Status Update

Well, it's been a few weeks since my last post and I wanted to give everybody an update as to what I've been up to. To make it really simple, I've done a lot of everything. I've been doing the typical work thing that us adults have to do in order to survive and spending an additional three hours a day traveling to and from. I also visited the gym three to four times a week doing strength training and cardio. The good new is I've lost eight pounds since the first full week of January. Oh, and let's not forget that I teamed up with my Xbox 360 quite a few times the past couple weeks to get caught up with what my friends were playing and to put some time in a few games.

Image courtesy of sarahtherebel.com

So what have I been playing on my Xbox? Well, it's pretty much been Borderlands 2. That game to me is addicting! Between looting and knocking out quests, I've been having a hard time putting the game down. The interaction between all the characters is hilarious most of the time, but there are a few conversations that make me think they were just thrown together for additional dialogue. Most of the side quests seem repetitive and almost too long if you're playing solo, but they are fun and challenging. The story quests are awesome and difficult, again for a solo play through. I can't count how many times I would ask myself where the next save point was so that I can relax for a minute before taking out an army of Loaders or those Bloodshot Bandits. So as you can tell, I may be having a difficult time progressing through the latter quests of the main story, but I'm loving every minute of it!

Another game that I got roped back into was Trials Evolution. One of my bosses at work finally realized what Xbox Live had to offer over Christmas. With his hobby being motocross, he fell in love with Trials immediately. The more he played, the better he got, and the trash talking started. After a few weeks of him getting his feet wet, he ventured into the skills portion of the game and began bragging how he was topping everybody's  score. To make the long story short, a few of us topped each other's score, and our boss regain the top sport short there after.

Image courtesy of gameological.com

In between being frustrated at work and playing Trials, I've been spending a lot of time at the gym. My main goal of going to the gym is to lose weight, but at the same time gain muscle mass. So far my routine consists of either working out my arms/shoulders, chest/back, abs, or legs with a 30 minute finisher of cardio. Usually my cardio consists of using the elliptical machine because it's easier on my knees. I would use the treadmill, but it creates shinsplints every time I use it. Other than having to deal with the "New Years Resolution" folks, I've been enjoying my time at the gym.

Besides going to the gym to lose weight, I've been trying to stick to a somewhat consistent diet. I'm trying to keep my calorie intake between 1800 and 2000. I normally don't have an issue keeping at 2000, but I'm hardly losing any weight. Now I know I'm gaining muscle mass, so if I lose two pounds of fat, but gain one pound in muscle, the weight is decreasing by one. Yeah everybody says to judge weight lose by losing inches in your waist, but what if your waist line hasn't decreased? It's coming up on one full year the I started going to the gym and I have not lost a single inch in my waist, but I've lost 21 pounds (236lbs is what my doctor weighed me at last year). This is where my discouragement comes from. It seems that everybody else is seeing the weight loss, but when I look at old photos of me, I still don't see it. But this is probably the same psychological battle every dieter goes through, so I'll press on and hopefully see the results.

I'm sure I've rambled on too much for today. I would like to hear from all of you out there in the interwebs. What games have you been playing? What's your favorite part about working out? And lastly, how are you dieting? Until next time, stay safe, be healthy, and don't let anything take you away from your hobbies (damn you work). PEACE!!