In September of last semester, I made the decision to start exercising again after a long time. Before the pandemic, I used to exercise, mostly focusing on endurance, but I had never really focused on building muscle mass. I've always enjoyed the beginning of a routine because it's where you demonstrate how much you want to continue with that habit. In my case, the problem was not maintaining the routine, but rather the moments when I had to break it, like holidays, vacations, rest days, etc.

I've tried various habit tracking apps over time, but none of them convinced me because they made it seem forced, with strict rules or complex methodologies. Last year, I started exploring the idea that I might have ADHD, although I'm not officially diagnosed. I strongly considered that I might have ADHD, so I started researching the topic. That's how I came across [ADHDJesse](https://twitter.com/adhdjesse) on Twitter (I still call it Twitter even though it's now X). One day, I saw that he recommended this app called [Polar Habits](https://polarhabits.com/).

When I saw the welcome screen, I knew it would be a great tool for me. The philosophy of Polar Habits is as follows:

> *"In Polar Habits, there are no streaks to break and no chains to feel bound by. You don't start all over again just because life got in the way or you slipped up yesterday.
Instead, you're encouraged to bounce back, regain your momentum, and keep moving forward!"*
> 

I really liked this philosophy because it helped me consolidate the idea I already had. Many times, we break our routine because we don't have control over many things around us, and it's likely to happen due to external factors. But the key is not letting that day or week when we break the routine stop us. In the end, what matters is the days that we went for it and tried.

Another thing I like about Polar Habits is that it's *SIMPLE*. You create a habit you want to follow, optionally add a description of what the habit is about and why you want to do it, and that's it. Now all you have to do daily is mark whether you completed the habit or not. No streaks, no strikes, nothing. It's just that simple. You did it or you didn't. It doesn't matter why or why not. That's not important, and it also avoids the need for me to justify or explain myself or even feel bad. It's like saying, "Today, I couldn't do it. Oh well."

Throughout this year, I've been using Polar Habits for a specific habit: tracking my consistency with going to the gym. I feel that it's easy to get lost or demotivated after missing a day or several days, or not seeing quick results. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that good things take time. Things don't happen overnight. I know it's a cliché and it has probably been heard before, but I believe that implementing a habit is not a short-term thing. You have to commit and adopt a mindset to follow that habit and reach your goal.

![Example of my habit](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FMomentum.jpeg?alt=media&token=fd5c5a05-017a-46b9-afe3-3404ea6cf747)

Throughout this year, like everyone else, I've had ups and downs. But having a record of my consistency has helped me on many days to keep going. Seeing that I've been going to the gym for 50 days motivated me to continue. Or the fact that for some reason, I missed a day and a week, but seeing that before that moment, the graph was going up, with that motivation, I was able to recover several times and even surpass the progress I had before.

Recently, I added the habit of reading. When I had my internship at Google during the summer of this year, 2023, I had the opportunity to meet a great person I didn't know before, Hyrum Wright. If you don't know him, he is one of the co-writers of the book ["Software Engineering at Google"](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/software-engineering-at/9781492082781/), which is highly recommended in my field. I had the chance to talk to him and ask him some questions. The one that stuck with me the most was, **"What habit would you have liked to develop from a young age?"** He told me that the ability/habit he would have liked to develop from a young age was the ability to sit down and read. He said that nowadays, sitting down for 15 minutes to half an hour without phones and just reading is rare, if not difficult. So, I started that habit. I set a goal to read at least 15 minutes every day that I could.

I set a timer for 15 minutes and start reading. I mark the part where I stop and close the book. Later, I take notes on what I just read to see if I actually learned something or if I just read for the sake of reading. I'll talk about my ways of concentrating on what I have to do in another blog post, but since I started that habit, I've read almost 5 books in 2 months. For some, it may be little, but for me, it's a great achievement considering that I didn't even read one book in the first half of the year.

If you're someone who wants to start a new habit, the best advice I can give you is "try it". Your habits are yours and no one else's. Use the tools you can and organize it the way you want, but make it your own. There will be moments when you will likely lose track of the progress you've made. So, I invite you to check in every now and then and see the progress you've made. If you've made progress, congratulations! Give yourself credit for your efforts. If you haven't been able to make progress, don't beat yourself up. The fact that you've thought about it means that you want to improve some aspect of your life. Just take a look at the things that might be preventing you from achieving your goal and think about the actions you can take to remedy it.

I hope you liked this post. It's the first one I've written on my website, and I hope it has been helpful.

Thank you very much for reading :)

One year of tracking habits

At the beginning of 2022, my high school teacher, Andres Tapia, contacted me and proposed that I give a talk at school. He had seen my Instagram post about a phrase I had written and turned into a sticker. If you want to know more about that sticker, you can read more by clicking [here](https://www.nolbertocastro.com/projects/Animation/64f34ab4ae363a3a8f7966a7). The phrase was **"Yesterday was, today I am, and tomorrow I will be"**. I came up with that phrase after a personal journey struggling with an idea I had about becoming my past self again.

In the past, I thought that my high school version of myself was the best version I could aspire to be. I thought that version had it all - personal growth, attitude, charisma, among other things. I thought I had lost myself and would never be the same again. I tried everything I could to become that person again - strict diets to maintain my weight, trying to do the same things and hold on to the same things. But in the talk I gave to the students, I mentioned that no matter how much I tried to become that version of myself, I only drifted further away.

It was during a walk with my dog that I realized and thought, **"Why do I want to become a person I already was, instead of giving myself the opportunity to become a better person?"** I realized that my high school version of myself wasn't as perfect as I thought. I had made mistakes and there were things that could be improved. So, I said:

> *"Okay, I want to be a version of myself. I can't become you again, but I can embrace the things I liked about you and that I feel are beneficial to maintain in the long run."*
> 

The phrase aims to communicate the idea that we all make mistakes, that nobody is perfect in this world, and that it's okay. Some days will be good, some days will be bad, but we should think that yesterday we were one person, today we are different people, and tomorrow we will be different people. Change is a constant in our lives, so we shouldn't be afraid of it. It's easier said than done many times, but I feel it's something we have to remember.

At that time, I had just finished the first semester of my degree, and we had a class called **Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)**. In this class, we covered various topics such as inheritance, abstraction, etc. Around that time, I had an idea that I played with most of the time, where I tried to relate everything to a box. If you're interested in knowing more about my idea of boxes, you can click [here](https://www.nolbertocastro.com/projects/Animation/64f34ab4ae363a3a8f7966a7).

![Sophie's World](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FSofia%20World.webp?alt=media&token=94e89ebd-12fe-4646-8c3f-89f15659832e)

In summary, the idea is that everything can be seen as a box to understand things. During that time, I started reading a book called **"Sophie's World"**. I have never been so hooked on a book like this before. I went from not reading anything to waiting for online classes to finish so that I could start reading. The book was approximately 500 pages long, and I finished it in less than 3 weeks. It's one of the most beautiful and educational stories I have ever read, and I highly recommend it.

In the book, the idea of Plato's world of ideas stuck with me. According to Plato, there was the physical and material world, and the world of ideas. He called the ideas sacred molds, from which objects in the physical world emerged. After reading that, I started thinking about boxes. Those molds were like Lego boxes. If you want to build a horse, you need:

- 1 Horse head
- 1 Horse torso
- 4 Hoofed legs
- 1 Tail

These pieces together construct the idea of a horse, but individually they build other ideas. So, I realized and said, **"We are like boxes"**. In the end, we can all have the same pieces or DNA, but how everything is structured determines our differences. As the famous scientist Carl Sagan said, **"The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together."**

I continued with the talk and told them that in my idea, when we come into this world, we are little boxes that already come with things inside - our genes, which were determined by our parents' DNA, and the environment, among other things. But as we grow, other people start putting things inside us. If you were born into a Christian family, you were given all the content related to that religion. If you were born in Mexico, then at school you were given all the information about how Mexico emerged, all the wars, and stories that are part of our culture, among other things.

