Again this post comes super late, not that I haven’t finished the challenge already, but I just haven’t found the time/energy to write this post. Not to say I just haven’t had time at all, I must admit I haven’t been prioritising a lot of the things I’ve wanted to do as I’ve either felt a little paralysed by my never-ending to-do list, or I have too many things that I want to do so I’ve been doing bits of all of them lol. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that’s my current state of mind.
Fitness-wise, I think I have improved significantly and it shows on my body. I added a couple of progress photos at the bottom of previous post and it hasn’t changed much since then, but compared to a couple of years ago? Oh yeah, the change is pretty dramatic.
I mean, just looking back on my wedding photos you can already clearly see such a big difference, and I wasn’t even at my heaviest at that time.
Anyways, now that I am this far in my fitness journey, I have started to make these workouts more of my own. I still follow Chloe’s movements for the most part, but I will also change it up wherever I see fit to target the areas I feel like I need to work on (my left side, ehhem).
This Summer Shred Challenge was only 3 weeks long so this is the final 2022 Summer Shred post! Goodness, it absolutely flew by. As with my last post, I wasn’t up for writing a daily update so I just noted the workouts I did and put my concluding thoughts at the end.
Week Three
6/7 – Day 16: Completed 17:59.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Full Body Burn, Toned Abs, 5min Daily Stretch.
6/8: 1.01mi walk, avg pace 25’46/mi.
6/9 – Day 17: Completed 12:54.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Arms & Core, Toned Arms, 15min Morning Workout, 5min Daily Stretch.
6/10 – Day 18: Completed 12:20.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Toned Legs, Perky Butt, Toned Abs.
Additional exercise: 0.95mi walk, avg pace 23’31/mi.
6/11 – Day 20: Completed 11:34.
Videos completed: Full Body Burn, Upper Body, Abs in 2 Weeks (loosely followed).
6/12: 1.97mi walk, avg pace 22’25/mi.
6/13 – Day 21: Completed 12:43.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Round Booty, 15min Legs & Booty (loosely followed), 10min Booty (loosely followed).
Equipment used: medium resistance band.
Additional exercise: 3.19mi walk, avg pace 16’54/mi.
Gosh, can you believe it? I’ve already completed the 2022 Summer Shred Challenge! The previous Summer Shred I did was the 2020 one, which was pretty much at the very start of my fitness journey. I loved that one, even though 28 days felt like a long time at the time.
Sometimes 3 weeks can drag too, but this one? I feel like I blinked and it was over. That said, I do credit a lot of it to the teams feature on the Chloe Ting website. Aw yeah, I love how the feature turned out in the end because it has honestly made a huge difference in my motivation in working out.
Ginger and I did this challenge together and we called our team “For Nugget <3” because our third teammate wasn’t able to join us. I have no idea how many more challenges I probably would have completed had this feature existed at the time.
Just updating daily and seeing our progress increase, and messaging each other about it must produce some form of dopamine hit. Even if I’m exhausted, I still want to do my workout every day. Well, maybe except the very last day because your girl desperately needed an extra break.
This week had 2 rest days built in and you bet I didn’t take them on the days they were scheduled :D I took the rest days as they suited me, which totally makes sense because there are just some days where I needed a break and others that I didn’t. I tried to do a walk even if I wasn’t going to do a workout though.
I recall Day 17 being a good workout day because I’d rested the day before and felt rejuvenated, but both Ginger and I enjoyed Day 18 more because it of the Get Toned videos haha. Get Toned is still one of my all time favourite programs. Probably wouldn’t mind re-doing at some point, to be honest.
Day 20 I started following loosely because some of the movements just don’t work that well for me. For example, I chose to do incline pushups instead of some of the planking movements, to build up my upper body strength. I also didn’t bother getting out my mat so I didn’t want to plank on the floor lol. That is mostly due to my laziness, but still.
Day 21, however, I was just not motivated for it. I dunno, if it hadn’t been for Ginger, I probably would have put it off. As it goes, I’m glad I got it done and completed the challenge, even if I only loosely followed the last two videos. I used a medium band for some of the second video that called for it, before starting to replace some of the moves with my own.
I really want to do some martial arts, and there’s a lot of strength and flexibility required in that, so some of the moves I was working on instead were also very much lower body focused. Like, one thing I’m trying to improve is my single-legged squat! Oh man, they are insanely difficult. I have a whole new level of respect for people who can do them. I did a total of 2 mini ones before my legs noped out :D
Would I recommend this Challenge?
Yes, I think so! It’s one of the easiest Challenges I’ve done in recent memory. I found it easier both in intensity and in duration. As mentioned, the 3 weeks really flew by and is Chloe’s shortest Summer Shred Challenge. The lack of equipment made it feel less challenging than some of the others I’ve done. I feel like it’s probably best for beginners, or good for if you want a refreshing Challenge to give yourself a break? Haha.
I don’t think it was ineffective though! The ease of the workouts meant I had energy to spare to go for walks, which I thoroughly enjoyed and felt was beneficial for both my heart health and for fat loss. Plus, it was pretty fun. The best Challenge/workout is one that you actually do, so the fact that I completed this Challenge with relative ease is a major plus point.
One thing I will say though, is that I now have confidence to go out in a crop top and shorts. For the first time in my entire life I have not feared showing off my midriff, which is where I typically store most of my fat. Huge credit to Chloe for that. Excuse my cat-hair filled top, but I don’t have any other good photos to commemorate the occasion:
We were walking through an empty parking lot at this point lol. Not to say I don’t still have a lovely layer of fat on my stomach, but it’s just at a level where I don’t feel the desperate need to constantly hide it anymore. Woohoo for confidence!
What’s next?
Well, Chloe’s next challenge launches in just under 4 weeks. I want to go to some martial arts classes this week if I can. Mr. Bob and I want to go and play badminton on Saturday if possible, so I think my workouts for this week are more or less sorted? But moving forward, I’m not sure.
I wanted to try Caroline Girvan’s EPIC Heat, but I heard it’s super difficult… Well, I guess I’m up for a challenge? But let’s see if I like any of the marital arts classes first. If I do, I’d love to just do more of that on a regular basis.
I am also not quite sure what Challenge Chloe will release next but I suspect it’ll be a new 2 Week Shred. She tends to release those around July/August. Honestly, not sure if I want to do another 2 Week Shred. They tend to be ridiculously intense. But if it’s not another 2WS, well… I’m listening!
Either way, there probably won’t be as many (if any) fitness posts from me for a little while, so enjoy this time of pain-free peace and quiet from me ;) See you guys in the next one!
Muchos love,