Progress thread with a monthly picture.

[pictureboy]

Hi,

I'm the same guy who recently asked to see progress pics. I'm posting under a different name, because I want to post my own pics here and don't want them to come up on casual googling.

This thread is going to be my own personal progress (or lack-of-progress, as the case may be) thread.

I am hereby making the following contracts with myself, with you guys as the witnesses:

1) I will shovelglove every N-day during 2009.

I have already started about week ago. I did 7 mins every morning last week, and I am doing 8 mins per morning this week (will eventually get to 14).

I have a paper log which I maintain daily (it's actually a food log with a Shovelglove checkbox for every N-Day).

2) At the 13th of each month, I will take front, side and back pictures of myself, shirtless.

3) Shortly thereafter (max 2-3 days) I will post this picture here, along with a record of my days spent shugging this month (so you can see if I have been keeping up).

These are my promises. I cannot promise any results or any actual improvement. I do promise I will keep going even if it seems there is absolutely no improvement, and will re-asses my condition on January 1st, 2010.

I do not practice NoS, but I do eat sensibly.

Attached are my first pictures, "before Shovelglove", taken on Jan 13 2008.

[reinhard]

Thank you for boldly diving in like this!

I (for one) hereby witness the contract.

I'm also convinced that this is going to be one hell of a picture show -- assuming (as I do, of course) that you live up to your end of the contract.

Here's hoping this will be as motivating to you personally and inspiring to others as I think it'll be,

Reinhard

[gratefuldeb67]

Hi "E" good luck! You aren't even really over weight, so you will really see your results soon due to not having any big layers of fat covering your muscles!
SG will make a difference for sure.
Congrats on your building up slowly and heeding your body's signals.
The endurance will soon come easily to you, promise!
Debs

[pictureboy]

Thanks Debs and Reinhard!

I have a good record with sticking to agreements like that. And you being so kind and supportive about the whole thing definitely helps!

[gratefuldeb67]

Of course! Good luck!
You're braver than I in the pix posting department.. For the past two years I have intentionally only taken pix of my face, cos I'm at least 60 lbs overweight.. But I too will post some before and durings, halfway through the year..
But not topless!

[sherlock]

Your body looks somewhat similar to mine. I appreciate you doing this (assuming you follow through), because I can compare your changes to mine to see how I'm stacking up. We started at roughly the same time, so hopefully we should experience changes at roughly the same pace. (Isn't that how these things are supposed to work? haha.)

But I'm not bold enough to post pictures.... at least not yet.

[pictureboy]

Hi guys,

Sorry for not posting the picture on time. Real Life had other plans... We moved house (crazy amounts of work), and my camera's battery died.

I will take and post the photos ASAP. I have been SGing for a month without missing a day, but have already missed two days since the move. I need to get back into the routine.

So - I have not forgotten, and have not chickened out. The pics are coming.

[reinhard]

Looking forward to it!

[reinhard]

Still looking forward to it

[pictureboy]

Alright, so here's the thing:

I've missed one week of SG, with the move and all. On top of that, I actually gained like 2kg!

I am now back to SGing after this one-week hiatus, but posting a pic wouldn't mean much (there is not much difference).

I will post the pic on 13th March.

Or, if you guys are really curious, I can post one now -- but I'm warning you, it looks just like the old one.

I'm still doing only 10 mins every morning, and increasing it by one minute every week.

[gratefuldeb67]

Post one whenever you want pictureboy
I'd say it will be much more dramatic to see you in six or seven months but I'm thinking Reinhard probably just wanted to encourage you to stick to your "promise" to yourself of a monthly pic?

But then again, he posts only one per year!
So doing that every month, as fascinating as it might be to see them all side by side, is probably a bit "above and beyond"

Keep up the great work!
Debs

[reinhard]

I wouldn't worry about there not being much visible difference in a month -- it would be remarkable (and perhaps not entirely healthy) if there were.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/healt ... ths&st=cse

Why post then? Well, there's the self-discipline aspect. And it's also helpful for other newbies to see, if you do wind up sticking with it and achieving something impressive, what kind of time frame it can take. So counterintuitive as it may seem, documenting in detail that strikingly improved photogenicity takes more than a month is actually helpful. It sets realistic expectations.

But as Deb points out, I myself post only once a year, so I do appreciate the pain in the ass factor -- and I promise I'll stop harassing you now

Reinhard

[gratefuldeb67]

Hahah Reinhard, you know I was just kidding!!!
You are a very encouraging friend to us all!!
I'd never call that harassment!!!



Debs x

[CriticalMass]

Could be my doppleganger. Although my legs are more chicken-y and my arms even more noodle like.

[pictureboy]

Alright, so it's been two months, and here we go.

I'm flexing in the last one, just for fun. The top three are the actual reference pics.

[pictureboy]

I just compared these two my first pics of two months ago, side-by-side on my 22" monitor.

Except for the lighting, they seem pretty much the same. I don't see much change. Maybe the back one is a bit different, but it's hard to tell -- maybe it's just the lighting.

I am still not up to 14 daily minutes. I started at 9 and added a minute per week. I am now at 13.

I'm gonna keep going -- this is the experiment. The only thing worth noting at this point is that at two months, there are no major changes, I think.

[reinhard]

Thank you for posting!

Don't worry that you can't see much change. Despite what the charlatans tell you, this stuff tends to be very slow.

From the NY Times article I linked to before:

“To make a change in how you look, you are talking about a significant period of training,†Dr. Kraemer said. “In our studies it takes six months to a year.â€

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/healt ... ths&st=cse

No major visible changes doesn't mean no changes. By the time you can see muscle growth there's A LOT that must have occurred. And don't forget the habit growth. Habit is like erosion, like the sea carving out cliffs, a slow moving but extremely powerful force. Just keep at it with the regular wave action of your daily compliance, and I'm confident the pictures here will get very impressive.

And hey, you're still one minute shy of cruising altitude.

Looking forward to the next update -- even if it doesn't look any different,

Reinhard

[pictureboy]

Hi guys,

I did not die or give up. I'm around.

I'm writing this from Taipei, which is a long way from home. I came here for a couple of months to work. I'm not SGing while here, because (believe it or not) I was unable to actually find a sledgehammer. I've even asked a local friend to help, but no go.

I do swim, and I weigh in daily. I'm not gaining weight, but I'm not getting any leaner either. I will be back home in a month or so, and will continue SGing then (and I am seriously considering running, too).

So, this is why the quiet. This trip was unplanned, as was the breakup from my girlfriend which preceded it. Life happens, I guess.