I’m overjoyed to share that I’ve hit a new low of 333lbs. With that, many other things are coming along quite nicely. I hope you’ll enjoy this stream-of-consciousness monologue from a recent walk. I start with updates on how things have been going, then navel-gaze about my reflections on overall fitness discussions that I’ve witnessed.
Progress
Beyond continuing to lose weight, I’ve also made some significant strength progress. I can finally do a couple push-ups and my overhead press lifts are progressing well. I am learning more about how to better apply myself in strength training and it’s incredibly gratifying. Becoming stronger and more mobile has been a huge comfort in what has been otherwise a very challenging time.
I can definitely say that I feel like I’m in ‘uncharted territory’. I’m fitting into the oldest clothes I still held on to, and I’m more mobile and capable than I’ve been in quite a long time. I’m regularly told by people that I’m ‘unrecognizable’. It is absolutely surreal to have gone from total self-imposed isolation out of shame, to being surprised by a deluge of kindness when I’m at the gym.
Planning for 2026
I’ve come quite a long way from my 2023 New Year’s Resolutions. Soon I will be drafting new resolutions based off everything I’ve learned in this last transformative year. The central focus of these will be trying to become more process focused than results focused. My goal for 2026 should be more about my ability to “keep promises to myself” rather than losing X many pounds a week/month. As such, part of my resolutions will be to more formally plan out exercise routines so I can continue the focus on putting the work in. But I’m also looking forward to taking monthly limb measurements to track change beyond just the scale. I’ve learned a great deal about both diet and exercise, but 2026 is going to be all about how much I can really put it all into practice.
Mini-rants in the audio
In defense of motivation: I talked a bit about how I think the concept of motivation is unfairly discarded. Many rightfully recognize that motivation alone is not sufficient to drive long-term change, but there’s more to it than that. I believe that people need to at least have hope change is possible before any change can be made.
Against weight gain fear-mongering: For me, the fear of gaining all the weight back was a big barrier to making meaningful progress. I think people are often too critical of the specifics of people’s weight loss efforts. For someone like me, it’s a long road and there is a great deal of time for learning through trial-and-error.