Phasmophobia is Apparently the Next Step in My Fitness Journey

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My Life Transformation or Personal Progression feels a bit too grandiose to me, but I couldn’t find a more fitting phrase for my recent experiences. And as for my gaming habits, they’ve been evolving with the intriguing game called Phasmophobia. It appears that the latest update of its Chronicles is only making things tougher for me (in a challenging and enjoyable manner).

Let me take you back a bit. This year, I set a goal for myself to improve my health, focusing particularly on shedding excess weight, due to several reasons. In the past few months, I’ve managed to shed 45 pounds, which is quite impressive considering my past struggles with maintaining consistency and avoiding plateaus. I usually give up when I reach the 20-pound mark. Balancing calorie counting and exercise has always been challenging for me, as I find it difficult to incorporate these habits into my daily routine. As you know, I’m a busy person, and when I do have free time, I prefer indulging in video games like Phasmophobia instead of exercising. However, I found a way to make it work, and now that I’ve achieved this milestone, I’m looking forward to my next challenge, which could be more Phasmophobia gaming sessions!

Establishing My Pre-Phasmo Routine

Initially, when I started devising a strategy as far back as March, there were certain challenges I foresaw: my struggles with diet, my predominantly sedentary lifestyle, and my reluctance towards physical activities or strength training. It’s likely that my food issues can be traced back to my childhood due to the effects of poverty. For most of my life, I was underweight, and during middle and high school, I either ate at school or skipped meals entirely. Weekends were a game to suppress hunger pangs. After getting a job, working multiple jobs, and being employed every day since I turned 16, I realized that I had never truly learned proper eating habits because of my circumstances. Add to that the development of stress eating habits and the ability to purchase food, and you have my weight steadily increasing over more than a decade. I was content with my size then and now at my smallest in years. However, I knew it needed to change.

In the past, I rarely consumed sodas, a habit leftover from an unsuccessful weight loss attempt earlier. I wasn’t aware of the concept of calories then, but I’ve learned about them since. I educated myself on the topic and took steps to improve my diet. I started making healthier food choices, did extensive research, and followed all the advice given to people trying to lose weight. To my surprise, it appears to be working. The challenge for me has always been consistency and incorporating these changes into my daily life. As they say, willpower is key! Another problem was my sedentary lifestyle. Upon reflection, I realized that a typical day for me involves sitting at my desk working, followed by sitting in my chair playing video games. Although I fulfill my responsibilities diligently, operating a tractor doesn’t burn many calories, regardless of the weather conditions.

To conquer these challenges, I needed to make some changes. Counting calories was primarily about self-control and determination each day, along with learning the ins and outs of caloric intake. Frankly, the number of calories in certain foods can be absurd, and thinking about it this way helps me grasp it better. However, that wasn’t going to cut it for me. I decided to start walking, and while the conventional advice is 30 minutes a day, five days a week, at 3 MPH, I knew I would find walking tedious. That’s also why many people dislike exercise; there’s nothing enjoyable about working out for most of us. Yet, I don’t aim to become muscular, but I fear my reluctance to accept its standard advantages might be blinding me.

My trusted friend and colleague, Managing Editor Dalton Cooper, has been instrumental in helping me find entertainment while using my treadmill. Typically, I don’t watch much TV or movies outside of WWE shows. However, when I do watch, it’s usually comfort reruns. For years, this has caused frustration for him as I often failed to grasp his references or connect with his favorite shows. To be honest, if I had a dollar for every time he was perplexed by my lack of movie and TV knowledge, I could have paid off some debts.

However, Dalton made a list and has been persuading me to watch various shows. Initially skeptical, I trusted his judgment and eventually got hooked on “Breaking Bad,” albeit years after its initial release (I started watching it during the final season of “Better Call Saul”). Despite my initial reservations, I found myself engrossed in “Stranger Things” more than I anticipated. My current treadmill show is “Dexter,” the original series. It seems I’ve been tardy to the party by about 19 years.

Hello! It turns out that the popular “surprise motherf*cker” meme originated from the TV show Dexter. This was a fascinating discovery I made back in the year 2025.

I’ve combined a 30-minute walk each day with breaks for watching shows and tracking my calorie intake. This routine has helped me lose 45 pounds. I wanted to make these habits stick because I knew if I didn’t, I might not succeed. I’ve watched plenty of weight loss videos on TikTok and understand that some people focus on specific body areas when losing weight. However, my perspective hasn’t significantly changed. The most significant advantage I’ve noticed so far? Improved sleep quality. For the past few weeks, I’ve been sleeping like a king, which is something I haven’t said for years.

However, I’ve pondered over incorporating adequate strength training into my schedule, but it seems that Phasmophobia has provided the solution for me.

Phasmophobia: What To Do When You’re Dead

Integrating strength training with Soulslike games isn’t a novel concept; I suspect I could achieve muscular prowess similar to top bodybuilders if I combined push-ups with my deaths in “Lies of P”. With each demise, I’d do 10 push-ups, and multiplying that by the number of times I die would undoubtedly make me a formidable competitor. However, Phasmophobia stands out as an excellent choice for such integration, becoming even more realistic after the Chronicles update.

I don’t go to gyms; it’s simply not an option for me. Having others around definitely boosts my motivation, and I never play Phasmo alone. My Phasmophobia group and I still spend several hours gaming each week, although they recently suggested we start working out when we pass away. As fans are aware, there isn’t much to do in Phasmophobia after you die, except watch the ghost, send messages that might be considered cheating to living players, or make Poltergeist piles. For a long time now, many fans have desired more interactivity after death, but I’m not sure if I share that sentiment anymore.

The guidelines are still under development, but making a mistake or losing the game will require performing 10 sit-ups, push-ups, or bicep curls as punishment. Since there’s not much else to do after dying, those exercises won’t make a difference anyway. To be honest, we’re quite skilled at this game and have reached Prestige level 3 on two accounts. We’ve invested a significant amount of time into it, often playing up to a multiplier of 7.77x (although we’ve since reduced it after earning all the Phasmophobia achievements). It’s all in good fun, but the Chronicles Update has made the game even more enjoyable.

In the latest update to “Phasmophobia,” The Chronicles, the media collection method has been revamped. Now, instead of snapping pictures of salt mounds like before, the goal is to capture photos, audio recordings, and videos. This new approach presents a significant challenge when playing solo, making me grateful for having obtained the “Golden Apocalypse” achievement in the game previously. With this update, successfully completing a hunt has become much more challenging. If any member of our team falls, there’s a high risk of a chain reaction. It’s worth noting that we always strive for a perfect hunt, unless we’re at locations like Prison, Brownstone, or Sunny Meadows. To put it simply, we’re meeting our demise more frequently than ever before in this updated version of the game.

Exercising more is beneficial for us, as it aligns well with my current schedule. It offers the social advantages of a gym without demanding too much public attention, and it’s sufficient to boost both in-game performance and real-life energy levels. I’m uncertain about how strength training will affect weight loss, but I’m eager to give it a try. This newfound enthusiasm is unexpected yet promising. If this approach proves effective in the long term, it could help me achieve my initial significant goal – losing 60 pounds. Once that milestone is reached, I plan to reward myself with some delicious Krispy Kreme Homer Simpson donuts (pink frosted with sprinkles), while ensuring moderation and maintaining a calorie deficit. Remarkably, my mindset and sleep patterns have noticeably improved over the past few months.

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2025-07-06 15:46