Ordered a few shirts, got them on sale. Boom. Happy Valentines’ Day to me.
Excellent! It sounds like you've slimmed down a lot, if off-the-shelf stuff gets to where it doesn't fit you well, check out BestCustomShirt on the web. I have a relatively small waist and bigger upper body for my size and off-the-shelf shirts look horrible on me, they balloon out at the waist like a bedouin tent. BCS is basically tailor-made shirts at about the cost of store-bought. It takes a few shirts to get the measurements really dialed in but once you do you'll be amazed at how much better you look in a well-fitted shirt. And there is a huge range of colors available.
Your haircut comment reminded me that my ex used to cut my hair, she did for most of our M. I had completely forgotten about that! It was curiously intimate, I think we both enjoyed it.
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At around 176-178 I’m at my ‘target’ weight—I don’t want to go too much further down, but I also don’t want to erase any positive gains I’ve made either.
I don't think I've ever mentioned this here but I am very into counting macros to lose weight without losing muscle mass. It most definitely works. I've helped others do it as well. I can't describe the whole process here but do Google it, there are a lot of resources available. The beauty of counting macros is there are no "forbidden foods", I've even had a beer or margarita or piece of chocolate cake while doing it. Counting makes you take in such things in moderation, but you'll find that usually that's enough to keep you from wanting to binge like you would on a diet. The key is don't lose more than 2 pounds a week or you'll start losing muscle mass, and keep your protein intake high (1 gram per pound bodyweight). I've cut down to 10% bodyfat before by just counting macros without really changing the food I ate that much. I'm around 14% now because I'm about to compete in the Crossfit Open (locally) but once it's over I'm going to cut again.
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I’ve mentioned this on other threads, but I’ve always kinda struggled with body image. Not that I’m necessarily bad-looking, or that I was seriously overweight, but I’ve at times had difficulties seeing how I could be physically attractive to someone else, if that makes sense.
Men place a lot of value on how women LOOK. Women place a lot of value on how men ACT. Women are attracted to a gentleman who oozes confidence. Dress nice and carry a little swagger and that will more than overcome anything lacking in the looks department (if there is anything lacking!)
