Fitness motivation and goals!

Such an awesome community bros! I'm stoked that everyone on here is sharing their stories thru this forum. My hope was that even if it helped one person be inspired or gave any good ideas it would be worth it. Keep the motivation coming. Lets goooo!!!!

 

Lots of good stories here. Glad to see a lot of motivation. If any of you are looking for a workout group, check out F3 and see if they meet in your area. FREE daily, peer lead morning workouts that meet around your city. 5:30AM M-F. 6AM Saturdays. If not, start one up! If you’re in the Birmingham area, lemme know and I’ll join you one morning.

I’ve got a lot of weight to lose and lost a good bit in 2021. A long way to go but taking it slow and steady. No fad diets, just better life choices. And it all starts with getting out of bed!

https://f3nation.com/

 

Jezzussss man . I'm 5'8 and the lightest I have ever been in my life was 179lbs when I was 21 and I was in the police academy and running 10 miles a day for PT. I looked ill lol I'm a short stocky build though so I've always been heavy for my height. I played football in high school at 215lbs Jr year.

My mom just passed in Nov from stroke. That's why I'm working out again. 2 heart attacks then a stroke 2 years ago, life expectancy from the stroke she had was 3 years. She died a little after 2 from a 3rd heart attack ultimately. She was only 69. I'm healthy and joke about losing weight and whatnot , but I do have a few too many pounds and now I'm doing everything I can for that not to happen to me now. The way my Dr put it is if I do these things at 38 I'm buying myself more healthy time in my 60s and beyond.

 

Good on you, man. I won't lie - got a bit choked up reading what you wrote. I like to pretend I can handle things and am 'tough' but I'll flat out ugly cry in a heartbeat if I'm convicted of something via my family like I wrote above.

For what it's worth, I'll keep you and your family in my prayers, man.

 

Thanks buddy! Appreciate it and like-wise. Do it for the family; you got this!

 

I lifted for around 8 years like it was my second job. I loved it. I did workouts that were honestly too much to be "optimal" but that's what I liked and kept me going back.
I was 6' 185lbs with a 1350lb power lifting total working my way towards an elite total when I met my now wife. It was nothing for me to take off on a 2-3 mile trek across the ridges to a spot carrying a stand, bow, and backpack full of gear and not break a sweat.
Time with the woman, work, trying to keep up hobbies and everything else didn't allow enough time to stay with it and I eventually fell off.
I tried and tried to get on a before work gym schedule but alot of time I have to head out before the gym is even open. I'd get a week or 2 in, miss a day, and be out a month.
I had a homegym setup all planned out with everything I wanted and needed to get going. I was just waiting for the fun savings account to have the money to keep from using the main savings when the lock downs hit and every piece of equipment was bought. We all know how all that mess has gone since with lack of availability and inflated prices.
Finally, black Friday 21' I pulled the trigger. I ordered a brand new 1k rated squat rack with the upper and lower pulleys. Picked up rogue Ohio bar, and 275lbs of plates. I'll pick up other bars, plates, attachments as I find sales.
Been back at it for a few weeks just trying to get into a rhythm. My new "starting stats" are 6' 210lbs. It doesn't seem like that much weight gain from where I was but I shed alot of muscle off and filled that weight back in with fat.
At first it was rough not being able to lift even half what I used to. Now muscle memory is starting to kick in, the weights are going up quick, and the fire is lighting again.
I can't wait until I walk up stairs and don't get winded and can get up off the couch without making all the old man noises

 

One thing if you guys are working out at home, I found this video on making concrete weights. I've been working out for 26 years and I never thought about it. You get the molds from that place and go to town. Have molds for 100 pound weights too. Saw some atlas stone molds too. For some workouts I've got a 250 pound tire for flipping, hitting and dragging. I also got some 5 gallon water jugs and put sand and rocks in them. Might have to give concrete a try to round out the "home" gym
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c6NhT2_mc8&list=WL&index=1

 

Good stuff all, and keep up the good work.

My goal (which is a constant battle) is simple consistency in my diet / training.

I’m almost 44 now and pretty active with bjj 3-5 days a week, and 2-3 weight training sessions a week.

I fall off the wagon with binge eating / drinking, especially if I don’t have a tournament coming up that I need to make weight for.

