30 Day Shred: Level 3 and Results

Level 3 is hard. I don't know if it is really harder than Level 2, but it is different. There is SO much jumping... I'm like gasping for breath by the end. All the jumping kind of did a number on my knees. Jumping lunges are no joke and I could feel them when I was running! But Jillian says all the jumping is supposed to rev up your metabolism and help you lose weight. I totally believe her, so I kept doing them.

I only skipped one day; Black Friday. I totally regretted it when I was doing Level 3 back to back on Sunday. Drew was sitting on the couch screaming at me not to "mail it in". It's phone it in, Drew!!! I don't have pictures, but you know how I like pictures... I assume this is what I look like while shredding:

Hot!!! If anyone is looking for a Christmas gift idea for me, I'm in need of some new pink spandex pants. Mine are so 80's.

Results: I did not lose weight. And I do not have the 6 pack she says I should have. But I feel tough, and I think the 30 Day Shred probably helped combat the weight gain that could have come with all the cupcakes and pie that were consumed this month! I'm probably not going to keep up the Shred, but I might start doing some different Jillian videos. She's definitely my favorite scary trainer! If you are looking for a quick and effective workout I definitely recommend the Shred!

30 Day Shred: Level 2

Level 2 is done! Don't you hate Jill's outfit in the pic above? I just want her to be cute and girly... but she's supposed to be changing me, not the other way around, right? Maybe I should pay less attention to her clothing choices and more attention to her screaming at me not to "phone it in". Still not really sure what that means... how do I phone in walking push-ups? I'd like to try.

Level 2 is hard! Scary Jillian makes you do things like hold a lunge while you do back moves at the same time. Even her workout side-kicks get caught cheating! How am I supposed to make it through when buff-Natalie can't even do it?! There's one move at the end where Jillian says, "I know you think I'm a crazy person..." and I always scream profanities at her in agreement. I only skipped one day when we were out of town and had to double up for a day when we got back home and that was enough to make me do it daily for the rest of the 10 days. There is nothing I wanted to do less than Level 2 back to back!

As far as results: I feel like I can see a difference and I feel stronger. Then a nice stranger came up to me, looked me in the eye, then down at my stomach, then back in my eye and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! Are you pregnant?!" So... um... yeah... maybe I'm not making as much progress as I thought. Maybe I am phoning it in... or maybe in conjunction with the 30 Day Shred I should also try to lay off the Ben & Jerry's.

Whatevs... on to Level 3!

30 Day Shred: Level 1

10 days down, 20 to go!

I finished Day 10 of the Shred today, and even though Level 1 was getting a bit boring (boring, not easy), I decided to stick with the program. I'm easily distracted and thought if I skipped to Level 2 early I very well may end up completely off track and doing Body By Jake or Buns of Steal by Day 15.

I have to confess; I didn't do the Shred every day. Oops! I have good reasons I swear. I skipped Saturday as I was up at 4 AM with a noisy dog (seriously, who wants this Boxer??? I'll give him to you cheap!) followed by a BIG day of football magic (AKA kicking some KU butt AKA drinking a lot). As we were leaving the tailgate I mentioned I had to do the Shred when we got home and Drew bet me a new camera that I wouldn't. I didn't. Damn.

Skipped Sunday too in favor of coffee with the girls and wine with the fam (happy birthday Drew!). So I decided to make up for it by doing double duty Monday and today. I did Level 1 twice, back to back. That is hard. I think Level 2 is going to feel easy in comparison.

As you know, the camera is broken (stupid dog), so no before and after pics. But I feel like I can tell a small difference after listening to Jillian scream, "Don't phone it in!" for 10 days. My body now looks really similar to this:

It is almost like they photo-shopped Jillian's face onto my body, right??? Absolutely.

Back on the Wagon

Its Sunday, which means you would usually be expecting a marathon training recap... except that's done and over with, right? So what's next? After 2 weeks of minimal running (like none) and carb loading (candy loading) like I'm running 100 miles a week, I've decided I need a little motivation AKA someone to tell me what to do with my life. I'm not the kind of person who wakes up and runs because it feels good. It does feel good, but so does my bed.

I decided I should cut Hal some slack and give him a break since he's been my trainer for the last year and a half. Part of me really wanted to sign up for the Gobbler Grind 1/2 Marathon at the end of this month, but to even jump into the Novice program I would have had to run 8 miles this weekend. That did not and would not happen. Plus, if I run a half, I want to run it fast. And that isn't going to happen, so I'm opting for the sidelines on this one (go Trophy Wife!).

Instead of focusing on running, I decided that in November I'm going to switch my focus to a new trainer; the ever famous and scary Jillian Michaels! Woo Hoo! She's not as nice and friendly (and old) as Hal, but I'm betting she'll whip my butt into shape with her 30 Day Shred.

This month you can look forward to Sunday recaps of my week with Jillian. There are 3 levels of the workout so I'm going to attempt to do 10 days of each level. My goal is to work out for 30 days straight; every day this month. The workouts are only about 20 minutes in addition to a warm up and cool down, so it should be doable.

I was planning on taking before and after pictures so everyone could see me go from flab to fab, but my dog ate my camera. No really, Ari totally broke my camera last night. I think it was the universe telling me that no one needs or wants to see that. The plan says I can lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days, but I'm really just looking to tone up... and possibly get some body building gigs. I weighed myself today so I'll let you know at the end if I lose any weight (don't hold your breath).

In addition I'm going to try to log 20 miles a week for the month to get myself back to a good base so I can start looking at training options for the spring! Wish me luck!