Bringing down the house

Up and Out

Well this morning started with my car not starting but me sticking with my plan and hitting a 1 hour work out at 5am. I love the way I feel after and I have no idea how I fell out of line before. If you haven't tried exercise yet you need to and not for anyone else but solely for yourself.

Today I was back on Your Self Fitness and I chose to go with the core strength training routine. Its still a little bit to easy (based on the initial evaluation where I was only able to do 5 push ups and 20 Jumping Jacks) but they ask you once you complete a section how you made it through and if you say, "It was a piece a piece of cake" then the next time the sexy avatar Mya tells you she's gonna increase the difficulty just a bit. So far this is still fun. There are enough exercises that appear randomly that you don't get bored with the daily routine.

After the 30 minute Yourself fitness routine I went right into a 15 minute DDR sprint. The truth of the matter is that I'm no where near where I used to be with DDR so after only 3 songs I was winded, wounded and worn out from songs that I used to ace back in my hey day (CURUS and XEPHER on Expert). But I have faith that I'm on my way back.


I did skip an entry yesterday because I was taking a down day. It was actually quite re energizing to sleep in an extra hour and just take it easy. Yesterday was a low key day anyway. We had an open house at my job (which you can see in the pictures to the right) and I was glad to see that the food selection was a healthy mix of fruits, vegetables and light meats. Overall that went well but I was glad to get home to my warm bed once everything was done.

Now here is where I have a confession to make. For those who have followed The Five o Five in the past can obviously tell, this is not the same blog that it used to be. I have realized that the reason it failed before is because I needed to loosen up a bit. Blogging is supposed to be fun and not a chore. You should never become a slave to any leisure activity. So although the general concept will shine through from time to time I may or may not go back to the original rigorous format. Yes I do still wake up at 5am with a hive of ponderings buzzing around in my skull but I'm no longer obligated to leap out of bed and onto a computer to record them. I have tinkered aournd with the thought of pod casting or video blogging and either of those may or may not make there way here. Right now though this is my therapy. This is my release. Hate it or love it this is my life.

So I hope you stick around. I hope to one day soon re-skin his blog and move it off of Blogspot and on to wordpress. But until that day comes I love you all and thank you for reading.

So far so good

I'm still pushing on. I'm still up for the challenge of transforming this out of shape 28 year old lump into a chiseled block of man muscle. That's right. I'm going for playboy status by the end of this. So far I've felt and seen nothing but positive results. I feel like I'm slowly getting back in the game. I feel like I have more bounce in my step and more glide in my stride. I'm on my way.

Today's workout called for a return to the YourSelf Fitness game. It was a fairly decent 30 minute bounce that kept me up and going without burning me out. I'm still not ready for the hard stuff yet as about 40 or so jumping jacks had me heavy panting like a fish on the pier. I'm working on it though. Soon I will be back to my old self or close enough to it that stairs will no longer take me out. Being fat sucks and during the hard parts in my workout that actually becomes the motivational chant. "I'm fat, I'm fat, I'm fat."

Tomorrow, I'm back on to DDR and I might just record it and post to You Tube (depending on how I feel). Like I said before, I'm on a mission and if you support me or not I'll be pushing on.

Day 3: success.

Changing Faces

Change hurts! It twists you in knots with promises and tantalizing thoughts of a better you. Butterfly's start as caterpillars. Trees start as seeds. The day begins in darkness. But we keep at it because there is a reward at the end of this painful maze. I want my cheese damn it I'm going for it. Even my computer is testing me. I was nearly done with a completely different flavored post than this one and all of a sudden, "BLUE SCREEN"! I've got to get that fixed but it lead right into what I have to do. I need to be more concise. More sharp edged. More to the point. So let's go.

I'm back on my daily workout (so far anyway). I didn't get up at 5am as planned but I did hop out of bed at 6 with the sole purpose of chiseling away at this gelatinous bulge that I call my body. Its that drive that actually hurtled me downstairs carrying heavy eyelids and dragging my feet into the cold embrace of the living room. I switched on the T.V., booted up the PS2 and plug in the Dance mat for a high intensity round of DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). At one point I was quite the show off in the DDR arena. I would do tricks and spins but after 10 months of couch curls and remote reps I'm not the man I used to be.

So on the game plan is a slew of rhythm game titles sure to get my fat behind up and sweating.

• Topping the list is the infamous DDR. My favorite from the series is still DDR extreme. It has my energy / fatigue inducing song Kick the Can on it. Its very fun and I can do this song 12 times in a row if I had the energy.
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• Next on the list is Yourself Fitness. Its not really a game at all but a digital personal trainer (who has a nice little video vixen hump too) who lines up a daily routine of exercises for you to do with no grades, no stress and no way of knowing if you are cheating or not. This one I do every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 30 minutes.
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• I'm also gonna try to hit the old stand by (The Gym). I've had this membership to 21st Century Super Fitness since 2005 and I think I've only been about 24 times in total. I know I totally suck for that but I think I'm gonna add that into the mix wen I actually have the time to get in there.
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• And lastly, I'm gonna have to cut back and then out all the fast food. I've been on a Rally's, Burger King and Subway binge (definitely not the stuff Jarred was eating from there) and I have a lot to show for it.

Basically its all about change. It starts with a thought and ends with action. I'm up for it. I'm in to it. Pray for me.

199 are you out of your mind!

All work and no play

Day 1

 I'm back at it again! That's right its really me trying this thing one more time. How do they say, "12 times the charm"?. Anyway, the real reason I'm here is because somehow (even though I know how) I've become a big fat slob! I know its been almost a full year but I am about 40lbs heavier than I was this time last year and I feel like crap strapped garbage. So let's do it again. Lets get this back in line. I have a new baby. A new job. A new life. Lets work it out.

Yourself Fitness is just one of the tools I'm using. I know this is the whole Wii Fit era but I don't have a Wii yet so this "old school tool" will have to do (plus the instructor has a pretty nice bump for a computer girl). I did my best today. I managed to make it through a full 15 minute workout. I sucked at the initial evaluation. I only did 4 push-ups, 20 squats, and 60 crunches.

My full plan includes: Getting back into my DDR (STEP Fx) workout; Getting back into healthy eating; Getting up at 5 am; Making it to work before its time to be there. So far so good. Its Monday. I'm up. I worked out. I feel energized. Pray for me.

Day 1

The Five O Five: Friday, June 6, 2008

Here we are then

Its not 5am as a matter of fact its no where even close to 5am but here I am blogging on "the company's dime". I never have any excuses nor do I believe that any of my 12 faithful (or forgetful/hopeful) readers care to hear.

Sometimes I feel like a single leaf adrift on the calm flowing pace of a woodland stream. Before you know it you are swept up in fierce swelling river rapids all while trying to remain in one piece. That's what my life has become. Not an uncontrolled mess of activity but very similar to the flow of a raging river. You can see where its heading but you are uncertain of the obstacles that may lie in your path. You bob and you weave and you hope and pray to avoid the jagged rocks and rigid banks. You cringe and hold on to the smallest ounce of faith that natures probability has you calculated into larger scale of life on earth and you are not scheduled to drown and get impaled (not today at least). You are wet, crying and ready to go home but this is the only way there. You've just got to hold on. Its not much longer.

In short, that is the summary of my absence. I've been drifting, wading, doing whatever I can to keep my head above water. At some point I hope to finally reach the vast ocean to which inevitably all rivers must lead. I'm sure of it. I can feel it. I just hope I'm alive once I get there. Its gonna be hard but we'll do it together. Ok?