Not only did I meet my goal I destroyed it.

The last 2 weeks have been amazing, my workouts have been extreme, and I hit some great strides. In my last blog post I talked about the toughest workout I have ever done. Well the following Tuesday Damir tweaked it and made it much harder.

It started with Damir explaining that there would be two stopwatches, one will time the workout, and with the other, he would be timing the amount of time that I was taking a break or switching from the Airdyne bike to the hamster wheel. The workout was 1min on the Airdyne and then 2mins on the hamster wheel and so on... until I reach 10mins on the hamster wheel. As I started out I was on the Airdyne I was thinking this is going to be hard, really hard! At the 6min mark I was not sure I would be able to finish this workout. I must have jumped off that treadmill 10 times in that 6min run. That is when Damir started raise his voice a little, letting me know that if the break stopwatch reaches 10mins the workout is done. At the 8min run on the treadmill I was freaking out, it was crazy hard, but dug deep and finished the 8mins. Now Damir could see I was not doing well mentally and while I was on the Airdyne he sat on the bike beside me and calmed me down. Now the 10min run was the hardest thing I ever did. The speed of the hamster wheel was high, and as I ran I just started to panic, and I jumped off time and time again. Now Damir is yelling, because I was over 8mins on the rest stopwatch, every time I hopped off he got louder and louder. The last 2mins of that 10min run I had Meghan on the treadmill beside me cheering me on, and I was crying it was so hard, it was so bad. I did finish with 9:15 of rest. I was so pissed, so I asked immediately asked if I could do it again 10 days later, on next Thursday.

I decided that was not good enough, I wanted better under 8mins of rest is what I was thinking would be good. So at boot camp I tried to push hard, and these were hard boot camps. The great thing about Boot camp is that everyone in the class is very supportive and certain people will call me out if I am slacking. The first boot camp workout after that hard workout we had to pick partners, so I picked Shaimaa, she pushed me good. During the several circuits in the few weeks I tired to be close to people who would call me out and push me, like Meghan, Sandra, Jacob or Paula. Boot camp was good and I gave it my all.

So the redo day of that workout came, this time I was so focused. Damir said “are we still shooting for under 8mins of rest?” I said let’s just get it under 9. This time I controlled my breathing, taking each time on the treadmill 2mins at a time. When I was on the Airdyne I really focused on my breathing, before I knew it, I was doing the 8min run and this time Damir did not raise his voice once. In fact he kept saying... “Oh we are going to have changed this for next time; it is too easy for you!” I kept focused and finished the 8min run. During the ten min run I only stopped 3 times. I finished under 7mins of rest. Not only did I meet my goal I destroyed it.

This week started off with a bang, Tuesday’s session was awesome we got to play with the Big Ass tire and I am very much improving on that.

Fear starts to set in

This week started with a bang. Monday, Damir was still away from boot camp so Kate was the Sub instructor again. It was another awesome class, the warm up was very intense, the spin bike and push ups one hand on a step one hand on the ground. It was hard we did that for about 10 to 15 minutes. The rest of the class was the same way very intense. Kate made me realize I can do more cardio then I think I can and I enjoy the way her class flowed. It was great she is definitely as crazy as Damir.

Tuesday session with Damir was awesome. I warmed up on the hamster wheel just walking as my legs were very sore from boot camp. At the beginning of Ryan and I session Damir Said “ let’s put u on the Airdyne bike before Ryan comes out of the change room” now I was very apprehensive about getting on as the last time we did that it did not go well. I got on and it went well, very well so we started on the bike. I started with 3 minutes on the bike, after that it was pushing and pulling a weight sled and Giant tire flips. The whole time Damir worked on fixing my form with flipping the tire. We made 2 adjustments and it felt a little easier to flip the tire. That was the first half of our session; it was tough but not super insane. That came in the second half session. The second half consisted of burpees, rowing in the weight sled (which felt extremely heavy), bear crawls and push ups. It was repeated 5 times, it was intense and went on for a very long time and there was no stopping to catch my breath. In fact all I heard was Damir “come on Brian.....Lets goo Brian ..... pick it up Brian ......good job not stopping Brian... chest First Brian....lets Go” like I said it went on for a very long time!!

Wednesday I took a rest Day

Thursday was Crazy I arrived at 2110 Fitness Damir was Training Kim, as I walked By, Damir Said “Remember last month when I said I can’t wait to put you through the workout that Kim was doing? YEAH we are doing that today!” now I did remember, it looked like Damir was trying to kill Kim with the hamster wheel and Airdyne. In fact I had never seen Kim work so hard ever, and she is an animal when it comes to working out. So I got changed, ate my snack, and hopped on the hamster wheel to warm up. I was walking for about 5 minutes when all of sudden Damir was turning off my hamster wheel and he said “Get off I want you to lift weights to warm up!” now he has NEVER taken me off the hamster wheel before a workout before so fear starts to set in. I fire a text off to Ryan letting him know he just pulled me off the hamster wheel, why should I be the only on freaking out. As I am doing the weights Damir suggested I am sure I look terrified..... Because well I remember that the two times I seen Kim do that workout she was doing it non stop! Off the Airdyne on the hamster wheel not stopping to catch her breath she just powered through the whole hour like a machine. I think she had 1minutie of rest the whole time. The half hour of lifting weights blow by very fast. Ryan arrived and I ask if he got my text he responded in his sarcastic tone “thanks for that”

I hop on the Airdyne and I start; it was 1min going as hard as I could, then off to the hamster wheel at a 15 incline. While I am on the hamster wheel Damir says “hope you boys are ready! Because this session will not be easy like all our other sessions” I am thinking are you fucking kidding me I am still feeling Tuesday’s workout and Tuesday was not easy! The first 2mins were intense. Then on the Airdyne again this time 2mins. now my heart is just pounding. Then it’s off to the hamster Wheel for 2mins now I am feeling overwhelmed, I remember something from the Zen Book I am reading and I just breathe and focus and the overwhelming feeling leaves. At the 5 min on the Airdyne mark I ask for the bucket in the corner just in case, but it turns out I did not need it at all. After the 6 min on the Airdyne Damir says that we were done. Ryan and I made it to 6mins I have to say we gave everything we had to it; Kim made it to 10min on each in her hour’s session. That is just crazy, she is a workout machine. She makes me want to work even harder on my cardio to be able to make it to 10mins on both as well. That Session went by so fast, I had all the signs of a great workout, light headedness, dizziness, I had to vomit and my shirt was soaked wet. I have done an hour on the treadmill with Damir many times before, which was hard; this was 10 times harder it rocked!! After that session I have named the Airdyne, Emma, because it is awesome, and I think I may have found my new love, it is much more fun than Sara (the curved hamster wheel). Best Session Ever!!

