The Stats
Starting Weight:Starting Weight (25/03/13): 66.7kg
Last Week’s Weight (10/04/13): 64.9kg
Current Weight (30/04/13): 64.4kg
The weight is coming off slowly, but with only 5 weeks left until my holiday, I know I need to step it up. I’ve been more mindful about my portion sizes, choosing nutritious snacks, bringing my lunch to work and drinking more water. However, I am still working on my breakfast and dinner choices and trying to cook interesting, filling meals!
My downfall seems to be when I go out for dinner, not only do few restaurants indicate the number of calories and offer healthy options, but many restaurant meals have hundreds of ‘hidden calories’. Add that to the fact that many of my favourite things are often not all that healthy, and I can often end up with a very poor choice of meal. I have tried to get into the mindset, that going out to eat shouldn’t be an excuse to blow my hard work, of course it is a treat, but that doesn’t mean I should go all out and get a high calorie starter, main and dessert! I’ll be sharing my tips for how to eat out but remain healthy next week!!
I am also trying to stick to my exercise schedule, with a mix of cardio, weights and pilates.I am loving being more active, and can already feel myself getting stronger and having more energy. Plus I find it easier to pick healthy meals and snacks after a workout- win, win!
30 Day Shred
I love the Biggest Loser, and especially Jillian Michaels, so I’ve been tempted to try one of her workouts series. Having looked at the results of 30 Day Shred online, I was intrigued to try it and see what results I could achieve in 30 days, and the beginning of May seemed like the perfect time to start.
There are 3 levels to the series, and the idea is that you complete Level 1 for 10 days before moving onto Level 2 for the following 10 days, and Level 3 for the final 10 days.
I completed Level 1 today, which started with a warm up, that got your joints moving, rather than the heart rate up.
The structure of Level 1is
30 sec strength move
1 x min compound strength move
30 sec strength move
1 x min compound strength move
1 x min cardio
1 x min cardio
1 x min abs
This was repeated with different moves, with weights, three times.
I don’t have weights at home, so I used water bottles, which were about 1kg each. I think it might be time to invest in some weights as these didn’t feel too challenging, and were quite awkward to use!
In the video, alongside Jillian, are two women doing the workout, one with adapted moves for beginners. This makes the workout very beginner friendly, and at only 20mins long, makes it accessible to everyone. I think it would be a great starting point for anyone wanting to start an exercise regime. It requires very little equipment (just some weights, and a mat if you like), takes a short period of time, and can be done in the privacy of your own home, although I actually felt a bit silly jumping around in my sitting room!
I didn’t find the workout too demanding, and don’t think that I would feel like I had had enough of a workout if that is all I did, however I do think it would be fun to complete 30 Day Shred alongside my normal routine, adding heavier weights to make it more challenging. Additionally, the lack of rest days will push my body and mind! I am only on day 3 of level 1 though, and I am expecting the intensity to increase for levels 2 and 3!
Oh I love the shred but as you said you definitely need some weights for it – if you can get some lighter ones and heavier ones for different moves I think that helps to get the most out of the workout 🙂