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Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

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Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#121

Post by basq »

tristor wrote: post #114

Agreed, I have a history of being a bit of a shopaholic (and being overweight). I've vacillated between periods of being debt-free and periods of indebtedness, I've vacillated between periods of being in relatively good shape and periods of weight gain. None of these circumstances, good or bad, happened overnight, they were the accumulation of many small daily decisions, often over years. When I was in the peak shape…

I am similar wrt to bodyfat fluctuations, but interestingly enough, it did happen to me overnight. During the pandemic I reached my lowest bf% ever, single digits, despite gyms being closed.

It was after things began to open back up in summer/fall '21 that, as I started to get back into the gym, I allowed myself to "eat instinctively" and went from 160-190 in a month. The weight managed to stabilize but still slowly go up, eventually reaching in the 200's. I was hitting the weight racks but struggling to keep my weekly caloric intake in a deficit.

There's a lot more to the story in terms of what I did and learned, but in short, calorie estimates online were often over-prescribing my TDI which was a lot closer to my BMR. I now eat 600 less than my BMR every week and that's about 1.5 lbs/week lost. I'm still hitting the gym and getting 1g protein /lb of lean body mass so I am still managing to put on muscle despite being in a deficit.

But ultimately, it will have taken me 2 years of meticulous, dedicated calorie and macro tracking and diet modulation to undo that single month of damage, and return to my previous bf%. Although I have dealt with the frustration of impatience, I am finally on track and expect to hit my goals in October/November.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#122

Post by 999900000999 »

The biggest source of drama in my life has been other people.

Particularly other people who aren't living right. Past 25 and doesn't have or trying to get a stable job. Carefully evaluate if you want that person in your life.

Misery loves company, the wrong type of people will bring you down and laugh when they do so.

Likewise, people with stable lives can and often will lift you up.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#123

Post by krumpet »

p0d wrote: post #90
taeric wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, walking punches way over expectations for keeping weight off. You have to do a good hour of a walk, but an hour walking is probably better than a rushed workout of similar time.

I lost 40kg walking one hour a day over the last 3 years. Some people don't recognise me. Don't get yourself into a state where you need to lose 40kg. If you do, and lose the weight, you will have excess skin. I like my new healthy self but actions have consequences.

Good on you! Something I preach to my children is that success comes from showing up every day to do a little and not from a sudden burst of a lot. Well done.

I turn 50 this year and have committed to doing 50,000 pushups before 2024. It sounds like a lot, but after the first month, doing 200-300 a day isn't really that difficult (when broken up into smaller sets). Honestly, it's a LOT more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge.

It's all about showing up every day.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#124

Post by adamsmith143 »

sph wrote: post #115
adamsmith143 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weird then that Semaglutide is so effective for weight loss when it's mechanism of action is to reduce the amount you eat. Almost like that was the answer all along.

I wouldn't even know where to start deconstructing your argument. If you remove the sense of taste from someone, I assure you they won't enjoy food and will lose weight very quickly. Almost like that was the answer all along. Your comment has to be made in bad faith and it's not even worth engaging with.

"No one becomes obese eating natural foods" That is the most hippy BS I have ever heard. Eat 10,000 calories of raw sugarcane a day for 1 year and get back to me on the results.

>If you remove the sense of taste from someone, I assure you they won't enjoy food and will lose weight very quickly. Almost like that was the answer all along.

Yes, reducing the number of calories you eat is how you lose weight.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#125

Post by krumpet »

frde wrote: post #33
thelastparadise wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Temperance, as you suggest, is a beautiful thing. It's hard (for me, especially), but sometimes we just have to put down the fork and politely decline that second, third, or fourth pancake.

I wasn't particularly overweight before but I attribute about ~10lbs of weight loss this year to realizing that: - When at a dinner with family or friends, I never _have_ to finish something. Most of the time the host will be happy to package my leftovers to take back home when asked. That last part makes it clear that I like and appreciate the food even through I didn't finish it in the moment. - If I buy food at a…

I realize everyone has different dietary needs, so I'm not saying this is for everyone, but it's very, very rare for me to finish a meal at a restaurant in one sitting. I used to, but leaving and feeling stuffed got old.

I've found if I stop early, it turns out it was only my brain that wanted more food. Physically, I've had enough and am satisfied. I just need to give my brain time to catch up to my body.

Additionally, I drink a lot of water with my meals. This helps prevent overeating.

Lastly, it's always great to get two meals (dinner and tomorrow's lunch) from one restaurant dinner.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#126

Post by e1g »

SanderNL wrote: post #117

I found it interesting to learn about the etymology of the word "character". It comes to us from Latin which took it from the Greek (χᾰρᾰκτήρ) which comes from kharasso (χαράσσω) - I scratch or engrave . Our character can be thought of as the result of a long process of engraving or scratching. I tend to see it as a solid metal shield full of scratches from long battles. The resulting grooves tend towards virtue or v…

Webster [1] traces the source of the word “character” to theater where it was used as an emblem of the reputation of someone or a group of people, similar to how you would recognize the brand name engraved into a thing. The interpretation that character is a result of “engraving” through repeated behavior (at the individual level) is fascinating, but doesn’t seems as supported from original usage for centuries.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-history-o...).

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#128

Post by haswell »

sph wrote: post #70
wccrawford wrote: post #4

Life is about taking risk. We make daily decisions that involve big and small risk constantly. Choosing to enjoy life today instead of waiting for tomorrow for that enjoyment isn't a failure , it's a choice. It comes with risk and tradeoffs. Everyone thinks there's a magical line that everyone else should take that straddles that line between enjoyment today and tomorrow. That lines doesn't exist, and isn't even the…

> Choosing to enjoy life today instead of waiting for tomorrow for that enjoyment isn't a failure, it's a choice. This conveniently papers over a critical mechanism of how biological brains operate: we do not choose 99% of our actions. It would be extremely inefficient and energy-consuming. 99% of our life we are on autopilot, driven by our habits engaged as response to sensory and internal stimuli. Habits explain ne…

> 99% of our life we are on autopilot, driven by our habits engaged as response to sensory and internal stimuli.

This is such a critical insight, and over the years it was eye opening to realize gradually how much I judged myself for factors that I clearly cannot control. Which is not to say that I’m helpless, but more interested now in focusing on systemic factors that directly influence automatic behaviors.

Judgement is such a major cultural response to addiction, and also happens to be one of the primary impulses that feeds it. Addicts often turn to their drug of choice to feel relief from the shame…of their addiction to their drug of choice.

> I recommend the book "The Biology of Desire" by Marc Lewis, an ex cocaine addict turned neuroscientist.

Adding this to my reading list. In a similar category, Anna Lembke is a psychiatrist and addiction specialist who wrote a book titled “Dopamine Nation” that I found worth reading.

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