Last Updated on November 13, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
When it rains, it pours. This is perhaps one of the most difficult challenges I’ve tried to complete. The sheer amount of personal drama is at an all-time high. If it’s not me hurting myself in some way, it’s family in “dire need” of assistance.
This last weekend was particularly bad, especially on Sunday. To cut a very, very long story short, I essentially wasted my day driving back and forth across Colorado in someone else’s car, of someone I knew for a whole five minutes.
PSA for today: kids, stay away from drugs. Brain damage will follow you for the rest of your life and is usually irreversible.
Why I Didn’t Lose Anything in Two Weeks
The past couple of weeks have been exceptionally rough. No sooner than I started feeling well enough to get back to the gym after hurting my back, I caught a nice little cold. This was the day after taking the weekend to play games for Extra Life.
So, I was able to get to the gym and exercise for maybe a week before getting taken out again.
Nonetheless, I’m resisting the urge to restart the fitness challenge considering how much is in the red and how poorly I’ve performed this time around. There is plenty of time to do some great things for myself, and only one holiday left to face before the end.
Usually, I do relatively well at Thanksgiving in terms of eating proper portions. So, I might just track it anyway to see how well I do this time around, anyway.
It has just been one of the most absurd, stress-inducing, unrelenting, emotionally exhausting, train wrecks I’ve had to face this year, and it just seems to keep coming. You know, those kinds of situations where you want to curl up in a ball in the corner of your room in the fetal position.
Actually, that’s not a very apt description nowadays. The younger generation will do that if their name is spelled wrong on a Starbucks cup.
Needless to say, I haven’t had the most stellar month and a half.
What Are the Goals This Week?
Well, there are still six weeks left in this latest iteration of my 12-week fitness challenge. And in reality, that is still plenty of time to hit some weight loss and fitness goals. I would still love to be at my lightest by Christmas, which is a possibility if I dial up the effort.
Getting Back to the Gym
I’m crossing my fingers that nothing holds me back from going to the gym for the rest of the year. I quite enjoy the routine, but not just because I’m increasing my level of fitness. It’s an hour of my day when I can relax and breathe from the rest of my life.
It’s like a mini vacation throughout the week. When I’m at the gym, It’s just me, my music, and the weight machines. No interruptions, no one needing anything from me…it’s my moment of Zen every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Despite the issues of the past few weeks, though, I did accomplish something I’ve never done before. I cranked the weights up to 50 pounds on the bicep curls and cranked out my 60 reps. That’s quite an achievement considering I was barely able to eek out 40 reps at 40 pounds. That goes to show that lat pulldowns and the rowing machine are viable compound exercises for the biceps.
I normally don’t do isolated workouts like bicep curls. I’m more interested in compound movements that work out a variety of muscle groups at the same time. But last Friday, every machine was taken. So, I decided to test out how much my biceps have improved. I was quite surprised, to be honest.
Keeping the Rest of the Challenge “Green”
I’m going to do my best to keep the rest of the challenge green except for Thanksgiving. So far, my best has been 6 consecutive days. If I hit 7, it’ll be an accomplishment.
I am quite proud of myself on Sunday, though. I was offered all kinds of food and junk for my “help,” and I turned it down. I’m just not the fat kid my sister-in-law knew 10 years ago. Even though I had Panda Express for dinner when I finally got home, I still lost more than a pound by this morning.
I just need to keep reminding myself why I’m doing this and what I want to weigh by Christmas. It’s a present to myself, and I know I can handle it.
I Sound So Repetitive…
Part of the most frustrating thing about being me is how repetitive I sound. Instead of actually succeeding, I keep saying the same things every week. Sure, I have a few accomplishments here and there. But the chaos in my life just makes it so much more difficult to achieve some of the things I would like.
Every week, I wind up saying the same thing and setting the same damn goals. I feel like a broken record spinning at 120 rpm.
Perhaps I’m just overly frustrated with how things are going at the moment. Let’s just get this back on track and finish the year strong. I mean, it wouldn’t really take much to do better than what I have been. So, it should be pretty easy, all things considered.
Let’s Hope for a Drama-Free Week!
Thanksgiving is next week. Not only am I hoping for a drama-free week, but let’s see if I can set every day green according to my diet plan before next Thursday. According to my averages so far, I should weigh 225.4 pounds if I really stick to eating less and moving more.
I bet I can get under that while working on dealing with my personal issues without turning to junk food.
I can say one thing, though. For the sheer amount of stress I’ve been under, the binge eating hasn’t been nearly as prominent. As I am a stress eater, that is a step in a very positive direction.
About Author
Get those biceps, baby!
Sorry you’re having such a rough month. But I guess that’s gonna happen sometimes. Not much you can do except just roll with it.
And like you said, just by keeping your binge eating in check like you have, that’s already a victory in itself. The old Michael would have gained another 20 lbs by now.
Hang in there, buddy.
PS – I don’t mind the “repetitive” theme all that much. It shows your readers that you are still in the game, still pushing, still trying. I hate seeing you come up short of your goals over and over, not so much because of the “failure” but mostly because I hate seeing you beat yourself up for being human.
Hell, I’d rather see you keep trying and failing to achieve that same goal every 12 weeks than to see you call it quits, give up and not even try any more.
Tenacity.
Thank you, man. You’re good people. Yeah, last year’s Michael would have wiped out a Costco jar of peanut butter last weekend. It’s all good…just really looking forward to an inflatable hot tub soon. lol