I'm definitely showing my age with that title, huh?
On Tuesday, it was my day to run. Just a simple 30 minute run on the treadmill at a 12:00 pace.
At around the 20 minute mark, I quit. It was the second time in a row I wasn't able to finish my run. After that, I decided that I needed to hit the road for my next few run sessions, so on Thursday I began what was supposed to be a three mile run at my own slow pace.
I made it a half mile before I quit. My legs felt like lead.
There was a time that I would have beaten myself up for this. Not this time.
Mixing powerlifting and running is difficult. Very difficult. I still want to do both because I enjoy running and lifting heavy. If you do a Google search for "Powerlifting and running workout", you'll find only a few routines, but a whole lot of forums where people are asking how they can combine the two. There's no point in beating myself up for not accomplishing a task that leaves little room for error. Instead of kicking my ass about it, I decided to figure out how I can unfuck my situation. To the interwebs!
I decided to ditch my workout routine right off the bat. With my deadlift days and my squat days, I'm still lifting heavy with my legs twice a week. That's why my legs are lead. I found a workout routine that looks like it'll kick my ass up and down the block at first, but hopefully I can adapt to after a few weeks.
Part of the routine is here (my routine is listed under the 5k method), with the exercises listed here. It's completely different from anything I've ever done. I've never heard of the Westside Method before this. You do leg day twice a week, but you're only doing heavy lifting on one of them. You also do sprints on that day. The creator of the routine said that you do that because both heavy lifting and sprints wreck your legs, so it's best to spend one day a week wrecking your legs instead of two. It sounds logical, but I'm not looking forward to the nightmare that I'm going to unleash on my lower body come Wednesday.
Along with this routine, I still need to do my shoulder routine to deal with the calcium deposits that are still in my right shoulder, and I also have a routine to fix my grip strength. I needed to add the latter routine because I'm losing my grip on my deadlifts now that I've put some serious weight on them. So all in all, I'm going to be one busy man at the gym.
Another thing I need to change is my diet. I need to eat more. That's a first.
Carb cycling is a great way to lose body fat, and it works well when I'm strictly lifting, but I need more carbs if I'm going to run. This isn't an easy task for me, as I rarely eat all of the food on my high carb days as it is. Even with half my food in liquid form, it's difficult for me to eat everything.
According to Calorie Calculator, I will still be running up a calorie deficit if I eat 3,100 calories a day. I still have about 20 pounds of body fat to spare, so I can make that work, but I need to completely recalibrate my diet plan. My food is already prepped for this week, so I'll have to wait until next week before I make major changes. Until then, I'm just going to supplement my no carb days and low carb days with as many sports drinks and starch as I can handle.
You know you've come a long way on your fitness journey when you used to eat too much, and now you're not eating enough.
If this plan doesn't work, I'm going to have to ditch powerlifting and find some other form of strength training that can work with running. I hope it doesn't come to that, because I really like powerlifting.
I like how I'm handling this situation, though. It was only a few months ago where I would beat myself up if I couldn't finish a workout. Instead of doing that, I decided to figure out how to solve my problem. That's something I need to start doing with everything in my life.
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Advice for Beginners
After I wrote my last entry, a friend on Facebook said that I was an inspiration. That was a bit surprising. I didn't think a formerly obese guy that's been seeing positive results in the gym as of late would be an inspiration to anyone.
Other people see it differently though, so it's for that reason I decided to write a post giving advice to people that want to begin to be more healthy and/or athletic. Keep in mind that this is all coming from a layman, and my advice is only for the able-bodied. Giving advice to people that aren't perfectly capable of doing anything resembling a normal exercise routine is way out of my pay grade, so if you're disabled or have a condition that prevents you from doing most forms of exercise, talk to your doctor about what you can do.
