Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Shredding, ever so slowly

No, I'm not getting rid of 10 years' worth of tax records. More like 10 years of flabby abs. Heh.

Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred DVD appears to be the motivation I needed to do at least a little something every day. The combination of strength training (with light dumbbells), cardio and ab work doesn't take too long, but I am definitely feeling it after a little more than a week.

Am I shredded? Oh, no. Not at all. I have a long way to go.

But you know that feeling when you first wake up that today might be a "thin" day? The kind of day when your clothes don't bind and you walk taller and you can actually feel formerly hidden bones? I've been waking up like that lately.

It feels pretty good, which is even more motivation to keep on shredding.

When I first read about this workout DVD, I thought, "Oh, c'mon, a 20-minute workout isn't even worth doing." Then my daughter-in-law told me she had been doing it and she really liked it. Personal testimony works very well with me, so I picked up my own copy. I still had the nagging thought that 20 minutes wouldn't be enough. But seriously? I wasn't even doing five minutes, so 20 had to be better than nothing!

And it is. Way better. Better enough that I don't want to give it up even when I'm planning to do some other kind of exercise the same day. Better enough that I'm still not bored by the routine. I'm still on Level 1 (of three), but have started doing the advanced version of most moves, rather than the beginner's.

I still have one problem, and that is that when I do both the DVD and a long walk, I'm wiped out. I want my energy level to increase, so that I can do the rest of the stuff that needs to get done around here. We still need to eat, wear clean clothes and walk through a dust-free house. And we (meaning me) also need to start planting seeds indoors, which doesn't sound like a lot of work, but it creates a lot of mess which needs to be cleaned. By, um, me.

So I'm not even close to where I want to be, body-wise or energy-wise, but I'm making progress. And I'm grateful for that.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yayyy you for making progress and picking up the Jillian DVD - and actually DOING it. I'm afraid of her in general so hadn't been drawn to working out with her. Glad to hear from your personal experience that 20 minutes with it does make a difference. Is the ab work done on the floor? I always have to ask coz I can't get UP from the floor if I go down.

JourneyBeyondSurvival said...

Congratulations! I love that waking up on skinny days and feeling those bones-without arthritis!

I hope that you keep it up!

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