I have been doing the 30 day for a week now and I have kept my calorie count to 1400 a day and i drink at least 64 oz of h20 a day. So I have gained 2 pounds this week! I am just about to freak out.. but trying to stay calm.. but just so aggrivated....... So I was just wondering what calorie goals people have while doing this workout... I am hoping that my gain is maybe due to not enough calories? I don't know! I just starting exercising so this is all new to me. I have just been cutting calories and that has worked well so far. But now I don't know to increase.. or keep it at the same and hopefully the scale will start to go down soon.. any advise would be appriciated!!

Are your muscles sore? It could be water weight. I'd say give it another week and see how it goes. Also - what time of the month is it? That would cause you to retain water as well.

What were you doing before this week? 30 pounds since January?

You go, girl!!

30 Day Shred is pretty intense, so if you are new to exercising...it might be water weight from the exercising. This will pass.

Give it more than a week-let's see what things look like in 2 weeks, and after the 30 day period.

Also, do not just go by the scales...more importantly, go by how your clothes are fitting at the end of the 30 days. I often take notes on this...at the start of a month, you might write down that a particular pair of jeans (black size 14 Levis for example) are super tight, and then check those same pants one month later...and see if they are now comfortable, or loose fitting. Just take clothing notes now and then, if you don't measure yourself. It helps, so see if you went from a size 16 Levi to a size 12 Levi...or from a size XL Hanes T-shirt to a large.

I am extremely sore!!! I just hate seeing that scale go back up! Thanks for the support.. I just need to quit stressing! So I guess I need to up my water intake since I am exercising??

Have you got "Making the Cut"? Or did you get the 30 Day Shred Plan from Jillian's web site? The book is pretty specific about cutting back on sodium consumption and upping water intake. At the end of the day, tho...water weight is just that. It isn't fat. Which means it's going to fluctuate a lot. Patience and (!) kicking workouts...you'll get there, girl!

I think 64 oz of water is PLENTY
I also think your calorie count is good.
Are you journaling your food and keeping track of EVERYTHING you put in your mouth?
Could be close to that time of the month??? I always gain weight then.

Best wishes

Yeah I write down eveything that goes in my mouth. I just don't understand. I have been exercising for 2 weeks now, kept my cals around 1500 and I am STILL up a few pounds from when I started. I am not losing inches either. I am just frustrated!!

You might try lowering the calorie intake a tad, try 1400 for the rest of the 30 Day Shred, and see what happens. 1500 might be a little too much for you...

I know it's a bummer to be stuck, but keep at it.
I have to drop to 1200 (and sometimes below) to lose (I'm 5'7' 140lbs).
So, like aphil said drop 100 or 200 and see what happens.
The problem with dropping lower is that it is hard to maintain once you hit your goal weight, and then you start to gain it back

You've come a long way and have had great progress.
Congratulations.

If she's doing 30 day shred - I would not suggest she go to 1200 (and especially not below). 30 day shred is INTENSE exercise.

1400 is much more logical. Somewhere deep in the BL forum are some posts from Jillian herself about plateau busting back when her first book came out. I'll post a link to it if I can find it.

I seem to remember a more specific post...but this one is close.

Gina, you're right about 30 day shred being intense, but it is only 30 minutes
I wasn't suggesting she goes to 1200 calories or below, I was just saying that is what I have to do to lose weight.
Thanks for the link to Jillian's posts. Interesting reading.

Have an active day

Oh - in her book she suggests 45 minutes (of circuit) + 15 minutes straight cardio a day (with 3 rest days a week, but even so). This is at 85-100% of maximum heart rate....which is really hard to do. Maybe the online version is different?

Well, I was referring to the 30 day shred dvd workouts. They are only 30 minutes. Actually, they're a tad bit shorter I believe. I thought that's what we were talking about , hmmm. I guess I shouldn't even be discussing this since I only did level 3 once. It did get my heart rate up and I was sweating. I wish I'd worn my heart rate monitor to get my calories burned. My problem with it is that it killed my right knee. I did it on Monday or Tuesday last week (I forget) and my knee is still not back to normal.

Yeouch. Sorry about your knee...

Hmm...it is interesting that the DVD's are 30 minutes. I seem to recall Jillian saying somewhere (can you tell I'm a bit of a fan?) that this was a result of the marketing people and not her choice.

Ya know what? I haven't done her shread workouts either. I have the book but I've had a really annoying case of tendonitis in my elbow since December. I'm just barely getting back to working upper body workouts back in.

I have done the workouts from her first book - they are pretty similar as far as I can tell.

I've never seem a Jillian workout that didn't kick my butt. So - in my book, anyone who has tried her workouts is allowed to discuss.

Now that I've hijacked this thread, how is aerogora?