DAY 1: It starts here.

Hi everyone,

for people who don't know me, my name is Michel and am a passionate graphic designer/illustrator/musician/ex-bodybuilder/blablabla...

People who know me already understood: I like ... uhum ... LOVE 300 (yes the movie! pff!) and it has in a way been my guide in perceiving life for a while now – am not gonna dwell in the details but to be a complete NERD and put it out there once and for all, i've seen the movie over 50 times (not gonna tell you how much exactly, 50 is already geeky enough).

To cut to the chase, here's what's going down:
My normal ideal weight for my height is 84Kgs, but a bodybuilding obsession made me bulk up to a massive 104kgs. But a couple of years ago, I decided to stop bodybuilding because I found it was hindering my snowboarding performance in winter '09 – where I was actually sinking in the snow because of the ridiculous weight. However, I had developed a HUGE appetite necessary to bulk up, which lead me even after I stopped to keep eating around 6 times a day and still be famished 24/7. Worst of all, when under tremendous stress, the ONLY thing that got to calm me down and prepare me for the next bout became – you guessed it – FOOD. GREAT AMOUNTS OF FOOD... great amounts of JUNK food: looots of chocolate, potato chips, soft drinks and the very well known – in Beirut at least – ROADSTERS! Add to that, I tore my stupid ankle ligaments while snowboarding in winter '10 so brinnng onnn the bucket o' chicken and the frituuuure.

The result: I kept my 104kg muscle frame but transformed it to a 27% fatty belly-poppin lump of man!!

But the good news is that with all that annoying summer heat and completely stopping sports (which am not sure is a good thing) I lost my appetite, and managed to drop down (unconsciously) to 96.5Kgs, my actual weight now, on this 26th of August 2010.

Now I just explained to you how much I love 300. I quote it day in day out. Just don't shut up about it... So get this, my birthday was 6 days ago and my girlfriend surprised me with this amazing gift: A MIND BLOWING LIFE SIZE SPARTAN HELMET replica ;)

 
I automatically started wearing it and I've been parading around in it everywhere for the past 6 days (not a very wise choice she made huh?! :P). But today it hit me: I'm not worthy of the helmet. I don't amount to King Leonidas and although I aspire to follow his spartan lifestyle of relentless training and unshakable will and inspiring leadership, he's really ahead of me. I realized things had to change. I had been planning every year since 300 came out to have an amazing ripped body and dress up as His Majesty for Halloween but I was unable to – I never managed to make my abs pop that much and my costume would've sucked with painted pectorals and mid-section!

So here's the deal. I have a helmet I can't wear now. But things can change. Halloween is in 65 days: Good odds for any spartan-fanATIC to push himself and achieve a "descended from Hercules himself" body. And that's what I feel like doing! NAY! THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING STARTING NOW.

This blog will be the platform I'm going to use to document every bit of the journey.

65 days to go.

I'm going to be very cheesy. EXTREMELY CHEESY! and say:
"THIS is where we hold them,
THIS is where we FIGHT!
THIS is where THEY DIE!!" (the fat in that case? hahahahahaha)

loooool a part of me feels so ridiculous and can't even imagine what kind of comments my bit-more-serious (euphemism for aka stuck-up? or normal?) friends are gonna lay me down with...
ie: A friend of mine, let's call him PATRICK SAMAHA would send me THIS LINK for instance...
but on the other hand, well, LET'S HAVE SOME FUN AND NOT GIVE A SHIT shall we?! :D ... i need some outrageousness these days anyways and this is the best way to go IMHO.

I've just contacted a very serious sport freak and very disciplined buddy of mine; A true spartan in all angles; Let's call him
... (pause for dramatic effect) ... MILOS!!!
Milos has agreed to take on the challenge and train with me. We re meeting tomorrow to discuss the training times and diet.

IT STARTS RIGHT HERE!!!
FUCKIN' AAAAA.

HAOUUUU! (cheers)