November 30th, 2007 Weigh-In
Did a weigh in today and I’m finally under 250!� I’ve been hovering between 252-258 over the last month and a half – relationship / breakup stress led to some bad choices and killed some of my energy for going to the gym.� I’ve since snapped out of that and have been back on track 100% for the past 3 weeks, going from my post-breakup weight of 258 to today’s weight of 249.�
It wasn’t a real plateau as it was due to my own actions, but breaking the 250 point is a big thing for me – I haven’t weighed under this amount for years now and it feels great.� With the way things had been going I thought it would take me until the end of the year to get here but Muay Thai classes really sped it up a lot.�
And….a goal hit means time for a reward – I told myself when I got to 250 I’d get a new tattoo.� Nothing big this time – something simple and black only and likely a tribute to my love of horror movies.� So that’s another thing that I’ll be able to cross off my list as well.� Technically I can go skydiving now that I’m under 250 too, but it’s far too cold for that right now :/�
As of November 30th, 2007
Weight: 249.6 (-27.6)
Bodyfar %: 30.9 (-5.0%)
Hydration %: 47.3 (+3.4%)
November 28th, 2007 Workout – Muay Thai
I’m almost done my second week of Muay Thai and I am loving it more and more with each class. I was still super sore from Monday’s class but once I got through the warmup and got into it I couldn’t even feel the soreness anymore. I can feel it now though – every muscle in my body feels sore and tight – especially my back and my calves. Must be all the bouncing around during the drills. I picked up a pair of wrist wraps today too – want to make sure I don’t hurt my hands while throwing punches.
Also – added to my morning wakeup playlist – just another kick ass heavy song that gets me going.
Lamb of God – Laid to Rest
If there was a single day I could live
A single breath I could take
I’d trade all the others away
The blood’s on the wall so you’d might as well just admit it
And bleach out the stains, commit to forgetting it
You’re better off empty and blank than left with a single pathetic trace of this
Smother another failure, lay this to rest
Console yourself, you’re better alone
Destroy yourself, see who gives a fuck
Absorb yourself, you’re better alone
Destroy yourself
I’ll chain you to the truth, for the truth shall set you free
I’ll turn the screws of vengeance and bury you with honesty
I’ll make all your dreams come to life, then slay them as quickly as they came
Smother another failure, lay this to rest
Console yourself, you’re better alone
Destroy yourself, see who gives a fuck
Absorb yourself, you’re better alone
Destroy yourself, see who gives a fuck
See who gives a fuck
See who gives a fuck
Failure
If there was a day I could live
If there was a single breath I could take
I’d trade all the others away
I’d trade all the others away
Feet!
Yowtch. I just finished cutting away the biggest blister I’ve ever had in my life off my left big toe. Then I had to shave the hobbit hair off of it so I could wrap it in sports tape to be able to go to class tomorrow. Can’t say I thought I’d ever have to shave my toe – but I guess it beats unwrapping the tape and removing all the hair the hard way.
It seems my feet are hobbit-like in appearance only – they aren’t used to the mats at the gym yet. I have my left foot forward most of the time so whenever I am turning my body into a punch or kick it’s usually taking the beating as the pivot point. Only a matter of time before it gets used to it though.
November 26th, 2007 Workout – Muay Thai
Today was my fourth class. I’m starting to get the hang of the basic punches – my hook technique still sucks and I extend my arm way too much I think. I’ve been watching videos on youtube to watch the proper form and it’s just going to take more practice.
Today we did a lot of back and forth drills with the Thai pads. I got paired up with a guy who’s a hard hitter and I still have marks on my arms from the Thai pad straps. My shoulders didn’t get nearly as tired this time from holding them up – at least compared to the first time I used them.
The class in general is really fun. Grueling and hard, but I love it. Everyone at the school has been really nice and very helpful. They just announced that they are splitting the Muay Thai classes into beginner and advanced sections so there will be more instructors to students which will be good as well.
Got my first injuries too – hit a Thai pad with my foot instead of my shin and it’s a little tender now. Also my left big toe has a blister the size of a loonie on it. It’s already popped, but the skin is really thick – I’m going to have to cut it away – ouch. Tomorrow I’m going to pickup some tape so I can wrap it up after I cut it. Hopefully my feet will adjust soon.
November 24th, 2007 Workout – Muay Thai
Had my third Muay Thai class yesterday – the conditioning aspect of it is really kicking my ass. The entire class is almost non-stop movement and we’re almost always hitting or being hit. In between drill rounds we do sets of pushups, crunches/situps or other exercises.
My conditioning has gotten a tiny bit better – my heart didn’t feel like it was going to explode this time – only like it was extremely upset with me and beating in protest. Today’s class was an hour and a half long and by the end I was absolutely exhausted, but felt great. I love the rush I get from it. Trying to go really slow right now to work on my technique so I don’t pick up bad habits. I’m really looking forward to sparring, but that’s going to be a few months away yet.
Next class is on Monday – hopefully I can get some decent sleep tonight and be ready for it.
I quit the gym – and the internet – or at least wasting time on it
I’ve officially made the decision to quit my gym membership. I’m going to signup for a membership at Kombat Arts instead. The cardio workout I get from Muai Thai tops any machine they have at the gym. They have a weight room too. Nothing fancy – a couple of benches, a power rack and a load of free weights. No machines and no fancy gadgets – but that’s fine by me. It’s a tiny bit closer than the gym is as well. My main reason for switching is that I think these classes will bring me up to a higher overall level of fitness than the gym would – I’d rather have a more athletic type of build / level of fitness.
