I havent gotten very far, but so far it makes a lot of sense. Yesterday, I stopped by Boulder Running Company to pick up a Garmin 010-00658-30 Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue). By now, I hope you have noticed that I am using Amazon affiliate links. I am doing this mostly because I think its funny. Why do I think its funny? I dunno, but it makes me giggle.

Being a lover of contrary behavior, I stopped at McDonalds on the way home. After all, I had just bought a super-duper heart rate monitor with the intent of working out more often. To add to the silliness, I broke out the End to Overeating book on my iPhone Kindle app (apparently you cant buy an iPhone through Amazon, so no link for you!).

I mean seriously, can you imagine? I just spent $350 on a heart rate monitor, was eating at McDonalds while reading a book about weight loss? Im high-lar-e-ous.

Anyway, a couple of pages in there is a short discussion about how food logs dont work, especially for overeaters, because they lie. That requiring dieters to photograph their food with a time and date stamp seemed to work better.

I thought to myself, as I ate my second apple pie, “thats interesting.”

Today, I struck out trying to find an easy way to make it happen. First, I decided I wanted to use Posterous. Why? Well, because I havent figured out a great way to use it yet, and I am a big fan of Garry and Sachin‘s.

All day I tried different things. I played with PicPosterous, the iPhone app, but it didnt do exactly what I wanted. (It needs the ability for me to write a short description of the photo).

I tried flickr and tumblr, but they werent exactly what I wanted.

Then I found this out about Posterous. If you send an email to the service name, it will only autopost to that service. For example, if I send a photo to flickr+twitter [at] posterous [dot] com it will only be posted to flickr and twitter (and posterous).

Which lead to to this solution.

I will email photos of what I am eating to twitter [at] posterous [dot] com. Since my twitter goes to my facebook, thats covered. It keeps food photos out of my flickr and tumblr, which is perfect. I will send one email per day, even though it will be multiple photos. You can comment on my food selection on my posterous blog.

Then I will use those photos at the end of the day to update my food diary in DailyBurn.

Finally, I will take a picture of my weekly weigh-in as well.

What do you think? Good idea?

I took a look at the first post I ever wrote the other day. Entitled Battle of the Belly – Day 1, it proclaimed my desire to lose weight. Then I looked at my second post, Where Have You Been? Or The Continuation of Fatness where I continue to discuss weight loss.

When was it posted? 42 days after the first one. Ouch.

Then over the next 3-4 months, I continued to post about losing weight. Mostly when things were good. Then silence on the fatty side. What happened?

I quit losing weight. I stopped fighting. I failed.

And, instead of standing up and talking about it, I shut the hell up.

For a person that talks a lot about failure, its surprises me a bit that I failed to share in my failure.

Why does all this matter? Well, lemme tell ya!

Im back at the weight loss stuff. I learned over the course of the past year or so that being bipolar made weight loss difficult and weight gain easy. Apparently, most people who are bipolar tend to be addicted to food, drugs or sex. I choose unwisely and ended up being addicted to food and drugs. (If I had only known the choices!)

While its not easy to break an addiction to drugs, its really a binary decision. You either do drugs, or you dont.

I cant stop eating. Well, cant stop for long.

Recently, I found that I am insulin resistant. Due to that, I have started taking a drug called Metformin which is supposed to help my body become less insulin resistant. (BTW, a horrible side effect is it jacks up my stomach. Sometimes really, really badly. Add that to the standard Jewish disposition of having horrible stomach/GI/etc issues, its really, really not fun.)

Over the course of the past few weeks, I am losing weight naturally. Which means, if I want to get serious about losing weight, now is the time.

What’s my plan?

First and foremost, I am using Daily Burn. Daily Burn was a Techstars company last year, and has been doing phenomenally with some great investors. Along with an iPhone app, they allow you to track all your caloric intake (nutrition), workouts and the effect the nutritional choices and workouts have on your body (my belly). What I like about Daily Burn is the addition of social features, which are paramount to success (no one is in this alone, even if you are alone.)

The only benefit of Daily Burn is the ability for me to post most everything I am doing publicly. Here is my Daily Burn Locker Room. Its public. Enjoy. Occasionally it will tweet out achievements and other fitness related information.

