New Year, new Jillian - the January Shred thread is here!

[ImogenQuy]

Happy New Year, everyone. If you've got a New Year resolution to do more exercise and think crazy Jillian may be the answer, come and sign in here for moral support, chat and a chance to moan.

Ripped in 30 L1 D2 done. Still hate cardio, but it felt like a good start to the year.

RI30 L2 D6 DONE. I kept going all the way through the plank cardio and the crow push-ups, so now I never have to do it again. On to L3 next week. I have also ordered Body Revolution with a vague plan of getting on to it in March once the mornings are lighter.

Inky, two-year-olds are amazingly strong, aren't they - I put it down to complete lack of any inhibitions. Mine at 4 is actually easier to manhandle than he was at 2, though mercifully I don't have to do it very often any more.

Tango, so pleased you don't need surgery. See you on the Feb thread or maybe the very end of this one.

El[phaba for that! I'm feeling a lot better doing shred L3 using your advice (though I think I do situps ok - I shall have to try to look at my tum today to check). The other thing I think I did last year which strained my back was being a bit overambitious on deadlifts (in some other DVDs), probably didn't keep good form. Yes, Anita (and some of the other 'best girls' Jillian uses) is a dancer but don't think Natalie is. Jillian calls the dancers 'Broadway' when they're doing super-high kicks etc.

Anyway, need to get myself moving.... I had a very annoying start to the day, I (and DH and DD) got woken before 6am by an SMS 'text' message to my landline which turned out to be Royal Mail telling me they would be delivering a parcel today. I really didn't need them to wake the whole house before dawn to tell me that, amazon sends emails and has tracking anyway - I've just been sending a grumpy complaint email.

30DS L3D5 done. So next week I need to decide whether to do Ri30 or maybe some NMTZ.

And the post has been delivered ... no parcel. WTF.

I think it's a t-shirt for DD for her birthday. she's 16 the week after next and the only thing she's asked for is a new walking coat for DofE - which we would have got her anyway, and which we probably won't get till halfterm so we can go to Ambleside. She's not having a party either - I would like her to do something with her friends, but she's doing an exam on her b'day, possibly after school (Arkwright engineering scholarship) and on the following Saturday a DofE first aid course. She seems wryly amused by preferring this to the sort of boys and alcohol affair that apparently the 'popular people' indulge in, I'm not complaining!

30DS L1D10 done. On to level 2 tomorrow!

Hello everyone. Did day 1 of 7 day shred (cardio) this morning. Not going to have time (or motivation ) to do the two separate workouts every day so going to alternate between cardio and strength. So it will actually be 14 day shred! But looking forward to sticking with something for a while rather than jumping around.

Really looking forward to Sheffield tomorrow but we have been moved to a smaller 'more intimate' venue so ticket prices obviously did put people off . Is it weird that I thought, oh good, I will get closer to Jillian ?! Stalker alert.

Yes Imogen the strength of toddlers astounds me, I have a 5 year old and a 7 year old as well and I swear he's stronger than them sometimes! He's also very strong-willed the little darling the combination can be...interesting!

So I'm off out to my usual Zumba class this evening so have wimped out on shredding as well, poor excuse I know and my diet this week has been awful so really I should be exercising twice as hard. I cant seem to muster the enthusiasm though.

Elphaba I've just been reading your interesting post re: dodgy re exercises, as it appears I am prone to a bad back occasionally would you recommend I just stick to ab crunches? And how do I know if I'm performing them correctly? I am very much an exercise novice and don't want to put myself at risk of further injury so any advice would be much appreciated

Babywearing exercise class done today so no shredding. An hour of low-impact cardio plus resistance training with a 16lb weight strapped to me throughout is quite sweaty enough for one day.

Inky Yeah, stick to ab crunches if you've got a dodgy back. Form tips with crunches:

• abs drawn in and kept flat for the duration of the exercise - exhaling on the upward movement helps with this
• engage pelvic floor
• pretend you have a large, ripe tomato under your chin that you don't want to squash, but hold in place while you're crunching. Another good tip I heard was to keep your eyes fixed on the corner where the top of the wall meets the ceiling (or the coving, if you have it). This will help to stop you pulling on or tensing your neck during the exercise.

