WARNING: Semi-naked man photos below

(....nothing you wouldn't see at a public swimming pool)

(......well, not one of those 'shady' kinda suburban pools on TV)

(.........okay, it's going to be pictures of me without my shirt on. Got it? If this is going to cause you to have nightmares and regrets, then click away from this site. NOW! Otherwise...this man below is about to remove his shirt for your enjoyment.)















(....when I say 'enjoyment', that's just me being funny. There's nothing sick or twisted on this website. It's a 'blog' about my exercise routine. Got it? Can we continue now??)

Great! Now here come the half-naked pics!

P90X - Day 265

Yes, it's hard to believe, but I have been P90X-ing for 265 days now. I started my 90 day journey on April 4th. A lot has changed since then. It's been a difficult journey. I mean, seriously: I do not like exercising! That's my wife's department.

I began this journey because I had reached the 190lb plateau, and found myself unable to drop back down into the 180's again. I realized I needed to do something serious to make a difference. I had heard great things about the P90X routines, and so I began my 6-day-a-week 90 day journey. You can see my results in the earlier recorded blogs (check out July's).

Looking back, 90 days made a GREAT change. I reduced my belly-fat content from 1" to 7/16". I was hanging around 182-184lbs on a consistent basis. I noticed a great deal of leaning up and toning of my muscles, specifically my shoulders and arms and back. PLUS -- as you can see by the photos from summer, I felt good about how my body looked, especially with some sun coloring ;-)

And then the 90-day journey was over. But I didn't want to give up all of my hard work and let my body revert back to the old self. But I knew I couldn't continue with the grueling 6-day workout routine. So I modified my workouts, taking from my favorite routines (and leaving out my least favorites!) I modified my weeklyroutine to 4 days a week on a 5 week rotation. Weeks 1 and 3 I worked on strength and cardio; weeks 2 and 4 I worked on applications, i.e. pushups and pullups. Then week 5 I just did cario, plyo, and yoga. During the first 4 weeks of rotation, I did AB-CRUNCHER-X twice a week. But skipped this routine during week 5. Along the journey, I missed a few workouts. I even missed a few weeks. But I felt ok, as long as I stayed faithful to the regimine (sp?).

It's been good. I've been able to keep my muscle tone. And I can still slam out 122 pullups on my application days. I'm not putting on much bulk (that was NEVER my goal), and my muscles still feel/appear to be toned. I lost my summer coloring...bummer. But it will be back next summer, I'm sure. My belly fat is resting at 9/16". But let's be real, here. I still enjoy: beer, whiskey, fried food, and sweets. So I haven't given up the things I like, and I'm able to gorge myself on Thanksgiving Day, knowing that it will not be stored long-term down below.

I still hate working out. But now that I'm self-employed, I budget my workouts for 8-9:30. So after showering, I can make it to work by 10am. In the words of Adam Sandler, "Not too shabby!"

About 2 months ago, I started noticing a lower back pain. Still haven't figured out what it is. I'm blaming my new chair situation at work. I'm going to resolve it this January, so hopefully this will ease, or eliminate my pain. Until then, my yoga and stretching is a bit limited. I still do it, because it helps work thru the pain. But it hurts...

I'd like to believe that I can keep this P90X thing going. I feel healthier, and I think I look better. I just hate the workout. I'd rather be surfing, or playing dominoes with the kids, or chilling on the couch with my bride. But they all would rather have me upstairs working out so that I can enjoy the rest of my life with them being as active as I have always been.

Speaking of being active, today is our last day in Denver for the year. Tomorrow we head up to Breckenridge for a week-long skiing and snowboarding fest. It is our semi-annual Christmas in Breck trip. I plan on coming back completely exhausted and in no shape to resume my P90X routine nor take on my 2012 work load. But hopefully by Monday, January 2nd, I will be back on the wagon and ready to resume a life of "normality".

Hah! As if the life of Aaron Zimmer has EVER been normal. :-)


















May you and your family have a blessed and wonderful CHRISTmas!

Greetings -

When I began this journey, I thought to myself, "What could I accomplish if I ran the P90X program for 90 days?" I've never really been much of a fitness junkie. Sure, I'm in shape from skiing, and ice-skating, and biking, and hiking, and swimming, and all that. But ever since my hockey-ending injury 2 years ago, I've been noticing my overall fitness and physique has been in decline. Actually, I guess that's not totally true. My PHYSIQUE has been increasing, just in areas that I'd rather not see it grow.

I began P90X on April 4th, 2011. At that time I was gainfully employed, busy as ever with kids activities, and scouts, and church, and blah, blah, blah. Fastforward 90 days, and I find myself no longer employed, enjoying the summer activities with the kiddos, and having a great time in the sun (hence the darker colored skin tone in these images).

It has been a tough journey, that's for sure. I have missed a few days, and even postponed my workouts for an entire week. I did not do the meal/diet plan. Rather, I chose to cut back on my calories while still enjoying the food (i.e., beer) and other things that I live for. On Sunday morning, we'll still bike into Lowry for a bagel. Yum, yum! This weekend was a tough one, with some great food options to enjoy. BUT - I eat in moderation, and have worked very, very hard to reduce my stomach size, and consequently my appetite. When I snack, I try to eat healthy. But if I'm eating crap food, I try to limit the amount of bad stuff that I eat.

Also, I gave up pop cold-turkey. 90 days is twice as long as any Lent experiment that I've ever done. It was tough (I'm a huge Diet Dr. Pepper fan), but in then end, I think it's all been worth it. I've turned to lots of ice water, iced tea, and coffee. The only thing that suffers from this is the brightness of my teeth. :-)

So here are the stats: when I began, I weighed 191lbs. Now, I'm hoveeing just below 190, usually around 188lbs. I can get down to 186lbs, but it's not a healthy weight. When I started, I was squeezing into my size 34 waist pants and shorts. Now, I have to wear a belt with all of my pants and shorts. 90 days ago, I had 1" inch exactly of belly fat. Now, I have 1/2". That's a 50% reduction (I like this number!) There's a bunch of other unmeasurable changes. I feel more solid. It's obvious that I have greater muscle mass. My shoulders look amazing -- unfortunately the pictures don't really pic up the smaller muscle tone improvements.

Working out is still tough. However, I've discovered the P90x+ routines, which are only 40 minutes a piece. I think I'll start doing these a bit more. My plan is to work out at least 4 days a week, instead of 6. I'll still do the strength stuff, mixed in with some of the cardio workouts.

it's been a fun experiment, one that I will reap the benefits from for the rest of summer. Now it's back to reality, and keeping the workouts going will be a challenge. Still, I find myself committed to this program.

Thanks for checking in from time to time. It's been fun having an audience!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. When I started, I could only do 30 pullups (5 sets of 6 each. There are 8 total sets to do, and I could only complete 5). But now I'm up to 15 pullups each set. So that's 120 pullups. Woo-hoo!!

