Category: health

Super Size Me Big Daddy

I’m a bit pissed. Mainly because this subject has always hit a nerve w/me. Straight from one of Dunner’s rants comes today’s madness. I had my own rant all ready to roll until I got distracted doing my usual blog rolling. And it’s not even the post that has me up in arms. It’s one of the comments to his post! The readers digest version, Dunner was ranting about a guy who was HUGELY obese and had an operation to shave off a huge chunk of himself. The guy, who is still overweight afterwards, was celebrating it. Not to mention, the government got stuck w/most of the bill. So basically, you and I got to pay for his new slimmer look. One person had the unmitigated gall to compare being obese w/being gay. I think someone needs an ole fashioned ass-whoopin.

Ok, ok, before WW (weight watchers) sends the death squad after me, let me clear up a few things. Yes, people who are overweight are often mistreated. I don’t condone that in any form. Making fun of someone who is overweight is not ok. On the same token, hiding behind a flimsy untrue excuse is just as “not ok”. Obesity is a huge problem (no pun intended) in the US and we need to start at the grade school level educating our children on how to eat better and healthier.

I spent most of my early adult life in Houston, TX. Which in case you missed it, is the #1 fattest city in the US. If you don’t believe me check out this month’s men’s fitness along w/consumer reports mag for the last 5 years. SF also has a large “bear” population which is just a fancy way of saying overweight gay guys.

Moving on. It is a documented fact that some people are born predisposed to being overweight. It doesn’t mean they are born fat or that they need to be fat. It just means genetically, their body LOVES food. Said people, can lead normal healthy LEAN lives w/just a bit of extra oversight. Now, for a reality check. Less than 1% of the population suffers from this sort of genetic booboo. What annoys me is more and more people try to absolve themselves of any sort of personal responsibility by blaming all their woes on someone or something else. Lets cover a few more facts.

1) The US is and has been the worlds fattest country for the last 10 years.
2) If you add the #2 & #3 runners up together, the US is STILL #1.
3) If it was just genetics,then you’d see a much more global dispersion of obesity.

It boils down to simple math folks. Genetic or not, if you take in more calories than your burn, you are gonna gain weight. I can’t explain it any simpler than that. However, there is no cure for being gay. I can’t diet or get a surgery to become “not gay”. Anyone comparing the two gets my full uncensored wrath. So for all you folks out there in “denial”, I’m here to give you a wake up call. Trying to pawn off your lazy behaviors on genetics ain’t holding water. Close your chops, get off your ass and do something about it! I’m happy to give you workout tips!

Gym Shinnanigans & Revelations

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is not my month! I’ve had more drama in one month than all of the previous months this year. For whatever reason, the fates have decided this is my month of trials. I guess its good for my blog because it gives me something to rant about. (G)

I ended up switching gyms today. Not by choice mind you. I’ve been a Gold’s member for just over 4 years (since I moved to SF). So today, I go in like usual and the desk guy tells me my membership is up and I need to renew. I’m thinking no biggie, I’ll just renew and be done w/it. As you can guess, things didn’t go quite so smoothly. Apparently, the City & County has decided not to renew their corporate plan w/Golds. Not that it should affect me as I’m already a current member right? Wrong! Golds wanted to charge me full price for a new yearly membership! Basically, double what I normally pay to renew. Rather than make a big deal about it, I just politely said, “no thanks, I’ll take my business elsewhere.” So then he says, “well unless you renew right now, you will not be able to work out today.” Didn’t matter that my membership actually expired today. At that point, I wanted to say something rather nasty but held my tongue.

I’ll admit, my sarcasm does get the best of me at times. Today was different. I guess I sort of expected it as this has been the month from hell. I’m a big believer in metaphysical energies, chakras, etc and I’ve just drained my “pool” this month. I have had a lot dumped on my plate lately and I’m fed up w/being upset by problems that are out of my control.

