Bluedam’s BodyBlog

I came across this on a blog today and found it very thought provoking and funny. Read on…

I’m Armin and I’m a Soberoholic…

I guess it was in my second year of college that I first noticed
that I had a problem.
Up until then I’d felt pretty normal.
Weekends consisted of getting steaming drunk, puking, falling over,
fighting and waking up in a cell.
Life was good…

All of a sudden I started to feel that boozing just wasn’t enough,
that I needed something stronger.

At first it wasn’t that big a deal, I’d go sober the odd weekend.
I’d pretend to be sick or busy with work,
and nobody suspected what I was up to.

Soon, that wasn’t enough.
I’d spend a month at a time sober.
People were starting to suspect, this is when the lies started.
Friends in college would ask "what’s wrong with you, you never drink".
"Oh", I’d say, "sure I’m always on the lash
when I go home at the weekends".
Then when I’d go home, I’d tell my friends that I’d been
"on the lash all week in college".

To be honest, the signs were all there if friends and family
had bothered to look.
My bank balance kept going up.
I looked alot fitter and healthier.
I was passing all my exams in college
and worst of all, I hadn’t had gotten in trouble in months,
not so much as an arrest for drunk and disorderly.

At family fuctions I’d make my excuses and slip away early, to be sober.
Relatives would ask my mother, "where’s Armin"?
She’d ashamedly look at the floor and reply
"Armin’s,,, gone home, he’s not drinking,
it’s just a phase he’s going through, he’ll get over it".
"But why?", they’d reply, "is he ill", "what’s the matter with him?",
they’d ask as she’d break down in tears.

Months turned into years…
At this point I was completely out of control.
I was entering marathons, I’d gone out and bought a new car,
I’d even started waking up beside good looking women.
Worse was to come.
One morning I woke up to discover…..I,,,I’d gotten a mortgage and now owned a house.

Yeah, this sober lifestyle had completely taken me over,
there was no telling where it would end.

Things were really starting to degenerate.
By now I’d built up a web of lies to hide my problem from my friends.
On the surface I was going out to Niteclubs
and drinking but I hid a shocking truth.
Every chance I got I’d sneak off to the toilets and lock myself into
a cubicle.
Then, to satisfy my habit I’d flush the drink down the toilet.

I’d gotten sloppy though and one time I didn’t lock the door properly.
My friend opened it and caught me there,
with the drink over the bowl - mid pour.
The look of shock on his face said it all.
He just shook his head in disgust, called me a ‘drink dodger‘
and walked off.
I shamefully walked back out to my friends,
they were all stood there looking at me accusingly.
Apparantly they’d assumed that the reason for my
frequent trips to the toilets was some harmless cocaine problem,
they had no idea how low I’d really sunk though.

I knew then that it was time to do something about my problem.
I marched straight up to that bar and ordered Vodka after Vodka,
downing them all in one go.
In the following weeks I started to reclaim my life and restore some normality.

The weekends passed by in drunken blurs.
Once again I’d wake up with zero recollection of the night before.
I resumed missing Mondays at work.
Got that bank balance back into a healty overdrawn position.
After a few months I’d even gotten my old red face and gut back.
Times were good.

I’m still stuck with the house though, but I’m working on it.
Norm, the accountant who drinks at my local,
has advised me that now is a great time to sell,
so I’m going to get rid of it as soon as possible.
I mean, who needs a mortgage to be worrying about
when you’re out on the lash with the lads?

I guess I’m just lucky that I got my act together when I still had a chance.
From time to time I still get the old urges though.
Those inexplixable hankerings for money, dignity and health.

Don’t worry, those mistakes are in the past.
I’ll never go down the shameful road of Sobriety again.

I hope my story can be an inspiration, to anyone else out there
who’s gotten lured into a life of Sobriety. 

I think if I am honest this is something I say to myself when Im not performing to the bst of my ability and in truth it has to stop. If I slack work-out wise or am not going full throttle I can ratify it by saying to myself that others are not working hard. At the end of the day I am fooling no one but myself and I have decided that I will now stop doing this in everything I do but especially workouts. It is time to focus on my gains, my shortcomings and not benchmark them against others but more so did I do the best I could possibly do. Sometimes I am operating about 60% and that is just not good enough. To quote a fairly famous orator living it up at the moment “ we can” by focusing on “I can” and I must. On a lighter note benched 60kgs today and did so at ease my target is benching 80kgs and this blog is going to be the first place I post that goal when I achieve it. Thank you for reading, take what you can from this and if you use it to better yourself in any way I want copyright on the film ?

I was skeptical of this new feature on bodybuilding.com at first. I thought it could be misused and make this site quiet cliquey like some of the others out there. I will hold my hands up I got it wrong. If anything it has added even more to this already great site.

I have joined the group 2009 resolutions. Usually by now my resolution would be long gone, but in a strange way I dont want to leave the group and it has given me more inspiration to stick to what I have committed to do. I am trying to give up alcohol, not because of a huge problem with it but I feel it can hinder my training and progress. This is especially true at weekends as Friday and Saturday can be big sessions. This weekend not a drop and I have got so much done and had such an enjoyable weekend.

If you have not already checked out this feature I highly recommend that you do. Im sure there is a group out there that covers your interests and it is great to talk to like minded people.  

Well listening to everyone outside of this BB site, I am surprised anyone gets up in the morning to tackle the day ahead. War, recession yes they are all terrible but we need to keep pushing. There are gains that are there to be made.

