The 30 Day Shred

Last week I started working out again. I do this periodically to torture myself, usually working out like a mad woman for a week or so, get incredibly sore, then quit; only to repeat the process a month or so later. Seriously why can’t I simply be faithful to a workout and just skip the lactic acid burn thing?

But I digress; I bought the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. I read some reviews and it appealed to me because the workouts are only 20 minutes long. (It takes me that long to drive to the gym.) I can squeeze a 20 minute workout into my day and convince myself that’s a very short time to devote getting fit. This program makes some big promises (lose 20 pounds in 30 days) about weight loss which I didn’t exactly buy, but at least it’s getting my rear off the couch.

The program has three levels featuring a warm up then 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs (three sets) then stretching. So far I’ve done level one for 5 days and it’s not an easy workout. I love Jillian, she’s not a “girly” girl and she has me laughing at some of her comments. “Abs like these don’t come for free.” and “I have 400 pound people who can do jumping jacks, so can you!” are among my favorites. Each level also has two demonstrators, one who does low impact/modified versions of the exercise and one who kicks it up. So far I’ve worked out in between the two, when I can go high the entire time I’ll switch to the next level.

In addition I’ve been journaling everything I eat and after one week I’ve lost 2 pounds! I need to lose at least as much weight as Baby Duck currently weighs, but it’s a start.