Vancouver Open Regionals 2 Months Out Physique Update

I made this video 1 day after I was officially 2 month out from the Vancouver Open Regionals, where my plan is to compete in Men's Physique and more than likely also Classic Physique. At this point I am not sure what age categories I will be competing in as I can compete with younger athletes if I choose to be in an age class that is more competitive. Generally speaking the younger classes have higher caliber athletes in them.

I am very happy with where I am right now 2 months out. I have a lot of work to do but I also have a good amount of time to do it, and my weight and body fat are I would say perhaps better then past shows, even well before my heart surgery. I weigh about 190 pounds give or take a pound or two and my body fat is sitting at close to 8%, again give or take a little bit one way or the other.

My plan is over the next month to actually increase my calories a little bit to 2500 per day and see if I can gain a couple more pounds of muscle, 1 month out I will go into cutting mode, and shred the 2-3% of body fat I will need to get really shredded.

I am feeling really good and in no way am I low on energy or feeling any real hunger. Fingers crossed, I have no injuries or pains that are holding me back and if anything I am in the my best form 2 months out going into a show I have ever been. Again the goal is not be super big as I simply can not do what it would take in terms of performance enhancing options to get there.

I always strive to come in as conditioned as I can, so I can at least out condition most other competitors. Compared to last years show I feel I will be coming in with at least an additional 5 pounds more muscle, which if I am as conditioned will help out a lot as I was out sized buy pretty much everyone at the last show.

Don't Let Retirement Kill You

I thought it would be important to talk about retirement for just a bit. I have watched my father and my father in law both retire and after retirement, they both seemed to go down hill quickly. My father in law worked hard all his life and saved, with the ambition to travel when he retired, but his health went downhill rather quickly and he was only able to make a couple trips before his health just wouldn't allow him to do it anymore. He had a stroke and his kidney required daily filtration which kept him from traveling.

In this shorter video I talk about my view on why specifically men after retirement fade so quickly. In my opinion this does not have to be the case, men in particular need to find a purpose or reason to be excited for each new day, if a person does not fill their life with some sort of purpose after retirement, then what reason do they have to live or look forward to life?

This One Thing Could Save Your Marriage or Relationship

Now nearing on close to 25 years of marriage and I finally figured out one super important thing that at least for myself changed my view on what is expected from me in our marriage. Most men are by default generally happy and we want to be fixers or problem solvers by nature. Women by default want to be understood rather than be fixed, and they predominantly are less happy and secure in themselves. This combination makes for conflict for sure since men want their wife's to be happy and they want to fix everything. That's not really what women are looking for. It's more about understanding and support.

The problem I was having was feeling like I was failing as a husband, because when my wife became unhappy I felt like it was my fault and since most of the issues we have are pretty much the same as they have always been, It must mean I was not doing a good job at fixing any of the ongoing problems.

It kind of becomes this endless loop of one person feeling insecure and unhappy, which can lead to blame on the other person out of frustration in the situation. Then the other person feels responsible and helpless to fix the problem, which causes an over reaction which essentially fuels the situation and makes it all worse.

As I always do when I am at a loss and can not figure out something on my own, I went to the internet to find out what I could learn and I came across a YouTube channel called the "The Happy Wife School" which focuses on women and their inherent level of unhappiness. The channel focuses on women and helping them understand how this can negatively effect a marriage and ways to take ownership and correct it. There is information on the "The Happy Wife School" YouTube channel for men also, but I learned more from watching videos for women which helped me understand better what is going on in their minds. I realized I was taking way too much responsibility for my wife's happiness which was putting a lot of pressure on me since I will never be able to rid my wife of these feeling entirely.

Just understanding this one key point has released me from much of the pressure I was putting on myself in our marriage. Of course I want my wife to be happy, but I now realise this does not come from me being perfect or being the ideal husband. All she really wants is love and security and knowing I am on her side even if we do not see eye to eye or have the ability to fix the situation currently causing us problems.

Vancouver Open Regional May Update Video

It's been about a month since I posted any updates about the Vancouver Open Regional Fitness Show I am preparing for. There is usually not a lot to really cover at the beginning since this is going to be a longer prep than last year, about 3.5 months in total. A lot has happened in the last month which has surprised me. My body like last year is really responding to the changes I make getting ready for a show. Better eating, more consistent training and training intensity, and I am trying to get a bit more sleep to help with recovery. Well it is all paying off as I have for sure trimmed up a lot and I am putting on muscle as planned.

At two months out (This coming up Saturday) I will be looking at where I am making some food changes, more than likely I will be increasing my food intake as I have dropped weight a bit too much and at the time I write this post I am sitting around 7-8% body fat, I really do not want to drop much lower than 7% as I still need to add some muscle and getting too lean could slow down muscle growth.

This is a great problem to have and being 2 months out and already within a few percentage points of being show conditioned means the last month when I generally have to cut hard and diet down will be much less stressful on my mind and body.

BetaFPV Meteor75 Pro DJI O4 Air Unit First Flights

I made a First Flights video for my BetaFPV Pavo20 Pro a few weeks back so why not make one for its little brother, the BetaFPV Meteor75 Pro with DJI O4 Air Unit? My Pavo20 Pro has the much higher quality DJI O4 Pro Camera which is a beast. But if I want to fly more discreetly, then a super small 1s drone like the BetaFPV Meteor75 Pro is super tiny and quiet and flies under the radar so to speak. If I did run into someone I'm sure they would be just fine.

Enjoy some of my first flights with the BetaFPV Meteor75 Pro DJI O4 Air Unit...

If you are interested in checking out the BetaFPV Website to see what they have to offer, I would appreciate you using the below link as it is a way for BetaFPV to know that I am sending potential customers their way. That way it will hopefully encourage them to send me some more toys to play with and review:

https://betafpv.com/GetFitOver40