A personal training & food journal. Read about our weight loss progress at Train With Ron in Chicago, our nutritional habits and the life changes we're making to get in shape and stay healthy!

We had our second session today. The trainer was Matt Ulrich, former Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman and special teams player. He is the first Super Bowl Champion I have ever met and I could not help but be awed by that colossal feat. I had to ask him: “What’s it like to win the Super Bowl?” He thought a second, as if to relive the moment, then looked at me and said, “It’s a pretty cool deal, man.” He is very humble but clearly proud of the accomplishment… I mean, how many of us reach the absolute pinnacle of our career at the tender age of 27? I was humbled.

That humility quickly turned to agonizing pain as the workout commenced. It was mostly a cross training session: 30 reps of weights, then run a bunch, then 30 more reps of a different movement, then run… weights… run… pushups (I could not do even knee pushups after the warmup 25 I had to do). We did the full warmup (which caused me great pain 5 days ago) plus 40 more minutes of cross training. When it was over, I was overheated, lightheaded, I thought I might pass out. It took me about an hour to cool down and feel like myself again. I feel pretty good right now but I know that more is coming.

I have stuck to the eating regimen, except for the guilty pleasure of a daily cup with cream and sugar, although much less cream and sugar than I used to use.

Tomorrow will be a “free” day, I’ll still exercise (20 minute power walk) but I will not worry as much about what I eat… I’ll just reduce quantity and enjoy some football… Week One is almost in the books and although it’s been tough, it really hasn’t been THAT bad.