Waldo's Log

[Waldo]

Well haven't been around too much as of late. Got a full court press going on the house hunt.

Might have found the one. Toured it yesterday, like it a lot. To love it only requires a few do-able changes (garage door on carport, redo a couple bathrooms, flooring changes in an area); I would rather a house have these sort of issues anyway, I like having DIY projects to do around the house. Yard is great, location is great (in the soon to be City of Lakeside (Oak Grove-Northlake area) for all you ATLers). Have a couple more houses to look at tomorrow, but if none of those wow us we are in sit n wait mode or we buy this one (which we'll probably do).

Real estate market is really weird right now. Too many people are afraid of the market and not selling, far more buyers than sellers. We've literally looked at every single house that doesn't look awful or isn't in a little box 'hood in our price range (pretty wide, >100k range) over a massive area of the city; only about a dozen houses (ridiculous for a city this size). One that looked great came on the market this AM, we quickly moved to get a showing tomorrow, owners already accepted an offer . Great situation for selling, not so much for buying. We actually had 2 more people ask us to see a second time since we accepted an offer plus we're pretty sure the couple we expected to make an offer would have if the news of other offers didn't scare them away. 3 offers in a month isn't bad, but we could have had upwards of 6; got our price though so it doesn't matter.

The house we're strongly considering though is very nice. A split level, but quite literally the best split level I've ever seen (I understand the anti-split level bias and have it myself, and I can afford a colonial in the nice part of town; that's how nice this one is). Awesome valuted great room addition and outdoor room. Nice open kitchen that flows into the great room. Prairie style roof line and architectural balance, midcentury modern style elements. Really nice mature landscaping. Has a proper man cave/workout room. Quality construction (mid 60's build quality, is even high quality for that era, blows away the garbage built in the 70's, the 80's (especially, good god do 80's houses suck) and 90's).

Good thing we've been to that house and have our name in the hat, and have requested a 2nd showing, so if someone else comes to the table with an offer, chances are we'll get a call.

[Waldo]

Wooo, I'm on cloud 9. We have our dream house!!!

After touring a bunch more houses and finding another one we really liked, we were sort of stuck in we like them but have to decide how much sitaution. Wife was actually pretty distraught at the whole situation, moving up a couple classes of house isn't usually a "well I can tolerate it" situation, but alas. A great house flashed on the market in a great area (epically redone split level), and we moved fast to get a showing; it was Fri PM when we made the request, had a time slot at noon on Sat, and we learned they had an offer. When we were getting set to go tour a few houses we learned that they had multiple over list offers. Boo. And it was right at the top of our budget to begin with. So no dice.

Then today happened. No tours on the docket; we found a few more in a different area we might be interested in, and drove by them. Promised kiddo some ice cream, so we all went to get a cone. As we were eating it my wife got notification of a new house on the market. Right in the area we wanted, exactly. An AWESOME midcentury modern home built in 1964. Decked out with all best the midcentury modern home details; even love the street name. Texted the agent for a showing. No response. Texted our other agent (they are a team) to get a showing. She offered a slot tomorrow afternoon. Said we really wanted to see it today. Got a showing slot only 45 minutes later. Other agent called, said he'd meet us there. Love at first sight, great house, and really priced to sell. We made an offer immediately and signed the forms as soon as we got home. We saw another couple there after us. Turns out they too made an offer. Ours was picked!!!!!

This house is so incredibly great. Everything about a house I wanted. Everything my wife wanted. No desire to ever live in a different house.

Our agent is even giving us a pool table to help deck out the rec room, said it is sitting in his basement taking up space. Woot. Score #2 for the man cave.

Prime example of ATL real estate tho. Good houses sell in a couple days-weeks. Great houses sell the day of listing. This house was on the market for 3 hours, had 2 showings and 2 full price offers, when they accepted our offer. The best houses sell so fast you have to be ready to pounce.

[Shortgorilla]

That's awesome Waldo!  Make sure to share some pics of your mancave/dream home!  Congratulations!

[Rooks]

Indeed.  Sounds like a situation that was meant to be.  Awesome stuff Waldo.  Can't wait to see the man-cave (assuming you'll share pictures with us when it's done). 

[Waldo]

Very much feels like a situation that was meant to be. Once all goes through and it truly is ours, I'll share a few pics. Found some awesome old drawings at work (circa 1964, same age as the house) of some of the things I design that will be awesome decorations. Perfect fit for the house.

Though with all the distractions, this bulk has sort of went to hell. I'm still hitting my workouts fine, but eating has been a problem. I realized on my way home from work today that I had completely forgotten to eat today. Yesterday my cals were way low. Not hitting protein marks like I'd like consistently. Not the end of the world I guess, but I do need to make sure I keep putting forth the effort. At least workouts have been good.

