Anyways these past 30 days or so have been pretty rough - between two thanksgivings (divorced parents) and three birthdays (including my own) I've managed to lose a total of 1 lb as of this morning - so I'm sitting at 224. I'm not happy but not terribly disappointed in myself, if anything it has given me more motivation to really buckle down and get by this 220 plateau
Despite that some positives are new PR's for the three compounds of bench, squat, and deadlift
Last Months 1 Rep Max
Bench - 185 x 1 (started out barely doing 95 x 3 in August)
Squat - 275 x 1
Deadlift - 335 x 1
Current 1 Rep Max
Bench - 225 x 1
Squat - 300 x 1
Deadlift - 385 x 1
Very surprised at this months strength gains, but I've been working a lot more on form. I think I will take a break from pushing more weight any further until I really am positive that my form is as solid as possible to reduce risk of any injuries or creating any bad habits.
Anyways here's two current pics
Compared to last month
As always I hope everyone is doing well & feel free to comment or add tips/criticisms/advice
Take Care LP <3
Sven
edit: Although I do contribute my gains to a pretty awesome gym shirt (it's even approved by my dog Bagels)
Also here's a bonus pic of my Christmas Card for the year
Ha well shit I figured I'd like to document my personal weight loss to keep me motivated by the trolls as well as the progress
I'll be the first one to say that prior to joining a gym in July, I had NEVER lifted.
Anyways a intro would probably be nice.
I had always been a bigger kid growing up, not huge but never slim or muscular. I played sports as a kid but got super depressed and reclusive when my parents divorced at age 15, instead I trapped myself away in my room playing StarCraft and Counter-Strike. This was pretty much my life for years; along with depression I over time had developed terrible anxiety. When I was a senior in high school it was so bad that I couldn't eat lunch in the cafeteria due to a horrible stomach ache I would get immediately seeing all these people around me (probably had paranoia issues as well) anyways as a result I rarely ate lunch, and I never at breakfast and my dinners were always small and on the go since I had almost a full time job on top of school. I dropped to 160, and not a lean 160...
like a skeletor 160 haha that was me at my grad party with my (now deceased grandparents)
Anyways at the time I wasn't into drinking and didn't really have any friends, I kept to myself and I didn't get bothered which was fine. I did have girlfriends all through high school so I kept pretty busy between 30-40hr work weeks plus school and a girlfriend.
Upon entering college I found this fun thing called Alcohol - which turns your shitty life, to a not so shitty life for a bit, then generally makes it even shittier at the end. Drank a lot alone in college or with my roommate (Skot) when he would go out to a party I would rather stay inside and play poker and get wasted. I ended up dropping out during the 2nd semester and moved back home. This is where the initial weight gain began, since prior to being home all I could afford was cheap vodka and no food vs now that I was home I had all the food I could eat plus alcohol. Was basically drunk 5-6x a week most days when I wasn't working - really didn't give a fuck about my life.
Anyways we can fast forward a bit because nothing about this so far is 'brief,' weight slowly came on, and I didn't give a fuck. I got to the point where I was eating fast food for my weekly diet.
I got up to 265 over this past Summer and caught this image of me at a wedding was really fucking tired of feeling bad about myself and tired of being the nice funny fat friend.
I remember thinking how could I let myself get to that point.
I joined a gym and proceeded to do what every fat ass does after joining a gym, never go - ha. I would make up every excuse to myself not to go to the gym for a few months. Until October I committed to going every fucking day (M-F) from now on and I have. Luckily my roommate now and other good friend both go to the same gym, so it's nice to have gym buddies and people to help you out. I also vowed to get my diet on point in October, was okay at that time but I was still eating shit foods and binged a lot after drunken nights.
I started taking supplments (just creatine and beta-alanine) and hit the gym hard. I remember for the first two weeks thinking why the fuck am I doing this!? I was fucking sore all day, if we did arms that day, I knew I would barely be able to move them for the next few days. But after that first few hellish weeks things got better I checked the scale again to see 236 - Damn! Almost 30 lbs since July just from working out and also by starting to keep my diet in check.
