Merry Christmas Everyone!

In the eternal words of Noddy Holder; It's Chrrriiiiiiiisssssttttttmmmmaaaaassssssssss. Yes, pedant, I'm aware that's not the song I posted above but it's a catchy motto! For the record, Shakin' Stevens easily tops Slade as my favourite all time Christmas tune, I'm afraid. As does John Lennon's ' Happy Xmas (War Is Over)', Elton John's 'Step Into Christmas' and Wizzard's 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday'. But I digress...

I love Christmas. Christmas in our household is a site to behold and a pleasure to be a part of.

The day typically begins at an appropriate hour - Santa himself couldn't cut my sleep any shorter than it needs to be. I then get showered and slip into something special... clothes wise... not lingerie or anything! Then begins the imminent wait for everyone else to get ready. We then either head out or await the family depending on where we're spending Christmas. Once everyone's arrived, we normally take a stroll down the local for a drink and our bi-annual pool tournament between the families. Once we've lost, goddammit, we head home to sit down for Christmas lunch complete with hats and crappy Christmas cracker jokes.

Quite out of the ordinary, we don't exchange our presents until the afternoon after we've had Christmas lunch. And then a big deal is made out of the fact that everyone has to have a gift at once - to a point where the person codenamed  'Santa' (present hander outer) has to dig through the presents to find one for the person who hasn't currently got one to open! But I wouldn't have it any other way. As a kid, I used to find this quite annoying during the day when I hadn't got my brand new Action Man All Terrain Vehicle to play with, but the spectacle of everyone sat around giving and receiving gifts made up for it. Not to mention it gives you something to look forward to. I've never understood people who rush downstairs first thing in the morning -  especially as individuals rather than as a family - and proceed to tear into their presents without taking time to savour them, look at what other people have got or see the faces of your loved ones when they open the gifts you've bought them. For most, the day ends there. It's almost like they want to rush through the holiday they've waited for for so long. All too many people I know end up bored or sat online on Christmas Day after exhausting the festivities but that's not the case for myself! Once presents have been exchanged, piled up, hoards examined, thanks given and cats removed from playing in the piles of wrapping paper, the steady all-day drinking becomes a free for all and the real fun begins. The Wii is switched on and the board games come out - I have fond memories of playing Dunkin' Doughnuts with my late Nan when she was well into her late 80's - and after that it all becomes a bit of a haze. Other than flashbacks of having more people than places to sleep and makeshift beds made out of sofa cushions and blankets. Rinse & repeat for Boxing Day.

All that and so much more (I'm rushing through this!) is why I love Christmas. It just seems to be a day that everyone comes together to work toward the same goal; to celebrate with family and friends, have fun and have a jolly good knees up. 

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope today brings you everything you want and for whatever reason you celebrate Christmas - celebrate hard!

And to those who aren't around this Christmas, know that you're in my thoughts and in my heart.

xx

The Changing of Times (So long, 2010)

January: I am still reeling over the death of my last-living grandparent at the end of 2009. She was the only one I ever really knew; her husband died when I was a baby and my dad’s parents both died in the same year when I was only 11 years old. She was a hell of a woman - so strong, even into her 90’s – everyone feared one of her ‘clip round the ear’oles’. She used to say I was her favourite.
 

That same month K and I broke up. Although we were still ‘unofficially’ a couple right the way through to her eventual departure, it was the beginning of the end. I leave her house and get on the motorway in a fragile state of mind; I’m caught speeding by a mobile police van that, according to the documents, left that spot just 13 seconds after snapping me. That was a bad day. The fine arrived through my door not long after.

Fast forward a couple of months and we find my Dad in hospital with years’ worth of alcohol abuse finally catching up with him; his liver is shutting down. It’s touch and go for a while and we all ready ourselves for the worst. But eventually, after months of treatment, a stent installed inside him, litres of fluid drained from his abdomen, thousands of diuretics and other pills and strict orders that he can never drink again he pulled through. I think more than anything the hardest part was seeing my Mum like she was.

Back to K’s house; we’re exchanging letters and final kisses as she walks me to my car. We’ve just spent the weekend together pretending like this moment wasn’t coming. We visited a safari park and a zoo and took a random trip to some town in the arse-end of nowhere - but we found the fun in it as we always did. I can barely believe this is goodbye. I can’t actually comprehend that there’s every possibility that I won’t see this beautiful girl that I love so much ever again. I hold back wild marriage proposals in the hope that she’ll stay. I don’t cry. I get in my car and drive away. I was tortured by the memories of this day for months. I couldn’t believe I left. I hated myself for it. I thought of things I should of said; things I should have done; anything to stop her leaving.

The summer after she left was the lowest I’ve ever felt and I needed distraction. However, my best friend had taken off on his travels to the States and wouldn’t be back for a few months yet. I try to throw myself into work but in a country in the depths of recession I struggle to find any, and that which I can is nothing less than soul destroying.

It’s the end of summer and our family dog, Jasper, is fairly unwell. We do everything we can to make him as comfortable as possible but after a few weeks of his condition deteriorating it’s clear that we have to let him go. It hurts. I think of the 16 years we had him; we grew up together.

We’re now getting closer to the present day but things haven’t been much easier. I think about K every single day. Some days I’m fine, others I’m not. I try to avoid talking to our mutual friends for fear of hearing about her or being asked probing questions to which they could never know how complicated the answers are. I miss Jasper. I miss my Nan. And to top it all off, the Hornets had a horrendous 2009-10 season – not even making the playoffs - with talks of Chris Paul leaving to spread his wings elsewhere.

2010 did have its moments, though. I did some things I thought I’d regret but didn’t. I’ve had some nights out that will stick with me for life. I’ve been reunited with old friends; buried the hatchet with some and grown closer with others and I worked the best Fresher’s I’ve worked to date.