And most importantly, the language. Depending on the country where you were born, you were taught a language to communicate with others. In my case, it was Spanish, but for others, it's English, German, Japanese, Italian, etc. I also asked the kids the question, **"What do we consider to be the most our own and what is the most unowned?"** None of them knew how to answer that question. The answer is our **NAME**. We didn't choose our name; our parents did. We didn't choose the school we attended to a certain extent; our parents did. It conditioned the friends we had, the experiences we had, and even the possible partners we had.

At one point, I became too deterministic, to the point where a boy asked me, **"If I don't decide anything, then who am I?"** I was taken aback; I didn't know what to answer. Obviously, I don't know who he is, much less who I am 100%. I discovered that nobody knows themselves 100% because we are always changing. As they say in the book, the only way to know something 100% is if that something is dead or unchanging. So, the only moment where we can fully know ourselves is when we die.

I told him that I would take the idea of him - everything he had to go through to exist. Let's say this boy's name was Pepe. There won't be another Pepe in this city, with the same parents, the same age, the same school, at this very moment, who won't have the same experiences as him. In the end, I finished the talk by talking about the books I had read before ending the talk and how they had helped me learn more about philosophy. I remember at one point a girl from the audience asked me, **"What was the name of the first book you read?"** I told her, **"Sophie's World"**, and instantly I heard her shout, **"I already bought it!"**

I was amazed at how the kids connected so much with the topic that they wanted to buy the books I had read. In the end, we had some questions, and some stayed later for more personal questions. I gave this talk three times in total; they were the first talks I had ever given in my life, and I am very grateful to the students and to my teacher, Andres, for inviting me and receiving me in such a way. In the future, there will be more interesting talks where I hope to continue sharing my knowledge with others.

I hope you enjoyed this story. Thank you very much for reading. :)

Philosophy and OOP

In late September of 2023, I received the news that I had been admitted to the Notion Campus Leaders program. Notion is a software that I have been using since I started my career; I have taken notes, tasks, and projects using it. The thing is, like many others, I started using it without a specific plan and wanted to use it like any other note-taking app, which I eventually discovered was a mistake.

When I received the news, I was very excited about what it implied because it was mentioned that I would hold this position for 2 semesters and that in each of them, I had to organize events. I remember attending the onboarding session and quickly seeing many students from different parts of the world. The presenter and leader of the Campus Leaders is Emma. In December of last year, a Notion event was held in Mexico City.

I asked for information about the event, but in the end, I couldn't go due to organization and timing issues. However, it was pleasant to be able to talk directly with Notion people. It was announced that I had received the offer for the position, and the algorithms community at Tec found out quickly. Due to processes and other matters, it wasn't until the end of October that I started planning the first event on campus. Before the event, there was a joke going around that the Notion workshop was something made up and didn't exist because of the delay. But in the end, it was fulfilled.

![Logo Notion](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FNotion%20event%2FNotionCharro.webp?alt=media&token=5b94e220-7d37-4348-8840-d19519eeb877)

I saw on Instagram that other leaders had created profiles to post tips and campus events, so I decided to do the same. I created the user **[@notionattec_gdl](https://www.instagram.com/notionattec_gdl/)**, where I will be posting content related to Notion and promoting events that we will have on campus. For the user photo, I set out to draw a Notion with a mariachi hat, charro suit, and a guitar to differentiate Tec de Guadalajara from other campuses.

I sent out an invitation for the event, and my friend Omar helped me rent an auditorium on campus for the event. I had planned to give out Notion swag at the event, but due to scheduling conflicts, I had to do it in week 3 because starting from the 4th week of the last term, all students are busy, and there were fewer people willing to attend the event.

On November 15th, the event took place. That morning, I went to Dolphy's ice cream shop here on campus and bought 24 ice creams to give as a surprise at the event. I wanted to provide pizzas at the event, but the day before, I had tried to use the Domino's app to schedule the order, but I have to say, without offending, that the Domino's app needs a major update. The next day, my friend Luis Macias gave me a ride to a Domino's near campus. We arrived at the place, and I asked the cashier if they could have 22 extra-large pizzas ready before 3 PM.

The cashier mentioned that it would be difficult since that day they also had an order for 18 pizzas. My friend and I decided to go to another nearby branch. We arrived at the other branch, and as soon as I mentioned the number of pizzas to the cashier, her eyes widened. We were able to place the order, and while we waited for them to be ready, we went to Walmart to buy sodas, cups, and other things.

![carrito de super](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FNotion%20event%2FNotion3.webp?alt=media&token=88d4fa04-277d-448c-9809-8090cdcd2f1c)

We filled the grocery cart with sodas, ketchup, and cups, all so that in the end, they told us that the payment method we wanted to use was not valid. Then we decided to go to a different supermarket across the street, but they also didn't accept the payment method, so I tried with another method. We went back to Domino's for the pizzas, and they were ready. It was 2:30, and the way back to campus was crowded with cars, but fortunately, we made it to the event on time.

![Pizzas](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FNotion%20event%2Fnotion4.webp?alt=media&token=de0ec2cd-dd4e-4cc5-937c-885bc54721a9)

My friend and other people helped me unload everything from the car, we set everything up, and the talk began. At first, I was a little nervous; I had given talks before, but I feel that giving talks to people you already know is harder than giving talks to people you don't. But as the talk progressed, I gained more confidence. During the talk, we saw how you could create your web portfolio using a service called **[SUPER](https://super.so/)**. This service allows you to use a Notion page and use more advanced code and features, and the best part is that you can use it for free with some functions.

![Yo exponiendo](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FNotion%20event%2Fnotion1.webp?alt=media&token=9ebdee0e-7e2d-4fdb-b271-7842cacb9f34)

I also mentioned some mistakes I had made in the past using Notion and gave them advice on how not to make the same mistakes. In the end, we had a question and answer session where the top participants received a prize. It was the first Notion event I organized on campus. Thank you so much to everyone who attended <3. I hope to organize more events like this and better ones next semester.

![foto grupal en el evento](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FNotion%20event%2FNotion5.webp?alt=media&token=e0b4089e-10fb-45c8-b5a1-4a95cd59ee2a)

I hope you liked this post. Thank you very much for reading :)

Notion 101 + Web Portfolio

In 2019, I was just starting my second semester of high school. In my school, during the first year, they ask you to do a personal project. You get to choose what you want to do and how to do it, with the only condition being that you treat it like a real project, with goals, objectives by dates, and a teacher becomes your mentor to guide you through the project.

I decided to create a basketball poster. At that time, I used to play basketball a lot, and I had always been interested in learning Illustrator. I drew a picture of my friend Yuta and converted our image into vectors. From then on, I thought I knew Illustrator, so I decided to make the poster using that software. Later on, I realized that Illustrator was expensive. At that time, I had never worked before and didn't have my own money. So, I looked for a free or one-time payment alternative that would be worth the investment.

That's how I discovered **Affinity Designer**, a software similar to Illustrator but with a one-time payment. I remember going to my dad and starting with the same words that we have all probably used at some point, **"Hellooooo, how are you?"** Haha. Obviously, he knew that I wanted to buy something, so he asked me, **"What do you want to buy?"** I told him that I wanted to buy this software for my project, which was a one-time payment and that I could use it from now on. Without hesitation, we bought it, and I started using it. **Thank you, Dad <3**.

I finished the poster and presented it, but even after completing the poster, I remained interested in illustration. I continued doing things on my own, such as making stickers with a picture of my dog, personalizing a portable battery, and other things. I used to follow a YouTuber from Puebla named [Wefere](https://www.youtube.com/@Wefere/videos). I followed his news channel to stay updated occasionally. One day, he announced that he would have a t-shirt design contest, and the person who designed the best shirts would win around **10,000 pesos**. Without thinking twice, I decided to participate.

