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My main goal for this challenge is to start the downwards trend of my weight. - track food in MFP daily - aim for 2200 calories intake per day - do the walking mini challenge ✅ Now 2200 calories is higher than I’ve tried in the past and I won’t lose weight fast with that but I am trying something new. I am experimenting with a smaller deficit because I have a pattern where I do really good for awhile then go a bit crazy for a week straight. I have some fun and a bit crazy news ☺️ Mr.R and I decided to bring home my favourite puppy from his parents litter. She’s just so sweet and we bonded with her and we think maybe her with us. So we are very excited haha 😂 I’m hoping she will be able to become my barn dog because the other 3 failed in that department.

Raked the yard yesterday. Ended up with quite a large pile of leaves. Our puppy really enjoyed running through it.

Unlike the diet- and exercise-fad commercials (that used to air), eating truly healthy and lifting heavy stuff can proudly claim that “results are typical.†I am just another typical story. One year ago, I was at another plateau in my long journey into being healthy and really, really, really, ridiculously good looking, and I was confused and frustrated. Today, I am healthy and strong, and my wife says I’m quite good looking. One year ago, I started doing dumbbell rows with dreams of one single pull up. Today, I am working out with 4x5 chin ups and can knock out a few pull ups in a row when I feel like I want to prove something to myself. One year ago, I took my first yoga class and struggled with a downward dog. Today, my buddy downward dog is a resting place that I go to before and after practicing balances and backbends that used to seem like only contortionists or gymnasts could manage. One year ago, I was benching the bar. Today, I warm up with a 45 on both sides. Am I the heaviest bench in the gym? No. But frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. Every single day at the gym I push to be stronger than me of the past. Even if that’s just by one rep in one of my sets. One year ago, I was following where my money was going with mint. Today, I am budgeting and living of last month’s paycheck while paying off a student loans well ahead of schedule using You Need A Budget (YNAB). I have never felt more in control of my financial life nor have I had such a solid plan for paying off that student loan debt the size and nature of Mount Doom. One year ago, I was squatting my body weight with some mild discomfort. Today, I am squatting 175, 5x5 for my workouts, adding more weight almost weekly. That’s almost 15 lbs. added to my squat per month. One year ago, I had rumbled my way through 3 miles and called it a long, awful run. Today, I have run a marathon (which, one year ago, would’ve seemed about as likely as me becoming an astronaut) and consider such runs to be “recovery runs.†One year ago, I was learning how to deadlift for the first time ever. Today, I am deadlifting 185, 5x5 for my workouts, again, adding more weight almost weekly. I have never felt like such a badass as I do when I deadlift. I even experiment with variations like the sumo deadlift for fun, yes, for fun. One year ago, I didn’t have a cute puppy. Today, I have a cute puppy. Proof! Irrelevant, sorta. One year ago, I was wearing mostly L but some XL shirts and 38x30 pants. Today, I am wearing mostly M but some S shirts and 33x30 pants (when I can find them). One year ago, I was looking to make a transformation during the summer before my first year of teaching. Today, I realize that my transformation has only begun and can continue as long as I maintain my focus. Yes, I did all of this as a full time teacher. (For the next bit, read sentence A if you think teachers are respectable individuals and sentence B if you think we’re overpaid and worthless). A: Yes, despite waking up at 5 AM, being at school working from 6:30 AM to 5:30 PM to help somebody else’s child succeed, I was able to do everything I mentioned above. B: Sure, go ahead and make the excuse that I have summers off and long vacations throughout the year to make yourself feel better about how lazy you’re being. If you’re looking for an excuse to stay lame and unhappy, you’ll find one. One year ago, I was content enough. Today, I am happy. And before you tell me that I’m superficial or shallow or something else that’s sorta mean and starts with an s, actually read what I wrote throughout this. I am happy because things in my life that were causing me stress and making me feel helpless are now the exact opposite: I feel like my health and finances are firmly in my control and my exercising and budgeting simultaneously relaxes and excites me. I am happy because I’ve learned just how much perseverance, will power, and positivity I am capable of. I am happy because I have learned how to make goals, deal with problems, and (this one was ridiculously hard for me) be proud of my accomplishments - whether they are fully achieved or in progress. How can YOU have this type of year? Well, with help, intelligence, and commitment, you can definitely do this too. Help: Here is the post that got me started one year ago. Here is the post that got me started with lifting weights. Here is the post that got me started with eating healthy. Here is the book that help me (and my wife) run a marathon for the first time. Here is the link to help you get your finances in order. Here are more pictures of cute puppies. Here is a website you can use any other time you have a problem or question about things not fully covered at any of the above places. Intelligence: Now, I’d love to claim that I was always super dooper pooper scooper smart throughout this whole year long process. But, alas, I am not good at health and life like Newton was with physics. I’m more like Brain and Pinky combined into one overthinking and obsessive human. I had to redirect and restart my efforts many times this past year. For example, I was finally getting to some moderately heavy squats and deadlifts when my back started hurting. I stupidly charged on for a few weeks before I realized that I shouldn’t feel this way. So, I had the intelligence to finally reexamine my form for these lifts and fix the issues. I actually had to do this twice. Notice the intelligence in doing the research, knowing when to ask for help, knowing when something doesn’t work for you, and being thoughtful with choices. Intelligence also plays a role in goal setting. Make S.M.A.R.T. goals, and you’ll be much more likely to actually achieve them. Commitment: From here, I’m going to keep it up. Why? Because it is easy now. Because it makes me happy. Because it is part of who I am. Because I want to live a long, healthy, happy life. Because I want continue to look and feel better. Because I’m going to be active and able-bodied for my family. Because carpe diem (no Y.O.L.O. here, sorry). Because being happy about my life and my self, being able to do just about anything in the world that I want to do is infinitely more valuable than that box of Cheez-Its I don’t eat anymore or the lost hour (or usually less) a day of television or web surfing that I spend lifting, running, or practicing yoga instead. In the end, it is all about what you really want. And I mean really want. Deep inside, depth of your being want. I wanted a healthy body and mind. I think I’m basically there. Were there times that I wanted to just sleep or eat a few Qdoba Chicken Queso Burritos or make some other stupid short-sighted decision that I would regret? Yep. But I managed to stay focused almost always on what I really actually wanted. “A perfection of means, and a confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem.†- Albert Einstein You’ve got the means (healthy food, heavy stuff to lift). Don’t let yourself confuse your aims. Perfect your means and aims, Screenager P.S. - Feel free to ask questions or whatever. I’m not super active on the forums, but I’ll check back on this for a bit. I actually almost forgot these because they seem almost irrelevant. But the people like the before and afters... I have more pics from longer ago, but this is exactly a year apart.