Accountability

[MyNamuhNick]

I myself have had a lot of problems with accountability. I am making this thread with the hopes that more people that want to lose weight but have issues with being negative and giving up and not sticking with it, can talk and find support. I could use some help and wouldn't mind forming a community of individuals leaning on each other to reach their goals and live healthier lives.

[MyNamuhNick]

Entry 2. More so than past attempts, I seemingly have the mindset necessary to develop good work out habits. For three days now I have gotten up and had my workout. I have been successful in keeping to my 16 hour fasts and have been had the willpower to not consume unnecessary calories. I actually opened a beer took one sip then poured the rest down the sink. My fiancé was tearing up some Reeses cups last night and I was able to not have a single one. A little about myself. I have always been weak when it comes to junk food and beer. Love 'em to death. Yesterday, after I poured the beer down the sink, I reflected and asked myself what was more important. Getting fit or alcohol and junk food. At that moment I came to a realization that getting fit was always more important to me, but consuming the other things was easier and provided immediate gratification. I know I can do this. I'm getting married in 19 weeks and my fear is everyone looking at my beautiful slender wife and then looking at me to wonder why she chose me to begin with. At 29 years of age I think it is time to get over this low willpower bull sh*t and take control of my life. It is time to get my health in order so that I can be around for my family.

[DoMoreWeighLess]

If you have trouble with being negative I can easily see fasts exacerbating the issue. Ghrellin buildup can really stress you out. Just be careful.

If you want to have the mental fortitude think of a time in your life when you didn't have a choice. Maybe it was during sports when your coach had you doing conditioning, maybe it was chores your father had you do around the house, or maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, mentally you got it done because you had to, not because you felt like doing it. That's the mentality you need to take. This is a journey that only stops if you choose for it to stop. So take that choice away. It's okay to mess up, we all do. What's not okay is stopping completely. Mess up, ask yourself why you messed up, then start again THE NEXT DAY. Not a week, not a month, the next day. The only thing that should hold you back is injuries, and even then you can limit your calories.

I'm going to be following you so feel free to ask questions. I am sure more of the longtime forum posters will be here shortly too.

[MyNamuhNick]

If you have trouble with being negative I can easily see fasts exacerbating the issue. Ghrellin buildup can really stress you out. Just be careful.

If you want to have the mental fortitude think of a time in your life when you didn't have a choice. Maybe it was during sports when your coach had you doing conditioning, maybe it was chores your father had you do around the house, or maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, mentally you got it done because you had to, not because you felt like doing it. That's the mentality you need to take. This is a journey that only stops if you choose for it to stop. So take that choice away. It's okay to mess up, we all do. What's not okay is stopping completely. Mess up, ask yourself why you messed up, then start again THE NEXT DAY. Not a week, not a month, the next day. The only thing that should hold you back is injuries, and even then you can limit your calories.

I'm going to be following you so feel free to ask questions. I am sure more of the longtime forum posters will be here shortly too.

Thank you for posting. I will try to update everyday and all the advice is much appreciated. I will meditate on what you said about programming my brain to think that this isn't something that can be thrown off.

[MyNamuhNick]

Entry 3. It was difficult getting motivated this morning the thought of getting up on a Saturday and exercising makes my body hurt. Regardless, I got my a** up and made it happen. It was not as intense as it should be but never the less I disregarded the lazy mentality that I had and forced myself to continue establishing beneficial habits. I weighed myself today and the scale showed 305lds. Four pounds less than when we began. Even though it's probably all water weight it still feels nice to see lower numbers. Thanks for reading. I'll let ya'll know how tomorrow goes. Thank you for all your silent support.

[Khrozt]

Entry 3. It was difficult getting motivated this morning the thought of getting up on a Saturday and exercising makes my body hurt. Regardless, I got my a** up and made it happen. It was not as intense as it should be but never the less I disregarded the lazy mentality that I had and forced myself to continue establishing beneficial habits. I weighed myself today and the scale showed 305lds. Four pounds less than when we began. Even though it's probably all water weight it still feels nice to see lower numbers. Thanks for reading. I'll let ya'll know how tomorrow goes. Thank you for all your silent support.

