the nice thing about waking up and going......

So these last few weeks I have woken up and gone for a jog in the morning. I should say that I don't do this everyday but the days I do it are great. Its nice to get that exercise session out of the way first thing. It is something I have found very helpful on those days where I am feeling extra lazy. There have been those days when I feel a great disdain for my exercise routine, and I spend the whole day dreading it. Today would have been one of those days, but I woke up crawled out of bed , strapped on my shoes and my mp3 player and took a run.
I enjoy running to a spot that has a pay off. I have several routes I take that all end with a nice view. This morning I ran to a spot and watched the sunrise. I walked home but is was a good way to wake up.

Sometimes weekends are bad

I love to play video games. In order to keep the games from taking over my life I have yet to buy the XBOX 360. So on weekends I go to my buddies house and play some online Halo 3. Nothing like online gaming to burn develop a thirst. The gamers drink of choice is Mountain Dew, loaded with sugar and caffiene, and of course you need Nacho Cheese Doritos to wash it down. Well its hard to avoid these things when Im hungry and there is nothing else around. So yeah sometimes I give into temptation and eat some of the worst possible stuff around. In the past I these are the points where I would just give up. Mostly I would feel a sense of guilt and helplessnes like I could never change. Or I would feel like I just ruined a weeks worth of working out with one night of indescretion.
Now when I have these slip ups I just get back at it the next day. I keep going and moving forward. Its all I can do until , I eventually have the will power to completely avoid sugar ridden drinks and calorie packed nacho cheesiness. Will that day ever come I dont know. It seems like I develped a taste for junk food, its hard to let it go. But I have also developed a taste for feeling better, and being able to excercise and not feel like dying. So I have to opposing desires. I think I have heard somewhere that if you feed one you starve the other. Well I think If the majority of the time I am making the right choices eventually that side of me will win .

Sweat is my new best friend...

A few years back there was this commercial for Tabasco sauce, it showed a fat sweaty guy eating pizza on his porch. The commercial was not very appetizing. There is nothing appealing about a fat sweaty guy. I know cuase I use to be that guy, the guy that was sweating while doing nothing at all. I hated my seemingly uncontrollable sweating. Sometimes I would get nervous around certain females, forget about it, the buckets would come down. One of my favorite movies is a movie called Angus about a fat teenager. In the movie he is always sweating, he ask why am I always sweating, some one yelled cause your fat ! I think fat people sweat more cause the extra pounds keep their bodies warmer. On the bright side after shedding some pounds these episodes of Katrina like moisture happen less. I believe the reason is simple, since I have less fat on me, my body is cooler. I have always hated sweat, its caused me a lots of embarrassment.
Today while doing my workout I challenged myself to make the workout a little more intense , you know by adding a little more weight doing the reps a little more quickly. I was soon covered in sweat, sweet beautiful I burned a whole lot of calories sweat. There seems to be a difference with this sweat, it feels good. I feel better, i feel healthy. I think sweat is a good indicator that I am working out at the appropriate intensity. I feel like a guy who just accomlished something when I am covered in this type of sweat. I don't feel like that fat sweaty guy.. I love this type of sweat and I do it on every time I can.
walk mile
bench press
incline press
decline press
dumbell flyes
curl bar curls
isometric dumbell curls
hammer curls

take the compliment...

It always seems to be my natural reaction , that when some tells that I am looking thinner, I usually blow it off and say something to the effect of " oh Im just in black" or " I am letting my hair grow". The thing is that I am always with me and I may not notice the changes in my appearance like they do. Yesterday I received a lot of wow you are losing weight type comments. This after I spent Saturday convinced that I had gained weight somehow. So the lesson learned is take the compliments. Say thank you tell people about your workout routine and nutrition habits. This may help to motivate them to make some healthy changes in their lives......
feeling a bit ill
took it easy and stretched .

Happiness is a journey not a destination....

