Dusting out the cobwebs!

I can't believe how busy I get for someone with so little going on. Work, gym, and that pesky day-to-day stuff just eats up a lot of time and I find my poor blog just getting neglected. That being said, today I want to talk about the hobby.

Right now, I am still in the holding pattern I have been on since my hiatus began at the end of 5th Edition Warhammer 40,000. Yup, I haven't played a single game of 40k or Fantasy since that point. I did a brief stint of Dust Warfare... and boy is that a sore subject.

Anyhow, it looks like my holding pattern is going to get shaken up hardcore this year. The Imperial Knight Codex just went up for pre-order today, the Space Marines are getting redone this year (June timeframe, allegedly), and 9th Edition Warhammer Fantasy is coming this summer. Holy crap!

Also, a little birdie told me that Forge World is going to be making some decal sheets for the Heresy-era Knight Households. I was going to do custom decals for House Taranis, but only because I thought I could make them work with both 30k and 40k (but it won't and yes, I am that much of a fluff nut). Anyhow, looks like if I can be patient, House Vyronii might be in my future for my Horus Heresy army.

Oh yea, plus those poor Skorne. Until a Warmahordes crowd exists in my area, that is on hold too. 

That leaves me with my unloved Cadians. I am going to start slapping paint on those fools soon, but as per usual, I just can't commit to a paint scheme. 

So... what to do?

For starters, I am going to get my hands on two Wyverns. That is a must to run my solo Cadian list. First though, I am going to build the Steel Host portion of a list that I want to run (the other half is the Adamantine Lance).

But what color?

Well, thankfully, I have some time to work out that detail. I have a handful of commissions that tie up whatever painting time I do have.

Right now, I am weighing out a bone/black combo, adopting the 88th (grey/black), or going for something a bit off-the-wall with like orange or blue or something.

Also, I wanted to share some sketches with the community. I doodle at work when it is really, really slow, and I felt the need to draw some Iron Warriors in action and a Pyroclast torching stuff. Check them out!

Iron Warrior Legion Destroyer Squad

Salamanders Legion Pyroclast

Anyhow, that is all for now. I will get some more content soon! Look out for some finished Bolt Action models and maybe, if I am bold, some potential repainted X-Wing stuff.

Poll Results!

Not that I expect a whole slew of people to be reading this blog, but it was good to see almost a dozen poll votes. Glad I have reached at least a few readers. That being said, for those of you who voted, post up what you do with your gym time! And if you were one of the few who didn't go, do you have plans to? Why don't you go?

And on an aside, I did get at least some interest in my goings on at the gym. Needless to say, I can't find my 1RM (1-rep max), because I often go alone and thus don't have a spotter, meaning I won't risk it if I can't do it safely (and no one should, for that matter!). With that caveat aside, here is where I stand on the top end of my lifts:

Squat (top of pyramid; 6 reps) - 325lbs.
Deadlift (top of pyramid; 4 reps) - 415lbs.
Bench (top of pyramid; 8 reps) - 225lbs.

The bench is where I am suffering, but mostly because of all the lifts I do, it feels the most dangerous to push hard. I tend to really hit my chest hard and I am sure with adequate spotting I could do more.

One last bit for you gym rats - if you haven't discovered the lovely pain of Rest-Pause, check it out! I did it recently and my-oh-my did it kick my rear. Really leaves me sore, where little else seems to.

Supplements & Gear

A week or so ago, I ordered some extra stuff to help me keep pushing towards my goals and to enhance my performance. No, not steroids or anything. Just some basic supplements and gear to assist me. Check these out!

Rogue Fitness Belt

The idea behind this is to give me something to push against with my abs, keeping my core stabilized. It really, really helps for squats and deadlifts. It isn't like the leather heavy-duty ones, but I find for the more casual lifter like me, it was worth the $18 vs the $100+ for any quality leather lifting belt.

Rogue Fitness Lifting Straps

These have been a major help. I was finding that my grip gave out before my muscles did, so these really helped me keep from losing the bar during those very heavy deadlifts. They also have the added bonus of being cushion between my hands and the bar so I don't tear them up. The key to these is to use them only on the heavy stuff. Don't use them as a crutch, or you won't be improving your grip strength. Another perk for these is shrugs, for the same reasons.

L-Carnitine

This supplement touts itself as a means of getting the body to burn more fat. The research is there and I have some in my pre-workout powder (see below), but when you are struggling to shed the fat like I am, a boost on non-lift days seemed like a good idea. I am now taking two of these on my non-lift gym days about 15-30 minutes before I go. 

