A Journey to Remember - The Past Couple of Weeks

Recently I have been pre-occupied with school. Being in my last year of University, studying has been one of my top priorities on my to do list. However, I know that I should have balanced my time properly rather than just focus most of my time studying, but with me graduating - hopefully - this year it’s better to have focused my time on school work. I did put in some time training within the past couple of weeks in-between studying as a break. Personally, it is important to take some time for yourself especially when you feel pressured, stressed or overwhelmed with what you are doing.


I am still working hard and pushing myself to become a bodybuilder and compete in MABBA Men’s Physique in October. Unfortunately I had to make a tough decision of dropping my coach due to personal reasons. I was fortunate enough to be able to have a coach to guide me if I had any questions or concerns about eating and/or training and I’m sure once things turn back around I would sign up with my coach again; possibly closer to competition time. During the couple of months of training I have seen a slight difference in definition. If compare myself from 2010 to now, you can see a big difference. If you would like to see that picture and read the blog please click here.

The workouts that I have been doing throughout this journey of mine have been tough as well as it has been pushing me to do better than performed previously. A workout that I constantly struggle with is doing pull-ups. Now just to make things clear, I am not talking about the pull-up diapers for toddlers or for the adults, I am talking about pull-ups or formally called chin-ups. Before starting my journey I use to hate doing pull-ups. I felt heavy (which I was) and I wasn’t able to pull myself up. Now I enjoy doing them, not only because I have to, but rather I want to be able to succeed in doing chin-ups consistently in a row. Probably last week or a few weeks ago I was able to do 10 pull-ups consistently without a break in-between or assistance (yes I use the assisted pull-up station). Having that sense of accomplishment and fulfilling doing chin-ups/pull-ups was gratifying to be able to do them.

(from 2010-top left; to present-bottom right)

Another workout that I continually struggle with is the bench press. For those who aren’t familiar with what a bench press is, it’s a workout that involves a flat bench (or incline/decline bench) with a barbell, which weighs at approximately around 40-45lbs. The point of the bench press is that it targets your chest by gripping the bar just at or further than shoulder width apart and lowering the bar towards your chest then pushing it up back to the starting position then repeating for a certain amount of reps. Starting out I bench pressed 40lbs, consisting of two 10lbs weight plates on each side of the bar. Afterwards I increased the weight each time by 5lbs. Currently I am able to do 100lbs, which consists a 45lbs and 5lbs weight plates on each side plus the bar. However, on my last set I failed to finish the set almost hurting myself. I was a bit embarrassed and felt like I want to give, but I didn’t. I still went to workout the following day starting with an incline bench press.

Although from trying to workout for years and not be able to loss weight to where I am currently is a big accomplishment for myself. I thought I wouldn’t be able to lose weight and become fit. I thought I would be unhealthy thinking that I am average or ‘fit’ when in reality I’m not. I still have a lot of gaining and training to do before being able to compete for the MABBA Men’s physique competition, but I know that I won’t stop in getting to where I want to be just like how you shouldn’t stop to where you want to be and what you want to become. It will take a lot of work, patience and time because nothing comes easy. If you want it, go for it because it may be the only opportunity for you to start achieving your goals.

A Journey to Remember - Week 4

Fourth week in since I started this journey. I find it interesting how much I have learnt about my body. I’m still learning and finding things about my body that I find quite interesting in terms of bodybuilding (if you thought otherwise you’re sick…lol). However, week four wasn’t the greatest out of the other weeks.

The beginning of week 4 started out pretty well. I was able to train and somewhat stay in my macros. However, I started to feel sick and weak as the week progressed. At first I neglected the thought of becoming sick because in my mind I’ll just sweat it out while I’m working out - not quite. I did sweat during my workouts, but it wasn’t enough. It's as if my body knew that the Easter long weekend was approaching and that my body’s cue was to go on rest mode, which it did. I ended up catching the flu to a point where I started talking I would end up coughing up a lung until somewhat losing my voice. My temperature had gone up and down during the day and into the evening where it did affected my sleep and of course prevented me from working out for 4 days. Now you probably think that it isn’t so bad missing 4 days, which can be easily be made up once I’m fully rested. True, but it did have an affect my strength preventing me to workout effectively.

