January Gains

While it may be a little on-the-nose to start a personal accountability blog series in a January, it just so happened that I got extraordinarily motivated this recent December 2023 by my little brother. I locked in, as he'd say, and as a result, saw some exciting changes on my smart scale:

• 3.3 lbs muscle growth

• 7.5 lbs fat loss

Aside from these encouraging metrics, I also have some personal achievements to be proud of:

• left smith machine in the past, committing to balancing that barbell!
• went from DB bench press to short bar ;)
• ate 60-90g protein / day
• settled on a gym uniform that feels cute

I think it's important to mention that the progress from this January isn't fair to characterize as progress just from one single month. Over the years that I've held various gym memberships and worked towards having a solid fitness routine, I've experimented with a plethora of strategies and approaches, and made a lot of mistakes along the way. These mistakes were vital for me to make, without them I wouldn't have all the information I do today. In general, I don't think that most people take the time to honor the hard work of the "bumbling fool" period we all go through when focused on a specific goal.

My own "bumbling fool" era was rife with confusions about cardio vs strength, workout split questions, figuring out how to choose a PT, should I sync my workouts to my cycle, which gym do I prefer going to, getting over gym shyness, how to use machines, exercise form, exercise form, proper attire, injury prevention, and so on and so forth.

There's still plenty that I'm clueless about, and that's what the actionable goal tracking is about. While sometimes numbers on the scale may not move (but recomp is occurring), sometimes even bodycomp numbers won't move either – so by focusing on celebrating what I've actually done and learned in each month of my committed fitness journey should theoretically prevent me from losing wind in my sails if I hit a plateau when it comes to my quantitative goals.

February Intentions

• continue recomp progress (not something I am confident I can control very well)
• bench the regular bar, even the smallest sets, or the 35lb training bar
• improve VO2 max via kettlebell swings or other cardio after each training session
• eat 80-135g protein / day
• spend less money on vegan protein shakes from the grocery store and try some protein powders for homemade protein shakes
• find my comfort zone with calorie tracking for more control over recomp progress
• settle on a 6-month training split
• settle on a 6-month nutritional goal

Depending on how well my February accomplishments align with these intentions, I'd like March/April to start bringing my functional goals into the horizon: calisthenics and breaking.