Want to look GOOD by June 4th - that's just over a month. Please share your weight loss and toning tips

[Cristiane]

Back story is that I have just tried a week of pig to twig (Atkins type diet)

I feel horrific and haven't lost any weight. Kind of feel faint and my head feels very odd and I cannot face it any more. Just ate some boiled potatoes with olive oil and feel a bit stronger. I just don't think that diet is for me. I also slept very badly on it.

But... I want to look better in a month than I do now!

Despite moving house and working full time and having two DDs, I will try to find the time to do the 30 day shred plus I do walk 15 mins each way before getting on bus to the office. I wear MBTs even though they look horrible.

But it's the diet side of things that I get stuck on... If I deny myself something I then fantasise about it. I actually eat very healthily, and cook everything from scratch, don't have diet coke cravings or eat many sweet things. I get low blood sugar moments and have low blood pressure so anything too extreme and I faint or get ill (sounds very dramatic, maybe I'm just a wuss)...

Please share your successful dieting tips. I am 69 kilos and 5'6". I would like to be 59-60 kilos. I was 56 kilos before having DD1. Bloody hell.

Well this thread has certainly inspired me to order the 30 day shred DVD which I just have!

I'm jealous though as I want to start when it arrives but I just had a tummy tuck/lipo and breast lift 3 weeks ago so I have to wait until at least 6-8 weeks to exercise now! And before anyone says, it is great that I've had that done anyway (although I must admit where I'm healing looks hideous at the moment!) but I am still overweight and still trying to lose the baby weight for dc3 who is nearly 8 months old. Looking to lose about 14-21 pounds to get to target weight which is a healthy weight for my height (have lost about 3 stone now since baby born, that's how much I put on in pregnancy! ).

I'm currently 5,1 and 10 stone, 5lbs (bmi about 27). I'm still dieting so I'll stick around on here for support too! Can't wait to start that shred though, it sounds perfect!

I find the only thing that works for me is to keep changing what diet I'm doing. After a week or two I get bored of whatever I'm doing so change to another diet! People that know me think I'm mental as I'm constantly on some strange diet that changes every couple of weeks but hey, it works for me!

Also, I avoid eating after 6pm - seems to really help speed things up.

Have been really bad over easter and with recovering and feeling sorry for myself too ! (I'm an emotional eater!) so looking forward to getting started again now!

Ugh. I despise The Shred. But I will do it. I'm doing Paul McKenna as well, but need a butt-kick to get me to exercise.

I will start tomorrow, I just can't face it today.

I'm such a whiner. :)

You have to make yourself Yank - anything else is a 'false message of lethargy'

Hi Cristiane I think we have chatted on project princess before, I am in similar situation with you re working and trying to fit exercise in with two young DDs.

Is there anyway you could afford a personal trainer once a week. I have been doing this since last summer now and I really really have noticed results, more even than pre children when I went to the gym three times a week. It is my one extravagance but I figure I don't spend half the money on myself that I did before the DCs so kind of justify it to myself that way. I reckon you would see results from just 4 sessions.

The problem I find with the Shred is it gets boring doing the same old routine all the time, but it is quick.

I am going on holiday on 11 June so am going to try a real burst over the next six weeks. I am giving up alcohol for May (started yesterday, 1 day down 30 to go...). The other thing I have started doing is ordering a vege box once a week and it is definitely making us eat more vegetables and try more things.

Just ordered the Shred DVD so hopefully it will be here by end of week. In the meantime, I'm aiming to either go running (30 mins) or do a Davina DVD (which I've so far done once in 16 months!!). Feeling a little bit virtuous as turned down a glass of alcohol already tonight as not going to drink until Thursday when off to a fashion show at DS's school (thankfully I'm not appearing in it!). Good luck everybody!

Can I ask about the shred too please? I have never done any sort of exercise DVDs so not really sure what to expect.

Is it very jumpy, and do you make lots of thudding doing it? I would prob have to do it when the kids are in bed, and we have a wooden floor downstairs so am a bit worried about the noise...

And do most people just keep doing it at the end of the 30 days or what do you do to keep up the benefit?

Also will DH piss himself laughing at me jumping around? (I suspect the answer is probably yes, really don't want to do anything like this when he's around but would probably have to!)

there is a little bit of jumping but not much.

it is basically 3 6 minute circuits of

3 mins of strength work (e.g. press ups and then lunges)
then 2 mins cardio (star jumps and skipping say)
then 1 min abs

and then you do another 6 min circuit and then another )each one different.

HTH

Oh and I forgot the main one I wanted to ask! [smacks forehead]

How fit do you have to be to start it without dying? I have hardly exercised for ages, do you have to build up to it a bit first or can you start from not much? I did a circuits class last week for the first time in years, I survived but it was a close thing!

can I ask another shred question.
Is it any good for legs/ or is it mainly abs. My stomach is fine but my legs need help.

So much good advice on this thread, and so I can only 'second' most of it. I work 4 days with a long commute and DH is away Sunday evening to Fruday evening so as you can imagine, time is at a premium.