And such is life; where one door closes, another opens and through the bad times I found some good. For example, I excelled with my Martial Arts & MMA as being punched in the face sparring or hurting my hand breaking a brick didn’t seem so bad anymore. I was fearless and it showed in my improvement. However, the two biggest outcomes of all this year’s strife have been my gains in the gym and this blog. I channelled everything in to the gym with a renewed sense of purpose and drive to better myself. I researched the science behind everything and words such as ‘macronutrients’ and ‘hypertrophy’ became second nature. I ate smarter and trained harder; giving every session everything I could. And to this day I find motivation out of things which, once upon a time, would have weighed me down. You can read about that here.

Everything that couldn’t be smashed out in the gym, I would write about here in this blog. It was never intended to be public, let alone reach the level of views that it has done. I found when I wrote my troubles out I could take an unobstructed view of things and see what I needed to do to rectify them. This is my therapy. This blog has taught me a lot about myself. It also spurred me to create things such as my list of 30 things to do before I’m 30 and, knowing that people were reading it, a reason to start ticking them off rather than report back empty handed.

I also owe it to those bad times for giving me an incentive and the motivation to seek my own happiness rather than placing it in the hands of fate or someone else. I’ve taken life firmly in my grasp and will be fulfilling a lifelong ambition and venturing off to distant parts of the world very soon. I suppose I needed a kick to get me on my way.

I write this at a time that I’m finally letting go of the things which have haunted me. There was once a version of me that would have crumbled under the things I’ve been through this last year but I’m still here and I’m still moving forward. Come midnight on the 31st I will write this year off as experience and toast in a new year of adventure, self discovery and good times. I will walk into 2011 as a man who’s been through his own personal Hell but come out the other side stronger for it. I will walk into 2011 with a spring in my step, hope in my heart and an unrelenting anticipation of things to come. 

The Misadventurist's Internet Heroes 2010

Seeing as 2010 will soon be wrapping up, I figured I'd share with you some of my the wonders I've found, loved or laughed at over the last year. Will be adding more as/when I remember them, but if you have any suggestions - send 'em my way!

Enjoy!

Websites

Muscle & Strength - The website I've got all my workouts from, my nutritional advice, calculated my BMR's, read articles, researched supplements and more. The forum is filled with great guys and girls all very knowledgeable about all things fitness and they're more than happy to help with anything they can.

Twitter - Fell in love with Twitter this year! Facebook has certainly taken a back-seat with regard to my updates. Got talking to some lovely people and am provided with information tailored for me depending on who I choose to follow.

LolSnaps - Thousands of funny pictures, gifs and videos. Endless hours of entertainment. Open it up. I could click 'next' all day long, baby, all day long!

UKFDubstep - YouTube Channel for UKFDubstep. The best source for all the latest and greatest dub tunes.

Amusing Euphemism Generator - Exactly what it says on the tin. Excellent fun.

StumbleUpon - Can't even begin to think how many hours of my life I've whiled away on this site. In a nutshell, people find a cool site and register it with StumbleUpon. When you click 'stumble' in the top left you're taken randomly from site to site - normally finding something funny, interesting or plain awesome on each page. You can also sign up, list your interests and tailor the results you get, save your favourites, share them and so on. If you like it, install the toolbar, you won't regret it!

Videos

Other

TweetDeck - Excellent program I use for my Twitter updates. Various columns arranged efficiently next to each other for tweets, mentions, direct messages, trends and more. Can drag & drop files and photos & it will auto shortners URLs for you. You can customize it all and add extra columns if you see fit. It can also be synched with various accounts to post from multiple places including Facebook, LinkedIn and other social network sites. Plus much more. Essential software for any Tweeter!


Spotify - Can't go long without my music fix and I use Spotify every day. If you don't want to pay for Premium, get Spotify Open for 20 hours of music a month for free.

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

An amazing piece of writing I thought I'd share with you all. 

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence. 

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story. 

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit. 

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. 

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. 

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism. 

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass. 

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth. 

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. 

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. 

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul. 

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Dave's VIF Mass Building Routine

Link to the routine: Dave's Volume, Intensity & Frequency Mass Building Routine 

Recently, I started a new routine; The Power Muscle Burn or PMB, so I figured it best to write up my previous one while it's still fresh in my mind.

So straight to it - it's a mass building routine - how much weight did I put on?

20/08/2010        67.6kg

06/09/2010        68.1kg

11/09/2010        69.7kg

04/10/2010        69.1kg

07/10/2010        69.9kg

11/10/2010        70.7kg

15/10/2010        73.3kg

18/10/2010        72.5kg

24/10/2010        73.5kg

02/11/2010        74kg

07/10/2010        74.5kg

And now I'm hovering around the 75kg-75.5kg mark. That's an overall weight gain of 6.9kg, 15.2lbs or 1st1lbs in just 10 weeks (excluding 2 weeks where I was away in September). Very solid gains indeed. 

And for fun if we compare that to when I was at my lightest - 58kg - I have put on 17kg, 37.5lbs or nearly 2½ stone of solid muscle.

Measurements
But what about your measurements, George? Well I'm glad you asked. I've put 1" on either arm when relaxed, 1.5" on either bicep when tensed. And 0.5-0.75" on either tricep, also when tensed. I have also added just over 1" to my chest and over 1.5" to my quads. Overall, very pleased, though the expensive pair of jeans I bought recently are now preeeetttyy snug round the thighs.

Strength
And my strength? Here is a graph of the 'Big 3' (bench, squat & deadlift) and leg press over 8 weeks - I've yet to add weeks 9 & 10 but they all increase at an equally steady rate. All weights recorded are NOT my 1 Rep Max's (which are significantly higher) but weights I can lift for at least 3 sets of 6 repetitions.

All increasing. But numbers aside I'm feeling a lot stronger. Since that graph and the start of the new routine I have now bumped my squat up to 85kg for 4 sets of 5 repetitions and am well on my way to the 100kg milestone. My bench press is now over 60kg, Stiff Legged Deadlift is over 80kg and my leg press is over 250lbs/113kg. I also feel a lot more energetic, have a lot more confidence in myself both in the gym and outside of it, and am often complimented about 'filling out'. 

