Well as promised I am reporting back having finished the first level of
Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. It wasn’t
anywhere near as difficult as I imagined, particularly as I haven’t exercised
for at least 2 years prior to getting pregnant.
The first few days hurt like hell, and bending down to pick anything up
was impossible without a tirade of swear words falling from my mouth, but I
think doing the routine every day helped to heal quicker than resting.
I did have a break on Sunday, mostly because I was hung over, I think
next time I’ll try and battle through it instead though as Monday was a hard
slog after the day’s rest.
I’ve written a day by day account of how I got on, each day I think I
gave a little bit more than the first and my fitness level has definitely
improved—I can now climb the two flights of stairs to our apartment without
being out of breath and my legs burning. For anyone thinking of doing it, the first circuit is definitely the hardest—the rest of the routine seems relatively easy after that!
Day 1
I was pleasantly surprised at how easy I found it. Granted I didn’t go full pelt and followed
Anita on some of the moves, namely the press-ups and squats. Used ½ kilo weights which I think are too
light. Barely broke a sweat but
certainly felt like I’d worked out.
Gamely cheered on by Joseph who whilst playing Angry Birds on my i-Pad
decided he would ask me every 30 seconds if I was tired yet.
Day 2
Woke up hurting in places I’d forgotten existed. Managed to get through the routine and think
I probably put a little bit more into it today than yesterday, although forgot
to trade up the weights. Still didn’t
attempt the full press-up.
Again, my little cheerleader Joseph was keeping a watchful eye, this
time questioning if each move hurt?
*Note to self: doing a workout in
knickers with shot elastic is bloody annoying.
Day 3
Wearing stronger kecks I leapt out of bed at 7am full of life and vitality,
eager to jump up and down like a buffoon for 20 minutes. OK, that’s an out and out lie. Quads hurting like hell today but everywhere
else not so bad. Upped the ante a bit
today as I remembered to dig out my 1 kg weights and I really felt the difference
in the arm exercises. Did deeper lunges
and squats and worked up a bit more of a sweat. Still haven’t tackled the full press-up.
Thought I’d escaped the words of wisdom of my little side-kick but alas
he heard me jumping around like a herd of elephants and came up to see how I
was progressing.
Day 4
Something must be wrong—nowhere hurts!
I must be getting fitter as well as I’m managing to dig in much deeper
with lunges and squats and not feel quite so puffed out after the cardio stuff.
Day 5
Can’t believe I’ve dragged myself out of bed at 7am on a Saturday
morning. Still, no pain, no gain as
some arsehole once said. I got through
routine fine although still bottled doing the the full press-up.
Day 6
After giving myself Sunday morning off due to having a slight hangover,
it took quite a bit of effort to haul my slightly decreased ass out of bed this
morning. However, I decided today was
the day that I would tackle the full press-up—I managed a grand total of 3
before I wimped out and went back to the modified versions. I'm not sure why the press-ups are the first thing you do on the routine, I'm sure there's a good reason for it, but I can't help but think I'd do better at them if they were a little later on in the routine when I'd warmed up a bit more.
Day 7
With the scales cruelly telling me my weekend’s antics of drinking and
eating a tad too much had culminated in a 0.3 kilo increase I had to step up my
game. I decided to go up to 1.5 kilo
weights for some of the strength exercises and again had a go at the full
press-ups—this time managing a more respectable 10 on the first circuit and 5
on the second.
Day 8
My body was aching a little from raising the stakes a bit yesterday so I
thought I’d carry on and try and push it further. I used the 1.5 kilo weights for the full DVD
and, wait for it… managed to complete both circuits of full press-ups. Go me!
Day 9
Starting to see a little bit of a change when I look in the old mirror,
arms are definitely looking slightly slimmer and there is less wobble all over
so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s measurements to see if there’s any
change. 1.5 kilo weights with lateral
raises absolutely kill me, still if it starts to shift those bingo wings then so
be it.
Day 10
After a restless night up and down with Amber I wasn’t exactly thrilled
to be getting up at 7am, but I managed it and really dug in deep to hopefully
make this last workout of level 1 count.
Getting slightly stronger at the press-up which I’m guessing I’ll need
to be if they figure in level 2 at all.
Statistics
OK, I have taken photos but I’m not brave enough to post them just yet
but the measurements are certainly very promising:
| 30 Day Shred | |||
| Start | Level 1 | Change | |
| Weight | 73.9 kilos | 72.1 kilos | 1.8 kilos (approx 4lbs) |
| Left Arm | 13.5 inches | 13 inches | minus 0.5 inches |
| Right Arms | 13.5 inches | 13 inches | minus 0.5 inches |
| Left Thigh | 25.5 inches | 25 inches | minus 0.5 inches |
| Right Thigh | 25.5 inches | 25 inches | minus 0.5 inches |
| Waist | 35 inches | 34.25 inches | minus 0.75 inches |
| Belly | 40 inches | 37 inches | minus 3 inches |
| Arse | 43.5 inches | 43 inches | minus 0.5 inches |
| Hips | 42 inches | 40.25 inches | minus 1.75 inches |
| Bust | 38 inches | 38 inches | no change |
| Left Calf | 15.5 inches | 15 inches | minus 0.5 inches |
| Right Calf | 15.5 inches | 15 inches | minus 0.5 inches |
Quite good for just 10 days, the belly reduction is probably more due to cutting out wheat from my diet which seriously bloats me, but I am very impressed with almost 2 inches off my hips. The bust is the only area that hasn't gone down which considering the amount of back fat I've just spied on today's photo isn't surprising!
As well as doing the 30 Day Shred I've been using the My Fitness Pal app on my iPad to keep to a daily calorie diet of between 1200 and 1400 calories, following an extremely low GI diet without gluten.
