I am restarting some public journaling with my purchase and plan for LotS. I’m starting this and running it alone because I have grown lazy and gained some 15 lbs in the past months. So I’ve written down a plan of changes I intend to implement and stick to. I might post that later. Anyway, I started today, fresh from any cycles.
28 March 2023:
Day 1/21
2 x LotS
29 March 2023:
Day 2/21
Rest
I just turned 30, so I need to take my health 100x more seriously; even though I have been relatively serious for the last 6 years, it’s not good enough. And I’ve been slacking. There was only one period of a couple of years where I felt like I was at a healthy weight and had great habits, so I have a foundation to build on.
The plan:
Impl 1:
Impl 2:
Impl 3:
Impl 4:
Impl 5:
30 March 2023:
Day 3/21
2 x LotS
Not much to report. I’m unsure what to expect with this sub, so we’ll see what happens. As it goes with my plan, I did excellent yesterday on food, but I am sick, so not going to the gym.
31 March 2023:
Day 4/21
Rest
I’ve dropped some water weight, and weight loss is my biggest goal right now; I was 218 at the beginning of the week and 213 today. I’m 5’11", for reference. Any higher than 220 is the “EMERGENCY YOU’RE GETTING REAL FAT, BUDDY” zone, and during my weight loss period in 2017-2019, I was on average 165 lbs. Back then, I never realized how good I looked (relatively speaking), but I look at pictures, and they stun me. Because I’ve always been chubby, and that self-image has been hard to shake.
My goal for this subliminal is for it to reinforce my commitment to getting back to where I was and then aid in pushing further to a truly aesthetic body. For me, I put on weight incredibly easily, and muscle not so much, so I’ve felt at a disadvantage previously. I want to change that for full body recomposition into a fighter’s body. I had a strict lifting routine for about five months of 2022 (which I credit in part to Dragon Reborn), but I feel like I didn’t make a budge in my overall aesthetic appeal, and although I made some strides in fat loss, it didn’t really help.
Here’s a reference photo for my journey so far.
1 April 2023:
Day 5/21
1 x LotS
I don’t believe it. I lost 20 lbs of fat in the last day and became shredded overnight, literally beefcaked out while I slept!!!
April fools.
Not much to report, sticking to diet, intend to start lifting routine on Monday.
2 April 2023:
Day 6/21
Rest
Had a great day. Feel like there’s something in here that helps with confidence. Nothing else.
3 April, 2023
Day 7/21
1 x LotS
From now on, I’ll edit my last post in the journal until I can no longer edit it, and then I’ll post another entry. Just to prevent it from bumping all the time. I started out with 2x loops and am now going to 1x loop and may further reduce it, although 1x loop ZP has tended to do well with me.
I feel my ability to resist temptation toward the aim of losing weight is steeled. I have not noticed any physical changes yet.
4 April, 2023
Day 7/21
Rest
My diet has been at least 70% better, I’m saying no to sugar and avoided beer this past weekend. Although I was celebrating my birthday and so drank more than one day. Next up is getting on track with sleep. I woke up at 2 AM today on accident and decided to just stay up so I can reset my sleep schedule and fall asleep early tonight. I have not done anything fitness related besides going on walks and such. I am just now getting over being sick fully so will be implementing that shortly.
5 April, 2023
Day 8/21
2 x LotS
Loops completed. Back to 2 because testing. Nothing to comment on right now might edit later.
edit later: I have grown more acutely aware of my body fat, maybe I’m just focused on it, not sure. My brain feels like it’s trying to zap it. It’s interesting because my ex gf was very fit and something she did was lift up her shirt in the mirror one or more times a day, almost laser-beaming any fat that could pop up. That is to say, the awareness of it for her was something that always seemed to keep her on track.
6 April, 2023
Day 9/21
Rest
Something I’ve noticed is that now I seem to be OK with going to bed hungry. The last time I was able to do that with ease was 2016 when I first got into intermittent fasting. I remember feeling hungrier than I ever had in my life one night, to the point of stomach pains. And then it all went away, and just like that, I was able to control my appetite. Well, in the past couple of years, if I got too hungry before bed, I would just be unable to fall asleep. I’d usually have a little 300-500 kcal snack which would put me right to sleep.
