Update, confession, announcement!

Update -

I was sick the week before last with a pretty awful sore throat and fever that took a lot out of me. I've given my body a lot of time to recover so I really haven't been working out. Feeling good and strong again now, and I will be getting back into the swing of things this weekend :-)

Confession -

This will actually probably come as a surprise to the readers who know me in real life....but this is actually my second blog. I've had another secret blog since the beginning of 2011, when I was still feeling very insecure about my weight loss journey and wasn't comfortable speaking candidly with friends and family about my struggles. But, with success comes a great deal of confidence, and when I started this blog here it was because I really wanted to be able to share my story with the people who KNEW me. However, it hasn't been easy maintaining two different blogs, and I'll admit I've neglected both my readers and followers for this one (AND I APOLOGIZE!), so I've decided to do something big. Which leads to my announcement.

Announcement -

I'm shutting down this blog. And my old one. And rebranding under a NEW COMBINED BLOG! New blog will not necessarily focus on body revolution, as I am currently not doing that anyway, but will certainly highlight it when I resume with phase 2. I sincerely hope you will all follow me over to my new home.

http://www.smallerintime.com/

The truth about vacation

Hi friends! My sister has been nagging me to update my blog, so here goes.

I want to start off by saying I'm taking a temporary break from Body Revolution. I have every intention of finishing this out, but I lost momentum when I went to London for Easter, and I never fully got back in the swing of things before I returned to London in May. Now that I'm back, I have about a month and a half to train for my first 5k, so I AM working out, but I have been focusing on running so that I don't really embarrass myself.

Now let's talk about vacation. I'm a huge fan of The Biggest Loser, and they always have the episodes when the contestants go away somewhere and the trainers preach about how going on vacation doesn't mean letting yourself go...but really, what's the fun in that? Half the point of going on vacation is taking a break from life. Taking a break from EVERYTHING. I told myself that when I went to London, I was going to let myself live of the edge for a bit! So, for two weeks I didn't work out, I drank, and I ate what I wanted. And then the guy I was seeing dumped me via email while I was away, which gave me license to eat as many cupcakes as I wanted to.

The day I left for London, I was at the lowest weight I have seen in.....forever.

The day I got back from London, I was at the lowest weight I had seen in forever...plus 11 lbs.

That's right friends, I gained ELEVEN POUNDS in London. And now I finally realize why the BL trainers preach what they do...it's totally not worth it. I fully believe it's possible to have an amazing vacation and make smart choices, I just didn't try. Now I'm paying for it. AND I REGRET IT.

So I've been home two weeks, and I'm down 6lbs, but still up 5lbs overall. Not proud of it, but blogging is all about being honest about the choices we've made and the setbacks we've encountered, and I'm hoping that someone reading this will keep this in mind when they go on their summer vacation.

Anyway, it's nice to be back in the swing of things, and I hope you'll all keep checking in even while I'm not doing the body revolution. I promise I will keep blogging, and my current plan is to restart phase 2 at the beginning of August once the 5k is over and done with.

Day #36

I'm baaaack.

Ok, sorry I disappeared again. I ran into some troubles at home that disrupted my workout schedule. That sounds a little weird, but it wasn't weird at all. But it's a long story and not worth telling. Long story short is that everything is fine, and now my regular routine has resumed. Anyway, while I wasn't doing Jillian Michael's Body Revolution, I was taking the dog for about 4 20 minute walks a day, so that's gotta count for something.

But, it is no replacement. Today I picked back up where I left off with day #36, which marks the start of week 2 of phase 2.

I hurt. My muscles didn't like such a long break. Got through it okay, but there were definitely things I could do much better a month ago.

I leave for London 3 weeks from tomorrow (yep, going back), so that will give me just enough time to wrap up phase 2 before I have to take another 2 week break. That's going to be rough, I can just tell now. There's no way phase 3 is going to be easy, and even worse right after a vacation.

In other non-BR news, I signed up to do a 5k with a bunch of my friends (called the color run, google it and see if there's one in a city near you). It sounds like a total blast and I'm excited that I'll finally run my first 5k. However, I also don't want to totally suck at it, so it's time to start working some running back into my workouts. It's not until the end of July though, so I've got about 3 months to prep for it.

How's everyone doing?

And....I thought I posted this last night. But I just found it. Oops.

Checking in!

So sorry for my sudden disappearance!! It was planned, and I meant to tell you all, but things got chaotic and blogging end up last on my list of priorities.

Getting caught up....I finished week 1 of phase 2 (i.e. week #5) and then I jet-setted off to London to have an extended long holiday weekend visiting my sister and some college friends.

I just got home a little while ago, mildly exhausted and a little thrown off from my usual "Sunday week start"....that seemed to be a good routine for me, so I'm debating waiting until this weekend to kick off week #6/Day #36. If I end up doing that I'll probably just try to do cardio every day in the meantime. And maybe some push-ups/planks.

Eating was slightly off from being away, so I definitely need to get back into a healthier routine with that. But hey, that's allowed on vacation (in my opinion), as long as it doesn't carry over into the return.

Day #31 & Day #32

I have a confession.

A very embarrassing confession that I am ashamed of.

Yesterday was day #31 and after all that crap I said on Monday about "no excuses" I didn't work out. And truth be told...I don't even have a good reason!!! I started playing "draw something", an app for smart phones...and I got so sucked in that seriously hours had passed before I realized what happened. And then it was late and time for bed. So, I did NOT do cardio 2 as planned.

Today was day #32 and I was supposed to do workout #5....well....I'm not a big fan of messing up the plan, so rather than continuing to have a week that is off schedule, I decided to pay for my sins of yesterday immediately today.

So, this evening after work I met a dear friend of mine for some frozen yogurt and pow wowing, and then when I got home I got right down to business.

Cardio 2 immediately followed by Workout 5. I'm not going to lie - this sequence sucked. Sucked. SUCKED. Don't ever do it. Learn from me - don't skip workouts! Do them on the day you're supposed to so you don't have to play catch up later.

