AND I'm officially in the 170s!! I'm so excited! I know I only lost about two and half pounds in two weeks, but I don't even care. That's still a great loss, it still puts me closer to my goal, AND it puts me in the 170s so I'm MORE than pleased with that!
Now the gym scale puts me about 3 lbs "heavier" than my home scale so hopefully (fingers crossed) I can be in the 170s on the gym scale as well come Monday. Just need to make sure I get my workouts in this weekend and I should be golden.
Anyway, I'm stoked and I couldn't be happier to be in the 170s! Oh and I'm only 3 lbs away from my HALFWAY mark! Holy smokes! Three more pounds and I'm HALFWAY to my goal! I can't believe it!
If you can see under the yellow check it says 175.5 lbs, the halfway mark!
Thanks for reading and especially thanks to everyone supporting me along this journey! It means so much to me and I hope you all know how good it makes me feel to have so much support, so thank you again!
I'll be back with a Biggest Loser update early next week. :)
I promised blog updates, so here it goes. Biggest Loser is going well.
The first weigh in I was 187 lbs and after the first week I weighed 183 lbs, so I lost 4 lbs in a week! I was EXTREMELY happy with that number. It was actually MORE than I expected. Since I've already been dieting I'm sort of at a "disadvantage" these first couple of weeks. Other people that have not been eating right will lose water weight right after the bat, and drop pounds fairly easy these first few weeks because of the "shock" to their system. It's not really a "disadvantage" though because eventually everyone will come into their stride and things will even out so I'm not worried about. Anyway, because I've already been eating healthy and don't care much water weight, I expected to lose about 2 lbs, so I was MORE than happy with 4 lbs.
Monday was the end of week 2 and the third weigh in. I was SUPER nervous this week because I had an awful week this week, and not for the reasons you may think LOL I didn't overeat or splurge or cheat. It was actually the opposite. I was sick all last week and barely ate 500 calories on most days, and believe it or not, when I DON'T eat enough, I don't lose weight. Many of you may have heard of "starvation mode", but if you haven't, it's when you don't eat enough and your body believes there isn't enough food for you, so it stores/saves fat deposits for you to live off of, so you actually hold on to the weight. Anyway, with barely eating and being sick and not having the energy to workout, I feared the worst on the scale Monday night. My goal every week is to lose at least 2 lbs. That's what I'm okay with, but I feared I would either lose only 1 lbs, stay the same, or possibly even gain weight. I was really nervous...
So the outcome?
On Monday, February 13th I weighed 183 lbs....
And this past Monday, February 20th I weighed 181 lbs, for a total of 6 lbs lost!
So I actually did it! I lost the 2 lbs I wanted to lose and was thrilled, which in turn, set me up for an awesome workout!
After we weigh in, we get a little briefing and head to the gym for a workout. We start by walking/jogging/running laps around the gym. I'm not sure exactly what we we're supposed to be doing, but I tried to do a fast jog/slower run. I didn't want to burn myself out trying to run as fast as I could, but I at least wanted to get a good jog in. I actually surprised myself at how long I could run for. I really suck at running honestly LOL I kept up the same pace the whole time. A nice brisk jog and I kept it up for I'd say....8-10 laps.... I'm not entirely sure, but it was a shit ton more than I could've run in middle school or high school gym class that's for sure LOL
After running we stretched and split into groups for stations. I actually like stations because it helps me to pin point my strong suits and weak links. For example, I think my endurance is great. I feel like I can maintain cardio exercises for a really good period of time, BUT my arms/upper body strength...needs a lot of help. I find a lot of the times I'm not physically winded or tired, but my freakin' (almost said fuckin'...oh now I said it...) arms give out. Sorry, but the shit pisses me off. I'm not winded, I'm not tired, but my muscles just can't do it. (I'll elaborate on why this pissed me off SO much later in the blog....) Anyway, upper body....needs work. We did sprints, push ups, dips, squats, suicides, sit ups, ab work on the ball, and shuffling with a ball. I think I did really well if I do say so myself.
