I'm getting ripped

Training Training Logs
81

3/30/2026

Calories: 2450

Sleep Night Before: 5 hours. I have to get my sleep in check. This isn’t healthy. Im going to make sure I get 7 hours a night

Mood: Relaxed. Ive been wirey lately but recently I’ve had a few days where I’m relaxed/focused. Maybe I was going through processed sugar withdrawls.

Energy Level: 5/10.

Hunger Level: 6/10. Lack of sleep really boosted my appetite

Workout: Monday Upper. I added a set to my pullups so I could hit a 20 rep threshold (what I was at a few weeks ago) and I got 23 total reps. I got a few less reps on OHP but everything else improved except overhead tricep extension. I really need to sleep more.

Steps: 10000. The sun wasn’t out so I was able to take a long walk for lunch. By the time I got home I was already at like 8k.

Thought Process: I’m too tired to think right now but I kinda had a break through where I realized there’s a difference between going to the gym to perform and going to the gym because I like it, and just because I’m not 100% that day doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to like it. Today I was tired as heck but I still wanted to lift just for fun

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82

Fantastic!!! Glad to see you are finding some joy in lifting!

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83

3/31/2026

Calories: 2200

Sleep Night Before: 7 hours. Felt a ton better today than yesterday.

Mood: Actually kind of the same as yesterday. Pretty grounded. My mood was pretty on edge for the past month or two but lately it has really returned back to how I was before I quit processed sugar on jan 1. Not sure if it’s related but I’m happy about it

Energy Level: 5/10.

Hunger Level: 5/10.

Workout: Tuesday Lower + 30 min elliptical. I did the elliptical this time because the treadmills were all taken. I quite like the elliptical because I can change the speed I’m moving on the fly, I can do no hands or use hands, etc. so it makes it less boring compared to walking (although I still like walking incline). I have decided I will just increase RDLs 5lbs per session until I can’t do 12 reps on every set and then maybe reincorporate heavy/light days. I am now at 190lbs 3 sets of 12 (first 2 sets like 6RIR but last set is 4-5RIR). Leg curl and leg extensions are doing their job.

Steps: 8000.

Thought Process: I uninstalled youtube from my phone (again) so instead of bombarding my mind with nonstop youtube I let my mind rest a little more. Not sure how long it will remain uninstalled (the longest I’ve gone is 3 weeks).

Something I have theorized is that a big part of my anxiety comes from leaving zero flexibility in my performance (training to failure, have to hit a pr no matter what or I lose my gains, etc.). I get this same type of anxiety on anything that I use that mindset on. But if I give myself flexibility as in “if I don’t get 12 reps today, I will still make gains and might do 11 or 12 next time, I just need to keep trying.” or “if I don’t get 12 reps today and it happens twice in a row, I can reassess what I’m doing and figure out why and easily make progress once I figure it out”, then I don’t have the anxiety.

In my head, it kind of feels like I’m “becoming like water”, which amazingly I just googled that and it’s something Bruce Lee said and is a philosophy of adaptability, flexibility, and resilience. I don’t know where I got that phrase from, it might have been from Bruce Lee or some self help youtube video, but I’ve used it a lot before, just never in this way. Another analogy is the “rocks in a jar” analogy where you fill a jar with big rocks, then when you can’t fit more big rocks you put small rocks, then you put sand. This completely fills the jar. So instead of trying to keep shoving in big rocks (hitting PRs) and failing and giving up, I keep coming back and putting in small rocks or sand (keeping consistent, getting stimulation over time).

It can also be analogized by comparing a straight line to an undulating wave. The straight line is the fastest way but it leaves no room for flexibility. The undulating wave is not the fastest, but it is flexible and easiest to stick to. As long as I go at a sustainable pace for myself, I will get there, just not in the fastest possible way. But really it is the fastest possible way because if I try to go faster I’ll just regress anyway.

Basically, I am beginning to internalize the mindset of “just keep lifting” no matter what. As long as I am in the ballpark of what I’m “supposed” to be doing, then it will get me to my goal eventually. It is kind of pointless to set timelines on myself because the body is going to do what it’s going to do. If I’m honest with myself then it’ll go as fast as it possibly can go.

3 Likes
84

What a wonderful post.

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The trick is consistent effort. Even if you end up using it, just uninstall it again, and keep moving forward, don’t give up. Don’t focus on having a streak of having it uninstalled, just aim for consistent long runs. Consistent work brings acceleration to whatever the work is applied to. My screen time on my phone averages like… 30 minutes? per week? I really don’t use it that much.

