Bridal Weight Loss Thread

[blacksand]

merilenda, I'm game if you are! Do you want to start on Monday? I expect it will also kick my butt. I'm in semi decent shape for running (i.e., from the hips down), but my core, arms, etc.? I'm starting at ZERO. Maybe negative 3. I also seem to really struggle with any cardio that's not running, which I don't really understand. I can run for a long time, but I'm no good at jumping, for example. It looks like there's a lot of jumping in the 30 Day Shred, and that looks...hard.

 

[merilenda]

Yeah, I'm game for starting on Monday! It'll work perfectly because tomorrow is our one year engagement anniversary...is that a thing? Well, we figured it is and will be using it as an excuse to splurge on the diet a little. I'll be ready to knock it back into gear on Monday.

If I was just watching the 30 day shred while sitting on the couch, I don't know if I'd think it looks that hard. But when you actually do it? Man, it definitely kicks my butt. I get really sore afterward, too! I suck at pretty much any cardio except the elliptical.

 

[4ever]

I'm sitting here eating 2 cookies.

Diet not going so well.

 

[blacksand]

The thing is, 4ever, cookies are really tasty. They're just so good. I'm not good at dieting either. I can't stick to it long term. I'm really hoping my plan of adding in more fruits and veggies, rather than focusing on restrictions, will have some effect, but I know if it works at all, it will be very slow going.

merilenda, happy engagiversary! Have fun splurging this weekend. Jillian Michaels awaits on Monday, stern-faced. She means business. I watched the DVD from the couch, too, lol. Haven't actually tried doing it yet. It doesn't look too terrible. But I'm no good at push-ups or jumping jacks. And that's the whole beginning of the workout. So I might die. We'll see.

 

[merilenda]

Yeah, I can see very bad things happening to my diet in the near future. We shot our engagement photos yesterday, so I have this feeling of "cool, now that that's over I can relax a little because the wedding is not for 3 more months!" Which is kind of a silly attitude because 3 months is not that far off.

Blacksand, I'm embarrassingly bad at push ups. I mean, really bad. I have to do the modified kind on my knees and I STILL suck at it. I must have really terrible upper body strength or something. I seem to recall that the hardest part of the workout for me was the first cardio circuit.

 

[blacksand]

Well I ended up splurging this weekend too. Oops. We went to the farmers market this Saturday, presumably to buy healthy things. We bought some greens and herbs, but they also had a stand with organic meat, eggs and cheese from a local farm. They had their own homemade sausage and FI was all over it. We had sausage on Saturday night. One of FI's favorite things is roast duck, which I'd only ever eaten once (and wasn't even a huge fan of). But they had duck breast, and FI was all excited, so we bought some. We made that last night, with a port and cherry sauce, and mashed potatoes with garlic and truffle oil (also from the farmers market). So we had a rather decadent weekend! Who knew the farmers market could be so fattening!

I started this morning with the 30-Day Shred. Day one! And...it totally destroyed me. It really doesn't look that hard, but I am beat. My arms are screaming. I'm not used to doing much with my upper body. And my weights are heavy. I only have 5 lb. weights, so that's what I used, but I think 3 lb. weights would have been a much wiser choice to start with. Oh, well. I did okay with the cardio, despite a lot of panting, and the abs sections were actually not too terrible, even though I have zero core strength. My legs felt fine while I was working out, but they're a little twitchy now. I guess I worked them harder than I thought. But my arms are OUCHOUCHouch and I'm afraid they'll be very sore tomorrow. How am I supposed to do this again tomorrow?

 

[merilenda]

Yeah, I had a lot of pizza this weekend. And last night I had waffle fries covered in cheese, bacon, and dipped in ranch. Ummmm yeah. I'm so not used to greasy foods anymore though, because they really made my stomach hurt. Some girl friends of mine are talking about getting together after work, so I may have a couple more days of eating badly. FI and I are still supposed to do a buffet night, too. We were talking about doing it tonight, but may do it later in the week now.

What's funny is that I'm actually ready to go back to eating healthy! I had cold pizza for lunch because it was leftover and there. But I would have been fine eating something more healthy.

Now I feel like a slacker about working out since you're already done! I'm planning on doing it this evening. The last time I tried to start it, my legs hurt SOOOO bad for a couple days afterward. I hear you on the whole "how the heck am I supposed to do this again tomorrow?" Good question! I'll be right there with you later.

 

[blacksand]

Yeah, I had a lot of pizza this weekend. And last night I had waffle fries covered in cheese, bacon, and dipped in ranch.quote]

Okay, what?! Now I'm hungry. Cheese, bacon and ranch? That is fantastic. The things I ate sound so much less good now.

