In For a Change’s BodyBlog

So, I was talking with someone last week about how I love the gym and am working out really hard, but am having trouble making gains because eating so much is really hard and seems like a chore sometimes.  I just can’t seem to keep up.  This person, who does not go to the gym at all, said, "Well, I guess you don’t want it bad enough then."  I sat dumbstruck for a moment.  How could this person, who knows nothing about lifting, judge me like that?!  What was even worse, that person was right!  Damnit!
Every time I don’t take advantage of an opportunity to eat, skip a meal, or don’t bring a snack with me when I go out, that’s me telling myself that I don’t want it.  That’s me saying I don’t care about making gains.  So if you have trouble gaining weight and eating seems really time consuming or if you think you’ll puke if you eat another snack.  Think about how bad you want it, put that last piece of food in your damn mouth, and swallow, because THAT’S how bad you want it.

So today I had a great workout.  I did arms today and I I have to say I think I kept pretty good form and lifted some of my heaviest for the most reps.  The amount I can do on my arms has increased a bit over the past few weeks which makes me really happy.  However, I measured my arms recently and they are actually slightly SMALLER than the last time I measured them.  Maybe I’m measuring them wrong.  Not sure.  But I just don’t understand how that’s possible when I am lifting heavier, gaining a little weight, and keeping pretty good form.  So frustrated.  Maybe I am doing too many exercises on them and I need to lift even heavier but less.  Guess I’ll try that next arm day.  Any helpful suggestions for forcing those arms to grow?

So … I had a sucky workout.  Couldn’t even lift ask much as last time I worked my chest and back.  I think my auxiliary muscles are the problem because after chest/back day, my chest is rarely sore, and my back is sometimes sore, but my shoulders and tri/bi’s are tired as hell.  I have been trying to work these muscles hard so that I can increase my bench and deadlifts and whatnot, but I guess it’s not been enough.  Really gotta kick it into high gear, same thing with the eating.  Only my waist seems to be getting bigger, lmao.  I think I’m gonna try working out before I go to work (if I can get my ass up early enough) because that way maybe I won’t be all tired from being at work all day.  Any opinions about whether going to the gym in the morning or early evening is better?  Also, any suggestions to get my damn shoulders and arms to grow?  Thanks everyone.

Tellin myself "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming"

So today was a good day and a bad day.  The good part was that I gained a pound.  I had noticed a few days ago when I weighed myself, but thought maybe I was just fuller than normal, ya know, if your stomach is full or something, but when it said the same thing today and my stomach was pretty much empty, I decided to make it official.  Woot woot, 173 baby!  180 here I come.

Well, I savored that for all of about 3 minutes because by the time I got to the gym, there was only 45 min until it closed, and I hadn’t even warmed up yet.  So, smart me decided to skip my warm-up ….. big mistake.  My shoulders started to hurt on the 4th set, and not the good kind of hurt either.  I was constantly stretching them between sets, but they continued to hurt and I couldn’t even lift very heavily.  Ugh, note to self, don’t do that again.  Warm-up = very important.  I wish I had gotten to the gym earlier, but I was running errands with my family and they never seem to understand why I need a certain amount of time at the gym.  They constantly say, well just go run for half an hour if you don’t have the time you want ……. yea, so frustrating.  They just never seem to get it.  Well, I guess I’ll just focus on the gaining the pound thing and hope my shoulders don’t mind the miniature "workout" until next shoulder day.  Sigh.

So you know how on some days you just have a great workout.  You don’t feel energized right away, and you don’t notice until you’re in the middle of things, but you’re just lifting heavier weights than normal and really pushing yourself.  Well, today was one of those days, **** yea.
It was leg day and about halfway through my workout I paused because my legs felt funny.  I thought, damn, my legs feel good.  They feel pumped and strong and my skin feels real tight.  I kept going and the feeling continued, boy did I enjoy it.  I got really happy and was like, hell yea my stomach doesn’t feel good, hell yea my face looks like a cherry, hell yea I still can’t lift half as much as the other guys in the gym, but hell yea my legs feel like they are going to burst through my skin and I’m lovin it.  It’s just one of those days where your workout was motivation in and of itself.  I feel sooo good.

So I weight myself again today, and although the scale was hard to see, (its old school, not digital), I don’t think there was any change in my weight.  A friend suggested that I am eating all my calories during the day and not enough at night, so my body is burning them all up because it’s active.  So I guess I’m gonna try eating more at night and eat right before I go to bed.  Couldn’t hurt to give it a try, right?

So I am trying very hard to gain weight.  At this point, I would like to gain any weight.  If that means tons of fat for some more muscle, then so be it.  I do not have trouble losing fat.  I do have trouble gaining weight.  I feel like I am eating a ton and not achieving anything but a stomach ache.  I never thought eating would be such a chore.  I am trying to enjoy eating like a horse, but there comes a point where you feel like you are going to vomit if you even look at food again.  I mean, I am NOT giving up.  If gaining weight means eating until I explode then so be it.  Just wanted to vent my frustrations.  Anyone else feel the same?

So, although I usually order my protein and whatnot from bodybuilding.com, I realized I was going to run out of NOxplode real soon, so I opted to grab it at the vitamin store this time.  I opened the new container today and took how much I normally take.  I noticed that it tasted a lot sweeter and the powder seemed much fluffier than my last bottle.

So whatever, I went and worked out and did not feel very good.  I did not get the same pump I usually get nor did I feel that energized.  Granted, the gym was overly hot today, but I normally get super energized after taking NOxplode.  I felt almost like I didn’t even take it.

Of course I checked the label to make sure I got the right thing and I saw that the ingredients and whatnot were different than my last bottle.  I read online that BSN was trying to improve the contents of NOxplode, hence the new formula.  Well, I think they made a big mistake.  If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.  My first impression is that the new NOxplode stinks.  I mean, I will keep using the bottle for now.  Maybe I will feel differently later this coming week.  But if today was any indication of future workouts, ….  I’ll post later about if my feelings have changed or not.  I am so disappointed because this was one of my favorite products.  Does anyone else have similar thoughts?  Opposing thoughts?  I’d be eager to know.

So I joined this site when I started really enjoying lifting weights, but never really visited it much.  Now, I am trying to get real serious about lifting and am hoping by coming here, it will remind me of what my goals are and why I love the gym.

I started my freshman year of high school weighing a whopping 135 pounds at 5′9".  Hahahaha.  I was such an unathletic stick figure it wasn’t even funny.  Then I started running after my sophomore year and joined our cross-country and track teams.  I wasn’t that great, but LOVED running, and the exercise helped my overall attitude and health and I ended high school at 155 pounds.

Then came college.  I really started to cut running out of my daily routine and started lifting weights.  Unfortunately, my crazy schedule and lack of knowledge ended in me seeing few results.  However, I just enjoyed going to the gym and found it a great escape from the craziness of the day.

Now I am taking some time off from school and am totally addicted to the gym.  I am trying to gain weight and have gained some (though not all of it muscle, lol) since coming home.  Now at 170lb, I am trying the lift heavy and eat big routine and with protein and creatine, but am having trouble.  It’s hard, but I am dedicated to the gym, so if nothing else, I just love being there.  I have always had such a fast metabolism that eating is now like a chore, but I am trying not to give up.  Even though I’ve been going to the gym for a while, I guess this is the real beginning of my journey of setting and reaching my goals …