[Waldo]

Did the inspection today (all is good) and got a good shot of the house. One of its best features is an amazing patio/outdoor room that the great room, family room, and master all open out to with a gorgeous Japanese maple in it. Typical for the midcentury modern atomic ranch style, but a very nice example of it, especially with a mature tree.

I might not need to build an outdoor pullup bar. The school down the block just so happens to have an outdoor pullup bar(s). At least it appears it does, as long as there is one high enough.

[MasterOfCows]

Beautiful!

[Hermione Gainser]

Beautiful!!!

[AlexCold]

Whoa! Very nice home. Congrats!

[Waldo]

Been a while since I last checked in.

House things and moving have me really distracted at the moment, and I've been doing a ton of traveling for work. We closed on the sale of our current house on Fri, close on the purchase of our new house on Mon (tomorrow), and move on Tue.

When I have time again, I'm going to write a big blog post on really how to navigate this sort of things and keep up on damage control.

Some updates tho:

- I'm going to be bulking for one more week, then switching to cutting.

- Workouts have been so, so, I've had to skip a few for various reasons (somehow its always leg day too).

- Diet has been so so, I usually hold my target tight, but I've had several way over and way under days. Hitting protein goals has been a bit challenging.

- Fortunately I think my metabolism kicked up a bit so my surplus is actually quite small. That's ok for now.

- Measurements haven't really moved much this bulk. A quick tick upward at first, and virtually no change since.

- I've actually backslid a bit on some/most exercises.

- Despite this I don't think a negative pattern is developing. I think I'm riding out this challenging time in my life quite well.

It took me a while to figure out what was going on, why my workouts were going backwards and my muscles not growing; though I'm not giving it 100% at the moment, I'm still trying and doing what I can and I'm not doing too bad. Then it occurred to me, I've barely been in the office for the last few weeks. I keep my creatine at my desk at work and take it with my lunch at work. I'm usually in the office 5 days a week so this isn't an issue. But lately, I've been in so little, especially at lunchtime, that I've definitely lost any effects from the creatine. Coming off creatine you'd expect a little muscle shrinkage and to backslide a bit in workouts. While my muscles didn't shrink, they haven't gained either despite bulking.

Another thing I've noticed that I haven't written much about (but plan to eventually) is the wrist-measurement relationship. I can pretty much measure my wrists and tell you if I'm going to be happy with my muscle meausrements. Some days are big days, some days are small days, and the wrists are almost as perfect predictor of this. This bulk, though I've mostly maintained all my muscle sizes, with little to no gain, my wrists have steadily shrunk (by 1/4" total). Which is actually a pretty big deal muscle-size wise. Shrinking wrists likely has a lot to do with the (lack of) creatine. Usually when I cut my wrists will shrink (along with muscles). When I bulk they quickly jump up to a max size in the first couple weeks (and muscles gain very rapidly), then stay there as muscle growth occurs slowly.

[Hermione Gainser]

So, what you're saying is you're busy?

 

Intrigued by this wrist business... I never notice any change in mind (though I don't pay attention). Anyhow. Interesting.

 

 

Annnnnd, I just linked your blog to The Bert Show.  They're talking about self taught, at home fitness.  I'd say you're a pretty damn good example of what's possible. 

[Waldo]

^^^ Wow, thanks. ^^^

I haven't actually even logged into my site in a few weeks. That little side project is totally on hold at the moment.

Well we're all moved in and somewhat settled. I took all of last week off from extra exercise; moving at this stage in my life is a long and daunting process, especially into a house as big as this one. On top of that a ton of stuff to put together and/or install. Just about got it all now though, last stragglers are the pictures on the wall, a ceiling fan in kiddos room, and what might be a free ikea couch in the garage (long story).

Once all the loose ends of moving are done, its time to move into a bunch of small maintenance tasks that need doing and building a workbench for the shop. Then I've got some furniture to refinish. Needless to say my plate at home is full for a long time.

Last week was kind of crazy. No extra exercise but moving burns a lot of calories. So does moving around the house; goodness its quite a walk from one end to the other. Eating was a bit of a disaster but I logged it all. At least a disaster from the bulking perspective; I lost about a pound of fat last week.

So I started cutting this week. Given that my gains this past bulk were fairly minimal, including fat gains, and that I lost a pound already, I'm not cutting hard and am just sort of lazy cutting. I don't really have a specific goal in mind, somewhere around 31.25" in the waist would be nice, which is only 0.5" from where I am now (incidentally where I was when I started this past bulk), so I can cut easy for 2 weeks and get there no problem (need to lose about 1 lb/wk). The lack of a real concrete goal is because getting all shredded is rather pointless right now and I've already pretty much stripped off the bulking fat gain. I always want to go a little further than the time before, but this time this cut is as much a break from bulking as anything else.

