The Thanksgiving Weight Loss Blog
It's my favorite time of the year! Thanksgiving!
Why? Because every year I go home and see all of the family and eat the hell out of some turkey and dressing. We also take a lot of photos so I can gauge how I've done over the past year. Well, I'm going to be honest, the Thanksgiving pix this year may not be that flattering to me!
I've probably gained 20 pounds this year. Now, before you read my excuses, please realize that exercise is very important to me. Without it, I'd be even further in the diet hole, but 2008 has had its challenges: from too many hours raiding dungeons and killing shit in World of Warcraft, to sports injuries, to finding a steady girlfriend who loves to cook.
Earlier this year I missed my "January - March exercise push," the time of the year where I spend more hours at the gym exercising and running, in preparation of Spring and Summer. Instead, I plopped down in front of my computer, playing the nerd-like game World of Warcraft with my fellow geeks, nerds, lard asses, and derelicts. It was fun and I can't say I don't miss it, but that game is too antisocial and bad for the waist. I had just bought my first house and I stayed in more, saving money, and doing absolutely nothing constructive! That lasted about three months.
The next hurdle on my path to uber elite peak physical specimenship was all of my damned sports injuries. If I were a pro sports player, 2008 would've seen me on the Injured List with four minor injuries and most can be attributed to lack of warming up, or just not enough stretching. Right now I'm nursing a torn back muscle (lower lat). Two months ago it was a strained calf, for the third time this year.
Earlier this year I wrote about how I wanted to buy a bicycle and how I was going to run a triathlon. I began swimming laps, running more, and biking on the stationary bike. But something happened about 3 weeks before the race: I pulled a calf muscle on the treadmill. I know exactly how I did it. I tried to run too hard, too quick, too fast. I needed more time to stretch my calves. The injury felt like a rubber band popping. Why? I had to beat my current 2-mile time at 16:23! Instead, I could barely walk for 3-4 days and forget running, for at least a month. This was the left calf, opposite of my right calf which I had strained twice before; in January and May.
One would figure I would learn my lesson after the first or second time. Trust me, I don't touch a weight, elliptical machine or treadmill now, without at least stretching 10-15 minutes. Oddly enough, stretching is exactly how I tore my god damned back muscle! Sometimes, I just can't win for losing. Regardless, all of these injuries require time to heal, without exercise (or stretching). I guess that's what getting older is about: Icy Hot, Ben Gay, and cold baths before bed.
But besides that, I'm also not out running the streets all the time. I've found someone I want to spend my time with, so I do have to find new ways to motivate myself at the gym. Ashley and I have started to find ways to exercise together; working out at the condo gym, walking around Atlanta, wrestling with each other, sex, etc. etc… Right now we're re-focusing on how we cook and eat at the house. My weakness has always been sweets. In the past, I just didn't buy them, and I bypassed the issue of self-control. Ashley likes sweets but she has self-control. A package of cookies might last a month with her. With me they last about as long as it takes for me to find out we have them.
Now, with all of this said, I'm not completely out of shape. I just happen to be like Plaxico Burress and Allen Iverson; I don't like to practice. I assure you I can still knock the living shit out of something, or lift 300+ pounds, if necessary…and I could run that triathlon I was training for, if I had to. Luckily, I don't!
So Thanksgiving should be great this year. I have one relative who had lap band surgery and has apparently lost 60+ pounds, so all eyes and praise will be on him. Fucking cheater! Actually, I'm proud of him. I just hope he doesn't have so much excess skin his neck looks like a vagina.
Maybe this is why I volunteered my company's "Waist Reduction Team." At first, I thought that meant I just couldn't throw away as much paper and shit but when they told me we had to reduce our BMI and weight, I was all over it. Imagine me as Jillian Michaels on The Biggest Loser! Not only am I going to lose weight but the whole goddamned office is going to shed some pounds! I'd prefer to be the militant drill instructor but I don't think that will work in our office. One of the big mamas will tell me to fuck off rather quickly if I take that approach.
So, as I type this at my computer, with my right hand, know that I'm pumping iron (30 lb dumb bell) with my left so I have a decent pump tomorrow when I show up at Aunt Pat's. This year I'm not wearing skin-tight clothes like two years ago. I'm planning to dazzle everyone with my style and beautiful girlfriend!
