30 Day Shred - Before and After

Today I finished day 30 in my 30 day shred. I worked out, every. single. day. for the last 30 days. I can for SURE say that I have never done that in my entire life.

Tomorrow is day 31. I got good results, but as I hoped I would feel, it is only the beginning. I no longer dread or wonder WHETHER I'm going to do it, just WHEN. I've made working out a part of my day, and I've proved to myself that I can fit in this 25 minute DVD, and make a difference doing so.

So I'm going to be brave and post the before and after photos. My day 1 photos were not great. I took them on my phone by myself in a messy bathroom. I actually considered cleaning the bathroom before I took the photo. Procrastination tactic. Then I laughed to myself that I'd NEVER show these pictures to anyone. heh. And anyway, I'm photographing BACK FAT and here I am worried that you can see a tipped over bottle of lotion and some toothpaste splatters on the mirror? Ha.

I really didn't think I'd get results so quickly. Only a few days more than 4 weeks. Really after day 20 I felt so good about the pictures. And I started to think about whether I could be as bold as to post. Because it just goes to show you the changes you can make in UNDER THREE WEEKS if you really commit to something (and of course find something to work for you).

I started this at exactly 7 weeks postpartum and here I am at 11 weeks and 1 day, and I feel about 1000 pounds lighter. Tonight I packed up almost all of the maternity clothes. I actually don't know how many pounds I lost. Maybe around 7 or so. I also didn't measure inches. But it doesn't matter, I took the pictures I can see the results, but more importantly I can FEEL the results. I started this not being able to fit into a size 14 and now I'm comfortably in size 10.

For my previous two post-pregnancies I've waited until I was ready to get pregnant again to get serious about losing the weight. I'm glad I lost the weight before starting all over again, but this time I wanted to return to work feeling strong, not lethargic, in clothes I felt good about, not oversized maternity makeshift outfits. I don't need to buy new things, after a few more weeks of this, I have an entire closet full of stuff that will fit me. It's hard enough to go back to work, I wanted to feel as good as I could physically.

Please understand how vulnerable I feel about posting something like this, and be gentle with your comments. I just hope to inspire others who my be wanting to, to set a goal and go with it, and if you miss a day or miss a week, start again. Find friends who will encourage you and push you and hold you accountable. Be healthy, you owe it to yourself to feel good about how strong you can be. I've gotten so much more out of these 30 days - more than what I look like in the mirror - it's given me so much energy. I've been a better mother and wife because, even without a full night of sleep, I haven't been waiting until I get to take a nap each day. I've been enjoying so much more of my maternity leave because of that.

So without further ado, here are the before and after pictures. Enjoy the great hair and red sweaty face. That's a bonus! :)

Big thank you to Jenn, Loura, Dawn, & Laureen. And of course Lawrence. I couldn't have done it without your encouragement.