Day 30!

Day 30! Day 30!

I'm SO excited and so proud of myself. Seriously, the feeling of accomplishment is better than the results.

So, today I ate 1,359 calories, 2 liters of water, and I finished the 30 Day Shred.

My results:

	Start	Finish
Waist	31.8"	28.5"
Hips	38.5"	35.5"
Thighs	23.5"	22.75"
Arm	11.75"	11.25"
Arm	11.5"	11"
Weight	148	146

I'm pretty happy with that :)

Here are my pictures, even though you still can't tell a difference:





I'm obviously going to continue this thing, but the other website is much easier to keep up with, so I'm moving over there. If you want to continue to follow my progress (and there WILL be more progress... maybe even one day you'll be able to SEE the progress), head over here.

And thanks again for keeping me accountable! I really appreciate it a TON!

Day 29

ONE MORE DAY! Well, for the Shred. I want a break SOOOO bad. I have to say though, level 3 is MUCH easier than level 2. Level 2 left me exhausted. Level 3 just kills my muscles.

Anyway, 1,284 calories, 2 liters of water, and 30 Day Shred Level 3, Day NINE. Woohoo!!!

Day 28: Weigh-in #4

I'm not doing a weigh-in today. I have 2 more days of this shred left, so instead of doing one now and one in 2 days, I'll just keep you in suspense ;)

I did 1,232 calories today, 2 1/2 liters of water, and 30 Day Shred Level 3, Day 8!

Day 27

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm done Thursday!!

I'll be back later to update, but I just wanted to mention something I learned that should be obvious but wasn't to me. When you eat things that are healthier (eg - granola instead of pop-tarts) they actually keep you fuller longer. I know, you're all thinking I'm crazy for not realizing this earlier in life, but I didn't! I was eating granola for breakfast before and it was really filling me up and getting me by until lunchtime. But I also have several boxes of pop-tarts. I would have pop-tarts as a snack (because I'm one of the only people in the world who likes them) and that's 200 more calories. So I brilliantly thought that I should replace the granola with the pop-tarts and eliminate the snack. I really wasn't hungry for the snack anyway... I just wanted the deliciousness. I figured the calories in a big bowl of granola are the same as 2 pop-tarts, so it's the same thing. Wrong. The 2 pop-tarts DID fill me up. For about an hour or two. Then I wanted more food. The granola keeps me full for 4 or 5 hours. Crazy, right? I still wanted to eat the pop-tarts though, so I modified it a bit. I eat 1 pop-tart instead of 2 (200 calories instead of 400) and 1/2 of a cup of granola instead of 1 cup (193 calories instead of 380something). I'm still getting the same calories. I'm still getting my pop-tart. But it gets be by until lunch. Woohoo! I'm a genius :p

Edited:
Ok, so for the day, I ended up with 1,288 calories, 2 liters of water, and 30 Day Shred Level 3, Day 7. 3 more days!!!

Day 26

Good day again today :) 1345 calories, 2 1/2 liters of water, and 30 Day Shred Level 3 day 6! I'm sooo close! 4 MORE DAYS!

Once again, to see my food, click here

I also weighed myself today and my weight has gone back down. I'll get the official weight and measurements Tuesday though.

Day 25

Now I'm back on track :) Well, I found a cool new website that's better for tracking food and things, so my chart will be there from now on. If you want to see, go here. I did pretty well today... 1416 calories... carbs were a little high, but still in the range... missed protein by 1 gram.

AND, 30 Day Shred Level 3, Day 5 = done! I seriously can't believe I'm going to do this entire thing without stopping. I started it with a cold and 2 weeks of killer poison ivy. Around day 16 I almost talked myself into skipping a day and making it up at the end. But I've done it. It was one of my New Year's resolutions to do the entire thing with no breaks. So even if I didn't get any results, the satisfaction of crossing that off of my resolution list is totally worth it! You know... that and the fact that I just FEEL healthier overall.