I will use Nike+ for when I walk my dogs, or spend time on the treadmill. Again, I will post it on my blog (in a handy dandy widget).  I am going to take pictures of myself now and again, and post them to a flickr set on my account.  And, finally, I will record videos here and there, and post them to LearnToDuckTV.

Finally, I will ask everyone who knows me to keep me on track. If you think I am slippin’ just ask, or kick in my…butt–doubt you could miss it.

And, of course, periodically, I will write a post about where I am at.

As my mom used to say to me when I pretended I wasnt listening to her, “This time I am not fucking around.”

I want to lose about 100 lbs. Ive given myself about a year to do it.

And…here we go.

Like most professions people choose, entrepreneurship isnt all play time and money. Startups arent filled with foosball and Mac Pros.

We read about layoffs and think to ourselves “Well, its a startup. They arent making any money. I have no idea why they employed so many people. Whiles its horrible, its probably for the best.”

Or we read about the latest funding and think to ourselves “What? They got $5million dollars? Its just a <insert something here>. They will never make any money.”

What most people dont understand if they havent been in a startup (even those that cover startups really dont get it), is that a startup’s culture always has a few key components (not success components necessarily, just that they exist).

1. A general belief that what the startup is focused on is unique, interesting or better than current offerings in the market place (the old better, faster, cheaper argument).
2. That startups have an end.
3. And at that end, there will be some sort of reward.
4. That working at a startup gives you a greater ability to have a bigger influence on the product, brand, business direction, whatever.
5. That you, the employee, can do whatever is placed in front of you, better than anyone else.

And while its easy to intellectualize the long hours and hard work to get to the end of the rainbow, most people dont understand how the startup lifestyle truly effects them emotionally and mentally.

You can get fired/laid off at any time.

Often decisions are made based on the money in the bank, or the expected out of case position, rather than on the true needs of the organization. Often, there is little determination of the effect less people have on overall workload.

A mistake can be magnified.

Because each person has a large affect on the outcome of the business, mistakes are magnified. Code something wrong? It could push back the next release. Push back the next release, and lose a big deal. Lose a big deal, and miss the numbers you expected. Miss the numbers and the world turns on you. Because most startups run extremely lean, it is imperative that each person is competent. Extremely competent.

All the best work can be for naught.

Do everything right, get the product out the door on time and under budget, make the greatest thing since sliced bread, and watch it wither on the vine. Sometimes, for no reason, a great idea/product just dies. Its a sad reality of the risk/reward game of startups.

All of this leads to high level of expectation and stress.

Which leads to burnout.

Successful entrepreneurs and long-time startup employees understand that burnout is part of the lifestyle they have chosen. Everyone burns out at some point.

So what do you do when you feel a burnout coming?

Most people dont. They work and work and work until they fizzle. Their production decreases and mistakes increase. Soon, they have been let go, and dont understand why.

Here are some early warning signs of burnout:

• You are tired all the time. No matter how much you sleep, you cant seem to “catch up.”
• You complain more than usual. Everyone is a moron. You are the only person that can get the job done.
• You snap at friends and colleagues. Since they cant understand the workload you are under, or how unfair that workload is, you snap. You withdraw.
• You start thinking about quitting. It has to be the company. There is a better job with less stress out there. I just made a bad choice of jobs.
• You take little “breaks.” Today, I am going to nothing that pertains to my job. I know its Tuesday, and we have a release coming up, but I can catch up tomorrow.
• When do you get home, you dont take care of personal business. Dude, I just worked for 12 hours straight. Why should I pay bills?
• You wish you can, or you start, working from home more. There are less distractions (and people). I can work at my pace and I do a better job!

Often the signs of burnout are subtle, and the important thing to realize is that working at a startup is a continual ebb and flow of “completely burned out,” to “almost burned out” and back.

What do you do to make sure you dont completely burn out?

• Pick a project that is just for you. Work it at your pace. Work it in your space. Dont “re-grout the tile” or “pull the storm windows.” Remember your passion. What got you going in the first place. Do that, but do it for you.
• Take some time every day away from the office. I make sure it always take a lunch. 30-60min where the focus is on anything except work. My first boss told me, “The concept of a job is that there is work. When there is no work, there is no job.” 30-60min a day will not put you so far behind that it causes issue.
• Laugh. A lot. There is nothing wrong about finding humor in your day. If its a quick trip to ICanHasCheezburger or a joke with a co-worker, make sure to laugh everyday.
• Learn. A lot. Often, we get so caught up in our jobs, we forget that there is always a lot to learn. It doesnt have to be big. It just has to be something. Ask a co-worker a question. Look something up on Wikipedia. Try some different code.
• Engage. The great thing about startups, is that the team is small enough that you can engage with most anyone. There is no reason to go at it alone. Ask a co-worker to review your work. Get involved in something outside your job. Find a team that you can add value to, and get on it. You can also engage outside the company via a blog, Twitter or some other social media outlet.