Greetings!

30-days, and I can already see and feel the difference. I'm excited about the program, the routines, and the results. Funny story. I'm moving into a different phase of the P90X, i.e. different routines, different muscles, different exercises. I lamented previously about the pushups. Yuk! But I was actually disappointed to be abandoning the pullups for 4-weeks. Good news. I was wrong. Tonight is the pullup session, so I'm excited to build off of my previous achievements. Hopefully I can do my 80 pullups tonight. Maybe even crank out a few extra ;-)

First things first. Last night my son took 1st place in the Speed category for the Pinewood Derby race. While I did have some influence with the design and wheel modifications, I can tell you he did a good majority of the work. Out of the top 4 cars, he took the top prize: fastest car of the night. Congrats to my little man!

Kaleb - First Place for Speed (and overall fastest car of the night cup)















Kaleb came in 4th place for design. No trophy for that!















And then there's Jade. She had the fastest car several years ago (1st grade, I think). And while she had the 5th fastest car in her division last night (3rd thru 6th grade, boys and girls), she managed to scoop up the first place trophy for design. The coolest part of this story is that she owns this award. She came up with the design and spent several nights in the garage working on her car -- on her own. Good job, Jade! I feel like I've taught you to fish...now you can go out and teach others.

Jade 2011 - First Place Design















Jade 2007 - First Place Speed















Jade 2006 - Second Place Design
















And now for the P90X - Day 30 Update Pics
The last pic is my favorite. Enjoy!

Wow. Week five. I find this strangely odd that I've been able to endure the program for 4 solid weeks, without missing a single routine. Even when we were gone for a min-vacaction, I managed to bring along the laptop and squeeze in workout. The cool thing is that I'm seeing results. I've already bragged about the 1/4" of missing belly-fat, and you've heard me lament about the up-and-down weight loss. And yes, my pants are fitting much better. Yeah! What I haven't talked about yet is the comfort in sitting. Instead of having this spare tire sticking out around my mid-section when I'm sitting at the computer (9+ hours per day), I notice there is a nice little crease in my mid-section. The belly is getting tighter! My obliques are rock hard. That's awesome! But overall, I do believe that my physique is sharper. I'll post my 30-day pics online tonight. You all can be the judge.

I've hit a bit of a stumbling block. I've got this uncomfortable knot in my chest, like the early formings of a chest cold. I'm fighting it, tooth and nail. Still, it's setting me back a bit with the cardio. Oh well, keep on keepin' on! Also, I've been working out barefoot on the carpet. And last night I ripped off a pretty big chunk of skin off of my big toe. OUCH! I think I'd better start wearing some tennies for the cardio stuff.

I don't really have too much more to add. Just ramblin' on. So I thought I'd post my worksheets online. You can browse them if you want. You can see the progress and improvement I'm making from week to week.

I'm a bit bummed, because I won't be doing pullups for the next 4 weeks. It's pushups instead (yuk!) Oh well.

One more thing. Keep in mind that I've been doing the lean program, with max. weights at 10lbs. I said this numerous time: I do not want to bulk up. Just want to tone up the muscles for a better beach body!








Have a great week!
a.Z.

Day 24 - Kenpo

Have I told you how much I really like the Kenpo? It's a fun blend between kickboxing, boxing, and karate class. You really get a great workout, it's only an hour long, and lot's of cardio and toning exercises.

I'm really digging the P90X experience. As I was working out, I kept admiring the tone and definition in my shoulders. I think right now that's where it's the most noticeable. Oh, I'm also getting this really cool dimple on the side of my stomach. Either side of the fat deposit up front. I think the muscle group is called the "external obliques".


Anyways, I'm starting to see the muscles get more exposed, so that tells me that the fat deposits that were previously hiding my obliques has been severely minimized! BTW - next time you see me, feel free to take a shot at my obliques. They're rock hard, almost steel-like. Only a few friends have actually taken the opportunity to strike me with a full-force punch. I feel like some silly frat boy walking around going, "Hey, wanna hit me as hard as you can? Go for it. Do it!" But on the otherside, it's fun to finally have the strength back in my core to warrant the party trick.

I was talking with some friends last night. It's amazing how different people get different things out of this P90X. They were lamenting about how much they HATE the yoga. I actually like it. Well, as much as you can enjoy a one-and-a-half hour long torture session. But like everything else, I feel like the yoga is giving me more strength, more stamina, and great results with my body. I guess the bottom line is this: P90X can give you whatever you are looking for. I entered the program not knowing where it would take me. I was optimistic about the journey, and thus far am happy with the results.

Except for one thing: my weight. I entered the program because I was stuck around 190lbs. I thought that doing the P90X would get me down to fluctuating between 180-185lbs. But sadly, my weight has fluctuated between 186-192lbs. Uggggg. But there are a few saving graces. My pants are fitting better, so this tells me that I'm losing weight. I look better in the mirror (I find myself flexing quite often at night, when I'm alone :-) I've improved from being able to do 12 pullups to 80. EIGHTY PULLUPS!!! And I've removed a measurable 1/4" of stomach fat. So I know that my higher weight is most likely a result of new muscles. And I can FEEL the strength on my body, in my core. So I know that the higher weight is okay, since I'm actually doing better things for my body now.

That's all. Ciao!

p.s. Speaking of "Ciao", we watched a terrible movie last night. "The American" with George Clooney. Boy was that movie S-L-O-W! I watched 1/3 of the movie in fast forward, to get past the terrible cinematography. People told me that the movie was worth it for the ending. Nope. Sorry. It reminded me of the movie, "The Departed", where everyone dies at the end, which left me wondering, "Why did I waste my time watching this movie?" Yep. That's how I felt last night.

George Clooney - I want 1.5hrs. of my life back, please!

Day 22 - Yoga

W.O.W. It's hard to believe that I started down this journey just 4 weeks ago. Phew!

Since then, I have experienced lots of sweat, sore muscles, weight loss and weight gain, new achievements, reduced fat content, revised diet, and NO SODA POP!

We spent Easter at some good friend's house. They grilled steak and potatoes (isn't that the traditional easter meal?) The steak was awesome! Some good cuts, nice and thick, and perfectly cooked. But I found that I could only eat about 8oz. This made me smile. I was faced with some good, high-quality food, and I couldn't gorge myself. I have been working hard to reduce my stomach size (intake), and I think I'm seeing the results.

I'm still stuck between 185lbs (low end) and 190lbs (high end), but I know that I'm putting on some great muscle. I can see it in the mirror, and I can feel it on my body.

So as I begin my 4th week on the system, I'm in the interim week. So no weight lifting or pullups, it's all about cardio and yoga and stretching and kenpo. I'm a bit disappointed, but I know that they have tailored this program for a reason.