![Camisas](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FMy%20First%20Job%2Fchamarras.webp?alt=media&token=7326a62f-63cf-4a52-b31f-49e364bcd063)

I created about 10 t-shirt designs and uploaded them to my profile with the contest's hashtag. On the day of the voting, I ended up in the top 10. Unfortunately, I didn't win the contest, but I at least learned more about the software. The days passed until one day, I was getting out of the shower and checked my phone to realize that someone had messaged me on Instagram. I was surprised because Instagram was not the social media platform I used the most to talk to people, so I wondered, **"Who could it be?"**

I checked the message, and it was a man named **George Madrid**. He mentioned that he saw my designs in Wefere's contest and that he had 2 projects for me: one for designing cards for a car wash and another for a logo for his running team called **LA Street Runners**. I remember quickly going to my dad and telling him that I was being sought after for a design job. He asked me, **"How much do you plan to charge?"** I said I had no idea.

My dad told me to think about how many hours it would take me to do what he asked and set an hourly rate, then do the multiplication. Obviously, being a beginner, I didn't have a very high amount in mind. In the end, for both jobs, my dad and I agreed to charge $100. However, just as I was about to send the message, I gathered my courage and added $20 more.

The man accepted, and I got to work. I remember that he wanted the car wash design to have a metallic look, so I designed it as if the car had drops on it. Now when I look at the logo again, it seems like it's melting, but as some would say, **"All of us start somewhere."** We all have that first experience when starting a new job or facing a new situation.

![logos](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FMy%20First%20Job%2Fprimeros%20logos.webp?alt=media&token=63de97ef-09c1-4c8b-9460-021d7231208f)

In the end, I finished both logos and delivered them to the man. Before sending him the files, I waited for him to make the payment of $120. Since I didn't have a credit card, I asked my dad if we could use his for the deposit. The days passed until one day, the man confirmed and told me that he had made the deposit. I ran to my dad to check if the deposit had been made, and he showed me the bank statement, confirming that I had indeed earned $120. I couldn't believe it. I quickly sent the files to the man for him to use and thanked him for the opportunity.

In the end, I believe I used those $120 to buy a design tablet for making illustrations, but that's another story for another post. Before finishing, I would like to say, Sir, if you ever read this, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for giving a 16-year-old kid the opportunity to keep working on what he loves and to see that it is possible to make a living doing what you want. I hope one day I can treat you to something and give back those $120 that you gave me.

I hope you enjoyed this story. Thank you very much for reading :)

My First Job

During high school, my interest in graphic design began. If you want to know how I started in design and the story of my first job, you can click [here](https://www.nolbertocastro.com/blogs/656e7aefeee862520b5d2460).

During classes and in my free time, I spent time researching new ways to do things in Photoshop and new tricks. I remember one time when I wanted to create a poster that involved perspective and rotated pieces. The poster was for an event at my school, which was a competition to build a bridge using spaghetti pasta sticks. The bridge that could support the most weight would win.

I remember my teacher asked me if I could help create the poster. I said yes and got to work. Everything was going great until I encountered the perspectives. I wanted to do something more advanced, but the knowledge I had wasn't enough to achieve it. So, I decided to go to the person who is still one of the most knowledgeable people about Photoshop that I know, **Professor Pedro**. I gave him a personalized poster as a gift. If you want to know more about the story, you can click [here](https://www.nolbertocastro.com/projects/Illustration/64f34703ae363a3a8f7966a0).

I remember I went to his office and talked to him about the problem I was having. I couldn't transform the drawings I had to my liking. That's when Pedro showed me one of the most powerful commands I have ever known in Photoshop, and one that I still use the most in all my work.

![Comamnd T Photo](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FPhotoshop%20Command%2FCommandT.webp?alt=media&token=92a255e9-bca6-4144-b765-85ae8d7853e6)

The command is `Command + T` on Mac and `Ctrl + T` on Windows. I remember when he showed me that command, I was amazed. He had shown me a tool that allowed me to transform an image with different points that I could modify as I pleased to get the result I wanted. Later on, I learned more advanced commands that I will talk about in other posts, but the fact is that this was the first command that showed me the power of Photoshop.

My friend Angel accompanied me that time to ask Pedro the question, and when he showed us that command, we started making jokes about how `Command + T` was more powerful than `Command C + Command V`. But getting specific with the command, when you select a layer and use the command, new options will appear in the top bar of Photoshop.

![Photo 1 example](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FPhotoshop%20Command%2FCommandPhoto1.webp?alt=media&token=489c2d23-0afe-488e-9f21-f6769d1d1368)

You can uniformly resize the object by simply selecting one of its points and pressing `Shift` while expanding it. The detail is that if you press `Command` or `Ctrl`, the mouse icon will change, and now if you select one of the layer's points, you can move that point as you please.

![Photo 2 Example](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FPhotoshop%20Command%2FCommandPhoto2.webp?alt=media&token=feb209f8-7ac7-4b1e-a5f2-c8196cc13071)

Another very useful function of this tool appears when we click on an icon in the options bar. This option will not only allow us to modify the points of the layer but also add curvatures between the points, and even add points within the layer to make more complex modifications.

I have used this command countless times, and it is still part of my workflow. I hope it helps you in your future projects.

I hope you really liked this post. Thank you very much for reading :)

The greatest Photoshop Command

In October of this year 2023, I found myself with the opportunity to create the website for the Resis Awards event at my university's residences. It seemed like a good opportunity to learn and develop my professional skills. We started discussing the project in early October, but for various reasons, we ended up starting it in the last week of October.

Initially, I had planned to create a website 100% with code from scratch, but due to time constraints, I realized it would be very complicated. Analyzing various options on how we could get the website ready, I came up with the idea of using **Notion**. I had previously had my personal portfolio on Notion because it seemed like a quick and easy way to build a portfolio that I could share with others.

Afterwards, I started programming this website where you are reading this blog, but the fact is that for the speed at which I was able to create that, I was convinced that we could do the same here. I thought that Frontend wouldn't be so complicated since we would only be displaying general information about the event. The challenge was the voting aspect, as we wanted to have 2 rounds of voting for this event. In the first round, multiple candidates could be proposed based on different categories, and in the second round, the top 3 candidates would be chosen.

A very useful feature of Notion is the ability to have **Databases**. So I thought, *“Surely there is already a form service that allows me to connect it to a Notion database to store the results”*. And sure enough, I started researching several options for services to accomplish this task.

The first one I tried was [Commotion](https://commotion.page/). At first, I thought it had what I wanted, but then I started noticing several issues. For the voting part, to propose the finalists, we had to leave the options open but only have the residents as options. Additionally, the data had to be consistent in order to count the votes, among other things, we had to include all the residents in all the categories.

This was a problem because there was no way for me to have a database with all the names and IDs of the residents and use them as options in a question. So after researching for several days, I took the initiative to manually enter all the names. It wasn't the most effective option, but the voting had to proceed.

Then I found that there were several issues with Commotion, which I don't remember now, but I simply couldn't achieve what I wanted with this service. So I looked for another one and ended up using [Forms App](https://forms.app/). What I liked about Forms App is that it allowed me to eliminate the possibility of a person voting twice, and it was as simple as copying and pasting the names of the residents to create individual options for the multiple-choice categories automatically.

What we didn't anticipate was that several pages on our university network are blocked for security reasons. Sometimes, some pages are blocked for no reason, so we have to request them to be unblocked. We didn't have the time to make the request and accept the changes, so we decided to set up voting stations in the building where students could go and vote.

