Alright! This morning I finished my first cycle of weights. Here is my brief overview:

Friday

Legs and calves - I’ve always hated Leg Days. Don’t get me wrong, I know they are the most important body part as far as losing weight and changing my body. But I have always hurt like hell from the workouts and the pain just seems to linger forever. I was barely able to walk for three days after (especially on Sunday). I’m happy to report that today was the first day I didn’t walk funny (okay, I always walk funny, but then…).

Saturday

A morning walk was all I could really muster. My leg and calf workout had me really fatigued. While I was somewhat invigorated by my weigh in, it wasn’t enough to get me back in the gym, which has limited weekend hours.

Sunday

Chest and Tricepts - This was a good workout! I pushed myself a bit, especially on the chest. I made sure to hit the chest from multiple angles. I can still feel the tightness (not soreness like I get in my legs).

I tried walking in the afternoon, which was a big mistake. My calves pretty much shut down on me during the walk. It was a struggle just to get home.

Monday

I took Monday off.

Tuesday

Back and Bicepts - I woke up early and drove my Spyder to the gym. It was a cool morning, but I warmed up nicely once I was in the gym. While I felt like I was pushing myself, I’m not feeling it the way I feel my chest and triceps. Maybe I just a day away from that?

Wednesday

Shoulders and Abs - Another cool morning. I have to be careful when working shoulders and I have a tendency to push them too hard, too early. When I do that, I end up with lingering stiffness and pain that keeps me from being able to focus at work. I am also easing into the ab workouts as well. I’m sure over time I’ll be increasing the volume and intensity for both shoulders and abs.

Conclusion

So, overall a good cycle. I hit every major body part and gave it ample attention. I’m currently feeling that “good sore.” I will likely continue to do my workouts over a five or six day split until I get comfortable with the weights again. Then I’ll look to tighten up the schedule a bit.

I did walk a couple of times, but other than that and my five minute warm-ups, I’ve done very little cardio/fat burning work. That will change over time as well.

I feel pretty good and figure that I’ll hit my pound a week goal so long as I can keep my diet reasonable. Cheers!

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This Weird Al video is a pure classic! For the kids in the audience, this was a spoof off Michael Jackson’s Bad video. Both were excellent for their time. Boy those were the days!

For one, I was fit. I was strong. And this video was funny.

Now I see it differently. If you watch the video carefully, it is about peer pressure. He had stopped hanging out with his “fat” friends, who obviously had food issues. He then felt compelled to show them he was still a part of the group. Bizarre in its presentation, but remember, it is a spoof and therefore had to follow Michael’s video structure.

They tell recovering alcoholics to avoid bars and scenes where drinking is prevalent. Smokers, much the same, don’t put yourself in a situation where you’re likely to smoke. I believe this is somewhat the same for dieters. I won’t go into a fast food restaurant now. Yes, I know they have healthier selections today. But I know the smells and the images in the restaurant will weaken my resolve (at least right now).

Am I saying that you should dump the friends that aren’t fit? Of course not. But you should take the time to understand what influences your behavior. And yes, if there are certain friends, or certain events that cause you trouble, you should try to avoid them. At the same time, if you can find positive influences, such as a workout buddy, that push you in a positive direction. It’s all about understanding yourself.

Over time, you should be able to train yourself how to better deal with negative influences. Be it friends or family, fast food, or other things. I have to. I travel a lot for work. Unless I figure out how to eat better on the road, I’m not going to make my goal. Between “grab something and go” meals and hotel bars, I’m going to have many challenges in the coming year.

Yes, “I’m Fat.” But I don’t intend to stay that way.

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Time to do something besides chat!

Business pages are always abuzz about the various market bubbles. There was the Tech Bubble of the late 1990’s, then the Telecom Bubble of the early 2000’s, and now the Credit and Housing Bubbles. Business writers often speculate about what the next bubble will be (current consensus seems to point toward currency trading). But that got me to thinking…

The bubble is round, my stomach is round…

Could the next bubble actually just be us? Maybe we will continue to gorge ourselves as a society and without us really noticing, BAM! We start popping. At first it would be just one or two of us. So we could say, “That can’t happen to me. I don’t weigh that much.” We keep eating the way we do. Then more of us pop. Soon there are popping fat people everywhere.

As horrific or silly as this might seem, I’m really afraid it isn’t much off the mark. And you can say you heard it here first. Foreign currency trading might pop first, but American’s are not far behind.

I can honestly say, I haven’t had any fast food since I started my diet and exercise program.

Drum roll, please!

Yes, it’s true. I lost three pounds this week! Despite my travel to New Orleans and what I would class as a bad day (or two). Goes to show how much cutting alcohol out can make for some of us.

I’m not going to let that go to my head though. I’ve been down this road before. It isn’t uncommon for me to lose really well down to a point (usually about 205 lbs is where I plateau big time). So, I’m going to keep on it. The goal is still one pound a week.

