BDC-Eddy’s BodyBlog

Can someone please tell me why so many people  make a big deal over being 40 years old?  folks in the office thought I would show up with a walker, cane or  some other device to help me get around.  I don’t get it, I hit the "magic" number today and I don’t feel any different.  As far as I can tell everything is still working like it should, I was able to get in a good workout today without dying in the gym.  I know who I am and where I am going in life (no mid-life crisis here).  So someone, please enlighten me, why make such a big deal over being 40?

I just got back from a week in Italy (work) and am about recovered from the experience.  Any of you who travel know how hard it is to maintain your diet while on the road.  Now I am preparing for another trip to Italy, this time with the family over Christmas.  We leave on Tuesday for Rome.  This time I am going to be better prepared.  I must admit, Italian food is my weakness, especially the pizza from the Naples area…. best I have ever eaten.  Well it is almost 6:30 in the morning here (Germany) and I have to get ready to hit the gym.        I hope you all have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.  For those who don’t celebrate Christmas, have a nice federal holiday and happy new year.

For the past five months I have been busting my butt in the gym and watching what I eat… not an easy task since I travel a lot (gone from home about a week or so each month).  But in spite of that I have been able to drop my bodyfat down to around 16 percent (from 27% in Jul 08).  I am really psyched about the progress I have made and have set a goal of 25 Jul 09 to see my abs in all their glory…meaning defined and noticable.  If what I have read is correct, that means I will need to get my bodyfat down to around single digits… not an easy task, but then again, nothing worth having is that easy to get…  Wish me luck as I continue my journey to discover the abs I know to be hiding somewhere around my midsection.

Alright, so it is the Chistmas season and the tempatation of sweets and egg nog are all around me.  But I am trying to stay motivated and knowing I have dropped 10% bodyfat since I got serious in July is a huge motivation.  I only have to drop a little more to reach my end-of-year goal of 15% body fat.  I know 15% is still a little high compared to everyone on here with single-digit BF, but it is just a short term goal, not my overall goal.  I want to thank all the folks on here who have given me encouragement and motivation, it really helps when others are cheering you on and celebrating your achievements with you.  So THANKS!!!  Since I am no where near where I want to be physically, I will keep looking for your encouragement, advice and motivation as I push myself even harder to scuplt a body I can be proud of.  As always I will do my best to encourage and motivate you as well!!  Again, THANKS!!

So I have been busy for the past few days and haven’t had time to post any updates… but not too busy to get to the gym thankfully.  Been spending my time in class and writing speeches.  Training is going well, I believe I am really beginning to see some physical changes, or maybe it is just wishful thinking… either way my motivation is up and I am sticking to my diet which I am sure is having some good results.  Did an excellent back and bis workout today and have a fitness test tomorrow morning at 0630, we’ll see how that goes since I really do not like running (repaired knee).  Oh well, it comes with the job.  Hope everyone has a great day!!

I went to dinner and a baseball game tonight, and I didn’t cheat on my diet.  Now for those of you who have been watching your diet for a long time it may not seem like a big deal, but for me this was huge.  Usually when I go out to dinner I eat entirely too much (and too much of the wrong stuff).  Tonight I actually had grilled chicken and a salad (no dressing) with water and unsweetened tea.  At the game, while my buds were downing a few cold brews and chowing down on brats, I abstained (nothing against drinking, hell  I live in Germany where beer is the best thing in the world, but I really want to get into better shape).  So for me tonight was a milestone, I have proven to myself that I am mentally tough enough to do this, and as far as I know that is the hardest part.  Thanks for all the encouragement and advice, it has not fallen on deaf ears.

Since it is Saturday and I am still getting over the last of this whole jet-lag thing I decided to sleep in a little.  So I get out of bed at about 930 and think to myself, it’s still morning… the humidity probably isn’t too bad so I’ll go for a run.  Well, I went for a run and the humidity still sucked, but the good news is I am beginning to get acclimated.  I was able to complete my run in a decent time (decent for me anyway) without passing out.  It really didn’t matter that I waited to go run because I found out the gym here doesn/t open up until 1000 on Saturday and not until 1200 on Sunday… and it closes early both days… that’s not too cool.  I was able to get in a good shoulder and ab workout and since I missed my tri workout on Thursday I made it up today.  Overall a good start to the day.  Posted another progress pic, not seeing to much in the way of change yet, but I can tell the fat is beginning to come (run is faster) and my muscle mass is increasing (maxing heavier weight), so hopefully the positive changes will begin to show in the near future.  With that, I’m outta here.

The heat and humidity sucks in Alabama, but overall the place is nice.  I have had five super workouts in the three days that I have been here and I am still hitting the cardio pretty hard.  Although I despise running ("repaired" knee) I have no choice as it is part of our organized fittness regiment here, so I will begin running in the mornings to acclimate myself to the weather and continue to do low/no impact cardio in the afternoons.  I like using the cardio machines because I can monitor my heartrate and keep it in the fat burning zone easier.  I started taking a new pre-workout supplement today, N.O.-XPLODE, I’ve heard good things about it so we will see if it helps.

I really hate changing time zones.  I arrived in Montgomery, Alabama (7 hour time difference from Germany) at about 10pm on Tuesday night (finally found my "lost" luggage at about 11pm).  I stayed awake on the flight in the hopes that I would be able to fall into bed and get some sleep, but after about three hours here I am wide awake.  The gym doesn’t open up for another hour so here I sit.  I have heard it said that it takes 24 hours for your body to adjust to every hour of time change, hopefully it won’t take seven days for me to get my rhythm back.  BTW, the humidity here sucks.

Had my final workout before my trip (cardio / tri / chest).  Felt good but I am a little bummed since I will miss my back/bis workout tomorrow.  Will have to see how I feel when I land at 9pm, if I have any energy after 18 hours of traveling I may try to at least sneak in a cardio workout.  Haven’t heard anything about gyms in the Montgomery area but since I did a little online research I may try Planet Fitness since it is closest to where I will be staying.  Any opinions on Planet Fitness?