Let's get less serious and learn to relax and have fun with life

Status
Not open for further replies.
Morning update (combined with a belated evening update from yesterday)
Legend: (+++), (++), (+), (0) -> amount of progress I made, from a lot to none. (P1) -> (P6) = priority, from high to low.

(P1) Quitting smoking:
(+++) Didn't smoke for 6 days now. My "cold" is now less than 20% as bad as it was a few days ago. My body is not protesting this change anymore. It's just some moments that I remember smoking, but if I just refuse to smoke those moments pass by in 5-30 seconds.

(P2) Improving programming skills:
(+) I've spent a few hours learning Android/Java. Will do Java certification exam tomorrow. It will be challenging, but I am sure that I will manage it.

(P3) Improving sleep:
(++) Moved my bed, had a decent night. I do notice that the increased darkness is making me sleep deeper. I hope to sleep early tonight, so that I can concentrate well for my exam.

(P4) Organizing my home:
(+) Spent a bit of time on this. My home is now worse than it was, you know how that can go when you want to re-organize... you first have to create a bigger mess before it gets better! ;)
Anyways, moved some furniture around, will continue doing that today. Will focus on creating a well-organized work corner, so that I can do some studying there this evening for my exam.

(P5) Lose weight:
(0) No progress yesterday. I don't expect progress today (I will go exercising though, just not that much). Focusing on work until my exam.
 
IAmGoingToTri said:
Organizing my home:
(+) Spent a bit of time on this. My home is now worse than it was, you know how that can go when you want to re-organize... you first have to create a bigger mess before it gets better! ;)
Click to expand...
It's necessary to make a BIG mess in order to really tidy up. You really have to be in the mood to get a whole task done in a day so that you are not surrounded by mess. That's when I get out the cardboard boxes & give away stuff to the charity shop.
 
cate said:
It's necessary to make a BIG mess in order to really tidy up. You really have to be in the mood to get a whole task done in a day so that you are not surrounded by mess. That's when I get out the cardboard boxes & give away stuff to the charity shop.
Click to expand...

You are right... and yes my room is a HUGE mess. It's becoming better though, my work corner is organized. I think it would have been smarter if I would have followed your strategy, but anyways, tomorrow I have a day off so I will finish it then (if I am in the mood)! ;)

Update:

Good news... I passed my programming certification exam!!! :D

It wasn't easy... I didn't succeed the first time... but I am glad that I managed to push through it. To be honest, it became a big obstacle in my mind and it was pushing on me. But I learned a lot from this, not just programming, but also mindset, and most importantly, that a good plan is important. Next time I have to do an exam I will make a more realistic plan - this time I tried to do it as quick as possible, and there was no need for that - caused me too much stress and it slowed me down considerably.

Anyways. Time to do some other programming things in the next hours, and then celebrate! :)

I also hope to work on my other goals this evening - that is, I will go exercising for 2 hours and I will spend 2 hours organizing my home.
 
Well done on passing your exam! Do you have something fun planned for the weekend to celebrate? Or just room tidying? ;)
 
My weight this morning: 85.7 kg (SW 2016: 98 kg, 2014 106 kg). I expect to break my lowest weight of 2017 soon (85 kg) and my lowest weight of 2014 (84 kg).

In a way it's good to remember that it took me almost 3 years to get back after regaining more than half of the weight I lost. Helps me to put my priorities where they should be: changing my habits for the long term (diet, exercise), instead of doing things that only work on the short term.

Another thing that I notice is how people respond to my weight loss. People are impressed by it, in fact they are more and more positive, but they usually ask "but you're done now, right?". They have been saying this for months already. It's like they don't like the idea of you changing something, or they are just worried that somehow you will go too far (which I don't, I want to be healthy and strong, that is why I am doing all this so it would be stupid if I would go to say something as extreme as 65 kg and lose all my energy and muscle :p). I don't know, it's weird. Not judging them for it, in fact I think it's funny that they say things like this.

---

Today:
- Organize home
- Visit brother
- Work on Android Programming course
- Work on Java Programming skills
- Run 10-15 kilometers
 
@Emilyrose - Missed your post, was typing mine! :) I was camping at the coast (at Zandvoort, near Amsterdam). It was nice. Did a 20+ km walk through the dunes. Beautiful landscape, a lot of sun (a bit too much, got sunburned ;)).

---

Now that my exam is done, which was my #1 priority, and I must admit that it was quite stressful, I notice that I feel calmer and able to focus on other things. So, I decided that I can put attention to other goals, and so I will work harder on them, most importantly (and on-topic) is losing weight; I will put more effort towards this goal. One decision that I will make is that I will not eat fast food or chips, and I won't drink alcohol or soda (of the sugary kind), until I reach my goal weight. This will definitely help accelerate the weight loss, and it's also a good habit not to consume these things much. I will also work on the most important habit for maintaining weight loss (for me): cooking my own meals (with plenty of vegetables). I will do this at least twice a week.

Let's do this!
 
The camping trip sounds lovely, glad you enjoyed it.

Home cooking is definitely an important component in getting the weight down. Hope you're having a good week.
 
Thanks cate! It feels good to have passed this! :)

Yes, Emily, the trip was very nice. I think I will do this more often, maybe already later this month. I find it very relaxing to be in nature.