Friday’s boot camp was an awesome circuit, 13 crazy exercises. Started with burpees, that is my favourite station to start with as I don’t want to end the hour with them. It was a very sweaty hour, I felt bad for Kat Jacob as I think she shared a sweat spot with me through the whole class. She was very motivating we had lots of hi five and I think we both cursed at the same exercises. It was a great class I liked it a lot.

This week was so intensely awesome makes me excited to see what happens next week!

“Climbing the Web”

This week has been a week of pushing out of my comfort zone, learning more about me, and regaining my confidence back. It has been a good week controlling my diet, working my body and pushing past what I thought was my limits.

My week started with a good meeting with Kim to review my food log and talk about the next phase in my food plan. After my meeting with Kim, I went back to Sandra and Lara’s and Sandra cut my hair. This was the first step in regaining my confidence. She did and awesome job and after my haircut I started to feel good again. After that we went swimming, I have never felt comfortable being in public with my shirt off. But on Sunday I did and I felt ok with it. In fact I was very comfortable that I even forgot that I don’t like getting in to the deep water diving tank because the last time I did I need two people to help me get out of the tank. So it hit me about 20 minutes after I was in the tank how am I going to get out. Sandra said “you will be fine pulling yourself out of the pool” and she was right it was easy. It was a fun day.

Monday boot camp was brutal, Damir had us doing Tabata, in a circuit. It was hard. I started with bicep curls, my arms were so sore after that station. As I did each station on the circuit, I gave it my all. By the time I was done my arms felt like Jelly.

Tuesday I arrived at 2110 Fitness early and jump on a Hamster wheel. As I was warming up on the Hamster wheel, I remembered that in my meeting with Kim on Sunday I said to her that I wonder if I could run on the Hamster wheel at a 5. After about 20mins of power walking I decided that I am going to give it a shot. So When Kim arrived and jumped on the Hamster wheel beside me I ask her “if I run at 5 for 1 minute that would count as being able to run at 5.” She agreed. So I turned it up slowly. I got to 4.7, got scared and ran the minute at 4.7. Then I turned it down and walk for a 2 minutes. Then I tried again. This time I got it to 5 and I ran for the minute, but kept going to 1 minute and 15 seconds then I hopped off. I turned to Kim and said “I have not been pushing myself hard enough!” She smiled and said “Clearly!!”

So going into my session With Damir I was Excited to share my news, Ryan was running a few minutes late, so Damir and I started without him. Going with the theme of my triumph on the hamster wheel, we started with Dirty Burpees. As I started Damir Said “No stopping! You will do 10 in a row, hopping on all of them!” It was tough but I pushed and did it. Every Set in that session he push me to go beyond and push past my limit or what I thought was my limit. It was an awesome session!!

Wednesday’s Boot camp was a high Cardio! It was so intense. We start at 6:30 on the Spin Bike, after the spin bike he threw everything at us. Push up, burpees; step up, rockstars ... it went on and on and on. We did not stop to break until 7:00pm. It was crazy!! Then we started all over again. Just like in my session on Tuesday he did not let up, he called me out almost every time I tried to stop and catch my breath. I felt bad for my boot camp Buddy Kat Jacob, we were workout almost on top of one another and it was such a hard class I was swearing, and farting all through. But we rocked it!! I really love that Boot camp class I hope we do it again real soon!!

Thursday I did Cardio.

Friday was a very awesome day I reached a goal I have had for a very long time. When I was at alive, Mondays I did 2 hours of cardio on the hamster wheel, while I did that there was always a class going on in the studio right beside the hamster wheel. Kate’s class, it always looked extremely hard. I thought wow she is crazy like Damir; I totally want to try that class when I am in better shape. She was the Sub instructor of Damir’s Boot Camp on Friday. It was as crazy as I thought I would be. I knew we were in trouble after our warm up when the first Exercise was 2 minutes of burpees. It was awesome! Later she took 2 exercises that I find very difficult and put them together. 1 I just became able to do, spider planks, and the other was mountain Climbers. It was brutal, but proud to say it did every set of them. It was so good I feel it needs a great name so I am calling that exercise “Climbing the Web”! It was an awesome Class!

All around it was an awesome week. I got my confidence back, push myself on the hamster wheel way out of my comfort zone and met some awesome goals! Wow it was a great Week!

extremely intense

This has been a hard month; my confidence has not been there. I have had a lot of head issues; I have been on this journey a long time, in my head I am not where I want to be weight wise and fitness wise. It maybe from the fact that I still see myself as being too fat to do things I want to do. Which that is mostly just in my head. An example of that was in Thursday’s session I asked Damir if I Did something wrong in the last set as I felt it went faster for me then when Ryan did it, so I must have made an error. He turned the next set into a race. Ryan went very fast on this round, finished it in 3mins 25 seconds. I thought ok well I am not going to beat that time, no way. Damir Said “get that out of your head, you just need to do the rockstar pushups better and you can beat his time.” As I started Damir was down on the green fake grass matting with me, as I did them he said “get it out of your head you need to stop and catch your breath at the bottom of the push up! You don’t!!” I finished the Rockstar pushups with lots of time to finish the Alternate cleans with the Kettle bells to beat the time. Which I did I finished at 3min 15 seconds.

