Sweatin' to the Oldies

Don't worry I didn't go buy Richard Simmon's Sweatin' to the Oldies. What I did do is rediscover my own collection of workout DVDs. I have a pretty wide selection of pilates, yoga, ball and yes, even strip tease workouts (I regret buying these as much as Carmen Electra regrets her hand tattoos with her ex-husband's name).  There is one set of DVDs that I have loved for quite some time and I decided to get back into them this week. Jillian Michaels. Seriously, she kicks your butt in any DVD (I own 3).  I used to do them so much I knew exactly what she was going to say and each move coming up.  That was before I got pregnant of course.

Since I received the all clear from my doctor at my 6 week checkup I decided to plunge back into the Jillian Michaels world of getting my ass kicked. And let me just say, she has royally done just that. I decided to start out with an all in one DVD. I can't find my hand weights since we moved so I went for the only DVD that didn't require them.  I decided it would be fun to record my thoughts after each workout. You're supposed to do this DVD 5 days a week.

• Monday-Why did I ever buy this DVD? It's so hard! Oh and last time I did this DVD my chest wasn't a size E milk factory. I had to hold "the girls" during most of the cardio so they didn't get whip lash. (My heart goes out to all big chested women, how the hell do you run???)
• Tuesday-I'm down 1 pound from yesterday so maybe this isn't terrible. I'm feeling good even knowing I can't do everything in the DVDs. I have decided to skip circuit 5 completely as my boobs seriously can't take that much pounding. But, I'm still doing 6 of the 7 circuits and once I get going my soarness does go away.
• Wednesday You know Jillian Michaels once said she could never have children because she couldn't cope with what it would do to her body. Just remembering this makes me feel strong today. I did something that this strong woman could never do. Go me and my E chest!
• Thursday I took the day off and plan to do Friday and Saturday to round out my 5 days of hell, I mean healthy exercise. Funny enough I picked up my Self magazine for this month and there's an article by Jillian Michaels. She is in the midst of adopting a child from Haiti. Some of my favorite quotes from the article: "In the seven days I was there (Haiti), I'd slept 20 hours, pulled a biceps muscle and thrown out my back from endless hours of what I now call the "bouncy dance", aka the "please stop crying and go to sleep" shuffle. "I won't know exactly how I'll balance motherhood and keeping myself fit and healthy until I get there." "I need to figure out how to find time to (exercise) not only for myself but for the two of us-my new daughter and me." That's right, she's adopting a girl! The coincidence was too much for me to ignore. I have to stay fit for not only me but for Stella.
• Friday I feel a lot stronger today and am able to do each circuit with much better form. I'm still winded and have to stop a little here and there but I'm getting stronger. My PJs even fit slightly better (you notice how I didn't mention real clothes, that's a few months down the line). My stomach is definitely getting flatter! The scale hasn't moved but I can tell my body is changing. Bring it on Saturday, I've so got this!

I have given myself a goal. If I can stick to this DVD for 2 weeks I'm going to them move to the 30 day Shred DVD (I already own this one). That means I have 2 weeks to find my hand weights. :-)  This DVD is only 20 minutes and it gets progressively harder as you go (3 different workouts).

Sorry for the infomercial. I just feel like I'm taking control of my post pregnancy body and that feels pretty good. I don't think I'll ever be where I was in 2007, when I met Darren. But I would be pretty happy to be back to my prepregnancy weight. 22.6 lbs to go.