The voting was carried out, and then I started working on the final voting round. I must mention that I built the website using [SUPER](https://super.so/), a service that allows you to create more customized websites using Notion pages as a base. When it came to the final voting round, we planned to display the images of the finalists to make it easier for the residents to vote. The problem was that this could be done with **Forms App**, but after the website was blocked by the university and several people decided not to vote due to the inconvenience of going to the voting station, we decided to look for another service.

That's when I discovered [TALLY](https://tally.so/), a free service (the previous two were paid :/) that also allows you to connect a Notion database to the form. What I liked about TALLY was how easy it was to set up the form, as it follows the same concept as Notion of using a `/` to insert new blocks. In addition, it has a much better interface design and user experience. I created the form and connected it to my Notion database. I created a page where we could see the progress of each category and individually created charts for each category using [ChartBase](https://www.chartbase.so/), which is the best service I have found for creating charts from databases, although it is a paid service.

Everything was going great with the voting. The voting would close at 10pm on the last day. One hour after the voting was closed, the event organizer told me that the voting data was visible. Confused, I started to figure out how this was possible, until I found the answer. It turns out that, when creating the website, I had created a blank page where, according to me, we would show the voting progress to the public. I didn't put anything there, but the link appeared in the header. When I set up the page where the voting results could be viewed, I forgot that this page was public, and I posted everything there.

Quickly, I took down the page and deleted it from Notion. The data had leaked, but it didn't cause any major issues. The next day, the event organizer asked me if I could put the page back up so that someone from the university could see it. I re-posted the page, making sure that the previous error wouldn't happen again, and everything went smoothly for a while.

Until I received a message from the organizer while I was at the gym, telling me that the data was visible again. This time, I didn't know why this was happening. I thought, *“But I didn't make that page public this time”*. Then I realized, *“Of course, in the end, I posted the page again, and the database is within that page, so if you have the URL and you refresh it, you can see the content again”*. I quickly solved it, and everything was fine.

The moral of the story is, if you ever want to do something similar, make sure your database is separate from your website to avoid leaks like the one that occurred.

I hope you learned something from this post. Thank you very much for reading :)

Voting web page with Notion

Now that the semester is over, my family and I decided to spend a weekend in **Mazamitla**, a magical town near **Guadalajara** known for its cabins and excellent climate. I have always enjoyed coming here. There are many open spaces, trees, and nature in every direction. It is definitely a place where I can relax and connect with myself in an incredible way.

On the first day we arrived, we decided to explore the town and find a place to eat. After passing by several businesses, I suggested going to a crafts market that we had visited in the past when we came here. We walked to the place, and all the items being sold were made of wood. I had been wanting to buy a larger wooden chest for a while since the one I had was getting small. So, I decided to look for one and found the following one for only $11 dollars.

![Chest](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FYoyo%2FCofre.webp?alt=media&token=988b6d15-a975-40b0-9097-b5dc34db4cca)

Passing by several shops, I saw that they were selling various wooden toys. Out of nowhere, I remembered that Yo-yos existed and that I used to love them as a child. I quickly asked in a store if they had Yo-yos, and a very friendly guy showed me one, which I bought without hesitation. It had been a long time since I played with one, and I even forgot how to use it. I ended up asking my dad several things, so throughout this post, I hope to refresh your memory or teach 
you the basics of how to use one.

![Knot the Yo-yo](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FYoyo%2FYDibujo2.webp?alt=media&token=6b795269-1b95-4aa7-a372-c0fabd391e30)

The first thing I asked him was which finger the string goes on. The Yo-yo string is tied to the middle finger of the hand. To wind the Yo-yo string into a cylinder, you have to first pass the string over your finger and then under it about 3 times. After that, you let go of your finger and continue winding until you reach the end. At first, I saw that my dad would first wind the string around his finger, spin it around, and then let go. I had doubts because it didn't seem logical to me. Later, he explained to me that he did this because if you want to wind the string without this trick, **you won't be able to** because the string won't wind into the cylinder and will just spin.

![How to do the yoyo](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FYoyo%2FYDibujo1.webp?alt=media&token=a30fbac6-f941-4ccb-9a6f-748460edbec6)

After that, the easiest thing to do is to give the Yo-yo a little momentum to make it go down and then make a movement upward with your hand to make it return to you. The curious thing is that I saw my dad playing with the Yo-yo in a peculiar way. He had his hand pointing upwards, and then he would push the Yo-yo down over his fingers. I tried to replicate what he was doing, but I didn't know how until he explained it to me. I thought I had to push the Yo-yo down with my hand pointing upwards and pull it back up the same way. He later explained that, no, you push the Yo-yo down with your hand pointing upwards, but as soon as you push it, you invert the position of your hand downwards to be able to catch the Yo-yo again.

I also learned that Yo-yos are tied using a string that is tied at both ends, and to put it inside the Yo-yo, they split the string in half, insert it into the Yo-yo, and then start twisting it to tighten it so that it doesn't come out. Also, if you are given a Yo-yo with a string without a space to put your finger, it is very simple. You just have to estimate the size of your finger and make a **slip knot** so that you can adjust it.

And voila, you can start practicing with your Yo-yo. My dad also mentioned some tricks that used to be done, such as the **"dog"** where you let the Yo-yo walk on the floor as if you were walking a dog, and the **pendulum**, which is more difficult, where you use the Yo-yo string to end up with a pendulum-like motion. When I was little, the best Yo-yos were from the brand **Duncan**.

![Duncan](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FYoyo%2FDuncan.webp?alt=media&token=28ef351f-61dd-4a4a-9f64-189a60be5073)

I hope you enjoyed this anecdote about how to remember how to use a Yo-yo. Thank you very much for reading :)

Do you remember Yo-yos?

I used to be very skeptical about anything related to relaxation and well-being practices. I thought most of them were just **BS**, and I still believe this about several practices. However, I decided to give one a try: journaling.

During the summer of 2023, I had the experience of interning at Google. I'll talk more about my experience in detail in a future blog post, but for this blog, I want to focus on the personal side. I believe that no matter what situation you find yourself in, there will always be things that worry you or demand a lot from you mentally.

The internship was no exception. Before I left, the school psychologist gave me a notebook and said, ***"I'm giving you this notebook to write about your experiences during your journey."*** She showed me many pages in the book and how it could help me maintain habits and continue with projects I needed to finish. Thank you so much <3. Knowing myself, I didn't use most of those pages. However, what I did start doing was writing every night before going to bed about how my day went.

![photo Journaling](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FJournaling%2FJournaling%20Photo.webp?alt=media&token=7df6aa82-b65b-4484-af4e-c9ae6713da0c)

I wrote about everything that happened to me: happy things, sad things, worries, tasks I had to do, and more. Writing about everything that happened to me during the day started giving me a peace of mind that I had never experienced before. For most of my life, like many others, small events or situations that may mean nothing to others would torment me for days. These could be failing at something, making a mistake at work, or even a harmless comment that had an impact on me.

Writing down my thoughts allowed me to analyze them and see what I could do and, most importantly, **"see what I was thinking."** I think this word is key. Many times, we have so many things on our minds that we don't know how to handle them. Some things are forgotten but end up coming back days later or after some time. I remember once hearing this quote from Lacan:

> *"The word kills the thing."*
*-Jacques Marie Émile Lacan*
> 

Currently, I am reading the book **"Building a Second Brain"** by **Tiago Forte**. In this book, he explains the importance of having a place to store information outside of our brains, and this place should be easy to organize and maintain. In one page of the book, I read:

> *The brain is a great place to create ideas, not to store them.*

This phrase stuck with me because it's true. How many of us have had a moment of **Eureka** where we had a brilliant idea that we thought would lead us to something great, but in the end, we forgot it within seconds, minutes, or hours? What I want to say is that while reading the book, I made a connection between all this knowledge and a book I read a while ago called **"Don't Feed the Monkey Mind"**. The thing I remember the most from that book was the analogy they gave to explain the subconscious and the conscious.

