Finally back from Florida. My stepson got married, so helping with making that transition smooth left me with little time to myself. Being away from home and living in a hotel (resort) resulted in a lot of nights eating out, but it’s over and I’m back. Now I have to get back on track, ’cause I know I lost ground and gained a couple of pounds. I’m too scared to look at the scale, but I will once I get back to work tomorrow.  The wedding was nice and the weather was great. It was an outdoor ceremony, so I roasted like a pig in my tux and patent leather shoes. It was nice to see family and reminded me of how much I miss living in Orlando, Fl.  Oh well, I’m not going to babble> Back to work on this weight loss thing. Deuces!!

Todays weigh-in: 327.8lbs (-1.2)

Oh well, I thought I would’ve done a little better, but I could probably see where I was lacking. I’m not really pushing myself like I should in the gym. I should do less lifting and more cardio. The weekend was a little slack too, with the big bowls of Corn flakes instead of Bran flakes in moderate portions.  I didn’t go to the gym on Sunday, because I was feeling lazy, so I sat on the computer trying to make designs to screen print. Actually, I spend a lot of time doing that, ’cause I’m just fascinated by the whole screen printing process and the thought of never having to buy name brand T-shirts again. I could design and wear my own.

So, slacking on Sunday, knowing that weigh-in is on Monday. Most people would bust it out on Monday and then weigh-in afterwards. I made a conscious decision to workout Monday at the same level as  the rest of that week, because I felt like a cheater if I did more to lose more. Basically, I want you all to see my success through what I put in for that week. There’s no race, so I don’t need to inflate my weight loss. I could have starved myself for the whole day, while I worked out feverishly and probably had a 3lb or 4lb loss instead of 1.2lb. That would be for show and not representative of my efforts for the week.  Do you ever put pressure on yourself to workout extra hard on weigh-in day?

Overall, I can’t complain. I hope to do better next week.  After all, I’m still losing, right?

Okay, ya’ll know about my new found buddy “Tilapia” and how we’ve been hanging tight for a couple of weeks. Well everything was good until an old friend stopped by this weekend. “Papa Johns” paid me a visit at the request of my wife and overstayed his welcome (that bastard). “Papa Johns” left me full of his B.S. and ended up giving me a headache from all of his “salty” language. I couldn’t wait until he left the next day enroute to the bowels of his meager existence flushed with misery. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let him in again.

I had to apologize to my good buddy “Tilapia”, but he understood how past friends tend to guilt you into “keeping it real” and staying down for the cause. True indeed, “Tilapia” even took 3 pounds of stress from off my chest, worrying that I messed up a good friendship. It goes to prove, sometimes change is good…..

I’m so glad the weather is starting to warm up, ’cause the gym is getting a little monotonous. Working out outdoors is definitley something to look forward to and it’s “free”. The local park has a mile long trail with inclines. It’s better than running in place on a treadmill, except I’ll miss watching ESPN and CNN while I sweat. Oh well, my ipod will have to do.

Since I got rid of the frogs, I picked up another hobby. A man has to have something to tinker with, right. I was watching an infomercial and they had this machine that you can make t-shirts. It was called “YUDU“. I thought it was cool that you can make your own shirts that you can design to say whatever you wanted. Instantly, all of these ideas for shirts ran through my head, plus they made it look so easy! Being that I’m a cynic, I immediately searched the web for independent reviews from actual users and I checked out a few forums. Basically, I found out that the all in one machine was limited and it wasn’t as easy as they made it look. Well, that lead me to research what “Screen Printing” was about and if it was something that I could get into. I watched a few “Youtube” videos and went to a few sites that sold equipment. Needless to say, I bought a starter 4 color Screen Printing press from a site that had all a beginner would need. It can be labor intensive, but it’s fun learning all that you can do with it. It’s definitely a process, but the thought of never having to buy another designer t-shirt, makes a lotta sense to me. Plus it’s cheaper. I’m still learning how to do one color designs, so the 4 color process is a long ways away, but it’s fun. The hobby can be a bit expensive and if I didn’t already have graphics programs like, Photoshop and Illustrator, it would be beyond my means. Maybe I’ll make my own line of “Yobigmike” workout tees. The possibilities are endless.

So, if I neglected my blog (and myself) lately, now you know why. Nothing will replace my frogs, but screen printing is cool as hell!!

Yeah, yeah, I know!! I can’t think of a good excuse as to why I’ve been gone, but to admit that I’m a slacker.  Which excuse should I use that sounds good? The universe not being properly aligned, the cold weather, the gas pedal accelerated by itself while on my way to the gym? Which one sounds good?  True story; I was on my way to the gym one day and noticed that the parking lot was full. I figured the gym was crowded, so I kept on going and ended up at McDonald’s. Pathetic!!!

Oh well, what’s done is done. I’m kinda back into the groove and to be +2 lbs from where I was is okay with me. If  Tiger Woods can claim “Sex Addiction” and still come back, then I’m claiming “Slack Addiction”. I consider myself “work in progress, but under pressure”.  Don’t judge me

It’s funny how much spam I get.  Side note; I can’t read Russian, so why spam me when I can’t read what you write? I just had to put that out there…..

Well, another uneventful week. I haven’t really been working out a whole lot this week. I’ve had a little cash flow issue that has sidetracked me a bit, which leads me to today’s topic.  Consequences……

The wife had always told me that I should balance my checkbook with every activity, but being that I don’t write that many checks and do mostly online bill paying and purchases, I never saw the need. I just go online and check my balance every now and then, and I’m fine, right? Wrong!!!   About a month and a half ago, I ordered online one of those new electronic readers, the “Nook” by Barnes and Noble. Well they were back ordered for February 1st delivery, so I paid through Paypal, printed my receipt  and absorbed the appreciation bestowed upon me by the wife. Cool…

Last Thursday, it arrived early via UPS. Once again, the wife was happy and I’m the man! The next day, Friday, is payday, so I pay some bills, take the wife to breakfast, spend on some other junk, always had in mind what i should have left. For some reason while at work that night, I decided to go online and check my account. All  I saw was ———. All of those dashes represented negatives in my account, with more pending. I had to break it to the wife in which she responded, “Have you been balancing you checkbook like you should”?  You know when you do something stupid and you don’t want anyone to acknowledge it and ask questions that can’t help the present situation, but is usually followed by them reminding you that you were warned about this type of catasthropic event? Asking her to front me the cash to throw in the bank to cover all of these overdraft charges was out of the question.

Like a good wife, she offered to give me some money to cover some of the overdraft fees, but she doesn’t have the full amount and my pride won’t allow me to let her worry about it, so I had to man up and make some sacrafices because of my actions. I had to put my babies up for sale. As much as I love my frogs, I know they can bring in a pretty penny, so off to Craigslist they went. Yes Frogs!! No not the ugly backyard toads, but these…

Yes, Poison Dart Frogs… Expensive as hell, but really pretty, no bigger than your thumbnail.

Consequences, that what happens when you don’t take care of business!! I can’t mad at anyone but myself. I can’t be mad at Barnes and Noble for not taking the money right away and waiting a damn month and a half or however they did it to allow me on the waiting list. In the end, I’ll be alright and will probably have another hobby in mind before you read this post, cause that’s what men do.

Same thing with this working out. I half assed worked out last week, so I had got half assed results. That’s the consequences for B.S.ing around not staying focused. Don’t feel sorry for me neither. Once again, I didn’t gain anything, but lost alot and not in poundage. Sucks!!!