This is me October 15th - 236
Still no where I want to be, but def going in the right direction for once in my life!
By this time for the first time since I can honestly remember I've been consistently happy, despite other external factors that are pretty fucking shitty in my life at the moment, it's like all that shit is washed away with this new self worth.
Right around then I decided to cut my intake of alcohol - not become sober, but to get that shit under wraps, since I was still going out getting wasted and eating everything I could find. Basically all that hard work during the week was negated by my drunk ass.
So kept up the diet, excersize, lifting, and not getting drunk anymore has really pushed me down a positive path.
This is from this morning 11/15 @ 226
Anyways again this is more for me to keep tabs so I can look back and easily see my progress as well as my thoughts at the time. If you wish to join in on my weight loss trip that'd be great as well, it's always nice to have some added commitment and motivation.
Current 1 Rep Max
Bench - 185 x 1 (started out barely doing 95 x 3 in August)
Squat - 275 x 1
Deadlift - 335 x 1
Here's a bonus pic from the movember thread
I'll probably make monthly updates - so see you all in December!
Well since breaking up with my gf of almost 2 years, I've decided to really look at my life and make some major changes. The two main ones that I'll discuss are closely related and I'm sure if you've read my blogs in the past or seen about 1/4 my posts you could have guessed what one of the two would be.
1.) Get back into shape and start hitting the gym haaaaarrrrrdddd
-Been going nearly everyday for 45-60min cardio sessions in the morning and a second session Monday-Friday in the afternoon to lift with some friends.
-So far it's been really awesome - I've lost nearly 40 lbs in 4 months (I got fat as fuck... 6'1'' 265 lbs and didn't give a shit about myself)
-Also awesome to see some really big gains (to be expected the first year). To the point where I'm nearly caught up with my buddies who have been lifting for nearly 8 years, and in a few lifts I've already surpassed them.
2.) Stop binge drinking
-Have had an issue with alcohol ever since I was in high school, and it's only really gotten worse since turning 21.
-Hard to keep on a diet when you can drink nearly all your caloric allowance in a span of a single night (not including the drunk munchies that come w that)
So yeah that's basically the health side of things I wanted to discuss. I'll probably post pictures in the next few months or when I'm happy with my progress which is most important to me. I don't have a "weight goal" as I don't see that as a healthy way to lose weight. My goal is actually pretty simple, be happy with myself.
I realize that sounds fucking stupid to some, but I can honestly say I've hated myself and this person I've started portraying for a very long time. Have had depression most of my adult life and I'm honestly turning my life around and it's really exciting for me.
**PSSSSSSSST - another reason to get into shape is somewhat of a selfish reason and it has to do with the next portion of this blog**
TRAVEL!
Anyways this blog is getting kind of long and I had originally wanted to keep it cliffs... blahhh
Okay going to Chicago next weekend to visit my cousin, should be fun to go out and see her and her crew. Haven't been out there in a few years and it's always a lot of fun.
Also just bought my tickets to Swedeeeeeennnnnn for next year's Midsummer, will be out there for a little over 2 weeks. Still planning shit out of what I'll be doing, I want to visit Norway for a few days and see my relatives because I think that'd be fucking badass. Then I'll be heading over to my longtime online buddy who lives in Gusum and we'll be hanging out there and might be planning a road trip all around Sweden. When I get more of an idea of my schedule I'll probably create a thread since I'd want to have a beer with quite a few of you awesome Swedes! Also hopefully by mid June I'll be in a place where my fitness should help me with those legendary Swedish babes I hear so much about :3 hah
Anyways LP - I really hope everyone is doing well and as always take care! I'll leave you with this turrible picture of me from a few days ago.
slept for like 3 hours almost immediately after taking this (been getting my ass kicked in the gym)
Mustache should be pretty awesome come June in Sweden, and I can now finally go as the monopoly man for Halloween (cheapest costume evarrrr)
Ha - naw jk but check out this pretty awesome video which totally nails how I feel about 'spirituality' or whatever you'd like to call it.
