Fit!

(disclaimer: I'm not getting paid or anything to write about how amazing Jillian Michaels is. She's just that awesome.)

Well, I actually did it! I started and completed the 30 Day Shred! I have started it several times in the past but this month was the first time I actually did all 30 days in a row!

If you don't know, the 30 Day Shred is a Jillian Michaels' masterpiece. It is genius. She works with a 3-2-1 system, 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs. Repeat 3 times. It's so so good. It's exhausting, frustrating, sometimes curse-inducing, but overall awesome.

Jillian knows what she's doing. There are 3 levels and each level has 3 circuits. Each circuit is harder than the last and the same goes with the levels. Only 20 minutes a day, 7 days a week. Easy, no matter how busy you are.

I have lost inches from every area and have toned up a lot!

I have now started her 6 week Six-Pack DVD and can't wait for the results! This type of fitness really appeals to me. It's a set plan. I know that every morning after I drink my coffee I am going to work out. No matter what. This DVD might be harder because it's 35 minutes to the Shred's 20, but I know I can do it. Neely likes to "work out" with me and even when she's in my way it's easy to move around the room to dodge her.

2012 is a year of looking exactly how I want to and for getting fit and strong. It's a year of NO EXCUSES. How often have you made excuses for not working out? I have done that for years. Jillian Michaels takes any viable excuse away because it's *only* 20 or 30 minutes. Everyone has that.

I've also been using My Fitness Pal online and on my iPhone. It's GENIUS. It is a free calorie counter. It is so easy because when you eat something, you can scan the barcode from your app and it inputs all info for you! 

Seriously, getting in shape has never been so easy!

(except my aunt made this to-die-for cake and I had two pieces...oops!)

How about you? Have you been getting in shape lately?

31|Thirty-One|week 1

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How did you do this week? Were you able to get any miles in? Even if you start slow there is always time to catch up! Don't let apathy set in, get out there and pound the pavement (or treadmill). Your body will thank you at the end of these 31 miles!

My week wasn't the greatest running week I've ever had. I am developing a shin splint from running on the sidewalk so much. Concrete is really bad for our legs! I thought I was going to only be able to do 2 miles total but Thursday I made myself go for a run with Neely around 6pm. I felt SO good afterward and was SO proud of myself.
The way I'm doing the mileage is this.
The challenge is supposed to be running miles only so when I have to stop and walk, I pause my Nike+GPS app. I allow myself to walk for 1 minute and then continue my run. I walked only about 3 minutes total Thursday and I was pleased with that!
Here are my runs (5 miles total) for the week (click to make bigger):

31|Thirty-One

This month has 31 days.
This month I will turn 31.
In celebration of that (because I am truly excited to be 31), I will be doing a few 31ish things.

First up, 31 miles in 31 Days.
I did a 30 miles in 30 days challenge for my friend's 30th birthday in September but a lot of those miles were walking (which was fine according to the rules). This month I am challenging myself to run 31 miles. I will not be counting any miles that are walking.
If you want to join my challenge on nikerunning.com, click the link.

Next I will be doing 31 days of deliberate eating. So often this past month I have just snacked on whatever, whenever. I don't want my body to be a trash can. I want to fuel it and feed it and make it as healthy as possible. Also I would like to get back to 105lbs. I'm less than 10lbs from that so it's do-able. I just need to stop talking about it and live it. I'm so sick of my excuses and everyone's excuses. Everyone has a few minutes per day to work out. Everyone has the ability to make good choices. Buy dried fruit to snack on instead of chips. Pack your lunch instead of eating out. I'm telling myself these things too because I've been so lazy about eating. And remember:

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If you'd like to join me in these,  and you're serious about it, please let me know and I'll make a button we can display on our blogs. Maybe we'll do a weekly check in. For the running one we can do a weekly screen shot from nikerunning.com. I would love someone to join me to keep me accountable and to keep me motivated.

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UPDATE: You can now find info and a button for your blog (because we all know I am obsessed with making buttons) for the 31 Miles in 31 Days Challenge on it's very own page! CLICK HERE
If you don't have an iPhone and can't do the Nikerunning.com thing, please use mapmyrun.com, it's really great and accurate!