During the time I wasn’t feeling well all I could do was rest; eat and sleep, eat and sleep and taking flu medicine to help recover. It sucked. When I started to feel a bit better where I was able to workout again (which was yesterday March 28) I noticed how weak I became. Yesterday’s workout end up being a push day. The workouts usually consist of incline bench presses, flat bench presses, shoulder presses, etc. However, when I started to workout I wasn’t able to preform effectively as I did before catching the flu. An example would be the incline bench presses. Before I got sick I was able to bench 75lbs plus the bar, which would be 45lbs, making it a total of 120lbs. Yesterday I was only able to do a total of 105lbs.

THAT’S A 15LBS DIFFERENCE!!! ALL BECAUSE I GOT SICK!!

I wasn’t that surprised but it was still a shocker. I also noticed the amount of weight I had lost. From being 157lbs or 158lbs I went down to 154lbs. Again, all because I got sick. Regardless of the lack of strength and the amount of weight I lost I still put in the time and effort into working out and thrive to build back my strength and weight back up. Also, any time put into working out regardless of how you perform it will still count as a workout so keep it up, you can do it just be patient and persistent don't give up.

I think after being sick I learned from week four the importance of keeping healthy. Yes, I know, it is easier said than done only because I had failed to keep being healthy resulting me catching a cold. I lacked sleep, kept up with eating but not within my macro count as well as lacked working out due to having caught the flu. I believe that I did blog about rest and the importance of resting, which I do realize now how much I do lack a lot. I can make an excuse that school gets in the way because I have to study for tests or I have papers to finish the next day but, it doesn't resolve the fact that I still do not properly rest. It’s also obvious though that sometimes it is hard to avoid catching the flu especially when exposed to others who are just getting over the flu themselves. Hence why it is important to take care of yourselves by ensuring you eat properly, have plenty of rest as well as exercise from time to time and you’ll see the difference in the long run. Don't quote me saying that you won't get sick if you follow what I say because there is a chance of still catching a cold or flu. Just make sure you take care of yourselves so you can prevent possibilities of catching a cold or flu and you’ll see your strength and energy being maintained enabling you to get through your day, which we can do together along the way. Let’s do this!! Remember “Keep Fit and Have Fun!!” (quote from BodyBreak)

A Journey to Remember - Week 3

Week 3 went well. Despite having papers, a final and the lack of sleep during the week I would have to say it went alright. What I do want to blog about is about resting because I still have a fair bit of trouble making sure I have the right amount of sleep, especially now that I’m bodybuilding.

During the week it was some what difficult to have the right amount of rest. Although I did have papers and a final exam I should have made sure that I had enough sleep in order to properly function. I guess you can say that I have trouble making sure I rest up because of school. I know I should not make school an excuse to not sleep 6-8 hours an evening and unfortunately it happens. All the homework, assignments and studying for tests or finals. Regardless making sure you rest is highly recommended especially if you want to stay fit or just be healthy in general.

What I had found about resting and making sure I got 6-8 hours of sleep was that it provided more energy to get me through the day. It also made me feel well rested even after a long day of school, work, studying, working out, more studying and so on. It is very important that you get the right amount of sleep so you can feel well rested and have more energy for the next day. However, what I did not do was not sleep the recommended hours. I lacked sleep most days during the week where I found myself only sleeping 5 hours a night. It was bad. For myself, I found that when I have less sleep I become extremely tired, restless and lazy. I feel like I would want to stay in bed and sleep some more; I would not want to go to class or not do homework, etc. It was just plain out bad.

