My own personal trainer

Today I completed Day 14 of the 30 Day Shred, and Day 4 of Level 2! You can read more about my 30-Day Shred Adventures by clicking here!

It’s still a challenge. Today, I tried to follow Natalie for some moves and nearly died, so I went back to following Anita. There’s no shame in that, right? I didn’t think so. (For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Anita does the moves designed for the newbies in the bunch, and Natalie does harder versions of the moves.)

As you may know, Jillian tells you on the Jillian Michaels – 30 Day ShredDVD that she will be your own personal trainer. And, she is…for 20 minutes. I, on the other hand, have a little personal trainer that follows me around all day, and now she’s started insisting that we “play Shred.”

Yes, Claire loves pretending that she is Jillian and I am, well, me. Her impression of Jillian is uncanny. She has nearly the whole Level 1 dialogue and most of Level 2 dialogue memorized.

Here is a typical “play session” when we “play Shred.”

“Okay! It’s time to do the 30 Day Shred, Momma!”

“Yay! That sounds great!” (Momma, the actress, says enthusiastically. It’s her best performance of the day…)

“Go into a soft knee… (And this is where she shows me what that is.) Now, squat and press! And, squat and press! Good! Squat and press! Squat and press! Good! No stopping! Now, let’s do Dumbo Ropes. (Dumbo Ropes!? This makes me laugh every time. Jillian really says, “Dumbbell Rows,” but I like Claire’s version better.) “…and PULL! and PULL! and PULL! Good! Now, let’s do jumping jacks. Ready? Hit it! Four more. And three and two and one…and let’s do Dumbo Ropes again. And, PULL! And, PULL! And, PULL! And right back…Jumping Jacks! You’re well on your way to being shredded!”

I only wish I were kidding.

Still…how funny!

Today, during the real workout, at one point, I didn’t think I could go on, so I yelled out loud. It was a primal, guttural yell that was pure sound and no words.

“You can do it, Momma!” I heard in response.

So, I did.