Get Fit

On top of just generally not being sure of how effective it is, I’m just SO bored with it! You repeat each level for 10 days, so you’re doing the exact same workout every single day for 10 days. It just bores me to death. Its gotten to be something that I dread not for the fact that it’s super challenging, but rather that I had to do the same routine over and over. Jillian Michaels’ isn’t very motivating either. I wish she was more like in your face, yelling at you to keep pushing like she did on The Biggest Loser. Sometimes I need that sort of motivation. My sister ordered Chalean Extreme, another BeachBody program, and it arrived today! Since I had so much success with getting in shape by doing Insanity, I think BeachBody is the way to go. So tomorrow I’ll be starting Chalean Extreme and leaving the boredom of 30 Day Shred behind!

This morning I wasn’t feeling great after skipping my workout yesterday and not eating well. To make matters worse I had a golf lesson which I almost passed out during. I got super dizzy, and my vision started to get really blurry, so I told my coach I had to sit down. It was kinda awkward. Story of my life. I had been drinking a lot of water and ate breakfast and everything so I guess it was just the heat that did it, even though I had only been outside for about an hour. On the plus side, I got to golf alongside Bon Jovi’s dad. Anywhooo, I really didn’t feel quite right for a while after my near fainting spell. So I came home and made a protein shake and ate a protein bar and tried to get some sugar in my system. I guess something worked because a few hours later I felt way better. I still had zero motivation to do my workout though but I knew I’d feel worse if I didn’t, so I sucked it up.

I did Level 2: Day 6 of 30 Day Shred. At this point the workouts get super repetitive. I’ve already done 6 days of the same workout and I still have 4 more days to go until I get to move on to Level 3. I did it though and felt particularly exhausted during it. Once I was done I decided to do a Tone It Up ab workout video, which I REALLY loved! You can find it here. It’s a 5 minute ab circuit that you’re supposed to repeat 3 times, so it’s pretty quick. And I promise it will leave your abs burning and you’ll feel great after you finish! You’re supposed to do the ab circuit at least 4 times a week so I’m definitely going to shoot for doing that! Abs of steel, here I come!

I’ve been pretty good about my workouts really since I started my fitness journey 3 months ago, but one thing I could definitely improve on is my eating habits. I’m usually fairly good for my main meals, but I’m a pretty constant snacker. I don’t even snack on unhealthy things usually either, just lots of nuts, popcorn, hummus. But I eat them all in excess usually and those calories do end up adding up. I really need to start counting my calories again because I think that will help me stay on track better and question whether I really need that snack or not. Most of the time I don’t, I just turn to food when I’m bored.

Yesterday I skipped my 30 Day Shred workout because I went out golfing with my dad in the early afternoon and by the time we got home we were eating dinner. Which wasn’t healthy either. My mom didn’t feel like cooking so we picked up meatball subs. I don’t even want to know how many calories that thing was. Needless to say, I feel pretty gross and my stomach is super bloated as a result of it. Tomorrow I go back to my grandma’s house which is where I live most of the time (I’m usually only at my parent’s house on the weekends.) But, I’m really excited to go back because my sister (go follow her!) is there and we started this fitness journey together & she’s been eating well so it’s always easier to succeed when you have somebody else trying to be healthy on your side. So tomorrow there are no more excuses, I’m going to do all my workouts, count my calories, and eat healthy.

Now I’m off to do 30 Day Shred, which I’m REALLY not in the mood for. But sometimes we have to force ourselves to do the workouts we don’t want to do. I know I’ll feel way better afterwards.

Today I went to the gym with my dad who is my favorite person ever to hit the gym with. He’s just super motivating to push out that extra rep and he has a nice routine down there which I just tag along for and we switch on and off each set. But anyway, I squatted 105 pounds today which I’m really happy about!!! It’s the first time I had ever squatted anything higher than 95 pounds. And I bench pressed 65 pounds which was the most I’ve ever bench pressed too! I had only been able to bench 55 pounds a couple of weeks ago. YAY PROGRESS!!! I also felt really good about my body today and ate healthy which probably has a lot to do with feeling good about my body.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do 30 Day Shred today because I had to go shopping for golf clothes because I have another golf lesson tomorrow and my coach told my dad I need proper golf attire. Whoops. So my day was kinda consumed with finding golf shirts and skirts that don’t make me look 60 years old and like I’m wearing a kilt. NOT an easy process. But I eventually found clothes and I’m not gonna beat myself over missing the 30 Day Shred today because I haven’t missed a day yet and I still got in a great workout today. Overall, it was a great day! :)

