Jillian Michaels is in my living room!

Disclaimer: Get your doctors approval before doing any exercise program : )

Here we go!!!!
While searching for something to change up and improve my workout routine I was curious about the Jillian Micheal's DVDs, and I quickly learned many of my friends were curious about them too. I'll admit, though I have been walking and jogging for almost a year now and in moderate shape, I was apprehensive of buying her DVDs for fear she would be just as "mean" in her DVDs as she can be on the "Biggest Loser." But isn't that what we need? Are you really gonna work your hardest with Richard Simmons shouting out how big and beautiful you are? Or are you going to push harder when Jillian is yelling at you saying "You should be gargling your heart by now! I've had 400 pound people that can do this, so can you!!!"
Enough said, here are the reviews!

Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred

This DVD comes with 3 levels of workouts that are 20 minutes each. Your expected to start at level 1, then when your ready, you move on to Level 2 and so on. It took me about 2-3 weeks before I moved on to the next Level - I probably could have moved up sooner but I wanted to master each level first. Another perk, you only need simple hand weights and a mat (if your working out on a hard surface).

Even though its a DVD, Jillian really motivated me and pushed me to work harder. Whats also nice is that her DVDs don't have that cheesiness that most exercise DVDs seem to have - especially the music!

Is 20 minutes long enough to get results - Absolutely!
I had my doubts - going from jogging 3 miles a day, 5 days a week and not seeing much results concerning muscle definition- After one week of the Shred I saw and felt definition in my calves that I never knew existed!!!!! My Arms had muscle! My stomach after having 2 kids - when flexing - would pull in and up! - Most women post babies know thats a miracle in itself!

Will Jillian kill me?  NO!
Jillian is joined by 2 other women, one of them does the advanced move, Jillian does the basic move, and the other girl does the beginners move. So, even if your just starting out - do the beginners moves and you should be fine. Is it an easy work out? NO! Its 20 minutes you do have to work hard the entire 20 minutes to see results.  Whats your saving grace in these workouts? Jillian has a rotating interval system of Cardio, Strength and Abs - during each interval I found that when I reached the point of wanting to give up - or die - It was time to change to the next interval anyway, where I found some relief.

Buy it? YES!!!!!
This DVD can be for beginners and for the advanced, having 3 different levels it keeps things fresh and your not getting bored. Its fast - being only 20 minutes per workout - you have no excuse not to workout, its over before you know it and you don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn to do it! Best Part - It was regular price at Walmart for $9.


Jillian Micheal's Shred it With Weights
This DVD has 2 levels

Cost: $9 at Walmart and Target

You can use hand weights but kettlebells are best and easier to handle.

Jillian does have a kettlebell set that has 5, 10, and 15 pound kettlebells - at Walmart for $34.99
Her kettlebell set is different than other kettlebells because the sides are angled and padded for comfort and preventing injury.

Overall feeling of this DVD - FUN!!!!
It was fun to swing the kettle bell around and somewhat distracting from the burning feeling throughout my body!

Note: You can injure yourself if you don't use the kettlebells correctly, you really need to pay attention when Jillian discusses positioning and technique.

Buy it? Its a fun DVD but you do need to invest in some kettlebells for it to be worthwhile. So consider your budget or borrow the DVD from someone else or netflix and try it out first to see if its your thing.

Jillian Micheal's 6 week 6 pack

Also 2 levels to keep things fresh!

A lot of people still believe you can "Spot Reduce." A 400 pound person doing 1000 sit ups a day isn't going to get a flat stomach and remain fat everywhere else!

In order to have a nice stomach you've got to burn fat in general. So in this DVD your not going to be doing sit ups and plank poses the whole time. You've still got cardio and strength mixed in to burn those calories and burn fat which results in that flatter stomach.

Despite my need for more weight loss in general, I have been doing the 6 week 6 pack DVD every other day (the other days I'm doing the 30 day shred) for one week now and I'm a total believer. My stomach muscles are really showing a difference, when I flex I can see a difference! I'm excited to see the results after 5 more weeks!!!! I can also feel the burn everywhere else in my body!

Overall - I LOVE THIS DVD!!!!!