Well, I did it. I'm over halfway in the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution program! Here's a short summary of what went down:
The workouts: Workouts 7 and 8 are INCREDIBLY tough. In Workout 7, almost the entire first circuit is in plank/push up position. After that first circuit, things do get slightly better, but by no means easier. This was a struggle, but it was also a reminder of how far I've come since I started this, both physically and mentally. I'm becoming better at fighting through the pain, and that's important. Workout 8 is the hardest back of the body workout to date, and the third circuit is really challenging. She also introduces cardio intervals in this workout that you do with weights, which always takes things up a notch. Again, I struggled, but instead of getting discouraged I reminded myself that I should be struggling. If it's easy, I'm not working hard enough or doing the exercises right. I look forward to this week because I'm confident I'll improve in both workouts! I've also improved at Cardio 2 immensely since the beginning of the month and have even started to look forward to doing it.
I also have to give myself props. I had my birthday party Friday night and STILL woke up Saturday morning and did my cardio video slightly hungover. Was some of it half-assed? Admittedly, yes. But what matters is I woke up and did it. Something is better than nothing.
The diet: Let's put this in perspective. My birthday, Passover AND Easter were all the same week. Needless to say, I ate what I wanted and used my daily Weight Watchers points, all of my cheat points, and all my activity points earned and just stopped obsessing over my diet for the week. I gave myself a break. A coworker put it well: I have to live. It was a holiday week and my birthday, and I should be able to cheat a bit and enjoy myself.
The results: So, I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't gain any either! Given that I stopped dieting for the week, I'll take that as a win. One thing I did notice was that even as I was cheating, I made better food choices than I would have a month and a half ago. This just goes to show that I'm not just going on some extreme fad diet or cleanse temporarily. I'm making a lifestyle shift for the better. Even at Easter brunch today I still had dessert and ate what I wanted, but I didn't make horrible food choices.
I really gained a lot of perspective on things this week, both personally and in my health. I posted a photo online of myself in my Syracuse jersey the day after they beat Indiana, (sidenote: FINAL FOUR. SO PROUD), and I got so many "likes" and encouraging comments saying how great I look and how skinny I'm becoming. This was so much more gratifying than any weight loss on the scale. People are noticing my hard work. It's paying off. I've also realized today that I need to stop harping on negativity and focus on the positive things in my life, so that's my goal for next week. Stop sweating the small stuff and start doing my own thing.
Thank you all for your support and positive comments! You all have made this journey so amazing for me so far and the support is what's been keeping me going through my rough days.
Until next week!
xo, Sarah
I stumbled across your blog from the JMBR Facebook page. I love it! I can so relate to the things you struggle with. I finished the 90 days about two weeks ago. I, like you, really got into the groove of working out and dragging my butt out of bed to greet Jillian. I definitely struggled throughout with my food choices though. Ended up losing about 16 lbs and now I am starting over round two :) anyhow you're doing great and I enjoy seeing your posts!
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