Off to see the doctor tomorrow.

I have challenge myself to 12 weeks of hard work to get to my goals. I know it won’t be easy but nothing in life really is. I have a new set of goals and a deadline. The challenge begins on Tuesday July 7th, 2009 and will end on September 29th, 2009.

My Goals:
On September 29th I will be:

To achieve these goals I am going to do the following:

Do your squats!

Enough said.

My first dog looked like this puppy.

Current my family is on our third Irish Setter. They all have been named Hannah. Our first Hannah was wild and my wife refused to walk her during the daytime because Hannah was so hard to handle. So I used to take Hannah to an area where she could run her heart out. And she did run catching mice and then promptly eating them.

Our Second Hannah, officially named Hannah Too, was my favorite dog so far. She was a little timid so she always stop when she was off leash to check were I was. She always came when I called her. Hannah Too was very lean and lanky. SHe loved to run too. I used to go rollerblading with her. Hannah would always be two steps ahead of me. She only crashed me once when she was distracted by a squirrel. In her last few years she really slowed down. We stopped rollerblading and just walked. She was a great dog to walk.

After Hannah Too pasted I continued to walk by myself but it was not the same. My wife and I decided we would get another Irish Setter and name her Hannah Three (yes that is her registered name). After searching the internet we finally found a breeder that was highly recommended. We asked for a female that was on the submissive side to be a companion for our son. We had high hopes that this dog could be trained to be a service dog. What we got was something totally different from our expectations.

Hannah Three is submissive as we asked for but this dog when she sees another dog will crawl on her belly up to the other dog and then roll over. It doesn’t matter how big or small the dog is, she will still crawl! She has been difficult to train because she is so sensitive. Now after three years she just doesn’t listen. You can tell her to stop doing something and stops then continues. I guess that is my fault.

So you maybe wondering what this has to do with my fitness goals. Well just about every trainer you talk to will tell you will have greater success if you have a training partner. Well, how do I put this politely with offending my dog…. my dog is fat! Yes she doesn’t run like the other setters we have had. She tires out after short runs and lets face it, she looks chubby.

That is all going to change starting tomorrow at 6 AM. Hannah and I are going walking. Not the usually short walk to the off leash area to watch her run ten feet and stop. We are going for one hour or about 5 km. through the ravine behind our house. I used to do this walk a few years ago and I loved it. It is time to start walking again. For Hannah and me!

One interesting thing I have notice when I do any kind of lifting is that I always stop and think about the proper technique so that I don’t hurt myself. Whether it be lifting my son out of his wheelchair or slinging bundles of shingles up a ladder I always do it right. When I am in the gym and doing lifting exercises I concentrate on the proper technique to avoid injury. What a great habit to have.

On Tuesday I was mad that my weight had gone up from the previous week. On the flip side I did a person best 8 rep/3 set squats. 255 pounds. Ok to some that is not much but for me this is great. Up 20 pounds from last week.

My push-press also went up form 115 pounds to 135 pounds. Did not get all the reps in in the last set but it is an improvement.

So here is my list of wants:

Olympic Barbell with a least 400 lbs of plates.

a squat rack with chin-up bar.

heavy duty bench that inclines.

adjustable dumbbells.

Well that is a start. Now to find the money.

In the second phase of the “New Rules For Lifting” Fat Loss program there are the chin-ups. I have always had trouble doing this exercise. I could only manage a few reps without twisting and contorting my body. But because I believe I am getting stronger with all the workouts that now I am able to 6 reps without any movement in my lower body. All arms. My goal is to be able to 10 reps perfectly. I am getting there but more work is needed.

For my fat loss well I am not doing too well. I am just eating way too much. That is the problem with me spending more time at home. Things should change next week with some big jobs coming up. My old boss called me and needs me to help with a job he has lined up. Three days of work for him followed by a total deck rebuild job. Then I have to re-shingle a roof of another house. So Iwill be busy, away for home more and this will require me to plan my meals. I need to get this habit back as I have let it slide the last few weeks.