After that our "workout" was over, but our trainer proposed a challenge. The prize was a punch card (classes at the gym are $6 a piece or you can buy an eight hole punch card for $45 good for eight classes obviously). So the prize was a free punch card. I try to go to kickboxing once a week and pay the $6 per class, so I wanted the card. There were about 40 of us and the challenge was optional. Try it if you want, walk laps if you don't, but like I said, I wanted it. Oh. The challenge itself? Drops.
Oh em gee, I could go off on a whole tangent about drops, but I'll try not to. If you don't know what a "drop" is, here's a very short demonstrative video. Enjoy :)
(That was the closest thing I could find to it since he's getting REALLY low, but really you actually drop all the way to the floor and then come back up.)
Anyway, that was the challenge. Do as many of those as you can. Trust me. It's hard. Anyway, you had to be getting all the way down and you had to be going at a decent pace. No stopping, resting, going super slow etc.
I don't really know how many people decided to do it because I wasn't looking around, but I think quite a few. Well within maybe 30 seconds (my times could be off because it seems like time goes so SLOW when you're doing shit like this LOL) the trainer called that it was down to five people (me being one of them! Yay!) and maybe 10 seconds after that she said there were only THREE of us left! I was stoked. I could see the other two people to my left and the rest of the gym was either walking laps and cheering us on or watching and cheering us on. Either way, everyone was cheering us on. That was awesome. We just kept going and going and I was DYING. I tried to peek over and see how the other two were holding up. One person looked like she was in about the same place I was LOL, but the other person, he wasn't stopping LOL I did one final jump up and my thigh muscles just gave out from under me (see why I get so pissed about my weak ass muscles!) Anyway, I was out. I started to walk out to the edges and everybody clapped for me. Sounds corny, but it felt awesome! We do them in kickboxing class sometimes and I don't even do REAL drops. I usually just do squat thrusts and don't even go all the way to the ground, so to do them correctly and do that many, I was super proud of myself.
I joined the ranks of the crowd and cheered the remaining two competitors on and they kept going for a good 30+ seconds I would say. They decided to split the prize so they each got half a punch card.
Even though I didn't win, I still felt awesome. It was a great personal victory. It's amazing when you realize what your body can actually do and what YOU are really capable of. It's a great feeling. :)
So I left the gym feeling absolutely elated, which of course has set me up for an awesome week this week. It's Thursday now and I've done wonderfully this week. Yesterday I went to kickboxing class and I'll be doing my "Shed and Shred" a few more times this week, hopefully setting me up to be in the 170s at Monday's weigh in!
Be back with more updates after next week. Thanks for following!
In order to "amp up" my journey a little bit, I have signed up for a Biggest Loser style "challenge" at the local rec center/gym. It cost $50 to join and is a 12 week program. "Contestants" meet every Monday night at the gym for a weigh in and workout, but of course nobody is eliminated like on the show. Everyone is free to stay the whole time. Weights are recorded every week and of course there is "homework" like on the show. It's up to each contestant to keep a food journal and to workout an additional 2-3 times per week or more.
Last Monday February 6th was the beginning of the first week. We got weighed in and my official starting weight on the gym scale was 187 lbs, which is about 3 lbs off from my digital scale at home, so for the purpose of the Biggest Loser update posts, I will be using THEIR weigh ins, so it may not match up with my home weigh ins on Fridays. Anyway, my starting weight was 187 lbs and then we got a lot of info and went for our first workout. There were about 40 some people so we did a circuit workout and of course some of the stations were pretty challenging. I can tell my upper body and core strength are definitely my weak points and need the most work.
