I started Jillian Michaels 90-day Body Revolution program yesterday (it's more like 97 days, because she gives you an optional kick-off week to really jumpstart your metabolism). I decided to start with her Kick-start week which includes two 30 minute work-outs a day (morning and evening) and a lower caloric intake than the rest of the 90 days for that first week. You do have the option to skip the Kick-start week and go right into week one, but I wanted to see what this first week could do for me (Jillian claims you can drop 1 jean size in 1 week if you follow the meal and exercise plan).
The Body Revolution workouts use HIIT (high intensity interval training) and PHA (peripheral heart action) which causes blood flow to go from top to bottom, bottom to top, back and forth to speed up your heart rate. These work outs are said to rev up your metabolism for 16 hours after a workout! (I don't have any scientific proof of this, but I believe it because my appetite has increased already.) With the kick-start week you're doing two workouts per day to make your metabolism work extra through the day and night, keeping your body burning calories at its max 24 hours a day! This is a good jumpstart to your metabolism and your stamina for the next 90 days.
If you're a Jillian beginner, really listen to her and don't push yourself too hard the first couple weeks...just get used to her, her moves, and your body's abilities. If you're experience with Jillian (like me) the workouts may seem boring at first so she'll give you ways to spice things up with resistance, but still enjoy the easier moves (I am, because I know how she operates, and things WILL get A LOT harder). Even though it feels like beginner work, I'm definitely feeling a little sore, so I know I'm still getting a good workout.
Now let's talk about the food: I'm a picky eater who is horrible at diets, lactose intolerant, and doesn't like to cook, but I do like to eat as healthy as I can under my circumstances, and I am good at remembering to count my calories. Thus, instead of following the 75-page book of recipes that comes with the program (I might actually give some of the recipes a try when I'm bored with my food; I'm sure they're delicious for people who have a different palate than mine), I've just decided to count my calories and make my calories count! I bought some Greek yogurt for snacks (and some regular for when I just want a side dish to a meal), celery, low-fat peanut butter, carrots, bananas, tuna, some Weight Watchers frozen meals (I know the sodium in them is bad, so I'm doubling up my water intake to flush it out), and of course, I'm still drinking my Muscle Milk.
Eating healthy when you've got two kids and a husband who can eat whatever they want, whenever they want and not ever have to worry isn't always easy. There are cookies, cokes, and candy in the house that I have to train myself to avoid (out of sight, out of mind is my best tactic).
As for eating healthy when you're on a budget, if you live near a Kroger or Ruler Foods, you can get their brand of foods and save A LOT. Muscle Milk also now comes in a powder form giving me a months worth of shakes for the cost of what used to only get me through a couple weeks. It's the same price as Whey protein, but it tastes a lot better! In fact, sometimes I drink one when I'm craving ice cream or a milkshake, or when I just want something sweet.
And if you're thinking you want to go the diet pill route as a supplement for an extra boost, try Relacore or Slimquick without caffeine. Caffeine will boost your metabolism, but I know from personal experience that spending too long on diet pills or relying too much on caffeine can actually destroy your natural metabolism, cause an addiction and/or anxiety, and give you horrible withdrawal headaches, and make you sleepy when you can't get "enough." Jillian suggests no more than 400 mg of caffeine a day, I suggest even less than that if you do it. My biggest regret is depending on diet pills for way too long, so I've switch to filling my body with vitamins that will help me inside and out: Fish Oil with Omega 3, Biotin, pure Rasberry Ketones, DHEA, and Niacin. It may seem more expensive than taking 1 pill, but considering the average bottle of diet pills lasts you 10-15 days, the vitamins will last you at least twice as long (but take the full recommended doses).
I know it's quite an investment spending $100 for Body Revolution, $12 for a resistance band, and then about $50 on 3, 5, and 8 pound weights (you'll need them to advance the moves and challenge yourself...some people might even need a set of 10's), and then having to replace your unhealthy foods with healthy ones, but let me tell you how worth it is...I've already lost 1 pound in 24 hours! My stomach even looks flatter already! :)
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