7 April, 2023
Day 10/21
2 x LotS
I am struggling to get back in the groove of working out, and despite going to bed several hours earlier than normal for the entire week, I’m still waking up around the same time. My body is like “Oh, you want to sleep 10 hours now instead? OK.” I didn’t think I was that behind on sleep. But I am satisfied that I’m finding it easier to unplug early in the night and get to bed to read. I suppose I will just take each of my bullet points in the plan as an incremental action plan. So I’m starting right now with building good eating, sleeping, and drinking habits; the next phase is to build all my physical habits back up. I will likely go for a long walk or two this weekend, though, or do some good cardio.
I ditched my Fitbit for an Apple Watch, I’m not sure how much it will help but it is more robust. I just wanted a fancier watch, though. One nice thing is it doesn’t give me a sleep score because Fitbit’s sleep scores are questionable in their accuracy.
I appreciate the in-depth reports. Will be watching this one closely. Thanks!
Talk about lighting a fire under me! I already wanted to push my limits with this, though. If I don’t set a new baseline of having the aesthetic body I want - now, at 30 years old - then I may miss my opportunity (to do it naturally) as life gets busier.
I have also Photoshopped an image of the physique I want with my face on it as part of my visualization. And no, I’m not going to post it here.
8 April 2023
Day 11/21
Rest
—
9 April 2023
Day 12/21
1 x LotS
—
10 April 2023
Day 13/21
Rest
3-day recap:
Biked for several hours on Saturday. Healthiness rating of the weekend’s meals: 81/100. Got lots of delicious sunlight. Did OfflineDay from Friday night till Saturday night. I do think there is something in this sub that helps with confidence, or at least my confidence, because I feel more confident when I feel attractive. So subconsciously my self-image must be improving. As far as physical changes go, I haven’t weighed in since Friday. I think I’m down a pound or two on fat mass though, I was 218 fed at the start and 216 fed last Friday. About 212 dry weight. This week I would like to either get back in the groove with jiu jitsu or start lifting.
11 April 2023
Day 14/21
2 x LotS
No updates
12 April 2023
Day 15/21
Rest
Small triumph today in the food department. I started ordering groceries from one of those misshapen vegetable companies that sell organic food for lower costs because it isn’t grocery store presentable. I’ve relied on it to eat healthier these last couple of weeks, and it’s working well. My shipments usually get here Wednesday afternoons. Well, it was earlier this afternoon and I still hadn’t eaten anything yet, and I was ready to go get takeout. A meeting got in my way, but I also was planning to go right after. So instead I ate some low-sugar dark chocolate and three small apples. And after my meeting, the box was delivered, so I got it just in time and was able to avoid eating out. Daily choices like that definitely add up, so I’m happy that I’ve been more consistently making better ones.
My sleep schedule is on-point but I’m still not waking up super early, still just sleeping longer. Did go on a bike ride on Monday but nothing else this week so far. Jiu Jitsu is in an hour and I’m urging myself now to go. I used to have no problem making 3 days a week, but, 2023 started out rough for that because of an injury, vacation, and then being sick. So I basically need to build that back from scratch.
The incremental progress is slow so far, but with enough time I will build everything back.
13 April 2023
Day 16/21
1 x LotS
I mean my diet is still great. I cannot seem to pull myself to JJ. However, I did just have a night that Carnivore Aurelius would be proud of. Grilled steaks by the pool, soaked up a bunch of sun, and swam. Sugar consumption is way down, I’m not craving it like before.
17 April 2023:
Day 20/21
Rest
I had a very busy Saturday and could not do any loops, so did one last night. I will do two tomorrow before the washout.
18 April 2023:
Day 21/21
2 x LotS
Overall summary of the cycle: eating healthier and getting outside more, going to sleep earlier. Physical changes seem minimal. My dry weight is the same as last reported, in flux throughout the week, and peaks during weekends. More than anything I need to get exercising. Washout until 24 April.
02 May 2023:
Day 9/21
1 x LotS
Started doing BJJ again, finally. Diet still good. Going to try RLT again. Not much else.
