When I first saw the trailer for the new Jillian Michaels BodyShred DVD workout set many months ago I was instantly filled with excitement at the thought of getting in shape with a new program!!! ESPECIALLY a Jillian program! If you have seen my blog post It’s All About the Journey you have also seen a picture of me with two before pictures, a current picture, and then a blank future picture. How I got from the first before picture to the second, and slimmer, “before” picture was (from Day 1) with the help of Jillian Michaels books and videos.

I originally saw Jillian years ago on TV’s “The Biggest Loser” and although she was portrayed as somewhat of a hard ass I still bought “The Biggest Loser Workout: Cardio Max” DVD as my very first place to start from when I wanted to lose weight several years ago. I found that I actually loved when she yelled at the screen for me to push harder and continued to do better. Now I have countless videos of hers, all of her books, a weight set that bares her name, and even saw her speak live two years ago. She really is my fitness role model!

After my excitement died down over the BodyShred trailer was when the doubt crept in. Why didn’t I get the DVD set until now even though I saw it almost a year ago?

Because I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it.

I thought I would try and fail.

I thought I wasn’t strong enough.

I was scared.

…and I was most certainly…wrong.

After I grew sick and tired of being unhappy with how I was feeling physically I wrote the aforementioned blog post and did something about it. I started by rotating running on the treadmill to train for my 10k and paired that with workouts from Jillian’s other program (Body Revolution) to build up a little strength base because I finally went and ordered the workout program that originally made me excited to workout again: BodyShred. So for anyone wondering what I’m doing right now? This is it.

BodyShred by Jillian Michaels

The Basic Info:

BodyShred is a 60 day DVD Workout program by Jillian Michaels that consists of:

• 8 Strength DVDs
• 2 Cardio DVDs
• Calendar to track your progress
• Meal Plan
• Meet-the-Cast DVD with them showing how to do some of the harder moves
• Intense Bonus try-if-you-dare Workout

Also I think the BEST thing about this program is the fact that each DVD is only 30 minutes long, which makes it easier to fit into anyone’s schedule! For me, I like to workout in the morning before life gets in the way and the less early I have to wake up, the better.

Workout Breakdown:

Because the entire program is 60 days long you get a varied amount of strength and cardio DVDs that change up every two weeks as you get stronger throughout the program.

You’ll be doing 6 days of working out and they will breakdown like this:

• Monday and Thursdays: Strength workout that focuses on the “push” muscles of the body such as chest, triceps, shoulders, quads, and abs.
• Tuesdays and Thursdays: Strength workout that focuses on the “pull” muscles of the body such as back, biceps, glutes, hamstrings, and more abs.
• Wednesdays and Saturdays: Cardio workout

She does this so each muscle group has two days of “rest” before you have to use them to their maximum potential again. Although, I wouldn’t call any of the days rest. haha Every two weeks the workouts change and get harder so there is no chance of boredom and you can keep growing.

Strength DVD Breakdown:

Each of the strength videos breakdown into 4 circuits and each use her 3-2-1 method. 3 Minutes of resistance training followed by 2 minutes of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and then one minute of active recovery…which I will say does not feel like active recovery…They are usually core-centered or ab moves. These exercises are performed back-to-back and start with a few minute warm-up and a few minutes of cool down.

Cardio DVD Breakdown:

The cardio video also has 4 circuits but they are all designed to keep you moving and moving and moving to condition your cardiovascular system and get you sweatttyyyy! I have done the first cardio so far and I felt like I did a TON of different versions of jumping jacks and my calves were feeling it a little after my first week of this. An example of some of the moves that you will see in the first cardio is: Jump rope (and different variations), jumping jacks, burpees, plank jacks, high knees, butt kicks, suicide drills, fast feet, mountain climbers, and many other moves.

The Meal Plan:

This program comes with a meal plan for the full 60 days and it gives you advice to follow while you are on the plan. It starts off by telling you what foods to eat and what foods to stay away from. It also includes the “Dirty Dozen” list and the “Clean 15” list for when it comes to organic foods. On this plan you can have unlimited green veggies like steamed broccoli, asparagus, spinach, zucchini, etc. as so long that it isn’t raw and does not have any added salt or butter.

