Hudg's House

I began the year totally digusted with myself.
I made up my mind and despite a few obstacles and bumps in the road, I am very satisfied with where "I am at" now and really look forward to continuing my personal & fitness journey in the direction its headed for '07.

Fitness-wise I tried several routines during the year.
Starting out with a basic routine given to me by Keith Klein gave me a good start to losing steadily and a fairly significant amount of bodyfat. I came down with some Tendonitis in my left arm and was out of the game for almost 2- mos before I could effectively train again with some decent intensity. I next tried Alwyn Cosgrove's Afterburn Program and completed that about half way thru before I began training instinctively for awhile. Alwyn was new & unique and although taxing and tuff - I really enjoyed it. When I reach my Lean goal under my present regemin, I would like to go back and do similar programs involving conditioning but not to lose more bodyfat. Ross Enamait's stuff has really gotten my attention - we'll see. On the Instintive lifting style, it was really fun to go into the gym with no set program and for a few weeks do whatever I "felt" like I needed & wanted to do. I intend to do that just for the heck of it from time to time. I am presently on a 4 Day Split, working on becoming a little more proportional. Don't get me wrong, I'm no BIG muscled BB but if even a hint of fitness model look comes my way, I won't turn it down. I'm 51 now and really my days of wanting to get BIG hold no interest to me. I still totally enjoy working out though. It is one of my hobbies.

My personal life of course changed dramatically with the end of a 25 yr. marraige.
I have no regrets and time has slowly begun to heal "within". I wish my Ex. well and we have 3 lovely young adults that will always be our children.
Everyone's aware of my House Remodeling Project - it's still a work in progress but a Blank Canvas, ready for decorating. I'm changing everything - I mean everything. It will not seem like the same place. It is fun and I'm really enjoying doing things I've never attempted.


Daisy is still the best Dog on the Planet - sweet as Pie and a joy to be with.

I met a girl.
I wasn't really looking but she just happened and came my way in an innocent and unexpected way. I met her on the Health Board on which I am a Moderator - "TNP" (Take No Prisoners)
When she first posted I thought nothing of it and actually didn't quite have a "make on her".
I thought she was like a 70-80 yr old lady that had been exercising all her life when she posted as a "40 yr. fitness veteran". Boy was I wrong.
We posted infrequent PM's (Private messages) slowly, began to talk as friends and it simply grew. I have actually known her for about 7-9 mos. as I knew of her on another board before TNP. We gradually began to YIM one another and eventually did a little VOIP. For those not technically in tune, that has nothing to do with sex. We found each other intriquing and that spurred our continuing conversations.

I have been fortunate enough to spend some time with her in person.
The really funny thing is, that although while she is totally physically beautiful - that factor was something we considered to be of lesser importance as we felt we really already knew one another and what we're both about. The first time I actually met with her, it was exciting but almost like a reunion with someone I already knew. The time together since has only deepened our relationship and she is magnificent.

I Love Her.


Im feeling fine these days and have truly been blessed. Life is good and fun again.
I'm really looking to hitting the gym hard in '07 - not sure where I'm going but really enjoying the ride. What a journey indeed.

Soooooooo...................after a year of hit,miss,a few sucesses,blood,sweat and tears and also alot of laughter I have managed to drop 65 lbs. of what I consider to be predominantly bodyfat.

Ladies and Gents, the journey continues but after 365 days - this is presently the House that Hudg has "built" :

C-Ya in tha' New Year, Jason

I don't know why but right in the middle of Alwyn Cosgrove's "Afterburn" Program I felt this overwhelming desire to switch out and train "Instinctively". Hudg Likes Instinctive. Hudg likes Spontaniety & Variety. It's kinda how I'm livin' my life right now. All kinds of things a simmerin' in my pot these days with responsibilities and all but I will say I am feeling fine and it's all good.

My house remodeling - Project PMS (Playboy Mansion South) has brought solid cold reality straight to me. This is going to take longer than I thought. Time and money. Money and time.
Yeah that's the bottom line. I'm seeing easily the rest of the year and maybe Spring now but know what?- I could care less. I will get this and am making forward progress although it has slowed to a snail's pace at present.

I have returned to working out as mentioned and have actually been doing pretty well I feel.
I love working out. That and a few other simple pleasures in this life makes Hudg a real happy man, easy to please I guess. I have within just the past two weeks returned to a program that gave me super results about 6-7 yrs ago and I hope it will "take me on Home" "Home" is wherever I want it to be but I'm roughly guessing about 170-175 lbs. We'll see. I have all but given up on Fat caliper readings. I cant seem to get consistent accurate results much and Im not even sure I trust what Im reading but I know I'm doing some good things and that's good enough for me. Clothes and mirror tell me all I need to know. I'm beginning to like what I see.
Faint hints still but I see them and I can "read". I will beat this son-of-a bitch and I will not stop till I do. It's never been more clear to me that this is all mental for me. I know exactly what to do and how to do it. It's show-time baby and I either bear down and bust these workouts or screw around with this. I have come way too far for that and why in the world would I wanna do such a thing? More random thoughts from Hudg this month but I'm still here and fightin' the good fight.

