30 Days to Better

Day 13 & Day 14 (measure-in tomorrow!)

Well. Shit. Ok, so I've sort of fallen off the wagon a bit.  I was sick and I forgive myself for missing an entire week of exercising.  I'm proud that I didn't gain any weight but I must admit while I was sick and didn't have much of an appetite I was extremely strict with myself and didn't indulge at all. Perhaps if I had eaten more I could have gotten healthier soon. I KNOW.

Today was Day 14 and I'm just having a hard time getting it all together again.  Tomorrow. For Sure. I have a date with Jillian. I'm going to do it in the morning. Before I  have time for excuses and getting busy and before I drink a glass of wine to calm the fuck down. 

Tomorrow is Day 15. It's also October 1. That means I weight in, officially. And measure-in. Officially.  I know I'm doing well I am just scared of not doing more.  I have been here before.  I have been here at this weight and I have given up, slowed down, feared the next step, the pain, the change, the unknow.  I don't know how to get over this other than to just keep going.  But still ... I'm not sure where exactly my motivation is going to come from.  It feels like since I've officially lost my pregnancy weight and then some that I need to dig deeper and actually figure out what it is that I want from this whole weight-loss -- health initiative --healthy living lifestyle thing it is on which I'm embarking.

Coming up tomorrow: my measurements!  (honest ones too!)

Day 11 (Saturday) Day 12 (Sunday) ... Pay no attention to the missing week

Well, I'm calling a spade a sick lady.  And this spade, this sick spade isn't going to pretend that she did anything other than blow her nose and wipe her son's nose all last week.   I swear to you that I felt very guilty about it too.

Last Sunday was Day 10 and I was hopeless.  It's now a week later and I am proud to say that 85% of my cold is GONE.  I cannot say the same for Noah. Sadly.

On Saturday I felt I needed to do something, SOMETHING to combat the week long atrophy and ass-sag that had set in so I did a Jillian Level 1 and I hacked and coughed through the whole thing.  On Sunday I went to the gym  did a slow-paced 45-minutes on the Elliptical and a few minutes of Jillian's moves with the hand weights.  I'm two days away from my First-Day-0f-the-Month Measurement and Weigh In and I'm not NOT going to let myself down anymore. I've done that for 28 years now.

Today is Day 13 and I took a  25 minute walk this morning with the dog and the baby.  I'm very determined to kick my own ass this week. 

I am at a weight that I have seen before, only a few times before.  I am almost wearing sizes that didn't fit over ONE LEG just a few months ago.  I'm really battling the fact that I STILL FEEL FAT. What the fuck?  I am learning that you can lose a few pounds but you are still the same person on the inside.  Tighter muscles and less body fat do not change the way you see yourself.  You have to do that work outside of the gym and I'm still working on that.  Maybe we'll have another 30-day challenge, the mental side? 

My goals for this week: 3 lb weight loss, daily Jillian workouts, a few long walks, regaining strength from a week of being sick, sticking to a good diet with lots of veggies and protein.

Day 8, 9, 10; in brief

Day 8: Went to gym at 10pm.  20 minutes of cardio on Ellipical machine. 20 minutes of whatever-Jillian-moves I could remember.  I was panting and sweating and totally could not breathe at all.  I think I worked harder than I do at home because I couldn't remember everything but still wanted a good workout.

On the way home, I got a twinge of that all-too familiar feeling of a knife scratching your throat and I had a bad feeling that in a day or so I would be nursing a head cold.

Day 9:  Woke up to sore throat and chest.  Felt crappy. Went about family activities all day. By dinner I was SICK.  Chest - Head - Sinus - Ears ... a fever maybe? I went to bed at 7:15PM.  I didn't sleep much.

Day 10: Today. Urgh. SICK. SO sick. Cannot breathe at all. Nose is stuffed and I'm coughing. Ear hurts, face hurts, body aches. Shit.   Should tomorrow be Day 11 or should I wait until I'm well and then pick up with Day 9? 

Is this a 30-calendar day challenge, or do the 30-day shred 30 times? You tell me.

What I ate for breakfast and lunch today ...

Food is half the battle in taking control of our life and exercise and fitness.  Exercise is great and will make a difference.  A good diet is great and will make a difference. Together, a healthy diet and exercise will do more than slim your waist line and lower your cholesterol.  You will FEEL better, you will have more energy, you will be stronger and leaner and more confident. 

Eating well can be a major change for some folks, unlike our friend Jillian who believes in a full-on balls-out 180-degree-turnaround NOW, I think making small changes will amount to the desire to make large changes. 

Start small. Start today.

Here is what I had for breakfast and lunch so far today. 

I've been writing for the last hour and it's not after 5pm and I don't know what I'm serving for dinner.  Possibly stir-fry with brown rice.  I'll take pictures!

30-Day Shred Challenge: Day 7

I don't have much to report for Day 7 because I sort of skipped it. Another day. I know.

