2020 Goals, Resolutions, etc...whatever you wanna call it

[1MANU]

I hate resolutions. Let's call them goals. Post 2-3 goals you would like to achieve for this upcoming year. Can by anything - physique, diet, career, family, sex life, ice cream intake, etc..

I will bump thread at the end of 2020 and can see how you did. I will call you out as well

For myself, I definitely would like to spend more time with family and friends. I have focused so much on my career and business that now it's time to chill a bit. I'm happy where I am and I definitely plan on spending more time with fam and friends.

Diet. Eat more veggies. I suck.

How about you?

[TheShadowMan]

Well hopefully this next year i'll quit smoking, acquire some olympic bars and plates, a power rack, weight holder, build up my pullup strength more, get more consistent with diet, make money haha.

[Paulie1986]

1: Lose 35lbs before May (cut)
2: Complete more games on Xbox Game Pass
3: Make better posts that help people out

4: Mo veggies Less problems

4. Is such a new height for me. Bring it on!

[AdamWW]

1 - recover 100% from my ED (while gaining at least 30lb)
2 - sell my house and buy a new one
3 - meet a special lady

[boo99]

Happy 2020 Manu


1. Quit the lame corporate gym I work for as a Personal Trainer

2. Start my own successful Personal Training business where the only boss is me

[rjoylo2008]

1. Track every morsel of food on my cut for a solid 8 wks.
2. Start a new training program and stick with it for 3 mos.
3. Be more honest with myself.

[etet1919]

1) Clean up my diet- no more refined sugar (except on occasion) or high sodium. My blood pressure last night was 86/134? That's high for me-not normal for me, ever!! I already took the bull by the horns this morning (for breakfast).

2) Program my upper body training more frequently and creatively. That I didn't tackle yet... always the easier part.

@ Paulie: As far as "making better posts to help people out"....I learned last year most beginners will take good advice only halfheartedly on BB forums, so don't go all out or crazy with it! There are a few wonderful exceptions though, which makes it worthwhile then

[George2100]

1. Get single digit BF for curiosity’s sake
2. Find a new apartment that will allow my dog

[buccaneers41]

1 Stay consistent with my healthy eating and the gym. I seem to fall off the wagon either quit working out consistently or slack in diet

2 Build a backbone and go out and talk to people more/get a girlfriend/social life

3 Quit caring what people think especially about me

[RandyArmand]

(1) Advance my Personal Training / Behavior Change career.

(2) Achieve an Iron Cross on Gymnastic Rings.

(3) Cut down to sub-10 percent body fat.

I have more, but those are probably my top 3.

[gbullock32]

1. Buy less stupid stuff I don't need.
2. Eat more whole foods, too easy to just get 'junk' when working so much.
3. Spend more time doing things other than just working.

[AdamWW]

Interesting how folks want to be <10% bodyfat. Can’t say it has ever felt that good.

[boo99]

Interesting how many people want to be <10% bodyfat

Yea right

Phuk that

[MengShu57]

1. Lean bulk to 130, then 135 if everything goes well as a step to recovering from my ED.

2. Stop comparing myself to other people; specifically fitness models: fake natties and even real natties on social media as it was a major contributor to my ED.

3. Better my physiological and psychological health: in regards to anemia, low blood pressure, even been diagnosed with low T; then there's depression, anxiety, etc.

I have a number of other goals in terms of lifestyle and fitness but the list would be too long.

[Nicksosure1]

Physically: Reach about 170lbs while retaining a relatively low BF%. (At about 150lbs now)

Emotionally: Make NEW relationships with people.

Mentally: Opposite direction. Not take my own fitness as serious as I have in the past but have it remain to be a huge part of my life. Less mental tax and worry if I'm doing everything I can possibly do right, even at the expense of some things that probably should have a higher level of importance at the time.

[Nicksosure1]

Interesting how folks want to be <10% bodyfat. Can’t say it has ever felt that good.

I can't quote this enough. It's really not that fun to try and maintain it and it makes your quality of life worse. What's even worse is a lot of people don't realize that they would look better at a higher percentage because they are caught up in the shred. There's a weird weird weird obsessive mentally that forms after a period of time.

[AdamWW]

I can't quote this enough. It's really not that fun to try and maintain it and it makes your quality of life worse. What's even worse is a lot of people don't realize that they would look better at a higher percentage because they are caught up in the shred. There's a weird weird weird obsessive mentally that forms after a period of time.