To all my Health Board friends,Parents,Brothers & kids -
I thank you for your support. I really do.
To my co-workers, buds in general -You are Fantastic.
Gary you are something I aspire to be.
Elle you are such a beautiful person.
Rick Woods & Randy Riggs -ya'll are friends of a lifetime.
Congrats Randy (Old Man /wink) on that new grandbaby - Carter Allen Riggs
I have no idea if it's Allen "with e or a or one or two l's", but so be it.

Ana & Moe, you are shining stars.

Labor Day 2006

192 lbs. - 57 "lost"

One of the previous post on this blog was called "Hitting What's Pitched".
Guy that wrote that was a genius because it's come in handy.
My Divorce is final now - ended 1 mo. after 25th yr. anniversary.
Hudg official Bachelor.

Son just received his "Eagle" in the Boy Scouts of America.
I am so proud of him as well as all my children.
They are truly the lights of my life.
Good Kids, pretty much all grown up now.

I got the House, so I've decided there's not gonna be a better time to remodel.
That's one reason I'm writing this. I have been ferociously busy working here and between that, my job and workouts for awhile...........well I felt I could use a break.
I've laid off the workouts for about a week and 1/2, started back today.
I'll update probably at the end of this month, as I'm back in the saddle and ridin' again.
No complaints or specific message this time. When I started, you'll see at the top "Whatever I feel like puttin' on here" and this month with all that has happened this is what I felt like doing.
It's all Good and I'll C-Ya Sept. 1st - be interesting to see where I stand. As I speak I honestly don't know what I weigh, my ex took our 2 beam scale that I had used for this blog from day 1.
Not a prob - I feel good and really think I haven't gained an ounce as everything if fitting real nicely clothes-wise. Be Well. Health Bud

Two months ago, I briefly spoke about mental outlook & attitude with an emphasis on maintaining a bright positive one. I wanted to come back however & touch on another aspect of it that I believe is of sizable importance. This may differ from person to person but for me is was almost, if not everything. The offshoot of mental outlook that I refer to is our desire & drive.

So with that said & I'm not a psychologist, what allows one person to ambivalently sit on tha' couch dippin greasy potato chips & another to day in/out put forth the effort of consistent hard training? Developed habits often result from repetitive behavior. Anything can quickly become habitual if we just repeat it many times untill it becomes second-nature, but what got us kick-started in the first place? For me it was basically disgust and from that seed sprung forth a flower called desire. I was sick & tired of being sick & tired. I was a mess & it affected my outlook, my appearance and my life.

So does everyone have to reach that low level of despair and despondence?
Probably not. Some people are naturally competitive and driven by heart. Others by means of some source just seem to possess alot of will/fortitude. Both of those qualities have grown for me in time but frankly I was pissed & disgusted although my unfitness didn't occur overnight & of course deep down I knew that. My displeasure drove myself within to a quiet place and there I found a small smouldering ember. The more I fed this ember with the energy of my displeasure, the hotter it became and the inward fire immediately bloomed into another flower called resolve.
It led me to this decision:
The way I'm livin' is BS.
My Physique is BS and I'm not gonna put up with this anymore. No Mas.

I knew from past experience this was something I could not "play around with". I don't do well doing something half-hearted. For me it's pretty much all or nothing to really be successful. Although I knew I would have to start out very slow considering the shape I was in, there would be no waiver in my decision or my focus, lest I return to tha' Land of Disgust. There would be no looking back, it would require a complete commitment. That's all there was to it. Although it sounds unusual & overdramatized, I had to have an almost warrior-like attitude to really do what I wanted. A life transformation for me would require that and really it's what "drove me".
I don't care if it took 2-3 yrs to develop by miles of Baby-steps (which really we all do) but I was going to go back where I came from and recover the body that I had lost.

Nothing and/or nobody was going to get in my way - if I allowed that, it would surely happen because there always seems to be "something." KWIM? That may have been related to my general outlook before the decision but irreguardless, my focus was pure & strong period.

So I Baby-stepped my way to 42 lbs. of lost fat as we speak and
Have a Good Day.