Pre-Workout Powder

As a someone who eats "clean" - that is, as few additives and junk in my food as I can manage - I was all in for this PurePump stuff I found. It has a load of good stuff, including B vitamins, Creatine, caffeine, and amino acids too. All that good stuff to help get you through a tough workout. I take it 15 minutes before my workout on lift days, usually mixed into 1 scoop of my Whey protein powder (taken with 8oz of Almond Milk).

Whey Protein Powder

I take this twice a day on my lift days. Before, as stated, it has the pre-workout powder added and really is there because it improves the dreadful flavor of my pre-workout powder while giving me a higher protein total for the day. I take another scoop after with the thought that Whey is fast-acting and will help me with my recovery, muscle gain, and all sorts of other benefit.

That is all for now, folks. I am almost done with the Blood Angels, so look for them next week or so, plus the start of some Bolt Action models. Possibly one of the new Bloodthirsters eventually, as well. Fingers crossed for that one!

Plus, inevitably I will start my personal projects, but with the rumors floating around about so many new things, I am leaning towards my Knights and Cadians before anything else. 

Measuring by Small Victories

Still overweight - but progress!

Fitness Talk
Sorry for the silence of late, but life is a hectic thing. Big news for me - I won a massive psychological victory in my war on fat today. For the first time in almost 10 years, I am under 300lbs. I know that doesn't sound like much, but I was easily 350lbs or more at my heaviest, soaring up to a size 48-50 pant size.

Back in 2012 and again in 2013, I got really close to this, but would plateau before I dropped below 300lbs. Now though, I can finally say I did it!

For some context, when I started my current job in the fall of 2012, I was about 301-303lbs, but was not active beyond my previous retail job that had me moving all day. Within 3 months of starting the desk job I am at now, I put on 30lbs due to snacking and inactivity, ballooning right up again.

I have heard from plenty of folks that the idea of changing their lifestyle to be more fit and shed fat is too daunting and they don't know where to begin. Well, I am living proof that just getting off your butt and eating smart can go a long way. There is no excuse! Nothing worth having is free or easy, folks, but when you finally hit those small goals, they feel tremendous. For someone looking down the road at a now much closer long-term goal, I can't wait to hit my next target, which is 280lbs (the halfway mark to my final goal of 260lbs).

This got me thinking about how to measure your progress without being discouraged. A lot of people just say "I need to drop 50lbs!" and when they work out for a few months and the scale doesn't budge much (if at all!), they get discouraged. Or, the scale drops 10lbs in the first month and they plateau hard afterwards. That is why I don't like to look at my final goal and only work to that. I set a whole slew of smaller goals that form the path towards the end game.

Losing inches counts more
than losing pounds!

Examples of my small goals:

• Bumping my warm-up job to 6mph (achieved!)
• Bumping my steps/minute and duration on the stairmachine up (achieved!)
• Getting under 300lbs (achieved!)
• Hitting 100 push-ups (achieved!)
• Adding 5lbs to my deadlift by next month
• Adding 5lbs to my bench by next month
• Adding squats to my routine
• Getting down to size 38

Those are just my examples - many of them I have achieved already! They build up over time as your body transforms and it just feels great to see the results stack up like that. It is a positive psychological victory!

Ssssssssssssssskorne!

Hobby TalkSo, thanks to Bartertown, I was able to add a few more tidbits to my growing Skorne collection. This should prove a big project down the road. I have ordered some additional paints - some of the new Vallejo Game Air line - to bolster my reds and oranges. Right now, I have some reds, but when I realized I had so much Skorne, my Ogres, and House Taranis to paint up with reds, I thought it was time to get some more.

The Blood Angels I am working on are going slowly, but steadily. It has proven tough to cram work time for them on the weekends, but I got a whole lot done (even though it doesn't look like it). This weekend, I am going to put in another day of solid work and I hope to get them to final details by the end of the month.

Putting down those base colors

Another good thing is coming my way to paint - a Forge World Keeper of Secrets. A co-worker who plays 40k is ordering one and having me paint it (along with building a bunch of bases for his existing Daemons). That should be a real blast! What an amazing model to get the chance to paint.

With the whole End Times nonsense and possible 9th Edition Warhammer Fantasy kicking up this Summer, I am on standby with the Ogres. I do not want to paint up units that I then have to rip a part to make fit some new scheme Games Workshop springs on us. Kind of a bummer, but it happens. I have been patient, what is a few more months?

Finished bases!

