The Shred, by Jillian Michaels - Review

I recently completed the 30 Day Shred, by Jillian Michaels. In my attempt to lose the last half of the baby weight, I was really excited about the prospect of losing "up to 20 pounds in 30 days." I convinced Jeff to do the workout with me through whining and some more whining about how it wasn't fair that I had to work so hard to lose weight gained from pregnancies. Besides, he had a pesky 5 pounds of "sympathy weight" that he was looking to lose.

The DVD includes 3 different workout levels, each about 27 minutes long. They are supposed to be 20 minutes, but the timer on my DVD player said 25 minutes plus every time. I looked online and even joined Jillian's online "team," but was still unable to find concrete information on how long a person should work on each level and what size of weights to use. I ended up asking some friends on FB who I knew completed the Shred. They each worked about a week to 10 days on the levels.

We started with level one and it was definitely very difficult for me. Before this I was doing my T-Tapp or pilates workouts 6 days a week plus walking 3 times a week. I couldn't even do a sissy push-up! I did level one for a week and could make it through the push-ups with my knees on the floor. I advanced to level 2 on day 8 because I was curious what was next and I had heard rumors that the exercises were not actually harder, just different. I would agree, although level 2 is challenging in that many of the movements are done from the plank position. Level 3 has a lot of jumping which really hurt my knees, although made me work really hard. After working through all three levels, I ended up doing a rotation, each day doing a different level.

I saw immediate results, after I made it through the grueling first few days when I thought I would die. I lost 4 pounds in the first week. I threw myself a party, (there may or may not have been a tub of ice cream involved) rejoicing all the way to the scale. Then I gained it all back plus 2 pounds. Arg. Arg again. My husband said that it was all muscle and I think I actually agree. I felt more toned and stronger. Plus I took my measurements every week and was seeing losses there. I would deffinetely recommend you take your measurements if you start something like this. It's as gratifying when the numbers on the scale say nothing is happening!

These are the measurements recommended by T-tapp:

• Pecs
• Bust/Chest
• Ribs
• Waist
• Abs
• Hips
• Right Upper Thigh
• Left Upper Thigh
• Right Lower Thigh
• Left Lower Thigh
• Right Calf
• Left Calf
• Right Upper Arm
• Left Upper Arms

I lost 4 and a half inches total, mostly from my hips and legs. Yay! I am wearing one size smaller in my jeans and had to break down and buy one pair even though I haven't met my goal. The scale, on the other hand, says that I am one pound heavier than when I started the Shred. Scale or no scale, I am happy with my results from the Shred and feel better about myself.

Jeff's review would be positive as well. He did the levels right along with me, using 11 pound weights in each hand (I used 3 pounders). He's a stud. His favorite level was 3 and mine was level 2. He saw definite toning in his arms and chest and his stomach is flatter. Keep in mind that he didn't have a weight issue to start with. But the number on the scale was bothering him and didn't match his driver's license information. * What woman's weight matches the DMV info? If I was going by that, I would be a runway model. * Anyway, he lost that pesky 5 pounds. The DMV records can rest easy now.

I'm ready for something else. The Shred was good. The Shred was fine. But I am ready for another hurdle. I just can't decide what to try next. Yoga? Px90? More Zumba? More T-Tapp? I still have 15 pounds left to go (pre-pregnancy weight). Not ready to give up yet....