We've been busy!

It appears as though we abandoned our blog! Good news is we did not abandon our path back to fitness!

We have both continued to lose weight, slowly but surely - and most importantly healthily! I've lost approximately 30lbs since April/May and intend to keep losing. We are also aiming for running the Shamrock 8k in 2011. Our running has increased in terms of duration, our long runs are now approximately 5 miles and short around 3-3.5 miles. We've also incorporated interval training once a week into our workouts.

Not long ago I added a more intensive weight routine. I do this every other day and it involves 5 & 10lb dumbbells, a 6lb medicine ball and a 10lb kettle bell. I am really seeing positive results from adding weights to my exercise routine and seeing more definition gradually particularly in my arms.

Brock is also being more adventurous in terms of food - he's willing to try new healthy clean foods rather than the unhealthy fried southwestern style or out of a box style cooking he was raised on. We've eliminated milk from our diets, my milk of choice is Almond, Brock prefers Soy. I've also started to add more fresh fruits to my diet with breakfast in the morning.

I'm going to try and be better in regards to documenting this important life changing journey! I feel if I document everything we do here it's a form of positive encouragement and a record of everything we've achieved so far.

Something different

Hey everyone, thought I'd switch it up from talking about my workouts today and talk about another thing that consumes my life: reading. In my job, especially in the shift I work, there is a lot of downtime, which I fill with reading. Naturally, at a bout 4 am my eyes start getting heavy and every line that I run my eyes across makes my brain go into dreamland, so the written word just doesn't suffice. Recently I found a way to combat this drowsiness, and keep my brain going through these rough hours; graphic novels.

If you're anything like me, you've shunned the graphic novel genre due to thoughts of it being kiddies cartoons, superhero nerd fantasies, and general loserdom. I never wanted to be associated with that crowd, so I never cracked open one of their books to give it a try. After watching a couple movies that were based on graphic novels, which is becoming quite the rage in Hollywood, I thought I'd give it a shot and was pleasantly surprised. There are some incredible stories out there that are written and presented in drawing form. I typically stay away from superhero comics, they seem a bit too juvenile for me, and still carry a stigma in my brain that I don't want to be involved with. I tried to read a couple of them and just couldn't get into it. If that's your thing, it's cool, it's just not mine.

Anyways, here are a few graphic novels for the beginning graphic novel reader to try out if you want to give it a shot. Each of these are great stories and will move you to think about them for a long time after you have read them.

The Complete Maus by Art Speigelman

This is probably the best book I have ever read, bar none. That includes both written and graphic forms of literature. It's a true story written by the survivor of parents who survived Auschwitz. He interviews his father for years and then made it into this book, which drives home the grandiose amount of violence that existed in those times. This should be required reading for all students in elementary school. Even if you do not wish to get really involved in graphic novels, I would suggest a quick trip to the library to check this book out. It will change the way you view the past.

Rating: Teen. Violence, Holocaust

Y: The Last Man by Brian Vaughan

This is an exceptional story and is better than 95 percent of the novels I have read. It's about a man and his pet monkey that survive a plague that kills every male on the planet. It's a great story about love, maturity, friendship, and the special ability of the human species to evolve and survive. This is one of the few books that has ever hit me so hard as to cause a few drops of water to come out of my eye. It will affect you in some way. I finished the series 3 days ago and have thought about if often since then. Highly suggested.

Rated: Adult. Sexual content, Nudity, Language, Violence


Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Man on Earth by Chris Ware

This is a great book about a socially awkward loser who goes on a mission to find his biological father, whom he has never met. The way it is told is original, and strange, but it makes you feel what the main character is feeling and expresses his thoughts in a great way. If you are like me an had a screwed up childhood, this story will affect you in some way. Great read.

Rated: Teen. Maybe some veiled references to sex, but should be fine for all ages.

Blankets by Craig Thompson

A dynamic story about teen love, family, and maturity. I guarantee that after you read this you will find yourself back at the age of 16 and remembering what it was like to have your heart broken when the girl or guy you loved didn't like you anymore. Of course, if you were the quarterback of your school football team, you never felt this. You can skip this book and get back to servicing my air conditioner now. For most people though, this will make you think about your family, your childhood, and how life always evens out in the end. I actually passed this book around in my workplace and everybody who read it loved it.

Rated: Teen. Sexual content, some nudity, very upsetting part involving child abuse.

100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello

This was the first graphic novel series I ever read and I got hooked hard. It's a story that starts out as a mysterious old man who arrives in people lives in hard times and offers them a chance to change their lives for better or worse by giving them a briefcase that contains one handgun and 100 bullets, and a photograph of the person who has ruined their lives. None of the ammunition nor the gun can be traced to the person, and they basically have carte blanche to do whatever they choose with the gift. It quickly escalates though, and over the course of 13 volumes has more twists than Chubby Checker. I would give this a high suggestion to anyone that is a fan of mystery or detective novels. It's just a great all around series.

Rated: Adult. Gratuitous and graphic violence, strong sexual content, and language that would make a lumberjack blush.

These are my favorite graphic novels, but there are a few that aren't too far behind them. There are a ton of high-quality books out there, and the hunting and discovery of them is a lot of the fun as well. Given that, there are also a lot of turds that you'll have to float through as well. You'll know them when you see them. If you are intrigued after reading the listed books, I can point you in the right direction for further reading.

Happy reading -Brock

Hi again

Wow it's been awhile huh? I need to get better at this whole blog thing.

