30-Day Shred

Meet my new workout buddy:




Since my old workout buddy had to go back to work (for some reason, the Army has a limit on leave days allowed.....) I have been stuck working out on my own. I've been pretty good about getting up and running, but the strength part has been seriously lacking. Apparently I need the added encouragement of someone yelling, "Stop your whining, soldier!" at me. And don't even ask about those horrid driveway repeats. They are a thing of the past. Good riddance.

Anyway, I needed some motivation to do more than trudge through a couple of slow miles. That's where Jillian comes in. I first read about this DVD here. I was intrigued by the comments left and being a fan of the Biggest Loser, I thought that Jillian might just be the "encourager" I needed.

I've only done the workout twice. Level 1. Wow. Muscles are sore on me that haven't seen use in quite some time. The first time I did it I used 5 lb handweights. Ha! The next time I was smarter and went to the 3 lb. She says things like, "If you're looking for a modified jumping jack, look elsewhere. I've got 400 lb. people that can do jumping jacks and so can you." She leaves out the "so shut up and quit whining" but it's implied. ;-)

So far it's great. It's broken down into 3 6-minute segments so the exercises never get boring, and most importantly, you don't feel like she's going to make you keep suffering forever. It's a perfect second workout-not too long, but extremely challenging. Alyson and Dave are doing it in the evenings and even Joshua is doing it, too. We haven't dragged Nick in yet--I think he's content to watch us wheezing and whimpering.