Day#? The beginning

So I know how difficult it is for me to find the motivation to actually get up and exercise, eat decently, and take care of myself for the long run. That is why I started this. I'm hoping that by posting this, someone will read this, feel encouraged, and maybe find some motivation. I watched one of my friends during her journey to get fit, eat healthy, and keep at it, saw the results and immediately thought "Why am I not getting off my hind end and doing this too?" So I started...back on August 12th. And I didn't keep at it...I got bored. I wasn't feeling any muscle soreness after doing my workouts and just generally wasn't feeling anything that would even hint at making a difference. After reading my friend's post about the workouts she was doing and seeing that she was seeing results (not right away because, really? That's an unreal expectation!), I broke down and bought one of the instructor's workouts. Not to my surprise, it was Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred that I picked up because the reviews I had read also backed up the change I had seen in my friend.
Let me put my disclaimer in now: not every workout is going to work for every person, nor will all of the products I am using will work for every person. We all lose weight, workout, and get fit in different ways. I have found a workout that works for me. The Zumba I was trying on Kinect was fun, but I wasn't feeling anything after. Maybe that is because it was working a different way with my body than what I was expecting. The same goes for the Cardio Kickboxing video I was doing too.
I needed something to kick me in the butt to get me going. My friend seemed to sense this after I had posted about doing the 30 Day Shred for the first time, and sent me some info on a 24 day eating challenge. Amazingly, I haven't actually started the challenge yet, but I have started seeing results with just the workout. I'm making changes in my diet and I am noticing that I'm feeling better. Granted with two kids running me ragged and a husband who works and goes to school, by around 8-9 at night, I'm ready to hit the sack. But that is normal at this point. I'll start the challenge on October 3, and I really am looking forward to it. I will miss the big Sunday night dinners of pot roast, potatoes, mac and cheese, and gravy. But I'm looking forward to feeling better and being healthy, so bring on the 24 day strict diet of no coffee, sugars, processed foods!

I started the 30 Day Shred on Thursday September 20th. The two days following, I could barely walk, let alone get out of bed. My legs hurt so much, I couldn't believe it. Finally, on day three (Sunday) I was able to actually stretch out enough to work out again. I felt great afterwards and even felt my endurance getting better. I also started using a soy protein shake and using it in the place of a smaller meal after my workout. Don't get me wrong, I knew that it wasn't going to be the greatest tasting stuff in the world, but my body is kinda telling me that it's just not enough. So I find myself snaking on homemade pico de gallo (cherry tomatoes, green and yellow peppers, jalapenos, Serrano peppers, and yellow onions with garlic). It's so good :) and it's all home grown, thanks to my father. It's already rubbing off on my 2 year old; he's sitting next me eating tortilla chips with the pico de gallo.
I did the workout again today, and am feeling even better than I did when I crawled out of bed. I find Jillian very motivating, and it's helpful. I'm really looking forward to seeing the changes and sharing them. So here's to Day #1 (I think lol) of blogging and Day #3 of the workout.