After all is said and done...

So, having had the photos up for a couple of days now, I am really pleased generally with the response. I think when you look at yourself, you are bound to be more critical so the whole point of these photos was so I could get an honest opinion from people who know me and from those who don't. I had a great response - thank you if you tweeted/messaged me, and sorry if I wasn't at first very accepting of your judgement! The overwhelming response was that while the side profile looked very similar, from the front I look more toned, a more defined waist, and someone even commented that my skin looks smoother (though I think this might have been more to do with the light on the day than anything....!)

I am still a little disappointed though. Especially because on closer inspection you can see that my boobs are in fact a little smaller, the ONE place I didn't actually want to lose any weight! But if they stay in proportion with me as I shrink down hopefully they won't be too much smaller noticeably. I think when you see yourself every day, and when you are as critical of yourself as I am, its hard to see any differences but generally the response has been good (and I had a few thanks for wearing sexier underwear in the after photos, I mean seriously, these are NOT sexy pictures...!!!)

So I have decided that once through the Shred is enough for the moment and I have moved on to something else. I gave this a go for the first time on Friday - 

Found on Pinterest - originally pinned from backonpointe.tumblr.com

Let me tell you, it was TOUGH! Even more so than it looks :) The water breaks are very well spaced though; I would finish an exercise and beg for it to be a water break next and I think 3 out of 4 times it actually was, so the breaks are definitely in the right places. You're still working your butt off though. Also, whoever invented a burpee, I hate your guts. 

I'm going to aim to do this 3 or 4 times a week, similar to how I did the Shred. Its a bit easier because I don't have to set up the Xbox or Playstation with the DVD and skip through all Jillian's talky bits at the start (for some reason you can't skip those unless you use a proper DVD player) so I can get straight into the workout above no messing. I am also adding to it by doing a few of the Shred moves for abs, as this is more just general cardio rather than targeted areas. And I am determined that there ARE abs there, they are just flab-covered at the moment, they are beautiful toned under there, I swear :D

I think more cardio is what I need though - Shred may be something for me to do again when all I need is toning but for the moment I need something more cardio based to burn off the fat that's there before toning up in general. Hopefully after a few weeks of doing this cardio circuit, I can be a little bit more proud of my pictures :)