bigjeff0065’s BodyBlog

Well, busted my ass this week in the dungeon and on the treadmill with some long dog walks thrown in for sh*ts and giggles, plus two afternoons of serious landscaping.  Yesterday I thought I looked pretty good, today, not so much.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings…

Woke up sore as hell!  Shoulders on fire and calves all sore.  Shoulders was 2 days ago, I guess that’s why they call it Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.  The calves are fried because I decided to stand on my toes when I was doing barbell shrugs.  That seemed to be a challenge for them.  Well, today is supposed to be leg day and sore don’t work.  So I took the dog for a quick mile and a half walk and I got enough blood flowing to my sore parts that they are easing up on me a little.  So heavy squats here I come!

Passed the 195 lb. goal and now set it at 190.  Hoping to blow that out of the water pretty quick and shoot for 185 by the end of May.  OOOOH yeah….sexy for summer!

Well, this week didn’t go as planned, what with date night on Tuesday supposed to be my off day.  Thursday turned out to be an off day as well.  It started with my son insisting we eat at El Porton.  So, cheat meal time.  I didn’t overdo it though.  Then we got home and started playing Lego Star Wars on the PS3, which I told him I would play for 30 mins. before I had to workout.  Then we heard a POP and the screen went blank.  Turns out the lamp blew.  So, after taking it out and ordering another and moving the PS3 upstairs, it was getting fairly late.  The extra calories and bad carbs were slowing me down and all my body wanted was sleep.  So, I figured what the heck, sleep is good, so I did it. 

Friday came and I was off from work, so I did yardwork all afternoon which involved moving 1500 lbs. of rock and some digging.  Not satisfied, I hit the weights and cardio afterwards.  I was feeling it when I was done.  Well lo and behold, I shattered my weight goal 9 days early!  So, today I reward myself with a new goal.  One month to lose another 4 lbs.  Not too drastic, but I am concerned that these lbs will be tougher.  I now weigh less than when I was a jr. in high school and look better to boot.  The thought of weighing 190 lbs. is almost unbelievable for me, but it’s going to happen.

Today my son has a baseball game and the weather is fantastic.  Think I’ll stay at the park and hit the fitness trail after his game.  Then I’ll head back home and hit my chest workout.  I’m also going to buy a dip station today.  I’m excited as when I was doing dips years ago I really saw some great progress.  Anyhow, gotta go get some protein.  Have a great day!

I must be down with the sickness.  Had a date last night, felt bad because I had a lot of free time last week with my son on spring break and I chose to bust my rump instead of dating.  I’ve been on several dates with this one girl, so I committed to going out with her last night.  We went to an Italian place which was good because they had whole wheat pasta so my diet didn’t suffer much.  I usually have a great time with her, but I found myself constantly distracted.  I kept thinking "I should be at home going heavy on a back workout then some cardio."  I rationalized by rescheduling my workouts so that Tues. would be my off day despite just having had one on Saturday.  Still I was distracted and didn’t give my date my full attention.  Hmmm, not really fair to her.  What’s a guy to do?  I’ve been thinking lately that my dating life has been too busy lately anyway.  I’m actually contemplating giving up dating for a few months until I hit my extreme goals for fitness.  Of course this would kill off my favorite cardio .  This from a guy who 6 months ago would kill to be the center of the dating universe.  Definitely down with the sickness.

God, I hope I’m not becoming a cardio bunny.  I hit the treadmill last night (HIIT) which has not been a good friend to me lately.  Seems as though my treadmill production had gone down from previous levels.  I had noticed, but can’t figure out why.  I’d go hard as i could and give it all I had but was coming up way short on miles travelled.  But I figured what the heck… keep at it and it will work itself out.  Well last night I killed it!  Probably my best cardio session on the treadmill ever.  I destroyed my arms last night then I hit the treadmill.  I picked up .6 miles more in the same amount of time I usually do.  So, now the standard is way higher than it has been and that’s going to kick my butt, but what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.

