Taking the show on the road

Effective 2/1/11 all new posts can be found here:

http://kosmobility.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you around...

It's been a while

I feel like Pedro from Napolean Dynomite...I don't have much to say. No shit, if I did you'd have seen a post since March.

I've simply been dealing with life on life's terms.

Pop died in February...I wrote about that already. Sadly, and in a cruel twist of fate, my father died in May, less than 90 days later.

Still trying to make sense of it all.

I decided to quit drinking on July 13th. Alcohol began taking me to bad places. To be honest, life for me is better without it. Hard to explain so I wont try - for me I'm finding out it's the right way to live.

Been peeping at some FAT blogs. Glad there are a few of the old guard still chiming in. Good to see new "faces" too. A fresh perspective always helps. Lord knows I need one these days.

Back at gym, following TT beginner program. 3 weeks into a 4 week cycle. Need to take it easy, had rotator cuff surgery in April. Coming along but don't want any setbacks.

October 1st is around the corner. I promised myself I'd set 30-60-90 day goals to round out the year on a high note.

Take care. I'll be back...

And so it begins...again

Doesn't it suck to write this statement? It's as if admitting failure. Look, I tried before. I messed up. I didn't reach my goals - heck I didn't even write and review my goals. So here I am back up in weight. Unhappy with my lack of progress. Even more unhappy with my lack of activity.

Now maybe I should get a pass because of what I've been through.

I got sick last fall - REALLY SICK - like I almost died. I developed a staph infection post vasectomy (yup - no more kids for me) and not just any staph infection but MRSA. It's like super-staph. I wound up in the hospital for 10 days. Over the course of 30 days I endured 5 surgeries. I was miserable. Scratch that - I was FUCKING miserable. I had a pump attached to my groin to draw out the infection. I couldn't write about it then - luckily I'm alive to write about it now.

I thought I turned a corner in January. New Years Resolutions - blah blah blah. I got back to the gym but never quite got the nutrition under control. Nor the alcohol consumption.

This has been a brutal winter in the North East. One day while shoveling snow I re-aggravated a tear in my rotator cuff. That's a pretty painful injury - not nearly as painful as what I endured back in the Fall (that pain was on par with childbirth - I kid you not) - that has set me back.

The worst part has been the death of my Grandfather. Pop died on Valentines Day. I got a call from the nursing home and they said he went peacefully. At 98 that's what we hope for, however it doesn’t change that fact that I miss him terribly and his passing has created a void in my life that may never be filled. To me he was more like a father than a Grandfather. I have been blessed to have 3 out of 4 Grandparents with me well into my adult life. If you're reading this I can only hope the same for you all. They offer insight, caring, kindness and compassion unlike the dynamics of any other relationship. At least it felt that way for me.

So where am I at?

1. I have 3 beautiful children. 2 of them love to play outdoors. Matthew, at 7 months, isn't far behind. I struggled through the pain of my shoulder to take them sledding for the past 3 days (we got 18+ inches of snow last week). I just got off the phone with my Orthopedist and I'm getting a copy of the RX for P/T. I'll have to go on my lunch hour since it's just not convenient to go at night. As a NY/NJ commuter I'm already gone 10+ hours a day. When is anything ever convenient?

2. My wife and I pledged to "Get it together...together". We got rid of all the shitty food in the house. I went back to the gym this morning and I hit the grocery store afterwards, stocking up on fresh fruit and produce. All the stuff that we should be eating but just haven't been.

3. I deal with losing Pop on a daily basis. They say death is only sad for the living. Truer words were never spoken. It's not all about sadness - many of the memories are of incredibly happy times. Time will heal the pain I guess. That's up for time to decide.

New day, new month, new opportunity.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

It's a boy!

Hey F.A.T. Nation...yes, it's true - my wife & I have been blessed with a baby boy. Matthew (pictured above) was born on 8/11. So my family is now complete - 2 daughters and a son. Still surreal at times but he's here, he's live & in the flesh and he's awesome!

