You Can Call Me Shredhead

I recently shared my fitness saga over at Shoestring Magazine, and given that my current attempts at self-care involve on demand fitness, when Kristen Chase posed the challenge of shredding for a month with Jillian Michaels on demand, of course I was intrigued. And terrified. And amused. Could I commit to doing something for 30 days straight?

Or more to the point, could I commit to doing something for myself for 30 days straight? I do plenty of other crap every single day without question. (Well, maybe I do question it, but I ultimately suck it up and do it.)

Inspired by Kristen’s nudge, and the ponying up of other Twitter friends, I shredded this morning (Day 1). I selected Jillian’s Level 2 because: 1) I tend to be an idiot and attempt to go from beginning to expert in 10 minutes; and 2) the Level 1 programming ends mid-month, whereas the Level 2 programming ends in late March.

I’m all about efficiency and this program was completely effective in kicking my ass in a mere 20 minutes. I’ve been doing some yoga on demand but basically no cardio and definitely no weights (other than hauling groceries and my child). My weak little arms are killing me and I can feel the soreness spreading through my back from my attempts at push ups and other things.

I’m still a tad concerned about my ability to keep this up for 30 days (especially given funeral and associated preparations this weekend), but I’m going to try. There’s something to be said for suffering in solidarity and in what other world could the motivation come from a bunch of tweets?

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11 comments to You Can Call Me Shredhead

  1. Melissa
    March 2nd, 2009 at 3:52 pm

    Can I join? In odd twist of fate, I too did Jillian Michaels’ workout today on On Demand (coupled with the one from Bridget of Girls Next Door / Playboy Mansion fame…), motivated both by your article for Shoestring and being snowed in. Let me know what the rules are for participating and Tweeting about it / hash tags. I’m all in! ;)

    [Reply]

  2. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » Shredhead Lessons Day #2
    March 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 am

    [...] probably won’t post every day of the Shredhead 30-day challenge, but I’ll tag in when I have insights or lessons (or, um, gripes) to [...]

  3. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » I Tried (and Failed) to Cheat on Jillian Michaels
    March 6th, 2009 at 11:31 am

    [...] Day #5 of the 30-Day Shreadhead Challenge. [...]

  4. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » Day 8: Form and Function
    March 9th, 2009 at 9:03 am

    [...] Day #8 of the 30-Day Shreadhead Challenge. I’m still [...]

  5. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » Day 9: Reality Check and Alternative Workout
    March 10th, 2009 at 11:11 am

    [...] #9 of the 30-Day Shredhead Challenge. Today was a day of reality [...]

  6. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » Level 2 Done…Now What?
    March 11th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

    [...] Day #10 of the 30-Day Shredhead Challenge. [...]

  7. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » Level 3 Improv
    March 15th, 2009 at 9:52 am

    [...] Day #14 of the 30-Day Shredhead Challenge. [...]

  8. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » I Gargled My Heart for 60 Minutes
    March 18th, 2009 at 8:44 am

    [...] Day #17 of the 30-Day Shredhead Challenge. [...]

  9. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » The Shredding Continues
    April 3rd, 2009 at 9:50 am

    [...] for most of the last week of the March challenge I was sick as a dog. But I finished strong and have continued to move forward with Jillian’s [...]

  10. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » Mixing It Up
    August 11th, 2009 at 10:38 am

    [...] been committed to Jillian Michaels since Day 1 (holy crap, all the way back on March 2!), first through the 30-Day Shred in March, then by [...]

  11. Pop Discourse » Blog Archive » Go Ahead, Double Dog Dare Me
    December 9th, 2009 at 11:21 am

    [...] of the Shredheads. Thanks to the Shredheads, I went from being skeptical that I could give myself 20 minutes a day of self-care to gargling my heart for 60 minutes at a time to posting bikini pictures online to getting past my [...]

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