Hello comrades and welcome to the first improvement megathread of 2025! 
This marks the first full year of megathreads since the first one was posted on Jan 7th 2024. Shout out to everybody who participated in the threads in the past year.
It's the first thread of the year so here are some ideas for discussion:
- How was your 2024?
- Do you have some any goals for January?
- Do you have some plans for 2025?
Poster caption:
Happy New Year, the year of Peace and Friendship!
Good luck with your goals! 
I'm back online. Life is good. Had no internet for a bit.
2025 Goals
- Release a project on Itch.io
- Drop another 20 lbs.
- Read more books than last year
- Mentor a young person through an organization, in generally I want to find a way to give back in an organization
- Build an audience for the said Itch.io project
- Read more straight-up "theory". I really need to go through the Black Panther Reading list.
- Be more of a bro in all instances possible
- Be kinder to myself
Great to see you back! I was wondering where you went
For goals 2 and 3, I have a book recommendation - How Not to Diet by Dr. Michael Greger. For the last goal, I've found that daily journaling and listening to guided meditations (on a free app called Insight Timer) are the two things that helped the most.
Good luck with your goals and keep us updated on your progress!
roll call
@SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net
@TraschcanOfIdeology@hexbear.net
@LGOrcStreetSamurai@hexbear.net
@Tomorrow_Farewell@hexbear.net
@anarchoilluminati@hexbear.net
If anybody else wants to be added to the roll call, just let me know
Those are some insane weights
Sorry to hear about the mental stuff but I can relate since I've been there. Not sure if you want unsolicited advice but as far as bandage solutions, I recommend listening to a bunch of podcasts, especially those focused on mental health. Like this episode for example and of course Guys podcast about different kinds of guys which is unrelated to mental health but it's good for a laugh
Thank you (leg press and hip ab/adduction and glute kickbacks are like, my only good/impressive lifts lol, for my size and build I'm really noodly armed naturally and ridiculously disproportionate strength wise in favor of my legs and then that kinda compounds itself into enjoying training legs way more and neglecting push day stuff for arms and chest because they suck for me and I get frustrated with them)
(Also deleted the pics because I realized I was somewhat visible in the window reflection, my bad)
Been consistent on eating spinach salad everyday for the past 5 days or so, also getting in plenty of fiber for my guts and cutting out processed sugars. I still get the urge to eat junk food but gonna abstain instead of weening off of it slowly. This year is gonna be my year I know it
Big thanks, I'm still in the temptation phase and resetting my taste buds but I know it's gonna be worth it
Just achieved a handstand pushup a few days into the new year. Now for more reps! Front lever and side flag next! Honestly 2024 was great for me and I'm excited to carry this momentum into 2025. Also want to focus on flexibility and eating healthier. I saw @Moonlake@hexbear.net recommend How Not to Die and wow I blew through it in like two days. Guess I'm a vegan now
I'm so glad to hear you liked it! Thanks for the shout-out
Btw you're in luck since that author of that book has multiple similar books (including "How Not to Diet" and "How Not to Age"), several cookbooks, a website with plenty of info, a youtube channel and a podcast. All of his books and cookbooks are available for free through piracy on Anna's Archive
This was my last week of couchmaxxing.
I wanted to focus on the holiday vibes in December and relax instead of focusing on improvement.Now it is time to get back on the horse. In January, I would like to resume cooking healthy meals and exercising. Hopefully get back into running if it's not too cold.
Wishing everybody a good start of the year! We can do this
we can totally do this! What's something healthy you're going to make?
I'm keeping it simple when it comes to food, here are some of my quick go-to recipes:
- Basmati brown rice and red kidney beans. Just cook those two separately, rinse and eat. Those two together form a full protein. I season the rice with curry and eat it all with some store bought pesto and nutritional yeast.
- Chickpea and lentils stew - very tasty, I make a full pot and eat this for 4 days in a row. Just sautee some garlic and onion, put in the chickpea and lentils with some water and tomato puree and seasoning.
- Vegan burger patties with pan-fried sweet potatoes. Check out the frozen food section of your local supermarket, mine has a lot of different types of tasty vegan patties that just have to be cooked for 10 minutes total. The sweet potatoes are also fried very quickly so you can have a tasty and healthy meal in less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
- This curry chickpea recipe that some comrade on Hexbear sent
I think the key to sticking to a healthy plant-based diet is to put nutritional yeast and hot sauce on everything, have a freezer stocked with vegan patties and a pantry stocked with stuff like oats, rice, beans, lentils and chickpea.
oh those sound good! I developed a nightshade intolerance when i caught covid and can't do tomatoes and hot sauce anymore 🥲. I used to ferment my own hot sauce i loved it sooo much i truly miss it. Will have to pick up nutritional yeast i have been putting braggs on everything but i like the yeast haven't had it in a long time.
Been looking for more lentil and chick pea ideas going to try that one soon!
I have done a very good job this week not eating meat and not drinking. I got some daiya plant cheese and some tofurkey slices have been eating vegan the last couple days with no issues.
need to do some exercises and eat more beans!
beans are top tier also way to go 
