Project LB (Living Better)

I'm not sure if I should still be counting, but oh well. I will.

It's one of my "off" days from C25K, so I opted to do the 30 Day Shred today. Got through it fine. Definitely still a challenge. But yay!

Weigh-in this morning wasn't great. Up to 187. Though really? As bad as I've been it could have been much worse!! I have to admit, though, I was a little afraid to put it in the weight tracker on jillianmichaels.com. I didn't know if a voice was going to start screaming at me from my computer when I hit enter or what. But I was pleasantly surprised. A nice little "Ok, so you slipped up a little. Just resolve to do better." message. :) And I am already working at doing that.

Today is in the books.

And a lesson learned. Wiping a sweaty face with your hands immediately before push-ups of ANY variety can cause a painful faceplant into the floor. I'm ok...I managed to turn my face so I didn't hit with my nose. But it hurt! It's funny in retrospect. But not something I want to repeat any time soon!

Still, I finished the workout! :) Go me!!

Sorry I haven't updated in the past couple of days. It's been busy times - doing my workout and then showering and racing into Manhattan for a show or dinner with a friend. (So not looking forward to my weigh-in tomorrow* because I know I've been AWFUL with food this week. But that shall change next week!!!!)

But I've done my workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday and pushed it hard. :)

This afternoon will be a little bit of a challenge as well because we have a 1/2 day with the kids at school, then a lunch thing to talk about the school's year. And because the principal and assistant principals all drive, they don't think twice about whether somewhere they choose for us to meet is easily accessible for those of us who don't. And this one isn't. BLECH! I have to meet a friend for a dinner meeting thing, so I'm going to be pushing it, but I've asked her if we can back up our time by 30-45 minutes. Hopefully that works for her. Because I DEFINITELY need to keep my workouts up.

* I bit the bullet and joined Jillian's website program on Tuesday. She suggests weighing in every Friday, so I'm going to shift my weigh-ins to Fridays just to make it easier. That ties into why the food will change next week!! I'm going to spend tonight - and likely Friday night - planning out my menu and then hitting Trader Joe's on Saturday to get my food all put together. So hopefully once I have that done I'll be back on track. Also, I have to work on getting back to going to sleep earlier s I get 7 hours!! I've been too bad lately!! And that's not helping either. So combining a lack of sleep and all the eating badness, I'm definitely expecting a weight increase tomorrow. BLECH!

Ok, so essentially I've done the Shred 3 times in 24 hours. Um...YIKES!

But this morning was moving up to Level 3!!! And I had to do it this morning to guarantee that I get it in since I'm seeing a show with a friend after church and there's a possibility I'll get to Shakespeare in the Park tonight if I win the virtual lottery (not holding my breath, but you never know).

But beyond *just* doing Level 3, I wanted to push it and try to do something I haven't done before. Something like doing all the moves I'd done on my knees before (walking planks, traveling push-ups, and plank rows/leg-lifts or whatever they're called) in the full position. As in on my feet, knees off the ground.

AND I DID IT!!!!!!!! :D (Well, the last two of the plank rows/leg lifts I was on my knees because I simply didn't have the strength left and I'd rather do SOMETHING than just sit even for two moves.)

Not gonna lie...the walking planks were really hard, especially the last set. I totally had to visualize Jillian in my face yelling at me not to quit to get up there. But it worked! And my push-ups aren't all the way to the ground, but even going halfway I can tell I'm working harder than going all the way down on my knees, and I know I'll get there eventually.

Also? I did pretty much everything a la Natalie except the mountain climbers. I just can't do them fast enough to feel like I'm really getting cardio in with those yet. I'll work up to them. But everything else was a la Natalie!!!

I am tired! But I am so proud of myself!!!!!! :D

And it's done! Woo and hoo!

I pushed myself extra hard today because I was at a conference all day which meant lots of sitting. And snacks. Gah. Snacks are my downfall.

I shall be working those off for at least the next week! :(

Willpower...where are you when I need you???

It's done.

I didn't want to. I felt like being lazy and wanted to do anything but Shred. If I remember correctly, I got to about this point in Round 1 and felt the same way. But I did it.

I did have to pause in the middle of the second cardio circuit to grab my inhaler. I don't know why today my lungs decided to wheeze, but they did. I took a puff and was able to keep going. No harm, no foul. Just a slightly longer than 5 second pause.

But somehow I think even Jillian would agree that, you know, BREATHING is important.

Get at me! It would have been really easy to say "Oh, I did two rounds yesterday, so I can skip today" but I didn't do two rounds yesterday to be able to skip. I did it more as a challenge to myself to see if I could do it.

So I did today's round (only a single this time) - but to add in a challenge, I decided to attempt at least one set of plank jacks. Of course I decided this halfway through the first round, so I held off and decided to attempt it the second round. And you know what? They're not that bad! Tomorrow? Both sets. Then maybe I'll try squat thrusts...the jury is still out on that one.

I should say, if anyone has comments or questions or thoughts, feel free to comment. I'm not an expert by any means...just a girl trying to get myself in shape. :)

The triple 2 day! :D

Rocked it again! It feels awesome! It is definitely still hard, I'm not gonna lie. BUT I can tell how far I've come from when I first started - and even when I did and finished Level 2 the first time. Even then I was struggling to get through the cardio - especially the second cardio circuit. But I'm making it through without taking any breaks!

I am seriously proud of myself!

It was late for me - close to 6 when I started - but I didn't want to skip a day! So I did it! 10 days into Round 2!! :D

Of course this means tomorrow I move to Level 2 - my least favorite. But that's ok.

I am starting to see more of a difference in the abs. There is still a gross bump just under my diaphragm - sort of like this thing that I would love to just lop off and that section would be flat. But it does look like it's coming down a little. But even more, there seems to be more definition behind and around it if that makes sense. I'd take a picture of it, but I don't want to gross you out. Trust me...it's gross. So...I just have to keep it up with the exercise and making smart food choices and I know eventually the fat blob will go away. So...even more incentive to keep going!! :)

Tomorrow... Level 2. It's on!

Another day in the books. Took out my sadness that I don't get to go to the beach this year on my workout - especially with the punches.

Hopefully next year the beach will happen - even though it will have to be in August!

Oh yes... The Shredheads May Challenge to exercise every day in May?

I did it!