Have you ever written something, and nearly gagged on it’s self-rightousness? Well, I have. But you know what? Fuck it. It’s something I believe in, and it’s right. Show everyone. Pass it around.

So I was thinking about things I’ve wanted to do for a while, but just never bothered to take the time to do it. I’m starting to feel like life is passing me by and while I have things I want to do, I keep waiting to do them, so I figured I’d make a list of things I wanted to do before I turned 30. One of the things I find difficult is to write something on a blank slate, so I headed over to Zen Habits, which I occasionally read, and find the most recent article is very similar to what I felt the need to write about. Awesome. Leo poses some questions armed at concentrating on how you’re living your life now vs making a list of what you want to do before you die. Things like that give me some inspiration to write.

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Tonight, it’s Friday. I’ve worked my 40 hours, put in my time, and served the people I support with respect and dedication they deserve. In turn, I feel it’s time for a little R&R, right? Going out to dinner sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, at one particular establishment, which will remain nameless, but will be linked, didn’t feel like putting in the work. So I suffer. Below the cut is the email I sent regarding the particular incident:

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The Hundred Pushup Challenge is utterly destroying me mentally right now. I couldn’t get back into it on Tuesday (schedualed day 1 of week 5) because I got sick. Yesterday I ate shitty and had a terrible day, so by the time I got to the gym to do my pushups, I had a pounding headache, which just pulsated until I wanted to vomit while trying to do my pushups, and my body just wasn’t having it, so I did what I could and figured I’d rev it up today. Since my ‘max’ was 45 after week 4, I was trying to follow colloum 3 of the program for week 5. I got in there today and my arms gave out after pushup 32 of 40 on the first set and I couldn’t recover enough to do the rest after that. So, I finished my sets, with breaks in the middle of them.. and didn’t do the max rep set.

Week 5 has not gotten off to a good start. SO. My plan is to rest tomorrow, and try again on Saturday morning. I should be able to knock out 40. I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t even do a full cardio workout without being completely worn out. I think a solid day off should do me good. Also, work stress which has been immense this week could be a factor. Tomorrow should clear my head.

No, I haven’t given up on the 100 Pushups Challenge. In fact, I’ve stuck to it religiously so far, and in fact, we just completed week four (right before my pushup buddy leaves for Europe for a month, sonofabitch). 4 weeks, one month! Week 2 was pretty simple, but Week 3 day 1 I just didn’t have the energy to complete. I don’t remember why, but we had to do that day twice. Week 3 was a fucking badass. I was sure we’d have to repeat it. I don’t remember quite what we polled for our second exaustion test, but I think I was at 26 and she was around 22. We had split colums and were now doing different numbers. No biggie. So anyway we moved on to week 4 after consideration and completed it Wednesday. It was pretty rough to say the least, but it always feels good. After a 2 day rest, we did our exaustion test. Before we started, I had it in my mind that I was going to do 45 pushups. If you read a bit back, you’d see I could barely do 12 before I started this, now I was gunning for 45!

Well, turns out, I was able to do it. Just. Willpower and determination. I can’t believe I’ve improved this much in just a month! This is crazy. I really think that at the end of the program, be it in another 2 weeks or another 4, I will be able to truely do 100 pushups. Yes, there are physical changes that come along with this as well, but just knowing how much stronger I am makes it all worth it. So anyone who is thinking about doing this, get on it.

There’s been an ongoing struggle with me and my fat for several years now. I continue to tell it it’s not welcome on me anymore, I’ve hung up eviction signs, and I’ve even been pretty forceful, but it seems as though fat is a worthy opponent of virtually anyone, and not something to be taken lightly. Though I am not finished with my body sculpting, I am now a lot more knowledgeable of what needs to happen in order to continue on my journey. What I have learned about this process, I will now share with you, so maybe others know exactly what they’re getting into when they decide to change their bodies for the better for the long term.  Some background is necessary.

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So. Day 3 of Week One: The One Hundred Pushup Challenge comes to an end. When I started this, the inital goal was to do as many good form pushups as possible, and then start the program based on that. I was able to eek out 12 that day, and man did that hurt. Continuing on, my partner in pushups at my side, we blew through day one, had a bit of a rough time with day two, and today, I was sure I wasn’t going to be able to do our 3rd, 4th, or max set because my arms were throbbing, and my right bicep gave out on the 7th pushup of our 3rd set. With that, we did our cardio training (Biggest Loser Season 4 Workout DVD WOO!) and went back in to finish our 4th set, then do our max.

I surprised myself. I didn’t think I was going to be able to do 10, let alone our minimum of 15. However, I pushed hard and managed to do 21 good pushups. I just couldn’t get back up for #22. But, thats a stronger showing by far than 12. I’m gaining confidence that this program is actually GOING to work! Now, we have 2 days off (and I definitely need it) and we’ll begin week 2. This is an awesome way to get stronger on a schedual. I’m so glad I found this.

So today was day 2 of week 1 of One Hundred Pushups. It was really rough to knock out the 3rd and 4th set. I didn’t think I was going to be able to pull it off. With much effort, however, I managed to push myself to finish it, so that was cool. I don’t know how I’m going to do day 3, but we’ll figure it out when we get there on Saturday. I only did 11 for my “max” set today, I was hoping for a higher number.

On another note, I have decided to increase my weight lifting weight…stuff, so I knocked out 85 pounds on the tricep machine, and revved up to 80 pounds (a 15 pound increase) on the bicep curl machine. I actually managed to knock out 15-15-7 on the bicep thing before having to drop the weight back down to 70 to finish, but damn that felt GOOD. It’s nice to know I’m getting stronger.

However, after doing a pretty good ab workout on tuesday, I haven’t been able to get to the level of Cardio I wanted to this week. I basically tore up my midsection, and since your core is a major component of .. well.. everything.. I’m sure you can imagine what portion of my body ended up giving out long before the rest of me.

Looking forward to a “repair day” tomorrow. Perhaps I’ll go in and do some light cardio. Nothing taxing. Sunday I’ll probably be back in doing some weight training on upper body/abs. Tuesday will start week 2 of the One Hundred Pushup Challenge, should we be comftorable enough with week 1, otherwise, we will repeat week one.

No, no one was pregnant and I didn’t have a child. I did, however, attempt to do 2 pushups. Not only did I fail miserably, I pinched a nerve in my neck, which led to the 6 most agonizing months of my life. Specifically, one month wherein it felt like white hot metal was being jammed into my forearm. I lost feeling in my fingers and to this day I get numbness and tingling in my pointing finger on my left hand.

Long story short, after my recovery period, I started lifting weights and getting more cardio in. I’ve decided to take the 100 Push-Ups Challenge along with my workout partner, and we’re on day 2 tomorrow. Our first test, I was able to eek out 12 good pushups, which was shocking, considering my last outing. I guess I AM getting noticably stronger. Awesome. I will keep a blog about this going as the days go by. I’m interested in seeing the final results.

Ok. Game over. I lose. I’m broke and living paycheck to paycheck. This SUCKS. But fortunately, there’s still money in the bank, food in the fridge, and gas in my tank. I’m not in dire straits here, in fact, far from it. When I say broke, I mean I have under $1000 liquidated for any number of things that need taken care of. Sure, that money may be spoken for in the form of travel I have to do for the holidays, but it’s still there should anything happen. Let’s see if I can tally up expenses, my current system and really explore my situation.

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