About 1 year ago I had some personal life setbacks which caused me to take a long look in mirror and take stock of myself and where I was at. One aspect of that was that while I wouldn’t have classified myself as really out of shape, I certainly wasn’t fit. I decided then and there that fitness and health would go from an afterthought to a priority.

First I got a DEXA to see where I was at, 22.2% BF which I was surprised by, thought I was closer to 15%! Funny how mind plays tricks!

From June - Sept I focused on stoping the bleeding and cut most junk (pizza,burgers,wings, fries, etc…) and alcohol from 5 days/week to 2 days. I also started SL5x5 and was lifting 3 days per week. That got me from 22% to 16% over the summer.

Oct-Jan I kind of slacked off and with holidays I put on a bit of weight and BF%. I also continued with my lifting. Got another DEXA and was up to 17.7%, not great.

Feb-Now: I cut alcohol from 2 days per week to maybe 2 days per month. Started tracking macros and significantly increased protein intake from maybe 100g/day on a good day to 200g and finally I switched from SL5x5 to PPL and increased number of days to 5-6.

It’s been a journey, not exactly in a straight line. Biggest impact has been better mental health, just feel more positive now than before. Powerful to me to witness the impact of the physical self on the mental.