Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 9 - A cast made of sore

I am sore. As I stated yesterday, Cassidy revved up the workout and oh boy am I feeling it today. This is even more sore than the first workout, but I suppose every workout is the first workout, just with varying intensities.

First thing out this morning was a trip to a surprisingly empty Walmart to buy Bry a brand new lunchbox, since he lost his and couldn't find it for three days (which I'm not sure how much stock I can place in "But Dad, I looked EVERYWHERE"). And I should really learn how to eat before going out anywhere.

As the picture states (as well as my self from time to time...course I'm talking about ego for me), BIG THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES. Amazingly, as I decided to not heed Kelsey's suggestion of blinders when driving, I stopped of at McDonald's and grabbed a quick breakfast. OMG! One (yes that singular) Bacon Egg and Cheese biscuit, 1 (again singular) hasbrown and a twelve ounce orange juice slapped me in the face with a whopping calorie total of 730 calories. Remember, per Livestrong.com, my target goal is 1661. I have less than 1000 calories to work with today.

It's a good thing I'm grabbing groceries today. I plan on grabbing some easily made munchies (green peppers, string cheese, more fruit), probably some fish and chicken and rice. Maybe some broccili and beans. I'm quite possibly going to need to make completely separate meal selections for myself and the boys (unless I want to find a second job). Hamburger goes a long way when feeding more than two folks.

Anyway, I'm off to switch laundry out (can I put that in the category of treadclimber?), and then make my grocery list out. Maybe I'll hit an easy workout this afternoon.

Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 8 - Follow up

Be sure to click the picture into another tab or page to Wait for it.......read the legendary Barney quote.

First off, rather than list what I ate, I'm just going to post the breakdown of the Livestrong.com results.

The calorie breakdown for the day is:

24.81% protein
38.21% carbs
36.98% fat

Calories: 1692 (tgt 1661 per Livestrong.com) however, my activity today burned 267 calories and technically enables me to eat or drink another 235 to reach 1661. which I won't be doing.

I'm really not sure how accurate the following is:

Fat: 66.24 g
Cholesterol: 471.10 mg
Sodium: 3576.50 mg
Carbs: 154.00 g
Sugars: 49.40 g
Fiber: 20.75 g
Protein: 100.00 g

Obviously, I'm going to need to work on lowering that fat percentage. I'm unsure about the carbs or protein upping or lower them.

I feel ok today. It's really been a good day, but I can tell I've had a long week, and with some special orders coming in to work, next week will probably be just as long.

Currently I am wearing out a bit and have the muscle tired feeling again. There is no major soreness yet. Will probably hit the treadmill tomorrow.

I now have two sick kids. Dylan, with a small fever(99.7) and Skylar, with no fever but he is sluggish and will prob have a fever tomorrow. So I especially need to make sure that I don't push myself further than I need and weaken my body so much that I can't fight an infection or sickness.


Signing off for the night. I will let you know how the day goes tomorrow. If you would like to actually KNOW what I'm eating, let me know and I'll in turn let you know.

Much love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 8 - Disappointment and Fun

Today started well. I got up at 4:30am with some minor hamstring soreness, meandered around a bit, got ready for the gym, ate a bowl of cereal, and took three supplements(fish oil pills, Yohimbe, and a multivitamin) and some before workout ibuprofen.

I hit the gym right at open and went and weighed my self (since it's been a week for official weigh in and since those are the scales the newspaper's published weight came from). Then I got a little upset and disappointed.

If you rememeber, my weight last Friday evening was measured at 223.8lbs. Since then I have:

Cut out soda
Started counting the calories (after my horrible flub Wednesday)
Started eating fruit and increasing veggie intake

In all, I've probably been pretty consistant on keeping the suggested 500 calorie deficit in check [7x500=3500 which is one pound] (even before I consciously did it Wed). Add on the exercising which is burning probably an additional 200-300 cals every other day (Monday, Wed, Fri) and the 100 for Thursdays Bike exercise, I SHOULD have dropped around 2-3 pounds.

Not the case. According to the scales at Genesis (it seems so weird calling it that), I actually gained .4 pounds. That's right. I am now at 224.2lbs.

Now best scenario is, as Cassidy explained, that my exercise and calorie cut sent my body into a shock and it essentially started storing. It's not unheard of. And my body should adjust appropriately to the effort we are putting in. Other possiblities, it's water weight or muscle gain.

After talking about it with Cassidy, while I'm warming up on the treadmill, I felt better. Then I think later today (after sending a mass text saying I'd friggin gained weight) "You know, it's not just losing the weight, I'm actually feeling better and enjoying how this exercise is making me feel". So, weight gain mental dilemma solved.

Cassidy also gave me some papers to look over this weekend about diet adjustment and quitting smoking tips. Just little hints and nudges to help me on my way.

Stashing the papers behind the front desk like they were contra band material, we started the workout and we revved it up a bit (actually Cassidy revved it up, I just did the exercise). And yes...I moaned and smartassed almost the whole time. I hope it came across as joking rather than whining...lol.

We did:

Leg Press x2
Normal pushups x2
Crunches x1
On the back toe touches (ok attempted toe touches) x1
Jumping Jacks x2
[SIDENOTE on the Jacks: It's a good thing that I'm not overly self conscious about doing what many people might seem silly. If I was, that might have been a negotiation point. Tummy bounced EVERYWHERE people. I did say i'm glad he didn't want me to do the washing machine...you remember, the old P.E. exercise in grade school? Twist the top one way and the bottom the other...yeah that's the one]
Shoulder press x2
Tricep pull down x 2 (cable machine)
Arm Curls x2 (cable machine)
Mountain Climbers [when did I get uncoordinated by the way...I looked like I was flopping around on ice]
Medicine Ball exercises
Lat pull downs

Before we went from the machines to the cable row, I started questioning my decision to eat cereal and take the supplements before the workout. By that time it felt like the fish oil supplements had hatched actual fish and they were swimming in my belly. not cool.

Cassidy, as usual, made sure I was alright throughout the workout. And for the most part I was. Towards the end, I had to take more breathers and sit for a bit, which did cut the exercise time down a little. Besides that (and the fish swimming), I felt good, but muscle tired and shaky.

We ended with the stretching and casual talk. And then went to check out this website:

http://www.livestrong.com

Which looks like a pretty awesome way to log my workout and calorie usage (which I of course will post here). Unfortunately I'm having some minor issue with loggin in. It may be due to me trying it at work.

