Day Twentynine: One more day.

I just continue to be blown away by how near the end I am. Not that all that much will change after tomorrow, but just making it through the 30 Day Shred has been super awesome. Level three goes so fast! Even the first day of level three seemed like it just flew by! I'm so excited for tomorrow when it will officially be the end of my very first 30 Day Shred!

Not only that, but I've also been dropping weight really quickly this week. It's like it's just falling off every day. I know my period is coming up in a few days, so hopefully that doesn't completely ground me like it has been known to. At least now, with the new pain killers I have for it, I'm pretty sure I'll still be able to get my cardio in at very least. We'll see how much I'll be able to do ab work when I'm fighting menstrual cramps. I am glad that I'll be done with the Shred before it hits though.

My work continues to be coming in super slow, which is driving me mad, but I suppose it is a good opportunity to just really ramp up on the workout times. It's times like these where I really, really miss the 24 Hour Fitness in Tempe, AZ. Man, I really loved that place. I loved the layout and the machines and I loved the drive home with my windows down and the warm desert air blowing in on me. Working out in the desert was awesome to me. Working out here is good too. But here I use it as my fake sunshine and "sweat so I can pretend that it's warm here". In the desert I always good a double dose.

But in any event, this is how exercise becomes addictive and you have to appreciate that!

Day Twentyeight: End in Sight!

I swear today's 30 Day Shred workout flew by. I was barely getting into the swing and BAM! It was over! This is way better than level two, which was SO HARD for me to get into to. I've only got a couple days left now and I can barely believe it. This is the first time that I've done a workout program all the way through. I've always stopped after a week or so. There's a great sense of accomplishment involved.

It also helps that I can see a difference in myself as well. My wrists and hands for example are getting back down to normal for me and all my clothes fit better for sure. It's so nice.

I guess I don't have anything else to say for today. I'm just happy and feeling great!

Day Twentyseven: Seeing results.

Okay, so basically I've lost half of what they say you can lose doing this workout but I'm absolutely not unhappy with the results I'm seeing. For one, I would have lost a lot more if I hadn't taken that break down in the boarders. I gained back a bunch in just a couple days and it took me about a week to get back to where I had been. Now, I've put a lot of thought into that and you can look at it in one or two ways.

You could look at that and say "Well, if you gained it back just by taking a break in the middle, you won't keep it off when the program is over." And, sure, that's probably true if you think you're just going to do a program like this and then go back to all your old bad habits that you were stuck in before you decided to make a change. But isn't that true of anything? I mean, no matter what exercise program you're working through, if you hit your goal with it and then stop and eat a full fry up for breakfast every morning after that, of course you're going to gain back all the weight you worked so hard to knock off.

So the other option is that you can look at that and say "This is just the first step in a whole new way of life." You have to change your life and how you think about food and fitness if you're going to make a change and keep it. I mean, of course I don't want to be super militant with foods my whole life, but I don't even really think that's necessary anyway. As long as I keep a fair head with it and stop thinking everything results in me "deserving" to eat something horrible for me, I'm halfway there. If I can get myself to the point where I'm really enjoying my workouts and looking forward to them each day then I'm definitely winning the race. And I think that's exactly where I am. I've found super healthy alternatives that I really, really enjoy when it comes to food. I mean, kale burritos are actually really good! Who knew?! And while I may start to get tired of certain workouts after awhile, if I just keep switching it up (which is one of the great things about the 30 Day Shred) then I still absolutely love getting them done each day. EVEN WHEN IT'S HARD.

I'm basically learning that the more I do, the happier I am. So I've been adding a ton of cardio and ab work along with my daily Jillian video. Combined, it seems to be really effective. I don't always do the same stuff, but just making that effort seems to be what it's all about.

Day Twentysix: Nearly there!

Tonight was definitely a late workout, but I've gotten to the point now where I don't feel like my day is complete if I haven't gotten it in. YAY! This is definitely what I was going for with my workout routines. Even today where I didn't get it in earlier because we spent a few hours walking, which isn't a bad exercise all on it's own, I couldn't let the day go without it and feel right. Although, a few seconds after completing the cardio in the last circuit (all jump training) I realised that my downstairs neighbours probably didn't quite appreciate that bit :/ Oops. Hopefully no one was trying to sleep right below me!