Also up for 28 hours now, finally going to crash. Crushed the live limit tables today +6 racks at 8/16 - time to sleep for a few hours then ball it up hard tonight
The other day I overheard someone talk about how life is often a rollercoaster, which is unfortunate for me since I've always feared them as death traps and would often refuse to ride them. I guess that person was right in a lot of ways; but I think it's about time I get over that fear and learn to enjoy the ride.
Rufus - Sundream
Holy Ghost! - Okay
Ejecta - Jeremiah
MsMr - Fantasy
Washed Out - Don't Give Up
Shearwater - I love the valley oh!
London Grammar - Interlude
Magic Man - Texas (you should really just listen to all of their music they have thus far... <3)
Tesla Boy - Spirit of the Night (if you like this one you should check out my blog about going back in time which I have more new retro music)
Nikola Sarcevic - IN Love with a fool
Fenech-Soler - Somebody
Anyways this collection is just the best of what I've been listening to as of late.
Car
----
Ended up getting a 2009 Toyota Camry XLE with 80,000 miles. Bought it for 10,500 which I think was a decent deal.
Dog
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Ended up having some eye issues this past week, they think he'll need entropian surgery (surgery where they cut off some of his eye lids)
Poor pup
Picture of him at my aunts work
Life
----
I will be traveling to Sweden next midsommer! Visiting a longtime friend out there for about two weeks - really excited, I just broke up with my girlfriend and have wanted to take this trip for a long time, booked the ticket the day after we broke up and feel pretty pumped about the adventure I should probably bone up on my Swedish and Swedish culture.
Anyways take care LP
<3
Also if you like this Music You Should Hear - check out the other ones I've made in previous blogs as well ^_^
The car that FINALLY died (tranny went) was quite the car. She was a 1994 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale - aka the boat on wheels. Bought the car when I was 15 for 2500 off of a family friend when it only had 40,000 (old guy lived in florida - basically took it to get groceries and that was it). After years of a few hundred bucks here and there it has finally gotten to the point of the repair is worth more than the car, not to mention I was having more and more issues every 10,000 miles or so - made it up to ~167,500 miles which is okay in my books.
Cars I'm currently looking at is low mileage 2007-2012 affordable midsize cars with decent gas mileage - things like the Hyundai Sonata, Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord in the price range of up to 18k - the only option I'd love to have again (havent had it in about 5 years with my current car) is A/C!
I was looking at hybrid's but the pricing and resale value is still pretty bad to where there's a good chance I don't make up the difference in price vs the gas mileage savings during the lifetime of the car. Not to mention the batteries would need replacing once or twice which is an extra 2k into the hybrid's cost people don't think about.
I'll keep you all informed on what my 'baller' ass gets. Depending on financing options I may just attempt to pay cash, but if there's a sweet deal with a low apr that will help me increase my credit score even more I might do that as well.
If you guys have any other options for potential cars I should be looking into as well please let me know ^_^
Take care LP
Also last weekend went to the cabin and Bagels had a great time, so much so he needed to take about 50 naps in between running around everywhere and playing with some other dogs.
Zane Lamprey - host of Three Sheets and Drinking Made Easy
Ended up tossing 175 at the project - because if you watch one episode you'll see why this should be backed.
It will be more like Three Sheets which is the better of the two shows (imo)
Anyways there ya go - I think you should check out his past stuff (drinking made easy as well as three sheets), play the drinking game ot the shows, and finally sponsor his next project "CHUG"
I think it'll be HUGE for Soccer in the states here.
Also the fact that Beckham wants to purchase a team.
Living in MN it's also very interesting since the new Vikings Football stadium is being built and the owner of the vikings has exclusive rights to an MLS expansion team. (which I hope they buy MN United FC and not start a brand new team)
(surgery where they cut off some of his eye lids)
