#guyfitblr

So todays been kinda "meh" I had a day off and I exercised in the morning. I haven't eaten the best, but I kinda had some "soul" food - I journalled and I ate mostly well, gave my skin some TLC, shaved and washed my hair, exfoliated in the shower with some lush and used a facemask.

(plus it was the first time I've tried double stuff oreos - DIVINE)

Anyway, I need to update 2 lots of workouts so here we go:

Sunday:

Squats

- 8x 10kg

- 8x 10kg

- 8x 10kg

Deadlifts

- 8x 10kg

- 8x 10kg

- 8x 10kg

Ab kicks

1 set x 10

1 set x 10

That ^^^ was a killer. I really went in. I've kinda realised that the last time I was lifting weights - It was rare I really hit "beast mode". Even though I did a good 6 months of workouts, I felt my progress was rather slow and I'm trying to get to the bottom of why. I feel like that's a large reason!

Anyway -

Today:

Bench Press

- 8x 11kg

- 8x 11kg

- 8x 11kg

Rows

- 8x 11kg

- 8x 11kg

- 8x 11kg

Push Ups

- 8x 11kg

- 8x 11kg

Bicep Curls

- 10x 10kg

- 10x 10kg

Tricep Curls 

-10x 10kg

-10x 10kg

I know I really need to start focussing on sorting my diet out. I know I do. I find it the most difficult thing. Although recently I've really been finding my motivations (notice thats a plural, I have multiple!) with everything - I still struggle with what I eat.

Will be going back to Dr. again in about a month to check if my weight loss is on track and then again in 3 months to do blood tests again to see if cholesterol is down and that i am losing a good amount of weight. If I am having any problems losing the weight then he said we can look at appetite suppressant medication but neither of us are keen to do that and I think if I follow the 12wbt plan I'll be fine.

I finally booked in for an appointment today with a doctor to get a checkup and hopefully they will give me a medical certificate so I can then give it to my gym so THEN they will do up a fitness program for me and actually show me what to do with the weight lifting equipment. 

I've been living in Melbourne for just over 5 years but still don't have a regular doctor. I've been to a few over the years but honestly have not liked any of them so I have put off going. But found a medical centre about 5 mins up the road that I am going to this afternoon that I have a good feeling about. Their website was really clear about what they do and who they are and also had their fee's posted so I know how much it will cost (even though I get most of it back from medicare anyway), and when I called to book in the receptionist was a really friendly guy so that was a good first impression. 

So now that I am pretty much fully healed from my tailbone injury and the food poisoning and also my shoulder injury.... yeah its been a long few weeks... I decided I wanted to change things up a bit.

My old gym was relatively ok for the most part - it's just just a stroll up the road and is open 24/7 and it's cheap $11.95... however it did have quite a few flaws.

Firstly it is TINY like seriously it could fit into half the weights section of my new gym. This was ok when it first opened because it didnt have as many members so I was able to go to the gym during non-peak hours and not have to worry about waiting for a machine or weights... well its pretty popular now and generally every time I went to the gym I ended up having to wait for equipment a lot, it really put off my motivation. 

Secondly theres a personal trainer there who just constantly comes up to me when Im there to give me "tips" or "help"... when I know he just wants to try recruit me as a client and thats not going to happen because I don't want personal training and I definitely cant afford personal training. It's just annoying and awkward.

Lastly the equipment is really basic and not have annoying aspects. All the weight machines only have numbers indicating a level on the weights not the actual weight/kg amount. very annoying when trying to follow a program with kg weights noted for sets. Also the treadmills have this stupid function where if you have a heartrate monitor on it will pick up the signal and show on its screen... but this removes the distance and so if I wanted to wear my HR monitor I can't track the distance I run/jog and if I want to track the distance I cant track my HR or calories burned on my HR monitor.

It was good while it lasted and I will miss that little gym sometimes... but I outgrew it and its now time to move on.

I joined a new gym which isn't a quick stroll up the road anymore unfortunately but it is only a 10min bikeride or 6min drive away so not far, I could walk there in about 20-25mins also. It's a much bigger gym and has some amazing equipment. It also has group workout classes (something my old gym didn't do), I've never been a huge fan of group classes but I wanna try get into it more. There is also a Boot Camp, not sure if I want to try it but its at least an option available.

This new gym is also open 24/7 so I can go whenever I want which is something I look for in a gym. It's got a massive weights room which I am excited to try out. 

On Tuesday I had appointments for a free 15min consultation with their dietitian and an appointment for an assessment/create a program with a personal trainer. I was excited about doing this but unfortunately it didn't turn out too well.

The dietitian session felt pointless, I already knew everything she told me, I wanted to learn a bit more about macros etc but she said it was only a short session and would need to book a full consultation (costs $$ obviously) so really felt like it was a pointless exercise...

The trainer assessment started off ok but then went a little south. We started taking measurements and had to take blood preasure but the cuff didn't fit my arm (seriously my arm is not that big, i think it was a child size cuff lol) so he asks if I have high blood pressure. I told him a couple of years ago my doctor said my BP was close to being high enough to need medication to control it and that I needed to lose weight, eat right, exercise etc. well that freaked this young trainer out because they "have a policy" to cover themselves they cant work out a program for me without me getting a doctors certificate first... then he goes on to tell me about diet and what to eat (stuff I already knew again) and told me I should just go for walks to lose fat....

um no thanks buddy, I've been working out enough to be past just going for a stroll around the block... plus why would I pay a gym membership to then be told not to use the gym lol. To be honest I don't really care about what program they give me coz I'll probably just follow the 12wbt program or something similar. I just wanted to be shown the machines and how to use them. But seeing the doctor and getting an all clear isn't a bad idea just cant afford it this week. The trainer booked me to come in again next week after I get a Dr. certificate so will just see how things go until then. Was just a bit of a downer for my first week with the gym.