On the Warmahordes front, I have been binge watching Advanced Maneuvers and they really got me motivated to put my Skorne on the table. Sadly, I haven't had the time to paint them, nor play them. They are going to need a lot of TLC, too. I pulled them out of their foam earlier this month and my-oh-my were they in rough shape. I am going to need to re-prime many and get some replacement parts too. Along with about $250 worth of new models and fresh foam to replace the ruined pluck foam they used to inhabit.

That wraps it up for this (long) post, but keep an eye out as the Blood Angels are finalized and the Keeper comes my way! Also, be sure to hit my up on Facebook and Instagram.

The Hard Talk: Getting Gamers Active!

It goes without saying that one of you has an out-of-shape gamer friend. I knew more than a few back in my Magic: the Gathering days and still know a few now that I am into the tabletop stuff. This crosses all boundaries though - unhealthy lifestyles and inactivity are common enough in the US, especially among gamers. Not sure why, but we need to change that, but... how?

No doubt, it is always tough to tell someone they are fat. Unless you are either heartless or going the "tough love" route. Still, it isn't easy to approach anyone about their health, but if you care about them, it is never too soon to get them on a healthy track. I am a prime example! I didn't start taking fitness and proper diet seriously until I was in my late 20's, spending nearly a decade being a near-perfect specimen of poor health and laziness.

Be Positive!
I can't stress this one enough. If I had a dollar for every jerk who picked on me because of my weight, I wouldn't need to work for a living. You know what that does? Makes that person feel like crap and robs them of any impetus they may have had. Obviously, not always. Some folks might need a wake-up call, but I can attest to the fact that if you start making digs or jokes about someone's weight, they aren't getting a self-esteem boost or motivation to fix it, they just usually get depressed (possibly further) and maybe do some even more self-destructive behavior. Like depression-eating, which I did. When my "friends" (because real friends won't make fun of your serious weight issues!) got me down, cake certainly made me feel better... temporarily.

Be Supportive!
This plays into the first one, somewhat. It is all fine and good to be positive and say "Hell yea, make a life change!" and whatnot, but it is another thing to really get behind them and push. Not everyone is a self-motivator. Some people need that hard shove in the right direction. Are you a fit gamer? Do you have a gamer friend who is obese or frequently inactive and out of shape? How about asking them to join you in a new diet or hitting the gym with you. A buddy might help motivate them where encouraging words might not. Even if they just walk it out on a treadmill while you wreck the weights, that is better that sitting on their ass, doing entirely nothing.

Be Firm!
Is your friend eating a damn cupcake? Has your friend missed the last two gym days? Get on them and don't let them forget it. At this point, I assume they made the intention to change and should be following through. Don't let them slip. Obviously, be tactful about the first of those. Just be like "Hey, how about not eating that cupcake now and rewarding yourself next month after you see some more progress?" I know that might work on some. Others, you might need to just grab that cupcake and toss it in the trash. I know, harsh (which you would think runs counter to the first item, but it totally doesn't!). They might even thank you for reminding them that their life needs to change if they are going to get on the right track.

Obviously, not all of your friends will want to hit the gym or go on a low-carb diet, but sometimes the small changes count the most. Challenge them to not drink soda anymore! I did that and lost easily 10 lbs and honestly, I don't even miss it now 3 years later. Soda is one of those major enemies of health that somehow is pervasive among gamers. Get them to quit that and you go a long way towards helping them stop the insulin spikes and poor health that goes with it.

So ends this weeks wall-of-text and sorry for nothing fancy to look at, but I wanted the content to really speak for itself. If you have any stories about bringing your gamer friends into the gym or getting them to join you on a new diet - post them up! I want to hear them and have others see them, so we can build up a supportive mentality in this community.

Fitness & Hobby Updates

Fitness Update!



In my last few posts, I believe I mentioned the need to get into the routine of deadlifts and push-ups. Well, I am happy to report that I have done so. Currently, I am doing 2x25 for push-ups as a burnout after I have done all my lifting. Also, Mon/Wed/Fri I am doing pyramid sets for my deadlifting. Currently, it is 8/6/4 reps with the weight increasing in each set. I managed to get my set of four up to 315lbs, which is a new record for me.

Right before my 2nd set in the Pyramid

Anyhow, another big push for me was to push the bench. I was doing dumbbell bench for the longest time, but ran out of weights to use (my gym caps at 75lbs dumbbells!). So, I am not moving up the barbell bench and am at a comfortable 225lbs.

Without a spotter, I don't like to risk this one too much by going up too high or doing too much. But that is a pretty big improvement. Along with things like the Svend Press, Low Cable Crossover, Dumbbell Flyes and push-ups, I am really killing my chest.