After I left and got home about 5 minutes later than I usually do, and I'm glad I excused myself when I did, because the boys failed to get up on time. Errg. So with a quick light flick and a Drill sergeant "TIME TO GET UP! YOU OVERSLEPT!" which caused Bry to actually bounce up in his bed and Sky to moan and cover his head, the kids got up and prepped for their day.

Sky is still saying he feels under the weather (aka crappy), but still no fever. I hate to send him to school if he really feels that bad, but the boy has called wolf to many times on being sick. So no fever, no staying home. He can recuperate over the weekend.

While the kids got read for school, I promptly fell onto my bed, exhausted. It's a good thing that I don't HAVE to be at work til 8am, because I got up with just enough time to push the kids out the door for the bus (7am).

I felt tired but good on the way to work and picked up another Frisco Breakfast Sandwich to eat at work (CURSE you Hardees and your convenient location between home and work). And of course I forgot my apples and grapes.

However, Mary at work kindly gave me one of her string cheeses to get me through to lunch. And speaking of Mary and work. The picture attached is the product of her and fellow office worker Jeff's mischeviousness. It got posted all over the break room and the office. I'm pretty sure it made it's way to the smelter area by now. I have one posted in my office as well. I thought it was a hoot!

This ends week one's workouts. I may head in this weekend to get some treadmill/bike action again and keep limber. I'll post all the boring calorie stuff later tonight.

Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 7 - (PM) A not so off day or night

Well at last count, I was at 1103 for calories.

For supper I had:

1 serving Double cheeseburger Hamburger Helper: 310
1 1/2 serving french cut green beans: 30 cal
2 pieces of buttered bread: 240+60 (300)
and 2 chocolates: 150 cal

totals to :1893.

So tonight I went into the gym for a quick twenty minute walk/jog on the treadmill. Evening is a really busy time in the gym. I'm glad that I chose to go in and do my workouts in the a.m. Since it was busy, the treadmills were all full, so I did a 20min bike ride. Not too hard, on an even plane, level 6-8 burned about 100cals (3miles).

I'm feeling pretty good.I worked the sore out of my legs and I'm definitely ready for the morning workout.

Until tomorrow.

Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 7 - No Failure Allowed

Out of my book of wise words and sayings that I THOUGHT would be reserved for public speaking:

"Many a man has failed because he has a wishbone where his backbone ought to have been."

No more wishes people. For too long, I've been like the above...constantly wishing or wanting, waiting and hoping. There's always been an excuse. Time, money, lack of motivation. Now, I have no excuse. This contest has been practically handed to me because good people thought my wit and personality where fantastic. Well time to work on the bod to match the brain.

Time excuse: gone. I'm MAKING time for this to happen. With a full schedule of work and kids, I've set my work out time for the early am, before the kids even get up. Now, as the older two are slowly proving their responsibility while living with me, I think I maybe able to sneak off for some afternoon workouts or treadmill/bike action.

Money: This challenge has really set back any money worries I may have had about joining a gym. Read this as...yes , it's free. Why look at it badly. Use it. But really, can YOU put an actual price on feeling better? Not just physically, but about feeling better about yourself as a person? I can't.

Motivation: I've got alot of people stoked! Kristi has decided to start running again. Scotty has decided that there is no way in hell he's going to let me beat him...especially since he is in the lead at his employer's own weight loss challenge. I also have a lot of people rooting for me. From people at work to the guys(and ladies) at the gym, to my friends and family to even a kudos from a Gazette reader who saw me on the street today, this is motivation and encouragement galore. My kids are excited...heck even the ex-wives (yes I said wives...don't judge lol) are congratulating me, rooting for me and saying how adorable I'm gonna look (like I'm not adorable now...but still)

I'm feeling good today. Even after the hard crash yesterday cause of my calorie flub. Yes, the legs are a little sore. So are my lats. But I really feel like I'm accomplishing something.

Today I went in to grab a schedule for the classes and ended up talking to Frannie Walburn and Mark Olson (and a very nice lady, who I failed to catch her name...sorry) about eating and my workouts and just the competition in general. After we all talked, I'm really hoping this extends out to May cause I can't wait to see what I look like when summer rolls around with the extra 4 weeks of gym and trainer help.

I've decided, that if I can pull away from home after Dylan gets picked up, to try and at least hit 30 minutes on the treadmill. Yeah my legs are sore, but I'm not going to do anything silly, like try and run a thirty minute marathon.

Mark and Frannie suggest that I should perhaps get a protein mix and use that before/after workouts. We did have the discussion about the nutritionist at Emporia Fitness helping Heather, the other contestant and how I didn't quite think that was fair. However, after talking to them about it and since Genesis has competition caliber trainers, I think I'll be satisfied with any hints they throw my way. SIDENOTE: Frannie said a new spinning class will be offered in approx 2 weeks.

Okay. On to the boring stuff...

No exercise yet today.

Frisco Breakfast Sandwich (Hardees): 400 cal
Milk: 130 cal
Grapes: 54 cal (18 grapes at 3 cal/ea)
the other half of my Cold Cut Combo (subway 6"): 410 cal
One Diet Dr. Pepper: 0
Water: 0
Coffee: 0

Total calorie intake so far: 994 cal
I will be eating before I leave work:

Grapes: 54 cal
small apple: 55 cal

to boost me through to supper (total cal intake by 4pm: 1103)

So if I want to keep the intake at around 1800 cal a day I have to eat approx 700 more calories for supper.

This weekend, I'm going to look and see how I can spread the approx 1800 calories through out the day a bit more evenly.

Also, it looks like I will probably cook some Hamburger Helper tonight with green beans [keep in mind...three boys and budget...again, don't judge]

OH and today I completely forgot to take my supplements...go figure.

Until the next post,

Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 6 - Calorie Deficit

I have been tired for what seems an eternity, but in actually only after lunch. And remember my complaint of fuzzy brain after a workout. I believe I have figured it out. It seems that I have inadvertently cut my calories way too low.

First let me spout what I've learned from the almighty internet.

One pound of weight is approximately worth 3500 calories. If you cut 500 calories from your diet a day, theoretically, you would drop one pound a week. Now I would also assume that if you burned 500 calories a day and ate the same, you would also get rid of one pound a week.

Now using this nifty calorie calculator:

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

we see that a sedentary life style (pre-work out lifestyle) required me, at my age, weight and height, to consume 2,265 cal/day to maintain my current weight. To lose about a pound a week, I would need to keep my count at 1805 cal/day. And the maximum they suggest dipping down is 1792 cal/day.

