Day 30!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I never thought this day would come. I wanted to kill Jillian so many times. But whatever she does, it works. Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement.

Day One: Arms 12" Chest 38" Waist 36" Hips 41" Thighs 22"

Day 30: Arms 11" Chest 37" Waist 35" Hips 39" Thighs 21"

Day One Day 30

Day 28

I have been so excited with all of the changes I have seen in my body. I know I need to keep going with this after the 30 days. I still have a long way to go.

But there is nothing like going clothes shopping to bring you face to face with reality. I was excited to go get some new stuff. I must have forgotten what it is like to stand in front of those mirrors with those fluorescent lights on. I got lots of stuff, plus a bad mood. I just have to keep reminding myself how much I have accomplished already and that I will not quit.

Only 2 more days and I will be posting my 30 day picture.

Day 21

So I am still hanging in there. I was happy to be done with Level 2. I expected Level 3 to be hard, but I figured with how hard I have been working it couldn't be that bad. Boy was I wrong. Seriously, I think I said "No way." "What???" "You have to be kidding me." "No way is she going to make me use those weights too." all at least 20 times. I only finished about 3/4 of it and I used the easier way of doing things. I feel great minus the inability to raise my shoulders or turn my head all the way. Thank god Kyle is here to give me a massage. He can't believe that I am working this hard and still doing it.

I have lost 3 pound since starting, not a lot, but still OK. I am still being careful with what I eat. Though I admit it is much harder with him home. Now I actually have to cook. I have definitely lost some inches. I am determined to finish the 30 days.

Day 15

Still going at it. I have lost about 3 pounds. But I really can see a difference. I must be getting stronger because I am able to finish a lot more of the things I couldn't before. Here are some new pics.

Day One Day 15

Day 12

I have been doing Level 2 for three days now. I cannot believe that I ever complained about Level 1. There are times I just collapse on the floor in a big pile of mush. By the end, I feel like I am going to throw up. I understand what Jillian means by "gargling your heart." The scale has gone down 1 more pound. But I totally see some results now. I can't swear it's all from the shredding. But I think it is definitely helping. Tomorrow I will post some new photos.

Day 9

I am still at it. Though not very happily. I am a little disgusted since I have only lost 1 pound in ten days. I think I was losing more just doing the Y. Or maybe I have hit a plateau?

This workout still kicks my ass. That bothers me. I am doing all the moves, but man am I tired when I am done. I think I am just frustrated tonight. What I really want to do is stop counting calories and eat a cake all by myself.

Day 7

Done. Went to the Y this afternoon too. I hate when Jillian says by day 5,6, or 7 you will notice that you aren't getting as tired, you're stronger, whatever it is she says. It's a lie. Maybe just a little lie since I am able to do some real push ups now and I fly through the last cardio. But my arms are still SO tired that I think I cannot possibly do "Just a few more." When are my arms going to catch up? I am so afraid of workout 2.

Aaron has grown tired of the workout. Now he just wants to be in my way. Today he decided to build a wooden block tower right behind me. He kept reminding me to be careful. He is so helpful.

Day Six

I am feeling good that I have been able to keep this up. I know it is only 6 days, but we all know how easy it is to just say "I will do it tomorrow." I love being accountable, it's keeping me honest and motivated.

I made it through the whole thing today and did 3 real push ups. I hate push ups.

And seriously, no more cupcakes. Kristin, I will be dreaming about those cupcakes tonight.

Day Five done

Thank god that I decided to stick with my original plan and do it in the afternoon. Aaron was not very happy about missing out on cartoons, but I asked him to line up all his cars for a race and that took almost the entire time. Who knew he had so many cars? Amyway, if I had waited until tonight, it never would have happened. Let's just say we just completed our biggest battle of wills ever, and mommy won.

Only skipped on one move today! I felt so great finishing it off. I love the last set of the cardio and abs. I feel like superwoman. I am not sore at all and am enjoying just building the muscle right now. I know in a few more days I will be hurting again.

Day Four

I am hardly sore today. I am so glad. But I know I will be sore again when day 11 comes around. I still had some trouble finishing the arm moves in the start. But I can totally tell the difference with how my abs feel today. Yeah!

Now if everyone could just stop having birthday parties, I might stand a chance!

Day Three

I knew it was going to be hard today. So at least I was prepared. I had to skip a few arm lifts after the push ups. My lower abs are quite sore and coughing is no fun. I am glad I made it. I keep wondering if I can really keep this up for 27 more days. I don't think for me it is even so much the workout. It's more the prep to do the workout. I originally thought I could do it after the kids went to bed for the night. But then after doing it once, I realized there is no way in hell that I will have the energy to do this at 830 at night.

So I have been doing it when Lauren goes down for her nap after lunch. The first two days Aaron thought it was fun to sit at the table and do something like color or play do. But today, he wanted none of that. At first, he did it with me. He used the wand from the vacuum as his weight. But he got tired after the first round of jumping jacks. SO off he went to find something sneaky to do. Luckily I caught him before he headed upstairs. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was going to go pee in the tree upstairs ( we have a fake one). So I told him no way and that he could use the bathroom downstairs, he was in there for 10 minutes and I just let him do whatever. Thank god he did not make a mess.

Why is it so hard to carve out 25 minutes of the day when I can just focus on me? I think I have been using the TV too much to keep Aaron busy when I shower. Lately it seems to be the only distraction from being naughty and sneaky.

Anyway, today has gone way off track. I just wanted to vent about how frustrating it is to find the time to do this for me. Hopefully we will find some kind of groove because I really want to stick with this.

Day two

This AM I went to the YMCA for my regular workout of 35 minutes on the treadmill, combo of walking and running, then I do a bunch of different weight machines for abs, arms and thighs. Felt pretty good after that.

After lunch, I did the shred. I seriously felt like I was going to die doing the push ups and then the arm weights. My arms are SO tired. But I am so glad I got through day 2. I think Day 3 is going to be the most challenging and then it should get a little easier from there.

I think with adding in this extra exercise, it is time to increase my calories. According to sparkpeople, I was consuming 1200-1500 a day when exercising 3 times a week for 30 minutes. I have now increased it to 50 minutes every day and it says 1400-1800 calories a day. Now I just have to remember that does not mean I can add in an ice cream sundae or cake for those extra calories. A girl can dream, can't she?

Day One

Start:

Arms: 12"

Chest: 38"

Tummy: 36"

Hips: 41"

Thighs: 22"

Weight: 140 on my scale, 148 at the YMCA (Maybe it's time for a new scale?)

I am posting my pictures below. Those of you that are faint of heart should avert your eyes, you may be scarred for life. I hate these pictures. But I am tired of not being honest with myself. If I can be honest with myself and accept the facts, then I should be able to share them with you guys. Plus what good motivation for me to keep going. Now that I am actually looking at them on here, it is totally freaking me out to put these up. Really, you may not want to look. Consider yourself warned.

I did it today right after lunch. I was going to wait until after the kids went to bed, but the day was looking like it was going to be very long and I thought maybe I had better do it now. Boy was I right. It kicked my ass. My arms and calves hurt already. But I felt great and I had my own cheering section consisting of Aaron yelling "Go Mommy Go." He was so good and colored the entire time. Too bad it was his only good 20 minutes of the day.