I am not a zombie...

Holy sore gluteus maximus, (butt cheeks, derriere, backside, rump, caboose, pick your term, I don't care, backside, bum, posterior, fanny, yes I can keep going) it hurts.  Tom once told me that best the way to crush a grown man was to thrash his legs for an hour.  That is how I feel today.  Offset squats, knee benders, side step squats with resistance, backwards resisted band running (yes you read that right...backwards, trust me it's hard), but it was the dang leaping lunges that are such a pain in the rear aspect, see I told you.  Those things are brutal.  I have spoken with three boot campers this morning and the very first words out of each their mouths were, "Damn I am pretty sore from yesterday".  And that was all before 8 AM.  Ha!  The soreness has not even set in yet and all of us are S, T, rugglin, tomorrow should be interesting.  Right now I am sitting, it's not so bad, but in a few minutes I am going to get up from my desk where I have been sitting for over an hour, and walk down the hallway by my receptionist and she is going to ask me if everything is okay.  "Why do you ask?"  "Well, Bobby, you are stumbling about like one of the Walking Dead."  "No, Betty, I am not a zombie, yesterday was just leg day."  Nothing is easy the two days following leg day...and by nothing I mean absolutely nothing.  Luckily for me there are two set of stairs I have to take to get to and from my office and the front door.  Yeay me!

Decisions can be difficult.

Life is full of decisions, big and small, that affect us one way or another.  For example, yesterday the decision was boot camp or run.  Of course boot camp is the obvious choice, it's a solid workout guaranteed to be killer, on the other hand so is a 4.5 mile run around Burke Lake.  Boot camp is also an all around full body workout, sure we focus on specific areas sometimes but there has never been a class that we have not used both upper and lower body muscles for something, running is just legs and cardio.  On the other hand I also have the Army 10 miler coming up in just over ten weeks (more to follow on that training plan this week) so an extra run here and there will do nothing but help me in the long run....get it long run, okay I'm done.  The weather was absolutely perfect yesterday so either way I wanted to be outside, both offered that.  As a recent father my son is now majorly influencing my decisions as well.  I get about an hour and a half with him on the nights I go to boot camp, maybe two.  After class I get home somewhere between 6:45 and 7 PM.  Eli goes to bed somewhere around 8:30.  One and a half hours, that sucks.  That is not enough time.  This was ultimately the deciding factor on the boot camp or run decision yesterday.  If I run Burke lake I am finished by or before 6 PM, that puts me home before boot camp even ends giving me an extra 30 - 45 minutes with my family.  Needless to say, that is what I did, I ran Burke Lake and it was glorious.  Such a beautiful night and I thoroughly enjoyed my extra time with my son.  It's tough to manage life, working out, work, family, and free time.  Decisions can be difficult.  How do you do it?  How do you fit in all the things you want while still making sure all the things you need are handled?  Every day is hard, there is always something that comes up, I guess the key is to find that balance that keeps you and your family happy and safe.

Difficult? YES. Impossible? NO.

I learned two small lessons this week which resulted in one larger lesson learned, all pertaining to me being out of shape.

1. You cannot go all balls crazy working out when it's close to 100 degrees outside when not in at least somewhat good physical condition. Wednesday was extremely friggin hot outside I honestly don't know what the hell we were thinking. We ran 1.5 miles before class then near the start of class we ran some stairs. Here is a perfect example of when my mind is telling me yes but my body is telling me no. My body didn't just tell me no it straight up stopped. I thought I could sprint the stairs, just like the good ole days, and still participate in class. Ha! That didn't happen. I pretty much spent the remaining 45 minutes of class standing there in a dizzy daze until my body was able to come back to the land of the living. Not the best of workouts but I burned some calories and broke a serious sweat. Lesson learned - take it a little bit easy until I get more into shape. There is no point in pushing 110% for the first 15 minutes of class if that means you can only push 60% the rest of class. Pace yourself, you will get there, it's not a race, it's process.

