Jogging My Memory

I always get so excited when the week is half over, because the last half of my week is so much easier than the first half. Monday through Wednesday I have a total of 8 classes, while I only have 3 on Thursday and Friday.

While I didn’t blog regularly about it, you may remember that I decided to challenge myself to do the 30 Day Shred 30 days in a row beginning on January 30.

Jillian matches my yoga mat – LOVE IT!

I’m very happy to report that I stuck with my challenge and did the 30 Day Shred every day from January 30 to February 28. February was also the perfect month to choose to stick with the 30 Day Shred. I’ve been so busy with classes that taking time to run or go to the gym was causing me more stress than good. Instead of taking a month completely off of working out, I was able to work out every single day, even if it was for only 20 minutes.

And I’m sure you’re wondering about the results…

I didn’t lose any weight doing the 30 Day Shred. As someone who exercises regularly and eats healthily most of the time, 20-30 minutes of exercise a day without some pretty drastic calorie restrictions just wasn’t enough for weight loss. February was not a great month eating wise – too much late night snacking and candy eating while writing papers and doing homework. I did manage not to gain any weight despite my less than stellar eating, which I think the 30 Day Shred did assist with.

The 30 Day Shred definitely had its benefits though. Overall I feel stronger, especially in my upper body. I don’t have much upper body strength because I don’t focus on strength training in my workouts, but I’m starting to see more definition and I notice a difference when doing the actual workout. I am able to do the exercises with heavier weights (started with 3 lb weights on Level 1 and graduated to 5 lb weights!) and with less fatigue at the end. I also graduated to doing “real” push-ups, although they are still very wimpy “real” push-ups.

Another area I notice more strength and more definition is in my abs. I don’t have a six-pack, but my abs feel stronger and, like my arms, I am able to do the exercises more easily. All those plank moves must be paying off!

Here’s my final evaluation of the 30 Day Shred:

Pros

• Good variety of exercises – I really liked all the different ab exercises.
• Combination of cardio, strength, and abs.
• Short (around 25 minutes), great for a tight schedule.
• Can be done at home and while traveling.
• Jillian (Did I mention that I think she’s awesome?)
• Different levels of difficulty.
• Can be done without rest days.
• Can be combined with other exercise, such as more cardio.

Cons

• The stretching at the end is way too short (I always stretch for longer than Jillian instructs you to).
• Can I say that Level 2 overall is a con? I found Level 2 to be the most difficult, I couldn’t wait to move on to Level 3.
• Some awkward exercises – I found some of the moves hard to do properly, especially at the speed Jillian does them.
• Length – sometimes 20 minutes just isn’t enough, especially if you already work out currently.
• Your neighbors may hate you afterwards. I live in a second story apartment and I’m really surprised my neighbors haven’t filed a complaint against me after all the jumping and pounding I’ve been doing on the floor for the past month. Some of those jumps are intense (i.e., rock star jumps) and there is just no way that I’m not shaking their ceiling.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the 30 Day Shred.

I plan to continue to do the 30 Day Shred 3-4 times per week.

As my schedule settles down again, I’m getting rededicated to running. After more than a month off (gasp – I know!), I went for a 3.5 mile run on Monday. I finished in about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, my quads are still sore two days later – I probably pushed it a little too hard for that first run back, but sometimes you just need to prove to yourself that you can still do something and that is exactly what that run was about.

I’m excited to get back to running, I’ve really missed it and am eager to get signed up for some fun races this spring and summer.

Well, that’s all for tonight! I hope the rest of your week goes smoothly!