Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred Review

OK, so this review has been done a million times over, but I really want to tell people about it because it has actually changed me so much. 

Last year was tough for me, I went through a lot and as a result put on some weight. Not a huge amount but enough to make my skinny jeans a little to skinny and make me feel uncomfortable. I was reading the Sunday Times Style magazine and seen an article about 'fit being the new skinny', it had a picture of a girl with an amazing body and the caption was something about how women rarely get to see there bodies full potential, which for some reason just stuck with me. 

It sparked something within me and made me ready to make changes. I started looking for new workouts to try and came across the 30 Day Shred everywhere, so I gave it a shot! 

The program is divided into three, intense twenty five minute workouts (that includes warm-up and cool down). These workouts consist of 3 circuits, which have a 3-2-1 formation. Three minutes of strength, two minutes cardio and one minute abs...with no rest in between. 

The levels get harder as you go on, although I personally found level two more challenging that level 3.

There are modifications to make the moves slightly easier or harder, but with Jillian's quick, perfectly cued words of motivation, like 'I have 400 pound people that can do this move, so can you' (or something along them lines) you really strive to push yourself.

Jillian isn't every one's cup of tea but her style works for me. She's tough, more like a personal trainer than the fun friendly mister motivator types that host some work out DVDs. And more importantly, her methods works. 

I first start noticing changes after just 5 or 6 days of doing this DVD. That's amazing like! By the end of my 30 days I had noticed a huge change in my stomach and some definition in my arms and legs. 

I didn't slack when doing it, I did it 6 days a week. Its only 25 minutes so its very do-able. 

After the 30 days I kept up my fitness regime, alternating between Jillian's other DVDs, 'No more trouble zones', 'Banish Fat Boost Metabolism', 'Killer bums and thighs', and 'Six week Six pack' and the 30 Day Shred. And my body is looking pretty good. In fact its the best its ever looked, ever. I'm so proud of how much I've achieved and feeling so motivated to carry on. 

I've just started Ripped in 30 this morning so will let you know how that goes.

So if your looking for a fast and effective way to lose weight and tone up I 100% recommend the 30 Day Shred.

I stupidly, didn't take any before or after pictures, but here's a picture from when I'd finished the shred when I was on holidays. You can see the definition in my stomach. Makes me so happy :)

p.s: All 3 levels are on YouTube. :P

All images, except the last one from Pinterest.

My new tattoo.

I've been meaning to write this post for ages now but I've been a bit lazy on the blogging front, but with this being Suicide Awareness Week its perfect timing. 

As a child we had a van, every Sunday, my brothers, a few cousins and I, would get in the back and my dad would randomly drive around while we played wrestling, or other silly games in the back. (Imagine doing that these days!) 
So this one Sunday, on a drive, my cousin (also my best friend) and I were having a conversation about what life would be like if there was no sky...or grass...or shopping centres (we were only 8) and my brother, Daniel, interrupted and said 'Imagine there were no spacemen...'. Carly and I thought this was the silliest thing because who cares about spacemen? You can't live without a sky but you can live without spacemen. So we laughed and teased him, and then that Madness song 'House of fun' came on the radio and we all sang along. Happy days.

Anyway, roll on a million years later to November 7th 2011, the night my little brother died. We were sitting in that grim room in the hospital were the bereaved family are brought. In between hysterical tears, panic attacks and hugs, Carly said 'Imagine their were no spacemen' and we both started laughing. 

Since then that has become my fondest memory. Something so simple, when life was trouble free and perfect. So got a spaceman, as he's up there now, my very own spaceman.

I chose to get it on my arm because I want people to see it, I want people to ask about it so I can tell them my story. Some people are uncomfortable when I say how my brother died, but most people are curious and I can talk to them about it, they hear about the grief, about how we had no idea he was depressed, how he 'wasn't the type', how we were the family who thought it would never happen to us, and how heartbroken we are to never have had a chance to tell him how much we love him. 
So to me, creating that awareness and breaking down that stigma attached to talking about depression and suicide is the best thing I can do to prevent someone else feeling the pain I do everyday. 

Sorry, bit of a long post but there ya go! Anyone else have tattoo's with special meanings? 

P.s: If anyone else has had experience with suicide feel free to email me, strangely enough I enjoy talking about it. 

Want.

All images via tumblr.

Red Dress.

Just a quick outfit post. This is what I wore out last weekend. Red body con American Apparel dress. I bought this dress about two years ago but never felt confident enough to wear it as its VERY clingy. You know the way they say you get more confident as you get older? I think its definitely true. I'm way more confident about my body now than I was a few years ago even though I was probably skinnier back then. The only thing about this dress is that its very hard to wear underwear with. Everything shows, even underwear that claims to not show! (I did wear underwear though)

This is my favourite way to wear my hair, curly and messy. Unfortunately my hair is naturally very straight and flat and no matter how much product I use the curls fall out.

Also, do you like my new tattoo? I'll do a post on its meaning soon

x

Rottweiler tee

Since I first spotted the Givenchy Rottweiler tee on Kanye West I knew I had to have one. Well, a rottweiler tee, not exactly a Givenchy one. I absolutely adore this print, it looks fierce and really toughens up any outfit. Here, I have paired it with a pair of Houndstooth, high waisted, cropped trousers that I got a good few years ago from Urban Outfitters, but have recently just found under my brothers bed at home and my Topshop leather jacket.
I actually wore this out while walking my dog Hasso, who happens to be a rottie. I'd like to say it just happened to be what I was wearing that day but I wore it on purpose, as I'm a bit sad and got a little bit excited about how cool it is that my t-shirt and dog match. :)

How cute is Hasso? He's possibly the naughtiest dog ever!

Hope your week is going well.
xx