The good news is that yesterday's yoga session went very, very well. Did I tell you that Kathy did yoga with me during the 2nd week, and has refused to join me in it since? That made me feel great, because she's a tough-as-nails aerobic instructor....and I can out-yoga her. So as I plow my way thru the 4th week of yoga, I'm feeling stronger than ever before. I can hold my poses for most of the 1.5hrs. In fact, there was only two poses yesterday that I had to "pause" on. It makes me feel accomplished.

Tonight is cardio (and I'm going to sneak in the AB ripper routine...shhhh, don't tell Tony!) Overall, I'm looking forward to the week and am encouraged by my results thus far.

I think I'll snap my 30-day shots at the end of this week and get them posted. Ciao!

Day 18 - Arms and Legs

W.O.W.

I had two major accomplishments today.

First, I was able to do all 350 situp reps today during the AB routine. Yeah! For those keeping score, that's twice now for me. Unfortunately, that also means that I have set a new pace, and must now challenge myself to always make it thru the grueling 350 reps. I guess the pro's outweigh the con's.

Secondly, and I think this is a HUGE one: I did 80 pullups tonight. Folks, I'm NOT lying here. I did 80 freakin' pullups tonight.

Let me explain. The arms and legs routine has 8 sets of pullups in various conditions. The first week I did 6 pullups per routine, but was only able to make it thru 5 out of the 8 routines (the pullups are interlaced between various leg and cardio routines. So it goes leg reps, then cardio reps, the pullups. Then repeat. 8 times total). Last week I was able to get thru 7 out of the 8 sets, with 2 of the sets I used a small stool to assist me with the pullups.

So I checked my tracker sheet, and last week I did 8 pullups for my first set. When I jumped up there today, I was pretty impressed with how easily 10 reps came for me on the first set. Then the next set, 10 more. And the 3rd set, 10 more. I started thinking...you know, I might be able to do 10 reps for each set.

As I hit the 7th set, I started to wane. But I pushed (or pulled) through it. And finally, for the 8th set, I knew I had to finish strong. When I completed the 10th pullup (aka 80th), I was SOOOOOO stoked! It was such a HUGE milestone for me.

It really shows how mixing up the muscle workouts, aka muscle confusion, can strengthen each muscle group overall. I only do pullups once a week -- but to see that kind of improvement, it is a testimony to the other workouts and routines (like the pushups during yoga) and how my muscles are growing stronger week to week.

I'm kinda bummed. The weight pumping routines (Tuesday and Thursday) will be skipped next week. Oh well, at least I'll have fun with Yoga and Kenpo.

I'm still stuck between 186-189lbs. But my shorts are fitting much, much looser. In fact, I need to start wearing a belt more often. That's a GREAT sign!

Tomorrow is Friday. Woo-hoo! My day off, and my day to spend with Kim. Great things planned! Have fun at work (if you're into that kind of thing!)

Day 16

It's been 16 days since I began my journey. Overall, I feel that I've been 90% successful with this program. I've never missed a day of exercise, and I am finding myself with more strength, more stamina, more endurance, and more focus.

My diet has been okay. I am not following the P90X nutrition system, but have committed to reducing my portions, eliminating my sugar intake and overall snacking. I'm eating fruit for breakfast (I never usually eat breakfast), I'm eating light lunches (salad or Subway 6" sandwich), and I'm trying to limit my dinner meal plus evening snacks. Truth tho, it's tough. I find myself hungrier and hungrier throughout the day. Limiting my snacking is tough. I started at a solid 190lbs, and this a.m. that's where I was. Still. But yesterday I was at 185lbs. THAT was a GOOD day! I guess I didn't do too well with my diet and snacking last night :-( Today I will do better, and I expect to be around the 186lb mark this evening.

Yesterday was a break-through for me. When doing the AB routine, it was the first time I was able to do all 350 reps along with the video. It was very tough, and I nearly stumbled at a few portions. But I did it. I made it through -- WOO HOO!

I've also adjusted my sleeping. I read that if you get 8hrs of sleep a night (as opposed to my usual 6hrs.), that you can burn more calories. It feels better for me. I'm not as tired as I used to be. i.e., I haven't had to take my lunchtime naps since starting this program. That's pretty impressive.

I can feel the change mostly in my shoulders and arms. My tris feel stronger than ever. I'm able to do quite a bit more pushups and pullups than before all this began. And I'm starting to feel the change in my belly. It doesn't feel as "swollen" as when I began. I mentioned before that I have measured 1/8" loss of fat around my mid-section, so that makes me feel better.

Overall, I'm happy with the results after just a few weeks of work. I'm glad that my family is allowing me the 1-hr+ time necessary to do this. And it's been fun to do the 15-min. AB routine with Kathy and the kids.

If I can keep up this pace, and really trim back my late night snacking, I think I'll be in great shape by the end of it all.

Day 14 - Kenpo

Today is Sunday. Normally, this is my "day of rest" for the P90X routine. But yesterday was CRAZY BUSY HECTIC, so I did not have a chance to get in my kenpo routine. Expecting this, I budgeted an hour for Sunday morning to get my workout in.

wow! I do love this kenpo workout.

First things first, my diet has been okay. As I have explained before, I'm not giving up my normal food, just working to reduce the portions. Except for pop. I've given this up cold turkey, two weeks and counting. But this weekend we were out and about, and I may have enjoyed a bit too much of the good food. Friday it was wings and beer. Saturday it was Chipotle. Last night (dinner) it was Sweet Tomatoes, which is an acceptable choice, but since it's an all-you-can-eat buffet, I totally ate TOO MUCH salad and soup. Uggg.

So I start the week off at: 187lbs. :-( I seem to be stuck here at this number. Sure, I know I'm putting on muscle (I can FEEL it), but still, I'd like to trim off a few dress sizes and get my weight down to a steady low 180's number. Perhaps this week??

Today was fun. Jade decided to workout with me. Keep in mind that she is a super-soccer stud and can run laps around her opponents. So it was nice to see her winded and have to take extra breaks while I pushed thru the routine. But I was proud of her....she really worked it hard, sweating a ton and drinking 2 glasses of water.

I do like this kenpo routine. I'm starting to develop an infinity for a few of my favorite routines. Just not sure which ones they are quite yet. But I definitely like this P90X workout system. Two weeks down, and I feel quite accomplished.

I have one more week on this system, then week 4 is a bunch of yoga and stretching routines. Keep on rockin' and rockin!

Have a great week!
a.Z.

Day 10 - Legs, Back, and Abs

First things first -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE!

My young bride turned 27 today. Yea! (She was 12 when we got married). A big SHOUT OUT to her, and I hope that her day is perfect.