Fat Gain

Of course, as with most bulking routines there has been a degree of fat gain but keeping a fairly clean diet I have managed to keep those gains as minimal as possible. My bodyfat percentage has only gone up from 10% to around 13% or so, but I have subsequently lost ab definition. A 3-4 week 'cut' with some HIIT (high intensity interval training) and a calorie defecit will shed that, however, given my recent travel developments, I am tempted to continue my bulk for a few more weeks to gain more mass and then cut ready for the beaches in a couple of months.

Nutrition

For those interested in the nutritional side of things, I was aiming for 3497 calories a day, consisting of 150g of protein, 462g of carbohydrates and 116g of good fats, spread over 4-5 meals a day. Though typically I only ever manage around 3000-3200 calories a day before being too stuffed to eat anything else! 

I discovered how many calories I needed per day by working out my Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR (how many calories your body needs when not doing anything) and adding a calorie surplus to calculate my Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE. The typical recommendation is to add 500 calories to your BMR. But everyone is different, so exercise caution here and add 10%. If you find that your not gaining 0.5 to 1lbs of body weight each week, then you can bump it up to 15%.

From those numbers you can then calculate your macronutrient or PCF (protein/carb/fat) ratio.

I rarely drink and I have cut most junk food out of my diet. I'll have the occassional biscuit or two but for those who knew me before, this is a vast improvement - I was a biscuit fiend. Not to mention chocolate... mmm chocolate. 

Supplements
I did a cycle of a Weight Gainer (which is pretty much equal parts protein and carbohydrates) and after that settled into standard Whey Protein - taken pre work-out, post work-out and in the evening before bed. I also took L-Glutamine for while to aid recovery and keep my immune system up but substituted that for a standard daily Multivitamin and Zinc if I felt under the weather. Recently I have also added BCAA's (branched chain amino acids) and Creatine Monohydrate to my supplement cycle to aid muscle growth and recovery.

Summary
This routine busted me through a plateau at the 66kg mark and put on a further 9kg on top of that. The workout changes every four weeks which keeps you interested and motivated but my favourite phase was certainly the first four weeks or 'volume' phase - the arm day was brutal! I loved it. 

The hardest part, as with any routine - bulking or cutting - was the nutrition. Getting my desired level of calories per day without eating bad or dirty foods was certainly a challenge. And I'm sure if I had managed a couple of hundred more calories per day I would've seen even better gains. However, I'm super pleased with how far I've come in just 10 weeks. I have recommended this routine to others and will certainly do so in the future. I don't doubt that I will probably come back to it myself at some point, too.

I'll update this log with pictures asap and do a few more comparisons for you.

Thanks,

G

You vs Them, You vs No, You vs Cant, You vs Excuses.

"Whether or not you win this thing, you've got to decide how you're going to walk out of here when it's all said and done. 'Cos the game is going to go on. And there's only one rule you're going to need to know about - there are no second chances. There is only this moment and the next moment. Every one of those moments is a test that you get to take one time and only one time.

So if you see an opening; tear into it. If you get a shot at victory make damn sure you take it. Seize that moment. That moment is a crossroads where everything you want will collide with everything standing in your way. You've got momentum at your back. Fear and doubt are thundering like a freight train straight at you. And all you got - the only difference between making history and being history - the only thing, the ONLY thing, you can count on at any given moment is you.

It's you vs them. It's you vs no. It's you vs can't. It's you vs next year, last year, statistics, excuses. It's you vs history. It's you vs the odds. It's you vs second place.

Clock is ticking - let's see what you got."

A little rambling on 'dreams'.

I find myself looking at people and wondering whether they are achieving the things they want to achieve or whether they are even taking steps in the right direction. 

In 50 years from now, will I look back on my life knowing that I’ve done what I wanted to do? Or will I get lost working a job I hate, just because I have bills to pay? Is that how a life should be lead? Born to scrape money together to pay bills? No. I don’t want to lose sight of what’s important to me; of the goals I want to accomplish and the dreams I want to realize. I hate the thought of a life spent just ‘getting by’ and just ‘making do’ with what I have.

I wonder how many people never even try to achieve their dreams as they don’t think it possible.  I wonder about the people who fantasised about becoming an astronaut or adventurer; a doctor or a vet; a fireman or a lawyer, but never even tried as they were told it was a pipe dream or a fantasy. Who are these people to stand in our way? To tell us that we’re no good? To put us down when they have no idea what we’re made of or what’s inside us – and that’s the stuff that matters; our passion, our drive, our commitment, our ambition.

Our lives should be spent constantly learning and striving to better ourselves and the world around us. Our lives should be spent doing what we love.

I know money is an issue. I know work is an issue. I know it’s more than easy to get ensnared in a dead-end job because it pays the rent or buys you the occasional luxury. But don’t lose sight of the things you held dear. It might take longer to achieve than you had wanted but don’t give up on it. You want to climb Mount Everest? Do it! Put a bit of money away a little at time. Take a climbing or survival class here or there. It might take years to come to fruition but none of that will matter once you’re stood on the summit at the very top of the world knowing you’ve achieved your dream.

Take your aspirations and form them into obsessions and don’t let them slip away. Come back to them from time to time and assess whether you’re closer to achieving them than you were the last time you checked. And little by little you will start to get the things out of your life that you had always wanted.

Workout Log - Back Progress

Just a quick log to show the progress of my back. Sadly I don't have any pictures from before when I was super underweight; I had no idea of the importance of a strong back then so didn't think to take any.

The first image is from just a few weeks ago (5-6?), so it's nice to see how far I've come in such a short amount of time. Second image taken today. Nice wallpaper, huh?

Certainly added a general 'thickness' and my lats have come along nicely too. I'm needing a bit more work on the mid/lower sections, but more definition will be visible after my cut/fat loss routine which I'll be starting in a couple of weeks.

