Wait, it gets worse.

O.K. grease pit diving was nasty. And man I have got to unass some cash and get the equipment to do this right and easier, but I didn't want to sink a lot into this endeavor if I can get waste veggie oil already collected for a buck a gallon.
So anyoldfrickinway, I have to filter this crap. I throw the 15 gallon drum of wvo oil on the tailgate of the truck and drain this into another drum through a rag to get the gretzkies out(little food particles). After that's done I roll the drum back into the sun to settle so any free water falls to the bottom. Later I'll pump that through a 10 micron water filter into the auxillary tank of my truck(which I haven't bought yet).
Well back to anyoldfrickinway, the rag plugs up with about a gallon in the funnel . I'm out the door on my way to work so I decide to pick it up, swap rags out and filter the rest. As I'm picking this up the rag slips out cause it's greasy(duh) and the shit hit's the(well, this time it's the legs and sneakers).I have to go change uniforms, hurry up and head out to work and the crap has permeated my sneakers. Now my truck smells like KFC.
Like I said I need to do this the easy way. They say you get what you pay for. Well hell I ain't paid for squat but I'm sure getting my money's worth, at least in the hassle dept.
I just hope I'm smiling when I'm driving past the gas pumps soon.
The workouts: On week 2 and going strong!
Grease is the word.....

Is it worth it?

Went grease pit diving. Armed with a rope, bucket and a couple of drums I managed to wrangle up about 25 gallons of used veggie oil. Man that's nasty. If it works it was worth 75 bucks(that's what 25 gallons of diesel costs).I don't think I will want to eat fried foods for awhile. That smell kinda lingers. I hope the exhaust doesn't reek like this. I'll also invest in a 12 volt pump if it looks like this supply will last. I think I'd rather do HIIT cardio on a treadmill than do that again. Oh, by the way, before I went pit diving I did cardio on the elliptical. Knocked off 483 cals in 20 minutes.
If I'm really lucky though and I have a few lined up, the people will put their used oil in the 5 gallon cubitainers that the oil came in new. Usually I'm not that lucky,lol.
That's about it. I think I'm going to go sniff something sweet to get that fried odor out of my mind. I think chocolate might work!

Week 1 day 6, challenge 7

My laptop crashed and since I work 12 hour shifts it doesn't leave me a lot of time to post and blog. Anyway yesterday did the HIIT recumbant. Today was shoulders and plyometrics.
The routine:
Warm up: shoulder press: 10,8,5,3 reps with 75,75,120,130 lbs
supersetted with 10 reps, 4 sets of 10 jump squats
Shoulder press: 6,6,5 reps with 150 lbs
ss with 1 reps 4 sets of 10 tuck jumps
Shoulder shrugs: 3 sets of 6 reps with 120 lbs
ss with 4 sets of 8 box jump(box is 12 inches tall)
Front dumbbell raise: 3 sets of 6 reps with 25 lbs each
ss with 18 inch box jump to 24 inch bench jump 4 sets ,10 reps
Side raise dumbbells: 3 sets of 6 reps at 25 lbs
ss with 3 sets 10 reps ab crunches
dumbbell lying tricep extensions: 3 sets of 6 reps at 25 lbs
ss with 3 sets 10 reps oblique crunches
Sitting tricep dumbbell extensions: 3 sets 6 reps at 70, 70, 52.5 lbs(last set I had no more to give
ss with 2 minutes rest inbetween those last 3 lifts.
That whole routine kicked my ass and took 43 minutes.
Any opinions of whether supersetting lifting with a routine like plyometrics is good for muscle growth or not.I was actually sucking eggs several minutes after finishing this.
Anyway, hope y'all are having a fantabulous w/e!
Troy

No pics today!

I guess blogger is ill. Today I spent some time at work today trying to secure me a few gallons of waste vegetable oil. I called a few ma and pa eateries and might have a few gallons secured. All of the major players have contracts to procure their grease, so the grease out there is going to be slim pickings.I sure hope Houston Biodiesel starts selling the wvo or I'm screwed on this endeavor.
The workout:
Today was Back and Bi's supersetted with quads and hamstrings:
warm up: chest rows 10,8,5,3, reps at 80,80,100,110 lbs
and like before the legs were done after each set of reps of the chest rows
warm up: leg press 10,8,5,3 reps at 100,100,120,130 lbs
chest rows: 6 reps at 145 lbs
super set with leg press: 6 reps at 197.5 lbs
lat pull downs: 6,5,4 reps at 155 lbs, this kicked my butt! lol.
ss with hack squats: 6 reps at 185 lbs
dumbbell hammer curls: 6 reps at 40 lbs
ss with leg curls : 6 reps at 130 lbs
1 arm db bicep curl: 6 reps at 40 lbs
ss with romanian dead lifts: 6 reps at 150 lbs
This routine took me only 30 minutes, but let me tell you... it's an ass rippin, butt hole poppin workout! I don't know if I can give it 12 weeks but that's the way I felt after a week of Jim's routine. We'll see.
That's about it for today.
Later!

