[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by Silock

If you have a psychological meltdown because you didn't meet your weekly goal, that sounds like a serious problem that you should maybe seek help for. I fall short of my goals regularly. Some weeks, I can't meet the weight goal. No big deal. Reset, move on, start again.

I won't. Mainly because I don't set weekly goals for myself, but there's also that I really don't care about small incremental changes in strength gains from week to week. I know when I'm wussing out in a work out and when I'm not. the weight I'm pushing really has no bearing on what I'm doing in the gym at the time.

So, you DO have goals. What happens if you can't meet them? I mean, 9% body fat at 185 pounds is ****ing RIPPED and HUGE, man. I don't think you understand. I've posted my pics here before. Right now, I'm about 200 pounds, 18% body fat. When I cut to 9% body fat, I weighed 167 lbs. Even 12% at 200 lbs is ****ing gigantically muscular.

If I cut to 9% and weigh in the mid-160's I'm going to be super pissed. That's exactly what I was my freshman year of college. That's some scrawny shit right there.

I'll probably have to reduce my hummus intake to get below double digits in body fat, which will make me sad. (Also cut out the Golden Oreos and Fritos and Bean Dip.)

I guess I don't understand why you brought up plateaus and muscle memory/confusion if all you're concerned about is aesthetics.

Isn't aesthetics what it's all about? I mean, isn't that the end goal? Unless you are power lifting. (My little brother was about 280 lb. at 5'10" when he was at his max size for competition training, but there wasn't much in the way in terms of cut at that size nor was there any concern about getting "ripped." Personally, I've never got above 235 at 5'11" when I was lifting heavy/not really focused on shredding up.)

I'm glad! Three weeks in, though... you're still in the newb gain phase. It's at this point that literally ANYTHING you do will result in better body composition than where you were at. And if you want nothing more than to see that out, then awesome! But it's eventually going to stop. Also, I suspect you're more concerned about the psychological effects of a "pump," but it really doesn't mean you had a great workout or anything.

Oh, I don't know. I can tell when I've had a good workout and for some reason they are just stringing together at this point. Maybe it's because I haven't worked out for four years, but I do know that the feeling I have now is better than previous workout eras for me personally. Perhaps it's the vegan diet, lack of alcohol intake, or whathaveyou, but they are ending with exhaustion, but also a really harmonious and intense good feeling.

I'd really like to throw a yoga workout in there somewhere as well once or twice a week.

Your stated goal of "looking as good as you can" is at odds with not having a program or plan. If you mean "looking as good as you can by doing whatever you feel like you want to do that day," then that's different. But I can tell you from experience that you're not going to **** around with no direction and end up at 185 lbs and 9% body fat unless you're like 6'10".

I don't think that would be any problem whatsoever. I was just at 175 and single digits body fat about six months ago. About four months ago I was at 185 and around 10-12%. I'm 200 right now and probably around 15% - maybe a little more. Like I said, I'm not too overly concerned about the whole thing. I end up where I end up.

Personally, I'm a little surprised that I'm actually putting muscle weight on since going back to the gym with as much walking around that I do at work all day and being on the vegan diet.

(Actually, I just went up and weighed myself. 206.)