1 week down, 3 more to go!

Even though I worked out one less day than I had hoped to in the last week... I still accomplished my goal of at least 5 days of working out! I feel great!

After the Week 1, Day 3. Sometimes you gotta
get ugly to look good!

Protein Smoothie

The first couple days were really difficult! I was so sore after the Jillian Workout! It was really hard to motivate myself to do the 3rd day, but my muscles actually relaxed a lot more after that 3rd workout and I felt much better. I should always remember that the excuse, "I'm too sore to workout." is absolutely ridiculous! My soreness always improves after a workout! I was also happy with my 3rd day of Jillian because  I  totally killed it! Following the workout I made a 'Peanut Butter and Jelly' protein smoothie. You can find the recipe here! It's really delicious, filling, and has 25g of protein as well as BCAA's which help your muscles recover after a workout! The smoothie was such a success, that I think I'll definitely experiment more with different smoothie recipes in the future! There are some involving coffee that I definitely want to try out!

On Saturday I took a break because I traveled out to an island off of the cost of Incheon, Korea with some friends. I did spend quite a lot of time walking around in the sand, so I feel like that definitely counts for a workout of sorts, even if it doesn't fall into this current challenge! 

              

It was nice to have some time away from the city. And, although I didn't take any pictures... I felt great in my bathing suit and that certainly says something! Additionally, one of the new friends I met on the trip is very enthusiastic about giving others' massages! Since I was a little stiff from all of the workouts I had been doing, I took her up on her massage offer and certainly don't regret it! I felt so relaxed afterwards... even though I'm I terrible massage receiver; the kind of person who feels extremely ticklish or in pain, and never anywhere in between! 

The view from the yard of the pension,
where I worked out.

On Sunday I woke up fairly early. Another friend, Grace, happened to be a licensed fitness instructor so she offered to lead us through a yoga routine. I tried my best, but I'm still not the most flexible, so yoga is always a challenge! Grace had to push me into some of the positions, but the stretch felt good! After yoga, she decided to do a bit of interval training. Now, this, I could handle! (Thanks Jillian!) Lunges, push-ups, jumping jacks, sit-ups, no problemo! Grace was impressed by how well I handled the workout. All in all, I built up quite a sweat and really had a nice time working out in such a beautiful place! Although... I do wish I had worn some kind of bug repellent!

On Monday I intended to jump back into Ripped, but instead, laid on my bed when I got home and fell asleep immediately... until 10:30pm! I decided that I must need the sleep, so after getting up for a longish walk with Bilbo, I decided to go straight back to bed. 

On Tuesday I woke up totally rejuvenated. I had an awesomely productive day at work and then went home and destroyed the last level 1 workout! I felt really great after! Here are some progress pictures. The top 2 are the ones I took after I finished the ab challenge that I did in June. The bottom 2 are just a week later after finishing level 1, of 'Ripped in 30.' I can see a difference in toning! 

Now, don't think I've forgotten about the stretching/splits challenge! For the last week, I've been doing the same stretching for splits video that I posted in my last entry. There has definitely been an improvement, even if it hasn't been drastic! I'm sticking with it and will post pictures when I get around to taking them! 

For the next week... I'll continue my splits training while moving on to level 2 in 'Ripped in 30.' Also, on Sunday I'm running the Peace Marathon in Seoul. I signed up for the 10K portion as a fundraiser to raise money for North Korean refugees. The race was originally supposed to happen last month, but because of the MERS scare it was moved to Sunday, the 12th. Fingers crossed that I survive the July heat, the predicted rain and the run itself!

Until next time!