 years next month myself, and "never" doesn't seem so long after all.

man, I had a bad habit of eating frozen pizza because it was easy and fucking delish! LOL

my personality is very all or nothing. I'm not saying it's healthy, it's just the way I'm wired. I'm working on it, but I know my limitations. So it's easier for me to just stick within the confines of a healthy diet. I haven't been "in good shape" since I was a little ass kid... Even when I was "in shape" in my early 20's, I was just skinnyfat.

I have a goal... it has nothing to do with weight. It doesn't really have an arbitrary bf%, but I guess I'd say my goal is to be leaner than I've ever been in my life. I don't need to look like Arnie, but I don't want to look like Auschwitz either. I'll also say that I won't have to be crazy lean to be leaner than I've ever been! LOL

I don't know how long it'll take me. I've really been easing into this whole thing and taking it slow so that I don't get injured! And also so that I don't get overwhealmed/frustrated with arbitrary deadlines/numbers that I don't meet for whatever reason. As long as I'm moving forward toward my goal, I'm good.

The only two number goals I set were "275" with no set time frame to attain it, and once I hit it in less than 6 months, I said "250 this summer". Well I'm way ahead of that, so I don't need any more number goals.

I put 232 on the scale this morning. I'm still walking around 235-238, but starting from 315 last year at this time, seeing myself that close to 229 feels really good. way better than that pizza used to taste

[Cooter]

oh, and today I bought some cacao because fuck sugar in my chocolate

[Big A]

The slower you go, the more likely it will be to keep it off, as it becomes a complete change in lifestyle, rather than just a "diet" that ends. As long as you stay motivated, there's no need to put a number or date on it, us weaker-minded folks need that carrot(cake) dangling in front of us.

[Cooter]

I guess that's what I'm going for... a different life

the first 38yrs weren't as fulfilling as I'd like. (read: midlife crisis?)

So I'm making it my mission to focus on health vs. money/things. mental and spiritual health as well as physical. the mind is part of the body, the body is the temple, and all that rot...

We'll see how all THAT works out. It's definitely in its infancy at this point

[stangin4lyfe]

the slower you go, the more likely it will be to keep it off, as it becomes a complete change in lifestyle, rather than just a "diet" that ends. as long as you stay motivated, there's no need to put a number or date on it, us weaker-minded folks need that carrot(cake) dangling in front of us.

Bingo