So, I haven't done my exercise yet. Truth is, I'm sitting here with my black coffee catching up on my blog statistics. Today is the Legs and Back and Abs routine. Quite possibly my LEAST FAVORITE out of the six. It's the pullups that do me in. I'm excited to use my newly installed pullup bar, tho.

Usually this would be my Friday routine, but today we're going up to Breck to celebrate Kat's bday. So I switched routines, thinking that the Yoga workout would be easier to do in the condo.

I'm not sure that I'll be able to post an update for you regarding my workout, because of the time constraint. As soon as the kids get home, we're piling into the Durango to head for Summit County. But let's just assume that there was a lot of huffing and puffing, sweating and swearing (not really!) And that I lost 2lbs of water, but recovered with 3lbs of food. My diet was fine, nothing major. We are grilling sliders tonight, which I think is better than burgers, or brats, or steaks, because they are smaller and take longer to eat, so thus I will eat less. Make sense? I'm still hovering at a steady 186lbs. I haven't seen 184lbs since last week, and sometime I still tip the scale at 190lbs. But if I were at the DMV today and they asked my weight, I would answer with confidence: 186lbs.

Okay, onto the real meat of today's blog: my audience. I'm averaging 18 visits a day. Yea! That's about 17 more than I expected. So if you are peeking into my life and enjoying the read, then I thank you, because I appreciate the audience.

But what I can't understand is this: who are you??

According to the blog stats, I have had visitors -- THIS WEEK -- from: Singapore (6 hits), Nigeria (2 hits), Canada (2 hits, Ken and Sus??), Slovenia (2), Ukraine (2), Columbia (1), and Denmark (1). This I find both fascinating and STRANGE!!

Who is viewing this post from Singapore?? And Nigeria?? And Slovenia, or Ukraine, or Columbia, or Denmark??

I think I'm kind of a boring guy. So I find it immensely intriguing that I would have an audience from various parts of the world. Now, I get it -- these viewers may be random persons that have stumbled across my blogspot. But I've got to think that some of these folk know me, and I'm just not aware of which country they are viewing the pages from.

So do me a favor. If you are viewing my blogspot from OUTSIDE of the US, and you know me personally, let me know who you are and where you're viewing from by leaving a quick message at the end of this post. For example, "Hey Aaron, love your post. Good luck with the P90X stuff. Ken, from c-A n-A d-A" (that's my favorite Canada joke, if you haven't heard it before).

Or if you are the executor of the will for my long lost Uncle from Nigeria, then rest assured, the check is in the mail and I can't wait to inherit my fortune -- yee-hah!

:-)
a.Z.

p.s. I had meant to publish this picture yesterday. This is a perfect example of what I am trying to AVOID. I can't believe that some people would actually choose this for their life??




















I mean really......a poodle??

Day 9 - Arms, Shoulders, and ABs

Wow, I'm very much amazed that I've made it to week #2. Actually, this week is so crazy and hectic (can you hear a re-occurring theme yet?), that I've had to switch the routines up.

We're going up to Breckenridge on Thursday to celebrate my bride's 28th b-day. We'll be there through Friday night, which is totally going to screw up my workouts. BUT, I have a plan. If I do the intense pullup routine (legs, back, abs) on Thursday instead of Friday, then I can take our mini laptop up to the mountains and do the Yoga routine while the kids frolic in the pool on Friday. THEN, I think I'll use my "day of rest" for Saturday, since it's a terrible, terrible hectic day, and do my Kenpo on Sunday, which is much less crazy hectic. Phew! I get exhausted just typing about it all! Jeesh.

So I was concerned yesterday about when I was going to be able to get my workout in. I decided to sneak home for the lunch period and work on the first part (1-hr.) Normally, my Tuesday workout would be the cardio (according to the lean program), but because of the crazy switch up on Thurs/Fri/Sat, I decided to get the iron-pumping upper body routine in today, and save the cardio for tomorrow (wed.). Is this all making sense? Sorry, I'm just kinda typing what comes to thought. Like mumbling my thoughts!

So nothing special to report. I did great with my reps. I use my 10lb. weights for everything. Sometimes I think I'm under doing it, especially when the guys on the movie are using 25lbs, and the girls are using the 10lbs. But I just remind myself that I DO NOT WANT TO BULK UP! I'm not going for beefcake here. Rather, I want good, hardened lean muscles. So I go for reps. In fact, when they do 12-16 reps, I'm pushing out 24+. So that makes me feel worthwhile.

Once I had finished my iron-pumping routine, I realized that I could squeeze in my ab workout, but I'd be a few minutes late getting back from lunch. No biggy. So I started. Well, after I got to the crunchy frogs (3rd routine), I realized I didn't quite have it in me to finish the intense ab workout. So I decided to wait.

Which worked out very well for me.

We love to watch the biggest loser as a family. My primary complaint, however, is their need to take a 1-hr. show and draw it out into a 2-hr. episode. It gets so old watching the same clip, over and over, before the commercial, and after the commercial. It's a joke! And the weigh ins are terrible. 40 minutes to narrow down who lost the least amount. Since we no longer have Tevo, it's quite unbearable. But still, we love the show.

Well, last night I pitched an idea to the family. "Would you like to do the AB routine with me during the weigh-ins?" Everyone was on board, except for Kim, who desperately wanted to go to bed :-) So Jade, and Kaleb, and Kathy and I all did the 15-minute ab routine while NBC bored the audience with the same 'ol recipe for weigh-ins. By the time we were done, they were down to the final 2 weigh-ins, which is all that really matters.

I was proud of my family. They did GREAT! Jade is a super athlete, and the AB routine kicked her butt! Kaleb, who is nothing but skin and bones, breezed through the routines with ease. Kathy, who tends to complain about the extra five pounds she has been hiding on her waist for the past half-dozen years, FLEW through the routine. She could have been, dare I say, an INSTRUCTOR! I was very, very impressed with the strength and endurance she displayed throughout this intense 15-min. routine.

It was fun. I'm glad everyone joined me. It made us feel united, and I think we'll continue this Tuesday night tradition.

This a.m. I weighed in at a solid 186.5lbs. I'm okay with this for now.

My tummy is RUMBLING!! It's hungry, but it's a false hunger. I'm still working on reducing the size of the stomach so that my hunger pains can be reduced. Lots of water, and carrot sticks, and almonds for snacks.

Today's meals have looked like such:
Breakfast: coffee (black, always!), and a banana
Mid-morning snack: 8 yogurt covered pretzels and 6 ginger snap cookies (yum! yum!)
Lunch: Subway (I walk there, about 1/2 mile ea. way). spicy Italian with Swiss cheese, lots of veggies, oil and a lot of vinegar. And half of a powerade for a drink.
Afternoon snack: handful of cinn. bears and an apple.

