30 Day Shred.

So, 30 days ago, I started doing the 30 day shred dvd. Most of you have probably heard of it, Jillian Michaels is the one who made it. Well, it's awesome. It's a 30 day workout, that you do every day. There are 3 levels, you do each for 10 days, or until you're ready to go to the next level. Each is made up of 3 circuits, and each circuit has 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs. This mix is supposed to help rev up your metabolism and keep your heart rate up to help you lose more weight.

In addition to doing the shred every day, some days I would do 30 minutes to an hour on the elliptical. Some days I would do levels 1 & 2, instead of just doing one level of the Shred. I felt like the 20 minute workout wasn't really enough, even though I was sweating pretty hard every time I did the workout. I didn't really start doing the extra cardio until about the halfway mark, around day 15 or 16. Once I started doing that, I was doing it daily.

So pretty much, I would encourage anybody to try this dvd, cause it's awesome. I found it pretty easy to stick to this workout, cause it was challenging, and I could feel the results from the first time I did it. ANYWAY.. Onto the results..

Below, is a picture of me, before I started the 30 day shred. I think it's actually the day that I started it. Yeah, I think it's gross, but I told myself I was gonna post this when it was all said and done.. so here goes..

And now, here is a picture that I took of me yesterday, day 29 of the shred..

I think that's a pretty nice difference in my stomach. I messed up with measurements in the beginning, so I don't know what my waist was when I started. But at day 16, I was at 30 inches.. now it's 27.5. So, 2.5 inches off of my waist in 14 days. Not too shabby.

I also lost 2 inches off my thighs. As for pounds, I told myself that I wasn't gonna gauge my results by pounds, because that's just a number, really. I knew I would gain muscle with this workout, which I have. However, I lost 7 pounds in a month. I was 148 the first few days that I started, and I'm at 141 now. I'm pretty happy with that. Am I done? No. But it's a start.

So pretty much, I'm really glad that I decided to do this. I can physically feel that I am stronger, and this has helped me out mentally as well. I feel a lot better in general, I'm able to stay more positive, and I'm really proud of myself for sticking to this. It's not easy, but it just takes will power and hard work, and I can do that any day. So this helped me get myself back on track, and now I plan to keep exercise as a part of my lifestyle. Daily, with a break when I need it, but I don't plan on slowing down anytime soon. It's become a part of me, that helps balance me out, and makes me feel a lot better overall. It's addictive, and I love it.

So I hope this makes somebody decide to do this for themselves. I hope that you all can see that it's possible, all it takes is some believing in yourself. If you want something, go after it, and don't stop until you get there. I've wanted to do something like this for a long time, and I finally realized that it was my time to go after it. You could do the same, in any aspect of your life. Work, school, personal aspects... it doesn't really matter.. it's all the same in the fact that once you put your mind to it and seek it out, you'll get where you wanna be. That's up to you to take the first step

Below, is my arm on my first day..

And this one, is only halfway through..

That's all I've got, folks. :)