2. Even if you only have 30 minutes, something is better than nothing.  I had a small window yesterday of 30 minutes to get in a workout. I was considering running but due to the lack of strength training this week I wanted to work my muscles not just cardio. So I went with the 5-4-3-2-1 workout. My goal was to get in as much of it as I could in 30 minutes. In months prior I could do the entire workout in under 50 minutes so I thought I could keep close to that time. Ha! Again my mind telling me yes but my body telling me no. I am not one to manipulate R. Kelly lyrics but if the shoe fits...or when in Rome...or if you can't stand the heat, no that one does not work. Anyway, what I am trying to say is I only had 30 minutes and I found a way to fit in a workout. I was able to do exactly half the workout in 31 minutes, so I guess I really had 31 minutes available to workout, look I am not a mathmatician, or a good speeler, K? I made the best use of the time provided. Not going to lie, I am sore today from it. I tried to do as many of the push ups as possible on my toes (not my knees), I held and 8 lb. ball when doing the squats, and I added a jump to the burpees. Both my shoulders and my legs are sore today. You don't always need a full boot camp class, or a 5 mile run, or a full hour at the gym. As long as you do something, anything, as often as you can you are doing something good for yourself. I could have sat on the couch last night and read, or taken a nap, or done any number of things, but none of those things will help me achieve my goals of getting fit and losing weight. Even though I only did half the workout, look at what I was able to do, 250 jumping jacks, 200 squats, 150 sit ups, 100 push ups and 50 burpees, not too shabby. I'll take it.

The larger lesson learned here is it takes weeks and weeks and weeks to get into shape. No need to rush the results, they will come with hard work and dedication. I need to constantly remind myself to take it slow, workout everyday I can and it will happen. Yes it's going to be difficult, no it's not impossible but I assure you it's absolutely worth it.

It's called life and sometimes it gets in the way.

Well damn. 4:30 this morning came and went with just a few taps of the snooze button. I have zero memory of changing the alarm this morning so that tells me my body must have needed the sleep. Also skipped boot camp last night to attend to the sickly folks sleeping in my house. That means in order to fit in 5 days this week I have to workout everyday from tomorrow to Sunday. Sheesh. Going to be tough. Might have to fit in a morning run and an evening boot camp one day to make up the difference. No worries though, it's called life and sometimes it gets in the way. Can't workout tonight because we are going to see The Lion King at the Kennedy Center!! Nants ingonyama bagithi.... Cannot wait to see this show, it is one of the few I have not seen on stage.

From what I hear on the home front is that everyone seems to be feeling better now.  Even though I have gone three days without a workout, my eating has been on point. I even had two puddings last night, I know crazy right.  You never know what is going to happen at night in the DeLong household...

Success - What it really looks like.

I am tired.  I am tired of being a slave to food.  I am tired of being overweight.  I am tired of not having the body I want.  I am sick and tired of it all.  The change is coming, I can feel it.  The desire to be fit and lose weight has, as of late, been just that, a desire.  I have turned that desire into a need.  I feel the need to achieve my goals, not just try and achieve them.  I have not felt this motivated in many months.  I am distancing myself from over eating.  I am not much of a junk food eater, I don't sit around eating chips and candy.  My issue is overeating, always has been, I have a hollow leg.  I do not posses that switch in my brain that says stop eating, but with this new Simply Filling plan, I am learning to find it.  I feel fuller when I eat.  I mean how many bananas and peaches can you really sit down and eat?  A plate full of chicken, rice, and veggies seems to fill me up and keep me feeling full longer than a burger a fries.  I don't know the science behind it but it is working.  Go figure good healthy foods are better for you, who knew??  After two weeks I already feel better.  I was able to fit in five workouts last week.  Woke up Friday and ran five miles before work, let me tell you after the run, then working all day, then spending some time with the fam, I slept like a baby Friday night.  Took the bike out for an hour or so on Saturday and I still have the sore behind to remind me of the first ride of the season.  Wanted to get a run in yesterday but I have a house full of sick people so after some Pho and much needed rest the run just didn't happen, oh well.  Glad I did what I could earlier in the week because you never know when you are going to get thrown a curve ball like a sick wife and baby.  WYCWYC!!  It's not about getting from point A to point B quickly, it's about learning why it's important to get to point B at all.