Now, since this was also my first time doing Cardio 2, let me say a few words about it. It's not actually that bad. For most of the workout I thought to myself "hmmm, this is almost easier than Cardio 1". I retracted that thought when we got to the burpees.

Burpees are the fitness world's version of hell.

For real.

On the first circuit I killed myself on the burpees and got burned out immediately, so for the 2nd two circuits I just vowed I would take them slowly at my own pace and see how many I could fit in. I did 6 the 2nd time and then 7 the 3rd time. So, I think I'll just keep at it like that, and hopefully by week 4 of phase 2 I'll be doing many many more!!

And it's late now so I am going to go to bed and rest my more achy muscles.

Day #30

Today was a crrrrrazy day!

I'm going to keep this post in line with this season's theme of The Biggest Loser - "No Excuses".

When we have busy days it's really easy to let that be the reason not to work out.

Today I got up at 5:30, got ready to leave, hit the road just after 7 to head to the garage to drop my car off for the brakes to get looked at. From there, a friend was waiting to pick me up and then drop me off at the courthouse for my second go at jury duty. This round was slightly more exciting than the first stint, I actually got brought to the courtroom and saw the jury selection process, but my number was too high and I didn't get selected for that trial. I was returned to the jury pool room, and after A LOT of sitting and waiting, we were told that the remaining case that still needed a jury ended up having the defendant plead guilty so we were released.

Now...I didn't have a car, and my car wasn't ready yet, so I ended up walking in 4 inch stilettos and not enough cold weather gear (really needed something for my ears) from the courthouse to my college campus/sorority house. Days like today made me really glad that even though it's been almost 6 years since I graduated, I'm still so involved that I know almost all of the girls and they were happy to let me into the house and hang with me for a bit until I got the call for my car. It ended up being ready right at closing time, 5pm, so a few of the sisters took a ride to drop me off at the garage so I could collect it.

Instead of going home and relaxing, my sister and brother-in-law had to run an errand tonight and so I volunteered to help out and come babysit for my 1 year old niece. I knew that I'd end up here for probably 4-5 hours, plus a 1 hour drive on each end, so clearly working out was not in the cards.

Or was it?

After I got my car back I had to make a quick detour home to let my dog out and feed her dinner, so I also quickly changed into some workout gear, threw an old yoga mat into a bag, grabbed a set of heavy dumb bells and my resistance cable, and phase 2 dvds. Drove to my sisters, hung out with my niece for awhile, and right after I put her to bed I got to work!!!!! I have to say...aside from the fact that weights are heavy, this is a relatively portable program. Definitely something that could be taken along and done on a vacation as long as there was no flying involved (I don't even know how many pairs of shoes I would need to sacrifice to bring 16 lbs worth of weights in a suitcase).

And finally, on to the workout #5 review. I'm feeling it big time right now, but it went by extremely fast. In fact, when it was over, I was confused, I thought there was going to be a whole other circuit. So that's a good sign.

There were three moves I couldn't do 100% -

1) Plank bicep curls. I think that's what they were called. Well we've established a running theme of how I suck at plank and all plank related things. I struggled with this one, had to take it to my knees
2) Superman with weights. I'll try this again at home. She said to do it with your lightest weights, but since I only brought one set with me (my heaviest), my arms literally were incapable of leaving the ground. I just did the modified version without weights.
3) Windshield wipers. Wow. I just don't have the core strength for this one. I definitely couldn't bring my feet all the way down to the ground.

Also, for those looking forward to making running man a thing of the past once they finish phase 1....it's baaaack! Jillian makes it a cardio interval this time around. Seemed significantly easier when it's on its own rather than back-to-back with other cardio so I flew threw it no problem.

There are definitely lots of twisting and jumping and balancing in this one, however those are the things I'm good at so I didn't struggle much. Lost my balance a few times doing the one legged bent row and statue of liberties, but I was able to bounce back pretty quickly and not lose the rhythm.

I hear cardio 2 is really good, so looking forward to checking that out tomorrow.

Day #29

Where's day #28? Well....I just realized that somewhere along the way (probably when I was re-doing things) that I screwed up my day count.

Today I started Phase 2. Workout #5.

Now, the question that's been on everyone's mind...is Jillian trying to kill us?

The answer is yes.

Ok, now that I've gotten past that....I survived. There are parts that I found easier than others. She starts us off with a series of chaturangas, a yoga move that is no stranger to me. In fact, my beloved yoga instructor probably has me perform roughly 300 of these in her hour long class, so doing 4 in a row was a breeeeeze.

As you probably know, I'm still struggling with military push-ups...I can seriously only do 1, then I need to do the modified on-the-knees push-ups. She expands on military push-ups in this disc where she has you do a push-up then go into side plank. I struggled finding fluidity with this move because it's much more difficult to go into a side plank (which I can do no problem) from a modified push-up. Note to self: master push-ups. And regular planks.

Which leads me into another death sentence: mountain climber. Get in plank and then move your feet like your climbing a mountain. It was pretty gruesome.

Do I have you excited for disc #5 yet?

Let's talk about crab! Probably my least favorite move from her previous workouts. Well it's back again. Only this time she makes you raise a leg in the air. Lots of burning. Lots and lots of burning. I mostly did it which surprised me...I had to take a couple 2 second breaks and go back into the easier crab pose (man oh man I never thought I'd be calling that "easier"), but I got through it and I'm guessing this one will get easier in time.

The rest of the moves I rocked at. My best one was probably the one leg squat/weight raise due to my superior balance. She recommends a medium weight on that one but I think next time I'll go with the highest I have, I didn't struggle with it at all.

Definitely lots of poses in this one that she makes you hold while doing something else with weights where your leg muscles shake and you think you're going to just collapse...but once you get through that it's bearable :-)

I also want to just take a minute and do a quick shout-out to my readers! Thank you so much for all of your kind words and support, I got the best comment tonight on my Saturday post and it really was so uplifting and made me want to keep rocking out at these workouts even more -

"I've been creeping on your blog, trying to decide if I want to spend the money on this program. Of all the blogs people pointed to, yours is the best (and most informative!) And... way to go! I think you've convinced me to get it. But I'm gonna keep on creeping, if that's okay. :)"

So to coolallison and anyone else who's been following along without commenting...thanks for reading, I'm happy you're here!!

