I was given a gift a while back from the other half for a day of climbing at the local wall climbing facility.  I had heard about the place from a lady I used to work with.  It sounded like a wonderful idea.  I had seen walls in various places around the county such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and REI, which just happens to be a store I walk through and dream of having all the camping and hiking supplies.  I think I had tried to climb one of the walls once and did not get past one or two of the grips.  My arms were not strong enough to lift the rest of me.

I get to the place with the other half and we sign the proper computerized forms that say, “Hey, I’m going to come in here and climb on these walls.  Even though the floor is really thick padded material, I know I could fall off the wall in a heartbeat and I could break my neck.  It is all my fault and there is no way that I would hold you people responsible for my slippery hands or feet or my ignorance if I do something extremely stupid.”   Pretty simple wording, eh?!

The first thing we had to do was go through a quick educational course about belaying, or the process of not allowing the climber to fall too far too quickly if he/she were to slip and lose hold to the grips.  The other half stood in the one responsible for my life.  Joy, joy!  It was a pretty quick class, taught to him as I was climbing the wall.  I get to the top of the wall and look back down.  I was told to grab a hold of the rope and lean back.  I am not afraid of heights, but I can say that sitting back in that strap, digging into my crotch, was not the most settling thing I’ve done in my life.  I did reach the floor safely.

We stayed for about an hour or two.  I did all the easy walls.  All the tough walls were not being used.  I guess there were no people there working at the location that dealt with that level of climbing.  I was happy with the climbing I did.  After getting my arms bigger earlier in the year, it helped me out tremendously, even though you do not want to place all the work into your arms.  You want to place a lot of the stress in your legs to lift you up instead of pulling yourself up with the arms.  I probably did pull myself up most of the time as when we arrived home, it felt as though my hands were going to break apart.  It comes with the actions.

I can’t wait till I can go back there.  It is really close to where we live.  I want to take quite a few people the next time we go.  I think it would be a fantastic outing for a group of people.  We could race SAFELY to the top.  That’s an idea I will pass along to some others and will definitely have to write about when it happens.

A while back, I think I mentioned how I had started biking with a good friend.  Sadly, for various reasons, I have had to miss those trips for about a month.  He was either doing things or I was doing things.  There was one Sunday when I called him early in the morning to tell him that I was feeling quite shitty and that there was not going to be any energy to go on a bike ride.  He surprisingly agreed and we went back to our beds and fell fast asleep.

I probably should have gone on a ride the weekend of July 4th since it was a long weekend.  We had company, however, and I wasn’t going to play the bad host.  I say that, but then I turned around that Sunday night and got totally PLASTERED on way too much Tanqueray & Tonic…Big Fatty’s drink of choice.  I started out small but then it got really strong as we were watching the local fireworks display.  Pretty flashes!  It was all good until I reached the downstairs porcelain god and we started a close relationship that lasted for a while.  When I awoke on Monday morning, half of my body was in the bathroom while the other half was lying on the carpet.  I was literally lying in the door.  Oh, and naked with a blanket.  Good times, I tell ya!  The pic was taken by the other half as the dog, I guess, was seeing if I was still alive.  I was told it was scary, but I honestly don’t know.

After that night, I got back to my routine at the gym.  I could allow one night of partying before I returned to my strict gym time.  I say strict, but in reality, I wasn’t feeling like it was doing anything.  I thought I was doing great on the Body-for-LIFE plan and I believed it would start to show as time progressed.  I didn’t see that coming.  One of our coworkers told me on more than one occasion that I needed to go to the gym with him.  This guy knows what he is talking about.  He is really built…to the point where I honestly want to be someday.

I am loving the feeling of renewed energy.  My coworker is a great trainer and one that takes time with you and explains what you don’t understand.  I , of course, have many questions about weightlifting and the best ways to do it and be safe at the same time.  I can see where changes are taking place.  The pic to the right is from last week.  You may think there is not much change taking place by looking at my stomach, but there really is.  I have been told by many that the stomach area is the hardest to train and it is also the last area you will see the changes in body/muscle size.  I am hoping that later is when I will witness this miraculous change because now it’s not changing as much as I’d hoped.  The goal is to look much different by the time we go to the Pride 48 Podcasters Convention in Las Vegas.  I WILL look better for that event.  I’m promising that to myself. 

I will write more later as at this moment, my eyes are trying to close.  It has been a long day and it is time for my brain to calm down and allow my muscles to heal.  Onward Bound, Mr. Muscle Man! LOL

Tuesday’s running was for a specific reason and the routine was not really my own.  The base of the routine was created by…you guessed it…Bill Phillips in the Body-for-LIFE.  The part left up to me is the speed.  The following is the plan, laid out by the minute, the intensity, and the speed in miles per hour.

Today starts a renewal to the Body-for-LIFE fitness plan.  It’s 11:43pm and I am still awake, but for the rest of the day, I have been following the plan as closely as possible.  This takes an extreme amount of determination, responsibility, and patience.  I am treating this as a fitness plan for personal reasons and a little bit of vainness.  There are, however, many people who have completed this program as part of the Body-for-LIFE Fitness Challenge.  Maybe one day, I could do that.  For now, it will have to be for health reasons alone.

