Shannon’s BodyBlog

I have some gym fears and one of them is getting stuck under the leg press.  Another fear I have is doing something to embarrass myself at the gym.

This morning….I did both.

One of the goals set for me for the end of September was to press 4 plates on each side, totalling 360 lbs., for 6 reps.

Well, I got psyched up for it and told my gym partner that I was going for it.  She said, "You ARE?"  I said, "Yes.  I’m doing it."

So we set up the 360 lbs. and I got positioned.

I unhooked the safety latches (bars…whatever) and I let the sled come down, then I pressed it up.

I let it come down again…tried to press it up again…and said, "No, can’t get it back up" and tried to reengage the safety bars, but the sled was too far down and I couldn’t get the sled up enough.

The sled slid lower down….and I realized there are no safety stops on this damn machine!

So here I am, with my knees pressed against my shoulders, my partner is trying to lift the sled, and I am laughing my a$$ off.

I finally figure out:

Remove the plates!

So she starts removing the plates and has to take just about every one of them off before I could press the sled up again.

And I’m laughing the whole time.  I don’t know what got into me, but the whole damn thing was so comical and my partner was laughing as she was removing the plates and just laying them haphazardly all over the floor.

She was bent over with laughter and trying to catch her breath from the workout she got.  I couldn’t even get a word out, I was all out of breath from the adrenaline rush and laughing.

I just thanked GAWD she was with me when this happened.  I would’ve HATED to have to call out for someone to help me out of that thing.

So then we put away the plates and finished our leg workout like nothing ever happened……

Until I took a swig of water, thought about what happened and nearly choked from laughing.

So here I am, a week later and I’m painting the same room I started with last Monday (I think I started on Monday).

All I want to see is the finished product.  A newly painted bedroom that is neat and organized with a breath of fresh air breathed into it (x 2 + a kitchen + the rest of the house).

But getting there is a bear.  Painting is boring and annoying, LOL.  My daughter’s bedroom is made up of weird corners and tight spots that are difficult to paint.  And I have to put more than one coat on.  And then there’s the trim.  I haven’t even touched the trim yet.

Why is it taking me so long?

Because I keep taking breaks throughout the day.  And I put off buying paint for a day when the first gallon ran out because I dreaded starting painting again.  And I took the whole weekend off from painting.

I was more into seeing the finished product than I was into the process of getting to the finished product.

Isn’t that how it is with reaching our fitness goals?

We have a vision of what we want to achieve with our bodies, but many people aren’t all that into doing what it takes to earn that body.

They skip workouts, or don’t complete workouts.  They may find it boring and tedious, or takes up time that they’d rather spend doing something else.

But if they realize that the process in and of itself can be rewarding and satisfying, then the workouts won’t seem as long and drawn out and tedious.

It will allow them to buckle down, get the job done in an efficient and timely manner.  The goal will be reached sooner than they realized.

I’ll find a way to making painting seem the same way :S   Gotta get this done in an efficient and timely manner too.

I don’t want to paint forever here.

Hey, how’s it going?

I’m working on projects around the house, but still getting to the gym daily.  Gotta get in the cardio though.  I’ve blown it off this week.  I think I’ll get a session in today.  We’ll see.

Bye bye.

While I was on the road for my run today, a black van drove slowly past me and as I looked, I could see the driver (bald with a beard) gawk at me.

I made note of his license plate immediately in case he came after me.

It was CRYPTGOD.

A gawking man driving a black van with that vanity plate….now that spooked me.

Weight Training:  Chest and tri’s

Run:  Uphill s-h-i-t….downhill great

….which one of you’s make me look more ripped?

If I look in the mirror in my downstairs bathroom, I look flat and flabby.  I can hardly see the definition I’ve earned over the months.

If I look in the mirror in hallway bathroom upstairs, I look pretty decent and the definition is a bit more noticeable.

If I look in the mirror in the master bath, I think to myself, "You look fine, why were you thinking you’re losing muscle?"

Forget about changing room mirrors at the department stores.  They make me look like a heroin addict on a bender.

But when I look in the wall to wall mirrors in the gym, I see defintion, AND veins, AND a v-taper!

Are the gym mirrors magical?

Weight Training:  Legs

Cardio:  300+

Weight Training:  Shoulders

Cardio:  600+

Haha, just kidding.  Let’s not.

