DaddyBig’s BodyBlog

I"M BACK!!!

Okay, been a while. School starts for my litle man in a week and a half. Run Club starts Sept 8! I am pumped. Time to get back a it!

Help me people I need some motivation!

 As my son said, "Daddy Big!"

Summer has come and gone and I have not been to the GYM in a very long time!? Who knew having your own business could and would take so much of my free time???

Well I have ade the commitment to myself and the GYM to resume my quest. For most of us that is the quest to return to our high school weight. Not for me! I graduated at 145 tightly wound pounds! Now, if I got back to 145 you all would be waiting for my impending doom. I think a respectable 195 would be nice. that means I have a little over 30 to go.

So, now the question is how do I do it? Lots of cardio! A good healthy diet allowing for one cheat day. Some heavy lifting to improve what i have and make it pop a little more.

 What do I need? Simple, MOTIVATION!!!

SEE YOU IN THE GYM!!!

I remember now why I don’t go to the GYM in the early AM! Not only do I walk around for a while in a zombie like state (and I don’t mean Rob Zombie although maybe I might resemble…) until after I get off the treadmill. It takes me way too long to get “started” in the AM. Plus, I had to wait this morning to use equipment! Not something I have to do in the PM. So, that settles it tonight it is back to PM GYM visits!

I did manage to get a good workout in despite these minor set backs and it was good to see that the GYM is busy! I also noticed the weight were not nearly as dusty as I was!

Lift long Lift Strong!

The kind of inspiration you can only get from the little snot nosed punk in the corner. You know the one. The one, who stands there, flexing with his buddies. You can hear them complaining about how long it takes you o push your heavy set. All the while you can’t help but noticed that  him and his buddies have done a mind numbing two sets of curls 16 reps total with the heavy dumbbells you know the 15s. That is when the inspiration hits. You realize these punks have only just shown up. You realize they haven’t seen the 2500lbs you’ve already hoisted. They don’t realize you’ve been in the gym for 45 minutes already. And with these realizations you pound out the last of your heavy finish sets.

That is the kind of inspiration I am looking for. I have been out of the GYM for too long now. I am going back today. Hopefully, I will be accepted. Hopefully, my body remembers what my head has forgotten. The problem lies in the fact I go to the GYM when those punks up there are not there. I go when it is quiet. I go when I am alone. I find my solace and push my weight and d my cardio. The inspiration comes from my head and the imagined encounters with those punks. It also comes from you my friends and GYM family. Our GYMs are different as are our goals. However, we all strive to better ourselves. So now help inspire me please!?

Okay, I know I am technically trying to drop weight, but it hasn’t happened since the initial “burst loss.  I have decided I am okay with that because, something else has happened. I have begun to “pop. Let me explain:

I returned form the gym last night around 11. Woke the wife and sent her to bed, gathered up the little man and his menagerie and toted them off to bed. Got a drink and fresh underwears and headed for the shower. I don’t like to shower at the GYM just something about it??? Maybe, I just like the fact I can stand in mine and adjust the water beyond really hot and really cold!? I don’t know but, I digress: So, I entered my less than salon like bathroom and disrobed. (sorry for any visuals I may have just forced you to endure) As I always do, I looked in the mirror I am some what at times a little vain. That is when I noticed it! I had been a little disappointed with my lack of losses to the detriment of not noticing my gains. I had noticed my strength has increased as I am moving more weight. But, I had not looked in the mirror and noticed that I have indeed made improvements in size. My arms, chest and traps stuck out, not like the proverbial sore thumb. They stuck out in a good way. I know many of us carry a distorted view of ourselves either we think we are bigger than we actually are or smaller. I have been able throughout my life to keep a pretty clear view if anything falling to the thinking I am smaller side. So, I am impressed with my gains and will continue to lumber on knowing that muscle does indeed weigh more than fat!

dav

Caution: Objects in mirror are larger than they appear. Does that count here?

Okay, spent sometime this weekend re-evaluating my situation and here is what I found.

I do not eat a lot of junk food. However, I eat a lot of food that is not necessarily good for me. Think high fat and hollow calories. I noticed this after doing an inventory of the fridge and freezer. I looked at only the stuff I eat. I am not a convenience food eater. I don’t do the frozen meals. Have you seen the sodium in those things? I love fruits and veggies but, find myself eating way too much at a given setting.

So, I thought about what I ate in high school. Mind you I graduated high school at 6′1 and a whopping 145#!!! I was known among my friends who were into lifting and body building as the ab king and fore arm god! What I found was that I ate a lot, I mean a lot of salads. If, we went out to eat they needed to have an all-you-can-eat salad bar. (I actually was asked to leave one time) Other than that I ate mostly chicken, rice and pasta usually with a huge salad on the side. I wasn’t really any more active back then than I am now other than having a job where I didn’t sit down. Now, I have decided to go back to this type of diet. I will however, use whole wheat pasta and lighter sauces, probably homemade. I will use light Italian dressings sparingly on my salads and add a protein.