Now figuring for working out 3 days a week (my current), we see the following

Maintain weight: 2585 cal/day
Lose: 2068 cal/day
and max suggested cut: 1792 cal/day

We all know we need to eat to survive and to maintain any sort of active lifestyle. We've heard and read (if not bombarded by) about people talking about carbs and calories into fat or metabolism energy and blah blah. So common sense suggests that you need to eat to maintain energy. This is where my fatigue kicks in...

I would assume that my workouts burn approx 200-400 calories. I could probably lose 1 pound or so every week from the workout and a raised metabolism if I ate the same as I did before. In reality my eating habits haven't increased my calorie intake or maintained, but since I cut regular soda out of the mix and fast food (except tonight), it has dropped significantly.

Let's take today for instance(And I know it doesn't quite work like this but it draws a picture). Assume that I am starting at 0 cal for the day.

Wake up: 0 calories

Banana for breakfast: 121 calories

workout: burn 300 calories(took an average)

This right here put me at a negative calorie intake: -179. [and at 7am I am pretty fuzzy in my thinking]

Caffeine from my coffee and my one Diet Dr. Pepper, both 0 calories, carries me to my 10am snack:

One half an apple: 36 calories [here my fuzzy thinking becomes clearer]

So, I'm still at a negative calorie amount: Now -143.

By this time I'm starting to run down, but the coffee is keeping me functional.

Now lunch comes up.

6" Subway Cold Cut combo : 410 calories

Woohoo, I'm now at a positive: +267

keep in mind that even sitting down and getting up and walking and sitting down uses calories (approx 51 cal/hour...I've been at work four 4 and a half hours by now so I've used 229.5 cals)

guess what, I've got enough energy to sit at my desk doing menial tasks for another half hour now: 37.5

That's when I really felt the tired and fatigue hit. 12pm.

two o'clock snack...the other apple half: 36 cal
two and a half hours of work: -127.5 cal

Guess what, I'm back in the negative: -91.5

I think I've pretty much made my point here. From now on, I need to keep and eye on not just what I eat, but the calories I'm consuming. Not so much for over eating but for serious under eating that will degrade my performance.

The power at the apt went out today at about 520pm. So instead of cooking my supper as planned, we grabbed Taco Bell and ate at my Mom and Dad's place (cause you know, no power equals cold cold cold apartment). We got back around 740pm with the power on...hurray!

So today's food and calorie report:

Banana: 121
Medium Apple: 72
Diet Dr. Pepper: 0
Coffee: 0
Water: 0,
Cold cut combo: 410
2 soft tacos - beef: 420 (210 each)
Grilled Stuffed Burrito - Beef: 720
1 7-up: 140 cal

equals 1883 calories today.

Not the healthiest day by far, but it did teach me a very important lesson. Eat and eat right.

Tomorrow I will be staring to take 3 supplements. A multivitamin, fish oil supplement and an endurance supplement called Advanced Yohimbe Plus. We'll see how I feel next week on those after they start to take affect.

See you tomorrow. Oh and FYI per my scales, I've lost 2 pounds. :)

Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 6 - Continuance is strength

The second workout of the challenge is complete.

To start, let me say that I slept horribly last night. With a combination of being unable to get comfortable and anticipation of the next day, I slept for approximately 4 hours, waking up at 2 and then again at 3.

I finally called it quits at 4:30 this morning and prepped for the day by filling my water bottle, getting dressed, eating a banana for breakfast and drinking a big glass of water. The only sore muscles I had were my triceps.

I got to the gym a little early and found that it was open. Apparently, with the new MERGER, Genesis is extending their hours. Mon-Thurs 5am to 11pm. This works for me.

I was happily greeted by the young man at the front desk (I asked Cassidy his name, but I've now forgotten it) and was asked if I was the guy in the Gazette. He then asked how I got chosen and he got a kick out of the chart idea.

[Cassidy apparently slapped the article up for the employees with a note that asks them to give me encouragement if they see me...what an outstanding trainer!]

I then marched on to the locker room to change into my shorts (yes, I remembered them this time). I chatted with Cassidy a bit about how I felt Monday, and then went to start on the treadmill.

While on the treadmill, Cassidy and I talked about what was in the Gazette and both agreed that it didn't seem right that the other finalist was receiving training from two people (apparently one of them is a nutritionist?). I of course stated that my trainer must kick some butt if they have to compensate with two over at Emporia fitness. Cassidy is apparently very modest and just replied with a I do the best I can comment.

After the treadmill (10min warm up), we mixed some new exercises in with some old.

Medicine ball squats
Incline push-ups
Dumbbell hamstring stretches (dumbbell deadlifts)
Over the head dumbbell lifts
Standing up Cable rows
Tricep pull downs
Butterfly machine
Leg curl (hamstring)
Leg curl (thigh)
Cable bicep curls
Cable pulls (for the core)
Medicine Ball lifts

then I got on to the bicycle for cool down followed by stretching.

I felt really good after this work out. No threat of passing out, I sweat like a normal person and didn't overheat. Triceps are SUPER sore now but something I can handle. Cassidy and I talked about the fact that the longer I keep up with this, the faster I'll recover and the better I'll do. He's also stated that I was to feel free to use my membership to the fullest. I can come in and do classes or hit the treadmill or bikes, anything the gym offers with it's normal membership, I can access. I plan on going in on off days now and hitting the treadmill or bike and maybe do some easy yoga stuff in a class.

I'm also now starting to feel like I'm in Romper Room while I'm there. I saw George and Amanda and Heather and Joe...who's next for the am lineup?

After I got home, I made sure the kids were getting ready for school and Laid on the bed for ten minutes. Then the normal shower, dressed and got myself ready for work.

It's weird but when I hit work (and this happened Monday as well), my brain just goes on a dead stop. It's hard to focus and remember what I'm doing. Like I'm using fuzzy logic. I snap out of it around 9:0-10:30, but it's still annoying. I'll do as suggested by my friends and chalk it up to my body getting accustomed to the routine and try to remember to bring it up to Cassidy on Friday.


As a midmorning snack, I had half an apple. I'll have the other half for a mid afternoon snack. For lunch I'm eating a six inch subway cold cut combo with lettuce, onion, mayo, american cheese and olives.

Until I post this evening,

Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 5 - Ready for more

Well I'm still pretty sore, but not as bad as I was earlier today. The day went by fairly quick.