1. Weight loss:
This is called My Gastric Surgery Blog for a reason. I wouldn't be as athletic or fit today if I didn't have a surgeon rip out 3/4 of my stomach nearly three years ago. If you're obese, getting bariatric surgery is, scientifically speaking, likely the only way you're going to lose weight and keep it off. That's the harsh reality. If you're obese, you probably know this already, as you've likely attempted dozens of times to lose the weight and failed. It's to be expected, because as I said a few blog posts ago, our bodies are designed to fight starvation, not obesity. Our bodies want to keep the fat on us because they're still prepping for the day when we end up in a Mad Max dystopia, having to travel hundreds of miles on foot to get our dinner. Your body isn't giving up that fat without a fight, and it's about damn near impossible to win that fight without surgical intervention.
The good news is that most insurance plans cover bariatric surgery nowadays if you have either a) a BMI of >40, or b) A BMI of >35 and a health disorder as a result of obesity. Even public health plans like Medicaid cover it. If your plan doesn't currently cover bariatric surgery and you really want to quit being obese, enroll in one of the health exchanges at the end of the year and get a plan with as low a deductible as you can afford. Last I checked (which means, check again for yourself), all of the plans on the federal health exchange from bronze level on up cover the surgery.
If you're not obese, but you want to lose a few pounds, that can be done easily by exercising more and reducing your caloric intake. After I was able to eat nearly an entire plate of food in one sitting after the surgery, I used the Paleo Diet to lose weight. I'm doing carb cycling now to increase my athletic ability. I did a severe calorie restriction diet last year when I was in danger of being over 300 pounds again. If you're not trying to lose more than 10% of your body fat, you're likely to find a diet that works for you.
2. Exercise:
I'm not going to give anyone advice on what workout plan to use, or even to have a workout plan to start. People have different fitness goals, and you're going to have to decide what yours are. Nerd Fitness has a good article where they break down fitness goals based on RPG character archetypes, but you might not even know where you would be on that list yet. It's not important to know what to do when you're just starting out. What's important is that you do something.
Make it a point to exercise for one hour a day, five days a week. Pick your time in advance and make sure that you stick to it. Don't worry about what you're going to do at first. Don't even have a goal in mind when you start, other than to use that one hour to do some sort of physical activity. You'll decide what your goal is later.
After having bariatric surgery and being cleared for physical activity, I didn't decide right away to run a half-marathon. I just started running and did a basic bodybuilding routine, and I decided that I liked running so much that I decided to train myself to run 13.1 miles. The goal of running a half-marathon only came after I started running and found out that I enjoy it.
So it will go with you. You don't even have to lift weights or do a cardio routine (unless you want to). Just make sure that you're active. Maybe there's a sport that you did in high school that you enjoyed. Start doing that again. Play Pokemon GO. Take a MMA class. Do something! Your other goals will come later.
Make sure you avoid biting off more than you can chew, too. My ego has caused me to receive a lot of injuries over the past few years that could have been avoided if I had accepted that fact that my body is no longer 19 years old. Your workout should be challenging, but not so much that it leaves you injured. If you think you might hurt yourself, check your fucking ego and just accept that you're not strong enough to finish-yet. Your time will come.
You're going to have to remember a hard truth as you do this, too: Sport is selfish. When you make time to exercise, you're going to have to abandon your other responsibilities for a short time. This is one of my biggest difficulties in fitness, as I have two small children at home. Hopefully your family will be as understanding about your desire to be more healthy as mine is (seriously fam, thanks for putting up with all my exercise, meal prep, high carb/low carb/no carb days, and all the other stuff that I do; this would be so much harder without your support). If they're not, explain that you're doing all this because you a) Want to live to see your kids graduate high school, and b) Want your kids to be healthy as well. Your kids learn your habits, so make sure that they're healthy ones.
If the people in your life won't support you after explaining the benefits of being healthier, you may want to rethink whether or not they should be in your life.
3. Food!
This is a different section than weight loss because healthy eating is about more than just weight loss. You need to eat well to have the energy to be active.
