Zane

Hey Ryan! Awesome that you have a journal. Are you taking Cam's 30 day challenge? That's what me, Leprosy, and Matthias are doing ?

Hey I weigh about the same! If you want my advice on how to gain weight, the best way is to eat around 3000 calories per day, with balanced meals every 3 hours, and working out at least 4 times per week. If you do this, your body is constantly using the nutrients you absorb to regrow muscles after you "break them." There are of course two ways to gain weight: fat gain, and muscle gain. You want to build muscle, not body fat. Of course with muscle gain there is always fat gain, but how you do it is what matters. If you are working out and lifting weights, your muscles will be constantly broken and regrown to be larger. This is what leads to muscle gain. But, to allow your muscles to regrow, you need to be constantly absorbing nutrients, especially protein. To gain lean weight, you need to do both. If you only lift weights, your muscles will not grow, and you will not see improvement, and you run the risk of hurting yourself. If you only eat more, then the excess energy will be used to pad your tummy instead of being sent to grow muscles. Also, you should hold back on cardio, not stop entirely but keep it to a minimum. You've seen runners; they're all skinny as fuck. Running will never allow you to bulk up, unless its kept to a minimum (warming up for weight lifting by running is a great way to warm up.) Yes, I say at least 6 bottles per day. I drink around 8 or 9. I only have to pee every 3 hours or so. And yes, I know exactly what you mean! I used to have to go every 30 minutes too! But if you get into the habit of drinking more water, your bladder will expand to normal and you wont experience the problem anymore, I promise In fact the reason people have small bladders is because they don't drink enough water. Its the same with stomachs. When people don't eat enough food, their stomachs shrink, and they can't eat as much. These people become really skinny, but also unhealthy. As long as you remain active, eating more does not make you fat. Especially if you are a hard gainer like me. If you are gonna eat eggs each morning, make sure to eat oatmeal too! Oatmeal is a complex carb which provides sustained energy for several hours and can help propel you in the morning And yes, you are right, when you stop eating unhealthy foods, you stop craving them because your taste buds change. When I drink soda now it tastes flat and syrupy to me and I don't like it. When people offer me cake I shake my head with a smile And because of how much water I drink, I literally have more strength than other people in the summer heat. While everyone else is feeling tired and groggy in the heat I feel like I'm in an air conditioned house. Summer used to make me miserable but drinking water makes it bearable. Actually, no I didn't study nutrition at my college. I did take a class in high school and learned some good things, and I also saw Fathead (http://www.hulu.com/watch/196879), a good documentary satirizing the government and fast food industry as well as inaccurate documentaries like SuperSize Me, which was a popular documentary that raised false beliefs about foods. However, most of my nutrition education I received from my personal trainer. She is a 40 year old woman with the body of a fit 20 year old and she has a masters degree in biological science. She knows how the body works with food and stuff. In three hours with her I learned more than I did in two years of biology and nutrition class. If you want to hear more about this topic or have more questions, let me know! I could post about it in the nutrition topic on the forums. ?

WOAH. What are the odds. Earlier today I watched a youtube video by Alex Ikonn about the 4 Hour work week. I had never heard of Alex Ikonn, and I randomly watched the video (and enjoyed it) I just opened my 5 minute gratitude journal, and there was a message from Alex Ikonn, writer of the 5 minute journal. WOW

?Yes Cam, I do understand that I can become friends with older people too. Half my gamer friends were at least 5-10 years older than me. I have a 30 year old friend with whom I would talk for 3-4 hours in the night, about life, about girls, etc. He is a great guy but damn does he feel like a failure. Not that he has gone out and said so, but when I hear him I feel like he is dissatisfied with his life. In fact I started reading articles online on self growth and would tell him my story and what I had learned (like I do on the forums) and he became a fan. I kinda wish he were here on these forums speaking with us. He's a great guy. As to what you say about getting an interaction in quickly, I think you're right. Social momentum! I'll keep that in mind Cam.

