New Look for 2018

Well, it's been a few years, but I've changed the layout of the blog a bit.  Won't take too long to get used to it.  I've simplified it.  I mean, who needs complication, am I right? Of course I am, as I pointed out in my previous blog post, I'm usually right.

Now, to expound upon that very topic.  Some people thought I was being a little arrogant by saying that.  I wasn't, as a matter of fact, I was saying it as a joke. Satire, if you will.  I'm not usually right.  My daughters and friends will tell you that I say I am a lot - usually after I'm right about something.  Law of averages puts me at being right more often than I am wrong, but truthfully, that doesn't require a large margin to make that claim.  Now, trivia questions, that's a different story.  I am usually right when it comes to trivia. And Batman.

Well, I'm doing another Q&A session on today's post, so here it goes:

Q:  Are you using a personal trainer?
A:  No. Unless you count me.  I dove in head first into the science of nutrition, the mechanics of exercise, and the physiology of muscle development.  A lot of time was spent online and at the library.  They won't let you check out some of the reference material I was utilizing, so the library it was for a while.

Q:  Do you ever miss a day of exercise?
A:  Sure.  Despite the rumors, I'm not perfect.  Life happens and things happen that just can't be avoided.  Honestly I even tried something I hadn't done this past week.  I took an entire week for rest.  It felt like I was doing something wrong, but surprisingly, my first session back at it - I was stronger.  I don't think I'll do this often, but it does support the "Rest is part of the routine" thing.

Whew, that's enough interrogation for today.

I think, to avoid some emails\messages, I'll address the comment I made just a second ago.  I do not think that anyone calls me perfect by any stretch.  It's called sarcasm, and it's an outlet for my emotions.  I use it a lot.  I am the first to admit my faults and flaws, although I might do it with, you guessed it, sarcasm.

Well, that's all I have for this week.  Next week I'm going to address a pretty serious topic, my divorce.

Until next time dear readers...

The Cliche You'll Hear the Most this Season and 90 Days Later...

Ready for it?

New Year, new you.  I'm not saying it's a bad sentiment, I'm saying it's entirely overused.  I'm starting month four of my body transformation, and I totally can relate to this saying.  I'm just not going to use it.  I'd rather say "New attitude, different me."  That sentence itself explains it pretty well.  My attitude towards diet, exercise and consistency has changed completely in the last three months.  This has caused some relationships I had to change.  This has caused my body to change.  This has caused my outlook on life to change.  I'm not new, I'm different - and to me, that's a lot better.

An update on my transformation - I'm at 184 lbs (my goal was 185) and I am at 17% body fat.  My goal is 13% or less.  I'm doing very well on my journey.  I've met new people, had some actually very meaningful conversations with individuals, and in the end I've came out better each time I left the gym than when I went in.

I think that the effort has been well worth it.  I've lost inches where I needed to and added inches where I wanted.  Hard work pays off, and I'm not stopping anytime soon.

There have been some questions sent in to me (It's been a month since I last updated, I know. I'm Sorry.), and I want to answer one of them, I'll answer more later.

I've had this question many times - More Weight, less reps or Less Weight More Reps?
My answer is yes.  As long as you're doing the reps, you're doing a lot better than doing nothing at all.  This harkens back to the thought that the best way to build muscle is to increase time under tension.  Well, I have news for you, you can do that no matter the weight or reps. Treat everything as a concentration exercise. Slow up, hold, slow down.  Sure it's harder, but that is the point.

So, there has been a lot going on lately in my life, other than the diet and exercise things.  I've met some new people and made some new friends.  I'm still holding to my philosophy of not dating.  When I meet someone that makes me seriously rethink that philosophy, and the relationship has the foundation for something truly special, then I will set aside that philosophy and test the water.  I'm cautious.  I've been hurt badly, a couple times actually.  I have everything I need in my life and most of the things I want, for which I am very lucky to have.

I have a rant.  If you know me, you know one of my pet peeves is fake people.  I've friends at this very moment I'm not too happy with.  If you tell me (or everyone) one thing, and then proceed to contradict yourself, don't be surprised if I refrain from speaking to you for a while.  I'm doing this to save the friendship because I have a tendency to be honest, even when people don't want to hear it.  I'm also doing this to see if the contradiction was an isolated incident or not.  Don't sacrifice your morals for a temporary (perceived) gain.  If you put anything before your morals and ideals, then you are saying that thing is more important, and your morals will crumble away.  Ok, I'm done.

I don't want to end this post on a rant, so I'll end on a different note.

January 9th.  It's a tough day.  My paternal grandparents both died on January 9th. Different years (He in 2006, and she in 2015) but always together. My grandfather and I were very close.  He could say just a few words and no matter my mood, I would always smile.  Whatever he was doing, as long as I could not get hurt, I could do it with him.  There were a couple of times he and I came up with some plans that didn't work out, but provided a good story to tell.  My grandmother was always very kind to me.  She would make the funniest (and yes, rude) remarks about people or things that were just so snarky and quick witted, that you almost were awestruck with admiration.  I miss them both a great deal.  That's why January 9th is a tough day.

