Working Out With Friends

I’ve taken it upon myself recently to help several friends get back in shape. It’s not something I take lightly. I try to encourage and teach while these sessions happen. Otherwise, what’s the point? But, I’ve also come across this; some people don’t know what their goals are.

Is it to gain strength? To get bigger? More muscular and lean? Lose fat? Gain muscle? These are questions that come to my mind when I try to assess my goals. But, when I ask friends what their goals are, the answers vary. “I just want to lose fat around my stomach” or “I want to get bigger, but cut at the same time.” While these are goals, these are extremely difficult goals. It’s not something that can be attained without some work involved.

When I hear this, I’m surprised how little people know about working out and diet, and how they work together. In each case, I volunteer my services. I want to give them an inkling of how it is to work out with me. I prefer to burn fat by doing high-intensity body-weight exercises to burn fat, but when I’m gaining weight I use core lifts to get bigger. And when I say, “get bigger,” it’s usually nothing more than 10-15 pounds. So, I take them on a lower-level workout of mine and tell them to go at their own speed. The one constant I’ve heard at the end of each of these workouts, “I feel like I want to throw up.”

In a weird way, I enjoy this, but it also speaks to the fitness of my workout partner. It shows what they need to work on and I give them an idea on how they can improve. With body-weight exercises, you can compete against yourself and measure your progress against the “past you.” When you do this, make sure to “give it all you’ve got.”

As I’ve said earlier, I’m all for people changing their lives and improving themselves (while I enjoy the fatness, still). I just want people to understand that it’s not going to be an easy journey, in fact, it’ll be one of the tougher journeys they have ever taken. But, they are not alone. Everyone is going through it. It all starts with one step, and I’m glad when one of my friends decides to take it.

Currently Listening To:

The Eagles – Victim of Love

Embracing the FAT!!!

“New Year, New Me”

You can just see the January status updates and resolutions to being a “better” person, now. Pictures pop up on Instagram and Facebook non-stop of people following through with their plans for the start of the new year. I commemorate these people; they are “going for the gusto,” as I like to say. In order to achieve a goal, you need to take a step towards it. While some people may be upset at the amount of people at their gym after turning the calendar to January, I applaud it.

But I will not be participating. At least not yet. I’m still enjoying all the goodness that eating cookies and cakes brings me.

As most of you know, I’m a big advocate for improving oneself. So, why am I going against traditional reason and continuing to eat tasty goodness when everyone else is swearing off donuts, pie, etc.? Well, because they are tasty goodness, DUH!!

In reality, I get stuck in a thought process during the Holiday Season. It’s an “eating vortex” that’s tough to remove myself from, and I don’t mind it! So, I figure why stop eating on January 1st? All of that awesome, feel good food is still around through January, and January is cold to live through. It warms my heart, and my stomach, to eat a giant plate of spaghetti and meatballs with sausage, or ham with mac and cheese, or giant hot sandwiches. So, there is a reasoning behind the madness. But, as we all know, it has to come to an end at some point.

This year, I’m aiming to start getting back in shape and losing pounds in mid-February. Why? Well, the Super Bowl is an awesome eating day, as well. Sandwiches, chili, little pigs in blankets, how could your diet plan survive that day? I’ll just blow by the temptation, eat what I want, and start fresh after this eating holiday. I’m an all or nothing personality, there are no cheat days for me.

When I start my hardcore diet and exercise, there is nothing else in my world except that end goal. Until then, I’m gonna enjoy that deep fried hot dog on a stick dipped in extra creamy mayo-like sauce. I’m not gonna feel bad about it, either. Oh, and pass me a cookie, will ya?

Currently Listening To:

David Bowie – Suffragette City

ICYMI: Baby Bro’s Wedding

Life is one crazy, winding road. The last four months have been a whirlwind.

I guess the biggest thing that has happened over the last couple of months was my brother’s wedding and everything associated with that (see “Bachelor Party”).

The weeks leading up to the “Big Day” were stressful for baby bro. Not only did he have to worry about finalizing the wedding, but he also was in the process of buying a home for he and his wife. You can imagine the stress levels he was dealing with.

When the big day arrived, it was good to see the kid let loose. Even his wife took a couple of drinks (that I saw her ingest at least)! This was surprising because she isn’t a big drinker. So it was good to see the stress levels reduce and have them enjoy the party. But, I could not. I was not going to “unleash the fury” on the party until after I gave my Best Man Speech.

