Some might say the same about mtts

Damn 2.5 years! That sounds like a really long time, although it sounds like you'll be happy you did it in the end. Did you look into invisible braces?

I've also been dabbling a little in DFS. As far as I understand it NFL DFS is extremely tough to be +ev in because of the rake, but in the $25 tourney with 1 mill up top you aren't going to realize your actual equity anyways so I'd view it more as a more fun lottery with a small possibility of being +ev and probably not being super -ev. The hu ones seem easy to be +ev in if you can actually get a fish though.

Ya, I did look into Invisalign but unfortunately my teeth were too crowded for that to be an option, and I really need the wire to pull them apart.

I haven't really looked into HU, I just assumed the HU matches would be very difficult to get a good seat in, as the regs would be all over snapping up that action, but perhaps that's a bad assumption.

Things have been going well at live over the last few months. I have been running well and playing well and feel very comfortable in the game. It's a small player pool, so I have good reads on almost all my opponents.

I showed a hand last night for no reason other than to try to look cool and regretted it afterwards. I didn't regret it because I was giving away valuable information, but rather things were going well and I got a little caught up and showed because I wanted to pad my ego I suppose. Here's how it played out:

2/5nl. Villain open limped up front. His open limping range there is generally going to be small pocket pairs and some random suited hands like K2s. I believe he raises 77+ and 76+ there most of the time. There were 1 or 2 overlimpers. I have TT in the SB and raise to 40. Villain calls and the others fold. HU to flop Q76r. The way he plays and the way he perceives me, I don't think I can get much value in the hand in general from weaker holdings, so I check. He checks back. Turn is an A that puts a backdoor flush draw out there. I check and he bets 50 and I call. River is an offsuit 6 and I check and he goes all in for his remaining 150 and I tank a bit and call. I felt like he would raise most of his Ax holdings preflop and he doesn't value bet thinly in general (and I think he might perceive betting A2s as a thin value bet there) so I decided he would have enough busted flush draws or random stuff that started firing to justify a call.

Anyways, he instantly mucked and I should quietly muck my hand and take the pot. Instead I turned over my hand because I knew that the table would perceive it as a hero call. I didn't really think through the idea of turning it over. I'm sure on some subconscious level I wanted to hear someone make a comment about how it was a good call or have them call me a "wizard" (which they like to say around here lol), but I definitely did it simply out of ego in the moment and not because I felt like it would benefit my image in some way. It wasn't a huge deal, but I regretted it afterwards and it's the sort of behavior that I try to stay away from. I'm there to earn money, not to look cool or pad my ego. Further, my confidence in my self and my game should not come from how other players perceive me or talk about me, but rather from my own assessment of my EV. It wasn't a huge deal, but I do make an effort to keep it classy and polite and friendly at all times, so I wanted to blog out my thoughts to nip this behavior in the bud.

One thing I need to work on with my online play recently is lack of focus. Typically, presence and focus have been strong points in my game. My last several sessions, I found myself a bit distracted during session and allowed myself to do some brief web browsing during downtime. This is an unhealthy behavior, and I think I mentally justified it by the fact that I have had good results this month. I was very fortunate to not run into too many tricky spots or adverse conditions during these periods of lack of focus, so it didn't end up costing me, but I know that being off my game in that way sets me up for failure by not being on point and ready to handle the situation when a string of negative variance of tricky hands come up.

I need to refocus on the simple strategy of making the CHOICE to be attentive and fully focused while I grind, and give my best EFFORT while I'm playing, and then look at whatever fantasy football or other things I want to look at once session is complete.

Have you gotten yourself a Taylor jersey yet or are you holding off a couple more games?

If he beats the Pats I think I might have to pull the trigger!

Haha amen to that. Your blog is good as always, glad you're doing well

Fitness Update:

I'm under 200 pounds now. That means I've lost over 65 pounds this year. I got a new pair of jeans the other day that are a 32" waist. I used to wear a 42" waist, so I cut off 10" there. I donated some of my fat pants to the Goodwill. Feeling good. I still have some body fat left to lose, and once I get lean I can change my diet and start focusing on some muscle growth. I don't really seem to be getting gaining any muscle while losing weight, which isn't surprising I suppose given I intake <1500 calories/day. Still, it's frustrating to be lifting weights and not seeing any gains.

Here's a picture of me at the height of my fatness:


Here's me today:

impressive, congrats. I did something similar: ~215 3 years ago to 159 today.

What are you eating? How did you manage to go from >2k calories a day to <1500?

As long as youre maintaining strength on a cut, youre fine. Very nice job, awesome progress pics.

Self discipline. A lot of books on mindset have helped me with that. I've mentioned several of them before in the thread, but No Excuses by Brian Tracy, Mindset by Carol Dweck are at the forefront.

