u/Kaffiendtol

Dear Diary,

I have this feeling that I am not alone. I am chasing the high of being more muscular, fit, and just having a better body. The health benefits are just secondary to me. Sure they are great, and sarcopenia does suck when you are an elder.

There are areas in my life that I feel insecure about but working out has given me confidence. It feels really refreshing knowing that the average American can't do 1 pull up or the average man can't bench 225 lbs.

I think that's why so many fitness influencers are so successful even though they come across as arrogant. They preach the whole "you can be stronger" "you aren't that fat fuck who is eating and dining out" "you have the discipline to shape your body and it will improve every facet of your life"

In a sense, they aren't wrong. There are people who are fat, weak, constantly spending their time on unproductive things that leads down a spiral of misery. I feel like egomaniacs have this extremely over-tuned growth mindset. Some of that energy rubs off on people, sometime in a "positive" manner. Not to say, being an egomaniac is necessarily a good thing, but because they are so result-driven and goal-oriented, they tend to accomplish some sort of self fulfillment. Perhaps, that's why so many bodybuilders, CEOs, and successful people are egomaniacs.

People really hate egomaniacs. I get it. I hate them too until I became one. Instead of playing video games or watching anime all day, I am working out. That's not a bad thing. I am being productive. I am into investing and have been saving a lot of money. I am able to max out my Roth IRA while contributing to my retirement account. That's a big financial win. I understand there is a downside to this approach, but if I am being productive then I will take the tradeoff.

For reference, I am a nerd, so I feel like it is very important to have a masculine hobby. Whenever people make fun of me for watching Anime or play video games, I can refute with... "lol you don't even work out"

I work out 6 days a week doing P-P-L split. The amount of gains you get is directly proportional to the amount of effort you put into your diet, work out, and rest.

It just makes me feel great. I had my ego stroke before by compliments. As an Asian male, being complimented that you are "big" or that you have big arms is an amazing feeling.

Anyway, being addicted to working out is not a bad thing as long as you do it naturally. I was watching a Dave Ramsey podcast and there was a guy who went into debt because of his gambling addiction. Turns out he was chasing a high because his life was boring. As such, I would much rather work out like a fiend than gamble.

I work out 6 days a week, but I have been neglecting cardio. Planning on doing 12-3-30 2x a week up until anime expo 2026.

I recently started contributing to a Roth IRA after getting a big-boy job.

Trying to max it out moving forward. How about you?

If you do have a Roth IRA, what stocks/ETF are you investing in at this moment?

Background: Early to mid thirties male. No debt or loans. Do not want kids nor do I want to buy a home.

I’ve started treating my finances more like a piece of code to help take the guesswork out of budgeting. My main rule is a $5,000 Checking Cap, basically, once my checking account hits that number, any extra money gets swept into my HYSA (which is sitting at $24k right now earning 3.1%) so I’m not letting cash sit idle. My monthly expenses are pretty steady at around $2,500, though I do set aside a little extra in July for a vacation fund.

For retirement, I keep it on autopilot. I have $500 taken out of my paycheck before I even see it to fund my 457(b), and I also automate $625 a month into my Roth IRA so I hit that $7,500 annual limit without having to think about it.

My take-home pay is $4,000 before the $500 contribution to my pre-tax retirement account. I get around $3600 after the $500 contribution.

Even after paying off my $2,500.00 expense and my monthly contribution to my Roth IRA, I have a small surplus that I used as a sinking fund for vacation and tech items I want to buy like maybe a new phone in the future.

Currently I have $11,200 in my 457(b) account that is currently growing at 11% APR. I have only recently started contribution to my Roth IRA though. Tax year 2026 will be my first and I plan to max out the annual limit moving forward.

I plan to retire at around 58-62, so with a pension plan backed by one of the largest organization in the world, I should be pretty financially secure by the time I retired.

If I max out my Roth IRA for 20+ years, maintain $500 contribution to my 457(b) until I hit 58, then I should be able to last until I get my 2% @ 62 pension and social security. At least, that's my projection.

I can't tell if it is a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, but I am going to assume it was a MacBook Air since the last model to have the lit-up Apple logo was the 2017 gen.

Man, it is so cool seeing people run old. MacBook devices since it is a testament to their longevity.