So what do I miss the most? Well, I really miss beer. Not that I've given it up, but I just don't think that it fits into my diet plan right now. It's more for the Sunday "day of rest" timeslot. Also, I miss portions. I miss being able to eat whatever I want, whenever I want. When I did this, I weighed 190lbs. But I had too much fat. I'm not seeing the trade off yet. I feel like I'm hungry WAY MORE, and I've only lost 3lbs. That's hard to deal with. But I'd like to believe that I'm replacing the fat with muscle. Oh, and sugar. I really miss sugar. I miss eating peanut butter cups, and sweet tarts, and a 5lb. bag of cinn. bears, and Diet Dr. Pepper, and Slushies! Not that I can't enjoy these (I had one peanut butter cup last night), but the trade off isn't worth it for me right now.

Keep on rockin'! Right?

Day 8 - Core Synergetics

Okay, okay...sorry for the late posting (for all 4 of you out there that are actually reading this). I guess I got caught up on my "day of rest". We had a lot of stuff to get done, and in the traditional Zimmer family MO, I needed my Monday to recuperate from the CRAZY 3-day weekend. But wait, you didn't have a 3-day weekend? Well, don't fret. In case you didn't know, I've been on a 4-day work week since Oct. of '09. While this may seem like a piece of paradise, it's actually...yeah, I guess that's pretty nice, actually. It comes with a 20% paycut, but hey, I LOVE hanging out with my little girl on Fridays!

But I digress....

Where was I? Oh yeah, the P90X system! So I made it thru one week of my new work out regime. (Yeah! Pat on the back...) It definitely had it's ups and downs, but for the most part I am excited about the changes. After about 36 hours of being on the system, I weighed myself and was happy to see the scale tip at 184lbs. BUT - my joy was short-lived. I seem to be hitting that terrible "week 2" that you always see on the Biggest Loser. My weight is fluctuating quite a bit. Sometimes I'm back at the 190lb. mark, and other times I'm down to 185lb. But I seem to be at a steady 187lbs. :-( But having watched the Biggest Loser for 11 seasons, I realize that there is a process in which we begin to trade our unwanted fat cells for the much more desirable lean muscle mass. And muscle adds weight!

The nice thing is that I know this is true, because I'm already able to exceed my initial week's workout as far as pushups, and situps, and pullups, and weight reps that I am able to do. Plus, Kathy says my pipes seem bigger. Yeah, right! "Which way to the beach?"

So Monday was another round of Core Synergetics. Great routine, and I did much better this week than last. Still pouring out the sweat, which is a great sensation.

My diet is going well. I'm beginning to wean myself from the sugary snacks that are stored in my drawer at work. Not as many cinn. bears and cookies to tempt me. Actually I've turned my sweet tooth's attention to yogurt covered pretzels (about 8 per snack), and I have a banana for breakfast, greek yogurt for a mid-day snack, and apple for the 2:30pm munchies window, and sugar free gum. Lunch is either Subway or a salad. It's helping me maintain a good, solid 187lb. reading on the scale.

Whenever I do a workout that requires me to be on all fours and arching my back, I can see why I'm doing this. There is a terrible layer, about 2" of fat that hangs down from my belly. Sure, I can hide this for the most part when I'm upright. But there's no hiding it when gravity is at work. I know I can get rid of this....just got to melt the fat away so that the abs of steel can be on display!

p.s. Wait until you hear about my story about Kathy's abs of steel! It's next....

Day 7 - Day of Rest....yeah, right!

The Zimmer fam hardly ever rests. It's just not in our DNA. We've always got to be doing something, going somewhere, meeting someone, blogging something, seeing something, or sleeping hard!

Today was no exception.

Sundays are my "day of rest and recovery" from P90X. Don't get me wrong, I was really looking forward to it (my calves are still killing me from a few days ago.) Since we attend Sat. night church, or Sundays are WIDE OPEN. Now that the weather has turned nice (did we have a winter this year?), we like to bike into Lowry for breakfast: coffee and bagels at Einstein. It's a 2-mile trip, ea. way, and we all ride our bikes together, although Kim gets to hitch a ride with Kathy, and I keep Gwen in tow with me (yes, she makes the 4-mile run with us). Honestly, it's a highlight of my week. It's the only day we enjoy breakfast together as a family. And there's no soccer games, no hurries to be anywhere. Recently, we've begun playing a game of tennis on our trip home. THAT'S been a ton of fun, getting the kiddos into the game. Kathy and I played a great deal of tennis before kids...it's nice getting back into it.

I digress.

So after the 4-mile bike ride, mixed with a game of tennis, we returned home where Kathy and I completely overhauled our closet. THIS WAS NOT AN EASY TASK. Flipping the winter clothes out for the summer clothes, and getting rid of the undesirables. Phew! Then we had Kim's swim party today to celebrate her 4th b-day. Then back home, some more clean up, and I rushed out the door to cover 2 reffing games. Back home before 9pm, grabbed a bite for dinner, hung out with Jade for a few, watched a Netflix movie with the wife. It's 11:44pm and this is my first chance to write about my "day of rest". Can you see the irony?

So my lowest weigh in point for the week was 184lbs. I started at 190lbs., and I've crept back up there this week. On average, I'd say I'm at a good, solid 187lbs. Not too bad. I've really had to be conscious of all that I eat. Back to back dinners of gorging on the bread probably wasn't the best idea. But I am very hopeful for staying on task this week: nothing but Subway and salad for lunch.

Today wasn't too bad. I had a half of a bagel and some yogurt, plus my normal black coffee.
For lunch, I had leftover Ramen (which Kathy tells me is WAY WORSE than I thought. Sure enough, there's something like 1200 gms of sodium in one package. Yikes!)
At Kim's party, I mostly munched on carrots and celery: rabbit food. Yes, I had a small piece of choc. chocolate cake. But not enough to be guilty about.
Dinner: keep in mind that I skated for 3 hrs. w/o eating dinner. I had spaghetti, with a few noodles and a bunch of sauce. Then I snacked on carrot sticks and almonds (unsalted). I'm pretty full right now, having drank a few liters of water. I'll see how I weigh out in the a.m. But really it's my pre-dinner weight that I've been most satisfied with.

This week will be round two. Woo-hoo! I installed a chin-up bar in my bedroom. Now, before you get any crazy thoughts, it's in the hallway. I know, boring. But it serves it's purpose. I made Kathy and Jade and Kaleb and Kim all do a pullup today (with my help). It's fun to engage them with the program. After I talked up the Kenpo vid to Kaleb, he'd like to try the hour long routine with me next time.

This week will be challenging. As always, we have a ton going on. Plus, we're going up to Breck for Thurs/Fri, so it will be interested to see how I get my workouts in! Plus staying on track with the eating thing.

Ah, Monday. My craziest day of all. Bring it on...

Good night, friends!

Day 6 - Kenpo

Kenpo x. Wow. I was hoping for a great routine, and it met and exceeded all that I had hoped for.

