On your mark, get set ... Shred!

UPDATE: (April 21, 2009): Fellow Shred-heads, wow! Who would have thought that nearly 100 of you would join me in the 30 Day Shred challenge? I am planning to post next week and check in on YOUR progress. It's not too late if you want to join us!

Shredding is what you do to a head of lettuce on Taco night or with your important documents before you take them to the curb, right? Silly, naive me. I had no idea that the human body could be shredded. Allow me to introduce you to my new BFF (who for the record, has no idea that I even exist), Jillian Michaels. She is the fitness guru behind a workout DVD called "30 Day Shred." The title alone is enough to make you cringe in fear and consider clicking off this post faster than you can say "ab crunch."

If you watch "The Biggest Loser," Jillian's name may be familiar to you. She is one of the team trainers who whips her team into tip-top-drop-to-the-floor-for-500-push-ups-or-die kind of shape. I don't watch the show, so I had no idea who she was until I was researching workout DVD's a few weeks ago. Ignorance was such bliss back then. Jillian's, 30 Day Shred just so happened to be the #1 ranked workout DVD on Amazon.com, so I clicked through to read a handful of the 900+ glowing reviews. The main selling point for me was that the workout was only 20 minutes long. Twenty minutes for thirty days; I mean, who can't do that, right? (Pardon me for a minute while I take a couple of Advil tablets and grab a heating pad to place on my aching muscles. I'm on Day 11, so please be patient.)

Well, obviously I clicked "Buy Now" and even more shockingly, I fed it into the DVD player the day it arrived in the mail. It has been a goal of mine for quite sometime to expand my daily workout beyond my standard trek to the mailbox to get the mail each day. Well, unless temperature tops 90 degrees and then of course, I drive the 400 yards. I wouldn't want to break a sweat or anything. All that to say, if I can do this workout, so can you. I've skipped a few days here and there due to my travel schedule, but folks, I'm here to tell you that I LOVE this workout.

In a nutshell, it combines strength, cardio, and abs into three, six-minute circuits sandwiched in between a warm-up and a cool-down. There are three workout levels to choose from and I stuck with Level 1 for the first 10 days. The DVD claims you can "lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days," but losing weight is not my goal. My aim is rather, to improve my health by getting my endurance level and heart rate up, so I'm not out of breath when I bring the groceries in from the car or run to my gate at the airport.

As a bonus, I would love to tone up, since I spend a good part of the summer at our lake house and on a boat. (Translation: Swimsuit season is fast approaching, people.) And if those reasons weren't enough to spur me on, seeing this image of Valerie Bertonelli pushing 49 and wearing a bikini on the cover of People Magazine may have done the trick. (Note: This is not an endorsement for the string bikini, nor do I plan to unveil my results in a similar fashion on the cover of Today's Christian Woman, so please refrain from sending mean comments.)

Folks, I know I sound like an infomercial, but the results I have had with this workout are nothing short of amazing. My energy level is up, my arms and legs are looking toned, and overall, I just feel better about myself. As if that wasn't reward enough, my son (age 16) walked in while I was "shredding" a few nights ago and said, "Mom, you have abs!" Now, let me tell you something -- at my age, that comment ranks right up there on the list of the boy's most endearing comments, including "Mom, when I grow up, I'm going to marry you" (age three) and "Mom, you're my kinda woman" (age six). I plan to write this one in his baby book so it is forever immortalized. Anyway, my only regret is that I didn't discover this workout DVD sooner. Which is why I'm telling you about it because we're friends. And friends don't keep secrets like this to themselves.

I plan to continue the workout beyond the 30 days, but will spread it out to 3-4 days/week. Which is why I'm blogging about it, because I would love to invite you to join me in the 30 Day Shred challenge. Whether you just need to tone up, lose some weight, or both, this is your opportunity. If you're interested in joining me, just comment below and say so. We don't all have to start on the exact same day, but it would be fun to check in every 10 days or so and report on our results. Maybe I'll even come up with a cute little 30 Day Shred widget to put on our blogs. I don't have time to go to the gym with friends, so it would be nice to have my blogging friends as virtual workout buddies. RSVP if you're in.

Here is a link to the DVD on Amazon.com. It retails for $8.49. You will also need hand-weights (2-5 lbs). I opted for 5 lb. weights and saw pretty quick results on my arms as a result.