Thursday, March 7, 2013

3/7/13 Update Out of Town

Greetings,
My plan was to updatemy blog before I left town but I got real busy before I left. It may seem like an excuse, well technically it is because I didn't accomplish my goal, but I just wanted to update and keep people posted as to why I missed the update.

I get back in to town on Sunday. That is when I will update progress pictures, talk about how my fitness journey is going, and how Manchester United got screwed by the ref.

Till next time be easy.

wbmustang

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Short Post Bigger Update on 3/5

Since I got called out in a comment in the blog I had to make an update.  Lol thanks for the public outing loxxii.  I find it funny because sometimes it's hard to believe anyone actually reads what I write, but it was the whole point of doing thins.  Hopefully the accountability will keep up.  I will have a bigger update with photos and stuff next Tuesday.

Diet
Still doing LeanGains right now.  Doing 16 hr fast with an 8 hr feeding window.  I have been doing it for a while but as posted earlier getting a lot better with keeping to adherence.  Although I have actually lived life and haven't had 100% nutrition, overall I am doing well.  The more I read the more I know that A it's not a sprint it's a marathon and B consistency is key.

I have also been reading a lot of things on James Clears website.  I found his blog by listening to him on a podacast on www.fatburningman.com.  The podcast was very good and if you want you can listen to it here James Clear Fat Burning Man Podcast.

When looking on James' blog he talks a lot about the psychology on the mind and how we need to use it help make lifestyle changes not life altering changes.  For instance, instead of wanting extra income each year you would focus on working 5 hours and creating a new lifestyle.

Gym
Still in the gym doing my RPT 3 Day split.  I feel like my form is getting better and my strength is going up.  That's always a good sign because you know that you are building muscles.

Life
Overall in life I am doing much better in terms of my own health.  I am making it a point to stay consistent on the diet, flossing every night, and taking my vitamins.  I feel like I am actually starting to get in a groove with all of these things and now it is starting to feel routine instead of chores.  Hopefully it gets to the point when it starts to feel funny if I don't do it.

That's all I got for now.  Next update on March 5th with some photos.


Saturday, February 9, 2013

Post Black Friday: Where Have You Been

I don't know why I agreed to actually follow through and do something but since Reasons14 actually updated his blog I said that I would myself to discuss what I have been going through since my last post on September 20, 2010.

Well obviously we know that Black Friday hit.  That is the main reason I didn't update the blog.  I pretty much completely stopped playing poker.  I was bitter.  I was bitter I didn't put more volume in.  I thought the game would always be there.  I was bitter about the fact that the US Gubament was able to cut off my money printer and tell me what I couldn't do.  I was bitter because there was no bailout coming to me like the banks.  I can go on and on but I was just pretty miserable and not the most enjoyable person to be around.

I really think I was borderline depressed looking back at things.  I had poured some much time and energy to become a winning SNG MTT player on PokerStars and it was all taken away from me.  I didn't feel like playing live much either because it would be supporting the very people that took away online poker.  Plus, live poker is not the funnest thing on earth.  Germs are floating around, dealing with annoying people, the rake, the list can go on and on.  It's just so much more fun to be able to play at your house in your own surroundings, your own food, your own environment.  You are psychologically able to feel a little more comfortable to be honest.

You see how athletes get depressed and don't know how to cope once they leave the game it felt very similar.  But, I decided to turn something bad into a good situation and to stop feeling sorry for myself.  I decided if I couldn't play poker anymore I might as well try to get in shape.  As much time as I spent on the tables I definitely neglected my health.  I just looked in the mirror and said I am in my mid Twenties I am supposed to be in the best shape of my life not the worse.  To give myself so added motivation I started a prob bet with my boy hotbizzle and we decided to see if we could complete The Insanity Workout.  Any person that would miss a day would have to pay $20/workout day missed.  Well we didn't 100% complete the bet, he quit in the 2nd month tbh, but it was worth it because it got my ass in gear.  Here are the results.




