Entry
One Hundred Ninety-One.
Wednesday, 2015.06.03, 7:47 AM CST.
A
journey of self-modification.
Current Mood: Busy. Busy
and a bit exhausted. Possibly too busy.
Current Scent: Very Sexy for Him by Victoria's Secret.
 I've
heard that it takes 21 days to pick up and reinforce a habit.
Well, a good habit. I suppose that a bad habit, like heroin or
crack, would probably take a bit less time. Luckily, I've never
done heroin or crack, so hooray for me. Anyway, this blog entry
is about trying my best to pick up some good habits and stick with them.
You
know, I don't normally talk about my age a lot here. I think that
a lot of you probably know that I'm one of the "older" DJs
in the Tulsa area, but you can't pinpoint how old I am.
At
the time of this writing, I am forty-three years old. I have been
told by a lot of people that I don't look forty-three.
Heck, even I don't think that I look forty-three, and I certainly
don't feel forty-three.
But,
yeah... If you check my birth certificate, I apparently AM forty-three.
Over
the years, for the most part, I've taken care of myself. Even
though these may have nothing to do with it, here are the main factors
to which I attribute my appearance:
- I've
been a vegetarian for over fifteen years.
- I
try to stay out of the sun as much as I can.
- I
exfoliate and moisturize my face regularly.
(That's actually a major help.)
- I
shave my head. :)
- I
try to "think young."
Now,
that
last one's a big deal. Like I said above, I don't feel
forty-three. I'm still amazed at how many responsibilities I have
sometimes, because it still astounds me that I'm past forty. I
have a wife, two sons, and bills aplenty. What?!
I
seriously, quite often, feel like my 20s were just days earlier, and
I don't know what the hell happened to the last twenty years of my life.
:)
All
that being said, I've bungled a few things along the way:
- I've
never been good about watching what I eat (despite the vegetarianism).
- Exercise
and I have never quite gotten along. I've bought some exercise
gear and tried a few times over the past fifteen years, but I could
never really get "dedicated."
So,
I've never been in great shape. I've never been a train wreck,
but I've never been in great shape.
At
my worst, five years or so back, I was up close to the 210-pound mark.
Not good.
Well,
in 2013, for a few different reasons, I decided that it was finally
time to change things a bit. I invested in Shaun T's "Focus
T25" program. That's the 25-minute workout program developed
by the guy who came up with the "Insanity" program you've
probably seen in infomercials.
So,
yeah... "Focus T25" just about kicked my ass. Within
the first five minutes of my first workout, I had to pause it to take
a break... three times if I remember correctly. It was tough,
but I pushed through and I kept at it. I used the "modified"
versions of the workouts when I could, and when there were exercises
I knew I couldn't do due to my lower back, I just substituted other
exercises.
I
started adding a bit of light weightlifting using some dumbbells that
I'd owned for a while, and I did some research into workout supplements
such as whey protein powder, something I'd never really thought much
about. I tried to make it a daily routine to go through a T25
workout then lift weights for a bit.
It
started working. I started developing some visible muscle tone,
especially in my arms. I started feeling a bit better. I
continued that through the end of 2013... and then, in early 2014, I
had a setback. I was walking my son X to the bus stop one morning
when I slipped on some ice and fell flat on my back. I didn't
break anything (to my knowledge), but I didn't feel like working out...
so I dropped back into my routine of not exercising very much at all.
Another
year passed, and in early 2015, I saw some inspirational Facebook posts
by my friend Liz "The Triminator" Trim - a local wrestling
personality and one of the funniest people in Tulsa. I knew that
she had recently dedicated herself to losing weight and getting into
better shape, and she kept mentioning the progress that she was making
using the "DDP Yoga" program made popular by former pro wrestler
"Diamond" Dallas Page.
 So,
I sent her a private message and asked her if it was all it was cracked
up to be, because I'd never really thought of yoga as a high-intensity
program. She gave it her honest approval, saying that not only
was she losing weight but her former back pain had become greatly diminished.
He also pointed me towards a video showing the incredible transformation
of a disabled veteran named Arthur Boorman using the DDP Yoga program.
(It'll probably be easy to find if you do a search for "DDP Yoga"
and "Arthur.")
That
was it for me. As soon as I could, I ordered it up, had it sent
my way, and gave it a try. As I explained to Liz, I wasn't looking
to get rid of my "Focus T25;" I was going to intermittently
switch back and forth between the two programs.
So
far, I've tried workouts from the first two of the six DDP Yoga DVDs,
and they've been more intense than any "yoga" I've ever seen
before. DDP overplays his own character a little bit, which makes
it a little cheesy at times... but it's fun overall. I can tell
that it could very likely make a major difference if one were to devote
themselves strictly to the program.
Around
the same time that I ordered the DDP Yoga set, though, my wife and I
talked a lot about possibly joining a gym. Lanna had attended
gyms before, but I had never even considered the option.
We
decided to try a place called Sky Fitness - a notably modern facility
in the heart of Tulsa, close to both of our day jobs, with another facility
out south if we needed it.
Upon
our first tour of the facility, I was blown away with how clean
the place was. I had always imagined gyms to be kind of grungy,
dirty places reeking of sweat and overblown bravado. Not here.
We were guided around by a concierge named Wendy Osbourne (spectacular
person... if you ever decide to go to Sky, make sure to look
her up!), who pointed out all of the various amenities - including on-site
child care, which was pretty much a necessity.
[I'm
giving it such a glowing review that I feel the need to note that nobody's
paid me for saying any of this.]
At
the time of this writing, I have now been going to Sky, on average,
at least three times per week for about three and a half months, and
when I'm at home, I'm still doing occasional workouts with both Focus
T25 and DDP Yoga. I'm watching my food intake and trying really
hard to keep myself at least somewhat disciplined. I've even had
a couple of my three freebie appointments (included with gym membership)
with one of Sky's personal trainers, a guy named Joe Roberson.
He's a bright guy who knows his stuff, and if you're into earnest training
with a good amount of teaching, he's your guy. I'm unfortunately
not going to continue with paid sessions with Joe due to budget constraints,
but I've appreciated the information he's given me so far tremendously.
So,
there it is. I'm working hard, and progress is being made.
Weight-wise, I've made my way back into the 180s, which feels great,
and numerous people have noticed the weight loss, which feels AWESOME.
I'm trying to make my way to 185 - my first big goal! - and then hopefully
work myself down a bit further from there.
As
I've said to a number of people in the past, part of my recently-acquired
general philosophy is that "nobody makes
it out alive." Everybody dies eventually (subjective
thoughts regarding an afterlife notwithstanding). You don't get
to pump in an extra quarter for a second go-round, so you'd better make
this life count. (Please note that this is very different from
the contemporary saying "YOLO" - an acronym for "You
Only Live Once" - which is generally used as an excuse by young
people to do a lot of stupid crap.)
I've
seen a lot of people around my age - personal acquaintances,
people in the public light, and others - who have just let themselves
go to hell. It's like they just stopped caring at some point.
I wasn't quite on that path, but I definitely wasn't taking good care
of myself, and I needed to make some changes. I don't mean to
"pat myself on the back" too much, but I'm very pleased with
my progress thus far.
I
don't have a really amazing "after" photo for you yet.
(In fact, the picture at the top of this blog entry is actually from
a few months back.) I'm definitely showing progress, especially
in the muscle buildup in my arms, but I want to make a lot more visible
progress before I really decide to "show off." For now,
I'm just happy that I'm pretty much going in the right direction...
and I hope to continue to do so.
Lots
of thanks to everyone... More soon!
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