Day 56 - I've done 26 days of the shred?

It's tough for me to believe that I'm so close to finishing up the shred. Last night, I did some yoga to stretch myself out in preparation of shredding today. I'm not sure why, but when I shred two days in a row, the second day seems to be easier, but a better workout. Of course, I was sweating like a fiend. Of course I tried a little more with my knees today. I was able to modify the jumping moves so that I could actually do them. I like them, just worry that my knees might suffer.

I'm noticing subtle changes to my physique as I go along. Yesterday, my wedding ring felt too big on my finger and my watch was loose even though it's the same spot I always wear it. Today, I could picture myself without a flabby belly for the first time in as long as I can remember. Like it was an attainable goal!

I'm probably going to swim tonight.

Day 52 - The measurements are in

Before I get to the measurements, a quick note about my workout and my days. I generally try to exercise every day, but some days, my body just says "no way". I don't feel bad when I need a break, but sometimes it messes with my motivation. So, I recently started doing yoga every night. I do the shred in the morning, and recover and relax with yoga in the evening. I just started with the yoga 2 days ago, but I can tell an improvement in my muscle recovery and flexibility already. It may also help that I was doing yoga early on with the Wii Fit during my first 30 days. Anyways, the yoga really does relax me and it gives me that "I just stretched so I'm really in touch with my body and muscles" feeling. I'd recommend it!

My knees are hurting me a bit today after day 2 of part 3 of the shred. Not like they were in part 2, but I think there's a danger that I could get too rough on them. So, still taking it easy, taking ibuprofen, and the yoga is helping as well.

Now to the results (drumroll please)...

On day 22 I:
Lost 1/2" off my chest
Belly stayed the same
Lost 1/2" of my waist
Both biceps stayed the same
Hips stayed the same
Lost 1/2" off my butt
Lost 3/4" off my neck

Pretty good results, eh?

Day 51 - 3 weeks of the shred down!

Today marked my first day of part 3 of the shred. Let me tell you - it's a real killer. Lots more plyometrics (jumping stuff), lots more weights, overall just more effort. I feel really good after doing it, and I did the whole thing, but I had to take a LOT of breaks.

Strangely, my knees aren't really bothering me, but that might be because I took extra precautions on anything that looked like it could give them trouble.

Last night, I tried the Tai Chi DVD and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to follow along. I don't think I'm stupid, but it's not really created for beginners, IMO. Move left, move right doesn't really explain where to put my feet, how to move my hands, etc.

So instead, I did about 20 minutes of the yoga DVD. I really liked that one. VERY relaxing and healing.

After my workout this morning, I noticed that my stretch marks are coming back on my belly. Another indication that all this effort is paying off! I may end up taking a day off tomorrow, depending on how sore I am, but I'm still planning to do the workout as of now.

Also - tomorrow is another measurements day!

Day 18 - Shattered my goal. BOOO YAAAAH!

I feel awesome! I did my usual workout this morning - aerobic and about 10 mins of yoga. Then I did my checkin, and holy cow - down 5.5 lbs. My body finally caught up. Given I'm a few days late, but I still am way psyched.

I was thinking about what I did different yesterday, and I realized two things. First, although I suffer an aversion to tracking my food, I went to a site yesterday that lets you do that for free. It's part of Lance Armstrong's Live Strong network, and it's a feature called the Daily Plate. It's not the easiest thing in the world to do, but it at least gives you a sense of what you've eaten in a day from both a fat and calorie counting perspective.

Anyways, I messed around with the Daily Plate yesterday and realized the second thing. Holy crap, I didn't eat enough! I was so surprised by this that last night I went to Mellow Mushroom for a more calorie rich dinner. I had 2 slices from a 4-slice small cheese pizza, and a lil' greek salad (with only one of their Espiranto dressings). I had 8 oz. of strawberry lemonade from Trader Joe's for a special drink (I had all my water for the day). I also splurged since I had so many calories to use and got a slice of cookie cake from the Great American Cookie Company for dessert. I know it's way indulgent, but I figured I'd try it and see what happened. Apparently, I need to eat more!

So for today, I'm going to try to eat a bit more during lunch. My stomach just rumbled as I'm writing this, so time for a banana!

Day 15 - Today was a good day

Did over an hour this morning on the fit. Feeling really good. I'm really on this cycle where I'll gain little bits at a time then every 5ish days lose a whole bunch. I lost 4.2 lbs today! I'm pretty happy that I've stuck with it. Also! I managed to keep to my no eating after 9pm last night. I have no idea if I'll be able to do it all week, but all I can do is try, right?

So today, I did 20 mins of yoga first, followed by 42 mins of cardio. I may do some strength training soon, but right now I'm really just trying to lose weight/inches so I'm not sure. I've done strength training about 3x per week so far, and I may just keep that up.

Yesterday, I drank nearly 4 liters of water and a bit of gatorade.