The journey will never end!!

Twenty-eight or so weeks ago I ended my first blog with saying, “I know that I will never reach pro status nor be the biggest, but when I walk on that stage I can say with confidence that I have fully committed myself to be in the best physical shape possible.” That many months later, I can fully say that I committed myself to being in the best possible shape and because of that I am able to write this blog with a happy soul.

There is a moment in life when light illuminates that which darkness hides. It is in the illumination of the things we hide in darkness that humanity realizes its faults and short-comings. For me, this sums up the last two years of my life. This journey to a healthy body illuminated the things that I hid from those I love the most. In other words, I have battled my insecurities and conquered my lust of gluttony.

            Many of you have been following my journey over the last couple of month’s leading up to my first two competitions, and for that I am eternally grateful. I am not sure how much more I am going to be blogging due to the increased work load I will endure during this off-season. So, with that said, I am going to try to be concise and prudent with my words. Just because I have reached the summit of this first peak does not mean I am any where nearer my ultimate goals and achievements. It is great to achieve goals, but it is greater to set goals. I have tasted the greatness that comes from the finishing of a goal, but I am hungrier for the journey. I am stone set on achieving more goals and achieving is that which motivates me every day.

            Since the completion of competition season I have been back on my insane regiment of dieting and working out. There is nothing greater than knowing I am pushing myself farther from what I used to be and closer to what I need to be. Life is nothing more than a heroic attempt to become that which we were created to be and during the short time from my last show there is nothing that has rung truer. We are adding muscle this off-season, twenty or so pounds of muscle to be exact, while at the same time trying to control my body fat. Now, for a former fatty, that is something that concerns me, but I know that it’s just another peak I must summit. I get the occasional cheat meal here and there, but it’s the transition from cheat meal to the diet meal that excites me.

With every bite of food I take and every pound I lift I become more of the man my father envisioned I would become. It’s as if the man my father always saw in me during my “fatter years” is peering out of the darkness and into the light. And for that, I am completely humbled. My mind is stronger than it was yesterday and my soul is becoming clearer to me every moment I am awake. This change in my life is something I will never forget, but it is something I can not dwell on. I must realize that my determination and mind-set is what will control my ultimate destiny. I need to continue to become that which I desire to be and that which I was created to be. These two things must become one if I want to continue to progress.

I will not falter at the canyons that might meet me on the next turn in this journey. I will overcome that which others bow down to and I will be the Old Iron Warrior that many people said I would never be.

No Matter what life's challenges I have learned YOU NEVER GIVE UP!!

A man of a secluded nature like me has a hard time writing things such as the following. So in all honesty, please hang in there with me as I try to expose my self to a light that few dare to stand in.

 In March 2010, my cardiologist frantically told me that I was staring down the barrel of a gun filled with heart attacks, high blood pressure, an irregular heart beat, cholesterol in the 240 range and a 60 percent blocked carotid artery. The loss of a father to a major heart attack truly scared the shit out of me and left me with two options. Either get healthy or go under the knife. I was almost dead broke, in the process of losing my home, and wasn’t doing anything other than lying around feeling sorry for myself. I was so depressed and felt I was at my wits end.

 After finding a job in December 2010 and digesting the news of my health concerns I finally walked back into Gold’s Gym. I will admit I was so extremely embarrassed to be back that I almost walked out before my first set. That was also the first day I had see or talked to Dusty in over a year. I was so violently stricken with nerves when approaching him because of what I become in such a short time. Our conversation was very brief, but hearing him speak the words “I’m glad to see you back” rung in my head for days. The idea that a man who works harder than anyone I have ever met being happy for me was almost too much to handle.

 I gave up on myself for a year and I will never do that again. I have learned that you never ever give up on yourself no matter what life throws you. I started this journey on April 4^th 2010 weighing 236 pounds. As of this morning I weigh a boyish 162 pounds and I am in the best shape of my life. I have had a complete check up with my cardiologist, and her professional opinion was that I have the heart of a twenty year old now and the changes I have made are more than remarkable.

 “No matter where you are in life right now, no matter who you are, no matter how old you are – it is never too late to be who you are meant to be.”

Fat guy in a little coat!!

There’s a scene from the Hollywood movie Tommy Boy where Tommy (Chris Farley) and Richard (David Spade) are sitting in a cheap motel room planning out there next day’s sales plans… Tommy, in his infinite wisdom, decides to put on Richard’s sports coat… For those of you whom have not seen the movie, Tommy weighs a healthy 360 or so while Richard weighs a buck-fifty dripping wet… As Tommy is putting on Richard’s coat, Richard becomes upset warning Tommy to take it off… The following exchange takes place…

Tommy: “Fat guy in a little coat… Fat guy in a little coat…” (Tommy says while spinning in circles like a little child)

Richard: “Take it off dick-head, I’m serious!!”