I Can Make it to the Gate in 3.5 Seconds...

can you!
Today was cardio day, day 3 week 1. I did the recumbant bike HIIT style. I rode it hard and was totally whooped when I finished. Twenty minutes is a long time. Other than that I didn't do squat. Showed a pair of swans I have for sale, spent a few hours on the phone and a few on the computer and that was about it. I am trying to order that Vegistroke unit I discussed in other posts but the computer isn't co-operating or my card isn't. It's that or I have ordered 6 units so far. Man, will Susan be pissed when she sees that bill,lol.
That's about it! Hope you guys are having a great day!

Don't Trip Over the Guard Dog

Today is day 2 of C-7. To break the boredom of continuing a routine, I took Jim's routine and changed it up a tad. Today I did chest and calves. Also this routine goes by a little faster which is great because I need the extra time for chores and was starting to run out of daylight, so to speak. Here's how this new routine went and it only took 24 minutes:
Warm up: decline bench press10,8,5,3 reps at 100,100,120,130 lbs.
Instead of taking 60 secs between reps I did warm up calves in between the chest reps the same weight.I think this is called supersets and I did it through the whole routine.
Decline bench press: 6 reps 150 lbs
Calf press : 12 reps 197.5 lbs
Inline bench press: 6 reps 175 lbs
1 leg calf press: 12 reps 105 lbs
Pec flies: 6 reps 140 lbs
Calf raises: 12 reps 140 lbs
Then I finished it off with 15 pushups.
It was quick and painful (good pain), and we'll see what happens in 4 weeks.
The eating will still follow Eating for Life basics 40/40/20 ratio.
That's about it on the health front.
On the fuel front I have been talking to some references of people who use the Vegistroke (still sounds like a sex toy to me ,lol) waste vegetable oil system and today I went to talk to a guy who makes home brew biodiesel. Both are promising but I'm leaning toward the Vegistroke right now, but will definitely make bio in the near future.
So that 's about it for now!

Walking the Dog

Today was the start of my 7th challenge. I started the day after I got up with some HIIT cardio on the recumbant bike. I think this round I will try cardio on Mondays, especially after the freeday feeding frenzy. Anyone ever feel like lifting after that food hangover? I sure don't! So we'll give this a try. I was curious about this... do you guys think it's o.k. to keep calling these challenges and posting pics in tracker every 12 weeks. I just feel for me and others like me that for some of us the miracle transformation isn't going to occur in 12 weeks. I wasn't an athlete in school, hell I wasn't even an athletic supporter, lol, but I hope this can demonstrate to people, possibly a majority of people, that the slow and steady course can produce results. For me this is for life, not for 12 weeks and that's it. I hope if I make it to my late years that my dedication to my health pays off in the fact that if I'm in a nursing home it's due to the high cost of owning a home and not due to my failing health. All I'm saying is if I make it to 80 or 90, I hope I can wipe my own ass, thank you! Oh and not having to take viagra and other meds!Here's to everyone's health! Now let's start a new challenge and fight that aging process.

More week 1 vs. week 12 comparisons

Week 1 no twins.
Week 12: a set of twins and a handful. My cup runneth over. Actually her cups both runneth over, lol. Life is good!
I finished week 12 today with Quads and Hamstrings, This was an 8 day cycle so every week was different, which made it interesting. So here are some more weight comparisons.
Quads and Hammies:
week 1 hack squat barbell warmups:80 t0 130 lbs 4 sets
week 12 hack squat bb warmups: 110 t0 140 lbs
week 1 hack squats bb: 160 lbs 4 sets
week 12 hack squatsbb: 180 lbs 4 sets
week 1 leg extensions machine: 170 lbs 3 sets
week 12 185 lbs 3 sets
week 1 bb power cleans: 90 lbs 3 sets
week 12: 115 lbs 3 sets
week 1 1 leg curls: 55 lbs 4 sets
week 12 67.5 lbs
week 1 Romanian dead lifts bb: 130 lbs 4 sets
week 12 150 lbs
Shoulders and Triceps:
week 1 warm up shoulder press, machine: 50 - 80 lbs 4 sets
week 12 warm up: 80 -110 lbs
week 1 shoulder press: 110 lbs 3 sets
week 12 140 lbs
week 1 upright rows machine: 80 lbs 3 sets
week 12 95 lbs
week 1 front raises machine: 32.5 3 sets
week 12 50 lbs
week 1 rear raises machine:27.5 lbs 3 sets
week 12 37.5 lbs
week 1 tricep pushdown machine: 65 lbs 3 sets
week 12 80 lbs
week 1 tricep overhead extension machine: 60 lbs 3 sets
week 12 80 lbs.
I ended the routine with dumbbell overhead extensions, 60 lbs to failure which was 15 reps the last time.
In the mix was 2 to 3 times a week, ab boot camp and some cardio. I'll show the calf routine and plyometrics routine tomorrow. Even though I don't think I look any different, I feel better and stronger after Jim's suggested routine. I will continue with this but will change it up a tad( if it's alright with the master,lol) and post the routine soon, which I plan to start on Monday.
You guys have a great w/e!

