30 Day Shred: Before & After

Here we are at the end of my 30 day Shred Challenge.  Finally!  

30 days (and what feels like an eternity) ago I committed to doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD after being inspired by my sister, Meg, who had just completed a 30 day Bikram Yoga challenge.  The DVD promised the potential to lose up to 20lbs and that I would be "shredded" at the end of the 30 days.  With my towel, 5lb weights and $10.99 DVD in hand, I gave it a shot. 

While I can't say I lost 20lbs or that I now rock six pack abs, I am 3.5 lbs lighter and I'm beginning to see signs of ab muscles that I haven't seen in a while.  My "love handles" are smaller and I'm seeing some definition in my shoulders and arms that definitely wasn't there on Day 1.  (See my Before + After pictures below.  Eek... it's a little scary to put these pictures out there for everyone to see... my friends, family, co-workers, clients, blog/facebook followers, newsletter subscribers and fellow health gurus.  It's not like selecting and cropping your favorite, most flattering picture for your facebook profile.  These pictures are what they are... the good parts, the bad parts, the improved parts and the still to be improved parts.  But, I promised to show them to you so here they are. I hope you find inspiration and motivation in them.

During the past 30 days:

I worked out in my living room. 

I worked out on the terrace. 

I worked out before work.

I worked out in my hotel room at 10pm after a 16 hour flight to Hong Kong...

...and again the next morning at 6am.

 I worked out on vacation (where my amazing Mom joined me for 3 workouts). 

I worked out on the balcony at the beach. 

I worked out in a hotel gym in China where, clearly, no one else was doing a 30 Day Challenge as the gym was empty.

 I even did the video and then ran 3 miles on some days.  

At first I really had to plan to make sure that I made time for my workouts each day.  But, it actually became easier as the days progressed and started to become a habit and, dare I say, almost addicting!?! 

I hope you know that I am in no way telling you this to brag or to be self promoting!  I am sharing this with you in hopes of inspiring and motivating you.  We are all capable of achieving whatever we desire as long as we believe it is possible and we make the decision to re-commit ourselves to our goal every day. Even though I'm a Health Coach, it's no easier for me to make this commitment.  I still suffer through every push-up and jump squat just like everyone else.  I still have to wake up each morning and make the decision to eat well and to make time to work out.  Then I have to wake up and make the same decision again the next day.   

Although I worked out regularly prior to my 30 Day Challenge, I certainly never worked out for 30 days in a row and was lenient with myself when conditions for working out weren't perfect.  Publicly making the commitment to this challenge, made me realize that not working out because I was tired, had too much to do or was simply not in mood was just a lame excuse to be lazy. We all have the same amount of time, the same 24 hours in a day, and there is no one I know that can't find 30 minutes each day to work out and who won't benefit from doing so... including you and me!

Bottom Line:  After 30 days and 900 minutes of working out, I didn't see the results the DVD promised, but it was still a ridiculously hard workout and I do feel like I am tighter, firmer, stronger and have better posture.  I also feel more confident and am really proud of myself for my achievement. 

I hope this inspires you to try something new, to challenge yourself and to push yourself above and beyond your comfort zone.  Anything is possible for you... I just know it!   

Have a Great Day!

           before                +                after             

What can you accomplish in 30 days?

I am in the middle of a 30 day fitness challenge (read about it here) that was inspired by my sister, Meg. Meg has a full schedule (she is a pre-school/kindergarten teacher, lacrosse coach and fitness instructor) but she challenged herself to 30 days of Bikram yoga. Here is her motivational recap of her journey. After you read it, share your comments of what challenge you are going to take on!

I was inspired to try Bikram yoga by one of my bootcamp class participants, who thought I might like the dialogue and teaching philosophy. I should start by saying that I was never a Yogi and never really had an interest in practicing yoga, especially Bikram yoga (Bikram yoga is a type of Hatha yoga in which the room is heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity and the class practices the same 26 postures each and every class for 90 minutes).

I am a runner who lifts weights, does interval training and plays sports - my belief is that exercise is supposed to be challenging, make me sweat and feel tired; yoga, in my mind, was none of these things. I was SO wrong! After my first few classes, I quickly learned what an intense workout Bikram yoga is and became immediately interested to find out what it could do for my body and fitness level.