Phase 1 recap...in pictures

Alright, if you read my last post that you know I've lost 9lbs during the first phase of Body Revolution...but the proof is in the pictures, right?

Well let's compare!! (And I'm wearing the same exact outfit for comparison purposes)

Few days before starting Body Revolution

Last day of phase 1 of Body Revolution

Day #26, Day #27, Phase 1 recap & weigh-in

I met up with some friends last night so I didn't get a chance to blog, but fear not my faithful readers....I did have time to squeeze in my VERY LAST WORKOUT OF PHASE 1!!!!!

So, today is rest day, and it officially marks the end of phase 1.

No point in dragging it out. I know you guys only care about one thing. How much did I lose?

Well, as you all may remember, I ended up re-doing week 4, so my phase 1 was actually 5 weeks instead of 4. And in that 5 weeks, I lost a grand total of.......

9 lbs!!!!

Now, I know some will read this number and think that it's awesome, and others will think it seems low for such an intense program geared towards weight loss, but I want to remind everyone since that I have been actively working out and making healthy food choices for the last 15 months, I didn't have the initial big "water weight" loss people see at the beginning of starting an intense fitness program. I'm also not following Jillian's menu plan because I am already happy with my "make good decisions" eating mantra. I don't obsess over counting calories and I let myself splurge on special occasions. It's working for me, so I'm not changing a thing.

I averaged a loss of 1.8 lbs per week and I couldn't be more happy with that. I'm just not interested in losing more than 1-2 lbs per week as I believe slow and steady = sustainable.

If phase 2 and 3 continue on a similar path, I will be getting very close to goal :-)

Day #26

I OWNED today.

I don't even know what happened but today felt like a turning point.

I went to get dressed this morning and I put on a pair of jeans that I bought right after Christmas, I almost didn't get them because they were too tight...but today, I realized I couldn't wear them to work because they looked too baggy and sloppy. Woooo that's a win. Except they were really comfortable and I'm going to miss them. And I got less than THREE MONTHS out of them. Boooo.

Today was the last workout #4 and I killed it. I really destroyed everything (ugh, except for the plank leg lifts, I operated at about 80%). I feel amazing!!!

My favorite part of workout #4 is the cardio interval with the side to side hops, and Jillian has that one girl go double-time, and she ends up being really impressed that she can keep up and at the end says something like "I'm not disappointed with that AT ALL!!!!" Well...I do it double-time too and so I feel like Jillian is praising me :-)

Tomorrow - last cardio 1

Saturday - rest day

Sunday - PHASE TWO BEGINS!!!!!!!!!!

Also, I'll be doing my post-phase 1 weigh-in this weekend to report how much I've lost.

Day #25

Today was my LAST workout #3. 

This is good and bad.

Good that I never have to do that again. Bad because I'm guessing what replaces it (workout #5) will be much much much worse. 

But I think continuing to up the intensity will help me progress tremendously. I'm still totally sucking when it comes to *almost* everything plank related, but today I finally mastered the plank walkouts (you stand straight and then without bending your knees you put your hands down on the ground, walk your hands out into a plank, hold it, then walk your hands back to standing). I was really quite pleased with myself on that one.

I also noticed that for the sumo squat tricep move I am using heavier weights than Jillian and crew, so yay me. 

I'm finding that I really enjoy my evening routine with the Jillian workouts...I typically work out pretty late, but that's because I get home from the office kinda late and then need to eat dinner and I don't want to jump right into working out. By the time I workout and shower...it's time to put on my pjs and crawl into bed (with my laptop of course, so I can check in with you all and tell you that I'm still in the zone). 

Also, dare I say I'm starting to have pretty defined arm muscles?! Definitely starting to notice lots of changes, got a new belt probably late last year that I originally could only wear on the first hole, when I started BR I was pretty regularly wearing it on the second hole, and today I had to wear it on the fourth hole. 

Ahhhhh and that's it for tonight...I've got about 10 minutes of time to read more of The Hunger Games before I fall asleep. 

Day #24

Hooray, this is the first day that I'm not repeating!!! Today was cardio and let's just say...I took the cardio to the next level.

First of all, I did the cardio 1 disc. Gave it my all, and I actually barely felt winded through the running man (I'm pretty sure I could do these at least 2 minutes now). That's a huge accomplishment.

Secondly, when I finished working out I was all sweaty but I wanted to watch the biggest loser as it was mid-recording on my tivo. I had 3 options - plop down on the couch in my disgusting sweaty state, take a shower and then watch, or just keep working out....so I did the latter and hopped on the elliptical for 45 minutes with my heart rate averaging about 150-160 the whole time, so it was pretty high intensity. (No, for wondering minds, I haven't replaced the battery in my heart rate monitor yet, but my elliptical has hand sensors for your heart rate).

Thirdly, since Jillian's cardio 1 dvd and the elliptical clearly weren't enough "punishment", I jumped on the treadmill and just ran half a mile and then walked while I watched the rest of the show.

I feel AMAZING. After putting in such effort with the dvd and the elliptical, I wouldn't have expected to have the energy to run, but it was actually pretty effortless for me.

Only a few more days left of phase 1....

For those of you doing the body revolution - is anyone (or do you know of anyone) on phase 2 yet? Just wondering what I'm about to get myself into.

Also - for those of you who commented on my last post you all totally made me laugh, glad I'm not the only one who has pet issues!!!!! I'm also thinking at some point I may try to get my dog running, though I'm pretty sure she wouldn't understand the concept of pace. Though I'm not going to lie...I've put her on the treadmill a few times and I was impressed by how quickly she sorted out what she was supposed to do. May have to get her a special harness so she can walk on the treadmill next to me when I use the elliptical :-) (It's important to have a workout buddy!!)

