30 Day Shred

So, since I am kicking my own ass and forcing myself to be fully committed to creating healthy habits for life and all that jazz, I have decided that I am going to do the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred challenge.  I almost wrote "try" but failure is not an option this time.

Not too long ago, I would have talked about it for a while, thought about it for a while longer, and eventually decide that I wasn't ready.  I discovered the video yesterday, and I started yesterday.  I'm going to do short journal entries for each day, and stick to it this time. 

Day One, Level One

I felt awkward in my new workout outfit since my shorts and top seemed to accentuate every roll, and somehow create new ones.  Fought through it.  I laid my mat down, grabbed my dumbbells, and strutted around the house for 10 minutes or so.  Jade kept looking at me, and I got a little self concious.  Called him on it, caught myself, and continued on.  I closed the doors to the living room and started the video.

While at work, I watched through the video so I knew what I was getting into.  I'm glad I did, because it made starting much less frightening.  The two women doing it with Jillian are Anita (for beginners) and Natalie (for advanced/returning people).  I followed Anita for most of the time, but did follow Natalie for some moves or half the time.

I did a lot better than I thought I would. My endurance definitely needs some work though.. I often stopped for longer than 5 seconds, but I didn't give up.  I fought through it and I completed it.  I missed half of a couple of the exercises, and dropped the dumbbells from a few of them (my arms ached so badly).  I am aware of my abs now, and my upper arms feel heavy.  Not hurting enough to think that I really pushed myself to my limits. Day two is going to be hell.

Day 2, Level One

Had to stop a couple times, but managed to push myself through some of the tough bits from yesterday. I got to the point where I was actually grunting and groaning, and while I didn't feel like I wanted to be sick during the workout, I certainly felt that way for a brief time afterwards.

My arms felt like butter, and I'm wondering if I should get myself some smaller/lighter weights.  The ones I have are 8lbs each and it seems like a lot to just dive right into.  I want to push myself, but not hurt myself. I can't go the whole 30 seconds per exercise with them both.  Maybe tomorrow I'll try it with the one and alternate hands.

Though I felt like I did worse today (because I had to stop), I think my endurance was up a bit.  I am proud of myself for the fact that I never stopped longer than one minute, and I hopped right back in even though I wanted to quit. I also completed more exercises than I did yesterday.

I want to succeed so badly.  This time my goals are going to be reached. This time, I am going to succeed and nothing is going to stop me.

I think it may be nap time now.

** Edit: So, my muscles certainly did ache mid-afternoon. I don't notice it until I get up to walk around, which I made sure to do every half hour or so. It's far too easy to just sit in front of a screen all day and get next to no physical activity.

New goals: Work on correcting posture, and ultimate goal weight is 160lbs.

I can fucking do this.