Bunny Interludes Twenty Four

The efforts of ten months, gone in just the month of January.

Blame the holidays for it, but the long and slow move from my old gym in Recto to the much publicized Eclipse Gym that will open another branch somewhere in the east this mid-February earned me the horrible flabs I've been carrying on my sides again lately.

No wonder, I stopped being vain and uber-confident with myself.

- Bunny Interludes Fifteen (Panic House Remix 1)

---

Everything was like a deja-vu of last year.

I remember, it was days after the Christmas break. I decided to stop working-out in anticipation of the endless freeding frenzy that would happen during the holidays. I felt that things would go to waste if I continued my back-breaking effors to shed weight knowing that it would be replaced by some heaving calories after the meals were over.

Besides, in those days, I was waiting for the much-promoted opening of the Eclipse Gym near my office. Who would ever thought that it would still take months before the first Treadmill and the first Olympic Bar would be installed in that wretched gym.

The long weeks waiting had left my eating habits unchecked. My weight had gone haywire by March and the efforts I made in ten months had been completely obliterated from my body. I became flab again; almost horrendously disfigured in some angles, and the ego I maintained during those ten months I've been working-out in a gym somewhere in Recto had been crushed beyond redemption.

It would take another three months before I could redeem even just a portion of the pride I once had.

A year later the same mistake almost happened again.

Same situation. Christmas break was fast approaching. I felt that working-out would be devastatingly useless knowing that I'd engorged myself in endless food and beer-drinking frenzy for two weeks during the holidays. My last weight count was around 175 lbs.

It was the lowest I have in around five years.

I thought it was okay to give myself a break, knowing that I deserve some rest after a ten-month back breaking action had turned me from a flabby to a half-hunky person. I say half-hunky because the flabs, which retreated from my shoulders and back had settled and entrenched themselves around my chest and tummy. These skin excesses hide themselves whenever I stretched my body. However, the moment I slouched again, they would appear with impunity disappointing all the hard work I've made in hopes of eradicating them forever.

One thing I discovered when one is hooked up with the gym is that a slight deviation from the routine (like stopping for around ten days) would send a one's confidence down the drain. When my friend XP (the only guy who openly encouraged me to work out and reinvent myself throught my gym efforts) complained of being jubesity (Despite spending 3 hours in the gym that same day), I could not understand what his worries were. For me, I don't see any significant changes on his figure even if he claimed that a four-day rest period had left him with another 5 pounds to shed.

Now that I am on his shoes, and feels how my days of procastinating left me feeling bloated and flabby, the panic begins to encroach my thoughts.

Suddenly, I saw myself as someone half as the person I used to be.

This evening, I decided to strike back and return to the gym. My thoughts were clouded with doubts, especially with regards to my capacity to lift the same weights I used as a warm-up exercise. But I insisted that once I back-out tonight, there might be a possibility that a brief hiatus would extend up to early summer.

Such delay would most certainly leave me back to square one again...

Like what happened last year.

So with an expanded waistline, a sagging chest and a severely weakened arms, I began to defy gravity by lifting weights half my weight. From benchpresses, to squats and dynamic rows, I struggled to reclaim the strength I once had - when I was driven by my desire to achieve 160 pounds before the year ends.

Unfortunately, I never reached my goal.

But as a beginner's luck, I have high hopes that I may finally get what I'm aiming for this year. The program, which was designed to increase my metabolism significantly appears to be working. Beating my conservative assessments of a ten-pound increase in weight. The scale revealed a two-pound gain this Christmas Break.

If and ever I'd get serious with my workout and diet until summer, there is a huge possibility that I might be sporting a flatter tummy come the beach days begin.

---

Sa pag-gygym ko ngayon, target ko lang naman ang maging malapad pero mapayat ang katawan eh. Gusto ko lang na kapag tumingin ako sa salamin, walang beelbeel at tiyan na tatambad sa harap ko.

Wish ko lang na kapag tumingin ako sa salamin habang nakasuot ng white tank top, ako mismo eh mababakla sa sarili ko.

Hindi ko na bet magkaroon ng sixpacks o kaya pang-model modelan na katawan

Sapat na sakin ma-achieve ang pinaka-minimum objectives ko.

Pero who knows...

- Hopes Of Becoming A Super Gym Buddy, August 31, 2005

New Year

And so began the first day of 2008.

And for the first time in my life, we celebrated it not as one big clan, but as a nuclear family... in our own home. The truth is, my approval was half-hearted being the most traditionalist among the younger generation. However, since my aunt, who organizes the annual family reunion spent the holidays in the United States to be with my mother's other siblings, my mom decided that its time for us to celebrate it ourselves.

She even was gracious enough to invite Phanks to join us.

It was a simple celebration. While waiting for the clock to strike twelve, Phanks and I watched The Devil Wears Prada on my newly brought China-made DVD Player. I bought it for P1,100 pesos in Raon so I'd expect it to last for only a year. Nevertheless, the pirates in Hidalgo assured me that it could play all the DVDs that I bought in their little corner of Quiapo. They were right, because the sole reason why I bought the Lexing DVD Player is to watch the three seasons of Battlestar Galactica, which caught my interest lately. It worked on the DVD player.

And so began the first hours of 2008.

We had a Cheese-overloaded Spaghetti, Fiesta Ham from Purefoods, Halayang Ube and Leche Flan on the dining table during the Media Noche. I didn't eat a lot because I felt upset knowing that our other relative decided to welcome the New Year in the house where we used to celebrate it yearly. My mom said earlier yesterday that they would be celebrating it at their in-laws place, which somehow made me feel relieved. I felt sad that we left them to celebrate it alone. Fortunately, my bachelor uncle decided to spent the New Year with us, so technically, we still celebrated it like we used to - except in my own home.

The X-Men trilogy was shown in Star Movies at around 2 am. Since Phanks and I were able to catch up the first part, we decided to stick up to the last trilogy which ended at around six hours later. We slept at 7 am but before doing so, I went outside to where our car was parked. We encouraged my uncle to sleep in the sala but instead decided to sleep inside the car.

And it made me felt uncomfortable knowing that we let him sleep outside the house.

So began 2008.

After pushing my finances to the extreme during the holidays, I now consider myself financially slumped. I still have to pay for the cable, my phone bill, my mother's memorial plan (which will cost me more than my month's salary) and dozens of credit card transactions, that will reflect on my bill this January. I have a report to present, a 4000-word essay and a novel to read for my Middle Eastern Literature, which will all crush me once school starts next week.

I haven't even finished studying for my report yet.

And with my computer still acting up terribly, my gym activities completely in a standstill after I stopped my last workout several days before Christmas and my body clock still adjusting to my new schedule,

I will have to defy gravity just to reclaim back my orbit.

So the New Year began and I welcomed it

with a broken ego,
a restless mind,
a lost soul
a confused mindset
and with a horny body.

Sadly, I don't see any signs of overturning myself yet. Nevertheless, life moves on in ways I am still capable to adapt.

Happy New Year.