Since the beginning of my journey I have heard Kim Talk about how she loves the kettle bells, how awesome swinging them is. Ryan has also said how awesome it is. Now I have always wanted to swing them, but because of my apron that just was not possible to do it right. A few week ago Damir and I tried to do them again and I could now physically do them, just had to work on my form. So after doing them at 2110 and in boot camp and still not feeling like I was getting it, I review the videos that I made of boot camp. I study how smooth it is suppose to look and I am happy to say on Thursday I was able to do 20 in a row correctly without stopping and it felt pretty smooth.

I have always have had great training sessions with Damir, they have changed into extremely intense hours. Since Damir has settled into 2110 Fitness he keeps raising the bar. I used to say Thursdays workouts were my last chance workout, like on the biggest loser. Thursday’s were always crazy. Now the equipment at 2110 is so awesome, Damir is like a kid in a Candy store, I sweat my ass off right from the start. Now every session seems to be like the old Thursdays workout but more and more intense. When I am on the bus headed to 2110 I start to get very excited, not knowing what he is going to have us do. Will there be The Big ass Tire or the weight sled in today’s workout. The place has made our training session extremely intense; it has become my favourite two hours out of the week. I used to start out cold, not warming up before our sessions; I can no longer do that. I get to 2110 and I hop on a treadmill to get my heart going because I am sure we are going to start out with a bang.

Boot camp has also been awesome in last month. Damir has turned into the guy from the DQ commercials. In Boot camp we just don’t do jumping jacks.... we do squatting jumping jacks.........or ......we don’t just do burpees........... We do dirty burpees..... or..... we just don’t do pushups .......We do rock star pushups. So it has been very crazy there as well. There were a few days where the only part of my body that did not hurt was my nose. The best was this week when we ran the “hill of Hell” we didn’t just run up and down the “hill of hell”.... We zigg zagged from the "Hill of Hell” to Macleod trail. It was awesome!!

Food as always has been a struggle in the last month. I have made a few poor choices, a few weeks ago I worked late and the store Manger bought pizza for everyone. I normally pass on the free food at work, as I am on a plan and I try to stick to it. But the smell was amazing so I caved and I had a piece. It tasted so good, so I had a second piece. That was not the right thing to do, now it seems all I wanted to do is cheat and have something bad. This week Kim has given me a new plan and I am doing much better. I really like it. I have also change my lock screen on my Iphone to a photo of a quote on the wall of Damir Studio. It is helping keep me grounded and on track.

I am looking forward to next week!!!

Damir Loves Burpees!

My week this week has been an amazing week. This week I counted some of the staple exercises I do week in week out. I started to counted from my training session last Thursday to my session today. So let’s start with the Big Ass Tire Flips in my training sessions I flip the tire 31 times, that is over two sessions. Flipping that tire is so empowering. Damir ‘s new thing is to have us flip the tire after doing so much work that my heart is flying out of my chest. No thinking just flip it. Don’t tell Damir but I love that dam tire.

Next 103 Alternate cleans with the Black Kettle bells. Once I was good at this exercise, but lately I cringe when he says it is in the session. In fact last Thursday Damir list off everything we going to-do in our session and I was smiling after he said everything because it was not on the list. But of course Damir used his Jedi mind trick and read my mind and somehow it got dropped into our workout. On Tuesday he added them in near the end of our session and as I did them on our last round he asked me to do it nonstop in the last 20 seconds, but I decided to put them down 3 seconds short of the 20 seconds. Now this pissed him off little and instead of moving on to the next exercise I had to do them again and not put them down until Damir said? It was hard and I bitched a little but I finished it.

183 Burpees, this is an exercise I have done in every class and training session. I have done those in my dreams as I slept this week. Damir Loves Burpees! Doing burpees in boot camp is much harder than in my sessions. In my session I try and do them on the green matting (fake grass) at 2110 fitness. I just throw my body down with no fear. It is awesome!!

Mountain climbers, another one of Damir’s Favourites, i have done these bad boys in every session and boot camp this week expect today’s. The thing I like about the mountain climbers is that they lead to other great bootcamp Exercises like Bear crawls, pushing the smaller weight sled and much more.

Also this week I have done 25 Km of cardio. This started with the 10KM Stampede Road Race on Sunday, this was quite a day. As we were at the start line, I was looking around and I was the biggest person there. There was a line that Matt from Biggest loser season 2 said in last year’s biggest losers follow up show as he got ready to do a big race he noticed he was the biggest person about to attempt to do it. He said “sometimes it is good to see a chubby guy set out to do something he is not supposed to be able to do.” It was a hard task, as I started I controlled my breathing as much as I could and for the first 5 km I jogged as much as I could and walked , the last 5 km I power walked it. It was a long time to spend pushing myself on my own. Pushing through the pain and pushing my body to go faster past my body’s limit. The volunteers clapping and encouraging me to finish was awesome. At about 8 Km’s they merged the 3 races the full and half marathon runners with the 10km runners, when they started to pass me it was very emotional for me as they were patting me on my back and clapping as they passed me. For me it was not about how long it took to finish it was about finishing .........or finishing strong. Giving it all I had which is what I did. Yes I had a time in mind it want to finish by, but I was more focused on just finishing strong. I finished a 10k i am very proud i was able to meet this awesome goal!! It was also awesome to do it with the empowerment Boot camper crew, support from strangers is one thing, but support from my follow boot campers was much more special. Thanks Ladies it meant allot that you were all there when I finished.

I have other great milestones I have reached this week. The 10k was the biggest one, however this week I am now able to-do the dummy pickups correctly. It was an awesome feeling to be able to step it up and do it right. It maybe my new favourite exercise!!

This is an example of some of things I do week in week out.

updated Rules to surviving personal training

Over the weekend enjoyed a great movie Zombieland, it was a very cool movie. It got me thinking that there should be rules to surviving personal training. So bear with me as I have a little fun here.

Rule #1 Cardio

Just like in the movie Zomieland cardio is very important part of surviving your session with your personal trainer. Yes your trainer will push that cardio is a good thing and most likely the treadmill will be your new best friend. What I have learned is that starting on the treadmill before your session is a good thing, makes for a happy trainer. Happy Trainer = great session :o)

Rule #2 Vomiting can only happen in the locker room bathroom or learn to swallow

Let’s not kid are selves there will be Vomiting, when you feel that it coming the best thing to do is to head for the locker room weather you do it or not better to be safe, then to have to swing a mop.

