Lovers of Jillian Michaels meet up here

We've just got in after a huge walk. Bussed it into st ives had iconic and then followed the river through to Hemmingfords, into Houghton and up to our village. I reckon it was around 7 miles. Had DS in buggy and DD on buggy board and while she walked a bit it was mostly me pushing them. I kept a pretty quick pace, and pushed it to a jog on all the uphill bits so I think that probably counts as a fair workout. I can hardly stand up now we've got home! May have to give Shred a miss tonight, will see.

Wow shadows that's awesome re posture and tummy muscles. Good work!

Everyone managing to work out today in the heat?

Did first day of level 2 of shred yesterday. I think I like it more than level one and def found the cardio easier. I've ordered some weights - I weighed the wine bottles and they are a few pounds off 1kg so I've ordered 1kg and 2kg so I can progress up and gives me something to aim for. The biggest change I've noticed is my core and posture. After having kids I found my posture was naturally curvy spine bum sticking out, tum sticking out and it almost hurt to pull my spine up straight. I also had diastasis recti which I'd managed to get as good as I thought it was ever going to get with a 1.5 finger space gap between the muscles. Well I now have NO separation which is amazing! My muscles are completely fused together, it's like a hard wall, and my spine is naturally straight. No bum sticking out curve at all. Which is great as it means my tummy appears loads smaller and I don't have to consciously keep hauling it in and yanking my back straight.

Tried to get up early to exercise today but the small ones heard me and I now have two very grumpy over tired toddlers shouting at me! The smallest doesn't have words yet so is just issuing out a high pitched shriekey noise. Will try and put them back in bed in a few hours and get my exercise in then!

Rest day today, not too sore after kettlebells but can certainly feel it.

I'd probably caveat my Jillian Michaels only 3-5 times a week with also saying I walk A LOT! School run 0.5miles+ each way twice a day with a 2 stone toddler on my back plus walks in between to shops or playgroup. But then I eat lots too.

You definitely need to eat lots to exercise well, but focus on most of it being fairly clean eating- eggs, nuts and seeds, lean meats, loads of veg and a bit of whole grain carb. I try to base most things around that then I can chill out about a bit of cake, biscuit and chocolate .

Maybe focus on getting lean rather than weight, take a few measurements or find some clothes that are snug to check progress. I took my measurements on 2 July last year when I started the 5:2 diet (I started JM DVDs in August) and I am now 4 inches smaller on bust and hips and about 3.5 inches smaller round the waist.

Kettlebell class tonight, I might be sore tomorrow!

Thank you, that sounds like a plan and tbh I find cardio a lot harder than strength and have been struggling with pelvic floor issues if I do loads of jumping! I have so far been using things from around the house for weights, I think I need to invest in some actual weights now though. I've been using old wine bottles filled with water, which are fairly manageable for some strength moves but tricky for others - based on that what kind of weight should I be looking to get?

It's just me and the kids at home so we do eat fairly healthily, I'm trying very hard not to get into the mindset of "eat as little as possible" which is new for me. It's always been that if dieted dramatically and not exercised to get my weight down so it's strange mentally adjusting to the idea that I actually need to eat well to do this much exercise. Really loving it though, and have so much more energy and weirdly less mood swings!

Hey Shadows, always nice to have a new one on board .

I would say rest days are very important, if you don't like resting then maybe a yoga session or something? Your body does need to rest to build up muscle. I have only ever worked out 3-5 times a week and have had great results (I've lost a lot in the last year).

In terms of wobble, I would personally focus on building up muscle to get rid of it. Lots of cardio is great but takes a lot of time to burn lots, with strength work you burn calories whilst you do it and it increases your metabolism so you burn more the rest of the time too. Most JM stuff is strength and HIIT which should help with fat burn. Go as heavy as you can on the exercises whilst still maintaining good form. I often go heavy but reduce the number of reps I do for some of the exercises to help with strength, eg I do alternate arms on some rather than both together.