Yes, you are right. I would combine 2 and 4 into the same thing. They are both sources of hormones not meant for us to consume in such doses. When I started weight training several months ago I thought drinking lots of milk was a good idea. That's when my inflammation was the worst. Since then I have stayed away from dairy. However, I know exactly why I got this bad acne. It's psychological stress that I caused. If it were anything else I would have had bad acne in the past. It only developed in the month after my breakup. It has been clearing away and I know it will clear away within the next several months. My skin may be as clear as yours by the time you arrive in San Jose :)?

My Five Minute Journal arrived!!!! I'm so excited! I bought it a week ago lol. Oops I must have looked ahead a little

?Well said Cam!! I would add myself, that many people do know that sugar is bad for them, in the same way that people know that video games are bad for them (in their lives), but due to the nature of the problem they are addicted and can't just stop what they're doing. Especially since the body needs sustenance even more than it needs challenges/ entertainment like video games.

Day 6 I fell asleep at 4:00 pm and woke up at 7:00 the next morning I guess I failed the challenge, but I don't really buy drinks anyway. I drink water. Drinks are expensive and I'm tight on money right now especially since I've been denied financial aid. I gotta be extra careful. Day 7 Well, I completed today's challenge. I got lucky. I want to share how I felt, thinking about this challenge, yesterday and today. I was really uncomfortable with it honestly. So much so that it hurt. I am at a school where people aren't very social. It's really weird. It has always been easy to make friends for me. Growing up in Modesto, California, I was surrounded by people my age and was always able to find at least one close friend at a time. And yet, currently, this is the longest I have gone without a close friend since elementary school. I feel like I'm in the wrong place. I'm planning on joining meetup activities and stuff, and do volunteer work, and hopefully I can make friends through those activities. Back to my college though. I'm just going to community college and the people there are friendly enough, but I guess I don't know what to do or say to make friends there. It's so different than all my previous experiences in school. I don't know exactly what the problem is. Maybe its because there's absolutely no girls I'm attracted to there. None. It's an anomaly. How is this possible that nobody here is at all attractive (to me). Why is it that when I visited my ex's campus that I was surrounded by attractive, healthy, physically fit people? How come everybody likes to drink/ smoke or play video games in their free time at my college? Nobody is driven. Nobody does cool things like at my old high school. There is no community. People go to school then leave to do whatever they do. And half the students are old people, at least ten years older than me. I chose the wrong college. It was just meant to be a two year thing so that I could transfer to a university, but I didn't realize how miserable the lack of social opportunities would make me. How come I made 50 good friends in just 6 months of gaming but couldn't make a single good friend in 8 months of school? It's not because I'm bad at being social. I am very good at making friends. Yes, it seems like to make friends here I must join a group of some sort for activities. The campus itself is probably not the best place to try to make friends. And you know what, I could make a friend now if I choose to. The guy I took a selfie with, he approached me today in the middle of campus. He asked if I knew about "something something Gods Promise Something." He looked to be about my age and when he approached me he seemed a little nervous. I was wearing my sunglasses and I put on a big smile and casually spoke with him. Normally I would have said no thanks immediately since I do not believe in God and I had class soon. But I remembered my challenge so I approached the situation differently. I asked him several questions, like what group was he with, what was he trying to ask me, when do you meet, etc, and the conversation was nice. I had the upper hand because I felt confident and he looked nervous. He offered a brochure and I accepted and asked for his number and for a selfie. He was surprised by the request and was asking questions like what do you mean you're with a group? And I was like yeah a social group and he said oh ok and he took a selfie with me. Not a very good looking picture for me but oh well. It may not be super noticeable in the picture but I have severe acne. I want to share this because it has played a huge role in my lack of self confidence for the past 6 months. Before 6 months ago, my skin was beautiful like in my profile pic to the left. But 6 months ago I fell into severe psychological stress and depression and got some of the worst acne I've ever seen. Here is what it looked like when I was happy: Here is what it looks like now: Actually, this is nothing compared to how it was even 2 months ago. The red was far brighter and even purple for several months because I dropped a barbell on it. I'll admit, this doesn't even look too bad! This is by far the best my skin has looked in 6 months! I think the main reason is because I'm less depressed than I was during that time. I made a lifestyle change with a healthy diet and exercise. Also, I am taking the strongest medication out there to handle this problem. The irony is that my medication is supposed to cause depression but I've only been feeling better since I started taking it But... it's still bad enough that I don't feel ready to ask girls out on dates. I know it will improve and I'm waiting until then. Sure, I'd love to make more friends, but until I get this taken care of, I'm not putting myself out there to pursue girls. I did, for a time, trying to get over my ex by meeting someone new. I got girls numbers and texted or called them, but they weren't really interested in anything with me, and because of how hideous my face looked at the time, I really don't blame them. Anyway, back to what happened today. So I asked for a selfie with Ricky, he accepted, then I went on my way to class. While waiting outside class for the teacher to arrive, I literally acted different. Without thinking at all, I asked a cute-ish girl if she was ready for the test and ended up sitting down with her and discussing what we knew about it and how we could prepare. I started a conversation and continued it with ease and felt good. I believe that it was possible because of my earlier interaction with Ricky. So yes, it really does appear that making a leap and overcoming fear in social situations makes everything shift. I know that of course. When I was with my latest ex, I would go up to people I'd never talked to and get to know them, because I was happy and self confident. The other day my cousin decided to slip me some euphoria drug for fun and I'm happy she did because I opened up and talked to her in a way that I never had before and we connected and our relationship improved. Euphoria provides perspective; when you feel it, whether because you're in love or whatever, it lets you accomplish things you are too scared or anxious to accomplish otherwise. Not that I'm advocating drugs. Drugs are bad. And becoming reliant on any source for happiness is a dangerous mistake. Addiction is horrible, and I've learned lot because of it. But I am trying to say that overcoming fear can fill you with euphoria in the same way. Cam's point in the social part of his challenge is that making a leap of faith is essential to social success. Nothing awesome can happen without taking risks. When I first kissed a girl I remember being anxious and doubtful of myself and scared. But I am so glad that I did take the leap, because we ended up having a great relationship She still has my sunglasses. I gave them to her This was 3 years ago. We still talk to this day. So Cam, I'm looking forward to the future challenges, but I'm not gonna ask out any girls until I get a car and get rid of my acne. And get my financial shit together. Just FYI Please help me figure out how I can overcome those moments where my social challenge fills me with dread. Karaoke sounds like it could be fun, but I'd prefer to do it with friends or something. Hmm. I hope it doesn't look too weird. Luckily I've gotten alright at singing along with music since I always sing on the way home from the gym I'll maybe attend a meetup activity this weekend. I'll post about it if I do.

