Finals Days of BBC5 - Evals Time (Again.)

You can click on the image to see it full sized (suggested)

These images will be poster sized when I launch the the 6th Season of Bajai BootCamp aka BBC6.

Longer ago than the years I've been working out I met a Philadelphia body builder who told me it's not the quantity of muscle, but the quality. I was probably bulky at the time; the muscle I'd built while in the Navy had been covered by the fat that came from eating too much bad food too often. When I finally got my act together in the mid-1990s, all I wanted to do was lift weights - "guy lifting" I called it. Everything I did was to build upper body aesthetics, which meant a lot of bench presses and working the muscles that supported heavy bench presses. I got better definition up top, but the belly was still big and present.

Eval pic from 2000 (Y2KC)

I'd dropped 25 lbs. landing at an even 200 by the turn of the century and I was pleased with that. All I wanted to do was get stronger.

Okay, so let's fast forward to 2011 when I decided that every day should be a workout day and I'd make myself accountable to my self by not only training daily, but posting a blog about it.

At some point I succumbed to the reality that nutrition was more important than exercise and that my plans to train harder and not align my diet with training discipline was mythology. Breaking my old eating habits turned out to be more difficult than getting into the gym on a regular basis.

Let's take another leap to March of last year (2015) when I decided to eliminate wheat from my diet. It wasn't as tough for me as it's been for several of my friends - I either don't have opiate receptors in my brain (doubtful) or there's just something odd about me, because I didn't have that much difficulty quitting the wheat. Of course this meant giving up pizza, wraps and my favorite, quesadillas. The results speak for themselves. Images 1 and 2 show the difference between a diet of wraps, pizza slices and carrot cake (all little goodies I used to treat myself to on a weekly, or even monthly basis) and a diet without.

December 2011, 6 Months into BBC-1

Another realization, which I'd made years earlier but put into practice with verve as I learned more and more about food and eating, is that dieting is not an on-off strategy... it's a lifestyle. Two of my favorite double-entendres, are fit for life and eat for life, because both are very, very true.

A week ago, I wondered if maybe I wasn't eating enough protein to fuel my muscles, (I posted an entry about this), so I decided to buy more protein foods, basically meat (I handle meat better because I have O+ blood, there's an entry about that also) - turkey, chicken and grass fed Angus beef, to go along with the lamb and goat I've been eating for a while now in my stews and soups.

Essentially, going into the next season of Bajai BootCamp, I'll be eating more Paleolithically and as for the training regimens, I'll be adding (have already added) wind sprints; I'll be continuing with the body weight/gravity training and weight lifting once a week. The walks will continue, because that's primarily how I get around and hopefully, I'll be able to add more yoga and martial arts exercises (which both mesh nicely into body weight training) into my routine as the seasons progress.

So, that's it. I've managed to post several more photos of myself on this blog. No apologies. I didn't realize until I saw the 2015 pic along side today's pic just how much of an improvement I've made.

I keep getting better as I move through time.

This is important to emphasize because there are people with less time on this plant than I've spent here, that consider themselves old and believe they can't change their situation, improve their health or their physique. There are three reasons I do this now, 1) because I'm addicted; 2) I like the results; 3) I want to prove it can be done.

Thanks for indulging me.

Wake Up Call of the Twenty-First Century

If I had to place a date on my awakening it would be March 13th, 1996. It happened with a emotional shock, hence the precision of the date. Since that time, with the help of what I call angels - indeed messengers, I have completely changed my lifestyle, my think-style, my attitude, my perception of reality and a host of other elements too numerous to list.

Needless to say it's been a long and often difficult journey. An infinite journey, as I feel once we begin we never stop. Or maybe I should just speak for myself.

A la Casa - 2006, just back from Paris

"Wake up!"

Is the call of the (still rather new) century. Everyone seems to be trying to wake us up! However, to my observation the so-called wake-up call has become little more than a marketing slogan. A quasi-metaphysical way to convince us to a certain way of thinking and thus behaving. For the most part, these clarions seem to be educational - the only reason I state it like this is because of my own experience(s) - however I can imagine and maybe detected some commercial uses of the term for commercial and political objectives.

During the course of this twenty year journey I have learned - rather decided a few things which has led me to adopt several beliefs that assist in my behavior and subsequent survival in this world.

