every little bit counts

I just finished workout 30 of Jillian Michaels' 30-day shred. It took me thirty three days, but I finished, completing the workout seventeen days in a row.

Craziness.

First, my insights from day one to day thirty. I worked level one for ten days. After about day 3, my knees were sore, but nothing I couldn't push through. My endurance during cardio segments was pretty sad, even with two hits off my inhaler beforehand. My back and shoulders got tight and I had a headache for the first several days but after I did some additional stretching following every workout, it seemed better.

By day 30, I'd been only taking one hit off my inhaler before each workout for about a week. While my heart was pumping pretty hard during cardio segments, I could still breathe and didn't ever have to stop to catch my breath. My back is still feeling a little tight but nothing I can't deal with. And you should see the definition in my arms; it's nothing like Jillian's (let's face it, the girl has GUNS!) but for me, it's impressive. All that strength training paid off in the end. I'm getting my shape back in my torso; still hiding it under shirts for now since I've got ab flab to lose yet, but it's getting there. And I'm pretty proud of myself for not quitting, even when my schedule got tough to maneuver.


And now, I bring you my "results".

30 day shred started 5/6/11
weight 159
chest 35.75”
waist 33”
hips 41”
L thigh 24.5”

day 30 6/9/11
weight 155.6
chest 35.5”
waist 31”
hips 39.25”
thigh 22”

total results 30 day shred (33 days)
weight = -3.4 lbs
inches lost= 6.5


At first, I was disappointed. But then I decided that maybe this is the way that I can actually live with the changes of working out and eating better and doing this slowly without having to deprive myself of pizza on Wednesday nights. And once I took a look at my records from March first, I felt even better.

I've lost 15.4 pounds and 11.75 inches since March 1st. (No wonder the pants I bought in February are falling down.)

Better yet, I finally cracked the 35 pound mark, having now lost 35.4 pounds since December 27th.

I can live with that.