Again I find myself sitting in bewilderment at how incredibly odd the human body is. I am still busting my ass at the gym and I am learning and applying all that I can in my nutrition and let's just say that there have been some hills and valleys.
This whole experience that I am living right now has taught me a lot of things. And because I feel like some of them may help you or someone you know either today or sometime later down the road, here they are in no particular order:
-Hard work will pay off - but it takes time. You may not see results as fast as you would like, but someone else might.
-Check your ego. Nothing bothers me more than someone using too much weight, with horrible form, just because they think it's going to make them HOOGE. Its not. You look like a douche and you're going to hurt yourself. I've seen guys get more out of their workout with a pair of 20 pound dumbbells than a meathead with 405 on the bar.
-A single piece of pizza, a scoop of ice cream, a slice of cake is not going to completely undo all that you have done in the gym. 250 calories here and there are not going to destroy your diet. There is something to be said for "eating clean" but there is also something to be said for flexible dieting.
-I am no different from you, or her, or him. But, what works for me, may not work for you. What works for him may not work for me. Basically what I'm saying is, there is no "miracle program". There is no " wonder diet". Find what works for you and damn it, stick with it.
-Learn from your peers. Don't be that guy who shuns advice from someone older than you, or younger than you for that matter. I'm not saying take their word as gospel, but in that ocean of BS there just might be a valuable nugget that you'd never heard/thought of.
-Genetics isn't an excuse. Deal with it.
-No matter how hard you try, you can never flex cardio.
-I will never care what your cousin benched in high school, what you saw somebody squat one time or how much you curled once in college. These are stories and are usually exaggerated. Heavily. Focus on you and your goals. Look ahead.
-Be thankful what you have and what you are working on. Whether you know it or not, there are people pulling for you. And you inspire someone. They may not say it, then again they might, but you have a support staff around you. They want you to succeed and they want what's best for you.
This leads me to my closing point. Tomorrow is Mother's Day. And the captain of Team Kyleisawesome has always been my mom.
By birthing me alone, she should have received a medal or something. I'm quite large and she, is not. But even after that, Peg has and will always be a driving factor for me.
When I decided to play football in middle school, "go Kyle go!" When i decided to do strongman, she was behind me 100%. When I went through my divorce, she was with me 100%. When I was lower than I thought I could go, there was Ma, telling me to pick my sorry ass up and get with it (I actually think she said that, with a few more expletives deleted). And when I told her I was starting this insane journey into bodybuilding, she asked what she could do to help.
Mom's are something special. They will stand behind you, sometimes in front of you to support, protect and nurture their baby. And mine is the best at what she does.
Peg would take a bullet for me. I hope she never has to. Peg will defend me with every fiber of her being. I think that I could rob a bank and she would be working on busting me out of jail. But man would she be pissed...
So here's to my Mom and all the mothers out there.
I know that I couldn't ask for a better mother. I hope that I make you proud. Thanks for everything. I love you.
Until next time.
-Brann
