Patience is a Virtue?

I actually googled this phrase, not because I didn't know what it meant, but because I wanted to see what people actually thought about it. It's pretty simple right? Being patient is good and being impatient is bad right? To many (like myself) having patience is actually a vice. It's hard to be patient in this world due to how the world runs. We want things and we want them NOW. Patience is something that can be misinterpreted though. This doesn't mean that if you want something, you sit there on your butt and patiently wait for it to fall into your lap. Most of us have to persevere through a lot of trial and error before things come together. As I stood on the scale last week, I weighed 253.5. Almost the same as I did last week. I got very discouraged and wanted to quit. How could I be eating so little, and feel like I am killing myself on some days and not make any progress? I watch youtube videos of all of these people who are absolutely jacked and look amazing and eat way more than I do. Am I incapable of losing weight or looking like them?

Well the answer is No and Yes. I am definitely capable of losing weight, but everyone is different. I learned the hard way that my body does not process carbs correctly yet. It can be in the genes or body type that some people do not burn carbs well. Even with the slight increase that I had (150g of carbs a day) it kept putting the weight on me. Also my cheat meals contribute to this. It's the one step forward, one step back cycle that is easy to get into. I had to realize that I am not Chris Jones and I cannot eat 250 grams of carbs a day and lose weight. It just isn't going to happen. Yet. Since then I've tried something new and am down 3 pounds in 4 days. Yep that may be water weight but my measurements have been awesome. I'll get to that in a moment.


Now am I incapable of looking like one of these bodybuilders? Absolutely not. Sometime with all of the media and videos and articles that we have access to we can get hung up on the top of the line. If you read about having six pack abs every day and see workout videos of people who have six pack abs, you will start to think you have six pack abs after 3 workouts. This will never happen. It's just like the joke a comedian said. If you're on a plane and read about a disease on that flight, you will think you have the disease by the end of the flight. The mind is a crazy thing especially when you dwell on a certain thing day in and day out. Well after some research you will find that bodybuilders have worked out for YEARS. Not get ripped in 2 months, but get ripped in 3-5 years! Some people have crazy genetics and can get six pack abs in 6 months, but us normal folks? Years. That's years of consistent training and eating properly. Straight losing weight can be different depending on how you started out, but even that takes several months. When I lost my big chunk of weight, it took 6 months on a strict diet.


My point is anyone can look like anything, but it takes time. I encourage everyone to read the articles and watch the videos but don't get caught into it. You aren't them, but you can use them for the knowledge they are offering so you can become who you want to become. Make a long term goal, but make smaller goals to track the progress. If you aren't progressing then change what you're doing, but give it at least 4 weeks before changing as sometimes the body has to heal or adapt to doing something different.

 UPDATE
So as I mentioned above I am still weighing around the same. I have been around 253-256 in the past two weeks. I changed my diet with the advice of Phillip Stevens (a pro powerlifter on iron radio podcast)  to cycle carbs. I was also hearing from some of the top professionals that some people cannot burn carbs properly if they have been or are overweight. I had to face the facts. Although I lost 60 pounds I am still overweight. With my parents both having type 2 diabetes, I may not be able to process carbs as well due to my gene pool. Thirdly I sit down a lot of the day due to my job, I may not be able to expend enough energy to burn off carbs like normal folks. So now, I eat 100-125 grams of carbs on days that I lift. I carb cycle, which means I focus on taking in the bulk of those carbs before my training. After those meals, I switch back to a keto style meal plan in which I eat mostly fat, protein and minimal carbs. So far I've been doing this 4 days and my weight is going down. Today I weight 251.3, the lowest since before Christmas.

My measurements were:
Chest 45.5 (went up .5 inches)
Belly 39 (went down 1 inch!!)
Hips 43.5 (went down .5 inches)
Arms 16 and 17.5 flexed (.5 up in flexion)
Thigh 28 inches (went up 1 again)


This is absolutely crazy to me. I am going up in my main areas. My chest I went up, which means I am putting on some mass in my back and chest. My legs are still growing which doesn't surprise me and my stomach and belly are getting smaller. Right where I want to be. I am going to continue this carb cycling and see where I am on March 1st. If I am in the 240s I wont purchase a coach.