And although not fully tensed in image one, you can see there's a good level of arm progression and overall arm thickness. That, combined with the lat development, I'll be packing quite the punch at this rate.

My back workout consists of mostly compound moves such as Pull Ups, Stiff Legged Deadlifts, Barbell Rows, Seated Cable Rows, Upright Rows, Lat Pull Downs and various presses.

To give you an idea of how I've progressed on this current routine, we'll use the Stiff Legged Deadlift  (AKA the Romanian Deadlift) as an example. It targets the hamstrings, glutes & lower back. For those who don't know what it is, it is as follows:

Stiff Legged Deadlift

Week 1: 40kg | 88lbs

Week 2: 50kg | 110lbs

Week 3: 60kg | 132lbs

Week 4: 60kg | 132lbs

Week 5: 65kg | 143lbs

Week 6: 67.5kg | 148lbs

Week 7: 70kg | 154lbs

Week 8: 72.5kg ! 159lbs

Week 9: 75kg | 165lbs | 11s7lbs

Although this specific variation of the deadlift targets largely the lower back, deadlifts (and all the variations thereof) are considered one of the 3 staple exercises for muscle building.

I have also seen the amount of pull ups I can do go through the roof.

I am confident that I am not only building muscle but injury proofing my back.

Oh and to finish, a nice 'hero' pose haha.

30 Things To Do Before I'm 30

A little different to your typical Bucket List (I'm working on one of those too) - this is a list of all the things I want to achieve before I'm 30 in just over 7 years.

Some are easy, some I've taken steps towards achieving already and others might be a stretch. But this list is a guideline to put me on the right track to getting what I want out of life.

I've actually been sat in a bit of a panicked state all evening fretting about how it's not actually a very long time at all in the grand scheme of things but it'll be alright.

I could actually think of  ten thousand things I want to do, especially when specifics are taken into account i.e. drink vodka in Russia or win money in Vegas. Or even when longer term goals are addressed i.e. tell her I love her everyday, change someones life or inspire others. But they all have their own place on other lists.

30 things to do before I’m 30
1.    Visit every continent (We’ll let you off for Antarctica... Maybe)
- Africa
- Antarctica
- Asia
- Australia
- Europe
- North America
- South America
2.    Visit 25 Countries (9 down - 16 to go)
- UK
- Ireland
- France
- Italy
- Norway
- Tunisia
- Portugal
- Spain
- Belgium
3.    Live alone
4.    Sky dive
5.    Complete sexual bucket list
6.    Plant a tree
7.    Get a tattoo
8.    Climb a mountain
9.    Fire a gun
10.    Fly in a helicopter
11.    Work a job I love
12.    Find a girl and fall in love again
13.    Get engaged (possibly married, definitely engaged)
14.    Run a marathon
15.    Study more martial arts
16.    Learn another / become more fluent in a foreign language
17.    Go to an NBA game, preferably the Hornets but not too fussy
18.    Visit the National Archives at Kew and expand my Family Tree
19.    Go on a driving experience (sports car, rally car, stunt driving, whatever)
20.    Be happy with my body
21.    See Pink Floyd live
22.    Write a book. Correction - finish - a book
23.    Achieve at least a little fame or recognition for something
24.    Own a designer, tailored suit
25.    Do something heroic
26.    Get laser eye surgery
27.    Spend New Years Eve somewhere amazing
28.    Grow a full-on beard
29.    Acquire a taste for coffee & frequent coffee houses.

Key
Strikethrough - Done
Italics - Working on it

As you can see I'm still one short and I'm unconvinced about some of them as pre-30 goals but it's a work in progress.

G x

Superficial Surface Encounters

I don't know about you, but I meet new people almost every day; whether a brief encounter on the street, in a store or over the phone. Some people I'll meet and move on within minutes or even seconds. Some of them will be mere courtesy greetings or gestures. But some of these people I'll have a sustained conversation with; maybe a potential employer, the bank or perhaps someone I've got chatting to whilst sat down eating my lunch. And it's the latter I want to focus on today.

I am a sociable person. I love meeting new people. I love to talk. I love to listen. I love to find out about people - who they are, where they're from, what they like, what they don't like. I love to find shared passions and common ground or cry out in joking disgust when they're a fan of something I'm not. I love to part someone's company knowing that I could've just made a new friend. But how often is that actually the case?

I have met hundreds, if not thousands, of new people in the last few years just like the above. They come along, you get talking, you hang out and all is swell, you drift a bit, you chat on Facebook occasionally but it soon dries up, you bump into them when you're out, you nod or wave or shake hands or hug, you catch up, they say 'it's been too long', you say 'yeah it has', they say 'we should meet up sometime', you say 'definitely'. You know chances are that'll never happen but you might drop them a message saying it was good to see them and you get chatting a bit. The situation then repeats itself ad infinitum.

How many friendships do you have just like that? Sound familiar? I thought so. 

So what's going on?

Could be a case of Networking. Now networking is no bad thing. A lot of people do it intentionally and do well out of it, whilst others do it subconsciously or unknowingly. I am guilty of the former. I am a big networker. I meet some people and think 'Yes my good man, you may be of some use to me in the future' and I drop them in a big imaginary bucket labelled 'useful', with a little mental note to keep in contact with them just in case.

People network for a plethora of reasons; jobs, social status, fame, hot friends, party invites - a whole host of things from the massive to the mundane. The only thing they have in common is that they all want something out of you. For example, ladies and gentleman, you would be surprised to know just how many people stay in touch with happily taken people just to target them should they ever become single. That's networking. Or perhaps a more apt name would be 'bookmarking'. And you're probably guilty of that yourself, right?

I've been networked a silly amount of times because of my involvement in Events, in particular Freshers Week and club nights. I wonder just how many people stayed in contact with me for the possibility of free entry, free drinks or VIP access. I have received an abundance of messages in the last few years from people I've not spoken to in forever, asking if I could 'hook them up' with something. And I'm sure you have also been networked for whatever you have to offer. If you don't think you have anything to offer other than your wonderful friendship and don't think anyone's been networking you, chances are you've been at least bookmarked.

