Building a better body

A little more than one year ago, Shelly Zimmerman's doctor gave her some good advice.

"Join a gym and get a different job," Zimmerman's doctor told the Jackson woman.

Zimmerman, who was 28 at the time, worked in sales and was on the road traveling throughout the week. "I was eating out a lot because I was never at home, and I found myself gaining weight," she said.

On Dec. 30, 2005, Zimmerman quit her sales job and went to work a month later at Prodigy Salon as a stylist. In February 2006, she joined a fitness center with an initial goal of losing weight.

"At first, I just did cardio," she said. "I wanted to get all that extra weight off."

Shelly Zimmerman used a leg curl machine during her training session.

Once the extra weight -- all 40 pounds of it -- was gone and her jeans became so loose they fell off her hips, Zimmerman set a new goal.

She decided to become a bodybuilder. "I knew I wanted to keep working out," she said. "I just wanted to try something different."

Growing up, Zimmerman was an active child. Her father, Mike Wilson, owned a fitness center in Perryville, Mo., and was a bodybuilder for many years.

In October, Zimmerman started training for her first bodybuilding competition, which will be in May at Peoria, Ill.

"I really didn't know where to start," she said. "Of course, I consulted my dad and then I started lifting heavier weights."

Zimmerman's workouts consist of two hours of weight lifting and one hour of cardiovascular exercises. She works out five days a week.

Her diet has also changed since she began training. She eats only high-protein foods like chicken, fish, egg whites and peanut butter.

Friends have questioned Zimmerman about the diet and any health risks associated with it, but she's done her research on how to successfully train for the bodybuilding competitions.

"My diet is no more unhealthy than eating a pizza for dinner," she said. "When you cut your diet down to what I'm eating, you do lose some of your strength, but it's not unhealthy."

Within the next two weeks, Zimmerman should be what she considers "top shape" for the body building competition. Depending on how the first competition goes, she may compete in another show in June in St. Louis.

"It's kind of addicting, and I really enjoy it," she said. "I guess it runs in my family's blood."

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246