After practicing for about two months, I was encouraged by the studio owner to sign up for the 30-day challenge: a commitment to practice Bikram yoga for 30 days in a row. I was intrigued for all of the reasons any competitive athlete would be: it provided a goal, something for which to be held accountable and something that was going to be challenging and rewarding.

I began my 30-day challenge on June 1 and completed it June 30. It was quite a commitment. Each class is 90 minutes but including travel and preparation time, Bikram consumed about 2.5 hours each day. Additionally, I had to prioritize my Bikram each day to ensure I could attend one of the scheduled classes. Furthermore, due to travel out of town, there were four days in which I had to take two classes a day to make up for the days I would miss- those were definitely the hardest! I completed my challenge with a class in Vail Valley, Colorado where I practiced with teammates with whom I was playing in the Vail Shootout lacrosse tournament. It was an incredible way to cap off my month-long practice!

Each class was, and continues to feel, different from the last. I did improve with some postures, whereas some I felt only got more and more difficult. There were many days when I felt anxious and nervous about going to class despite knowing exactly what the class routine was but I always made it through! There were a few where I felt great and others where 90 minutes seemed like 4 hours, but I always completed class. I learned to be patient with myself, to celebrate the small victories of going a little further in a posture or not obsessing about water as much as the class before. I felt the obvious physical change of increased flexibility and feel leaner and longer than when I started. I surprised myself at how far/well/long I was able to hold some postures but probably the most surprising result of all was that I became a Yogi - I began to see myself and think of myself as a practicing Yogi!

Am I going to do another 30-day Bikram Yoga challenge? Probably not in the near future! Right now, I am looking forward to exploring other types of exercise...but I feel proud of myself for overcoming the mental and physical challenges and for doing something that, 6 months ago, I would have never even considered. Now, it's time to find out what else I am capable of!

Congratulations, Meg! You are truly an inspiration and role model to all of us. You have shown us that we are all capable of achieving whatever we put our mind to and that anything is possible with hard work and dedication.

30 Day Shred... Are you in?

I was in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago and my friend and I were sitting in the hotel lobby having a glass of wine.  Each table had it's own TV (random but I guess it's good if the company is bad.. haha).  We didn't really pay attention to the TV until the infomercial for P90X came on (if you don't know what P90X is, it's an intense series of 60-90 minute workouts that you do 6 days a week for 90 days. You can check it out here). 

My friend had never seen or heard of P90X before.  She was mesmerized and slightly amused by it.  I, on the other hand, have actually watched the whole infomercial many times... usually at the gym while running on the treadmill and thinking about how I should really be doing all of the crazy strength and resistance exercises they do in P90X.  Anyway, I digress. 

After watching for a few minutes, my friend turned to me and said "Of course they're ripped and in shape, who wouldn't be after doing that for 90 days!"  So it got me thinking, is she right?  If I were to really consistently workout for a consecutive period of time, is it a given that I would be toned and have the 6 pack abs and long lean legs I have always longed for?  It's time to test this theory out.

Since I don't want to shell out $120 for P90x and don't realistically have 60-90 minutes of free time every day for the next few months, I opted for something a little more wallet and time friendly.  For the next 30 days, I'm going to do the 30 Day Shred dvd from Jillian Michaels (yes, the trainer from the Biggest Loser).  It promises "amazing results" and the possibility of losing up to 20lbs after just 30 days.  The workouts are only 20 minutes long (no excuses for not being able to fit them in) and, the best part, it only cost me $10.99!

I took a BEFORE picture and I wanted to post it today but I'm not quite brave enough for that yet.  So, at the end of the 30 Day Shred, I will post my BEFORE and AFTER photos for comparison.  If getting healthy and fit wasn't motivation enough, posting an AFTER photo that doesn't show any improvement would be pretty disheartening... So here goes nothing (or possibly 20 lbs)!  Who's with me?

If you're up for your own 30 day challenge, take a before and after photo and keep track of your progress.  Then, share your results with me at the end of the 30 days and your story may be featured in the Fresh Equation blog and newsletter. 

Thanks for visiting and have a healthy day!

PS- I was also motivated to take on this challenge by my sister, Meg, who just completed 30 days of Bikram Yoga.  I am so proud of and inspired by her!  Stay tuned for a guest blog post from Meg chronicling her experience.