Sunshine-y Day :)

Oh, I feel fucking great! It's one of those days where I got up early and was outside while it was cold and the grass was wet, but then the sun starts to heat everything up and the grass dries; it was like the picture-perfect Fall/Spring day that you remember from being a kid.

The groin is a little sore, but not bad - I was only in the game this morning for a couple plays but did some good blocking. For some reason they like to match me up with the biggest guy on the other team, but after the first time he squeaked by I was all over him!

Diet (and by that I mean what I eat, not that I'm on a diet) is good so far today. I woke up late AND got paged for work so I just made a quick whey protein shake and drank that on the way to the game. Had over a quart of water so far today too. As I sit here I'm eating some scrambled eggs w/ spinach, onions, peppers, and a little salsa. For those cheese lovers out there, as I sure am, cottage cheese put on your eggs/omelette after it's out of the pan is pretty freakin great if you like the stuff. And the nutritional content is fantastic. Later I will probably eat either scallops or salmon with a spinach salad. I'm also cooking for the week. I basically make a casserole on Sunday that I container up for lunch everyday. This week I have ground turkey, white and pinto beans, kale, barley, and I'm gonna spice it up with some mexican seasoning. With that, I'll be eating eggs at breakfast, a whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter at work, and I also have a bag of apples and a huge jar of peanuts at my desk. That lets me eat about 5 times before I hit the gym at 430/445, and when I come home I either cook up some protein or have a protein shake. It's satisfying and it's tasty.

Looking forward to hitting the gym with thebryon this afternoon, his workout is a little different than mine and I like the variation. He splits up his chest and back days so he can train a little more and not have any issues with recovery. Yesterday was back (which I'm feeling!) and today is chest and tri's - looking forward to "blasting my pecs". For the next month or two I am still on full circuit until I get to the point where I need to hit muscle groups harder and want the extra recovery time. Before I give you the deets - just want to preface that the weights are pretty light but will be getting up there! My workout (generally tues/thur if I hit the gym on the weekend, with a day or two of just cardio in the week):

Hammer Strength Chest Press - 12x3 (currently around 35lbs per arm)
HS Lat Pull-down - 12x3 (I think 50 or 55lbs per arm)
HS Shoulder Press - 12x3 (30lbs per arm)
OPTIONAL - Leg Press - 12x3 @330lbs. I don't always do this b/c of iffy knees and timing

HS Incline Press - 12x3 (25lbs per arm)
HS Seated Row - 12x3 (probaby 45lbs, but don't remember - i'll check this week!)
Weighted bars, frontal raise - 9lbsx12, 12lbsx12, 9lbsx12 (not a lot, but i'm building endurance)
Wall Squat - 12x3 - lean against a big ball on the wall and do squats (sounds funny but it burns!)

That's all for now, got some laundry and some screwing around on the internet to do.

Do it right or don't do it.

Ouch!

So, I was going to post about the last few weeks - workout, diet, etc. but that is going to have to wait while I bitch a little.

At football practice today I pulled my groin! It's minor, but I want to play in the game tomorrow. (FYI - one of the new exercise routines is joining a flag football league that's full contact blocking)... So, I guess ice? or is it heat? Suggestions welcome :)

Do it right or don't do it.

Chapter 1: The Fat Kid from IT, American Beauty

Well I think I may be doing it right and for real this time. If you're here, chances are you've been on a diet before (probably 5 or 6 times!), had some success, but didn't maintain that success and need to do it again. Maybe you're looking for motivation, exercise ideas, diet ideas, or just a funny story. I think you've come to the right place. This is post number 1 of hopefully many to come; as I make being healthy a bigger part of my life I feel like it will be more natural to maintain.

I've been overweight all of my life. From the smothering grandparents who thought eating a lot was the means to being happy to the idea of finding comfort in food instead of playing or exercise, I've struggled with eating and having a sedentary lifestyle. Lacking any real ambition or motivation to change didn't help any either :) I've been in decent shape a couple times in my life, but it never really lasted.

What changed? Well, I guess I grew up. All the reasons I've always had started to be important. Oddly enough, this is centered around an event I had never really put much emphasis on - turning 30. It just so happened that around the same time I got a grown-up-person job at a large, somewhat consevative company and a new(er) car - I have more responsibilities and they're good ones that I'm proud of.

My motivations are simple - there are two major ones and one minor. The two major ones are attracting the opposite sex and participating in certain sports or hobbies that have always been interesting to me. The minor reason is my overall health (I'm still too young to be overly worried about that one I guess).

You might think that losing weight to attract women seems shallow, and while I won't necessarily argue that point - I don't care. I'm attracted to athletic women with breasts and hips and pretty faces, soulful eyes, shiny hair. I'm also attracted to women who are intelligent, creative, and funny. But, they have to look healthy. This is part personal preference and part evolutionary - I instinctively want someone who looks like she will effectively propagate the race (and someone I would like to try to propagate the race with. often.). So knowing that I want that, it seems perfectly reasonable to look like a healthy specimen myself. And like Kevin Spacey said in American Beauty, when the runner asked him what his weight loss goals were - I want to look good naked! It's also significant to point out that when I say I want to attract women, I'm at a point in my life where I don't just want to pull some random chick at the bar; I'm interested in a relationship and want to present the highest quality me to the high standard of woman I'm interested in.

As for sports/hobbies go, I want to do things like rock climbing, bicycling, kayaking - all on a regular basis. And if I do this recreationaly and socially, I'll have to be able to keep up with others that are athletic. Plus it is important to do these things safely - if I can't reach around my stomache to get a hand hold I'm not exactly in a safe position!

So, inspired by a group of friends on Traineo.com, as well as the image of the fat kid in IT running until he pukes, I'm changing my life. I love to eat healthy so I'm taking the time to plan meals and shop (I'm about to go shopping now), I'm taking daily vitamins, and I'm working out and doing cardio 3-5 times per week. Or at least I'm starting to get into the habit of working out 3-5 times per week.

I'll update with some of my workouts and what I've been doing for the past few weeks getting into this.

Do it right or don't do it.