Toast's AA log - Completed :) - Reuploading my videos as well

[Toast]

Day 18b

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYIEQYjoz0U

Today was relatively easy, and anxiety free. I wore a my nice button up so that the girls actually had something to comment on when I asked the question. Had a little bit less time before work today so I set myself a goal of talking to 10 girls in under 30 min. I think this really fired me up because I was able to do the whole first drill in like under 5 min. First girl I saw kind of threw me off my game. Approached, asked the time, then asked what she thought about my shirt. She said "its nice, why are you asking? are you going on a date?" but she said it in a weird kind of way. like not really in a nice tone, but like she knew I was up to something or whatever. I responded with " yah hopefully, and chuckled" then walked away. Her asking that like just surprised me and I like mini freaked out I guess I would say. But I continued on and finished the rest of the set no problem. Next set I didn't even ask the time, I just walked up to a girl and said " Hey, quick question, what do you think of my shirt?" Felt good to be assertive and not have to try and start a conversation with asking for the time. Most of the rest of the interactions went the same. Leaving out the time and just straight up asking about my shirt.
I believe I spoke with 6 or 8 girls today, and my goal was 10. Not really upset I didn't hit my goal because the results of today were really good.

Notable Interaction
Approached 2 really sexy Japanese girls. I didn't ask the time but I just stopped them as they were walking and asked what they thought about my shirt. They said it looked really nice, and looked good on me. At this point in the day I was definitely feeling the social momentum. I feel like normally girls like this would intimidate me. As well as it was a pair of girls who I approached.

Thoughts on Today
Setting a goal and time limit really helps a lot. I'd say I'm naturally competitive so an attainable goal fires me up and puts me in the right head space.
Not having to lean on the time question as an introduction to conversation is awesome. Being confident enough to just stop a chick for no reason felt really good.
Dressing nice definitely gets girls to open up more. My zebra shirt is definitely one of my favorites right now. All of the girls said it looked good on me.

Lessons
Just fucking do it!
No excuses for why not to.

Other Stuff
Weighed in at 193.1. My weight seems to be within 1 lb of this. 6th day straight of weighing close to this weight.
Didn't work out, but did some cardio and burned ~300 calories.
Ate 1794 calories yesterday
Started to drink coffee without milk. Its decent :?

 

[Manganiello]

I feel like normally girls like this would intimidate me.

Progress!

Are you just skipping milk for health reasons or calories?

Almond/oat/soy milk taste pretty good.

 

[Toast]

Almond/oat/soy milk taste pretty good.

I'm just trying to reduce calories. Probably consume ~100 or so calories just from the creamer for my coffee. Switched to 0calorie sweetener, and it's drinkable. I've also removed most milk from my diet. Other milk alternatives are tastier. Vegetarian friend's / reading about milk processing policies and other things grossed me out lol.

 

[Toast]

Day 19

https://youtu.be/X6KhaUSAJ1o
Hi, How's it going? (Listen), Leave
Hi, How's it going? (Listen), Do you know if there's a hair salon around here?, Leave
Hi, How's it going? (Listen), Do you know if there's a hair salon around here?, I'm getting the Justin Bieber haircut, Leave
Hi, How's it going? (Listen), Do you know if there's a hair salon around here?, I'm getting the Justin Bieber haircut, What's your favorite hairstyle for guys?, Leave
* Challenge: Hi, How's it HANGIN'? (Listen), Do you know if there's a hair salon around here?, I'm getting the Justin Bieber haircut, What's your favorite hairstyle for guys?, Leave
Repeat this 4 times today, you will talk to a total of 16 girls;
Do it once talking gay, Do it once being COMPLETELY SERIOUS, Do it twice just being "yourself"

So today went really well and I had fun doing the drill, but at the time of writing this I realized I didn't fully read the drill properly. I did all of my sets acting gay lol. First girl, stopped her and she had headphones so I had to repeat. Asked for a hair salon while acting gay and she giggled.

Notable Interaction
Next chick was the best interaction. I'm like 100% sure I've done a drill on this chick like a week or 2 ago. This was the girl who I complimented on her eye makeup like on day 10 or something. She was chillin in the same spot at the same time on her lunch break I'm assuming. but she didn't have a mask on so I didn't realize it was her till way afterwards. Got her attention and said "hey, how's it going" acting gay. Then asked for a hair salon, she said she didn't know. I then said I was getting the Bieber haircut. She laughed and asked if it was like the current Bieber or the 2012 Bieber. I was in full on acting gay mode at this point and said "This years Bieber looks like trash." She laughed again, and then looked up some Bieber pictures for me and a nearby hair salon. At this point the drill was going really well so I kind of spit-balled and said "do you think I could pull off the Bieber look" I then asked her what he favorite boys haircut was. She then asked me if I went to pizza squared. I was confused by this and she said that she thought we met before. Completely confused I said I hadn't. Only till after walking away did I realize it was the same girl. She was even cuter with her mask off. Kind of bummed I was acting gay cuz I feel like she's definitely a girl that's cool. Was definitely off script cuz I think I talked with this chick for like 5 min or something.

