Or rather my diet has been neglecting me. Despite sticking to my allowed Weightwatcher's points allowance (or pretty much), I have not lost much weight. We all know how annoying and demotivating that is.
It was clear that if I were to achieve my aim, I would have to do more exercise. Just the dog walking was obviously not enough, neither is the once a week on the crosstrainer.
This weekend I finally unwrapped the DVD that I have had for several weeks. Twitter friends recommended Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred . It is an exercise video that takes 20 minutes a day. The advantage is that finding that half-hour every day is doable, even if you have a tight schedule. It is based on the program that Jillian developed for the NBC reality show "The Biggest Loser".
It is a 20 minute intense workout, with three six minute circuits broken down into:
3 minutes of cardio training (jumping jacks, butt kicks, boxing...)
3 minutes strength (push ups, squats with arm presses..)
1 minute abs (crunches, reverse crunches...)
in Level One. You can follow either of the two assistants, one of whom does a slightly easier version, eg. the squats are not so deep so better suited for absolute beginners.
I am on Day 4 today and so far can report:
- Day 1 was HARD but doable
- Day 2 was slightly easier, but I was working through the muscle pain of the day before
- Day 3 I woke up feeling really sore and had to force myself to Shred but it was great.
I did some extra stretching/cool-down exercises on Day 3 and found that I had much less muscle pain afterwards.
The other things that I have noticed is that my appetite is reduced, I have been having a yogurt and fruit for lunch and have completely cut out snacking.
I am also sleeping better. By 11pm, I am really tired and off to bed. Normally I don't sleep until 1am. Today, I woke at 6.45am when my husband left for work, and bounced out of bed. Well, bounced is not quite accurate, but I didn't have to be dragged kicking and screaming, as is the norm.
My back pain is less than it was - which is surprising considering the crunches sometimes hurt my back. I guess that strengthening the tummy muscles is helping there.
Updates on this coming in the next weeks, as I hope that there will soon be a noticeable difference in my shape - from what I have read many don't notice a big drop on the scales, but their clothes fit better and they look slimmer. I have lost 1kg since Sunday, so that is promising.
Watch this space.
