Hubby's Journey

Alright so to catch everyone up to speed, my husband has been dieting (kinda sorta) for a few months. He has been guest blogging for me because honestly, he really tells it like it is from a perspective that I would consider real world. I am going to Re-post his last blog for me and then get him working on another. I know he has fallen off the wagon a bit in the last few weeks and it is now summer-time and he needs to get on it. So here is his last blog post:

I wasn’t sure if the theme for this blog would be more “Fitness Level Reality Check” or more “Things You Shouldn’t Do Unless You Are Noel.” See, I’ve lost 17 lbs. this year and 12 lbs. since I started this blog for Noel, and I just commented to a good friend the other day that I was actually beginning to feel like I was moving better. It’s hard to explain, but for me, when I begin getting into shape one of the first things I notice is how much easier it is to move and I start to feel a little more athletic, if that makes sense. Tonight I got my reality check, a sort of “Not so fast, my friend!” ($1 to Lee Corso) on the calling yourself an athlete again.
Noel says to me, “Hey, I have a program I want you to try.” I said, “Cool, sounds like fun.” What I should have said was, “Thank you, but HELL no!” But I’m not that smart. So even after she shows me this monstrosity tonight before I head to the gym, I’m looking at it thinking, doesn’t look too bad. Obviously I was blocking out the fact that Noel came home from doing this same workout on Tuesday feeling like she was going to throw up – not a good sign. But again, I was feeling good, feeling athletic again. Plus, it’s really just a circuit of exercises for 30 seconds with a short rest between each set. No rep counting, no heavy lifting, just 30 seconds of exercise and then rest. I can do anything for 30 seconds. Or so I thought. I now realize 30 seconds is an eternity when you’re doing burpees and jump squats. Not to mention I’m trying to do burpees while this cheap, interlocking matt system our gym has for a floor is ripping apart. I mean, I know I’m a big guy but really, I shouldn’t be popping up floor boards every time I kick my big butt back. Another highlight were the “explosive” pushups, which really looked a lot like regular pushups after about pushup #3 and the question really became less about how “explosive” the pushups were and more about “am I going to fall on my face if I bend my elbows again.” Like I said, athletic.
After the first time through this circuit (or maybe my second exercise, whatever), I began to rethink my fitness level. After my second time through, I began contemplating what might be the most plausible injury I could fake – maybe a pulled groin? After my third time through, I started to laugh at some of the directions Noel provided me before heading out tonight. Like when she said, hold the dumbbells over your head during your lunges, what she should have said was, try not to fall down during your bodyweight lunges. And when she said, you probably won’t need a lot of rest after some of these exercises, what she should have said was, you’re going to want to kill yourself after some of these exercises. I’m not sure what I thought after the last time through … I think I blacked out for a few minutes. If fitness were skiing, that program was a double black diamond and I should still be snow plowing down the bunny slopes.