I'm trying not to let my lack of weight loss get me down. Seriously, with the calories I've cut, I should be losing the weight. My body must be taking time to adjust. I also may have completely destroyed my metabolism before... maybe that's why it's not coming off. I used to eat once or twice a day (and a LOT of food). I've gone weeks at a time living off of only frog-eye salad (it's delicious). I know (and knew) that's not healthy and maybe I'm paying for it now with an extra long adjustment period. OR, maybe I really am gaining muscle. I do actually have muscles in my arms now. It's amazing.

Day 24

Today was another off day. We went to the city to do a process that the woman on the phone said we could do. We couldn't. They sent us somewhere else. Wrong place. We went to the right place. They told us we had to file papers somewhere else first and then come back. Went to another place. Completely wrong. Went to ANOTHER place. Got some info, but the people we needed to talk to were gone for the day. Went to another place. Closed. Moral of the story: we walked all over the fricken city. It was seriously a significant amount of walking, and most of it fast because things were closing. Moral #2: 98% of Brazilians are completely incompetent at their jobs. But they won't tell you they don't know something... they just make things up.

Once we gave up for the day we needed food. The mall was right there... home was a half hour walk to the train station, a 40 minute train ride, and another 10 minute walk away. We obviously went to the mall. I tried to choose well. I really did. But have you ever tried to choose healthy food from a food court? Pretty impossible. Anyway, I don't know the nutrition facts (yet again), so no chart (estimating around 1750 calories), but here's the rest:

Breakfast:
2 poptarts (I still have a lot of these from the box)

Lunch:
PB&J
Apple

Supper:
Rice and beans (baby L ate most of this)
Grilled fish in an orange sauce (I know the sauce is the killer)
Some french fries (I really didn't eat many... maybe 10)

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 3, Day 4 (and I was already dead when I started it)

Water:
Maybe a liter. Oh, we also got a 2 liter bottle of gatorade-ish stuff. 90 calories per serving. I had about 3 servings. A bunch more somehow got dumped in baby L's shoe.

I'm EXHAUSTED. Good night!!

Day 23

Well, tonight we ordered a pizza. I can't go my whole life without pizza, right? I ate 2 pieces and it was amazingly good :) Soooo, I'm not even going to go into the whole calorie thing because I have no idea how terrible those 2 slices were for me and I'd rather not think about it. At least it wasn't 4 slices right? I used to take out 1/2 the pizza. We also used to get pizza weekly. Do you see why I have weight issues? Well, the cool thing is after my 2 slices I was SO full. I think my body has gotten used to much smaller portions. Woohoo! Here's my food though:

Breakfast:
PB&J

Snack:
Rice Crispy Treat (those things are calorie bombs too! There aren't any more though... I'm getting through this box!)

Lunch:
Rice/onions/potatoes/ground beef and beans - Now, my girl hasn't been eating well so I made a plate with 1 portion thinking she'd eat 2 bites and be done. She ate 1/2 of it! That's awesome and I'm so glad she actually ate, but that means I had half of a portion. Also not a bad deal :p

Supper:
Pizza! 2 slices... 4 cheese with beef... stuffed crust. Seriously the best pizza in the fricken mundo!

Snack:
Now I'm going to eat some pineapple :)

Water:
About 2 1/2 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 3, Day 3

No chart, since I couldn't do it accurately anyway. I'm estimating 1844 calories. Today was the first day I noticed a difference in the chub in the full length mirror in the elevator. I'm in a much better mood about this whole thing now :)

Day 22

Yep, I'm still going...

Breakfast:
PB&J

Snack:
Butterfinger (they're gone! one less thing from the box!)

Lunch:
Chicken Sandwich

Snack:
Pear
4 Marshmallows

Supper:
Salad with chicken

Water:
2 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 3, Day 2

Chart:

	Breakfast	Snack	Lunch	Snack	Supper	Total	Goal
Calories	310	270	383	186	320	1469	1200-1400
Carbs	32.7	43	34.7	47.7	16.3	174.4	163-236
Protein	10.8	4	32.8	.6	40.3	88.5	60-137
Fat	16.5	11	8	.2	10.8	46.5	32-56
Sat. Fat	3	6	1.9	0	3.9	14.8	4

I'm also thinking about eating 1/4 of a mango (baby L ate 1/2 and E and I are sharing the other 1/2... that kid has a rough life!). So add that in too. Oh well, I guess if I can spare 90 calories for marshmallows, I can spare 34 calories for some fruit (and 9 more carbs).