IMHO exercise is v important. If you don't have much time then I am afraid the harsh truth is you have to work really hard physically in the time you have. The recs for the Shred are ideal. It Will Hurt (if you do it properly.) But there will be a difference if you keep it up. Other things would be 20/30 min running sessions, ideally doing efforts (running fast and then slow, or walking and then running depending on your fitness levels.) Lastly, I think pilates can be hugely effective for toning. I do Kristian MacGees MTV Pilates which is 2 quite tough 25 min circuits.

The other thing that works for me is portion control and minimising (but not cutting out) carbs. Only v small portions of complex carbs and virtually no alcohol. If I stick to my exercise and the diet above most of the time then I can splurge with occasional big nights out and it makes no difference. I generally stay at a BMI of around 20 or 21.

Can I join in? Just ordered some Jillian Michaels after reading this thread. Play.com and thehut.com have some going cheap.

Shred good for legs. Lots of lunges and squats.....

It is quite hard BUT only 20 mins. I honestly think with the right mindset then anyone can do it. You have to be prepared for the fact that it will be very uncomfortable.
There are other Jillian Michaels DVDs that are also good if people get bored with shredding. 6 week 6 Pack is only about 30 mins long ( but tough!) Burn Fat, Boost Metabolism is in 6 min circuits and is 40 mins if you do it all, but you can also just do 4 or 5 if pushed for time.

Thanks notyummy.
I need any recommendations for leg toning.

Just ordered the Shred after seeing a photo of my arms! Also have post-baby jelly belly.

Is it easy to follow? My main concern is that I do sth wrong and injure myself - not renowned for my agility or coordination...

Pussinflatboots, what happened to Billy blanks?!

(hoping I haven't got the wrong person!)

Ooh yes- that's another good tough one; Billy Blanks Bootcamp workout.

I'll join in with the Shredders. I want to lose 9lbs over the next 6 weeks. I was just going to do it via calorie counting and exercise. Really hate my body right now and need to tone big time.

I second a lot of the advice here and weigh less now than I did before having my 3 dc. Running, swimming, shredding all good. For me, carb restriction is also good, although being quite strict most of the time means that I can relax the rules on occasions (like this weekend) and not suffer any ill-effects. Good one for me, which works in a motivational kind of way, is to quit eating at about 7pm or earlier and then neck loads of green tea/ herbal tea etc right up until bedtime. You pee like a race horse and even have to get up in the night sometimes but by Jove you wake up with a concave tummy, which is encouraging to see, especially if you are avoiding daily weigh-ins.

I've tried Shred, but found it to be way too easy, sorry. Now trying to do Tracy Anderson Metamorphosis, what a difference. This method is for 90 days though (actually more, if you factor in rest days), but to get great results you will have to raise your game.

Maybe you should try her Method? (it's for 30 days)

In terms of food, I would try to eat more protein, less calories and keep you full longer. And if you have to eat carbs, try to do it in the morning/for lunch.

One month is not a long time, but long enough to make quite a difference in your appearance. Good luck!

Shred is good. Watch out technique though. Also try writing down everything you eat and drink, the areas where you need to change leap off the page at you. It's reall easy to kid yourself about what you're eating until you see it in black and White!

Vesta- isn't Tracy Anderson Method a minimum of 60 mins a day though? That's certainly the one that got all the press. That time commitment is quite tough for someone working FT plus kids. (Unless your name is Gwyneth .

Shred also works back to back (40 mins) if one level too easy- or up the weights to 3/5kgs.

OP- other thing worth googling is Tabata. Can be added into an exercise programme to increase fitness and fat burning. Only 4 mins!! But trust me, if you do it properly, if feels a lot longer..... Just do it expecting to do any further exercise afterwards!

Hello, sorry for hijack - Is 30 Day Shred longer than 20 mins per day?

TIA :)

I lost 1.5 stone last summer/autumn, and went from a flabby size 12 to a toned size 10. Two main reasons:

Low carbing - I know you said you have tried Pig to Twig, and it hasn't worked for you, but I wasn't quite that rigid - I didn't follow a specific diet just tried to avoid "stodge" (bread/rice/pasta/spuds/sugar etc), and just ate more protein to compensate. I cheated a bit at weekends, to make things more bearable, so I lost weight slowly but steadily. For me this was soooo much easier than weight-watchers / low-fat eating, and I have maintained the diet ongoing. Secondly,

Couch to 5K running. I now run about 20 minutes two/three times a week, which has firmed things up considerably! Any exercise will do, so good luck with the Shred.

I know lots of people rave about TA but I have to say I just can't see it, I think she has some ideas that are just downright odd (I am a PT) and much of the success of her progrAmmes relies on extreme calorie restriction which does nothing for your long term metabolism.

Mind you, I'm pretty well thought of in my field but Tracey Anderson is a millionaire so I should probably just trot on to all the work I've actually go to do and stop criticising!

hatcam, wrong person, I'm afraid...