At boot camp this morning I came in first place in my group doing suicides/windsprints the length of a football field while carrying a 20 pound medicine ball. My secret? I do stairs and piggyback rides on a daily basis with a 58 pound daughter.

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Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter at @EPayneTheDad.

Last week's insanity and one of the many reasons why I was absent on the blog...

For reasons that don't need to be discussed here I locked myself out of my home for the first time ever! Did I call the locksmith? No. Did I have the good sense to have a spare hidden somewhere? No. Did I make sure a neighbor had a key? No. But I did manage to enlist the help of neighbor, Olympic hurdler, Kim Batten, who suggests I borrow a ladder from someone.

I go from house to house until another neighbor answers and lends me his 12-foot ladder. I go to the back of my 3 story townhome hoping the windows on the back deck are unlocked - they aren't (good job family, seriously). My helper and 911-dialer Kim Batten holds the ladder steady a good five feet beneath the 1st floor deck. I look for a place to grab without getting a fistful of splinters and pull myself up onto the deck using only the deck slats. Then I'm trapped on the deck as everything is locked. But I see that my son's window is open. In a moment of crazed inspiration I instruct my assistant to hoist the ladder up to me. I decide to climb through the 3rd floor window. The only problem: the ladder doesn't reach but I am able to stretch from the top of the ladder (the part where you aren't supposed to stand) to pop the screen out. I drop the screen to the deck beneath me, say a quick prayer and jump to grab hold of the window ledge. Now hanging out of my sons window, legs dangling, more growling than breathing, I center myself, calm down and tell the gods I'm not dying today...

With nothing but my hands and arms I pull myself through my son's open window and pour myself into his room. I stand completely covered with dirt and dust, legs scratched to hell (I was wearing shorts) from dragging myself against the house and swollen as I don't know what from may have been the toughest real-world workout I've ever had in my life. Yeah, I'm one of those dudes who doesn't ask for directions when I'm lost either. Moral of the story: Have a set a spare keys at a neighbor's house (get to know your neighbors) and thank God I've been doing pull-ups for the past month at the gym.

Now everyone has keys to my home and as far as I'm concerned the pull-up is the exercise of the gods.

Bye Bye Backfat!

Photo Credit: United States Marine Corps Official Page

E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and DAD: As Easy As A, B, C! (coming soon). For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

Garbage in, garbage out...

Garbage out, period.



Yup, folks, the above pic is me in the fall of 2010 after boxing away the backfat. Over the course of the spring and summer of 2010 I dropped weight from a whopping 205 pounds to approximately 180 missing my goal of 173 by a mere 7 pounds. I turned back the hands of time. I became a semi-lean, not-too-mean fighting machine.

And then I packed up my life and moved to Atlanta.

Dealing with a new environment, combating a very rough patch with the wife, and entering a highly unwelcoming job market all spelled one thing: eating comfort food. Hamburgers, more hamburgers, french fries, milkshakes with every meal, BIG breakfasts, home made lemonade and sweet tea, strawberry cheesequake blizzards (concrete heaven in a cup) from Dairy Queen, ribs, lemon pepper chicken wings, atomic chicken wings, fish tacos (these are actually healthy), and more french fries. Not to mention until I get a bike, I have to drive everywhere as nothing is walkable except the business district.

The food was good and the associated bloating, feeling terrible and lethargic was just all apart of the joy of food. In January I began working out with one of my neighbors, a former Olympian. It was then that I mounted a scale and discovered the ugly truth. In four months time I had gained back nearly all the weight I spent boxing. She assured me I'd lose it all and then some.

What did I think was going to happen? I'm not twenty anymore. In fact, I'll be forty in the fall. I was pretty depressed the day I got this news. So depressed that after working out, I pulled into a McDonald's drive-thru and ordered a Quarter Pounder without cheese (it was without cheese).

