Bryce on a Mission

So the month of November is notorious for men of all shapes and varieties partaking in what many call ‘No Shave November’. I for one am in it to win this year as in previous years I have backed out or failed to make it any longer than about a week or two. In a way it’s a microcosm of the battle we face in our personal lives. At first the prospect of hard work seems like an exciting challenge, but as we get into the really difficult parts our faith to ourselves is tested in ways we could’ve never imagined.

Once you get past the hump and prevail, you’re now a little bit closer to being a true man. I’m committed but I’m going to be absolutely honest. As far as the goals of this blog are concerned, I have sucked in the last couple weeks and in a way have let my friends down, but more importantly let myself down. I haven’t lost sight  of my goals however  with financial despair comes a reorganization of priorities and unfortunately my overall health has taken a step back to that overall prerogative.

Right now it’s really hard for me to continue going to gym so I’ve taken to working out at home with a resistance braid, an exercise ball, and a jump rope so as to save some money. I would say I try and get in 2-3 times a week so that I get some blood pumping and relieve some stress. I haven’t weighed myself in a couple weeks so I can’t give you an accurate read out but my diet has been ok for the most part and I’ve had some great victories in that regard. I’m not stress eating which is a big plus considering my history and since I’m broke as hell the amount of temptation has certainly dropped off.

I have some really mixed feelings and I’ve got a lot on the horizon that I am so nervous about. I want things to start happening for me, and this beard I’m growing is not just some infantile competition, it’s a symbol of the hard work I’m putting in towards a better life. Long nights, early mornings. DIRTY THIRTY.

Pretty much couldn’t even explain to someone how tired I was yesterday. Pulled an all nighter after driving and I even went to the gym on no sleep which was an experience in it’s own right. THEN! I had to go to work for 8 hours meanwhile not wanting a cigarette mixed in with the 5 cups of coffee I drank throughout the day. Definitely not going to do that again. As always, there’s always a new and brighter day to tackle life’s challenges. Today just so happens to be that I’m running on 11 hours of sleep and some killer enthusiasm to knock out some items on the good ol’ to-do-list. Off to the gym mofos!

Sometimes life is so complicated that the best solution is the most simple one. Get back to your roots, pick up a new hobby, and listen to some good tunes. 

Current weight:

207 pounds

In the worst economy since the depression era it’s so hard to forget that you can be whatever you want, do whatever you want, and go wherever you would like to go. After all, we do live in one of the most free societies on the Earth. The most important thing to know is that that feeling of being trapped is just a mindset. Don’t like your job? What’s stopping you from getting a new one? Don’t like your body? Why aren’t you doing something about it? Broke? Lonely? Sad?

…You get the idea. Remember, even though you’re human and make mistakes, being human also means you have the tools to overcome them. The first thing is to conquer yourself and then everything else will fall into place. The only person that can tell you that you can’t do something is you. There’s a calling for everyone, you just have to never give up, never surrender!

So this week I have kicked my ass into high gear and have started moving away from the machines at the gym, and more towards free weights. I’m not knocking on weight machines, but the way I feel after trying to put up some dumbbells just feels better than the alternative. I think it may have more to do with the fact that it’s more difficult to push myself with machines than it is with the dumbbells.

I also did my first “2-a-day” since high school soccer and it was absolutely awesome. I was just having a real bad day and the only thing I could think of to pull me out of that rut was to hit the gym up even if it was for only a little while. It’s really true when they say that physical fitness equates to mental health because after I left the gym my level of stress went down drastically. Went home and prepared a turkey wrap and salad and then passed out before 11.

Speaking of food, I’ve spent some more time pondering my diet and I’ve made some changes that I think are going to benefit me greatly. It’s one thing to consider what you’re eating but it’s also another thing to consider what you can eat that will fit into your budget as well. I’m eating a low-carb diet but I still need my breads and tortillas and trying to find a low carb bread was really difficult. My requirement for an item to be purchased at the supermarket is that it should have less than 10% my daily value of carbs. I found a bread that for two slices is 70 calories and 5% daily carbs which is an awesome compromise.

So far I’ve lost 5 lbs which isn’t saying much for my progress. I mean if I was on The Biggest Loser right now I would’ve been voted off a long time ago but much of the reasoning behind my recent enthusiasm for fitness is not solely derived from weight gain and weight loss. This is about how I feel about my life and being able to develop the proper tools to be a successful person. This is about habits and breaking the bad ones and nurturing the good ones.

So even though I’ve only lost a meager amount of weight, I wouldn’t consider my progress so far a failure by any stretch of the imagination. I’m not trying to lose a lot of weight all at once so that I can just put it back on in a couple months. Right now I get up at 5:30am and head to my local gym before work about 4-5 days a week. My routine is anchored by at a least a half hour of cardio and 15 minutes of ab exercises. Every other workout I’ll add in about 6 weightlifting exercises that I feel are geared towards improving my problem areas.

As far as a diet, I’m still working on getting a proper diet put into place but what I’m trying not to do is eat out and if I do I think long and hard about portions and what it is I’m eating. My diet throughout the week is comprised of mostly baked beans, chicken, steak, salad, bananas, peanuts, and peanut butter. I do have a cheat day which is Sunday and during that day I splurged and got some delicious tacos from Taco Bell. It sounds bad, but the reason it’s a success to me is because I’m not eating there like I used to. Yes, I got a chalupa, but did I get 5 other things to go along with it? No. 

The point is, is that I’m not trying to kill myself but I’m getting a quality workout in and when I leave the gym I feel great. I have an addictive personality and when I like something, I tend to do it… A LOT. As long as I go to the gym and I feel good about the whole experience, then I’ll want to continually do it and therefore weight loss will eventually be a symptom of my success, not the reason I choose to get up at 5:30 in the morning before work.

So in the last few weeks I’ve been trying to make it a habit to go to the gym before work. Usually this means getting up at 5:45am and man was it hard today. I sorta just slept in til 7:45am and rolled into work while eating a delicious peanut butter and banana sandwich.

BUT!!!! At lunch I redeemed myself! Instead of going to Olive Garden with the team, I went home, made lunch, and hit the gym up for a bit on my way back to the office. We’ll see how tonight goes since I’ll probably be getting a little sober.