Critical errors to stay clear for on your weight loss journey.

Good luck with your journey 👍. You got this.

Everybody who has struggled with their weight at one point have decided at some point in their life that they want to make a change. Trust me, I have been there and still there to this day. Even though I have lost over a hundred lbs in the past year and a half. The journey is not over, and the struggle continues, but so does my drive. What also comes with my drive I have also made a lot of mistakes in my journey. But you live and you learn.

TRUSTING THE SCALE

Every morning when you first wake up after a long day of working out and dieting. You are excited to see the progress, and to your disappointment, you don’t see the results that you were hoping for, and that sends you on a trail of depression and sadness because you didn’t hit your goal. But here is the honest truth. You are making your goals, you are working, and the scale is not keeping up with your muscle gain. Do work yourself to death where you hate your journey and give up. I almost did that a couple of times but then decided to leave the scale behind, and it was the best decision that I made on this journey.

NOT GIVING YOUR BODY TIME TO REST

You are in a mode where the light switch never turns off even after the signs of exhaustion, but you have to hit those goals, right? Sure, you can achieve them, but you can also hit an injury from the wear and tear on your joints and muscles you continuously ignore on a daily basis. Sure, you can go that route, and / or you can take the time, relax, and enjoy taking some time off from the grind and rest and come back stronger. I decided to ignore the signs of lower back pain until my luck ran out and injured my lower back, where I couldn’t get out of bed for almost a week. Those damn squats kept calling me and calling, and I answered with multiple lower back issues and gained some serious weight back. So do not ignore those warning signs.

AND THIS IS CONNECTED TO THE LAST ERROR. WORKING OUT INJURED.

Like i added in my section, working out with a injury is a critical mistake that can send you back…..way back and you really dont want to go back, do you?

STARVING YOURSELF

Yes, it is true you work out more than you put in calories. It is a big step to weight loss, sure, but imagine thinking you could get back up and do it all over again with no fuel in your body. See how far a car can get with no fuel. Test faith and see what it brings to you when you have energy. I bet it would not go very well for you.

Maybe these lessons might not work for you, and you have your own set of rules you set up for yourself, or maybe somebody else has better input that you may dive into more and that is cool too but at the end of the day, you want to be happy whether that is losing the weight for a image change, health choice, challenging yourself, impressing people. Whatever it is, I say good luck with this journey because that is what this is what you are going on, and I wish you the best of luck. Do not lose yourself and your goals. If you gain weight, remember you can also burn it off with dedication, determination, consistency, and a good mindset. You got this, and I know you will achieve those goals.

If you are reading this and what to share your goals, achievements, set of rules, or whatever your journey brought to you, if it was good, great, or bad. Lessons you learned and passed along to others. Thank you for taking the time to read and good luck on your journey.

Why you can achieve your weight loss goals in your journey.

You will develop this trait in your journey.

It’s no secret that most people usually have the same common goals when the new year starts and that is to lose weight and get into the best shape of their lives. Trust me I was there two years ago and I am still on it to this very day. There will be very sore days, long aching afternoons and you will stress yourself over what you can and cannot eat, and let me tell you it is part of the life-changing journey. Whether you choose to read this or not, one way or the other something will trigger you to follow through on this. When I started on my journey I was 340 lbs, and never motivated to do anything. Never had the energy to play with my daughter. Played madden all day when not working. I was a useless mess. At least that is what I saw myself when I looked in the mirror. I didn’t recognize myself. Sure I have tried this journey many times in the past but they all ended up being the same. I gave up.

For failed attempts I was consistent, I didn’t stay on my path on this journey. I tried to shortcut and make excuses and that is where I failed myself, lying to myself, giving up on myself, and telling myself that I could do this another time. I would make excuses for myself for not working out, and not eating right. I was failing every step of the way. Bad decision after a bad decision was piling up on me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. My mind was not right either. Being addicted to junk food and being lazy because it was just so easy. That is where my consistency was at. Being lazy and eating big macs and taco bell. So you are probably what changed?

No supplement was going to put energy in my body, and no infomercial late at night was going to motivate me it was going to be me and me alone. I was going to have to dig deep inside myself and find that energy I once had in myself many years ago. I decided it was time to change my habits and change my lifestyle around. I was challenged by a dear friend who I haven’t seen in many years. He was in the position that I was but when we saw each other again he was in great shape and a more positive person to be around, I wanted that and he told me you can have that if you can find the energy and time for it. And since I work from home and have much more time than most. I should take advantage of it. But after saying all of that he doubted me. Then he challenged me and decided to accept the challenge. And so it began.

I have always been an early bird, and when I woke up early it was time to play madden but now it was time to do an hour of yoga before I went to the gym. The first couple of months it was hard as hell. By the time I got to the gym, I was lucky to get in 30 minutes. And half the time I was just looking around lost trying to figure out how to use most of the equipment again. But then I decided I was done looking around and it was time to work. Get back to basics, build a gameplan and get consistent and that is exactly what I did. I finally found the switch. After months of working out and eating healthy, I was seeing progress in the mirror and it motivated me more. As time went on in the gym, 30 minute’s turned into an hour, an hour turned into 2 hours then it turned into 3 hours. 3 am yoga turned into yoga and pilates then the gym. And I couldn’t stop, didn’t want to stop, and still haven’t. Many people at the age of 37 feel too old but for me, I feel like I am in my 20s again. After a year and a half of this, I am very happy and blessed and very lucky to have this chance to fix myself. Not many people get out of the slump that they are in.