I took a pause to think about how I could make better use of my time in general. I realized that I spend way too much of my week just killing time on the internet. Reading forums and random articles off Digg and Fark – generally just time killers. I’m going to be keeping that type of stuff to a minimum from now on – anything else I do with my time would be a better use of it I think.
Also – it’s officially winter now – the snow came down and it looks like a nightmare outside. But I’m ready for it this year – not going to just stay inside and suffer and I’m not going to let the weather get me down. I’m going to snowboard and enjoy the season. I’m ready for you winter! *shakes fist*
November 21st, 2007 Workout – Muai Thai
I had my second Muai Thai class yesterday. I’ve been sore non-stop since the first one and was entertaining thoughts of not going today to recover. But that’s the easy way out and I forced myself to go through the soreness and the pain.
We did a lot of drill work this class, working on small combinations and basic kicks. We used the Thai pads with a partner for all the drills and I learned how weak my shoulders were. The pads don’t look heavy, but they feel like rocks when you’re holding them up and bracing for someone to hit you.
I’m super sore this morning and my entire core feels like a tightly wound mass of pain. I coughed earlier and every muscle surrounding my rib cage seemed to light up in agony.
I did a little tiny bit better though – a little less out of breath – able to finish a couple more reps in the warmups. I’m making progress and with the harshness of the program, I’ll be in better shape in no time.
November 19th, 2007 Workout – Muai Thai
Every muscle in my body is sore right now and getting progressively sorer with each passing minute. It’s not even the next day yet and I know there is worse yet to come. After an hour I could barely lift my arms. I felt like my heart was on the verge of exploding and my lungs about to collapse. The heavy bag is an evil mistress and she taught me a lesson I will never forget.
The pain and the soreness was all worth it. I’ve wanted to take Muai Thai for years and I always told myself that I would do it after I got into better shape. I was afraid of looking like a fool, afraid of not being able to keep up, afraid of failing. So afraid that I never even tried. There was always some excuse, some justification I’d come up with to delay signing up.
Today something in me snapped. I ignored the voices in my head and signed up for lessons. The gym was intimidating and I was nervous before I even got there. Everyone looked like they had been doing this for years. But that’s not the truth, just the way I was seeing it through scared eyes. Four other people were starting out the same night I was. I wasn’t alone.
I kept up during the warm up – these months of going to the gym have paid off. I never knew I could do thirty push ups. I never knew because I never tried and I never pushed myself. We finished by doing rounds on the heavy bag, doing non-stop punching. Every muscle in my body wanted me to quit but my instructor kept pushing me to finish. After the last set I felt like I accomplished something.
I was still breathing hard twenty minutes later. I felt absolutely amazing, so alive and full of energy. I can’t wait for my next class on Wednesday. I’m glad I finally decided to sign up.
Revelation
I was talking to my boss today about ways to make it easier to deal with the overwhelming amount of back-projects and work we have. He mentioned that while planning is necessary, it is not everything and that sometimes you just have to jump in and get a small piece of a project finished and then go on from there. This is contrary to what we learned in school in systems analysis class, but I’ve seen firsthand that real life projects just don’t work that way always. You can’t keep planning until everything is perfect because there’s always going to be changes along the way and if you spend all that time planning, nothing ever gets done.
The other day I had randomly downloaded a weekly podcast from a motivational speaker as well. The podcast was centered around the same idea – we overplan and make things more complicated than they need to be. This makes whatever we are trying to achieve into an unclimbable mountain and we stop and just look up at it, trying to figure out how to get all the way to the top.
This morning it all just clicked in my head. I need to stop over-thinking things and over-planning and just get out and do the things that will lead to where I want to be. It doesn’t mean that I’m going to just go ahead and do things without planning or thinking about it, but no longer will I let that planning get in the way of actually going out and doing what I want. I’ll plan a bit, take some steps and then if I have to, re-evaluate my path.
I had it all planned out that I was going to get in better shape, lose more weight and then sign up for Muai Thai / MMA classes. But there’s nothing stopping me from signing up right now – it’s going to be a lot harder on my physically, but I’ve already improved my endurance a lot over the last three months so I know I can handle it. I’ve wanted to do this for so long – years really, but I always told myself that I needed to be in better shape or I’d make a fool out of myself.
Well – fuck that. I just called and setup a trial week at Kombat Arts. Class is at 6.
Adversity
Back when I first started this site I posted about how eventually I am going to encounter some adversity in my life that will make it difficult to continue working out. Whenever this used to happen I would grab hold of that as my excuse for not sticking with my plan and it would be all too easy to just take the path of least resistance and fall back into old habits and patterns. I would never make the conscious decision that I was giving up – I would just allow myself to gradually do so.
This time I see it happening. I’ve been stuck at about 255 for a month now and it’s because I’ve been letting adversity get the best of me. I haven’t completely dropped back to my old patterns, but I’ve been doing it often enough to the point of being back on the wrong path. I am not going to let that happen again. It’s time to really build some discipline and to live hard. With all the crap that had been happening I started drinking again – I had mostly stopped over the last year and I don’t need to start up again. Not that I ever had a problem with it – but I don’t need to drink to deal with my issues and I don’t want to develop that pattern. Plus it’s terrible for you – empty calories, stops your metabolism – just bad in general.
So – the next month is going to be ‘boot camp’ for me. I’m going to be super-strict on myself. Not because I need to be – I generally believe in moderation over anything, but because I want to prove to myself that I can keep focused. I am not going to let this become just another failed attempt to change my life. I’m going to work and live hard and I’m not going to do anything half-assed ever again.
On an unrelated note – I finished my first real painting today. It’s of my dog Ozzy – minus his tail. Next painting will have a real background, I swear.
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