Goals for this week are to continue eating well and to workout at least five times.  Plus Dave Matthews is on Saturday so I need to be extra careful as that day will consist of many consumed empty calories if you are picking up what I am putting down here...

Sore today, strong tomorrow.

I hurt.  From my neck to my knees, complete and absolute pain.  But oh so satisfying pain.  The feeling of being sore.  I love it.  Three days in a row at boot camp this week, that has not happened in months and months.  Going for the three days on one day off plan this week.  Skipped the gym this morning to let the old muscles rest a bit.  I will be back tomorrow, bright and early at the gym.  The hard part is going to come this weekend when I will need to workout both Saturday and Sunday.  Maybe time to bust out the mountain bike and hit the old dusty trail since the weather will be so nice.  Speaking of which, working out last night compared to Monday was B, E, A, utiful.  Last night was gorgeous, much of the same today so enjoy all you outdoor workerouters, yes I just made that word up.  Goal for the coming weekend is to stay on track, eat well, and workout hard.  All of which are in reach as long as I keep reaching.  I can do this.

Weekend Roundup.

I needed to workout so badly yesterday.  This weekend was rough.  Dinner Friday night at Aggio, another one of Brian Voltaggio's restaurants.  Good but not great if I am being honest.  Service was phenomenal food was just okay, Range is better.  If you want a great dinner one night I highly recommend going to Range.  It's small plates so you kind of order four or five different dishes each and share, it's ridiculously good.  We wanted to try Aggio since it is a restaurant within Range and have loved all of his other restaurants.  Probably won't go back but we still had a great time.

Clockwise starting at the top left - Lamb Ragu, Roasted Artichoke Ravioli Soup, Lamb, Pork, Olive Cake.  I cannot remember the exact names but you get the gist.

Saturday night we went out with the friends for a night on the town.  Needless to say we are not 21 anymore and two nights out in a row, when drinking and being up late, while having to get up early and take care of a four month old is rough.  We did it though and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, but I am glad to be back on a normal schedule this week.  The workout last night helped tremendously.  I was glad to sweat out all the toxins consumed this weekend.  Today I feel much better.

The good news for the day is I didn't have to wake up at 4:30 and get half a workout in at the gym.  My mom is coming over tonight to watch Eli while Hila gets her body combat on.  So that means another boot camp for me tonight.  That makes me very happy.  I will get three boot camps in a row which has not happened for many moons.

As far as eating has been going, other than parts of this weekend, I am loving this Simply Filling plan on Weight Watchers.  No counting, no processed foods, and what a perfect time it is to start this plan with all the fruits and vegetables they have at the farmers market now.  I mean look at my snack the other day.

My lunch from yesterday.

My breakfast from today.   Mmmmmm runny egg....

These are some great plates of food.  I feel so good just from eating good healthy filling foods.  I have not found that I am missing any of the other crap I used to eat to fill in between meals.  We will see how the weight loss goes but I can already tell that this is working for me.  See you at the Farmer's market on Saturday!!

Happy Birthday Hila.

There are some days that are more special than others.  Anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, well today is one of those days.  Today is Hila's birthday.

I thank God everyday for allowing me to live my life in such a way that it brought me to Hila.  I have made many mistakes in life, many missed opportunities, many bad decisions, sometimes I think about these and wish things would have been different.  But then I think what if one of these different decisions would have taken me in a different path, a path away from Hila, and it's then that I know any decision I have made, whether right or wrong at the time, was for a reason, for a purpose.  That purpose is to guide me towards the woman of my dreams.  Not everyone finds that one person who is truly meant for them, their soul mate, their true love.  Somehow I did, I found her, although I didn't know it at the time, when I was just twenty one years old and I almost let her get away.  It wouldn't be until years later that our paths would cross again, but by the grace of God there were years and years of right and wrong decisions that somehow put us in the right place at the right time with the right state of mind.  I am truly grateful to be presented the opportunity to prove that I can love her, provide for her, father her children, and be a part of her loving family.  It is because of her I am who I am today.  I would have continued down a path taking me farther and farther away from what I know to be right.  It is because of her guidance, love, and compassion that I have learned to be the man I am today.  These words do not properly express how I feel or truly show my love for this woman, they are just words and anyone can write words.  The reality comes in the actions.  I have and will continue to love her, cherish her, and appreciate her every waking moment.  She is my life, my love, my friend and my wife.  She is beautiful on both the inside and the outside, and I am lucky to have her by my side.  Happy Birthday Hila.