Keep it up dude! You got 18 weeks to look like a true champ to all those friends and family and just know that it's never just the cover of the book that matters it's the substance within the book and that's why she "chose" you man. Keep the updates coming I'm enjoying them and enjoy seeing your progress and thought process just remember consistency over intensity.

[MyNamuhNick]

Keep it up dude! You got 18 weeks to look like a true champ to all those friends and family and just know that it's never just the cover of the book that matters it's the substance within the book and that's why she "chose" you man. Keep the updates coming I'm enjoying them and enjoy seeing your progress and thought process just remember consistency over intensity.

Thanks man. I'm really positive about this time around. Also developing a support network should be very beneficial. Good luck to you as well sir. I too and excited to witness your progress as well.

[MyNamuhNick]

Entry 4: Sunday is the recuperate day. Still planning on going a walk later. I will leave you all with this. “The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty.” – Winston Churchill. Have a good day everyone. My best wishes to you all.

[DoMoreWeighLess]

Entry 4: Sunday is the recuperate day. Still planning on going a walk later. I will leave you all with this. “The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty.” – Winston Churchill. Have a good day everyone. My best wishes to you all.

Keep it up boss. How have you been feeling overall?

[MyNamuhNick]

Keep it up boss. How have you been feeling overall?

There was a moment on Saturday where I felt completely exhausted. I started tracking calories and It would seem that I wasn't giving myself enough protein and calories in general. Trying to find the healthy balance. Other than that I am feeling motivated.

[lukepeter]

Welcome man.

Logging here will help with the motivation, it did help me significantly. You havnt really detailed a training routine here from what I can see - do you have a history of lifting etc? and are you lifting now?
The reason I ask, is that many people when going through drastic weight loss tend to focus on cardio and diet and neglect to remind their bodies that the muscle is a basic requirement for existence - If you dont lift, regularly, and progressively, you are not going to like what you see when the fat is gone. I went though dramatic weight loss over the space of two years, and I did pretty much zero cardio throughout it because it would have hampered my lifting and resulted in an ultimately unsightly physique at the end (pics in my bodyspace).

I logged on bb.com for the majority of the journey, and the community was supportive and, when necessary, hard. Keep logging, and keep working at it. People will stop by to give encouragement and share their hardships and successes. Discipline, and stamina for the long haul, its not going to be easy, and its going to be long, but in the end it will be worth it.

Regards,

Luke

[MyNamuhNick]

I have been hesitant to lift weights. I have a treadmill, weight bench, and enough weights to do full body work outs with cardio. The reason I have been hesitant to lift is because I am trying to get to the threshold where I can see that I am obviously losing weight so I can keep the positive mindset going. I had seen in the past where gaining muscle and losing weight balance in such a way that you dont see the results your hoping for at first. You are right. I should be doing some weight training with the cardio. I was just wanting to build some fast momentum. I'm paranoid about not seeing results and falling back into the same bad habits. 18 weeks to my wedding and a long way to go. Thank you Luke for commenting. I appreciate you.

[lukepeter]

I have been hesitant to lift weights. I have a treadmill, weight bench, and enough weights to do full body work outs with cardio. The reason I have been hesitant to lift is because I am trying to get to the threshold where I can see that I am obviously losing weight so I can keep the positive mindset going. I had seen in the past where gaining muscle and losing weight balance in such a way that you dont see the results your hoping for at first. You are right. I should be doing some weight training with the cardio. I was just wanting to build some fast momentum. I'm paranoid about not seeing results and falling back into the same bad habits. 18 weeks to my wedding and a long way to go. Thank you Luke for commenting. I appreciate you.

I get the tenuous balance between motivation and backsliding, but man, you have to get out of that mindset... If you depend on consistent results to continue, you are going to fail. Weight loss is not linear, there will be weeks where you lose nothing despite hitting your macros perfectly, and it's crushing.

You have to want to succeed more than you want to be indolent, then JFDI (just ****ing do it). It becomes a value, not a priority. Like putting on your pants before you go out, it's simply something you do, not negotiable.