So I’ve decided to start using MyFitnessPal again. I started using it when I first started my fitness journey which was almost 3 months ago (crazy!!) but it kept telling me I was under my calorie intake for the day anyway, so after 3 weeks of using it, I stopped. But lately my eating hasn’t been the best and I really have no idea how many calories I’ve been intaking lately so I’ve decided to use it again. I definitely tend to eat healthier when I use it too because I can actually see laid out what I’m putting into my body and how healthy or unhealthy it is for me. I’m also a chronic snacker so hopefully this will help that. I tend to eat well for normal meals, but snacking is kinda my downfall. You guys can go follow me on MyFitnessPal too if you want, my username is jaclyngetsfit, just like on here.

Now onto the 30 Day Shred. Today I started Day 1 of Level 2 of 30DS. Level 2 is no joke. The exercises were all a lot more intense than they were in level 1, but I’m pretty happy about this. After completing Insanity, I felt like I was taking a step back by doing the 30 Day Shred. And in all honesty, I probably still am, but at least I have time for other fitness activities now which I really didn’t while I was doing Insanity. Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred, which is what I’ll be doing for the next 9 days makes me feel more challenged though and like I’m not taking a huge step down from Insanity which I’m really happy about. And I’m sure by the end of these next 9 days, when I get to level 3 things will be even more intense! I may restart Insanity again though after I finish the 30 Day Shred. Is it weird that I kinda miss getting my ass kicked by Shaun T. on a daily basis?

Today had its ups and downs health wise. I ate a good healthy breakfast and lunch and even met my friend to go take a 2 mile walk around a local park, though I have to admit we did more talking than actual exercise. After that I met up with a couple of other friends which is where things kinda went downhill. I went to get sushi for an early dinner and had 3 chicken tempura rolls, not terrible but not great either. Then we all met up with another friend who hadn’t eaten and he wanted to go to Burger King so I ended up getting a small fry. And then we were all bored so we drove to Sonic and I got a strawberry real fruit slush, but I only ended up drinking half of it. All in all, it wasn’t a terrible day, especially when I compare it to how I used to eat only 3 months ago before I started my fitness journey, but it’s still definitely not a day I’m proud of either. I am really happy that I finished my day off pretty strong though. I was having a great time hanging out with my friends and really didn’t want to come home to workout, but I left them and came home and did the 30 Day Shred. It would’ve been easier and a lot more enjoyable to say that I could just skip a day of exercise and enjoy time with my friends, which I rarely get the opportunity to do anymore. But I opted for the less fun option and now I’m glad I did. I would’ve felt way worse about not eating well if I had skipped my workout too. Now my health is my top priority and my decisions need to reflect that.

I started Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred today with my mom. My sister started the program yesterday so we pretty much have the whole family doing it. The 30 DS consists of 3 different levels. You do level 1 for 10 days, level 2 for 10 days, and level 3 for the last 10. Level 1 went by SO quickly!! It has 3 different circuits each of which you do 2 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs for. So it really only takes about 20 minutes of your time. I worked up a decent sweat which I was impressed by for how short it is. It felt easy compared to Insanity but Insanity is very high cardio and is triple the length of the 30 DS so of course it would be more intense. I really like the 30 DS so far though and it’s great because I’m still not so burned out that I can’t do anything else in conjunction with it. When I was doing Insanity if I went to the gym on top of it, I was pretty much dead the next day. I feel like I can do the 30 DS and go to the gym or run on the treadmill afterwards, still get a great workout, and feel good by the end of it. Here’s to the next 29 days with Jillian!

Today I’m going to start the 30 Day Shred with my mom! I’m pretty excited to introduce a new workout routine into my life instead of Insanity. I feel like it should be a welcome change even though my sister who started the 30DS yesterday said it was “no joke.” But I don’t want it to be easy anyway, so that’s not an issue. I’m just ready for this next fitness chapter in my life. I also want to start running. I’ve never run in a race in my life, and I’d love to just be able to say “I did that.” Especially since I’ve always pretty much hated running. I think I’ll shoot for running a 5k to start and who knows where I could go from there. But for now, I think a 5k is a good goal. Seeing as before I started Insanity I couldn’t even run 1 mile, I would feel really accomplished being able to run 3.1 miles. I also want to hit the gym more to lift weights. I’ve discovered that I really like lifting and being able to push myself to get one more rep in, or up the weight even 5 pounds, it’s a great challenge for myself to improve. There’s just so many fitness things I want to do now that I never would’ve had the motivation to even attempt before Insanity! Forever indebted to Shaun T.