Day #23 (re-do)

Today was workout #4, back muscles and holy crap it kicked my butt. But that's because I had some added resistance for my workout.

Because of my sister's cat.

That's right friends, today's blog is about something very special...pets and exercise.

My sister used to complain that when she was doing yoga Google would climb all over her and under her and be generally annoying. She used to have to lock him up just to work out. Since I've begun BR, I haven't really had that problem. In fact, he usually sits on the couch behind me unfazed while I do my thing. Even my dog, who can easily get provoked if she thinks you're playing with her, will just stand and watch while I do cardio 1's suicides (which actually seriously amazes me each time, I always expect her to join in).

But today...ohhhhh today....Google would not leave me alone and chose some very terrible opportunities to "help me".

Let's talk hollow man. Easily one of the more painful things Jillian forces upon us in workout #4.

Picture this...you're laying flat on your back. Lift your shoulders/back like you're doing a crunch. Lift your legs about 6 inches of the ground. Hold your arms straight out by your legs parallel to the ground with your palm facing up. You're just balancing there on your butt using every ounce of energy and strength you have in your core...

AND THEN GOOGLE CLIMBS ON YOUR THIGHS.

Seriously not okay. The amount of pain I was in after that was insane.

He seemed to really like today's workout and even joined me for cool down. By the time I was all done (she has us finish sitting Indian style), he was all curled up in my lap.

I think he's going to get locked away next time.

Day #22 (re-do)

Hellllo all!

Ok, sorry for being MIA, I took a brief hiatus from the laptop while I fully recovered from last week's funk, but I'm happy to say that it's Sunday, I'm feeling great, and I officially kicked off week 4 of phase 1 (again). Ha. Since my last attempt at starting week 4 only got me through workout #3 (the worst of them all), I'm not excited to know that all in all I will have completed FIVE workout 3's, instead of the expected four. I guess that's my punishment for taking a break.

Anyway, I still suck at the "plank outs" - going from plank to elbows and back again, but I think in general I did pretty damn good today. Nonetheless, looking forward to tomorrow's workout (#4) much more as I find it more enjoyable than #3.

Also, given the delay in wrapping up phase 1, I'm also delaying my weigh-in. I will report final phase 1 losses NEXT weekend so stayed tuned :-)

And for all of you out there doing the BR, I'm looking forward to catching up with your progress soon.

Week #4 do-over

Alright, despite the fact that I really don't WANT to stray from the program, I've decided it's time to listen to my body.

Last night I celebrated my niece's 1st birthday with my sister and brother-in-law, and by the time I got home I was feeling really drained. I didn't think much of it, but just went straight to bed instead of working out thinking I would put in a double session today. Woke up today up with a crazy headache, still didn't think much of it, until I arrived at the office and my head EXPLODED. And then I realized it...I'm sick.

I went from an 8 to a 2 on the energy level throughout the day, my head feels so heavy that I can't help but just sit/lay down, and my nose is bright red from all of the tissues I've used today.

So, alas, I'm taking it easy. I won't be able to put my best into the workouts (if I even have the energy to get through them), and I certainly won't be prepared to switch to phase 2 on Sunday. I'm putting week 4 on hold until I feel better, and then I'm just going to start it over (so basically, I'll declare a new day #22).

I probably won't be blogging much in the interim, but I'll try to check in with the rest of you who are doing the program!!!

And lastly... a product review...

I've got a really horrific sore nose and I'm generally miserable. I went to CVS to pick up some medication and new tissues and let me tell you all...I found something truly amazing.

Kleenex cool touch tissues.

You know that feeling climbing into a bed with crisp cool sheets? That's the only way I can describe how amazing these tissues feel.

Day #20, 21, 22, 23

Phew I'm back. Don't like leaving you guys for so long!!

This weekend was a little crazy and I'm still getting caught up from it. Here's a day by day play by play.

Day #20 - Friday
This was supposed to be cardio 1, day 6 for the week, except I just NEVER had time. I decided that instead of working out too late in the evening I would get up early on Saturday and do my cardio. And since I always like to keep my word...

Day #21 - Saturday
This was supposed to be rest day. Instead, I was up at 6am ON A SATURDAY doing cardio. Why so early? Well I had to hit the road for a fun filled day doing something Jillian would most certainly not approve of... I was off to Boston for an annual St. Patty's day pub crawl! I did get in some dancing and walking, so I'm going to go ahead and call that "bonus cardio". Oh. And actually...a sweet memory is coming back to me of me demonstrating plank leg lifts to my friends...on a stage...my bruised knee also leads me to believe there were a lot of backwards lunges at some point.

Day #22 - Sunday
Today was supposed to be workout #3. Let's do the math. Hungover Erin + Hardest DVD so far = it didn't happen. Honestly, my intentions were good, but I figured my efforts were better spent hydrating. So I spent the day hydrating and going to my niece's FIRST birthday party, and by the time I got home from that I called it an early night.

Day #23 - Monday
Ok, finally at today. I knew, despite still feeling seriously dehydrated, it was time to get back to business. I did workout #3 and it was not my best yet, felt pretty worn out doing it, but I gave it my best. So, I'm now one day off...I'll probably shift things around at the end of the week and either double up on workout 4 and cardio on Friday, or just skip my Saturday rest day.

Phase 1 is ALMOST OVER.

Day #19

As Caitlin pointed out in a comment on my last post, I have been at for almost 3 weeks! And I DO feel like a rockstar!!!

Tonight was workout 4 for the second time. When I first tackled workout 4 on Monday, I SERIOUSLY struggled with the plank leg lifts....I'm really happy to say that today I completed almost all of them. This is a massive improvement for me since basically anything plank related = setup for failure. However I do not believe in failing, so I will keep pushing until I can do it.

For those that are doing BR or contemplating it, Jillian does make reference that the nice little moments she builds in to let us recover will go away in future workouts. Not cool Jillian. But, as she also is quick to remind us in basically every dvd - "when there's a why, you can tolerate any how". And it's only 30 minutes.