Ok, it’s rest day.  Ate clean until lunch.  After tuna, decided that a slice of pizza wouldn’t kill me.  Then another.  I stopped at two pieces, so no big deal, but now I am sleepy!  Tomorrow is my birthday, so they got red velvet cake for me this afternoon.  I’m stuffing carrots and celery down my throat right now trying to resist…but it is my birthday cake…yeah, exceptions have to be made every now and then.  That’s my cheat for the week then.  Oh, well.  Life goes on…

Ok, I didn’t get enough water yesterday, but that’s the only thing negative. My diet has been super clean and the weight is falling off the bone.  When I get my diet dialed in right I can usually shred some fat pretty quickly.  I’m within a pound of my goal with 16 days left to hit it.  I’m not going to take that as an excuse to slack though.  This time once I get back to 195 I’m going to take it even further.  Even though I look pretty good at 195 (in clothes)  why not take it to the next level.  I kicked myself last year for getting there and then just maintaining and giving my life over to carbs, whiskey, and women.  Getting so close to a great body and not going all the way.  What a shame.  This time I’m going for it.  The overall goal is 185.  That’s lighter than I was as a sophomore in high school.  I think getting to 190 will be easy.  It’s the last 5 which will haunt me.  Yet I am looking forward to the challenge.  The way I’ve got it figured, 185 would have me around 10% bf.  That’s not too bad for 35 and overweight most of my life.

I was checking out a tattoo/body modification website the other day out of curiosity and saw a thread regarding bodybuilding.  One person stated that she could see bodybuilding as a form of body modification.  For those that don’t know, body modification is typically referring to tatoos/piercings/split tongues, etc.  She said that due to the intense effort and pain of bodybuilding she could totally see it as a body mod thing.  I never thought of it this way and I think I prefer not to.

Stepped on the old scale this morning and I topped out at 198 lbs.  That’s the first time since September the scale has shown anything under 200 lbs.  Not a big deal to some maybe but it’s at least a psychological barrier to pass through.  3 more lbs. short term then 10 more to hit the long term goal. 

I’m seriously thinking of taking a thai kickboxing class to aid my cardio.  I watched those guys train one night and it looks like a real ass kicker.  We’ll see.  Any thoughts?

Diet is clean and lean, possibly even better than when I dropped most of my weight.  Of course as you get leaner it gets harder to drop the fat weight.  At least that’s my theory.

Feeling pretty good today despite not having adjusted completely to the time change.  This is my time of year though, so not as groggy as I think I ought to be.  Well, to get on with it, the diet is clean and lean staying true.  Love it.  I haven’t begun to see results in terms of any significant losses yet, but it’s only week 2 of the improved diet, and results will come soon enough.  I can see some difference in the mirror, so that’s what’s important anyway.  Weight is a number which can be used to help monitor goals as it is easily measured, though it does not even begin to tell the whole story.

So, here we go again, another day another can of tuna.  The great news is that even though I always worry about dying of starvation during diets, I’m actually fuller.  Let me clarify… I’ve been eating every two hours for a long time, but the cheat meals became a little too every day and not treats anymore.  I would chow down and eat like a bear getting ready for winter (coincidence?).  Massive amounts of food and carbs.  Eating clean I feel more satisfied than if I’d eaten full cheat meals.  Hunger is no longer recognized.  I don’t get hungry anymore.  I think it has a lot to do with upping my protein. 

I wonder if I don’t have some sort of winter response with my appetite.  I seem to want to bulk up for winter.  It was a cold winter this year because I was carrying around a lot less fat.  I wasn’t complaining though.

I am contemplating doing the unthinkable… joining a gym.  My options are fairly unlimited as I live in the ATL suburbs, yet I hesitate as I remember all the crap that goes on in the gyms.  I’ve got my setup in the basement, but need to add pieces and/or upgrade.

I’ve always liked Gold’s, they used to be for serious lifters, but probably not anymore as they look slick now.  Powerhouse was great but shut down.  Lifetime is building a new place nearby, but that seems a little country clubbish, not a throwin’ iron joint.  L.A. fitness has their gym nearby, used to be a member there, but disliked always having to wait for equipment and their whole focus seemed to be cardio anyway. 

So, what’s a guy to do?  I know some of you nice folks out there go to some of these gyms or others, am I right on my assesments or am I way off?  Any I am missing?  Little help here people.