30 Day Shred

Ever since the birth of my second child I've been working on getting down to my pre-pregnancy weight of 139, and want to eventually get down to 130 pounds.  Having gained 55 pounds with this pregnancy, it's been a long, ongoing journey.  As of last week (since I forgot to weigh-in yesterday) I weighed 155 pounds.  As a side note - I've found it very freeing to be able to say what I weigh.  As women we are taught to be ashamed of our weight unless it's 125 or less.  130 is considered just acceptable.  But we're all built differently and there is no one correct weight as long as you're healthy.  After my first daughter (where I once again gained 55 pounds with a starting weight of 168) I stopped losing weight at 186.  With the support of some wonderful women and Weight Watchers I was able to lose almost 50 pounds.  Being able to admit what I weighed to others was the beginning of my success.  Okay, back on track.  Some women I know have started doing Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred and have been impressed with it.  Intrigued, I decided to give it a try myself - this morning was Day One.  Here are a few things I learned:

1.  Putting the baby down for her nap is a great way to start.  Forgetting to grab socks and having to work out in your barefeet is not.  That was a bit rough on the ankles.

2.  2-year-olds love to work out with you.  They will make you laugh as they try the moves and giggle at how silly they look or feel.  They will also get mad when you invariably cross over into "their spot."

3.  As you are congratulating yourself on how well you're doing on level 1 it is important to remember that well does not equal doing the modified versions and breaking a sweat even though you do not have the required hand weights.

4.  You will never get over the sound that your flab makes as you do jumping jacks and other movements.  You will definitely never get over it if anyone but your 2-year-old ever hears those sounds.

To wrap up, I feel really good after the work out and am even contemplating doing it again today if I can find the time.  I will try and take some before pictures and then some after pictures if I stick with this for 30 days to see if there is a noticeable difference.  Should be interesting. 

Chicken Salad

Today I decided I should try to make chicken salad.  Instead of going the simple route of buying pre-shredded chicken, I've decided to boil and shred a whole chicken. This way I'll have enough for chicken salad and left overs for things like tortillas with cheese and chicken. The directions are easy enough - carve chicken up, place in water and boil. So far I've flunked the carving portion of the process. After mutilating the poor, dead chicken (and waiting for a call from some animal rights group) I just dumped the whole thing in a pan of water. However, it doesn't quite fit. I'm not sure if the portion sticking out of the pan is going to cook properly - we shall see. I'd take pictures, but my hack job might give you nightmares. In one hour I am to take the chicken out of the pot and shred it. Hopefully that part goes better than the carving part.

P.S.  Is the smell of the chicken supposed to make you nauseous?

Okay - here is a picture of the cooked chicken - it no longer looks like something out of a bad horror film.

My 2-year old helped me to shred the chicken and I must say that I am less than overwhelmed by the amount it produced - so much for extra.  Maybe next time I'll just buy the canned stuff.  Anyway, on to the ingredients.  Grapes, green onions and celery (no, I didn't put all the green onions in.  In an amazing example of foresight I froze the rest for later use).

  

Then came the mayonnaise, salt and pepper.  It came out better than I thought it would...

and I even set aside some of the broth to freeze in case I ever need it.   Go me.