Then in March I went away to the Disney Dreamers Academy and was bombarded with so much "cruise ship food" that I had to draw the line somewhere. I began guzzling water like your average everyday dog and cat does. Something strange began to happen. I began to naturally clean out, detox, whatever you want to call it. I returned to Atlanta, vowing not to touch any drink with sugar in it any time soon. I took it a step further and swore myself off the stuff for lent, overlooking that my beloved coffee falls into the category of sugary drinks based on the way I like to drink my coffee. Not drinking fruit punch and sweet tea is easy, but coffee?! But 6 weeks in I'm doing fine. In addition to the sugary drinks, I've cut out white flour bread, and my other most beloved: french fries. Do I miss it? Yes. Am I tempted? Often. Do I miss being bloated and feeling heavy? Not at all. I'll take feeling and looking better over tasting and drinking heavenly creations, only to spend the rest of the day farting and belching, any day of the week.

I've managed to lose 7 pounds pretty effortlessly and last week I joined a gym not to far from my home that by New York standards would be completely unaffordable. But down here it's $29 bucks a month. I'm there 4 days a week for no less than 2 hours at a time, working out like I'm in a movie, trying to win the big game and the girl.

Garbage out! This is the remixed reboot of Bye, Bye Backfat. If you haven't heard the hit song that goes along with this blog series of mine you'll have to watch the videos. It all feels nice and natural. I'm getting my house in order --- my temple (my body), my actual domicile, my kids activities and my finances. It's all apart of the plan for healthy, holistic, rich and happy living.

Backfat begone! Garbage begone! Welcome healthy, wealthy, happy life!


E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

I'm still plugging away with the Bye Bye, Backfat! Hello Boxing, Gloves (tm) boxing regimen. And I'm still doing it over at LA Boxing, Mamaroneck (click the logo to the left to visit their page). My goal remains the same and I remain committed to reaching it.

But this doesn't mean I haven't run headfirst into some distractions along the way.

As I finalize my move South and learn to let gosay goodbye to New York City, a place I've known since 1994 and can't honestly say I successfully conquered, stress and random emotions have erupted in my life. As have a few all-nighters spent packing and moving and then unpacking down there.

These have all factored into a recent slump of poor sleeping and eating habits combined with not being able to get in a regular workout. As I have been up all night I've been eating during those wee hours when I get hungry. And unless you are a goat (I am not), I don't know anyone who actively seeks out grains or vegetables at 3 am. No, I've been eating hamburgers, french fries, hot dogs, Chinese food and several other comfort foods almost non-stop for three weeks. I've been downing milkshakes like water and I somehow managed to get myself cracked out on Ting, an unbelievably delicious carbonated grapefruit beverage made by D&G. Right about now, water might as well be acid. The biggest tragedy in all this, during the moving, I misplaced my beloved jump rope for 2 weeks. (Do you hear gasping? Because I'm gasping right now.)

So instead of continuing to shed the pounds I've managed to add a few. Approximately four. I can see it in the mirror. And I'm not pleased. I now have experienced one of the greatest motivators for staying in shape:

Watching yourself get out of shape while getting into shape.

For me it has been a necessary reminder that I am not out of the woods yet. I am not so "good" that I can get dumb with my eating habits. I've given myself until the end of the week to get my act together. I've got a birthday just around the corner and a goal that coincides with that date. At the end of the day, disappointment is a much worse dish when you serve it to yourself.

If I am guilty of anything it is being human. Taking a break from a discipline definitely will not kill you. But that break needs to be short if you don't want to shortchange yourself. Only you will suffer from cheating on yourself. That juicy burger or that salami sandwich with prosciutto eaten without regard is cheating.

Be human, but don't cheat yourself. Keep your goal out in front of you, namely in the mirror where you can see it.

What methods/strategies to you use to stay focused on your fitness goals?

Follow my fitness joys and struggles on the Makes Me Wanna Holler YouTube Channel!

A little self-celebrating never hurt anyone!


Want to enrich your Makes Me Wanna Holler experience with discussions, current events and interacting with people just like you? Then please "Like" the Makes Me Wanna Holler Facebook Page and join the movement. You won't be disappointed.

