Christy

I am on Day4 of Level 3 on the 30-Day Shred, and maybe it’s just me, but it seems to be getting harder each day rather than easier. I mean, I’m already sweating and out of breath after the freaking warm up! By the time I hit circuit 2 I’m ready to die, and when circuit 3 rolls around, sweat is dripping off of me onto my tile floor. When I’m done, I have to mop the floor and stick my head in the sink and run water on it. My whole body is covered in sweat!

With this level, I feel much more like I did during level 1. Hurting (although not as much) and completely exhausted when I’m done. And did I mention sweaty? For some reason, level 2 didn’t seem so tough to me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was hard, but I didn’t sweat quite as much, and I wasn’t really that sore. At least not as sore as I wanted to be.

I am half and half on regular versus modified moves. I can usually do the first set of exercises in the regular way, and then on the second rep, I follow Anita. Gotta LOVE Anita over there taking the easy way out, right?! The strenght move I find hardest is the plank row/leg lift. I try to follow Natalie, but end up on my knees halfway through. The cardio move I hate most is the Rockstar. I mean, who makes up that shit? For real? Hate. My least favorite ab move is, of course, the sit up. Sorry, can’t do regular situps without my feet under the end of the couch. I feel like I’m back in high school in gym and I need someone to sit on my feet and count for me. I do love the last ab move where we’re on our sides. I can really, really feel the burn on that one.

How are you doing? What day are you on? What are your favorite/least favorite moves? Are you as sweaty as me?

So yesterday, I felt like a fumbling, stumbling mess on day 1 of level 2. I should have previewed it like Lisa did! Today was much better because I didn’t feel like I had to stop to keep checking if I was doing to moves right. Here are my thoughts from today!

1. I was not as sore as I hoped to be this morning.
2. Because I was sliding around on my tile floors so much yesterday, which made it really hard to hold any plank position, I wiped the bottom of my tennis shoes with Clorox wipes today. Getting the dust off the bottom of them seemed to help, but toward the end, I was still sliding around a bit. I discovered that holding my core muscles as tight as I could helped quite a bit as well.
3. I need to wear workout clothes that fit. Today I wore some yoga pants and a t-shirt because I didn’t feel like changing. Big mistake! My pants kept falling down, because they’re a little too big. When I was doing the plank exercises, my t-shirt kept falling up over my head. I will definitely be wearing my shorts with a drawstring and my usual form fitting tank tops from here on out.
4. I hate double jump ropes.
5. I need a better sports bra because of double jumps ropes.
6. Jillian really needs a new sports bra too. I wonder how many times she had to readjust her girls when the camera was on Anita and Natalie?
7. I can really feel the muscle tightness in my upper back as I’m doing all those strength exercises.
8. I really miss the push ups. I was getting so good at them.
9. The ab work in this level is great!
10. When I finished today, I was a sweaty mess. My hair was completely SOAKED and my face was actually dripping sweat. I was not ‘phoning it in’ today, ladies and gentlemen.
11. I actually managed to do most of the regular moves only resorting to the modified moves toward the end of a few exercises.
12. I completed all the circuits without having to rest, but I really, really looked forward to lying on the floor for the ab work. I miss those damn chest flies from level 1 (and I know you know why!).
13. I tend to lose my balance a little during those front and back lunges with bicep curls, so I took Lisa’s advice and didn’t look at the TV. I focused on the floor in front of me and kept my core muscles tight and was able to make it through only correcting a couple of times.

Tonight, I’m leaving to go out of town for the weekend, but I’ll be taking my trusty laptop, 30-Day Shred DVD, mat, and hand weights so I can shred while I’m gone!

So how do you feel about Day 2 of Level 2? Share your thoughts!!

My goodness, I don’t know where too start. Yesterday after the first day, I had so much energy it was insane. I loved it. I also found it necessary to keep moving so my muscles wouldn’t burn. Yes, they were burning like a calf getting branded. Ouch.

So this morning when I got up, I was actuallly excited to get out of bed! Almost giddy. Until I tried to get out of bed. Ouch. But you know what? It wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be. Until I sat on the toilet and couldn’t quite get up. Ugh. And then I had to pick my daughter up and out of her bed. Sweet Jesus. Maybe it was as bad as I thought.

So after some coffee and dropping off my son at school, I came home and put my daughter down for her nap and it was Shred time. I grabbed my mat and weights and hit play.

• These stretches feel kinda nice.
• Okay, I can do these jumping jacks. I actually like jumping jacks. It’s all good.
• OMG, these push ups are murderous. I think my chest muscles are going to rip. Yeah, Anita is rocking it Jillian, I know. Natalie can kiss my ass on the balls of her feet. Chop chop.
• Okay, I’m doing this. I can do this! Sure it hurts, but I have to work through the pain if I want to look like Anita, right? Anita can kiss my ass.
• Cardio is the easiest for me, but I long for the ab work so I can hit the floor. It’s like a tiny little break, but with Jillian standing over you and telling you to lift your head off the floor. This is not nap time.
• If I have to do one more lunge with any type of arm movement, my arms will probably fall off my body. I’m sure of it.
• I think the punching is my favorite. I like to pretend I’m punching Jillian. And I don’t have to hold any weights.
• Anterior raises and side lunges can kiss my ass. All day long. My arms felt like they were going to fall off before, well they just did. That’s right, my arms are lying lifeless on the floor. What am I going to do without arms? Seriously, I couldn’t raise my arms past my waist on the last few reps. OMG.
• Oh, boy! We get to lie on the floor and do chest flies. This is so much better than anterior raises.
• And on to cardio. I really do feel like I can jump higher on the jump rope. Is it just me, or am I feeling a second wind here at the end? Thank goodness. Yes, I’m almost done. I can do this!!
• DONE! I made it through day 2. Only twenty eight more to go.

So what happens after day 28? I know I’m not going to quit working out. I guess it’s nice to say I only have 28 more days to go, but in reality I have the rest of my life to go. If I’m going to commit to doing this, there’s no way I’m going to quit in 28 days! Hell NO!

Oh my gosh. Seriously. Today was so much harder than yesterday because I’m pretty sore. I can only imagine what tomorrow will feel like. I will stopping hurting at some point, right? Or does that mean it’s time to move on to the next level?

You wanna know a secret? I don’t know if it’s all in my head, but I felt stronger today. Sure, my muscles were trembling like a chihuahua in the rain, but I felt so strong. I felt a sense of determination. I know I can do this!!

I love this DVD so much. I love the simple, easy to follow exercises. I like the quickness. Before your arms have a chance to fall off your body (or you get bored), you’re on to the next exercise. And can I tell you how much I love the fact that it’s only 22 minutes from start to finish? This fits into my life so easily!

And now, I’m off to drink at least 3 glasses of water. Maybe 4. Because I feel like I sweat that much. And I’m going to keep on moving again today.