I know, still not the greatest way to end a blog entry, but what can I say, thats life.

Until next time dear readers...

Putting Myself Out There

I've made mistakes.  No one's perfect.  As a matter of fact for the longest time, I was thinking about writing a book called "How Not to Succeed." Probably wouldn't sell much.  My point is, that I had to hit a low period in my life before I figured out I hadn't liked the path I was on.  Blessing in disguise, deep disguise.

If you're reading this right now and you aren't completely happy with your life, change it.  Take care of yourself first, then everything else will fall into place.  Obviously I don't mean stop caring about anyone and everyone who isn't you, but focus on yourself maybe a little more than you're used to.  I do my best to take care of myself, my family, and my friends.  The only truly important things in life.

This is my second attempt at this week's blog entry.  The first one, as my friends on Facebook know, got a little too real.  I started talking about a few too many things incredibly close to my heart, and I didn't want to put myself out there like that.  Call it a self-preservation mechanism or what have you, but I stopped before I got too far in.

So, on a different note, you know when you're getting old when you think, "Sure, I could go on that date, or I could go to bed early."  Yep, I'm at that point, or I'm avoiding a date because I'm afraid I'll mess up my diet completely in one meal. I realize it's silly, but hey, I'm a silly guy.

Now an update on the diet\exercise.  I've lost weight.  A lot of weight.  I've gained muscle, a good amount of muscle.  Things are going well and people are starting to take notice.  I've been asked I don't know how many times now how I'm doing it.  To make things easier I've shortened my answer to "Diet, Exercise, and Self-Discipline."  You would be amazed at how many people stop listening after the word diet.  I've found that the majority of people do sincerely want to lose weight, but they also sincerely don't want to give up the foods they love.  I empathize completely, I was at that same point.  I'm not joking when I say that the diet\exercise thing is a life change, not a temporary thing.  Somewhere in time the word diet was redefined as a temporary change in eating habits to lose weight.  That's not the definition though. A diet is simply, what you eat.  You can change your diet, but you can't really go 'on' a diet.  I hope that makes sense.

Reader Question of the Week:  I've heard that the endorphins from working out make you better happier, is this true?

I love this question.  The short answer, yes.  The truth is that's only the beginning.  Let illustrate with a little story.  There was a guy who was severely depressed, overweight, had no self esteem (to speak of) and couldn't get to sleep a night without medication.  One day he decided he had enough.  Something had to change.  He changed his diet.  He felt better.  He studied the mechanics of exercises, emphasizing weight lifting.  He made a plan.  He started the plan.  It was rough at first, the exercise wasn't new to him, but not exactly familiar either.  After he had been doing it for some time, he started to feel more confident in himself as a whole.  That confidence went far beyond the gym.  He continued to work out, pushing himself harder and harder, and although there were times of pain or fatigue, he pushed through.  He felt better.  A lot better.  He found that his general sense of well-being was at an all-time high. He was able to sleep without medication,  he was able to start seeing the man who he wanted to be in the mirror.  So yes, it does do that - and so much more.


Until next time dear readers...

Oh, it's happening, sweetheart

Well, a lot of my goals are being met.  Not just with the diet\exercise lifestyle change, but with life in general.  Things are lining up quite nicely.  Finally, right?  It's taken me this long to get to a point in my life where I am happy.  Happy with myself.  There is a lot of growing to do, but I'm happy about where I am on my journey and who I'm on it with.  Having great support is key to anything, but especially when making major life changes.

I've been asked what motivates me to go on, even though I've encountered some extreme setbacks.  It's a good question.  Mainly it's my self-image.  What I picture myself being in a perfect world.  I'm getting closer.  I have a good saying I repeat to myself - "Kindness, compassion, and consistency." When I'm not feeling like doing something, I ask myself "Should I do this?" It's not a question of whether or not I can do it, but should I?  If I find myself torn, then it's a no.  Living by that mantra has changed my life significantly.  Everything isn't sunshine and rainbows, but it's getting there.  I was told recently that I'm too "happy" all the time.  I take that as a compliment, because that's something that hasn't always been true.

So, to keep with my word, I said I would answer a question from a reader, well here is this weeks: What is your body fat percentage now, and what is your goal?  I said before that I didn't really want to post numbers, but I will I guess.  I'm at 22.1%.  My goal is 10 now.  I had been thinking around 15, but If I'm going to go for it, I might as well go for the gold.  Body builders have like 5-6%, but that's not the look I'm going for.  I figure I can reach this in 6-8 months, but as long as I'm making progress (and I am), then I am happy (see - there's that word again).

This week's fitness tip:  Protein. Get ya some.  Seriously, to increase muscle mass, you need to eat a lot of protein.  I'm at like 200g or more a day (a lot of articles I've read say one gram per pound of body weight, but I go over that. 192.3 lbs by the way).  Cut down on carbs (I said cut down, not out), and eat healthy, unsaturated fats - your body does need fats.

That's it for this episode, tune in next week (more or less) for another adventure.

Until next time dear readers...