I’m Shredding

shred
Source: Amazon.com

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.

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