Next drill I did was on a pair of girls who were eating. I walked up and acted gay again. Did the whole spiel and they thought it was funny when I said I was going to get a Bieber haircut. Asked what their favorite haircut was and one of the girls pulled up a picture for an example.

Last chick of the day was a little bit older. Did the drill, but she said she didn't know what the Bieber haircut was. Ended the drill there and said thanks as I left.

Thoughts on Today
Today was super easy. The reactions from the girls were great, and they thought it was funny when I mentioned Bieber. Unfortunately I didn't read the drill properly, and did all of the interactions while acting gay. So ill repeat the day and also act completely serious and normal. Also going to do the challenge and ask "how's it hanging."
Not asking for the time while doing yesterdays drills probably prepped me to be able to just jump into a conversation.
Chris' audio clip was really good today. Lots of what he said resonated with me well. Definitely feel proud and accomplished coming this far through the program.
Very Happy with my progress so far, and can already see the change in my social anxiety, and approach anxiety. Friends seem to notice as well. They say I'm cocky, and even more full of myself (Which I think is a good thing lol).

Other Notable Things
Weighed in at 192.1 again. Maybe I need to change something to drop below this weight?
Ate ~1547 calories yesterday. Was definitely feeling hungry as I went to bed. Had a handful of pistachios before bed. Maybe this little amount of eating late at night affects my body's overnight weight loss?
Work out went well, definitely could have gone harder. Today was leg day.
77 Words per min typing test. Best so far. Aiming for 100WPM

 

[Manganiello]

They say I'm cocky, and even more full of myself (Which I think is a good thing lol).

Probably a good thing.

I think 1 set normal and 1 set serious would be fine since you already more-or-less finished the day.

I Iike suck at acting gay I just came off with an accent that resembled nothing lol.

Dude you're almost on week 4 already. You're going fast.

When you going to try high fives?

 

[Toast]

I think 1 set normal and 1 set serious would be fine since you already more-or-less finished the day.

I was thinking the same. I did what was suppose to be the more difficult set already.

When you going to try high fives?

I was planning on doing highfives tomorrow since its my day off. Gunna go for an hour and see how many I can get.

I'm really happy with my progression so far. Definitely can feel the change from week 1, when I was having anxiety just asking the time. Just wondering when I'm going to get the fear again like the ABC's. Honestly I feel like that day is what attributed a lot to my confidence now.

 

[Manganiello]

Ok cool. Same.

It's crazy how fast the social anxiety goes away. I went out last night and was talking to a group of girls. ZERO anxiety. Like actually absolutely zero. It was quite intoxicating to be like "holy shit I have no approach anxiety right now".

It seems like it's the thought: "I remember when this was impossible. Now look what I can do" that builds up the confidence.

 

[Toast]

It's crazy how fast the social anxiety goes away.

It really is crazy. Almost 4 weeks and I already feel like a new man. Can only imagine after the full 12 weeks. Typing this made me realize im almost 1/3rd of the way done!

I went out last night and was talking to a group of girls. ZERO anxiety. Like actually absolutely zero. It was quite intoxicating to be like "holy shit I have no approach anxiety right now".

Congrats man. That's super dope! Shows that the hard work you've put in is really working.

 

[sundleboro]

Hahaha "HEY HOW'S IT HANGIN'" I can't wait to do that one.

Unfortunately I didn't read the drill properly, and did all of the interactions while acting gay.

Hahahaha

Good lessons. Lesson 1, do it. Lesson 2, don't not do it.

Can't wait to see your high five experience tomorrow. You better do it. I'm excited about Day 17 after hearing about your experience with it. That fear that builds character. I still haven't read it yet though... looks like things get slightly easier for a while after it judging from Day 19?

I'm glad your interaction with the girl you already talked to before went well. Think I mentioned it, but once a girl I had asked the time and where the closest restaurant was, I accidentally approached her again a couple days later with almost the same question, and she was like, "You already asked me this. Right? Did you ever find that first thing?" and I got really embarrassed (at the time) lol.

You're looking good too. Looks like you're getting almost no bad/passive reactions, which is cool. You're ahead of me, I know, but the "mini freakout" thing you mentioned made me think. You could try approaching like unfriendly-looking people once in a while on purpose and prepare for a bad reaction/being ignored. Maybe it's already happening to you. If not, it happens sometimes, but you kind of get used to it; you almost start challenging them after a while, like in that Chris video with the crazy chick that Brandon posted. "Are you being serious right now?" Still laughing about that video. On my bad day in the mall, "You don't know what kind of phone you have? Yeah okay" comes to mind.