2 Likes
86

Thank you Beth

Bro my screen time is like every waking hour of my day. Mostly because my job has a lot of down time so I just look at youtube all day and that habit seeped more into my out of work days. It might look like down time but it’s mentally taxing constantly looking at videos. When I get to the point of uninstalling YouTube it’s because my brain is so fried I need to relax

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I saw a few of your posts, and the whole screen time discussion got my attention. Hopefully this isn’t an unwanted intrusion.

In my opinion, ebooks are a good idea for downtime. Fiction, nonfiction, anything interesting thats going to take at least a few days to finish. It can help rebuild some better patterns of focus and consistency.

The “be like water” is a Bruce Lee quote, but those ideas go back at least to the Dao De Jing/Tao Te Ching.

Water adapts to its surroundings. It always finds its level. Water is both gentle, and moves mountains… literally.

天下莫柔弱於水，

In all the world there is nothing as soft and weak as water,

而強者莫之能勝，

But even the strongest things can be conquered by it,

其無以易之。

And there’s nothing that can change it.

弱之勝強，

The weak conquers the strong,

柔之勝剛，

The soft conquers the rigid,

天下莫不知，

Everyone knows this,

莫能行。

But nobody does it.

I used to have a lot of issues overthinking and trying to overcontrol things too. Doing some gardening is what changed that for me. You’re never in control, and you’re forced to be patient.

But you can “manage” the process. Observe, understand the patterns of cause-and-effect, and make changes when they need to be made. Some useful life skills, especially as you learn how little you can ever actually control.

You can steer the water but you can’t stop it.

5 Likes
88

4/1/2026

Calories: 1900. I didn’t count calories yesterday. I’ve been logging everything for 2 weeks and I could tell it was starting to get obsessive so I stopped. I tallied everything up earlier today just to see where I was and it’s about 1900

Sleep Night Before: 6.5 hours. I woke up before my alarm and felt good

Mood: I can’t really remember because it was yesterday but I do know that I was happy with my evening

Energy Level: 5/10.

Hunger Level: 5/10.

Workout: None

Steps: 6000. I didn’t look at my steps yesterday until this morning

Thought Process: I finally got a day off after pretty much every day in the past 2 weeks being taken up with something. I just made food, watched harry potter and took a nap. Then I watched this movie called Thirteen Lives which is about that Thai soccer team being trapped in that cave some years ago.

1 Like
89

4/2/2026

Calories: 2350

Sleep Night Before: 6.75 hours

Mood: Pretty good

Energy Level: 5/10.

Hunger Level: 5/10.

Workout: Thursday Upper. I PR’d everything. Although lately I have been noticing I am kind of not wanting to go. It just feels like I’m going through the motions even though I am making great progress. As if I could be doing something better with my time even though that’s false.

Steps: 11000

Thought Process: I am PRing everything while losing fat, which is the best possible scenario. I am also not fatigued outside of the gym which is fantastic. I am looking better, feeling better, etc. but I am finding myself not wanting to lift. I have felt this before. I lose the desire to lift I think because it isn’t that mentally or emotionally stimulating because everything is going well. It’s like I’m on a conveyor belt. I think this probably is tied to my undiagnosed adhd. I got lazy and didn’t make a doctor appointment this week but I will this weekend.

One thing I have noticed is that typically, my brain is all wired and looking for any stimulation possible. But sometimes it gets really calm and I don’t have those urges or baseline anxiety. I have noticed this a handful of times. This happens when I do something I haven’t done in a while, like eat something new at a restaurant or taking a good walk or having a fun time with someone I haven’t seen in a while. It’s like that experience gives my brain enough stimulus so it finally chills for a while. It usually lasts a few hours before I start going back to how I normally am. In this calm state, I am just chill. It’s like all the voices in my head go silent. I can easily commit to doing one thing rather than have a million what if scenarios running in my head trying to pull me away from the thing I’m doing. I can focus and have a pure experience. But then after a few hours the noise comes back. That’s one reason why I think I actually do have ADHD.

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90

You’re already talking through it, but this will probably be 80% of your gym career. The gains are coming because you’re just knocking out the work. When you’re doing essentially the same thing day in and day out for 3 or 4 decades, it won’t always be mentally or emotionally stimulating. That’s kind of what makes it awesome, though; just carry on the process. It flows (pun!) pretty nicely from the water example above: the river just keeps running every day and eventually carves a canyon.

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91

We will test a few things here.

This is not a throw away line. ADHD is serious stuff and if you think you have it, you should be tested and manage it either through meds or supplements or CBT.

It is not a joke - oh, I guess I have ADD, that must be it. That minimizes those that have it.

If you have it, get diagnosed, get some tools.

1 Like
92

4/3/2026

Calories: 4000. Strange day today. I wrestled 5 kids at once on a trampoline for an hour then I ate an entire family sized bag of doritos (2250 calories).