Started exercise back up on Mon, right back into the swing of things. Basement is a great workout space. Nice and cool with firm floors (it has large ceramic tile meant to look like hardwoods). Has a place to mount a pullup bar (though I had to reinforce it a bit). Its a large finished area; basically my old office expanded into a much larger area. I'm going to install some ring mounts eventually in the floor joists. Plus I have a new goal if doing joist pullups (which are holy hell hard, requires epic grip strength). About the only negative is that the ceilings are low for full depth HSPU's on the bars. Even with a drop ceiling tile removed, they didn't go great. I might have to switch gears to press handstands.

Weather permitting tonight will be my first run through the new neighborhood.

[Shortgorilla]

Congrats on everything Waldo.  I'm super jealous of your basement.  Can you share a picture of your workout space?  The floors sound awesome.

[Waldo]

Congrats on everything Waldo.  I'm super jealous of your basement.  Can you share a picture of your workout space?  The floors sound awesome.

Still a bit of a mess, but once the last few boxes are gone and stuff is on the wall I'll take a photo.

[Vector]

Waldo- the house looks & sounds awesome! 

 

I have a creatine question. I used it in  2000-2001 during my only serious bulk (165-215). What I am wondering is if you think or have seen anything about it helping with things like muscle spasms? The last nagging issue that keeps grounding me is spasm in my erectors. I've got them mostly under control, but they like to pop up now & again with training. Reading your post made me wonder if creatine supplementation would help with the contract/relax cycle. No clue from over here.

 

V.

[Waldo]

Waldo- the house looks & sounds awesome! 

 

I have a creatine question. I used it in  2000-2001 during my only serious bulk (165-215). What I am wondering is if you think or have seen anything about it helping with things like muscle spasms? The last nagging issue that keeps grounding me is spasm in my erectors. I've got them mostly under control, but they like to pop up now & again with training. Reading your post made me wonder if creatine supplementation would help with the contract/relax cycle. No clue from over here.

 

V.

I have no idea if creatine would help with it or not. I would assume not, but IDK.

I did notice a few months ago that some of my muscles would be uncontrollably twitchy, it lasted a few weeks. No idea what caused it above and beyond training. Especially occurred in the biceps. Hasn't happened in a while tho.

[Waldo]

Today was my first day hitting up the workout area at the school down the block. Wow.

A perfect outdoor calisthenics area. The monkey bars are so high I almost have to jump to reach them. Perfect stall bars for flag practice. Several lower bars. Big fat p bars for dips; the big fat ones are nice for doing Russian dips, a bit more comfortable imho. If I brought a yoga mat with me, there is a bench that is perfect for natural ham curls.

On top of that it is clearly used and well maintained. The bars aren't all full of bird crap, there are no weeds, the seating area is nice. About the only downside is that there are no lights, but I can deal with that.

Not that I've really branched out that much, but this is hands down the best cali park I've ever been to (though having a 3 yr old, I've been to my fair share of parks around the city). I'm sure there is something nicer somewhere, but this one is definitely up there. And its about 3 blocks from my house. (At Hawthorne elementary for all you ATLers).

[Metalhead]

Been a while since I've been around the forums and your log was one of my first stops. 

 

Congrats on everything with the house situation! I'm glad to hear everything fell into place the way it did. 

[Waldo]

Well today is my 3 year "anniversary". 3 years ago today I stepped on the scale, it said 262, and I decided to make a change. Still going strong.

Weighed in at 200.2 this am. I'm leaner than I've been in decades (can't really say ever, I've been freaky lean, long, long ago). A LOT leaner than I was at 187 lbs after my initial weight loss. Leaner than I was at 186 lbs after I had done 2 bulks and wanted to cut down to always visible abs (my avi was taken at that low point, a little more than a year ago).

I'm starting to settle back into my groove after the move. I still have a ton of work to do around the house so my free time is fairly limited (don't have time to work on my site at the moment), but my workouts and eating have settled down a lot back into their comfortable groove.

[goodbye_farewell]

Happy Anniversary sir. You have accomplished much in 3 years. Congrats!

[JPrev]

Waldo, on a completely separate thing, do you think your journey will affect how your kids view health and fitness as they get older?

[Waldo]

Waldo, on a completely separate thing, do you think your journey will affect how your kids view health and fitness as they get older?

Probably. Biggest thing is kiddo has active parents, sees us work out, and we have him in age appropriate sports, gymnastics, swimming, and soccer thus far.

He's always played on my paralletes, enjoys hanging from the pullup bar/rings, and is always up to do some chase.

The world he knows is that its normal for parents to work out at home every day. I imagine growing up with that normal will be very beneficial in the future.

[Vector]

Congrats on a very effective three years of work, Waldo.

[Yuen]

Well today is my 3 year "anniversary". 3 years ago today I stepped on the scale, it said 262, and I decided to make a change. Still going strong.

 

Happy 3 year "anniversary" Impressive ongoing transformation, especially for its longevity and consistency.

[Shortgorilla]

Congrats on the anniversary.  Always an inspiration.  Much love, Waldo.