Round 2, 30 Day Shred, Days 5 - 7

These past few days I've been working out REALLY late again. I've been staying up really late and working out before I go to bed. It's a holiday weekend. I suppose once I go back to work on Tuesday I'll work out earlier again. I've made sure to workout every day.

Those push ups are killer again. I'm definitely getting better at them though. My arms are sore, and my legs too. I think my least favorite exercise this level is the side lunge with arm raises. The lunge part is cake, it's the arm raises that aren't that fun. The jumping jacks feel great though after doing the push ups and and such; They really stretch out the muscles in my arms and chest.

My weight keeps dropping which is great. I'm down to 152lbs! My legs are looking great too. Even my tush is getting more defined. I'm really pleased with the results so far.

Round 2- 30 Day Shred Days 1-4

So now I'm on round 2! I haven't posted every day though I have done my workout every day this week so far Monday -Thursday. I stayed up REALLY late tonight, Thursday, and didn't do my workout until 4:30a.m. Friday morning... but I'm still counting it for Thursday as I'll workout again later tonight for Friday. With the new weights my arms are really feeling it. I've also lost another 1.6 pounds! So in 34 days of working out I've lost a total of 7.6 pounds.

I'd say I'm doing pretty good so far. I hope to keep it up and can't wait to see even better results.

30 Day Shred Results

Here are my final results from the 30 Day Shred.

Weight: -6 lbs.
Upper Abs (3 inches above waistline):- 1.5 inches
Waist (I used my belly button as reference):-2 inches
Lower Abs (2 inches below waistline):- 4 inches
Hips (6 inches below waistline: -2.5 inches
Upper Arms (largest part between elbow and shoulder):-.25 inches
Thighs (largest part of upper thigh):-2.5 inches
Calf (largest part between knee and ankle):-1.25 inches
Chest (bust line):-0 inches

Total loss: 6 lbs., and 14 inches

Day 30, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!! I DID IT! I went all 30 days in a row without stopping or giving up. OMG!!! That was a killer month for me. I was sick on some days, had a birthday, wanted to quit, and felt great on some days too. All in all I feel GREAT! I'll take some final measurements tomorrow and some after pictures. Since doing this daily workout I've had more energy and felt better during the day. I still can't believe that I stuck with it for all 30 days.

Christina and Tara have inspired me to keep on going. I'm going to get some new weights and start again on Monday. I think I've earned a 3 day break. Who knows maybe I'll want to start again tomorrow or sometime this weekend. We'll see. Thank you all for supporting me this month, it means a lot. If I can do it so can you!

Day 29, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

1 day to go!!!!! What more can I say? I did my workout with my kido in the room with me tonight. She was cracking me up. She tried crawling under me as I was trying to do my push ups. Then, as I was shadow boxing she decided that she wanted to hook onto my leg just as I was about to start the jumping jacks. It was really funny working around her but she had fun and so did I. I think after tomorrow I'm going to take the rest of the week end off and find something to do to stay active.

Day 28, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

I can't believe there are only 2 days left wow. I haven't been seeing the scale move down much but I can definitely feel a difference in my body. My thighs for one are really firm now. The scale read 155. Not as low as I'd like but the inches are coming off. I can do this ... 2 more days woooo hoooo!

Day 27, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

I really cried tonight, or whined at least. My hubby heard me moaning in pain in the living room. When I was done he had the silly nerve to say, "No pain no gain?" I did it, only 3 more nights!

Day 26, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

Mommy make my knees feel better. I think all of the jumping is killer. I don't want to keep complaining every night so I'll just say I did it yay! 4 more days to goo woo hoo!

Day 25, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

Uggggh I felt really yucky tonight. I don't like the Supermans one bit! My knees really need a rest. Only a few more days I can do it.

Day 24, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

So last night I got 4 maybe 5 hours of sleep. I was up all day long running around to take Allie to the doctor, go grocery shopping, then to work, and finally to the library. My knees have really been super sore. I did not want to do anything tonight. I did it anyway and now I just want to sleep for a week. Unfortunately I can't. I have to get up in 5 short hours to go back to work for another long day. I wish I could take naps again. I miss those wonderful midday naps. Oh well, sleep here I come.

Day 23, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

I was soooo tired tonight and all day. I REALLY did not want to work out. But, I did anyway and now I am heading to bed. Get to get up really early to take the kido to the doctor for a well baby exam. Only a few more nights of this icky level.

