Speaking of Chicago, Jillian Michaels herself was there last time BlogHer was in the windy city, during the summer of 2007. Alas, I wussed out and didn't meet her.

You see, in 2006 I lost a lot of weight. I was pretty confident about what I had done. Unfortunately, with the Cat's expulsion from Kindergarten later that year, exercising took a back seat to finding him a school. My "free time" was spent researching schools, IDEA, IEPs, and all those other ABC's instead of planning healthful meals, bonding with my bike, or hiking.

Stress + no exercise + convenience food = weight gain.

BlogHer 2007 I was heavier than in 2006, and I was embarrassed. As much as I wanted to meet Jillian, I just didn't have the confidence because I felt like a failure (especially given the criticism I had already received surrounding the Cat.)

Now the Cat is at a great school. We definitely have ups and downs -- and we've recently had to deal with some extra things with Spliggle as well (his hearing loss isn't helping him socially, so the once gregarious social butterfly has become rather crushed on the pavement*, and is eager for a fresh start in Kindergarten. I hope he gets his tubes surgery before then.)

* Literally. He has scraped up knees and other body parts from people pushing him down, not hearing tricycles approach him as they fly down the hill, etc.

I definitely have plenty of stressors - work, home, kids, but I also know that it is important to take time for myself, even if that is hard to do at times. It is my hope that this latest venture gives me that "permission" - just 20 minutes a day. It will be a tiring 20 minutes a day, but it will belong to me.

The 30 Day Shred DVD arrived this afternoon. In anticipation of its arrival, I weighed myself for the "start point." My Wii Fit yelled at me for being gone 110 days. Has it really been 110 days? The good news is that during the last 3 and a half months (during the gluttonous holidays, no less) I only gained 2 pounds. My BMI is considered "normal" but at 24.37, is at the upper limit of normal.

If you'll recall, I've did pretty well on South Beach, and have continued to shape my diet based on those rules. Yes, I have a hot dog at a hockey game, but I'm not eating a lot of the white-bread variety of carbs anymore. Just because I hadn't been on Wii Fit doesn't mean I haven't exercised in 110 days (although given the flu situation, I probably hadn't exercised in 20-30 days before today, aside from a couple major household cleaning projects and several days of gardening/weed-pulling.)

This morning I took a 45 minute walk as a "warm up" and then after the DVD arrived, I jumped into Level One. Oh yes, did I jump (jumping jacks, butt-kicks, jump-roping) but it isn't my legs that are complaining right now, it is my shaking arms. My guess is that around day 3 or 4 I am going to want to take a nap, but my babble here in a public space is to keep myself accountable. I'll post stats in the sidebar - April 2nd will be after I have completed 10 days worth of the Shred, so that is when I'll weigh in for the second time.

Meanwhile, you can see the progress of folks who started in March -- Shredheads, Hot by BlogHer, and then plenty of offshoots that you can find by visiting the aforementioned gals.

So... she may not be Jillian (or so she says) - but I'm pretty impressed with what she's done so far. And since she's the one rallying the troops and has a nice looking tummy to show for it, I'll give up the goods:

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What Kristen Wants, Kristen Gets:
a) Before pictures (optional but always nice) - took some, not going to post until I have some "hey look at me NOW!" pics... ;-)
b) Tag Line - Rainbows are skinny, right?
c) Weight - 137, BMI 24.37
d) Goal - 125
e) Diet - Been doing South Beach and it has been working - now need to add the exercise component.
f) Personal Rules - mainly South Beach stuff - trying to maintain diet (which isn't very strict right now) while upping the exercise. I know that I'm less likely to grab something unhealthful after I've exercised, so I think exercise will have an effect on diet anyway.
g) Shred Plan - Just started Level 1, anticipating following the other Shredheads who have progressed a level every ten days. Plan is to do it daily - plus I'm going to continue walking 45 minutes 1-3Xweek.

--Shreadhead Update------------------------

- I joined the Shreadheads
- Graduated from Level One
- Graduated from Level Two
- Graduated from Level Three

... now on to continued use of the 30 Day Shred plus Bob's Weight Loss Yoga to continue toning and hopefully losing some weight in the process!