I've been pretty busy as of late. My job has just switched to summertime operations, it being a resort town and all, so overtime is beginning to spike and I have to fit everything into an even tighter schedule. I've been keeping up on my workout routines though. I've made that a top priority for this summer. I'm trying to drop another 20-30 pounds before we fly to Europe this fall, so the airplane seats won't be tight and uncomfortable for 16 straight hours. This will be the first time that I have ever ridden in an airplane where that isn't the case, so that will be pretty awesome.

The weight lifting is going extremely well. I can tell a definite increase in total weight lifted, as well as reps, since I began taking the Body Fortress Advance Creatine mix. It's an incredible supplement. I can see my muscles beginning to get more defined, and feel slimmer overall since I began using it. The only downside is that I am actually gaining weight because of all the muscle I'm putting on. Hopefully it begins to even out when the fat starts melting off because of this new muscle. It will remain to be seen.

My running is progressing as well. I ran 3.5 miles earlier this morning through the suburbs and broke my PR once again. I'm finally down to a 12 minute pace, which is way below the pace I was 2 months ago. On Monday morning I went out to the beach and ran 4 miles at the crack of dawn, down by the water where the sand is firmest. I went into the run thinking it was going to be excruciating, as I heard all kinds of stories about it working new muscles in your legs. The first mile was a little tough, but then I got into it and knocked out the next 2 miles pretty effortlessly. The last mile however, was very tough. It will definitely have to be something I mix into my routine once a week.

It's pretty neat finding new things to vary your workout, and I'm always looking for that. Anything to get an advantage and burn this lard off quicker in aces in my book.

To close out, how useless are gas-powered leaf blowers? I saw no fewer than 10 people blowing grass clipping off their driveways with these ridiculous contraptions. Is it too much of an imposition to break out the push broom to sweep off your 10 foot by 4 foot driveway? You really have to be so lazy to burn a precious commodity to blow away something the freaking wind will blow right back 10 minutes later, you vain jackass? Don't get me wrong, I can see how a landscaping business can put these to use for efficiency, but there is absolutely no reason why a residential homeowner needs this equipment.

Anyhow, I guess that's enough of my rambling. See ya around.

Who wants to wake up to Jillian Michaels yelling at them?

Obviously... I DO!

I purchased some of her work out DVDs not long ago. My favorite is "30 Day Shred". My at home workout routine usually consists of me waking up at an ungodly hour in the morning, putting on work out gear, drinking a glass of water followed by one of her 20 minute routines on this DVD. Then immediately afterward I do a program on my elliptical machine.

I bought the Schwinn 430 Elliptical approximately one year ago and I have to say it's one of the best investments I've made. Before I had that I had purchased a cheap Elliptical from Walmart which wasn't that great but did the job and didn't last very long. The Schwinn is sturdier and has some great programs available. Over the last week, I believe due to me implementing running into my routine, I've been able to increase my elliptical workout to 3 miles for my last two workouts. So that's just over 1 hour of exercise in the morning.

Her workouts are very good, but very hard. She's old school and doesn't use any gimmicks, she's frank with you and you really listen to her as you push through. There are two helpers with her and one does the more advanced workout while the other does the modified version. I think that's great because it really helps ease you into her workouts. The DVD consists of three separate workouts they are supposed to increase with intensity and are basically levels however, depending on your personal physical strengths/weaknesses you might find the "hardest" one easier than the first one, which I do since I have very weak arms! All you need for this DVD are dumbbells (I started with 3lbs and progressed to 5lbs) and a fitness mat.

The most important thing for me right now though is making sure I drink enough water and eat regularly throughout the day. I've been trying, when I have time, to start the day with a smoothie as opposed to cereal. Having a lunch that's light but filling and taking a snack for mid afternoon are key to me getting through the day - especially when I plan to run that night.

The evil Mount Trashmore conquered with the aid of music!

Yesterday we ran approximately 4.2 miles on the track. Today another 2.5 miles around Mount Trashmore. I love going there, however there are a few negative aspects such as; too many people, people not paying attention to where they are going or considering those around them, and the sneaky inclines!

I did surprisingly well today and actually ran the best that I have so far. Unfortunately my shins and calves were killing me throughout the run and still are! That's all part of getting back into things and I know they'll improve eventually once my body has been reconditioned to deal with the running impact.

I recently purchased a new Ipod Nano since my other one died. I decided to also give the Nike+ a shot. I didn't buy the shoes or anything, I just bought the sensor and then there are lots of companies out there that sell special pouches that you can attach to your own shoes. They readings are pretty accurate once you have calibrated them to your motion. I also think that even though you can say that it's just a gadget, I strongly believe it's a great tool to motivate and also to track your overall progress. I'm really enjoying it so far and I'm currently trying to settle on a decent running play list. I highly recommend going for the sensor pouch and sensor combination because it's about $80 cheaper than getting a pair of new Nike shoes when you already have a decent pair (or even prefer a different brand). I got the sensor starter pack for $28 and a pouch for about $4 from Amazon.com. Then I created a Nike+ account on their website and synced my Ipod with it so I could use it on my next run.

The Nike+ sensor basically records the vibrations from your foot when you hit the ground. It's only been off a tiny bit which is fine for me. If I wanted anything more I'd probably look into getting a GPS training device. Once you've completed your workout head to your computer, plug your Ipod in and Itunes then syncs to your Nike+ account and records the progress of your runs with great visual tools (graphs! Oh my!). You can also set up challenges and goals for yourself. Another great thing about it is that it can also be used for Walking.