So my plan for this challenge is to of course go every Monday (except I'll be missing this week since Will is in town and we're all going to Blackhawk for a few days). I've already made arrangements to email my food and exercise journal to the trainer and then I worked it out to where I can get weighed in Saturday morning. Anyway, my plan will be to attend the weigh ins and workout at the gym, eat healthy of course, and workout at home at 3-5 more times during the week. I have found that I like to mix it up at home and alternate different DVD workouts. I have a variety of choices ranging from the 20 min "30 Day Shred" to the 35-45 minute Biggest Loser workouts to the 70 minute "Extreme Shed and Shred", so depending on the time I have to workout, I have several choices to fit those time slots. I also plan on going to the kickboxing class on Wednesdays as often as I can, and my "goal" for this 12 weeks is to get to 160 lbs for a loss of 27 lbs (gym scale numbers LOL)
Oh, and you may want to know what you get for being the Biggest Loser... A free one year gym membership, which, with their new "pricing" would include some classes FOR FREE. See before the kickboxing class was $6 for non member and $4 for member, but now it's free for members, which would be sweet. And the ad in the paper also said something about a weekend stay in a hotel in Denver, but in the past the prize has been $200 and someone else said something about that, so I'm not quite sure what the second half of it is, but the gym membership alone sounds good to me. Anything else would be a perk. LOL And hey, even if I don't win, the classes are $6 per class and you get a free workout every Monday as part of the program, so one free workout per week times 12 weeeks would've been $72 and I paid $50 to join, so even I don't win, I still saved $22 on workouts right? LOL But let's not think about me NOT winning ;)
So like I said, Monday was the first day and I will miss next week, so I will try to update with my weight etc. every week as part of my Biggest Loser Challenge series, so look for my update next week!
Well my poor blog has been neglected for some time now and several people have asked me for a blog update and a few others have asked me what I'm doing to lose weight, so I figured it was time for a post....
Let's see... I left off in November 2011 and things were going great. Unfortunately, mid-late November my weight loss journey had to be put on a temporary hold due to medical issues. During this time I was unable to exercise and became extremely stressed. I gained about 12 lbs back.... This is as far as I'll go into details, but I'm totally fine, nothing to worry about it, and I was once again cleared for exercise in January 2012.
So.... January 2012 I started fresh on a "mini journey" to get back to where I was in November. The first part of January I was still unable to workout, so I just got back on my normal diet schedule, which I've changed up a bit. Diet wise I like to count calories of course, and also watch fat, sodium, and sugar, BUT I did some research and also began monitoring my carbs. I already knew that too much sugar had a large impact on my ability to lose weight, but upon talking to a few people who also have hypothyroidism I learned that many of them watch carbs altogether (sugar included). I tweaked my diet to include carbs in moderation at the end of January and have had great success so far. I still eat SOME carbs, but I try to monitor my intake and eat whole grains. Also, I'm not JUST doing a "low carb" diet. A lot of people on Atkins etc. ONLY watch crabs and don't look at anything else they're eating. Yes bacon is low in carbs, but if you eat a pound of bacon for breakfast....you still ate a pound of bacon LOL Eggs too. Eggs are a freebie on a carb diet, but one whole egg is damn near 100 calories, not to mention the cholesterol. Yikes. So, I monitor my carbs, but I still eat healthy foods and balanced meals, and like I said, I love it so far.
And to monitor all this I use MyFitnessPal (link on side bar or click here). I've mentioned this site before, but since some have asked what I'm doing I thought I'd put it in again. It's an amazing site and is super simple to use. You make a username/profile, enter your stats and goals, and it tells you how many calories to eat and tracks everything (including exercise) for you, so you know where you're at each day. There is also an MFP in the Android Market which makes it super easy to use from you phone too. Aside from having your own profile, you can also had friends and MFP will keep them updated for you whenever you track your food, exercise, or weigh in, which really keeps you motivated. If anyone is using MFP or starts using it now, my username is Chris_bee05, so go to members, look me up, and add me.
And lastly, as far as workouts go, I've added yet another workout DVD to my ever growing collection...
Workout DVDs... LOL
Latest addition.... Jillian Michaels EXTREME Shed and Shred. Yeah. I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this. I thought the 30 Day Shred was hard. Psht. Please.
I believe this is the newest of her DVDs and it is a 70+ minute workout when done in full. There is a 7 minute warm up and 7 minute cool down, and the full workout can be split into two levels. Level 1 being approximately 20 minutes (without warm up/cool down) and Level 2 being an additional 40 minutes (again without warm up/cool down), so when done in its entirety about a 70 minute workout.
