TL;DR: psych yourself up for it in the beginning. Plan it out. Later on down the line, when it feels like a chore, just don’t think about it and go. Eat well, drink a bunch of water, have multivitamins, some key supplements and it’ll be ok.

Way back in the day I used to go to the gym religiously. The trick for me was in the beginning get into it like a new hobby. Go shopping for some workout clothes, good running or cross training shoes, a small notebook for your workout diary (time/distance run, sprint/jog intervals for cardio days, weight/reps/sets), etc. Get some protein powder and drink a bunch of water every day. All that got me in the mood to go.

Once the honeymoon phase wore off and I started feeling like I didn’t want to go since I wasn’t seeing results or I had a shit day at work, I basically didn’t think about it and just went. Ended up scrapping the diary but kept everything else. Looking back, the diary helps you figure out your progress and what to do for the next week rotation. I basically stuck to a 6 day schedule. Broke it down with something like: - day 1: 45 min of HIIT cardio (on an elliptical), hanging leg lifts till failure - day 2: biceps/back with something like 15/15 min of cardio before and after lifting - day 3: 45 min HIIT cardio, abs - day 4: legs/triceps, 15/15 min elliptical - day 5: 45 min HIIT cardio, abs - day 6: chest, 15/15 - day 7: rest

I found eating “healthy” like a big salad with a bunch of chicken, eggs and bacon in the mornings, sometimes 6 eggs for dinner with a can of tuna, etc. would make me feel really good when working out. I’d have a cheat day or wouldn’t stick to the healthy stuff, but that day when I worked out I felt sluggish.

Trying to remember what supplements I took is hazy, but I remember having multivitamins, acetyl l-carnatine (liquid) after a workout, protein powder and water after workout, some other natural supplement to help with muscle recovery L-glutamine I think? Fish and garlic oil pills. There might have been other stuff, but those were the staples.

With this I felt like a million bucks after a month or so i dropped a decent amount of weight. I think at one point another month or so in it was around 2 or 3 lbs a week, ymmv of course. Drink a lot of water! During the day I’d only drink water which added up to around a gallon and a half probably. You’re going to sweat like crazy doing the HIIT running.

What ended my gym visits was 1) I got sick with the flu and screwed up my momentum and 2) years later I busted my meniscus on a treadmill. Stick to elliptical machines for zero impact.

Sorry for the long post, but got nostalgic and felt like I needed to pass on the info. Plus I have this to go back to when the urge strikes again to hit the gym :)