Hunger Level: 6/10. Not too bad but I was hungry throughout the entire day.
Workout: nothing. Didn’t do anything until around 5pm because I was just stuck on thinking about why I can’t stick to a deficit, and I got hooked on Reddit lately.
Steps: 5000
Thought Process: I spent half the day just looking at reddit and then I went and watched a show with la familia. Had a good time. I spent most of the day just thinking about what I’m going to do about me not being able to stick to a supposed 600 calorie deficit. Seems like I try everything and just can’t do it.
TrainforPain told me to eat normal without tracking just to see what happens with my weight so I find me actual TDEE. So that’s what I did and I ended up at 2275. I’m going to do this for another week and see what happens.
3/22/2026
Weigh In Sunday
I weighed in this morning and I am at 159.2lbs with just a hair over a 39” waist. Arms are now 13.95” L and 13.75” R.
So I lost 3 pounds in one week with almost no loss to arm size even though Friday I ate 3500 calories and yesterday I ate 2275 calories. Not sure what this means. I guess a pound of it could by glycogen but the rest is fat. So maybe my TDEE is way higher than I thought.
I feel good about that.
I added a weight/waist tracker to the OP so it’s easier to see the progress!
Your HDL is low and your Trigs are high, i would recommend adding a good EPA/DHA supplement to your stack. This can help you lower your Trigs and raise your HDL at least. Good luck on your journey! Hope you hit your goals!
Thanks! I tried fish oil but it makes me feel weird. Like low blood pressure even though it doesn’t read as that on my bp meter. I stopped taking it and feel back to normal. But if I eat salmon or other fish it doesn’t make me feel like that it actually makes me feel very relaxed. I would eat fish every day but I think you’re supposed to limit it due to mercury. Salmon is awesome and so are sardines.
Workout: Monday Upper. I did not increase the weight or reps on anything from last session except lateral raises and jm press, but I am not going to freak out about it. I am in a cut anyway. I did have some anxiety about my workout performance but I am trying to shelve it. I did Standing DB Curls for the first time in 3 months (because preacher bench and incline bench was taken) and I got 3 less reps than when I was doing them regularly. I think it’s because these regular curls use a lot more forearm than the other variations so that muscle has been sort of neglected. JM Press is getting stronger and I am better at the movement.
Steps: 10000. I actually used my walking pad for 45 minutes today and walked in the park for 20-30 minutes. The extra calories are helping.
Thought Process: I am working on getting past my anxiety around lifting weights. I just keep telling myself “it’s all mental. You’re not doing anything wrong”. I was looking around the gym and noticed not many people are deathly focused like I am, so it’s ok that I lighten up A LOT.
I thought about what Beth said the other day about how the only responsibility she has in the workout is to make herself feel good. I am going to use that. If it makes me feel good, I will do it. I actually wanted to do more sets of curls but I didn’t let myself because I thought it might tire me out too much, but I should’ve done them because I would feel a lot better about the workout right now.
Maybe the reason for my anxiety is impatience. I feel like I have no time and I have to get the result as fast as I can. But if I relax and give myself time then maybe my anxiety will go away.
Mood: Actually pretty good. I don’t know exactly why, but I’m actually starting to not be depressed anymore. It’s probably a combination of everything I’ve been doing, physically and mentally.
Energy Level: 5/10
Hunger Level: 2.5/10
Workout: Tuesday Lower. I didn’t PR on RDL but I did PR on Leg Curls and Leg Extensions. Nice. I actually have very little anxiety around my workout today. I framed the workout as “I have these exercises that I can have fun with” instead of “I have to PR on these exercises or my life is over”. I do have some anxiety about not PRing on RDL but I think if I go from 1 hard set to 3 medium sets it will improve. I mean, I am improving but slowly with just 1 set. And I keep telling myself “I have all the time in the world to get better, not every workout has to be perfect.” to take the anxiety away. I did my zone 2 right after lifting because I was neglecting doing it on it’s own day. Came out good. I read something about cardio after lifting cancelling out mtor therefore cancelling out muscle growth but I decided to do it anyway because I don’t think that’s true. I noticed after 2 weeks of not doing zone 2 cardio my fitness noticeably got worse (winded walking up stairs etc).
Steps: 7000. Includes 30 minutes incline walking 2mph
Thought Process: I am eating to hunger and ending up around 2400 calories per day. I checked my Happy Scale app of a cut I did last year and I was eating around 2400 calories on average and losing 0.5lbs a week, so I think my TDEE is just higher than 15xBW. It’s more like 16.5xBW. Makes sense because eating 2400 I still feel like I’m in a small deficit. This is good because that means my hunger/energy is appropriate for the calories I’m eating and I DON’T have to cut at 1800 just to make progress. My new plan is to lose 0.5lbs a week or so so. I have tried fast cuts for years and never got anywhere sustainably, so I might as well do 0.5lbs a week.