Rule # 3 Never ever say “I can’t do that”

Those 4 little words turn your trainer into the Drill Sgt. from full metal jacket. Nobody wants that!

Rule # 4 Crying is for the shower or the ride home

You may have urged to cry when you finally do something that you could not do before or that you are in that much pain. In my experience it best not to do this in front of your trainer, it is uncomfortable for your trainer & it may shows weakness. I love my trainer however, any weakness he finds, he likes to fix. Fix it he will!

Rule # 5 do not confess your bad habits

Confession is for church and cops, telling your trainer that you just knocked back a tub of Ben and jerry’s is not a very good idea. This will just make your trainer unhappy! Unhappy Trainer = Burpee’s lots and lots of burpee’s or stairs lots and lots of stairs. However if your trainer asks you if you have cheated, always, always, always tell the truth! They know if you’re lying

Rule # 6 enjoy your victories

Both Scale and non scale victories. You just kicked some ass Enjoy!

Rule # 7 Smile when your body makes those special noises!

Farting and burping is going to happen, get comfortable doing this in front of your trainer, because it is going to happen.

Rule # 8 calling the person saving your life an asshole is ok

Sometimes you will feel like calling your trainer names like “asshole or Satan’s little helper” it is ok because they have heard it all. In my experience he likes it and gets off on it!

Rule # 9 wear something to keep the sweat out of your eyes

Sweat is going to come out of every pour! Keeping it out of your eyes will help when doing stuff like cleans with the kettle bells, nobody want to take one of those to the head.....trust me it hurts!

Rule # 10 when saying “I need a good ass kicking or bring it on” make sure Walking is optional the next day!

You can, & should say this from time to time. However, if you do make sure Walking is optional the next day!! I have done this and when I have it is a very intense session. They know your limits and want to push you beyond them, so egging them on is always fun!! However like I said make sure Walking is optional the next day!!

Rule #11 food is fuel

Eating the right food before a workout is an important key to a good session, if you eat a junk or fast food your workout will not be a fun experience.

Rule # 12 your trainer is always right.

When training from time to time you will find that your trainer has made an error in counting or the order of the circuit, I find it best to let that go, sometimes it is best to not to be right. Correcting your trainer can result in more burpees, best not to argue with the person who decides how many burpees are in your future.

Rule # 13 the only thing worst then saying “I can’t” is saying “I am trying”

Like Yoda your trainer does not like the word try, some say trying is lying, or I will tell you when you’re trying.... saying I am trying will make for an unhappy trainer. Again Unhappy trainer = Burpees lots and lots of burpees

Rule # 14 try to never be late

Being late to a training session or bootcamp will cause undo attention, your trainer has a plan for your session arriving late will result in most likely no rest time, also in a bootcamp I have found if you are late they will give you added attention so catching your breathe is out .

Bumps are still out there

I have had a lot of challenges to overcome in my weight loss journey in the gym; the first was the same as Po’s old nemesis from Kung fu Panda, Stairs! It was hard but Damir and I fixed the stair issue I had very quickly and I started taking one stair one foot at a time. Next was my fear of falling, it was not the falling that was the issue it was the getting up off the ground. I still remember that Friday like it was yesterday, I came in the gym and Damir threw a mat on the ground in front of me. And said “lay down on your stomach” the fear in my eyes must have been very evident, because he said “just do it, we are not moving on until you do it” when I finally got down on my stomach I remember laying there just terrified how I was going to get up and a little direction from Damir I got off the ground crying the whole time. Then after I was on my feet, Damir saying “again!” It all seems so long ago, that the mind problems with doing certain things were done and over with, I was wrong, I hit another one of those fears this week.

In Thursday’s session we did this workout on the pure motion equipment, we basically went around this huge thing with 10 stations, one was hanging on this bar with your feet in the air, like the money bars when you were a kid. Before we did it I try to do it and was successful, I held it for 1 second. As we started going from station to station, I started to panic, how am I going to do it, when I got to that station I could not do it. It was like I was back starting at the mat on the ground again; thinking there is no way I can hold my body weight up on the bar. Damir knows me very well he said “stop think and just do it” but on the first round I was not able to wrap my head around it. On our rest between rounds practised and did it again. We started the second round and again I freaked myself out about it again, and when I got to the station again I had an issue with it. I was totally frustrated, in the third round Damir try just to mix up the stations and have me do it without thinking about it but it do not work. In the fourth round I told myself that I can do it, Damir would not have me do something I could not do! Did not help, in the last round, Damir started me two stations away from it and I was able to do it once I think in the 1min I was on the station. But it was very clear, my worst enemy, “fat Brian” was stuck in my head. Thursday session was a very hard one and was very mentally tough. So there still many non food related bumps still out there.

Friday’s boot camp was awesome. I decided before I arrived that if there were step jumps I was going to try and do them, instead of doing step up, because I need a win this week after Thursday’s session. As Damir went through all the stations at boot camp, I could tell it was going to be a hard class. When he did the step jumps I smiled, and said to myself, ok you can do it. Sandra and I were Partners. We pick a station three stations away from the step jumps. We did I think 5mins at each session. The first 3 station flew by. I reached the step jumps; I had butterflies in my stomach, just like the day before with hanging off the bar. , so while we were in switch, rest time, I stood in front of the step, I turn to look to see if Damir would approve if I tried, it looked like he was waiting to see if I was going to do it, so closed my eyes and I hopped on the step, when I open my eyes I was on the step but my heels were hanging over a little, that when I Heard, “don’t do that the whole time Brain” come from Damir, I asked “can I try again” “yes” Damir said grinning. This time I did it with my eyes open and I landed right in the middle of the step right where I was supposed to!! I must have the biggest smile because all the girls in the stations across from me were so excited I was able to do it!! It was good to end the week on a high note after not really completing the hanging off the bar!!

Goals for this week are to run /walk 15 to 20 km over the next seven days. To prepare for the 10k in July & the 10k in August that Sandra, Lara and I are committing to do, so come out and join us for the 10k if you can!