I started meal prepping a few months ago, which is when you make several days worth of healthy meals in advance so you can eat while at work or on the go. It makes it easier to keep track of the macronutrients you consume, and also keeps you from ordering food from some crappy ass fast food joint or restaurant. If you google "healthy meal prep", you'll find a whole bunch of healthy food recipes. My favorite site for meal prep recipes is Fit Men Cook, but there's a bunch of others as well. YouTube has no shortage of videos, too.
A positive side effect of doing all this meal prep is that I've been forced to learn how to cook. I think one of the reasons why I was obese was that I just never learned to cook my own food. For most of my adult life if I wanted to eat, I had three options:
A) My very limited knowledge of dinner recipes, which mainly consisted of burgers, hot dogs, and grilled cheese.
B) Frozen and/or prepackaged food.
C) Ordering out.
None of these are healthy options, and not knowing how to make a nutritious meal was a major reason why I got fat in the first place.
Learning how to cook has also given me an appreciation for food that I never had before. Even my cheat days have been more enjoyable than they have been in the past, simply because I'm learning to make some really great tasting (yet unhealthy) food. There's a certain pride that comes with being able to make a tasty meal that you don't feel when you order out or get a pack of frozen food from a store.
For example, yesterday was my cheat day, so I made baby back ribs on the grill for the first time in my life. Did you know that barbecuing ribs is practically its own science? Neither did I, until I had to learn how to make them. Tear off the membrane. Place them in marinade for several hours. Make sure the coals on your grill are only on one side so your ribs cook on indirect heat. Figure out how to keep the coals from burning out (thanks for the help on that, mom!) Brush the ribs with sauce every hour, and cook for two and a half hours. Give it one last brush of sauce after you take them off the grill. Let them cool for fifteen minutes before serving. It's practically a part-time job.
A part-time job with one hell of a payout!
When you combine the time I took to marinade and cook those delicious pieces of pig meat, I spent nearly nine hours working on them. Worth it!
I don't care how good the ribs are at your favorite spot, nothing compares to putting in the work of making your own and fucking nailing it! Now I know how Michelangelo felt when he painted the Sistine Chapel.
Did I just compare my ribs to some of the best known renaissance art? You're goddamn right I did! You don't think it's a fair comparison? Well, I dare you to come to my house the next time I barbecue up a rack of baby backs! Cooking is an art, and I AM A MOTHERFUCKING ARTIST!
But enough about my awesome cooking. This is about giving you advice.
Maybe you're already an experienced cook and you already take great pride in your work, but you just want to be healthier or learn new recipes. All the more reason to learn how to meal prep and research recipes on the internet. Over the past few months I've learned how to make lasagna using super-lean ground turkey and zucchini for noodles that tastes every bit as good as your standard lasagna recipe. I've learned how to make a delicious low calorie chicken and rice recipe using a slow cooker. I can make a healthy version of shepherd's pie that is heavy on vegetables and lacks none of the flavor. You can make food that's both healthy and delicious at the same time.
Believe me, you'll need to know these things when you're on your fitness journey. You can get away with eating junk when you start, but when your workouts get tougher, junk food isn't going to cut it.
4. Water:
Nothing much to say here. Just drink a lot of it. At least a half gallon a day. Avoid sugary shit (that includes sports drinks) unless you're on a high-carb day and you need it to get your macros.
Other people see it differently though, so it's for that reason I decided to write a post giving advice to people that want to begin to be more healthy and/or athletic. Keep in mind that this is all coming from a layman, and my advice is only for the able-bodied. Giving advice to people that aren't perfectly capable of doing anything resembling a normal exercise routine is way out of my pay grade, so if you're disabled or have a condition that prevents you from doing most forms of exercise, talk to your doctor about what you can do.
