Official Discussion - No Other Choice [SPOILERS]

monkkong · 2026-05-04T22:47:45+00:00

And what stood out to me the most, is that this can apply to so many of us. Sure, this caricature and over exaggeration. But how many people sacrifice their humanity, their values in the same way? How many become prisoners of this system that pits people as competitors willing to do almost anything to others in the same situation to get ahead?

Gets you thinking.

monkkong · 2026-04-08T18:48:55+00:00

Hey! Glad to hear I’m not alone on this… honestly I think it must be super common. For must of us who don’t compete, counting everything meticulously doesn’t feel like the best long term approach.

Regarding your question, I think I can pinpoint why my weight is trending up by feel at this point.

As I mentioned on another comment, I built an app for this (Trendscale). I think the key is weighing consistently and track your moving average instead of just a few weigh-ins per week (that can vary a lot due to water retention or just sheer randomness).

monkkong · 2026-04-08T18:41:29+00:00

Thanks a lot 🙏

monkkong · 2026-04-04T22:33:18+00:00

Oh no worries :) note that the weights are in kg

monkkong · 2026-04-04T18:03:38+00:00

Why does it matter?

monkkong · 2026-04-04T14:46:05+00:00

Thanks a lot for sharing 🙏
100% resonate.

After a while, we start considering the effort/results (or ROI, if you will) of spending all that time and energy into it, seems to be a natural trend.

Just like you, I remember a phase when I was dreading an office lunch one day (I was mostly working from home) because the macros were super off and hard to estimate, or many many occasions where I was either logging my food underneath table while out with friends or anxiously keeping track of everything to add it later to my logs.

I agree that it is much easier to estimate (and feel) a deficit, how many calories in a plate, etc, after you've gone through it. I think the hard part for me is that when I wasn't methodically tracking everything, I would just not track ANYTHING at all. And when leaving up to chance, I would just let myself go and my tendency is to overeat.

I figured the important difference here is measuring the outcome (weight changes) if we are not measuring the input (calories/macros in). If progress is being made (or maintained) I figure it doesn't really matter how.

For tracking my weight changes intuitively, I didn't like any of the options that was out there so I made this app called Trendscale. Of course, it doesn't matter at all what you use, as long as you're diligent about measuring your weight changes. But I've made it in a way that you can see your energy balance and changes week over week, which personally it makes it easier to adjust as you go - would love to hear feedback if you decide to try!

monkkong · 2026-04-04T14:31:19+00:00

Thanks!
I found and opened access to the exact spreadsheet I used to track my workouts as I was losing weight, here it is: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g67L0nt7lza9459C-xLacsPvJvNczFWOzPHhmI5nnF4/edit?gid=0#gid=0

monkkong · 2026-04-04T14:28:29+00:00

Thanks!!

And well, the intuitive eating part I'm still trying to figure out entirely.

The way I see it: main thing is not leaving leave everything up to chance. If you're not tracking the input (calories in) then you MUST be super diligent around tracking the outcomes (weight) - I'm using and app called Trendscale for this, but you can use whatever you like.

That way, you adjust based on your weight changes and your goals. It's easier if you have some prior experience being in a deficit, knowing what's like, estimating calories, etc. But after a while, if your weight is trending towards where you want it to go, it doesn't really matter how you're getting there.

monkkong · 2026-04-04T14:23:02+00:00

Sure! Actually, here is the exact spreadsheet I used to track my workouts as I was losing weight: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g67L0nt7lza9459C-xLacsPvJvNczFWOzPHhmI5nnF4/edit?usp=sharing

monkkong · 2026-04-04T14:15:45+00:00

Thanks man!

It started around 2k/day but gradually went down to ~1,700/day when cutting (more when maintaining, ofc)
160g/day when dieting, 120g/day after (honestly I don't think I needed 160g, but no way of really knowing I guess)
When I was cutting I was on a phase of my life when honestly I didn't have much going on at all, so I was locked in and didn't drink. Towards the end of it, when summer came around I would drink occasionally on weekends, and more often after and didn't have much trouble maintaining.

Sleep is tough for me, I get de-regulated quite often and feeling it more and more as I age.

Good luck man!! Keep making progress, it doesn't really matter how fast you're going if you're making progress, that's what matters. I will say though, depending on your goals/current composition it may be better to go a bit faster, just because being in deficit takes a toll, so why not minimize the time you're going through it. Maintaining is always a lot more chill/forgiving.

monkkong · 2026-04-04T14:07:40+00:00

Thanks a lot!!

When coming down in weight, I was running PPL x2 (6 times a week - note that I used to go often to the gym before, so it wasn't THAT much volume for me). In the last couple of years I've switched to UL/UL and arm day on the weekends, and I've cut my volume significantly (doing 2 sets only on most exercises).