But first a disclaimer; This diatribe should not be construed as a declaration of awakenedness or any kind of new age consciousness as compared to the reader or any-body else. The level of consciousness/awareness I enjoy today is compared to that which I did not possess towards the beginning of the journey. Hopefully, and most probably, the period in which I am composing this will prove to be relatively unenlightened compared to five-plus years in the future. A key lesson learned is that everyone has their own level of consciousness and that their beliefs impact their perception of the world and those perceptions impact their behavior.

I am fond of reminding those who stamp the word "truth" on that with which they agree, that there is no truth; at best there are theories, ideas and agendas that are supported by evidence revealed and presented. We have witnessed in the last hundred years the theoretical changes in the sciences from archeology, to quantum physics, to astronomy and especially history.

Humanity, in my opinion has an intolerable arrogance about its importance on earth and its place in the universe. Collectively we have no respect for our environment, our fellow species or each other. We can debate the reasons for this although I am confident that we'll find no easy or agreed upon answers, or solutions, although some theories might be fun to knock about.

One of the most detrimental beliefs of humanity, especially in the west, is that of origin. Most humans cannot conceive of forever and relentlessly search for the beginnings of this or that; not only of our species itself, but for the birth of the universe... literally the beginning of everything. I too, having been raised in a Judeo-Christian atmosphere, am guilty of this concept. One of the goals on this journey is to release myself from that concept and accept everything as everything and be willing to embrace infinity without question.

Well, time for this little number is running out. I feel as if I could go on for another two or three hundred words, however I have to discipline myself. Got errands to run. I can imagine revisiting this piece sometime in the future; yet I can also imagine it becoming obsolete in a week. Nonetheless I am glad I took the time to jot it down. Someday you may read this and have an opinion. One day perhaps we will discuss this.

One day you might just "Wake Up" - to your own concept of reality.

Body Evals #1

One of my goals was to maintain my body weight below 180 lbs through the winter. It helped that Philadelphia experienced a warm to mild winter and that I spent 3 weeks, which is about a quarter of the season in hot climates, (see earlier entries). My other goal began as a question; one of those, I wonder ifs... the if, was whether I could achieve a 3:1 ratio of of lean muscle mass to body fat. I have a scale that kinda-sorta measures that, but it's not precise and I'm not completely honest with the input. Nonetheless, using what I use the way I use it, I hit 3:1 and indeed surpassed it very slightly a few days towards the end of March.

In the videos I uploaded on my FaceBook page I attributed the fat burn to long steady-state walks. It's a long story as to how I figured this out, finally believed it and subsequently added it into my routine. Today in fact, I opted for walking over lifting because my numbers had gotten into the red zone. (Again, another story.)

Asian smackdown tour 2002

I was also curious to know what 3:1 looked like - it was time to take some evaluation shots, so I thought I'd post them up and critique and compare... if I can.

To our right, a blast from the past, 2002 or there abouts and I think this was taken with film and then later scanned in and digitized. At this point I was already six years into my Fitness Renaissance. I'd gotten down below 200 lbs.

3-30-2016Just under 180 lbs, 3:1 Ratio, <15% body fat

                     To the left, an updated eval shot. The stats are in the caption. The lighting is different so it makes it a little difficult to see much of a difference. Even if there's no visible difference I'm okay with that too. Living 14 years and not changing (for the worse) is fine with me. That belly is still a bother though.

Okay, so let's get right onto some better shots. First, check out the back. I am not simply trying to get ripped back here, but strong as well. I really want to strengthen what I call the upper-upper so I can train like the other kids... you know, pull ups and planges, handstands and such.

The back is actually ripped!! And one thing that

looked odd to me, in this pose anyway, I actually

look, skinny... and back dimples seem to be trying

to make an appearance. 

If only the front was as ripped. Stubborn belly

fat is why I'm walking when I'd rather be lifting.

But, we got to do what we must for the results we

want. My right side is still.. and will probably always

by much more jacked than the left - I am very

obviously right-dominant. Otherwise I cannot

say that I am displeased by these results. 

I think the take home points from this evaluation shoot... is that I am still making improvements, if not muscular gains.. "at this age" and I'm not letting the senescence boogieman scare or worry me into taking it easy or slowing down. Fortunately there's no one in my life advising me to do this. 

One of the benefits of my antisocial loner lifestyle - the worries and statistics of outside voices don't reach my psyche. 

