"I want to lose weight!"

[NARMAK]

Wanted to give a quick update on my journey to say i've kept trying to go consistently to the gym and doing enough cardio to increase the calorie deficit alongside the diet. I've just tried to plot out my new diet to start on Monday that's much more in line with my protein goal and staying within a calorie deficit that hopefully i can keep losing weight at the goal rate.

I'm only part way through my third month at the gym and i plan to try keep on the journey now for as long as possible but getting over the initial "hump" of trying to get into a routine was well worth it imo. Especially since looking back, i was trying to ease in and understand why new to the fat loss journey people should take a month or so to educate themselves and ease into the journey because its going to become a full on lifestyle change to build new habits and relationships with food.

Good luck to all again and keep it up!

[NARMAK]

I figure it's time for another small update as i have completed my 4th full month in the gym after starting just after the middle of January. I have got a diet plan with protein goals first to help me try retain muscle whilst cutting body fat down but also try stay full enough and have energy for my workouts.

I am still aiming for 4 days of resistance training per week and trying to do cardio as an extra session during the mornings to help burn more calories rather than cut the diet down and feeling hungry all the time.

The scale still has shown progress bit by bit as i'm using it to track but this is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. I'm going to take a short diet break in July as i go for a trip away for 4 days or so but the week i go away i plan to get my workouts done

Good luck to those of you still on the journey and for those having a but of a wobble, try think of all the benefits you will reap. Mine alone i can say having more energy after losing the weight is significantly helpful and helps me get even more active.

[NARMAK]

It's now been around 5 months in the gym and trying to lose as much fat as i can in a healthy way. Originally i set myself the goal to get to my first weight milestone by the 6 months mark. I'm very proud that thanks to staying as dedicated as possible for the most part with training, nutrition and making up for any off days i ate too much with some additional cardio, i managed to actually get to that first goal milestone just under 5 months from when i started.

So i know that some people obsess over the weight on the scale sometimes but i tried to remind myself it's a marathon and not a sprint and it's part of a total lifestyle change as well and it did eventually help me pass through those mentally tougher days and weeks when i would just plateau at a certain weight range for a week weeks and just wanted to remind everyone that this sorta thing is normal and just keep pushing with your diet and training. Eventually you should break through the body being stubborn when it sheds the excess water weight its usually holding.

Although i hit the first goal, i am giving the time left till my original end of the fat loss goal to try lose a bit more and treating it like a "bonus fat loss round" because i actually was planning to take a short break from the calorie deficit and switch to a maintenance diet for a week weeks to help reset things and come the first new week of August i will resume trying to lose more body fat to try get leaner. This is unfortunately a REALLY common part of a lot of people's fitness journey when you try lose body fat because we seem to have more than we realised and that's okay. Just stay consistent, try to enjoy the journey or manage it best however you feel works best for you and eventually all your hard work will show for itself.

A final kind of point i do want to mention is that some people you know who see you changing yourself may make some unsolicited comments like "You're looking too skinny" or "You're looking weak" and similar which i've had said to me in like the last month or so and you obviously know your body best, you know how it looks without a shirt on and actually see how much more progress you need to make, so just tune that noise from others out. Focus on yourself. Just nod and move on from that comment leaving it behind and try to not let it hit you. I made that sort of mistake and i wish the first time it happened i kept my conviction a bit more to keep cutting body fat and get a touch more lean before switching to trying to gain lean mass and that's how i'm trying to do things differently this time. Just trusting myself significantly more and not letting the "noise" from others bother me. Especially when these people do NOT have your experience of training all this time, watching what you're eating and the hundreds of other changes you are implementing or have done to try and better your appearance for yourself.

I personally know for my height and weight i started at, i sorta understand their comments because they have seen me "big" for a while but at the same time they didn't "see" the bodyfat under the clothes, i did. So i go by what i see in the mirror but PLEASE, PLEASE make sure you do NOT let yourself end up in a position of eating disorders and be very conscious of body dysmorphia because i have truly realised that when i started there was images i had of me from way back when i was the weight that i wanted to get to and thought i looked absolutely great, but now looking at them when i'm practically there again, for some reason i started focusing on the "flaws" and then had to check myself to reign that in. Obviously there was improvements to still be realised, but i realised you sometimes almost rob yourself of the accomplishments you made along the way if you don't celebrate them and also try to improve for the next part of your journey without maybe putting yourself down.

I think a huge part of the journey for me is not just physical but the emotional and mental process of trying to reorient yourself as a person. Shedding the parts of yourself that will be holding you back. The voice in your head telling you that you can't do something to be replaced by one that's "You got this!" and keeps you pushing.

So, Good Luck and keep grinding folks. It's never too later to start. So glad i started when i did and you'll thabk yourself for staying the course too.