Day #18

Workout #3 again today and while it still sucks...it's getting slightly easier. Still can't do the full push ups but I was a little bit better about the plank exercises. However, I totally rock camel and inch worm, so I don't feel bad about the moves I struggle with.

Anyway, I'm totally exhausted and since I don't have anything monumental to write about tonight I'm keeping this one short.

Day #17

For those of you doing body revolution, I'm going to say something that will probably shock most of you.

Today was cardio 1.... and I was relieved.

Yep, you know workouts 3 & 4 are tough when you feel like cardio 1 is providing relief.

And actually, I killed it tonight.

-For the first time I ever, I didn't want to collapse by the end of running man
-I did higher kicks and wider arm circles during kick outs (kind of like Omar's!!!)
-I really got into the hot feet (ha, I think I look like the girl in the red halter top when I do it)
-Only the 3rd set of suicides REALLY left me winded

I thought I would never say this, but I *ALMOST* think I'm ready for cardio 2. Which is good since I'll be starting it two weeks from today, so I'll be feeling ever better about cardio 1 by then! Guess I'll just keep pushing myself to the max in the last 3 cardio 1 sessions (Friday, next Tuesday, and next Friday).

Also, I'm officially not following Jillian's meal plan (I know I've said that before but I wanted to say it again). Here's what I've noticed - when I was following her meal plan the first week I was STARVING all the time. Now that I'm doing what I want and eating smaller meals throughout the day BEFORE I get hungry, I'm a happy camper :-)

And if I haven't mentioned how raspberry chobani lights up my life, let me just state for the record - it's amazing. Plain chobani seriously makes me want to gag, everything about the flavor of it is disgusting to me. Raspberry chobani is DELICIOUS. SO SO SO DELICIOUS. I can't explain why it's so much better. So, if you're reading this and you gave up on greek yogurt because you've had the plain (or even another flavor), and you weren't impressed, do yourself a favor and check out raspberry. Mix it all up and enjoy. I need to stop writing about it now before I go raid the fridge. Some people like it for breakfast...me, I like it as an afternoon snack.

What's your go-to healthy snack?

Day #16

Ok. I'm definitely feeling it. Today was the first day of workout #4 which primarily focuses on the back....and my back is definitely acknowledging that focus right now.

Wow. I never want to move out of phase 1!!!!!!! Holy crap...Jillian is tough. I don't even want to know what's coming next.

Happy to report that I found workout #4 "easier" than workout #3...I use that term lightly because it was in no way EASY. But, on the bright side, the only thing that I couldn't do all of was the plank leg lifts.

Heart Rate Monitor update - after a test this weekend, I have determined it is the battery in the piece that goes on the strap. Yay easy fix.

@Caitlin, my fearless yoga teacher - I have to give a special shoutout and thanks to you, because I am MASTERING all of Jillian's moves that are balance related and I know it's because of your classes. Additionally, I will accept both of your offers for a HRM battery and to borrow your mat...really just a good excuse to come hang out with you! I'll be in touch.

For those of you who may be wondering how things are going with weight loss...well...you'll just have to wait :-) I've decided in effort to not become absolutely OBSESSED with my scale that I'm only going to do an official weigh-in for the purpose of this blog in between each phase...so you have to wait 12 more days!

Day #15

Ok. Let's get real for a second.

Jillian is trying to kill me. Seriously.

Today I started workout #3, which is the workout that targets the front of the body for the last 2 weeks of phase 1. I can't figure out if I'm happy to know I only have 3 more of those to go or scared to death to know that whatever's coming in phase 2 is going to HURT.

Things that suck:
-Doing real push ups (not the on the knees kind)....oh but I still cheat. I just don't have enough strength to do FULL push ups
-Going from plank to your elbows/forearms and then back to plank, repeat. I think this is similar to my push up problem...I lack strength in this area so this is a tough move for me
-Not having a mat down for side crunches, lots of pressure on the hips

I think I handled basically everything else okay, I just hate that I can't actually do some of her moves all the way through. I was DRENCHED in sweat by the time I completed the workout (forgot to check the time, I think it ended up being just over 30 min with cool down).

Day #14

So Friday I was supposed to do Cardio 1 and then today was supposed to be my rest day. Needless to say my Friday ended up being crazy and I didn't have time to work in Cardio 1, so instead a made a sub and let yesterday be my rest day and I worked in the cardio this morning. In general, I want to stick to the schedule as much as possible, so I'm glad I could sort that out with a quick shift and now I'm back on track to start workout #3 tomorrow! Looking forward to taking on a new challenge.

In other news, I was at a wedding tonight and I wore new shoes that were actually relatively comfortable...but by the end of the night (7+ hours on my feet) my big and pinkie toes were starting to bother me. Now that I'm home I've discovered ugly blisters and it looks like my toes may have actually bled a little under my nails. Yikes. I think the shoes may be just the slightest bit too small

Dear twin sister. You may need to try these on and see if they fit you better. I may need to sacrifice them and give them to you.

Anyway, I can only imagine the amount of calories I burned tonight so I don't feel one bit guilty about the DELICIOUS dessert I had (it was legit called chocolate brownie explosion).

Hope everyone's having a great weekend :-)

Day #12

Wooooo, just finished workout #2, that means I'm officially done with the first 2 dvds of BR. I like that about the program, Jillian switches it up before I have a chance to get to used to anything (or bored). Scared and excited to jump into workout #3 on Sunday.

In the meantime, cardio tomorrow and then rest day Saturday. I may try to get in some extra cardio tomorrow, I could definitely afford to burn a few more calories tomorrow. My sister Colleen returned from London today for approximately 48 hours so we went to my parent's house for dinner and my dad brought home chinese food (Nancy Chang's for all you Worcester peeps)...so so so so so good. And actually relatively healthy as far as chinese food goes, but I'm SURE it's not Jillian approved.

