Osi is in a music video. I should call him a video vixen for this, but I’m gonna let that one slide. So I’m watching the video and the artist “The Dream” takes the girl from Osi. In my mind, I’m like…..hell no. Not in this lifetime! And I’m not saying this because I’m biased. I’m saying this because that Osi kid is damn good looking. He takes after his sister! Enjoy the video!
 

 
P.S Osi, if you are ever in another video and I’m not there representing with you, then we will be fighting…………and you know I throw some mean elbows. I mean, I want to pop champagne like I won a championship game (which I didn’t) too…..I’m just sayin!

Well it’s not exactly a corvette. It’s the little red honda that I’m driving like a maniac all over the town of Phuket like I know where the hell I’m going.

When I got to Phuket, I intended to rent a scooter to drive around town. Well that idea got nixed asap when after practicing for a while on the quiet road in front of my bungalow, I was too chicken to get on the highway. It’s something about the turns that I haven’t quite figured out yet. It didn’t help that my friend who is an experienced motorcycle driver was scared to death of driving the scooter as well. It didn’t inspire much confidence in my abilities given the situation at hand.

After much hemming and hawing, my friend Karen and I split the cost of the rental car which was only $75/person more than we were going to spend on the scooters. Well that was settled then save for a few..shall we say…major issues. Not only was the little red honda a 5 speed manual, but also in Thailand the drivers seat is on the right and they drive on the left hand side of the road. To top it off, my friend refuses to drive the car because of the drivers seat issue. This is the same person that drives a 5 speed sports car every single day back home. Incredulous I tell you. So I’m now the resident chauffeur. The plus side is that I call the shots on all movement since I’m the one driving.

I can’t begin to describe how scary the first couple of days has been with me driving this damn car. I’ve almost run over people driving scooters, driven with the hand brake on, almost run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, almost stalled the car on a steep hill in Karon and Kata beach, driven in stop and go traffic in Patong during a carnival at night, driven in the rain, gotten lost in Phuket town, driven on the wrong side of the road, and it’s just Day 4.

I’m starting to get the hang of this thing though and I will not give up. I think I gave up on the scooter too quickly and I intend to revisit that issue when my friend leaves to go back home. In the meantime:

God help us all!

Insane cannot begin to describe the craziness that is Muay Thai training to begin with. Inconcievable cannot begin to describe the craziness that is Muay Thai training in Thailand. Stupendous cannot begin to describe the craziness that is Muay Thai training in Thailand while still jet lagged.

Welcome to a whole ‘nother level folks

I was unceremoniously promoted to “Intermediate Level” from the beginners level after 2 days at TMT. They usually keep all new people regardless of experience in the beginners level for at least a week before promotion, but I already told you all that I was a beast, and they can’t keep a beast down for too long.

Ha Ha!

Ok, now here is the true story because I firmly believe that I am a proud member of the reality based community. Truth be told, I was getting my ass kicked by the trainers at the beginners level beause I was really not a true beginner like most of the people training in that section. So they took it upon themselves to make sure that my butt was well kicked before they handed me over to the intermediate trainers who proceeded to take the ass kicking to an entirely new level of pain.

Let’s just do a rundown of my Day 3 at the intermediate level training at TMT shall we:

07:00 – 07.30: Run

07:30 – 08.00: Technique Drills

08:00 – 08.30: Jump Rope

08:30 – 09.00: Warm Ups and Stretching

09.00 – 09.30: Full Gear Sparing 3 Rounds for 3 minutes

09:30 – 10.00: Pad Work: 3 Rounds for 3 minutes

10:00 – 10.30: Bag Work: 3 Rounds for 3 minutes

10:30 – 11.00: 200 knees, 200 situps, 100 pushups, cool down stretching

Stupendous Indeed!

Keep in mind folks that the schedule above is only the morning session. This same schedule is repeated in the afternoons starting at 3.00pm. Jesus. These folks have lost their damn minds. I had to muster every last breath in my body to pick myself off the gym floor and walk after that little training escapade. Once I finally got to my feet, legs trembling from all the strain and pain, one of the trainers takes one look at my battered, broken down body and my sweat drenched shorts and shirt and says to me and I quote “I’ll see you at 3.00pm for afternoon training”. I just stood there staring at this dude with amazement, shock and awe all at once.

In my mind I’m saying..”You mean to tell me that you expect me to be here to repeat this torture again at 3.00pm? You’ve gone off the deep end. Now what’s even crazier, is that I actually entertained the thought for all of hmmmm……0 seconds. No way, no how. At least not until my jet lag is over. Then I will submit myself to their will if it kills me. I wonder how long I can stretch out the jet lag excuse.

All in all folks, it has been a wonderful experience so far. It’s a lot of hardwork, sweat and tears, but that’s the reason I came here. I’m only doing 1 training session a day till I get over the jet lag and the climate change, then I’ll be a full on Muay Thai training gangsta.

In the meantime, enjoy the photographs of my friend Karen and I at the Central Festival (local Mall) and at Big C (a lot like walmart) and check back with me tomorrow for more adventures.

Well it’s Day 4 of my attempt to detoxify my body by doing The Master Cleanser. It’s been pretty good so far. I got up this morning and went to the gym, ran a mile and hit the sauna for 15 minutes. I wasn’t able to last the 25 minutes that I usually do. I went to work and then Muay Thai training at 7.00pm – 9.00pm. Everything was fine except for the last 20 minutes where I was just trying to stay alive at that point. It was rough!

