I feel like I’ve heard that before, but no.
Oh, does the A stand for “Actionable”? Im pretty sure its an acronym
Exactly: it’s an acronym. “Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound”
A lot of what you’re writing are not specific, measurable, or time-bound, which is what is making it difficult to achieve. “I need to eat healthier” is noble, but vague, with no metric, and no time-restraint. It’s certainly achievable and absolutely relevant, so now it would need to be something like “I need to eat only unprocessed food for 19 of my 21 meals this week”. Now we have a specific (unprocessed food), measurable (19 of 21 meals) and a time (this week).”
It may be something to consider here. And to reduce screen time, you could get one of those old school wall calendars, hang it up, and put a red X on the days you achieve your goals. You’ll get addicted to racking up as many Xs in a row as you can.
1 Like
Oh I already have a calendar on my wall. One of the first things I see in the morning (not that I actually look at it though)
Il factor those things in then.
So, instead of “eating healthier”, I think I will do “Have less than 10g added sugar per day 6 days a week”. I think that’s reasonable, at least for a start?
Screen time; “I will not turn on the television more than once a week” and “I will watch only 30 minutes of YouTube during the week-days, and only 1 hour during weekend-days”
Im currently mapping out my goals on paper. Some other stuff I want to do is “Be more productive” (which is stupidly vague), Learn Mandarin, and get better at the clarinet. Im still working on turning them into “SMART” Goals.
Part of this will be making more of a schedule for me. Mostly will apply to summer break, and also weekends and off days during the school year. I think it would be beneficial for me to have a real schedule.
So, instead of “eating healthier”, I think I will do “Have less than 10g added sugar per day 6 days a week”. I think that’s reasonable, at least for a start?
I love that as a vector. You’d make a lot of good nutritional decisions with this guiding you.
Im currently mapping out my goals on paper. Some other stuff I want to do is “Be more productive” (which is stupidly vague), Learn Mandarin, and get better at the clarinet. Im still working on turning them into “SMART” Goals.
Something that helps here is “make the method the goal”. Learning a foreign language AND a musical instrument tend to have the same method: you need frequent practice. You can’t cram for a Mandarin test, just like how you can’t practice clarinet for 15 hours one day to make up for the rest of the week. But if you carved out 20 minutes a day EVERY day, you’d probably get pretty good.
1 Like
Yep, my plan is 30 minutes per day Mon-Fri for each of them, during the summer.
I used to be better at Mandarin, but I haven’t practiced in awhile so I’m limited to “I eat __” “I drink ___” "My name is ___ ", “Hello, how are you?” “Good bye” etc, and I can count 0-999. 我喝茶今天，你喝茶吗？ （I drink tea today, do you drink tea?) Im a bit rusty on the tones, also.
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I will spend 30 minutes studying Mandarin
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, I will spend 30 minutes practicing the Clarinet
I have my whole schedule laid out. I think this will work good. I have my workout time slot set at 8:30 AM. Since Il be turning 16 this summer, Il be able to go by myself. I plan on riding my bike there, so I need to get a bike lock. I could just get a zip tie, my bike really isn’t that great. But then again, its me we are talking about, so no matter how worthless something of mine is, it still will probably get taken. 
Lol.
I will be waking up at 6:00AM, and getting into bed at 8:30. Saying I fall asleep at 9, this gives me 9 hours of sleep. Sounds good to me.
Its interesting. I have everything Scheduled 6AM-8:30AM, and from there its just free time until the bit of scheduling at the end of the day. Oh, I can schedule in my “Chore Period” during my first Free period. Get my chores done.
Speaking of which, I should get the shower cleaned.
I found out the “black trim” on the glass sliding doors on our shower are… not black.
…they’re clear… 
I got it cleaned good though.
Food:
1 apple fritter (just got them)
1 bowl homemade beef vegetable rivel soup
1 icecream bar (just got them. Not good. Not going to eat them anytime soon)
1 can tuna
2 chicken patties
1/4 cup beans
Okay eating. The good stuff is good, just not the bad stuff. (Well… duh. But you know what I mean)
Tomorrow I get to go back to school. AND I get to lift again, so Im excited.
Starting now, I’m following the less than 10g added sugar rule. There’s an exception though; protein granola and protein oatmeal do not apply. I think they have more than 10g, and I can’t just not eat them, since mom bought them for me to eat.
Il start tracking days on this planner I have. I can make it very organized with this. Its actually for a budget planner, I think, but, it works for other things of course.
Im going to start tracking calories again. I want to see how I am with my protein intake. I don’t think its been the best. Im setting that as another goal on my planner, at least 160g protein per day.
I think I’ve finally realized what my brain has been ignoring; My diet is basically just grain, meat, and dairy. And then I wonder “why am I not feeling 100%” 
I need to prioritize consuming non-grain/starch plant matter. So, Fruits and vegetables. We have frozen fruit. I think I might have some now. Or maybe Il make a smoothie. I might do that.
Had a fruit and milk smoothie. It was decent.
For dinner we had hotdogs, beans, and fries.
Then to finish off I had a bowl of greek yogurt, protein granola, 3 strawberries, and a bit of hershey’s syrup.
Got in 160g protein. I wouldn’t have eaten that greek yogurt bowl if I didn’t track my calories. I must not be getting in enough food, so I will use the tracker again
Wanted to post this last night.
April 7 2026
School today, and I get to work my way back into lifting. Il do something for my whole body, or try to, so i can get everything worked and stimulated. I expect il be sore the next day or two.