> *WARNING: I'm not saying that the idea I'm about to mention is something real and scientifically proven. I'm just saying that it's a good analogy to elaborate on the point I want to make.*

The analogy in the book was that the conscious mind was like a theater filled with people watching a show, and the subconscious was what was outside the theater, something you couldn't see. When something from the subconscious entered the conscious, it was described as if, in the middle of the play, a person naked with only underwear entered the theater, interrupting the show. It was mentioned that many times we repress these ideas and memories and take them out of the theater, but sooner or later, those ideas would come back. They would enter through the ventilation, the backstage, or wherever, but their return was certain.

Combining this with my knowledge of programming, I thought that the subconscious is a part of our brain that we don't have access to but that holds information, and sometimes, it becomes conscious but very rarely. However, in our conscious mind, we can only hold a certain number of ideas, just like the RAM memory of computers.

![Animation Conscience](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FJournaling%2FAnimacio%CC%81n%20Subcons.gif?alt=media&token=adb8b03b-3fc4-439b-bcec-be15594df97d)

The act of taking what was in the subconscious and materializing it in words, so to speak, creates a bridge to the place where we had that memory or recollection stored. So, by having it on paper, you can read it as many times as you want and take action on it. By resolving it, I believe that this worry remains within the subconscious but rarely manifests itself in the conscious because we took action to address it, freeing our conscious mind for things we truly want to focus on.

Currently, I don't do my journaling digitally. I believe that paper and pencil are irreplaceable tools for this activity because they are the fastest way to express oneself. With a digital medium, you depend on battery life, but with paper and pencil, you depend on the size of the page. I use [Field Notes](https://fieldnotesbrand.com/) notebooks as they are small enough to carry everywhere, and I love their simplicity and design. But this is a personal preference; you can use any notebook you like.

Since I started journaling, I have honestly felt reduced stress levels. I feel that I have more focus on the things that require my attention and those that don't. I can also see what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling, and what I can do to improve everything. I believe it is a good form of daily internal dialogue that helps me understand where I stand, what is happening to me, and where I want to go.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Thank you so much for reading :)

The Power of Journaling

I believe I'm not the only one who has had a strange relationship with diets. Personally, throughout all the years that I have worked on improving my physical health, I have learned a few lessons, and the most important one is that indeed, nutrition has a great impact not only on your physical development and progress but also on your mental health and energy levels.

During the summer of this year, I made the decision to start meal prepping. During my summer internship, there was a time when I would go to a nearby restaurant called [Pelicana Chicken](https://maps.app.goo.gl/hW9vKASREZvhp92u9). It had the best fried rice I have ever tasted in my life. Every time I arrived, the restaurant staff already knew what I was going to order, **"Fried rice with chicken and a diet coke."** The lady at the restaurant always asked me, **"The usual?"** And when I finished, she would say, **"I love it"** because I always left everything clean and tidy for them to collect the plates.

One day, my friend Mateo asked me, **"Don't you think it's expensive to eat there every day?"** After that, I started doing the math, and it was indeed a considerable amount. But I thought that in the end, I was sacrificing that extra cost by preparing it myself for the time it would take me to cook every day, so it seemed like a good deal. I could eat the same thing every day, the restaurant would receive money from me, and I would gain time to do other things instead of cooking.

It was not until one day when we went to the restaurant that I decided to analyze what the dish had. The dish had rice, chicken, sesame seeds, vegetables, and small pieces of bacon. I already knew how to cook rice and chicken for a long time (as a gym enthusiast), but this rice had something different, it had a peculiar flavor. It was then that I had a moment of enlightenment and thought, **"What if the restaurant fries the bacon, chops it, and then fries the rice with the same oil so that it has a bacon flavor?"** I felt like I had found gold and said, **"I can do this."**

The next day, I went to the supermarket to buy all the ingredients to try to replicate the dish. On that first occasion, the result was not the best because I didn't know how to use the stove well in the house where we were staying, so the rice burned a little. Additionally, I tried to mix it with lettuce and cherry tomatoes. I didn't dislike the taste, but I knew that in the long run, I would leave those two ingredients aside, so I eliminated them from the recipe. But the next time I tried it, it was the complete opposite. From the moment I took the first bite, I knew it was a recipe that would change my life in a radical way. I remember going to Ikea that day before cooking to buy containers to store the food for the week. I found a package of 4 containers for $10, and I bought 3 packages (I still use them today).

![First meal preps](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FWhy%20meal%20prep%2FFirst.webp?alt=media&token=d9337b88-ecaa-4046-8162-70cef3f311fe)

One piece of advice I would like to give you is to eat with chopsticks instead of using a fork. On the same day that I bought the containers at Ikea, I also bought a set of chopsticks. By using chopsticks, you eat more slowly, so you get full with less food. By giving your brain more time to register that you are eating, it starts to feel satisfied. At first, I didn't know how to use chopsticks, but later on, I found it very practical since it also allows you to enjoy the food. Additionally, if you ever go to a sushi restaurant or a place where chopsticks are used, you can show off your chopstick skills ;)

Some time after I returned to Mexico, I ran into my friend Javier playing basketball, so I joined him for a while. While we were shooting hoops, I asked him how he did meal prep since he is also in the fitness field. He told me that he also prepares everything on Sundays and eats what he prepared throughout the week. What caught my attention the most was when he mentioned that he pays close attention to the macros of his meals.

> In case you don't know, macros refer to macronutrients, which include proteins, carbohydrates, fats, sodium, sugar, etc. They are listed on the back of all the food you consume, where you can find the information.

I was surprised that he separates the egg yolk from the egg white. I asked him, **"Is there really a significant difference in doing that?"** He told me that yes, the yolk has more fats and calories, and the egg white has fewer calories but a good amount of protein. So, I started including egg whites in my recipe. I told him that for the moment, I don't count macros and that I estimate the portions by eye since I had a bad experience in the past when I counted calories because it became very decisive about what I ate.

> I'm not an expert in health, so all of this is based on my experience and advice from acquaintances. But if I can give you one piece of advice, if you're not preparing for a competition or need to lose weight forcibly by a certain date, *DON'T COUNT CALORIES*. It's not sustainable in the long run and only ends up wearing you down physically and mentally.

I also told him that I manage my portions of food and know that I consume healthy things like vegetables, proteins, grains, etc. Besides, calculating the macros for each meal seemed like a hassle to me. He mentioned that before preparing his meal preps, he weighs all the ingredients he is going to use on a scale. He told me, **"If you weigh all the ingredients, calculate the macros for each of them, and add them up, you have the content of all your meal preps. You just have to divide it by the number of portions you want to make, divide each of the macros by that number, and you will know what each meal has on average."**

At that moment, my mind exploded as if I had been shown the holy grail of meal prepping. I remembered that I had just bought a small scale to do exactly what he mentioned. So, the next time, I weighed all my ingredients and ended up with a table showing the amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, etc., of everything I had prepared and the macros for each meal of the week.

I hope you liked this post. Thank you very much for reading :)

Why I started Meal Prepping

While I was reading **Building a Second Brain** by **Tiago Forte**, I came up with several ideas. One day, while reading the book, the author talked about something he did to store valuable information in one place. He mentioned how he would send anything he found to a single place, an **Inbox**, where everything temporary and without a specific place existed. Since I use **Notion** for everything, I thought of trying to implement this idea, which I named **Share is the new Save**.