What I also found was I looked tired constantly. Mind you I still look tired now because I did not have much sleep. I ended having bags under my eyes, I haven’t shaved (looking like a caveman) and sometimes my eyes are dry and red. These results are not what I want for myself. I would rather sleep 6-8 hours so that I don’t look tired, I don’t get the bags under my eyes; not lazy or restless and just have healthy eyes. Having the lack of sleep also affected my workouts during the week. I remember during one of my push days I was bench pressing two plate (one on each side) of 35lbs and I wasn’t able to push through. What is even more embarrassing is that it was only a warm-up set. Although, I was still surprised that I was able to put in 5 days of gym time and got my workout sessions in, however I wasn’t able to push myself to my fullest extent. Nonetheless what counts is that I put in the time and was patient even if it was not the best workout.

I think what myself and everyone in general is to be able to put in time with whatever they need to do, whether it be more sleep, time with friends and family, work, school, studying, etc. make time to get some well deserved rest. What I do at times is I power nap if I wasn’t able to get 6-8 hours the night before. I know most aren’t able to power nap because of working during the day, however after work try taking a power nap for 10-15 minutes and you’ll feel a bit rejuvenated.


Being week 4 now what I’m going to be doing is that I need to sleep more than what I had done during last week. I need to have 6-8 hours of rest so that I’m able to workout better, be healthier as well as not look as tired as I am now. I encourage everyone to try getting some rest and well deserved sleep that you need so that you can feel rejuvenated and feel well rested and look fresh :)
By the way, I will be posting some progress pictures soon since it is going to be a month since I started this journey. I’m quite excited and nervous because I hardly took shirtless pictures before. So this would be a big step for me in showing my month progress.

A Journey to Remember - Week 2

The second week of my journey wasn’t the ideal workout week I would expect it to be. Mind you I was able to still workout and keep track of my macros however, things got in the way; mostly school.

As I’m going through this journey, I am completing my Bachelor of Arts degree in English. A lot have been asking what I am going to be doing with my degree once I graduate and my answer is to be teaching as an ESL instructor. Typically I would like to teach overseas because I have been hearing a lot of great opportunities as well as awesome experiences that friends, or friends of friends have told me. Now with me embarking on my journey in becoming a bodybuilder I would not let go of this goal. As I have mentioned in a previous blog that I would continue on with becoming a bodybuilder and compete in the MABBA (Manitoba Amateur Bodybuilding Associate) Fall Classics in October. I would also make it a career out of it as well. Being both a bodybuilder as well as an ESL instructor would benefit me in both situations. Being a bodybuilder would not only maintain my fitness and completing my goal of competing, it would show the motivation and the dedication I put into working hard in maintaining a healthy life. With ESL, I would be able to help individuals with their english reading, writing and speaking skills in order for those individuals to become successful with the english language. Both would benefit from one another in a way where I would continue to be a motivator to others in either fitness or the English language as well as set up goals for those individuals who want to make a difference in their lives, whether it is learning ESL or having a healthier lifestyle. I would make sure that I would balance both careers along with my personal life as well.

Enough of my goals and busy life what did I do during week 2. Week 2, like I’ve said, wasn’t the best week I had. I did workout and kept track of my macros, but it could have been much better. I didn’t push myself to my fullest during my workout however, I was still able to workout 4 out of the 7 days, which is still good. Also with keeping track of my macros I tried to maintain myself food consumption, but there were some days that I went over my fats, carbs, or protein. Regardless of missing a day or going over the macros, I am still continuing to push myself more each time to make sure that I bulk lean properly according to Brian’s plan that he gave me. So I encourage you, keep going, don’t stop, and believe in yourself with whatever you’re doing. Each one of us are able to reach for the goals that we set. All we have to do is continue to work for it, be motivated and find your reason why you set these goals and how you’re going to achieve them.

We can do it!!

