I did it! I am officially DONE with the 30 Day Shred!

DONE and feeling AWESOME!

First off, I have to say that I’m pretty proud of myself for doing it and doing it in the time that I had set for myself. I must admit that being honest and transparent about how it was going via this blog really kept me accountable – and there WERE days where I really didn’t feel like it but made myself. And I’m so glad I did!

Level 3 Overview

This level kicked it up another notch – especially with the cardio! In Levels 1 & Level 2, the cardio portions were mostly your basic cardio (jumping jacks, butt kicks etc) but in Level 3 a strength component was added to pretty much every circuit (i.e. jump squats, mountain climbers while in plank position, adding weights to butt kicks etc) and it made a huge difference. A lot of the exercises were in the plank position which I think is the reason my abs and arms are looking so much more toned after these last 10 days.

The advanced moves are much harder than the modified moves in this level but I was able to do all the exercises in the advanced level after the first two days (the last circuit of walking pushups was the hardest!). It was HARD but I just kept telling myself over and over that its only for a few more days and I was able to push through it.

Overall though, this was probably my favourite level and is probably the one I’ll be going back to in the future when I need to get a quick workout in.

So…here are my results from Level 3:

And for a start to finish before and after comparison:

This is where you really see the change!

Thoughts on the 30 Day Shred

Pros

• Its only 20 minutes per day. Getting into shape was important to me and 20 minutes is nothing – and honestly once I got started it was over in no time.
• I was never bored because of the variety of exercises
• It works – I have obvious tone and definition in my arms, shoulders and abs especially.
• I learned that what the scale says isn’t the whole story. I lost about 4lbs total but I know that I’ve gained a lot of muscle and my clothes just fit way better.
• Its cheap! This DVD is  only around $8 and all you need are some hand-weights (I’d recommend 3lbs or 5lbs) which you can buy for under $10 and a yoga mat if you plan on working out on a hard surface.

Cons

• I would NOT recommend this DVD to anyone who has knee problems. When reading the reviews on Amazon, this was the main reason people would give it a low rating.
• Jillian is a bit annoying. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it is about her that irked me but I was able to tune her out. There is also an option on the DVD to turn off the audio but I never remembered to do it until after I’d started and couldn’t be bothered restarting it.
• There is a lot of jumping in these workouts, so if you live in an apartment with an irate neighbour below, you may get some complaints.
• Like with any workout program, if you are looking to lose weight, you really need to make a change in your eating habits as well. I did (and am still doing) a low(is)-carb diet and I think that helped but you need to do what you think you can sustain in the long run.

What’s next?

I’m not stopping here. Doing this challenge taught me that a small time investment can have a big pay off in the way I look and feel. I have a couple other DVDs to try and am committing myself to at least 5 days a week at 20 to 30 minutes of exercise to maintain what I’ve worked for and continue to tone.

Hello abs! While not the six-pack that Jillian promises, I’d say its a solid four-pack at least!