You can go on and on about how some people have quicker metabolisms and better genetics than you…and you can go on and on about how difficult it is to make time to workout and eat healthy…bah, blah, blah!  The truth is…you’re absolutely RIGHT!!!  Getting the physique you want is hard friggin’ work!!! 

It IS hard to find the energy and make the time to train…and it IS difficult to prepare your own meals and eat healthy all the time.  However, those who do it have the physique they want and those who don’t are only making excuses.

You can make all the excuses that you want, but what it boils down to is that getting the physique you want means doing whatever it takes to get it!  Some people certainly have an easier road than others…but nobody said life was fair. 

If you’ve already been following a strict regime of diet and exercise and you’ve found yourself stuck and making excuses for why your progress has stopped…guess what?  It’s time to make some changes to your program…and if that means exercising longer or harder or more often or eating cleaner or getting more rest, etc….then stop complaining about it and DO IT!!!

Peace!  

Now that grad school is done for the summer, I can attack my training again and break through to the next level which for me is to really bring in my lower abs.  I still have that little "pudge" of fat over my lower abs and it really pisses me off!!!! lol

NOW is the time to get those abs in…..I have 5 weeks until my Las Vegas vacation and I want to be ripped!!!

I’m happy with the way I look, I’m just afraid I’ve lost too much muscle in the process…..oh well….

My goal is simply to continue losing about one pound per week until I get there.  I’m about 225 right now….I’m estimating that about another 10 weeks/10 pounds should get me there assuming I don’t lose too much muscle along the way.

I’ll be posting progress along the way…

Nevertheless, I consider my weigh-in a victory of sorts since my lowest recorded weight this summer was 223.  In any case, I’m in a very good position to really lean out when I get back from vacation.  I estimate that I’ll need to get down to about 210-215 in order to reach the level I’m looking for.

When I get back fro vacation, I’ll post some new pictures.  Have a great Holiday everybody!!

I weighed myself today and I was 231…about 8 lbs. heavier than my lowest weight over this past summer.  My goal is to lose about 2 lbs. each week over the next three weeks…maybe more if I’m feeling desperate….in fact I’m sure I’ll tend to over do it over the next three weeks and lose more weight…but I’ll try and resist the urge to flat out starve myself.

Stay tuned…

To be honest, I haven’t been to the gym in about three weeks due mostly to the demands of school.  Everyone once in a while a long break like that does wonders for my body, my mind and my motivation.

I broke my exercise "fast" last night by going to yoga with my wife and then I went to the gym for the first time today to do some upper body and cardio. 

Once I see some progress, I’ll post some pics…

Now that winter is on it’s way, along with the additional demands of graduate school, my intent is to lift heavier this winter and maybe gain some muscle, but cycle in some periods where I diet more strictly and increase my cardio.

Overall, if I can make it to the spring under 230 lbs. with more muscle and still relatively lean…I can diet slower with less cardio next year and look a little better than before.

One problem I’m having is that I’ve been so friggin’ hungry lately that I’ve been allowing myself to cheat much more often than normal which is working against me for several reasons. 

First, even though I feel guilty for eating some bad food…I don’t think I’m actually gorging on the astronomic amount of calories that I fear I am. 

Second,  my guilt makes me eat even less on my normal days than I should be which more than overcompensates for my cheat days…..so the cumulative effect is that I’m still eating less than I should be on a weekly basis, so I’m still losing weight a bit faster than I’d like.

Another big problem is mental.  I’m very happy with the way I look and I still feel relatively strong for my bodyweight considering I was as heavy as 290lbs. a few years ago.  My fear is the scale…..the number 222 just flat out scares me because I fear it tells me I’m "skinny" and "weak".  Soon I’ll be under 220….then what?  It’s such a drastic difference from walking around at or above 250 most of my adult life….recently over 290 and feeling like a "big guy"….and then seeing the scale at 222 and feeling like an 800 meter runner!

I think I just need to get over my own ego and accept things as they are…..