You are the main ingredient in your journey.

This is not a blog to boast about my achievements in my weight loss journey, I am telling you this because it can be done. If I did this, you can do this. You just need energy, consistency, hard work, and strength. All. traits you already have and if you have lost them, well this journey will help you find them in yourself. Do not give up on yourself. Find your plan and focus and achieve those weight loss goals. To anybody that you know that is going through this and need help. Be friendly and help them, encourage them. We all need help. Also if you read this share your story and experience. Until then thank you for visiting and taking the time to read this and good luck on your journey. Until then Goodluck.

Dicovering your inner strength

1. Discovering new challenges

If you think you are weak and considering giving up on yourself, I must tell you that would be a mistake on your part. Trust me, I have gone through my pains, my struggles, my defeats, my misery, and my pain, and will continue to go through that every day as I go through my weight loss journey. I let my excuses and weaknesses get in the way of my goal. But one day, I looked in the mirror and told myself, “No more excuses.” It was time to really work. Put in work, do the work, and stop complaining about the work. And damn it was when I rediscovered my inner strength underneath my weak spirit. My spirit grew stronger. Now, I am not finished with my journey by a long shot. I will always be working progress just like every person on this earth. But, finding my inner strength has been the best thing for me, and I can’t tell you how much better I feel about myself. The steps I take.

1. Accepting new challenges.

2. Physically challenging myself

3. Mentally challenging myself

4. Never accepting defeat

5. Removing toxic energy.

There will be a thousand more steps you can take for your journey of inner strength, but for me, those are some of the few steps I take, and there will be more to come. You will grow, and you will learn, and you will endure to build a new you. During the height of the pandemic, I grew scared of the world. I was letting my anxiety defeat me every day. Missing out on great moments and feeling sorry for myself and just eating fast food every day. I’m sitting on my butt watching youtube clips and playing Madden all day. I was wasting away, and here was the real sad part. I had a gym membership and was doing nothing with it. One day, I talked to one of my best friends, who was helping his mom while battling throat cancer. But she kept fighting, not letting her cancer be an excuse, and we had a heart to heart talk, and she told me, “I am very concerned about your health, Devin.” She was talking to me like a concerned mom. And of course I gave her the old classic “I’ll work on it”. She looked me dead in the eyes, held my hand, and said, “No, you won’t.” It broke me because deep down, I knew she was right.

Something in my said to me, “This is your last chance,” and I kept listening to her in my mind with those words, “No, you won’t.” And kept hearing it over and over, and honestly, I got sick of it. I think she knew those words would drive me to do something, and thank goddness, she said those words. The first thing was to help with my mental health, so I seeked therapy. It was a major help. Then, I decided to use my gym membership and push myself to limit that I never thought I could reach. I wanted more; I wanted to keep pushing challenges, pushing for more, and more. I was done with fast food. I began hating my couch, lol. I just wanted to see what limits can go past.

1. 3:30 am 1 hr yoga session

2. 2 hour work out session at gym

3. Finding new challenges

4. Meditation

5. Work on new projects

6. Strict diet plan

7. Do it all over again.

8. Never give up on the goals

9. Endure punsishment and defeats

10. Learn from that punishment and defeats

A little sweat never hurt nobody, and a deafeat doesn’t mean you have to stay defeated. The struggles and losses were massive, but I wanted that, not for the excuses to give, but I wanted to learn. I didn’t mind embarrassing myself at the gym. I wanted to come back to prove myself, “I can f***ing do this.” Everyday, I told myself that and still do. I guess the reason why I am sharing this is because there are people out there going through the same struggles that I am going through, and I want to tell you and all of you. YOU CAN F***ING DO IT!!! All you have to is just get up and try.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, and if you have experience, please share your story, give helping tips, or just give a motivation speech. Anything for positive energy helps. But in the meantime, thank you and have a good day. Peace.

New Years, fresh start.

For the most part most of us we have the many questions going into the new years like “what is going to happen this year” and the answer is, well there isn’t just any answer to that question, its a matter of what you plan on doing about the new year. Are you looking at the new year as a fresh start, or a continuation of a path that you currently following, or is it a chance to find something new? We all have our reasons to for the way we look at new years. For me I consider it a fresh start. New goals, new tasks, new accomplishments and new beginnings. Me, personally I love new years and usually can not wait to see what the new year brings.

I do not make new years resolution, i make new goals and focus on them throughout the year. Do accomplish my goals, no but i still work on them, focus on them and do the best I can to achieve those new goals. Now I know there is a lot of people brining in the same problems they had the previous year as well and that is okay. Your fresh start can be focused on taking care of your previous goals or challenges and can help you move on to new and better things in life. What i am saying to you readers is take advantage of the fresh start. Bring some new fresh air to your life and go out there and achieve the goals that you have always wanted. It can be done if you want them done. But in the mean time i hope everyone of you had a great holiday season and new years and i will be bringing you more content for this blog and hope you continue reading and enjoy. Until then my friends, stay safe and enjoy the good times life will bring you.

