Getting Shredded?

When I was still at my hellacious job, my exercising was largely yoga for it's calming effect but I also did Pilates, worked out with the Wii, and then there was all of the walking (hello, 3 Day).  But even with all of that, I still gained weight.  I gained weight because I was stuck at a desk for eight hours a day after being active and on my feet for my whole life prior to that.  I gained weight because I ate while stuck at my desk out of boredom.  And I ate comfort food at night after being stressed out all day at that job.  I left that job in January and within a month of leaving it, I lost 5lbs.  It took me a long while after leaving that job to get into a regular routine and even longer to start feeling like myself again.  Exercise, even though I knew it would make me feel better, wound up being something that got pushed to the back burner.  Every once in a while, I'd do yoga or Pilates but there was no regularity to it.  Lately, however, I've started to feel pretty fed up with myself.

Laura over at I Am A Refined Young Lady, mentioned the 30 Day Shred and I was intrigued.  The Shred is actually Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  When I had been really into doing Wii work outs, I heard of a Jillian Michaels Wii program, but never tried it.  Laura highly recommended this work out, though.  3" off the waist recommendation.  And then I saw before and after pictures of some women that have done the 30 Day Shred.  Needless to say, it immediately got put on the Netflix queue.

I read that each of the three work outs (Levels 1-3) included on the DVD were only 20 minutes and I (mistakenly) thought "how hard can it be?"  Boy was I wrong.  Day 1 of Level 1 seriously kicked my ass.  So did days two and three.  And then I started feeling stronger.  There's one really amazing thing that happened in those first few days of doing the 30 Day Shred: I remembered that I am strong.  By the end of Level 1 (10 days), I noticed that my endurance was much improved and that I could do all of the cardio and abs full out.  I was getting deeper into my squats but I still needed some upper body work: I couldn't do all of the push ups or shoulder presses.

Today was Day 11 and the start of the next level so I weighed in and measured.  Here's the weirdness: my weight didn't change and I think I lost 1" off my waist.  I guess the weight thing makes sense because muscle weighs more than fat (I am totally assuming here that all of the strength training is starting to pay off and I'm gaining muscle).  I'm a little confused about only the waist measurement changing which is why I'm wondering if I just measured wrong.  It actually does feel like my abs are a little more taught, however I haven't really noticed my clothes fitting any differently.

I also moved onto Level 2 today.  Needless to say, Day 1 of Level 2 also kicked my ass; even doing the beginner moves.  Here's to hoping that this works the same as Level 1 and I start to ease into it after a few days.  

I have to tell you, I was really hard on myself today.  I keep expecting such drastic changes from this program even though I know that isn't realistic after only a week and a half of working out.  I know I've come a long way since I started and I'm doing the best I can.  I hope that by the time I reach the end of the 30 days, I can see and feel the results.

Have you tried the 30 Day Shred?  What were your experiences?  Doing something else?  What's your work out routine?