Week 1 vs week 12 weights

Finishing up on week 12 challenge 6 and wanted to look at how my weight increased. Not how much weight I gained, but how much weight I am able to lift, lol.
week 1 bench press warm up- 80 lbs to 130 lbs in 4 sets
week 12 137.5 lbs to 177.5 lbs
week 1 bench press 160 lbs 4 sets
week 12 197.5 lbs 4 sets
week 1 incline press 140 lbs 3 sets
week 12 170 lbs
week 1 dumbbell pullover 60 lbs 3 sets
week 12 80 lbs
week 6 pec fly 110 lbs 3 sets( added this later )
week 12 130 lbs
also added decline press in week 10 which I would press 1 set to fatigue at 190 lbs, got 12 reps off last time

Back and bi's
week 1 warm up lat pulldowns 65-105 lbs 4 sets
week 12 87.5 -137.5 lbs
week 1 lat pull downs 130 lbs 4 sets
week 12 152.5 4 sets
week 1 dumbbell 1 arm row 80 lbs 4 sets
week 12 85 lbs
week 1 bicep curls 75 lbs 3 sets
week12 82.5 lbs
week 1 incline dumbbell curls 37.5 lbs 3 sets
week 12 45 lbs
added chest rows near week 7 and did 15 reps to failure at 145 lbs in week 12.
Tomorrow will be the end of this challenge and I'll try to post some of the other exercises as I get time. Jim's routine is a ripper and I think I saw some progress in my muscle growth. I will also post the measurements in the next few days.
The eating has pretty much followed the eating for life style, but the amount changed due to me needing to eat more protein. I had a few slip ups more this go around on eating and missed 3 days of workouts. I haven't missed a workout day since last September. This up and coming challenge, Susan and I are debating on whether to eat by the books( the book actually ) for 6 to 12 weeks and see what happens. I haven't eaten the way bfl suggests but think I might need to give it a try in order to get rid of the last remaining fat around my stomach and back. Just a side note, Susan has been working out, but due to the arrival of the twins, it has been a slower progression for her. Well I need to get! Starting nights. Have a great weekend y'all!

I beg your pardon....

But I did promise you pictures of my rock garden. Before and after pics. The pic on the left, done with 2 bucks worth of roundup. The pic on the right, priceless, and I mean the cost lol. Anyway we did this to keep the dogs from digging in this area and laying by the door which resulted in mud being tracked in the house. We thought it would take 1 maybe 2 pallets of rock, and 3 huge boulders. Due to a gross miscalculation on my part it took 6 pallets of rock. I guess I'll work overtime this week to pay that off. My new motto, measure... measure again... measure one more time.... give the calculations to the wife!
Yesterday we were invited to spend the day in Galveston. Our friends rented a beach house and we had a great time. I learned that you can hunt for sharks teeth, use a seine net to catch critters and look at what's in the water. We even caught a few pipefish(related to sea horses, I think) and had some great BBQ. Boy how things change when you get older. I used to think the only thing fun about going to the beach was looking at the women. Now that I think about it I guessed I was so engrossed in what we were discovering I didn't even notice any women, except for Susan,lol.
The workouts have been good, the eats so so, and I'm heading into week 12 of Jim's plan. We'll see where I end up before I decided what regimine I will try next.
Y'all have a great Sunday!
Troy.

Hell----o

I am having absolute hell with my internet at work this week. It must be bad electricity,lol. Anyway, back to hitting the workouts good. On week 11, one more week to go.
Answers and comments:
Tom - I hope you can make it next year also, and I think her dad cooks the brisket for 4 to 6 hours, but I'll check.
Jess- gumbo dirt probably does have shrimp with tons of clay.It's nasty soil though.Jess can I count you in for next year!
Erin and Jim, I'll put you down on the list for next year.
I always get a chuckle when Tom mentions his wife as the Lovely Linda. I now think of mine as the Sexy Susan, especially since the arrival of the twins. It got me to thinking(which in itself could be dangerous), if I was a bull and Susan was a cow, then the twins would be three sets of twins. That would be udderly awesome!
Y'all have an awesome day!