How do you deal with burnout?

‘Nuff said.

This am I wrote my post Why Hot Yoga Made Me Laugh As Much As Farting Does and took off for the gym. Surprisingly, I was still thinking about the Hot Yoga experience. Yesterday, my friend Gwen Bell, wrote about the hurt she feels when people refer to her as “skinny,” and it made me think how different physically she and I were.

I?m going to disclose my stats to you today. I?m five foot eleven, more than six feet in heels. I?m still working on my slouching issue, by consciously lifting up through my spine throughout the day. I despised my height in high school, got the occasional ?are you anorexic?? and soared above my peers in the height category.

I weigh between 130-135 pounds and have fluctuated very little during my life to date. I eat when I?m hungry. That?s usually five or six times a day. I tend to eat small meals and take only as much food as I need. I eat calmly, with awareness and gratitude for my food. I say my version of grace (in Japanese, but that?s another post) before each meal I consume. When I?m full, I stop eating. Very rarely do I go back for seconds.

And then my stats:

I stand about 5’8″ on a good day. I was 5’4″ as a sophomore in high school, and grew slowly over the next couple of years. As a sophomore I weighed in at 184, which sucked as a wrestler (why I ever did that, please dont ask), since I was too heavy for the 178 weight class and too light for 191 lbs. Once I tore my shoulder apart while wrestling, I joined the swim team. I ballooned to a high of 214 pounds and 5’8″. As a senior I lost 35 pounds, and was at a low of 178 pounds.

Now, 17 years later, I am still 5’8″ and I weigh about 280 lbs. I was at a high of 331 pounds less than a year ago. I used to eat a ton several times a day. I always seemed to be hungry, and hungry for the worst food. Now, I eat better, and I am on the right path for health.

So, when you look at Gwen’s stats versus mine, we are physically as opposite as two people could be. Then take a look at her yoga photostream (seriously, HOLY JESUS) and one can easily see her attraction and proficiency with yoga. She has a grace, calmness, litheness and fluidity of motion that I saw last night in the yoga instructor. I spent most of the class thinking about how my life is about deliberate motion, intensity, energy (giving and taking), emphatic actions, outcome versus process, and violence. Not violence in the sense of hurting, death and destruction, but violence in the intensity, ferocity and the utilization of willpower as a means of achieving ends.

This is one of the reasons I cant play golf. Golf is a game of reduction and focus of energy (soft hands, smooth swing), which I have a hard time with. Lacrosse on the other hand is all about quick thinking, violent action and a constant state of intensity.

So outside of the physical demands of hot yoga, I find the need to be calm, singularly focused, smooth, relaxed, deliberate to be the most difficult part of it. Its just not me, but part of the effort I have put forth in the last 1-2 years: getting healthy, improving my business situation, exploring how I interact with people, either bringing them in or driving them away, is all about not being Micah. Finding the pieces of Micah I like and positively influence the people around me is the end point of my journey.

I am finding that for me hot yoga promotes violence. But against the defenses I have built over the past 35 years, and against the inertia of change. Beyond the sweating, the complete opposite way of thinking is damn hard. Process is damn hard.

But if the minimal success I have had to date is indication of what the end brings, I can calmly, in a relaxed state, accept the present in anticipation of the future.

I have wanted to try it again, but I was 1) worried about being able to complete the class without looking like a complete idiot; and 2) counseled against Yoga by my physical therapist who was afraid I would overextend myself and hurt myself worse in the process.

But, given that I just cant run on the treadmill five times a week. I really needed to find another athletic outlet. I want to get back in the pool and swim (I was a competitive swimmer about 100 pounds ago), but thats a lot of effort that I am not ready to put in. So, I decided it was Yoga time.

