2014 was a great year for me. We did a lot of travelling (New Zealand to visit Jordan’s family, Poland for a friend’s wedding and a road-trip to the East Coast of Canada ), my youngest son finally started sleeping (thank you Good Night Sleep Site!), I got a makeover on the Marilyn Denis show (watch it here) and I turned 30.

But 2014 was also the year that I realized that its been awhile since I was really in shape and looked it. Sure, I was fairly active (its hard to be sedentary when your toddler learns how to walk!) and I even did the Toronto 1/2 Marathon in under 2 hours, but I just couldn’t shake that last 15 lbs that stubbornly refused to budge after the birth of my second son.

It was frustrating because after my first son was born, I lost the weight very quickly – within 8 months I was in my best shape ever, even though I gained over 50 lbs during my pregnancy.

I wanted to feel good and look good. But with two kids and a husband that works very long hours, I knew that a gym wouldn’t be a realistic option for me. I’m not a big fan of the gym either. I much prefer the classes, but the ones I actually want to take never seem to be at a convenient time for me. Plus, gyms are EXPENSIVE and I’ve never been able to make them worth the cost (and you know me – things have to make sense financially for me to pursue them, haha).

I needed to figure out a way to do what I needed to do at home. Running was great in the warmer weather, but any fitness expert will tell you that strength training is equally, if not more, important as cardio.

So when I came across Nurse Loves Farmer’s post in December on how she got into shape doing Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred, I was inspired – and bonus? I actually already HAD the DVD (I bought it at a discount store a few years ago for something like $5 and promptly forgot about it) and some hand weights, so there would be NO financial outlay!

I decided that I’ll start 2015 with a challenge to complete the 30 Day Shred by early February (I wanted to give myself a couple days buffer for rest days and illness).

30 Day Shred – Overview

The 30 Day Shred is made up of 20 minute exercises that comprise of strength training, cardio and ab work (with a warm up at the beginning and cool-down at the end). However, I’d budget about 30 minutes to factor in getting changed into workout gear, setting up the DVD etc. There are 3 levels, with level 1 being the easiest, so I decided to do 10 days at each level. All I needed were some hand weights (weight is not specified) and a mat.

Level 1

Even though this is the “easiest” level, its still a good work out, even for someone who is in moderately good shape already. I was very sore after my first session and even after the 10th session I was still doing the modified push-ups and sweating a lot.

I used 8 lbs weights, which I think is much heavier than most people use from what I’ve read but its all I had (a relic from a 6AM bootcamp I did a few years ago) so I decided to suck it up. I was able to use them for all the strength exercises except the lateral lunge and arm raise – for that I used these 1 lb ball weights that I got as part of a fitness package at some point (and let me tell you, even by day 10, those light weights were killing my arms!).

I quite liked this first level. The session just wizzes by as Jillian varies the exercises a lot and I always feel like I’m done in no time. It made it that much easier to be motivated to do them. I was able to do this level 10 days in a row but I’ll admit I felt a bit tired on day 7 and probably should have taken that day off. I’ll be taking a day off before starting Level 2 and will definitely take one mid-way through it.

My results so far

At the start of the program I weighed in at 160 lbs on the dot and weighed in at 158 lbs exactly 10 days later. I can feel my muscles developing and can especially see more definition in my arms and abs, though I’m not sure the pictures really reflect that. I still have some muffin top left (that is my #1 thing I want to get rid of!) but have high hopes that this will greatly diminish after the 30 days (in Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer’s post I mentioned before, the last 5 days made the biggest impact).

I combined this program with a modified version of the Atkins diet (and have lost around 9 lbs since starting it in early December). I haven’t cut carbs completely but have, for now, cut bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and any type of baked good or junk food (well, with the occasional “cheat”). I’m actually eating much healthier over all since am eating way more veggies, some fruit but continue to drink a glass or two of wine 4-5 times a week. I’ll have to figure out how to add back some of those more “carby” carbs once I reach my goal weight, but I’ve realized that there will need to be a LOT more moderation involved than in the past. I just don’t have the metabolism to be able to eat those foods too often.

Anyway, without further a-do (is that how you spell that?), here are my before & after pictures from Day 1, Day 5 and Day 10!

* I do want to mention that my Day 1 full body profile was taken some time in November when I weighed more than 160 (probably 167 or so). I didn’t think to do a full body pic until Day 5 but found that one which I took prior to starting my lower carb diet in December.