A quickie after a yummy dinner out that did not fit the plan!

After this morning’s workout, I am proud to announce I am about to start using my heaviest dumb bells. This is a BIG DEAL! For two reasons. First of all, the fact that I am going up in weights means that my workouts are having an effect. Secondly, it also means I am going to have to consider buying a new pair of dumb bells. Which I have to say, is not fun. The bigger the dumbbells, the more expensive. The next ones are going to hurt the bank balance.

But seriously, have you ever thought about how much money we spend on looking good? I have to say, the money I have spent trying to look good over my life is quite obscene! What with gym memberships in the past, hair cuts, clothes that I think look good, skin care and hair care products, and the like, you really sometimes wonder what is the point? I mean, surely I have better things to do with my money? Having said that, the money I spend is nothing compared to the money some people spend. The idea of regular facials for example. Who really has the money for that? And regular professional hair colouring? Mind you, I am never really going to need to worry about covering grey hair. Mine is going to all fall out before then!

Now, having said that, I do think my workout/reshaping program is worthwhile, and good value for money. I also suspect that the next dumbbells I buy will probably be the last ones I buy for quite a while. I was thinking about this while working out this morning. I want to see what I look like when I get comfortable using this next set of dumbbells, which I have yet to buy. I have this feeling, when I have been using them for a few weeks, and am using them in most of my exercises, I will be starting to have the sort of body I want to have. If that is the case, I probably wont be rushing out to get a bigger pair anytime soon...

Time will tell!!!

Another cold walk home

Well, another day, another walk home. I pushed myself walking home tonight. I am not sure if it was just because it was cold, or because I just wanted to get home, or what, but I got home the fastest I have walked in ages.

I also did my abs this morning, so I have been a good boy today.

Walking home tonight, I realised that my belt is going to need to go in another hole now. This is a good thing. My pants were hanging low as I walked. Not rapper homeboy low, but low enough to make you realise your shape is changing. Thankfully, my butt is too big and round to let them fall far, but it still feels odd and not entirely pleasant when they are loose at the top, but fitting me elsewhere just fine. But, this is a good thing.

On another topic...

My Dr is suspicious I am suffering from low testosterone. I had a blood test that came up fairly low. I had to have another one last week. I am still waiting for results. If it turns out low again, I expect we will be discussing supplementation. I am kind of hoping that will turn out I need extra. It will make my work in changing my shape much easier. Steroids here I come? Maybe!!!

Monday, cold out!

Ok, so day 2, what news? Well, I did manage to walk home. All the way... This is a good thing. I also did a leg workout before work. I think my legs will hate me tomorrow ;-)

But seriously, the old no pain no gain thing does carry some truth. If you do not overwork muscles to exhaustion, you will not get them growing as fast as you can. The trick is the work to exhaustion, then stop. Allow them to recover, then rinse, lather, and repeat....

So, will it work? Will my body respond to the reshaping?

Stay tuned!!

More body thoughts..

Two posts in one day... Aren’t you all lucky? Actually, more likely, I am just working out things in my head, and I need to put then in writing to make sure it all happens, and make sure I commit to them. If you tell the world you are going to do something, and you don’t, you end up looking like a goose, which I know I do not like doing, not that I can speak for anyone else..

Well, today, when I went up to the shops, there was someone selling bathroom scales for $20!!! Needless to say, I bought some.. The results were not pretty. 107.5 kgs. That is almost the heaviest I have ever been, and the heaviest was earlier this year, when I topped out at about 112kgs. Needless to say, this is something I plan to fix.

First thing of course, was upping the exercise. I have taken steps to start on that, as discussed earlier. The next thing is to get serious about the diet. No more carb laden morning tea breaks (sob!). Less beer (ouch!) Less carb laden meals generally. Suddenly I feel like Garfield the cat (“I never met a calorie I did not like”) Seriously, what is it about us loving the stuff we should not be eating, if we are serious about controlling our weights? It is enough to make you turn to drink (he says, swilling some beer!)

Just so you understand where I am coming from, by the way. I am one of those tall guys who never had to worry about their weight, except if they wanted to increase it. I was 70kgs when I was 20. (I am 2 metres tall!) It took about 5 years to get up to 90kgs, with lots of exercise, and eating, trying to lose my natural very skinny look, and gain some bulk and muscle, and generally not look like I could blow over in the wind.

Fast forward 20 years, and I am now almost 110kgs. The weight itself would not be a problem, if it was not for the fact that most, if not all, of the last 15 kgs is fat. So, now I need to work on converting the fat to muscle, and muscle in the right places. Does the fact that my shoulders and arms are telling me tonight they feel used and abused indicate that I am making progress? I hope so! I would so hate to be doing all this work, only to find out that none of it is working..But, as I have learnt previously when trying to change my body shape, do the work, and the results will come. It is just that the results always take so long to happen. Will I stay motivated long enough to get the results I want, that is the $64 question!!

