Road to Right: Justin’s accountability tour

The benefits of having a long time lifting buddy: do the math for my first set and it’s 220. Now Slate is stronger than me in all lifts so i know we will have to add weight to mine. I don’t want to waste time with all the extra plates, 10 out of 10 times I’m saying “fuck it, I’ll just start at 225.” I look up to Slate (having grabbed a 25) putting it back in favor of another 45. This man knows me. 🤣  What a fuckin week huh? Dallas got eliminated from the playoffs before they even played this week, the Epstein files were both simultaneously released and not released, my wife came home, and Avatar 3 came out. Really trying to close the year out with bangers. I totally almost fucked up Liz’ surprise on my post last week. Yall aren’t crazy, originally i said she gets home “this week” before changing it to “soon”. Oops. No it was awesome: the dogs went absolutely bat shit crazy for her, we did a no huddle Christmas shopping trip, we are both returning to vans skater chic unironically…i...

 thought about updating last week but honestly it was much of the same. The last month really has been relatively similar week to week: just working and training and cleaning and eating. Funny, eating never used to make it in my “to do” lists…but taking your shit seriously means rearranging priorities until you get what you want. Nobody really talks about the endurance factor of the grind. Fitfluencers are hella quick to toss around the “do it tired, do it whether you want to or not” etc but it takes way more than a catchy slogan super imposed over a dope looking skull to keep yourself on track. Interesting enough (and here comes a principle we all love and recognize) is that the way to keep at it is extremely similar to the way you grieve and process and heal…it takes some grace. Look diet and exercise, fitness and nutrition, these are games of consistency. At work we like to use the 80/20 rule, 80% of the time you’re locked tf in and that makes the 20% of bullshit not as detrimen...

 I keep running into the same situation when i don’t get posts out on Wednesday, the doldrums of the current week start washing out the doldrums of last week to the point that i simply can’t remember shit to talk about. Luckily for this week it was thanksgiving. Certainly not my worst thanksgiving, that one was reminiscent of the seven fishes flashback in the Bear. I won’t get into details. This week was a lot of normal stuff: working and lifting and rolling. Not too much BJJ cuz of the holidays but we’ve already rectified that issue this week. Actual thanksgiving was just Stranger Things, family FaceTimes, and ground turkey. Can not complain, it was much more neutral than anything. Cool news time: put on a couple of pounds of muscle and dropped PBF to like 21%…I’ve been chasing sub-18 for years and this is the most serious I’ve ever really been about  the grind. Results are cool. Once again, the kid that spent years picking on himself so that the bullies couldn’t do it is now...

Something I’ve come to learn about myself in the last few years of self-exploration and recovery is that I’m an all or nothing kinda guy. Broad spectrum, total changes are the only way to go, because if say I locked in on diet and exercise but kept up my wasteful doomscrolling…it welcomes mediocrity. Can’t be having that. I’ll paint you a picture. Hungary, June 2022. A month out from the druggings and theft and all that jazz in Romania. Cut out drinking, really settled in to a rhythm, then had a drink on the plane out of Hungary in August. Womp womp, pretty soon it’s December and i was back on my back sliding bullshit. I’ve got to implement fundamental change at the foundational level for it to stick. What’s that look like this past week? Well i added some muscle on the frame and dropped body fat percentage, dug the fuck in at work, rolled, studied, and spent Sunday deep cleaning this Fitz of a wreck that I’ve been living in. (It’s not that bad, I’m just dramatic). My regular reoccurri...

 Alright so i know that this is a combination post AND dropping at night on a Wednesday. Long story short, I’ve been staring this task down like a 10 pointer in headlights…just no thoughts. All vibes. I guess the real difficult part is that i have nothing to talk about in 45. I went to work and went home, worked out and rolled, and continued to force feed as i forever chase an unfucked appetite and (well really, the whole digestive system) a stomach that can hold more than five bites. The struggle marches ever onward.  Hey I fixed a medication problem and now am not pestered by crippling bouts of anxiety so that’s nice. We’ve also officially locked in to the grind until February. The eating is coming along, fuckin today I have eaten an entire pound of ground beef and two potatoes. Fuck yeah. Warped tour was my last hurrah of the year before dedicating myself to goal chasing before the end of the year. Before that, let’s dive into my Florida trip. So god damned cool. For starte...

 It’s weird, see cuz daylight savings just passed. This means I’m about two months from 2026, a month+ before Liz gets back, four months left to take the PMP, and a good upper body month before deadcember. Work is moving ahead as usual, the guys and I keep pulling wins out of thin air (social media posts, sales, etc). It’s simple, it’s refreshing, and it’s fun. Like shit, I’ve never done retail or sales before but turns out i kinda know what I’m doing when I know what I’m talking about. The knee is recovering as always, squatted 205 last week and my physical therapist didn’t yell at me because i used good form. I’ll be real tho, my knee is real sweepy four to five days afterwards. Maybe not my best. Being on this side of the deployment is wildly eye opening. Like ffs, I’ve had like 3-4 major life changes since February and my spouse was unfortunately a cellular device all the while. I’m sure Liz went through this but like, i think a month+ is simultaneously too long and a bit long ...