A Journey to Remember - Thoughts

Tomorrow will be officially one week that I began my training for the MABBA Fall Classics. I thought for this blog I would share my thoughts and feelings I had and currently have over the past week as I go through this journey of mine.

At the beginning of the week I was so excited to train for the MABBA Fall Classics. I was preparing myself to work hard, train hard, bulk up and everything and I was committed into doing this. I knew I have a lot of work to do because of how lean/skinny I am and that I need to bulk up if I want to be in a position to compete for the Fall Classics. Though I was preparing myself physically I didn’t mentally and I guess also emotionally prepare myself enough before making the decision to jump and train for a competition. I have thought about bodybuilding and thought about competing ever since my Kuya Larry (older brother) suggested it. I can’t remember as to when he suggested it, but I declined the idea when he did suggested it. However, the thought lingered in the back of my mind. The obvious advantage of becoming a bodybuilder is the look. I would end up having the chiselled chest, the big arms, abs, legs pretty much what almost every guy would want to have for themselves. Another advantage would be living a healthier lifestyle, such as eating healthier meals, making the right food choices, exercising and staying fit, etc. These are all great advantages of doing this but I never thought that there can be some downsides to bodybuilding as well, personally.

(not me; image capture google)

I found that within the week that I’ve started training I have noticed that I would have to mentally prepare myself also. As most people know I was pretty ‘big’ to a point that I needed to change the way I ate and exercised. During my ‘bigger’ days I always thought to myself how ‘big’ I was (when I refer to ‘big’ I’m referring to me being fat. I’m sugar coating it). I would literally be on an emotional rollercoaster making myself feel gross, disgusted, and that I’m nothing, which is sad and would make myself feel down. Once I started working out I started to feel better about myself. I started to treat myself better, rewarding myself on a good run that I’ve done or just pushing myself to become better. But there were still the odd times where I would still put myself down, even to this day. From being close to 200lbs and down to 158lbs brought an array amount of emotions. I always felt that I was still ‘big’, I felt that I didn’t look good, and I felt gross whenever I looked at myself in the mirror. Of course I was ecstatic to have lost an enormous amount of weight but, it was so quick that my emotions as well as my thoughts weren’t able to catch up when I lost the weight.

I am currently working on myself where I do tell myself that “I’m not fat” or “I am something”. I think for the most part I just need to love myself. All of my life I’ve always put others before my needs. I always thought, “if I put people first before my own needs it will make me happy because I have helped them with a problem that they had” however, I can’t make others happy unless I help myself first. Don’t get me wrong, helping others out if they need it is a great gesture, but in my situation I can’t help everyone out and satisfy everyone’s needs, I’m not superman (but I can dream I am, favourite superhero for the record). For the most part what I need to do is focus on myself first before helping others. Of course I can help others out whenever I can however, I need to do what is beneficial for me in order for me to grow.

This is why I’m doing this journey. It isn’t just because I want to look good in the summer and all year round, though it does have it’s benefits, but more so I want to grow and be able to achieve this goal that I actually want with the help and support of family and friends like Yu, Kuya Larry, my coach Brian and others. I am grateful that people from Instagram, Facebook, and other social media sites are so encouraging and it makes me feel inspired to go on and push forward onto this journey which I am sharing with everyone. I continue to be excited each day as I workout and train myself to do well in the competition as well as continue to motivate myself in loving myself and caring for myself so I am not on an emotional rollercoaster to a point that I suppress the feelings.

Thank you for all of your support, encouragement and inspiring words to help me push forward on this journey. I hope that I can be able to help inspire people around with my journey and encourage others to overcome any emotional states to grow and appreciate, care and love our own lives.