I have to say that one of I have noticed that when the chips are down I reach for that bag of Doritos. Yes I don't drown my sorrows in bury them in calories. There are those days when I am feeling so down, that I just want to lie in bed , and eat all day. I used to get that way on weekends. It has to do with the fact that at my age most of my friends are married by now. Which means weekends can get pretty lonely. I don't feel like strolling to the clubs all by myself, or take in a movie being the fat lonely guy with tubs of popcorn and ten dollar diet coke. When I am feeling this way , for some reason I dread working out. I think about lifting weights or taking a walk and I just get the urge to sleep, then eat. What a bad combination. I have started to counter act this formula for being the huge guy stuck in his house, who has to be removed by a crane and ten volunteers. I just make myself do it, I get up and get moving. Lately when I get the weekend blues, I force myself to stick to my routine. I get up and do my weight training, and you know what once I start exercising I feel great. You see exercise makes the body feel good , it starts to lift my spirits. Taking a walk along the harbor in the sunshine always makes me feel good.

reg bench presss
incline bench press
decline
dumbell flyes
curls
incline seated curls
isometric one arm curls
walk on the harbor

making progress

So I have to say that I was delighted this week when I woke up and went for a run. I try to do various types of cardio. I have a stationary bike, a heavy bag and a speed bag. Cardio is about raising the heart rate and working up a good sweat. I have even done some of the thirty minute workouts that you can see for free on fit tv. But I have never really been able to run for an extended period of time. But this week I have felt the urge to try and run. So monday morning I woke up and took a run. I soon noticed that it was not as uncomfortable as I remember it being. I should say that I did invest in some good running shoes but , my knees were not killing me and my lower back did not hurt. Im going to throw running in the mix, along with swimming walking biking and boxing. Personally I think it is important to change workouts as to not get bored

Squats
Leg Extentsions
Calf raises
Bent over Rows
Bent over Flyes
Thirty Minutes Heavy bag

Be the bear....

A few years ago when I signed up at the gym, the owner John asked me why I was joining it. I didn't really have an answer just told him that is was time to lose weight. He leaned back and said " Come on you are doing it for the broads " . To which I responded , yes. I do have to say that recently I ran into an old friend..I have lost about thirty pounds since the last time she saw me, which was like four years ago. This time she was a little different, her body language had changed. I could tell that she was somewhat attracted to me. This suspicion was confirmed by my buddy who told me that she seemed to be interested in me. Amazing. I think one of the most important changes is in my confidence levels. I carry myself in a different manner I don't shy away from women as much as I used to. In fact I try to get as many smiles as possible.
Weight loss is not the only way to gain confidence, but the activities associated with it build confidence. Taking up swimming for example. I like to talk about swimming and how much it relaxes me. People always seemed impressed by the fact that I swim. It feels good to get some recognition for it. I also believe that you should dress to impress. Dont wait until you are skinny to try and look good in your clothes. Spend some money buy one outfit you look good in, maybe you will only wear once or twice but at least you can have a couple of good night of confidence boosting fun. I love to dress up, I cant wait to be thin a look really good in my suits .. I mean I look good in my suits , just cant wait to look better. So when it comes to the oppossite sex
I hear confidence goes a long way, a lot of women I have asked told me that they are attracted to confident men. To borrow from the movie swinger I say " be the bear". Go talk to that women you want to talk to. Learn how to dance salsa. Learn to be charming. Get ready for that one day when you are in your thin suit......I mean you want to have game by then right? So practice now.

ran mile
shoulder press
shoulder extentions
pull down
tricep extention
skull crushers
over head dumbell raise..tricep extention.

Keeping and eye on the goal...

I have to say that I can feel the changes happening. Its hard to imagine going back to my old lifestyle. Although I still crave sodas and sweets sometimes. I remember there was a time when I used to drink at least a liter a day of soda. Now I choose herbal or green teas when I want a flavored drink. Not hot most of the time I just drop a tea bag into a bottle of water and take it with me on my walks to the beach. I don't add sugar. I never used to consider the added calories that all my soda intake would give me. I was taking in huge amounts of calories with sweet drinks. Now I prefer light tastes in my water, chamomile and mints taste good in water with out sugars. And green teas are often touted as excellent drinks for those who are trying to lose weight. They are full of anti oxidants and are said to help control hunger. Losing wieght is ultimately about taking bad habits and replacing them with good ones.
shoulder work outs
Modified Pull Up 4 sets of 12
Military Press 4 sets of 12
lateral shoulder raise 4 sets of 12
shoulder pull down 4 sets of 12
Skull Crushers 4 sets 12
Over head dumbell raise 4 sets 12
pull down extension 4 sets of 12
thirty minutes cardio on a stationary bike