Looking back on things I can't believe how bad I let myself go but that's life.  I was happy because for one time in my life I said I would do something and followed through.  After I got done with Insanity I didn't make too much more progress.  I did Insanity Asylum before I went home which is around a 30 day program.  During that Christmas 2011 I asked my mom for some BowFlex Dumbbells.  She is an awesome woman and of course got them for me because I am spoiled :-( .  Anyways I hit the ground running when I got back in 2012 by doing P90x and Insanity Hybrid.  I had good results like that and finally got into the best shape of my life.  I was always a chubby kid so now I was getting to actually look like I had a hope and a prayer of getting a six pack.  Here are the results from the hybrid.




I finished the hybrid in April and then proceeded to do LeanGains.  LeanGains is an intermittent fasting (IF) approach where you fast for 16 hours and eat for 8 hours.  Essentially you are skipping breakfast, keeping a "feeding window".  This is supposed to do wonders because when your stomach is actually empty and you are not stuffing your face all day you burn more fat.  But what trumps this magically feeding window is the concept of Calories Out < Calories In = Weight Loss.  Don't let anyone fool you that is what weight loss is all about.  Simple enough equation but hard to master.  I also ditched the Beach Body Workouts and started to get into the gym.  I mean I was paying for the membership so I started to focus more on compound movements Deadlifts, Bench Press, and Squat. 

I have to look at myself in the mirror and really say that Lean Gains is great when you comply and are disciplined.  I think I got complacent with the fact that I had totally changed my body so I can do whatever.  I constantly was drinking, eating outside of the window, binge eating, everything that is not conducive to getting lean.  It all comes down to discipline and consistency and I totally did not adhere to any of that.  Plus I went home for the 2012 holidays so your boy was eating super good.

At the beginning of 2013 I decided that I was going to commit and hit LeanGains hard.  I started when I got back and had a good successful week with diet and training.  The crucial second week came up which makes and breaks your routine and I got sick.  I didn't get the flu but I feel like absolute shit.  It took me about two weeks to recover from that.  After I got healthy I was eating whatever not hitting the gym taking it easy.  Then I went to a prayer breakfast where a man gave a great speech about being stucky in the messy middle.  About how we do things in our life ask for repentance, do better, then we get somewhere in the middle of our journey only to get stuck back in the messy middle.  That murky place where you can't see what you came from or where you are headed too.

I think my health, fitness, and nutrition had hit that point.  I knew where I wanted to go but I knew where I came from but just couldn't see the end.  But that's changing now. As of February 6th, 2013 I have done great with my nutrition.  I am taking things day by day and being a lot more mindful of controlling my mind and urges to eat bullshit or go out and drink.  I know everything is good in moderation but I need to get back on the discipline that got me to lose the weight in the first place.  That's why I loved this blog and posting on the Beach Body Forums.  It is all about accountability.  I was accountable to playing x number of tournaments and didn't like looking like a clown when I had to explain to everyone how I dropped the ball.  People always talk about doing things but very rarely do they take action.

Well what does all of this have to do with poker.  You are right nothing.  I have told myself that this year I am going to get back to grinding live tournaments and try to see if there is a way to get back online.  If I do get back online and play there will be 0 talk about it on here because I don't want to "incriminate" myself in Washington State.  I have had success with tournaments and doing better paying attention at the tables and adapting to the new online game.  I have been watching some videos as well to get myself up to speed. 

As an accountability tool, I will be updating this blog once a week.  I will be updating pictures for progress every 30 days.  I would show you where I am starting but kind of embarrassed because I let myself go alittle bit.  I mean not too much to where I was originally but I definitely took a step backwards.  I look around the way I did before I started P90x.  It is what it is I keep telling myself that fitness and life is a long journey.  You will have ups you will have downs, but if you recover from the downs, and are consistent in what you do everything will work out.  I remember telling my co-worker "You know if I could be consistent on being consistent my life will be a lot better."  I am really going to take this to heart.  

I leave with a video of me Deadlifting 385x6.  I shot the video for a form check and see I got some work to do.  I thought I was doing things right but I definitely got some pointers on how to improve my form so I won't hurt my back.  



Goals
-Gym 3x Week
-Update Blog 1x Week
-Monthly Photo Updates
-Stop procrastinating 

I know people can get lazy and be like I am not reading this giant wall of text so here are my cliff notes.