Simplicity in the hand of a master is always amazing!

The month of June has always been a hard month for me. For many reasons, the biggest is that back in 1986 I saw my Brother Cory get hit by a car, and he passed away. I seem to have this black cloud over me in June. I have done amazing things in June as well, I joined that special club of 100lbs down in June, and I started my weight loss journey in June. But for some reason I just can’t seem to shake that black cloud. This year it seems to be harder than ever, I am stressed in all aspects of my life. To top it off father’s day is this weekend and I am not on the best terms with my Dad. Lately I have been thinking about my brother, how if he was here we would totally be hitting the gym together! Kickboxing together, running the 5k together and playing catch. It could be the reason I am thinking about Him more this year is that one on my new closest friend Sandra is the same age he would be and I am doing all these great things with her. It is awesome because we kind of have that connection that I have been missing for awhile.

I want start by saying I love training with Ryan. In order to talk about today’s session we must go back and talk about June 7^th session first. On June 7^th Ryan and I had an awesome session with Damir, the session started with Damir showing us the sled “he said push it” after we did he commented “see how light it is, you will be pushing it the whole hour!! One of you would push it the other will do cardio based exercise until the other has pushed in up and back a number of times! You will then switch!” So we started with burpees as our cardio exercise of course. We did about half an hour, with a few different cardio exercises in there. By now I could tell how long Ryan was going to be with the sled, so when Damir Said “Mountain climbers” for our next Exercise I think I start to panic, I may have even had tears in my eyes. Damir looked at me and said “this is going to be hard, but you can do this!” As I started to do them Damir sat right next to me as Ryan starts with the sled I just stare at the ground and pound them off. That first round I did not look up to see where Ryan was I just kept going. That first round Damir did not say much he just corrected me. I try to do the sled very fast, hoping Ryan would be as nice. The second round of mountain climbers, again I just stared at the ground and I start pump my legs, as I start to slow down that is when Damir Says “go back to the place you were in the first round” I finish the second round and I made it without stopping in that round I do believe and hit the sled. The third round of mountain climbers, the longest round was finally here. This time I started out strong and then my legs gave out and we just started. I got back up pretty quick and started again, and that is when everything else in the loud gym went away and all I could hear was Damir talking me through it. It rocked he was so awesome and I made it through. It was a simple workout but awesome, very awesome!!

Today was a rough day right from the get going. I arrived at work to find out that they still have not finished the new seal on the roof in the area I am working. So it basically rained in my work area all day. So by the time I got to the gym I was not in the best mood. My bus was late, so I was late; Ryan had cancelled because he was not feeling well. So I knew it was going to be intense because one on one with Damir is crazy. As I Came out of the locker room I saw Damir standing on the treadmill with that Giant fucking grin on his face and his hair down. I knew from that moment this is going to hurt!! As I stepped on the treadmill he said “you are only going one minute at a 15 incline” and when the minute was up we hit the weights hardcore. Then back on the treadmill for a longer time and of course it was at a 15 incline. About 10 minutes in it was so awesome, all the shit in my life went away and I began to smile. It is amazing that after 10 minutes with Damir my whole day changed for the better! He has that kind of effect on everyone I think! At 20 minutes in everyone else in that very busy gym just seemed too melted away like on the 7^th, it was amazing, it was like it was just Damir and I in the room. Everyone was still there but my mind just did pick them up.

The session was a very simplistic session, no Giant Tire, no carrying Damir, no hill of hell, just Damir and I with Weights and a treadmill. Like with cooking, Simplicity in the hand of a master is always amazing! The session was one of the best ones I have ever had! Not because it was one on one, it was because he pushed me way past my limits! It was so awesome. Not sure if I will be able to lift anything tomorrow but it was totally worth it!!

I looked like a big fit football player

I have had a very busy couple of weeks, my Sundays have been full of 4 and 5k walks, but were more like 16k both weekends. Last weekend I did a 12k walk on the arc trainer on the Saturday and did the 4K MS walk on the Sunday. When I was done my legs were so sore! I felt so strong.

This weekend I did took Saturday as a rest day. Instead of hitting the gym and doing 2 or 3 hours on the arc trainer I did my annual fundraiser to raise money for the Alberta Children’s hospital. I shrink wrapped my shelf to a bench at the Wal-Mart I work at for 8 hours. It was much different this year. As I did last year after I was shrink wrapped I had a coworkers take my photo so I could put it up on Facebook right away to invite people down. Later in the day I got a text from Ryan, he mentioned that he was floored by my photo. At the time I thought nothing of it as I was busy with my fundraiser. Later when Ryan picked me up to go out to dinner and a movie He mentioned it again. So while we waited for a table I look at the photo. It blow me away as well, the shrink wrap had made my Apron disappear. Ryan was right I looked like a big fit football player. That is what I would look like if I did not have my apron. Also on my sign was my weight loss, this was the first time I have had people question that I really lost that much weight. Most could not believe I was ever 520lbs, the Wal-Mart greeter that was at the door with me kept saying “no he really was, I remember when he was that big” it was a good day I raised more money than my goal of 520 dollars.

Today I did the Wal-Mart walk with my friend Kelly; we did it in excellent time! Kristy and I had to walk from the 7^th street LRT stop to the Pumphouse Park it was like doing a 5k before the 5k! It was awesome doing the walk with Kelly! Kelly kept me going fast and we finished far from last! The only let down was that when we finished the walk the food they were giving the walkers was Hot Dogs, Chips and Pepsi. I understand that it cheap and they most likely got it all for free from there venders. But come on, they went on about how the walk was a healthy way to start to lose weight. Then at the end of the walk to feed everyone crap!! Well I guess I need to try and change the Wal-Mart Culture.

I was far, very far from last!!

This is a week I will not soon forget. My week began with a 3 pound weight loss, weeks that start with me being 3 pounds down or more are always great. Damir had two boot camps in one day on the holiday Monday. The first was an awesome, Kristy and I were partners and at the end of the workout my shirt was soaked wet. It was nice to spend time with Kristy doing the thing we love, Exercise.