Putting on muscle at the rate you lose fat is pure bulkchit, on a significant energy deficit, there is simply no chance of equilibrium.

Will follow your journey here. Hope you get your head straight, it needs to be.

[MyNamuhNick]

I get the tenuous balance between motivation and backsliding, but man, you have to get out of that mindset... If you depend on consistent results to continue, you are going to fail. Weight loss is not linear, there will be weeks where you lose nothing despite hitting your macros perfectly, and it's crushing.

You have to want to succeed more than you want to be indolent, then JFDI (just ****ing do it). It becomes a value, not a priority. Like putting on your pants before you go out, it's simply something you do, not negotiable.

Putting on muscle at the rate you lose fat is pure bulkchit, on a significant energy deficit, there is simply no chance of equilibrium.

Will follow your journey here. Hope you get your head straight, it needs to be.

All right. JFDI. I'll go back to incorporating weights back into the plan. I will change my view on the matter and keep on keeping. Thank you again Luke. Btw I checked out your progress pics and it was nice to see a log of an individuals progress. It was definitely motivational.

[DoMoreWeighLess]

You got this man. If you enjoy cardio I wouldn't say cut it out completely. But it is a good idea to get started with weights.

For the most part your diet should cut the weight off, and your exercise should build you into what the future you wants to be able to do. I suggest finding an activity from your childhood that you loved and make it a goal to get back to being able to do it. Then take that goal, and make small mile markers to the end goal.

Goals will help you reward yourself even when the scale isn't moving. You're becoming a healthier you, and that entails more than your body weight.

[MyNamuhNick]

You got this man. If you enjoy cardio I wouldn't say cut it out completely. But it is a good idea to get started with weights.

For the most part your diet should cut the weight off, and your exercise should build you into what the future you wants to be able to do. I suggest finding an activity from your childhood that you loved and make it a goal to get back to being able to do it. Then take that goal, and make small mile markers to the end goal.

Goals will help you reward yourself even when the scale isn't moving. You're becoming a healthier you, and that entails more than your body weight.

I'm looking for a exercise plan that fits the equipment I have.

[DoMoreWeighLess]

We can probably help. What all do you have at your disposal?

[MyNamuhNick]

I have an adjustable bench, adjustable weight dumbbells(basically a small bar with free weights), and a treadmill. So I have been looking for a dumbbell only work out plan that has the days planned out. Where I can just do what it said do for that day and not plan out what muscle groups I didn't hit yesterday and so I dont over work other groups.

[MyNamuhNick]

Entry 5: I found a balance to the cardio that is far more enjoyable. Obviously long stints on the machine suck, so I have upped the intensity and shortened the time. Since I work from home it isn't hard to go on break during the day jog for 10mins with a steep incline multiple times a day. According to my fitness pal this seems to not only work better for me but also burns more calories. IMPROVISE, ADAPT, and OVERCOME

[MyNamuhNick]

Entry 5: I found a balance to the cardio that is far more enjoyable. Obviously long stints on the machine suck, so I have upped the intensity and shortened the time. Since I work from home it isn't hard to go on break during the day jog for 10mins with a steep incline multiple times a day. According to my fitness pal this seems to not only work better for me but also burns more calories. IMPROVISE, ADAPT, and OVERCOME

I just found a 5 day dumbbell routine that I will begin to incorporate into my daily exercises. Here is the link:
muscleandstrength.com/workouts/5-day-dumbbell-only-workout-split

[lukepeter]

I just found a 5 day dumbbell routine that I will begin to incorporate into my daily exercises. Here is the link:
muscleandstrength.com/workouts/5-day-dumbbell-only-workout-split

This is fine. At the early stages of your lifting life, pretty much anything that is balanced w.r.t. muscles worked, and has the ability for you to progress (either in volume{reps} or in intensity{load}) will do the job. I lifted on a 4 day modified push pull legs routine for a couple years before I made adjustments, and it worked out fine. As a natty, especially early on in your lifting, frequency will often give you better results than volume (ie, working each muscle group 3 times a week instead of once, three times as hard). But dont worry about that too much so long as you are hitting everything 1-2 times a week (which your routine does).