Kenpo x is like crossing karate with boxing, kickboxing with kunfu, Bruce Lee with Jazzercise. And it was awesome!

First things first, let me confess that I did not do so well last night with my diet. We went to happy hour, so I enjoyed a few black and tans (BOGO) and WAY TOO MUCH BREAD. Serioz bread with marinara sauce is just too difficult to say no to. Jade and I ate two loafs before Kat even joined us.

I felt a bit bloated, but then we went to the Avs game, i didn't have to eat a thing or drink a thing. The game was great, btw. 4th row, almost on the glass. Anyways, the post game skate was intense. I was dripping with sweat in no time. Still, after all the work out, i weighed in at 187lbs. this a.m. :-(

So, this morning I had my first Kenpo experience. Did I tell you it was awesome?? I felt like it was an hour long martial art practice. I was dripping sweat, and loving it. We do punch, double, tripple, and quadruple punch routines. We kicked. one, two, and three directional kicks. we did blocking, and cardio, and all sorts of offensive and defensive moves.

The good news is after an hour of workout, I was back down to the 185.5lb mark. Recouped with a gaterade and lots of water. lunch will be leftovers, and dinner is macaroni grill. I'll do better tonight with my self-control. :-)

So, one week is done. It's all good. 12 weeks to go. I feel accomplished in sticking to the program for a week. Thanks for cheering me on!!

Day 5 - Legs and Back and Abs

Ah, another day done. Today wasn't easy, but it was the EASIEST workout for me thus far. I do feel that my legs are the strongest muscles in my body due to the high quantity of ice skating that I do. While the routines were intense, I managed to keep up pretty well. Again, I'm not using much weight, because I feel that my legs are about as lean and big as I would ever want them to grow (don't want to have to start wearing spandex shorts!) But there's nothing wrong with developing these muscles more, and ideally gaining great flexibility in them.

This morning I was 186lbs. Now, after my workout (1.5hrs.) I'm sitting at a comfortable 184lbs. I'm pretty tired, my body is feeling the strain of 5 days of exercise. Plus I had a pretty intense hockey game to ref last night. And I have been invited to the Pepsi Center tonight to ref their last post-skate game of the season...so I'll be getting plenty of workout today. Tomorrow is the Kempo (if I can fit it in), and Sunday is my day of rest, although we'll probably bike into Lowry (2 mi. each way) for a bagel and joe.

I haven't eaten much today. Ironically, my brain is proving WAY MORE POWERFUL than I could have ever hoped. I'm running thru my usual lunch places, and my brain is rejecting them all: McD's? No! Chick-Fill-A? NO! Qdoba? No! Wendy's? No! Subway? No! Nothing sounds good right now. What I'd really like is some soup. So I think I'll go make a double batch of Ramen and enjoy the salty-soup recovery with an egg or two added for protein. Maybe even make a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches for Kim and I.

The Ab Ripper X was better for me this time. I completed most of the reps. As far as the Legs and Back, I conked out after about 24 pullups. I'll need to increase these reps in the weeks to come...hopefully it will be easier once I shed some more excess weight!

Thanks for checking in! Have a great weekend....look for Jade and I on the glass tonight at the Av's game, if it's even televised :-)

** UPDATE **

The muscles that connect my back to the butt are very, very sore. This would be the hip flexers, right? The muscles at the waist line. All that stupid stretching yesterday ;-)

p.s. I've been meaning to show you all this pic. One of my favorites, taken on a private island in the Bahama's about 7 years ago. This is where I want to get back to...and maybe even improve upon!

Day 4 - Yoga X

First things first, Happy B-day to my favorite 4-yr. old! If you haven't seen Kimmee in a while, she sure has changed throughout the past year. She is so full of life and attitude (mostly good). She's grown quite a bit taller this past year, and her hair is getting quite long, especially the bangs, since I told grandma to QUIT CUTTING THEM last August! She is a sweet girl with some sassy moments, and often expresses her love to her mom and dad and best friend: Gwen (the dog).

Happy Birthday, Kim-o!





















Now, about the P90X stuff:

Okay, I haven't done today's stuff yet. Truth is, I'm trying to figure out when I can squeeze this in. Here's a sample picture of the Zimmer life: Soccer (2 practices) from 4:45-6:15; then we have Chucky Cheese from 6:45-8:15 (Happy B-day Kimmee!); then I got to ref from 8:45-10pm (it's an early game); Yoga for an hour from 10:30-11:30??

Yesterday I snuck home during the lunch hour to squeeze in my routine. That worked well, but Kathy says I can't do this everyday :-).

Ideally, I would want to do the Yoga BEFORE reffing. But I guess this week it will have to be after I'm done.

** UPDATE **

First things first, I have never ever done yoga before. Sure, I've done the 10-min. stretch routine, but for an hour, or an hour and a half -- nope. Nada.

Until today.

As I was warned by a good friend of mine, the P90X Yoga is 1.5hrs. long. PHEW! Honestly, I thought it was going to be all stretching. But by the first half hour, I was DRIPPING SWEAT. And it felt great. I've never been very flexible, but I do know that I have a pretty strong core. I'm learning a lot more about myself, even after only enduring 4 days. I've learned that my legs are pretty strong, but very tight. I've learned that my core is pretty strong, even as I stare at the extra 2" of fat covering the abs. I've learned that I can endure a lot, but not as much as I had hoped (I have to take frequent breaks during the routines, but I've finished every single one). And I've learned that I have a GREAT more discipline than I ever gave myself credit for. I've given up pop. I've given up eating 2nd and 3rd helpings. I've given up bad snacks and a great deal of sugar. But I'm not having to sacrifice the food I love.

Today's meals were as such:
Breakfast: Coffee, black. And Kim's leftover fruitloops (small bowl with two glasses of milk)
Mid-morning snack: Almonds. NO CINN. BEARS!! Can you believe it? I actually DID NOT crave them today.
Lunch: Thai Peanut Salad with roasted chicken. And I only ate half of it! Kathy get's the other half tomorrow for her lunch. BTW - I ordered the dressing on the side, a habit that Kat turned me onto many many years ago. And I think I used about 1/3 of the dressing. I ate the salad nice and slow, drinking a bunch of tea, so that I would fill up sooner and not need to finish the whole thing.
Mid-day snack: sugar free gum.
Dinner: Chuck E Cheese. I ate 2 very small pieces of pizza, probably equiv. to one normal slice. And no crust. I had 3 helpings at the salad bar. Lots of veggies, not much dressing, 3 servings of red beets and cottage cheese.
Dessert: I had a small piece of lemon cake, and two healthy bites of the best carrot cake ever! (from Target).