1. Weight loss:
This is called My Gastric Surgery Blog for a reason. I wouldn't be as athletic or fit today if I didn't have a surgeon rip out 3/4 of my stomach nearly three years ago. If you're obese, getting bariatric surgery is, scientifically speaking, likely the only way you're going to lose weight and keep it off. That's the harsh reality. If you're obese, you probably know this already, as you've likely attempted dozens of times to lose the weight and failed. It's to be expected, because as I said a few blog posts ago, our bodies are designed to fight starvation, not obesity. Our bodies want to keep the fat on us because they're still prepping for the day when we end up in a Mad Max dystopia, having to travel hundreds of miles on foot to get our dinner. Your body isn't giving up that fat without a fight, and it's about damn near impossible to win that fight without surgical intervention.
 |
| Or, having to live in a post-nuclear war dystopia. |
The good news is that most insurance plans cover bariatric surgery nowadays if you have either a) a BMI of >40, or b) A BMI of >35 and a health disorder as a result of obesity. Even public health plans like Medicaid cover it. If your plan doesn't currently cover bariatric surgery and you really want to quit being obese, enroll in one of the health exchanges at the end of the year and get a plan with as low a deductible as you can afford. Last I checked (which means, check again for yourself), all of the plans on the federal health exchange from bronze level on up cover the surgery.
If you're not obese, but you want to lose a few pounds, that can be done easily by exercising more and reducing your caloric intake. After I was able to eat nearly an entire plate of food in one sitting after the surgery, I used the Paleo Diet to lose weight. I'm doing carb cycling now to increase my athletic ability. I did a severe calorie restriction diet last year when I was in danger of being over 300 pounds again. If you're not trying to lose more than 10% of your body fat, you're likely to find a diet that works for you.
2. Exercise:
I'm not going to give anyone advice on what workout plan to use, or even to have a workout plan to start. People have different fitness goals, and you're going to have to decide what yours are. Nerd Fitness has a good article where they break down fitness goals based on RPG character archetypes, but you might not even know where you would be on that list yet. It's not important to know what to do when you're just starting out. What's important is that you do something.
Make it a point to exercise for one hour a day, five days a week. Pick your time in advance and make sure that you stick to it. Don't worry about what you're going to do at first. Don't even have a goal in mind when you start, other than to use that one hour to do some sort of physical activity. You'll decide what your goal is later.
After having bariatric surgery and being cleared for physical activity, I didn't decide right away to run a half-marathon. I just started running and did a basic bodybuilding routine, and I decided that I liked running so much that I decided to train myself to run 13.1 miles. The goal of running a half-marathon only came after I started running and found out that I enjoy it.
So it will go with you. You don't even have to lift weights or do a cardio routine (unless you want to). Just make sure that you're active. Maybe there's a sport that you did in high school that you enjoyed. Start doing that again. Play Pokemon GO. Take a MMA class. Do something! Your other goals will come later.
Make sure you avoid biting off more than you can chew, too. My ego has caused me to receive a lot of injuries over the past few years that could have been avoided if I had accepted that fact that my body is no longer 19 years old. Your workout should be challenging, but not so much that it leaves you injured. If you think you might hurt yourself, check your fucking ego and just accept that you're not strong enough to finish-yet. Your time will come.
You're going to have to remember a hard truth as you do this, too: Sport is selfish. When you make time to exercise, you're going to have to abandon your other responsibilities for a short time. This is one of my biggest difficulties in fitness, as I have two small children at home. Hopefully your family will be as understanding about your desire to be more healthy as mine is (seriously fam, thanks for putting up with all my exercise, meal prep, high carb/low carb/no carb days, and all the other stuff that I do; this would be so much harder without your support). If they're not, explain that you're doing all this because you a) Want to live to see your kids graduate high school, and b) Want your kids to be healthy as well. Your kids learn your habits, so make sure that they're healthy ones.
If the people in your life won't support you after explaining the benefits of being healthier, you may want to rethink whether or not they should be in your life.