And that, my friends, is the first body evaluation post of the year. I may do a few more. I want to keep my weight at 170 - 175, keep body fat at 12 - 13%, muscle up to 82 - 85 lbs of muscle (and I may be getting greedy here) and whatever that ratio will be, (close to 4:1) I'll be good there. It's a big challenge and I wonder the same as I did when i was going for 3:1... is it possible and what will it look like on me. 

Cheers.

Shred - 008

I've stopped short of calling this a Fitness Regimen, a challenge or one of the seemingly annual, sometimes biannual fitness routines that I initiate around this time of year; but maybe it is. I was in Florida after two weeks in Asia where i wasn't able to get my normal exercise in, although I was walking a lot and did some AM calisthenics. Anyway, in Florida I had access to the gym and since i was jet lagging, I'd get up early and workout. My daughter and I decided to simply, Shred, this would be our action word... the first word, I, at least would say in the morning to remind me to work out.

This appeared during a walk through Philly

Because we have an unofficial workout crew on social media, I decided, to keep myself accountable, that I'd update my status with a "Shred - ###" implying that this could go on for at least 100 days. Who knows, maybe it will, or maybe I will miss a day and have to start over again.

So I took some eval pix to remember... 3-22-16

During this Shred phase, I hit my 3:1 (Muscle mass:Body fat) ratio goal. Managed to hold onto it for two days and then lost it. Today, Shred - 008, I reclaimed it with 3.06:1 ratio and a reading of 14.5% body fat, just over 25 lbs., of fat which means I'll have to adjust my goal downward to.. let's say 22 lbs. (easier to tackle than 20).

This 8th day of Shredding puts me over the one week mark, which seems significant. I trained outside today, ate well and walked for a good 30 - 40 minutes. The full moon is in Libra, and the fact that it's a full moon may be what's giving me the energy. I was also off from work and fitness training today, so I had the whole day to myself.

Much needed and much appreciated.

...what 3:1 looks like... looks to me...

...like there's more Shredding to be done.

I've got about 268 or so days to do it. My aim... 170 lbs +/- 2... on the day I retire. I don't even know how to predict body fat... so I'll shoot for 11-12% ... with an open mind, that maybe I can hit 10%, but not mad if i don't.

Namaste

First Outdoor Run of the Year

Opted out of the Y today; it was a treadmill day and the weather was mild so... I hit the parkway. Two miles, continuously... but it was a slow old man run. During the beginning it was a little tight in the chest, but that calmed down. Once i got to the top of the hill, on the way back, I figured i was good.

Afterwards, I walked backwards up the hill five times. Nothing extreme, but I felt the upper thighs working.

Still energetic.

Got home and lifted weights, mostly upper body.

February 21, 2016

I'm going to get out of here in tip-top shape and military condition.
This could be the beginning of outdoor training for the year. We'll check the results tomorrow. 

Path of Destiny (Part 1)

Interesting image for this piece, don't you think??

I think this will become a multi-part series. Things change. Right now as I'm pecking this out I have at least two ideas for essays and I'm just waiting to see which one will run through my fingers and onto the screen

Today I learned a "trick" with water and dreams that's hard to explain. It may come later. i call such things tricks because they have metaphysical explanation. I don't have the words or experience to relate them yet, so I don't. Learning the trick made me think again about what I want, what I want to do, who I want to be, within this vessel of course, and where I want to be.

Where is easy... I want to be everywhere, in the flesh, I mean and not at the same time. I'm learning how this can be possible. My dreams - which I don't like calling them, are presenting themselves to me as a server might present tapas for my culinary inspection.

I've been compiling a list within the afore mentioned categories and here's what came up most often.

#1 - Live (healthy, wise, & reasonably well) to the age of 210. I've even picked the day on which I will give up this vessel and transcend. In order to reach this age I will have to acquire more knowledge and skills and continuously adjust my lifestyle strategies. I will probably be able to bring a few friends and family along with me.

#2- Leave Philadelphia, which is the theme of this blog. I want to add, 'and never come back' but I plan to visit my hometown the way Planet X occasionally visits our solar system... just not as infrequently.

#3 - This is a bold one; Find the love of my life. I've heard that term bounced around for better than 20 years now and it has only been recently that I realized that this was something that has not happened for me. So, why not. Without going into my psychological failings and my personality type, suffice to say, I think I'd like to have this experience.