Let’s talk about getting into something that you don’t know a whole lot about, but make decisions about it anyway.

And then when someone who is knowledgeable gives you advice, you blow it off with excuses on why you don’t think it will work.

Or you blow it off all together and come up with an even worse game plan than the one you had going before.

Last year when I found this site, I started blogging.  It was more for me to get my thoughts straight and out of my head.  It makes for a great way to clear out the clutter swirling about.

It was also in the hopes that someone would read it when I had questions about something or wanted feedback about the effectiveness of a routine I was getting started on.

Anyway, it took me months of writing before anyone commented on anything I wrote.

Well, I came across one of the first comments I received from a guy who LOOKED like he knew what he was doing because he was in awesome shape.

Guess what.  I listened and tried to follow the advice he gave me.  I soaked it up like a sponge because I figured, if he looks the way he does, he must know what he’s talking about.

I gave his advice the old college try, but the macronutrient thing was not for me.  It just didn’t jive with my lifestyle.  I had enough to do with counting carbs and weighing out meals for my son, so this was more of a burden than anything.

Next, I came across my very good friend (you know who that is) who helps me to this day and figured, pretty much everything he told me sounds sensible and nothing ever seemed out of place.

So whenever I had a question, he was great enough to answer and guess what….I followed his advice.  Or I would ask for his opinion on something and he’d shoot it to me straight.  This helped me to know whether I was on the right track or not.

I’ve seen a woman on here who has the most off the wall goals and a road map that will lead her straight to the edge of a cliff.

I’ve seen the comments she has gotten on the first of her posts I came across, but on the next post, she comes up with an even wackier plan to help her achieve her goals.

I suspect that even after getting sensible advice on this last post from people who look awesome, that she will see that what she’s doing isn’t working…..

…..but instead of following their advice, she will rely on her own strange sense of how to get things done and come up with something even more absurd.

Of course you have to use common sense and some of your own investigating to see if the advice you’re getting is good advice.  And, not everyone gives advice that will fit your lifestyle even if it works for them.  But dang, at least give it a try and see before you write it off.

If you’re not in the best of shape and nothing you’ve come up with on your own has been working, maybe it’s time to hang it up and try out the advice of people who have been doing this for a while and have lived the lifestyle with success.

Cardio:  Hill run (mailbox #31)

I see teachers, principals, other school employees, police officers, military, firemen/women, even an FBI agent (if that one is to be believed) on this site.

Some pics are so far out there, provocative-wise, that I wonder if they ever think about what would happen if someone they know saw these pics.

I don’t know about them, but I know I would make myself as anonymous as possible.  I wouldn’t want my pics plastered all over the precinct/barracks/office, or mad parents wondering if a "stripper" is teaching their children.

I once saw a military guy with his machine gun in one hand, and a towel covering his pork and beans with the other.  If any of his buddies got ahold of that pic, he’d be minced meat.  Talk about brave.

Aside from the professionals posting pics, there is the every day Joe who post pics without seemingly thinking about the consequences of someone they know finding it.

For instance, there was a nude man (well…there are quite a few of those here) who thought it would be adorable to hold a little football in front of his weinerschnitzel.

And I was like, "DAMN, what if someone he knows sees that?  What if he has kids and their friends get a hold of that pic….or if he has coworkers who would see it and never let him live it down."

I think that way for a lot of pictures on this site.

Most people don’t realize what a small world the internet is.

Weight Training:  Back and bi’s

I’ve sworn off watching Oprah anymore because she put the fear in me that death traps were around every corner.

Germs potent enough to make you deathly ill lurked on every surface of your home.

Depression potent enough to throw you into a downward suicidal spiral.

Relatives were all perverts.

Her topics were too much to take a lot of the time.

Now, I have mostly lived in rural areas, so when she had a crime expert on the show advising how to get away from kidnappers and how to leave evidence for the police that you existed in their possession if one managed to nab you, I absorbed as much info as possible.

To me, being in the city is a lot safer than living in a quiet rural area.

Maybe I watched too many horror movies where the settings were always lonely wooded areas where no one could be witness to horrible things.  But, peaceful, quiet wooded areas = lurking, murderous maniacs.

Anyway, I’ve gone running on wooded trails, or biking on back roads.  And no matter what, I always look for ways to escape kidnappers and come up with plans as I ride or run along.

I do enjoy the scenery, as long as I’ve discovered an escape route first.