Once Upon a Time...

First, a little back story. About a year and a half ago I was riding down the road to work and noticed that I when I went over the bumps, I felt my stomach and my chest jiggle...things that shouldn't be jiggling, at least that's what  I thought. I was 22 years old and I was in, what I thought to be, decent shape physically. However, what I hadn't noticed was that since graduating from college and getting a nice, cushy desk job that I had become soft and flabby. That was the first time I thought I was really ever fat and to be honest, I was. That was the day the straw broke the camels back.

My parents had joined Planet Fitness (I know, insert joke about Planet Fitness being crap blah blah blah) in the fall of 2011 and when I mentioned this "jiggling experience" they told me to come join them at the gym. At first I declined with the excuse that I didn't have time, the money and that I could just workout at home, all of which were lies. Finally, around Christmas of that year my fiance and I (we're now married) decided to give the gym a try. For the first seven months or so I worked out fairly regularly but didn't really try to push myself and didn't change my diet at all (Big mistakes). I began to get frustrated when the initial quick changes stopped happening and I saw no progress. I wasn't really tracking my exercises and certainly wasn't tracking what I ate. Both huge mistakes.

With this frustration came another  mistake of poor judgment in the fall of 2012. I decided "Hey, why don't I try taking a protein supplement." This was a huge setback. I decided to use a protein supplement, probably the worst on the market, that contained a huge amount of fats, sugars and carbs which did nothing but hinder me. At this time I was also tracking my workouts but I still wasn't seeing noticeable results. Why? The protein supplement. During winter 2012-2013 and spring 2013 I also began supplementing with BCAA drinks and Pre-Workout. I could tell a difference in my workouts and my recovery, but something was wrong. I wasn't seeing any physical results in my body. I was working out harder than I ever had and still nothing. I was to the breaking point. Then I looked at the nutrition label on the protein supplement. It was killing any chance I had at losing fat/building muscle. And then I realized another harsh truth, I had to change my diet.

So in June, 2013, I changed my diet to a healthy bulking plan (to gain muscle mass) and also researched to find the best protein/protein mix. I think I have found it and in the past two months I have noticed huge gains (in comparison to what I had been experiencing) and have now set a goal, something else I was lacking,...to become a Super Saiyan by next May.

Now, I know what you're thinking "This is some delusional nerd with no life who is obsessed with a children's cartoon." And you'd be partially right. I am a nerd and I do have a passion for Dragonball Z. This "cartoon" (I hesitate to call it one though) influenced me when I was younger to stay healthy and was something that my brother and I always watched together and enjoyed. But I began to watch it again at the beginning of this year (2013) and it influenced me more than ever. Not only did I want to be a good, pure person like Goku but I also wanted to have the determination of Vegeta (and the body of both). I wanted to be a good example of how to be a good human being, both physically and socially/emotionally/mentally.

So, this is my journey, to become physically, emotionally and mentally fit and to be the best person I can be. In this blog I will highlight my workouts, exercise supplementation, diets, mental training, etc. I would love input from anyone and I am always open for discussion and even the good-spirited debate.

Will you join me?