#4 - Live and support myself globally. I've amassed a skills-set, experience and knowledge and discipline that theoretically allow me to sustain myself anywhere in the world. One place I have in mind is Aruba. Why? Just because. There are a number of sub-goals that accompany this one (and the others as well) which would enable me to flesh out a list of 100, possibly.

#5 - None of my stated goals have anything to do with large sums of money. All I've ever wanted, is all I've ever needed. This is one of the mantras I keep in mind. Thus, what I need has most of the time (I shy away from saying always) come my way, be it in the form of Angels in the original sense of the word, messengers; who have given or led me to information that put me or led me to the path of destiny; knowledge and training I've needed to earn the money I've needed for something else; or even the money I've been able to use to help someone else out, specifically my children.

#6 - Just today I had the thought that I want an indestructible nervous system, and while I'm at it, an indestructible immune system as well. These go in the subheading of Health, under the heading of Longevity, i.e. living 210 years. I'm not certain how I'll be able to achieve these goals, but as previously stated, there is more knowledge and training coming along this path of destiny.

I'm confident I'll be revisiting this concept many more times before the end of this year, and then afterwards as well. For now, I think I'll sleep on when I just wrote, and help the universe manifest it in a way I can accept it and utilize it most wisely.

Fin

Mi Casa, Mi Lifestyle

I like coming home, and into my house. It's dark and sparse. Not sparse enough, however. Not that there's anything in the way, it's just that there's too much stuff in here that's not mine and I find it hard to get rid of. But that's another story.

I come in, the house is dark and quiet. First thing I do is turn on a light and then I turn on music. Third task, today, is writing this... my thoughts. I have a lot of thoughts during my commute and most of the time lose them by the time I sit down to jot them down.

At the moment I'm annoyed with Adele; not her personally, but her song. I don't like it, but it stays in my head. I think it's one of those songs that was arranged to do just that. All I can remember is the chorus - I won't repeat it here. Okay, that's over.

1-25-2016 Maybe? Maybe Not!

I shaved all my maleness off of my face yesterday and now I look more feminine, I think. Not that it's a bad look. Androgyny was a big trend in the 1980s, but I didn't partake. I'm not trying to make any statements now either, I'm just being honest... with myself, at least.

Now, as I look at the image, I may be wrong. Oh well. Not that I want to be female, or even want to look like a lady. I just, looking in the mirror, thought I did.



Well, I'm at a loss now. Something came to mind about wanting to be tougher, although I think I'm pretty tough - not in a tough guy looking for fights way; but a willingness to do without certain comforts so that I will not get soft or lazy. I want to be stronger as well. Comfort doesn't make us strong. I also want more mental toughness.

People might think, at this age I should start slowing down and trying to get more comforts. I'm just not there yet. I'm a late bloomer. I could go another 20 or 30 years before I start thinking about slowing down, and chilling out. That will give me time to check out different parts of the world; different people and traditions. I did almost 30 years at this gig, it would balanced to do at least that much time living as freely as is possible on this planet, or in this society... if I continue within the confines of this society; but again, a subject for another time.

Well, now it's time for the protein shake I usually consume after my Moonday exercise obligations. I think I've gotten most of my thoughts out. This is a good exercise as well. I may indulge more often.

Future, Past

This picture is twelve years old; summer of 2004. I remember this as my strongest year. But it was only strong for the upper body. I was working my chest three times a week and I'd been doing so for three or four years. I was at a point where I benched 300 lbs. just once and never since. It was a struggle. At some point in the following years I switched up from upper body to lower body... butt and legs.

And I got stronger - over all. 

I should see if i can find a more recent image to compare it to.

This one's not as sexy or set up as well... It's from September of 2015. Looks like the torso is better defined, but still too much fat on the belly. I think the arms are more defined as well. Especially the shoulders, which is something I've both ignored and injured; (two injuries, both shoulders,  since the top image was taken.)

So, let's connect this to what this blog is about.. leaving Philly. I've decided that 175 lbs isn't low enough and recently re-calibrated my weight goal to 170. That's what I weighed when i started the gig so that's what I think i should weigh when I leave.

So - more high intensity interval training and more lifting. This past week I got it in almost every day, (except Friday.) But I can't allow weekends to slip away. I also can not allow traveling to knock me off my fitness or my diet. more on that later.