Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I'm a shredhead

Today was day 2 of my 30 day shred. Wow. It is HARD.

After day one, I felt very shaky and sick. But I did it.

Last night, Bryson woke at 3am, 5am, & 8am. Each time he did I felt more and more muscles that I didn't know I had. Like one that made my elbow hurt. WHAT? It just hurts to go up the stairs, or down the stairs, or to sit on the toilet, or to get into the car. This morning it wasn't the good hurt either. It was the kind of hurt that made me panic that I just got several of my friends into this to be accountability partners, and I wasn't gonna make day 2. OH. NO.

But then guess what happened. I read on our message board that 2 of my gal-in-pain-pals had already completed day 2. Okay, so it's possible. And Lawrence was on his way home to give me the 20 minutes I needed to do the video. So I got dressed. I decided I needed to use 1.5 lbs for a few of the exercises rather than 5lbs, which was WAY too heavy. I might need to invest in some 3 pounders. Anyway, the support that can come from friends doing it too is pretty encouraging.

So for those that don't know, the 30-day shred is a workout DVD from one of the "Biggest Loser" trainers, Jillian Micheals. It is 20 minutes. Three 8 minute circuits. Each circuit is 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs. She works in big muscle groups and small ones at the same time so you don't have any rest, and burn max calories. There are 3 levels, I'm still on level one, and the motified movements in level one at that.

And it's hard work. It is.

But when you are short on time, and an hour work out sounds overwhelming and unrealistic, this sounds doable. Even for 30 days in a row. But it is A HARD 20 minutes. It has to be.

Some of my favorite things she says in the level one work out.
If you are looking for a modified version of a jumping jack, look elsewhere, I get 400 lb people to do this, so can you

No rest, if you want to work out for only 20 minutes a day, then you have to make every minute of that 20 minutes count.

If we are going to make big promises (up to 20lbs in 30 days), we have to give you a work out that can deliver

I'm paraphrasing of course. She's a pusher, and she's pushing me.


Tonight Lawrence and the girls started the work out with me. Lily wanted to use my 1.5lb weights because daddy has told her she could (thanks daddy). Little did he know, I'd NEED them! But being the very ingenuic daddy that he is, he made Lily and Addie their own weights out of tinker toys. Bryson woke from his nap about 5 minutes into the video, so Lawrence tended to him. And let me tell you. He is in good shape and he was struggling! He'll tell you that he isn't in great shape, but he does pushups regularly and sometimes with TWO girls on his back, and he couldn't do push ups for the full minute like you are supposed to. So he had to stop and watched with Bryson in his arms, impressed as I finished day 2. Addie lost interest, but Lily finished the whole video with me. She's a bit of a spaz with her jumping jacks and punches, but we were both impressed that she didn't lose interest. She changed into shorts and a tank top half way through because she was so hot. I forgot how buff she is! Man the girl has muscles. Lawrence said, "If mommy keeps up with this video, she'll have arms that look like Lily's. " Seriously, I'll take them!

So after finishing day 2, I think I might be able to do this. I mean, I am doing this. Every single day for thirty days. There, I said it. I'm committed. I'm going to be healthy and fitting exercise into each day. I haven't pushed myself in a long time, and it's nice to find the lost muscles. They needed to be found. Here's to making them strong and giving me lots of energy and strength.

Thanks to my fellow shredheads... you know who you are, I'm not sure if you want the blogosphere knowing who you are. I'm proud of you and so glad we are doing this together.

Go US!

6 comments:

  1. Wow Jenny, that's so inspiring. I love the Biggest Loser and would love to be a contestant on that show. I already KNOW I can lose weight, I've done it before, it's getting motivated enough to do it that's my problem. How about posting a before and after picture of your shred for inspiration for chubby girls like me...I'm so in awe of you!!! Hugs

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  2. Okay- so when you mentioned this before, I looked it up and the only thing that made me not buy it was one review that she she swears during the videos? Seriously? Are we talking about saying "crap" and someone was ultra sensitive? Let me know! Also, please, please tell me you're going to post about your results!!!

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  3. She says "Ass". One of the cardio moves are butt-kicks, and she shows the low intensity then says with the high intensity, "you are literally kicking your own ass".

    I haven't watched level 2 and 3 but that's all I've heard. Both my girls are watching it with me every time and they haven't picked up on it.

    Get it Nancy! This is a great work out for morning naptime! :) Yes, I will definitely let you know after the 30 days is up.

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  4. Keep on setting that good example for me LOL

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  5. I've watched all three levels now, and I don't remember hearing any other swear words.

    Jenny, you started with 5 lb. weights?!?! No wonder you hurt so badly! I'm using 2lb weights and that's hard enough!

    I thought about jumping in for a proper run at 30-day shred, but for now I'm going to keep alternating between that and the other workout. It DOES get easier! And you CAN do it!

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  6. Sharon, I am still using the 5lb weights for all of circuit 2 and the chest flys, then 1.5 lbs for the shoulder press and arm raises. I just finished day 8 and am doing most of the advanced moves. (Read: NOT PUSHUPS) I think I will do level 2 on day 11. Thanks for the encouragement.

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