If You Want to Lose Weight or Tone Up…

… get this DVD.

The 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels.

I spent the last month working my tush off, but let me tell you: This DVD rocks!

At the end of June, I decided I wanted to lose weight. I’ve decided this, oh, about eleventy billion times before.

But this time I was serious.

I’ve said that before, too.

No really – I was.

I knew I had to exercise, but come on – who has the time?! (If you work out two hours a day, have six kids, a perfectly organized home and a fabulous career, don’t tell me. Denial is better.)

Then I remembered this 30 Day Shred DVD I had bought from Amazon, oh, 18 months ago. It had never been opened. Dust had penetrated the seal. (Hey, I’m keeping it real – you appreciate that, right?)

The DVD was actually in my give-away pile, but I rescued it.

And it rescued me.

After thirty days of “shredding”, I am stronger, leaner (well, maybe less pouffy is a more accurate description), more energetic, and more optimistic. Oh, and I’m also 10 pounds lighter and 8 inches smaller (waist, hips and chest) than I was on July 20th.

That’s pretty darn impressive, right?

Yes, I still have a l-o-n-g way to go. My ultimate goal is 50 pounds lost, and so far, I’ve only trimmed 15. (Stay tuned – I will be writing a “How I lost 50 pounds and plan to keep it off forever” post!)

But doing this 20-minute workout DVD almost daily for the last thirty days has totally changed my shape – and my outlook. Yes, I’ve cut calories and improved my food choices, but I was on vacation for 18 of the 35 days and I still lost weight while we were away. That’s a credit to the Shred!

If you’re still on the fence (seriously, have you ever heard me this passionate about something except for maybe Dave Ramsey’s get out of debt plan?!), let me tell you a few more good things about the 30 Day Shred.

• It’s short – The workout is 20 minutes long. Come on – you’ve got 20 minutes in your day. And while yes, it’s hard (I sweat so much my glasses slip off my face), you can do anything for 20 minutes. (Sounds like my mantra from child birth.)

• It’s frugal – Most stores sell the DVD for around $10. You can get it on Amazon for under $7. Or you can purchase the instant videos for a total of $5 – if you’d rather watch on your computer or stream to your TV. Even if you don’t love this workout as much as I do, it’s not like you will have committed to an expensive year-long membership.

• It’s low-maintenance – All you need is the DVD, a set of hand weights (I started with 4 pound and moved up to 5 pound, both of which we had at home already) and a mat if you’re working out on a hard surface. I do it on carpet and don’t need the mat.

• It’s gradual – There are three levels (1-3), which have progressively harder work-outs. I moved up a level every 10 workouts. Within each level, there is the beginner (difficult) and the advanced (killer) way to do the moves. By the end of the 10 days, I was usually able to do at least some, if not all, of the moves in the killer way. Then I moved up a level and cried all over again.

• It’s comprehensive – Jillian will get you burning fat and building muscles – AKA “shredding”. She accomplishes this by looping three sets of strength training (3 minutes each), cardio (2 minutes) and abs (1 minute). There is also a quick warm-up and cool down.

• It’s proven – When I wanted to quit, I would Google “before and after 30 day shred pictures”. There are some killer results out there (not all the pictures are tzanua, so consider yourself warned – and yeah, I realize that the picture of Jillian isn’t very tzanua either ;-)). Take before and after pictures of yourself, too. I won’t be showing mine to anyone other than my husband – but they are proof of the transformation that’s possible in just 30 days. Bottom line: If you do this work-out faithfully for thirty days, it WILL work for you!

This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. I am affiliate of Amazon, which means if you purchase this DVD through the link on my blog, I will make a small bit of money. I’m not telling you about this workout because of the pennies I will get. I’m telling you because it changed my life! For more information on affiliate, see my disclosure policy.