Today is my daughter's 12 Birthday. Crazy how fast time goes by. I don't celebrate my own birthday as it was never that important or more likely my parents stopped to celebrate it. But my daughter's is important to my husband and me. We have confetti poppers and a cake, balloons and always eat what's she wishes for the day. Potatoes vulkan with dino nuggets and peas. 😁 For me it's a win to be able to celebrate the birthday with her and having a fun filled day. It's the small things that are counting. The smiles, the happy eyes and happy dances. And jumping in a cake costume to make her laugh 😃.

I’ve clocked my steps and gym time! 🙌🏼 This isn’t the end, but it’s just the start of every goal I set out to achieve.

Finding the info in the videos super helpful. Pics from today! -Weighed myself first thing⚖️ -Two protein eggo waffles, blueberries, and Fairlife chocolate protein shake for breakfast🧇🫐 -24oz water💦 -Strength training day: barbell squats, barbell deadlift, barbell row, lateral pulldown, and E-Z bar curl🦵🏼 -Mobility exercises (Darren's YouTube video: "Unf*ck your body in under 10 minutes a day")🙏🏼 -24oz water💦 -Starbucks snack while running errands. I don't like coffee so I get a mango dragonfruit refresher and a pumpkin loaf. I know it isn't the most nutritious but I choose to save calories for this because it gives me caffeine and joy🧋🥐 -Somewhere in there I had a bowl of plain nonfat Greek yogurt with Kind vanilla blueberry granola (yay fiber)🥣 -24oz water💦 -Kid activities = protein bar to tide me over until dinner💪🏼 -Dinner was crab cakes (made by Costco), broccoli, baked potatoes, and milk. I end up only eating one crab cake and half the baked potato because I got really full. 🦀🥔🥦🥛 -Resisted dessert🙌🏼

Darren James from Santa Clarita, CA Goal is to lose fat and regain energy. I'm a high school coach and want to practice what I preach around lifestyle to support performance. If I'm on death row? Birthday cake and ice cream (white cake, chocolate frosting!)

Feeling quite low and unworthy today. I don’t actually think I’ve messed up, but on low days my mind only shows me the negatives and none of the effort I’ve put in. It’s hard not to feel like I’m failing when I’m really just learning. I’m trying to remind myself that progress isn’t about being perfect, it’s about continuing even when it feels messy. I have enough resilience to know I won’t give up, even on days like this. Showing up in small ways still counts right? How do you keep going when your head tells you you’re not doing enough?