No, I'm in mid-journey now and still have a ways to go but the habits have kicked in and really this is "just what I do now." As we become slightly fitter, something amazing happens. We begin to feed off of that progress and because our body is a little more tuned, things aren't quite so hard. Then comes this crazy cool part - we intentionally make them harder to acheive through more resistance via weight/set/reps, the body adapts and we repeat the process. We then mix things up, keep the body guessing somewhat while fueling it exquisitely and our body "slowly" (relative term) starts changing. We say Wow!, these pants are loose and I had to tighten my belt up a notch. (Positive Reinforcement) The Program Extroidinaire continues till one day we meet Joe Blow we haven't seen in months. Joe says - "man have you lost some weight? I almost didn't recognize ya." "Yeah a little", being our usual humble selves and then as we walk away we're walkin on sunshine. Someone outside of ourselves noticed !
Man, do we feel good and gratified !

External Support such as that example can really provide a nice, healthy ego and program reinforcement boost. You may can accomplish most anything without it (debatable) but my question is Why in the hell would you want to? Why not take a little intraveneous spiritual uplift when it's offered unconditionally? I can't tell you what a blessing the Support Groups I have belonged to have meant to me. Everyone likes to feel loved,wanted and a part of something. I feel this has intensified for me as I have aged. And you know what? You can even help some others that have been and or going down the same road as yourself. Two minds are greater than one and there's alot of great informative input to be had and apply in your life.
We all learn something from each other. We have to because we're all different and yet attempting similar goals in this case.
Support Groups, can't endorse them enough. Great motivational tool & fountain. I find I really perform best when I'm held "accountable." That's one reason I write this blog. Every month I update my progress & it comes down to this: Did I do or did I not do?
Really I feel no pressure but it does motivate me. I know if I've followed my greatly designed program & done as I should, the results will take care of themselves.
It has never let me down, not once.
The options are in place in these groups to do as you wish.
You can "lurk",post topics,pics - whatever you want (within reason of course) and make it a mecca of information & fun.
Search around untill you find one that seems right - you'll know.
Here's a personal invitation to "My"(doesn't belong to me but I claim it anyhow) fitness forum, the: "Take No Prisoners" Website & Forum.
If you don't like it don't stay, but I think you will. I have it linked over on the left as "Your Fitness Journey."

Drop on by, We'll leave the light on for ya.

207 lbs. - 42

I lost 5 more lbs. in June
6 mos. under my belt -
42 less lbs. directly above it (relatively speaking) altogether.

I will see "this" through.
I will reach my goal of around 10% bodyfat. C-ya Aug. 1'st.

So are we what we eat?
To a big degree with the key word being "BIG" - me thinks maybe so.
Plant a flower, get a flower. Sow good seeds,get a healthy crop.
Eat Crap,look like crap. (Sorry to be so bold)
Like everything else - we generally get what we put in when it comes to fueling our body, that's a good way to look at nutrition as fuel.
We couldn't expect high performance out of a watered down low octane fuel, so why put a bunch of junk in our "temples" and have any expectations of a work of art in good condition.
It takes two - exercising & good nutrition to carve the statue in the stone.
I can think of no viable reason to attempt great fitness and only rely on one of the varibles....FAWGETABOUDIT !!!
Plus it doesn't work.
That would be reason enough to not foolishly attempt that endeavor.

I have had good success with a balanced eating program consisting of a good lowfat protein source, a complex carb and later in the day a fibrous carb.
The fats occur naturally in the foods from the above choices.
You can eat a fibrous carb anytime also with any meal.

Complex carb examples - beans,rice yams,potatoes,cream of wheat,hominy,etc.
Fibrous carb ex. - brocholi,salads,green beans/carrots,etc.

I also suggest supplementing with a good multivitamin/mineral.
You may want some xtra calcium and a good source of EFA's
(essential fatty acids), I feel is important.
It's good "insurance". Nobody eats perfect, it just doesn't happen.

Leaving one of the big three(proteins,fats,carbohydrates) out of an eating program doesn't make sense to me. Never has.
"We" do however attempt to eat lowerfat %wise, esp. while leaning.

It's not real-life stuff that you can live with, leaving out a major food source and that's what we should want to procur - something we can live with that works for life.
Doesn't mean we can't adjust it somewhat later but something in the ballpark that gives us good results, is reasonable, sound and we can be consistent with makes sense. Extreme's rarely fit the bill. You cut carbs out of your program - your gonna crave'm like crazy "afterwards" and do you really wanna go thru alot of your life and not have good food that you "can't/shouldn't eat?" Food in and of itself is not the enemy - it's just food/fuel period, but our consistent choices Day in/Day out is what writes the story.

If your trying to lean, I might suggest avoiding processed flours and milk products during that phase. Doesn't mean you have to, but you might see better results in losing bodyfat.
On a maintenance program after you reach your lean goal you could open your program up to include those items. Just a suggestion.