3. Food!
This is a different section than weight loss because healthy eating is about more than just weight loss. You need to eat well to have the energy to be active.
I started meal prepping a few months ago, which is when you make several days worth of healthy meals in advance so you can eat while at work or on the go. It makes it easier to keep track of the macronutrients you consume, and also keeps you from ordering food from some crappy ass fast food joint or restaurant. If you google "healthy meal prep", you'll find a whole bunch of healthy food recipes. My favorite site for meal prep recipes is Fit Men Cook, but there's a bunch of others as well. YouTube has no shortage of videos, too.
A positive side effect of doing all this meal prep is that I've been forced to learn how to cook. I think one of the reasons why I was obese was that I just never learned to cook my own food. For most of my adult life if I wanted to eat, I had three options:
A) My very limited knowledge of dinner recipes, which mainly consisted of burgers, hot dogs, and grilled cheese.
B) Frozen and/or prepackaged food.
C) Ordering out.
None of these are healthy options, and not knowing how to make a nutritious meal was a major reason why I got fat in the first place.
Learning how to cook has also given me an appreciation for food that I never had before. Even my cheat days have been more enjoyable than they have been in the past, simply because I'm learning to make some really great tasting (yet unhealthy) food. There's a certain pride that comes with being able to make a tasty meal that you don't feel when you order out or get a pack of frozen food from a store.
For example, yesterday was my cheat day, so I made baby back ribs on the grill for the first time in my life. Did you know that barbecuing ribs is practically its own science? Neither did I, until I had to learn how to make them. Tear off the membrane. Place them in marinade for several hours. Make sure the coals on your grill are only on one side so your ribs cook on indirect heat. Figure out how to keep the coals from burning out (thanks for the help on that, mom!) Brush the ribs with sauce every hour, and cook for two and a half hours. Give it one last brush of sauce after you take them off the grill. Let them cool for fifteen minutes before serving. It's practically a part-time job.
A part-time job with one hell of a payout!
 |
| Tell me you don't get hungry looking at this. I dare you. |
I don't care how good the ribs are at your favorite spot, nothing compares to putting in the work of making your own and fucking nailing it! Now I know how Michelangelo felt when he painted the Sistine Chapel.
Did I just compare my ribs to some of the best known renaissance art? You're goddamn right I did! You don't think it's a fair comparison? Well, I dare you to come to my house the next time I barbecue up a rack of baby backs! Cooking is an art, and I AM A MOTHERFUCKING ARTIST!
But enough about my awesome cooking. This is about giving you advice.
Maybe you're already an experienced cook and you already take great pride in your work, but you just want to be healthier or learn new recipes. All the more reason to learn how to meal prep and research recipes on the internet. Over the past few months I've learned how to make lasagna using super-lean ground turkey and zucchini for noodles that tastes every bit as good as your standard lasagna recipe. I've learned how to make a delicious low calorie chicken and rice recipe using a slow cooker. I can make a healthy version of shepherd's pie that is heavy on vegetables and lacks none of the flavor. You can make food that's both healthy and delicious at the same time.
Believe me, you'll need to know these things when you're on your fitness journey. You can get away with eating junk when you start, but when your workouts get tougher, junk food isn't going to cut it.
4. Water:
Nothing much to say here. Just drink a lot of it. At least a half gallon a day. Avoid sugary shit (that includes sports drinks) unless you're on a high-carb day and you need it to get your macros.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Epic Win
I stopped doing the Stronglifts 5x5 routine this week. As a strength routine, I've found that it's second to none compared to every other weightlifting routine I've ever done; however, it's also the reason why I'm running at the pace of a snail. The man that created the workout admitted that you will not be able to run and do this program at the same time. Squatting heavy three times a week tends to make you slow.
With that in mind, I began searching for powerlifting programs that also allow for running. I found this workout and decided to give it a go. It separates the lift days so you're only squatting once a week, and has accessory exercises added on to make sure your muscles don't atrophy. The only thing I'm doing differently is adding an overhead press exercise on my squat day because I really enjoy that exercise and don't want to stop doing it (something about lifting over 100 pounds above your head gives you a sense of pride).
