Iron-Like Patience

January 7, 2023 / Uncategorized / 0 comment / kdelano23

Weight gain and weight loss are all a part of my extensive history with exercise. I have been lifting on and off for roughly 5 or 6 years. As a pre and early teen, the lifting was very minimal. My brother and I were just newly introduced to this idea, so we would follow in our Dad’s footsteps to an appropriate level given our age. Previously, we would just run around outside and play as young kids do, because our metabolisms were fast. As I grew in age, my metabolism slightly slowed down. The food I ate started to have an effect on my body. Eating too many calories in a day for a couple of weeks changed my weight and my appearance. Soon, a recent back injury would spiral into a cause for surgery, putting my whole body out of commission for many months. Physical therapy was a drag and I just wanted to get back to fully moving, let alone exercising.

Surgery on my back had a much longer effect than I had imagined at the time. About a year after my recovery I was starting to notice other effects the long period of immobility had done on me. I couldn’t lift as heavy, I got slower, I moved differently, and worst of all, I gained upwards of 50 pounds. This was so discouraging that I gradually gave up. I would attempt to get back into a routine and lift consistently every couple of months for the following year. It never amounted to anything.

Last summer ended the broken record of lifting habits I was cycling through every half-year. I joined a public gym that a lot of my friends were going to and I began my research. I looked over a bunch of supplements, and foods I should eat more versus what I should cut out. More importantly, I started researching fitness influencers who actually knew what they were talking about, and could really help me see progress. Seeing everyone around me hit their goals, getting bigger and lifting heavier was really inspiring and motivating, but I was not seeing similar outcomes after months of lifting with them. Little to no progress can be extremely discouraging, I thought at the time that with only a couple of months lifting I’d look like a different person. Reflecting back on it now I chuckle, I now know how ridiculous that sounds and actually is. For some, results can come as quickly as 1-4 months. But for others, like me, it takes longer.

Yet again I fell off the wagon.

A scale of this type is usually seen at hospitals.

The timeline arrives on November 5th, 2022, my first day truly back, (yes, again.) Things are different because I have all the knowledge I needed in previous years. I’ve inquired with some of my other gym pals and done more and more research of my own. Learned from my past mistakes, and am ready to try new things I’ve learned. Starting something called a cut; calculating how many calories you should be eating in a day to maintain your current weight, and cutting out a certain number of calories to lose a desired amount of weight each week until you’re satisfied. I topped out at 200 pounds around the middle of November. I finally pulled the trigger and started my calorie restriction. My goal is to drop to 180, bench my body weight, back squat 1.5x my body weight (270), and deadlift double my body weight (360). Despite my previous beliefs, I can already see differences in my body, and I’ve lost around 6 pounds.

While I am nowhere near finished, I plan on perfecting my body until I’m finally satisfied years in the future. This has taken me much trial and error, and lots of patience to get to this point. This time, though, I know what I’m doing. However, there is no doubt that I need to keep up my intensity and patience to continue to improve. Everyone’s journey is different. Mine is rockier than some and smooth as a baby’s bottom to others. What’s similar to everyone’s is what is required by your mind to be able to succeed. Patience is the deal breaker. You can never have too much, but you can have too little, and that will kill progress right in its tracks. Some may say you need to be motivated over everything else. But I will gladly argue that without patience, you’ll find other things to do with your time besides lifting, no matter how motivated you are. Knowing results come in small increments, and can take long periods of time to show itself, and accepting that while moving forward, is one of the most powerful things to do. Patience is key.