Keeping the same weight!

IamSimonIam

This may seem like a nonsensical post, but my goal was to stay at 12 and a half stone, or just over, or in lbs, 175lbs.
I started January the 22nd. My first goal was to get back into the gym and get myself back where I was over a year ago. I was a regular gym goer, every week day morning, from 7 till 9. During that time I was 12 stone, or 168lbs. I could do 50 sit ups at a time and was very fit. I took a year off. My circumstances changed and I couldn't go to the gym for over a year. I became unfit, eating too much and had no shape or definition.
So off I went to the gym, and bought a years membership, and for the first 2 weeks I went 3 days. I ached like hell, even moving in the bed was sore. I worked through it and the next 2 weeks I went 5 days a week. I started to notice a big change after the 4th week. My starting weight was 180lbs, and after 4 weeks I weighed myself and it hadn't changed, but my body had. So I decided to give myself a goal. My goal to begin with, was to just get fit again, however seeing that I could get fit and maintain my weight gave me hope for loosing fat and gaining muscle. So I gave myself a goal of loosing enough fat to see my abs, which meant getting to 5% body fat. For the next 2 weeks I increased to 6 days a week and at least 2 hours in the gym. Mostly resistance training and using my own body weight, a few weights also. I started pretty intense, 8 to 10 reps, struggling on the last rep, and repeating every 2 and a half minutes. On the abs I pretty much do the opposite, doing about 20 to 50 reps, depending on the exercise, but still going every 2 and a half minutes. After another 2 weeks I had to think about nutrition, so I down loaded this app and started counting my calories, logging in every day and making sure I hit all my macros. I've been doing that for 22 days now. I weigh the same, or just about! (178 lbs) as I did when I started, but I'm down to about 10% body fat now. It's a struggle sometimes to balance my food, eating enough but not too much. It's been trial and error mostly, guessing how much clories I need to consume to gain muscle, but loose fat. I've turned everywhere for information, YouTube, blogs, here and the trainer's in the gym. Between everyone I've managed to pretty much get close to where I want to be. A few more months and I think I'll be there.
Let no one tell you it's easy. It takes will power, hard work and 75% of it is nutrition. Most days and weeks it's like climbing Mt Everest, but once you see the changes it gives you a boost in confidence, and the goal seems to be achievable. It's keeping the push that does it. Doing the same reps and same weights and exercises does no good. Change it up, increase the weight, but keep the reps the same. One week give yourself 2.5 minutes in-between reps, then the next 3 minutes. Don't allow the muscles to get used to what you do. There are some really good trainers on YouTube, one I'd recommend is Athlean-x. He's free, knowledgeable, easy to watch and understand, but not just that, he knows how and why the muscles work, he's the ex-trainer of the New York Mets Baseball team and has more than enough qualifications in physical fitness, having a Master's Degree and a Bachelor's Degree. This is a man the athletes go to for help, I can't recommend him enough.
My advice is....Consistency. Keep at it. Keep going, work through it, but don't injure yourself. Everyone needs help, so don't be afraid to ask for it. I've come from a place that most would consider "Okay" I wasn't over weight, or terribly unfit, but I was not happy, mentally or physically. I needed to do this for me, physically and mentally. It's working, I'm happier and more content with my body, I'm not there yet, but I'm determined to get there. So don't give up.......

IamSimonIam

I had a body scan yesterday, just to see what my fat percentage is. It's between 12 and 16. The report indicates that I need to work on my lats and legs, and I need to do more cardio. I hate cardio. I nearly didn't go to the gym today, as I was a little disappointed at the results. I did though, and I worked on all three.