Just as I stated in my last video post, nothing stops the movement. I'm still boxing and working out over at LA Boxing/Mamaroneck located at 300 Waverly Place in Mamaroneck, NY.

While I was thinking of all the things that go into my workout, I realized I overlooked one of the most critical components: the music. A lover of nearly everything but opera I have very specific tastes when it comes to what motivates me. Here is a sample (Click on the image to read the list clearly):
























I've added House Music, some new Hip Hop that's recently hit the airwaves and a lot more Rock to my playlist. I'm not 100% proud of some of the explicit tunes on the list, but what can I say? The beats, the rhythm, the energy of the music motivates me! And it's only heard by my ears.

What music motivates you to push your workout to the next level? What would you add to this list?


Want to enrich your Makes Me Wanna Holler experience with discussions, current events and interacting with people just like you? Then please "Like" the Makes Me Wanna Holler Facebook Page and join the movement. You won't be disappointed.

Want to enrich your Makes Me Wanna Holler experience with discussions, current events and interacting with people just like you? Then please "Like" the Makes Me Wanna Holler Facebook Page and join the movement. You won't be disappointed.

Last week Thursday I stepped on the scale after being worked over by a trainer who goes by the handle, Gato.

I was pleasantly satisfied. The number, "187" materialized on the digital screen between my big toes and I smiled.
187 pounds represents a 15 pound loss from 202.

The Good News: My backfat is gone. My six pack has begun to reemerge. My facial features appear to be sleeker. My arms are defined but the veins that used to plot routes up and down my biceps are conspicuously absent. My pectorals are no longer "mitties" (figure it out) and are cleanly separated along my sternum.

The Bad News: There are pockets of pudge that are trying to maintain strongholds on me and I have a nice solid layer of subcutaneous fat that needs to go. Unfortunately this layer of fat just beneath the skin, casually referred to as body fat or belly fat is usually the last, if not the hardest to get rid of --- at least for non-professional and semi-pro athletes and other individuals like myself who don't have the time to commit to two-a-days.

The Worst News: I want to reach my goal of 170 pounds yesterday/last week and the more gains I make, the more disappointed I become with the ones I achieve --- the maniac health nut has returned.

The reality is that from 2006 - 2010 I gained 29 pounds. I'm not so sure I should be killing myself to lose in 90 days what it took 5 years to gain.

But knowing this hasn't stopped me from trying. My goal for the beginning of July is to weigh in at 182. From there I will have to decide what steps I need to take to shave off the next 10 pounds.

But none of the above would've been possible without the good folks over at LA Boxing (Mamaroneck). I can't believe that a mere couple months back I was filled with fear as I crossed the threshold of the gym for the first time. Nowadays I come in and say hello to everyone on staff for the day. I have my own LA Boxing t-shirt and I jump rope in plain sight of all, not the dark corner of the gym I started in.

The philosophy there is simple: If you don't do the exercises the only one you're cheating is yourself. What LA Boxing has done for me in the short time that I've been a member is let me know I can withstand the test, take it and give it right back. When I'm getting ready to give up during a workout, the voice I hear before any trainer's is my own, demanding that I not fall down on myself, that I not cheat ... myself. The trainer's have an excellent eye for your strengths and weakness and they work very hard to turn your weaknesses into strengths.

I can't say where I'd be with this regimen. I know for a fact that I'd still be 202, my knees would still, it would be difficult for me to move up and down stairs and a lot of my pants would still look like pipe cleaners.

• I've learned a lot about the craft of boxing. It isn't something I intend to employ the next time someone makes me upset, but it is definitely an outlet for my daily frustrations and occasional woe.


• The mind numbing 800-1,000 cardio workout has tested me so much in these few short weeks that I'm not sure what I CAN'T do, anymore.


• I feel confident in myself and no longer ignore the man in the mirror.