I don't really feel anything in my legs at the moment, but maybe I will tomorrow? I think my legs tend to be stronger than the rest of my body. I also did the easier version of almost every exercise shown, so maybe I didn't get my legs into it enough. But my arms still hurt so much. They're going to ache tomorrow. I'm not sure if I should press on with the weights I have or downgrade to using soup cans or something until I'm a little stronger.

Oh, and I have to exercise first thing in the morning, or else I just don't do it. I have zero motivation in the evening. But I am SO not a morning person, so I was very cranky with Jillian today. She may not be speaking to me come tomorrow morning.

 

[merilenda]

Yeah, the fries were pretty ridiculous, but they were probably also way more fattening than anything you ate, haha! It was chipotle ranch too, which made it even yummier.

I'll probably have to mute Jillian and put on some music or something, because I get so cranky with her too! I'd definitely switch to soup cans. That's what I've been using because I can't find my hand weights. I think I lost them the last time we moved.

 

[blacksand]

Ok, so you know the part where I said

Oh, and I have to exercise first thing in the morning, or else I just don't do it.

?

I failed already. I woke up this morning in super duper pain and I just couldn't do it. I'm going to try again after dinner, hopefully I'll be somewhat recovered by then! I usually completely lack motivation to exercise in the evening, so let's see how this goes. I really don't want to fail on day 2!

 

[merilenda]

Awww, I understand! I'm like that, too. I did it yesterday literally the second I was home from work. I knew if I sat down on the couch and got on the internet, I wouldn't do it. I'm not super sore today, probably because I overdid it the last time I did Day 1. So I made sure to do all the low impact versions and to take little water breaks and stuff. I definitely muted Jillian so I didn't hear her saying that I shouldn't stop, ha!

I definitely recommend doing the workout first thing when you get home and just being done with it!

 

[blacksand]

Well, I didn't quit on day 2, but I ended up doing it at 11 PM! Should be super fun to wake up and do it again tomorrow morning. I will say, although my arms are still sore and I feel tired, I am not as completely wrecked as I was after yesterday's workout. It felt a little bit easier today.

Doing girl push-ups on carpet=major knee rug burn. Ouch. I guess I should use that as motivation to do real push-ups. Maybe someday I'll get there!

 

[merilenda]

I'm so impressed that you had the willpower to do it at 11pm! I hear you on the carpet knee rug burn. I can barely do the modified push-ups, so there's no way I can do real ones....

I got home after work and FI wanted to go to happy hour at a pizza place. I've recently started panicking about our move in ~6 weeks and I'm trying to do as much local stuff as possible. Plus I needed a beer after my horrible long day. At least I insisted on doing the workout before we went.

Good luck in the morning!

 

[blacksand]

Pizza and beer sounds like a much deserved reward after that workout!

I managed to trudge through it again this morning, even though I had just done it at 11PM last night. I don't want to make a habit of doing it at night. I was sore, but I made it through day 3. It does feel like it's getting easier. I'm taking fewer 5-second rests, and thinking more about my form (instead of just thinking about how to make it through alive). I know it takes a long time to build strength, but I somehow feel stronger already. I dragged this enormous bag of dense potting soil up from the basement this morning to prepare my window boxes. FI had to carry it when we brought it home from the store, but this morning I brought it up the stairs without too much trouble. Felt like a breeze compared to those eye-level raise thingies. Those I want to kill.

 

[merilenda]

It sounds like you're definitely making progress! I haven't been too sore, although I noticed it in my calves today mostly. I hate the eye level raise things, too. I'm not sure what I hate the most, but it may be push-ups. I'm kind of glad they're first.

FI decided to do the workout with me today. We kept cracking each other up, so I'm not sure I'll allow him to do it with me again, haha. It's pretty hilarious to see a guy trying to do those hip circles. He also told me my boobs were jiggling and distracting him. I really need some new sports bras, lol.

 

[blacksand]

I think it's so cute when SOs work out together. FI and I never do. This is mostly my fault, as I hate people watching me work out (hence the no gym policy!), but still, it seems cute when other people do it. FI was, however, inspired to work out on the treadmill a bit yesterday, which is new and exciting for him. I really don't want to nag him to exercise or anything, but I think it would be good for him to be more active. It was great to see him do a little workout yesterday. Of course, he then wanted to go to Sonic for dinner, instead of eating the healthy meal from the farmers market that I had planned.