Thanks for bringing this up! I've never seen this documentary but it looks important. It reaffirms my desire to be healthy and fit

http://greatist.com/health/saturated-fat-healthy Actually, saturated fats are very healthy for you, but unfortunately we have been told otherwise for years. Saturated fats, or animal fats, are part of what has been the primary food of humans for thousands of years. And, they taste good It's trans fats that you have to watch out for. Those are the fats found in foods that you shouldn't eat: fried foods, margarine, and processed foods such as crackers, chips, and cookies. That kind of fat is not meant to be consumed by the human body and therefore they mess with cholesterol levels and cell membranes. Basically, those kinds of fats are really bad. Stay away from them ?You may even want to stop taking omegas 6 and 9. We get so much of those in our modern diets but so little omega 3 (unless you eat lots of fish!) ?Eating fruits and other sources for sugar is good. If you are trying to lose weight you still need to watch it. If you're like me and you're trying to gain weight, it's not an issue. For quick energy? Try a banana, that's my favorite. It has fructose and is low glycemic, so it provides short term and long term energy, and its healthy (a good source of potassium), whereas crystal sugar is high glycemic and supplies short term energy. Also, drink lots of water. Drink at least 120 ounces per day, or 6 regular water bottles. And if you tend to feel sick or tired in the morning, try eating protein within 30 minutes of waking up. I eat 3 eggs each morning and I haven't felt sick in the morning ever since. ?

