Taking It To the Next Level

This is what I had to picture in order to get out of bed early this morning:

I started level two of the 30-day Shred yesterday. Not easy, my friends, not easy. Truly, it was the fact that it's only 20 minutes long that got me through it. There's a lot of exercises in the plank or push-up position and those really threaten to do me in. Maybe it's that I only did level one with soup cans as weights, and now my lack of upper-body strength is catching up with me. Darn you, cut corners!

Even given that, I think I feel some results from shredding for half of a month now. For example, when I exhale and really let my stomach hang out in all it's glory, now I only look slightly pregnant. Before shredding, I would say I looked like I was in the second trimester of pregnancy. That is really cute and sweet when you are pregnant, but not so much when you are not. I am not. (Let's just make that clear). So: pre-shred I had a second trimester-looking belly; mid-shred I have a baby bump of a belly. Not bad.

8 Days Down

20 to go.

I just shredded my heart out. I'm still on level one, though now I am alternating between following Natalie (advanced) and Anita (beginner, j.v., wow-you-are-out-of-shape). Anita will periodically give a little head-shake or extra exhale as if to say "woah- this is tough". She's really trying to encourage those flabby home exercisers; trying to show that we're all working hard here to reach our goals and gosh aren't these jumping jacks taxing? COME ON ANITA WE KNOW THIS IS NOTHING FOR YOU. I prefer Natalie, who does not patronize me like that.

Just so you know, these are the arms I am aiming for:

Do you think that using soup cans as arms weights will get me there? I am using the "Rich & Hearty" soup from Progresso...

I don't think I look significantly different yet. We don't have a scale here, so I can't really weigh myself to track if I'm losing any pounds. Sure, a couple of people here and there have mentioned that I look a little smaller, a little more toned (What's that? You just mistook me for Heidi Klum? Oh stop. Really.) Like I said a few days ago, I am not changing much in my diet- I am just adding in the workouts with J-Mike. The most significant difference between now and a few weeks ago is that I feel better physically. It feels good to exercise and move, even if it's only for 20 minutes a day. And my body is feeling better too- today I only stopped to rest one time during the push-up phase. One time! The first day I did this I am sure I stopped several times. Also, my calves are not screaming in pain anymore. Another sign that I am, as Jillian says, on my way to being "shredded".

Day Four

I just did my "shred" for the day. Four days into my February goal. (For anyone not familiar with this whole "month goal" concept, here is what I mean).

A few things I have noticed so far:

1. Thank goodness this is only 20 minutes. Not just because it's a difficult 20 minutes, but because that amount of time leaves me with very few excuses as to why I should not work out. If the workout were 30 minutes, I would be much more prone to skipping it because "I just don't have time".

2. I suck at push-ups.

3. I eat a lot more junk when I am working out. My friend Erin pointed this out about herself- when she goes running in the morning, she is more apt to eat extra dessert or pig out more at dinner. This started for me on day one! I did my 20 minute workout and then felt sort of compelled to heap that half and half into my coffee, or eat an extra chocolate dessert that Chicken and I were making. Strangely, it didn't matter that much if I actually wanted either of those things-- I felt like I should have them just because I could. And I "could" because I worked out. Counter-productive? Yes. I would like to get my head around this phenomenon a little more in coming weeks.

(For those of you who are familiar with the 30 day Shred program, you'll notice now that I'm not participating in the diet portion. Just the workouts.)

4. My calves are killing me. All of those darn jumping jacks are getting me.

Bring It, J-Mike

February's goal? The 30-Day Shred, with Jillian Michaels. A couple of friends of mine are already about two weeks into this and said they are thiiiiis close to being able to run in their bikinis in slow motion. Sign me up!

I started yesterday with Progresso Soup cans in hand as weights, ready to shred til I could shred no more. There are three different women on the screen- Jillian, Anita (for beginners) and Natalie (for those tougher than I). Anita and I were besties immediately. Girlie push-ups? Check.

I tried not to be self-conscious about the extra parts of me that were jiggling around throughout the workout, or about my next door neighbors looking out their window and seeing me flopping around. Or about my downstairs neighbor wondering why his windowpanes are rattling. Is that the washing machine shaking around up there? No, that's just me, working out.

Shred or bust.