Day 21: Weigh-in #3

Ughhhhhhh... yep, that's how I feel today. There were definitely tears and a lot of threats to make and eat an entire pan of brownies. How incredibly depressing. Granted, I'm at a point in the month (was that vague enough?) where I expect to weigh more, but after 3 weeks I really expected more. Anyway, I ate like crap today (I could hear Jillian yelling at me, "THAT'S NOT FOOD!"), but I stayed within my calories.

Breakfast:
PB&J

Snack:
Butterfinger

Lunch:
Veggie/meat thing

Snack:
Strawberry Poptart (did you know that a serving size is 1? Why would they put them in packs of 2? That's just mean!)

Supper:
Small salad with chicken

Water:
1.5 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 3, Day 1

I still couldn't get through level 2 very well, but level 3 is actually easier for me. E is doing the 30DS with me though, and he thought it was the worst thing ever.

	Breakfast	Snack	Lunch	Snack	Supper	Total	Goal
Calories	310	270	233	200	284	1297	1200-1550
Carbs	32.7	43	27.9	38	10	151.5	163-236
Protein	10.8	4	14.7	2	38.6	69.9	60-137
Fat	16.5	11	8.1	5	9.7	50.3	32-56
Sat. Fat	3	6	1.2	1.5	3.9	15.6	4

Weight: 67.5 kg - 148.8 lbs

Yes, that is up exactly 2 lbs from last week... I have no idea how that is physically possible. I wrote down EVERYTHING I ate and measured ALL of my servings. I should have a 4140 calorie deficit this week, excluding my popcorn with M&M's. Apparently a bowl of popcorn (not even microwave popcorn... it was a 1/4 cup of popcorn made with on the stove in 2 tablespoons of canola oil... no butter or anything put on it afterwards) with one serving of peanut butter M&M's dumped in, split between 2 people is about 11,140 calories per person.

Waist - 29.25" (31.5"/30"/29.5")
Hips - 37" (38.5"/37.25"/37")
Thighs - 23" (23.5"/23"/23")
Left Arm - 11" (11.5"/11.25"/11")
Right Arm - 11" (11.75"/11.5"/11")

Day 20

Well, I weighed myself today and I'm pretty thoroughly discouraged. Since it's not my day to weigh myself though, I'll hope for a better official number tomorrow. I can't promise it's not going to make me cry and give up though.

Breakfast:
PB&J

Snack:
Peanut butter M&M's (they're gone now... one less thing from that box!)

Lunch:
Chicken sandwich

Snack:
Apple

Supper:
Pasta with sauce (now whole grain pasta and I didn't add anything to the sauce... and measured out servings)

Snack:
Apple

Water:
1.5 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 10 (done!)
(it rained again today)

Chart:

	Breakfast	Snack	Lunch	Snack	Supper	Snack	Total	Goal
Calories	310	230	366	72	265	72	1315	1200-1400
Carbs	32.7	24	34.7	19.1	46.7	19.1	176.3	163-236
Protein	10.8	4	32.8	.4	10.9	.4	59.3	60-137
Fat	16.5	12	8	.2	3.5	.2	40.4	32-56
Sat. Fat	3	8	1.9	0	1.9	0	14.8	4

Day 19

Wow! Only one more day of level 2! I can't believe how fast this 30 Day Shred has gone!

Today I youtubed quite a bit and learned a lot from a presentation Jillian Michaels did. Specifically this and this and this and this. I went here and looked up my BMR. Jillian divides people into four groups of activity: people who work in a job where they sit all day, like secretaries are 1; people who walk around a lot, like sales jobs are 2; people like trainers who are more active are 3; and people like construction workers who are super active are 4. She says to take your BMR and multiply it by 1.#(the number you are). I said I'm in the first group, so I took my BMR x 1.1 = 1630. That's how many calories I burn each day by living and doing my daily activities, excluding exercise. So between that, eating, and exercising, I'm trying to end up with a deficit. A 500 cal/day deficit will give me 1lb/week weight loss and 1000 cal/day will give me 2 lbs/week (since 1lb=3500cal). I'm trying to stay in the 1200-1400 calorie range, so that gives me about 200-400 per day or 1400-2800/week. If I run 3 days/week and burn 279 calories each time (based on .63 x my weight = calories burned per mile), that's an additional 837 calories. Based on googling various sources, the 30DS burns about 200 calories (that's being conservative). That's 1400 more. SO, based on the math of all of this garbage, I should have a 3637-5037 calorie deficit per week, which should equal a pound to a pound and a half. Headache? I know, I'm putting way too much thought into this. I was just curious why I wasn't losing 20 lbs/week like they do on The Biggest Loser (no, just kidding, but I was curious what I should be losing).