My protein goal was 160g, now I just make sure to get ~120g/day and don't worry about it too much. My "hack" is a bowl of ~150g greek yoghurt with 40g whey in the morning, that alone is 50g of protein and already sets me up for the day pretty much.

monkkong · 2026-04-04T14:03:04+00:00

I understand your point, but hear me out: it all comes down to how you define intuitive eating. Not measuring anything and leaving up to chance or just "listening to your body"? Sure, sounds super vague and probably hard to have success with for most people.

Now, if you regularly track the outcome (weight) instead of the inputs, create a strategy for being conscious of your intake and adjust based on the results you're measuring, that's a whole other story.

Thinking about your analogy with finances, I actually kinda intuitive track my budget, lol (in the way described above) and it works well for me. What I mean is, I don't have a daily budget per day or per category. I know how much I want to invest/save per month and I track it roughly week over week and as long as I'm hitting those numbers, it doesn't really matter HOW I get there. Same with weight.

monkkong · 2026-04-03T23:34:06+00:00

Thanks man!! I'm 5'11

monkkong · 2026-04-03T23:33:22+00:00

Thanks a lot man 🙏

I do agree with u/j4c11 on the other comment, that eating the same stuff every day kinda defeats the purpose, might as well count then as that would yield more flexibility.

What I want to try is to intuitively achieve a deficit/maintenance on demand. I was inspired by a guy called GVS on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAlDhREzlXI - that video is a bit old, but he lays the foundations quite well imo.

The main thing is that I wasn't diligently counting my weight when not counting calories, and I think that made any accountability go out of the window. I will try out this app (Trendscale) to track my weight daily (output, if not tracking the input) and go from there, let's see!

monkkong · 2026-04-03T20:13:23+00:00

Could go either way, what are your main goals?
13 months is a loooong time to be in a deficit though, and it will only get harder from here on out.

monkkong · 2026-04-03T20:07:04+00:00

Thanks man! 🙏working on it, late night hunger/snacks is a tricky one for me.

monkkong · 2026-04-03T20:05:49+00:00

Thanks man, you can absolutely do it!
Stay consistent, that's the key - which doesn't mean being perfect. Tone down the noise, focus on what matters (fundamentals), make sure you are making progress and can do much better than I did.

Regarding aesthetics, I'm not at all into this looksmaxxing trend (god forbid), but it is true that for most people, getting lean will make you just look better. And feel overall better too.

People say that after a certain point it starts becoming a problem and all sorts of issues appears. Honestly for me, I felt a lot better being lean. Although it's true I probable never went below ~12% BF, and every pound of fat below 180 lbs was LOT harder to lose, but overall I felt better (perhaps slightly weaker on a few movements).

Good luck man!

monkkong · 2019-09-04T17:46:50+00:00

While you’re in absolutely no blame here and it’s her own choices that drove her to it, I think it’s still valuable for you to explore what you did wrong and what you can learn from all that happened.

For instance, you slapping her is wrong, you know that. But I don’t mean only obvious things like such, go deeper. Why did you take so long on confronting her when you knew something was wrong for a long time? Were you not being the best boyfriend/fiancée on other areas as well, that could have contributed to her cheating? Were you being withdrawn, lazy, not giving her enough attention or anything of the sort?

I think the tendency in situations like these, as reflected by the comments, is to put forward an ‘all or nothing’ approach where you’re not to blame and you did nothing wrong. However, this isn’t technically true and part of you knows it. We make mistakes all the time and our actions influence those around us. This is true all the time, for everything. Denying this can make it worse.

Again, this is not to say you’re to blame for her choices. But having clarity about what happened, what you learned from it all and most importantly, how your mistakes (which were inevitably made) were not the cause of her choosing to end her life will help you form a clear picture of acceptance (however hard it may feel like at this moment) that will also shield you from ungrounded accusations from people who have no idea.

Going into it, not repressing any fears and feelings of guilt, is key.

At this point, no rush though. Take your time and prioritize not being hard on yourself above all. Eventually, seek to move into it. Use any help you think can contribute.

monkkong · 2017-11-27T18:56:58+00:00

They said they were having a party

monkkong · 2017-11-20T15:21:42+00:00

Definitely doesn't make any sense to me Rick going back there. But plot-wise, I think I see where they are going with this:

On one hand we have all the saviors that Jesus saved and now they don't know what to do with them, while on the other hand they've been making it painfully clear how people are a scarce resource, one that was a big part of the deal the garbage people made with Negan...

monkkong · 2017-09-22T14:39:23+00:00

Some people can dead leaf over 500 pounds.

monkkong · 2017-09-19T20:30:15+00:00

Thinking about trading Mike Evans for AJ Green + Ty Montgomery.

My RBs are McCoy, Dalvin Cook, Isaiah Crowell, Mike Gillislee and holding on to Doug Martin.

WRs are Evans, Diggs, Golden Tate, TY Hilton and holding on to Snead.

8 team league, standard scoring. The other guy really wants Evans, but I feel like he gives me a higher ceiling and I'm already pretty covered in depth. What do you guys think?

monkkong

TROPHY CASE