I know I won't be "ripped" or have six pack abs magically appear in the four days I've got left, but I'm still so glad that I followed this workout to kick everything off. It's been awesome making it through all the level switches and the dropping weight. I've still got a lot left to lose, but this is a great way to start losing and I'm glad I found it!

Only four more days now!

Day Twentyfive: Going strong!

I forgot to post earlier but I didn't forget to do the workout! I've actually added a TON of ab stuff to my daily routine before my daily 30 day shred and OH. MY. SCIENCE. My abs have been so sore! My lower back too, because I've thrown in a bunch of reps of bridge pose to boot. But in any event, I've been feeling great and am really happy to have my elliptical machine working again (thanks, Giant!)

I definitely feel like every day I'm keeping my routine is a day that I'm happier and feeling better. Plus I'm dropping weight pretty quickly and that in itself is self perpetuating.

On the food side of things, I've been pretty annoyed with the lack of decent salsas available here and since my mother in law was nice enough to buy us a fancy new blender on a whim last weekend, I decided to try my hand at it. I didn't look up a recipe and I only used the limited ingredients available at Morrison's, but I'm actually quite proud of my first go with it! Plus, it's really pretty good for you too as there's nothing bad in it at all.

Earlier this week I ran across this thing about making gluten free wraps by wrapping it all up in collard greens instead of tortillas! Genius! So tomorrow I'm going to give my new salsa a go in a collard green wrap. I'm oddly excited about this whole prospect.

Day Twentfour: Ramping up.

Here I am, nearly halfway through level three! I think the closer I get to the end, the more I want to add to my exercise routine. This is definitely the way to go. I know the more I'm able to add in, the faster I'll get my results. And, with all the extra time I have right now, it's a great time to be getting it all in. I know if I can build the habits now, I'll be more likely to keep them going when I've got a lot more work coming in and time isn't as free as it is just now. Honestly though, last time I was at my goal weight and feeling the best, I was actually doing five hours of yoga a day AND I WAS WORKING OVERTIME EVERY DAY TO BOOT! So it's possible. Totally possible. Although, just now I'm doing a lot more high intensity stuff and it probably wouldn't be good to be doing THAT much aerobic-style workouts. Still, it's amazing to look back on. Especially since, at the time, I wasn't even trying to lose weight-I was just trying to be happy. It definitely worked for that as well.

I continue to go back and forth about what program I want to follow when this one is over. Ripped in 30 is still what I keep coming back to. I was thinking of switching over to Bob Harper's Weight Loss Yoga when I switch over to the new program from Yoga Meltdown but I haven't totally decided on that one either. Indecision, indecision.

Today I did an hour on my elliptical AND an hour or sit ups, crunches, and leg lowers on top of the usual! Yep. I was totally motivated today and feel all the better for it.

Day Twentythree: Don't cave.

So, I missed yesterday. I don't have any valid excuses, I just missed. Actually, yesterday I wasn't so much the me that I want to be. I woke up to bad news and I let it beat me. I pouted and felt sorry for myself all day long. How embarrassing is that? I knew I should have gotten up and worked out anyway, but I just didn't. I'm positive that I spent more time thinking about how I didn't want to work out than I would have spent just getting up and getting it done. But yesterday I let it beat me and I didn't do anything about it.

Today I got back on the circuit. It may have taken me several hours to psych myself up for it, but in the end I did it. Now I'm sweaty and just really glad that I did it. I feel so much better when I just do it.

I am kind of bummed that my weekend visiting the in laws and just eating what I was offered set me so far back. I gained a lot of the weight I had lost back in just those two days. Now I'm still a pound over what I had been when I left and that's mostly leaving me a bit aggravated that I basically lost a week in two days. In any event, I think I've figured out how to do that better next time. I really think that the dietary stuff isn't the biggest part of it-although that could stand to be tweaked a little as well. Just things like skipping the roll and the black pudding at breakfast and the obvious portion size part of things. But mostly I think I just need to get some exercise in while we're there. There's always a big chunk of the day after we go see his granny that we end up just bumming around for. Recently I ran across some walking routes that are set up around Melrose that are pretty decent. I think the smaller of the two is 4 miles. Next time we go, I'm going to give that a go and I expect it will make a pretty big difference.

So I guess my theme today is "don't cave". It's easy to do, but it's so not worth it and in the end it's how we respond to set backs that really matter and not so much the set backs themselves. That's my theory anyway...