Drank coffee, water and 1 diet Dr. Pepper. Had a catered pizza lunch (2 slices) and a chicken breast for supper.

The paper just came out and unfortunately I don't have a pic link to post here. but here is the link to the website for the story.

http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2010/feb/23/starting_challenge/

I'm getting tired and words really aren't coming to mind at the moment. Tomorrow is sure to be a challenge, but I'm up for it. Bring it on.

Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 5 - I hurt when I type

There actually used to be a time I looked forward to shaving. Even way back in my young mind, I must have figured out that Dad was super cool and his facial hair was neat too cause it did this fantastic disappearing trick. Then I'm pretty sure at one point I thought that the shaving cream was acid and ate the hair off the face and you used a stick to wipe it off. Later, I realized that shaving was actually part of a ritual into adulthood (I say adulthood because American women shave their legs as well).

This morning, as I woke up sore as heck in my upper body, I cursed adulthood and any other activity that required me to raise my arms above chest level. Shaving by far was the worst of them.

the morning stretch - killer
shaving - consistent annoyance and some pretty choice words aimed at my stubble, threatening it to not grow anymore
washing my hair
washing my body (ok, that's just movement in general...but it still hurt)
getting dressed - apparently putting on clothes uses alot of friggin upper body muscle.

That's just to name a few. And yes, even typing this aggravates the soreness.

Keep this in mind that it does not debilitate me in anyway. I see no bruising, the muscles aren't "strained", but they are sore.

The sore muscles are(and this is by no means scientific):

upper chest(upper pec)
behind the shoulder
lats (underarm)
triceps
and some thigh soreness

Not bad over all since I know i used more muscle groups than that yesterday (abs, lower back, legs)

It is still rather annoying and I'll be happy when the soreness leaves and workouts begin again.

Sidenote : the stress level is diminished somewhat since I received an email stating I'd get child support today. Now we wait and see if it is a month's worth or just one paychecks worth. Telling you right now, the dependence on money sucks. It should be working for me, not the other way around.

I did wake up this morning around 5am (surprising since I was up talking to Mom til 10:15pm. Not complaining, just in awe that I didn't attempt to sleep in).

I actually ate breakfast this morning (small bowl off of brand cocoa krispies).

Now, I really need to watch my health. Sky was complaining about a sore throat yesterday, and we are measuring his temp now, cause he "feels like crap". It's gotten real hard anymore to take him for his word on being sick, since he pulls this almost every other week. Like I've told him before, no temp...no staying home.

Either way, It's still that time of the year and the kids and myself should keep an even closer eye on handwashing habits and keeping sick free.

Well his temp came back (oral, no add or subtract) as 98.1. He's good to go. Daddy prescription, take an ibuprofen and a vitamin and make sure to drink plenty of liquid.

That's all for this post.

Much love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 4

originally from my Facebook note published Feb 22, 2010 (3 notes combined):

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 4 -The official start...Or OH MY GOD, am I gonna feel this tomorrow.

Today started as any Monday does...something went wrong. Thankfully, not horribly wrong.

Last night I went to bed around ten (after a fantastic night of racking up Halo 2 kills with the boys...it rained Skylar so much I thought Halo added a Monsoon Season...) and set my phone alarm for 4:30am and my clock alarm for 5am.

And of course....I ignored the first alarm and apparently hit snooze on the second. So here I am, awake, flipping out cause it is now 5:10 and my FIRST workout starts at 5:15. So I threw on sweats, my workout shirt, rinsed the mouth with a liberal amount of mouthwash, grabbed the water bottle and as I'm heading out the door, text Cassidy that I was on my way. It turns out that the gym is really close when there is little to know traffic in the street. I was maybe 5 minutes late.

First thing when I get there (besides Cassidy's grin and jokingly commenting about how early it is), we verify with the new manager(? Sorry, I didn't catch his name) that I am in the system. He assigns me a number and a key card to swipe everytime I come in (the card still has Walburns on it).

Then, Cassidy and I head back to his office to do a body fat measurement (they should call this something else, cause man really?). So he reaches in the desk and grabs the biggest hand grip set of calipers with, I swear, the smallest opening I've ever seen. Right away I glanced at my belly (by far the largest portion of fat on my bod) and thought...oh boy this is gonna be painful.

So he measures the belly, pec?, tricep, around the hip, and by the shoulder blade (I think those are the areas, oh and thigh) and writes the numbers . Yes it does pinch a bit. After, that he wants me to get started on the treadmill, so I tell him hold up and let me get the sweats off so I can exercise in my shorts (I bought XL sweats cheaply at Dollar General and cut the string to short so now they are essentially jus covering rather than go out in sweats).

I head into the bathroom to strip those puppies off and realize hey it's kinda breezy (no I'm obviously not awake yet at this point) and remember, just as you probably have from the third paragraph, that I only threw my sweats on over my boxers. Oops.

Slapping the sweats back on and puttin my shoes back on, I walk and and essential say opps, guess I forgot my shorts and we precede.

Cassidy shows me the treadmill set upand sets me off on my slow pace warm up. During that time my buddy George showed up with his girl to workout (missed you G! I'll see ya on Wednesday), which really gave me a boost to do well.

Cassidy takes off and figures the body fat and comes back 8 minutes later to tell me that I am just overweight (Thank god..my frame and weight I was figuring obese by those measurements. Apparently I carry some muscle in here somewhere). I am borderline obese though, so it's a good thing I started now.

Now we start with the circuit training. Don't ask me the weight I was set at, because I really don't remember. This was the first time and Cassidy did apply a little more resistance on a few of the exercises because he didn't think it was heavy enough and adjusted the weight on the second set (and still applied pressure on the last few reps).

We did the following machines for two sets:

We did the following machines for two sets:

Leg press
Chest press
Shoulder press
Butterfly

In between the chest and shoulder (or was it leg and chest?), I had to lay on the floor and do crunches the first set and then toe touches (laying on my back and stretching up) the second set. 20 seconds feels like an eternity do those...
[how I feel about crunches...they suck but I realize they are necessary]

I'm not sure how many reps I did on any of the machines cause I swear (as I was concentrating on breathing) that I would do 10 reps of one and Cassidy would call out 4 more and apply pressure while on another, I would do 6 and he would call out two more...good chance I'm wrong on that, but I do know I was working those machines pretty good for the first time.