• My LA Boxing experience has reinvigorated the warrior in me. The program has once again reminded me that nothing or no one but me is stopping me from achieving certain goals in this life. And I've been able to successfully and positively apply the same aggression, creativity and being light on my feet that is required of when I'm wearing the gloves to a variety of other areas in my life that needed "jumpstarting".

On the morning of Father's Day I went to the gym. Gato worked me over once again. When class was over he asked me if I was still dying.

"I'm never dying. The day I die is the day all this stops."

It hasn't stopped yet.

I don't intend for it to stop ever.

Remember this? I wouldn't be surprised if you don't. It lived and died on the Makes Me Wanna Holler Facebook Page. You can check it out below:



This contest didn't go so well, in fact, it made about as much of a splash as a pebble does in the Atlantic Ocean.

Oh well, things don't always go as planned. You move on and try, try, again.

• Do you need to get in shape?


• Does the Dad in your life need to get in shape?


• Do you need a kick in that place just beneath your beltline, directly opposite your front side to get you jump started?


• Can you even see your beltline anymore?


• Or, would you simply like to try something different other than the usual humdrum of lifting weights or running on a treadmill at your local gym?

Then, please, have a week on me (LA Boxing, actually):


THE FATHER'S DAY 1-WEEK WORKOUT JUMPSTART GIVEAWAY

The good folks over at LA BOXING are offering one (1) One-Week Trial Membership at one of their gyms in YOUR neighborhood. It's a great opportunity for you to get it together and take the first step to getting, or staying in shape. Take it from me. I'm a believer. If this is your first time here, you can follow my weight-loss/get in shape travels at To The Test: Real Words, Real People, Real Results.

The winner will be chosen via Random.org.


This is a little taste of what you'll face, if you win:



This giveaway IS NOT the Fresno gym (unless you win and you live in Fresno). It's actually for the LA Boxing Gym in your hood. So before you decide to enter you have to find out if LA Boxing is actually in your neighborhood or the neighborhood of the Dad in your life. The easiest way to find out is to visit www.LABOXING.com, click on the GYM LOCATOR link near the top of the page and enter your Zip Code. If you're there's one nearby then you're in luck! Keep reading, enter to win and do something besides coming up with some last-minute As Seen On TV $10 gift for Dear old Dad, the man who has let himself go to keep everyone else's wheels greased and running properly.


CONTEST RULES:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

• You MUST leave a comment here as to why you would like to win this 1-week trial membership. If you're a Dad then speak for yourself. If you want it for the Dad in your life then state why you would like the membership for him.

Additional Entries (You can do any or all of the following, BUT each are invalid without the Mandatory Entry above):

• Comment on any post on this blog (1 additional entry per post) - please state in the comments section of this post which additional post(s) you commented on.


• Create a video/webcast stating why you want this prize or who you want it for. Once you've created your video please Contact Me with the link for the video. (10 additional entries)


• Join the Makes Me Wanna Holler Facebook Page (2 additional entries) - let me know here in the comments section that you've joined.


• Become a friend on Google Friend Connect (see the right column of this page) - let me know here in the comments section of this post, that you've joined (2 additional entries).


• Tweet (the red text): Enter @MakesMeHoller to win a 1-week membership at LA Boxing in your neighborhood for the father you love. http://bit.ly/chMtIK #giveaway (1 entry per tweet)

Contest Duration:

The contest will run from 9:30am (PST), Monday, June 14, 2010 to 8:00 am (PST), Friday, June 18, 2010.


Eligibility:

All entrants in this contest must be a resident of the United States and have a working email address.


Official Product Info:

Please visit the LA BOXING website.


Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. Neither E.Payne nor MakesMeWannaHoller.com has been compensated in any way for this post or contest prize.

The official weigh-in was today and the scale registered the above number. I haven't seen 180-anything in at least two years on any scale I've stood on and today I am very satisfied. I set a goal for myself last week to lose 3-4 pounds a week. I lost 3 this week and I'm driven to lose 3 or more next week.