I believe I'm not the only one who has gone through social media on a normal day, mindlessly scrolling to distract myself. But many times, you come across resources that you know can be helpful but you're not sure where to store them yet. Often, you click "Save" in each application. On Twitter, you click **Retweet**, on Instagram, you click **Save**, on YouTube, you click **Watch Later**, you record a voice note for an idea you have, or you take a picture of a place, thing, or information you want to use. **Do you know what the problem is with this?**

**Everything you save is distributed across different apps**. Let's be honest, how many times have you actually gone to the "Watch Later" section on YouTube? Or how many times have you saved something on Instagram and spent half an hour searching through all the reels and posts? I've been there too, and the idea that **"A resource doesn't have to have a specific use to be useful"** changed my perspective on how to organize the information I want to use.

The book offers a simple solution: everything digital, all applications, websites, etc., can be shared and sent. So why not have a specific place where we can send everything that we know will be useful in the future? The author mentions that this place may accumulate many things, and that is the goal of this place - to filter information. The author recommends doing a weekly **Check-In**, where you go through all the resources you saved, see if they are helpful to you, and if not, simply **delete them**.

In Notion, create a new page called Inbox (that's the name I used, but you can name it Random Stuff if you prefer). This is all we have to do in Notion for now. I apologize to Android users, but this tutorial will be general for browsers and iPhones.

For browsers, there is a resource called **[Notion Web Clipper](https://www.notion.so/es-la/web-clipper)**, an extension available for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, which allows you to share any content you're viewing directly to Notion with just 2 clicks.

For iPhones, most applications have a share option. The detail is that the Notion option doesn't appear automatically among the first options, so you'll have to change this. You can do this by following the instructions in the following image.

![Config Share to Notion Iphone](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FShare%20not%20Save%2Fconfig.webp?alt=media&token=12b32f12-66a3-453d-9dbf-db2f8e8ac076)

From now on, every time you send something to your Inbox, it will create a new page within your Inbox. Personally, this is something I'm still trying to figure out how to solve because in my vision, I would like the Inbox to look more like the following gif, where all the resources can be quickly viewed without entering any of the pages and quickly start filtering. If you ask the Notion AI to give you a summary of what's in the Inbox, it does it, but it's not perfect.

![Example of my Inbox](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FShare%20not%20Save%2FCleanShot%202023-12-19%20at%2019.29.35.gif?alt=media&token=f626bfea-af91-4a83-878c-c520e8e6d370)

I believe that in the end, for this to work, an extension using the **Notion API** would need to be created, and by manually using the content of the page, we could determine which resources can be **embedded**. If you're interested in the idea, send me a DM on Instagram. I know this is a tool that can help many people better organize their ideas.

I hope you liked this post. Thank you so much for reading :)

Share is the new save

Since I migrated from Windows to macOS, I've discovered one of the major advantages that macOS has over Windows - the abundance of productivity apps and their high quality. As I started using my main computer, I came across some interesting apps that have significantly enhanced my productivity. I'd like to share them with you:

# [One Thing](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-thing/id1604176982?mt=12)

### Free

One Thing is a free application that does exactly what its name suggests - it displays text in your Mac's menu bar. "Any idea or thing you want to keep in mind can be written in One Thing and will always be within sight."

# [Hand Mirror](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hand-mirror/id1502839586?mt=12)

### Free

Hand Mirror is an application that allows you to have a mirror at hand in your Mac's menu bar. Simply click on the mirror icon and using your Mac's camera, you can have a mirror to check how you look before your next call. If you want to learn more about this app, you can visit its **[Official website](https://handmirror.app/)**.

# [Itsycal](https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/)

### Free

Itsycal is a free app developed by MowGlii. It's like having your calendar living within your menu bar. You can sync it with all your emails, create events with just a few clicks, and view your events for each day.

# [AltTab](https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/)

### Free

Personally, when I switched from Windows to MacOS, one of the things that took me some time to adapt was the quick app switching feature. In Windows, using alt + tab allowed for quick tab switching, but this doesn't exist natively on Mac. That's why AltTab exists - an app that shows you a window with all the open apps, allowing you to switch between them quickly.

# [AppCleaner](https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/)

### Free

AppCleaner is an application that allows you to completely remove files associated with an app. When you delete an app in MacOS, only the app itself is removed, but sometimes there are still some files related to the app left behind. This app searches for those files and removes them, optimizing storage space.

# [Amphetamine](https://apps.apple.com/mx/app/amphetamine/id937984704?mt=12)

### Free

Amphetamine is an application that helps you keep your Mac awake for as long as you need. Often, we need our computer to stay awake for a download or a process to finish. This app allows you to select the duration for which you want your computer to stay awake.

# [Latest](https://max.codes/latest/)

### Free

Some of these applications can't be found on the App Store, and you have to get them directly from the developers. This brings a general problem - not knowing which apps need to be updated. Latest is an app that shows you which apps need to be updated and allows you to update them directly from the app.

# [Dropover](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dropover-easier-drag-drop/id1355679052?mt=12?mt=12)

### Free-ish

Dropover is an application that makes it much easier for me to move a large number of files between locations on my Mac. By making a quick movement gesture, a window appears where you can drop the files you want to move. You can navigate to a different folder and drop them all in one smooth movement. It also allows you to share a large number of files via Airdrop, message, mail, or a link for others to view your documents over the internet.

# [GetIpSum](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/getipsum/id1580281319?mt=12)

### $2.00

GetIpSum is an app that lives in your menu bar and allows you to quickly generate lorem ipsum text of different sizes. It's handy when you need placeholder text for prototypes or sections.

# [Vivid](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vivid-double-your-brightness/id6443470555?mt=12)

### $10

If you have a 14/16-inch MacBook Pro or a Studio Display, this app might interest you. These computers have a technology called Micro-Led, which means that instead of having a single backlight illuminating all the pixels, there is a grid of small LEDs behind the screen that individually illuminate the pixels.

Normally, Macs for regular use are limited to 500 nits, but these computers can reach a maximum of 1000 nits. However, this feature is only activated when working with HDR content. Vivid allows you to increase the brightness to the maximum without needing HDR content, which is useful when working outdoors and needing a bit more brightness. If you want to learn more about Vivid, you can visit its [official website](https://www.getvivid.app/#pricing).

# [Sip](https://sipapp.io/)

### $20

Sip is a color picker app that lives in your menu bar. It allows you to configure the color format you want to receive, from Hex to specific formats for operating systems like Android and iPhone.

# [PixelSnap](https://getpixelsnap.com/es/)

### $40

PixelSnap is an app that allows you to measure dimensions on any part of your screen. It also lets you add vertical and horizontal guides on top of what you're currently viewing on your computer to check dimensions in your designs and alignments. Additionally, you can select an area of your computer, and PixelSnap adjusts to the content, making it easy and quick to capture it.

# [Magnet](https://apps.apple.com/mx/app/magnet/id441258766?mt=12)

### $100

Magnet is an app that solves one of the main features that we still don't understand why MacOS hasn't implemented - the ability to adjust different windows to full screen or to a specific section of the screen. Knowing that the cost of the app is high, here are some alternatives:

- **[BetterSnapTool](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bettersnaptool/id417375580?mt=12&ref=producthunt)**
- **[Rectangle](https://rectangleapp.com/)**

# [Bartender 5](https://www.macbartender.com/)

### $15

Bartender is an app that, in my opinion, is essential if you use MacOS. It allows you to customize your menu bar and organize how each of your extensions is displayed. With the new version of Bartender, you can even customize the area that the menu bar uses.

# [CleanShot X](https://cleanshot.com/)

### $30

CleanShot X is an app that I personally use every day. It's like having an enhanced version of taking screenshots on a Mac. After taking a screenshot, you can add arrows, text, blur text, add backgrounds, and more. It also has OCR, which allows you to extract text from a screenshot. When recording the screen, it shows the pressed keys, areas where you click, captures audio from the computer and microphone.