?I figured that's what it meant, but why would you be giving fake numbers to girls Cam huh? Were they all desperate for your number? Or maybe you were just helping them out to deal with future suitors

"You have reached a non-working number" oh well

Haha apparently I've reached my limit for likes today

No what's that? Lol

Also, some guy tried to recruit me to join the navy yesterday. I didn't have the guts to say sorry not interested so I listened to him for 20 minutes then I gave him a false number to call lol

?I'm excited! Keep in touch about it and if you need a place to stay for a night my aunt will in all likelihood be cool with it Also, I know you like cold showers, but going to the beach in winter? Seriously?

?Hey man, all the words you said in that reply were gold! Thanks!

Hi Ryan! It's good to have you here! Cam is right, you should start with Respawn and set up a concrete schedule for yourself, filling it with activities that meet your needs. Reading is very important. Going out and socializing or exercising is great. I too hope that this community will grow and be useful for propelling us toward happiness and success. I'm quite excited about it frankly. I hope that you too can become excited about your life beyond video games. Make sure to join the 30 day challenge when you're ready! It's great! If there's anything you want to talk about, message me anytime! Or email me, my email is zhanson10@gmail.com ?

?Hell Yeah! You stop by California anytime and I'll stop by and meet up with you

Day 5 (Continued) Here is my vision Board The "quote" was my own. Its important to me because I realized something important. Thank you for encouraging me to produce some of my visions of what I want in the future. It took a bit of time because I've never done this before. I never really put a lot of visual thought into what I wanted my future to look like. When I was with my ex, she on the other hand knew exactly what she wanted. Her dreams were of beautiful beaches and sunsets, and things like that, and rather than build my own dreams I adopted hers. I am glad that I am now taking responsibility for my own dreams. Ten things I'm grateful for: 1. The house I live in (courtesy of my Aunt+ uncle) 2. The game quitters community/ Cameron Dare 3. My mental and physical health (which I can ever improve) 4. Lana Del Rey (my favorite singer) 5. My family (who have been generally supportive despite ups and downs) 6. Video games, without which I wouldn't be here 7. My personal trainer, a wonderful person. Truly wonderful (and cute!! ) 8. My ex, who changed my perspective on life forever, and for so many other things 9. The internet, without which I would know a shit ton less, and my life would be far worse 10. My books, which fill me with motivation and knowledge Also, I'm gonna post pictures of my room (which is clean and more organized thanks to my project)

?Looking forward to seeing it!

Soda was the first thing I quit Like any addiction, the best way to quit something is to replace it with something better and healthier. It turns out that the main reason your body craves sugar is because it is missing important macronutrients. I realized this when I started eating healthy, balanced meals. Do I ever crave sugar? Definitely! I take it as a sign that my body needs sustenance, so when I crave sugar I know its time to eat a well balanced meal. Once I do that, I am more satisfied than if I were to eat some quick sugar. The body craves sugar since it is the quickest easiest source of energy, but it likes healthy food better. My point is, if you are trying to quit extra sugar and eat healthier, make sure to eat balanced meals of mostly unprocessed foods, including protein, carbs, and fats. Fats are extremely important and healthy, and I don't think most people know that. If you don't get enough fats in your diet, you are unsatisfied and start craving unhealthy quick fix foods. Seriously, I found cutting out sugar from my diet to be easier than quitting video games. I think its great that you are considering working out. And if you become interested in serious workouts (like weightlifting until muscle failure), then you may even want to include more sugar into your diet! Again, sugar serves the purpose of providing immediate energy, which is what you want directly after a workout. There is absolutely nothing unhealthy about consuming pure sugar directly after an intense workout. But you only need it if you are super active. There are TONS of benefits to intense physical activity for 30-60 minutes every day. One benefit would be a release of dopamine after strenuous physical activity. If you are trying to recover dopamine levels from addiction to other activities, why not develop a healthy addiction to a healthy activity which isn't very time consuming?

