Shredding the pounds away

Today is day 10 of the 30 Day Shred which means its time to move up to level 2. It was not as bad as I thought it would be but I still felt like I had been kicked by a mule. Those static lunges are a bitch and it may just be me but Jillian seems to have gone from nice, motivating instructor to bitch in just a short time. I was going to take measurements today but I am going to take them on Friday instead. Along with the Shred I am also upping my water intake and watching what I eat. The water is a tough one for me. I live for Mt Dew and if Mt Dew is not available then any caffeinated sugary drink will do. I am now drinking 2.5-3 liters of water a day.  I don't have access to a scale at home but am going to walk to my sister in laws tonight and jump on hers so I can see where I am at.

Day 8 of the 30 Day Shred

Well, I think the worst of it is over. I still get out of breath but instead of being out of breath on the first set of jumping jacks I don't start huffing and puffing till about halfway through. I have not yet noticed a difference in how my clothes fit and am sure I have not lost any weight but I keep thinking to myself it's only been 8 days. On Wednesday I will move up to Level 2 and I am excited for something new but also scared about how much harder it will be compared to Level 1.

#5. Complete the 30 Day Shred

Day 1--I will admit it. Jillian kicked my ass this morning. 3 hours later my legs are still a bit wobbly and my arms are funky feeling. How am I supposed to get to Level 2 by day 10? According to her you should take your measurments the first day to track your progress. I also plan on taking a few pictures tommorow. I do not have an actual cloth measuring tape so I improvised with a ruler and ribbon. I hope I did it right. 

Bust--39.5 inches

Waist--41 inches

Neck--15 inches

Right Thigh--25 inches

Left Thigh--25 inches

Right Arm--16 inches

Left Arm--15 inches

Jeans--Size 16

Shirt--Size XXL

January in review

Ok, so I was hoping to do a review of January on the first of February but my computer has been having some issues and blogging from my phone is a huge PITA. So here is the review now. 

#2-Get back to a size 7. This is still of course in progress. I saw no results in January but I had a lot going on and it slid to the back burner. Hoping to see some awesome results in February though.

#8-Wash my face every night. This is something that in the past I have been awful with. So far so good though. 

#19-Save money for Christmas 2011. As of last week I have 25.00 saved. 

#20-Save all my change for  one year. This one is super tough. I keep on wanting to spend my change. I set up some jars though and so far none of it has been spent. 

#51-Transfer negatives pictures onto a photo cd. I started this one yesterday and apparently its not as easy as I thought it would be. I took in 20 "rolls" to Walgreens and still have 60-70 left.

#66-Read the Twilight Saga

I will be the first to admit I find the books incredibly cheesy and do not understand the obsession around it. that being said I can also totally see myself re-reading the saga while down for the count with the flu or while on a plane.

Twilight was just as I expected. Except that I  was unaware that it was written for young adults. I always thought they had tamed the movies a little bit for the teenage crowd but the books were written for adults.

New Moon was again just like I had expected minus a few things. I got a much better insight into the Volturi reading the book then I did the movie.

Eclipse was my least favorite movie so I was fully expecting to hate the book but it was so much better (as is usually the case) then the movie.

Then Breaking Dawn came and I was hugely disappointed!  For one thing I hated reading from Jacobs point of view for that long and was half tempted to just jump ahead. If the author had already done Bella's and Jacobs I think she should have maybe shortened Jacob's and added Edward into the mix. I wish that Stephanie Meyer had spent more time on Bella's new life those first couple days. There seemed to be so much going on that it kind of killed the "experience" for me. The whole thing felt rushed to me and not put together well.

I also read an online partial of the book Midnight Sun. It is Twilight but written from Edward Cullen's point of view. Honestly it was my favorite. I wish she had finished it and put it out to print.

#37- Try a new recipe evvery month

I hardly ever cook. I am not very good at and over the past year have gotten the hang of the basics. You know, taco's, soup in the crockpot, spaghetti, and BLT's.  The other night I decided to make Beef Stroganoff. My husband loves it and the only form of it I had ever tried was from a box by Hamburger Helper. It actually came out really good. The recipe was 

1.5 pounds ground beef or stew meat

medium onion (sliced)

1 pound of egg noodles

can of beef broth

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste 

can of cream of mushroom soup

1 cup of sour cream 

mushrooms (medium can or package of fresh button mushrooms)

You cook off the meat then set aside. In the pan used to cook the meat you add the onions and mushrooms until soft then add the soup and broth and cook with the meat for 30 minutes. Towards the last 5 minutes you mix in the sour cream. Serve over egg noodles.

All in all a great, fairly easy new recipe that will defiantly be made again. 

#50. Participate in the 365 Day Photo Challenge.

I started this on January 9th. This is one of the things on the list that I am the most excited about right now. I love taking pictures and hopefully with taking one every day I can learn a few tips and tricks to make my everyday pictures a little bit better. Here is a link explaining the 365 day photo challenge. While there is a specific site to blog and share your pictures I figured this blog is more then enough for me to keep up with so all pictures will be added here. 

 My little guy, asleep on the couch.