day 156 (day 2 / week 23)

"I want you guys to feel like you're going to die!"
--Jillian Michaels, The 30 Day Shred

I woke up this morning exhausted. Yesterday I spent 2.5 hours STRAIGHT (no joke!) scrubbing and scraping that grill. It was filthy and caked with grease and grime. It has (according to my mom) 15 years worth of build up on it (should have taken a before picture). I have to go back today to finish, because it was just not possible to do it all in one day. The steel wool ripped through my gloves and so I gave up with those, but now my nails and fingers are all...nasty. They look worse than man hand lol. I scrubbed so hard that I don't know if there was originally a protective coating of paint at the bottom of the build up, or if it was just straight aluminum (like it is now lol).

So I really didn't want to do The 30 day shred today because I know that I am just going to be scraping and scrubbing again today. I really didn't want to exercised. Then I remembered that I made a commitment with the group members in a sparkteam (on sparkpeople.com) fittingly called "The 30 Day Shred," to do the shred for the entire month of June. Arg! (yes I'ma pirate today).

What do you do when you don't want to do something? You take it to another level! Today I did the 30 day shred, but instead of doing level 1, I did level 2! This method is quite motivating for me. Jump in head first and just get it done with. I had only done level 2 once before (I think--I don't really remember) so I couldn't expect anything and wuss out of anything. I am really proud of myself and glad that I pushed through it. I feel great now, and KNOW that I can tackle that grill. With better gloves. And more oven cleaner. *vera de milo muscle flex*

Off to wake the boy up (wow I'm waking him up super late today!).

Make today count! Take it to the next level and push through it! You'll be glad you did :)

I can do this. I am a star.

day 155 (day 1 / week 23)

There is something about how Jillian Michaels structures the 30 day shred, that makes it go by so fast when you are doing it. I have done quite a few 30 minute workouts, and this one seems to go by the fastest. I think it's because we are constantly moving onto something else, and you can kind of count the segments or phases (I forget what she calls them).

She has a 3-2-1 system: 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs. This really makes the time go by fast, let me tell you! There's nothing worse than going to exercise (especially when you really don't want to!) and the time just drags on. This workout is definitely a higher intensity than Slim in 6 or Turbo Jam, but you can't really compare them all. They are all just different, and it isn't fair to do that. They are all awesome in their own right!

Anyway, I just finished Day 4, Level 1 of the 30 day shred. I can already go lower in the 2 types of lunges we do and the squats, and I can feel my body getting stronger (ha! ya right, it's only been 4 days--must be totally psychological--but it sounds good, right? lol). My legs were a little bit sore yesterday later in the day, and they were a little sore this morning, but they feel fine now (not a bad sore). It reminds me of High School, playing sports and working through the beginning training part, after the summer break. I used to hurt so bad after volleyball and softball, but it eventually went away the more I practiced.

Ok off to get some stuff done. Hope some of you guys are out there doing the shred with me. I know some of you have it! We can do this together! Well, whatever you're doing, make today count!

I can do this. I am a star.