Still experimenting

Howdy folks,

Been a while huh. Well, there has been quite a lot of changes going around the whole casa de puff. Lots of big changes, most for the best.

Anywhoosier,

How have you folks been? Still keeping up with your experiment of N=1? What changes have you made? Have you picked up running, lifting, paleo, reading, cooking, some other hobbie? What improvements have you made to your life to get to where you, as a human being, want to be? Do you find yourself stuck in a daily grind that feels more soul sucking than life should feel like at this point? If so, you’re not alone. Lots of us feel that way at some point or another. I will tell you this though. NO one is responsible for your happiness except for yourself. It’s your job to make yourself happy, not someone else.

I found myself in that rut. What’d I do? I picked my ass up by my boot straps and started walking the long arduous road back to my own personal happiness. Some of it was very personal, and it’s not something that I want aired out on this blog. However, I did decide to delve back into my hobbies. I’d left these things by the way side in the efforts to be, what most people consider, an adult.

Here’s what I have to say about that:

If you’ve been following my tweets, I’m sure you’ve seen that I’ve gone back into gaming, reading, and Magic: The Gathering. All of these things, at one point or another, have made me happy on some level. They are just as much a part of me as running, eating paleo, and sometimes, breathing. Did you at one point have these kinds of things in life? That you did because they made you happy, but you no longer do them anymore? Why did you stop? Has your life improved without those things? For some of you, it very well may have. For others, perhaps not.

Why don’t you get take some you time, do some more reflecting, and see if there is something in your life that you feel like is missing. Something that, at one point in your life, brought you happiness. Hobbies have been, at least for me, a great way to relieve the stress of work, bills, parenthood, ah hell, just say it’s helped relieve LIFE’S stresses.

I’ve got something pretty sweet coming down the pipeline for the ole blog here. Hopefully you guys will like it. I’m pretty stoked about it myself. If you do decide to revisit some of your old hobbies, let me know about it. I’d love to hear what my fellow minions are doing in their spare time. Hell, you might even inspire me to pick up another hobby.

Til next time,

Puff.

N = 1.

Good evening folks. Coming off a 4 day stretch of 12 hour shifts. So I apologize if I get to rambling…

 

Tomorrow is the big day. My return to the gym is rapidly approaching and I couldn’t be more excited. This time around, my protocols and programming will be focusing entirely on strength gains. As I’m moving back to a paleo diet, the leanness will come, so I’m not going back to being a metabolic athlete. Metcons will be kept at a minimum and my gym time will be focused on one simple idea….

 

LIFT…HEAVY…SHIT…Over and over…Pick it up, put it down. Big movements, big weights, and a whole heap of rest and recovery on off days. My in the gym schedule will be kind of in the air depending on work, but I will be consistent in going. I’ve set a goal for me to attain over the next year, with several smaller goals strewn throughout…So here they are.

My 1 year goals:

Body weight bench,

1.5 body weight back squat (ATG, that’s Ass to Grass for those who don’t know. None of that half ass shit)

1.5 body weight Dead lift.

I feel like these goals are attainable within the next year. Of course as leanness comes, the actual weight of these lifts will decrease…Hence why I didn’t set any specific number. The basic program that I will be following is the 3×5 program. The only lift that isn’t included in my goal list is the overhead press. It’s included in the 3×5 program, but I’m not to worried about the numbers I put up on it. Deads are and always will be my favorite movement. I’m seriously looking forward to that movement in particular tomorrow.

I know I know, some of you are thinking, but this is barefoot puffin’s blog. He’s a runner. Why isn’t he going to be running? Well, to be honest, I walk anywhere from 18-22 miles a day at work. Plus, running is kind of counter intuitive to my goals. Is that to say I wont ever go for a run or something? No…Of course not, but I don’t foresee it in the near future, and most definitely not in the 110+ degree oklahoma heat. I’ve also not decided if I’m going to be keeping track of my workout progress on this blog. If it’s something you’re interested in and it gets enough response I might. Otherwise I’ll just be tracking my progress in my notebook like I always have.

 

So to recap,

 

Goals over the next year

Lean out (preferably somewhere in the 185lb range, but this is all based on how I look, feel, and perform.)

1x body weight bench press

1.5x body weight squat

1.5x body weight deadlift.

 

These numbers may change, but only if they are too increase, depending on my actual progress in the gym. It may be that I meet these goals in 6 months, 9 months, etc. If this does happen, I’ll be sure to change my goals for the 1 year mark. Hope you’re as ready for the ride as I am.

 

Til next time,

Puff.

HOLY SHIT…what a long 2 years its been

Good evening, morning, afternoon…whatever time you happen to find yourself here…It’s been…ugh…close to 2 years, if not over since I’ve written anything. Time to fix that.

 

I’ve got a lot of things on my mind, and since my last post, a lot of shit has changed in my life. Most for the better, some for the worse. So lets recap.

 

Since my last post, I’ve swapped jobs…twice…Once from one cushy office job to another, and the more recent one, from the previous cushy office job to the ass kicking hell that is rotating shift factory work…I’ve also basically quit doing anything physically oriented because, well, I didn’t take my own advice in my last post, which can be conveniently found here. So, it’s time to start taking that advice and stop being a hypocrite.

Let’s talk about what has happened health wise since I’ve started my new job. Let me lay down some background so you can understand where I’m coming from. I work in Tire Curing for Goodyear Tire and Rubber company. Essentially, we cook the raw tire into the product that you buy off the shelves at your local tire shop. Anywho, in order to cook said tires, we basically have to work in a furnace. On a good day, the department averages around 105-110 degrees with massively high humidity. On a bad day (HELLO UPCOMING SUMMER IN OKLAHOMA), it’s going to get to around 120-130 degrees with the same ridiculous humidity. So, here is what has happened as a result. I have lost a massive amount of weight, we are talking 40lbs of weight since septemberish 2013. That puts me squarely under 200lbs for the first time since, oh 8th grade or so.

Now aside from less than ideal work conditions, I’ve also let me nutrition go to shit, hello whiskey and processed foods that fit conveniently in a lunch box and require no effort to prepare. So, that being said, 3 weeks ago I found myself in the hospital with appallingly low protein levels and, as a result, pretty much no electrolytes. Hello 24 hours of IV juices. Since then, I’ve started swapping my diet back to primal. Meats, veggies, good fats, etc. However, with the physical nature of my job, I’ve yet to get back to working out, but that changes Friday, when I start my 7 day break. I will be returning back to my lift heavy things mentality. Deadlifts, Squats, etc. Compound movements people, that’s what we are going to be focusing on.

The direction of this blog is going to be taking a change too. It’s going to become my own little therapeutic relief…You’ll see rants, praises, trials and errors, etc. You’re going to get to have a front row seat to me nutting up. So sit back and get ready for that. I’m going to use this blog to relieve my thoughts and to keep an account of the changes that occur as I use my own body as my own little test tube or lab experiment. Time to see if this paleo/primal/caveman shit really can work for someone like me, for the long haul. Can someone who has undergone complete gastric bypass surgery, with proper nutrition and supplementation (due to the surgery), thrive? We shall see. Buckle up friends, it’s gonna be a fun little ride.

Until next time,

Puff.