Let Freedom Sing or Rap I Guess

Being a musician, music is a big part of my life. I love the way "Rage Against the Machine" makes me want to drive faster, "Jane's Addiction" can mellow me out, and "Kenny Rogers" can take me back to Highway 1 heading towards Cabo San Lucas. I cannot imagine my life without music.

Well, with this new workout aspect of my life, I have found that music can make or break my exercise routine. I made the mistake of choosing this old cassette (I just got my iPod back from Apple!) that was a mix tape I made long long ago. Well, the first couple of songs were good but when a Creed song came on, I had to dash to the radio to shut it off! What the hell was I thinking?!??! Oh please, I hope no one heard that crap streaming from under my garage door! I freaked out and had to start digging in old boxes to find something to redeem myself with.

Luckily, staring at me from atop a pile o' tapes was C & C's Music Factory! I threw that in and let Freedom's (Williams that is) sound fill my garage and fuel my workout. Whatever happened to that guy? And seriously, how can you NOT want to sweat when you are singing "Gonna make you sweat!" Awesome.

FYI - He'll make you sweat til you bleed.

Do you see what I see?

I am used to my arm moving around in the wind or a few minutes after I was just waving to someone but all the movement I am used to happens on the bottom part of my arm. So what is this?

There is this strange bump under my skin that moves a little when I grab a hold of something. Almost as if, nah... could it be muscle? I have heard of them before but I don't think I have officially been introduced to them. Wow!

So, I guess the pain I feel all over my body is a good thing? It may not be much friends but I actually see movement in my arms and chest when I flex! Who knew I could see some minor (major to me) results so quickly. My legs have always been strong since they have to carry around my fat ass so at least my legs look decent.

Now what to do with this Ice Cream scooper booty? Hmmmm......

That's my boy!

So I lost one pound this week. WHOOP DEE DO! LOL I shouldn't be like that friends. A pound is a pound and hey, at least I didn't gain right? Anyhow, now that I have my little routine going I need to make some better choices food wise. I will have to talk more about that tomorrow.

I have better news!

My son's soccer team just whooped butt this weekend and are now the Area E Champions! I am so proud of him and his team. This being his rookie year playing soccer makes it all the more sweet. Finally a sweetness that doesn't jack up my BG! LOL

Oh by the way, how great is my wife? Last night she made Pazookies with sugarfree cookies and no sugar added Vanilla Ice Cream and topped it all off with Sugar Free Hot Fudge!

I am one blessed guy no doubt!

OCD is AOK

To those of you who know me this will come as no surprise but I have discovered, by the help of many websites and family members, that I am a tad OCD. I tend to get very obsessive about things in my life. Not in a way that I find hinders my life but it is definately there.

With that, I am quite the creature of habit and if I do not incorporate something into my daily routine then it just doesn't happen. So now I can tell you that I am seriously becoming an exercise freak! I have the weight bench, punching bag, AND I moved the tread mill from my bedroom into the garage. All of these great tools to get healthy are at my disposal and since I started exercising, i have not been able to stop.

I think about it all day. As i stretch and feel the burning in my stomach from sit-ups, I get excited about pushing myself to do even more then I did last night. And when I walk around the office, I feel the pain in my legs knowing that I worked my tush off last night (although there is still a lot of tush left to lose!).

It's such a great feeling. That pain is a reminder of all the work I have done but getting back to the OCD thing. Everything I read says that I should take days off to rest but that is just not possible for someone like me. If I don't exercise each day then I know I will not continue. Wish me luck and hopefully I will not strain myself to the point that I cannot even step on the scale tomorrow for my first weigh-in!

My first weeks results tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Lake Minataka

So I finally spent some time in the garage last night working out and let me tell you, hitting a speed bag continuously throughout Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” is not as easy as it sounds. I hit the heavy bag through “Take Me With you” and stretched through “The Beautiful ones.” “Computer Blue” really worked for my sit ups which I was able to do a lot more then I ever thought I could and “Darling Nikki” required a water break and maybe an interpretive dance (does that count as cardio?). When I flipped my cassette over after I cut short “DN” due to that weird reverse speaking part at the end, I started bench pressing weight to “When Doves Cry” and man I may have joined in with the doves near the end there! Then the one-two punch of “I Would Die 4 U” & “Baby I’m a Star” that took me into the toughest part of my work out. “IWD4U” was a combo of leg presses and some curls but “BIAS” was so great that I could not help myself and ended up hitting the speed bag until the final cool down and stretching during “Purple Rain”

My iPod died so cassettes are all I have to choose from until I get it back from Apple. Thank you Prince. Thank you Lisa and Wendy. And thank you oh waters of Lake Minataka.