Tommy: “Richard…. What the…..” (Tommy bends over and pushes hands together… Then a LARGE ripping sound ensues)

For the full effect one should rent the movie or look the scene up on youtube… I use this example because when I started this journey, my weight belt felt like Richard’s sports coat… I am officially down seven notches from when I started this ridiculous path… If I had tried to wear my belt a year ago, where I have it now, I would have looked like the Michelin man!

I am two weeks out from the big day and I have to say that there is nothing greater than planning for the future… Human beings were created to strive for something more… Soooooo, what did I do? Dusty and I started planning for 2012… Starting in the New Year I will be gaining 15 to 20 pounds of muscle… Now, I know what you are thinking “HA HA, 15 or 20 pounds?!! You won’t have a neck after that much weight is added!”

Oh contraire my virtual friends…

I can only imagine the amount of muscle I will be adding in the next year… I have made so much progress this year that I have decided that the sky is the limit… This is only the beginning… I have learned to manipulate my body into a lean, mean fat killing machine… Thus, over the next year or so I will be turning it into a lean, mean muscle adding machine…

There is no greater time in a man’s life when he realizes his full potential… I will not falter and succumb to the mediocrity of society… Instead, I will be triumph in my quest for accomplishment… I hope to power through the next two weeks and leave my first show excited and determined to do better for the next show in November… And when I finish that I hope to use that show as a launching pad for 2012…

Failure is NOT AN OPTION!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGWbt3DSje0

Getting close to my first show, but the journey will never end!!

A famous lady once said, “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.” Who was that lady? None other than the infamous Julia Child, the Goddess of that which is edible… A funny saying now, but I have a question for Mrs. Child, what if part of your diet food includes said steak?! BAM! What now Goddess of the kitchen?!
There are few times in life when something controls you. When something is so vital to your existence that once it is removed colors become dull, lights are all one color, colognes and perfumes begin to smell like prime rib, French fries and cheesecakes… It’s bad enough that I work in a restaurant, but to not be able to gorge on any of the wonderful delectable’s being served is something that can eat away at the average man…
But I am humbly not the average man… I am a man who has switched his diet more times than a street-walker changes partners, more times than a NASCAR driver changes tires… I have changed my diet more times than Lindsey Lohan has been to rehab… Each change was to serve a purpose, to push my body to the next level.
None of my previous diets have affected me with such force and tenacity like this one… I eat six times a day… For those of you normal people eating McDonald’s or In-N-Out right now… Eat this:

Meal One

2 scoops ISO 100 (protein), ¾ cup of oats

Meal Two

2.5 scoops of ISO 100

Meal Three

7 oz of Tilapia, 8 oz of green beans

Meal Four

7 oz of Tilapia, 8 oz of green beans

Meal Five

6 oz salmon, one green salad

Meal Six

10 egg whites

Never in my life have I felt so driven and so dedicated to push my self to new heights… There is nothing greater in life than finding a new gear… Much like the same way a car is shifted into another gear, my body has been shifted into third… Eating these foods has exploded my body into a weight lifting machine…
I am no longer just focused on my show… While it is still a HUGE focus of mine, the progress I have made in the last few weeks has geared my focus on the future… Not to my second show, or to two years down the road… Rather I am focused on where I will be in the next five to ten years…
Sure, I might be older than most guys in the gym ten years from now... But I can promise you that I will be the most dedicated and focus person in any gym I walk into… Besides those younger guys still have to look forward to losing their hair… That fear waved bye-bye to me long ago! I will continue to climb this mountain till my time on earth is done… Oh and one more thing, less hair = less resistance to wind during my cardio!

From the beginning of time people find things or people that inspire them… People such as Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr and Mother Theresa have been known to inspire people all over the world… Thus, you can understand my confusion when I hear people telling me that what I am doing is an inspiration to them… In other words, I am their inspiration? Really?! Me?!

An inspiration is somebody like Pat Tillman… Here’s a man who gave up his life for something he believed in… What’s a greater gift than laying down your life for somebody else? Answer, NOTHING… Pat is an inspiration… He is something people should model their lives after… He is somebody that lived outside his 3 dimensional world-view and strived for something greater than himself…

Let’s get one thing straight… I do not, nor will I ever, view myself as an inspiration… All I am doing is following a desire that I have in my heart… The things that Martin Luther King Jr did are an inspiration… A woman that I have never meet except for reading her story on facebook that was told a year ago she will never walk again on her own refuses to never give up on her pursuit to prove all doctors wrong is an inspiration… But a man who is disciplined and resolute to achieving his goals shouldn’t be an inspiration… Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely flattered by all the compliments I have been given, but I am just a mere man trying to achieve a goal… Nothing different or grandiose when compared to 98 percent of the world…

Whew, now that I have that off my chest I can move on with the more exciting stuff… I am happy to report that the pain in my shoulder has receded to a manageable level and I am back to totally kicking ass at the gym… No more of this sissy crap… Dusty and I have radically changed my diet to such a ridiculous consumption of fish that I have contemplated starting my own fish farm to make mass feeding more efficient for me… HA HA!