As for other things I am working on, I have enjoyed the T-Bar quite a bit. I find it a pretty satisfying row variation and I do it about once a week, along with standard seated rows and upright rows, etc.

Right now, I am up to 175lbs (not including bar), which is pretty serious! For me, it is all about building strength in my arms, chest, and back to ultimately aid (along with fat loss) in my ability to do pull-ups with more regularity. Right now, I can only knock out about 4-5, which is a lot for a guy who weighs 300+ pounds, but I am hoping to get to a point where I can do at least three whole sets, eventually.

Getting ready to rock the T-Bar

Now that I have kicked up my workouts a bit, I am going to need to buckle down on my eating. I fell off the wagon a bit this weekend and had some less than ideal food, but nothing horrendous (excluding that chocolate muffin at Starbucks... don't judge me!).

I am going to shift my macros over to heavy fat intake and see if that can kickstart my fat loss again, since I am clearly an Endomorph and erring towards fat and protein intake over carbs is a no-brainer. I already eat healthy grains when it comes to the carbs I do get, but I am going to have to take it down even further to 10-15%, or so. 


Hobby Update!
Anyhow, on a hobby-related note, I was able to finally make some progress now that Icepocalypse 2015 has concluded (for now) and the weather was downright wonderful last night. I was able to get some rattlecan priming done and can officially get crackin' on the Blood Angels commission. Take a look!

Burned Cookies? Nope, just bases.

Sanguinary Guard wings all primed up

Tactical Squads, Sanguinary Guard, Terminators, etc etc

Another model that got a coat of primer was an Ork Painboy that I am going to use as a test for my brush skills. I feel like in a lot of things, I have plateaued and want to see if I can break it. Plus, I uncased my Skorne to evaluate what I had, what I needed, and what needed repairing. It wasn't bleak, but I realize I have a lot of cleaning up to do. That poor army got beat up, neglected, and tossed about in a box for far too long.

Challenge accepted!

All that Skorne... and NoS Deathstrike, too!

Expect me to start in on that stuff ...eventually. Like anything, I tend to get backlogged a lot because of a general lack of free time.

Body Types & Macros and oh yea, Blood Angels!

For those of you who don't do much reading on fitness or diet related stuff, take a gander at this Bodybuilding.com article first. It talks about the various body types briefly and some ideas on how to factor them into your goals.

Everyone is different and the individual needs do tend to trump these sorts of generalities, but holy crap am I an Endomorph, or as has been mentioned throughout my life, I am "husky" or "big-boned". Or whatever nice way of saying fat-but-carries-it-well people chose to say.

That being said, I have been looking over this and thinking it is time to try to break through my already-attained plateau. Right now, I am doing a fair mix of food types (carbs, fats, protein) since I was working on building up muscle and whatnot. Though in hindsight, maybe I should have gone for fat-loss first. No worries though! I am going to shift gears with hope that it will break my plateau and get me under the 300lb mark!

Here is a nifty article, also from Bodybuilding.com that explains this as well. Now I know, I am just posting a bunch of articles and not really telling much, but I am not a trainer, nutritionist, or anything. I basically read as many sources as I can, compare info, and see what works for me. In this, I have discussed the idea with friends and read a lot on it, so I think it will have the desired fat-loss effect.

And for visual learners, here is a set of charts from the above article:


Neat, right? So, I am going to go from my Higher-carb to Lower-carb in an effort to drop some fat. This spare tire is cramping my style! Time to get rid of it.

Now, for the hobby end - the Blood Angels for my long-time client are underway and I am having a blast with the new kits. They are gorgeous, if sadly less open to variation than I would have liked. Still, I will get more in-progress pics as they go forward.

Two Blood Angel Tactical Squads WIP

Blood Angel Terminators WIP

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!

And for anyone living under a rock, the Horus Heresy teasers from BoLS need to look and I recommend a napkin, since you will be drooling over the goodies. I am finding it harder and harder not to build a Legion army and just need to keep my mind on my Knights. Of course, they mentioned at the Weekender that, of course, more of those in the pipeline too! There goes my poor, addled wallet.

So, about that "reward"...

Ogre Cloth Coloration

For the sake of honesty, I figured I would share the end-result of my Saturday "reward day". For breakfast, I ate a wonderful bowl of memories... I mean, French Toast Crunch. Later, I had bubble tea and some food from the Grand Asia Market (a place I love!), followed by a whole slew of import candy I was worried I wouldn't be able to get anymore thanks to the Hershey import thing that cropped up recently.