Here is my schedule that I want to follow for the next couple months: Summer Weekday Schedule 5:00 AM- Wake up, drink water, meditate 5:15- Shower/ get dressed 5:30- Breakfast/ read book/ challenge/ gratitude journal Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1 cup oatmeal w/flaxseed, banana, multivitamin, fish oil, (also probably start drinking coffee to handle mornings) 6:15- walk to gym, workout 8:00- go to school, read/research on train Meal #2: Protein shake with banana, oatmeal, flaxseed 10:00- work Meal #3: Tuna/meat sandwich, raw vegetables,

Hey guys. Don't worry about the trolls. Personally I found them to be a little amusing. You don't need to feel embarrassed or harassed. What your friends are experiencing is something which I have experienced before, and I'm sure Cam can help you to understand as well. It's the fear of other people's success. Read this!! http://www.amyreesanderson.com/blog/the-lobster-syndrome/#.VYo5rYtLjIU Basically, your friends have written scripts for themselves. They believe that they deserve to be where they are in life, and that they won't be able to do better. They may feel that they can't find the motivation to succeed in school like some of their peers, so they may end up making fun of their peers or bullying them to make themselves feel better. If you read the article, then you read about the lobster syndrome. My advice to you would be, don't let them pull you down to their level. Don't try to lash out at them either, because if you do then you are bringing yourself to their level. Instead, use what you have learned. Follow your goals. You can see the path to your future success and happiness, even though it is cloudy for them. Be a leader and help show them the path. Show them that they can develop good habits and work toward their own success. They can do well in school, be fit and strong, have respect, and the girls of their dreams. It's all possible, but they believe that its very likely they will never reach those dreams, and so in fear, they try to drag everyone down to their level. You are making a life changing decision to quit video games Michael. Whatever you do, do not give up on this path you are following. The rewards of perseverance and healthiness will be worth it. Consider this to be your first challenge. If you can overcome your fears and strive to be a leader, you will change lives. This is what we are all here for

Day 4 Day 4 was an alright day. I fulfilled the mission of coming up with a plan for (today's) morning routine, based on Cam's recommendations. By tonight I'll post my projected daily routine, including morning. Day 5 What a rough morning I've had. I got up early, did headspace, took a shower, ate breakfast, and read for a half hour. After that I went back to my room and was really cold and sleepy and I fell asleep for an hour. Then I had to get up and ride the Light Rail to school/work. The train (monorail)) that I needed to transfer to was 45 minutes late, or perhaps it just skipped showing up two times in a row. I was 20 minutes late to work because of it. But, while I was waiting, and spending all that time on the light rail, negative, sad thoughts came to me and I was on the verge of tears. Thoughts of my ex and broken dreams and betrayal. The betrayal I refer to is something I have not mentioned in this group because it is very personal. What happened to me was more horrible than a mere breakup. After feeling my spirits rise for the last month I feel a relapse of pain. It got worse when I checked my grades from spring semester and realized how horrible they were. So bad in fact that financial aid is being denied to me (I just saw the email.) So this is all very stressful. I can literally feel the stress chemicals flowing through my bloodstream. As I teeter on the edge of "survival" I realize I need to seriously stop messing around and focus. I need to focus on doing well in school this summer by putting in the work and following good habits. I need to spend less time thinking about how great things will be once I start applying what I've learned... and I should get to it. I spoke with my personal trainer yesterday and said I was ready for another month of training soon, and she was really excited. I gotta say, I have never met anyone as passionate at what they do as she is. Perhaps, by falling into a steady routine, learning from reading and my personal trainer, fulfilling Cam's challenges each day, and doing my homework, and getting 8 hours of sleep each night, I can stabilize and turn my life around with actions and not just words. What makes this resolution different than when I said this to myself before is, now I'm not playing video games. Now I have a few more people to hold me accountable. Now I'll stop reasoning with my situation and just do the work, following the Slight Edge. Wish me luck my friends