Well done on joining the gym! That's awesome, I'm so pleased for you
Regarding the not logging the vitamins, it's not much 30 calories but if small mistakes like that are done consistently then your weight loss will be hampered. Excellent that you picked up on it so early.

Thanks! And yeah I have seen lots of people fail bc they aren't logging their little bites here or there or for example ketchup on fries etc. A few small mistakes can be 700 calories a week which makes a big difference in results.

Congrats on joining the one chain that promises to humiliate you if you work too hard.

I'm sorry y'all. I dunno why I made up that stuff about some people getting annoyed by and dismissive of efforts that noobs make.

I think you should just buy out of the bet now and enjoy.

Say what?

Here, polite internet answer...you are not setting yourself up for success. Buy out now and don't worry about it...

He is a favorite vs MLYLT, why would he buy out?

I think he eats too much junk, but habits and addictions take time to overcome. Plus he got the gym membership. Looks like a fine start.

Over under on bounce back?

Seems pretty absurd given my opponent just ate a 1400 calorie dinner and I'm averaging 1800 calories a day this month.

Feel free to give some actual specific examples if you would like to be constructive though.

This. Keep going, you will never please everyone.

2/10. Really thought I remembered that the turkey sandwiches at PDQ were good options, but guess it is only the grilled one. Bigger dinner number than I wanted, but under the daily goal for the 6th straight day.

Little something for everyone this weekend. Some can point to the fact that I had pizza lunch on Saturday and lasagna dinner Sunday. Some can point to the fact that I had about 3300 calories for the entire weekend.

2/11:

2/12:

Why would anyone buy out of a MLY bet, she is at the point now where she will actually have to work to loose weight moving forward. Which is why she is currently not loosing weight.

Just watch out for that last week of the month though man, she usually looses all her weight then...

Picked up my gym membership card today and took a tour. First workout will be tomorrow.

Good stuff. Good luck!

I mean yeah, as soon as he starts that gym membership...

Exactly.

gl OP

As someone that used to be super weak and is now only kind of weak, and used to suffer from a seemingly similar crippling case of social anxiety (mostly with girls, although the negative self reinforcing feedback loops sound eerily similar), let me just say that DT made good posts, and you should listen to them.

I will say that, in my experience, I've found that achievement, whatever that may happen to be in the specific situation, is an antidote to those kinds of loops. Re: food, logging your food and making small steps/incremental improvements is a great start. Have you thought about cooking a bit vs. the TV dinner type stuff? Also, maybe swap out the Coffeemate for real half and half/cream? Because Coffeemate is nasty.

Re: lifting: do you have a workout plan? What are your goals? Anything specific you hope to work towards/accomplish?

Thanks for the post, Montecore. I appreciate the constructive feedback.

For the food stuff, cooking is pretty difficult time-wise, and I don't really know how to do it yet. I am good with the grill, but that's about it. But currently a single dad, who frequently travels for work, with a 2 hour commute, getting my house ready for my gf to move in. That said, I don't think I have really eaten that much "TV-dinner" type stuff. The lunch salads are fresh-packed from a grocery store and they expire within a week or so. I had one Lean Cuisine lunch, and then the family frozen lasagna Sunday. But yeah, making a lasagna from scratch not in the cards right now.

The Coffeemate I use is their "Natural Bliss" which is a liquid, not the powder. It has 5 ingredients: Nonfat milk, heavy cream, sugar, natural flavor, salt.

I don't yet have a specific workout plan or goal. I generally obviously would like to improve self-confidence, look better and be in better condition. My idea for today is to do their "30 minute full workout" where they have 20 stations that you rotate through which addresses all of your body, and do 15 minutes of cardio. I have Starting Strength and will use that and the article linked earlier to come up with a specific lifting regimen, but it may take going to the gym a time or two to not feel like a total dildo doing bench or squats.

My log from yesterday is below. Had 'date night', so happy to come in under my goal for the 9th straight day. Definitely if I wasn't logging and making an effort, I would have had a random snack at work, got chips and queso at dinner, and probably a pizza instead of a grilled chicken, bacon, goat cheese sandwich. Also, zero chance I would have gotten the salad instead of the fries. So legit saved in the 1000 calorie range just yesterday.

That 30min rotation workout is great and will kick your butt. I was doing it before when I was about 230lbs

Went to the gym at lunch, some wins, some losses. I idiotically assumed that there would be towels, butnah. I also need to bring a lock, having my bag with me was a much bigger PITA than I imagined.

Got through 15 stations of the 20 for the 30 minute workout. Took me longer than normal to learn the cardio portions and implement, so I ran through them a couple times. Ran out of time, and had to cobble together a whore bath since I didn't have a towel.

Almost just went back to the office when I realized no towel, though, so that's a big win to get some in.

And yeah, MLYLT, agree the 30 minute workout def hits all areas and is intensive if you desire it to be. Like most things, you can half ass through it if you desire that too.

Good work Black Aces!

Just doing anything is an important step forward; as you progress, you may find you want to do more/different stuff, and that'd be great if so.

When are you planning to go again?

Re: cooking, I just skimmed a few logs and saw the lasagna and whatnot, so figured I'd check in. Batch cooking some stuff for lunches/dinners over the weekend is a decent plan (it's what I do). I think there were some youtube channels suggested with decent recipes? Seriouseats.com has a fair bit of good stuff to, if you're interested in looking. Just like with the gym, starting out small (with simple recipes) and increasing the complexity/difficulty as you gain confidence is the way to go!

Thanks!

I'm out of town for work tomorrow through Friday. I'm bringing workout clothes and will work at the hotel gym if available. I also am going to play golf Friday (hopefully alone!)

Food tips always welcome! I did buy a big bag of chicken breasts which I use for fajita tacos or to grill and put onto salads, and was considering grilling and keeping for weekly meals. I'll check out some links. Complicating matters also is that I am often cooking for 1-3 other picky people. I think for the food it is more of a time issue than a confidence issue, but we will see how it goes.

If you really want to cook:

That is my basic dinner and it takes about 15 min of actual work and about 30 min cooking time.

Throw a piece of protein (chicken breast, steak, tofu, fish, some grounded meat,.....) in a pan. And let it already roast for few min. In the meantime chop-up the veg of your choice (carrots, broccoli, bell pepper, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, any kind of cabbage, .......). Turn the piece pf protein and throw the veg on top of it. Roast it for few min, then add seasoning you like and few table spoons of water. Close the lid, reduce the heat and let it cook in such hot steam atmosphere until ready.

You can play around with that. You can cook some carbohydrates (potatoes, pasta, rice,......) as a side. You can vary what you do with the veg. All that protein you can buy already kitchenready (cleaned and portioned) for cheap.

Do you have a son or a daughter? How old are they? I have a bunch of children in the family. Sadly none of them are mine. But every single of them likes to participate in cooking. It might be that they are of not much help but rather the opposite. But it is always fun.