My experience after taking the Pfizer vaccine.

So last weekend the misses and I were scheduled to get our 2nd dosage and it was quick and easy but of course we had to wait 30 minutes but after that everything was all good. It was a nice sunny day, around 90 degrees and my mother was nice enough to babysit our 2 year old. We decided it would be a nice evening to enjoy some margarita’s.

Of course before all of that a couple of buddies of mine at the gym warned me that I would suffer some symptoms. But my hard headed self was like “naw im good”. But they looked at me sideways and decided to make bets on my illness. Sure enough the next morning after installing my ac units in my house and get everything finished so I can have a nice relaxing evening and enjoy some NHL playoffs in peace. To my not suprised I was feeling quite well, so well I cocky and decided to take the misses out for some brunch before picking the kiddo up.

Here comes the pain. During our brunch before we got our food, suddenly my wife started getting the chills, she was complaining about being very achy and she told me “its from the shot”. My hard head didnt want to believe her because I was feeling good still. After our breakfast we pick up our daughter and go back home and she is out of it. She had a high fever, she was cold then hot, then cold then hot all day. I had my daughter with me for a while and I let her watch her dinosaurs then all of the sudden I start to feel it. First thing I thought was “the guys at the gym are going to laugh about this”. My body was aching like crazy. I came down with a fever and couldnt eat anything and this thing lingered on me for two days straight while my wife only had it for a day. Missed the playoff games because I slept through the games. I was just happy my wife recovered. With the lack of energy I wasnt really able to help much.

Now I know some of yall arent believers in the vaccanation or covid and thats fine believe what you want i am not here to convince you. But i would warn people to be aware that your body will go though these symptons and if you dont, congratulations you are an X-men. But on the serious note please prepare yourself better than we did. If you have young kids, plan on having a sitter or somebody to watch over them while you are out of it. Treat this like you would treat the flu. Get plenty of rest, drink your fluids and prepare to bing watch one of your favorite shows or movies.

Overall i am happy to get it over with and do my part so we can get everything back to normal. Now back in the gym not having to wear a mask and go to stores without wearing a mask but of course I can feel the eyes and judgment on me now but life goes on. I hope my experience helps you in going through this process. I am not going to pass judgment on you if you dont get vaccinated thats your choice. I hope everybody stays safe and enjoys their days. Be well my friends.

Maskless Karen….

Just the other while i was standing in line i witnessed the wrath of a maskless Karen. Now i am not here to lecture people on wearing masks. “Do you” is usually my attitude towards peoples beliefs. Anyway while at the store with my 2 year old we finally got my 2 year old to wear her little dinosaur mask only because she thinks she is a dinosaur with it on. While getting groceries we noticed a woman in a heated debate with another woman about masks. The woman of the topic decided to leceture everybody about how stupid we were for not wearing a mask. She also wanted everybody to know how she suffered from anxiety and other symptons.

Then she pointed her attention to me with my daugher and i was like “lord here we go”. She decided to tell me how i was abusing my daughter and wanted to tell me about her symptons. At first i wanted to ignore her until she wanted to come near my daughter trying to take of my mask. To me thats crossing the line and i stepped in the way. I wish had my phone on me to record this situation but i have a bad habit of not carrying my phone. So then we get into it and i tell her. “Look heres the thing about me i am over 300 lbs whos a suffers from asthma and has anxiety. I have suffered from these symptons since i was a kid but i also workout everyday, jog and weightlift with a mask on”. She looked dumbfounded and shocked and then moved on.

So this is my warning to you maskless karens who want to push their beliefs on me, the best suggestion is just plain “dont do it. Because i am not on your side when it comes to this. I train everyday and sometimes have my panic attacks but i stop, focus on my breathing and take a couple of minutes to gain my composure. And then take a hit off my inhaler and take another moment then go back to my workout because i am staying commited to losing this weight, not letting covid defeat me again and not letting these symptons defeat. So please, maskless karens do not ever preach to me about your issues because we are not teamates and leave people alone and never cross the line of ever approaching another persons child because not everybody has the patience i have.

Working myself back up.

For the past couple of weeks everything has been opening back up and trust me we are very happy about this. For the past year we have been going through just like everybody else. But now we are enjoying our time again. Just to be able go to restaruant again is simply amazing. Trust me all these little things i am not taking for granted. But also my mind is trying to catch up to the times now. I am still working on what you and cant do now. Trust me i am not an “anti-masker” but have ran into a couple of them since being back out. The world is very differnt and trying to adjust to it is a little harder then you think. I use to be able to just walk in peace and mind my business but now there is always that one person who just has to stop you and comments about you wearing a mask. Or somebody jusy losing their mind over the little things. Its crazy to me but i still take the time and tell myself “the world is not the same”. So now its up to me to adjust to this new crazy world we are living in now. And its a working process like everything else. It should be fun….