Wednesday was deadlift day. A few warmup sets of deadlifts, followed by a single 3-5 rep set of your maximum weight. I did two warmup sets of 135 and 185 pounds before completing my goal of 215 pounds, which is the most I've ever lifted of any exercise at all. I decided to try 225 for shits and giggles, but failed. That'll have to wait until next week.
I was mad that I failed in my 225 lift, but I realized that I should be cool with it because a) My goal was 215 and I succeeded, and b) I probably would have lifted 225 if I hadn't just done three sets of deadlifts already.
After that came the accessory exercises. Three sets of 8-10 reps of hanging leg raises, the stiff-legged deadlift, and calf raises. I did my first two exercises easily and went onto the calf raises.
I was a guest at a gym near my mother-in-law's house, and they do not have a calf raise machine. When that happens, you have to use the leg press machine to work your calves.
I haven't used the leg press machine (or any machine for that matter) in months, so I decided to put the weight at 310 pounds to see how it would feel. I did three reps before stopping because the weight was so light that it felt like I was just standing on my tip toes. I set the machine to 370 pounds and got the same result. The machine maxed out at 415 pounds, so that was where I set the weight.
About eight months ago I used that machine for leg day and I lifted 250 pounds for 10 reps. I couldn't lift any more than that. On Wednesday, I had to do a single leg press at 415 pounds to get into position for the calf raise, and it was easy. The calf raises were even easier. If I could have added more weight, I would have.
It was then that I realized that I am stronger now than I have ever been in my life. Even stronger than when I was in my twenties.
I've been meal prepping for a few months now, carb cycling for close to a month, and doing the 5x5 program for the past several months, all in the pursuit of achieving athletic excellence. I've written posts complaining about doing it and being tempted to quit because I wasn't noticing my progress. But when I realized that this is the strongest I've ever been in my life, it was an epic fucking win.
And I'm only going to keep getting stronger. I'm not done training yet, not by damn sight!
Back in November, I wrote a post called, "My Weight Loss Journey Has Ended". That's still true, even after all the weight I've gained over the past few months. Mark Rippletoe warned that the Starting Strength method would cause you to gain weight because you'd be gaining large amounts of muscle over a short amount of time, and that you'd be needing to take in large amounts of healthy calories to do the workouts. The bodybuilding world calls this "bulking", and it's the reason why Hafþór Júlíus "Thor" Björnsson, aka, "The Mountain" isn't sporting a set of six pack abs.
Anyone want to call him fat? Anyone?
So when I stepped on the scale a month ago and found that I weighed 293 pounds, instead of panicking and going over to Medical Weight Loss Clinic like I did last time, I pretty much just shrugged. I knew it was mostly muscle mass that I gained. Unlike last time, my family didn't even notice that I had gained weight.
Just as a point of reference, here's me posting a selfie of myself, proud that my weight was down to under 260 pounds:
Here's me at 290 pounds, as of this morning:
My eyes are open! I promise!
My stomach is a little bit wider, but so are my arms, chest, and shoulders.
I just noticed my skin has bounced back too, as I'm no longer sporting some sagging A cups. :D
I'm very happy with how my body looks. Continuing to diet and exercise has nothing to do with body image or liking what I see in the mirror. I already do. This is all about gaining athletic prowess.
I will become better than I was before. Better, stronger, faster.
With that in mind, I began searching for powerlifting programs that also allow for running. I found this workout and decided to give it a go. It separates the lift days so you're only squatting once a week, and has accessory exercises added on to make sure your muscles don't atrophy. The only thing I'm doing differently is adding an overhead press exercise on my squat day because I really enjoy that exercise and don't want to stop doing it (something about lifting over 100 pounds above your head gives you a sense of pride).
