I started The 30 Day Shred 30 days ago on May 31. I decided that I needed a kick start to getting in shape and the only way I was going to do this was to shock myself into it. I hate working out. I really don’t like dieting either. But the older I get the worse my blood pressure is getting and the tighter my clothes are getting. Neither are ok with me. So me and a few friends decided that this is what we needed to do and if we all did it together we’d be accountable and more likely to finish. We were right. So many days I wanted to quit. I didn’t feel like going home after being gone 12 hours a day commuting and working to work out. But I did every single day.

And it has paid off.

I forgot to take measurements before I started this but I did weigh in before and after. I’ve lost 7 pounds this month and I know I’ve lost some inches. It might not seem like a lot but I’ve also toned up so I definitely look different. People are noticing that I’ve lost weight and the pants I tried to put on just a month ago fit. I feel so good about myself right now. I feel accomplished. I’ve never in my life worked out 7 days a week for a month. I played sports all through junior high and high school but we had weekends off then.

How does The Shred work? It’s circuit training. 3 minutes strength. 2 minutes cardio. 1 minute abs. It’s it’s 3 circuits of this. The whole workout is 18 minutes along with a 2 minute warm up and cool down. There are 3 levels of intensity. I spent 9 days on level 1, 11 days on level 2 and 10 days on level 3. You move up when you feel that you are ready. I can honestly say that I was not ready to move up to level 3 but I was so bored on level 2 that I moved up anyway. I woke up sore every day. It never went away. I think not having a break in between days was the culprit for that.

BUT it worked, y’all. I will say that if you don’t diet with this you won’t lose much. I didn’t diet the first 2 weeks I did this and I lost 1 whole pound. I was so discouraged. I decided to kick it up and diet the last 2 weeks…I counted calories and did weight watchers points along with it to really keep tabs of what I’m eating all day. I lost 3 lbs a week the second 2 weeks. I’ve never lost that much before in a week in my life and I totally say that it’s the combo of diet AND exercise. BUT if you decide you don’t need to lose weight but just wanna get in shape this is still for you. Like I said, I toned up big time. Even if I wouldn’t have dieted I would have seen leaner, toner muscles. My endurance level has grown too.

What’s next for me? Well I’m leaving tomorrow for vacation and I won’t be back til next week SO I’m fully intending to enjoy the break for those days. But on Monday I’ll be back on the wagon again. I plan to still watch what I eat when I’m gone to an extent to at least maintain the weight loss. I’ve already ordered another DVD to do when I get back. It’s a more cardio based workout which is what I need now to kick up the weight loss again and at least get another 7-10 pounds off. I won’t be doing that everyday. I plan on taking weekends off because doing The Shred on the weekends was tough. It’s the only days I have with the girls and Hubs without work getting in the way and we’re always super busy.

So I’m glad I did The Shred. I’m glad I stuck to it. Special thanks to  Naomi and Lesley for keeping me accountable and doing this with me! I’m looking forward to starting back over next week and kicking ass again!

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And because no post is complete without pictures and I’ll be gone til Monday I leave you with these goodies from last year’s July 4th. It’s one of my favorite holidays and this year I’ll be flying while fireworks are going off all around the country. I’m bummed I won’t have pictures of it all this year but these were super cute from last year. See you in a few days!