Did you do Day 19 on the street or in the mall? I might have missed which

 

[Toast]

Can't wait to see your high five experience tomorrow. You better do it.

The pressure is on now haha.

That fear that builds character.

100% true

You could try approaching like unfriendly-looking people once in a while on purpose and prepare for a bad reaction/being ignored. Maybe it's already happening to you. If not, it happens sometimes, but you kind of get used to it; you almost start challenging them after a while,

I generally tend to approach females that I find attractive, because they're intimidating, which could be why my reactions are generally neutral (as in dismissive) or good. Hot chicks seems to respond well so far. I could approach unfriendly looking people to produce bad reactions. But I think that if I have them happen more naturally and it catches me off guard it may serve a better purpose. I feel like your recent bad reactions was something that may be very rare. People that react that poorly definitely got something wrong with themselves. I think Chris may have said that like in 100or 200 cold approaches that chick was the only crazy one.

I did day 19 mostly walking on the street. Around my work there's some decent foot traffic as well as some restaurants. on Saturdays, there tends to be a decent amount of people to approach.

 

[Toast]

sundleboro High-5 Challenge /Experiment

https://youtu.be/CJBN4xeROEQ
Challenge - One hour of high-5s

Today was interesting. Went pretty well overall.

25-30 approaches
3 High-5's (One from a dude)
4 Elbow Bumps
1 Fist Bump

Walked around the mall for about an hour, shopped at one point so I wasted some time. Mall was pretty busy, so it was a good day for this experiment. Started off good, first girl I approached for a high-5 turned me down but then offered the elbow bump. Started off good but for probably the next 20 or so min I didn't get any high5, elbow bump, or fist bump. I was trying to approach mostly girls, but a lot of them either gave me blank looks, or giggled and declined. After they declined I asked for the elbow bump, but still no success. I approached a long line of people and asked for a high 5 from the first couple in line. Cute Asian chick and her boyfriend. took a little bit of convincing but they both gave me a high 5. Rest of the people in line were old Asian ladies, and dudes but one other pair of girls I asked but they declined. Next high five I did I was definitely playing around and I walked up to a girl at a kiosk and said, " hey could you help me out, Just wondering if u have any high-5s in stock. She laughed and said sure, and gave me a high 5. Rest of the day was pretty uneventful, got some elbow bumps and one cute Asian girl suggested a fist bump instead of a high5. Not too many girls were alone, or in pairs.

Thoughts on today
I was feeling pretty good today. In the beginning I had a little bit of anxiety, but since I got an elbow bump right off the bat I was feeling good. For the rest of the day I was having a good time asking for High-5s. Pretty fun drill overall, was definitely making a game out of today. Could have probably approached more people, but I'm happy with the 25-30 approaches.
After the day was over I was definitely feeling really good. Vibing on the way home listing to music.
Still think that Day 17 has helped me over come a lot of my social anxiety.
I don't think ill continue high-5s to complete the days I missed, but this was a fun experiment non the less.

 

[sundleboro]

I approached a long line of people and asked for a high 5 from the first couple in line. Cute Asian chick and her boyfriend. took a little bit of convincing but they both gave me a high 5. Rest of the people in line were old Asian ladies, and dudes but one other pair of girls I asked but they declined.

Dang you were going up to a line and asking successive people? That's so tough for me.

hey could you help me out, Just wondering if u have any high-5s in stock

Hahaha

I'm really surprised you only got 8 out of 25 to 30. I noticed younger Asian chicks are less forthcoming, but today kind of surprised me on that front.

Good work today. I'm sad you're not doing the other high five days, they were really fun for me

 

[Toast]

Good work today. I'm sad you're not doing the other high five days, they were really fun for me

Thanks, maybe its a mistake to not do them. I just feel like my progress so far is pretty good, and I would benefit more from continuing on.

 

[sundleboro]

After the second day of high fives, I felt like I could do anything. Like go up to anyone and say anything.

I just read the prompt for Day 17. Hahahah this'll be fun

 

[Manganiello]

I just feel like my progress so far is pretty good, and I would benefit more from continuing on

There's some on future days too.
High fives are surprisingly fun tho.

 

[Toast]

Day 19b

Continuation of Justin Bieber haircut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4HXimtLIaE

Today was great! Unexpectedly awesome results, and overall I felt great throughout the whole day. had around 30ish minuets today before work so my goal was to approach 5-10 girls and finish off the last 2 sets. Acted completely normal today, no gay acting. Just normal and serious attitude.