Breakfast:
PB&J

Lunch:
Chicken Sandwich

Snack:
M&M's

Supper:
1/2 of a plate of rice with onions, potatoes, and beef
1/2 of a piece of chicken (see, I'm trying to even things out!)

Snack:
Pear

Water:
1.5 liters (I know, I'm slacking)

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 9 (yay!)
(it rained today, so no running)

Chart:

	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Supper	Snack	Total	Goal
Calories	310	383	230	305	96	1324	1200-1550
Carbs	32.7	34.7	24	38.1	25.7	155.2	163-236
Protein	10.8	32.8	4	22.2	.6	70.4	60-137
Fat	16.5	8	12	4.6	12	41.3	32-56
Sat. Fat	3	1.9	8	.7	0	13.6	4

Day 18

Happy Saturday! It was super hot today again! We went to E's mom's house this afternoon with the intention of me running when we walked home (the path we usually run on is the same way we walk to her house). Well, we got there and it started raining, so once again, no running. But walking there is about 40 minutes and we walked around downtown a little this morning, so at least I wasn't sitting at home all day, right?

Breakfast:
Granola with milk
Apple

Lunch:
PB&J

Snack:
Butterfinger (only 2 left!)
Pear

Supper:
Salad with chicken

Water:
1.5 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 8

	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Supper	Snack	Total	Goal
Calories	251	310	366	330	?	1257+	1200-1550
Carbs	48.4	32.7	68.7	17.5	?	167.2+	163-236
Protein	5.9	10.8	4.6	40.3	?	61.6+	60-137
Fat	4	16.5	11.2	11.3	?	42.9+	32-56
Sat. Fat	1.1	3	6	3.9	?	14+	4

The ? is because E and I decided to have a mini-date night. We got a movie and some diet soda and made some popcorn with M&M's in it. Not super good for my calorie totals, but it was fun :) If I had known, I obviously wouldn't have eaten that butterfinger in the afternoon :p

Day 17

E and I run opposite days. Since he didn't get home from work until 8:30 last night, he missed his day. So he ran today instead, and I will start again tomorrow. Works for me, as I was/am ridiculously tired (sleepy tired) today.

Breakfast:
Granola with milk

Lunch:
Chicken sandwich

Snack #1:
1/2 of a PB&J
Apple

Snack #2:
Butterfinger (my willpower is amazing me though!)

Supper:
The veggie/meat thing

Water:
2 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 7

Chart:

	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Snack	Supper	Total	Goal
Calories	179	348	252	270	233	1282	1200-1550
Carbs	29.3	34.7	41.9	43	27.9	176.8	163-236
Protein	5.5	32.8	5.8	4	14.7	62.8	60-137
Fat	3.8	8	8.4	11	8.1	39.3	32-56
Sat. Fat	1.1	1.9	1.5	6	1.2	11.8	4

Day 16

Today was kind of a weird day. E worked in the afternoon instead of the morning, so my routine was completely thrown off. I didn't get lunch until after he left, I got baby L down for her nap, did the 30DS, showered, and did some laundry. So that was after 2:00. So anyway, here's what I ended up with:

Breakfast:
Granola with milk

Lunch:
Salad with chicken
Apple

Supper:
Chicken sandwich (had to finish the chicken I made last night)

Snack:
Pear

Water:
2 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 6

And the chart:

	Breakfast	Lunch	Supper	Snack	Total	Goal
Calories	358	402	348	96	1204	1200-1550
Carbs	58.5	36.6	34.7	25.7	155.5	163-236
Protein	11	40.7	32.8	.6	85.1	60-137
Fat	7.5	11.5	8	.2	27.2	32-56
Sat. Fat	2.3	3.9	2	0	8.2	4