[I was really starting to feel the burn in the muscles after the first set on these machines, and apparently started to overheat...I felt ok, but I wasn't sweating like I had been too dehydrated. I pushed on dismissing it]

After those for machines, I went and performed two sets on the leg curl (for the hamstrings) and the bicep-arm curl machines. I was starting to hurt. Not in a bad way, but I did have to take a considerable breather before starting the last exercise, which was the lat pull down bar.

After that, we called it a day. I felt good, but because of my smoking, I was out of breathe and a bit woozy. Cassidy did ask a few times if I was alright...My reply of course was "I'm a machine, let's go".

When he stretched me out is about the time everything hit. Felt a bit woozy and the eyesight kinda blurred. My thought was "Oh crap, don't let me pass out the first day". I took a breather (from sitting down) and Cassidy and I agreed to meet on Wed. Same time.

I grabbed my sweat jacket and without even putting it on, walked outside. As soon as the cold air hit me, I was MUCH better but still felt the workout.

[Suggestion kiddos....make sure you drink plenty of water..I think what I went through was overheating from possibly being semi-dehydrated and my body couldn't sweat in order to cool me down. That's why when I hit the cold air, I felt better. Also, having smoked really kicked my ass in this instance. I still have a minor stitch of pain on my left side. Amazingly, I am NOT craving a cigarette yet.]

When I got home, it's was 6:10. I made sure the boys had gotten up and were getting ready for school and then proceeded to plop down on my bed and actually think "Holy crap, what did I sign up for!". I was still a little out of it and informed Bry to let me lay there for 30 minutes and get me up. So I laid there and relaxed, almost falling asleep a few times while they ate breakfast and got ready.

After thirty minutes, I felt better, but my body, especially my arms and legs, felt like lead. I made the boys' lunches, guzzled a big glass of water and hopped in the shower.

Now as I write this I feel much much better, a little more alert, and am raring to go Wednesday morning. But I know for a fact that I'm gonna be sore tomorrow if not later on in the day...

All in all a good workout.

For my "breakfast" at work, I grabbed a coffee and one Nature's Valley Strawberry Yogurt granola bar (140 calories) and treated myself to a DIET Dr Pepper.

I'll post again tonight and let you know how sore I am.

Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 4 - Coming off the workout high (afternoon)

I am tired.

This is my lunch break at work. I left, had two turkey and cheese sandwiches and a glass of milk and came back to work.

I still feel good, but I am wearing down quickly. This new schedule is gonna kick me in the butt I think. That is, until I get used to it. I've still only had the one diet soda, but have had three (or four) cups of coffee today, and it's not helping. It's only been 6 hours since I got home from working out. And I'm cutting myself off from the coffee now and drinking water the rest of the day.

I hope, by the time this challenge is over, I'll have overcome the need for caffeine to wake up and get around, be and feel alive just through the workouts and morning shower. Juice (some, not a lot cause it can be almost as bad as soda for sugar content), milk, tea and water are hopefully going to become my staple drinks by that time.

I also hope that the inclusion of fruit will help bring the energy level up.

When I posted the last note at 10 something, I was feeling really good, outstanding even. Now, my brain and body feel like I've shorted out and I'm gonna need to take a nap soon. Unfortunately, I'm at work and when I get home, I'll start supper, leave to get Dyl, come back and eat and somewhere help with homework. Wiped out Dad syndrome has started early today and may cause an earlier bedtime for myself. However, I've noticed when I go to bed early I sleep horribly. Here's to hoping for a second wind.

Still, thankfully, no soreness. But I have been up and walking around, going from office to office today (had to, no choice) and I think that helped out a bit. Starting to wonder now though...how much is that Massuse in the window? I feel the need for a rub down.

Just a pre update. I'll do my best to update tonight...If I don't pass out and sleep first.

Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 4 - Light as a feather; STIFF AS A FRIGGIN BOARD

Well, it's almost 7 pm.

The day has ended and the evening has begun. As the night progresses, I can feel my muscles start to get stiff, which means I'll probably be pretty sore tomorrow. I felt pretty fluid as the day rolled on and I really never stopped moving today, which probably helped delay the muscles stiffening up. Now that I've had time to relax after work, cooking, eating and having to referee some minor child squabbles (when are they gonna learn most the things they fight about are petty?), I'm feeling some the after effects.

[why do I have a feeling, that with my friends, using stiff and fluid in the same paragraph is a bad idea...oh well]

I'm doing alright on the energy aspect of things and will probably stay up until 9:30-10 tonight. I also plan on getting up again at 4:30-5am and sticking with that schedule. No sense messing with sleep patterns. I might as well make a new one and stick with it.

I'm still looking forward to Wednesday's workout. My working out, even this once, has the kids fairly proud of their "old" man and Skylar listened intently as I described the morning. He then got bold and patted my tummy and said "bye bye stomach" and then ran off fearing the noogie retribution.

Thanks again to those that are reading and posting. I appreciate it and the comments you leave. It's nice and quiet now with the older boys studying and not needing my help to explain concepts or decipher homework assignments...I think I'll pop on some Hulu and relax the rest of the night.

For supper, the boys (all three) and I had four cheese lasagna hamburger helper (the single dad's greatest use of hamburger...well that and spaghetti), Peas (two servings) and buttered bread. Then we each had two pieces of valentines day chocolate a piece. I'm still drinking water and the only soda I've had was the Diet Dr. Pepper (I may own that company by the time we're done with this.

Have a good night and I'll type more tomorrow.

Oh...and I would post the Gazette's article about Walburns turning into Genesis, but it appears that the Emporia Gazette decided to pull the story from the website. Instead, here is Genesis Heath clubs news release.

http://www.genesishealthclub.com/news/article30.php

Also, if you really really want to read the Gazette's story and updates on me, I suggest to those of you who live here - buy Tuesday's edition of the paper. There are, unfortunately, no promises I'll have a link to post. (for those of you out of towners, let me know and I may be able to grab a few copies for you and mail them...I hope.


Much love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 3 - Off Day

originally from my Facebook note published Feb 21, 2010 (3 notes combined):

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 3 - Off Day (Sunday A.M.)

It's Sunday. Quite possibly the laziest day in American culture and what do I decide to do? Get up at 5am.

That's right folks. I decided to get up out of bed, get dressed and stay awake. So how did I spend that early morning quiet time you ask?

I scraped ice off my friggin car windows. As some of you in the Emporia area may have noticed, we got a little bit of ice this morning (for those of you who went out last night while I snuggled in bed with my pillows and cozy comforter, I hope you got home safely).

