I'm heading back to the gym.  Three or four months ago I let my membership lapse and stopped working out.  I was spending too much time taking care of Derek, managing his life, and putting in too many hours at work — I had simply run out of time to get to the gym on a regular basis.  On top of the time constraints, I became somewhat financially strapped when I was stuck with the old apartment after Derek moved out.

Because the last two years have been so hectic and overshadowed by the extenuating circumstances surrounding Derek, I think I simply had too much on my mind to remain focused on my workouts and goals.  Now that I'm out from under the veil of Derek's health situation and the overwhelming burden that placed on me, I think refocusing on my workout goals will be easier.  To ensure I get started on the right foot, I've hired a personal trainer to help me get a plan put together that should help me to realize my goals in the most expeditious way possible.

I'll post an updated workout plan as soon as I've had a chance to solidify it with the personal trainer.  Expect to see that in the next few weeks.  Once I get back into the groove of things, I'll start posting regularly on my progress.

By the way, I have a significant reason to focus on my workouts in order to make progress in reshaping my body.  xocobra, one of my three closest and best friends*, is getting married in July of next year.  The wedding is a destination wedding to be held on the beaches of Cozumel, Mexico.  As the best man in the wedding and the person driving the dress code, I think it would be wise for me to be in shape so I'm not the only one not in beach attire when the wedding takes place.  I think this will help keep me focused and put a definitive deadline on attaining a significant portion of my exercise goals.

* – The term "best friend" tends to sound exclusive, as if it were intended only for one person in my life.  That's never made sense to me since no one person can fulfill all of our needs and desires in the friendship arena.  I have three friends in my life that I consider to be my best friends — Jenny, xocobra and Rick.  I thought that worth mentioning since I will often refer to each of them individually as my best friend but do not intend that statement to exclude the other two from the same kind of relationship.  Each of them is a best friend for different reasons and each of them means the world to me.