What a difference 30 days can make!

{This photo will make sense in about three paragraphs, continue reading below.}

In December, just a few days before Christmas, I HAD IT with my significant “Holiday” weight gain, so I decided to start my “New Year” Kick-Start (some people like to call them resolutions) early. Sounding familiar? Yeah, I posted about it here.

I decided to give a DVD I bought last summer a whole hearted try. It’s called “30 Day Shred” with Jillian Michaels. It’s a workout that consists of 3 five-minute intervals (strength, cardio, abs) for a total of 20 minutes. There are three levels. I was determined to do it for the said 30 days and see just how shredded I get. The cover advertised “Lose Up to 20 pounds!” I knew off the bat that that didn’t sound too realistic, but I figured some pounds would be better then anything.

I wanted to measure my results in something other than pounds so I decided to literally take my measurements (UHHGG, I know!). 

Backstory (because you know I always have one):  During my journalistic career days, I once wrote a weekly column for a newspaper. For one month I did a series about my experience with a “Boot Camp Fitness” program a local fitness trainer and health guru was offering for a substantial fee. (I got it for free because I was basically offering her free advertising through my column…my Editor said it was fine so it was still ethical right?) It was hard core, let me tell ya. Five A. M. every morning Monday through Friday for one intense hour. We ran mountains, crawled through sand, carried barrels through dew-soaked grassy terrain, jumped in and out of rope lines, just lots of not fun stuff. And to top it off, the first week into it I got the worst chin splints of my life after a night out with my besties at the time (Amie and Carrie). We attended a N’SYNC concert (No snickering—It rocked!) and we were late so we had to run like a half mile from our car to the stadium.  Needless to say I was not wearing tennis shoes to a concert and my platform heels destroyed me.  Five A.M. that next morning huuurrrttt. Anyway, Bootcamp sucked, but it worked.  And here’s the point I was meaning to get at.  Commander My-boobs-are-fake-for-a-waist-that-size (I don’t remember her real name), started the program by measuring my body parts and taking my weight. Thirty days later, when the program was over, she measured and weighed me again. I had only lost ONE POUND, but lost a total of TEN inches all over. I won the award for most inches lost at our celebratory pizza dinner (go figure).

That experience taught me a lot. Mostly it taught me to not go off pounds to figure early results. So, now whenever I begin a new fitness program or goal, I take measurements.

Here’s what you need:


Note paper, writing utensil, and a tape measure.

Make a dated list of the parts you want to measure.

Notice this is BEFORE I took my measurements, you all DO NOT need to know that much about me!

I did this on December 23rd.

For the past 30 days, I worked out to the “30 Day Shred” a total of 24 times—averaging 2 times on a bad week, 5 times on good week.

On January 24th I measured my parts again.

Well, I did not get shredded. Nor, did I lose 20 pounds.

However, I did lose FIVE pounds, and lost SEVEN inches total!!

I can notice my stomach a bit more toned and I do see slight grooves in my shoulders, as Jillian said I should.

I admit that I was doubtful that only 20 minutes a day would cause any results in my body, but apparently it can make a difference.  I do miss (kind of) going to the gym and having my personal fitness time out of the house—away from kiddos jumping on me as I do situps—so I look forward to my next “test” fitness goal which is the new App I just got “Couch to 10k”. 

I pretty much detest running so this should be interesting.