I love my double calorie days

Part of my nutrition plan gives me to days where I double my caloric intake. On days like this my wife and I enjoy eating a very delicious homemade (whole wheat low oil) pizza.

I grill up a chicken breast and throw on some pepperoni and lots of sauce and a reasonable covering of cheese.

I LOVE IT.

Nothing Short of Touched

Quick Workout Update: It's not every day your wife says "Hey, your arms are getting really big." I LOVE IT. I love that and the few women I've caught checking me out on the train. I was explaining to a good friend of mine that health benefits aside, I exercise for vanity.

Newest pain in my ass: I know I'm building muscle and all of that good stuff but my biceps have been the same size for MONTHS. Yes I'm increasing the weight and yes, I'm still losing fat (fat volume lost=muscle gained=same size arms) I HATE IT. I just want this shit off my body once and for all.

Newest new result: Down to 158lbs ounds and down another % in body fat resulting in a lean body increase WOOHOO.

Honoured:
I have to admit that I was honoured on Monday. I was contacted by an old work colleague. He told me that he has been reading my fitness blog (I had no idea...). He also told me that I've inspired him to start getting in shape.

Just want to send out a very public word of encouragement to "Mr. B". Keep me posted dude!

Where's the Beef?:
Speaking of blogs that aren't keeping themselves up to date on their progress...I'm calling out to
gzinkl (Guy who I happened to find on a board I read called DiscussBodyBuilding and later happened to find on Blogspot completely by mistake. I didn't realize it was the same guy until a few weeks later) What happened to your logs???? Then there's Chad (The Bowflex Sport Guy who hasn't posted in what seems like a decade) I checked out your blog as often as I checked out the stats on MY blog...come back soon.

And my personal man Steve who I know is itching to post some pictures but is holding out on getting a camera....bite the bullet dude...spend the 100 bucks and get a shitty camera. Posting pics feels great. I know I'm not the biggest guy out there but my progress makes me happy and I like to share it and sorta show off.

Considering just over a year ago I wouldn't take my shirt off in my back yard, now my wife has requested VETO rights on my blog pics so I don't sneak in those "full nude body shots" (oh yes...they exist) is certainly a much more confident me.

Big Bad Muscle Shots (One Year Later)

Its so hard to think back to what I was doing a year ago today. I had probably just completed my very first workout on my Bowflex.

I had purchased the Bowflex as a gift to myself so that I might give myself another gift in a year. That gift was to be good health and (what I hoped) would be a smokin' hot bod.


So now I think it's time to pat myself on the back. I think I'm looking pretty good. I'm got some great definition in my back, arms and legs and I'm still working on the stomach to finally rid myself of that horrendous McBelly that I used to feed.

What amazes me more than the physical changes are the mental ones. I am better able to deal with stress and don't feel the panic that used to consume me on such a regular basis. I find inner peace by building outter strength.

Now if I could only get myself to like cardio as much as I like strength training. Yes, I do it, but not nearly enough. I just don't get the same satisfaction from it.

After my Bowflex/weight workouts I actually FEEL like I accomplished something. I can feel my muscles burning. I can feel the blood coarsing through my body and I know I'm going to reap rewards for my hard work. When I finish my cardio I feel sweaty and I smell.

The big question now (as it has been for the past 6 months) is where to next? What is the next step in my physical evolution? I'm quite happy overall with my arms and back. I'd like to see better results in my stomach and legs and chest.



So to all of those people who didn't think I'd be able to make it this far please feel free to eat your heart out.


And for those of you who are still rooting for me please keep coming back and I'll keep posting my pictures. I'm just getting started!!

Furthermore

Still going strong coming back from the holiday season.
I'm keeping my regular strength training routine going on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday and running 3 other days a week. I'm happy that after a year I still find this very fun. Some people may wonder how hurting yourself by tearing your muscles up is fun but it is. Sticking to an exercise regimen is not difficult if you make it important. Sticking to a good food routine is. My friend Steve and I who go for a walk at lunch every day passed by a food court and noticed all of the greasy smells coming out of it. I thought it smelled like a little piece of heaven. I was reluctant to say anything but I did anyway. My friend Steve who is equally ambitious when it comes to working out laughed and said he was thinking the same thing. We kept walking leaving the greasy food for the people on the McDonald's diet.

Fortunately it appears that most of my holiday weight gain was water and all but 1 pound remains.

I also took the liberty of increasing my weight this week which has made me giddy.
In all candor I've done a very poor job in tracking my progress over the last few weeks. I used to do this deligently but ran out of the forms that I printed and changed my routine. So although I've been continuing the workouts I've only occaisonally been writing down my reps/sets.

In the past Creatine has given me the worst stomach pains and the shits in general. I'd like to start taking it again but I'd rather not get the negative side effects. Anybody have any suggestions on how to avoid this? Needless to say my goal is to pack on a much muscle as possible in the shortest possible time (and hopefully continue to burn excess fat).

It's January and I'm getting ready for mowing the lawn season again. I don't want the neighbours to be disappointed. :-)

New Year

This is the first year that I can remember that I don't have a New Year's Resolution to get in shape.

To me, that's a big accomplishment in and of itself.

On a personal note:
Ringing in the new year was a lot harder than I exepected. I don't think either my wife, Karla, or I were expecting it but as the 10 second count down started we both began crying. It errupted in a torrent of tears and emotions for my baby girl who was not with us to greet the new year.

I remember very clearly when the pediatritian told me my daughter Ava would soon die. I sat stone cold with that feeling in your gut like you've just been punched. I remember my "fight or flight instinct" kicked in and my instinct told me run even though there was nowhere to go. My wife was sleeping in an anesthetic slumber from the crash surgery and I was alone.

I fought to hold back the tears. I was standing in the middle of a maternity ward hallway watching happy expecting parents go by.

A nurse put her hand on my knee and said "It's ok to cry." I began to howl in pain as the tears rolled down my face. Another nurse or a cleaning lady (I don't remember) who was nearby came over and held me.

I was crying my wife who knew nothing yet of this and for the future we had been anticipating that had just been completely shattered and mostly for my daughter Ava who I had not yet met but who I knew I would only hold for a short while.

I wouldn't say I'm optimistic for the new year. I am hopeful though. I'm hopeful that somehow things will get easier and I'm looking forward to the day when I can finally celebrate my daughter's life without selfishly focusing on the trauma of my own loss.