The sleet, at this moment is still coming down a little at a time and if this keeps up, I'll hafta get up half an hour earlier Monday morning just to scrape windows again before working out. Oh and bonus...I broke my ice scraper this morning to boot...hurray me. However, this is Kansas. In three days, it'll probably be back up in the 50's and I won't need the scraper for another week or so.

This morning, I also avoided the soda and started the day off with coffee. Yay me! Unfortunately I still avoided breakfast even though I cooked scrambled eggs and buttered toast for the kids this morning.

I should also note in here that I am ATTEMPING to quit smoking. So far that has been an off an on thing, almost to the point that I can say "Yeah I quit...everytime I put out a cigarette". If I can treat this fitness challenge like I treat my smokin habit (addicted and hard to quit), I think I'll do ok. As one person stated to me yesterday, hopefully I'll smoke less as the exercise increases. I hope so, because as every smoker that has tried to quit or has gone a couple of days without a smoke, nicotine gives you one hell of a "welcome back to smoking" high on your first drag.

Currently, Ashley Walker and I have been playing phone tag about an interview with the Gazette. She wants to chat, of course, about the Shape up Challenge and grab a couple of quotes out of our conversation. Hopefully, I'll remember to tone down my normal manner of speaking. I'd hate to have a quote saying "hey, everyone wants to look good naked" floating around even if it is true. Ashley and I will chat hopefully this afternoon, and if it's available on the Gazette web page, I'll post a link Tuesday evening when the article comes out (along with any potentially embarrassing photos was taken Friday night).

I've realized for sometime now that my diet kinda excludes fruits. Yeah I eat my veggies, but if I was an old school pirate, I'd probably have scurvy and be dead already (but I'd probably already be in shape from all the ship hijacking and loot carrying too). So this coming pay day, I'll invest in some fresh fruitage and start snacking on that instead of chips or peanut butter crackers.

I'm thinking, with this off again/on again weather, that two things are going to be really important. My diet (what I eat, not what I'm starving myself from) and the amount I sleep. Busting my butt with this fitness challenge is quite possibly gonna throw my body into a heavy shock and while I stay pretty unsick most the time, I can see the possibility of catching something while my body cleans out crap from the muscles and works to recuperate me, leaving it vulnerable to a cold or flu strain.

As I sign out of this note, keep in mind that all your postings and text messages are pretty important to me. It's unbelievably motivating to read congratulations and/or helpful ideas and more so motivating for me to know that there are people reading this and being motivated to start or continue on their trek to fitness.

If anyone feels strongly about it, let me know, and I'll set up a public blog page where you can direct your friends that I don't know (I don't friend people on a whim, sorry. I'm actually surprised I have as many connections on facebook as I do).

Thanks again for reading and as always,

Much love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 3 - Off Day (Sunday) - Changes already

Well, the title may be a bit misleading as the changes are not bodily or emotional for me, but rather a change in gyms.

I'll still be working out at the same location, but as of Monday, Feb 22, Walburn's Fitness and Wellness will be no more and it will be called Genesis Health Club with a new owner.

http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2010/feb/21/walburns_changes_owner/

*****UPDATED 2/22/2010*******
sorry folks...this is now a dead link. The Gazette pulled the story and subsequent announcement from it's website at some point after 3pm today. Here is the announcement per the Genesis Health Club website:

http://www.genesishealthclub.com/news/article30.php

****************************

I believe this is the new owner's website:

http://www.genesishealthclub.com/index.php

After texting Cassidy, I've been assured that there will be no change at all, even though he himself just found out about it today. So, of course I flippantly replied that I suppose I'll hafta pose in a new shirt now. Maybe my flippancy was a bit too much, cause I haven't received a test back...oops.

I'm glad that means that Cassidy is still employed there, but I wonder, what if any, involvement Brian and the other Walburn clan will have with the new club.

It's sad to see a family run business turn over to a chain gym, even though I'm sure the chain gym started as a family business itself.

I certainly hope the personality of the place doesn't change with the name. As long as people like Cassidy are in the forefront though, I'm not to worried.

It's also my understanding that there will be even more additions and remodeling. So does this mean that Journey's will also be leaving? There are so many questions, but I guess we'll find some answers tomorrow.

It's sure to be a big change for everyone, client and employee both.

Much love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 3 - Off Day (Sunday) - Afternoon

By Dylan

Okay. no more posts for the day. Still feeling pretty jazzed about tomorrow morning, but it's 4pm and I'm wearing down a bit (skipped my normal sunday afternoon nap), So I wonder what I'll feel like tomorrow after I crash from my workout high. I'll let you know. Course it could be cause I've been refereeing kids more than normal (the picture seems to say it all, I made a full pic, just for your enjoyment).

Haven't done a whole lot today. Mainly sat down and watched some Stargate episodes on Hulu (while the computer was hooked up to the big screen...Woot!) and text friends.

After skipping breakfast this morning, I made two turkey and cheese sandwiches and a bag of chips for lunch at 11:30. Now I'm warming up the oven for some shake and bake chicken breast to go with red beans and rice. Yes, after the coffee, I've been sticking to water.

On the funny side of the day, my recliner decided to go kaput on me, with me in it. It is now in a "stable" and semi permanent reclining position (after attempting to dethrone me) with out the legs being out. I suppose that now I can consider it my home made ab machine for when I get in and get out of the stupid thing. Of course the kids HAD to infer, when it happened, that I was stuck. Thanks kids...you little smart alecs.

I'm sure I'll have more to put in tomorrow sometime after the workout. But for now, I'm signing off for the duration of the day. I have two hours to cook, eat and prepare for some butt kicking on Halo 2.

Hope you have a good Sunday evening.

Much love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 2 - Off Day (Saturday)

originally from my Facebook note published Feb 20, 2010:

Well a few things that I am slightly disappointed about today.

1. I am sore in my left calf, left arm and right shoulder area. This is disappointing just for the fact that I didn't do very much last night but essentially test the machines. A couple of ibuprofen, stretching and water has helped that.

2. My tendency to drink sweet liquids prevails over common sense. Rather than making coffee to get my caffeine fix I grabbed soda. Granted, Ive only had three today but with it being two Mountain Dews and one Sierra Mist (non caffeinated I know), the empty calories I've consumed are 480. Not a good way to lose weight.