I have so much tv to catch up on this weekend so I hope I can squeeze in some treadmill or elliptical time and catch up on my shows...makes it go by so much faster when I can get lost in something that keeps me truly entertained.

Anyone out there watching ABC's "The Revolution"? Maybe I've mentioned it in the past, it's a relatively new show and I'm just really really enjoying it, but it's tough to catch up on because it airs daily at 2pm, and I just don't have time for a daily show!!! Last Saturday I ended up watching an entire's week worth (and I was still a week behind when all was said and done). But nonetheless, for those in the US I recommend DVRing/TiVoing, I've learned lots of interesting healthy living and fashion tips on there, plus every week they follow the journey of someone trying to lose weight over 5 months (intro in Monday's episode, final reveal in Friday's), so it's very cool and motivating.

Day #11

I'm in a slump. Not that I don't want to work out, I just didn't feel that hot all day look, felt sluggish and had a stomach ache.

But I worked out anyway. Wasn't my best workout but I am proud of getting through and now I can official say I am DONE with the workout #1 dvd!

@Caitlin - I haven't been wearing my heart rate monitor, only because I think the battery is dead (either that or I'm dead) because when I turn it on and it blinks for a few and then decides my heart rate is 0... I'm going to test it out with Colleen's HRM this weekend and then get the battery replaced if that's the culprit, I definitely love using it, there's something really satisfying about working hard and then seeing the numbers that back it up.

And now it is most definitely bed time.

Day #10

There's no way around it. Jillian's cardio sucks. It sucked the first day I did it (9 days ago), and it still sucks today. Of course, I don't mean her cardio is bad...I mean it sucks in the sense that all you want to do is scream out mid-running man "THIS SUCKS". Today was especially hard, I'm definitely not properly hydrated and I felt sluggish through the whole workout, never really got a rhythm down and by the end I was seriously out of breathe.

Thank goodness this cardio dvd is the same for all of phase 1, because I'm not ready to see what phase 2 cardio has in store for me. Only one more session of each workout #1 and #2 before I'm officially done with those dvds (each strength dvd is only used for half of the phase while the cardio dvd is used for the full phrase). I will then graduate on to new and presumably harder strength training...bring it on Jillian, I'm ready.

One of my dear friends IRL (in real life) just got her copy of body revolution in the mail TODAY! Can't wait for her to get started so she can join me in cursing Jillian.

Day #9

1/10 through it!!!! Does anyone else do that? I think I love fractions too much. Oh I'm a nerd.

Ok, so today was workout #2, "back" muscles.

Prior to starting this program I would get up in the morning and do 45 minutes on the elliptical while watching tv. I've come to really treasure this time - I get to catch up on a show, and I feel super energized all day at work from my morning workout. I am just NOT interested in doing strength training in the morning. So today I got up at workout o'clock, but instead of doing workout #2 I did the elliptical. I waited all day with plans to get my Body Revolution in later this evening only to unexpectedly head to my sister's to help watch my niece (my sister is sick, my niece is almost 1 and she didn't want to get her sick too). Yay for fun time playing with my niece and hanging out with my sister (from a distance). Ha.

I ended up getting home just after 9, but since I'm 100% committed to not missing a day, you bet workout #2 happened!

I have to say - I'm AMAZED how strong I'm feeling. For all of you out there doing this, I'm not sure what you're using for weights, but I have 8 lb dumbbells and I seriously thought my arms were going to fall off after the first few workouts. The difference between last week and this week is night and day, I can only imagine how strong I'm going to feel at the end of the 90 days. Also...I think it's time to go buy some heavier weights. What are you guys using?

81 days to go :-)

Day #8

Hi!

Yesterday was rest day and the official end of week #1. I did some cleaning around the house and then I really wanted to catch up on some of the tv I had tivo'd during the week, but the idea of sitting on the couch for hours being lazy didn't appeal to me. Instead, I opted to just walk on the treadmill while I watched tv instead...it was nothing high intensity, but it made me feel good that I could still burn some calories while indulging in my weekly guilty pleasures.

Today was the first day of week #2 and jump start is now over. It actually occurred to me after seeing some other people who are also doing BR have amazing week 1's that because I'm already so active and generally eating really well, there wasn't much to "jump start" for me...granted I still lost some weight, but it's not as extreme as some people because of the additional water weight people typically lose when they embark on a new fitness routine.

If we go back to my very first post about workout #1 (which is the disc I did today), you'll remember I cursed Jillian for making me do pushups and then plank immediately after. Well, I'm happy to say that today was the first day that I could actually stay in plank the full time...the other 2 times I did workout #1 I would inevitable take a break by pushing back into downward dog (and man oh man I never thought I'd refer to downward dog as "taking a break"). But either way, pumped to see that I'm getting stronger. She also has tougher variations on most of her moves so I decided to push it today. On the regular squats I'm doing a squat and then going straight into a jump, and then on the sumo squats I'm doing those with weights. All in all, today was very much a success! And I have a feeling I won't actually feel paralyzed when I wake up tomorrow, hooray!!

So let's talk nutrition for a second, because I know I have a few followers who are also doing this program and I don't want to lead people astray. I know Jillian Michaels is a world class trainer and I have no doubt she knows what she's doing and has advised people as such in both the workouts and the diet plan she has set forth. I will NOT be following her diet plan to a tee. For starters, I do not track calories. Say what? It's true. I don't. I have lost over 40 lbs over the course of the last year following my mantra "make good decisions". This typically surprises everyone I talk to.

I let myself have free days from time to time and I splurge on special occasions, otherwise I try to eat healthy on regular basis which includes lots and lots of water and not a lot of processed foods. Since I already know this works pretty well for me, I'm not planning on changing it significantly because as we all know, losing weight is a LIFESTYLE change, and since I've already adapted my lifestyle and habits in a healthy way I'd rather not lose that just because Jillian's menu differs slightly from my norm. With that said, I'm sure I will definitely be trying a few more of the recipes she has provided, and when I do I'll be sure to review them.

Day #6 modified

Well, I mentioned in my last post that today would likely be modified. And it was.

