It’s December 30th, 2026.

At this point, I have been strength training, something like Strong Lift, for 4 months. I am back on my lifts.

I am loving squats. I am back to more than 2 plates. My body feels strong and stable.

I love deadlift. Back feels great.

I am loving the shoulder workouts. The frame is coming out.

And I am loving the chest workouts.

Because of the muscle build up, I am being forced to drink less, have less carbs and eat more clean chicken protein.

My mind is clear because a lot of battles were fought and won in the last 4 months. Battles in the gym, with Dr. Tro, and with my family regarding their residence and my girl.

I hate the look of fat people chowing down on carb filled shit. Flabby bodies. Bad dress sense.

I have started to build a body that will keep improving.

Calmness in the gym, strength, good blood work.

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And as the year comes to a close, with a strong body, I am going to start thinking about running my next marathon. I hope at the finish line of this one, I am greeted by my kid.

This is a new framework I am developing, to try to live my uniquely ambitious life. I have a very intense high paying finance job. I am also working towards becoming a published author.

I don’t want to circle greatness without committing to it.

Nothing important should die unintentionally.

Do you trust yourself? Do you have faith and confidence in yourself?

Yes you do.

I am developing a fear again that I won’t be able to do it. That I don’t have enough control over the outcome of my life. That I will not be able to keep my promise to myself.

Foundations

This is a mental shift I have to make. It is a mentality change augmented with behavioral change.

Why do you brush your teeth every day? Why do you shower basically everyday?

So a run/walk and strength need to become as foundational to you as eating now. Let’s build this habit.

You know this issue – you skirt away from diving deep, embracing it all, going all in, with some sort of a new regime. Because I always feel like there is something else to do.

This is procrastination. And a fixation of perfection. There are pros and cons:

• Pro: when I am mentally free, I can deep dive, dedicate my life. This is how I did marathon and Keto in 2013.
• Con: You will never be able to get it all done and clear the deck before diving in.

Its a combo of the two approaches.

• The sleeping resting HR immediately drops. Persistently in the 50s.
• I eat less. Food feels satiating.
• I eat mostly vegetarian.
• But I eat fiber? Rotis, vegetables, indian food.
• I dont drink any booze. But I dont think this is a big impact because the time is not enough to detox
• Also, home is quiet. The city is so noisy.
• There is a general peace and calmness.
• I sleep early. There is not much to do.
• I am forced into a small room usually. I would do well in prison I think.
• I dont listen to any music, or podcasts.
• I am close to my aging parents. So less anxiety?

Booze texting is not great.

There is a psychological issue, a mental issue when I go solo, get drunk and then have to text people. Not great at all dude. That’s not fulfilling to me.

I dont want to cut things off either. Life is stressful. Especially living where I live.

It’s not even carpe diem anymore. it’s something different. It’s happened a few times now. And it’s not great. Especially when music is involved.

You want to be in the present.

Manage your drunk. Reclaim it.

The fact of the matter is that your body is no different from what science says. You have seen evidence of the body responding to impulses.

You can get shredded quickly. In less than a year. You can build up strength that you think you lost.

All you need is gentle introduction to strength training again.

BUT IT WILL SUCK. It really will. You have to SPEND TIME and ENERGY. A bit chunk of your life will have to revolve around this.

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NLP back to the gym:

Wear shorts and your black tshirt. Put on your headphones. Simple music. Visualize the gym. Walk towards it. We will do basic stuff – no ego. Squats, deadlifts, bench. You are building a temple for the future. Lat pull downs. Keep it simple. Warmed up. No injuries. Focus on the basics. Come home refreshed and happy.

This is key to being successful. You need to manage your energy and time allocations. There are two dimensions:

• Long term: Time is fleeing. So we need to figure this out.
• Short term: Have enough time to allocate to everything you have in your life.

Important things I have to spend my mind on:

• Work
• Sleep
• Health, workout
• Family
• Hobbies
• Social engagements.

The Approach

Time has to be divided into the following buckets: (168 hours)

• Non-Negotiable (Breathing)
  • Sleep: 50 hours a week
  • Health: 6 hours a week
  • Partner time is important?
• Maintanence
• Growth

After the non-negotiables, the goal is to keep some things at growth but most of them at maintanence.

Prepare your body for your 60s. Work on it now.

Maximize VO2MAX and Strength. That’s it. That decays.

For you, I’d make the incline treadmill the default, not the bike and definitely not flat-out running.

The original Helgerud study used interval running: 4 × 4 minutes at 90–95% HRmax, separated by 3 minutes of active recovery at ~70% HRmax, 3×/week for 8 weeks. But 4×4 also works very well on a cycle ergometer; studies have successfully produced the intended 85–95% HRmax stimulus that way. Recent cross-training evidence also doesn’t show a clear large disadvantage of cycling versus running for VO₂max improvement, although running remains more specific to running performance.

What I’d have you do

Incline treadmill Norwegian 4×4, 1×/week initially:

1. 10 min warm-up — easy walk/jog, progressively increasing effort.
2. 4 min hard — incline + speed sufficient to get you toward the high aerobic range.
3. 3 min easy — keep walking, don’t stop.
4. Repeat that 4 times.
5. 5–10 min cooldown.

Total = about 40 minutes, but only 16 minutes are hard.