I have to touch more on the meal plan because I do feel like it is essential to stick to the values of a meal plan when it comes to this because it helps so much. Yes, I still have meals where I am unable to eat from it but I try to most days make meals from this plan and stick to the recommended calorie range along with the good and bad food recommendation. This plan, thankfully, has some really easy meals and also some reallyyyy tasty ones!! She gives you 10 different choices for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. Here are a few examples (not all) of the things that you can make from it.

Breakfast: Breakfast burrito, eggs benedict with skinny hollandaise sauce, or greek yogurt with cinnamon & pumpkin seeds.

Lunch: BBQ chicken & black bean burritos (new fav), grilled sirloin salad with baked potato, roast beef philly wrap (Love.), and turkey and avocado wrap with grilled veggie salad.

Snacks: Hummus & Veggie plate, deviled eggs, protein shake, etc.

Dinner: Peruvian Beef Kebabs with brussel sprouts with browned garlic (also loved), Chicken Mole with green beans, Tomatillo shrimp fajitas, and spinach & ricotta chicken with mashed cauliflower.

My favorite so far has been the Spinach and Ricotta Chicken with Mashed Cauliflower. I made it and we had it a few nights in a row and I did NOT get sick of it. It was delicious.

What You Need:

All you really need from this program is a mat to workout on and they recommend 3-8lb. dumbbells. I have a 10lb one in addition to this.

My Thoughts:

Even though I was scared at the thought of this program initially, I am really happy with my progress and how I’m able to do more than I thought I could. Like I said, I love that the workouts are only 30 minutes but still get my heart rate up and my muscles feeling worked. According to my Fitbit I burned at least 300 calories with each workout the first two weeks. I just tried Week #3 and burned 350 calories when all was said and done. I was very happy with that! These workouts do have a little ticker on the strength videos and a timer on the cardio one, which I’m not sure if I like yet. I’m still getting used to it. I like that I know what circuit I’m on, but counting down the minutes to finishing my cardio makes it a little rough. 😉 Also the athletes that are demonstrating the moves in the video also switch off taking you through your cool down, which I like. It’s nice to see some of the background people talk and see how they work.

I initially was afraid of this program upon seeing the harder moves but she ALWAYS has someone modifying for those that cannot perform a certain workout fully, which I think is really helpful. She also will get someone to do an advanced version or gives you the option to add weights to make moves harder so there is always room to grow with this program. This is why I am planning on doing it again after the 60 days and trying some of the harder moves that I cannot currently do. It makes me excited to see how I can grow!

I lost a few pounds the first week of this but have resigned to have my husband hide my scale from me as I rely on it way too much and weigh myself entirely too often. Instead I have been taking pictures of myself every week and also taking my measurements and found that learning that I have lost inches already is so exciting! I have noticed changes between my pictures from when I started, which I might share one day, but for now they make me very happy and want to keep pushing!

Who I think it’s for:

I really think this is a great tool for anyone that is looking to get into fitness and get a good foundation for learning new things and having an expanded physical capability. It’s good for those who don’t feel like they have a lot of time to workout but also want results.

Who I think it is NOT for:

Anyone with knee problems or joint problems. I say this because even my left knee has been hurting after the second week and I know the workouts will only get harder. I’m very aware of this and listening to my body but for those that already have problems: There is a lot of jumping around and even some of the moves are so similar it would be hard to do way less modifications for everything. It’s also not good for someone that will not give the workouts their ALL or try dang hard. You need to keep trying new things to grow with this!

INSTEAD:

If you are just starting out exercising and looking for a DVD that I would recommend I would say start out with Jillian’s 30-Day Shred. It’s the same method as this one but at a lower intensity OR if you want to dedicate yourself to plan I would recommend her other program Body Revolution. That one did wonders for me and also comes with a food plan which takes the guess work out for you and makes it manageable. Both of these are also only 30 minutes long =)

I’m still at the beginning of this program but look forward to seeing where it takes me!! I’ll definitely keep you all updated  on my progress!! Here is to ending the year right and kicking next year in the butt!!! No off season!! ❤ And for those that are interested in learning more or purchasing the program you can find it here:

Get Jillian Michaels BodyShred Program

Hope you all had a great weekend!!!! If you’d like any other info please comment or message me through my contact page ❤

XOXO 

ALM

P.s. I was not at all sponsored in any way to talk about this program! I just like it a lot and felt like I had to share
in case someone else was interested or on the fence!