If you don't want to pay the $30, there's a free alternative that is equally good called [Shottr](https://shottr.cc/).

I hope you liked this post. Thank you so much for reading :)

My Top 15 Mac Apps

Throughout my physical and mental improvement process, I have gone from one diet to another, from one strategy to another. After a long time, I have learned a thing or two about how to manage my nutrition and, above all, how to make it key in achieving my goals, whether it is cutting or bulking.

> WARNING: Everything mentioned in this post is based on my own learnings, which are based on pure empiricism from my side. I do not recommend taking what I say as if it were written in stone. I suggest doing your own research and consulting with professionals.

I remember the first time I tried to diet and lose weight. My logic was, **"If I have to consume a certain number of calories, why not eat less and track everything I eat so as not to exceed it, and do A LOT OF CARDIO?"** This was the logic I followed the first time I lost weight. I used the **MyFitnessPal** application to track everything I ate. I did about 1 hour of treadmill every day, which allowed me to lose weight very quickly. The problem was the infamous rebound effect.

What I had lost, I regained and doubled in less time. Then, I went to a nutritionist who was a friend of my mom. She showed me how to eat based on portions. It was very simple. She gave me a table that included different food groups such as meats, dairy, vegetables, fats, etc. The table had a number that represented how many "points," so to speak, I could exchange at each mealtime. The table also included various examples of food and their costs.

It was like buying things. With this number of points, how much can I eat at each meal? This method was very beneficial for me at the time. I feel that it is much more friendly, educational, and sustainable in the long term. Because here's the thing, theoretically, if you want to lose weight, you simply have to be in a caloric deficit. It's not rocket science. The key is how you achieve that caloric deficit.

For example, if you have to consume a maximum of 1800 calories to be in a deficit, let's say you eat a 500-calorie chocolate bar in each meal. You are creating a caloric deficit. The catch is that obviously you won't feel satisfied with just one bar per meal. In addition to the nutritional value of this food, you're just adding sugars and fats, things that won't help you much in terms of energy and will only end up causing breakouts.

For a long time, I used this table. But as always, I have come to realize that over time and after making mistakes, one learns how to stabilize. That's why I say, **"If your goal is not to lose weight overnight or to compete,"** you don't need super strict diets. Give your diet a little margin and enjoy life.

However, when you want to improve physically and are willing to make changes to achieve it, things get interesting. For a long time, I didn't consume protein powder or supplements. I had the mindset that **"Those things are not natural."** For me, those things were cheating, a quick way to get something that shouldn't be easy to obtain. But in the end, I discovered that both protein and creatine are not harmful supplements, and on the contrary, they bring long-term benefits.

In the summer of this year 2023, I started consuming protein powder. I always take it with water because, in my opinion, the taste is not bad, and it doesn't upset my stomach as much. I started using creatine at the beginning of the year. One day, I went to my aunt and uncle's house, and my cousin Rafa noticed that I had started going to the gym, so he asked me, **"Don't you take any supplements?"** My parents said no and that it was all natural because they didn't like the idea of me taking supplements.

Out of nowhere, my cousin got up, opened the pantry, took out a bottle of creatine, and said, **"Take it, it's about halfway full."** I remember I couldn't believe it. For me, supplements were like something taboo, and if I consumed them, I would no longer be natural. But as I mentioned earlier, these two supplements have no problem. **Thank you very much, Rafa :)**

For a long time, I would take creatine in a glass of water separately. I would add 2 scoops, stir them, and drink them. Then, during the summer internship, my colleague **Mateo** asked me, **"Why don't you do a dry scoop?"** If you don't know what that is, it's simply the act of taking the scoop, putting it in your mouth without trying to swallow it, and then quickly drinking a glass of water so that the creatine dissolves with the water. Since then, I take creatine that way.

> If you are going to try this, make sure someone is with you in case something goes wrong. Always have water on hand in case you make a mistake.

That same summer, I started doing meal prep. If you want to know more about the story of why I started, you can [click here](https://www.nolbertocastro.com/blogs/65810011c4d17eaa21185fec). The point is that I started doing meal preps based on the dish from a Korean fried rice restaurant that I used to go to every day after work.

At first, I followed the exact recipe from the restaurant. The recipe is as follows:

- 2 cups of rice
- Bacon (one package)
- 5 zucchinis
- 4 bell peppers
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 red onion
- 3 green onions
- Sesame seeds

Before starting to cook, I dice all the vegetables into small cubes and separate them into the Ikea containers I bought in the summer. After chopping everything, I begin preparing the rice and then sauté each of the vegetables separately in a pan. I leave the proteins for last, the chicken and bacon, and at the end, I add sesame seeds to the mixture to give it a little crunch.

![Comida Separada.webp](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FMy%20Weekly%20diet%2FComida%20Separada.webp?alt=media&token=f86ba94f-33c7-45d2-aaca-c59c1e9c453f)

This amount is enough for 10 portions spread out over 5 days of the week, but they are only for lunch and dinner. In the mornings, due to classes, I often end up buying something on campus since the idea of carrying a lunchbox or food in my backpack doesn't convince me completely.

Throughout time, I have been adding and removing ingredients from this dish. For example, when my goal is to define, I remove the bacon since it is not a food that benefits me. Similarly, I can remove the sesame seeds, which don't contribute much. I also started replacing rice with potatoes since potatoes satisfy you faster and have fewer calories and a decent amount of protein. Based on my experience, I recommend dicing the potatoes and just frying them. Once I tried replacing all the rice with mashed potatoes for better texture.

That was the worst iteration of this recipe to date. The mashed potatoes would lose flavor when stored in the refrigerator. The lack of rice and sesame seeds made the dish less textured and more lumpy without any crunch. So, if you plan to incorporate potatoes into this recipe, I highly recommend not eliminating the rice completely and not mashing the potatoes unless you do it on the same day and as a complement.

![Papas.webp](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FMy%20Weekly%20diet%2FPapas.webp?alt=media&token=f110bedc-718a-430e-a0d5-b4e803f93ee0)

I also started adding egg whites after my friend **Javier** mentioned that they are a good source of protein without many calories. Personally, I tried using the cartons of egg whites that you can buy at the supermarket, but in my opinion, they taste worse than fresh egg whites. They have a more artificial taste.

I recommend separating the whites from regular eggs instead. I also tried adding the egg whites to the entire mixture and storing it in the refrigerator. This didn't cause any problems, but I think it's a risk of getting sick, and the taste is worse. So, it's better to add the egg whites on top of your portion and mix everything.

![Claras.webp](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FMy%20Weekly%20diet%2FClaras.webp?alt=media&token=58367f49-fd70-425c-bcc0-f8a3d97a5d01)

Also, during the summer, I realized that most of the time when I was hungry, I used to grab some bags of potato chips that I kept at home. Over time, I discovered that this was not a very good habit, so I decided to replace the chips with seedless green grapes. They are a food that I can eat anytime. They are mostly water and have fewer calories, which helps satisfy my hunger.

![Uvas.webp](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FMy%20Weekly%20diet%2FUvas.webp?alt=media&token=d036c1cc-ed62-47a1-a478-ec76d678663f)

If you are a student at Tec de Guadalajara, after several semesters, I have discovered one of the best options for what you can order on campus. This is the mushroom pasta with bacon from **Güich**. You can do the same as me and ask them to add 2 scrambled eggs to the pasta. If you are cutting, you can ask for only the egg whites, but if you are maintaining, save them the trouble. If you are not on campus, this dish has very good macros and is excellent for breakfast, in my opinion :)

As for what I drink during the week, with breakfast, along with the pasta, I usually have flavored water. During meals, I decided some time ago to prepare lemonade. I used to avoid making it because I found it tedious to make lemonade for each meal of the day. But in the end, I decided to buy a plastic jug and keep the lemonade in the refrigerator. Instead of sugar, I use honey because I find it a more natural solution.