I see that things are quiet around the blogs. I've been spending some time over on the T-Nation website reading weight lifting articles. I'm trying to get a better understanding of the "why". Hell, I've got a shelf full of books and workout routines already. The problem is still the 6 inches between my ears. A bit hard core in some respects but a strong dose of reality that is not sugar coated. The authors tell it like it is. I especially like Chris Shuggart. Here's the link if you are so inclined: http://www.tmuscle.com/. You have been warned.

I've been up and down with my weight. Still hovering around 200. I recently set some new goals and have hit the gym 3 days straight. A big accomplishment since I'm not getting as much sleep as I need with the baby. The holidays are around the corner boys and girls. Statistics show an average weight gain of 10 lbs. between Halloween and New Years. Let's be prepared shall we?

Remember that an average plan executed with consistency and passion will exceed the perfect plan every time.

Hope all is well in your respective neck of the woods.

With gratitude -

Gene

Having a boy?

Seems like I'm trying to keep pace with my pregnant wife. This is the 1st time I've gained weight during one of her pregnancies. My 1st 2 are girls, so if you believe in old wives tales then she's having a boy. That's what the committee known as "they" says. If the husband gains weight then the woman is having a boy. That would be great since we already have 2 daughters, but it's a piss poor excuse no matter how you look at it. We chose not to find out the gender, same as the 1st 2. It is what it is. People ask us what are you having and we're like "Duh, a baby you dummy". Seems like not finding out is more uncommon these days. Ah science & technology.

Cutting through the nonsense, I am currently lacking in personal accountability. Eating too much. Exercising too little or with little intensity. More so eating too much as I've been hitting the gym 2-3x per week.

I've read much lately about creating a "vision" for your life. I've gone so far as to write out what my life will be like 1 short year from now. All positive, but lacking in specific goals on how I will reach my "destination" (aka vision).

I just have to keep filling my mind with positive thoughts. Because after all; after you strip away all the bullshit, all the excuses, all the whining - it's all about the 6 inches between your ears.

Knowledge is not power. Applied knowledge is power.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there.

100 days

Some time ago I purchased "The Magic Hundred" - a goal setting program of sorts.

side thought -

I often wonder how many coalition members sort of cross-pollinate. I guess what I mean is, I found out about the FAT coalition (specifically Billy's site) from Craig Ballantyne's TT site. Seems like there is so much cross marketing and merchandising amongst these "authors" that I'm sure we've all seen a lot of the same info on the web. Generally I think all coalition members (whether we are achieving success or not) are "seekers". That is we all want to make positive changes in our lives and for that reason we are constantly looking for ideas, tips, motivation, etc. Based on that, I guess the Internet can be either a blessing or a curse. Ultimately it all boils down to the daily decisions we make but (speaking for myself) I believe we all want more from life and with respect to the FAT coalition, "more" really means "less" in terms of body fat.

I guess the trick is turning a lifetime of learning into a lifetime of achieving.

- end of side thought

OK, so anyway. There was an update and 2nd release of the M100 and since I had purchased it previously I got a free copy. As it turns out my wife is due with our 3rd child in (take a guess...) 100 days. Coincidence? Perhaps. Or not. Maybe things truly happen for a reason.

I've got my copy in hand and began reading it again on the commute to work this AM. IMHO great stuff.

Wrong

I'm still off the beer, but feeling like a tub. Diet has been piss poor. I guess I've used the fact that I'm not drinking beer as an excuse to eat whatever I want when ever I want. I also took a spill at the park last week while playing with my kids. Now I know that no one ever died from embarrassment but I did bang up my knees pretty bad. That annoyed me since I had to lay off my workouts a bit.

Where is Lex Luthor when you need him? Oh wait, here he is...

When I get like this I usually am on the verge of a breakthrough. For me personally it's sort of like hitting rock bottom but without all the drama. Once again the question is, "Will my changes be temporary or lasting?"

That can be a very difficult question to answer.