I did want to take some time (and more than 140 characters) to update my progress thus far. I’m back to ‘Vegas Shape’ as I’m calling it – the shape I was in last June went I went to Vegas with the boys. I have been going to the gym 6 days a week now, actually incorporating a Saturday workout for the first time in forever for the last 4-5 weeks. I am very happy with how the gym is going. My arms, chest and shoulders are starting to get more defined (and bigger hopefully), and most importantly – I can start to see those “abdominal muscles” I’ve heard so much about.

Current weight: 223.5 1/2 lbs – My lowest in at least 10 years. My goal is 215 by mid-April.

Diet

• I have stuck to a diet targeting visceral fat for 3 weeks now, and have cut out sugar completely (except for cheat days).
• I have been eating protein right after my workouts
• Water – I have been consuming about 4-5 L of water a day, but not on the weekends

Improvements/Goals

• I want to see if I can get my heart rate to “target” (192 bpm). No matter what I do, I can’t seem to get about 160.
• I want to improve cardio for rugby. This will involve my weekly dry-land training with the team on Mondays, but also including a spin class once a week, and an interval run once a week.
• I want to increase my bench press. My goal is 275lbs for 10 reps for 3 sets
• I want to increase my squats. I currently push between 225lbs and 275lbs for free weight squats. I would like to get this up 315lbs (three 45lb plates).
• I want to consume more water on the weekends.
• Stretching and strengthening my hips – due to sitting all day in front of a computer, my hips become very tight from time to time, and I have a lot of lower back problems that come and go throughout the year. I have really been focusing on squat stretches, squats in general, hip adductors, and also a lot of stretches for this area.

As soon as I charge the batteries in my camera, I will take some progress pictures. I’m very happy with how far I’ve come, but have a lot further to go.

That’s it for now – I’m off to the lake for a poker tourney with the boys, some Prime Rib a la Brandon Boone, and some delicious chicken wings. Cheat meal? I think I deserve one.

Shendy.

It doesn’t sort itself out. Eventually, you have to pull your head out of the sand.

While I’ll be expanding my site to eventually cover finances and my endeavour into become more financially adverse – this post (as the category will imply) relates to fitness.

I want to keep it honest on this blog. Give you the ability to track my progress, but more importantly – learn from my mistakes and successes. That being said I have returned from my weekend of ice fishing. I worked hard last week in terms of eating right and getting to the gym but decided I needed 1 more ‘treat’ weekend before getting full in to it.

I figured I’d pull my head out of the sand and see where I was at for the weekend. The lowdown of the ‘bad’ food:

Wendy’s Large Baconator Combo with Coke (the actual bacon is terrible on it btw) – 1650 Calories

22 beer – 3150 Calories

26 ounces of rum – 1820 Calories

6 cans of coke – 840 Calories

2 boxes of golden buds – 1200 Calories

Angus Burger Combo with Coke & Buffalo Chicken Snack Wrap – 1630 Calories

2 Tim Horton’s XL 2X2, Walnut Crunch & Sour Cream Glazed Donut – 1190 Calories

3/4 Bag of Miss Vickie’s Lime and Black Pepper chips (best… chips… ever) – 1100 Calories

Total Damage – 12,580 Calories. WOW.

My brother has said that I over eat when I drink – looks like he’s not far off. Am I proud of it – meh. It was a great weekend, the food was good, the Angus Burger needed more ketchup, and the chips fueled me to a poker victory. Better yet – I’ve gotten everything out of my system (in terms of cravings for pure shit food) and looking forward to my next ‘bad’ weekend. Our annual shopping trip to Minneapolis is coming up in 11 weeks. I want to lose at least one pound per week until then, which should put me around 220 lbs. Check back often for more updates.

Shendy.