Last Updated on May 21, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
I know, I keep saying this and nothing becomes of it. But, I am making yet another return to fitness. And I can say how much better I’ll do this time, but it’s the same story. The only true evidence is that of my actions.
Because in the end, just saying something doesn’t make it true. It’s the actions you take that differentiate reality from fantasy.
With that being said, I do feel more motivated nowadays. Well, at least I do this morning.
What Does a Return to Fitness Mean to Me?
First of all, it means pulling my head out of my ass and pushing forward.
I’ve been stagnant at 220-ish for months, and my mental health hasn’t been the best. And while I’ve been putting in a small bit of effort, it’s clearly not enough.
I need more structure!
I need more motivation!
Definitely Blogging More
The truth behind my blog is that I failed myself. Sure, Google torpedoed it to the point of getting a fraction of the traffic. But making money from this site and being an influencer was never my original goal.
I meant this website to be an online journal of sorts, of me, losing weight and keeping myself alive. And to relay the journey of going from 300+ pounds to being able to cross the state of Colorado on a bicycle.
Hence the name.
So, I’m going back to being more involved in the blog. I mean, I’m paying for it every year. I need to get something out of it. In this case, it’s motivation.
Fixing the Site
Getting this blog to work right is part of my return to fitness. After all, I want to have a stable platform to create content. And right now, there are all kinds of weird glitches going on.
So, over the next few months, you might see a lot of changes. I’m even considering a new theme and layout.
A new me, a new blog.
Why More Content?
Writing about weight loss, product reviews, progress posts, and more help keep me focused. After 2019, it’s been extremely difficult to focus. Deaths, evictions, global pandemics, and more have tapped me quite a bit.
But, I realized something when I recently committed to blogging every day on MichaelBrockbank.com.
I am a writer.
I feel better about everything when I’m able to create. The topics stick with me long after I publish, and I wind up getting ideas for more things I want to do in real life.
This means I need to get off my ass and get busy.
Helps Keep Me Motivated
Maintaining the blog does help me in terms of motivation. I especially like doing reviews and providing my take on exercises, products, or diet plans. For one thing, I gain a lot of insights into what works best for me.
And like I’ve said in the past, even if I have just one person reading the blog, I am more motivated to continue. This is because readers hold me accountable.
I just need to find that part of me that cares again.
Maintaining My Calorie-Counting Diet
I know my Net 600 Calorie Diet works. I’ve done it before and lost quite a bit when I actually committed to the plan. The hardest part is getting back into the mentality of keeping my calories in the green according to MyFitnessPal.
I lost 80 pounds by paying closer attention to what I eat.
The problem is that I just haven’t cared about succeeding for quite some time. What happened to the passion? What happened to the drive? I need to find those elements again.
Getting Out of the House More
Although the current state of the world makes getting out a bit more complicated, I do spend too much time in the house. Yesterday, I went for a walk and felt much better through the last half of the day.
It wasn’t merely because I got the blood pumping and worked up a bit of a sweat. It was just a pleasant change of scenery.
Even if it’s just a walk around the nearby “lake,” I need to get out of the house.
Striving to Get Into the Top 100 in Exercise.com
Exercise.com recently wiped personal records from the database. Which is kind of a bummer, since I wanted to shatter some of those I set back in 2014.
Still, getting into the top 100 on the site in terms of score is still appealing to me. After all, I used to love competition and pushing myself to win. I just wish they’d bring back the friendly challenges.
Unfortunately, it will be difficult to score a lot of points at the moment. Exercise.com focuses more on weight training, so lifting is worth more. All I have is a set of 20-pound dumbbells.
But I suppose we’ll see what happens.
Showing My Return to Fitness in Social Media?
In the past, I’ve used social media to help keep me accountable to stick with losing weight. But like many things in my life recently, I’ve all but given up.
At the moment, though, I do have an incredible amount of stuff on my plate. So, I’m not sure if I’ll really get back into social media as part of my return to fitness.
I’d like to, though.
I especially miss making the YouTube videos where I essentially troll myself. I just wish there was a faster and easier way to make them. A single video can chew up 2 to 5 hours of my day, depending on the content.
And I seriously don’t have that much time now that I’m actually putting effort into my other projects.
Getting Motivated for My Return to Fitness
For many people, finding the motivation to be healthier is one of the hardest things. After all, you’re not held accountable to no one but yourself. This means if you decide to skip a workout or eat junk food all day, it doesn’t matter to anyone.
There’s no boss about to dock your pay if you don’t perform. I could say that I would like to look amazing for when I date again. But then again, I don’t know if I want to be with someone who is that shallow.
So, what can I do to drive some motivation this time around?
Getting Back Into Positive Habits
First of all, I really need to get back into some positive habits. I used to play the Xbox Kinect every morning. Today was the first time I’ve turned it on in about three weeks.
Another habit I want to get into is my fear of the red numbers in MyFitnessPal. If I wanted an extra slice of pizza and I didn’t have the calories, I would walk until I could have one.
And lastly, I’d love to get back into sticking with my alarms. I have them set to remind me to get up and work out periodically throughout the day. For more than a year, I’ve just been dismissing them.
Maintaining My Damn Schedule
Another aspect of my return to fitness both physical and mental is maintaining my schedule. I have everything planned out for the day, which can vastly improve just about everything in my life.
The odd part is that more than half of my schedule is actually fun stuff. Streaming games, creating videos, blogging, and playing the Xbox are all part of my day.
Like my dad says, “Your give-a-shit is busted.”
It’s time to fix that part and getting the ball rolling.
Finding Myself
There are a lot of things that I just haven’t gotten over from the past decade. And I need to move past all of that and looking towards what the next decade could bring.
There’s a lot of goodness in store if I can stay the course.
What happened to that guy who never gave up or surrendered when things got tough? He was beaten down with a tire iron.
It’s time to pick myself up, brush off, and get ready for the next round.
How often do you return to fitness after a hiatus?
So, it looks like the vast majority of this blog post was essentially a rambling rant about how I suck. But, it’s therapeutic. And I do feel quite a bit better about my return to fitness this time around.
Now all I have to do is find that part of me that can maintain the flow.
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