day 5

Sorry guys for not posting recently. Let's just say that my arms hurt so much, it even hurts to type. But it's that good kind of hurt. So I worked out 5 times this week, which makes me very proud of myself! I remember the semester I was training to run a marathon, one day I was walking across campus with a friend, and like 3 guys said hi to me, which was really unusual, since guys usually say hi to the girl I'm walking with. (Case in point, the time I was with Maggie, and Nelson spend like 10 minutes telling her how amazing she was, and then said "I like your eye shadow, Heidy"...sigh). Anyway, so I said to my friend "why are guys talking to me?", and she pointed out that the constant running was having a very good effect on my physical appearance. That was nice. I have been working on changing my eating and workout habits for a few months now, and it has been slow going; however, in the past three weeks, several people have told me that I look good, which again, is such an anomaly, since I never look good. So it feels good to know that changes are taking place. I have felt so uncomfortable in my own skin for pretty much all of my adult life, though more so in the past two years than ever before. It doesn't help that that one guy in my ward working on his masters in phys ed called me up to find out my bmi to see if I qualified for a study he was doing, and said "oh...you're too skinny"...leaving me to think that he had called me because he thought I was fat enough for his study, and was disappointed to find that I wasn't as fat as he thought I was. So anyway, it's nice to know that my hard work is starting to pay off a little bit, and I've even felt attractive a few times lately-again a rarity. Okay, well-I think my arms are going to fall off.

day 4

I think it's day 4. Anyhow. I've upped it to level 2. And I may be regretting it. Let's just say that the last 6 minutes are brutal, and only someone on crystal meth could survive it without wanting to die. There's a lot of plank work on level two. Do you know what plank work is? It's when you get into push up position, and do crazy things, like jumping jacks in that position, or, oh, I don't know, weird oblique sit up workouts in the plank position. I wouldn't mind it so much, except that it really gets Mr. Jigglesworth going. That, of course, is what I call my jiggly tummy, which stays hidden most of the time, unless I'm in plank position, in which case, gravity wins. And gravity, of course, makes me hate myself. Oh well. Other than that, I'm really enjoying the work out thus far. And I may be a little optimistic, but I can feel it working-at least I can feel my muscles hurting. It'd probably work better if I didn't spend the day time eating Christmas cookies. If only I didn't have so many friends who keep bringing them to my house! Oh if only I weren't so popular and well liked amongst my peers!! Okay, well-I really stink, and today has been a pretty crap tastic day, so I'm going to go take my shower, watch an episode of Brothers and Sisters, because I'm a big sap, and go to sleep.

Day 2

Whew-go me. So for those of you who don't know what the 30 day shred is, let me explain it a little bit for you. It's a work out video by Jillian Michaels, the mean personal trainer lady from the Biggest Loser-only she's really not that mean. I thought I'd need someone yelling at me and telling me what a whale I am to get me going, but she's not that bad. Anyway, the way the workout goes is that it's 4 circuits of 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs, then repeat with different exercises. It's really pretty intense. There are 3 levels (obviously I'm doing the first level for now). I researched the workout quite a bit before buying into it, and so far, it seems to get really great results. We'll see. I opted out of showing you all pictures of me, my self esteem isn't that high yet. Just believe me at the end if I say it works!
So I've done the work out for two days now. I like it because it's pretty old school stuff; jumping jacks, jump roping, butt kicking, hand weights. It reminds me of high school gym class, and let's be honest, that was probably my fittest time in life, minus that one semester I trained for and ran a marathon-no really, I did. Seriously-I've got the bum knee to prove it. So, back to the work out. My legs feel like jello, and there are muscles in my tummy I'm feeling for the first time since I got knocked up-I'm sorry, was that crass? Oh well, it's true. So, thus far-it's good. Now I need to go shower.

the 30 Day Shred Day One

Okay, well I'm admitting to two things in this post. First, I opened my present from my mom way early-there, I admit it. And second, I'm still not happy with my body. Okay, so the last time I was happy with my body was probably when I was 18 months old and didn't realize that my body had meat on it. Oh well. Anyhow, obviously, I got some workout DVDs for Christmas (don't worry, I asked for them, it wasn't some covert insult from Mom-she just tells me straight up if I'm looking chunky, anyhow). So I'm going to do the 30 day shred. And I figure in order to make myself accountable, I'm going to blog it. So later tonight after Layla goes to bed, I'll do my first work out, have Zane take some before photos, and post all about it. And you can all read about it if you're interested-if not, I don't care, I'm still blogging about it, just to keep me motivated, and on target. Why, you ask, am I doing this over Christmas? Well, for a few reasons-first, I think it's wise to start an exercise program when I'm eating like a cow, just to keep me in check a little, and second, I have a month off from school, so I thought it'd be good to get into a program now, while it's easier time-wise, and then when school starts, I'll already have this working out thing set as a priority. I'm warning you now that this blogging about working out and trying to like my body might reveal some of my emotional baggage. So again, if you're not interested in that, then don't read it. that's cool. Wish me luck!