I am officially down 13 pounds from my original 202. My gut is gone, my backfat is still here, but in a greatly reduced amount. Other than my shoulders and knees feeling like they need a serious squirt of WD-40, I am limber and light on my feet.

I'm not sure why it's taken so long to get to this point after spending nearly two months at the same weight, but why ask, "Why?" I now have the momentum, better eating habits and LA Boxing - Mamaroneck behind me to forge ahead toward my goal of getting down to 170 pounds, which is 3 pounds less than the lightest I've ever been. I may get there, I may not. For now in the short term I've got 9 more pounds to go before I'm the hell up out of the 180s and I'm shooting for 179-180 for the July 4th Holiday. This is my new mini-milestone to chase down.

There was a little saying I coined when I was pledging my fraternity way back when in college. It kept me sane when I was certain (and not so certain) everything around me had gone nuts. It was my mantra that kept me going when tremors were ripping through my body while I held myself in push-up position (one of the more tame feats of strength I can mention here) at the kind and oh so pleasant behests of my big brothers for ungodly amounts of time above pools of my own sweat as they attempted to "distract" me. For whatever reason I remembered it last week and I've added it to my routine.

"I CANNOT submit. I WILL NOT submit. I REFUSE!"

Stay tuned...and stay motivated, whatever your goals may be!

On Thursday of last week I was all set to fly with my family out to Barbados, W.I. for the Memorial Day Weekend. The plan was to catch up with family down there and regroup on the island where we were married. But due to the travel nightmare that erupted thanks to my son's expired passport (who knew kids' passports were only good for 5 years?) I stayed back for a day with him and paid through the nose to get his passport renewed.

On Friday we were good to go. And then my sinuses went crazy on the plane ride. By the time I landed I couldn't hear out of my left ear at all and I could barely breathe through my nose. The wife told me I snored so bad my first night there it sounded like I was gargling water.

I spent most of Saturday swimming in the ocean. The day was about as blissful as bliss can get.

By Sunday night I was experiencing aches and pains similar to the flu.

On Monday we headed back to New York, got caught up in a mid air traffic jam and were ultimately diverted to Atlantic City to refuel, take off again and head to New York. Instead of landing at 8pm we landed at 11:30pm. By the time I hit the front door of my house it was 1:30 in the morning.

On Tuesday, I called my doctor and am now on a two-week supply of antibiotics to get rid of my sinus infection. My system cleaned itself out for two days straight (I'll spare the details) and I've been catching up on work that should've been done two weeks ago.

To make a long story short, I'm down for the count and haven't worked out at LA Boxing since last Tuesday. But I'm never one to stop cold turkey once I've started. While on vacation I still managed to watch what I eat (to a degree) and I determined that I needed to reduce my salt intake. Over the past 3 weeks my weight has yo-yoed all over the place to the point that I thought my scale was broken. But the real culprit was water retention. Because of my trip and since my trip I've been doing the following daily:

1. Drinking 10 cups of water.
2. Eating at least 2 servings of fruits.
3. Eating 2 servings of vegetables per day.

Also thanks to my time in the Caribbean I've re-added fish to my diet, eating it at least twice a week. The results have been immediate. My weight dropped and has remained at approximately 191, down from my original 202. I anticipate it being very easy to break back into the 180s by next week when I head back to my LA Boxing Gym out in Mamaroneck, NY to workout with the crew, Pasquale, Dennis and the indomitable Gato.

Here I am on the beach during my vacation. I wouldn't have even considered taking a pic like this a couple months ago.

On my way, but not there yet.
BTW - I've upped the ante with myself. Instead of 175 I want to get down to 170. My wife told me I was only allowed to go down to 180 and I smiled...dismissively.

As we're only a couple days out from being one month from Father's Day I'm going to shift gears away from the fam and start focusing on that person that plays the part of dear old dad: men. (Drumroll and horns...) Behold the month of the DAD!!!