A Journey to Remember - Day 4 & 5

Day 4 was a week when I decided to hire Brian as my coach and build muscle to compete in the MABBA Fall Classics as well as it was rest day. It’s surreal that I made the decision to bodybuild and compete in a competition. It’s as if I’m still dreaming and I’m still deciding whether or not to do this, however I am doing it and going through with my decision. It was nice to have a rest day after training pretty hard the three days. Rest days are nice, but I do still have to work harder in order to build more muscle and bulk up a lot if I want to be where I want to be. I know it sounds harsh and I should not be so hard on myself, however I think the reason as to why I am so hard on myself is because I don’t want to give up and it’s a way of motivating myself to keep going and to push through.

Day 5, hypertrophy push was interesting when I was working out on this day. Usually I don’t have a problem with working out, but for some reason I was not able to do well in my opinion. The workout plan called it to be all push, which consisted of incline and flat dumbbell presses, chest crossovers, etc. However, there was one workout that I had to do, which was the rope face pulls. I didn’t question the fact that it was on a push day, maybe it’s because the following day was a pull day. Regardless I still did the workout. When I was doing the rope face pulls I did notice that I’m stronger on my pulls rather than my pushes. This was really interesting and very odd. I’m not sure if it is just me, but I always thought I was stronger on pushing rather than pulling and I was wrong. To give an idea of what I mean on my bench press I can bench two plates (one of each side) of 30lbs plus the bars, which is 45lbs making it a total of 105lbs. With the rope face pulls I was able to pull 110lbs. Mind you rope face pulls consist of using a cable machine. Regardless of the machine my pulls are a bit stronger than my pushes, even if it is just a difference of 5lbs from the example. Nevertheless I’m still improving and plus its only been 5 days since I started.

So far in my journey I have noticed a few things. One is the amount of food I have to consume in order to reach my daily macro goal. Second my push exercises need far more work than my pull exercises. Third, I have a long way to go. Although these seem very minor, they are big changes that I have to make in comparison to what I was use to during the summer and into fall and winter. I am continuing to learn as I go into my second week making those tweaks in my workouts. Going into my second week what I’ll do is I’ll push myself to workout hard on both push and pull days but I’ll workout harder on my push days. Also I’m a little confused as to what hypertrophy days are. I guess I need to do more research.

But I do have a question. Do you find that your push exercises (i.e. pushups, triceps, etc.) are weaker than you pull exercises? Also what motivates you in situations? It doesn’t have to be working out but in other scenarios such as assignments, work, goals you want to reach. 

Let me know write a comment. I’ll appreciate all submissions and reply to each one.

A Journey to Remember

Every journey always has a beginning. Whether the beginning starts off good, bad or even mediocre it’s still consists as a starting point. For myself, I decided to start a journey that will really push my body to do things I have not done before as well as provide a stepping stone to a goal I want to continually achieve.

Through the past years I always had no problems with my body. I thought to myself that if I was healthy and being active from time to time I would be fine in the future. I would eat anything and everything if I was not full, had room in my stomach or if I was just plain hungry. My family did not really say much because obviously they thought I was fine the way I was, which was true I was fine the way I was until I notice how big I was in pictures and videos. I continued to see the results and affects of eating large amounts of food from parties, restaurants, outings, and more to a point that I needed to make a change for myself. After realizing my body weight and size I started to actually workout.

Working out was not the greatest experience, especially when I was close to 200lbs. I started out doing the ‘normal’ routines (sit-ups, pushups, more sit-ups, more pushups). After a while I became lazy doing the routines or I would ‘forget’ to do them and end up not doing them at all. I was definitely a work in progress. I eventually stopped doing the ‘normal’ routines and stopped working out, until I saw a program that caught my interest - INSANITY. That program was probably one of the best programs I have ever done. I’ve completed a month and I saw a slight difference from what I was before. I would be drench in sweat at the end of each workout session even though it wasn’t a significant amount of weight lost but it was a start. I continued doing the workout sessions from the Insanity program but digressed a bit at a time to a point where I stopped doing the program falling back a step.