Alternatively, not progressing in friendship could simply be because you are not compatible as anything more than acquaintances or loose friends.

How often do people step into our lives and become our best friends or loved ones?

I went through three years of university where everyone knew my name. Yet I've come out the other side with just 2 or 3 people I would consider as close friends who I can see being around in the years to come; friends who I chat to often, who I miss when they're not around, who I can talk to about my troubles, share things with and who I can trust to put me right if I'm wrong. What makes these people different from any other? Beats me. But something, somewhen happened and our lives became entwined.

Friends at work? Would you even be sat there with them on your lunch if you didn't work with them?

Catching up with someone you used to know? Would you even be catching up if you hadn't awkwardly bumped into each other?

Don't get me wrong, my point isn't to question every friendship you have or to turn your back on people because you haven't spoken in a while - people get caught up in their lives and sometimes people drift. There is also nothing wrong with being friends with someone because circumstance would have it so. I stand as a firm believer that you can never have enough friends - to any degree of attachment. I also believe there are exceptions to the points I've made and that there is a grey area.

My point (finally) is to be thankful for the relationships you have which are special; which are deeper than superficial surface encounters and networking. To value the family, friends and lovers in your life who you share that je ne sais quoi with. That something which means you know they get you; that they'll love you no matter how ridiculous you look or how awful that joke was; that they will stand by you through thick and thin; that they will be around not only to see you progress through life but to help you in any way they can. Be grateful for those people with whom you can talk to or joke about things which you're sure the whole of society would shun you for if spoken aloud. And those people who make all the world's troubles disappear when you're with them.

Tell these people you love them, support them, hug them often, don't let the sun set on an argument and don't leave them behind when you step out on your life journey.

Afterall, such relationships are a rarity. You should treat them as such.

Whilst on the topic of motivation...

...Have some motivational quotes which see me through when times get a little rough or when I'm lacking inspiration to live my life.

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."

- Harvey Fierstein

“Our greatest glory consist not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

- Oliver Goldsmith

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."

- Henry Ford

"If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up."

- J.M. Power

"The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground."

- Author Unknown

"One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in."

- Wayne Gretzky

“Fortune favours the brave.”

- Publius Terence

"Every man goes down to his death bearing in his hands only that which he has given away."

- Persian Proverb

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure - which is: Try to please everybody.”

- Herbert Bayard Swope

"With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

"Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy"

“Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. “

- Barak Obama

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, ''Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.''

- Mahummad Ali

"To unpathed waters, undreamed shores."

- William Shakepeare

"If the wind will not serve, take to the oars."

"In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends."

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man be perfected without trials."

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us."

- Helen Keller

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

- Harold R. McAlindon

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy shit! What a ride!"

- Hunter S. Thompson

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."

—William Arthur Ward

"What do I fear? I fear stagnation and lack of progress. I fear never reaching my potential and being average. I fear being forgotten... the past... yesterday's news. I fear giving up and being passed by, going softly into that good night. I fear letting those I love down, letting myself down. I fear settling, giving in to the 'that's just the way it is' mindset. I fear dying without leaving my mark. I fear not feeling these fears anymore and just floating along. These fears feed me, they nourish my drive. I love my fear."

The Truth Behind What Motivates Me.

So I've been asked recently why I do it. When I'm sat there with serious DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), struggling to make it up and down the stairs or lift my arms - I'm asked why I put myself through it. When checking the nutritional information of everything I eat and drink - I'm asked why I bother, aren't I just being a little pedantic? When I'm drinking a protein shake with Creatine & BCAA's and all but gagging; when I'm stepping out for a run in the pouring rain and cold; when my hands are callused and hard - people are always asking me why I do it. 

So why do I do it?

1. I do it because of them. 

They sit there with their junk food and their television and their carbonated drinks and their internet. They go out on their binges and they sleep all day. They bathe in their own feebleness and fragility. They mock me for my weight gloves, my shakes, my vests and my supplements. But they just want to bring me down to their own level of uninspired weakness. They tell me it's not worth it. They try and pull me off my chosen path to a better me and when they fail they label me with vanity and arrogance. They live unaware that is infact me mocking them as I progress further and further away from them as I grow stronger, bigger, faster and more powerful than they could even comprehend my body would be capable of. 

2. I do it because of who I used to be.

I was once one of them. I was a slave to what I saw as my limits. I succumbed to the binges and the junk at the sake of my health, confidence and pride. When I finally saw the light, I went into working out blindly without knowledge and as a result I ended up at an unhealthy weight feeling sick all the time. My confidence all but disappeared entirely and I settled for what I was; weak. But one day something hit me, and that same thing sticks with me even now. It drives me. It is my fuel. It is renewable and is most certainly sustainable. And that, readers, is the fear of weakness. It is a raging fire burning inside of me which says I will never be weak again. It is a testament to the man I am now and the man I will be in the years to come. It serves as a reminder to everyone that I am no longer to be fucked with and I will no longer take your shit, and a warning to all those people who I would once have questioned fucking with that they will most certainly be fucked with now. It says that I will not back down and I will never surrender. It says that I will fight til the bitter end defending what I love and it says I WILL WIN.

Every last rep I push out whilst my body is screaming at me to stop is a big "fuck you" to everyone who pounded on me, who held me back, who left me behind, who failed me and who stood in my way. Including myself.

3. I do it for so much more.

I do it for the progression. I do it to see my charts go through the roof. For my before and after picture comparisons to be baffling. For the compliments that never grow old. For the shock and awe on the faces of people I've not seen for a while. For the sex appeal. For the 'this is what you could've had'. For the strength. For the power. For the confidence. For how safe I feel in my skin. For how alive I feel when finishing a session. For the making of new friends. For the achievement. For the realization of dreams; lifting something and looking like I could have only dreamt just weeks ago. For me. For you. For her. And for so much more.

