Saturday, October 31, 2009

The 30 Day Shred, Day Two: Oh My Heck, Y'all

Whew! Jillian, my new personal trainer on the 30 Day Shred DVD, says that pain is just fear leaving your body. Reader, there is a lot of fear leaving my body today. I did the workout for the second time last night. And I swear to the lord, I can already see a little bit more definition in my upper abs. Understand that noticing this is like peering down into a koi pond and glimpsing a darting fish. It's down below the surface, but it's there.

After I mentioned this workout the other day, my friend Jane posted about it. Jane has been shredding for 30 days, and she's gotten great results, AND she really nails the tone of this DVD, so go check it out. As she says, the workout is led by Jillian, with her "two best girls" backing her up. One, the goddess-like Natalie, is doing the advanced form of each exercise, and Anita, who is a hyperalloy combat chassis made in the fires of Skynet, does the "modified" version. I can only do push-ups the girl way, so I stick with Anita most of the time.

Jane says she finds Jillian's patter to be "shockingly demotivating." It's true that Jillian is always saying things like, "I know you wanna quit on me," or "I know you just wanna turn off this DVD and sink back into your own filth." I think it depends on your style of working out, though. I don't mind hearing that, because it makes me think, "Okay, so it's normal to want to die right now." To me, it is sort of encouraging.

One lesson learned: don't wait until after midnight to work out, because you will be up until four in the morning. Last night I lay down in Hank's room for a few minutes while he was going to sleep. We have an extra bed in there. So I fell asleep, and woke up at 11. Then I talked to my buddy Erika about these conference proposals we were working on, for like an hour, then I dragged myself into Matt's office. I said, "Oh my god I still need to shred! Wah!" I threw myself down on the carpet. And he said, "I'm going to tell you a truth. There are people who are doing the 30 Day Shred, and there are people who are not. You need to decide which of those you are, and be that." Then he smiled with satisfaction at his nugget of wisdom. So I went upstairs and put on my sneakers.

Afterward I was so filled with energy, I was like, "Let's play some Rock Band! Woohoo! I wanna ROCK." So we did, and it got really late. Then Matt agreed to get up with the kids this morning. So everything worked out swell.

I do recommend this workout. Right now my quads (I have "quads" y'all, which are like muscle thingies in my legs), and my stomach muscles are pretty sore. But I'm going to take some ibuprofen so I don't feel all the fear on its way out. I still have to escort the kids around trick-or-treating, and Normal Neighbor has promised to supply beer for us to drink while we do that. It will be classy! Her beer is in cans, but she has these little koozie things with grosgrain ribbons tied around them. Adorable.

Y'all have fun tonight!

15 comments:

Amy said...

This is hilarious! I read Jane's post too and now am totally fearful of Jillian. But it DOES sound like it's effective! I always found her a little much the few times I watched "Biggest Loser".

This is a rich post! I love your description of finding your ab muscles--like looking in a koi pond. Anita being a cyborg. And Matt's nugget of wisdom--he's like a human fortune cookie or something. And Becky, seriously, ONLY YOU would work out at midnight.

Keep us posted--dare we ask for photos?

Michele said...

So, you're sayin' that it is okay for my to unwrap my 30 day shred video? You know the one I've had for 6 months.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I read your other post (the one before you mentioned all the pain) and ordered the dvd. I'm going to regret it aren't I? I'm off to see what Jane has to say about it.

I'm scared now though.

Ashley said...

I did it for 20 days, reached Level 3 and said Hell NO!

delaine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Becky said...

Sugar, wow, 20 days! Did you see some good results? And does it get crazy hard at level 3?

Bsouth, don't be afraid! It's actually less soreness than I experienced after I started spinning (cycling). That was like I couldn't walk up and down stairs.

Michele, I think it's okay to unwrap the DVD. Then see how you feel!

Amy, there will be no photos of my abs.

Jane said...

Yeah, shredding at midnight? Rookie mistake. One I still make sometimes. Glad you are liking your results!

Keely said...

Okay, I love your Shred review, but I died laughing at the beer koozies with ribbons.

I should back to the shredding, myself. Sigh.

(Hubby, who works with many 16-20 year olds, informs me that 'shredded' is in fact colloquial-speak for 'well-defined musculature', or what we used to know as 'ripped'. In case you were still in doubt.)

Casey said...

I shredded for about a week and felt like I was gonna die. Jillian is a hardcore badass. I should shred again. Good luck to you.

Veronica said...

Ha, muscle thingies in your legs...

Michele R said...

Is it worth doing even if this month Thanksgiving break would interrupt things? Cuz I really need to get a dvd and give some indoor exercise a try because doing nothing is not working for me. Is there a different trainer out there who would piss me off less than Jill?

Becky said...

Hmm, I've heard good things about the Women's Health DVD. I think it's called Fat Burner? Maybe others can chime in. I'm new to the whole world of at-home working out. When I've done it successfully in the past, it's been at the gym. But it is might convenient to stay home. Also, I am starting to like Jillian's no-nonsense approach. And I like how she calls the other girls "Buddy."

Michele R said...

I think I will buy it today. You should get a commission! I will hurl comments back to her such as, "Yeah, OK, I do want to die before I get rid of my love handles, but have YOU ever mastered passing a Tonka truck sized human pass thru your female parts with amazing skill??!!!"

Leciawp said...

Hmmm I'll have to check it out! And I can't believe you work out at midnight. I, like Amy, would like to see photos.

Lawyer Mom said...

So if pain is fear leaving your body, how does the fear get into your body? This fear-be-gone shred thing warrants further investigation.