Day 30: Results

The last time I updated you on my diet and exercise progress was a mid-month.  What happened since then?

Diet

We made it out of the vegetable soup rut.  The last two soups in my recipe queue were quite a bit better than the first two.  While they weren’t much more difficult to prepare than the first two, they had exotic French names that made them feel more elegant.

We also learned from these recipes that one of the easiest ways to make a bland vegetable soup more palatable is to grate some flavorful cheese on top.

Then it was on to Thanksgiving and we ate our Thanksgiving leftovers for several days.  This may be the first year that we finished all of them!

By this point, I was kind of burned out on cooking at home.  The last few days of the month we weren’t so good on keeping the veggie content high and moved on to pastas that were easy to cook and filling.

Exercise

Despite the Achilles tendon aches that plagued me almost the entire time I was in Level 2 of the exercise program (Days 10-20 roughly), I kept exercising the best I could.  I discovered that the two exercises that really aggravated the pain for me were lunges and “pendulum squats.”  Below are pictures of these exercises.

I think what was happening is that the thigh muscles in the forward leg were not strong enough to take the brunt of the movement and the muscles on the front of my lower legs weren’t either so that left no place for it to go but to the Achilles tendon and calf muscles.  This caused them to yank and stretch those tendons, tendons that were extremely tight from too much high heel wearing.   Interestingly, those Achilles aches and pains all went away about 2 days into Level 3.

The first few days of Level 3 were so exhausting and I was pretty sure that this level was going to kill me.  But, I kept at it, doing my 20 minutes a day every single day.   To my surprise, I started getting stronger and by day 30, Level 3 didn’t seem nearly as hard as it was on Day 20.  I still can’t do Level 3 at the highest level of intensity, though.

What about the final results?

There is good news and bad news on this front.

Pounds lost = 0

Yes, that’s right.  Despite all this effort, I basically lost nothing.  However, the scale doesn’t exactly reflect the changes in my body over the month.  I am far stronger than I have been in a long while and I have a lot more energy now doing things like climbing stairs.  My arms and legs are toned.  My midsection is also better but still needs more work.  It was funny to see over the course of the month how my stomach area firmed up.  First it seemed to flatten in the lower belly, then it started flattening from above, leaving me with a bit of a spare tire effect.  In Level 3, as the abs got stronger, I noticed that my ab muscles pulled more toward the front, getting rid of the spare tire but giving me a slightly pregnant look instead!

So, while of course it is disappointing that there was not a bigger reward for my efforts, I have to keep it in perspective.  I did not do much at all on the diet front and indulged in an obscene amount of Halloween candy, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, ice cream, a large quantity of birthday cake and, of course, Thanksgiving dinner!  I find it impressive that I did not gain any weight in spite of this.  It also shows me that the bare minimum exercise level during periods of indulgence is 20 minutes per day of hard exercise.

The other good news is that despite the fact that I lost no pounds, I did lose inches.  I lost about 2 inches from my belly, one quarter inch from my hips and one quarter inch from each thigh.  I can finally zip my pre-pregnancy pants and jeans although I need to lose a bit more before they are comfortable.

Diet and exercise are of course more than just 30 day projects and I hope to continue my efforts in December. I am going to change things up a bit in terms of my diet and exercise goals and we will go back to eating out (although perhaps less so than before). I am proud of myself for making it through the 30 days and I still hear Jillian’s voice in my head.

“…They tell you ‘Just take the stairs.’ That is a false message of lethargy that is not doing you any favors. You are capable of working out. You are capable of working out hard!”

“Don’t phone it in!”

“You’ve got to fight for it!”

–Jillian Michaels, 30 Day Shred

I leave you with my tribute to Rosie the Riveter.

What are your thoughts on this diet and exercise experiment? How are your own diet and exercise goals faring in light of the holiday season? Please share in the comments.