Intro

I turned 37 on April first 2012. It is July 31^st 2012 and by my next birthday I will have eight pack abs. Why? Mostly, because I want them and because I live in the Vail Valley with insane athletes all around me and I want to be able to keep up.  Maybe this is my mid life crisis or my last attempt to hold on to my youth, but really it is a personal challenge. Can I do it? Can I change 37 years of habits to create new habits? Can I stop drinking beer for one year (I love beer)? Can I eat healthy? Can I sustain a 5 day a week workout schedule with a full time job, a wife, and two kids (4 year old and 4 month old)? Can I create the body that I see in the magazines with the body I see in the mirror?

For the last 37 years I have not been able to do any of these things. For one reason or another all attempts at the above goals would get side tracked. So to give myself a fighting chance I hired a personal trainer, and today was day one.

Day One

Day one with the personal trainer was exactly what I thought with a twist. We meet at a local gym and he was on the tread mill when I got there, which I thought was a good sign.  With in two minutes of introducing myself I was on the tread mill warming up. Ten to twenty minutes on the tread mill to warm up.  After a small fitness examination we got into our first workout.

One minute treadmill sprint, off the tread mill 20 dips, 20 push ups, 10 blasters, 20 situps, 15 leg thrusters with each leg, hold a headstand for 10 seconds, two 20 pound weights and do 10 squats to full extension.

He said before we got started our goal was four sets. I puked after one and a half sets. I think I drank my morning smoothie too soon before class. Whatever the reason, I puked on day one of my personal trainer. I was for the record embarrassed!

So that brings me to the twist. I knew the personal trainer was going to work me out, set up my workouts for the next two weeks, and help me get my diet in order. What I forgot or blocked out was how hard I was going to have to work to meet my goals. The personal trainer will not be doing any of my sit ups, push ups, running, bike riding, or puking for me. I am going to have to do all those things on my own and do them at an intensity level that makes me uncomfortable.

I am left very excited and look forward to completing four sets of the treadmill work out sometime in the near future. I get another shot in two days.

Day two

Day two is a rest day which I am thankful for. I am very sore all over. I mowed my lawn last night after the work out which was a workout of its own. My family and I are currently renting an 88 acre ranch on the outskirts of Eagle CO so it is not an ordinary lawn.  So muscles are sore and ego a little damaged from the vomiting incident, but I am very motivated.

Diet has been going well. Everything I read and everyone I talk to says this is 60-70% of the battle. A good friend told me I will get my eight pack abs in the kitchen. So I am doing my best to be diligent about what I eat. Scrambled eggs with spinach and a smoothie for breakfast, two apples for a mid morning snack, and now off to lunch to eat a chicken breast or piece of fish not sure yet.

The eating aspect will hard. As I stated above I love beer, cheese, twizzlers, doughnuts, sugar in my coffee, the list could go on and on. However that is the old me, what I love now is the idea of completing this journey. Tomorrow will be my first day working out on my own. I’ll let you know how it goes.