Wednesday was deadlift day. A few warmup sets of deadlifts, followed by a single 3-5 rep set of your maximum weight. I did two warmup sets of 135 and 185 pounds before completing my goal of 215 pounds, which is the most I've ever lifted of any exercise at all. I decided to try 225 for shits and giggles, but failed. That'll have to wait until next week.
I was mad that I failed in my 225 lift, but I realized that I should be cool with it because a) My goal was 215 and I succeeded, and b) I probably would have lifted 225 if I hadn't just done three sets of deadlifts already.
After that came the accessory exercises. Three sets of 8-10 reps of hanging leg raises, the stiff-legged deadlift, and calf raises. I did my first two exercises easily and went onto the calf raises.
I was a guest at a gym near my mother-in-law's house, and they do not have a calf raise machine. When that happens, you have to use the leg press machine to work your calves.
 |
| Like this. |
I haven't used the leg press machine (or any machine for that matter) in months, so I decided to put the weight at 310 pounds to see how it would feel. I did three reps before stopping because the weight was so light that it felt like I was just standing on my tip toes. I set the machine to 370 pounds and got the same result. The machine maxed out at 415 pounds, so that was where I set the weight.
About eight months ago I used that machine for leg day and I lifted 250 pounds for 10 reps. I couldn't lift any more than that. On Wednesday, I had to do a single leg press at 415 pounds to get into position for the calf raise, and it was easy. The calf raises were even easier. If I could have added more weight, I would have.
It was then that I realized that I am stronger now than I have ever been in my life. Even stronger than when I was in my twenties.
I've been meal prepping for a few months now, carb cycling for close to a month, and doing the 5x5 program for the past several months, all in the pursuit of achieving athletic excellence. I've written posts complaining about doing it and being tempted to quit because I wasn't noticing my progress. But when I realized that this is the strongest I've ever been in my life, it was an epic fucking win.
And I'm only going to keep getting stronger. I'm not done training yet, not by damn sight!
Back in November, I wrote a post called, "My Weight Loss Journey Has Ended". That's still true, even after all the weight I've gained over the past few months. Mark Rippletoe warned that the Starting Strength method would cause you to gain weight because you'd be gaining large amounts of muscle over a short amount of time, and that you'd be needing to take in large amounts of healthy calories to do the workouts. The bodybuilding world calls this "bulking", and it's the reason why Hafþór Júlíus "Thor" Björnsson, aka, "The Mountain" isn't sporting a set of six pack abs.
 |
Anyone want to call him fat? Anyone?
So when I stepped on the scale a month ago and found that I weighed 293 pounds, instead of panicking and going over to Medical Weight Loss Clinic like I did last time, I pretty much just shrugged. I knew it was mostly muscle mass that I gained. Unlike last time, my family didn't even notice that I had gained weight.
Just as a point of reference, here's me posting a selfie of myself, proud that my weight was down to under 260 pounds:
Here's me at 290 pounds, as of this morning:
 |
My eyes are open! I promise!
My stomach is a little bit wider, but so are my arms, chest, and shoulders.
I just noticed my skin has bounced back too, as I'm no longer sporting some sagging A cups. :D
I'm very happy with how my body looks. Continuing to diet and exercise has nothing to do with body image or liking what I see in the mirror. I already do. This is all about gaining athletic prowess.
I will become better than I was before. Better, stronger, faster.
 |
| The gym will rebuild me. |
 |
| They have the technology. |
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
After a Bad Day at the Gym
Two weeks ago I woke up at 5:15 in the morning and drove my sleepy ass to the gym to get my workout in before I go to work. I had six hours sleep the night before, but it felt like half that.
I did a few brief exercises and warmups before doing the overhead press. I finished one set, and got ready to do my second. The barbell didn't move from my shoulders. My arms just seized up and just said, "LOL, nope!"