I was supposed to do cardio in the morning and then cardio again the evening. I woke up with a KILLER headache so I decided cardio was a no go first thing this morning.

Since I didn't want to Jillian's cardio dvd twice in a row, I ended up just getting in an hour on the elliptical instead. I tried to keep it at a similar intensity so that it was on par with what the dvds would have been, and I got to catch up on some tv at the same time!!! Squeezed in both Smash and New Girl. Good stuff.

Tonight I had a nice dinner with my favorite people from high school at one of my favorite restaurants - Not Your Average Joe's. They seriously have the most amazing bread and dipping oil that's all garlicky and amazing. No lie, I could eat that bread all day. Bertucci's lunch on Wednesday was basically a dress rehearsal for dinner tonight....and I rocked it. I didn't even have to exercise nearly as much self control as I thought I would have to... it made me feel so powerful! Now please, Not Your Average Joe's...if you're reading this...please make some wheat bread so I can actually indulge from time to time and not feel crazy guilty!

Tomorrow is rest day and then WEEK 2 kicks off!!!! I think rest day will also translate into blog rest day.

Day #5 Half successful

Alright, this is going to be quick because I am EXHAUSTED.

Today I was supposed to do workout #2 in the morning and then cardio 1 in the evening. I got up early and did the strength workout according to plan, however I had a board of trustees meeting this evening and I just got home a little while ago...I know that there are some days where my schedule simply won't allow for two workouts, and this was one of them. But alas, no more double workouts after this week anyway.

Tomorrow is supposed to be double cardio and then Saturday is a rest day for me, so I'll see how things work out with my schedule...I'm guessing now that Friday's workout will end up somewhat modified, not sure I'll have sufficient time to get in two different cardio sessions.

Day #4

Today I weighed in the first time since I started the program on Sunday. I'm down 3.6 lbs from Sunday, but this is not 100% a real loss...the previous week my weight was up about 2 lbs so I think I was retaining water and now eating better and working out more has kicked it. But nonetheless I'm at my lowest weight I've seen in....goodness I don't even know.

I'm happy to say that my muscles have finally forgiven Jillian for the torture she has put them through, and today when I woke up I still had a slight ache, but it was the GOOD ache, the one that reminds you you're working hard, not the bad one that prevents you from moving. And because of this, I had NO EXCUSES. I dragged my butt out of bed nice and early and got in workout #1.

I had a team lunch today at work and we went out to Bertucci's. Naturally I was scared to death of how off plan it would take me, but I planned ahead and check the menu & nutrition and picked something that resembled Jillian's suggested meals. It was a salad with grilled chicken with balsamic vinaigrette and it was super delicious and low calories/fat/sodium with a helping of protein. Picking this meal was not the hardest part of lunch though...oh no...the hardest part was resisting the basket of warm rolls that landed right in front of me with all of that delicious dipping oil. MUST RESIST. And I did. I declared up front that I wasn't having any rolls and thankfully the people around me didn't seem all that interested in them either, so I didn't have roll envy. I love bread...but it's also the devil.

For dinner I decided to make the turkey burger recipe - basically just super lean ground turkey mixed with some black bean and corn salsa and grilled. Much better than I was expecting, and I threw some avocado on it as suggested. The side dish was roasted veggies: carrots and brussel sprouts. My first time eating brussel sprouts and I'll be honest...they weren't bad!!!! All in all dinner was a success.

And course, it's hell week, so despite the fact that I didn't get home from the office until 7ish and then didn't eat until after 8...I still forced myself to go put in the 2nd workout of the day, Jillian's Cardio 1. At 10pm. Yes, that's right, I am a rockstar, thank you for noticing. 

Day #3

Today I strayed from plan slightly. So as I've mentioned previously, there are two versions of week 1 - kickstart or regular. The regular one basically looks like this -

Day 1 - Workout 1
Day 2 - Workout 2
Day 3 - Cardio 1
Day 4 - Workout 1
Day 5 - Workout 2
Day 6 - Cardio 1
Day 7 - Rest

Here's the kickstart version -


Day 1 - AM Workout 1, PM Cardio 1
Day 2 - AM Workout 2, PM Cardio 1
Day 3 - AM Cardio 1, PM Cardio 1
Day 4 - AM Workout 1, PM Cardio 1
Day 5 - AM Workout 2, PM Cardio 1
Day 6 - AM Cardio 1, PM Cardio 1
Day 7 - Rest

Since I said I was going to do the kickstart one...I'm doing my best to stand behind that plan.

Crap. Double cardio today.

Let me tell you, when I woke up this morning I seriously felt paralyzed. Jillian has apparently managed to find every single muscle in my body that I haven't been using recently. Yikes. Guess my old workouts weren't getting it done. However, I let the pain get the best of me and chose to rest my poor achey muscles with some extra sleep.

So, then I was feeling pretty guilty after I got home tonight, but I didn't want to do her cardio 1 dvd back to back twice (it's pretty killer), so I ended up doing cardio 1 and then settled in for a night of TV....on the treadmill. I ended up mostly walking, when I hit 4 miles I decided to call it a night. All in all, even though I changed it up a bit, I think I'm probably still on par with whatever the calorie burn expectations should have been. And at the same time, it actually felt really good to just walk out all of the tension in my legs.

Anyway, enough of the bad stuff, here's some good stuff.

First off, at this time last year I was wearing XL tops....well, I went shopping over the weekend and I've discovered that I'm now pretty much a medium. Woooo, this delights me endlessly. Here I am in my new medium sweater (please ignore the cliche bathroom mirror pic).

Now food. Who doesn't like food? So far I have to say I'm actually really enjoying the different recipes I've tried!!

Here are two of my fav dishes so far -

Vegetable soup (prepped ahead of time and separated into individual servings!)

Sirloin steak on a bed of spinach with a tomato salad....mmmmmmm this was SO good

Til tomorrow...