So, I don't think I'm losing any weight, but at least I'm getting stronger. I did day 4 with the 5 lbs. weights, and I survived. I'm not as sore as I was. Some things are feeling easier. Most of the cardio feels easy now, I just don't like the jumprope because my calves cramp up. I actually look forward to the ab exercises; they feel so much easier than anything else, despite my lack of core strength. I also don't so much mind the bicep curls with the static lunges anymore. They hurt so much on day 1, but they are starting to feel much easier. The eye-level raises are still horrible, though.

 

[merilenda]

I don't really like working out with other people either, but FI has seen me in so many embarrassing situations, that it's hard for me to get embarrassed in front of just him, haha! Our problem with working out together though, is that neither of us likes to exercise. And if one of us has some excuse to not exercise that day, neither of us will. If I'm working out alone, I'm better about just making myself do it.

I need to get myself over to the farmers market. We usually go every week when the weather is nice, but we haven't been for a while. I love it! Just yummy fresh produce for such great prices.

I'm not losing any weight either, but I think this is helping. Because my diet has been atrocious this past week, and my weight is pretty stable. I'm so glad we're both doing this, because there have already been a couple of days when I got home from work, and I thought about how I didn't want to do the workout. But then I told myself that blacksand has done it already this morning, and so I can't slack off! It's been enough accountability to make me do it every day, at least.

I feel like I'm getting stronger, too! The workout definitely felt easier today!

 

[blacksand]

Oh merilenda, I'm afraid I let you down this weekend! I had a friend visiting all weekend, and I kept trying to get up early and sneak in a workout before she woke up, but I failed miserably. She went to bed later than me and got up earlier every day. Boundless energy, this girl! I snuck in a quick, halfassed workout on Saturday, but I couldn't get anything done yesterday. I failed the 30 Day Shred!

I did my workout this morning, and I felt horribly sick to my stomach. I think I am still exhausted/dehydrated from the weekend. I'm not sore at all, though. So I guess that's good? I traded soreness for nausea? Yay?

Ok, so when you're doing your static lunges with bicep curls, watch Natalie. First, they focus on her, and she's doing her super deep lunges. But then, Jillian walks over to Anita to show you the beginner version. You can still see Natalie in the background, but she has stopped doing the lunges and is simply moving her arms while she stands still. Cheater! I can't believe that. I guess she thought since the camera was focusing on Anita that we couldn't see what she was doing, so she slacked off. I just find this shocking. BUT, I say, if Natalie can take a break, then so can I, Jillian!

 

[merilenda]

OH MY GOD, I'VE NOTICED THAT TOO! I even pointed it out to FI last week. What makes it funnier is when Jillian is like "the girls are so strong that they don't even cheat when I'm not looking!" Well, we've got news for you, Jillian.

I admit that I did not do the 30 day shred yesterday. I did, however, go hiking in a nature area with FI. It was really hot and sticky, but it was pretty. I felt like that was enough of a workout for yesterday.

It's hard when life gets in the way. I realized that I'll be out of town for most of next week and I'll be failing at doing all 30 days anyway. I'm just going to try to do it every day until then and hope I'm not too out of shape when I get back. I definitely feel like I'm getting more toned though, especially my legs.

FMIL is staying with us all this week, so I'm really hoping that doesn't affect my workout schedule.

 

[merilenda]

Oh my god, blacksand. I don't know what I was thinking, but I was feeling ambitious and decided to attempt level 2 today. I felt like I was going to die! There is some horrible, horrible torture in that level. We'll see how much I hurt tomorrow, but I may be going back to level 1. And staying there forever, haha!

 

[blacksand]

Oh, no! I am supposed to start Level 2 tomorrow. I was just starting to feel like I could handle Level 1, thinking maybe I was ready to move on. Am I going to die now?

I am finding it really interesting how different parts of my body hurt each time. In the beginning, it was my arms, and that was all I could feel. Then, my calves started cramping up. Now, it's my abs that feel the burn the most. It's weird, because I'm doing the same exercises every time, but i guess that means I'm making some sort of progress, right?

 

[merilenda]

Let me know how level 2 goes for you! I didn't do it yesterday because we ended up going back to the nature sanctuary and walking about 2 miles (we did the more challenging trail that is mostly uphill). It's okay because my arms/shoulders were pretty sore. I definitely noticed a big difference in intensity between level 1 and 2. There's SO many exercises that require plank pose in level 2. By that last ab circuit, I would rather poke my eyes out than going back to plank.

