I think about things analytically, but I always viewed health and fitness as something different. My thought process used to be that building muscle was all about "Giving %110 at the gym" and losing weight was all about "willpower"
I don't want to take anything away from effort and willpower, but I now think that they come in a distant second to proper planning and research.
My thought process on weightloss is now: "I burn ~2200 caloris on a rest day and 2300-2600 on a workout/physical activity day. A pound of fat is 3500 calories, so eating at a 500 calorie defecit (~1700 on rest days, ~2100 on lifting days) allows me to lose ~1lb per 7 days" Not only is this mindset more effective, but it changes you from thinking "I had a double whataburger for lunch. I have no self control and should just give up" to something more like "I ate 1/2 my required calories and all my required fat at lunch. I'll have a chickenbreast and spinich for dinner, a half-portion of breakfast tomorrow, and I'm back on track"
My thoughts on lifting now are: I have a set of lifts that I do repeatedly. I know I'm getting better over time, and I have a decent projection of what numbers I should be hitting in the future. I'm on a cut right now, so if I don't increase the weight over time, that's okay. (I know that because I researched it.) But luckily, I have been getting decent "noob gains" for the duration of my cut
Progress: Before and After I'm still on my way, but it's progress!
Graphed workout/weight data: Weight and Lifts My goal is to be able to deadlift, bench, and squat at least my my bodyweight by the end of the year. Seems pretty realistic. I'm doing stronglift 5x5, and my evaluation of the program is that it's nothing magical, but I like the simplicity and compound lifts. Once or twice a week I'll go rock climbing or biking. If I'm too sore to do a full sl5x5 workout, I'll try to still make it into the gym and do what I can from sl, then add in some shoulder/arm/core exercizes.
Diet: Macro Spreadsheet It's pretty damn impossible to keep track of all your macros, but I did my best with this spreadsheet. I took all the foods that I commonly eat, looked up the nutrition info, and made a spreadsheet where I can put a "1" by the items I ate that day, and some simple logic tells me what I can eat for the rest of the day. I did this religiously for my first 2 weeks, stopped when I got a feel for what 1700-2100 felt like, then went back to it when my weight loss stalled.