5 days a week may get hectic, especially on an energy deficit - but play it by feel and adjust accordingly.

Nobodies journey is an easy one (I have a 20ish page log in losing fat logs section somewhere, that details my struggles in exquisite detail), but dig deep and get it done. Your future wife, and possible kids, will appreciate in ways they will not even know, and you will recover a sense of personal pride that is reflected in everything you do. Good job on the attitude change

[MyNamuhNick]

This is fine. At the early stages of your lifting life, pretty much anything that is balanced w.r.t. muscles worked, and has the ability for you to progress (either in volume{reps} or in intensity{load}) will do the job. I lifted on a 4 day modified push pull legs routine for a couple years before I made adjustments, and it worked out fine. As a natty, especially early on in your lifting, frequency will often give you better results than volume (ie, working each muscle group 3 times a week instead of once, three times as hard). But dont worry about that too much so long as you are hitting everything 1-2 times a week (which your routine does).

5 days a week may get hectic, especially on an energy deficit - but play it by feel and adjust accordingly.

Nobodies journey is an easy one (I have a 20ish page log in losing fat logs section somewhere, that details my struggles in exquisite detail), but dig deep and get it done. Your future wife, and possible kids, will appreciate in ways they will not even know, and you will recover a sense of personal pride that is reflected in everything you do. Good job on the attitude change

I get it. The main thing I'm focused on are setting up the habits. I want working out to be second nature where, like you said, it's like putting on pants before you leave the house. Just something you absolutely must do.

[DoMoreWeighLess]

I get it. The main thing I'm focused on are setting up the habits. I want working out to be second nature where, like you said, it's like putting on pants before you leave the house. Just something you absolutely must do.

I've found that takes about 3-4 weeks to really set in. Not a very long time(although it may feel like it).

I think luke has given great advice. Just keep up what you are doing. Have you had any minor victories yet?

[MadNinjaSkills]

A lot of great positive advice in here so far Op. Don’t forget to also celebrate all your non-scale victories. Those are also great with helping to motivate you to keep moving forward towards your goal.
Life changes for long term success.

You got this Op.

[MyNamuhNick]

A lot of great positive advice in here so far Op. Don’t forget to also celebrate all your non-scale victories. Those are also great with helping to motivate you to keep moving forward towards your goal.
Life changes for long term success.

You got this Op.

Thank you, When I made this thread I had no idea that I'd be greeted with such positivity. It is a good feeling and I appreciate everyone. I feel like the support and accountability is what I need to keep from failing like previous attempts at taking control of my over all health.

[MyNamuhNick]

I feel like I have had a couple minor victories. Finding deeper resolve to eat correctly and keep up with tracking my calories and working out consistently. I feel a lot more positive this go around and I think you all are the reason. Having a means of accountability goes a long way.

[DoMoreWeighLess]

I feel like I have had a couple minor victories. Finding deeper resolve to eat correctly and keep up with tracking my calories and working out consistently. I feel a lot more positive this go around and I think you all are the reason. Having a means of accountability goes a long way.

That's ****in awesome mate. Keep them vibes going. I look forward to the progress.

[want6pack]

I'm a people pleaser so I have had problems caring what other people said way too often. You have almost 20 weeks before you get married. If you drop 2 pounds a week you can go in being proud that you dropped almost 40 pounds. Keep at it. Best of luck with your wedding. Your wife to be loves you at your current size. Do not for get that.

[MyNamuhNick]

I'm a people pleaser so I have had problems caring what other people said way too often. You have almost 20 weeks before you get married. If you drop 2 pounds a week you can go in being proud that you dropped almost 40 pounds. Keep at it. Best of luck with your wedding. Your wife to be loves you at your current size. Do not for get that.

Damn dude, you made me tear up a little. Thank you.

[MyNamuhNick]

Entry 6: Never would I have thought that this many people would take time out of their day to offer advice and encouragement. It makes it easier knowing that I am not in this alone and it makes it harder to slack off knowing that I have people watching and holding me accountable. I can already feel my body improving. Even though I am tired and sore from the work, I feel great. I'm not gonna let anybody that has taken the time to care and respond to this thread down and mores so I'm not going to let myself down.