3. Personally the disappointment in my body and slight lack of self control hasn't exactly been soothed by the fact that Sky and Bry's mother has decided to bail on the past month's worth of my child support (the support that is STILL being sent to her from my check, even though I have the boys....but that's a rant that probably doesn't belong here, besides that I'll use some of the aggression in my work outs I'm sure)


All in all, today has been a rather lazy day. I woke up at 5am and stayed up for 20minutes, just to make sure that I could get up and be semi-functional Monday morning. Last night, I apparently crashed pretty hard around 10pm, cause I didn't hear the all call for Bar and Drinks (Sorry Scotty).

As you may have noted, I only stayed up for 20 minutes. I decided to get back in bed and I didn't wake up again until 10am. So either these workouts are gonna bust my butt the first few times or I'm inherently lazy as hell. I'll let you decide (it could be both I suppose).

My first meal of the day consisted of Beef flavored Ramen Noodles with a scrambled egg around 12pm today. I then made two turkey and cheese sandwiches with mustard instead of Miracle Whip (as I normally would) about 2 hours later. As I type this, I have three thick eye of round steaks in the oven which will be split among the three kids and myself, as well as french cut green beans and some stove top stuffing(mmm, stuffing).

I have done amazingly well staying away from the super tempting brownies that Mom sent over this morning...They still call my name and I think I will hafta organize a cheat day so I don't completely fall of the wagon and gorge myself stupid on sweets.

I have done some moving around. Laundry, some dishes, horseplay with the kids. But since that is pretty normal activities anymore, My body's gotten used to it and all that does is fend of more weight gain.

I've gotten some pretty good text suggestions lately. Keep it up, I enjoy them and they're pretty good advice. Thanks to those who send them, you know who you are. Oh and Kudos to my bud Jason and his wife for starting their exercise routine back up(before I even started mine) and to Kristy who just started running again. You guys rock!! Also, I wanna put in an early Happy Birthday to L4! Party hard and enjoy your 36th! I know I will in a couple of months.

Anyway, that's the progress for the day as I've been drinking plenty of water and taking it easy. I'll probably repeat it again tomorrow up til I plant some Halo 2 plasma grenades on some kids for our twice a month Sunday Halo night.

I'll let you know how that goes. Now, I'm going to check on supper and warm up from the cold with some hot apple cider (only 80 cals...lol)

Much love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 1 (THE P.M.) Meeting, Tour, and pics

originally from my Facebook note published Feb 19, 2010:

I was getting antsy so I went in a little early today (15 minutes) which was good since I just got back home from Walburn's about at around 6:45pm. Cassidy recognized me from the picture I sent and greeted me right away.

First thing was first (and Cassidy explained it upfront but we'll skip that) I needed to fill out a membership form for the gym so they could put me in the system (yes a free membership for the duration). Then we sat and talked about goals: obviously lose weight, mainly the belly, target weight about 175, (but realistic in two months prob 20 lbs)...get to a point where I can wrestle with the kids without being overly winded. I talked to him about how I eat and had recognized the bad stuff that needs to be "cut" from the diet (see previous note). As a trainer, Cassidy can't exactly help me with dietary planning, but he did agree with my own assessment.

Then after a little banter and weighing in (224lbs people..not a bad guess on my part without scales) ( chatted about where I work, how quickly I gained this weight going from Smelter Area to Office at work, my kids), we moved on to a quick tour since things had changed (remodel) from the last time I was there and he wanted me to get familiar with where I would be working out.

I will say right here, that I am impressed with the new Walburn's. Everything is sectioned off into logical areas, they have some new equipment that I really like and the staff was pretty nice (and a bit attractively intimidating). Cassidy is definitely a motivator and seemed pretty upbeat the whole time, even though he'd been in there almost 12 hours already. Generally speaking, I think we're gonna have a pretty good trainer-weight loser relationship.

Anyway, 3/4 of the way through the tour, The Emporia Gazette's photographer came in for some shots (pictures, not alcohol even though that woulda been nice too). I had two "before" pictures taken one front one side wearing a Large (yet about half a size too small) Walburn's shirt (unfortunately, they didn't have any XL). So, if you look in the paper and see male muffintop peeking through the white too small fabric of a shirt...sorry, I tried.

Then the photographer took a couple of "action shots" which started the actually trying out the machines and he was done.

After the photographer left, wishing me luck, Cassidy started going through the machines we'll be using.

Yes machines. He wants to start slow and make sure my form is down. Then, later, we will change it up with the cable machine and free weights, not only to shock my body into weight loss, but so I am also well rounded in the gym.

Any way we hit the machines and I did a small amount (5 reps) on each of them to show how to adjust each machine and to get a feel for the machine itself:

Shoulder press (new)
Chest press
Butterfly
Leg Press
hamstring
leg curls
row machine
shoulder press (older)
butterfly (older)
arm curl.

even with the small amount of reps I did, I broke out into a sweat. As we finished up with the row machine (last), we discussed times to start. I'm free to go in when ever I want, but we both agreed that 3 to 4 times a week for now was good and the first couple of times, I'd come in while he was there for advice, check my exercise form and help with the routine. I start Monday at 5:15 in the morning for the first round of exercise (5-10 minute on tread/bike for a warm up , 20-25 minute circuit training, then about 5 minutes stretching/cool down).

We are both agreed...Emporia Fitness is going down...it's a competition even if they don't know about it.

Now off to rubdown my calf...it's already getting kinda sore.

As always- Much Love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 1 (THE A.M.)

originally from my Facebook note published Feb 19, 2010:

It's raining today....I like the rain, so I hope it's a good sign that this is gonna be a good workout tonight. On the flipside, it could be God crying because He knows Cassidy is gonna put me through Hell. Either way, it'll be an interesting day.

So far, I consciously woke up at 5 am this morning. And just as consciously, decided to get my buttocks back in bed and sleep for another hour. Ya know, since I didn't have an A.M. work out yet.

I am a bit nervous about starting tonight, but I know I'll be ok. From what I've heard and the impression I've garnered from talking to him, Cassidy will be an alright guy to work with and Walburn's has always been a pretty laid back and comfortable place to me. We'll see if the impression holds as Cassidy kicks my butt the next few weeks.

Cassidy did say that his plan is to start slow and work up to an hour a workout. Now I'm unclear if this means everyday or what. I do have a sneaky feeling that because TWO fitness clubs are involved, there's an under the table bet for Emporia dominance and bragging rights. That's ok with me though as I can be pretty competative when I want to be and I say me and Cassidy and Walburn's are gonna do our best to kick some weight loss ass! :)

This morning I've had ONE sausage egg and cheese biscuit (not the healthiest, but I at least had breakfast which I usually skip), a glass of milk, coffee, and one mountain dew (a habit I know I'm gonna hafta break).