Another thing to consider: unless you get a DEXA scan under perfect conditions, you wouldn't be able to know if you're 9% or 10% visually in a mirror...

So in a way, this idea of being specifically <10% is kind of an arbitrary target.... because everyone's perception of what 10% or less will look like on them is different.

Typically, most people just mean "I wanna get really sharp abs". Well, OK, but you might be able to get that at 12%, or 13%, depending on a number of factors... the number itself shouldn't matter.

[Nicksosure1]

Another thing to consider: unless you get a DEXA scan under perfect conditions, you wouldn't be able to know if you're 9% or 10% visually in a mirror...

So in a way, this idea of being specifically <10% is kind of an arbitrary target.... because everyone's perception of what 10% or less will look like on them is different.

Typically, most people just mean "I wanna get really sharp abs". Well, OK, but you might be able to get that at 12%, or 13%, depending on a number of factors... the number itself shouldn't matter.

Agreed.

I don't know exactly how low mine got at its lowest but I do know that I felt awful, and that's enough to know that it's just not a fun and sustainable way of life.

[AdamWW]

Agreed.

I don't know exactly how low mine got at its lowest but I do know that I felt awful, and that's enough to know that it's just not a fun and sustainable way of life.

Same here... given what i've seen of others, I think mine got as low as a genuine 6%.... I basically maintained stage-leanness for 8-12 months... it was HORRIBLE...

My Test levels were 178.... my WBC was crashing... so was my RBC.


Now, having gained back only 15 or so pounds, my Test has already more than doubled... I'm sleeping 3 more hours each night WITHOUT having issues waking up... far less extreme hunger.... mood is stable...

Zero desire to go back.

[Nicksosure1]

Same here... given what i've seen of others, I think mine got as low as a genuine 6%.... I basically maintained stage-leanness for 8-12 months... it was HORRIBLE...

My Test levels were 178.... my WBC was crashing... so was my RBC.


Now, having gained back only 15 or so pounds, my Test has already more than doubled... I'm sleeping 3 more hours each night WITHOUT having issues waking up... far less extreme hunger.... mood is stable...

Zero desire to go back.

Never got bloodwork done but I assume mine wouldn't have been too pretty either.

I'm up about 20lbs since then and most of my issues have resided. Still wake up about 3 times during the night unfortunately. Could be caused by other issues though.

The extreme hunger was the most annoying part imo. It's not the type of hunger that can be manageably ignored, it hits hard and extreme. Like you need to eat NOW.

[AdamWW]

The extreme hunger was the most annoying part imo. It's not the type of hunger that can be manageably ignored, it hits hard and extreme. Like you need to eat NOW.

Yup... i know it all too well. The urgency is something that is impossible to ignore, it induces a kind of panic response, like your body is about to shut down and die... it's kind of scary.

I do still get up to pee but I fall back asleep right away... wasn't like that before. So the sleep interruption is maybe like 1-2minutes at most.... has zero impact on quality tho. I feel 10000 times better rested.

ALSO... i HATE feeling cold... I was basically shivering all the time... a bone-chilling, painful level of cold.

[Nicksosure1]

Yup... i know it all too well. The urgency is something that is impossible to ignore, it induces a kind of panic response, like your body is about to shut down and die... it's kind of scary.

I do still get up to pee but I fall back asleep right away... wasn't like that before. So the sleep interruption is maybe like 1-2minutes at most.... has zero impact on quality tho. I feel 10000 times better rested.

ALSO... i HATE feeling cold... I was basically shivering all the time... a bone-chilling, painful level of cold.

Wow. We were in VERY similar situations then.

I still don't know if I had a full-blown ED, but I know I had a very poor relationship with food. Man, this is how bad it got sometimes. I became scared to workout as hard, not because of energy levels, not because of motivation, but because I was scared that if I went too hard it would cause me to be hungrier later, and I wasn't willing to compromise my caloric intake to meet that hunger. It's this weird messed up cycle you put yourself through.

I'll wake up to pee at least 2-3 times at night, usually can fall back asleep pretty easily except the last time I wake up. I'll be at a total of about 6 hours or so and have to fight to get back to sleep although I still feel tired. Still pretty annoying. And yeah, ya boy was freezing as well at all times. Still pretty cold lol

[faithbrah]

- keep lifting and progressing
- finally get the summer shred (not really, more like 13-15% bf)
- study hard, party hard, game hard

[buccaneers41]

Another thing to consider: unless you get a DEXA scan under perfect conditions, you wouldn't be able to know if you're 9% or 10% visually in a mirror...