Me? FAT?????

Ok,new blog post time. Some hard facts time, too. I am out of shape. Significantly. Out of shape as in fat. Ok, not fat as in “get thee to Jenny Craig you are about to have a heart attack” fat, but more “I have never seen you this fat before” fat.

Needless to say, I am not terribly happy about this state of affairs. I have started working on doing something about it, but these things take time. I have decided tho, I do want to be seriously in shape by the time summer comes around. By in shape, I mean, run round shirtless showing off shape. Buff. Happy with the way I look, drawing looks from people checking me out, instead of just being the anonymous overweight guy walking round that I currently am. Last summer, I was starting to approach this shape before I stopped working out, and to be honest, I do miss the attention. Being as tall as me does tend to make one eye catching anyway, this tall and in shape? Eye catching assured!!!

So, what am I doing about it? Well, in accordance with my blog title, I have decided enough is enough, life is not a rehearsal. I have started back on the weights in the morning about a month ago. That is starting to get some results. I have also started to walk home from work on an irregular basis. That has to improve. Not irregularly. I need to walk home at least 3 times a week. I accept that sometimes it is not possible, or practical to walk home, but I have now made a goal. Walk home 3 times a week minimum.

So, that covers step 1 and 2. (Step 1, admit the problem, step 2 work out what you are going to do) Step 3, the doing it and step 4 sticking to it are going to be harder. After all, we all know people who have started a weightloss/body reshaping program who quit it within 2-3 months, or less. Hell, I have been guilty of it too, many times. But, I do have everything (well, pretty much) I need to get into this seriously. I have a bench, free weights and time to do it most days. I just need to work to keep the motivation going. So, that is where this blog comes in.

I am going to try to make an effort again blogging. I am going to outline what steps I have done, what steps I am working on, or towards, as I move to my goal of a “beach body”. Hopefully, a bit of public humiliation, or the threat of it, will help me to keep the motivation up, as I work to get my body into a shape I am happy with. If I stop blogging on this, and you notice, post some feedback and I will receive it, and hopefully I will be motivated to get back into it, either the blog or the working out, whichever I have stopped doing!!! (Or both even!)

Scandals...

Ever wondered what it is with the "right" side of the political spectrum and scandals? I mean, really, no one does a good sex scandal like the rightist polical parties do... Currently we are watching a bunch of them in the USA. Sandford is a pretty good one. But he is not the only one atm, there is also Ensign, and others... And that is before we get to all the gay ones. Other countries also tend to have the politcal sex scandals on the right side (Profumo anyone?)

I wonder if it has anything to do with the concept of liberty they supposedly subscribe to. All those personal freedoms they claim to aspire to. But, then, when you add a political theory supposedly about personal freedoms, and add in the current obsession for courting the religious groups. Suddenly you have a group that believes in personal freedoms, trying to reconcile with a group who is all about personal morality. You just know it is not going to work. And sure enough, all that happens is people try to hide what they are doing, but then of course, these sort of things always have a habit of showing themselves and coming out into the open... And, when they come out into the open from politicians claiming to be upright moral types, you just know it is going to get ugly, messy, or just plain farcical. Or, all of the above!!

Random thoughts

Hmm... It has been a while since I last posted here hasn't it?? The last time, we were still watching that crazy thing called the American Elections, watching breathlessly as we hoped that hope might actually triumph over a tired old jaundiced view of the world, that seemed to offer more of the same. We were wondering what the world was coming to, as the dreaded GFC continued to wend its way through the financial centres of the world, wreaking havoc on the importance that people felt they had, and generally making good old fashioned virtues like thrift, and living within your means, suddenly become sensible again, and debt suddenly becoming this toxic thing that no one wanted to touch with a 20 foot pole, or even a 30 foot Litvak ;-)

These days.. Well, some of those things have changed. We now have the unlikely situation of a coloured man elected to the role of the "Leader of the Free World" as some people still breathlessly refer to the US President. We have a Govt in Australia that seems to be doing its best to back pedal on all its good green policies. We have sports stars getting caught up in sex scandals again. We still have a GFC wreaking havoc in the world....

Hmm.. OK, maybe somethings have not changed that much..