Now I like to write like I know what I'm talking about, but in fact, I have yet to finish the entire workout. I've been doing it for about a week and only tried to do the full thing just yesterday. I think I was about 10 minutes from the end when I skipped to the cool down. I was beat to shit. LOL But I've definitely made progress with it. As you can see in my pic I have 3lb and 8lb weights. Part of the "modifications" in this workout is to just not use weights. Still have to do the moves, just don't use weights. Nice modification huh? LOL Hey, but it makes me push, so it's a good thing. Anyway, yesterday I used the 8 lbs weights the majority of the time (before I was only using the 3lb-ers) AND I was able to add weights to some of the moves I was previously doing without weights. Not bad for a weeks worth of having the DVD. :)
Me today! (Aug 2011 - Feb 2012)
And thankfully, as of last week, I can say that I am finally back to where I left off in November. I have lost all the weight I gained back (and them some, but y official "weigh in" isn't until tomorrow, so we'll see....) I've updated "Stats" page at the top to reflect my journey over the last few months if anyone wants to get an idea of my weights over the last 5-6 weeks, and I of course added my new pic to my "Photo Gallery".
I have big, big plans and goals for this year and I plan to hit (maybe even surpass) my goal weight. At first I saw the gain as a huge set back (which in a way it was), but if anything I'm more committed than ever because gaining those few pounds back made me realize just how far I've come and exactly what I stand to lose. :)
And now....if you proceed to the NEXT blog, I have a new series I'd like to introduce....
Ok I promised a weigh in AFTER vacation and today is the day...
Three weeks ago, at my last weigh in on October 28th, I weighed 190lbs...
Today I weigh...
Yes, those are my feet and the tattoo is a koi fish :)
183 lbs! I've lost 7 lbs since my last weigh in (INCLUDING my time on vacation) for a total of 38 lbs lost so far!!!
Not only am I out of the 190s and into the 180s, but I'm only 4 lbs away from the 170s, AND I'm only 8 lbs away from being HALFWAY through my goal! Look at my ticker! Almost HALFWAY to my goal! I am beyond ecstatic!
I've gone from a size 18 to a size 12 !!!
So I normally do weigh ins every two weeks, but since my last weigh in would've occured in the middle of my vacation, I did a three week weigh in, but now I'll be back to every two weeks, so my next weigh in will be...
Oh my gosh. Such a great feeling. To see "31 lbs lost"...it's like crazy. I'm so excited right now! AND I'm only 1 lb away from the 180s! Seems like the 190s just flew by! Hopefully it'll be the same with the 180s LOL
My next weigh in will fall in the middle of our trip to Disney World, so I'm bumping it to the following Friday, so my next weigh in will be November 18th!
And for a quick update, everything's going great. After doing the Shred for 30 days straight I had a few "injuries" so to speak and had a lot of problems with my back, knees, and most of all, shin splints. Geez. Those were feakin' BAD. I even called the doctor on those ones LOL But after I finished the Shred I iced the crap out of my legs, took a few days off, and haven't had any problems since. Now I still get the occasional "aches and pains" after a good workout, but of course that's to be expected.
I've stuck to my exercise plan and I've been doing a varity of things like I wanted to do. My original plan was to "do a variety of things", then I thought I would try the 6 week Biggest Loser Cardio Max workout, but that workout is just too long to do at home with the kids, so I'm now back to my "variety of things". I will still do the BL Cardio Max occasionally, but I'll have to do after Josh gets home and he can watch the bambinos.
I'm still sticking with the kickboxing (although I missed class this week), but I made it up at home by trying a few new things with Josh. We did the Pure Cardio disc from Insanity on Monday and I thought I was going to die. Freak that was hard. I did try to pace myself because he told me it was non-stop, no breaks, so I wanted to make sure I made it through the WHOLE DVD. When he told me there was only 10 minutes left I tried to kick it up a notch, but I was burnt out by that point, so I had to stay with the same "pace" I was working at before, which trust me, it was still work. LOL But hey, I made it through! And then we did Ab RipperX from his P90X discs, which I've tried before, but I feel like I did MUCH better this time. It's only like 15 minutes, but it's straight ab work. Something like some 300+ crunches/sit ups (he says at the end, but I forget the EXACT number). Anyway, I think I did better this time around an I might start doing that on a regular basis.
