I used to live 2 hours from your location and know exactly what you are talking about.
So true! 19yo me would be absolutely content doing rack pulls for 3 hours, with 5 minutes between sets. Nowadays, I like training for 30 minutes tops, and no more than 60 second break.
I’ve heard this (or read it) in regard to cleaning your kids’ plates to avoid wasting food. A few bites here and there and suddenly the parents are growing.
What? I can’t fathom getting fast food and not eating all of it immediately. If I’m going there, it’s because I’m craving it, short on time and starving, or both. But I guess it’s just another meal to people who eat fast food for nearly every meal. Weird.
I’ve kind of stagnated on the fat/weight loss. Started at 204lb and have been about 198 for the past 4 weeks. Powerlifting meet May 9, so i’m not pushing it on the diet. I feel strong and I’m hitting all my numbers so that is priority number one. I am so ready to diet down and do more cardio immediately after meet day tbh. I just don’t like how I feel anymore near 200lbs. As a younger man 205 felt good, but I want to go back down to about 185.
So I guess I can starve myself for 3 weeks after the meet to get some better After Pics.
Oh I’ve been plenty busy. 
In between working 60+ hours every week for the last month and then some (the majority of which is graveyard shift/nights), lifting, and such I’ve been here there and everywhere lol. Been seeing some good progress and I’m ready to finish it out strong.
Future’s looking bright for the next 7ish weeks! Still wishing my sleep and recovery was better but that’s hard right now with work so I just do what I can with what I’ve got…seems to be working decently well so far.
Love reading all of your experiences in this thread and stalking all of your logs when I have time!
Funny, that’s at least one of the places I can afford to eliminate the extra cals from these last two months here. Bite of grilled cheese here, chicken tender there, last 5 pretzels … it adds up
As always thanks for the insight
I’m stuck with the 22s for a while as I can’t bring myself to make up my mind on buying a set of 24s. Which is fine because I have a long way to go before i am truly proficient with the 22s.
I have my eye on the Freak Athlete adjustable KB when the time comes to graduate to heavier bells. It’s a heck of a commitment though for a pair. More than years worth of gym fees.
I’m also guilty of cleaning my kids plates, we home cook 95% of meals so i tell myself its extra healthy food (which it is) but i don’t need the extra part of it.
This is my problem. 90% of what I eat is healthy food but I eat too much.
I really dig that term “energy toxicity” to convey the consequence of overfueling. People get freaked out over the word calories or CICO, but this notion that taking in more fuel than you have need for should be understood universally, like pumping gas into a car well after the tank is full and having it spill everywhere.
It’s part of my own little mini-jihad on carbs. They’re an incredibly powerful energy source…that most office drones just flat out don’t need because they’re not going to be sprinting or climbing up a tree any time soon. But then the doofs on the other side of the equation eating sticks of butter are just doing the same thing with a different fuel source.
Our dumb dumb lizard brains don’t understand that food isn’t scarce and we don’t have to eat all of it.
My update… So, I’m not making the kind of progress I hoped for with this transformation, but I’m feeling kind of proud nevertheless that I’m hanging in for a third year in a row. I went back to an upper/lower split this morning after finishing 2 rounds of a faster paced full body program, and I was able to really see my progress in the mirror as I slowed down for lower reps. My form is outstanding and I can see my muscles work as I go. This has been the case for a while here and there, but going back to a program I haven’t done in many months really allowed me to compare today me with a year ago me. Two years ago when I started following these programs (Caroline Girvan, currently Iron) I was wobbling all over the place and had trouble with balance for lunges and bulgarians. Now I just look…effective. Strong, even!
Weight is up a bit, which freaks me out, but this was meant to be a building phase. Still, it’s a problem because currently my cardio is way down (combination of weather, slammed at work, and injured dog) so I know I’m not burning the extra calories, and although I eat mostly clean, I think it’s fair to call it a dirty bulk.
So that’s my goal for the next two months. Get the cardio back up, start running some sprints, and keep my head in the game.
Re: the weekends and letting loose with eating. I’ve been pretty focused this year on trying to distinguish between positive healthy behavior and neurosis. What I’ve come to (and it may be a rationalization, I’m not sure) is that the only thing I’m trying to win is a happy life. There are no contests, I’m not trying to score a wealthy husband or a modeling contract, and I already stand above the crowd in terms of my neighbors, colleagues, and friends. So I’ve made room for a “when in Rome” attitude. I tend to fill my plate with whatever lean things are on offer, whether at restaurants or people’s houses, but I don’t avoid anything. If there are chips and queso and I’m hungry I eat it and enjoy it. If we’re on the road and need to drive through somewhere I relish the treat. And then when the trip or the visit or the holiday is over I go right back to my normal, which is generally very controlled - and also very enjoyable, as I seem to love all the foods.
I think for me T-ransformation 2024 was for health, 2025 was for body composition, and 2026 is for combining the two along with the “happy life” thing and figuring out sustainability.
I’m bringing back my old tradition of ring camera progress pictures. I got this one today. I’m not sure if it’s the deepwater or the good lighting (both probably) but I’m shaping up
Right after posting this, I checked FB Marketplace and a set of 24KG bells, less than a mile from my house came up for sale for a good price. Had to grab them.
So now, I have 24s. Next jump, 32s, are a long way off. Much to wife’s delight as I will be done buying gym toys for a while.
Shit. We were supposed to be dieting?!
I am still transforming myself into a strongman. Training has been tough for the past few months but body weight has stayed the same. I am really just not eating enough. My gym belt dropped a couple of notches which should be a positive but I don’t think the smaller waist is going to make any of my lifts go up. I really need to eat more again.
That’s me. No matter how much I change my diet or training, I always weigh the same.
I think it is a function of age. There comes a point where the body doesn’t want to get heavier unless you really force it.
I’m 53 and have definitely NOT hit that point yet.
Me neither! 
Same 100%
Fat loss is a bit harder but fat gain is much easier 
That and my willpower seems to have changed as well. In my 20s sticking to the diet wasn’t even a question, now I’m like “eh what’s a few M&Ms gonna do to me?”