Last couple months had a couple all inclusive Mexico vacations, holidays, normal asshattery, etc. So am feeling and moving like the fat / tanned / slow / winded POS I am.

I’m not getting any younger, and my two teenage sons (16 and 14) sure as hell ain’t getting easier to roll with on the mats. Damn kids are circling me like sharks.

Back to the grind Monday.

 

You just need to make sure to do it in your front yard 10 feet from the road. Make sure there's loud music and alcohol of some kind near by.

The value of your home and neighborhood may start dropping a little bit.

 

I've got about 12 acres of land behind my house so no one knows

 

So....we gonna turn this into an accountability thread as well? Accountability has always seemed to be a good motivator if you have someone checking in to make sure you keep following through to meet your goals. Just a thought. I like to push and motivate people as well as it done to me. But I have pretty thick skin (or maybe fat at this point ) and don't mind someone calling me out for not staying up on my goals.

 

Quoting myself for reference. I finally was clear of symptoms by the end of last week, so over the weekend I put together the new power rack. I still have the bench to put together, which will be this weekend.

I put the rack to use with my old bench on Monday and Tuesday after almost 3 weeks off, which I'll add has only happened 1 other time in 20+ years of training, and while I'm not as sore as I was hoping, damn did it hurt to lift. My first set of shoulder presses in particular, which was just a warm up, was painful. Overall my strength was still there (about 85-90% of before), but I couldn't do as many reps after the first set.

Today is rest day. But I'm glad to be back in there and am tempted to go do some dips and/or free squats (no weight) or something lol. I'll at least do my daily walking, which I try to hit 10k steps every day.

 

Hellyeah! Accountability and motivation thread for our goals, I love it. Lets keep ourselves accountable to our actions and motivate other people we love around us so they too can be inspired. I just got my wife to start tracking her calories. I'm so proud of her and i didn't even have to say anything to her. She just picked it up because i started tracking all my macros 2 weeks ago. LETS GET IT!!!!

 

Time to up the weight on my kettlebell. Hopefully I can find a 50 or 55 pounder in stock somewhere around here. If not, guess I'll just up the reps.

 

Just a thought, but you could try 5 lb wrist weights if you can't find one. And actually, if that works out for you, that might be a way to forego adding 5lb kettle increments so you'd only have to get 10 lb increments going forward, and any time you need to go in between just put on the wrist weights. It would also minimize storage space.

 

That's not a bad idea. I may try that out.

 

Hey just checking in to see how everybody is doing with their goals so far this year? I'm winning on my nutrition and workouts so far dropped 5lb of fat in the last 3 weeks, but need to still get my financial aspect conquered.

 

Been ramping up my kettlebells and did a short run yesterday. Feels good to be moving.

 

I’m doing great with my goals thus far. I’ve lost about 27 pounds since November.

i’ll get right back into working out…. Just as soon as I’m over COVID-19.

 

I bought a set of Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells years back and I purchased a Kettlegryp this past year so I can use them as kettlebells. They SelectTechs are kinda wide but the grip has been pretty flawless. It'll work with most dumbbells.

$35 KETTLE GRYP - The Original - As Seen on SHARK TANK! Converts Your Dumbbells Into Kettlebells - Made in the USA - Dumbbell Grip Handle

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074V1FMDT?ie=UTF8

 

Oh, that's cool!

 

I switched from bourbon to tequila since it is plant based.

The pandemic has puta hurting’ on me. Gained about 50 pounds and lost muscle mass. My whole body aches all of the time and I have no energy. I started going to a weight loss clinic about 2 weeks ago buying their supplements and getting their injections. I have lost 9 pounds so far and my energy level is slowly increasing. I signed up for Apple Fitness+ last week and have been trying to exercise again. Any recommendations for at home fitness programs for the fat folks like me?

 

Great idea for a thread!

I’m a firefighter, so I’ve gotta keep in good shape. Once the pandemic hit, I started slowly purchasing equipment and now have a good home gym for CrossFit type workouts. I have sandbags, jump box, rower, assault bike, jump rope, med ball, and pull up bar.

My problem has always been diet. I’m 38 with 2 kids, so I have the classic dad bod. I’ve tried everything over the years to lose it, but my issue is consistency.