Day 15

Well, after my huge realization that I'm STILL overeating (or at least eating the wrong things), I was much more careful today. I think I did pretty well, even given the fact that I ate a Butterfinger. I did discover something else today though: it's pretty impossible to run when you're hungry. I ran before my snack and supper and I was kind of hungry when I left. I should've eaten a piece of fruit or something to get me by (or maybe I shouldn't have eaten the butterfinger and had a better lunch instead), but I didn't. I was MISERABLE running. So my brilliant advice for the day: Don't work out on an empty stomach.

Breakfast:
Granola with milk

Lunch:
Butterfinger
1/2 of a PB&J

Snack:
1/2 of an apple (my kid stole the other 1/2)

Supper:
Salad with chicken

Snack:
Pear

Water:
2 liters

Exercise:
Ran 3 miles
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 5

And my chart:

	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Supper	Snack	Total	Goal
Calories	358	450	36	330	96	1270	1200-1550
Carbs	58.5	65.8	9.6	17.5	25.7	177.1	163-236
Protein	11	9.4	.2	40.3	.6	61.5	60-137
Fat	7.5	19.2	.1	11.3	.2	38.3	32-56
Sat. Fat	2.25	7.5	0	3.9	0	13.7	4

Food

So today, all discouraged by my lack of progress, I decided to see what I could improve. I don't know why I didn't look these things up to start with. As you know from my background, this isn't the first time I've decided to change the way I eat. Every time I look at the nutrition facts in the food I'm eating, I'm surprised. EVERY. TIME.

So with the help of this website to figure out the nutrition facts in recipes, fruits, and vegetables, and this website to figure out what numbers I should be aiming for, I now have a plan. Good thing I only eat about 10 things... it didn't take so long to make a chart :)

I just did yesterday's for an example (mostly because I just googled how to make a table and I wanted to try it):

	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Supper	Snack	Total	Goal
Calories	358	491	116	450	96	1511	1200-1550
Carbs	58.5	51.5	14	76	25.5	225.5	163-236
Protein	11	13	7.5	16.5	.5	48.5	60-137
Fat	7.5	25.8	4.1	8.1	.2	45.7	32-56
Sat. Fat	2.3	10.6	.6	1.3	0	14.8	4

Obviously a lot of problems. For 1, I'd forgotten fruits have so many carbs. For 2, I didn't realize cheese had so much fat (and saturated fat). Not that either of those things would've saved me. I think I'm also going to look for a margarine that's slightly better.

The breakfast isn't super accurate, because I calculated for the granola and the milk, but I don't drink the milk in the end. So the only milk I drink is what is on my spoon and all the fat and sat. fat comes from the milk. I think tomorrow I'll measure how much I actually drink.

Who knew getting the right balance of carbs, proteins, and fats would be so difficult!

Day 14: Weigh-in #2

Well, here we are again. I've now successfully completely 2 weeks of this Shred crap. Ok, so I call it crap because it's so difficult, but I'm actually fairly happy with it. I haven't lost a lot of weight, but even without weight loss exercise is worth it... right? At least that's that those who work out and don't see progress on the scale tell themselves.

First, the boring stuff:

Breakfast:
Granola with milk
2 bites of a rice crispy treat (see... I'm spreading my box o' deliciousness so as not to completely destroy my progress)

Lunch:
Grilled cheese sandwich
The rest of the rice crispy treat that I started last night and this morning.

Snack:
The rest of baby L's lunch (leftovers)

Supper:
Rice cooked with onions, potatoes, and ground beef. A carb explosion!

Snack:
Pear

Water:
2 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 4

Not much to comment on there, except level 2 is KILLING my lower abs. I honestly wasn't even aware of the fact that there were muscles there. I know that sounds cliché, but the second time I did it when my muscles were still sore from day 1 I seriously thought I was tearing my uterus in half. No fun! It was still super bad yesterday and today it was getting slightly better.