And some of you might take all of this as arrogance - believe me, you're not alone. Arrogant is a word I hear all too often. But I don't see it as arrogance. It isn't arrogance to enjoy the fruit of your labours or to reap what you've sewn. I have worked fucking hard to be where I am now. I have poured blood, sweat and tears into the fire and out of it I have forged a new and better me. I have had my ups and I have most certainly had my downs. I have failed a thousand times and will fail a thousand more. But I get back up and I keep pushing because I know that I will get there in the end. I will see people fail, give up and fall by the wayside but I will keep on going where they could not. I will set a goal and hammer and hammer and hammer away until I smash it and then I'll set another.

I walk like a king. Perhaps not as one, but in the knowledge that I one day will be.

2 Year Weight

Click to enlarge

This is my weight over the period of around 2.5 years. It began with me at my heaviest in my Freshers year - holding onto a lot of 'freshers flab' from all the boozing. 

You can clearly see where I began running a lot and started losing weight, and where it continued to come off until I was at an unhealthy weight. 

You can then see where I start bulking. Notice how the line isn't as steep as the weight loss angle - this is because packing on muscle is much harder than losing fat.

You can even see where my weight dipped again during my time in Bristol in September when working Freshers Week haha. 

And now (although most recent weights aren't in this image), I'm pleased to say I'm at the heaviest I have ever been and it's all muscle.

Onwards and upwards from here.

I will finish this routine up in 5 weeks. I will then be a on 2-3 week 'cut' where I'll burn away all the inevitable fat build up you make whilst bulking and get nice and lean (just in time for Winter, eh?). Then I'll see how I'm looking and no doubt start a new bulk over the cold winter.

Next goal is the 75kg mark which I should hit within a couple of weeks. And then we're looking to the 80kg. 

I'm putting on roughly 0.8kg a week. 5 more weeks * 0.8kg = 4kg. So hopefully I can be about 77kg before I finish this routine. I'll then cut down to about 75kg probably. And then have just 5 weeks left til Christmas! Holy hell, is that it?! 

By the new year I'll be 80kg and ready to hit the beachers. In January. Let's hope I'm in Australia!

Want!

 

How To Train Your Dragon: Superb film!

She Knows

She knows what she’s put me through and what she continues to put me through even now. She knows how miserable she made me and how much I suffered for her leaving. She knows it’s not every day that you fall in love with your best friend. And she knows that she’s thrown away something which people spend their lives searching for and often never find.

I want her to know that I would give anything to have a lazy afternoon spent cuddled on the sofa like we used to. These times, whilst happy, seemed so insignificant in the moment; but I now relish the thought of such normality with her. I want her to know that every part of me still craves her touch. And that I still struggle to fall asleep at night without her next to me. I want her to know that while my smile may look the same to others; it is not the same smile I smiled when I was with her. I want her to know I see her face in every weight at the gym and the anger pushes me through the pain. I want her to know I see her face in the bottom of every glass and the pain pushes another into my hand. I want her to know I see her in the way that I act and I hear her in the way that I speak - she echoes inside of me.

But what I need her to know is that what I’d do to get her back bares no boundaries or limits. I need her to know that not a single hour has passed in all this time that I haven’t thought about her. I need her to know she parted my heart from my chest when she left, carrying it with her all those thousands of miles where it rests with her to this day. I need her to know that in the darker times she might face, I’ll stand as light, and I need her to know that when times seem hard, there is someone here who would lay down everything they had just to see her smile again. I need her to know that while she bounces from place to place searching for whatever it is she’s searching for, she will always have a home in my heart.

I need her to know I miss her.

She chose her dream over me - for which I cannot blame her at all. I understand why she’s done what she’s done but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. The more I think about it, the more I realise that our relationship was only just beginning. I wish we could have seen what life had in store for us.

I wish she didn’t go.

An Update.

Been a while since I actually wrote a blog so figured I'd give an update of where I am now. 

On Friday (3rd September) I handed in my notice at work. Such a huge relief. Was easily the worst job I've ever had, without a doubt. And even the thought of 4.5 more working days there, until I finish at lunch time on Friday 10th, are enough to fill me with dispair. 

They basically gave me the equivalent of a Yellow Pages full of 'Speciality Chemical' businesses and told me to type it up into an excel document. 1956 companies, 13 columns of information for each. That equates to 25,428 cells of data inputted by yours truly over the course of a working week. Mind-numbing. The job isn't even made better by my colleagues, all of whom are many years my senior and completely indifferent to my existence. 

So it is with absolutely no regret that I leave this job other than the fact it put money in my bank account. But that in itself would not have kept me there much longer anyway! 

As of Wednesdy 15th I will be heading back to Bristol to work as an Event Operator again for UWE Freshers 2010. It'll be good. Always hard work, long hours and has you wondering at points why you're doing it but that's always made up for with good times and a sense of accomplishment. Not to mention a further year to add to my CV - my third year in a row of being involved with UWE Freshers. 

The only drawback is that it's a temporary role and after 26th September and being paid for perhaps half the hours I'll actually work, I'll be back into the world of unemployment which is not good when you're trying to get some money away to go travelling round the world with. Good to get in the gym when it's quiet though! Every cloud. 

Hoping to secure work for when I get back before I leave, but we'll soon see.

Not much else to report. Have just got over a pretty mad cold and have been out of the gym for a week now. And with that my diet - one where I pretty much have to eat everything in sight to gain some weight (but good stuff) - took a hit and I just started raiding the junk food again. Feeling very bad and lethargic and keen to get back on the dietary straight and narrow tomorrow and back in the gym tomorrow night.

Had a good few nights out recently, with a lot of binging adding to the general bad feeling I have at being lazy etc! Thinking I'll prob take a bit of time out with the drinking now. Have been using it to push Krissy out of my head but can't keep it up for much longer. Better to beast it out in the gym. 

Drawn a blank as to what else I wanted to say. Will write a topical blog soon.

Peace. 

G x

The Masochistic Misanthropist

....Probably a more apt name for my life blog at the moment.