Anyway, I guess my "weigh in" sort of turned into a Weigh In/Workout Watch combo, but that's the update for ya! And I have a new "mini series" in the works to start sometime in November, so keep an eye out for details on that... ;)
Okay time for another update....Working out is still going great. I've still been going to the kickboxing class at the gym and I'm still working out at home as well.
Today I went back and tried the 30 Day Shred again for the first time since I finished my first 30 days. I did Level 1 and it went great. It was still an awesome workout, but I can definitely see a difference in my endurance now. I've been working out regularly for almost 2 months! Crazy. Anyway, I did all the moves, no modifications, and powered straight through the bicycle crunches, which were a HUGE challenge for me the first time around.
And I have something else to add that I found kind of "surprising" yesterday. I went to kickboxing class last night and we were using steps. I'm sure you all know what that is, but in case you don't it's just a big, hard plastic step that you use to step up on to make certain exercises more challenging. Anyway, in the middle of class I bent down to get my step and I read something on it. It says, "MAX recommended weight limit = 225 lbs".... Now you might be thinking, "So??? Who cares....What does that matter?" Well, if you recall, before I decided to start this change I weighed 221 lbs... 221 lbs.... So I was only 4 lbs away from being TOO HEAVY to use this specific peice of equipment. That is just astonishing to me. I was TOO HEAVY for something. TOO HEAVY to use something, to use this step. That is just unbelievable. What else was I missing out on because I was "too heavy"? What else WOULD I be missing out if I hadn't made this change??
I'm so happy I made this decision and so happy I'm doing this and seeing stuff like that, while slightly depressing, just gives me even more drive to keep going and be healthy and fit!
I've lost 3 lbs since my last weigh in for a total of 26 lbs lost so far!
I'm so excited! I haven't been 195 lbs since this time LAST YEAR! I'm stoked! And I'm only 6 lbs away from being in the 180s! I haven't seen 180-something since HIGH SCHOOL!
Oh, and the best part....I'm over a quarter of the way through my original 91 lb goal! More than a quarter of the way there!!! That's crazy to me.
I'm so glad I started this blog and joined MyFitnessPal and started tracking all of this. Last time I was "on a kick" I didn't keep track very well. I knew I was losing weight, but I didn't realize how much work I'd actually done, and I think that contributed to me "falling off the wagon", but now that I can actually see what I'm doing and watch the tickers move and see the numbers go down, it really reminds me of how much I've accomplished and how much I still have left to accomplish and keeps me completely motivated to keep going.
By the way, for anyone reading who wants to lose weight or watch what they eat or just be healthier, I definitely recommend signing up for MyFitnessPal. Click here or use the MyFitnessPal link to the right of my blog. It really has a TON of tools and resources to keep you on track with your goals, plus there is an entire online community where you can go and ask questions and just get support. Plus, if you have a smart phone, you can download an app straight to your phone, so you're only a button away from entering your food or looking through the database to get nutritioal info on something. Definitely worth signing up.
Anyway, that's it for this week's weigh in. Next weigh in October 28th!
Okay time to update on my workout routine. First off, I've been going to a cardio kickboxing class twice a week at the rec center for about a month and half, maybe two months now. It's a 45 minute class and we do a little a bit of everything, not just kickboxing moves. The instructor changes it up a bit for every class and some days are A LOT harder than others,but every class is hard and it's a really good workout. Plus it's a great way for me to get out of the house for some productive "mommy time" and I like being able to change up my routine some.
