TRP is a lot to take in. Both new members and old can agree on this. Having been a member since last august, I can say I've learnt a lot and am thankful to every submission that I've read.

One thing that certainly helped me progress through these changes to my lifestyle was keeping a diary. No, not a fitness diary or equivalent. I mean one of those diaries that 8 year old girls keep to write down the boys they think are cute and bitch about their friends. I'm being serious, hear me out.

Having been making weekly entries since september, today I looked back and read through the posts I made each week. I write about my mental state, my lifting progress, girls I'm talking to, what I want to achieve in the next 7 days, long term goals, just everything on my mind. It is seriously the most therapeutic and effective way of seeing how far you've come. I write every week, at least a page, whether I feel like it or not.

New member? Get down to the stationary shop later today. Buy yourself an expensive fucking formal notebook. Something that looks neat and you'll be proud to write in until you've filled every page. Live with an SO? Find somewhere to hide that fucker. Plan out your time each week when you'll be able to sit with just your thoughts and make entries. Be proud of the diary, and how organised you are with scheduling your entries and having something new and better to write each week than last time. Some weeks you won't write about your improvement, sometimes you'll write maybe even 3 full pages of venting in one go about the stupid shit everyone else in your life is doing. Either way, after each time you finish writing, you'll feel so much better about it. After a long time, read back on your entries and see yourself going through all of TRP's different phases, and track where you are and what your current goals should be.

Skeptical? Then fucking buy a diary and try it. Don't think it's something you need to bother with? Then fucking buy a diary and see if you were right.

A large part of your life since finding this sub is your improvement and progress. Want to make it count? Track your progress and see just how much you're improving all the time. Use it to stop yourself slipping, and to relieve all the stress on your mind all in one go.

Just make sure no one else ever gets a chance to read that shit.