I left the gym disappointed in my failure. I kept trying to reassure myself, saying that we all have bad days at the gym, and it's not a big deal. It didn't work. I was pissed.
About an hour into my shift at work I became so frustrated that I just wondered if I should give up completely. "What's the point of all this? I'm going to have to do this as long as I live. Why not just quit, get fat again, and die?"
I hate that being in good shape takes so much work. It's even more frustrating when I have to constantly stop training because of an injury. Months of hard work gets pissed down the drain while I recover. Since having bariatric surgery, I've had injured knees, an injured shoulder, and an injured abdomen. My shoulder still has calcium deposits on it, and I have to lift through the pain.
Meal prep is a pain in the ass, too. It takes hours out of my day to cook them (one day a week, but a long day nonetheless), and constantly looking for recipes that both meet my macro requirements and taste good is a chore. It would be so much easier to just go to Wendy's and order a giant burger and fries.
For the first time in human history, we have to work to not get fat, as opposed to work to not starve, and our bodies haven't yet evolved to deal with that reality. It sucks.
It would be so much easier to quit.
While I was contemplating all of that, I asked myself why I've been at it for so long in the first place. It's been nearly three years since I had the surgery, and I've been working my ass off to get stronger, faster, and better ever since. I remembered this quote from The Oatmeal:
Anything but waffles. That's why I keep doing it.
The other reason is the thing that I've long realized since I was a child:
Fuck it. Let's hit the gym!
I did a few brief exercises and warmups before doing the overhead press. I finished one set, and got ready to do my second. The barbell didn't move from my shoulders. My arms just seized up and just said, "LOL, nope!"
I left the gym disappointed in my failure. I kept trying to reassure myself, saying that we all have bad days at the gym, and it's not a big deal. It didn't work. I was pissed.
About an hour into my shift at work I became so frustrated that I just wondered if I should give up completely. "What's the point of all this? I'm going to have to do this as long as I live. Why not just quit, get fat again, and die?"
I hate that being in good shape takes so much work. It's even more frustrating when I have to constantly stop training because of an injury. Months of hard work gets pissed down the drain while I recover. Since having bariatric surgery, I've had injured knees, an injured shoulder, and an injured abdomen. My shoulder still has calcium deposits on it, and I have to lift through the pain.
Meal prep is a pain in the ass, too. It takes hours out of my day to cook them (one day a week, but a long day nonetheless), and constantly looking for recipes that both meet my macro requirements and taste good is a chore. It would be so much easier to just go to Wendy's and order a giant burger and fries.
For the first time in human history, we have to work to not get fat, as opposed to work to not starve, and our bodies haven't yet evolved to deal with that reality. It sucks.
It would be so much easier to quit.
While I was contemplating all of that, I asked myself why I've been at it for so long in the first place. It's been nearly three years since I had the surgery, and I've been working my ass off to get stronger, faster, and better ever since. I remembered this quote from The Oatmeal:
"I often regard overeating as a drug addiction, and I try to imagine what my life would be like if that addiction got the best of me. I picture the years wearing on, with Earth's annual trip around the sun being marked by an increase in pant sizes and a decrease in self worth. I imagine my heart getting tighter and more flustered, until one sunny morning it shudders to a violent halt. I imagine myself wrenching forward, my face heaving into a pile of waffles. I imagine my last breath gurgling into a tepid pool of maple syrup.
I imagine all these things, and I think:
I don't want to die face first in a pile of waffles.
I want to die in an electrical storm.
I want to die wrestling a Kodiak bear.
I want to die in an EXPLOSION.
I want to die quietly at home, hand in hand with somebody who loved me.
I just don't want to die by waffles. Anything but waffles."
Anything but waffles. That's why I keep doing it.
The other reason is the thing that I've long realized since I was a child:
People are coming to hurt you, and nobody is coming to help you. Get training, motherfucker.If the desire to not die by waffles isn't enough, the need to be able to defend myself is.
Fuck it. Let's hit the gym!
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