Day 1...

Well would you look at that?! I went and kicked off my journal with a damned dirty lie. I can't even remember when day 1 was, it was that long ago. But truth be told (and my mum told me it always should be) whilst it was long ago my training efforts have been anything but consistent.

Why? Well, im Joe Average. My enthuisasm has been known to fluctuate, i work a 9-5 some 70 miles away from home (2 hour commute each way) and have all the domestic demands that come with adult life. I used to smoke and begrudged the idea of what felt like turning my diet on its head and having to spend a small fortune on eating right. Enough with the excuses.

I can honestly say that at the grand old age of 27 i have turned a corner and recently gained a new perspective on life. Dont get me wrong, i always knew that working out made me feel good, and that the gains and general improvements in health made me feel better still, but like i already suggest above, i let the excuses get in the way.

I got a wake up call about 18 months ago when i realised my 6ft frame had withered to a miserly 10.5 stone. I wasnt eating right, i wasnt exercising and i was always stressed and tired. At the same time i relocated from London to the coast and once the dust settled set about putting things right. I guess somewhere tucked in back there was my real Day 1.

Where am i now?

I seem to have hit a plateau at 12 stone. My training is good, and i feel, progressive and my diet improves with each week and trip to Tesco that passes.

So why the journal?

Very simply, to keep me on the ball. I need something to help me bust through the 12 stone mark. To give me somewhere to chart what im doing and how im doing it. Somewhere for me to reflect and hopefully identify areas for improvement. If some of you folk get on here and read this and feel you can shout some advice my way then thats all good, i'll welcome your input. But, at the end of the day, comments or no comments i feel this could be what i need to push me on to the next level and keep me moving forward.

For a long time now i have been a 'lurker' on here, reading the good things you all have to say. I wont ever stop learning, and i like it that way. Thanks for all the help you have all (unknowingly) provided already.

I'll post my workouts and diet later.

Average Joe aka alp078

This was first posted in the journals forum, I've reproduced it here just as an introduction. I'm closing it as replies have already been forthcoming in original thread. Just reproduced here for intro purposes - 43aso