Today I went to the Athletes Foot store to get fitted for some good quality gym/running shoes suited for my feet. I have never bought a pair of sneakers that cost more than $40 because to be honest I've never truly made it a real priority but I have realised a lot of problems I have with exercises (especially running) comes from my shoes not being adequate enough for me.

I had a really nice shop assistant named Sydney who measured up my feet and got me to walk on this gait assessment machine which used cameras and sensors to assess how I walk and what shoes I need to readjust any problems. It came up with pretty much what I already knew, I have high arches (comes from my mums side of the family, weirdly my dads side have flat feet which my sisters inherited). These high arches force most of my weight and balance onto the outer sides of my feet and then rolling inwards (pronation) when I walk. I also have wide feet and discovered I have been buying shoes too big but too narrow for my feet. It was really interesting to basically confirm what I thought were problems with my feet.

I ended trying on about 8 pairs of shoes that would suit my kind of feet and ended up finding two that felt really good... like REALLY good. I felt so supported and didn't feel any rolling around or too much movement in my shoes. They just fit me so well, it kind of felt weird to be honest but good weird.

Yes unfortunately good shoes do cost a bit.The dark blue pair above are $159.95 and the light blue are $199.95 both Asics brand which are apparently good. I didn't want to know the prices until after I finished trying them on and working out which ones I felt most comfortable in first. I was pretty happy with the prices to be honest, I was hoping to find shoes under $200.

I definitely like the light blue pair best, they felt most comfortable plus I like the design as they look fun and sporty. I dont love the design of the dark blue ones but they are $40 cheaper and very similar feel comfort wise. 

I'm going to leave the decision up to Ben because I've given him the option to buy them for me for Christmas since they are a bit of a hefty price for a pair of shoes. I was going to ask for a fitbit flex to go with them but found out the new Fitbit charge comes out early next year so want to wait for that instead so shoes will do.

It's 11:45pm as I write this and I have not down a workout today, or yesterday. Normally I would be freaking out, going into hiding from the world and just avoiding anything so I don't have to confront it but something has changed in me recently and I think it's a good thing.

For the last couple of days Ben and I have been cleaning/sorting/organizing our house for a rental inspection that was today. It's always a little stressful when we have inspections because we aren't the kinds of people who have weekly "cleaning days", we are guys and to be honest can be a bit lazy and so the house tends to get pretty untidy and unless we have guests coming we tend to just leave it until it starts to bug us. BUT we want to change that so over the last few months we have been on "Operation Downsize & Live Simply" slowly reducing the amount of stuff we have by selling, throwing out and donating a lot of stuff we just do not need to make things easier for us to keep the house tidy and clean and its honestly been working. It's kind of an overhaul of the whole changing my life for the better thing that I have going on. So having the inspection today gave me a kick in the behind to really take it up a notch by cleaning out our back storage room and our spare room that had become a dumping ground.

Anyway long story short our house is nice and tidy, a lot less clutter and feeling peaceful... but only after about 3 days of hard work. Yesterday I was on my feet from morning until about 9pm getting it all finished and was exhausted plus I needed to go to bed early because of course today I also had my motorbike licence test early in the morning on the other side of the city so had to be up at 5:30am. 

Now I could have made some different choices yesterday so I could of done a workout, like doing it in the morning before I got into cleaning. However I made the choice not to because I know my body and my mind, even though after a workout I feel great I still need to chill out for a while afterwards because I am exhausted (but good exhausted) and I just did not have time yesterday to do that. I was hoping I would of finished cleaning earlier so I could do a workout but it just didn't happen and that is life sometimes.

Today I really didn't have a choice to do a workout in the morning, like I said I had to get up at 5:30am already theres no way I could get up at 4:30am to workout, get ready then drive for an hour and expect to be able to pass a motorbike licence test! So I planned to do one when I got home and then maybe do another workout in the evening to make up for yesterday. Sometimes things just don't go to plan and I've finally realised that is okay.

I finally got home from the licence test (I passed by the way YAY!) and it was about 11:45am. I was sooo tired from driving and riding all morning and I did not have a good sleep last night, maybe about 5 hours of actual sleep. About 10 mins later the realestate agent rocked up and did the inspection and then left, so now its just after 12noon. So organised and had my lunch (left over lasagna yum!) then I had to get back in the car to go pick up my cats from my friends house (short explanation - pets not allowed at rental house... so had to hide them for inspection *cheeky grin*) so this took about another hour out of the day and now its around 2pm.

I am just absolutely buggered so decide I'll have a little afternoon nap with one of my cats on the bed... well it was definitely needed because I ended up sleeping until 6:45pm!! But unfortunately I hadn't planned to sleep that long, I still needed to go to the supermarket so I could cook dinner. so I ended up doing that get home at about 8:30pm. Put everything away and start cooking dinner. Finally get to sit down to eat around 9:15pm... so by the time I finish eating and letting it all digest its all of a sudden 10:30pm and I am just know I am not doing a workout today... again. 

1 min rest between sets

Deadlifts 90kg 4x8 One arm deadlifts 40kg 4x8 Dumbbell squats 30kg each arm 4x8 Leg Extensions 65kg 4x8 Box jumps 4x10 Close grip pulldown to Tricep Press 35kg 4x8 Side Bends 32kg (ftw) 4x8 Jack Knifes Arm pump for a swollen exit lol