 So far I have stuck to my 2009 resolutions. One of them is getting back into this site again, so expect more progress pictures from me. I have also figured out how to do videos so that is something new from me to expect!

My workouts are going well and at kickboxing I have just started a new intermediate class which is one hell of a fat burner and a real joy. More to follow on this I am sure.

I’d just like to wish all fellow BB’s a great 2009 and here is to massive gains for us all!!

Well listening to everyone outside of this BB site, I am surprised anyone gets up in the morning to tackle the day ahead. War, recession yes they are all terrible but we need to keep pushing. There are gains that are there to be made.

 So far I have stuck to my 2009 resolutions. One of them is getting back into this site again, so expect more progress pictures from me. I have also figured out how to do videos so that is something new from me to expect!

My workouts are going well and at kickboxing I have just started a new intermediate class which is one hell of a fat burner and a real joy. More to follow on this I am sure.

I’d just like to wish all fellow BB’s a great 2009 and here is to massive gains for us all!!

I haven’t been too active on this site for a while but I think thats down to how active i have been off it. I joined a kickboxing class and participate three nights a week. I have been moved from beginner to intermediate level and begin that class after Christmas. Its a great cardio workout and if you are looking to workout around the abs area I would highly recommend it.

I am hugely ambitious to the point of obnoxious person and I wanted to progress as quickly as possible so I gave up alcohol for two months to aid the progression and i have to say it did hugely.

Where I have been letting myself down is getting up in the mornings to work out. Dark December mornings are not condusive to working out, but no more excuses. I have started missing one in five and I need to sort this out. So with that in mind I am off to the gym. Great site as always for sorting out the thought processes workout wise. 

I have been going to the gym at least four times a week for the past few monhs and hit another plateau. So I decided something needed to be done. I did a trial for a kickboxing class tonight. It was some workout and requires phenomenal levels of fitness. I enjoyed it but I am in two minds on whether to continue.

It consists of three hour classes a week and to me that it is a lot of time to give up. Now you may say watching a game of soccer takes two hours, which has become something I have gotten really bored of doing but it is all the rushing to a session and the time afterwards. However its winter time more or less in Ireland now and all people seem to do is watch soaps or booze and although I never watched soaps (they rot minds you see) I have also gotten bored with boozing (very surprisingly).

The other thing I am struggling with is cardio is my first love and something I enjoy immensley. However I have hugely taken to this bodybuilding lifestyle (while not yet achieving anywhere near a physique I am happy with). Im a believer in sticking at something until I achieve it so in a way I am answering my own question. Maybe that’s the beauty of these blogs and teasing things out or not to wimp out to put it another way.

The other thing is lifting weights is the only other thing I will even attempt to get up for at six in the morning for. Come to think of it I have that to look forward to tomorrow morning. It really has been worthwhile recently. Its pitch dark when I start out, I get to wear my black hat intact with skull to the gym( to ward off evil spirits you see and keep the heat in). I have the gym to myself, none of the chatters or posers to distract me and work out to the sun coming up. Something very special and liberating about that I find. Yes the workout’s win by a landslide.

Turning Thirty

I turned thirty this Sunday and have decided to embrace it and push on with my goals as much as possible. I had a small blow out as I went away for it and have now returned and am ready to push on with my exercise regime.

The brake has done my body good, but I am already itching to get back at the weights and cardio. I have discovered that my program is a little to much of the same and I need to be exerting myself a lot more than I currently do. Put simply it is time to get that shoulder to the wheel.

Turning thirty gives you pause for reflection. I am generally a happy go lucky sort of guy and though I have some regrets, but I would not change anything. It has made me the person I am today and shaped my chartacter and body flaws and all. I have a huge amount to be thankful for and intend to get stuck in. So its less of the thirsty thirty, dirty thirty and more of the lets get busy thirty going forward.

I have had a bad dose of man flu, namely a chest infection the past few days. Thought I was past them since giving up the ciggarettes nine months ago. However as I am getting older, I am beginning to listen and headed along to the doc straight away. Not so long ago I would just stick my head in the sand and expect it to go all away by itself. Yes I am a misguided stubborn alpha male. 

He has put me on a course of antibiotics, so my training has been scuppered for the past few days. I am trying to feel upbeat and take the positives out of the cabin fever I have had. It has allowed me to appreciate that my health is important not only to me but how it affects my dependents ie my beautiful wife and my career. I need to relax at times and slow down to focus the small brain matter I have on what is important. 

Im also signed up for kickboxing classes that start in a months time and that is something I am so eager to do. How I will manage I am unsure as I have the co-ordination of a drunken monkey and am not half as good looking.

Speaking of which I gave up alcohol for a month back as well and it was one of the best months I’ve had in 2008. There are reasons not to this month in that I turn 30 and am heading to Portugal on a short break. However there are always reasons not to so Im going to give it a go again. I dont drink massively or always to excess just cant deal with the hang overs and I suppose there is a bit of been there done that as well. I love the mindless self uindulgence sometimes but this is something I have been thinking about a while. Keep ya’s posted on my progress.

I had noticed lately with all my working out, myself and my wife haven’t been doing any activities together. We used to play squash until she got an ankle injury ( it was a stunning shot of mine in the back corner of the court that led to it). So we have decided to sign up for a Kick Fit class which is basically an hour or so workout through throwing kickboxing combos.

We are starting this in six weeks, but she doesnt want to hit it cold, as she hasnt done anything for th past few months. I was just wondering if any BBers had advice on prep she could do so as to get the most out of classes when they start.