I wanna be a T-Man again

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

I need the advice of those who have followed the hardcore T-Man lifestyle, fell off the train, and have struggled and gotten back on. Actually, I’m looking for advice from anyone that will give it.

A year ago, I was on track. I hit the weights hard, ate right, took care of myself, and was an all-around good guy. I was happy with where I was going and who I was. I went away to school, and kept it up for a while. Went through a bad breakup, which really messed me up.

Then the alcohol came.

I fell into the typical college trap, which I knew better than. I stopped lifting and running consistently, and drank instead. I kept my grades up, made dean's list, but I let my body turn to shit.

As a former fat guy, I always had the paranoia of letting myself go again in the back of my head, and I think part of why I was so hardcore is that I was scared of wasting everything I had worked for.

I started second semester at 170 lbs, and sit here at 200- yet I still am wearing the same size pants. Despite my drinking, terrible eating, and erratic (at best) workouts, I have put on size and strength (I’d say at least 20 of those pounds are muscle). This is not what I needed, I let myself go and the results weren’t nearly as bad as I thought they would be.

But I don't care. I want to live, breathe, eat, sleep the life of a T-Man again. But I can't stay motivated for the life of me. So, what I need from those of you who have actually kept reading is advice, encouragement, whatever you can give to help me out. I'm going to read 'Merry Christmas, Bob,' that should help :).

Hell, thanks for reading this entire thing- whether you reply or not.

PJ

2

A food log and new diet has pulled my lost motivation up from the depthes of hell.

3

Honestly, I find that reading some of these inspirational quotes (yeah, I know, but I really think they can give you an extra kick) sometimes really help me out. I mean, once you have everything in place and you’re confident with your plan for the future, these give you something to think about. Also, whatever you have that can just remind you of this desire should really help. I mean, you probably know that even though you know this is the way you want to live your life, it seems so hard when you wake up in the morning to go and eat something healthy, or to be lifting instead of partying, but if you can remind yourself of the emotions attached to this…

'nuff said. Some of my favorites -

"I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day." – Abraham Lincoln

“The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.” – H. L. Mencke

And maybe the most appropriate:

“But the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out and meet it.” – Thucydides

Stay strong! Anyone willing to try and take charge of their life and their future - and especially anyone who’s brave enough to ask for whatever help he can get - is all right by me.

4

Try reading “Brother Iron, Sister Steel” by Dave Draper.

5

Everyone needs to take a little break once in awhile. I mean choking down oatmeal and cottage cheese day in and day out gets real old, but just when i start thinking about poisoning my body with pop-tarts and sugar coated cereals i think WWTMD. So I choke it down. Same thing applies to training… Hell I get tired. There are days I’d rather go home and take a nap, but i go to the gym anyway because that’s what T-man would do. Man we are the few, the proud, the T-men and we need YOU in the trenches… so pull yourself up by your boot straps and lets get going! Hope this helps buddy.

6

PJ, I understand exactly what you are going through. I did the same thing. The difference is I saw myself falling into a rut and turning into a sad sack of shit. Rather than be normal I opted for better. I enlisted and tried out for SPECWAR. I sit here 6 yrs later looking back on it and if I had advice to give to myself this would be it: QUIT FUCKING WHINING!! You want to make excuses and rationalize that what your doing isn’t that bad. You want someone to tell you that everything is going to be fine, just keep with it. Fuck that and fuck you. Pull your head out of your ass and decide what you want. Do you want to settle? Then go ahead and lift occassionally, drink, party and be the biggest guy out of the fat SOB’s you hang out with. Personally, I wouldn’t settle if I was you. I would want to be superhuman. If that means blowing off the parties to get huge and get your sleep, so be it. If it means alienating drinking buddies because they don’t understand what your doing, then fuck them. They weren’t real friends. They were guys who want to bring you down because they are too Goddamn lazy to bring themselves up. I expect more of myself, and therefore I expect more of the people I associate with, including contributors to this forum. I believe that if you want to get back on track, you will. I will be with you in spirit and prayer, but you are the only one that can do it. If not then fuck off. Go make your excuses and tell yourself that your not a fat guy because you wear the same size jeans. You can be better than that. Overcome. Remember, Failure is not an option. Good luck.

7

I’ve had more, than once, those few/several months “layoffs”… my dad’s death, and divorce to name a few… the only advice I can give you from my experience, is to take little steps… try not to do everything at once… go to the gym. Even if your still eating shit and drinking, go to the gym anyway. Things will snow-ball and you’ll be back to your old self in no time.

8

You need to read the last 3rd of Dinosaur Training by Brook Kubik. Better yet, read the whole thing! :slight_smile:

9

Hello everybody my name is Tony Robbins but you can call me Bodge. I am twenty-one years I am thrise divorced and I am a motivational speaker. I weight a buck o five, bench press 85 pounds, dont squat cause it hurts my pencil neck, never get laid and I LIVE IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER. T-man for life!

10

First you say you let your body turn to shit, then you say you put on 20 lbs on muscle and 10 lbs of fat. I don’t get it.

11

Mikes message is spot on only other thing I would add would be to enjoy your training, I mean to really look forward to it like you did with your first girlfriend. Diets, reps, sets type of movements a inportant but you need to enjoy what you do. If you get a chance look up Henry Rollins on the net and read what what he thinks about weight training its spot on. Take it from my experience as a older trainer, more than 20 years solid hard training there is no better pursuit or addicition than trying to do your best, the rewards will come, forget about the drugs and the rest of the BS in mainstream mags, the lifestyle has given me a strength and confidence to join the services and serve with honour then a university education, then the company of some outstanding women but it did not happen at once, forget about your friends who do not understand, just train well, eat well and over time things will change big time, all the best.