Cliffs:
-Black Friday no more PokerStars
-Got bitter and angry
-Was fat lost weight via Insanity and P90x
-Starting LeanGains 
-Didn't adhere/commit who heartedly to the diet took step backwards
-Starting back up in January 2013
-Got sick for two weeks and recovered (No Gym, Ate Whatever, wanted to get healthy)
-After I recovered ate like crap
-Got back on the horse on February 6th

Hope everyone is having results in anything they are doing in life and living to the fullest. Till the next time.

wbmustang


Thursday, September 30, 2010

Words Can't Express How On Tilt I Am! F Washington Government!

This needs no explanation after you read what PokerStars sent me. Just another reason to find my way out of Washington. I might of found a loophole but won't talk about it on here.

Hello wbmustang,

We regret to inform you that real money play at PokerStars is no longer permitted in Washington State.

Due to the recent Washington Supreme Court ruling on Internet gambling, we have blocked real money play for all players from Washington, effective immediately. This unfortunate step is being taken based on input from our legal team following this court ruling.

Rest assured that your account balance is safe. If you wish to cash out immediately, you can do so.

At this point, we have not yet made provisions for dealing with other balances you may have in your account, such as T-Money and unused tournament tickets. We plan to complete this process in the next 5-7 business days. We appreciate your patience.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

September Update

As always it has been way too long before I have updated this blog. I always think about updating it but don't sit myself down to actually type it. About a couple of weeks ago, my family came into town and I couldn't have been happier. It was the first time my mom and dad actually came out to visit. To be honest it kind of hurt my feelings a little bit but once they explained I felt like an asshole. I mean my sister is in a good college that they are paying for, they go out to visit and check up on her, they are busy with work, and the world doesn't revolve around me. Oh well it is what it is and now I understand and just happy for the visit. They are very happy with where I am at in life and where I live. I was pretty happy too. I mean I have to show them that they didn't just waste money by paying for me to go to school and it payed off with an engineering degree and good career start.

Sometimes I just think that college is a big scam though. Maybe because I think about what a huge investment college is. I mean everything in life has a ROI. It's just ridiculous how low the ROI for college is. I mean we have people who will major in God knows what at a good school, get consumed in student loans, then graduate and try to find a job that pays $40k unless they are an engineer, good business student, or IT/Computer work. It's just a big joke. Why are people paying ridiculous amounts of money on loans to just come out making money and hoping to scrape bye. It just is mind wrecking.

I guess that's part of my America conspiracy theory lol. I mean you get yourself into debt trying to get education. With education comes a decent job. Now you are making more money than the person who has just a high school education so you get taxed more. You are talented so you make more money and you are taxed more. Add onto that the fact you are still paying off government/bank loans for school. It's just a viscous cycle. I don't want to talk shit about anyone's interest or major but it's like if you are not gonna come out making decent money after college what's the point. I mean money isn't everything but geez you just are so handcuffed in that situation. I just think that the USA needs to be paying more money for teachers, counselors, etc to help build itself up. I mean people who teach really really love it and have a passion for it. They have to because they aren't getting paid jack and still putting in all the time and effort of teaching and bringing up the next generation. Then people complain about the shortage of teachers. Duh who wants to teach, work all those hours, and not have anything to show for it. How about increasing salaries/incentives to teachers so attract more people to the profession. I know you are gonna say wb who is going to pay for this. I don't care about all that the fact is that the people that should be getting the money are not.

But I digress. I have been doing pretty good with my diet and fairly good with my Insanity workout program. I have missed some days due to being busy but hop back on it the next day. Sometimes life gets tough but I am not going to give up my goal of finishing the program. I have lost 6 lbs in the first week of doing it so that's a plus and I will continue pushing myself.

In terms of poker volume I need to pick it up or will be paying the piper on this one. I plan of putting in some bigger sessions at night for the rest of the month. Hopefully I can play 6-8 hrs a day until the month is over. Trying to go out with a bang.

Reasons14 also has got me to order the book "Peak Performance Poker". It should be in my mailbox today and look forward to reading it. Probably will try to read it at lunch at work so I can finish it. I don't have any trips planned which sucks because plane trips are an easy way to catch up with your reading.

Other than that life is great and I couldn't be happier. Just trying to keep push myself towards my goals.

Till next time

wbmustang

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

26 Years Old & Goals

Well I am officially 26 years old. My birthday was on August 31st and my friends and family made it nice as usual. I always feel like I don't deserve the good people in my life but I am very fortunate to have them in my life.