Sleep Night Before: 10 hours

Mood: Pretty good

Energy Level: 5/10.

Hunger Level: 5/10. I mean, it was crazy after the wrestling match but otherwise normal.

Workout: none. I pushed Friday Lower + Cardio to tomorrow (saturday).

Steps: 7000

Thought Process: It is really eye opening how playing with kids as a 30+ year old hits you so hard. As a kid, you can play for hours every single day and not even feel it. As an adult, you are destroyed after an hour or two. I am convinced that playing with kids is the best cardio you can possibly do. I mean kids dgaf. They’ll run around, jump, climb etc. all day long and they don’t care. If I could do that as an adult I would be happy.

It’s also eye opening thinking that there are adults that can actually do this. Pro wrestlers, basketball players and soccer players can probably all hang with kids with relative ease.

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Not trying to minimize it at all or be like those people that think having OCD is wanting a decoration a certain way. I’ve been told I probably have ADD since I was like 10. I just never really took it seriously until I moved out on my own. Now that I live on my own, it has become apparent that I am not normal. I can’t keep up. Not due to having too much stuff to do or me being unable to do things, but because it’s hard to make myself do stuff. I used to be able to do more things because I had the external pressure of not wanting to look like a slob to other people, but now that I am by myself I don’t have that pressure (even though I actually want to do it). It also makes me very sensitive to rejection (rejection dysphoria). It’s also become more apparent now that I work an office job where I’m kind of expected to do stuff without a supervisor hanging over my head. I always put stuff off at work until the last minute and sometimes that blows up in my face and I feel bad about it.

I am going to get tested for it soon. If I do have it, I really hope the meds help.

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Thanks for the assurance. I guess I will have to get used to it. I have quit a few times when I got to this point and I never figured out why but now I’m pretty sure I understand now.

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95

4/4/2026

Calories: 2400.

Sleep Night Before: 8.5 hours

Mood: Normal

Energy Level: 5/10.

Hunger Level: 5/10.

Workout: Friday Lower + 30 mins incline walking. I got 195lbs for 3x12 on RDL and it was pretty hard. The hinging itself is not the bottle neck, it’s mostly keeping my shoulders depressed and the bar close to me. I think from here on it will be an actual challenge. I form reset my leg curls and leg extensions and I am doing 50lbs seated leg curls and 110lbs leg extensions for 12 reps. I’m really not sure of my leg curl form and ROM. I go until I can’t touch the bottom of the seat with the pad but that leaves a lot on the table as far as partials. Idk if I should go for them or not. I am slowly increasing reps on curls and extensions but idk, I just don’t really know if I’m doing the right thing.

The cardio is getting easier. I’m sticking to 10 incline at 2mph and it feels easier after a couple of weeks. It’s not like I’m struggling to do it or anything (besides boredom), but I can tell I am adapting to it.

Steps: 7500

Thought Process: I felt kind of euphoric today around 7pm onward for some reason. I guess because I ate so many cals yesterday. That happens when I am in a cut and then I eat a lot, the next day I just feel euphoric. But if I maintain that calorie amount that feeling goes away. Idk what the mechanism is that causes that.

I am starting to look better, feel better and be able to do more stuff such as playing with my young family members without being completely out of breath. I am making good progress. Just have to keep going.

Is it just me or is counting calories kind of overrated? I can tell if I’m in a deficit or surplus by feel.

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96

I have never found a need to count. And with my obsessive nature, its best thst I don’t

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My interpretation was this but I wanted to convey the seriousness and impact of ADHD. It’s not just being scattered or flighty and it is clear to me that you understand this.

I recognize this feeling.

RSD, procrastination, hyper-focus on things of interest, emotional dysregulation - all are hallmarks.

I was diagnosed a few months ago and it made sense of my entire life. I hope things work out for you, as I expect they will. I would encourage you to get tested soon so you can achieve the success you are capable of achieving.

I’m happy to provide any support if you want or need it.

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There is no normal. Dr. Gabor Mate has written two books The Myth of Normal and Scattered Minds that are well worth reading. I won’t go into detail. I have mentioned Dr. Mate’ in a previous post or two. Others here are familiar with him. Look him up.

As someone who has already written that I am the poster adult for ADHD and have dealt with it my whole life, there will be times when you are going to struggle. I believe almost 90% of teachers are considered concrete in their thinking and organizational skills. And then there is me. Just the opposite. My desk looks like a bar fight took place on top of it.

ADHD makes life difficult at times, but not impossible.

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What do you have to do as far as refills? Im reading about it and I would have to get a consultation every month so they can make sure… I still have adhd or something. It would cost $150 every time