Stress test. LOL stress has nothing on this

       Stress, everyone has it in their lives, some more than others. We all have different ways to combat stress, some healthy some not. I choose a nice mix or working out, surfing, and drinking good beer lol. Stress causes many negative affects on the body, from increased blood pressure to belly fat. Of course so does beer drinking haha.  I couldn't wait to get back from deployment to calm down, lower my stress and kind of relax until the next go around. HA!!!!! fooled you!  A part of me actually wants to roll out again, I am more stressed out than I have ever been.
      Work, school and family life. The common issues everyone faces. Being so undermanned in my office has many of us in uniform burning the candle at both ends. Even more so is the fact I took on the role of acting superintendent in March due to the deployment of the current boss. A role I could not wait to embrace, that is until I realized I am losing precious time learning my actual job, the one that is ultimately gonna pay the bills some day. Employers wont care that I was a super, they will care however, that I am good at my job. SO I took the initiative and asked for more contracting work. Yeah good on me right? wrong lol
       Now I am underwater and can;t reach the surface. 6 OPR's/EPR's, quarterly award 1206's for the unit, a change of command to put together, a dozen additional duties, and battling hard headed civilians that constantly threaten my military because they have both military duties and work related duties. In addition add 8 contracts to that 3 of which are brand new and are super important to me because this is the step in which I need to learn the most. So my days begin at 0545, and end about 1030pm. Now that Brandy is finally working, I take both kids to school, work all day squeeze in PT, and balance military with work life, come home spend time with fam, catch up on house duty, get everyone off to bed then work on my MBA.  To think, deployment would be a slowdown for me lol

A month or so back at a dr visit, my blood pressure and heart rate where through the roof. I knew i needed to change something. I increased my frequency at the gym the best I could, rode the bike and ran more and added some ergobolic to the mix, ErgoBolic is a product that controls Cortisol, the hormone that is released during stressful time aka anytime that I am awake !  Just a quick copy and paste on the negatives of Cortisol

• Impaired cognitive performance
• Suppressed thyroid function
• Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
• Decreased bone density
• Decrease in muscle tissue
• Higher blood pressure
• Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
• Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!

4 weeks later my BP is back to 117/75 and my  resting heart rate was 53 bpm.  Time management has been key, working out and realizing that I cannot do everything at once so something will just have to wait was the biggest thing.

Typical replies will to suck it up and quit being a baby, and I have. You gotta realize that no one really cares about anothers problems but you, and you just have to suck it up. So I am finding new ways to battle stress, press forward and let life handle its own, in the mean time I know I am doing everything I can to keep my health and try to keep a positive outlook in life, even if I have to go it alone.

An introduction to Ergogenix

     It's been many moons since my last post. A combo of insane schedule, workload, class load and family life took hold. Slowly but surely I am grasping a firm hold on my life and getting things back in order. The biggest change the last few months is my departure from Applied Nutriceuticals and my transition to ErgoGenix.  For the last 6 years I worked very hard with Appnut to help grow the brand. Being there from day one was so much fun, going to the shows, doing in store demo's helping create new products and meeting all the people in the industry. I always said if I could support my life in this industry i'd do this full time. I just love fitness, health and wellness. Even though the shows were long, meeting all the players in the game was a blast. The owners at Appnut where family to me, they watched my kids grow and we all grew as a team. When the owners decided it was time to sell and enjoy their lives after all the hard work I was crushed, it was like watching something I had a big part of go away.  It was really a sign to me that for me it was time to branch off and take my talents elsewhere :D.  Pretty much the only thing that would ever make me leave Appnut was an event like this. As I noted before I had a chance to meet many many folks.
     The owner of ErgoGenix was actually someone I've known for many years mostly through show's and other product offerings with a previous company. So when he asked if I was willing to make a move I felt it was an offer I couldn't pass up.  ErgoGenix is another one of those up and coming companies taking the industry by storm. Every week you see the name climbing up the charts on bodybuilding.com etc. Their popularity stems from a rock solid product line of products that flat out work.  They offer something for everyone from pre workouts, to cortisol control.  I am very excited to have an opportunity to help grow this brand, to grow within the company and to hopefully one day make waves within the organization. For now it's baby steps and getting the name out.  With that being said the product line has ignited a new fire in my training. The crew representing Ergo is solid. It's athlete's are top notch and the whole set up is very reminiscent of my time with Appnut, close knit, great communication and products that flat out work. Finally customer service is 2nd to none.  I'll always support Appnut as their product continue to work as advertised.  Feel free to swing on by the Ergo Page and like us on Facebook, take advantage of the many sales and promo's we have to offer and if you see something you want to sample, let me know!    In the mean time its summer. Keep training hard and showing off that work!

http://www.ergogenix.com/

The light at the end of the Tunnel, the search for that Esteem boost.

That phrase carries many meaning. The last yr has been a transformation for me unlike any other. I've dropped close to 25lbs and should learn my bodyfat this week after I step into the BOD POD If I had to estimate I would hope I am at the 10% level finally. The hardest part of all this has been mental. Getting over my ego with regards to losing strength, size, and all that hard work of getting big. On the flip side I look better than I ever have and I am in great cardiovascular shape. I'm surfing, running, riding the bike and weightlifting each week. A visit to my Doc last week revealed awesome news which has renewed some confidence in my otherwise dilapidated mental state. The lack of confidence and self worth were pushed aside as I really felt like I had turned a corner. My supplementation has been simplified. The only thing I am lacking is that support system I have long desired and yearned for. It will never exist but if it did this journey would be much easier lol.