I also decided on Hot Yoga because I wanted to sweat. I felt like a good sweat would help with weight loss, and just clear me out. I never knew how much I would sweat…

The first thing I noticed in the class was me. There were mirrors everywhere. I couldnt escape my body. No matter where I looked, I was staring back at myself. So, I started really looking at myself. My internal image of myself is soooo much better than the reality. Now, I dont think the real me is awful, just needs more work than I picture in my mind. Perhaps thats why I am not succeeding as quickly as I like, reviewing my physical appearance is a wonderful way to force success and/or failure.

The next thing I noticed is how quite it was. Except when people were breathing. I want to record that sound and use it in a horror movie. I have been accused of cynicism and curmudgeon-ry, but I dont think I am the only person that is shaken to his core by the breathing exercises of a room full of Hot Yogans. At least one person got up and ran screaming from the room. (Ok, “run” is overstated. “Screaming” is a bit of an exaggeration.)

Then we proceeded to go through all the movements. Some people take it so seriously. I couldnt help but chuckle at the guys with their shirts off and head scarves. Clearly they were the Hot Yoga experts. I set up my mat far from them. Then there was the girl in front of me, who did all the movements to the extreme. I didnt realize people could bend in that fashion. It was impressive.

But, in truth, most of the people were like me. Not great, and really just there for the exercise. I didnt feel stupid for not knowing the movements; I didnt feel like an idiot for being a beginner. I found myself actually enjoying it. I found the names of the movements to be funny; the seriousness of some of the participants made me laugh; but, mostly, I just laughed at how silly I looked trying to stretch a body that is a bit broken and certainly not flexible.

There were two women in front of me who near the end of class ripped the loudest farts I have heard in awhile. I had to double check my brain to make sure I heard them, and then giggled like a 12 year old boy. What is it with Hot Yoga and farting? The last time I went there were chicks in Hot Yoga farting up a storm. I guess Hot Yoga and farting go hand in hand…

Will I do it again? Yes. I plan to start going twice a week. So its 3x at the gym and 2x at Yoga. Giving me my weekend to either do nothing, or to go on a hike. The mountain hiking is coming quickly, and I have to be ready…

5.6 pounds is quite a bit, but it wasnt all gained in the last week. I started slipping the week before. It’s interesting because I talk about how success or failure is motivating, while mediocrity brings complacency. But I had a great success a couple weeks back, and I proceeded to sabotage myself. Why is that?

Is it that I dont want to be successful? I dont think so. I actually think its because I think too highly of myself. I have a bit of success and I think “Ive got this figured out, I dont need to stick to my routine.” And every time, I crash and burn.

Often, I speak about how for me failure is a process. Well, I need to realize so is success. There is no destination, there is no end. Everything is the process.

In lacrosse, I always teach my goalies to have short memories. 30 – 60 times a game, a white rubber ball is hurled at the goalie at speeds that can top 100 miles an hour. There is no way he will stop every single one. But its not only the ones that pass him by he needs to forget, but also the ones he saves. Too much glory, too much false belief in his invincibility, and the goals start piling up in bunches.

So, I have learned another life lesson. Failure is a process. Success is a process. And they are finite and ephemeral. In both cases, success and failure are tied to an action or inaction, and that action occurs once in a very short time. So, if I lose weight one week, I need to realize that I need to do it all over the next week. And if I gain weight one week, then I need to refocus my efforts the next.

I still believe that process sucks. I so much rather arrive at the end, good or bad. But, in this, process is king, and I need to embrace it.

I am still on for the 14er hike. Looks like we will be doing Mt. Beirstadt, and I am finalizing dates, but we are looking at Sept 22 or the first week in October. Mark Your Calendars! It will be the climb of the decade.

I bought the book, Fat Smash after seeing the diet work for a bunch of various people on television. (Yes, I saw the Tyra Banks episode where Dr. Ian Smith showed the success of his diet) I committed to it. The first phase of this diet is a “detox” where one eats mostly fruits and vegetables, some good carbs and fiber. No meat, no cheese, and the hardest thing, no coffee. The first three days sucked, but by day four I had all my energy back, and the diet really wasnt that hard.

In addition, my trainer Heath, gave me the following workout for the week:

3.5 continuous mile this week and a half mile more each week.

To work on elevation gain you will be working the step mill & treadmill with elevation. Each one to three times per week.