So back to the story, I leave the gym and figure, while I’m out, I’ll shop around. Apprehensively, I checked out 24 Hour Fitness. Five minutes in the door I knew it was a no-go. The energy was all wrong and the sales guy was a bumbling idiot who couldn’t answer one single question w/o looking it up. I’ll leave it at that. There is another gym called Crunch just a few blocks from where I work. I guess you could call it a specialty gym. It’s owned by Ballys and it sort of has a reputation for being pricey. I thought “what the hell, it can’t hurt to check.” Immediately in the door, I got a really good feel from the layout and they had most of the equipment I like. They also have a climbing wall, boxing ring, and quite a few amenities I’m not used too. I thought those might be extra but, it was all included. The sales rep. was personable and knowledgeable. She answered every question w/o having to once look it up or ask someone. She wasn’t pushy and never once tried to strongarm me. That goes a long way in my book. The only thing worse than a pushy salesman is a pushy lawyer. *shivers* I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, I joined Crunch. You’d be right. What you haven’t guessed is how well I made out. The sales rep. and I struck up a great conversation and I discovered she is looking into becoming a Paramedic as well. We had a long talk about my work and I gave her some advice on what to do. She ended up bending over backwards to get me a really great rate; even better than the original quote. In the end, I got the membership for a steal! Some might say it was my Karma coming back to me for not being nasty to the Manager at Golds. Who am I to disagree. (G)

I guess the point of all this ramble is simple. The older I get the more I realize, there are times in life when we are faced w/tasks or problems that can be very demoralizing. It is how we respond to these problems that define our character and well being. You can try to control every aspect of your life and go absolutely mad doing it. Or, you can realize that no matter what you do, sometimes shit happens. You just have to brace yourself, roll up your sleeves, and slough thru it. All the while, remembering who you are and what you hope to accomplish.

Ok, I’m done now. I don’t about you but, I feel MUCH better! (big grin)

Me, Oh So Long Ago

Being a typical vain fag, I’m a member of several online gay muscle sites. I’ve gotten alot of requests from guys wanting to know what I looked like before I started working out.

Well folks, seeing is believing! The pic below is me circa 1990. This is me before I knew what working out was all about. (It was also me when I HAD hair).

Moby Circa 1990
As you can see, I’ve changed quite a bit since then. My goal was never to be huge, just bigger. I didn’t actually start working out in earnest until early 2000. I’ve never been one to work out so I could impress others. I got tired of being so damn skinny a good gust a wind could blow me away. Now don’t get me wrong, I like the attention I get now that I’m bigger. That said, when I started working out for my reasons, I stuck w/it. Its become a part of my life that I can’t go without. I don’t live for the gym but I go often.

On a related note, I got the chance to experiment w/a low impact steroid about a year ago after recovering from a bad case of food poisoning. By low impact I mean a pill version w/limited side-effects. While it did give me a really good pump, I found that my sex drive increased exponentially. And while this may sound like a good thing, let me explain. I’ve always had a strong libido. If you know me, you know I ain’t lyin’. So after about 2 weeks, it got to the point where I could not focus on a single task without thinking about sex. When I could get it, where, from who, how often, etc. After a while, it began to affect my daily routine and my job. I know what your thinking…”I’d kill for that” right? Wrong! When it starts affecting your life on a fundamental level, its time to quit. And quit I did.

Afterwards, I did manage to keep a little of the bulk I had gained but not much. What goes up must come down. The same is true for the body. While I peaked performance on the drug, I went thru a dip after coming off of it. My desire for sex evaporated. For the first time in my life, I knew what it meant to not be in the mood. I also couldn’t muster the same amount of energy to workout. I’d go for days w/o even going to the gym. After about 2 weeks I leveled out to normal again. I can only imagine what the stronger injectable versions would do to you. Yikes!

So the long and short of it is simple. I’m proof positive anyone can workout and improve their appearance. Its no always easy but, if it was everyone would do it.

Thats my story officer and I’m sticking to it!