I also found that more lean protein and fewer refined carbs made a difference too and helped my tone up. TBH I'm not that committed so I do still have a bit of wobble around the tummy but I'm pretty happy with my figure these days. Considering I'm leaner and more toned now at (very nearly) 35 and two children than I was in my 20s I'm not going to push myself too much for perfection .

Hi everyone can I join in? I've been lurking for a while and have been posting on the Shred Thread. I'm almost two weeks into the shred and have been throwing in a few 6w6p days as well. My bmi is fine and I'm supposedly a good weight for my height but everything is just so wobbly, I think from having two babies close together and my weight pinging up and down again quite fast with each pregnancy and after. I think I've really caught the exercise bug, I'm really enjoying the workouts but struggling with the idea of rest days as I feel fine if a bit achey. How important are they?

And what is going to be the best way to get rid of the wobble - is it likely to be fat so do extra cardio or is it more likely to disappear the more toned I become?

Managed Bobs Workout (first one) last night and now have slightly sore thighs! Did 60 Second Promise v early this morning. It's actually 40 mins if you do all the sections. Would highly recommend- it's cheap as chips on Amazon! The trainers are a bit wooden, but it is a good workout that you can literally do anywhere (no equipment required) so you can take on holiday etc.) Split into 4 ten minute sections so you can do one or four if you have the time.

Thanks for the tip knotty- I did Killer Abs L1 tonight. Didn't feel like one of her hardest- you move between the moves quite quickly so you don't seem to get too tired from them. I think I prefer 6w6p but it's always good to mix things up.

Kettlebell class tomorrow night so I didn't want to go too crazy today anyway .

I'm currently doing six week six pack - does killer abs give better results?

I alternate between all the Jillian DVDs that I have (lots!) but I have a holiday coming up in a few weeks and would like to look as good as possible (I would like to streamline my legs and tone my abs up some more). I can't decide whether to carry on alternating or if I'd get better results sticking to one. I'm doing six pack a few times a week with different DVDs on the days inbetween.

Has anyone tried the one week shred? I'd never heard of it until I just looked up killer abs.

Ooh is it, knotty? Will have to check it out. Thanks for the tip.

So tired today plus have both DC home (ds off sick) so probably no exercise for me today.

Idkick, Killer Abs is available on YouTube, haven't looked for the others though.

I'dkick, hope the walk went OK. Jackster, definitely boast away, you've worked really hard! Notyummy, very impressed at Pilates in the tent!
Did Kickboxing FF 1 on Thurs, KBFF 2 on Friday, rest day Sat, Killer Abs 3 yesterday. Killer Abs is becoming a favourite, but Level 3 is tough! Mountain climbers where you have to clap your hands inbetween each one? Couldn't manage those at all! Also another move where you hold the Superman position and keep passing a weight behind you. Not much time this morning, so another KBFF (workout 3) then walking to Music Bugs & back. Just under 3 weeks until holiday so I'm determined to do as much as possible, although I plan on packing Jillian & Bob in my suitcase!

Hi all.

Well done on toned arms jackster.

Just back from camping weekend in the rain where far too much food and wine were consumed. Managed NMTZ on Friday before I went, and did some Pilates in the tent yesterday. Rather hungover today and huge washing pile but did manage 40 on cross trainer on my return.

May do the first bit of Bobs Workout tomorrow. Not time to do both bits as fitting in whilst dd at Brownies.

Good one idkick. I find that first NMTZ circuit very hard too and can only do the side raises with 2kgs.

L1 Shred done today.

Ooh sounds nice, have a lovely time Earslaps.

Boast alert: I caught a glimpse of a very toned shoulder/upper arm, pushing a buggy, on the school run today - had a split second of admiration before realising it was my own reflection in a car window! The move up to 3kg weights has made a huge difference. . I have just tried to take a photo to show you all but it's harder than you'd think to photograph your own shoulder!

Boast over.

Keep up the awesome work all and have a great weekend. x

Back to my childhood home for a wedding of one of my school friends. Child free as well as the boys will be with mum and dad. Then off to centerparcs next weekend, busy times!