That was the eating part. Then I thought about the activity part. I spend way too much time sitting! I am even thinking about getting a standing computer station for my office. I can do my reading while walking on the treadmill (that can be as much as two hours a day!). I will spend more time outside! (weather permitting: it is 12 degrees here with a wind chill of -2 today) I will try to find a semi-competitive league sport to participate in. I will be MORE ACTIVE!!!

So, there in a nut shell you have my resolutions, no, make that promise to myself1 Resolutions like rules are made to be broken.

Thought for the day:

The GYM people will not tell you that 85% of the people in the GYM in January will not be there in April! (DON’T BE A STATISTIC!)

Calling all Kansans??? Are there any out there? I am in T-Town. Who else is here? REPRESENT!

Finally, I made it thru an abbreviated cardio session. I went to the GYM last night and did bis and tris, which, went extremely well. I have noticed about a 15% increase in the amount of weight I am able to lift. Mind you I am very conscious of form when I do my lifting if I am not going for max weight. Everything, and I mean every thing felt good last night. (The morning things isn’t gonna work for me, to hard to get the car going that early with the weather.) So I decided to hit the treadmill. I can not run as I am still fat and my knees are not the best. So, I set the first 10 minutes at a 2.5 incline and set the speed at 3.5. Everything was going great! So about 5 minutes in I bumped the speed to 4 and WOW I felt great. No breathing problems or anything (except for that pesky itch on my right calf?). Finished 10 minutes and got off grabbed a drink and went back for more. This time I bumped the incline to 3.5 and set off at 3.5. Eventually, bumped speed up to 4 and rocked out another 10 minutes.

Mind you during all of this my EIA never kicked in!? I attribute this to the apples I have been eating lately. I read, somewhere, I think in M&F, that an apple a day could keep the doctor away. No, really, what I read was that if you suffered from EIA then an apple a day could help you to overcome the symptoms and be more active. I had done this before when I was riding mountain bikes everyday and it helped then. And so seems to be helping now. So if you know anyone suffering from EIA let them know this really works.

Time for an apple! Tonight, I will do abs and then shoot for 30 minutes in two 15 minute sets at a minimum of 4 speed!!!

Wish me luck!?

Or should I say shaking the foundation!?

I am revising my goals and taking a step back. I think I may have gone too hard to fast? Dropped a quick 8# and was feeling good. I carry a lot of excess (water) weight around my middle and that is mainly where I have lost so far. My new goals are simple be a lean 205 by the end of February currently I am a not so lean 225.  Lose 2 from my waist (or is that waste???) currently I have already lost 1 so I am aiming at another two! Then, I want to be able to bench 250 consistently for reps!

How will I accomplish this? Easy, first shake this damn cold! I can not maintain any sort of effort in cardio if I can not breathe!? Reminds me, what do sex and oxygen have in common? Neither one matters until you aren’t getting any!

Second, which I am doing is refining the diet. Surprisingly, I don’t eat a lot of junk foods. I just need to concentrate on portion control and eating more, smaller meals thru out the day.

Third, be consistent! Go to the gym as scheduled no excuses! Get the warm up cardio in. Then lift as scheduled. BE CONSISTENT!!!

Fourth, staying motivated. This one is harder. The kids demand time. The wife DEMANDS time. And life gets in the way. So, what then? Well, the wife said, “Have you lost weight? MOTIVATION! Yes, I have. The BOY says, “Daddy your big! (Not fat! I he knows what that is!) The GIRL says Dad, beer-pop? As she calls my beer. I have to say “No, not a cheat day baby! (plus, she never brings thee cold ones??? Then there are all of you. You help to motivate me by showing me your progress and telling me what you do. Hopefully, soon you will all comment on my progress and reassure me what I do is working!?

:off to the gym. BRING THE PAIN!

Okay, been back in the gym now for over a month now and things are noticeably different. Mainly, with me. I have lost 8# and an inch off my waist. (reminder - buy a new belt and jeans this weekend) I wandered into the GYM last night and walked thru in a trance. You know, not really paying attention just going thru the motions. Then I got on the elliptical and went hard for ten minutes and realized I didn’t know what I had done. No notes or anything? 

So here I am I find my self with the POWER needing to rewrite the WILL. Then I can put them together and finally get some WILLPOWER! I think I will change my workout times. I have been going to the GYM between 9:30 and 10:00pm. Now, I want to try going at 5:00am and see if that shakes things up a bit!? 

Help! There is a freak inside screaming to be let out! 

DB