I already know that the rest of today's menu will consist of a turkey sandwich at home and then pork chops, instant (Yeah Yeah I know...I'll buy real next week) potatoes, and peas for supper. I think I ought to be alright on calories as long as I AVOID THE SODA like a plague and not snack at home or work.

Looking back on what I tend to eat, I think my biggest waistline killers on my list are:

SODA
Fast Food
The munchies (AKA my mom's M&M or Chocolate Chip cookies....yum!)
or just eating food cause I got bored.

The next biggest waistline killer is probably my job. There, I sit in front of a computer 90% of the time. The other 10% is split between putting out quality fires, grabbing paperwork office to office, or tracking some sort of elusive hardware.

I get some activity at home, but since I have my two teenage boys living with me that earn allowance through chores and schoolwork, my household cleaning is one third a normal single Dad/Mom would have. And evenings can be a challenge to get anything done sometimes, with helping on homework to cooking supper, to making the boys' lunch the next day. Add in that I pick up and have the infamous Dylan (my 9 year old) sporatically throughout the week (from school til his mom gets home) and I've got the recipe for wipedout Dad by 7pm. Then I want to do nothing but watch Hulu.com til bedtime.

Anyway, break at work is over. Time to sit somemore and type out some lovely Quality Documentation and let what little metabolism I have work through my breakfast. I'll type more tonight after the workout.

Much love,

James

Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge Day 0 - BACKGROUND

originally from my Facebook note published Feb 18, 2010:

Well, here I am doing as I promised to the few that know what's going on.

For those of you that don't....here's a little background.

On Feb 10, I stumbled on to the Emporia Gazette web-page and found this picture:

http://www.emporiagazette.com/photos/2010/feb/05/10073/

describing the Shape Up for Summer Fitness Challenge. Basic boil down:

Two people would be chosen to receive a series of personal training sessions from Walburn's Fitness and Wellness and Emporia Fitness. The Gazette would then track the finalists' progress in an article every Tuesday.

Since the deadline was within two days (Feb 12) and the contest appeared to have started on the Feb 5, I had very little time to come up with some sort of profound yet meaningful prose(in fifty words or less) to explain why I, James Agin, should be chosen.

Of course I first came up with lines like "Middle manager has issues managing his middle" until I was informed by my boss that I was not a middle manager but "Technical office support" (talk about a real esteem booster there"

So then I thought hey "middle age man with aging middle", until my friends told me that unless I planned on dying at 70 (and never being able to enjoy a late age retirement) I was in no way middle age nor did I even act half my age (thanks guys and gals).

I wracked my brain until it finally came to me. "Hey idiot, use what you do. You're a Quality guy, do something quality."

That's when I came up with The Chart (see photo included).

You see, us quality people love charts. We can tell stories with just a couple of lines and a header. Much like Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother and his Hot/Crazy chart.

So, being the smart alec that I am. I plotted my high school weight, and in increments of 5 to ten pounds, increased it to my estimated weight (yes peeps, I dislike scales) and then back down to a goal weight. Then I created a trend line which shaped itself like a bell curve, erased the data and kept the curve and noted the consecutive weights on the curve.

Now because I'm a real BIG smart alec, I added the notation "Curve represents current shape of belly", scanned and sent it in. I mean hey...it's a chart. Less than fifty words and tells a whole story with out saying much. And ladies and gentlemen, that chart, even just described by text, got some serious laughs. Even from my own children (who laugh at me anyway, so no change there. LOL). A few hours later I received an email asking me to send in some more information:

Your age: I'm 35 years old (36 in April)

How would you describe the shape you are in now? I would say my shape is pearish. But seriously, I'm probably in ok shape for someone trying to quit smoking and overweight.

What is your regular fitness routine? There really is no current routine.

What are your fitness goals? I would like to improve my stamina and lose some of this belly fat I've been carrying around since I started working in the office in 2006. (and it'll definitely help my ability to keep up with my kids).

and of course I sent in a full length photo of my pearish bod.

Then as I update my friends on what I'm doing I get alot of text saying "really? public tracking?" and I said to them all "dude...FREE access to a trainer and motivation!"

The contest advertisement stated that the finalists would be chosen on Monday the 15th. So I patiently waited the weekend out (and with one trip to the bar) and everyone reassured me that the chart was, indeed, a winner.

Monday came and went with no word. Tuesday morning and afternoon came and went and by then I had resigned myself to not winning. Truthfully and surprisingly, I was a little bitter, not gonna lie. But I decided, screw it...I'll buy my own membership next week and do this on my own.

As I got home from work and started getting into some non-work clothes I received a call from an unrecognized number. As most of you know and do yourself, if I don't know it, I won't answer it. However, the person on the other line left a voicemail and it happened to be Cassidy from Walburn's (whom everyone that knows or met him has gushed accolades of his manner aaannnnddd looks. So I'm assuming that he will be Batman to my current Peter Porker) asking for a call back.

Skeptically, I called him back. I mean it's Tuesday the 16th right? The winners should be picked and the paper should be announcing them in the paper that day. Right? I even bought a paper to look and see who had got it. "This has got to be a marketing ploy to get the non winners to the gym", I thought.

Anyway, with out looking at the newly bought paper, I called Cassidy back. And The Chart worked (and the smart alec in me worked as well apparently).

Long story long, I'm one of the two who will be announced in Tuesday's edition of the Emporia Gazette and I meet Cassidy at the Gym to go over the equipment and do a small workout. Read article "Inspiration":

http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2010/feb/18/inspiration/

Hence the meaning of this blog. I will, every chance I get, pop on and update you all on what I've ate, drank, exercised (possibly puked) and any gains, losses and how I generally feel that day. Spring's coming up so expect some of that to be an influencing factor on feeling (read that ladies? perhaps you should pause right there and read it again :) kidding).

The whole point for me is to lose this excess fat tank I'm wearing around my belly and be able to look in the mirror and say "Dayum, I look GOOD" before AND after I get dressed and then wrestle my kids to the ground to show them who the alpha male really is...without winding myself.

I hope it all helps you out as well (or at least keeps you entertained). I'll catch ya tomorrow night sometime after my beginning workout.


Much Love,
James