I always make sure to take the protein and creatine right after returning from the gym and before eating. 2 scoops of protein and 2 scoops of creatine. Before going to the gym, I sometimes take a spoonful of honey to quickly gain energy in a natural way. Pre-workout drinks and Monster energy drinks are something I have tried, and they work wonders, but I prefer not to build up resistance to caffeine and save them for important or special occasions.

This is my diet for the week. It must also be admitted that there are days when I prefer not to eat the same and have Chinese food, hamburgers, tacos, etc. But since I consume the same things most of the time and stay on track, these indulgences go unnoticed and eventually fade away.

I hope you liked this post. Thank you so much for reading :)

My Weekly Diet

I have written several blogs talking about my diet, and soon I hope to write one where I show my exercise routine and what I have learned about exercise over the years. But this post is about how I managed to come in first place in a bench press competition.

Every year at my school, a competition is held for both women and men to showcase their physical abilities, weightlifting, squats, etc. I knew about this competition, but I initially wasn't very interested in participating. I didn't see much benefit in competing at first, but during a training session, Coach **Mario** approached me one day and asked if I had signed up for the competition.

**"Are you going to join the competition?"** he asked. I told him no, that I didn't see much benefit, but he ended up convincing me, and I ended up signing up for the **100kg Bench Press** competition. In the competition, you have to perform as many repetitions as you can. By this time, I was already lifting 100kg for all my sets in my chest routine, so it wasn't much of a problem. The challenge now was to push myself to failure to get more repetitions.

During these weeks, I practiced and trained with the intention of pushing myself physically in every way. I wanted to be as prepared as possible for the competition. My friend **Santi** helped me by spotting me and giving me advice on how to correct my technique. He always said, **"Your bench press technique is strange, but I'll try to do it too, hahaha."**

He always reminded me of the importance of breathing because every time I did a set, I would take a quick breath and do all the repetitions without controlling my breathing. So he told me, **"Try to control your breathing. This is also about conditioning. Try to breathe, do 2 repetitions, then breathe again. It will be difficult at first, but when you do it unconsciously, you will see the results."**

Throughout the preparation weeks, I consistently did 15-16 consecutive repetitions. My goal was to increase them as much as possible. I remember that the weekend before the competition, I was in the last class of the day. After the class, I would go back to my parents' house to enjoy the long weekend because there were no classes on Monday. I remember my friend **Hugo** told me, **"On the day of the competition, have carbohydrates in the morning so that you have a lot of energy."**

Many friends also told me, **"Don't do ANY exercise this weekend. Let your body rest. If you let it rest this weekend, you will be fully recovered and ready to win the competition."** The weekend passed, and I returned to Guadalajara on Monday, one day before the competition. During this time, I had some internal battles because, in essence, I had never liked competing for trophies or awards. I always thought that competing would bring me more problems than benefits.

I realized that this mentality only ended up benefiting others while I missed out on winning anything or showing what I am capable of. That's why I decided to change my mindset and say, **"I'm going to win tomorrow, no matter who participates or how much they lift. I have worked hard for this, and I'm going to achieve it."**

The day arrived. In the morning, I went to classes and returned to my dormitory on campus. The competition was at a different time than I usually go, so I had more time before it started. I took advantage of that time and finished some pending tasks from the week. Two hours before the competition, I decided to take a break, so I lay down and stared at the ceiling of my room during that time. Many thoughts came to my mind - memories, victories, failures, fears, joys, everything.

But my mindset remained the same - I am going to win above all. I put on my gym clothes, my headphones, and walked to the gym, listening to music at full volume. I felt a very strange sensation - it was just me and no one else. I felt like something was pushing me forward, and my mind was solely focused on one thing: **BEING THE WINNER**.

I arrived at the gym and greeted my friends who were already there. As soon as I entered the gym, I met one of the coaches who had supported me the most during my preparation. He asked me, **"How many repetitions are you going to do?"** I said 20, and he replied, **"Alright, let's take a picture afterwards. I want a picture with the champion."** Those words moved me a lot. I realized the number of people who had more faith in me, so I said to myself, this is not a coincidence. Not everyone is told this.

The competition began, and as it progressed, the weight increased until it reached 100kg. As the weight increased, fewer people participated in those categories. I remember when it was my turn in the competition. I quickly put on the song that I knew would give me enough motivation to achieve it. I read the phrase **"Have faith"** that I wrote on my hand before going to the gym. And as I always say to my friends, I sat on the bench, and from that moment on, I heard **NOTHING**.

It was like being in another place mentally while being physically present. I lifted the bar, and when I felt that it didn't weigh as much as before, I said **"NOW OR NEVER"**. I started doing repetitions as quickly as I could. I know my history of not being good at counting during bench press. My friend **Javier** has proven that to me several times, haha. So I decided to rely more on what the coach and my friends were saying. In the end, it turned out to be 20 repetitions - **the number I promised the coach**.

The other competitors continued, but none of them surpassed 20 repetitions. From here, I express my utmost respect to those who participated. It's not easy to lift 100kg, so they should also be very proud of themselves. The competition ended, and I knew I had won, but I didn't feel anything. It wasn't until they announced my name on the gym's loudspeakers that I realized what I had accomplished.

![Win](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FBELIEVE%20and%20THANK%20YOU%2FWinner.webp?alt=media&token=64bac669-4f12-47b6-9ab1-35f478d3782a)

There, I confirmed what is often said - the journey is much better than the destination. I enjoyed the journey, the daily battles, and the process more than having the trophy. The trophy was a reward for my effort, but I was already proud of what I had achieved and the changes I had made. So that day, after the competition, I had one of the most mentally peaceful workouts I have ever had.

![Medal](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FBELIEVE%20and%20THANK%20YOU%2FMedalla.webp?alt=media&token=cdd80ea6-d4e7-4669-a88d-3dbbb6cdfb93)

To you, who is reading this blog, thank you for taking the time to read this story. I would like to give you this advice: **"Your journey is different from others. Some days you will lose, and other days you will win. But what matters is that you never give up and that you surround yourself with people who remind you of your worth and who you are."**

![Friends](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/nolbertocastroweb.appspot.com/o/Blog%2FBlogs%20Reales%2FBELIEVE%20and%20THANK%20YOU%2FFriends.webp?alt=media&token=ba6959ff-fd6e-4694-947f-541bd1b2aba6)

Thank you very much to all who helped me in this process - my friend **Santi** for coaching me, the gym **Coaches** for their help, my friend **Armando** for being one of the people I have learned the most from in the gym and for advising me, my friend **Hugo** for the motivation and advice, my friend **Javier** for helping me count better between sets and motivating me to do more repetitions, the **other competitors** for inspiring me to bring out the best in me, and my **gym friends** for trusting me all this time. This trophy is also yours <3

I hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you very much for reading :)

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Learnings

One year of tracking habits

Dec 4, 2023 - 6 min

Voting web page with Notion

Dec 6, 2023 - 6 min

The Power of Journaling

Dec 14, 2023 - 5 min

My Weekly Diet

Dec 24, 2023 - 10 min

Tips

The greatest Photoshop Command

Dec 6, 2023 - 3 min

Do you remember Yo-yos?

Dec 12, 2023 - 4 min

Share is the new save

Dec 20, 2023 - 4 min

My Top 15 Mac Apps

Dec 23, 2023 - 5 min

Talks

Philosophy and OOP

Dec 4, 2023 - 7 min

Notion 101 + Web Portfolio

Dec 4, 2023 - 5 min

Personal

My First Job

Dec 5, 2023 - 5 min

Why I started Meal Prepping

Dec 19, 2023 - 6 min

BELIEVE AND THANK YOU

Jan 9, 2024 - 7 min