 

[blacksand]

Well, I did it! I'm completely spent and my arms are kind of shaking! I had to pause after Circuit 1 to get water and catch my breath. I also took some slightly-longer-than five second breaks during the other two circuits, because I really don't want to die prematurely. But I made it through, more or less. I found the cardio really hard this time! In Level 1, I had come to look forward to the cardio; it was a nice chance to loosen up after those heavy weights, and it wasn't really so bad. This time, the cardio was intense, and I was dying. I can't do those plank jacks and those other plank jump thingies. Can't do it. Dying. Anita is also my best friend. Why is Natalie there again? I just completely ignore her at this point. Eff Natalie. If I can do the easy versions and look like Anita, I'll take it!

I will say I am finding the strength portions a lot more doable. Even though Level 2 is harder, it's feeling easier than it did when I first started Level 1. I am not exactly sure what to do with my newfound upper body strength, but I feel like I should do something! Punch things? Throw things? Move furniture around?

 

[merilenda]

I totally agree with you about Natalie! And I'm with you - I'd love to look like Anita. You'd think Jillian could have found someone who could do that "badass" version a little better. Level 2 is still hard, but it is getting a little bit better. I am still doing the easy version on some of the moves, but you know. Today I noticed that I was able to get through all the cardio circuits without stopping for breaks! It definitely does seem like the cardio was the biggest jump up from level 1 to 2. All those plank moves still hurt me though...and those oblique twists start to hurt after a while too!

 

[4ever]

Considering I am doing NO exercise what so ever (due to it being way to friggen cold to go out and I am a pansy) I am still lossing weigh, albeit slowly. I've lost about 6kgs total now (13lbs) and back in a "normal" BIM which is nice. Would still like to ditch another 3-5kgs (I think anything more is a bit unrealistic and unmaintainable) but I am kind of putting it off till it's a little warmer out, as long as I'm not gaining weight I'm good for now, but loosing tichy bits with zero effort is a bonus.

 

[blacksand]

4ever, congrats on the "normal" BMI! I'm still quite a way off from that. It's great that you managed all that without exercise. Imagine what you can do with exercise when it gets a little warmer down there! I've been having the opposite problem most days, it's too hot to go out and run.

merilenda, I'm glad it's getting easier for you. I'm not sure I can say the same. I guess I'm a little better off than I was on the first day of Level 2, but not much! I'm still panting like a dog, pausing to catch my breath, and dropping reps here and there with the weights because I think my arms are going to fall off. I've also been having a lot of back pain lately, which is unusual for me. I'm not sure if it's related to the Shred or not. Might just be my mattress. But anyway, I did the non-beginner versions of some of the exercises today, and I didn't die. I did the walk out pushups with an actual pushup, did the skaters with a big jump, and went much deeper in my squats. But I still can't do the planked squat thrusts or the plank jacks. I just can't. I can barely stay up doing the beginner versions.

I weighed myself today because I felt like I was looking a little slimmer. I was feeling all confident. Nope. Gained. Sigh.

 

[merilenda]

Great work, 4ever! Sounds like you must be doing something right!

blacksand, I'm the same way with those plank jacks and the squat thrusts! I try to do the "regular" version, but it always makes me feel like I'm going to collapse, so I switch to the beginner version. They're brutal! I also can't make it through the full minute of plank twists without sitting my knees down to rest for a few seconds.

Unfortunately, FI and I are going out of town until next weekend, and I won't be able to do the shred until then. I'm pretty scared that I'm going to come back and level 1 will be awful again. I've been gaining too, blacksand, which is so disheartening since I've been so diligent about working out. I just can't make it past this next short-term goal. Ughhhhh, it's so frustrating! I just hope that we're both building some muscle mass, which is making us gain a couple pounds? I should maybe try measuring inches instead.

 

[blacksand]

I have really inconsistent results with measuring. I think I'm just not doing it right. I have a hard time getting the measuring tape in the exact same place every time. I apparently have some issues. But yeah, I think I'm probably losing some inches. I really did think I looked slimmer this morning. My face looks a bit slimmer, and my arms more toned. I was really surprised at what the scale had to say about my progress.

I think I need to start running again.

 

[blacksand]

My shoulders hurt!

 

[merilenda]

So I'm back from our trip, which ended up being 6 days of eating really unhealthy foods and not working out! Which really, is how most trips are, I guess. But I'm feeling flabbier for sure. I'm scared to weigh myself. I'm 2 months out from the wedding and my dress fitting is this week, so I need to get back on track.

We got home around 6:30 pm yesterday, brought all our stuff in from the car, and I did the shred around 7. I knew I wouldn't if I laid down on the couch. I just finished it today, too. I noticed that it got more challenging (the strength sections mostly...my arms can't get all the way through some of those moves without resting). But it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it'd be.

We're grilling hotdogs for dinner tonight for the 4th. But I'm hoping to get back full swing into the diet tomorrow!