Update:
Quite a lot of exercise today. Created a deficit of about 1500 calories. It's a while ago that I've managed to have a deficit this big. It's a lot harder to do this now that I am lighter, and not in love (which can greatly accelerate my weight loss for several weeks). However, I keep losing weight, albeit slowly, and I now have reason to hope that I can do it a bit quicker again.

I will do this following the rules/principles that I set yesterday. So, to reiterate: no sugary soda, no alcohol, no fast food, no chips, and cook twice per week. Notice that all these changes are on the diet side, which has a lot of room for improvement (though it is much better than it has been in the past years). The exercise-side has been excellent since last December, and I only expect it to improve (without much conscious effort).

Other things are also going well. Making good progress at work and in my side projects (most importantly learning Android). Sleeping much better, since 2 weeks ago, when I have started working on improving my sleep. Going to bed around 22:30 is now the norm, which is 1.5-2 hours earlier than I used to do in the last 15 years. I really like it, I feel that I have more energy, which makes me feel better and it allows me to be more productive.
 
Getting a better night's sleep is a really good outcome, Tri. You have been so logical in your approach to almost everything. Well done!
 
Thanks cate! I seem to like to logical and systematic approach! :)

Update: did plenty of exercise again today, and ate slightly less than 2000 calories. Today's deficit is at least 1500 calories. This week is going really well. In fact, I will keep losing weight on top of my priority list for this week (and high on the list after that); I want to weight less than 84.0 kg ASAP... it's time to break that 10-year low record. Without employing crash-diet tactics, I am doing this in a healthy way (I'm not stupid :p).
 
You're a great example Tri, showing how you can achieve your goals, by determination & planning. You are far from stupid :)
 
Thanks cate! :)

Update: today no exercise. I already exercised quite heavily in the past days. Also, while I ate healthily today, I ate slightly more and will have no deficit today. And that is fine.

Will be back tomorrow. Planning to have a 1500-2000 calorie deficit then. On Saturday I will have a more modest 1000-calorie deficit, and on Sunday another 1500.

That should get me in the vicinity of 84.0 kg.
 
Hi Sunflower!

The weekend was quite good. A lot of exercise yesterday, both at the gym and outside. A friend visited on Saturday, I gave him a city tour.

I am working on accelerating my weight loss rate. It has been quite slow in the last months, and though there still is a downward going trend, some months I don't lose anything.

While I think it's good to be patient, I don't want this thing to take forever, and it would be nice to hit my goal weight, so that I can start working on my next goal (gaining muscle). I will be ambitious and try to lose 1 kg/week again, like I did in the first months of this year.

On thing that I will do to achieve this goal is expanding my exercise routine. This morning I did a workout at the gym, before work, which was a good start. I will exercise more often in the morning. These workouts will be shorter, and then later in the day I may do a second exercise session (a different activity). I will take a least one rest day per week.
 
Why are you holding of working on building muscle ? it is possible to build muscle at the same time as dropping fat depending on your training age, quantity of excess fat and severity of calorie restriction.
 
Trusylver said:
Why are you holding of working on building muscle ? it is possible to build muscle at the same time as dropping fat depending on your training age, quantity of excess fat and severity of calorie restriction.
Click to expand...

I was holding out because I thought it was near-impossible to gain muscle and lose bf% at the same time. I have read some articles about this topic, and there is a lot of debate about it and most people seem to say that it isn't possible, but I also saw some references to research showing that under some circumstances it is possible.

It's good news to hear from you that it is possible. Your opinion does carry a lot of weight for me (because of your background), so I believe you. So, I'll start with making a plan on how to do it. I think I should increase my protein intake a bit and I should start (to learn) lifting weights.
 
Did a big run this evening. Deficit today is about 2000 calories.

Expecting to break my record low of 85 0 very soon and hit 84.0 in a week or so.
 
Those most likely to gain muscle during a calorie deficit are those who are new to lifting (Newbie Gains) it gets harder the more experienced you are at lifting.

Also even if you are not making gains, lifting is important for maintaining what you already have, loosing muscle just makes it harder.
 
@Trusylver - Thanks, that sounds good, since I am definitely a weight lifting noob (I have done it a bit when I was 17-18, but just a few months, not in a disciplined way and of course the gains that I had are gone now). Will start lifting weights the next time I am in the gym (tomorrow).

#Update: My weight was 85.9 kg this morning. Went exercising this morning, before work. Did a 40 minute indoor bike ride, 1 km run (both at the gym) and a 1 km walk (to the gym). I am starting to like morning workouts! Also good for my weight loss, that I wanted to boost for a few months already, but I could not ignite myself to do this, like I did in the first months of this year. However, since this weekend, I feel like I am on FIRE! I have no more doubts that I will achieve my goals, and I look forward to it, because I have wanted this for more than a decade. It feels like I am reclaiming my body, perhaps even my life.

On that note, I will soon do my first triathlon in a long while, the first since signing up here. So, it looks like I will actually "Tri" again, something I was dreaming of when I made my account on this forum.
The goal is just (1) have fun and (2) finish the race, so that I have set a first time for this year. I don't intend to break any personal records, though I might (you never know).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top