My hubby said he has noticed I am getting slimmer. I feel it mostly in my legs. But I am slimming down all over so yeah!

Day 22, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

My hips are killing me. I'm not a big fan of this level yet. I will say that my push ups are getting a whole lot better. I miss levels 1 and 2 lol. I know I can do it I've come this far, can't quit now. 8 more days to go.

Day 21, Level 3 - 30 Day Shred

Owie, Wowie!!!! That was not fun. Jillian is a jumping maniac! Jumping squats, jumping lunges... jump here, jump there, jump, jump everywhere! I'm a jumping bean. That was a crazy work out. I don't know... maybe I liked level 2 more. Maybe it will be better tomorrow. I sure hope so.If not, well then it's only 9 more days to go from now.

Day 20, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

Bye Bye Level 2! Yeah Baby all done with level 2! I can't believe I have made it this far. I wonder what tomorrow will be like. Will I be sore for the first few days of that level too? Who knows? 10 more days of this icky stuff to complete my first 30 day shred.

Day 19, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

Oops, I forgot to post. It was easy peasy lemon squeezy. Only 1 day to go! Woo hoo I can do this! I didn't eat that great today but I still did my work out.

Day 18, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

I feel pretty darn great right now! I did the whole thing as usual but didn't feel like I'm falling apart tonight. Yippee! I'm starting to get really excited to start level 3. Only 2 more days then I get to try something new. I can't believe I haven't taken a day off. I really need to reward myself when I am all done with this shredding. Not sure what to do but I'll figure something nice out. Let's keep kicking butt ladies!

Day 17, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

I felt soo great afterward that I forgot to post lol. So hours later my knees are starting to bug me but I really feel like it's getting easier. I'm pretty happy that I've stuck with this and starting to wonder what I will do at the end of the 30 days. Will I start the shred over, or find some other kind of daily work out. Now that I've made it a habit I don't want to give it up. I've been eating pretty much whatever I want and am seeing results that I am happy with. I'm thinking that I'll probably just start the shred over unless I find something else that's reasonable.... not that this is reasonable lol. Jillian really kicks my butt night after night. Well, off to bed, only 13 more nights to go.

Day 16, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

I swear my fingers are shrinking. My wedding ring is getting really loose. I never considered my fingers to be fat. they look long and skinny to me. All this sweating and where do I lose inches, my fingers lol! I think I figured out why it feels like my legs are going to pop out of my hip sockets.... it's all those plank squats, jacks, and twists. I don't think that area of my body really gets used as much. I keep picturing my old Barbie dolls that my little sisters would take and destroy. I'd see them pulling their legs into the farthest splits they could do until it looked like their legs would pop off and that's how my legs feel. I'll be ok. Only 4 more days of these nasty plank things. I felt really awful this morning and almost didn't go to work. I'll live and am glad I didn't give in and still did my work out.

Day 15, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

Not soo bad tonight. I did have a point where I thought my legs were going to pop out of my hip sockets. It felt really strange during the plank jacks. Plank anything... eww not fun. I made it half way through the 30 day shred wooo hooo!!! Down hill form here yay! Come on ladies we can do this!

Day 14, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

I need a sweatband head band thing. I am sooo crazy sweaty after these workouts. My left ankle feels a little owie still. Maybe I should wrap it when I workout. I'll try and find my ace bandage for tomorrow night. Almost half way I can't wait to be on day 30. Keep up the good work girls!

Day 13, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

I don't feel soo bad tonight. I'm soaking wet which is great and my hands aren't screams at me. The arm lifting stuff wasn't as tough tonight either. I'm definitely not feeling sore like I was at the beginning of level 1. I like the different cardio stuff in this level. The only thing that is still bugging me is my left ankle, especially during the oblique twists and jump rope. Overall, a good night!

Weight: 160.6 \ 156.6 (-4.0 lbs)
Upper Abs (3 inches above waistline):31.5 \ 31.0 (-.5 inches)
Waist (I used my belly button as reference):35 \ 35.0 (-0 inches)
Lower Abs (2 inches below waistline):39 \ 37.5 (-1.5 inches)
Hips (6 inches below waistline: 39.5 \ 38.0 (-1.5 inches)
Upper Arms (largest part between elbow and shoulder):10.5 \ 10.5 (-0 inches)
Thighs (largest part of upper thigh):22.5 \ 20.0 (-2.5 inches)
Calf (largest part between knee and ankle):14.5 \ 14.5 (-0 inches)
Chest (bust line):37.25 \ 37.25 (-0 inches)
total inches lost 6 inches

Day 12, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

My wrists are really not happy. All of the plank is really killing them. Only 8 more days of this cruel torture. I hope level 3 is much nicer to my poor hands. Only 18 days left of this shred. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!