Read a good book about the subject - Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat,Feed the Muscle" is excellent all the way around for a good sensible fitness program. Can't reccomend it highly enough and it will give you good details.
Multiple meals a day of 5-6 times, seems to be the method most followed by a great many successful programs.
Stabilizes blood sugar, teaches you to eat smaller more frequent meals -"grazing", consistently nourishing the body and it also allows you a convenient way to get all your calories (proteins,fats,carbs) in.

Well what about snacks/treats - eat'em! - if you choose, but just not a case or carton of something. An occasional Treat meal or snack that is somewhat fattening or contains sugar will never sabotage a great program.
It will be overwhealmed by your consistent, great habits and it allows you to partake and enjoy some special items that are tasty. I personally don't want to go through the rest of my life and not be able to have some good chocolate-chip ice cream - or whatever occasionally. To do otherwise unless your preparing for a contest or really gunning for a goal is something I have no interest in. You actually really can have it all if you plan/work and focus. It will become second-nature to do the right thing and you'll receive the benefits. All of them.
This is just a few basic tips on a good eating program and once again, this is what I do. Do as you please and what your research tells you to. Once again, this has worked for me. I wish you Health and Wellness in your program.

And now the May Update:
212 lbs. - 37
I know I still have a way to go but I'm going in the right direction.
I will conquer "Mt. Fuji" and I will reach 10% bodyfat, unless of course
I happen to die of an accident/natural causes. Then I'll get real skinny.
Sorry, my weird sense of humor kicked in.
I will be patient & so should you on your program. Next Month. "Hudg"

Life can throw all kinds of things at us and the reality of how we react to them is entirely up to us.
Irreguardless of what it is - we are predominantly the captain's of our ship when it comes to choice.

I realize of course there are things that are beyond our control (the weather, the physical laws of nature,etc.) and there are also natural processes that occur within ourselves, yet there are some things that I believe we can and should direct in our lives - kind of like the Serenity Prayer.

Our attitudes and reaction to life's events for instance.
I personally know of very few, if hardly anything that provides pay-off for having a general negative attitude. Anger can be used to motivate us but that in itself is wound about a positive turnaround in that instance. We can also let it leave us bitter and dry, chewing up life's precious time and opportunities - if we choose to. I don't know why anyone would want to do that. I realize things aren't always black and white and to say I've never been angry would of course be a lie. Deep down however I've always known, no matter what - we must go on and we either get on with the business of "living" or we get on with the business of dying or some half-hearted compromise of truly living.
(No thanks, for the latter)

How do you react about life's many events in general?

Our reactions can take on the faces of positivity,negativity,ambivalence or no reaction and even ignoring things intentionally. There may be a time and a place for all of these, but day in /day out - who wouldn't wanna walk down the path of gratitude during this life's travel and journey? It's looking at the bright beautiful flowers instead of the weeds.
The glass really is half full ya know. Half full of some fine vintage.

Check out these passages written by Kent Keith. They are dandies. He wrote these when he was a mere 19 yr. old. Amazing insight. I especially like the ideas of doing all these things Anyway no matter what obstacles may be in our pathway. It comes across to me like Nike's - Just Do it.

http://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com/index.html

Oh by the way - Yes my arm was injured but I've really been enjoying life lately. Mainly simple pleasures involving "NEAT":
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis.
(Thanks DragonMomma for those articles)

Doing household chores,yardwork,walking the dog and riding my bike - giving my forearm time to heal. I'm still eating clean and doing as I feel - I actually only worked out twice this month.

Update: I went to a Sports Doctor this morning and got a second opinion on my left arm. The pain that remains at present is now mainly where my lower bicep meets my forearm, unlike a few weeks ago.
Diagnosis: Tendonitis
Prescription: Stay off it one more week. Take these anti-inflamatory steroids (non-anabolic). When you go back to the gym, use the machines with light weight & rebuild back up to free weights and heavier poundages. I can follow that as I like concise information & a plan to follow. All my connective tissue (ligaments/tendons) looked "OK" (as far as major tears) in the X-rays. So onward "we" go, hitting what's been pitched with a good attitude.
It's all sweet and good, that's all that matters.

Just for the record -

216 lbs. - 33 lbs. lost so far

I lost 4 more lbs. during April .
Take Care - see ya next month. "Hudg"

Thought I'd arrange the pics for those that don't want to read the entries.
They are as they say: "The Proof in the Pudding."

Jan. - 249 lbs.
Feb. - 238 lbs.
March - 228 lbs.
April - 220 lbs.
May - 216 lbs.
June - 212 lbs.
July - 207 lbs.