A bit of motivation for all beginners out there

ndrec

I just entered my weight and for some reason went to check when was my first check in and it was on December 2012. It's been 7.5 years now. Wow.
I'm 39, 6,0 and at that time was about 200 lbs. I was thicc.
Nowadays I fluctuate between 158 and 165 lbs, currently at 159.

When I first decided that I had to deal with my crap body, I was oblivious. Didn't know anything about anything so first two months was just reading and reading and then more reading.
Finally I understood macros and deficits enough to kind of set everything and start.

First month was confusing but I coped and somewhat did ok enough to see some results, which motivated me to continue, even though I wasn't into it at all.
Second month was much better. I saw clear results, dropped 12 lbs and started to cook and measure everything. It was tedious, but I got the hang of it and soon enough I was entering everything I ate in databases and using recipe calculator for my meals.
All that time I was just doing cardio which now I kind of regret. Weight lifting would be a wiser choice in hindsight.
Fast forward three months and I was 158 lbs and had no problem with weighing, training or maintaining my daily goals.
I switched to weight lifting and really dialed my nutrition and everything went ok.

At this point I realized I had changed in the way I think and behave. I became much more decisive, focused, full of energy. Before that I was mainly static with little will to do anything really.

It is not just about losing weight, building muscle or body recomposition. It's about creating habits and making them second nature. It's about rewiring your brain.

Once you do the same thing long enough, it's inevitable that you'll become good or at least consistent at it.
You learn discipline.
I slowly stopped thinking of food as a reward or comfort. It became tasty fuel. And I learned to cook properly.
At one point I even stopped logging regularly because when you do the same thing over and over, you remember all the weights of everything you like eating and at one point you learn to eyeball it. It became a kind of a game for me, guessing the weight of the ingredient I just chopped into a bowl.
Now, I'll eat anything, I don't restrict any foods. I know how much of anything I can get away with and still hit my daily goals.
I never went above 165 lbs, even with eyeballing the meals.
Training also became second nature. Sometimes I'd wake up, drink coffee, do the training, shower and go to work and in the afternoon would forget that I did the training

The discipline thing is great. It rubbed off on other things, I became more selfaware and dilligent on multiple other stuff like hobbies and work. I used to hate walking, now it's my favorite thing.
It is so rewarding to be able to use your body in any way you want without panting, being in pain or sweating like a pig.

I'm 39 and feel better than when I was 20. It's crazy!

For all of you struggling - it is totally doable!
I was a whiny fat slob 7.5 years ago and for the last 7 years I'm fit, energetic and generally feel great.
The most important thing is not to quit in the early stages in order to create a habit.
Once you do that, everything will change.
Your mindset will change and all this will just become second nature.
I don't even think about it anymore, I just kind of do it.
Just endure, you can do it too!
If I could do it, so can you. And I was a wreck, trust me
And remember, If you fail one day, you don't lose.
You never lose because you always have tommorrow to make amends.

Good luck everyone

waistdisposalgirl

This sounds amazing, thank you for sharing. I am new and at the point where I ‘don’t have the will to do anything’. I’m exhausted all the time - it’s hard to get started /keep going at this bit. I’m 37 and I’d love to feel like you do by the time I’m 39!
J

ndrec

You can do it, just endure and try not to analyze and question yourself.
Dial in your calorie intakes, your macros, do your training of choice and go autopilot.
Don't overthink and don't feel bad if you fail to hit your goals for one day, you can correct it the next day.
This isn't a 12 week program, all the good habits you'll develop are for the rest of your life

solieco1

waistdisposalgirl wrote: »

This sounds amazing, thank you for sharing. I am new and at the point where I ‘don’t have the will to do anything’. I’m exhausted all the time - it’s hard to get started /keep going at this bit. I’m 37 and I’d love to feel like you do by the time I’m 39!
J

Totally off topic but best user name ever

MidlifeCrisisFitness

@ndrec Great post. This has been my experience as well.

denisseerios

Thank you, I really needed to read something like this. I’ve struggled with losing weight my entire life. And I got more structured about a week or two, and I casually will weigh myself daily and I k ow my period is around the corner, but the weight not dropping is making me sooo sad.

ndrec

I have one more tip:
the scale can be a good estimate of where you want to be, but in my experience, measuring body parts is much more precise. When I slimmed down and when time came to build some mass, I was afraid of gaining the weight back. But ditching the scale and using measuring tape reassured me and made me feel more at ease.
For example, I would be in a small caloric surplus and would freak out when looking at the scale.
But measuring tape told me that I gained in chest and arms circumference, and waist remained the same, which is exactly what I wanted. Scales can be misleading
At that point I measured every two weeks and used the scale once a month. I still do it this way.

beefycakes9110

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

springlering62

I absolutely love this post!

And it mirrors my own experience, except that I’m an elderly (ha!) 58, and in the best shape of my life!

I feel more in control, and am a lot more able to brush off triflin’ people, as a friend of mine used to say.

Weight loss meant more to me than just weight.

gwenssmurf

Thank you for sharing! What are you doing for weight training? We have been on a strict budget for a couple of years, and with this Covid stuff going on, I am unable to go to the gym. But honestly, I do not know what to do at the gym. Last month I complete Jillian Michael 30 day shred, only doing the modified version of exercise. I am about to start week 4 of Jillian Michael Ripped in 30, still doing the modified version of exercise. Are you working out at home? Also calories, MFP has me at 1330 calories. How many calories do you eat a day?

ndrec

oh boy, sorry, I've been on kind of a hiatus forumwise.
I do the 'all pro' routine - whole body, three times per week and the routine consists of squats, bench press, bent over rows, military press, stiff legged deadlifts, curls and calf raises. It's a simple routine, there are much better out there, but I'm content with this one. I can still see progress and I like 3 times per week schedule.
more: https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843
I have my squatrack/bench in my bedroom, I don't like gyms, I feel anxiuos going there

Now, when I cut I'm usually in the 1600-1700 region. When I "bulk", I'm between 2400 - 2500, but that's individual and it depends if I walked a lot that day or not. Depending on work and rest days, I just bump or lower the carbs, proteins and fats always stay the same.