The first Body-for-LIFE fitness challenge was in 1996 when it was known by a different name…the EAS Grand Spokesperson Challenge.  Through the years, thousands of people have changed their lives mentally and physically.  The writer, Bill Phillips, one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the US, is also the creator and owner of EAS, a fitness and sports nutrition supplier.  I am sure you have seen Myoplex on the supermarket shelf at one point in time.  If you want to try it, take my word for it…it’s good and can be good for you as a replacement for junk snacks.

Back in about 2005, I bought this book and was determined to read it.  You know how that works!  You buy the book, it sits on the coffee table or night stand for a while, and then finally you remember you have it and start to flip through the pages.  Once I started reading the book, I became interested and decided to start on an experiment.  I do that from time to time.  It’s almost as if my brain sees my body as a science project.  Nonetheless, I started the process of eating the prescribed meals and at the proper times.  I went to the gym and did the exact workouts prescribed by Mr. Phillips.  Believe it or not, within a few weeks, I could see the changes already taking over me.  I could see definition in my chest, legs, back, shoulders, and most of all, in my stomach.  I had never felt so wonderful in my life.  Muscles I never realized I had were waking up and making themselves known.

As you can see in the picture to the right, my body had taken the shape I was aiming for, or rather, it was in the process of getting there.  My love handles are still visible, but I was trying everything in my power to make them go away.  You can’t see my legs, but they were developing pretty well along with everything else.

This may sound like I’m pushing Body-for-LIFE, but being totally honest, it does work if you put your mind to it.  With determination and will-power, a good body and mind can be achieved.  The plan takes 12 weeks.  If you get through with that time and you see the changes I’ve written of, you can start back at the beginning and do it again.  It never has to stop!  You can keep going and maintain the good feelings you will undoubtedly have.

You can find Body-for-LIFE by Bill Phillips, along with the companion book, The Body-for-LIFE Success Journal, at your local book stores or you can find it on one of the many online book retailers.  If I can be of any help along the way, feel free to email me at thegaycountryboy@gmail.com and we can keep track our changes.  I would love to have someone to go through the process with me and share your feelings and observations.

Go Softwear Super Padded Boxer Brief

Seriously, I am in need of some butt shaping.  This cannot be accomplished by some “miracle” briefs that have appeared on the market within the past few years.  What would I say, much less how would I feel, if I wore those and some guy thought my ass looked great.  Then he grabs it, only to have his had filled with padding.  I would find the nearest rock to climb underneath.  That is almost as embarrassed as I would be if I were wearing briefs with padding added to the crotch…not that I would ever need to wear that type of underwear.  I am happy with what I have.  Given the right pair of Levi’s, that is never a problem.  But, back on the rear.

I went to the gym on Tuesday for the first time in months.  I worked my arms and my chest quite a bit.  I am feeling the pain.  Trust me!  I know what you’re saying.  It wasn’t my ass I was working on, but it was a start in the right direction.  My arms and my chest have been my strong points since I became interested in getting my body into shape around 2004.  While working at a certain hardware chain based in Atlanta, I worked out in the gym located in their corporate offices for the use of employees. I began to feel wonderful about myself as I began to build muscle mass.  Before then, I was just skinny from the hell I went through at my previous job.  While at the previous job, I went from 180 lbs (81.6 kg) to 129 lbs (58.5 kg) within about 4-6 months.  I was at a point where you could see every rib and every bone in my face.  I was sort of happy since it was the smallest I had been in many years, but I wasn’t happy with people I love coming up to me and asking me if there was something I needed to tell them.  Sometimes it was hard to make them believe I was not infected with anything lethal.  I’m still here and they believe me.

I believe my thirties are going to be great years in my life.  I don’t believe in the gay death after 30.  That’s nonsense.  Why would my life have to come to an end because I exited the 20s?  Many people have commented to me that they felt their lives enriched when they became 30.  Taking that bit of advise, I am renewing my dedication to the gym.

After months of working out

I am promising myself that I will not allow a dead end job to interfere with becoming better fit and more appealing to myself.  As I stated in my Coming Out podcast, before you can expect someone else to love you, you have to learn how to love yourself.  I do love myself…I just think I could look better than I do.  If I don’t do something now to change my appearance, it may get to a point where it is too late.

I would love to look like this picture again.  I was so proud of myself.  This was the first time I had ever been able to feel my abs.  Once I was able to get some of the fat burned off, I realized I had muscles in there.  They felt great!  They burned from all the exercising I had put them through.  My pecs were molded and my arms were thick.  OK, to some guys, they weren’t thick.  They were thick to me since they had never been so meaty.  I loved the attention I received while looking like this.  Shortly after was when I lost my job and began working at the place I do now.  Once I get home from that job, I don’t want to hear, speak to, or deal with another person for a while.

Today begins my new commitment to myself and my body.  I am committing to getting into shape and learning to love myself more and beginning to think I look good.  Someone told me I looked great the other day and the only thing I could do was turn to look the other direction.  It was sort of embarrassing as well as something my brain didn’t comprehend.  That helped me make the decision to get back to work on my body.  I’ll let you know how it goes.