Next BBQ

Hey, everyone's invited to the next bbq. It should be around the same time next year. Hope y'all can make it. It was a blast and it was really fun getting to see some friends we hadn't seen since the last one, two years ago. We thought this wouldn't happen due to the amount of rain we had 3 days prior. All in all I think we got 9 inches of rain in Alvin. I almost had to put pontoons on the mower to get the front mowed where I parked everyone. Luckily the gumbo dirt dries out quickly so the yard wasn't rutted too terribly bad. Susan's dad did the brisket and sausage
and again outdid hisself. Most everyone brought appetizers of all types. What a great freeday,lol.
I missed a couple of workouts last week due to getting everything ready, but considering we were working from sun up to sun down in preperation for the party, I think we got plenty of exercise in for the w/e.
Well that's about it. Hope eveyone had a great w/e and hope the coming up week is going to be a fantastic one, later,
Troy.

I'm it!

We have been extremely busy this week preparing for our BBQ we have every couple of years. I missed my cardio yesterday because I had to push mow. We've gotten about 6 inches of rain and we typically park everyone in the front of our property. I've push mowed about 3 acres , so hopefully everything will dry out. I'm glad we decided to go with the dyed concretee for our floors in the house. It should be easy to clean.
Erin tagged me so now I'm it!
I AM: always in motion.
I WANT: a yard boy
I HATE: red ants
I MISS: under a dollar gas prices!
I FEAR: swimming in water when I can't see my feet.... sharks!
I WONDER: wonder, who, who wrote the book of love.
I REGRET: not finishing my environmental science degree.
I AM NOT: very athletic
I DANCE: probably like a person who has epilepsy.
I SING: see above,lol.
I CRY: when I found out they moved Grey's Anatomy to Thursday night's opposite C.S.I.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: reading instructions when I should. Do any guys read instructions?
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS:obscene gestures at the idiots I encounter while driving. I just do it out of their sight so as not to get shot at!
I WRITE: my meal plan down for that moment as I am eating it.
I CONFUSE: my right from my left and figure this out constantly by visualizing which hand I hold a pen in.
I NEED: a lawn boy
I SHOULD: hire me a lawn boy, I think I need to change my I HATE: to mow!
I START: many a project.
I FINISH : every project I start. Well 98 % of the time!
Well that was interesting.I suppose I'll tag CoCo!
Have a great w/e y'all!

Research continues, fuel for pennies!

This is what I have learned about using waste vegetable oil(wvo) to date.
If I do home brew or bio diesel I would collect the wvo, filter it, let it settle out for several days to a couple of weeks,add methanol to it, cook it , add caustic(naoh, sodium hydroxide) to it, and rinse it. It produces about 20 percent glycerin as a waste and the biodeisel, which you can mix in your deisel tank. The cost would be getting a few drums and a new or used water heater(this sould be used as your still from brewing. The cost calculates out to about 70 cents a gallon. The process is a little more in depth than this, but you get the picture.
The other alternative and the one I'm looking at is you again secure you a supply of wvo, preferrably from a Chinese Restaraunt( less animal fat is better, less gelling up) and filter it. This is where it is different from home brew. You have to set up an auxillary tank(unless you have duel fuel tanks, which my truck doesn't have) and you pump the good grease into this tank. You buy or can research and set up a system that runs your vehicle on grease. Basically what this system does is this, you start your vehicle up on deisel and you drive it for a couple of miles, this lets the wvo heat up, either by heating it with a 12 volt heater off your vehicle or tying off the heater hose. Once you've driven for a couple of minutes you switch it to the grease and boogie on. A minute or 2 before you are going to shut the vehicle down you switch back over to deisel to flush the lines so it won't gel up. I have a 26 gallon tank so the estimate is 1200 miles on a tank of deisel. The wvo would cost me about 7 to 40 cents a gallon to run my truck depending if I can get it free or not. The kit costs about $2400 with a tank, and I can lower that by $800 if I set up my own tank. Greasel .com sells a complete system(pump out of the grease tank from said Chinese Restaraunt and you are good to go). I don't know about this one because all the research suggests filtering the grease and letting it settle for days or a couple of weeks. Anyway as of yet there are no special liscensing required or road tax, but I sure wouldn't be putting a bumper sticker on it that said "Powered by Grease" or anything like that. I'll keep you posted on what else I find out and if I do this or not. Grease is the word!lol.
Oh and the workouts and eats, well the eats could be better, but haven't missed but 1 day in 10 weeks!
Later.