Day 7 of the 30 day shred. I feel amazing! (Photos included for the non-believers!)
I have also started the Primal Blueprint diet, sort of, I'm still throwing in bits from my own diet but really, I am following a paleo diet. Minimal carbs from natural sources only and protein but I still have skimmed milk (no cheese, I don't like cheese anyway!) and oat bran in the mornings. I just bought his '21 day total body transformation' (it's called something like that, don't quote me on it!)book to ease myself into it and so far, I really like it :) It's not a diet, it teaches you about proper nutrition and exercise and how different macros affect your bodily functions and chemical reactions. It also teaches you how stress, hormone and insulin levels all contribute to weight loss and how to manage them. A good all rounder! And I find it's going really nicely alongside my 30 day shred for this month - I will be going on to a combo of 'Ripped in 30' and 'Banish Fat Boost Metabolism' as of 31 March :) eek!
It's strange, because it's true that the scale doesn't really move but although I'm only on day 7 I can definitely see changes in my body. I put on 3lbs after beginning my new exercise routine last week (without changing my diet) and 2 of those lbs came off but I'm still 1lb heavier than I was before last week, literally to the ounce, I'm pretty much staying the same BUT my body is starting to really tighten up, especially under my arms and my stomach (which is my worse nightmare!) I have that little pooch at the bottom of my stomach that's just THERE and so irritating but today I looked at it and actually thought it was nearly gone! It's crazy. I've lost about half an inch everywhere (waist/hips/chest/thighs) as of today but I'm taking my proper measuraments at the end of each Level. I'm so glad I have next week off of work because I go into Level 2 as of Sunday, I watched it already without doing it so I knew what to expect and oh my, I'm scared! I've never been one for exercise DVDs, I never really managed to follow them but I think that knowing it's 30 days and having it all broken down in levels, like a proper routine, makes it perfect for me and super easy to follow.
On day 2 of Level 1 I thought I was going to die. My quads wouldn't bend properly and I had to use my arms on the banisters to propel myself onto the next step when going down the stairs. Yeah, that bad! Now, I'm keeping up with her every step of the way (well, I'm still rubbish at push ups!) and I haven't done any of the simplified moves since day 1, I've always kept up with Natalie and Jillian and I'm so excited that my body is responding so quickly :) :) This is the difference in my body so far, it's not huge but keep in mind I'm only on day 7! I'm not one for posting photos online in underwear, believe me, but I wanted to show you that it DOES work if you put the effort in, no matter how much it hurts it DOES get better and your body will respond in time. I'll be glad when the time to say goodbye to my little belly pooch friend comes!
