El Gilbro’s BodyBlog

I did a trial run with a fat burner/energy supplement for 3 days this week.  For those 3 days, there was no noticeable change whatsoever.  I understand it was only 3 days, but I didn’t feel more energized at all during this time.  There was no measurable change in weight.  There was no measurable or visible change in bodyfat.  The second day, I had a headache.  It’s very possible that the headache had nothing to do with the fat burner.  I can live with there not being a noticeable change in fat loss in only 3 days; however, I’m not going to waste money on a full supply of this product if it doesn’t even make me feel more energized.

In the coming weeks, I’m going to try using a fat burner again.  The past two times I’ve used one, they did nothing.  Both times, I started using it about 5-6 weeks into a cut.  I was losing 2-4 pounds a week and wanted that little extra boost to get really lean.

The first time, I used Hydroxycut.  The second time, I used Hydroxycut24.  I don’t know what the active ingredient(s) in Hydroxycut is, but it didn’t do a thing for me.  I continued to lose weight at the same rate that I was prior to using it.

I’m going to give it another shot with a different product.  Hopefully, whichever product I decide to go with will get me the results I’m looking for.

Over the years, I’ve gravitated away from barbells to dumbbells and eventually to machines.  This was due in part to not having a training partner for spots, but mainly because of complaceny and laziness.

In recent months, I’ve re-incorporated these important exercises back into my routine.  Maybe "re-incorporated" isn’t the right term.  I totally blew up my routine that was stagnant and started doing these exercise that I should have been doing all along.  I’m slowly working on building my bench press back up, as this was the lift that suffered the most.  I seriously hadn’t bench pressed with a barbell for almost 5 years.

I started doing overhead presses, bench presses, bent over barbell rows, and squats (which I absolutely dreaded).  The one thing I dreaded more than squats, was deadlifts.

Not anymore.

Starting with tonight’s leg workout……I’m bringing deadlifts back!!!!

Found out that my next child is going to be a boy!  I thought picking a name would be easier once we found out the sex.  Not so.  Oh well, I have until the end of February

for sinus infections.  Two times of the year that suck for me are the transition from winter into spring and the the transition from summer into fall.  Even though I prefer the spring and fall temperatures, the change wreaks havoc on my sinuses.

My sinuses don’t drain properly.  If the temperature stays constant, I can deal with it.  But when it changes quickly (i.e. cooler in the morning, warm during midday, and back to cool in the evening), things get bad.  It starts out like a cold, except with massive headaches in the morning.  Once one sets in, it’s just a matter of time before the blockage causes irritation and eventually an infection in my ears.  Once, I had my ear drum rupture from a severe ear infection that set in over night.  That was super-painful.  What made it even worse was the fact that I felt it coming on the previous afternoon and had made a doctor’s appointment for the following morning.  If it would have held off for just a few hours, I wouldn’t have had to experience that.

When my doctor brought up surgery as a means of treatment, I immediately started trying everything possible to help the problem.  I have a relative that had the surgery mentioned.  She said it was very painful.  It did clear up the problem….for 2 years, at which point it started all over again.  Now, I take extra long in the shower, breathing in the steam and emptying my sinuses as best I can (disgusting, I know).  Over-the-counter Claritin combined with saline nasal spray also helps keep things moving.  However, the best thing I’ve come across is ear candling.  The first time I had it done, I felt weird going into one of those new-age holistic medicine places that employs only hippies.  After having it done once, I swear by it.  I couldn’t believe how it relieved the pressure and how "light" my head felt.  I have it done every 3-5 weeks during the bad seasons for me.  It’s not painful at all and actually is very relaxing.  I highly recommend it for anybody that has sinus pressure problems.

Finally cancelled my gym membership.  Ever since I set up my home gym in the basement, there was really no purpose to it.  An automatic bank draft of $35.00 was being collected when I only went there for maybe one or two cardio sessions a month since I got my elliptical trainer.

Don’t tell my wife…..but that extra thirty-some dollars a month will be invested into the home gym……muahahahahaha!!!!

I reached my first "lifting goal" that I had set.

I know, I know, all my lifts pretty much suck.  My squat is downright pitiful.  Sadly, I’ve been neglecting all these lifts for about 6 years now.  Since I’ve graduated high school and lost any lifting partners, my focus drifted towards dumbbell exercises and machines.

I recently started working more with freeweights/barbells and decided to lay all excuses aside.  One by one, I’m setting goals for each of these lifts to get them to a respectable amount.

A couple of months before my vacation, I decided to try to lose as much fat as possible.  I really cleaned up my diet and dropped about 2% bf.

Well……as soon as I hit the all-inclusive resort, the clean diet went out the window.

I never recovered

I did manage to keep my bf at the same level it was at before my diet started slacking again, but any progress on losing more bf stopped.  I need to get back on track.

I’m going to go about it the same way I did before.  Ease into it slowly to keep myself from going insane.  I gave myself little goals for each week to work into a clean diet instead of going for it in one shot.

This week’s goal…..actually eat a decent breakfast, and no crappy snacking at work.  It’s too easy to grab a candy bar at work when I don’t really need it.  I’m going to take nuts and/or fruit with me to munch on if I get hungry.

Next week’s goal will be to add more vegetables to each meal and cut out soda completely.

Saturday’s my major cardio day.  I seem to focus better on Saturday’s while doing my cardio.  Got an hour in this morning on the elliptical.  I’m getting ready to mow my lawn.  This takes about 2.5 hours of push mowing.

I set a bodyfat goal of 12% by the time I go to the beach for my b-day at the end of August.  Time to start cleaning up my diet.

I have a headache today.  It’s one of those headaches that gets more intense whenever you move around.  I’m basically sitting around the house, accomplishing nothing.

I got to thinking about what motivates me to work out.  I have an ideal body image that I’d like to attain and keep.  I know that I need to workout to reach that goal.  That’s enough to keep me going.  I know I can’t sit around and expect results.

The reason the goal is what it is (and, ultimately, my motivation)?  The opposite sex.  No matter where I’ve been in my life, whether it’s single, involved, married, etc.,  I want the opposite sex to find me attractive.  I don’t care if it’s the 18 year cashier at the grocery  store, the 20-something college student, or the middle-aged soccer mom.  I don’t care if they are interested in pursuing me or I them.  I want to be attractive to them.

Then I got to thinking, what motivates me doesn’t always inspire me.

It takes a little more to inspire.  I don’t think, "Wow, I want that girl to want me.  I need to workout".  It’s more of a "They did it.  They look amazing.  I can do it, too" kind of thing.

Now, this is the part where you may think I’m a perv, but trust me…it’s not like that.  I swear.

What inspires me the most is some of the BodySpace profiles here.  Mainly, the profiles of these women who have multiple children and AMAZING bodies.  I know how difficult it is for myself to keep on a routine and eat properly, and I only have one child that I didn’t carry for 9 months.  Some of these women have 4 children!!!  How do they find the time?!?  How do they stick to a strict routine?!?  That takes amazing dedication.  Not to mention the havoc that pregnancy reeks on their metabolism.  Many ppl use that as an excuse.  Not them.

This is a huge inspiration for me.  They obviously know what they want and do not let anything stand in the way.

Here’s a shout out to all of the mother’s out there whose bodies put a lot of college girls to shame.  MsFitness68, Maddi (amazing transformation), Boots, BuffMother, wrknout4life, and many others out there.

Keep up the good work!