So, what can we do?? Well, to be honest, one of the reasons I have not posted much here, is sometimes I wonder, what can we do? I mean, I am just one voice, not a particularly well known one, just one more crying out in the wilderness for something to change, for people to learn to treat each other with a bit of respect a basic human decency. For the media organisations of the world to realise that reporting is about more than just jumping on the latset band wagon and flogging it till it falls over dead like the proverbial horse, then move onto the next thing. And for Governments to realise that governing is about more than just winning the news cycle, that we elect them to do something for us as a nation (hopefully) or at least, to try to make a difference in the world for good or bad (and depending on which side of the political fence you sit, my good may be your bad). And for sport stars to realise, that just because they are adored by millions, given more money than they deserve, simply because they do something well most of us struggle to even do at all, and usually look good doing it, does not give then the right to treat other people as if they were trash, just because they can. Yes, women (and more than a few men) are going to throw themselves at you, but that does not give you the right to treat them as if they were trash, then hand them over to your mates for them to do the same. When that sort of thing happens, there is no way that anyone can honestly say that consent was obtained by all those involved. It does not matter if consent was obtained by one or 2, when you are dealing with a group situation tag teaming on one woman, every man needs to make sure that woman gives consent to them. I still do not understand why some people do not get this...

The Sarah Pain Email....

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/kilkenny.asp

Is Sarah Palin a fraud???

Daily Kos thinks so...

Sarah Palin Is NOT The Mother [Photos+Video]

by ArcXIX

Sat Aug 30, 2008 at 01:12:31 PM PDT

Yesterday, with the news of Sarah Louise Heath Palin inexplicably being chosen as a Vice-Presidential nominee, the attentive American public was also introduced to her character. Unfortunately for all of us, it was filled with multiple instances of backtracking and outright lies. While Alaskans had been giving her an 80% approval rating, recently 87% of Alaskans polled on the subject of TrooperGate believed she was lying.

Now, I've known liars in my life. Their single core problem is not with themselves, but those around them. If they're never called out on their twisting of truths and fabrications, they simply continue to make larger lies.

Well, Sarah, I'm calling you a liar. And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better.

• ArcXIX's diary :: ::
• 
  

The story begins on March 6th, when Sarah decided to come forward and announce to the world that she was pregnant, a monumental occasion for an acting Governor. Republican Governor Jane Maria Swift of Massachusetts was the first sitting Governor in United States history to give birth in office just seven years before, and now here we were once again. Yet, no one could believe the news:

JUNEAU -- Gov. Sarah Palin shocked and awed just about everybody around the Capitol on Wednesday when she announced she's expecting her fifth child.

...

Palin said she's already about seven months along, with the baby due to arrive in mid-May.

That the pregnancy is so advanced astonished all who heard the news. The governor, a runner who's always been trim, simply doesn't look pregnant.

Even close members of her staff said they only learned this week their boss was expecting.

"I thought it was becoming obvious," Palin said. "You know, clothes getting snugger and snugger."

But people just couldn't believe the news.

"Really? No!" said Bethel state Rep. Mary Nelson, who is close to giving birth herself.

"It's wonderful. She's very well-disguised," said Senate President Lyda Green, a mother of three who has sometimes sparred with Palin politically. "When I was five months pregnant, there was absolutely no question that I was with child."

...

Palin said she's not aiming to take any time off from her job as governor, assuming all goes well with the pregnancy.

...

With Palin riding extraordinarily high popularity ratings, pundits have mentioned her as a potential vice presidential candidate. But she said Wednesday night she's "not pursuing or perpetuating it," adding, "I have no desire to leave my job at all as governor."

...

She's known as a fashion plate, but said she hasn't been dressing differently to cover her barely perceptible bulge.

Funny quote on her having no desire for the Vice-Presidency aside, the article is direly clear. No one knew she was pregnant, not even her own staff. Quite a feat. Why the secrecy? Sarah has never given an answer, and upon further reading, no one has bothered to ask.

Seven months into a pregnancy, and no one noticed.

Even Harry Houdini would be impressed.

And how could anyone tell? Sarah's waistline never changed. Her wardrobe still remained tight and professional. In a video posted in February (nearing five months of pregnancy at the time), Sarah is seen trim, and walking around all of Juneau, Alaska.

@5:50

..."I like running the hills, it kills me, that's why I like it, I mean it thrashes your guts..."

Not exactly terminology said by a pregnant mother. Six months into pregnancy, she attended the National Governor's Association at the White House:

After previous pregnancies (in this case, four), and at later ages, the female body is meant to adjust and show changes earlier, not later as in Sarah's unprecedented case.

On Friday, April 18th, 2008, Sarah and her husband Todd were in Dallas, Texas for a Republican Governor's Convention. They had been in town for three days already, but Sarah had yet to give her keynote speaker address on energy policy. Then early Friday morning at 4:00am, Sarah began leaking amniotic fluid. Instead of checking into a hospital, she instead made a call to her doctor, and delivered the keynote speech.

"I was not going to miss that speech," she says.

She rushed so quickly from the podium afterwards that Texas Gov. Rick Perry nervously asked if she was about to deliver the baby then.