As my birthday gets closer I often times tend to be very reflective. For me, it gives me time to evaluate myself as well as the last year in my life. I guess I use my birthday as a status check to see where I am at in my life. I think I learned alot about myself and my poker game this year. Although my poker results have been a lot better, I feel like I have a lot of personal development to work on. Then, I started thinking about some goals that I want to accomplish next year. As always, I was flooded with all these ideas of what I wanted to accomplish but didn't want to fool myself and write them down. I am really trying to work on fulfilling my goals and thought that the following simple goals will help me not only in life but in poker as well.

Goal 1: Don't waste time doing non value added things.

As an Industrial Engineer I am taught and trained to eliminate things that are non value added aka waste. Even though this is my profession, I fail to look at myself and realize when I am doing things that are non value added. Non value added things are defined as something that doesn't add value to a process. I feel like I waste far too much time bullshittin and not doing what I am supposed to do. I mean if I am not going to grind at least work out and study right? Well this year I am going to do a better job of valuing my time and making sure I am doing things that add value to my life whether it be spiritually, financially, or physically.

Goal 2: Set REALISTIC goals/targets and meet them.

Obviously this is a recurring thing of my blog duh, but I need to do a better job of setting realistic goals and meeting them. I have a knack of trying to do too much and often times having a high pie in the sky goal and don't even come close to meeting it. It's really starting to piss me off. I don't want to be known as a person that is just all talk. Therefore I want to be one of the people that do things instead of not doing things.

Goal 3: Get in shape and eat right.

I don't know how many countless articles/blogs I have read or podcast that I have listened to that talk about being in good physical shape will also help you mentally. I need to do a better job of not only working out but also eating better. Right now I am 26 years old and probably like in the worst shape of my life which is sad. My plan is to do the insanity workout followed by p90x to get myself in the right direction. I am going to take some before pictures very soon and will take more pictures at the beginning of the year. Regardless of how good/bad they look I will be posting the after pictures on January 1, 2011. If they look worse I will only have myself to blame so it is what it is. I have never really put myself out there like that and it is kind of hard for me. I am very self conscious of my body and the way I look actually. Even though I do have swag I don't want to look back in my life and be like oh hey why were you looking so umm fat. Yeah there is no other way to put it. I look around at work and get real scared because I don't want to look like them when I get older. Older men working in cubicles with big stomachs. Everyone always says that it is easier to lose weight when you are younger rather than when you get older. Well I am not getting any younger and need to shed the weight. Not only will it help me in the long run physically but also my mental stamina will be much higher.

Well now that is out of the way I will list the goals for September below. I am actually going to be putting my money where my mouth is so I will have some financial harm if I do not meet my goals so here they are!

September Goals

1. 1200-1500 SNGs - I have been sucking in terms of my poker volume. I mean I have barely reached 1k games very many times this year which is just gross. I have decided that for ever game that I play below 1200 SNGs I will pay $1 for each game short and donate it to a charity. If I hit that goal of 1200 SNGs and play less than 1500 SNGs I will pay $0.50 per game short. If I actually play more than 1500 I will just come out of pocket $100 and donate it to a charity. I figure it will be a win win situation and look forward to the challenge.

2. Start my diet and insanity workout - I dl'd the videos and have all the nutrition info for the program and will start using the program. My parents are here this weekend so I won't start until next Monday. I am not gonna lie to myself and start while they are here because lets face it I miss mom and dads cooking. So I will officially start on 9/12 or 9/13 just have to look at the workout schedule. I will be taking those before pics and expect to see a lot of improvement before 1/1/11. Wow that looks weird after I typed it.

Well that's it for now. I want to take time to say thank you to all the people that read my blog, my poker network, family, friends, and people that genuinely support me. I don't know where I would be in my life without you and the best is yet to come.

wbmustang

August Results

Well the results speak for themselves. I had a decent month I guess but my volume is still sorry and my profit could have been better. Not much to say because there only so much you can talk about with 951 games played. However, I am proud that while I was breaking even I increased the amount of studying I was doing. I have also sought after more players to exchange some hand histories with so that is always good. It is always funny how many different styles produce positive results. I guess that's how the game goes though. Will post my goals for the month as well as some other thoughts in my next post.