Things I eat:

Sandwiches (mustard no mayo, no cheese)
Fruits (bananas, apples, grapes)
Pure Protein brand protein bars
Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer Simply frozen meals
Cottage Cheese
Greek Yogurt
Grilled Steak/Chicken/Salmon
Grilled Corn and Asparagus
Whey Protein Powder
Progresso Light Soups

Snacks:
Beef Jerky
Pickles
Jell-O
Popsicles

There's other stuff sometimes but the above probably comprises 90% of my diet. I mostly eat the same things every day.

thanks!

that list seams to be missing veggies (just noticed you mentioned a couple grilled veggies). you would be amazed how full you can get on 150 - 200 calories of steamed veggies and some are near protein bars in terms of protein per calorie. hamilton beach two tier digital steamer is the best thing I have bought in years, use it daily. brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, baby carrots. my new fave snack is sugar snap peas. I had to up my veggie intake to get my potassium numbers up but now I love them and some days that's all I have for lunch or dinner, 4 - 6 veggies, 1 - 1.5 cups of each.

^this is my go to meal. i usually grill up a bunch and save the rest for easy meals the rest of the week.

i like to keep some white corn in the fridge for an easy snack. white is sweeter than yellow and i buy the full ear so its fresher. i like it raw i kno some ppl prefer it grilled but something to try since its a lot easier to just grab it from the fridge in the middle of a session.

after dinner ill hav a bowl of greek frozen yogurt with a sliced banana. it has more fat than a popsicle but i prefer the extra protein and potassium

dude u look so thin good thing bulking season is coming up!

Great transformation man. As long as you can maintain muscle while you are cutting fat you're fine - there's no way you'll put on any muscle mass with a 1500 calorie/day diet anyways. In my opinion you're doing it right - cut the fat first, then put on muscle. Cutting is the hard part. Everyone always says they will cut after putting on muscle but then you never see them actually cut down...a lot of guys just put on enough muscle to allow them to feel alright about their physique. On top of that, you're getting the hardest part out of the way first, which is generally +ev. It seems like you're doing fine with your diet but if you start plateauing you can cut out the simple sugars to take it a step further (idk how ripped you want to get). Like fozzy said there are better things out there than those Pure Protein bars, but its not like they will make or break you. Anyways, looking great!

Pretty impressive. I'm going to have to do something similar in the future. I'm like ~280lbs right now probably.

The easiest way to start is just by honestly tracking your food/calories and try to measure/weigh (almost everything I eat now gets weighed in grams) as much of it as you can. I started by simply using myfitnesspal app/site and eat at what, or below, they recommended for losing a pound a week.

All right thank you. When I move in with my girlfriend I'll probably eat wayyyy healthier as she is a vegetarian and eats pretty healthy.

I just realized I didn't see eggs in your list. No liquid eggs in your diet? They are way high in protein per calorie. This egg muffin recipe is my favorite new thing. I made my own twist on the recipe with 3 TBSP of unsweetened cashew milk and 68g fat free mozzarella cheese and 24 oz of liquid eggs that works out to be really great in terms of protein per calorie.



4 of these with a banana, chobani simply 100 and 8oz glass of cashew milk this morning was 375 cals, 44g of protein and nearly 1k mg of potassium.

Damn good work man, I've been running a deficit for a while as well, and commiserate with the (absolutely worth it and sort easy once you start) struggle.

http://smile.amazon.com/Garden-Life-...-no-redirect=1

+ vanilla almond milk

Is my goto morning shake, which works out to 320c, 41g protein, and all sorts of vitamins and stuff. I kinda treat it as a multivitamin of sorts. I've always wondered about cashew milk, now that I drink almond milk. But I don't trust it!

Thanks for the food tips guys, I'll check this stuff out!

One thing I can tell you is there is always some better/easier/more convenient time to start, "someday".

Tomorrow is an illusion, TODAY is what is real.

Getting healthy is not so much about the circumstances or environment you are in, it's about changing your state of mind and life approach. If you WANT to be healthier, you can MAKE THE CHOICE RIGHT NOW to be healthier and start lowering your calories and increasing your exercise TODAY. It's your decision.

There's always plenty of ways to rationalize putting it off. Positive action breeds more positive action, and starting right away will get momentum building for you. It will be even better/easier moving in with your girlfriend if you are already in a healthier lifestyle beforehand, too.

You can't rely on "oh once this is different" or "once this one thing happens then I'll change". You are in total control, and you are not controlled by these outside circumstances. Take immediate action and feel empowered and good about yourself!

I much prefer the taste of cashew milk, silk unsweetened. I was drinking blue diamond unsweetened vanilla almond or almond/cocounut but it is so bland compared to cashew I mostly drink only cashew now. I have 2 half gals of cashew in the fridge right now and one quart of almond/coco.

Fine, I'll try it. I make no promises about changing my stance on cashew milk, but seeing as you've walked this road before I'll heed your advice.