Day 11, Level 2 - 30 Day Shred

Wow Wow Wow! My wrists didn't like all that plank. It was kind of fun to do something different today though. I liked the walking push ups. I did not like the stuff with the arms tonight. That v fly thing was icky. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. My shoulders and wrists are going to ache this level I think. Well 19 days left!

Day 10, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

Ugh! I REALLY didn't want to work out today. My heart wasn't in it but I did it anyway. I am really sick of doing the same thing now so glad to start level 2 tomorrow. I'm a little afraid to start level 2 at the same time because everything I've read says that it's the worst of all 3 levels. We'll see guess. 1/3 of the way there! We can do this ladies! Off to bed for me.

Day 9, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

I did great tonight! Nothing really killed me tonight. The side lunges with arm raises are getting a lot easier. LOL, as soon as I get used to it we have to move on to level 2! I'd love to write more but I have to get up at 4am to get ready for a breakfast where I have to do some sales schmoozing. Hope the rest of the ladies are feeling as good as I am.

Day 8, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

Late night work out again. For some reason tonight I felt awful. I wanted to throw up during the first round of cardio. I got through it all but boy my tummy was not happy about it. Hopefully it will thank me for it at the end of the 30 days. 2 days left of level 1 yay!

I weighed in at 156.6 this morning! Woo hoo! That's 4 lbs from the start! I would love to see results like this every week but I know the first week is usually the best. I'm not giving up though.

Day 7, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

I didn't get to work out tonight until after 11pm. I'm exhausted but I still did it. I really just want to go to sleep but I need to let my body relax and calm down for a few before I sleep. I really didn't want to work out tonight. I'm glad I did though. Yaaaawn. Well only 3 days left of level 1.

Day 6, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

Wow! I feel like my endurance has gone from night to day in the past 6 days. I wasn't feeling wimpy at all tonight. I was like am I really still feeling ok as circuit 3 started. Usually that's when I start feeling it kick in and I have to push extra harder to keep going. Well I felt great the whole time tonight! I still did everything and I didn't wimp out on anything wither. I hope this new found endurance doesn't go away. Yay!

Day 5, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

It's getting a little easier. I'm sweaty as ever. OMG I haven't sweated this much in ages, well since earlier this summer with no ac. I don't feel as winded as I usually do which is great! I'm half way through level 1. I'm thinking about watching level 2 just to see what it is but also thinking I should just wait until day 11 and experience it first hand. 25 days to go! I can't wait to see the final results.

Day 4, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

So tonight the side lunges with the arm lifts sucked. The lunges were fine but doing the strength training on my arms was not fun. I thought my arms were going to fall off lol. The cardio kind of got me too. I didn't stop once I just kept thinking, "I'm going to be skinny, I'm going to be skinny." or, "I'm going to look GREAT when this is done. It's only 20 minutes a day you can do it."

I haven't seen what levels 2 or 3 look like yet. I'm wondering how much pain I'm going to be in then. Well 4 days down now, 26 to go! Woo hoo.

Day 3, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

OMG! I was sweating soo much tonight that I had sweat rolling down into my ears! Jillian is one tough cookie. Jumping jacks weren't fun tonight. The arches and underside of my feet hurt. I got through it once again but am getting pretty sore. I've never been able to do a push up in my entire life. My husband has been working with me to show me how I can actually do them. My upper body just isn't strong enough to lower down in the push up. So, in order to still work those muscle groups I'm doing them slightly elevated. In other words, instead of being parallel to the ground I'm placing my hands along a futon and doing my push up. I can actually do it and boy does it hurt. Hopefully by the end of level one I will be able to do them on the ground. Time will tell.

I hope the other ladies are doing well today too. 3 days down 27 to go! (for the first shred anyway.)

Day 2, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

Wow am I hot and sweaty. Jillian kicked my butt tonight. I really don't like jumping rope, my calves hate it. I got through the whole thing without stopping. Whenever I felt like giving in I thought about how great I'll look when I'm all done, and how much not only I but also my husband will appreciate it.