Seemed like a great idea, but I forgot just how dumb my body is. Needless to say, I have spent the duration of this week trying to burn off the nearly five pounds my weight fluctuated to on Sunday. Holy crap! I wish I was kidding. Of course, when you weigh as much as me, you get used to big swings, but this? At the end of a solid week of loss, it was a staggering realization.

Hopefully, tomorrow when I hop on the scale I will have succeeded in undoing the damage. That being said, no more "reward days" - going to do just one meal and even that won't break my "no sugar" rule. My body just can't handle it.

Blood Angels commission!

And on a hobby-related note, one of my last hurdles has been overcome. I am now waiting on a delivery from Dicehead Games that has my seventy 32mm bases for my Carcharodons, along with some Vallejo Game Air paints to try out that happen to be my Ogre flesh colors. Very, very excited!

Speaking of the Ogres, see that red-to-black gradient? That is totally what I am thinking for my Ogre's pants and banners, etc. The boots and other leather goods would be black, while the metals would be mostly rusty iron, with a smattering of patina bronze in there because it looks so good.

Anyhow, I am very excited to start getting things going for my own armies. Of course, that all will have to hold up until I complete the Blood Angel commission I am working on! Keep an eye on my Instagram for work-in-progress shots as they get posted, but I will be sure to put them on here throughout, as well.

Challenging Yourself!

It is never a bad idea to take on some new challenges in life. For me, it was changing my diet and adding exercise to my life, as well as a vow I made many years ago now to never put an unpainted army on the table again (after playing all of 5th Edition with my unpainted Cadians).

The big, sweeping things like "exercise more" and "paint models" are good, but I like small, short-term challenges too. Right now, there are some things I need to do to really push myself - both in my fitness pursuits and regards to the hobby.

First up, the physical challenge! I need to get my rear in gear. I have put off some very, very important exercises. At first, because I wasn't in shape enough for them, but now I am and I have just run out of excuses. Time to stop being lazy!

Push-Ups

These are just a must-do. I have done them as a burn-out here and there, rounding out my workout day with it. But that really isn't enough. One of my goals beyond just losing my fatty physique was to sculpt out some aspects to look good, or going for the Pratt Effect, if you will. To get the chest and arms looking good, there isn't much better than a push-up. With body weight like mine, it is a hell of a challenge, too. For added effect, when I do burn-outs with them, I would elevate my feet on a nearby bench.

Pull-Ups

Here is one that really was a lifelong goal. Ever since I was a fat kid hating gym class, these were the one thing that seemed out of reach. They were that exercise only the really, truly fit people could do. That clearly isn't true, because I can do them now. It did take a lot of work though and even I can only do a few before I just can't muster anymore.

I started with the lat pulldown and using bands to assist. Combined with some fat loss after a few months of really killing it at the gym, I was able to do basic chin-ups. Now, I can even do one or two of the wide-arm style pull-ups in the above video. That is a big deal! That takes a lot of physical strength, not even counting the fact I am over 300 lbs.

Deadlifts

Now here is a killer exercise I avoid like the plague. Why? Because it is hard and I am lazy! Honesty with yourself  is always good, right? That being said, this exercise specifically works like... everything! Want full-body strength and power? These are a good way to get there.

For beginners, these might not be a good idea until you are comfortable with the movements and form. I would say ask someone who knows or maybe see if a trainer can assist. As with anything, do your homework first and start light. Try it with just the bar until you think you are ready to up your game a bit.

Those are the big three exercises for my upcoming week and beyond. Physical challenge accepted! The plan is to add the push-ups to my lifting days consistently. Pull-ups will be the same. Going to try to get them in after the warm-up jog I do before lifting. Most likely, until I can do them with any level of regularity, I will be just doing as many as my body allows. I will do this without bands, because I am hoping that with continued weight loss thanks to counting calories via MyFitnessPal, I will find them steadily easier as I continue to grow my upper-body strength.

As for those menacing deadlifts, those are going into the twice-a-week category. No more excuses! I know I can do them and I know they are hard, but they won't get any easier if I keep avoiding them.

Now, on to the hobby challenges!

If you aren't aware, I started planning two armies about two years ago or so. My Carcharodons Astra and my Ogres. Both of those are "dream armies" that I invested in heavily with lists, research, buying and getting ready for. I will be damned though if I haven't struggled getting going on them. Sure, I have built some stuff and primed some models, even built bases. What is the issue then? Committing to putting paint down and in regards to the Carcharodons, just building most of the stuff has become something I am just leery of in the most irrational way.