I kept being in the mindset that “nothing every goes to plan”, but that’s not healthy. One thing I need to remember is something a guy said to me once.
He said, “You bet on the blues, you lose, kid. Remember that”
Never’ve seen that man again. I never did see that man’s face really, and couldn’t pick it out from a crowd. I doubt the voice even. But that man did exist, and he told me that.
Breakfast in 15 minutes
There’s nuance of course, but as long as you’re eating minimally processed versions, there’s nothing inherently wrong with what you’re talking about here. It’s basically how I eat, and pretty much describes the diet of a lot of Nordic countries. If it works for Magnus Ver Magnusson, it’s probably all right.
Now, if you’re talking about cinnamon rolls, slim jims and string cheese, yeah that might be a problem lol.
3 Likes
Im sure it can work without fruits and vegetables, but I do like them, and they make me feel good when I eat them, so I will of course continue eating them. But thanks for sharing that, I think that takes away some of the stress of “I’m not eating healthy enough”.
Ate pretty good today! Only really unhealthy things were protein granola and arguably the juice I had for lunch. Oh, I guess the hotdog too. But I ate good. Had a fruit smoothie, and a nice plate of salmon and flounder.
2647 Kcal, 177g protein, 124g fat
I can mark down this day on my habit sheet.
2 Likes
Oh, that reminds me.
Awhile back I emailed one of my acquaintances if he wanted me to be a free personal trainer for him. Well a little while ago he replied, and this summer I might have the opportunity to train him.
…advice? I know he wants to build muscle (and of course strength), and I likely will try to get him towards tactical barbell, but I’m not good at coaching (because, well, yeah)
I already asked him if he tracked his calories or not, and told him that (if he didn’t) he should start tracking them, not changing anything, just tracking them and the protein he eats.
He isn’t inexperienced with lifting, he does have a bit of muscle from lifting, and thankfully this means I don’t have to teach him exercises really.
But any advice?
And ta-dah! Apparently he got in trouble, so there’s a chance he won’t have the opportunity. Only took… 3 hours or so until he emailed me after I posted about it on here.
Hopefully I can still train him. If not, maybe I’ll try to find someone else.
April 8th 2026
Yesterdays workout did its job. Upper body is all nice and sore! Its a great feeling. During squat, knees were a little iffy, but I think it could be more of just they need to “get back into it”
Breakfast in 11 minutes
1 Like
I think that takes away some of the stress of “I’m not eating healthy enough”.
In our current food environment, “healthy” is far more about what you DON’T eat vs what you eat. This is REALLY hard for the western mindset to wrap around, but a LOT of health and fitness is about the things we avoid vs the things we do. We want to MAKE ourselves healthy by DOING stuff: eating the salads, running the laps, lifting the weights. But we make ourselves FAR healthier by STOPPING the smoking, stopping the processed foods, stopping the sugar laden energy drinks, stopping the alcohol, etc.
Because what Americans want to do it still drink, smoke and eat fast food but “undo it” by ALSO doing/eating the healthy stuff…and all it does is compound even MORE stress on the system. Stan Efferding talks about how you’re most likely better off getting an extra hour of sleep than waking up an hour early to get in a cardio session, and it’s so frustrating for those of us wanting to live in a Rocky montage.
@BrandonCrawford nailed it. If you can get seasonal fruits and veggies: awesome, but if you’re eating unprocessed foods in general, you’re on the right path.
As for coaching: sounds like a great opportunity for base building.
3 Likes
That makes a lot of sense. I know I would never feel healthy if I ate both crap and good stuff at the same time.
That sounds good, base building would be good for him I think. Thats assuming he will do it. I can be a motivator I guess.
In other thoughts;
- I have never understood why people drink energy drinks… just… sleep good and eat good and just put in the effort? Im sure they have there places (or like 5-hour energy and whatnot), but i see kids drinking them during school. Like… ew. I know they don’t even taste good. Its like kool-aid. It doesn’t even taste that good, people just drink it because its sugary.
- I also don’t get the notion of a pre-workout (specifically with the added caffeine/other supplements. You shouldn’t need it. If you are that tired, its probably your body signalling “hey! I need rest! please don’t damage me today, I am by no means recovered enough!”. I understand basic stuff though like maybe a protein shake with carbs or whatever, if you just need something quick to get something in you before you workout, but still.
- I’ve never watched any of the Rocky movies. We don’t have them on DVD, and Im refraining from using Prime TV too much, so I won’t make it a habit. I do want to watch them eventually
I got in all my protein today, and I have 516 Kcal left. Im not going to really try to get all of them in, but I do want to eat. I crave something sweet, I’ll try to find something good I want. I might have an ensure nutrition shake, they got rid of the red 40 so its better now. And maybe something else, because mom said it tastes different.
I got in a bit of exercise today, so that’s good.
I’ve started doing crosswords, and they are fun. Great for the mind too, I can tell they make my brain work.
1 Like
They are still very much processed junk. I would avoid
1 Like
Yeah, I could taste the processed-ness. Very sweet. I forgot one of the things I need to look out for is added sugar, 9 grams in this ensure.
Remember the north star here: if you can’t grow it or kill it: don’t eat it.
One day, when you’re a parent of a newborn while working a full time job and getting your masters, you may understand 
I remember opening the workplace snackbar fridge, seeing one, and thinking it sounded absolutely delicious. But these days I stick with black coffee.
2 Likes
April 9th 2026
I get to lift today. Still a bit sore from Tuesday, so we will see how things go.
I will keep In mind the rule, “If you can’t grow it or kill it, don’t eat it”.
16 minutes until breakfast.