30 day shred

I have had a bit of a rocky weight loss journey since having kids: before Noah I was on hormones to get pregnant or induce menstruation, so I gained 10 pounds before getting pregnant. After that pregnancy, I had just hit my pre-pregnancy weight, when I found out I was pregnant with Layla. It took me 14 months to loose the baby weight, but I was still unhappy with my weight because of those lingering 10 pounds (which, lets be honest - is a lot of weight on a short girl!).

So when I had Layla, I was sick of feeling overweight for so long - so I chose to start Weight Watchers at 5 weeks postpartum.

The program is very manageable when you are nursing - and I would often have "second dessert" much to Keith's horror. Despite the multitude of desserts, there was never a week that my weight went up. It went down...down...down...down past those lingering 10 pounds. By the time I was about 4 months post partum I had lost a total of 32 pounds. I kept it off for 6 weeks and made lifetime status.

During the weight loss, I took up running again with Keith. I used to be a sprinter in high school and after high school I took up running as my favourite way to work out. Since I had babies back-to-back, I chose to start slow with the Couch to 5K program. Once I got up to 5k, I kept that up three times a week until recently....I got bored.

Once I hit lifetime status, I have not been eating well - falling into old habits. I haven't gained weight, but I have been fluctuating in a close range. However, I hate that I am not being healthy because I feel sick when I eat poorly during the day. I found weight loss the easy part - maintaing it is absolutely brutal!

Weight Watchers is starting their new program this week so I hope to feel motivated again to be healthy. I am also starting work in January, so that will present me with new challenges with my diet and exercise routine, so I need all the help I can get.  Also, once back at work I loose points because I am not going to be nursing Layla around the clock. A 5 point loss is going to be hard!

I had Jillian Michaels, 30 day shred DVD in my house, so I decided to give that a whirl.

It is 30 straight days of exercise, based on the principle of muscle confusion. It is a short workout (so very do-able for a busy mom) but it is absolutely brutal - because you can't have big results if you don't work hard for them. 20 minutes isn't a long workout, so you have to work those 20 minutes to the max! I figured this DVD would give me a short term goal to aspire to, and hopefully motivate me again.

I am going to keep a blog of the month I do the shred, and post weekly reports. I took my measurements so I can keep track of my progress. I probably won't track my weight since I think my body has hit it's ideal weight, but I will keep track of inches lost because I really need to tone up.

Today is day 3 of the workout and I was already thinking up excuses why I should skip the 20 min routine, but typing this post has reminded me that I shouldn't - and if I blog about it, I am being held accountable. It is going to be a bit tough at times since I have a baby who hates to sleep some nights, but I will try to not skip a day...Wish me luck!