So I got brave today and had my husband take some before pictures, even though it's been a day already. It's close enough to the beginning. (I'll post them with the after pictures.) I also took my measurements. I'm keeping track of them on myfitnesspal.com so when I am finished I can track my progress and even see a nice report and graph. But also, because Christina was brave enough to post her measurements I thought it would only be fair for me to do the same.

So here goes (cringe)...
Weight: 158 today woo hoo going down already from 163.
Upper Abs (3 inches above waistline):31.5
Waist (I used my belly button as reference):35
Lower Abs (2 inches below waistline):39
Hips (6 inches below waistline: 39.5
Upper Arms (largest part between elbow and shoulder):10.5
Thighs (largest part of upper thigh):22.5
Calf (largest part between knee and ankle):14.5
Chest (bust line):37.25

Day 1, Level 1 - 30 Day Shred

Yay! I did it!!! It really wasn't so bad. I do have to admit though the first or second round of jump rope totally sucked but I never stopped and didn't give up. Jillian totally knew when I needed that extra push and always said something encouraging to keep me going. I can tell that she'll really push me to my limits and beyond. I'm excited to keep going. I know I'm going to be sore soon enough, but it's totally worth it.

Side note: My boss is a goof. I was supposed to have Friday and Saturday off. He mentioned today that he and his wife are going out of town on Friday and won't be back until Monday. We have students scheduled for Friday and Saturday silly man. Now I have to go in on both Friday and Saturday so my hubby's idea of waiting to start to have the weekend to adjust has gone out the door lol.

Time for a shower, I'm drenched!

Tuesday's Workout... Getting Ready for the Shred

Another day of sweating... I still haven’t started the actual “Shred” but, I did work out and get sweaty for 20 minutes today. It was late so I walked, danced, ran in place, and jumped rope among other things in my house because it was too late to go for a walk/jog outside. I’m getting excited to start the Shred, I might start it tomorrow and not wait until Thursday like my husband suggested. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow. I’ll definitely be doing it on Thursday for sure though.

I weighed in at 160.6 this morning, it’s probably more accurate than the mid day weigh in yesterday. I need to find my measuring tape to get some measurements before I really get to shredding.

Monday's workout ... And we're off

Today, was the first day of getting back on track to being fit. Not to make excuses but here's what happened... I was scheduled to work today from 9-1 but ended up having to stay until 3:30p.m. I originally blocked out my time for my work out for 3p.m. I had to run a few errands after work and didn't get home until after 5:30. By that time I had to pump and then feed the kido. It was 8:30p.m. once everything started to settle down. I was determined to do my first day of the 30 Day Shred today... nothing was going to stop me.

Well, I work from 1pm to 7pm tomorrow night. That meant that I'd have to do my workout before work on my late days. I had planned to workout at 10am on my late days in and 3pm on my early days in. Well, because it was already so late in the evening I was concerned that my muscles would barely have 12 hours to recoup before I did the same routine all over again. I didn't think it was such a great idea but told myself oh well do it anyway. My husband suggested I wait until the end of the week to start, and I told him that I already committed myself to start working out tonight. Eventually, he explained and convinced me that I would be better off to wait to start my 30 Day Shred on Thursday. I have Friday through Sunday off and I would be able to get into a nice routine and start to get my body acclimated to the new workout. I agreed with his reasoning but still insisted that I work out this week even if it was not the 30 Day Shred.

So instead of Shred Day 1, I went for a short walk and then my husband worked with me on some self defense moves. I definitely broke a sweat and worked out for a good 40 mins. It's not what I intended to do today but I think it's waaay better than what I have been doing which is nothing.

Oh, as an early birthday present I bought myself a digital scale. My old one was thrown away when we moved and it was not digital. I hated reading that tiny needle over those silly lines. I weighed in during the middle of the day after lunch when I got home so it's not really the best starting weight time but it's something. I weighed in at 163lbs. Hopefully that will look better in the morning and of course over the next 30 days!

The Journey Begins

I've started this blog as a way to help keep myself accountable for the fitness challenge I have decided to partake in. A few of the girls from the What To Expect September 2008 board and I are going to do the Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. I'm also going to continue to eat healthy and make smarter choices where needed. My goal is to update my fitness blog daily with my progress.