Tuesday was a very emotional and eye opening day, after an awesome training session Kristy and I watched the Biggest Loser season finale. As we watched all the contestants step back on the scale I noticed that only one of them lost more weight then I have while they were on the show. Yes they did it in four months, most of the time in very controlled bubble not having to do it while working full time. Yes they did really well, but I say try doing it with a fulltime job with real temptation everywhere. My full time Job has a freaking McDonalds in it. That is true temptation, so perhaps I am one of the real biggest losers.

I don’t remember much about Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I had really great workout on those days but nothing stands out.

Saturday was fun; I started the day on the arc Trainer at 2110 Fitness. I love starting the day sweating! After my cardio I ended up going to Damir’s Kickboxing boot camp to hold Pad for Kristy. I had so much fun working out with her on Monday; I wanted to try to see if we would have the same fun kickboxing. We did it was an awesome class; again it was so awesome to spend time with Kristy exercising. Later in the day I went for a walk with my good Friend Sandra. We had a 5k in the morning so we walked it.

Sunday was such an awesome day. As Sandra and I stood at the starting line it brought back memories or doing it last year. Last year I did the 5k with my friends Ryan and Pam. That was a tough day and I was worried that it would be as rough and I was still concerned that I would finish last like last year. Just as we were about to start Sandra Fist bump me and said “see you at the finish line!”

I started to jog, it was very weird, I was keeping up with the large group, and I was stunned. I was thinking, ok once we get to the end of the street, people will start passing me like crazy. I got to the end of the street and some people had past but not much. I thought ok once we get to the first bridge, people will start to pass me. But that did not happen; in fact I was passing a lot of people. We hit the first bridge I realized I need to figure out how to start moving up the group because this is too slow, so I follow a thin girl as she cut through the crowd. As I hit the beginning of the second bridge if found the large group I would do most of the 5k with. This jogging thing was very new to me; I have done a little with Damir but not as much as I have already done in the first 20mins or so. As I reached just over half way I was walking more then I was jogging, that when my shins started to hurt. I said to myself “no I am still going to jog” so as I started to jog my shins didn’t hurt as much. I slowed to walk and they just started to hurt again. It was like Damir was there saying “come Brian lets go, Jog!!” As I started down the last stretch I saw Sandra walking back down the course looking for me, at that point I was done jogging, and I was just walking. Sandra smile and I think she said “you can totally beat your time if you start jogging again!” but I am not sure as I was not all there. But we started to jog again and walk and jog and walk. As i reached the hardest part of the course the very steep hill close to the end, I saw Kim running across the field to the top of the hill. As I reached the top of the hill Kim said “come on Brian your running to the end with me let’s go!” Here is the thing she ran the half marathon earlier and now she was running again to get me over the line under an hour. So I started to run as I reached the last part where people the lined street, she ran beside me outside the course. It was loud, people were clapping and cheering I could here Kristy and Lara, they were so excited! It was very loud, but I could still hear Kim yelling “don’t you stop” I would love to say I didn’t walk but I did for a few second, then I heard Kim “You can finish running, you can do it” as look to my right I saw she was still there walking fast, so I took off running as hard as I could. Then I saw the clock in the distance, it was under an hour, I started to cry, I past under the finish line at 55:10.08.

I turned the corner and Kim and Sandra were there waiting, that when Lara came running to hug me, Lara was crying, I was crying, it must have been quite the sight. Kristy arrived also crying and put her arm around me and gave me the biggest kiss. It was awesome. I am very lucky to have such great friends and family in my life. I was far, very far from last!!

Burpees Baby!!

There have been many milestones in my journey, tonight I reached a very big one. In Wednesday night’s boot camp Damir set up circuit training at the top of the “winding hill of doom”. In the circuit Damir put out a ladder, now I usually step and squat up each rung of the ladder which I did the first time through. On my second time through I was doing the station before the ladder, Kim was doing the ladder and I was watching how she did it, she was hopping and squatting up the ladder. I thought I think I can do that. Just as I was about to try, my partner came up the hill and tagged me out of the circuit to do the hill. As I did the hill I was so excited to try and hop up the ladder. Of course when I got to the top my partner was nowhere near the ladder. As I did the circuit I decided I was just going to do it and not ask Damir if I should try. Finally I was at the ladder and I hopped into the first rung. Wow I can do it I continued up the ladder and Damir said something, not sure what it was so I just went back to the old way. That is when I heard Damir “you can’t continue hopping, hop but squat when you land!” so I started to do what he asked and I could do it!! I glanced over at Damir while I did that last one; he had that big ass smile on his face he gets when I reach a milestone. Hopping was a milestone, but not the biggest one I reached this week.

Tonight on the way to 2110 Fitness for my session, it hit me if I can hop maybe I can do burpees without the modification. So after Damir showed Ryan and I what the first part of today’s session was I asked “do you think I can do real burpees now that I can hop” he just smile and said “try it now” . I dropped down and hopped my feet back and hopped forward then popped up. .... I did it!!! Now he was very excited, his smile was huge, this was a very big moment. You could tell he was thinking where he was putting in the burpees into our workout. So later in our session we were tossing the Big Ass Tire and Damir say Burpees with that big ass Smile. So we stop with the tire and started burpees, I was about eight or nine in when Damir leaned in and said “how are your legs, it much harder on the legs with the hopping” wow he was correct about that they just were burning. Although it was hard and brutal, I must have had the biggest smile on my face.

Another great example of my new favourite quote “success is not a goal, it’s a by-product” This was the milestone we have been striving for, see great workout in my future lots and lots of burpees!

"Success is not a goal, it’s a by-product.”

