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.

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.

Milk Crate Challenge, My thoughts.

First people wanted to drink bleach, then it was licking donuts then it turned into licking ice cream and putting it back in the freezer so someone else can get sick. Just when you thought people couldn’t get anymore ridiclous, duh, duh duh “The Milk Crate Challenge” appears and I must tell you, its kind of funny to see. Not for the injuries but what people will do, the injuries and consequences people will do for internet clout. Now i have actually seen people go on this challenge and succeed without any injuries but I think there is a higher percantage of people who didnt make it.

Busted ribs, cracked sternums, broken backs, dislocated joints and fingers and etc. I have seen the injuries, the drops, the painful screams and even the cheers with little reward for their efforts and why would they? Broken bones is not cool and having millions of people laughing at you from their computers and cell phones because of the injuries is just another additon of pain. All of your followers will laugh and then move on to the next trend while you are recovering in the hospital (if you are lucky to get to a hospital).

The reward to this challenge if you make it without falling. Well i am not sure what the reward is. Probably more followers, maybe cash if somebody bet you. It could be a variety of rewards but you have to ask yourself when you are all the way up on the milk crates, losing your balance, sweat beading from your head with eyes locked in on you. You must ask yourself, “Is the reward worth it”. But by the time you ask that question it might already be too late when you are falling and you land stomach first on to a crate and the next question you are asking your is “why did i do this dumb s**t?” The many questions that go on in my head about this challenge but the biggest question about this challenge is where are people getting all of these crates?

Well if you are one of these people who are doing this challenge, well I hope you make it without any severe injuries but if you do, well you know what they say “You knew thr dangers of the job when you took it”. But in a serious note, do not accept this challenge. Kids be safe and do not accept this challenge.

The battle with covid weight

If you are struggling to beat the covid weight you put on, I have a news flash for you, if you are putting in the work you are winning already. The reason why I say that is if you are putting in the time, the work, and the effort with a clear focused mind you will be this weight. Before covid hit I was 240 lbs, lean with decent health only issues was my asthma. Then covid hit but that didn’t stop me from training. I just used a mask and fought through it. Then my gym closed for a couple of months. I used covid as an excuse not to work out. After that I blew up to my highest weight of my life. A womping 335 lbs. Sitting on the couch, playing madden eating Mcdonalds almost everyday along with Popeyes and etc.

I was destroying myself everday and night just sitting, being lazy, not working on my writing, letting my mind and brain rot away, wasting away time and effort that I could be doing something useful for my body. But I let covid get the best of me. I used that excuse every day just to avoid jogging outside. I became a complete embarrasment, I was very hard on myself but I continued to be weak. I would look at myself in the mirror and not even reconize myself. I couldnt believe after all the hard work I put in to get in decent shape I destroyed it all.

Then one day it just hit me. Covid was not my enemy, I was my worst enemy and I had to re-learn everything again that helped me get back into shape. I had to ask myself everytime when I drove past popeyes or mcdonalds “Do I need this?” And before I let the excuses come in and convince me that I did need the fast food fixing, I would answer “No”. Eneough was enough and I wanted to win this war. I went back yoga, weight training, and every workout I can possibly find without a gym being open. No more excuses.

I decided not to be hard on myself anymore because beating myself was not helping me at all. I also followed the great words of Master P aka Percy Miller. He once said “I dont take losses, I take lessons” and thats the way I look at this period in my life. Now I wont be showing any before and after pics of myself since I am not much of the selfie type. But take my word for it. I am now down to 295 lbs, feeling alot better physically and mentally. Being strict with my diet. Now if you are going through the same stuggles as I did, let me tell you if I can get up and do it, you can too. It’s not easy, its not fast and it will be a challenge but you can do it. Do not beat yourself up about the gain, focus on what you can do. Visualize what you can look like after all the hard work and effort. My journey is not done and it wont be for a very long time. Now the time limit you give yourself is up to you of course. But just be sure not to kill yourself trying to beat the covid weight gain. I hope your journey is a success and hope for the best for you and if you need words of encouragement I am in your corner. Good luck on the journey and be well.

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.