From the blogsphere, I’ve run across another set of people who are very happy with their obesity. In fact, they’ve turned it into a career! One such person goes by Queen Raqui who appeared on the Tyra Banks show.

Yes, it appears that fat acceptance is now a movement. I mean, you know you’ve made it when you have a non-profit organization (NAAFA) and a Wikipedia page devoted to you. There are more blogs than you can shake a stick at.

Now, I’ll be the first person to admit that obese people are often shunned. A prime example is newspaper article (apparently it was a student paper out of Toronto, although I haven’t been able to confirm) that lists the 10 Reasons It’s Not Okay To Be Fat:

1. Public health care - why should the rest of us have to pay high taxes for you to eat yourself to death?
2. Nobody likes you. Except for, possibly, other fat people.
3. Even if you’re successful, it just means you’ll have enough money to become a drug addict and kill yourself like Chris Farley.
4. Because I don’t want to ever have to think about fat people again.
5. Not only do you frighten children, but you’re also setting a bad example.
6. You ruin pictures.
7. You ruin moments.
8. The thought of you ever having sex single-handedly ruins the day of at least 50% of the people whom you meet.
9. Because only aircraft are meant to be equipped with flaps. Their flaps serve a purpose.
10. It’s fucking disgusting.

There are obviously a lot of feelings on both side of this issue. And that wasn’t what I was really getting at. I could choose to stay the way I am, or I can choose to change. My issue is not medical, hormonal or chemical. But for many overweight and obese people it is.

I do have this choice. I exercise that choice every day with my food choices and my level of activity. Some days, I make better choices than other days. For example, I ate pretty well today, but all I did for exercise was a 45 minute walk. The rest of the day I was either in front of a computer, watching tv or sleeping.

I’m not going to try to fool myself. Being overweight (er, obese) is not healthy for me. And I won’t be able to make a living off of being a fat porn star or prostitute.

I’ve decided to make that change. We’ll see how well I’m doing at my weigh in tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

I was tooling around cyberspace when I came across this ABC News article (Sorry, You’re Too Fat: Miss. Bill Would Ban Restaurants From Serving Obese Customers). It caught my attention for two reasons, the first of which should be blatantly obvious. But I also have strong ties to Southern Miss and am frequently there. The thought of being turned away at a restaurant gives me pause.

What would I do if a restaurant turned me down?

“I’m sorry sir, but you can’t have the Chicken Fried Steak. I’ll be glad to serve your fat ass a salad.”

We expect bartenders to turn down patrons who have had too much to drink. Can we expect restaurants to do the same to what the law defines as obese? Obviously, this House Bill will see the light of day (it is already dead in committee). But, passing a law was never the intent. The intent was to draw attention to a growing crisis.

The health consequences of obesity are well known. No need for me to rehash them here. What isn’t completely clear is what the eventual cost will be. Much like tobacco was punched around in the 80’s and 90’s, the problems with unhealthy eating habits are being publicized now. This is just a lawmaker’s way of making a point.

The point? It shouldn’t take a law for people to wake up and take responsibility for their and their children’s health. For me, it was the outward signs and how they made me feel (especially on the beach in Mexico). Next time I go to Mississippi, I won’t need the waiter or the restaurant manager to tell me what I should eat. That is my job.

For someone who had spent nearly every day from age 13 to 33 in a gym, to day was a bit surreal. I did manage to go in to our local gym (I’ve had a membership since August and have only been once since I signed up). It seems as if my body has forgotten how to lift weights. So, I stuck to the following guidelines:

• Lift only with machines - This way the range of motion and direction of the lift were controlled. This isn’t the optimal way to lift since it doesn’t incorporate your stabilizing muscles. For a first time lifter (which technically I qualify for) it is more important to avoid injury. As I get more comfortable with the weights, I’ll begin to mix in more free weights.
• I lifted a fraction of what I wanted to - I’m not as strong as I used to be and it would have been a big mistake to fool myself into believing I am. I squatted with half of my normal starting weight. That turned out to be plenty. I also did leg press at have of my previous norm. Remembering that my previous norm was over five years ago.
• I made sure to get in and out of the gym in about an hour. The workout was enough to get my heart rate up into the fat burning range, and I had enough energy to maintain lifting intensity the entire workout.
• I made sure to stretch when I was done.
• I made sure I got plenty of protein today (a protein shake before my workout, a glass of milk after, fish for lunch and steak for dinner).
• And finally, I’ve acknowledged that I’m going to hurt like hell tomorrow and maybe the day after. Such is the price for my laziness.

Life is a journey and if you don’t do maintenance on your ride, your journey will be cut short. I plan to get there in style!

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t post this, but I found this quite disturbing… But then, the guy sure is comfortable with his belly. I can’t say the same. No tatts for me.