Staying up with the Slacks: Ripped in 30-Week 3: Focus on the Positive

I started Week 3 of Ripped in 30 yesterday, Monday July 2.Unfortunately, I barely made it through this workout, not because it was ridiculously hard (which is was by the way), but because I have encountered my first injury. On Sunday, I noticed my right knee was very stiff but I just assumed it was because I had been in black stilettos most of the day. By Sunday night, it was really starting to bother me. I have never been injured in all my years as an athlete. Sore, yes. A little tweak of an ankle here and there, yes. But nothing that kept me from working out or playing volleyball.

Yesterday, I started the new workout not knowing what was coming, and the first exercise was bear crawls, and then walking prisoner lunges....yea, ouch. My right knee was screaming. If you drew a line down the center of my knee cap, that is exactly where it hurts. There is intense pressure, and it feels like it might explode. I should have stopped, but I didn't. I kept going, and by the end I hobbled to my freezer to get some ice. No ice packs, so I settled for a bag of frozen butternut squash!

Two 20 minute ice sessions yesterday, so we will see how today goes. I know I need to listen to my body, but I am scared that the answer is that I will have to take some time off. I am really dedicated to finishing this not only for myself but for all of you. I am pretty dissapointed, but I am hoping that it just goes away. What are the chances of that?

Week 2

Exercise

Week 2 was much harder than week 1. By the end of Week 1, the exercises became very easy, so I was anxious to move on to Week 2. In the first circuit of Week 2, after your 3 minutes of strength, you do 2 minutes of cardio. The cardio is 30 seconds of Plank Jacks, 30 seconds of Mountain Climbers. Repeat. I hate Mountain Climbers, always have and always will. So that is two minutes of being in the plank position, shoulders absolutely screaming! This never got completely easy, but by Saturday I could almost make it the full 2 minutes without relaxing in the position.

I love to push myself past what I thought my body could achieve. If I don't feel like I am going to DIE, than for me, the workout was not a success. That is how hard I like to push myself. That stupid saying everybody hates, "Go Hard or Go Home!", yeah that is me. Which is probably why my knee is killing me. So my point is, don't do this if you are going to half-***(whoops, sorry there is no substitute) it. Give it all you've got, there is no other way to workout.

Last week, I worked out Monday through Thursday, off Friday, worked out Saturday, off on Sunday. I did the 6 Week 6 Pack video twice to get to the 50 minute mark, and did the elliptical for the other three days. On my elliptical, I still do interval training. I do 3 minutes as fast as I can, and 1 minute at a slow pace but with the resistance set at about 4 or 5.

Diet

I honestly thought I did really well despite the circumstances this week. I had to eat out 3 times this week for birthdays and weddings. Thursday, Texas de Brazil. Friday, P.F Changs. Saturday, a wedding at a golf course. I tried to make better choices, and I think I did pretty well. According to my handy dandy My Fitness Pal app, I didn't go over my calories. I didn't have bread, except for the crunchy things that go in the soup at P.F. Changs.

Unfortunately, I did not lose any weight this week. I was really discouraged by this yesterday morning. I felt like a failure. I really did. Yesterday, was a bad day for me. I didn't lose any weight, and my knee hurt. Ugh. Depressing day.

This week some of my meals were Blue Cheese Burgers, no bun, fajitas, no tortilla, cauliflower pizza, and chicken salad with avocado. All very delicious and grain free!

I really want to rock these 30 days, and every single day after that. Not losing weight felt like I failed, but the typical "Muscle weighs more than Fat" thought came into my head. I know I am losing inches, but like an idiot I did not measure myself before I started. I can tell by my clothes that I am trimming down. I have decided that the scale doesn't matter, and I am not going to obsesses over the number. I feel good, and feel like I look good, so that is what I will focus on. I also think if we focus on a number then nothing will ever be good enough. Trust me, I have weighed less than I do now and I still wanted to be skinnier. So I am saying goodbye to the scale and focusing on more positive accomplishments. Like the fact that I can hold a plank while jumping my legs out and in, I can stand on one leg and do dumbell rows, I can do pushups while bringing my knee up to my armpit! I don't even think Hayden can do that...okay he probably can but still!

Progress Photos

I honestly can't believe I post photos of myself in a sports bra and spandex but I am doing it for all of you! I know there is a difference, I can see it definitely in the side view, and my love handles are getting smaller. Oh and my quads are getting serious. I love it! I am loving this! Stay tuned for Week 3! I loved Day 1 of Week 3, it was so hard!