Nancy and Stephen: Before and After

Stephen and I are on a new fitness program. We've even taken before pictures (with after pictures to follow). Here's Stephen:








This is me:
You didn't think I'd really post the entire photos, did you?

Our fitness program is a two-part plan:

1. Visalus: We are enjoying a nutritional shake called Visalus, which can be used as a vitamin supplement or as a meal substitute. Stephen is using it as the former (because he has never had to lose weight) and I am using it as the latter (because I have more butt than I would care to). Always a Weight Watchers fan, I was a little skeptical about Visalus at first, but when I looked at the nutritional information on the package, I was delighted to see that the shake mix is only one Weight Watcher point. If I make myself a shake for breakfast, I can have a two-point meal (as opposed to my five-point Fiber One and banana breakfast) and, depending on how I make my shake for lunch, I can having a filling midday meal for anywhere between two and six points. What's more, Visalus shake mix has a smooth, creamy flavor, which goes well with almost any liquid, so I can enjoy it as a coffee drink, a chocolate shake or a fruit smoothie. I am delighted with this new product, and I will be monitoring my progress as I continue to weigh in at Weight Watchers.

2. P90X: With undeniably the most obnoxious fitness instructor on the planet, this popular fitness DVD series is the most difficult home exercise program I've ever done. One of the most difficult aspects of it is enduring the repeated phrase "Bring It," and watching fitness pro Tony Horton do this:

What does that position have to do with fitness? Fortunately, even the producers of P90X recognized Horton's penchant for annoyance, so they smartly included a helpful menu at the beginning of each disc, which allows me to turn off Horton's voice.

All my life, I've never been able to do a regular boy push up or a pull up (I still can't do a pull up, but I'm trying). But I can report that I've done five push-ups (in poor form), and I'm working on more. This program is grounded in muscle confusion, so it consists of thirteen different workouts, which include strength training, cardio fitness, yoga, stretching, and jump training. Because my knees sometimes give me trouble, and because I just watched my mother get her right knee replaced, I am modifying some of the jumping squats and lunges (called Mary Catherines). Otherwise, I'm trying to stick with the program. Stephen's downstairs doing it right now.

So far, I've lost half a pound, but I've also lost inches because the shorts I've been avoiding for the past few weeks now fit. And my upper arms aren't waggling quite as much as they did in July. After ninety days, I should be able to imitate the Heisman trophy:




We'll be posting our progress on the Remlerville blog because I'm sure all our devoted readers are dying to find out when I look like this.








Stay tuned!

TSS