I have done plenty of painting over the years - for other people. I know how to build the models in question, as again, I have done it for others. There is some kind of mental roadblock in doing my own stuff that I can't quite figure out.

It must be as simple as the fear of being judged if they don't come out top notch. Maybe not others judging me, but maybe myself. That is the trouble of knowing more about something than your skillset can live up to. Ask me about painting models and I can tell you everything in total detail. Now ask me to do it and there is where I falter.

Time to put an end to the inaction and the fear. Time to start just doing it. As I said in the first bit of this (now very long) post, the Avenger was me pushing myself harder and I did like the end result. That isn't common for me to be at all happy with an end result (though do note, I didn't say satisfied, because that won't ever happen!). So with that minor success and the ebbing of my fear of failing at my personal projects, my goal now is to truly commit.

The Ogres are ready to paint, the Carcharodons are ready to build. I have cases for them and I need to get going! So, expect some test models and build pics in the near future and if you don't see them, call me out on it!

Caveat time! I do have a commission coming up, so that takes precedence. When that is done, I won't have anything standing between me and a fully-painted army (or four).

Now to ask the readers - what are you going to do? Got any challenges for yourself, fitness or hobby?

Avenger Strike Fighter & Other Hobby Stuff

Today I managed to finish off a commission piece that proved quite... interesting. I honestly thought the kit would be more fun to work on, but really the assembly was a nightmare and it is a delicate piece overall. However, painting it was pretty enjoyable and the decals worked on it rather well. I would have liked to had done the bottom in a white-gray look, but the client is king. I think it turned out relatively well and I am glad I had a chance to try out some rather new techniques on it (notably direction shading).

A caveat before you look - I am using my phone for pictures (Instagram, no less) and a homemade lightbox. So, forgive me if these are HD pics, but I am an amateur really and I do more of this for fun than as a business of any sort, so I hardly invest in that end of the spectrum. That being said, I think these pics are better now that I do have a new phone with a much better camera on it.

So, that was a fun project. I tried out some really new stuff on it and found I liked the outcome. Not that I use my client's models as guinea pigs, but I do like to push my limits and that is kinda similar. For this, I used plasticard to block off areas to push the contrast from front to back with the panels. I think it gave it a much more interesting look than just shading where the lines are (as I have done on Imperial Knights in the past).

One thing I enjoy doing now is airbrushing inks to get some really interesting metallic effects. I use an umber and a black to really give the metallic colors depth. I spray it in corners and recesses and it dries fast, but just slow enough I can wipe with a Q-tip to get away the surfaces. In the end it looks like the above pics, that being oily/dirty looking. |

Next up on the hobby end of things for me is to wash up and clean some resin Imperial Knights for my Horus Heresy House Taranis army. Really, really excited to get going with this project - it will be 3000pt with seven (SEVEN!) Knights. I am waiting on printer ink to arrive so I can print decals (Thanks Dave Taylor!). Concurrent to that, I am hoping to get a test model for my Ironskin Tribe Ogres done, to feel out where I want to be for them, as well as continuing the Carcharodons Astra slow-and-steady assembly.

House Taranis circa M32 decals

On a fitness note - I am down about 4lbs. That is for one week with MyFitnessPal. Talk about results! I did calorie cycle a bit high today (Sunday), but I am going to cycle low the next few days. In fact, I don't "eat into my calories", as in I don't eat extra food to compensate for calories burned at the gym, so I think that is really helping me shed that weight. With my warm-up, weights, and then cardio, my workout days have been pretty solid - and I think counting the calories and putting the weights before the serious fat burning cardio have been the biggest help.

Next week, I will hopefully continue to the downward trend in my weight. Be sure you look me up on MyFitnessPal and get your own rear in gear. If you aren't getting up and moving around yet, you should be! Inactivity can be deadly, so get out there and walk, jog, or run. Whatever you can do to move. If you work a job like mine, where I am behind a computer screen eight hours a day, this is more important than ever!

Weigh-ins, Setting Goals & Tracking Progress

Howdy folks! This weekend, I broke down and finally did a weigh-in. It has been many months since I did so, because I find that body weight can be utterly discouraging. And guess what! It was. I haven't budged in months - sitting at a large-and-in-charge 314 lbs. Yea, way too much, but thankfully a lot of muscle in there (somewhere) and that isn't a bull excuse. I am lifting more now than I ever have, which feels great and lets me know that while the weight may not be changing on the scale, my body is certainly changing.

On that, I am really looking a lot different. The overall muscle mass I am seeing is a hell of a lot better than my old flabby self from a year ago. Being committed to change and hitting the gym 4-5 days a week has paid off. But that isn't enough! Losing weight (in the form of body fat) starts in the kitchen and I tell you, that is where I am faltering.