Day #2

This morning I tackled workout #2 and I thought this was the worst yet. It actually ran about 36 minutes, so not only did it feel longer, it actually was longer. My body is still sore from yesterday, so I think it made it harder for me today, but it didn't stop me from giving it my all. I will do the cardio one again later tonight but I wanted to get a blog in now because I have a feeling it's going to be an early night for me.

I went grocery shopping today and I did a lot of cooking/prep work this afternoon so that I wouldn't have to worry about preparing breakfasts & lunches on the go. Now everything is neatly stacked in my fridge in tupperware.

I'm finding the hardest part about the kickstart your metabolism plan is that there really isn't anything sweet. It's making me want chocolate in a serious way. Next week once eating is allowed to be a little more normal I'll definitely be looking for a healthier sweet snack to indulge in - how about a Wooberry (frozen yogurt) trip to any of my local friends?? I will say this for anyone else doing BR and trying to follow her recipes - I made the vegetable soup for lunch and it was EASY and DELICIOUS. And since it makes 4 servings I've got leftovers! Hurray! It was also my first time poaching chicken and I was worried that it would just taste like rubber and that it wouldn't be cooked all the way through, but to be honest that was delicious as well!

Alright. I'm off to make dinner. It's going to be a toss up between steak and turkey burgers...the decision will definitely be based on what's going to take less time.

And Jillian...thanks for making me want to amputate my legs every time I go down stairs.

Day #1 Workouts

Wait. Workouts. Plural?!?

Ahhh Jillian you are a crazy woman.

I know I mentioned in the last post that the eating plan includes a 7-day jumpstart your metabolism eating guide... well, the fitness guide also has a jumpstart for week 1. I've decided that given that I have the time, it makes sense to stick to the plan as closely as possible. Well, this jumpstart includes TWO workouts a day.

First workout - The very first workout was mostly strength training. I got through it fine, there was only one point where I wanted to scream obscenities at Jillian - seriously, who makes you do a 1000 pushups and then go into plank and hold it right afterwards??? Haha, actually...I take that back, that sounds like something my favorite yoga instructor would do (and I still love you Caitlin!). All in all with the workout and a brief cool down, it ran about 32 minutes. Not too bad, and to be honest the time flew. It wasn't until maybe an hour later when I went to go down a set of stairs that I realized my legs were burning. Guess that's the sign of a good work out.

I made the mistake of telling Colleen (my twin sister) about this workout right after it happened, and then a few hours later she yelled at me because I didn't blog about it. It was then that I explained to her that Jillian was a bitch and was making me work out TWICE today.

I had a semi-late night, but alas when I got home I knew it was time to get down to business.

Cardio 1 - This workout felt like it was longer than the strength one, though start to finish it only ran about 26 minutes. Despite feeling long though, I killed it. I do wonder what the expected fitness level is for people doing this... I'm happy that I've been working out pretty regularly for the last year, I'm not so sure I would have been able to do this a year ago and 40 lbs heavier.

Consensus so far...I like it. A lot. Some people don't like Jillian but I do, and she actually just seems fun and funny and real in these workouts. The people that she has doing the workouts all have personality and so it just makes it even more fun to go along with them. It's very motivating too...the thing about these kind of workouts is that it's easy to fake it and half-ass it...but there's something about it that just makes me feel like I have to try my hardest or my doorbell is going to ring and Jillian is going to be there with a stopwatch and megaphone in her hand.

Grocery shopping for me tomorrow...need to sit down and take a look at Jillian's suggested meal plan, decide what I want to follow and what I want to modify, and then make a list. I think I'm going to be big on lists for the next 90 days. Scratch that. 89. Wooooooo.

Let's get this party started!!!

I have been anxiously tracking this package and I'm delighted to say it has finally arrived :-)

Let's open it together!!!

Aside from the DVDs there's a resistance band, food journal, and some eating plans. Obviously I bought this for the workouts, but I'm going to at least look at some of the food suggestions and perhaps give some things a try. We'll see, I haven't even flipped through it yet. I did just quickly glance through the "7-day kickstart your metabolism" plan and I'm thinking I might give it a go. You know how you'll see recommended daily meals in random diet plans and it's always a bunch of really weird stuff you wouldn't want to eat? Well this couldn't be more different, it actually has a lot of stuff I've already been eating pretty regularly as part of my new healthy lifestyle, so it's actually nice to see a lot of my choices being reinforced. 

So I won't be delaying - I plan on jumping in tomorrow with my very first workout!! Stay tuned for my "Day 1" review :-)

The DVDs

Silly me, in my excitement about starting up this blog I forgot to actually post about the program itself.

There's really not too much I can say that Jillian doesn't already say better, but go check it out over at http://www.jillianmichaelsbodyrevolution.com/

If you're curious enough to cough up the money let me know, perhaps we can take it on together!

The purchase!

I know many of you out there have a love/hate relationship with Jillian Michaels. We loved seeing her get awesome results on The Biggest Loser in past seasons, and for those of you who have tried her videos before, you hate her for the torture she inflicts on you. I've actually never tried her stuff, but I've heard all about this from friends who have taken on various Jillian workouts, so now begs the question....

What on earth was I thinking when I bought Jillian's Body Revolution DVDs?

Well, since this is my first blog post and you don't know me, here's the quick background on me. At the beginning of 2011 I set out on a journey to transform my lifestyle into a healthier one, and through being active and making healthier food choices, I've successfully lost just over 40 lbs to date.

Ok, I'm doing great....so why Jillian, why now?

Probably for the same reason that most of you are either debating buying this or already have - simply put we want to know if it works.

And if does work, we want to see the transformations in our bodies that she boasts in her infomercial.

Beyond that, I'm worried that as I start to get into a lower body weight I'm going to need to work harder to see the kinds of losses that I've previously seen. I'm really happy about the success I've had so far but I'm not ready to stop. Currently, I'm shooting to lose about 40 lbs more.

Will this 90 day program transform me? Will it get me closer to my goal of losing 40 more lbs? Only time will tell but I hope you will stay tuned and follow along in my journey.

Once the shipment arrives, I will post again :-)