somebody

For me it's mostly short-term anger and stubborn pride that get me up. I don't want to be the same me that I am now by this time next year. I like me sure, but I'm none too pleased to look in the mirror or down at my belly. Additionally, I still feel like an awkward new guy at my gym, and that ticks me off, too. I want to be in there enough that I know what I'm doing and can get in and out without feeling like an idiot at all.

Right on! Definitely a wise move to plan ahead. Avoiding processed foods is still a huge step to take even if you're approaching paleo slowly. I know that for me, just eating more real food provided a huge boost in energy and motivation. Keep up the great work!

What does daily even mean, anyway? I'm weighing myself on Friday mornings, so I've had two weigh-ins since my last post. As of today, I'm down at 244, which would put me around 3lbs a week down. I have heard that any more than 2lbs a week is unhealthy. Thoughts? Still going strong though. Holiday breakfast at work. Had eggs and bacon, no pancakes. Holiday lunch today (how does having two holidays meals at work in the same day make sense?). Probably just going to have a salad and a quick meat of some sort. I have a meeting back at the office at 1.

Every now and then the Detroit Red Wings send out trivia questions to people who subscribe to their text message alerts (and more often than not, advertisements). The first 10 people to get the question right get a pair of suite tickets to an upcoming game. Now, I've gotten these right about six out of the past seven times, dating back to last season, but I've always been too slow. Until today. My extensive knowledge of relatively minor hockey facts has enabled me to win a pair of suite tickets to the Red Wings game tomorrow against Florida. I'm super excited for it! Since my entire family is out of town for the weekend, I'm going with a good friend of mine from college who lives in Detroit whom I haven't seen in a while. Now, I just have to make enough chicken and broccoli to be full through the game so I don't eat a concession stand hot dog...or maybe it'll be a cheat day. Either way, I'm stoked.

I definitely feel tightness in my chest trying to pull my arms back. I've been doing goblet squats. I'll look for a how-to on front squats tomorrow and hit those up Saturday. What's the difference between my t-spine and my spine? This thread is super helpful already. Thanks for your input, everybody! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

I'd really like to get into barbell squats, however, I'm unable to get my arms far enough behind me to get the bar down past the back of my neck (and I really don't want to be putting weight there). Any suggestions for increasing flexibility or range of motion in my shoulders to be able to get the bar in a good place?

Good on ya for stepping up! I can empathize with a deficiency of self-confidence. I've been husky since middle school, and I didn't have a whole lot of self-confidence until college. Then, in the words of the great philosopher Kanye West, "Me found bravery in my bravado." It's a logical three step process. 1) My worth isn't based on how I look, but who I am as a person. 2) I'm a really great person. 3) I can make me look great, too. So my self-confidence isn't based on how I look, but who I am. It's just a helpful side-effect that if I know I'm a person of character and I can be stubborn enough to see something through the an achievement of a goal, then I can tackle the fitness issue. The driving force behind my fitness goals isn't so that I'll be more self-confident...it's so that my appearance will match my self-confidence. Does that make sense? I realize this is slightly off topic from your original questions, but the point is this: you've got every right to have self-confidence dripping off you like sweat at the end of a good workout. No matter what your goal is (within logic and reason), in any area, you're not only worth it, but you're capable of it, too.

If you're in the business of making long-term, lifestyle-level changes to your diet, an occasional cheat meal will not affect you that much. Like cline's pizza for example: eating a pizza every few months while otherwise eating paleo is not going to matter as much over the course of five years as eating five pizzas a month will matter over the course of one year. The only things that should be followed like law are matters of character and principle. Your diet has as much flexibility as you're willing to give in light of your goals and how and when you want to hit them. One of my clients brought me little chocolate peppermint candies to a meeting earlier this week. I ate three of those suckers right then and there in that meeting. That's 150 calories for 30 grams of chocolate and peppermint. But you know what? It ain't no thang. It actually fit within my calorie goal for the day (even if the sugar wasn't planned). If you know that you CAN eat something but you KNOW you're choosing not to, it's a lot easier to say no than telling yourself you CAN'T eat it. So live it up on your cheat meal, backyardathlete. And burn it down the rest of the week.

Does your scale have thumbtacks all over the part you stand on? I'm just thinking it might be tough to make sure you're not losing weight if you hate your scale and aren't getting accurate numbers. JPrev's advice is solid.

The gym membership I got comes with a free session with a person trainer, so that was cool. Just did that yesterday. I'm not going to pay the money to work with a trainer twice a week, but I'll take a free session any day. Yesterday was chest and abs. Today will be legs and back. Still hitting calorie goals (which I may still be coming in low on if I'm estimating low on calories burned during workouts).

Yeah, I usually don't eat between 9pm and 12:30-1pm. If I don't have a massive dinner (like...8oz steak, 8oz brussels sprouts, a handful of peanuts and a fruit cup), I start to get some fuzziness up top by noon.

Welcome, Kimberly! And happy belated birthday!

Woohoo! Welcome! I can appreciate an appreciation of The Princess Bride. It sounds like you're definitely in the right place, and it's great that your husband is on board and running this race with you. Now, as long as you don't both quit on the same day, you'll never quit! Most excellent. Congrats on your renewed dedication to your goals, and welcome again!

Found a new gym, so that's good news. Still hitting calorie goals on the daily since black Friday, so this Friday should be a full week = first two pounds down. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk