No, not shedding. Although I do lose a surprising amount of hair sometimes. I’m attempting to do Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred.
Part of me doesn’t want to talk about this. In the past if I’ve ever talked about doing some form of exercise I’d immediately quit. Weird how that happens. It’s like I get too excited so my brain decides that I should just stop all of that so that I didn’t have to get my hopes up and then fail.
I’m doing it though and I really, really want to stick with it. So I’m telling you guys because I need to succeed this time. I’m not going to wake up one morning and magically be Joules from 10 years ago. Nothing is going to get better if I continue to be a lazy butt.
So, I started the Shred.
What inspired me this time? Was it the fact that the weather is finally warming up and I get to play that game of “do I fit in last year’s clothes” when I unpack my old shorts? Or that my kid is mimicking every single thing I do and I don’t want him to learn my bad habits?
Okay, well it was a little of those things and also the added nudge that my friend Kari over at A Grace Full Life just did the workout* and looks incredible.
My goal is to do the Shred every day that I can, which means that I’ve done it 4 out of the last 5 days. I don’t think I’m going to be able to do it tonight, because I won’t get home from work until after 9pm. The crazy thing is I WANT to do it tonight, so I’ll see if I can sneak it in before I pass out for the day.
Did you hear that, I WANT to work out?
This is life changing and also the moment that my brain decides that I want to give up. But I won’t give up this time. At least I hope not.
In addition to doing the workout each day, I’m also using a free app I downloaded called MyFitnessPal to track my food intake. I have a calorie goal for the day, but the app is mostly just helping me make better decisions to keep from overeating.
You know what’s REALLY keeping me motivated though?
Lean a little closer… I have a secret…
I’ve lost 3 pounds.
I can’t believe it and I totally feel like I’ve jinxed myself and when I weigh myself the scale will actually have me gaining 5 pounds.
I HAVE been working hard though and seeing the scale go DOWN for the first time in a long, long time feels so incredibly good. Even with just this tiny change, I am starting to feel better about myself. Which is pretty much the reason that I am going to force myself to stick with this plan for the entire 30 days. Maybe even longer.
And yes, I took “before” pictures. They’re terrible and I had to work to keep myself from crying when I stared at them on my phone. They’re motivation though and if I ever feel like skipping a workout, I can just click open my photos and remind myself why I’m doing this.
I don’t know if I’ll be brave enough to share those pictures with you. I guess we’ll just have to see how far I come…
*I have a different version of Shred DVD than Kari though, because mine has four workouts instead of three. There are also different workout helpers in my version, but still one is a total badass and one is my friend who does the modified exercises.
I’ve never heard of ‘shredding’ in THIS context before Joules.
Best Of Luck anyway. 😉
Oh geez, I just raced over to google “shredding” to make sure it wasn’t anything dirty that I didn’t know about! I found shredding like rocking the crap out of a guitar solo and shredding paper. Is there something naughty I missed?!
Congrats on your journey. Bet you don’t stop at 30days though if you are loving it as much as you mentioned. Ive started going to the gym myself, and have been trying to get motivated at home to do the same video. Hopefully your post will inspire me! Thanks!
Thanks Lynette! The only way I can make sure I fit it in is if I do it immediately upon putting Jack to bed. So right at 8pm, he goes down and I start my DVD. =)
I can’t believe you’ve already lost weight! Hopefully blogging about it will hold you accountable and keep you motivated 🙂
That’s the plan, I can’t wuss out if people are watching… right?!
You had me at “looks incredible”!
Thank you so much but incredible is much too nice of a descriptive.
“Better”, yes…”incredible” no. 😉
And I am so proud of you!!
Three pounds is AMAZING!
I will keep up the email motivation if you promise to run for me when you are done.
Deal???
Hugs!
DEAL! I’m hoping to do my first run back this coming weekend… too bad you don’t live a little closer, we could be running buddies! =)
(PS, “incredible” still stands and I’ll add in a FANTASTIC too!)
This is fantastic! You are killing it — seriously, Jillian Michaels is no joke — and you’ve inspired me to put down my laptop right now and get out for a run. Who knows, maybe I’ll even throw in a set of push-ups afterwards just to try and get a little piece of your awesome success.
I’m so going to stay tuned to your journey. You see these people on Tv and you think it can’t be for real- but you’re a REAL person and if you can do it- so can I! Shred for all of us!