Even though I was falling back a step or more I was still determined to continue to working out and to slim down and get fit. In the summer of 2014 I decided to take up rollerblading. Obviously living in Winnipeg rollerblading would not be the best type of cardio throughout the year only because Winnipeg has two months of summer,  and the rest of the year would be winter (not literally but it feels like it is). However, throughout the summer I would rollerblade whenever I was able to and weather permitting. That year I decided to be ambitious and rollerblade from the University of Manitoba, which is south of the city, all the way home, which is northwest of the city. All I took with me was a small bag for my water bottle, money for a one way bus ride ($2.50), my shoes and of course my cell phone. I carried my rollerblades when I was on the bus. Once I got to the university I prepped myself then started to head home. It took me an hour and 35 minutes from the university to home travelling a total of 20km. Having accomplished rollerblading from the university to home was fulfilling. The achievement of having travelled 20km provided a desire to continue working out and to workout hard.

The following year I went to the YMCA facility to workout there. I took up swimming as part of my cardio as well as jogging/running. During my middle-school and high-school years I enjoyed running, specifically sprinting the 50m and 100m dash. However, after graduating I wasn’t able to maintain that momentum of constantly running. Nevertheless I was able to pick it up again at the gym but wanted to see if I could do long distance running instead. I started out doing 30 minute runs on the treadmill then started doing some short runs around my neighbourhood. Eventually I started running farther into other neighbourhoods that are 5-10 minutes drive away from home. The farthest I’ve gone was 8 or 9km, which was pretty far and another achievement I had accomplished. It may not be the farthest for some but it was far for me. By the end of the summer my family and friends started to noticed that I had lost a lot of weight. I didn’t feel like I did because all I saw was a “fat man” trying to lose weight. I realized that I had lost weight when I was wearing my clothes. All of my clothes were becoming loose and baggy to a point that I actually needed to buy new clothes in order to fit. I currently now wear smalls and have a 30-31inch waist coming from wearing mediums/larges and having a 33-34 inch waist.



My journey in living a healthier lifestyle was a struggle and it continues to be a struggle only because of the amount of food that are easily available for me to consume. However, I disciplined myself to making the right food choices as well as treating myself from time to time. I initially cut out all artificial sugars from my diet. Meaning I restricted myself from eating cookies, cakes, drinking sodas, candy, chocolates, etc.; this was difficult because I’m a big fan of sweets. During that time I consumed more fruits and vegetables in order to satisfy my craving for sweets as well as drinking a lot of water. Plus I had whey isolate (protein) that also satisfied my craving for sweets.


After struggling to workout, making incorrect food choices to continuing to workout and eat right I’ve made the choice of entering the Manitoba Amateur Bodybuilding Association (MABBA) Fall Classics Competition. In other words I’m entering and prepping to be in a bodybuilding competition in mens physique. I have made this decision not purely because I want to be fit and look hot but more to be an inspiration to others out there (friends, family, coworkers, etc.)  who struggle or are struggling to make a difference in their lives (although it is a plus to be fit and look hot :P). Personally it is a difficult process mentally, emotionally and of course physically. The initial start is always the most difficult, but once you continue to push through and dedicate yourself in making a change you will see results and changes that you will be able to call achievements. There is a post at the gym I workout in that says, “Slow progress is better than no progress”. I believe in this because I lived through it. The times where I started and fell back and started up again were still steps to achieving a healthier lifestyle. So I encourage you, if you are wanting to workout and live a healthier lifestyle make that first step, make some goals and achieve them. It won’t be easy but it will be worth it in the long run.

I hope that you enjoyed reading my blog. I will be sharing my journey leading up to competition day and showing my progress along the way. As well I will be blogging my food, my workouts, and overall thoughts as my body changes. Check frequently for updates and future blogs. I hope to post a blog everyday or at least every second day.

Thank you for reading my blog and joining me on my continuing journey which I will remember.

(Left: In the Philippines close to 200lbs. Right: me currently)