I am happy that I am starting to find a routine that works for me so I can fit my zone 2 and lifting. I’m going to do my zone 2 after my lower lifting and then another zone 2 on sunday. So it is now Upper-Lower (cardio)-Rest-Upper-Lower (cardio)-Rest-(cardio).
My anxiety around lifting is decreasing. It’s going to take some time but I am reframing how I think about lifting and it’s already showing results. I am excited to keep going and I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished.
I am really thankful for everyone helping me with this. Let’s keep going!
Workout: Thursday Upper. I lost a rep on my pullups for some reason, PR’d OHP by 2 reps, PR’d tricep overhead extension by 1 rep, PR’d lateral raises by a few reps. Didn’t get to do preachers again because it was taken so I did concentration curls which I never do. I think there’s a big difference in strength from incline curls/preacher curls to any other curl. I think the regular curls use a lot more forearm than incline/preacher. The workout only took an hour and could’ve been shorter if I didn’t decide to try to wait for the preacher bench. I actually thought last night that I might have to go lighter today due to slowed recovery in a deficit, but I pretty much knocked it out the park today.
Steps: 9000. Ran and fast walked on my walking pad for a mile. The pad is a good time saver because I don’t like walking in the hot sun. I’m really fair skinned and burn almost instantly so I much rather walk on the pad inside.
Thought Process: I had anxiety around lifting today, but it is becoming easier for me to make it go away. I kept going into my old state of mind like I have to hit these PRs or my life is over, but then I thought “I’m just going to use these exercises at these weights to have fun”. I am concerned with my pullups going down. Maybe it’s because I’m doing 9-4-5 and that’s not enough volume. Maybe I should add another set or for the latter sets use a resistance band to help me get more reps. If I don’t see an improvement Monday on pullups I will see about doing something.
My hunger is kind of… increasing? And my desire to move is decreasing. I’m trying to stay around 2300 - 2500 while getting 10k steps but I am kind of getting lazy. Not sure if I should just do what is natural which is 7500 steps or if I should force myself to get 10k. I’m making gains but not sure if I should go a little deeper on the deficit to make sure I’m losing fat.
I am 100% looking better though. I am gaining muscle/strenght and losing fat.
Thought Process: I had anxiety around lifting today, but it is becoming easier for me to make it go away. I kept going into my old state of mind like I have to hit these PRs or my life is over, but then I thought “I’m just going to use these exercises at these weights to have fun”. I am concerned with my pullups going down. Maybe it’s because I’m doing 9-4-5 and that’s not enough volume. Maybe I should add another set or for the latter sets use a resistance band to help me get more reps. If I don’t see an improvement Monday on pullups I will see about doing something.
Instead of having a predetermined amount of sets, have a predetermined amount of reps. “This workout, I do 15 reps of pull ups”. Then do it any way you can get it done. Next workout, PR by adding a rep, irrespective of how many sets it takes. Doing 16 pull ups in a workout is a PR: you’ve not done that before. Keep that up for a few weeks, adding a rep per workout. Then, you can go back and look at the old numbers and go “Ok, we got 15 reps in 4 sets last time: let’s do it in 3” and repeat.
I’m making gains but not sure if I should go a little deeper on the deficit to make sure I’m losing fat.
Energy Level: 7/10. I was actually full of energy today and not hungry at all, which is odd because I only slept 5.5 hours. I got this energy last night which is why I stayed up so late.
Hunger Level: 1/10. I don’t really know exactly why but my hunger is very low today. I’m at minimal fiber and only 2000 calories and I’m not hungry at all even after only sleeping 5.5 hours. I think this is primarily due to the DGL supplement I’ve been taking to heal my gastritis. It’s working way better than the meds I was on in 2021.
Workout: I had a birthday party to go to so I pushed Friday Lower (Cardio) to tomorrow (saturday).
Steps: 10000. I don’t know why but I was just full of energy today. I took a 30-40 minute walk at lunch, walked around my work a lot and took a walk at night.
Thought Process: I actually feel very good today. I have almost no hunger, I am not tired/fatigued at all, I look good and I have no anxiety. I have never felt like this in my entire life. I usually have to decide whether I want to look good and be tired/hungry or get fat but feel good. Everything I have been doing, the mental changes, not training to failure and wiping myself out, using the DGL to heal my stomach, staying away from processed sugar, eating mostly whole foods with enough fiber, etc… All of that is contributing to this. I actually almost feel free. My entire life I have had this hunger always nagging me even before I started lifting, but this DGL supplement has seriously changed how my stomach feels. I probably had something wrong with my stomach from even a young age due to stress and bad diet.
But the mental changes I have been working on can not be understated. If I start freaking out about something, like worrying about if I’m doing the right thing in the gym or if I’m going to lose enough weight “on time” or if I’m getting enough sleep etc., I can put myself into a stressed state which could snowball into me feeling worse and then giving up like a self fulfilling prophecy. But it’s all in my head. Talking to you guys about this and getting your feedback has been a LIFE CHANGER!!
Like I said before, I have never in my life been in this position physically and mentally. We are breaking new ground here.
