Life as a Lindquist: 30-day shred or something like it

I'll just go ahead and put it out there. I gained 40 pounds during pregnancy. About 25-35 LBs are recommended, so I didn't feel so bad about going 5 pounds over the suggested higher end. Kinda like going 5 miles over the speed limit, everybody does it.

A week after baby Faith was born, I stepped on the scale....20 pounds lighter! Haha, I thought to myself, this is going to be a cinch. Everyone told me the pounds just melt off when you breastfeed and I was already halfway home, so I figured the rest would just fall off as easily as the first 20. Enter the wah wahhh sound.

I've continued to step on the scale since that day and my "new number" hasn't budged. Stupid freaking scale isn't broken either. Sonofa...

Since my favorite exercise pasttime of running is out of the question given the time and heat factors (excuses, maybe) I decided to do what any woman in my position would do... buy the 30-day shred video by Jillian Michaels of the Biggest Loser, force my husband to do it w/ me and proceed to swear at my television and the girls behind Jillian w/ fake smiles and spray on abs. Me? Bitter? Nooo!

Mr. Lindquist and I are now on day 10 of the video and ready to move onto the second level. While I know the exercises will be harder than level 1, I have the first segment memorized and am ready for a change of dialogue. The first few days were rough. Not just the exercises (yes, those caused delayed onset muscle soreness which equaled me limping around like a 90-year-old woman) but there's a reason most new moms should wait until 6 weeks to hit it too hard, mainly bladder control and sore tatas. Add a dog that likes to lick the sweat off your face, a husband who uses cans of refried beans for weights thus making you crack up during the abs portion of the video, and a baby with surprisingly amazing bowel function, and it's difficult to get 20 minutes of exercise done without pausing the video 10 times.

Regardless of my weight loss or lack thereof, it's been fun working out w/ Rob, even if he corrects my form and tells me we look like turtles on the backs of our shells during the ab exercises. Laughter burns more calories than anything, right? I sure hope so!

Here's some pics of us doing/attempting the 30-day shred!