Really, with that kind of line up, can you complain? We had an office lunch today at Choppers, a great sports bar in Cherry Creek. I usually order the Jalapeno Burger or a Black and Blue Bacon Burger, cooked medium with a side salad and a small order of sweet potato fries. And a diet soda. But as I've mentioned before, I love a good salad. Especially if it has some sort of meat on it. Today, I waffled between the Thai and Cobb salad. And it worked for me. BTW - talking about salads: the best salad in town, IMO, is the Slouvaki (sp?) topped Greek salad at Pete's Gyro Shop (not Pete's Kitchen) on Colfax. It's the best of both worlds, for me.

So wanna know my weight? Well, after completing the 1.5 hr. yoga video (okay, truth is I only finished 70 minutes of it because the family called and told me I had to get ready for Chuck E Cheese, cutting my routine short by about 15 or 20 minutes. BUT -- I reffed an intense game tonight, lot's of sweating and skating, so I think I made up for it). ANYWAYS -- after my workout, while I was dashing to get out the door in time, I quickly weighed myself.

184lbs.

:-)


So if you've been following my blog, you'll know that this is 1 lb. off of my target weight. Also, I'd like to note that I think this pissed off both Kathy and our friend Flo (who joined us for Kim's b-day dinner) tonight that I've managed to lose 6lbs. in just 4 days.

Sorry.

:-)

But I've been working very hard. I've given up most of my guilty pleasures, and have really been limiting my meal size, as I'm trying to shrink the overall size of my stomach so that my appetite will shrink as well. Even now as I sit here typing this blog, my stomach is rumbling. It's hungry. But I've got a glass of water next to me to make it think that it's full. I'm not turning health nut by any means. I'm still enjoying the food that I want to eat. Honestly, my hardest sacrifice is Diet Dr. Pepper.

I go to bed hungry, but full of water. Because I've increased the amount of salad intake, I'm naturally purging my body of a bunch of stored up toxins. And I feel better than ever.

I was really afraid that I may have eaten too much at dinner tonight, with the 3 trips to the salad bar. Granted, my portions were small, but still -- 3 trips. So a few minutes ago I weighed myself again. 185.5lbs. Not too bad! Tomorrow morning, after my body expels the leftover tea and water, I bet I'll be back down to the 184 mark.

The bottom line is this: I'm making great strides in my journey, and it's only been 4 days. My belly fat is still there, but I know I'm adding muscle mass because I can feel it. Build the muscles, control the eating, melt the fat, and I'll have my desired look by my b-day (July 4th, BTW, big party at my house!)

If you're reading my words, thank you. I appreciate your audience. I'm not writing this for you, necessarily, but mostly for me. This is my diary, my journal, my pensieve. It allows me to clear my thoughts so that I can rest better at night without battling all of the ideas bouncing around in my head, keeping me awake. But since I'm not a very private person, I always enjoy sharing my stories with others. And this allows you to anonymously peek into my life. And I know that you're cheering for me. :-)

Good night, friends.

a.Z.

Day 3 - Arms, Shoulders, and Abs

Today was great! I haven't had a good, hard, weight-lifting workout since H.S. This is true! Sure, I've lifted weights and such, but nothing like this.

Because our Wednesdays are so hectic, I decided to sneak home during the lunch hour and squeeze in part 1 of 2 workouts (I will do the 14-min. Ab routine after work). The shoulder/biceps/triceps workout was intense, but it felt great to be working the much needed upper body muscles.

I have two numbers that are key: 10 and 16. 10lbs for 16 reps. I don't want to bulk up. I don't like the beefcake physique. I just want good, toned, lean arms and chest. So for all of the routines, I pumped my little 10lbs barbells for 16+ reps. And it felt great, it really did.

I'm glad I'm happy with this program. It's not really a burden yet. It helps that Kathy is on board with this and has given me the freedom to spend an hour a day doing this. That was a big hesitation for me, initially. But now I'm rolling...half way through my first week of exercising. Yeah!

Also, I'm down to 186lbs. That's pretty cool. Last night I had a late snack, a fruit Popsicle, but it was only 80 calories, so I didn't feel to bad about it.

My meal for today:
Breakfast: Coffee, black.
Mid-morning snack: handful of cinn. bears, handful of almonds
Lunch: subway turkey sub, loaded with veggies, a bit of oil, lots of vinegar, and swiss cheese (I can't imagine skipping the cheese!!!)
Afternoon snack: sugar free gum
Dinner: Corned beef and cabbage (yum, one of my fav. meals!!) I will go light with the butter on the potatoes, and make sure as much fat is trimmed off of the meat as possible.

** UPDATE **

So I did the ABS X program for the first time last night. YIKES! That was I-N-T-E-N-S-E! We did 350 reps, all centered around the mid section. Very, very tough. But I plowed thru it. Sometimes I took a break for the #16-20 reps. I think the "Crunchy Frogs" were the worst! I know I have a pretty good core, because of the amount of ice skating that I do. But unfortunately it's all hidden by about 2" of fat! I'll keep plugging away, sticking to the program and watching what I eat.

Last night I had two snacks: 3 graham crackers with lite icing; and another strawberry frozen popsicle (80 cals).

This morning I weighed in at a solid 86lbs. Woo hoo! I pretty excited about all of this, plus I think I'm entering the better half of the workout week (legs/back, yoga, and kempo).

Keep on keepin' on!

Day 2 - Cardio X

I began the day at 187lbs. No lie. I was pretty stoked! I worked out last night from 10-11, and spent the rest of the time with a shower (rinse off) and blogging. By midnight, when I went to bed, I could feel the heat pouring out of me. It was great...my body was still burning calories!

Today I came home early, and thought about working out. But then I decided no. But then I saw the picture next to my TV about Discipline VS. Regret, and I said, "Alright, Let's Do IT!"

I've never really been one to enjoy cardio stuff. I mean think about this: we own a Jazzercise, and I think I've been to two classes. I just don't like the static workout. I'd rather go jogging, get out and see some landscape.

Another thing I haven't really participated in is Yoga. But then a friend of mine gave me a 10-min. P90X Yoga routine specifically designed to stretch you before an activity. I try to do this before I have to go and ref multiple hockey games (2+). I find it's a great way to get my muscles ready for the workout.

Well, today was CARDIO X, and it had Yoga and Kick-Boxing and regular boxing and basketball moves and jumping jacks and a whole bunch of fun, fun cardio stuff. I was sweating pretty good, but enjoying the workout. I was especially exciting thinking about how I was saving myself from having to do this at 10pm tonight!

My muscles feel better (recovered from yesterday's pushups), and it felt great to get my towel wet with sweat. Really.

Today's diet consisted of:
Breakfast: Banana and Coffee (black, of course)
Snack: several servings of cinn. bears (my fav!!)
Lunch: Chicken Mole (thank you Kat!) and rice, plus a Powerade drink
snack: greek yogurt (yum!)
WATER!
Dinner: steak (8oz.), pototo (half), lots of salad (oil/vin. dressing), and some freshly baked french bread (YUM!) served with oil/vin/pepper.