And the fun part:

Weight: 66.55 kg - 146.8 lbs

So I'm now down 1.7 lbs. Yeah, I'm going several decimal places... what about it? :p I'm squeezing as much out of it as I possibly can. Rounded, I've only lost 1 lb. 1.7 sounds much better!

And the even more fun part (starting/week 1):

Waist - 29.5" (31.5"/30")
Hips - 37" (38.5"/37.25")
Thighs - 23" (23.25"/23")
Left Arm - 11" (11.5"/11.25")
Right Arm - 11" (11.75"/11.5") - No idea what happened there

And, the embarrassing part. Absolutely no change:

Day 13

It rained! It rained! The insane heat is over! It was 80 something degrees today! Not only was it better for my exercise, but it drastically improved my mood (just ask E... I was getting really unpleasant to be around).

So, my dad sent me a box in November. I was pretty homesick and it was almost Thanksgiving, so he sent me a box of my favorite snacks that I don't have here. Things like peanut butter, jelly (there is jelly here), candy bars, brownie mix, chocolate chips, stuff to make rice crispy treats, rice crispy treats, pop tarts... it was a HUGE box. Well, it didn't come and didn't come and didn't come. Two boxes were sent after that one and both were received. This one wasn't. We were sure it was lost. Well, today, 51 business days after it was sent, it arrived. Yeah, so I have a box of junk food. This should be SUPER interesting. This is like the biggest test of my willpower, ever.

Breakfast:
A piece of bread with butter
Apple

Lunch:
Grilled cheese sandwich (yep, E was home by lunchtime)

Snack:
Another 1/2 of a loaf of cuca (I know! And this was right before the box came... *sigh*). It's 4 slices. Excessive... I know.

Supper:
The veggie thing I make... onion, ground beef, potatoes, carrots, and broccoli, all cooked together to deliciousness.

Snack:
2 bites of a rice crispy treat
Apple

Water:
2 liters

Exercise:
Ran 3 miles
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 3

Again with the carbs! Ugh!

Last time I ran I didn't do so great. I walked twice for a little ways and was really disappointed with myself. E assured me it was because it was so hot out... that it's much more difficult to run in the extreme heat. Well, today was gorgeous and the run... cake! Seriously, it was actually EASY. I can't even really be proud because there wasn't much pushing myself. It's fun though! If it stays this easy, in a couple more times I'm going to either increase the distance or start timing myself and trying to improve that. I'll have to google which is better.

Day 12

Once again, ick. 112°. It's brutal. Really, really brutal. I took 4 cold showers today and we spent our afternoon and evening at the mall in the air conditioned amazingness. It seriously better be cooler tomorrow. I can't take this heat much longer.

Breakfast:
Granola with milk

Lunch:
Grilled cheese sandwich

Snack:
Bread with honey
1/2 of a cucumber dipped in salad dressing

Supper:
Small salad with chicken
A couple bites of Lauren's supper. It was like 1 bite of rice and beans, 2 french fries, and a 1/4 of a grilled chicken breast.

Snack:
Cookie
Bread with honey (only because we got a new bread that I wanted to try)
Apple

Water:
A lot

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 2

I did much better on the 30DS today. I still took a lot of breaks and modified almost everything, but there were fewer breaks than yesterday and I didn't pause the DVD. It doesn't seem as impossible as yesterday even though it's hard as hell.

I'm not sure I could've done worse today with the amount of carbs I ate. Oh well, I was going to eat ice cream too, but the ice cream place's freezer wasn't working. It must be a sign.

Day 11

Well, I'm starting to feel a little bit like a failure. I didn't run again today. Really though, it was 111°. It rained again in the evening and cooled down a bit, but by the time it stopped it was really too late to go. Like 8:30 late. So instead we went for a short walk. I'm pretty disappointed. I'm thinking about trying to wake up early tomorrow to go before the heat gets too bad... but I've never been a morning person, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out. It's supposed to be hot again tomorrow and cool down a bit Monday. I REALLY hope so. Not only is the heat bad for my running, but it's kind of bad for my mood too.

