Don't Phone This In

A couple of weeks ago while I was shopping (more like wandering) at Target, I happened to end up in the fitness section. While browsing through the DVD's, I saw one that I had read about in a couple of magazines (Shape, maybe?)- Jillian Michael' 30-Day Shred. I've never followed the show "The Biggest Loser," but I have managed to catch a couple of episodes over the years. If you're not familiar with the program, Jillian Michaels is one of the trainers that whips people into shape. She can be pretty tough on her "students," but she definitely helps get results. I am so glad that I bought the DVD- definitely worth the $9 investment. The workouts are 20 minutes long and divided into three parts- strength, cardio, and abs. Unlike most other exercise videos, she has you complete short segments of each throughout the program. The workout repeats a pattern of 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs three times (preceded by a 2 minute warm-up and followed by a 2 minute cool down). I did the video five times last week (she says you're supposed to do it every day, but my body cannot take an hour of zumba and her video). There's also a diet you're supposed to follow online. I haven't even really looked at it, but it can't hurt that I gave up candy for Lent. (Addendum: I just watched a YouTube video online of Jillian talking about eating, and now I think I should follow some kind of plan!)

NEWSFLASH: I have also stopped drinking Diet Coke (for the most part anyways). I maybe have one or two a week-- can you believe that?!?! I kept having these terrible stomach aches and gave up all different types of foods periodically in an attempt to identify the culprit. As you may have guessed, Diet Coke was the last thing I tried, and as fate would have it, it helped. I didn't have too many withdrawal headaches, and I have started drinking a lot more water.

I think what I like best about Jillian (I know, I'm talking like we hang out three times a week) is that she doesn't take any crap. For example, when you are doing jumping jacks she says, "Don't tell me you can't do these. I've got 400-pound people that can do jumping jacks. If they can do them, then you can, too." A couple of her other favorite phrases that I like are "Don't phone it in!" and "You don't get abs like this for free!"

Hopefully I'm on my way to being, as Jillian says, "shredded."