Notes to Self / Things I've Learnt

1. Never piss with an erection. (Not something I've done recently but a valuable life lesson for us all)

2. Don't handle chillis and then put your contact lenses in, regardless of how many times you've washed your hands.

3. A big homemade curry before the gym is not a good idea. 

4. No matter where you go, the worlds worst drivers will have followed you there. 

5. You have road rage issues. Address this at some point.
6. More often than not, people who judge you aren't worth impressing anyway. Fact.
7. Exercise does not take time, it creates time. (Not to mention sex appeal)
8. No one in the world works right up to 5pm. 4.50pm is an acceptable time to start wrapping up. 'No point starting anything now' is an acceptable excuse. Better go to the toilet before the drive home too, right? And your papers need to be piled nicely. Not to mention the essential rearranging of the shortcuts on your desktop.  Mouse hovers over the Shutdown button at 4.57pm. "Right... Have a good evening!" Out by 4.58pm.
9. You are blessed with good health and working legs. Take the stairs.
10. Stop racing to your car at the end of the day. A minutes difference won't get you ahead of the rush hour. You'll just end up falling down the stairs.
11. Buy your summer clothes in the winter and your winter clothes in the summer, as clearly shops expect you to do this.
12. Meet new people.
13. Make friends with said new people.
14. Stop buying sandwich's from the sandwich man at work when you know you don't even like them!
15. Stop eating things just because they're there. 
16. Address will-power issues.
17. Living for the weekend is no way to spend a life. Do something about it.
18. Remember: The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
19. Stop being a girl and go to the dentist! 
20. A wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn.
21. Find the guy doing all the rain dances and tell him to LAY OFF.
22. Give in to the realization that you will, henceforth, analyze every person on every flight you take for the rest of your life, wondering, if we crash and are stranded on a tropical island full of unexplained phenomenon, who would be the leader?
23. Write more.
24. She likes you. And you know why? Cos you are a neat guy. You are the man. You are THE MAN. Still got it! You're just a love machine. HOURGHHHHHHHHH! 
25. Don't be afraid to take chances. A la Doctor Pepper, what's the worst that could happen?
26. Give credit where it's due.
27. And to that end - thank the guy who created Notes to Self for supplying a couple of the (funniest) points here, for inspiring my own list and for entertaining me to no end the last few days.
28. Pay more compliments and they will be returned in kind.
29. Find someone to have a crush on.
30. Lead a successful campaign to bring back good manners.

31. Cherish the joy felt when driving along, windows down, music blaring, singing as loud as you possibly can and not giving a damn who hears you. True freedom.
32. Appreciate all those drivers who thank you for thanking them when letting you pass.
33. Time permitting; persue, catch and beat manners into all those drivers who don't thank you for letting them pass.
34. Never play Beer Pong with Vodka ever again.
35. Continue to find it hilarious that people were convinced you are in the Special Forces.
36. Chocolate Digestives are, rather strangely, quite good for a hangover it would seem.
37. Stop slacking on the diet.
38. When given the choice, don't agree to last minute interviews which require a portfolio of your design, HTML AND events work. Not to mention prepared answers for competency & scenario questions and an understanding of what the company is. You will be stressed. However, said stress will create good artwork.
39. Design more.
40. Finish your online portfolio.
41. Business cards. 'Nuff said.
42. Have an epiphany. Don't care what about.
43. Find a way to convince the love of your life to come back.
44. If 43 fails, find a way to move on.
45. Set a deadline for 43.
46. Undertake a DIY project.
47. Do yourself a favour and get your head around what the HELL taxes are all about.
48. Walk to Paris.
49. No matter how thinly you slice it, there will always be two sides. 
50. For most, a job is an inconvenience, that's why you get paid for it. Imagine the beauty in being paid to do something you love. Jealous much?
51. Day time naps = dribble city.
52. Religion (or lack thereof) shouldn't be taught, it should be found. No one should tell you what to believe except you.
53. Learn some Parkour/Free Running. It. Is. Awesome.
54. Some things are timeless and appeal to the inner child in all of us, no matter how old we are. These include thunder storms, lightning, snow, hail, torrential rain and other adverse weather conditions; playing 'don't let the balloon touch the ground!'; driving through puddles; power cuts; BALL PITS and many more.
55. Research into whether Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was based on real technology. If so, consider using it.
56. Take great joy and satisfication at the LARGE spanner you will put in the works when handing in your week's notice.
57. Find SOMEWHERE that sells black check shirts. Like this, but not sold out goddammit!
58. Quote more How I Met Your Mother.
59. Stop neglecting writing real blogs whilst writing this.
60. Go to bed. 
61. If you snoop around long enough for something in particular you're guaranteed to find it - for better or worse. That's how I learned it's best to just keep some things private.
62. Never underestimate the power and value of the hand-written letter.
63. Universal Truths.

• Sharpning a pencil with a knife makes you feel really manly.
• Everyone always remembers the day when a dog ran in to their school.
• It's impossible to look cool whilst picking up a frisbee.

64. Guildford more.
65. Guildford much, much more.
66. Life changing revelations can occur at any time, even through the most obscure occurances and scenarios.
67. Stop thinking your phone goes off during that one point in that one song. You do it EVERY time.
68. A new time in your life calls for a new fragrance to associate these times with when smelling it in the future. (Much akin to Joop! Jump reminding you of Freshers)
69. More :D
70. You will never find someone who can give you a clear and compelling reason as to why we observe daylight savings time.
71. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

Updated as and when I need to remind myself of something :D 

NB: Most of these are my own. Some are inspired by others. Some are straight up stolen from other sites but I felt they'd be good lessons for us all so included them here.

Weight Comparison

Here's a comparison between Pre-Skinny and Post-Skinny, both roughly around the 10st 5lbs mark. (Maybe a bit heavier now). 

The first picture was taken in Magaluf in 2008, just after I lost the 'Freshers Fat'. The latter taken a week or so ago. 