A big guy like me needs a lot of calories, but I tell you, I am getting too many even with my gym calorie deficit. So, I finally got back onto an app that really did help me in the past. I dropped a rather solid 30 lbs back in 2012 when I was tracking my calories and doing just cardio. The app? MyFitnessPal. No doubt, some of you have heard of it or even use it already! If so, good on you. Keep at it.

Right now, I am looking at doing 2 lbs lost per week, so I need to get in 2030 calories at the most. I bet I was exceeding that, so time to get to the goal portion of this. I want to drop down to 265 lbs, which a few folks (mostly trainers) I have talked to all agree that sounds about as low as I can go and still be pretty jacked, though we will see. Goals can change as time goes on, because I do know I am far more concerned with a lower body fat percentage than a lower weight.

What does that mean? It means at 2 lbs per week, I have at least six months to go before I hit that goal and most likely far, far more than that with plateaus and whatnot. For those unaware, a plateau is when you simple stop seeing progress and often just need to switch things up. The 2 lbs a week goal is a healthy pace, too, so going for dramatic weight-loss really would hurt me in a few regards. Remember, I am trying to do fat loss with muscle gain, so that is a delicate balance and I don't want to see the scale go down, but my muscle mass diminish too.

So the time to start logging my calorie intake and workouts is upon me. Please, join me on MyFitnessPal, you can find me under OldHat02 (or check by my email Oldhat02@gmail.com). I would love to see you readers get on there and join me in getting in shape!

Knights, Workout, and FF7 RPG!

Pre-priming Cerastus-Knight Lancer base!

On this most illustrious gurpgork, I figured I would share the meager few shots of the Imperial Knight I had been working on recently, (briefly) talk about my new workout strategy, and touch on an RPG I have been GMing for, since why not talk about that too?

First up, I have a Horus Heresy army in the works - a Questoris Knight army! Currently, I have all my Knights purchased, but am slowly getting them all assembled and ready to paint in one big go. The only one I have ready to roll thus far was my first Forge World Knight - the Cerastus Knight-Lancer.

That thing is huge. I built mine with a magnetized torso and arms, so I can twist them a bit for slightly altered posing. Nothing crazy, but it was my first. I will try to make my others a bit more dynamic. I have an Acheron and a Castigator left to do for the Cerastus variety, two Styrix, a Paladin, and an Errant for the standard.

Now, I have experience painting the latter two. I have built two and painted three and because why not, here are some pictures - red Knight, blue Knight, and Obsidian Knight. They were all commission work, so I got some practice in before I had my own to work on. Truly, I fell in love with the models during those commissions and just had to make an army of them.

Cerastus Knight-Lancer (armor is just sticky-tacked into place)

The planned paintjob is going to be House Taranis (click to see Dave Taylor's amazing work of the same House!), because they are an Adeptus Mechanicus oriented army, meaning if I want to expand into that faction for the Heresy, I can to it a bit seamlessly. I mean, I don't need much of an excuse to pick up a Thanatar, now do I?

Workout Strategy Switch-Up
So, I have done a bit more reading and discovered some talk about the merits of weights-before-cardio. Apparently, this is better and I put it to the test tonight. No joke, I was wrecked afterward.

The entire dynamic was different and I am going to keep at it. I did a nice 5 minute warm-up jog on the treadmill, did my weight-lighting, then did 25 minutes on the stairmachine (set to intervals). Whew!  Usually, I did 30 minutes of cardio, then did my weights and was done. Well, that didn't leave me nearly so worn out (in a good way).

Also, today is my fifth straight day of taking Shred Jym. I do feel it has increased my energy, because I have certainly been going harder and not feeling drained like I had the week prior. In fact, by this time last week, I could barely get through my normal routine. Today, I powered through it and then some!

Lets talk RPGs! 

Who doesn't love this game? No one is the correct answer.

So, not only do I do the whole tabletop wargaming thing, which I love, but I am also a Game Master. Currently, I have a group of four close friends who are playing through a game I had been really wanting to run for years and years. The setting is the Final Fantasy 7 world just before the Mako Reactor mission in the game and set concurrent to the "alpha" team's story. They are basically a B-team and I am having a blast running it.

Though in hindsight, I wish I had gone for GURPS, I opted for Savage Worlds because I love the open nature of that system. It has really made things easy for everyone, I think.

