Wow I didn't realize it had been so long since I last provided an update. A number of things have gone on since as well.

Current status

We will start out with a current status on myself. I am presently weighing in around the mid 210s and have been relatively consistent in that range for a couple of months. I had an inBody update about a week ago, and it showed a 6lb loss from my previous inBody test. This had me discouraged at first because previous tests had me losing about 15lbs between. However, Jake pointed out that despite fewer pounds lost, I was still losing steady body fat percent, which is more important. I'm hopeful it means I'm gaining more in muscle mass, which is starting to show in my mind, specifically in the bicep and pec areas.

February was a notably light month overall for activity due to myself agreeing to babysit my parents' birds for ten days so they could take a well-deserved vacation together. I am very happy to say that during that time, I managed to maintain the weight I was at, regaining very little if any.

I do honestly wonder if I'm nearing the plateau of weight I have to lose that is based on fat content alone. Majority of it all is still in the stomach/sides area, but that is a common area for many people. However, the bigger question is how much is left there before I hit ab muscles. Regardless, we are continuing to try and eat the best we can to get down as much as we can before focusing exclusively on however much mass I want to attain.

If I had to choose some popular people that I would not mind reaching a similar physique to, two that come to mind are both Ryan Reynolds and Zac Efron. I have never intended to reach the point where I have a body builder competition body, but I also don't want to stop part way. I also never want to take extremes to get near these points. Long before I re-started this journey, I always told myself that I would earn every moment and take no unhealthy shortcuts. Ultimately, I want to simply be in the best shape I can safely achieve. I hope that I can avoid issues outlined in the article "Are buff male stars like Zac Efron driving young men to drugs and eating disorders?". If you know me in person and are seeing signs that I may be slipping somehow, by all means bring it up with me. I hope this is never the case.

Goodbye Average Joe's, hello Globo-gym?

March took a surprise turn when I was informed that Fitness 19, the gym I started this journey in, was closing at the end of the month. Jake, bless his trainer heart, was already taking care of all of his clients though. He let me know that he was moving to Anytime Fitness once 19 had closed down. He already had his job lined up and set in stone. He also negotiated with Anytime that if I were to migrate and join Anytime, that I would retain the rates I was paying at Fitness 19. This included gym membership and trainer fees, and is for the foreseeable future until I decide to cancel or change something on my end. I was more than willing to move to Anytime Fitness because of this and because I did not want to give up on having Jake as a trainer. Call it a weird sense of loyalty, but he has helped me come very far.

It has now been one week at Anytime Fitness, and I am thus far very happy with everything. It most definitely does feel like an upgrade in facilities, and even minor details make me wonder how I survived before. The simple detail of having a digital clock that shows hour, minute, and seconds is a detail I now wish was available at Fitness 19 at the time. I am sure there are others that I have not even noticed yet, but will in time.

This is not to say that I hated Fitness 19 by any means. I was quite happy there, but theorize I may be even happier at Anytime Fitness. With that said, comparing the two to Average Joe's and Globo-gym from the movie Dodgeball is not meant to be slander in any way, just a bit of fair comparison. It's not like I'm comparing either to Planet Fitness. Oooooooooooooooooooh There's the real shots fired.

Concrete goal timeframes

When I first started in September, my goal was "get in shape for good". This is definitely still the ultimate goal, but at the same time, I have since found a target date that I could use for motivation for "best shape of my life". Hint: I've been working on my summer body since the end of last summer.

I'm on a boat!

As some may know, I am a web developer by trade and career. Towards the end of last fall, I noticed and heard about PHPCruise. This is a rare PHP conference event that is being held on a cruise liner en route to the Bahamas and back over the course of a week. I feel like I rarely treat myself in a big way, and do proper vacations even less. Because of that, I decided it was time I did something for me and purchased my ticket. The event is going on in mid July 2016, and I am extremely pumped about it. As a result, it's also given me a target goal date for getting as fit as I can manage.

I will let your own imaginations run wild with jokes about a (presently) single, early 30s year old in the tropics. As mentioned above, we will see what I can achieve here.