8/6 Monday – treadmill 20 min & stepmill 5 minutes.
8/7 Tuesday – treadmill routine with .5 elevation added throughout routine.
8/8 Wednesday – easy bike routine
8/9 Thursday – Stepmill 10minutes & treadmill 20 minutes
8/10 Friday – other treadmill routine with 1% elevation added throughout routine.

AN hour walk/hike on the weekend.

So how did I do? I lost 10.4 pounds in the last week! And on Monday of this week, I completed 60 minutes on the treadmill, with a pretty tough incline, finishing just over 4 miles! I am very proud of myself, but I know that its just the beginning. I need to continue to force failure or success to keep my motivation up.

While the success of the week certainly gets me excited; I know that for me, I need to have a failure, so for lunch I had a Bronx Bomber sandwich from Heidi’s Deli. I will have to overcome this failure this week. I focused back on the diet (the detox ends tomorrow, then I get coffee again! And some meat…) and am planning on another 60min on the treadmill tomorrow am, followed by another 30 minutes of weight training.

Now I am about 12 pounds from the high side of the weight I need to lose, and have about 6 weeks to go.

Here is my workout for this week:

8/13 Mon – 4 miles with routine

8/14 Tues – stepmill 15 minutes – can split time, treadmill – 20 minutes, easy.

8/15 Wed – Easy bike day

8/16 Thurs – 4.5 miles. Flat, outside

8/17 Friday – Other shorter routine with added 1% elevation

A 1.5 hr hike on weekend.

So who is coming with me on the big hike?

Right after school, I moved to Washington, DC and after two months of job searching (an interesting experience needing another post on another day), I landed a job at CASE, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. It was a non-profit that focused on supporting the advancement office (fund raising, alumni relations and communications). It was fun, but when I got a chance to jump to a university, I took it. Over the next seven years, I worked at various schools in DC and California, and in late 2000, tired of slow moving university life, and running smack dab into internal politics, I left and started consulting for a friend’s startup.

Why is this important? Well, as I continued my university life I realized that a unique quality paradigm existed in university administration: the incompetent people were fired; the good people left; and the mediocre people were promoted. Because of the high level of mediocrity, self-motivation didnt exist, and wasnt welcome.

How does that connect to my weight loss? Well, last night I was watching the season finale of Shaq’s Big Challenge. Its a show where Shaq took six kids and provides them nutritionists, trainers, doctors, etc. to lose weight, all in an effort to curb childhood obesity. What was interesting to me, after nine months there was one kid who lost 77 pounds, surpassing his goal; one kid who lost 40 lbs, but clearly needed to lose another 20-30 lbs; and one kid who lost 25 lbs.

• Chris lost 77 lbs. It was clear that he was completely self-motivated by his success to keep off the weight and continue his healthy lifestyle.
• Kit lost 23 lbs. She was self-motivated by her failure to lose more.
• Ariel lost 40 lbs. She was content to be “normal.” She had little self-motivation to continue to work hard, because she tasted success and didnt really fail.

I thought about this, in regards to my progress. I have lost 40lbs, but it has taken a long time, with many ups and downs. My motivation has ebbed and flowed. But, it seems that as soon as I consistently weighed less than 300 lbs, my motivation has completely disappeared. Much like Ariel, I have had some success and havent really failed. My fear is that I will be status quo for months before my motivation comes back. How can I get it back now?

Here is what I decided. I am going to disregard all my previous successes and start over.

So, hello: This is my fatblog. I weigh 293 lbs and need to start losing weight.

And, I decided to set myself a goal. Heath Perry, my personal trainer suggested completing my first 14teener on my birthday, which is two months away (September 25). Not a bad idea, scares the hell out of me, and will be challenging. So, I committed to it. The Saturday after my 36th birthday, I will be climbing my first 14teener.

The only rule will be that I have to lose 10% of my current weight by then. That will put me at about 263 lbs. Yikes!

This new tactic should eliminate my state of mediocrity and reminds me that the best way to learn to duck is to get punched in the face.

My father said something interesting to me this weekend. He said that I view failure as part of the process, and thats why I am open to risk. The worst thing that could happen to me is a learning experience. So, hopefully my recent failure at consistent and significant weight loss will be a learning experience, and this new goal and way of looking at my battle of the belly will lead toward success. Which, will be rather motivating…

And, I will post the workout Heath gives me, and the 14teener we plan on climbing. All are welcome to join in on the “fun.”