I've actually been "changing things up" quite a bit and trying a variety of exercises to keep myself entertained LOL Last week I realized that every time I go into the basement I actually walk right past this giant, dusty piece of workout equipment...an elliptical. Yeah, we have an elliptical in our house LOL My parents got it awhile ago, but it never gets used and was just sitting in the basement, SO I dusted it off, threw in some new batteries, and parked it in front of the TV in the basement, so now whenever America's Next Top Model or Teen Mom comes, I just jump on the elliptical and watch my shows. It's actually a lot harder than it looks LOL I'm still working on finding the right settings and making sure I keep my heartrate up high enough to truly be burning calories. It's difficult because the machine gains momentum so you have to make sure you have the resistence set high enough that the machine isn't doing the work for you, which is what I've been working on and I think I may have found my niche.
Also last week, we (Josh and I) took the kiddos up to the rec center pool and I decided to try out swimming as an exercise. Again, a lot harder than it looks. When you're just in the pool for fun it's not all that bad because half the time you've got you feet on the bottom anyway, but I got in the far lane and did a bunch of laps back and forth the length of the pool, trying not to stop for too long on either end. I did some like "breast stroke" style (I think that's what it's called) and then did some holding onto a board in the front so I really had to work my legs. Did that for about 45 minutes while Josh played with the kids in the toddler pool. Tried to go for an hour, but little ones were growing restless so we had to skidaddle. LOL
And I've still been doing my Biggest Loser Cardio DVD, but I'm finding it difficult to get in a 45-55 minute workout with the kids during the day, so I think I'm going to start incorporating the 30 Day Shred back into my routine, which is what I thought would eventually happen since I love that thing and it's a great 20 minute workout. What I'll probably do is just evaluate the "situation" and decide which one I think I have time for, so I'll be doing a little of both, but not everyday like I was when I did he initial 30 days. I never realized how much my body actually benefits from rest days, so I'm going to keep up with that. I've been doing some sort of workout (either DVD at home or class) five days a week and taking two rest days, on which I do the elliptical because it's so low impact that it still gives my legs, knees, joints a chance to recover.
Anyway, that's the update on my workout routine right now. It's not really a routine per se since I'm doing a bit of everything, but it has become "routine" for me to exercise which was always the goal and will continue to be the goal :)
Ok everyone this is going to be my new series where I post workout updates and I've also added another mini ticker to the side bar couting out how long working out has been a part of my life :)
So I started my Biggest Loser Cardio Max DVD on Saturday. It's a six week program consisting of three levels, but unlike the Shred where you go from one level to the next, with this DVD each level is an ADD ON, so you do Level 1 for 2 weeks, then ADD ON Level 2 for the next two weeks, and then ADD ON Level 3 for the last two weeks so that by the end you'll be doing a warm up, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and a cool down.
I started with just Level 1 on Saturday, but I was doing this DVD last summer and didn't make the full two weeks, so I'm pretty familiar with Level 1 already, so today I added on Level 2. Level 1 is about 30 minutes and is where the majority of the work comes in. It's pretty much a circuit workout hitting every part of the body with several cardio bursts thrown in between the moves. Level 2 and Level 3 are both high intensity circuits 10 minutes a piece. I haven't seen Level 3 yet, but Level 2 is okay. They have two people "hosting" it. They're both past contestants, one guy and one chick and they have some sort of awkward sexual tension and they talk and flirt and hit and make fun of each other the whole time. It's pretty much like watching two 12 year olds in gym class...
I'm not really into joking and talking during my workouts. I like to get pretty serious and stay focused. An occasional comment or two I'm okay with, but these two are at it the whole time, right up until the very last second. Blah. LOL
Anyway, I did Levels 1 and 2 today and it went great. There are a lot of jumping jacks, simulated jump rope, and jump squats, and when I first did this DVD last year I couldn't do ANY of it. I did the modified version of all those moves, but now I can every single bit of it and I'm super stoked. Can only get better from here!
Ok so first off, yesterday was my last day on my first round of The 30 Day Shred, so...
Day 30...
DONE!
