Ripped in 30

Well, I wouldn't exactly call my body ripped, but it is certainly different!  Part of my fast this January was to give up 30 minutes of sleep each weekday morning to exercise.  I have known for a while that it was time to take better care of myself.  This past Friday marked the 30 day marker.

Thanks to my sister Windy, I found out about Jillian Micheals "Ripped in 30".  I must say that I am very impressed with how thoroughly she can kick my butt in 20 minutes/day. (I know mom, we don't say "butt")  I am a firm believer in her now.  I am also really impressed with the folks that would go on Biggest Loser and give that woman full access to them.  She gets results no doubt.

I plan for this to be a lifestyle change.  I have met the first goal, one month down. However, I don't plan on stopping.  I love gardening with my 81 year old grandmother and I want to garden with my grandkids and nieces when I am that old.  So, it begins today to be healthy for the end years.

I hadn't blogged about this because I hate to throw things out there and then not deliver.  In the past, I could have found a thousand reasons in 30 days to "justify" not completing this.  5:30 am comes early and I did not want to crawl out from under the warm covers, but every time I did I was proud of me.  When week four came around, it was hard.  I felt the worst of all the weeks.  But, when Friday came and I finished that workout, I was proud of me.

A belly button ring has always been something that I have wanted.  By the time I had the guts to get one, I had given birth to 4 babies and by belly was in no condition to be host to a belly button ring.  I have always said that if I got my belly back I would get one.  I never really believed that this would ever be a reality.  However, thanks to Jillian Micheals, it just might be.  September 29th will be my 40th birthday.  My long term goal is to work out consistently until then and on my birthday my reward will be the belly button ring.  But for now, we will just take it one 30 day bite at a time.  For now I am going to do the "Ripped in 30" again.  Then I plan on getting her "Yoga Meltdown"  I really like yoga and if she can results with yoga like she can with the other, I am excited. 

One thing I liked about this workout, is that each week was different.  You don't do the same exercises twice.  For those that loose interest in things quickly like I do, this is awesome.  Now, in the first week- Jillian says that when the push-ups are gone they are gone forever.  She lied.  The push-ups came back each week in varied and evil forms, but because of the strength you built the week before, you can do it!  She is also very fond of the plank.  Again, I was surprised with how quickly I built strength.  Given the almost immediate results, I was motivated to keep going.  Each Friday that came, I was walking around in a different body.  The scale changed slightly, but my physique changed considerably.  Experts tell you to weigh daily, but I did not.  I found that if I looked at the scale, it became all about the number.  If the number did not change I got discouraged.  By waiting till Friday to weigh, the changes in my body had convinced me that this was working.  I did not need the scale to change to be happy.  I have gotten a chest lift and a lift in my backside with no surgery!  I highly recommend Jillian Micheals "Ripped in 30".