Wow, I really regret that workout.

A gym rat I am not.  More like a lost puppy dog wandering around aimlessly looking for the best place to pee.  Today I made a mistake, I went to the gym without a plan.  Big mistake.  Thought I could wing it, I did wing it but I didn't make the best use of my time.  I need structure, I need someone who knows what they are doing to tell me what to do.  Even with several years of working out experience I was still lost without a plan.  Hell, I didn't even know what half the machines were for.  I was looking for the little stand where you can do sit ups or back extensions and came up to one and was like "is this it" then I see someone else doing an entirely different exercise on it.  It's intimidating.  It's awkward.  I know why so many people join a gym, go for a week and never come back.  They have no friggin clue what to do.  None, nadda, zip.  I almost know what I am doing and I still didn't have a friggin clue.  Boot camp is my answer to all of these issues.  Boot camp takes away all of the wonder, worry, and concern.  All I have to do is show up and I get a fantastic workout.  Someone else (Tom) sets up the workout and the trainer teaches us.  What do I know about switching muscle groups up?  Muscle confusion?  What do I know about some double cycle pulley system thing that without a picture on it I wouldn't even know what muscle group it worked?  Did I get a good workout this morning, yes I did, but I got a better workout last night in class.  Not just physically but mentally as well.  When it comes to working out it is so much easier to keep pace and cadence when someone else is counting for you.  When you do it on your own you take more breaks, you take longer between sets, it's just human nature to slow down when you are tired, it just happens.  The difference is when someone else is counting and pushing you, you are much more likely to try harder or get back into the rhythm more quickly.   That makes all the difference in the world when it comes to getting fit.  It's the pushing through the pain that takes you to the next level, it's the times it hurts the most that you are doing the best for yourself.  And as much as it hurts at the time I have never finished a workout and said I wish I hadn't done that.

The time is now.

I must say that things have been going quite well so far this week.  Of course things always seem to start off well, it's the beginning, beginnings are easy.  You're motivated, things are new, you have a strong desire to succeed.  The tough part comes later, once you get in a rhythm, once you get comfortable.  I have been too comfortable that past several months.  Yes we had a baby, yes I took some time off for injuries but each time I came back my head was less and less in the game.  I really thought I could get fit and lose weight working out twice a week, maybe I didn't truly believe it but it was what I was telling myself anyway.  Bad idea.  If you have convinced yourself you are doing what is best but you are not achieving your goals then you have veered off the path towards success.  I veered off, then took a U-turn and ended up in a ditch.  I needed some time to regroup and remember what is was I really wanted.  I want to be fit, I want to be healthy for myself but now also for my family, and I want the fit body.

The latest craze around these parts lately has been soccer and of course our US hero, Tim Howard.  After watching him defend against Belgium I wanted to read about his diet and exercise routines, because frankly he is a friggin beast.  He does Paleo which is not something I have really looked into much yet, but he said something when asked about his diet that struck me deeply, especially since at the time it was something that had been on my mind the moment I was reading it.  "Sure, I like ice cream, but when you keep a healthy lifestyle, its: Do you prefer sweets and crappy food, or do you prefer to have a nice body?  It depends on what you want more."  I thought to myself, I like ice cream too, I love sweets and crappy food, but I think recently it has finally started to settle in that I want a nice body too.  Not just that I want it but I want it more.  Just like the feeling I had yesterday was better then one hour extra of sleep, I want the fit body more than I want junk food.  Yes, I enjoy making a Bobby, with extra peanut butter, but that feeling of my clothes fitting better, or tightening up my belt by one loop, or that compliment someone pays you when it's obvious you have lost weight feels so much better.  Oh, so very much better.  It's time.  I am not getting any younger.  I have never had the fit body that I have always dreamed about.  There have been times I have come close but this isn't horseshoes or hand grenades, close doesn't count.  It's time to achieve, instead of just dream.  I am ready, and I accept the challenge.  Game on.  The time is now.