I've been quite vocal (visual, actually) for the past couple of months about my experience at LABoxing: getting back into shape after a four-year hiatus --- enduring their hour-long, 1,000 calorie cardio box beatdown. I've even expressed my newfound love of and ability to jump (skip, to use the proper terminology) rope. Currently I'm jumping rope about 5 days per week and I'm working out at the gym roughly 3 days per week. I'm getting my sweat on and I'm replenishing my fluids as much as my bladder will allow. I'm lighter on my feet, my overall stiffness is melting away. I've dissolved 12 pounds and am fitting back into my fitted clothes, slowly but surely.

I woke up this morning with a simple thought: In our energy conscious society we pay particular attention to fuel and it's optimal use. We opt for lithium rechargeable batteries for our electronic devices. We want to know that the overpriced gas we're putting in our cars is as pure as possible and not filled with pollutants for the sake of our cars' engines and our wallets. In short, we want the best for our cars, and our grown up toys, so that they perform at their peak as much as possible.

Shouldn't the same apply to us?

For whatever reason we are okay with pumping garbage into ourselves, wallowing in not even mediocre output and feeding our perpetual misery with even more garbage. When something bad happens I automatically begin to think of hamburgers, French fries and milkshakes. My wife and I have a pre-vacation challenge and upon weighing herself this past weekend, she immediately became depressed and proclaimed she wanted a cupcake.

"Don't you think that's counterproductive?" I asked.

She shot me a dirty look.

Let me paint an even clearer picture. We would never knowingly feed our dogs and cats food that would contribute to them becoming overweight or ill. We want our pets to be as healthy and happy as possible for as long as possible. Maybe this is selfishly for ourselves as pet owners, but as the owner of yourself, shouldn't you want the same? Taste buds and endorphin responses aside, garbage in will always give you garbage out, even if you are super active.

For the past few years since my daughter's birth I have been steadfast in being against her eating anything that resembles empty calories, but I've been okay with indulging myself. But today is a new day (and so was yesterday and a few weeks ago). As the owner of myself, I say no to garbage in, garbage out. To be fair, I do give myself one day a week to splurge so I don't go hog wild on unexpected binges. But overall, I want to be happy just like my long-haired dachshund and I want to have optimal performance just like my...well, I can't speak too highly for my piece of crap SUV right now, but I daydream about it having optimal performance.

Take baby steps if you must, but do your best to say no to Garbage In.

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Photo Credit: Self-Portrait by E.Payne

"Aren't you too old to be boxing? I mean c'mon?" is what my mother-in-law immediately asked me yesterday after I revealed to her my new fitness routine.

I can always count on her to not keep her thoughts to herself...

I laughed and quickly explained that I wasn't trying to be a prize fighter. I was simply getting in shape. 6 weeks ago I may have agreed with her. But that was then and this is now: 6 weeks into my experience at LA Boxing - Mammaroneck, approximately 10 pounds lighter (I can't seem to shake a nagging fluctuating 1 pound), a whole lot stronger, faster with my hands than I ever thought I could be and walking tall --- shoulders back, back straight --- not so much from pride but because of all the ab work I'm doing.

It has been a serious uphill battle chasing down the former me: 173 pounds, 6% body fat, insane, disciplined and maybe carrying 25% of the responsibilities I do now and having roughly 50% more time than I do now. When I was in this place it was the winter of 2005. Barely 30 days later my daughter was born. Then began my slow, unnoticeable descent into personal inactivity. By the time I got married in 2007, I had gone from being up at 5:45am to do more in an hour than most people did in a week to doing a handful of pushups when the mood hit me. After I got married I stopped doing even that.

In July 2009, I weighed in at 205. My body felt heavy and slow, I couldn't move the way I wanted to and my right heel was bruised making it nearly unbearable to walk. None of my clothes were fitting. Even though it took me 3 years (starting from my daughter's birth) to gain only 28 pounds, this was no consolation for me. That summer I managed to run off about 12 pounds of that, much of which I now suspect was water weight because by year's end and a heavy round of holiday eating I was 205 once more. At 5'10" 205 is easy to disguise clothed, but not in the mirror after you come out of the shower. Not when glory that was once your pectorals (established during my senior year of high school) had become flabby pieces of meat covering your breastplate.