Gah. Toddlers. Don't start me. I can hear the most stupendous tantrum happening downstairs. I really should go and help DH (she said, moving really, really slowly...)

sarah really interested to hear all about it ð???

W2d1. I may regret saying this, but I really enjoyed level 2. A lot harder than l1, but I was really surprised. with how much I could do.

Thanks Elphaba that's really helpful. Back from Zumba class, buzzing now and can't wait to get back to Shred tomorrow

Wibbly I'm a little bit scared of level 2, I can only just manage level 1

I'm still sticking with the shred, although I've had a few days off - sore knees on Wednesday, chronic laziness on Thursday , and today I was at Champneys with DM - we did a mighty tough circuits class, some yoga and lots of swimming, so I think Jillian would let me off!

inky I can't do level one without having mini breaks either. It could have been I enjoyed it so much as it was something different, but it flew by. I am aching in new places today, so will have to see how today goes

Checking in to say that despite 3 days off, I am still here and planning to Shred tonight unless I get pissed. Lots of RL stressy things getting in the way, but they should be finished today and then DH and I can crack on with no more excuses.

L2 D5 done.
Managed all plank moves at Natalie speed today and felt chest was about to explode!
(Had a day off yesterday).
Looking forward to Sarahlou's report on the intimate Sheffield night out with Jillian!

RI30 L1D6 done just now.

My vest didn't roll up my middle like a roller blind as often or as high as usual so I am hopeful that this means I am a bit more toned round the tummy.

DON'T tell me the vest has stretched, la la la don't wanna hear it!

Oooh no Balloon it's definitely that you're more toned

30DS L1D1 complete...again! I rather enjoyed it actually

Hey everyone. Well Jillian was fab! She was funny and sarcastic and very inspirational. A lot of what she said re diet and fitness was common sense (as she was quick to point out) but she really made me think about the reasons why people gain weight/don't stick to goals etc. I need to work on my "why"! She talked for two hours with no script and her answers to the Q and A were fab and very compassionate. She said she hates working out and only does it for the end result (to wear skinny jeans and to play with her kids and to be around when they are older). I really enjoyed it. She weighs 115lbs! I thought she looked fab but curvier than in her videos (not saying this is a bad thing).

Did a 3 mile run yesterday and back to my 7 (14) day shred today. Happy shredding everyone

L2 D6 done.
Thanks for the feedback on the Jillian show Sarah.
A pity funds are too low for me to go to see her tomorrow in Cardiff...

Can I pop on? Might help me keep motivation with doing it.

Only started during the week with 30ds. L1D1 I was literally trembling and shaking by the end of it. Next day (yesterday) did D2 and have had to chicken out and pop some ibuprofen this morning as every muscle severely aches. Even going to sit down on the toilet was a less than fun experience Don't find the cardio bits too bad as I would do cardio but I have no upper body strength so those bits are difficult for me.

Wont do it every day as I want to use it to tone rather than lose weight, hopefully 2-3 times a week to fit around my running days.

Did you find it helps with upper body strength? Only using 1kg weights atm as I don't want to wreck myself but plan to increase them once I feel ready. Have a mud OCR coming up so its something I need to build on but hate the gym with passion and find it hard to fit in the time for it with childcare.

Blodyn - check groupon? There was a groupon offer a while back x

Amethystus - I wouldn't worry about losing weight if you're not doing anything else to lose weight, I've been on a major diet and shredding makes no difference at all to what I lose, it makes me a better shape and fitter, but my weight loss is the same whether I'm shredding or not.

Yes it improves upper body strength...I started on 500g weights and still noticed it.

Also, the pain...once it goes, it's never that bad again, even if like me you end up with a gap of weeks and weeks between doing it.

Anyway, my cold is clearing and I can breathe again, so I'll be shredding again tomorrow...

Thanks for the reply tabulahrasa and that is such a relief to find the ache gets no worse. Not sure I could handle struggling to get out of bed like I did this morning, might be an Epsom bath tonight. No I'll not be doing anything extra to lose weight, in fact if anything any form of exercise puts my appetite up majorly. As an aside is your name 'clean slate' in Latin? That's popped into my head and I'll be chuffed if its right since its many moons ago I did Latin in school

I've never done Latin, but it's blank slate (spelled slightly wrong) so clean slate might be right too?

It's a buffy episode, lol