Sarah told me last weekend that when you fall off the wagon you just get back on, don't beat yourself up over something this trivial.

I don't know WHY I took on this challenge right now. I have more on my plate than I can handle right now and I have to give some things up and it's really killing me.  Exercise is helping me handle stress and it is making me feel better about myself, but, SHIT, it's hard work and it's hard to make time for it.

Hopefully Day 8 will be better.

30-Day Shred Challenge: Day 6

Wow. Day 6?  Seriously? (or in Twitter speak: Srsly??)

I had a major dental appointment today.  I had three shots of novocaine and a few fillings and then I spent the afternoon picking up my neighbor's kid at day-care and taking care of her and my own family. 

I could have worked out after Noah was asleep and after neighbor kid left, but, I didn't. 

Does it count that I watched Biggest Loser ? 

I will do some double exercising tomorrow to make up for it.  I will do the 30-Day Shred and I will also do some cardio; depending on Noah's sleep schedule I will either go for a 45-60 minute walk with the dog and stroller or I'll take a jog on the treadmill. 

I ate well though.

More tomorrow and more about food and diet coming soon ... so much going on right now!

I spent today in a pair of size 8 jeans.  I have never really ever been a size 8.  I am motivated to keep going and see how much more I can do  and I'm equally fearful of not getting any further. 

The first week is up tomorrow!  Let's look back: Have you workout out as much as you planned?  If no, why?  What stood in your way? 

What are your goals?

So we've been at this here 30-Day Shred Challenge for almost a week and we haven't defined our goals. 

Are you in this to lose weight? Just make some time for yourself?  Lose a baby-belly?  Feel more energized?

Leave a comment, tell me how you are feeling today about all this working out.   You are doing great, keep it up!  I bet you feel stronger already.

My goals:  I am hoping to gain strength and lose some weight, 15 pounds by the end of the year.   I am very slowly getting better at making this time for myself every day.  I think that is at least 50% of the challenge for me. 

TIP:  Start the day off well with good nutrition. I eat a packet of Instant Oatmeal and I add a teaspoon or two of ground  flax seed, tiny bit of brown sugar, a dash of vanilla and cinnamon and a handful of dried blueberries.  It took at least a week but I've been eating this each morning now for months and it keeps me going and feeling full until lunch, three hours later.  (Heh.)
I also drink a massive cup of coffee.  That possibly helps with the energy too.

30-Day Shred Challenge: DAY 5

This will be brief because, MAN! I  tired!  I think it's all that working out I've been doing, Jillian-style.

I had a busy day with errands and the baby but after he went to sleep I worked-out.  It was almost 9PM! 

I hate putting it off  that late at night because I still had not eaten dinner, I had not made dinner for Marc, I knew I had blogging duties to tend to and it was late, BUT, for YOU, because I know you are counting on me to set a good example, I did it.  I completed a Level 2 workout.

I can tell I'm getting stronger.  It still hurts. I still sweat buckets and have trouble catching my breath and I am so sore.  My back is hurting because I worked harder on some of the exercises and I shiver at the thought of a squat-thrust, but I am better able to get through this workout.

How about you?  What did you do today?

30-Day Shred Challenge: DAY 4

Half way through the first week and I've been Shredded three times.    After taking yesterday off and feeling some guilt but being reminded by Sarah that I was wise to rest and give myself a change to recover I felt a little better.  I also knew that I needed to get back to it today.

Instead of working out with Jillian I went to the gym today.  It's something I try to do twice a week when Marc can watch the baby.   I go for the exercise but also to get away from the house, alone.  It makes a big difference and I know it is good for me.  Also? Working out in a communal place of sweat with large mirrors helps me get a real sense of my form and posture when I exercise.   I also enjoy the public solitude of the gym.  And, they have lots of hand weights and I only have two pairs, one that is too heavy and one that is too light.

I did 20 minutes of a warm-up on the Elliptical machine and then I went into the group-exercise room which wasn't in use and did 20 minutes of Jillian's beatings.  I didn't do the warm-up or cool down but I did as many of the exercises as I could recall.  I did about 15-20 of each exercise several times broken up by cardio in between.  I found and used an actual jump rope.  I did butt-kicks and I'm pleased to say that those are getting easier to do  (nothing else is easy yet, really).  I did three semi-abbreviated circuits because I mixed some exercises from Level 1 and Level 2.  

When I was finished I was absolutely gargling my lungs.  I was so red-faced that I was worried the staff would think I was going to pass-out.  I was sweaty and in pain.  And it felt really good.

I am feeling more confident in doing these exercises.   Keeping track of it here is also great for me.  I'm so afraid that if I don't workout and push myself one of you will hunt me down and go all Jillian-like on me. 

What I really mean is, peer pressure is good, sometimes.

What did you do this weekend? 

30-Day Shred with Jillian Michaels

You can join the 30-day Shred Challenge at any time.   Leave a comment and let us know who you are so we can all encourage you and check-in on your progress.

You can buy this DVD on Amazon for $10.99.