Making matters worse is that I'm no longer a gym rat after having put myself through a year of a Brooklyn based bootcamp in 2005. It was in Prospect Park that I learned to do bear crawls and mountain climbers until exhaustion. I sprinted the entire length of the Brooklyn Bridge in both directions. I did jumping jacks at red lights ignoring the heckles from everyone that felt the need to roll down their windows and yell at me and my fellow boot campers. I removed the bread from my diet, lived off lean meats, fish and vegetables, ate before seven and was in bed by eleven. My boot camp instructor loved me and made me an example for the rest of the group. I was a non-complainer who did what I was told. I did have my binge days on Sundays where I ate everything that wasn't nailed down from French fries to frosted flakes. The bottom line was that although I had a girlfriend and a son to be (my wife and son now) but I was single and my time was mine.

Not so anymore. Other than promising myself to get in shape someday my options were bleak. My body --- something I've been in tune with and kept tuned for a very long time was out of whack and no longer listening to me. I was contending with dim prospect of having to live with something that is me but resembles nothing I've ever known to be me (if that makes sense). My self-esteem was on the line, because a major tenet to me being who I am is being in shape and feeling like I'm in shape. Working out aided in my development of the self-love required to be able to love others and not rely on others for love and approval. It rounded out who I was as a person. That part of me has been missing for these past few years.

Then along came LA Boxing (Mamaroneck). They saw in me an opportunity (I guess): an out of shape family man who was very vocal about wanting to be in shape once again. For me it was simple. I'd get to learn how to box (or something close to it) --- something I've always wanted to do. It took me nearly a week to get up the nerve to actually go to the gym after I had secured my membership. I wore a lot of clothes that first day to cover my protruding gut and my less than defined arms and sharp shoulders. By the time I was done with their signature, hour-long, 1,000 calorie burning cardio boxing routine (complete with gloves and heavy bags) I was a hot, sweaty mess. I wear a lot less now, but the burn and the sweat has only gotten worse. I can't speak for any of the other LA Boxing sites across the country, but the gang over at the Mamaroneck is the nicest and most supportive bunch of merciless trainers I've ever met.

It's definitely been a blast. There I have a discipline to embrace versus just going to the gym to lift weights or run on a tread mill. I'm not in it to learn how to knock someone out. I just want the all over conditioning that comes with being a boxer. I'm not interested in turning back the clock. I want to age with strength and grace. At one point during my workout yesterday I was doubled over tasting my breakfast in my mouth and feeling my stomach churn. The owner, Dean, ran up on me and screamed, "What are you doin'? I didn't tell you to stop!" And I went right back into it because I have nothing to do but gain by boxing away my backfat. I get to be more alive for my kids and I get to fine tune this machine that I use to move through my days.

What my experience so far at LA Boxing has done is expose the following:

Bad Habits: 1) I can't stay up all night long (a current problem I'm battling) and think I'm going to waltz up in the gym first thing in the morning and pump out a mean performance. It's just not gonna happen; 2) Based on the sheets of sweat that come off of me, drinking fluids all day long (water and electrolytes) is a must; 3) Garbage in - garbage out: I've actually known this for the past 15 years but undoing my snacking of the past four years is not the easiest thing in the world to do. I've opted to correct this by snacking mostly on fruits.

My Age: I'm not who I was four years ago, so staying up all night long and waking up at the crack of dawn to work out just doesn't work. I accepted this about 3 weeks ago.

Other than that I've always been of the inclination that there is nothing I can't do, short of flying without being inside an airplane. As of this weekend I will be 7 weeks in and in a better place than I've been for a very long time. And as of yesterday I began my eventual mastery of skipping rope like a boxer --- something I've ALWAYS wanted to be able to do. So no, I'm not too old to be boxing. I'm not too old to do anything that I want and/or need to do. I've even got more motivation thanks to a family trip to the Caribbean scheduled for the end of this month. I'm trying to be as shirtless as possible while I'm away.

