Jake’s Life

Thursday was rough. I’m not going to get into it, but my looming halfway-to-fifty birthday coming up, missing my mom, and being tired really affected me.

Friday Sandro came over and we went to the mall for lunch, then walked around looking at things. We stopped by the T-Mobile store so I can play with my new toy which is coming soon. We went grocery shopping and I’m not sure why, but when I can get a bunch of stuff for not a lot of money I love it. Adidas antiperspirant was two 2-packs for $5. I also picked up a pint of Arrogant Bastard to try, which was very good. Danielle, my new roommate cooked dinner consisting of steak, pasta salad, salad, green beans, and vegetable dips which hit the spot. And my other roommate’s cute hot younger brother spent the night.

Today I didn’t do much. I woke up after dreaming about my new Blackberry, and being the true knob that I am I’ve already downloaded a bunch of themes and programs for it. I may sell my Wing to my roommate, who is a complete texting whore. Sandro and I picked up my grandmother and drove her to my new place to show her how close I actually am…for some reason she thought that just because I moved to the next county that I was far enough away that it’s a helluva drive to see her. Then we took her grocery shopping. Sandro was very affectionate in the store today. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t bother me at all, and I actually liked it. It just stood out to me. Once we got back to my place he left and I took a nap, then woke up and went to Aaron’s house to watch COPS. His boyfriend and I recently met and after a rough start but ended up hitting it off pretty good. I came home after dinking around there for a while and am now enjoying a pint of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, with solid plans to work out tomorrow!

By the way, my roommate’s little brother is asleep on the floor in the living room right next to the sliding glass door, and he just kicked it which scared me.

I’ve posted a few simple entries so far, but wanted to clarify for my readers what it is and why I’m doing it. If you’ve read my blog for a while you know my issues with fitness and motivation to get fit. I’ve never been an athletic person, besides a short stint in Tee-ball in the 2nd grade (in which I spent most of my time sitting in center field waiting for something to happen). I had a knee injury in 6th grade and skipped PE in most grades after that. I got fat (6′1” and 265 lbs. in high school) then slimmed down a bit (6′4” and 190 lbs.) in my early 20’s. Now that I am officially 14 days from my 25th birthday, I’m 6′4” and a bit over 200 lbs. (estimated…I hate scales). The only time in my life that I worked out regularly was the eight months I worked at a gym when I was 21 and 22.

I’ve known this was coming for a while. I couldn’t deny it. I think a major catalyst is that Sandro returned from Cancun this week, and while he was definitely a good five shades browner than when he left, he also told me that he is dieting to lose a bit of weight and get a really nice body. So, should I let him so that someone hotter can come around, or do it myself as well? (That was only half serious, by the way).

I think that with my readership, I can count on a few of you to help keep me on track. It’s all up to me, but I know that readers will see when I’ve skipped working out for a while. So here we are, and I’m starting a fitness schedule up again. The gym at my new apartment is huge…literally a huge room with tons of stuff in it. I’ve seen “fitness centers” in apartment homes that have a few machines, half a wall of free weights, and a cycle. This one has a wall of free weights, a wall of cardio machines (cycles, treadmills, and ellipticals), and a good five universal circuit machines. The only issue is it is only open from 9 am to 10 pm, but I think I can fit things in before work or after, in the morning. Either way, I feel pretty committed right now.

• Dumbbell rows (2×15)
• Dumbbell Pullovers (2×10)
• Dumbbell extensions (12)
• Crunches (30)

(Not mine, obviously)

• Front planks (30 sec.)
• Side planks (30 sec., right and left)
• Mountain climbers (30)
• Crunches (30)

Stephen over at Inside Stephen recently admitted that he has been doing some reflection on his position lately, and so has Closet NS. I have to say that I have been too, and without their posts being catalysts. I am looking at two things, which are related in many aspects, and a third that is always looming over my head.

Finances. While the Holiday Season overtime is nice and certainly helps any time of the year I hate having to take away from sleep or my time with Sandro to be able to save money or just have enough to get by. With student payments looming over my head on top of other bills I’m going to be heading into rough times in the coming months.

Last year I was in a similar spot and looked at my monthly income. I owned my car, paid very little insurance, downgraded my cell phone plan, got rid of my storage unit, and took care of some other things to bring monthly expenses down. This year I’m looking again, and have financed a brand new car, pay twice the amount for insurance, will now have to pay student loans (an extra $138 per month), as well as having my rent raised. I also need new work boots and contact lenses. All of my current bills are mainly based on need or obligation and therefore cant be realistically eliminated.

What I have done is look at my daily spending: Starbucks twice a day on work days means $132 per month, on top of my stops at fast food and convenience stores while at work. That’s my loan payment right there and then some. I’ve also canceled a few…ahem, web site subscriptions…which should add about $40 per month.

Work. Travel to and from is perfect (a take home car would be better though!), and despite the previous work issues I’ve had the atmosphere is fine now.With my shiny new degree I would also like to be able to tap into more of my potential and continue upwards. Its the money that is killing me, though. Which leads me to my third item.

Fitness. I’ve covered it before but not recently, and that’s my issue! I need to test for a better job, but the physical area is the worst for me in the testing process, specifically core strength and pushups. Yeah the test isn’t that many but for me it seems very daunting. There’s really only one way to combat that though!

Specifically, and along the lines of my last post, when it comes to physical fitness.

What gets you out of bed and on the floor doing pushups? Home from work tired and hitting the gym? Wake up on a lazy Saturday and hit the pavement running?

What do you listen to when you run? When you lift? Realizing that many people who read my blog are gay (geez, take a look at my blogroll, would ya?), and that my taste in music is different than most of the gays, I’m trying to keep an open mind. If I find something that keeps me going, I’ll give credit where credit is due.

When you reach burnout, that is, your lungs feel like they are collapsing, your side like it has split open and internal organs are falling out, your muscles feel like they have hung up their “Out to lunch” sign and they’re just quitting, what keeps you going that extra time? I know the mind set (on paper) but I want to know since it’s different for everyone.

I think I would probably give a testicle to look like this guy tomorrow when I wake up. Definitely a toe or two, but maybe a testicle.

Well, I am almost done with college. For the last few years I have worked full time and done college coursework full time. In between assignments and shifts I try to sleep, but it doesn’t always work that way. I will finally be able to free up almost my entire weekends (I usually save my projects for my weekend and spend two of my three days doing that). Having this sort of time free and fitness goals, one could only surmise that I need to get my fat ass going.

Pushups, sit-ups, crunches, weight training, stretching are all no problem. I have a full weight set (adjustable incline bench with pulldown) sitting in the garage collecting dust that I bought last Summer and have touched twice since then–once to actually move the bench itself while I was cleaning. Anyway, it’s the cardio. Running is obviously the best choice for me, but I have a few concerns.

First, I would have to actually drive somewhere to do it. My neighborhood isn’t very well suited for running. Second, cardio to me (well, most working out, really) is not something I want to be observed doing. It would be as if someone were in the bathroom with me watching me punch a grumpy…it just feels icky, I’m a mess afterwards, and I want to be alone while doing it. Third, my firearm isn’t well suited to be carried while running recreationally. It’s a duty model .45 ACP (Springfield XD to be exact), and not concealable while in workout attire. It holds 14 rounds (13+1), which is awesome when I’m at work, but not when I’m not. Being probable that I will be running at night a firearm isn’t something I really want to be without. Personal preference I guess.