What's in the Bag?

So yesterday I decided to check out the little bag o' goodies I received at the weight in on Saturday. If you are wondering why it took me so long, you can read the blogs below. :) Not to mention the fact that it wasn't thrown in a drawer or closet somewhere was a pretty big accomplishment in the first place!

Each person that signed up for the challenge received a logbook and being a diabetic, I am familiar with these things. I have several packed away somewhere and all of them have about 4 days logged, never in order, and never complete. I guess this is why I purchased a blood glucose monitor that stores and logs automatically and then is uploaded to my PC! SWEET!

Anyhow, I decided to take a look at my book and figured I would try using it. What a surprise! My breakfast and lunch choices that I have practically daily are really not very calorie packed. So that made me realize that my big problem is my dinner choices.

I love the internet. I was able to find nutrition info on almost every restaurant and Fast Food joint around and it really helped me look and choose which foods would be best for dinner. and did you ever notice that EVERYTHING has the calorie content right on the package?!?!?

Yes, i did feel like an idiot but counting calories is really not that big of a deal when you look at it as a game. Ok, you had a 100 calorie packet of oatmeal this morning with 2 packs of splenda and a tablespoon of butter substitute (another 80)! Then your can of soup was 110 calories and those 5 crackers added another 80 calories on top of that! Drink your 8 glasses of water. Only drink Diet soda and you are doing good before din din time. With exercise and a low calorie dinner I should be good to go and struttin my stuff in no time!

TV is the DEVIL!

Well, not only TV but my computer too! Last night I was up until about 1:30AM reintalling my computer. The good side was that I now have 4 DVD's with all of my pictures, Music, and important files as back up in case my computer ever decides to stop working for whatever reason but boy am I tired!

I also had to watch the second half of the 24 premier and honestly, 24 is the best television show I have ever seen. It's better then most movies! I would highly recommend it. The key friends is to watch it after you exercise. Yes, it has been only a couple of days and I still have not begun my exercise regimin that I was so excited and motivated to begin.

Let's make tonight the night shall we?

Plans always change.

So my weight bench took a lot longer then I thought it would. Anyhow, I got it all put together yesterday after rearranging my garage, dumping a bunch of crap we have been storing for no reason, and lots of cleaning. Man, garages get muy chochino! Anyhow, tonight I will being exercising.

The bench we purchased is really cool. You can do lots of stuff on it and it didn't break the bank. Sears had a great sale on fitness stuff this weekend. Anyhow, the weight bench came with a cool exercise chart so I can work all those muscles that have been in hibernation since I was a preteen so this should be very interesting. My wife went to the store and bought lots of food yesterday. Most if it is green which scares me.

I also apoligize for not posting yesterday. On top of everything, I am having some computer issues but I think I have it all figured out now.

Weigh in at Brea Mall

So I just got back from the Brea mall weighing in and getting signed up for the challege. I made sure I went out and had the ritual "last supper" before the diet begins. It consisted of 2 chili rellenos, beans, rice, and flour torillas. Oh and don't forget the Diet Coke!

So my scale read 10 pounds lighter yesterday. I usually weigh in wearing my birthday suit before my shower so could i actually be wearing 10 pounds worth of clothes and Bling? Do chili rellenos pack that much lard to my ass? Who knows! so I threw a 10 pound weight on my scale when i got home and it started blinking and then died. I stepped on it and it basically said "screw you" and shut off so now I am going to have to make an emergency run to the Target (pronounced Tarz Jyay) for a new scale.

I am putting together my new weight bench tonight and will being my exercise regimen tomorrow. Sweet!

Welcome to the Slimmons Blog. Yes you read that correctly. I am going to post my trials and challenges as I begin an 8 week National Body Challenge that is being set up by the Discovery Health Channel. Me and 15 others, including my wife, are going to each throw some money into a pot and the biggest loser at the end of the challenge takes it all. I figure that is a small price to pay to motivate myself and others to get healthier this year.

I have already purchased some exercise equipment that is nothing major but enough to keep me busy and hopefully shed some LBS's.