Last Updated on June 23, 2025 by Michael Brockbank
Well, as you probably guessed, the start to last week was a bit of a failure. I’m motivated to get this going, but the chaos just kind of ran all of my plans into the ground. So, I am starting over today.
I think a big part of the issue this time is the fact that I’m trying to balance all of the things that are happening lately with WriterSanctuary and my books. In other words, it’s the same excuse as many times in the past: too much on my plate.
It’s not quite the same this time around, though. I am jazzed and energetic about the summer challenge. I genuinely want to get this moving. But, I spent so much time last week preparing blogs, YouTube, podcasts, and the book that I kept sweeping the physical activity part under the rug.
How Am I Going to Follow Through This Time?
I am starting to add everything into Asana, including the workouts. As I check off everything for the day, I’m going to make sure I get some quality time with some kind of activity. It’ll most likely be playing the Oculus until it cools down a bit.
Asana is the free project management app I’ve been using to plan my day since 2017. And lately, I’ve been putting in some hardcore effort to check off everything on my daily activities. As I’ve said in my personal blog, this is the Year of Time. The idea is to optimize my use of it.
Anyway, the idea is that if I put the workouts in my daily activities, I’ll get them done as part of my work week. The hard part is taking that part of my routine seriously. In the past, I set workouts aside because they weren’t a “priority” in how my day unfolded. After all, I’m not making money by working out, as opposed to everything else I do in the day.
That’s the mindset I need to change.
I need to prioritize the exercise as much as I would writing a blog post or addressing a client’s needs. Besides, I’ve gamified much of my workouts so that they’re a fun way to burn 20 to 30 minutes. Why would I not give myself that moment of entertainment?
Adding a Workout Before Starting My Workday
Since I am focused on optimizing my time better, adding one of my daily activities before the “workday” even starts might help get the ball rolling. I know on days when I walk for 20 minutes before 8:00 am, I feel thousands of times better for the rest of the day.
Now comes the difficult part, talking myself into making my fitness as much of a priority as everything else. That’s probably one of the hardest things to do when you’re trying to lose weight.
The human body, for the most part, knows what it needs to do. It’s the mindset that makes losing weight and gaining fitness difficult for folks such as myself. If you don’t take your health seriously, you won’t get anywhere in terms of weight loss or fitness goals, no matter how impressive the plans may look on the screen.
In other words, it won’t matter what exercise or diet plan you choose or pay for if you’re mind isn’t in the game for the long term. That’s why so many people fail at fad diets or exercise routines. You may fork over some money to a bottom-feeder like V Shred for a personalized workout. But if you’re mind isn’t in the activity, it’ll be a waste of your bank account.
Considering how I am a stress eater, I’m kind of impressed I haven’t ballooned back up to 300+ pounds. So, I suppose that’s kind of a win, really.
Changing the Mindset Isn’t Easy
From a physical standpoint, losing weight is relatively easy for most. It’s changing your mindset that is the most difficult. As I said earlier, your body knows what it needs to do. That’s why every time I really focus on managing myself, I can easily lose about half a pound per day. It’s maintaining the positive mindset that is the hardest part.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer for changing the mindset of prioritizing yourself. And sometimes, the tricks that worked before no longer apply. Situations, world views, family, and friends all change and evolve over time. That means we need to do so as well in order to keep up the motivation to make great things happen.
When you get to be my age, that rings especially true. Humans tend to slow down as they get older, and as I will be rounding the horn at 49 in a few weeks, I’ve noticed time is constantly working against me. Sure, the blood letting to treat my condition helps. But it’s taking a lot more effort to keep myself moving than it did back in 2018.
I’m not sure that’s necessarily a mindset issue, though. That’s more to the side of physical limitations with age. Well, at least generally speaking, of course. There are a lot of folks older than I who seem to have more pep in their step.
Perhaps it has more to do with living a lethargic lifestyle over the past couple of decades.
Getting Afraid of Seeing Negative Numbers
When I weighed more than 300 pounds, one thing that motivated me was the thought of seeing red numbers in MyFitnessPal. This was before Under Armour bought that app and “fixed” it. Although it no longer shows red numbers, it does indicate when you’re below your goal.
I need to get myself afraid of seeing those negative numbers again.
I would walk for miles to afford a couple of slices of pizza if I didn’t have the calories for it because I didn’t want the numbers red in MyFitnessPal. It was quite motivating, and I wound up losing the vast majority of the last 80 pounds because of that mindset.
That all comes back to prioritizing myself instead of saying, “fuck it, I’ll eat what I want.”
Perhaps it comes down to creating habits. I am no longer in the habit of keeping calories in the green, so I don’t really care what the numbers show. By putting in the effort to make it a habit again, perhaps I’ll care more about eating better and being more active.
Let’s See If I Can Finish Week One
My goal this week is to see if I can maintain enough workouts to keep the calories in the green. That means reminding myself to get off my ass and get moving if I want certain things for meals or snacks.
That also means sticking with plans and actually adhering to the workout alarms on my phone without just swiping to turn them off. I don’t merely want to lose weight, but to also improve my overall quality of life from a physical perspective. For instance, being able to walk up and down the stairs a couple of times without getting winded would be nice.
As I’ve pointed out before, I don’t want to be a burden in a zombie apocalypse. Initially, I thought that was a funny point to make. Then you see the state of the world today and realize that an apocalypse is probably closer than you might think.
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