I am so excited I finished it! It certainly wasn't easy, but I've gained so much from doing this 30 day challenge. I learned so much about myself and my body and what I can handle and I really feel like I'm finally getting control of my life and my body. It really was an eye opening experience for me. Like I said in past 30DS updates, I never would have imagined that I could actually do some of these things, and granted I couldn't do ALL of them, but I could do a lot more than I thought and for that I'm extremely proud. The Shred is definitely something I'll be doing again! Maybe not in entire 30 day chunks, but definitely as part of my exercise routine from now on :)
So... should we move on to the fun part? The results...?
Well today happens to also be my 2 week weigh in date, so...
Weigh In
On September 16th I weighed 203 lbs.
Today I weigh....
198 lbs!
I've lost 5 lbs since my last weigh in for a total of 23 lbs lost so far! AND I've finally broke into the 100s again!
Okay. Enough suspense. Let's see some results!
30 Day Shred Results
(All stats/weights/measurements are from beginning THE SHRED only)
Weight:
Before: After 30 Days: Difference:
210 lbs 198 lbs -12 lbs
Measurements:
Before: After 30 Days: Difference:
Waist- 41 inches 36 inches -5 inches
Bust- 44 inches 42 inches -2 inches
Under Bust- 40.5 inches 38 inches -2.5 inches
Hips- 42 inches 41 inches -1 inch
Thigh- 27 inches 26 inches -1 inch
Arm- 14.5 inches 14 inches -0.5 inches
Overall, after the 30 Day Shred I lost 5 inches off my waist and a total of 12 lbs!
Before/After:
Thank you to everyone who has been following me on this journey and to everyone for being so supportive and uplifting throughout the beginning of this process. This is just the beginning for me and it can only go up from here (or go down depending on how you look at LOL). I'm still going to keep the 30 Day Shred as part of my routine, but next I'm going to conquer the Biggest Loser's 6 week Cardio Max Weight Loss DVD. I've done it in the past, but I'm going to stick it out the entire 6 weeks this time, and of course I'll continue updating my blog with weigh ins and occasional updates for everyone following. Thank you all again for you kind words and support throughout this last month!
Today was acutally a little bit easier. I think I'm really starting to get the hang of Level 3 (by the second to last day LOL) and I've been icing my legs which is helping a TON. Only ONE day left on my first 30 days of the Shred. I'll definitely be doing it again, even if not in 30 day segments.
Did well today. Still having a tough time with traveling push ups, but I'm really feeling comfortable with Level 3 at this point. Don't get me wrong, it's still hard, but at least I know what I'm doing and I'm finally familiar with it. Almost there!
Another hard day today. I'm having a lot of problems with my knees, muscle cramps, my ankles, and shin splints...BUT I've only got three days left now, so I'm going to power through it!
Well I know I'm gettin' close, so I'm really trying to push hard, but geez is this last level a killer! I'm bummin' out because I rocked out the traveling push ups the first day and I haven't been able to do all of them since! Grrr! I did the full first set today, but did the whole second set on my knees. Ugh. I think it's because there is so much more stuff happening in plank/pushup position on this level that my arms and chest are just so tired, when they weren't the first day I started. I don't know, but I'm going to keep pushing as hard as I can and see how good I can do before Day 30. I have improved a lot on jumping lunges AND rockstar jumps, so I'm pretty proud of that :)
Another hard day today. I was just not feelin' 100% today, but I pushed through and did my workout anyway. Of course it was tough, but I got it done, and it always feels better once I get done. Can't believe how close I'm gettin' to completing my first round of the Shred.
And I actually found it to be a little easier today, which means tomorrow I'm going to feel like I want to die LOL Everytime I've felt it getting easier, the next day kills me LOL
Phew. Another tough day on Level 3, but damn did I push it! I am literally amazed at the things my body can do. The things I can do. It's astounding. If you would have asked me 22 days ago if I could do some of this stuff I would have said, "Ha! Absolutely not!", and I would've been WRONG! I'm not even "done" yet and I'm already amazed.
When I started this thing I thought the biggest part of it for me would be seeing the physical results, and, although that's a nice plus, it's not even my main "concern" anymore. My main thing has been watching what my body can do and realizing what I'm actually capable of. If I can do this stuff, anybody can.
Anyway, another hard day, but another day I'm proud of!
