Week 11: Still Going Strong!!!

OK, folks, I realize it's been quite some time since I last posted. Sheesh! Where does the time go? Has it really been since February 16 that I last posted a new blog entry? I'm a bad blogger. A verrry bad blogger. I should be punished.

Actually, sometimes it feels like I am being punished by Trainer Ronn, especially after a workout like last night's. But I'm getting ahead of myself...again. Let me catch you up to speed.

In the last six weeks, I've kind of blossomed into a little gym bunny. Haha. Well, not quite, but I have become a bona-fide fan of working out. I'm still going to the gym four nights a week and doing one day of cardio on my own, but I've also stepped it up a bit by doing a second day of cardio plus weekly hikes in Runyon Canyon, where I've now managed to hike up the big mountain two weeks in a row. I tried hiking that thing a year ago, and I couldn't even make it a quarter of the way up. Now I've hiked it twice, and each time it's gotten easier for me to do it without resting as much as I thought I would have to. And let me tell you, folks: My ass is all the hotter for it. I've received a few comments, in fact, from folks who have commented on how much nicer my derriere is looking these days. Is that hot or what?

With all the cardio, you're probably thinking, "Damn, Ken, you must have taken off TONS of weight." Well, I'm happy to report that I have indeed lost some unnecessary and unwanted poundage. In week 7, I was down about 2-and-a-half pounds, and in week 8, I lost an additional 2-and-a-half. I started out at a weight of 170, and was down to 165. The following two weeks I maintained that same weight, and then actually gained a pound the next week. Luckily, I managed to lose that extra pound--and then some--and last night, I was down to 163--and that was even after I'd taken five days off working out so I could go to another trade show in Phoenix for work (though I did manage to get one day on the treadmill in at the hotel I was staying at). It's great to see the weight loss, because it's a more tangible proof that what I'm doing is paying off for me. Ronn is quick to tell me that he doesn't want me to take off too much weight, though. It's not about losing; it's about redistributing, he says. Which I get. But it sure is nice to watch that tummy of mine continue to disappear.

The workouts themselves have gotten both easier and harder. While I've gotten used to lifting weights more, Ronn makes sure to keep packing the weight on so that the reps are actually harder on me. Today, in fact, I am sore in my chest for the first time in quite a while, as last night, I lifted 120 pounds--the most I've done so far. Last night was all about chest and back, and tonight I suspect it will be all about shoulders and arms. There's still always one day a week where it's an abs-only day, which is great. Ronn says I have to make sure that I suck my stomach in during the workouts. He says I have a bad habit of actually pushing my tummy out when I lift--which makes those ab muscles harden in the wrong direction. Guess I'm going to have to work harder at that.

I've managed to come quite a way in terms of my core strength. Standing on the half-ball now is fairly easy, and I've managed to figure out jumping rope, too. And last week I managed to do several push-ups on my own--without Ronn putting a towel under me and helping to pull me up. That was quite a boon to my ego, I must say.

Friends continue to tell me that I look thinner and more svelte. I do notice in pictures now that my face appears to have gotten thinner. (Maybe I can avoid having that planned chin-tuck after all! LOL!) My clothes fit differently, too. I have to wear belts now to make sure that my pants don't droop too low. Hmmm, guess it means that it will soon be time for me to buy new clothes. Woo hoo! Shopping!

We're coming up on the three-month mid-point of my six-month workout routine, and things are going swimmingly. I know for sure that I will continue working out even past the six-month point, as I can't imagine not keeping up with this now that it's become such a big part of my life.

Anyway, I will try to post more often in the future, as time allows. Talk soon!

(Pics by Kevin Cazares)