I worked on the speech for a couple of months. It was something that I didn’t want to mess up and have been working on for a few months, so I took a lesson from a buddy of mine who had to give his own speech and heeded his advice by limiting my alcohol consumption before the big moment (for me anyway). I needed to have my wits with me when the spotlight was put on me.

After all the worrying I did, I slayed the room! After the speech (which I will put up soon) I enjoyed the party. Doing “neats” (we called shots, “neats,” as there were no shots allowed during the reception, that didn’t stop us!) and dancing all night, it was a good time for everyone. I was dancing so much, I sweat through my tux! And it was a rental!!! I feel bad for the guy that wore that after me!

Outside of the dancing and drinking, the food was amazing! We were at the Venetian Yacht Club in Babylon, Long Island. A place that had picturesque views of the sunset as it was on the water. Hors d’oeuvres were tasty, the cocktail hour was a nice mix of cuisines and the main course with desserts following were fantastic! There were no complaints on that end, I just wish I could’ve taken some pictures so I could show you all!

So, that’s one of the reasons I’ve been away for so long, and I’m sure I’ll go more in-depth later on.

What have you all been doing over the summer?

Currently Listening To:

John Fogerty – Fortunate Son (Live)

Wedding Season: Back to the Grind

With the final stretch of the year coming quick, that means (at least for me) that weddings are right around the corner. What else does that mean? It means it’s time to stop getting my fat on (although it feels oh so good!)! I took a month off from my diet starting with my trip to Las Vegas to enjoy and relax for part of the summer, including my family reunion in the Poconos. While I didn’t stop working out, I wasn’t as intense with it. Instead, if I felt as though I wasn’t up to working out that day, I didn’t. It’s as simple as that. In that time, I only gained a few pounds, but an amount I was comfortable with gaining.

But now the time has come to get serious.

There are back to back weddings to start October, and a man needs to look good in a suit! If I can’t get my sexy on, then what’s the point in wearing it? So for the next 3 months (until December 1st for my friend’s wedding that I’m a groomsman for, I gotta look good for that!) I will be doing my early morning workouts again. Waking up at 5:45 in the morning is brutal! What’s worse? I’ll be doubling up the workouts in a few weeks by adding power lifts to my routine in the afternoon, roughly 2 to 3 times a week.

You may be asking yourself, “why is this fool doing this to himself?” And to answer your question, hockey season is right around the corner. Yes, I play hockey (it’s awesome) and it’s almost that time. It’s not always about looking good, sometimes I am practical. So, while this is usually around the time when I start training for the upcoming season; this year I will use this time to both look good (as I usually try to add some mass and bulk up instead of “looking ripped” as is the case with the summer) physically while also being strong for the sport. It’ll be interesting to see the results.

Once I’m over an injury (perhaps I’ll disclose at a later date), I plan to enact this plan. I must remember to eat a substantial amount of good foods to keep my endurance up, if I don’t I will crash hard! I have already begun, it’s time get serious and not mess around. I’m vain, and you love it. So let’s get to lookin’ good both on the ice, and in that suit.

Currently Listening To:

Lit – Miserable

Escaping Reality: Vacation Time is Soon!!!

Sitting at work, I’m just counting the hours until the closing bell sounds and I can be on my way to starting my vacation. Work has been crazy lately, the personal life is all over the place (as it pretty much has been for the last little while) and relaxation has been held to a minimum. It’s a much needed vacation. One that doesn’t entirely depend on alcohol (like Las Vegas and Chicago were), or is a rushed weekend vacation (like those trips were). It’ll be different from previous trips I have taken this year, and I can’t wait for it.

This trip is a whole family trip in the Poconos. I plan on just relaxing and trying to take in some sun to tan my white body. I want to work out and get fat, all at the same time. Hopefully, I don’t gain too much weight this time around (last year I gained 6 pounds over the week, and it was awesome!). I want to catch up on my reading, and catch up on my sleep. I will be playing golf and just enjoying myself. It’ll be a time that I don’t have to worry about anything, and sometimes a person needs that in their life, just cut loose all restrictions and worries.

It’s also good to get out of town with the family. Some family members I haven’t seen in a little bit, so we catch up, eat and drink together. It brings us all closer together to have some shared experiences, and that’s important. One of my cousins is a pastry chef, I just look forward to the things that she could potentially be making at any given moment. Her fiancé is a chef in his own right, so it’ll be interesting to see what he comes up with.

It should be a good time, it’ll be good to get away from reality for a little bit. Who doesn’t need that?

When was the last time you escaped reality?

Currently Listening To:

Wild Cub – Thunder Clatter