It’s really starting to sink in that this cleanse is more mental than anything else. I have been forced to deal with myself and to analyze all the reasons why/when/how I eat what I eat. I’m starting to realize that I eat out of boredom, stress, joy and when I’m about to procrastinate. By procratination, I mean that I analyze all the reasons why I can workout the bad food I am eating the next day, then it turns to the end of the week, then to the end of the month ad nauseum. It’s really all psychological.

Another thing thing that makes this cleanse challenging is that my five senses are sharper and are more acute. The sense of smell is sometimes overpowering and triggers my brain to really want to eat something even though I’m not hungry. When I sweat at the gym, it tastes like I’m drinking a pure salt beverage because the taste buds are more acute. It’s really an experience!

I decided that it would be a good idea to put up a before picture online at my start weight of 291lbs online to keep myself accountable.

Enjoy!

Get Motivated! This picture tells you everything you need to know about anything.
 

 
‘Nuff said!

I’m becoming a gym rat and I never thought I would. Specifically, I’m becoming a Muay Thai gym rat and I need an intervention….desperately. I can’t get enough of the training at NJMT. I’m in that gym at least four days a week sweating like a Christmas Goat and shedding a whole lot of weight. I’ve dropped 60lbs in there in just over 3 months and that’s no small feat.
 

Why am I becoming a gym rat? The simple answer is results. If you want results, seek out a Muay Thai gym in your area and get a membership. If you are in or around the Northern New Jersey area, I highly recommend NJMT.
There is nothing that can get you into shape faster than Muay Thai. It’s become an obsession. It’s taking over my whole life. I need help…….
 
The pictures are of my fellow gym rats getting our trainin’ on!

I tell everyone I meet that one of the best investments I made this year was in my Polar heart rate monitor (F6).
 
Click here to find your Target Heart Rate.
 
To get the most out of your workout, you should frequently monitor your exercise intensity. This will insure that you are working within you heart rate training zone and, therefore, are getting the most out of each workout. If you work too hard, you’re likely to injure yourself and, possibly, burn out. If you’re not working hard enough, you may get frustrated when you don’t see results over time.
 
What I really like about the Polar heart rate Monitor (F6), is that it automatically calculates what your target heart rate should be depending on whether you are participating in light, moderate or hard excercize. It will also beep if you are below or above where your target heart rate should be. This little gadget has helped me shave off almost 4 minutes off my mile within that last month.
 
I definately recommend getting a heart rate monitor if you are serious about fitness…So what are you waiting for?

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I wasn’t able to completely run a mile without gassing out by magic. The right running shoes can help get you to whatever distance you want to run whether it be 1 mile or a marathon. You can avoid a multitude of leg and foot problems, if you do your due diligence and find the shoe that fits you best.

The best website to find out about running and shoe fit is Runners World. It’s important to go through the following things on the website:

1. Foot Diagnostics (What happens to your feet when you run/walk).

2. Use the Shoe Lab Finder to find a shoe that fits you based on your foot diagnostic

Taking my own advice, I found that my feet tend to supinate when I run/walk and I need to wear shoes with motion control (I’m a genius). In other words I really need to ditch my current running shoes (a brand that shall remain nameless…just do..)and get with the program. I will let you all know what I buy within the next week.

So it’s late on Sunday night (11.30pm) and I’m getting ready to go to bed when all of a sudden, I hear a roaring sound. If it wasn’t for the fact that I live in Edgewater NJ, I would have thought that I was experiencing an earthquake(ok..ok..I did think there was an earthquake). It was like a freight train was rolling past my bedroom window. Fear not good people, it was not an earthquake or freight train afterall.
It was only a huge tree snapping in half and landing on my roof, and in the process damaging pretty much everything in sight (sigh).
I think that sometimes people should have every good reason to smack nature upside the head. This is sooooo not cool.

Enjoy the pictures and send some sympathy my way (sniffle..sniffle).

Every training day at NJMT (North Jersey Muay Thai) is greulling. My mind and body are constantly pushed to levels you wouldn’t imagine. However the rewards so far have been immeasurable. I always look forward to training on Saturday because what comes after is worth sweating like a Christmas Goat for.

There is a Thai food restaurant on Main St in Hackensack NJ called Wondees that some members of NJMT go to after training on Saturday. The food is delicious and the service is excellent. Needless to say that as I go through the training session on Saturday, I can’t help but to visualize the upcoming feast. It helps me push through the fatigue.

Check it out if you are in the area. Remember….everything in moderation my friends so ease up on the coconut ice cream!

Monday is a travel day for me. I leave the comforts of my home in Atlanta to fly to the hustle and bustle of the New York/ New Jersey area. It’s always a tedious process for me even though I’ve been flying from one place to another almost every week for 7 years now. On my travels, I see a lot of comings and goings along the way; specifically at the Atlanta Airport (ATL) and the New Jersey Airport (EWR), and so I thought that I would share with you some sights and sounds from the very busy day that I like to call

“Manic Monday!”

And yes I always wish it was a Sunday………Cause that’s one of my fun days!

At ChristmasGoat we have an open thread that we are calling “What’s your goat?”. It’s a forum for all you good people to express in the comments what may be causing you heart palpitations today. Whatever the case may be, get it off your chest and get moving.

I’ll start…My personal goat today is that the Soprano’s is going off the air just when I just started getting into the thing. What’s up with that!