Today I started level 2 of the 30DS. By day 10 of level 1, I was doing the whole thing with no break and the only thing I modified was the push-ups. So I felt ready. I'm not sure I'm ready. It was HARD. Like REALLY hard. The cardio in level one was really easy for me from the beginning. That was kind of my rest time. It's not a rest in level two. I cheated a lot on the strength parts, took a ton of breaks throughout, paused the DVD once, and did the modified version of almost everything. By the end I was laying on the floor, holding my stomach in agony (both muscle pain and nausea), asking E if I ever thought level one was that bad. He assured me I did. In fact, now that I think about it, the first time I did level one (back in October when I first tried this thing) I had to pause the DVD 3 times. It was that bad. Now it's not so bad. Still hard, but pretty do-able. I can't see ever being able to do level 2 successfully, but I'm going to die trying (or at least until the 10 days are over).

Ok, here we go. Keep in mind it was 111° out today (as if you could forget with all of my whining). Who feels like eating when it's so ridiculously hot out?

Breakfast:
Granola with milk

Snack:
1 1/2 apples

Lunch:
Grilled cheese sandwich (I refused to turn on the stove, so E had to cook. There's not much he can cook, so grilled cheese it was)

Snack:
Cookie

Supper:
Salad with chicken (I picked up some more lettuce from the grocery store and used the left over chicken from last night).

Water:
At least 2 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 2, Day 1

Day 10

Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is I successfully completely all 10 days of level 1 of the 30 Day Shred consecutively. The bad news is it was 115° today. Seriously. So I didn't run. E said there were people passing out on the train and people walking around outside were carrying little towels to wipe the massive amounts of sweat off of themselves. Nice, huh? Although I feel like it was a pretty good reason not to run, I still feel pretty guilty about it... even though I completely the 30DS in my sweltering living room and had to keep drying the floor because the sweat was dripping THAT much. I don't mean the sweat that was transferred to the floor from laying down and doing crunches (I put a towel on the floor for that). I mean from doing the lunges and stuff and the sweat pouring off of my body. I actually risked injury, as I almost slipped on a puddle while doing jumping jacks. How's that for trying to justify skipping my running?

Bad news number 2. Not super bad news though, because it was bound to happen. I had a bit of a "free day" with food today. Hey, I can't give up cuca forever and I'm doing a lifestyle change here, not a diet. Yes, I could've eaten less... but I'm pretty powerless against baked goods in my home.

Breakfast:
Banana
Piece of bread with honey

Lunch:
Grilled cheese sandwich
Apple

Snack:
1/2 of a loaf of cuca

Supper:
Chicken with rice and chips all covered in some kind of unhealthy sauce. Ok, not the healthiest supper, but this used to be at least a weekly thing and it's so fricken good that I'd eat at least 2 plates. Tonight I got the small plate and ate one. Of course one of the reasons I didn't eat so much was because I was still full from the massive amount of cuca I ate. So, not healthy, but still a step in the right direction.

Water:
I stopped counting at 2 liters. It was REALLY hot today.

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 1, Day 10

I was thinking about taking more pictures today, but I'll do it on Tuesday during my next weigh-in instead.

Day 9

Today was another ridiculously hot day. At about 6:00 the sky opened up and just POURED. I mean, torrential rain and wind. Afterwards it was gorgeous :) Also, baby L didn't eat well today. That means that I ate a lot since I tried multiple things and when she wouldn't eat them, I did.

Breakfast:
Cup of granola with milk
Banana

Snacks between breakfast and lunch:
3/4 of a grilled cheese
a piece of bread with honey
2 handfulls of dry cereal

Lunch:
Chicken caesar salad

Snacks:
Apple
Cookie

Supper:
Another salad (had to finish the lettuce and chicken)

Snacks:
Watermelon

Water:
I found a water bottle today so...
8 oz + 2 liters

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 1, Day 9

With the 30DS I can now get through the whole thing without taking ANY breaks and the only thing I do the modified version of are the push-ups. Yay :)

Day 8

Still going in spite of the 105° temps :)

Breakfast:
1/2 banana
A cup of granola with milk

Lunch 1:
The rest of baby L's lunch (rice cooked with ground beef and onions). She didn't eat much, so I ate most of her baby-sized portion.

