It’s been a good long while since I posted on my blog. I really want to post more, I just need to figure out what to post about. However I’ve been planning this post all summer! I committed to the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution Plan for the summer since I knew that the gym wasn’t in the cards for me. Work schedules are too crazy around here to make that work. So I began this rotation on Monday, June 17th and I actually remembered to take photos AND measurements!

I’ve written this blog post on different increments of my Body Revolution journey after taking photos for each stage.

Now, I wish I could say I changed my eating habits during the program. But so far I haven’t. I struggle with no actual schedule. So summer time is tough for me. When it comes to getting up in the morning, working out or even working on my office – I’ve really slacked off. However I have gotten in every single one of these workouts and haven’t missed any of them.

I also implemented double cardio days during this program. So on cardio days I do the Body Revolution Cardio and 30 minutes of cycling.

There’s been small changes in both weight and measurements. I’m sure they’d be a heck of a lot better if I could dial in my eating along with the program. I’m a stress eater, a bored eater and a grazer. So I guess working out has kept some of the weight at bay but I’d really like to trim down a bit so I feel more comfortable in my clothes. Jeans season is right around the corner and those are uncomfortable enough!

I’ve continued to stay true to my word when it comes to workouts and I’m sure anyone that follows me on Instagram is sick of my daily posts. It’s how I stay accountable to myself. So I apologize. However if you’re following me on Facebook at least you’re getting some humorous memes in between my daily workout posts.

After closing out on Phase Two and still not making much of a change, I do feel a little defeated. Don’t worry I’m not quitting. I actually want to try and throw my all into it for the last phase. I’ll get a “bonus” week to complete it as I’m taking a mini vacation during this phase and won’t be able to take my workout on the road as we’re camping in Maine. So instead I’ll take my sneakers and do a little running, swimming, paddle boarding, sailing and yoga.

I’m also hoping the fact that we have to plan a fairly strict menu for the trip that it will help with the grazing and crap eating. But I’ll know best when I come back.

During Phase Two I added in daily yoga. I felt like the cool down stretching wasn’t enough for me and my flexibility had become no existent. Daily yoga of 10-15 minutes daily has been helping my overall soreness as well as regaining some of my flexibility.

As I’m finishing up on Phase Three I realized a few things. The biggest is how real my body dysmorphia is. When I look at myself (no mirror, just using my eyes to observe myself), I see my muscles toning. My legs look good, my arms are shaping up and my abdomen feels flatter. My clothes are feeling different (in a good way). Overall I feel good about all the work I’ve put in. Then I look at myself in the mirror or in a picture. I chop that body into a million pieces. Contradicting everything I was just feeling good about. Which is a damn shame. I catch myself thinking “is this what other people see?” Which honestly I shouldn’t care, right? As long as I’m happy with myself.

I faced these realities during a pop up class I decided to take at a new gym (The Barre in Rocky Hill). Mirrors all over the place – for the obvious reason of checking your form. But I tried to position myself between the seam of the mirrors and did my very best to avoid my own eye contact. I also caught myself looking around the room and comparing myself to the other people. Deciding that once again I was the biggest person in the room. Totally missing the point that I killed the workout. Killed it. Having never taken the class before I kept up with all the regulars. It was a HIIT class with rotations between cardio and strength. I was able to do everything with little to no modifications. Cranking through pushups like a boss while the guy next to me was riding the struggle bus. Yet I circled back to how I looked in the mirror rather than how I felt.

Now that I’m finished with the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution and I’m on this new morning time schedule since the kids are back in school. (My oldest has to get up at 5:30-bus stop at 6:20 & my youngest gets up at 7:15 drop off at 8:40.) This gives me the time in between to workout uninterrupted before taking the little guy to school. I’m going to continue on with these home workouts rather than the gym since I proved to myself that I can complete the 90 days with little to no excuses.

My next workout program is going to be the follow up to this one. Jillian Michaels Body Shred. This program is 60 days and a little more intense (or so it says). I’ve done this program before too. I can’t remember if I’ve finished it.

Overall I’m not mad at my results from this program. I gave the workouts everything I had. The food. Not so much. They do say your body is made in the kitchen not in the gym right?

So I’ve got a good thing going with how far I’ve come with this program. I can only continue to improve if I don’t stop.

Something else to think about is that I did this without going to the gym. Committing to myself that I’ll workout every morning no matter what. I only had 2 days in a fitness class during these past 90 days. If you asked me at the middle of June when I began if I could do it without classes at the gym, I would have said no. I proved myself wrong.

I’d love to be able to go to the gym daily but honestly the classes I like just aren’t in the budget. You know how it goes. Boutique Fitness gets expensive.