Why? Because every year I go home and see all of the family and eat the hell out of some turkey and dressing. We also take a lot of photos so I can gauge how I've done over the past year. Well, I'm going to be honest, the Thanksgiving pix this year may not be that flattering to me!
I've probably gained 20 pounds this year. Now, before you read my excuses, please realize that exercise is very important to me. Without it, I'd be even further in the diet hole, but 2008 has had its challenges: from too many hours raiding dungeons and killing shit in World of Warcraft, to sports injuries, to finding a steady girlfriend who loves to cook.
Earlier this year I missed my "January - March exercise push," the time of the year where I spend more hours at the gym exercising and running, in preparation of Spring and Summer. Instead, I plopped down in front of my computer, playing the nerd-like game World of Warcraft with my fellow geeks, nerds, lard asses, and derelicts. It was fun and I can't say I don't miss it, but that game is too antisocial and bad for the waist. I had just bought my first house and I stayed in more, saving money, and doing absolutely nothing constructive! That lasted about three months.
The next hurdle on my path to uber elite peak physical specimenship was all of my damned sports injuries. If I were a pro sports player, 2008 would've seen me on the Injured List with four minor injuries and most can be attributed to lack of warming up, or just not enough stretching. Right now I'm nursing a torn back muscle (lower lat). Two months ago it was a strained calf, for the third time this year.
Earlier this year I wrote about how I wanted to buy a bicycle and how I was going to run a triathlon. I began swimming laps, running more, and biking on the stationary bike. But something happened about 3 weeks before the race: I pulled a calf muscle on the treadmill. I know exactly how I did it. I tried to run too hard, too quick, too fast. I needed more time to stretch my calves. The injury felt like a rubber band popping. Why? I had to beat my current 2-mile time at 16:23! Instead, I could barely walk for 3-4 days and forget running, for at least a month. This was the left calf, opposite of my right calf which I had strained twice before; in January and May.
One would figure I would learn my lesson after the first or second time. Trust me, I don't touch a weight, elliptical machine or treadmill now, without at least stretching 10-15 minutes. Oddly enough, stretching is exactly how I tore my god damned back muscle! Sometimes, I just can't win for losing. Regardless, all of these injuries require time to heal, without exercise (or stretching). I guess that's what getting older is about: Icy Hot, Ben Gay, and cold baths before bed.
But besides that, I'm also not out running the streets all the time. I've found someone I want to spend my time with, so I do have to find new ways to motivate myself at the gym. Ashley and I have started to find ways to exercise together; working out at the condo gym, walking around Atlanta, wrestling with each other, sex, etc. etc… Right now we're re-focusing on how we cook and eat at the house. My weakness has always been sweets. In the past, I just didn't buy them, and I bypassed the issue of self-control. Ashley likes sweets but she has self-control. A package of cookies might last a month with her. With me they last about as long as it takes for me to find out we have them.
Now, with all of this said, I'm not completely out of shape. I just happen to be like Plaxico Burress and Allen Iverson; I don't like to practice. I assure you I can still knock the living shit out of something, or lift 300+ pounds, if necessary…and I could run that triathlon I was training for, if I had to. Luckily, I don't!
So Thanksgiving should be great this year. I have one relative who had lap band surgery and has apparently lost 60+ pounds, so all eyes and praise will be on him. Fucking cheater! Actually, I'm proud of him. I just hope he doesn't have so much excess skin his neck looks like a vagina.
Maybe this is why I volunteered my company's "Waist Reduction Team." At first, I thought that meant I just couldn't throw away as much paper and shit but when they told me we had to reduce our BMI and weight, I was all over it. Imagine me as Jillian Michaels on The Biggest Loser! Not only am I going to lose weight but the whole goddamned office is going to shed some pounds! I'd prefer to be the militant drill instructor but I don't think that will work in our office. One of the big mamas will tell me to fuck off rather quickly if I take that approach.
So, as I type this at my computer, with my right hand, know that I'm pumping iron (30 lb dumb bell) with my left so I have a decent pump tomorrow when I show up at Aunt Pat's. This year I'm not wearing skin-tight clothes like two years ago. I'm planning to dazzle everyone with my style and beautiful girlfriend!