Injuries and New Directions

Injuries and New Directions

            I have not posted on this log for some time. Before that my posts had grown very sparing. At a few points I had made it a point to revamp my blog and post on it in a regular basis but it just never happened. Life had taken me on so many twists and turns the blog became such an afterthought. Over the past year I have gotten a divorce, become engaged to someone new, had two surgeries on my right hand, and settled into a life of happiness. Also during this time I lost my father suddenly, spent three months off of work on short term disability and had to take a temporary office job while recovering from my second hand surgery.

           I have an upcoming marriage to my beautiful fiancee that I am extremely excited for. I know some people might wonder why I would be so amped to get married again so quickly after my last marriage ended. Especially considering just how awful that previous marriage was. The truth is I would have married my fiancee the day I met her if I could have. Not for one moment have I doubted that I am making the right decision. I do not give a damn what others might think, I never have before and sure as fuck do not now. Most of the people who have offered unsolicited advice are the very definition of failures in relationships. Would I listen to lifting advice from someone who barely trains? So why the hell would I want to hear advice about relationships from someone who has never had a decent one for the life of them. No thanks, keep your unhappiness to yourself. Missy and I will have a beautiful wedding and continue to be happy.

            That was a bit of a side track but that is the way that I am. I get side tracked and go off on strange rants. Hell this blog was supposed to track my training progress and got side tracked into stories about weirdo neighbors and other bullshit I was seeing around me. People loved those stories because honestly no one gives a damn about reading training logs and lifting advice when 99% of people do not train. Note I said train, not working out, any pencil neck geek or overweight soccer mom can go to some fitness club and work out. I do not work out, I do not exercise, I fucking train. Balls to the walls leave it all in the gym with my sweat and blood train.

            Speaking of which, up until last month I have not been able to train since December of last year. Even then I do not really think I trained much of all the month of November and December. My life took some wild twists and turns and I spent much of the month of December living in my work truck and sofa surfing. Yeah it sucked freezing my balls off in frigid weather sleeping in a piece of shit work truck but it sure as fuck beat waking up to a psycho trying to shank me in my sleep. Hmm did I mention I got a divorce???

            So I break my hand in the beginning of January and had to have surgery. The surgery did not heal right and I had to have surgery again at the end of August. This left me unable to train. Note again I said train. Sure I could of “worked out” but that is not my style. I am not going to be able to go to the gym and just go through the motions. I am not a pussy. I knew if I got started I would smell that iron and chalk and like a junkie go balls out and get myself hurt even worse. When I was powerlifting I was always fucking hurt. But this hand thing was different. It was a long and painful process to heal from.

            So I went from training very hard to not training at all. Also for three months I was off work completely on short term disability. I did return to work in April but by July I had to take a desk job as my hand deteriorated to where working in the field was not possible. So I went from a somewhat physically demanding job coupled with intense training to practically zero physical activity. Oh and did I mention my eating habits went down the toilet. I ate pretty much everything I could. Poor Missy had to act fast if food was in the fridge because I would devour it like a wild jackal.

            Jackal? Does that even make sense? Who the fuck knows but it sounds right. Anyways as you can guess this made for a recipe of weight gain which is what I did. I packed on the weight. When you are in a horrible relationship and depressed it is easy to not eat when you are always goddamn unhappy. But when you do find someone that makes you happy, well hell you have no problem wolfing down food. Thankfully Missy’s hands do not smell like bean burritos otherwise she would look like Captain Hook by now.

            So about a month ago I was looking at myself in the mirror and looking at how I had let all my previous hard work go straight down the crapper. I stood there looking at myself disgusted at what I was seeing. Not just looks were causing me a concern either, I am 32 now and I don’t want to drop dead on Missy from a heart attack because I am a fat tub of lard. My health has always been great but carrying a lot of excess weight and poor eating habits are a ticking time bomb that will catch up with you. Even if you don’t keel over your body will start causing you all kinds of pains and discomforts that you will wish you had keeled over.

            I knew I had to do something but I was kind of lost. My hand is still not to the point that I could think about competing in powerlifting again. I am a competitive person though and I need something to keep a fire going in me. To that end I set myself a goal, I want to lose a certain amount of weight and get to a certain bodyfat level. I decided to meet these goals I would start “training like a bodybuilder” and clean up my diet like never before.

            Notice again I said training like a bodybuilder. I do not have a desire to be a bodybuilder. Getting up on stage in a banana hammock in front of a large crowd of gay men foaming at the mouth is not something I would consider a fun time. This is not a knock on those who do that. I have the upmost respect for bodybuilders and trained alongside many but it is not my thing. I am not ignoring my powerlifting roots but I am alternating my training to allow for training six days a week hitting all body parts twice a week (once a week focusing on muscular development and hypotrophy and once a week focusing on power and strength). For conditioning and fat loss I will be doing sled drags and slow steady state cardio 7 days a week.

            More important is my nutrition. I am eating super clean 7-8 small meals a day. Chicken, fish, lean beef, steak, pork, oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes, veggies, berries, nuts, and eggs fill my fridge and freezer. I also utilize protein and bcaa powder as well as other supplements. I keep my portions small and balanced and cycle my carbs (having high, moderate, and low carb days). I initially said I would allot myself three cheat meals a week but I found I don’t have much if any food cravings so will only have cheat meals when I feel my body needs one to recharge. Otherwise if I have a craving I will just have some New York strip steak and potatoes and keep the portions in check. I monitor my weight and measurements on a weekly basis. My goal for the first two months is ten pounds a week of weight loss. Then I will drop to five pounds a week for two months. Then I will stabilize and maintain for a month and then go up five pounds over the next month after that. I will then settle in to a two pound a week loss until I hit my target weight.

            If my numbers are off then I will tweak my diet and training to meet my goals. I have the absolute best coach overseeing my nutrition and helping to monitor my numbers. I also have the very best training partner in the gym, and I have trained with world record holders. It might surprise you but it is none other than Missy! While very few people can keep up with me in the gym she plugs along without complaint and has been smashing her own PRs (personal records). While we train very intense and at times she has wanted to throw a 45 at me, we save all our aggression for the gym. Outside of the gym we have not even had a minor argument in months. How many goddamn people can say that? Literally not even a minor fight. Hell I have to make shit up sometimes just to make sure she is not a robot designed by Toyota to be the perfect wife. She does look a little Asian…..