Last night I dreamed of success, today I woke up and worked for it.

So I have to admit the 4:45 wake up call was not too bad.  It's essentially only an hour earlier than I normally get up.  I made sure my bag was packed and ready to go last night so all I had to do was get up, kiss the wife goodbye and be on my merry way.  I have not been to the gym in a very long time, plus my gym has recently done some remodeling so I didn't really know what to expect this morning but I did have a plan.  My plan was to do a 25 minute interval run and then some upper body lifting exercises.  Because it was my first day and I was unsure of how long everything would take (other than the run since it was timed for 25 minutes) I probably will do things a bit different next time.  I had to find the locker rooms, figure out where everything was in the gym and then get situated.  I was also unsure of how long it would take to get ready in the locker room, different place, different routine, a lot unknowns.  So I got to the gym about 5:05, and was running by 5:10.  This is the interval run I did and really enjoyed it.  Found it through the interwebs yesterday.

After a few minutes of cool down walking I decided against the lifting exercises.  My plan was to be in the shower by 6 and on the road by about 6:20 so with only 25 minutes left to workout I knew I would only get through a few sets of a few different exercises and I wanted more than that so I decided to do as much of the 5-4-3-2-1 workout that I could with the remaining time.  I got through three 10% sets (10% = 10 burpees, 20 push ups, 30 sit ups, 40 squats and 50 jumping jacks) and then used the remaining time to work on some shoulder strengthening and stretching, only about 5 minutes.  I have been lax on my shoulder exercises and really need to devote some time to that, my shoulder is still so weak and its been over a year now.  Finished up about 6:05 and was in the car by 6:25.  Boom.

Now sitting at my desk I feel fantastic.  Ate a banana on the ride in, crushed another egg sammy and am now sipping some coffee.  Because I have spent the last several years working out in the afternoon I have forgotten about the feeling of being done with my workout by 6 AM.  Damn this is a glorious feeling.  No more worrying about the heat this afternoon, there is no way something can come up and distract me or take me away from my workout.  It's done.  I like that a lot.

That extra hour of sleep is not worth how I feel right now which is absolutely fan-friggin-tastic!!

We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are.

Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  That is pretty much where I have been that last few weeks.  I keep thinking that working out twice a week and barely following a food plan will help me lose weight and stay fit.  Let me tell you that it is not working one bit.  I have continuously been gaining weight and because of all the summer activities, working out less.  Miss a day here, miss a day there and before you know it two weeks have gone by and I have worked out twice.  Ain't cutting homey.  Time for a change.

I have spent a considerable about of time trying to come up with a new plan for said change.  As of this weekend I have made a decision.  Simply Filling.  Still part of Weight Watchers but essentially no more counting.  The idea here is to eat good wholesome filling foods and cut out all the processed crap.  Fruits, vegetables, lean meat, and whole-wheat.  Today is day one.

Hila made a trip to the grocery store last night and stocked up on all the foods to help me succeed. Breakfast today is an egg sandwich on a light English muffin with Canadian bacon.  BANGIN!!

Lunch is a pork chop with brown rice, asparagus and half and ear of corn.  Not much of a change from what I would normally eat except no white flour or processed foods and meats.  Snacks are cherries (totally in season right now so run out and get as many as you can, they don't last long), grapes, banana, apricot, and strawberry Greek yogurt.  Isn't it strange that all the healthy foods are from other Countries?  Canadian bacon, Greek yogurt, I wonder why that is?

My workout plan is still boot camp twice a week since that is all the afternoons I can fit in with Eli and Hila's workouts.  But the change here is to get up early and go to the gym twice a week.  The issue with this for me is I have to be to work at 7, so a morning gym trip means waking up at 4:45 and being at the gym at 5.  Ouch.  I need just about a full hour to workout then I need to shower and get dressed and still drive the 30 minutes to get to work.  This is not going to be easy but I will see how it goes.  Maybe on some days I will skip the gym and just run, either way I need to do something more because what I am doing is not working.

The time for change has come.  I have the same destination just a new route I am taking to get there.