But in all seriousness, this new diet is OUT OF CONTROL! So much so, that I have lost seven pounds in the first two days… It has allowed me to increase my overall weight lifting to such a ridiculous level that I am most definitely quite impressed… (Insert Ron Burgundy line here)…

This is exciting… I love the person I am becoming… The mottos that I have lived my life by are becoming the foundations of my everyday activities… In life there failure is not an option… There are too many things in life trying to destroy you and bring you down that if you settle for anything less than success you will fail… Thus, failure is NOT AN OPTION!

In the beginning of this blog I mentioned that I do not view myself as an inspiration and I am sure that this man doesn’t view himself as one either, but I have to say that being this close to show time Dusty’s guidance and direction have been paramount for me… He has opened my eyes to the window of my soul and shown me that you don’t have to be 5’3” to 5’4 ½” to succeed in this arena… I have not even stepped foot on stage yet and I already feel like the victor…

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds. Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. Patanjali

Desire, dedication, inspiration, and oxygen

Here we are, about two month’s out from my first stage competition and I have to say that I am extremely excited… It’s crazy to think that just a year ago I was no where close to where I am now… The progress I have made from then till now is like night and day, oil and water…

There is something great about the human spirit and its ability to overcome, to achieve, to strive for… A year ago I was about seventy or so pounds heavier and covered in more fat than a prime-rib… And I think it has been this transformation over the last year that has taught me, short old bald guys can still achieve a level of intensity and focus that younger full haired guys are known for…

I might not be the youngest or tallest guy on that stage come two months from now, but I can promise you I will be the most focused, determined, and efficient man standing there… And no matter the outcome of the show, I will leave the stage with my head held high…

It’s crazy to think that I have worked so hard and so long on sculpting my body… I guess you could compare this experience to that of a man climbing the tallest mountain… Two years ago when I thought about taking on this endeavor it seemed impossible, almost down-right ridiculous… And if it weren’t for the help of Dusty I am not sure I would have been able to reach this mountain top, and I am humbled that I have had the opportunity to have Dusty in my corner …

Now, to be clear, even though I have done a great deal of talking about having achieved such a feat, I want it to be clear that I have not peaked… For those of you who have climbed the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, you know that there are two false peaks before you reach the final summit… This first show is like the first false peak…

I am by no means finished… My body is not maxed out, my mind is not emptied and my will is not dry… I have never in my life quit something before I have fully finished it and I am sure as oxygen not going to start now… Everyday at the gym is another stop at the gas station… I continually find a stronger love for the feeling I get when I work out… I guess it’s fair to say that there is something spiritual or other worldly about forcing my body beyond its previous restraints…

I hope by show time this love will be greater and my experiences will intensify, for this is not something I have taken lightly… I will not succumb to the pressures of success and I will destroy anything that gets in my way of my desires…

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Half way home, and Cheatings ok!!!

Being that my last blog was extremely heavy-hearted, I have decided to make this one a little less intense… One, because I am emotionally drained and two, the current going-on’s merit such a response…

A few weeks ago I talked about an “injury” I developed and its apt presence humbling my ever-growing body… Well, anybody remember the quote from the movie The Shinning where a crazed Jack Nicholson shouts through a broken wooden door “Here’s Johnny!” I most definitely heard that screaming in my head the day my shoulder pain beat down my wooden door, for a second time…

Oh, and what perfect timing! I have added on a second show November 5^th, 2011… The NPC Western Regional in Mesa, Arizona… and I have to say, I am extremely stoked…

I am not sure if it’s karma’s way of getting back at me, but I feel the same humbling sense coming over me again, which could be a blessing in the sky… Because of this reoccurring pain, I have added a weekly massage on top of Active Release Therapy (ART)… or in laymen’s terms… deep tissue massage… and let me tell you, these practices have shown me that rest and relaxation is extremely important… or, that I am not as young as I used to be…  aka “the old man needs his rest”…

 I feel as if in order for me to succeed at my next two shows I have to enter each one with a level head and clear expectations… How does one go about entering a show level headed and with clear expectations? THEY HAVE A CHEAT DAY!!!!

That’s right ladies and gents, this coming Friday I will be gorging myself of foods that most people take for granted… and one of the best parts about this cheat is the fact that the man, the myth, the legend Dusty Hanshaw okayed it. A moment that ALMOST brought a tear to my eye… and I say almost, because I am a man of little emotion…

My mind is full of thoughts that would make Willie Wonka jealous! In-N-Out, McDonalds, Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, Burger King, milkshakes, pie, ice cream, brownies it’s like a never ending dance of deliciousness running through my mind… What is the front-running destination for this cheat day you ask? The land of the pazookie! That’s right Oregano’s is the leading vote getter… Following closely behind are Huston’s and Deluxe-Burger…

Together, both ART and Jeff’s being fat day have shown me that the level of dedication needed to participate in two different shows is a lot more intense then first thought… There are so many different intricate parts of the body, eating plan and work out plan needed to succeed that I really feel that as I get closer to these shows my level of focus and intensity increases to the necessary levels…