Rewind to summer of 2020. I feel like I have the never ending sinus infection, plus I’m experiencing pretty bad hearing loss. Long story short, after visiting some doctors and getting an mri on my brain to rule out a tumor (that was fun), I was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease. Basically it’s an inner ear thing that causes hearing loss, ringing, etc. The only way to control it is through diet. The main triggers are sodium, alcohol and caffeine. So last spring I get this news and decide I’m just gonna eat real, whole food. My diet was about 90% whole foods and didn’t have to count a thing. My symptoms subsided and I dropped almost 20 pounds. I put some of it back on over the holidays, but I’m getting back into the swing of things now.

My advice is to watch your sodium and eat real food. It’s amazing what cutting out processed shit can do for your body.

 

I've been consistent since getting over the 'rona. I got my new power cage and bench all setup a couple of weeks ago and have been extra excited to train. My strength was there initially, but it took a few weeks to get fully re-acclimated and feel like my endurance had recovered. Yesterday felt like the first day that I was really "back" since before the last week of December when I contacted covid.

I'm back to a 2-on/1-off with cardio only/2-on routine Mon-Fri, and then I mountain bike on the weekends. I do also try to get to 10k steps daily, Mon-Fri. My "on" days are mostly free weights.

 

Been reading "The 7 habits of highly effective people" by Steven Covey. This book has inspired me to take more control over my thoughts, actions and direction in life. Wes Watson "In all reality to elevate to which that you are not, you have to never be satisfied with what you are". Lets keep pushing forward with our goals! Keep our word to ourselves and those close to us to keep them inspired!

 

You might read “Starting Strength” - it’s a great book that gives the fundamentals of the major lifts if you are thinking about getting back into shape with weights. Muscleandstrength.com has a lot of free workout programs for just about everybody and has videos on how to do most of them. The biggest thing is to ease into it and you’ll figure out what works for you. In the beginning, I was hung up on how much weight I could lift, once I let go of that mindset, I stopped hurting so much and actually have gained some muscle mass.

 

Saw this thread a while back, want to post a couple of my goals to give me some accountability.

1- Run my 3rd half marathon (mid may) in 1 hr 35 or better (7:15 pace). (last year did sub 1hr 40). This will be really tough and is my #1 goal.

2- Run a 10k (or longer) with a pace better than 7 min/mile. First 10k race is end of this month in Vegas. I'll have a couple other attempts through spring.

3- Bike to work couple times a week (starting as soon as winter weather allows, hopefully in next week or two if roads clear). Last year I averaged 2x week March through June before heat and wildfire smoke ended my bike season.

4- Run a 25k (15.5 mile) local trail race that has 4000 ft gain (September). This will combine my running and hiking passions into one. Never done trail running before so this will be a good challenge and something new.

5 - do a full marathon. Won't do one unless I'm well trained and can do it to my expectations. Not interested in walking or doing one just to do it. So will need a smoke free summer for training for a fall race. This is on my bucket list.

Getting older sucks and everything is harder than it used to be. So I try to push myself to do hard and uncomfortable things as much as possible (in the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt). For both the mental and physical benefits.

 

Those are some really great goals!

I ran a half marathon once. During training I was pacing 8:30/8:40 mile. Woke up the day of the half and it was 32*, windy as hell, and the race was on a runway (race the runways in ME).

Was supposed to run it with a girl I was friendly with but she bailed last minute. Got to the starting line and had no desire to run or clue what I was doing. Took off at the gun and was pacing very nicely with another nice lass. We chatted and I tailed her the whole race but had to stop and pee at the 10 mile mark. Halfway through the pee my knee started locking up and I realized I wasn’t going to finish the race unless I caught back up. Sprinted out of the portapotty and caught back up. Super creepy (I know) but I shattered my PR at 1:40. She ran straight into her BFs arms at the finish line and I went to parrothead festival at Sunday river. Knee was locked up solid the next day and couldn’t walk for 2 weeks. Never again

 

No real goals here besides keeping it going.

Already been working out and eating right for 5+ years. No alcohol for little over a year.

 

Nice work! Keep it up. That’s a goal of mine too. Keeping it going since Nov. 12th. Almost broke down this week and had a beer. Had a glass of milk instead