So, I took a break. I didnt think about losing weight, I didnt even try. And so, what happened? I gained 2.2 lbs. I am actually pretty happy that even with the visitors and big meals, I didnt jump up 5 lbs or more. Yeah for me!

At the end of last week, I was introduced to Anita Lopez by Rich Grote. Together they have come up with a concept centered around changing thought patterns and habits in 120 days. I am one of their first clients.

Starting today, I will focus on their 120 day plan. Of course, I will write about it and comment on it. The first thing that I have to work on is portion control. To this end, Anita has asked me to visualize a portion (a meal or snack) as being a fistful of food all chewed up. I never thought about it like that. I am interested in seeing how it goes…

Since its been two weeks, Im guessing I will have a lot to write about. I am going to focus on weight loss in this post, but its weird how the weight loss permeates through out the rest of my life. First the stats:

So, not bad. 3 pounds over two weeks isnt the end of the world. Certainly, not earth shaking. Definately not earth shattering. But, I am not ready to jump off any buildings. (Of course those three pounds would reduce the splat significantly depending on the height of the building.)

Here is my total weight loss:

Well, that puts me at 12.3% total body weight loss. Certainly not bad. Apparently, according to my doctor, they wont recheck my vitals (cholesterol and the like until I lose 50 lbs). At least Im going in the right direction based on the chart:

1. Its ok to be a little bit hungry; and
2. I suck at portion control.

I seem to eat decently, but too much, and maybe too often. This week, I am going to be on my own, tracking my food intake in the WeightWatchers interface, but not really sticking to any specific diet. I am also thinking of ordering some of the nutrisystem food since I could get a month of meals portioned out correctly, and learn what a normal portion size should be.

Here is my total weight loss:

And my weight chart:

And my progress:

This is the realization I have come to: Its ok to be hungry. Hungry used to bug the hell out of me. I just didnt like it. Sort of like how I have to have the third lid down, because I know no one touched it. (Does that make me strange?) Even a bit of hunger would get me so off focus that all I would be worried about was satisfying that hunger.

But this week, I have been oh so hungry. And, life has gone on. I have been able to think properly. I havent died. I havent been depressed. I have been able to exercise. It turns out, thats its ok to be a bit hungry.

What about full? Full to me, used to me completely not hungry for a long time. Sometimes, full meant actually feeling like my stomach was completely full. But, this week, full has been barely not hungry. Just enough to not feel hunger pains any more. And, again, I am ok. I enjoyed my meals (sort of), and I have had good energy.

Moving forward, now, I am going to be a little hungry as I try and lose weight. And full is going to be just not hungry. Now, if I could just learn what a proper portion was, I would be perfect…

Probably why it has taken me a couple of days to post this. Not sure why the gain, other than I didnt really exercise, and I ate like crap. Very up and down. But it taught me something, I get burned out quickly when I am on the weight loss war path for too long.

Here are my stats so far:

And the chart that is beginning to flatten out a bit…

So this next four weeks I am going to try something different. Week 1, I am going to do the Sacred Heart diet. It was prescribed by a doctor, so it cant be all bad, right? Anyway, the idea is to do that diet for a week, then track all my food intake in weight watchers for two weeks, then try to diet myself without recording anything. Then rinse and repeat. We will see how it works.

and more importantly, I played in my first lacrosse game in over four years on Friday! I played with the Hooligans, who play in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League. Its just summer league so its pretty mellow. I hoped to play just a couple of minutes, but we were down long-stick defenders, and so I ended up playing for about a half. I was so sore on Saturday…

I didnt play badly. Rather it was uneventful. No one scored on me, and I didnt do anything overly spectacular. I did pick up a ground ball, and catch a pass, and finally make a throw, so overall, for four years of rust, I was pretty proud of myself. Hopefully, it will continue to inspire me to lose the weight. So how did the weight loss go?

1.2 lbs? Jeez, I would have thought it was more. But, I have to continue to remind myself that its progress, not perfection. So my total weight loss is: which certainly is not bad…and I continue to inch towards the 10% weight loss goal:

So, I will continue to plug away. One of the challenges I will have to overcome this week is getting over the general muscle soreness from last week, and pushing myself to do another 4-5 workouts this week. Plus a lacrosse game on Friday, which I am very excited about, and hoping to put forth a better effort than I did this past week. We shall see…