I even tried to recreate the pose! Haha. Finally filling out a little bit! Woop.

Travelling Update

Not going to reveal too much just yet, but travelling is coming together. Starting to set things in motion now.

Watch this space for info. But know that I'll be away for anywhere between 1 and 3 years - Longer if I decide to work in multiple countries which is definately on the cards. 


Admittedly, I'm scared at the prospect of doing it alone and completely dumbfounded by the length of time I'll be away - even just a year seems like such a long time - but I am massively excited.  


Who knows. Maybe I'll find me a nice, hot Australian lass and never come back! 


...Or Canadian, Fijian, Kiwi, American or any nationality from any other country I might or might not end up in. 


I'd leave right now if I had the money!

Workout Progress - Front Edition Pt.1

So yeah. Here's a quick front comparison. I will get proper pics soon in the same posture etc for an accurate comparison. But this is just to show the overall progress I've made.


It's odd. I still consider myself quite skinny. But when I look at that picture there, it's actually quite gross and I'm sure you'll agree! I look deathly thin. Much better now!
Still a long way to go. Just starting 4-6 weeks of some serious gaining with a few more supplements than I normally take - just to bust through my current plateau. After that (or when I run out of supps - not wasting 'em, they're fecking expensive) I'll resume back to just the protein. 

All along trying not to gain any fat so am trying to eat right. I'm a changed man now compared to what I was just a months ago with regard to snacking. I would pig out on biscuits, chocolate, crisps, ice creams every day - convincing myself that cos I was working out it was okay. But now I've cut it out dramatically. Was hard at first but cravings soon went away. I still allow myself a cheat day every week where I can eat what I want. What's the point in working so hard if you can never reward yourself or have stuff you like? 

So then after this bulk up, will be off the carbs (or lowering them anyway) and trying to cut my body fat percentage right down. Then we might be getting somewhere! 

All in time for me to go travelling and completely fuck the diet and the working out and lose all the gains I've made! haha. Least I'll be smoking hot for the beaches for a little while though! Besides, I'm sure they have gyms. If not, bodyweight circuits it is.

 

Krissy

Best girl I ever knew.
Best relationship I ever had.
I don't want to talk about it anymore just yet. 

New job, same old shit.

Recently started a new job. After a fairly lengthy drought of applying for hundreds of jobs and getting nothing back, I jumped at the opportunity to be back making some money again. More so because I need to get some money away for travelling next year. Yet somehow I've landed myself in another job which is hardly worth the money when being as miserable as I am there. Half of me says lifes too short to be so miserable at work and that I can't put up with it for much longer (after a couple of days!). I'm 22 years old and it's about time I was doing something decent. I'm not some 16 year old work experience temp people can dump their unwanted work on. The other half says just to keep at it and think of the money. 

I arrived to be told that the job I applied for (Data & Subscriptions stuff - boring as it would be!), wouldn't need doing for a few months yet. So instead they directed me to a vast array of archive boxes full of loose papers and yep, you guessed it - I have the pleasure of sorting through them all! Sorting out what needs to be shredded and what doesn't judging by what it is and when it's from! Hurrraaahhhh!!! Doing that for four hours yesterday, paper by paper for thousands and thousands of sheets, was enough. Going back in again today and following it up for a further 7 hours for pushing it. And THEN, boy o boy, I get to sort out what we're keeping and put it all into date order too!! And remember, we're talking what must be a couple of thousand papers per box x 30 or so boxes. 

At first they tried to get me to shred all the old stuff too on some ancient shredder which only took 4 pieces of paper simultaneously and had to be emptied every 45 seconds or so. In an unventilated room. With the shredder coughing up so much paper dust. Covering all my brand new business clothes with shit (even though that was after I'd sat on the floor and lugged boxes around in them too), covering my hair in shit, making me cough my guts up. One box later (which amounted to about 5 big bin liners of shredded paper), I'd had enough. Kicked up a fuss and they decided they'd outsource it to a shredders for £60. 

And I've been told that once I finish all this mind numbing paper sorting (assuming I don't break before then and try to paper cut myself to death), I get to do some MAIL MERGEE!!!! And WRITE SOME ENVELOPES!!!... I can't help but feel this is below me. Especially seeing as I had to do tests in excel and telephone manner at the interview! 

I feel perhaps providing me with a thousand pens to sort into colours would have been a more accurate test. 

I've applied for other jobs and am praying that something turns up soon. Either way, even if nothing comes up, I can't see this lasting more than a week or so. 

So far got by with using Skype Twitter and Facebook on my phone as I'm by myself in the corner of the room out of range of prying eyes. Seems a shame to have to go back to the desks where I can't fuck about. Every cloud I suppose. 

Anyway. I know it seems ungrateful to be so hateful of a job in this day and age and in this 'economic environment' and the recession blah blah, but my god, I'm so sick of doing these shit jobs. It's about time I done something I enjoy or at least am interested in. Or something which at least challenges me a bit. "It's Money" is only a valid excuse for unhappiness for so long. You're more than welcome to see how long you'll last sorting mountains of loose papers if you care for my job. Swap you? :D 

The people aren't great either. 

Rant over!

Workout Progress - Right Arm Edition

Click image to enlarge to get up close and personal!

The far left shows my right side view in around Oct/Nov of 2009, at the height of the problems mentioned in previous posts. I was unhealthily skinny and looking back I wonder how my girlfriend managed to still find me attractive!  Either way I found the drive and now a few months later (the other 3 shots taken in July 2010) you can see I've pretty much doubled in size and muscle mass.

Very pleased with the gains. I enjoyed doing the comparison as on a daily basis you don't see them gains. To me, my arms still look fairly small but when compared to back then can't help but feel the hard work has been paying off.

There's still a way to go yet. I'm looking for a bit more mass, especially in the arms and chest. Also need to level out my arms as my left is a bit smaller still. Then just got to get on a strict diet - no junk, just a few complex carbs and try and cut that last bit of fat I've got to get the physique I'm looking for.

Other views to follow probably!