When relaying all this to a friend last night she remarked, "We all have that thing that works for us. I'm glad you found yours." If you have something that you want to do, or always have wanted to do I encourage you to pursue with all your heart, strength and spirit as much as time will allow. As far as I know we only get one go-round in these bodies of ours. Why pass on living life to the fullest? Do what you need to do to make your life richer. Everyone around you will benefit from it, just as I hope you will benefit from my journey as I check with you to update you on my backfat annihilation.

Peace....

Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this post. I have been provided with a complimentary membership to LA Boxing for a limited time period.

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I know it's been quiet here on my blog...

I haven't really been into the blogging thing...which is ironic given the number of giveaways I have backing up. When I was blogging like a man possessed I couldn't pay for a giveaway...

I haven't even had much to blog about in recent days. My new boxing regimen has all but consumed me on the days that I work out. I've lost 6 pounds but gained swollen knuckles and a trick right knee in the process.

My wife is out of town for her quarterly on-campus stay for Business School. The experience has left me ragged this time around with my daughter in school and my son playing AAU basketball. My mom came in to town to help out, but I'm finding myself spending more time than I thought I would making sure she's okay. After all, she's my mom and when I let her, she talks a hole in my head.

Been doing a lot of physical and spiritual spring cleaning, too...

Trying to find/establish a meaningful and consistent source of income has become a downright humiliating process in this new and bizarre America we currently live in. Were I a person who without hope and faith I'd say it was hopeless too. But I am not.

Maybe more important than any of the above or any other reason I could conjure up is the fact that I thought this blog in general was an exercise in catharsis, but it seems that writing about Unsung Stepfathers & Jive Turkeys was the catharsis within the catharsis. Writing that piece rendered me silent but reflective, almost mute. I've been unable to do my usual extrapolation of my life, distilling it down, making it funny, or not, for public consumption. If I looked at the totality of my blog, all 450+ posts and strung them together as one story, then that post was the climax, and now I'm living in the denouement --- that boring part of the movie where the hero is sitting somewhere in a coffee shop talking to the girl your girl (or you if you're a woman) thinks is ugly or walking through a field all bandaged and scarred up but at peace even if his war isn't over.

Is this the end of Makes Me Wanna Holler?

Of course it isn't. My son hasn't stopped any of his teenage antics. My daughter has entered a particularly disobedient phase where in an effort to exact world domination, she defies every blood related adult, but is perfectly obedient in pre-school. Oh and her incessant need to play from the second she opens her eyes in the morning until the moment she closes them for the night. Yeah, that one is unraveling me nerve by nerve. She's still the jewel of my eye, but she is truly testing me. And the wife? I've had plenty of experiences and revelations that will make for great anecdotal advice for those of you seeking and needing it, as I've always believed this blog is about me, but only minimally for me.

And I'm still boxing away that backfat, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon...La máquina ha vuelto! I am slowly but surely returning to former my in-shape, powerful and healthily focused and deranged self. I even have an acupuncture appointment scheduled to see if I can fix my new trick knee and heavy-daughter-strained lower back.

So I'm hardly done. But as of late I've been unexpectedly silent. And for this I do apologize.

Please bear with me.

Oh and did I mention I'm on Kindle, too? Check me out below.




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The contest I promised you in my last video is here. I hope you're game. I hope you qualify, and I hope to see you there.

Check out the details right now on my Facebook Page.

If you're not a fan yet, now you have a reason to be.


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You can view my entire Bye Bye, Backfat...Hello Boxing Gloves Series to date and more at my Vimeo Page.

Stay tuned for prizes/giveaways on my Facebook Page.

Happy Fatherhood Friday!

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You just learn how to endure the pain...



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My next installment in the Bye, Bye Backfat series. This time I brought along a show and tell...




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