I have had many difficult weeks on my weight loss journey; none come even close to this week. I normally write about my crazy ass workout. The crazy ass thing this week was not the workouts, they were tough, but this week I was put to the test with my addiction. It all started last Friday when Kim sent me a text, it said I really want you to stop drinking the Coke Zero; it is time to get off that shit! Well that was the just of it. When I arrived at boot camp again it was brought up. She went a little Jillian Michaels on my ass again. I said ok next week I stop drinking it. I did the boot camp and thought nothing of what I said. Monday morning I stepped on the scale and I was down 4.8 pounds. As always I texted Kim & Damir and headed to work. On my way to work I have a habit of stopping at Mac’s to grab a 1l bottle of Coke Zero for the day, and not remembering that I promise Kim that I would quit this week I bought one. As I ate my oatmeal at work Kim texted me back about my weight loss from last week. She was happy I lost 4.8, and suggested I set a new goal. While Kim and I were Texting Damir got back to me. Also happy I lost 4.8 but thought I could have done better. So Kim and I agree 8 pounds will be this week’s goal. That when it happened, Damir said if you don’t eat out and you quit the coke zero you could do it. 8 pounds is possible!!

Ok, yes I started to panic a little, but agreed I would not have another coke zero. I made it through Monday without having at coke zero. At boot camp Damir or Kim not sure which one it was asked if I had any more Coke zero at home. I did I had an unopened case of 12 and two cans left from last week. When Damir heard that and said you won’t lose 8 pounds if you have that shit at home. More about that later.

Tuesday was a blur, it went by pretty quick. I made it through without having a coke zero. It was hard, no it was very hard. I asked everyone at work not to loan me a loonie as I left all my change at home so I would not be tempted. My training session was great. Tuesday was a good day.

Day 3 did not start off to a good start. I did not sleep well, at Monday’s boot camp Damir informed us that Wednesday’s boot camp would be on the “hill of Hell” so I tossed and turned all Tuesday night. So on my way out the door I grab one of the loose cans of coke zero and headed to the bus stop. As I waited for the bus I opened the coke zero and smelled it. It smelled so good. As I lift it to my lips I saw the reminder on my left arm, “would Kim approve” I stopped and pour it out. Nope I didn’t even have a sip; I promise I would not do it so I did not. About 5mins or so after I poured it out Kim texted me “How’s it going, U ready to do the hill!” it was like she knew I was slipping. Kim is awesome like that, she will send out a support text just to see if I am on the ball.

The “hill of Hell” was great I was able to make it up the hill the first trip up without stopping. At the top of course it was not catch your breath and go back down, nope not in Damir’s Boot camp we did a Tabata workout at the top it took about 4mins. So when I went down the second time as Kim was just coming up to the top, so I tried really hard to make it back up before she started to run down and I did it. The third was hard, but I rocked it. On the fourth time, I was at the bottom of the hill when Stephanie came up and said hold this for me, it was her very cute Dog and I said I was good and she started to run up the hill. That is when the dog I was holding took off after Stephanie, the dog pulled me up the hill, I ran faster then I have ever run before. It was awesome, when we arrived at the top, the dog was panting, I was panting even more then the dog I think, I just laid down right there in the grass. As I am lying on the ground I hear two thumps beside me. I open my eyes and Damir is standing above “Cleans with the kettle bells, let’s go Brian!” I stood up and did the cleans until he said to stop. It was an awesome Boot camp!!

Thursday was a though one, but I made it though without having a coke zero. Now for the past month or so Thursdays have been Big Ass Tire days, in our sessions, Damir would have us do something with the tire. No Big Ass Tire This week! It could have been because a class was working out in the fake grass, but that class did not go the whole hour of our session. It could have been Damir wanted to change things up, but I am pretty sure that the tire is like Burpees, it is a staple in working out with Damir on Thursdays. I like to think he was taking it easy on me as I was giving up the coke zero. Don’t get me wrong the Thursdays session was brutal just not the normal extremely brutal!!

Friday Day 5 Coke Zero Free this was a hard day. I really wanted a Coke Zero!! But I stayed strong and did not cave in and have one. This was also a though day because one of my biggest supporters at work was going on Mat leave and Friday was her last day. Jocelyn has been my food cop at work. Many times in the beginning she took chocolates, chips and candy right out of my hand. Always excited when I lost weight and she kept me grounded. I am really going to miss her.

Friday’s boot camp was intense. I showed up to boot camp with the 12 pack of unopened coke and handed it do Damir and said “I don’t need this shit anymore” it was a good boot camp.

Saturday Day 6 still coke zero free. My Saturday started with cardio at 2110 fitness. I do 2 hours of cardio on Saturdays.

On the TV show Friday Night Lights there was a line that coach Taylor said that will stick with me for a while "Success is not a goal, it’s a by-product.” This week I feel I have been very successful, whether I lost my goal of 8 pounds this week or not. I have worked very hard to cut out my addiction. Next week I will stand tall, and maybe it won’t be as hard.

I am a very lucky guy

I have been blessed with an awesome support team. I am a very lucky guy. How many people can say that they have friends that will go above and beyond? I have said this many times “Friends don’t let Fat friend eat at MacDonald’s!” Last week I had a very hard day at work, I have been working alone for awhile and on Tuesday this snowball out of control. I decided to skip lunch, mistake number 1, when I was able to finally take a minute to eat I went to MacDonald and grabbed a Big Mac and a cheese burger. On my way to the staff lounge to inhale it, a friend saw I was slipping and took the bag out of my hand and threw it in the garbage, And said “I know your having a bad day, but you are not eating that on my watch, one day I will slip too Brian and when it happens I want you to help me the same way I am helping you.” Although I didn’t eat it I beat myself up over it. I am supposed to be stronger than that.

This is not the only time I slipped, this week I was upset about something not really sure what it was, but it was when I was leavening work, I grabbed my favourite chocolates. At the till my good friend saw I was slipping and said “I will ring through this stuff, but I am not ringing through the chocolates sorry, and I am telling all the cashiers at the front not to ever ring them through for you. YOU DONT NEED THEM.”

Now I have been on this journey for 23 months, next month it will be 2 years. I have learn allot, but for some reason I still have bad days. This week I have been struggling with the food, so I decided enough is an enough and I was reaching for something bad to buy to eat, when I stopped and thought if I had a reminder on my right wrist I may think twice about what I was eating. So before my day really started today I had a Friend write in permanent maker on my right wrist. “345, would Kim Approve?” now the 345 is this week’s goal, 7 pounds down, I figured lets shoot for the moon! It worked very well; I had a much easier day!!