Right now ErgoGenix's  ErgoTest is working wonders.  iForce's Hemavol is a great stim free pre workout, and Fat free by App nut is doing the fat loss role after I finished my Ergoshred. Fishoil, UniLiver, multi-V and Vit D3 round out the morning pill fest.   Food intake has been adequate although some days my hunger goes crazy.  What I am looking forward to is the next 6 weeks. I go TDY across the state to Tyndall and I am bringing along the bike. 6 weeks of school and working out, running, bike riding, golfing, and training. I hope to be dialed in for the summer and can work on maintaining and looking great. But most importantly for me will be feeling great, about myself and getting back some self esteem and reversing this burnout that is weighing me down.

Until next time,  lets get ready to ride

Training, Training, and finding that happy place

In the last 7 days I've biked 15 miles, ran a 5K, surfed for 3 hours, and fit as much gym time in as possible during and after work. The hardest part of all this is finding time to do it, and the motivation to do it. Mentally I have just had little to no desire to train. Getting started is literally forcing myself into the gym or the run or the ride. Once i get moving and get into it though mentally i come around. I wish I could bottle that happy place up and take it as a pill. Especially on the tough days when getting out of bed even makes me angry.  That happy place for me only occurs during 2 events. Ironically one is loud music blaring in my ears and banging the iron in the gym until my body is screaming in pain, the more hurt the better. The other is the opposite end of the spectrum, sitting on a surf board floating in the water under the sun listening to the waves crash. Those are the only two places in which mentally I am at peace and all is right in the world.
    Uncertainty in my future, uncertainty in life each day has just bogged me down, to the point that I am just miserable all the time.   On the flipside my body should show results quicker since some type of physical activity gets me in a good mood lol.  I guess i am just burned out, Literally burned out, school, work and family. I am literally just non stop. Even though I have a shade over 2 years left in the military, every night i lose sleep over what I am going to do. Do I finally punch out of active duty, go int he reserves and hope and pray  my current base accepts me into a civilian slot or do I re-enlist assuring me that I am stuck for 10 more years in uniform with PCS moves, deployments and daycare like coddling. FML.  could it be worse, sure it could be  but right now its what makes me miserable.

      on the flipside even though I have no desire to want to go to the gym, once I am there training goes great lol.  Makes no sense, just like anything else I do ha!

What do you do when life gets in the way?

It was a short time ago that arrived home after deployment in what was possibly the best shape of my life.  Not the strongest or the biggest but overall the best. I had just ran my fastest 1.5 mile PT test since i've been in uniform. I dropped 20lbs, and overall I felt great, looked great, diet was great, and overall everything was great. The life returned and got in the way. Kids, work, school, wife, dog, vet bills dr visits, tdy's, and trips to day care.  Fast forward 3 months and I've ran 2 times, i've become what I have dread, too damn busy for the things I love. I'm rushing through the gym, racing to get the kids out of daycare and home for dinner school housework etc. Life is in the way. Ugh  So now I am trying to adapt and overcome. That is where my latest routine has fit in. More on that in another post. Diet has changed again, supplementation has changed again, and training has changed again. Life just keeps rearing its ugly head.   Today during some downtime I decided to dig around into my future, a future not in the military and I learned a hard shitty fact.  As much as our pay sucks for the job we do, the benefits we get add a lot of value in the equation. Up until this morning I was 150% deadset on punching out in 2 yrs. I just can't stand being in the military anymore. However I realized that in doing so, i am going to lose a lot of money. Isn't that a shocker. Getting out to find a better job is going to cost me. A LOT!  Taxes, medical benefits, are going to take a huge chunk from me. It's brought a lot of doubt now. I cannot even make a lateral move leaving the service. Taking a GS-12 will result in a lower check and there is no way in F&*( I will land that spot out of the military, the best I can pray for as I am told is a GS-11 which is a loss of about 700 bucks a week.  Ouch!    Life again gets in the way of my dreams.  Is there a price on sanity, a price on no longer worrying every day when I show up to work if I am going to get orders to some shithole dirtbox in that god forsaken pace called the middle east.  Or the worry of PCS orders in which we have to pack up and move again.  Is not worrying about that ever again worth 700 a week? Who knows.  Hell at this point I may not even get that spot where I am at now so do I travel into Orlando? We want to stay here, that wont happen in uniform,  remember when things were simple?

I don't.

So my outlet for this Mt Everest level of stress is the gym, a place a rarely have time for anymore.  This is why people lose their mind. Drink and go nuts.  I get it now lol   Enough with the crybaby BS, i'll get into the new training and diet at a later time.

Been a Long long time

I'm not even gonna get into the absence. All I will say is it was eye opening and I met all my fitness goals.  I returned stateside with new goals, new outlooks and new training. I wont get into much detail tonight. But the shift in focus has made training fun again, It had gotten so stale and so painful and had become counter productive.  Now its fun, i look forward to it and wake up each day thinking about the afternoon training session.  Using unorthdoxed methods, Surfing, bike riding, running, kettle bells, chains, and bands.

Diet has changed,  supplements have changed, researched has changed.  Herbs, Fruits, and life extension techniques are on the horizon.  I am focused more on quality of life then lifting 500 lbs.

I am excited for the summer, I am excited for the next steps.

stay tuned.........