Snack 1:
Apple

Lunch 2:
1/2 of a grilled cheese sandwich (yep, the 1/2 that baby L didn't eat)
Cookie

Snack 2:
Watermelon

Supper:
Chicken salad (a salad with chicken... not "chicken salad")
Apple

Water:
72 oz

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 1, Day 8
Ran 3 miles

I tried to cut down on my carbs today... thus the salad for supper. It was also produce day at the grocery store, so I'm super stocked up :) Now I'm looking at what I ate today and wondering if I ate enough. I feel like I'm eating constantly.

Day 7: Weigh-in #1

Well, first the boring stuff:

Breakfast:
2 pieces of toast with cheese
Banana

Snack 1:
The crust from baby L's first lunch

Lunch:
The veggie thing again, minus the sausage (so onions, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and about 1/3 lb of ground beef, all cooked together)

Snack 2:
Banana
Cookie (it's 90 calories... I looked today)

Supper:
A grilled cheese sandwich

Snack 3:
Apple

Water:
80 oz

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 1, Day 7

And now... the results of my week of what I consider pretty hard work:

Weight: 67.1 kg - 148 lbs

That means I'm down... 1/2 of a pound. That's more than a little discouraging. Honestly, considering how hard I pushed myself and how much I changed my eating habits, I expected more. I've controlled portion sizes really well this week. I've eaten snacks to keep my metabolism going. I drank a TON of water. I really watched things like condiments (other than the sausage, but my sausage days are officially over) and how much oil I use when I cook. PLUS, I went from zero exercise, to every. day. Ugh! The only other thing I can think to do (other than cutting out the sausage) is to watch my carbs better. I didn't think I was doing TOO bad, especially with all the exercise, but maybe I am. If anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE let me know!

On the bright side, I have lost a significant amount of inches:

Waist - 30" (from 31.5")
Hips - 37.25" (from 38.5")
Thighs - 23" (from 23.25")
Left Arm - 11.25" (from 11.5")
Right Arm - 11.5" (from 11.75")

This seems wrong... I know it does. But both times I measured myself, wrote it down, and then had E measure me to make sure I didn't cheat. I really didn't cheat. But how in the world does one lose so much there and nothing in weight? It really seems wrong. I think I'll take new pictures on day 10 (the day I move up a level on the 30DS) and see if you guys notice any difference. E swears he does, but he could very easily be lying so I don't get SUPER discouraged.

Day 6

Well, I did it. Even with my complaining, I got through the day. One day at a time, right?

Breakfast:
A piece of bread with honey

Snack 1:
A couple bites of baby L's first lunch (rice and beans)

Lunch:
A chicken sandwich (just one!)

Snack 2:
1/2 of a chicken breast (ok, it was like 1/2 of a chicken sandwich without the bread... I put a little mayo on it. But at least I didn't get the extra carbs)

Supper:
A piece of french toast (I was very careful with the amount of butter and powdered sugar I put on it. I was having a huge sugar craving and it was either that or a donut from the grocery store)
1/2 of a banana

Snack 3:
Watermelon (a lot of watermelon)
An apple

Water:
72 oz

Exercise:
30 Day Shred Level 1, Day 6
Ran 3 miles

Even with all the complaining, I did it all. It was SO hot today that when E came home he said that I shouldn't run. I said I would anyway. Then it started to rain. Yay! I can't run in the rain, right? Well, it rained for about 20 minutes and afterwards is was MUCH cooler. By that time it was about 8:00... getting close to baby L's bedtime, getting dark, and I was still lazy. Basically, a lot of reasons why I didn't want to be there. But I ran. 3 miles. AND, I didn't stop. At all. I am so ridiculously proud of myself. In 6 days I can run 3 miles without stopping. It was so hard, but I did it! :) And I'll be honest, the biggest thing pushing me was this blog and not wanting to look like a loser for the few people who see it. So THANK YOU!

Ugh

Reasons why I don't want to do anything today:

1) weather.com says it's 90° and feels like 99°

2) I have no air conditioner and since Lauren is napping, she has the only fan

3) I'm on the brink of death... I've been battling poison ivy all week and it's about to win. I'm starting to think I'm going to have to amputate my leg.

4) Sweating makes poison ivy rashes worse.

5) I'm lazy and a little discouraged

ETA: I DID do my 30DS and checked again and it's 104° now.