Level 2

Woohoo, it's Thursday! The weather here is pretty crappy, so to add a little sunshine into our lives...

Last night I pushed through my fear and started level 2 of 30 day shred!

I don't know why I was so afraid to move on to level 2. I did Level 1 for 11 days (taking one rest day and spending 1 day running instead) and it was starting to feel a bit easier. There were still some moves that I couldn't do (ahem, pushups) but for the most part I was able to get through the workout with far less effort than on day 1. I wasn't planning on starting level 2 until Friday, but felt up to it last night. I walked home from work and stopped by the garden, so by the time I was home I was feeling warmed up and ready to try it out.

And holy crap, level 2 was hard! Way harder than level 1. I was literally panting from start to finish, but am happy to report I only had to take a few breaks. For the most part, I did pretty well on this first day and I'm looking forward to seeing myself improve over the next 10 days of this level. Here's some of the exercises from level 2:

- walking pushups (HARD!)
- static squat with row
- high knees
- squat thrusts (knee jumps while in plank position)
- crunch with leg lift
- static lunge with medium grip row
- pendulum lunges with hammer curls
- oblique twist jumps
- skater jumps
- plank jacks (jumping jacks in plank position)

Overall I really like this level! Jillian and the girls in the background are actually sweating in this workout and get out of breath sometimes, unlike level 1 where it looked like they were out for a leisurely stroll. I also feel like Jillian is more motivating in this level, but maybe I just got sick of level 1?

I'm feeling very encouraged lately, and just plain excited about being excited to workout. I had a really long period of despising exercise, and I think I just had to find the right system for the time being. Doing short (but intensive!) workouts at home is right for now, but I'm feeling myself getting excited about other future workouts, like races, gym classes, etc.

Speaking of races, I signed up for another 5K for next Thursday!

This is weird to say, but I am feeling a little motivated by the fact that I haven't drank a sip of diet coke since January 26. That's about 6 months, and is something I NEVER thought I'd be able to do. I know this might sound ridiculous to people who don't drink a lot of soda, but I truly felt like I'd never be able to stop drinking it. If I can stop drinking DC for 180 days, I can workout for 30. Really, I can do anything! Wow that was cheesy.

And now I want pizza.

Unfortunately there isn't any pizza in my future, but here's some of what I've been eating.

That pasta in the first picture is a twist on the creamy spinach and sausage pasta I made a few months ago. This time I used whole wheat linguine, chicken meatballs, and made the sauce without cream or eggs. It wasn't as good as the original, but was definitely a decent substitute!

That's it for now. Have a great day!