Get In Shape By Summer

Do you want to get in shape by summer? I know I do. But I'm not so sure about looking like the dude in the "Get In Shape By Summer" ad.

Have you seen this guy? He's all over the web right now. "Increase Strength. Improve Endurance. Speed up Recovery." the ad says. Recovery from what exactly? Do I really want to sign up for something from which I may have to hope for a "speedy recovery"?

Take a close look at the above picture. Now, compare that to what's published in the American Journal of Medicine regarding the physical evidence of anabolic steroids:

1. Pronounced or ridged brow

2. Early onset of male-patterned baldness

3. Unnatural muscle mass

4. Significant shrinkage of the testicles

I'll let you draw the conclusions. But if you were to compare the picture to the outward evidences of steroid abuse, it's easy to result in the following:

1. Pronounced or ridged brow: YES

2. Baldness: YES

3. Muscle Mass: YES - look at his forearm for pete's sake. It's bigger than Oprah's thigh.

3. Testicular shrinkage: UNKNOWN However, look at his facial expression. What might it be telling us?

I'm thinking I'm gonna pass on the "FORCE FACTOR" product.

So, why did I write a post about this freak? To distract you from the fact that I have made zero progress in my weight loss efforts the past few weeks.

Why no progress? Mainly because I've been busy "recovering" from my two pound loss that I wrote about in my previous post.

Peer Pressure vs. Willpower

I have a Google Apps homepage (kind of like iGoogle), which has some quotes of the day on it. Today's quote is:

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

  - Voltaire

Sometimes a quote will jump out at me because of the humor or inherently deep comment on society, or in this case, my inability to want (which means "will" in German) to lose weight. Now don't get me wrong, I do want to lose weight, but I apparently don't want to bad enough yet. I'll explain in a moment. Back to the quote. This particular quote by Voltaire justifies the negative/forbidden action of killing/murder, unless the murderer is in a group (an army, if you will) murdering en masse. Thus it is when trying to lose weight: everyone knows it's bad for you to eat such heavy foods like massive bean burritos, Italian food of any kind, hot dogs and burgers, and pizza, etc. But it is even worse for you when you wash those terrible, yet delicious, foods down with a couple of cherry Dr. Peppers.

The problem I'm having is juggling the everyday hubbub of life: job, school, home, piano lessons, church, etc. with losing weight and trying to appease my wife's desire to have an "experience" every time she eats (you know, I guess she figures if you have to eat stuff to stay alive, why not make the stuff you eat taste great—and I agree with her), and although it's not impossible, it certainly is tiring.

Up until recently, it had been some time since Marci and I have been able to go out on a proper date night, but a couple of weeks ago, we did a double-date with some friends of ours. We were taking our friends out before they had their baby. We went to a great Italian restaurant in Smyrna, GA called Scalini's. Scalini's is famous, not only for their incredibly scrumptious Italian food, but also for their Eggplant Parmigiana baby club.

We decided after dinner instead of ordering some delicacy off the dessert menu, we would venture out to the Marietta Diner for our pièce de résistance. I seriously would love to be able to show you a picture right now, but I cannot bring myself to select only one of the myriad of cakes/pies available, so this link will have to suffice. 

The whole going out to eat deal is a rough one, since you want to get your money's worth; after all, it's not everyday you pay a babysitter to watch your children tear up your house while you get to put that horrible thought on hold for 3 hours while eating out or catching a movie, so one had better make the best of it. Eat the best foods. See the best sights. Do the best things. It's no wonder one comes home 5 pounds greater than when one left. Now, let's put a couple of those nights together. I took Marci out to a movie last week also.  We didn't have time to eat and watch, so we skimped on the meal by ordering pizza for the kids to eat while we were gone. We ordered two pizzas for them. We dropped one of the pizzas off, but wound up eating the second pizza between us in the car on the way to the cinema, you know, to save time.

The next night, conditions were right for another date, so we did the Japanese steak house with some friends who invited themselves along (we didn't mind too much). Of course, we had the Cold Stone Creamery for dessert that night. I also simply had to purchase a 12 pack of cherry Dr. Pepper, and I've been savoring them one or two per day for the past couple of days.

I haven't bothered weighing myself, as I am not ready for such disappointment, but I still haven't totally given up, either. It just seems I have to use my seemingly non-existent willpower to overcome the magnanimous peer-pressure to eat the largest deep-fried something whilst enjoying a meal with friends.

It is tough.