The oddities only grow from here on, as instead of rushing to a Dallas medical facility that could treat a mother who's amniotic fluid has been draining for hours on end (made even more crucial due to the fact that this is occurring a full month prematurely), Sarah & Todd instead opted to... Fly all the way back from Texas to Alaska. A dangerous choice, as with each pregnancy (once again, in this case after four previous), a mother's window of labor to delivery grows shorter and shorter.

Aboard Alaska Airlines, the flight lasted for eight hours, with an additional landing in Seattle. The majority of commercial airlines require mothers seven months pregnant to provide a doctor's letter to fly, but Sarah did not inform the airline of her condition. Alaska Airlines is one of the few airlines that do not require such a notice, despite the possibility of an emergency landings being required in such scenarios. That said, no one on board noticed that Sarah was going into labor:

"We leave the decision to fly up to our customers and their medical advisers," according to Alaska Airlines representative Caroline Boren.

...

"Governor Palin was extremely pleasant to flight attendants and her stage of pregnancy was not apparent by observation as she didn’t show any signs of distress," Boren said.

Eight months pregnant. A 6.2 pound fetus. No one notices a visible trace. By the third trimester, a perfectly fit woman not wearing anything less than a space suit should be easily spotted as pregnant. Not in Sarah's case.

The plane then made a landing in Anchorage, Alaska. Does Sarah then visit a medical facility that can accommodate a premature birth in Alaska's most equipped city? No. She drives 45 minutes away, to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, right outside the small village she used to govern as Mayor, Wasilla. Trig Palin is then delivered one month premature, Friday night. Sarah returned to work after three days.

The inherent need to absolutely have Trig delivered in a remote and possibly ill-equipped facility for premature deliveries, where Sarah would likely have numerous contacts and pull, does not sit well. The doctor, Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, approving of all of these actions borders on malpractice. Not treating leaking amniotic fluid causes infections, and time is of the essence after water breaks. Husband Todd Palin simply delivers this winner of a line:

"You can't have a fish picker from Texas," said Todd.

A poor motivation, to be sure. Another motivation began making its rounds in the Alaskan legislature, where everyone was initially shocked to hear the news.

Sarah Palin was not pregnant with child.

Her sixteen year-old daughter was.

Checking with the Anchorage High School that Bristol Palin attended, reporters were given word that her family had taken Bristol out of school due to contracting infectious mononucleosis. The amount of time Bristol was absent shifts from five to eight months.

Mono can last anywhere from two weeks to three months, but an eight month infection is a freak oddity. Yet it remains a common excuse given by girls in private & Catholic schools around the nation when pregnancy comes into play. Not the first time, not the last time.

The following photograph of Bristol has been dated late 2007:

Bristol is pregnant in these pictures. She is not carrying belly fat, which grows outwardly wide, and does not become dome-shaped. That's because fat is generally evenly distributed around the abdomen and a fetus is not. Bristol's chest is sticking out, a normal body reaction when sucking in stomach muscles.

Yesterday, the State of Alaska has also moved Sarah's photo page three different times from

http://gov.state.ak.us/...

to

http://www1.gov.state.ak.us/...

to

http://gov.state.ak.us/...

... With losses of photos from January & April.

The final point of interest is that Trig Palin has been diagnosed with Down's syndrome (aka trisomy 21). This is an interesting point, as chances of having offspring with Down's Syndrome increases from under 1% to 3% after a mother reaches the age of 40. However, 80% of the cases of Down's Syndrome are in mother's under the age of 35, through sheer quantities of births in this age group.

People like to think the vetting process is secure, and completed months ahead of time, but ABC News has reported otherwise, painting a picture of a quick vetting process for Sarah by a small, but secretive group of McCain's legal staff. A proper vetting process under those circumstances would only go so far, and the true media vetting process has just begun.

It doesn't come as a surprise that this story was never properly researched. Palin was never on the National scene for more than a few minutes at a time, and local reporting only goes so far on a governor with an 80% approval rating. However, the motivation to cover daughter's pregnancy aligns with her political standings. She valiantly did not perform an abortion, but fell into the fundamentalist way of thinking, and covered up for the illicit (but natural) action's of her daughter.

There could be calls below to delete this information. Calls that this type of information is muckraking and 'below us'. The truth is not below any progressive, nor any citizen of the world that is one heartbeat away from having Palin as leader of the free world. We simply ask that she be forthright, honest, and not waste our time with such juvenile games that anyone with eyes can see as fabrication.

Bristol Palin rightfully should be able to embrace her child in public as her own, with no shame, and no quarter. And a mother should be just as accepting.

(I did not post the pictorial evidence, but it is all available on DailyKos in the link below. It looks pretty damning to me...)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/121350/137

And just because people do not seem to know about it...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/health/research/30aids.html

This is an absolute scandal!!!