So in a way, this idea of being specifically <10% is kind of an arbitrary target.... because everyone's perception of what 10% or less will look like on them is different.

Typically, most people just mean "I wanna get really sharp abs". Well, OK, but you might be able to get that at 12%, or 13%, depending on a number of factors... the number itself shouldn't matter.

Noob question but what is an accurate inexpensive way to find out body fat percentage? I’m trying to find out what I am ball park my profile pic is fairly accurate but I’m also kinda flexing in it.

[JMath]

You guys who are trying to be more successful with your own business, or setting off to be personal trainers... now is the time. Use the chit out of social media. There are so many personal trainers and life coaches, and product ambassadors making bank because they have big social media followings. Do a shameless plug in this thread, hell, I'll follow you on IG.

My goals are maybe too broad/general... but:

1) Be consistent with diet and exercise the entire year.
2) Cut out my addiction to coke (the soft drink... not the drug).
3) Be more open to dating and stop being cynical about it.
4) Pay my car off - only had it for a little over a year, but don't want the payment.

[Nicksosure1]

Noob question but what is an accurate inexpensive way to find out body fat percentage? I’m trying to find out what I am ball park my profile pic is fairly accurate but I’m also kinda flexing in it.

Honestly, your best bet to get a close estimation is just to post your pics in the thread regarding estimated BF%s under the Losing Fat section.

A couple people that hang in there are pretty keen on giving relative estimates. It's free too.

[AdamWW]

Noob question but what is an accurate inexpensive way to find out body fat percentage? I’m trying to find out what I am ball park my profile pic is fairly accurate but I’m also kinda flexing in it.

What do you consider inexpensive?

I don't think knowing a number is particularly useful, because even DEXA Scans have a margin for error and ways in which the readings can change day to day, depending on hydration, food in your system, etc...

I think the best way is to simply refer to commonly-held averages in terms of appearance and assume you're in a certain range. Not everyone holds bodyfat in the same areas, so someone could appear 8% based on their abs, but hold tons of fat in their glutes and legs and actually be 15%.... it all depends.

This is why I think trying to hit an arbitrary number is silly, and instead it's better to go off estimates/ranges.... and even then it all comes down to what YOU like looking like. The number means nothing.

You can google "male bodyfat examples", etc, and you'll get a range of ideas.

Usually for MOST men...

5-6%
You literally look like you have only skin over muscle.... muscle striations and veins are pretty much all you see.

7-8%
Similar to 5-6%, but your skin is less 'thin', you may not have striations/veins in more fat-prone areas like lower back and glutes, etc, but your abs and all other areas are shredded

9-10%
You can see all your abs, perhaps some ab veins, striations in your leanner areas, etc, BUT you don't look 'unhealthy' and that 'shredded', flat look isn't there...

11-13%
You can probably still see all your abs, but there's a thin layer of fat under your skin. Veins might still be there, but only in the areas where you hold less fat genetically... almost certainly no real glute definition going on, but you're still very lean.

14-15%
Outlines of most your abs are still there, but vascularity is basically gone for the most part except in areas like forearms, maybe your biceps, etc. You can pinch a bit of fat on your stomach area, perhaps a cm worth or so, but it doesn't render your abs completely unseparated. People in this range might lose their 6-8 pack and get to a 4-pack, depending on their genetics.

16-18%
Abs are starting to get blurry here... no real vascularity on the torso at all... you can probably pinch over a cm of fat or so, you probably get a bit of a lower-ab roll when you sit down, but when you flex in front of a mirror you can still see muscle definition.

[buccaneers41]

Thanks for the response both of you I appreciate it. I guess inexpensive would be for me would be no more then a hundred bucks but I’m guessing off your response I’m closer to fifteen percent. Just have to keep at it. I’d like my abs to be visible or have that six pack body. I don’t think I have the dedication to get under 8%. I’m gonna shoot for 12%.

[AdamWW]

Thanks for the response both of you I appreciate it. I guess inexpensive would be for me would be no more then a hundred bucks but I’m guessing off your response I’m closer to fifteen percent. Just have to keep at it. I’d like my abs to be visible or have that six pack body. I don’t think I have the dedication to get under 8%. I’m gonna shoot for 12%.

I'd say that's a good estimate based on your profile pic.

[1MANU]

Wow! Good stuff. Appreciate everyone's responses.

Now don't just achieve these goals....DESTROY them.

Work hard. Stay focused. No excuses.