Oh, and after my workout I had a few servings of almonds, non-salted from Cosco.

So that's where I am. I'll weigh myself in the morning and update the post. Also, I'll download my before (fat) pictures and post them. CAUTION - very, very white skin and a Magnum-PI style chest (minus the suntan). :-)

I'm feeling good about my committment...let's keep it going!

Alright, time to check out. Biggest Loser is ready to start -- woo hoo!!

P90X - Day 1

So I always said that I would continue to live my life as I wish, until my body told me otherwise. Well, lately I've been a little disappointed with the scale. You see, my ideal weight is 183lbs. Anything less, and it means I'm not enjoying enough beer and nachos. Anything more...well, that's where I currently am.

I've been stuck at 190lbs. Actually, I've been tipping the 190 mark for the first time in my life (keep in mind, I've been thru 3 pregnancies!) Days became weeks, and weeks became months. I found I could not get myself back down to a comfortable 185lbs (2 lbs over my ideal, but who's to know?!)

Enough is enough. As my good friend Andy Dufrain would say, "Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'". I came across a motivational poster last week. It's got an athletic guy stuck inside of a fat guy suit, straining to get out. It reads, "Suffer the pain of DISCIPLINE or suffer the pain of REGRET". That really sums it up for me. I'm an athletic guy, always have been. And keeping my ideal weight has been pretty easy. Until now, on the eve of my 37th b-day. Actually, my b-day is 90 days away from today. How ironic? I didn't realize this when I set out to begin my journey, but Kathy pointed it out to me. She thought I was doing this on purpose. Truth is, I was done planning, done preparing, I had no real reason to keep myself from beginning. Every journey begins with one step...and I just took my first one!

Core Synergetics -

Let's see if I can adequately describe this workout for you: begin with some nice stretching, got your towel?, great, now stretch those hamstrings, got water? (you're gonna need it), great, loosen up those arms, nice, now let's do some jogging in place, great. How do you fee? Ready to go? OK - getonthefloorandgiveme100pushups, nowsitups,nowsidelunges,bananarolls,didIsayyoucouldstop?givemesomemorepushups, 100more,okayjumpingjacks,faster,faster,longer, great, care for a water break? nowdosomemorepushups,thistimewithyourhungariansisteronyourback,more,faster,harder, don'tbreaknow,keepgoing, nice, grab a towel and wipe of the sweat. You may want to grab another towel to mop up the blood! okay,nowdropandgivemesomemorereallyreally hardpushups. dontstop!!!!! nowjumpinplace,thendownonthefloor,jumpagain,nowlets do thisabackwards,faster,longer,harder. Isn't this great?

My favorite part of the 1-hr video was at the 10-min mark when he told the camera that we could skip to the cool down unless we wanted to join him on the extra bonus round of exercising. Yeah!! Cool down.

Okay, so we did a lot of pushups. I have a pretty strong upper body, but truth is I want it to get stronger. But man, I could not finish the pushups. My elbows were SHAKING -- literally! The rest of the core exercises were fine, and I could handle the banana boat thingys, and I really like the inverted dreyas, but I learned a few valuable lessons.

1. I'm not in shape. I thought I was, but I'm not. But I'm excited about getting there, and the results from the journey.
2. Pushups suck. I thought I could do a bunch, and I was proud to hit 20. But I've got a ton more to improve on to keep up with the video.
3. Mountainclimbers suck! I don't think I'll be doing those anytime soon.
4. I'm one day closer to my goal. Yeah! 50-mins wasn't too bad. Keep in mind, I already reffed one hockey game tonight. This was my post-skate workout!
5. I've got a great deal more to learn, and grow. And I'm excited about the journey. I'll be strutting my bikini briefs by mid-Summer fo sure!

I'll post my Day 1 pics at tomorrow's posting. CAUTION - some images may be too graphic for toddlers and geriatrics and any of my friends coveting the willpower to begin the journey I have begun. It sucks getting old....but I'd rather let my inner athlete get the glory, than the lazy couch-potato dad of three.

p.s. My family is beginning to play tennis with me. Care to challenge any/all of us to a game of doubles? Give me a time and a date -- and we'll be there!

a.Z.













**UPDATE** So I began my journey (last night) weighing in at a SOLID 190lbs. This morning? 187lbs. OH YEAH!! Burn the fat, baby, BURN THAT FAT!

In all seriousness, I realize that I probably lost 2.9lbs of water. But that's okay. Like I said earlier, I've been stuck at 190lbs for too long.

I'm doing the P90X LEAN program (vs. the Classic). Truth is, I don't really want to bulk up. I'm not into the big muscles, I just want good tone and a slimmer waist line. I have committed to doing the training from 10-11 at night (those are my free hours). Last night when I went to be at midnight, I could feel my body kicking out the heat. I smiled, knowing that it was still burning calories!

This morning I wasn't as sore as expected. I can feel it mostly in my pecks-to-arms connection, my shoulders, and in my biceps/triceps. That's the real sore area (stupid pushups!) It makes sense, actually. My legs are in great shape from all of the ice skating I do (reffing 5-8 games per week).

My goals for the P90X system:
1. Get down to 183lbs. - steady.
2. Acquire better muscle tone/strength in my upper body.
3. Gain more flexibility (overall).
4. Get my waist size back down to a comfortable 33/34.

I know that diet is equally important for this. I don't think that I'm too bad, overall. I enjoy red meat, but don't eat too much of it. I love eating a salad or subway sandwich for lunch (no condiments, just oil and vinegar). I think the two things I need to work on are: portion and snacking. I'm committed on the portion thing, because I know that if I shrink my stomach, my appetite will also decrease. And as far as snacking goes, I've cleaned out my pantry (except for jelly beans and cinn. bears) and have committed to not drinking pop (good bye, Diet Dr. Pepper. You will be missed!)

However, since I am not a total health nut, I will allow myself to enjoy a guilt-free meal on Sat. night. That's usually when we eat out, after church, with friends. After all, what good is life if you don't enjoy it now and then?

Keep watching for the updates...

Day 0

CAUTION: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC PHOTOS BELOW! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

Okay, this is not my thing. Well, maybe it is. I don't know. But part of what the P90X system is about is showing the change. And they tell you to take various pictures of you at the Day 1, Day 30, Day 60, and Day 90 stages. So, here it is, for all of you to "enjoy". Now listen, I don't want to see any of these images uploaded to the internet with a bunch of photoshop tweaks, okay? Well, unless they are really, really funny...than that's ok!


First Shot: Little Girl in the way First Shot: Retake :-)






Yeah, I've got some love handles going on there! Not much upper body definition. :-(

Going to have to work on that!

Here's a few cute shots of my cheerleader :-)