Challenge Day 1

It's bank holiday Monday and I'm all set.  In fact I'm itching to get started.  But first things first, it is a bank holiday and I do live in a flat, wouldn't be the best neighbourly thing to do to start stomping around on the second floor at this early hour.  So, time for some more prep.  Yesterday I put the jeans on I want to fit properly.  When they do, they will be my measure - I'm really not fussed what the scales say, how I look and feel is far more important.  I know right now from eating carbs I feel terrible, and I know from the extra few pounds I've gained that I look puffy too and my clothes are feeling tight.  So, that's a much better measure for me I think.  They are a Primark size 14 and right now I can get them on, I can't sit down in them and I can barely breathe, but they go on and do up.  Andrew took some pictures of me in them yesterday - they are now on my fridge under my 30 day challenge chart ready to colour in!

All that said, I have lost a little focus on where I've come from, sometimes I just need to remember that - it's less than a year, 11 months to be a bit more precise, since I was squeezing myself into a skirt that I can now pitch and sleep under, I've tried it on again this morning just to remind myself, and I've also taken my measurements this morning - I have a Rosemary Conley magic measure with my original measurements on, in a moment I'm going to compare and hopefully be all inspired and proud all over again....

Are we ready...  under bust today is 35", originally it was 46".  Gosh!  I've lost almost a foot off my boobs! Waist today is 36", originally 47" so 11 inches gone.  Wow! Even my thighs have shrunk by nearly 6 inches each, 3 inches off my arms.  Wow, again, sometimes it's very powerful to forget that and be so surprised with that reminder.  I'll plot all these stats on a spreadsheet, wonder if I can do a graph in human shape, a pie chart doesn't really seem appropriate ;)

In total, this morning, I am 65 inches smaller than I was when I started.  I will have to use that word again - WOW - I am inspired.  Funny how our heads work though isn't it, a year ago I could just about squeeze myself into a stretchy size 22 from Primark, and now I'm fitting into their size 14 jeans.  I should add that I'm not particularly aspiring to be a Primark model or anything, it was just a little thing I had when I was bigger that if I could fit into Primark I could have a new wardrobe every week!  I also squeezed into a Monsoon 22, I could probably afford a new wardrobe with them every decade, and to be honest, the Primark clothes would probably last longer.  But my head forgets all that, even though I know it, I still feel fat and bloated and a long way from target.  Which is why, I think, that my target should be that pair of jeans.  When I can wear those with comfort, without a muffin top, and can sit down, kneel down in them, then I will be there.

So what's the plan - exercise.  I suspect I may overdo it today and then not do anything tomorrow, but I really need to do a little something every day.  I am going to attempt Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, I have no idea if I'll be able to keep up with it, my current fitness is pretty shocking, but it's got to be worth a shot, I have got to be worth that shot.  It's only half an hour a day, surely I can spare that for a new shape by my holiday?  I also have the cross trainer, and the vibroplate, my wii with zumba and several different dance games as well as wii sports - I should do boxing each day, it's a great stress reliever aside from the fitness benefits.  So, lets see how it goes.  Food wise - I'll just suck it and see, I'll feed myself enough for the exercise and make my main meals wholesome and nutritious.  Aside from that - well, no pressure, I don't want feeling faint or hungry to be an excuse for not doing a days exercise, but I won't be overeating on the wrong stuff cause I know how bad that makes me feel.

Eek!  Here we go!  Wish me luck.  I'm almost 42, the best exercise I was good at in my school years was finding a place to hide with a packet of crisps til the cross country route came back round again and I could join the back.  I'm not a natural athlete hahahaha, couldn't be further from that, I've never been fit, so this could be the start of something quite remarkable!

**Evening update**  Well, it's just occurred to me - 65 inches is 5'5" - I've lost as many inches round as I am tall.  That's just bonkers!  I did day one of the shred, I even managed to keep up for most of it, I was a little slow getting up off the floor on occasion, but did most of the jumping jacks without any accidental damage either.  Gosh it was tough, I didn't use handweights for this first go but still I could barely lift my arms afterwards!  Got the bug though, and did 10 minutes on the vibroplate later on, light toning exercises on level 7.  Then I did 20 minutes zumba on the wii.  I feel great.  I expect tomorrow I'll feel dreadful!  My plan is to do something before work, cause then I will have done it, and if I don't do anything else all day, at least I'll have done something!  Probably it'll be the shred, not sure what to do though, will have to check it out - do I just keep on doing level one til I'm ready to move up?  Should it be 10 days on each level?  Think I'll have to go google :)