This month in review (31/3/24 - 19/5/24)

Body composition

• Comparing BF percentage to last available data

Body measurements

* second row of each table is simply comparison made to previous week
(using current measurement - past measurement)

Preface

Hi, it’s been a minute. 👋

So, I’ve spent this past month and a half wanting to sit down and write about my progress but my head wasn’t in the right space(nothing dire).

However now, whenever something like this happens - instead of going straight into a guilt spiral, I’ve felt it’s rather okay to have the mindset of - “I’ll get back to it, once I’m ready and that, there’s really no hurry.”

All of that to say - I missed sitting down to write and I’m excited to be back. :)

Observation

”MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE, WE’VE BREACHED 150s
(even if it’s just by 0.05 kilos),
I REPEAT, WE’RE OFFICIALLY IN THE 150s.” 🎉🍾🥳

And this one took it’s sweet sweet time to come by, having said that while there’s still a long way to go, I’m incredibly proud of the work I’ve done to get myself this far.

Another thing, this has reminded me of is - how poor I am when it comes to estimating timelines. 🥲

Alright, let’s do a mini-recap. I had originally estimated to be this weight around 1st April. So I’m delayed by almost a month and half.

The obvious reasoning for it is clear to me - I’ve slacked on eating clean, tracking macros diligently, however one thing - I haven’t slacked off on is my consistency in hitting the gym. NOT A SINGLE DAY WAS MISSED/SKIPPED.

As a result, I made decent progress on my lifts. Can’t wait to share some of that here.

Looking at the body measurements, despite what I’ve mentioned above, 1 inch loses across both chest and abdomen is great to see!

Nutrition

Despite slacking at tracking my macros, and not eating the most clean food - one thing that I did not let go of, this past month was hitting my protein goal for the day.

Most of the times even intuitively so - when ordering food, it was mostly chicken burgers or {input_any_food_item_here} with sides of chicken wings.

Another thing I did differently was every time I’d have a big dinner, I’d pick a big ass body part to train the next day - so one of either legs, back or chest. This way I was able to push myself harder through the workouts, knowing my tanks were absolutely full.

What happened to deficit and BMR?

Well, in hind sight, this could be a blessing in disguise, the ability to remain in extremely slight deficit by eating ‘intuitively’ and big picture still trending downwards, in terms of weight, is actually excellent news.

Because I was eating at/ around by BMR this whole time, this also tells me that it’s okay to veer off the path of strict 400-500 kcal deficit and float around at a comfortable weight.

This ability will come in handy whenever I want to take my foot off the pedal - be it in terms of cutting / bulking down the line.

Sleeeeep 💤

I woke up most days right before my alarm rang @ 5am. One day even exactly at 4:59am!!

I guess this is what people refer to as the body clock.

That if you get to a stage where 90% of the time you get to the bed at a fixed time - your body chills TF out and rewards you with not only a great sleep, but an excellent post sleep mood.

I’m very rarely anxious or feel sleep-deprived, even when I miss my 10pm bedtime. For example - over the past month and a half - there have been that odd/ unavoidable 12am or 1:30am bedtime (never frequent, never in series), but I woke up just fine.

Why am I droning on about sleep? Because at the heart of it all - it’s THE MOST CRUCIAL leg of the holy health tripod (other two being diet and exercise).

There are definitely things you give up in order to achieve this. Things like -

1. Alcohol - biggest one by far (and good riddance if I’m being honest)
2. Socializing - an introvert at heart so didn’t struggle as much as I thought I would.
3. ManUtd matches - United being absolute dogs#it this season helped a lot in this regard. The odd 10pm kickoffs I did watch, I either watched until we conceded the first goal or at max until the first half whistle.
4. OTTs - Stopped bingeing series and found it’s way better to wait in anticipation of what’s gonna happen in the next episode the next day (makes it a touch more special that way).
5. Doom Scrolls - Love/hate relationship here, social media does have a place in our life, but how we approach it matters a fuck tonne. I’ve endlessly deleted apps and re-installed them. One thing I’m gladly I’ve been able to put away and never go back to are FB (back in 2018 I think) and more recently both Instagram and Reddit.

Exercise

** Excitedly rubs hands ** 😄

This was a fun one, I pushed myself every single day without the need of external prompt/ motivation.

Had boatloads of fun while doing so! An absolute WIN WIN in my book.

Here are the numbers -

1. Squats - 100kgs (80+20) for 4 reps.
2. Flat bench - 75kgs (60+15) for 6 reps (unassisted and without a spotter), a disputable 95kg 1 RM (since I was being spotted, he called self, but I’m not so sure)
3. Pulled the entire stack on Pec Deck fly. 🤯

Across the board, and across all exercises I was able to progressively overload.

Fun little asides

It’s crazy how much good health habits can set you up for good everything else as well -

1. I’ve been doing better at my 9-5. Still a long way to go but can definitely feel the brain fog dissipating.
2. Cooked up a great Garlic Chicken Curry. Twice. (saved recipe on Notion)
3. Started refreshing my high-school Maths on Duolingo app. (Currently on a 38 day streak 🔥)
4. Finished a book - ‘Stay Off My Operating Table’ by Philip Ovadia. (7/10 recommend)

Conclusion

I think I can write for pages here, but I’d rather have some stuff left for next week. All in all - it was an excellent month and a half in retrospect.

I want to slowly pick up and be better at tracking my macros without stressing myself.

Whilst my eating habits are BIG PICTURE stable, I know if I can get it (the habit) even 40% close to my work out habit. I’ll be unstoppable.

On that note, here’s to welcoming 150s and seeing them off in due time.

Until next time. Ciao!

— MM.