Notable Interaction
While I was walking around I spotted the same girl I saw a couple of days ago while acting gay. I didn't wanna run the drill on her again. So I just approached and said hey nice to see you again. She asked if i was gunna get the Beebs haircut, so she obviously remembered me. She was sitting at a table so I sat down and chatted with her for a bit. asked how her day was going and as I was going to leave I asked for her number! I was definitely nervous and anxious, but still did it even though it was all in the moment. Probably had the courage because she was so nice in the previous days. She upfront told me she was gay, which was cool of her to do, but I said no worries id still like her number and maybe we could hang out some day and become friends. So I gave her my number and she called my phone. Oh man did it feel good after this. I was stoked to actually ask and commit and get a number. I wasn't bummed that she wasn't into dudes. Didn't even matter at all. She seems like a nice person so maybe we could actually become friends.

Idk if this counts as a cold approach, but its definitely the first number I've gotten from a girl since the beginning of this whole AA journey. Haven't really been focusing too much on the online dating scene during this whole time.

I was definitely flying high after this point. Stopped a chick shortly after and did the whole drill. Moved on and approached a pair of girls sitting at a table eating. I think it was a girl my age and her mom. Did the whole drill, and the younger chick laughed when I mentioned Bieber. The older chick said she didn't know and asked for a pic of Bieber. They both said my current haircut was nice and I should keep it. Next girl was a super fine Asian gym chick waiting in line for the outdoor gym. Definitely Thiccc Af, wearing legging shorts and a crop top. She was the only girl in line with hella dudes around her. Walked up to her, and did the full drill. She was not totally receptive but she answered all of my questions. gave very neutral responses. But it felt good to talk to her in front of all of the other gym bros. Next girl was passing by, got up to the point of saying i was getting the Bieber haircut but she was already walking away as she responded.

Total of 5/6 girls approached if the pair counts as 2. No problems at all with any of the interactions.

Thoughts on Today
I feel like the fucking man. Never would I ever have thought I could just ask a random girl for their number on the street and actually get it. Its only been a month since I started and I've made such good progress!
Going to text the girl whos number I got and see if she's free to chill. Seems like a nice girl.
It was nice to get compliments on my current haircut while asking about what men's haircut they liked. Confirms to me that im looking good right now.

Lessons
Do whatever you fucking want to (within reason)

Other Notable Things
Weighted in at 191.3! Finally dropped a pound after one week so the progress is going decently.
Ate 1465 calories yesterday. Was not too hungry, but I drank like 3 sparkling waters and had popcorn b4 bed so that's probably why. Kind of way under what I want to eat, but I'm pretty sure my calorie maintenance is ~1700 so this is a 20% cut of calories to lose 1-2lbs per week.

 

[sundleboro]

Congrats dude, especially on approaching that girl in front of all the other guys. And good to have your haircut pass the stress test, it's still looking fresh.

Are you better today than you were 2 weeks ago? Like Chris says. Seems like it

btw How have you been finding venues and stuff? I find myself driving somewhere new every day, and considering almost not shitting where I eat, so to speak. Maybe less stressed about that after today

 

[Manganiello]

So I gave her my number and she called my phone. Oh man did it feel good after this. I was stoked to actually ask and commit and get a number.

Noice!!
First one of hundreds. Good job dude. It felt good hearing that story. I bet you couldn't do that 3 weeks ago.

Are you doing a keto diet toast? I don't seem to remember you saying what diet your on.

 

[Toast]

I bet you couldn't do that 3 weeks ago

100% true! Past me would not even approach haha

I'm not on any particular diet. I've just adapted my eating habits. What I've done so far is switched out almost all sugars for 0 calorie alternatives, Eat more low calorie dense foods(like spinach, egg whites, and veggies), eat more proteins because the thermogenic effect takes more energy to digest and process protein and keeps you full for longer, and just eat cleaner and be more conscious of my snacking. I started this whole weight loss journey by watching a lot of Greg Doucette videos, where he preaches "calories in and calories out" is king. So I've made some of his recipes like low calorie French toast, using sweeteners, low calorie bread, and 0 calorie maple syrup. I'm not a guy who eats large meals so I get full pretty quick anyway

 

[Toast]

Are you better today than you were 2 weeks ago?

I feel like a new person honestly. So much self confidence I didn't have before this. I've never really had a bad self image, I just felt really socially awkward. My dad instilled into me not to give a fuck about other peoples thoughts from an early age, and that's gotten me this far, but I had little to no exposure talking to girls. So this is what I've been working on fixing.

How have you been finding venues and stuff? I find myself driving somewhere new every day, and considering almost not shitting where I eat, so to speak. Maybe less stressed about that after today

On the days I work I usually visit the exact same like 2-3 block area, and visit the same 3 stores. Some times I see the same security guard working at a store and think "he probably thinks I'm weird for stopping in this store like 3 days in a row" but I've gotten over that, and just focus on my drills. My other locations are usually just the malls near by. There's 3 malls like within 30 min of driving from where I live. So I just rotate between them. I'm like 45min from the big fancy mall in SF and I'm too lazy to drive that far lol. So I just go to the same places.