If you read my “My Fitness Journey (2014-2017/2018)” post from a few weeks ago, you may remember that the biggest lesson I learned from 3 years of consistent lifting with not much gainz was that I wasn’t eating enough; I ate very healthy but not enough.
I'm 5' 6". Before I started lifting, I weighed around 100 - 103 lbs (I know, I was tiny af haha) and had no noticeable muscles at all. After lifting for a few years, the most I've ever weighed was ~115 lbs (with 19% Body Fat) which was this past summer.
Here's some before/after photos:
Once I learned this, which was around September 2017, I started being mindful about how much I was actually eating in a day.
I realized that although I love food, I hate having to eat multiple times a day. There are times where I wish I was a bear so I could eat a huge meal every few months and just… chill. Now, add some top-notch metabolism (thanks dad) on top of lack of motivation to eat a TON and you won't see much muscle growth.
Because I only eat when I’m hungry, it’s been difficult for me to gain as much muscle. Although I can lift a decent amount, I keep hitting a plateau and I am quite positive it’s because I need to eat more. I’ve been better at it though… Baby steps! :)
Anyways, my saltiness towards having to eat multiple times a day made me realize something simple:
If you’re lazy and aren’t giving something your all, you won’t see much progress.
For instance, in my case, I wasn’t giving "eat more calories (through lots of protein and fat/carbs)" enough attention and was only training hard at the gym.
If you’re trying to lose weight but you cave every time you see McDonald’s or a Starbucks Frappuccino, you’re not giving your all to the goal of shedding some extra fat off.
OR, if you’re trying to learn Java but you only put in 3 hours/week time, you’re not going to learn much since learning a programming language takes lots and lots of practicing on your own; little reading/learning, A LOT of doing.
OR, even more applicable, if you want to succeed on Steemit, give your best; give your all.
Produce good content, write good comments, be genuine, show dedication to the platform and your beliefs, and change your attitude from only wanting to make money to sharing ideas, writing good posts, and having fun!
So, if you’ve been trying to achieve some goal but can’t see much progress overtime, take a step back and try figuring out what you are doing and not doing on the way; try figuring out what you CAN do to bring you closer to your goal.
You could do this in many ways. Here are my 3 favorite ones:
1. Write down what you SHOULD be doing on one side vs what you ARE doing on the other side.
This will help you see where you are at and how much more you have to go.
As I've mentioned in one of my posts in the past, if you write things down - your goals, your aspirations, your frustrations, or words of gratitude and love - you are more likely to figure out solutions than simply playing with those thoughts in your head.
2. Find a Mentor/Trainer
Find someone who has succeeded in that area.
If you want to learn how to program, find a good YouTube tutorial and follow it all the way.
If you want to get into golfing, find an instructor and take lessons for a few weeks or months.
I've honestly thought about finding a personal trainer, at my gym or even online, to help me with my goals. Right now, I'm seeing results as I do certain workouts at the gym so I've taken the task into my own hands but if I reach a plateau again by next month, I will actively search for some help.
3. Think about WHY you took on this challenge in the first place
Try going back and think why you decided to achieve this goal.
What was your motivation? What's your end goal?
Was it even YOUR idea? Are you doing it for YOURSELF or for someone else?
Maybe doing so will help bring back that drive that got you going. OR, you will realize that this isn't what you're interested in.
Because, unless you want to do it from your heart, you will never be motivated enough to make any significant progress on anything in life.
What are some things YOU have adapted to overcome any road blocks on the way towards your goal?
Share with us in the comments below! :) If you found this helpful, upvote, comment, and resteem it to your audience. Come be fit and healthy with me this year!
Credits: Last 4 images are from Pixabay.com