Harder Better Faster Stronger

A few of my friends have separately mentioned that my arms and shoulders look bigger and I look more built as of late. They wondered if I had been working out. The answer to their question would be yes and they have no idea how good their comments make me feel, since I haven't told anyone that I'm working out again. That is the best kind of encouragement I could ask for.

I've always been active, but since this summer I've taken it up a notch. Normally I stick with playing hockey with friends, going running and rock-climbing when someone wants to partner up. Now though, I've expanded my frequency, range and intensity. Since I started biking everywhere, although not anymore because it's getting too cold, my leg muscles grew a lot. My normal jeans and tight-pants have both gotten noticeably tighter. I also got back into some mild-to-moderate weight training, hence the compliment for my arms. I even gave eating low-fat foods a try. It's surprising how my abs become so much more visible if I avoid milk and cheese, although it wasn't easy since I'm someone who was raised on the dairy. As my ex-roomie (the straight one, not the gay one; ya I have 2 ex-roomies) would say: T'es come un veau; which translates in English to You're like a baby cow. I would guzzle down litres of milk every day.
(Rereading that, I feel likes its quasi-sexual and pretty nasty. Oh well.)

I definitely notice the differences: my narcissistic moods seem to happen more often and I do linger a little too long in front of the mirror. Xav and Liz have also both yelled at me for losing focus on conversations with them, because I got lost while starring at myself in a mirror. God, what have I unleashed, hahaha.

My hesitation or laziness for going into all-out workout/active mode, over the last few years, wasn't unfounded. Being tall and based on my Dad's history, I'm prone to injuries. Specifically, pulling muscles and those ultra-shitty lower back mishaps. Even with all the tips from friends, weight training in university got me hurt a few times. Hockey with the guys also put me out pretty bad with a serious lower back fuck-up, 3 years ago. A few months of physio helped, but it took a good year and a half before I became confident enough to pick up a stick again. Even today, I always do stretches almost everyday in the morning because the same part of my lower can ache.

Part of this improved active attitude is thanks to Xav, but a much larger part is because I have this innate need to do something physical now. In becoming a little less patient with my work that keeps me bound to a chair, table and laptop, I feel restless and don't really sleep well if I don't burn this excess energy. During the summer, this led to plenty of midnight bike runs, zooming around downtown for an hour. Trying-out yoga (and still going) is the cold-weather extension of my "treatment" for this need to keep moving. With snow coming soon, I hope to add skiing/snowboarding to mix, assuming I can cover the cost of heading up north and paying for the lift ticket.

So what was the point of this post? Well, there was none. I'm just using this as a boost in my own self-confidence, since I feel great about myself right now, but in a week I'm sure I'll be back to normal or maybe feeling down and thinking I'm hideous. Whatever.

Yes, I also remember that I said I would post a no-shirt picture of myself a while ago. Well, today is not that day.
But soon.

Ha, I'm such a tease.