Now, support also comes from my fellow boot campers! Boot camp is always fun, and I have allot of support. If I stop to catch my breath either my partner or the person beside me says “come on Brian let’s go!” I can honestly say everyone in the boot camp has said it. So thank you Ladies I do appreciate it!! Please keep it up!!

I get a different kind of support in my session with Damir; I do my sessions with Ryan. The support from him is a little different. It’s more of slap in the back of the head, like you see Gibbs do to Tony on NCIS. But Ryan uses his words to slap me. A great example of that was in tonight’s brutal session! We were flipping the Big Ass Tire to each other. Now on the last set of flips I could barely lift the dam tire. So after a few flip I was taking my time, that’s when Ryan said “the slower you Flip, I will flip it faster” so after I Struggled to flip it, he just stepped into the tire very fast and flipped it like it was nothing.....bugger! So I struggled again and he again just flipped it like it was pillow....very fast so this went on until we finished. Damir also likes to pit us against one another, but as of late I don’t catch what he is saying to push us as my heart is pounding and I am in the zone so it usually sounds like “Wha wha wha wah” so I usually hear about it on my way home when Ryan tells me.

I am very lucky I get lots of support from my wife, my friends and my Coworkers. I have so many great people in my Life!

Thank you everyone!!

An Eye Opening Week

This week there have been many non scale victories, lots of sweat, and some tears. I stood tall through it all. I learned that I need to check in with myself, and believe that I have changed. My body has changed quite a bit and I did not notice the changes it has made in the last few months until this week.

Friday was a great day; I spent most of the day relaxing. Around 4 my wife Kristy and good Friends Sandra, Lara, and I went to the batting cage. Now I have not hit a ball in about 15 years or so. I was not sure I would even remember how to do it. I put in the coin and the first pitch came down and I nailed the ball. Nope I did not forget it came back to me pretty quick. I think I missed about 5 balls out of the 100 pitches. It felt good. From the batting cages we went to boot camp, when we arrived Sandra gave me an awesome red Adidas shirt, with no time to look at it I put it on without looking to see what size it was. It fit well! Many fellow Boot campers comment I looked much slimmer with the shirt on. After Damir kick our asses for the hour I went to change and had time to check what size it was, 3XL wow I was wearing a 3XL shirt! I was so excited I was showing everyone. It was awesome!

On Saturday I hopped on the scale and I was down five pounds this week. After getting off the scale I grabbed my Alive and Empowerment shirt that was made for the Santa Shuffle. It did not really fit when we did the shuffle back in December. It also fit me, so I wore it to kickboxing.

Now kickboxing was an intense class, Sandra was my partner. Sandra does her roundhouses at the same level as my head; now on our last set she was kicking a little lighter than normal. Then all of a sudden she kicked very hard and I did not expect it and the pad and her foot hit me in the face! Almost knocking me down, but I recovered my balance and we finished. Thought for sure my nose was bleeding, but it was not. It was a very eye opening experience.

Later that evening Kristy, Ryan, Cheryl and I went out to dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant there were not tables left, just booths. Now in the past this would mean that we would have to wait, feeling good from fitting into a 3XL shirt, I felt like trying to see if I fit. Yes I fit, it was awesome! I have not been able to do that in many years.

Monday’s boot camp was good, Justine was my partner and she was good at pushing me to go hard. The hour flew right by!!

Tuesday’s Session was a crazy circuit, it began with this exercise that was different. I had to stand in the middle of thisCircle bar thing that had very heavy weights on it. So i had to squat twice with it and walk to the end of the fake grass. Squat twice again and Walk back. I had to do it 20 times. At the time it only hurt my hands to keep the weights up. Now we did burpees and a few other exercises, then we did sledge hammer slams on to the big ass tire and a few more Exercises, I think clean and presses were in there. Then we started the whole round again.

Now the circle bar thing with the heavy weights on it did not really hurt at the time, but when I woke up on Wednesday it was a whole different story. It hurt so bad I could not lift my arms very well; my shoulders were so tight it was a very hard day. It made kickboxing a very sore hour. It was an interesting experience.

Tonight session was very intense. We started with cardio. Now a treadmill experience with Damir is no walk in the park. I don’t think he knows the treadmill works when it is flat. No he likes it at a 15 incline and no holding on. After the treadmill, it was the Crank bike, he called it our recovery time. Yeah my heart is pounding out of my chest and the crank bike is my recovery. It was more like the treadmill got the heart rate up, and the crank bike kept it there. So when I got back on the treadmill I would barely be able to keep on it. After I think 4 or maybe 5 rounds of that Damir Said “take a small break.” So while we caught our breath Damir goes over to The Big Ass Tire and moves it onto the fake grass. I am thinking here we go again. So we head over to the Big Ass Tire and Damir says “flip the tire down to the end and back. Your second exercise will be with the Sled” Ryan smiles and heads over to the Big Ass Tire, so I started with the sled. Now the whole time I am pulling the sled I am thinking how it is I going to flip that tire, I only lifted it once. So when it is time to switch, Damir Says “Brian you could have given me a little more with the sled, you better lift the tire with a little more effort!” Busted, but I don’t think he realized the tire was messing with my head. Now I squat down and lift the tire, as I get it just over my knee I rest it and quickly switch my hands and push the tire down, it was very hard to do, but I could do it! So I Flip down and back, as it hits the floor on the last flip Damir hands me the Sledge hammer and says “Slams now.” I start hit the tire with the hammer, my heart is flying out of my chest, and I am think when he said we were going to doing the hammers slams. I finish with the hammer slams. Then we started the next round. Now this time, I pounded out the sled with a whole new attitude because the tire was not on my mind. Damir was much happier with that round. After the second round I thought we were done, I was exhausted. But Damir Says “one more time” so I pushed through and finished with the sled I dragged my ass over to the tire and started, I Struggled with the first flip, but got my 2^nd or maybe it was my 5^th wind and I flipped it with much more strength and made it through the end of the session.

It was an awesome week! I really love the whole Circuit training thing! In my mind there was no way I was ever going to flip that Big Ass Tire!! I wish I Believed in myself the way Damir Believes in me!