So I completed the Summer Shred! I was incredibly proud of myself as this was the hardest I have ever pushed myself when it comes to my health. And in an effort to make this a lifestyle change and not just a fad diet, I have entered the month of June starting the Extreme Summer Shred, with Bobbi McCormick of NHerShoes again!
First, I want to recap my month of May Summer Shred (my first Shred ever with Bobbi). My goals were to learn to eat clean, to lose 10 pounds, to tone up, get stronger, and just become healthier in general. Well, I think I did a pretty darn good job, especially when it came to eating clean and working out. I ate clean for about 98% of my meals in the month of May. I thought this would be a difficult feat, but it really proved to be a lot easier than I had expected. The good thing for me is that I like the taste of whole, clean foods. While I wasn’t anywhere close to eating a totally clean diet before, I did eat a lot of clean foods and tried to be healthy, so my taste was already inclined towards those foods. For someone who is used to eating a lot of processed and junk foods, this transition may have been a lot more difficult.
The major change I made was going from running 3-4 times a week to still doing this while also adding a workout 4-5 times a week on top of that. There was usually only one day a week where I wasn’t getting some form of legitimate exercise, and even then I was walking, playing with my son and staying active. I really think this has made a big difference in my life. I feel so much more energized, and I am definitely feeling stronger!
At the end of the month, I had lost 7 pounds and several inches (I really need to do my measurements, but haven’t gotten around to it!) Here are my before and after pictures, which aren’t the most attractive, but I’m finally starting to feel a little better about my body!
I can really see a difference in the way my body is shaped and things are finally starting to tighten up!
This brings me to the Extreme Summer Shred! Bobbi created this for those of us who had done the May Summer Shred, as a way to continue on and push ourselves even harder. She has challenged us to eat even cleaner and has created tougher workouts for us each week! I am definitely excited to start these! I love getting her recipes and meal plans for the week because it helps me mix things up a little instead of just eating salads and grilled chicken all the time. There are really are SO many great ways to cook yummy clean foods.
My goals for this shred are a little different. I would like to get my running time down to 9 minutes per mile. This is a big stretch and will take a lot of work for me since mine usually vary between 11 and 10 minutes currently. I got a new app on my phone called Zombies, Run (which I will discuss at a later time, but its awesome), and I’m hoping this will help with some interval training. My other goals are to lose another 3 pounds and really start tightening up in my mid-section. I would like to be confident, not only comfortable, in a bikini for the first time in my life!
I still have a long road ahead, and I hope that as I continue these Shreds, they really will become a lifestyle for me. I know how important eating and exercise are when it comes to health in general, but knowing these actions could push my chances of cancer back a little further really keeps me motivated. I want to do everything possible while I can to push back those chances so that I can live a longer, healthier life before having to make the really big decisions of mastectomy and having my ovaries removed someday. I’m choosing to watch what I put in my body and treat my body the way it should be so that I can feel and look better!
Related articles
Pushing Forward (lavidasanablog.com)
Starting Out (lavidasanablog.com)
Eating Clean (lavidasanablog.com)
“Developing Clean Eating Habits for the Busy Woman” (makeuglam.wordpress.com)
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