Right now, we have a "Ronin" from Wutai who survived the war with ShinRa. We also have a sleezy, petite former-Chocobo rider who suffers delusions of grandeur. Then there is the Goblin who is heir-apparent to the throne of the Goblin Island and seeks to retake it from ShinRa (because in our story, that is a thing), and last but not least, we have a dangerously curious naive young materia-master from Cosmo Canyon. All told, they have been a damn fun group to work with and I am beyond content to be running this game, as FF7 has been a love of mine sine '97.

Anyhow, I think that will do it for today. I am going to get crackin' on the Avenger Strike Fighter for my client this weekend and plan to have it finished. If able, I will start working on those other Knights too and post some more this weekend.

1st Quarter Routine & Avenger underway!

Hello again readers! Let me start off this article with the following obvious statement: I am not educated in fitness or anything special. Nope, not at all. I do a lot of reading on the internet across a wide variety of sites. So, don't take anything I say as gospel, but instead find out what works for you and do your homework. Get active though! Move! That is what counts. For me, this is my plan and if you think it suits you, roll with it. The important part is to get off your butt and get working. 

That being said, I tried to find a way to keep my workout diverse and interesting, but not miss anything useful. For this quarter (Jan - March), I am using the following workout set-up. Each week, I print this off and on the corresponding lift days, I check off a variety of exercises each day. I work somewhat late (if you think 7pm is late, at least) and try to cram my aerobic exercise and lifting into a single 1:15min stretch, at the most. I know, that isn't enough - I am working on adding more time to it, but for now that is what I can handle with my schedule.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my pure-aerobic days - where I only do 30min on the stair machine (my favorite), treadmill, or the rowing machine. Those are my go-to until Spring/Summer gets here and I can get outside and do sprints - and honestly, by then I hope to be able to do sprints better than last summer.

Anyhow, here is 1st Quarter's exercise list (with links to how to do said exercises!) in generic categories. Keep on mind, most of these aren't isolation exercises, meaning they target far more muscles than this chart alludes to. Many of these work multiple groups of muscles because that is, from all I have gleaned, a much better way to go than isolating a single muscle at a time. Plus, it makes the workout go much faster.

1st Quarter 2014 Weekly Workout Sheet

ABS Landmine 180s / Spellcasters M W F Pulley Side Bends M W F FOREARMS Farmer's Walk M W F Wrist Curl M W F Wrist Rotations M W F CHEST Dumbbell Press (Incline) M W F Low Cable Crossover M W F Svend Press M W F Barbell Bench Press M W F Straight-arm Dumbbell Pullover M W F BICEPS Incline Hammer Curl M W F Barbell Curl (Standard / Reverse) M W F

LEGS Squats M W F TRAPS / SHOULDERS Smith Machine Shrug M W F Face Pull M W F Jammers M W F Standing Military Press (Barbell) M W F Standing Alt. Dumbbell Press M W F Side Lateral Raise M W F LATS Straight Arm Pulldowns (Rope) M W F Close Grip Lat Pulldown M W F BACK T-Bar Row M W F Deadlift M W F Renegade Row M W F

Given my office job, I usually grab three highlighters and mark each day in a different color. This Monday, for an example, I did:

3x8 Reverse Barbell Curl
3x10 Wrist Curls
3x10 Straight Arm Pulldowns
3x8 Incline Dumbbell Benchpress
3x10 Barbell Benchpress

3x8 Side Lateral Raises

I set up a nice little circuit in my local gym and just do three sets. Afterward, I did a "burnout" with push-ups. Wednesday, I will be picking from the list, but excluding the exercises I have already done (although I do work in bench all three days usually as a personal preference).

Nothing crazy or complicated! It keeps my life interesting and ensures I don't forget anything or fall into a routine of easy stuff. I force myself to do a lot of stuff on here I don't care for (looking at you, squats!). The burnout is just me doing push-ups until failure - which allegedly helps really engage your muscles and encourage growth.

That is all for today on the fitness end of things - not much, but I don't want to make these essays!

That being said, on the hobby side of things, I am working on my Questoris Knight army and a solution to my decal problem has come in the form of Dave Taylor (yes, that Dave Taylor!) coming to my rescue. He sent me the source images he used on his House Taranis forces for his own personal Heresy Era Knights. These are proving incredibly useful and now I can really make forward progress with that army.

Also, I have started working on an Adepta Sororitas Avenger Strike Fighter (see pic above) for a client. Right now, it is just primed up and in sub-assemblies. This weekend, I will be knocking it out, ideally.

Check back throughout the week as I get into the swing of adding posts and whatnot and if you have feedback, it would be appreciated! What do you want to see here? What input do you have about my workout? Any hobby questions?