Jillian Michaels.
I’ve been hanging out with Jillian Michaels.
I realized a week and a half ago that I had one month before
my wedding. I also realized that basking in the glory of Thai food for the
month of June and binging on comfort food during my NCLEX studies during July
had all taken me from a great need- to get toned for my wedding dress. (“Get
toned” is a lightly used phrase often spoke by myself to mask the growing need
for my body to gain any type of muscle besides the biceps I have from carrying
Southern food to guests at the Crackhouse.)
So I remembered someone mentioning that Jillian Michaels
30-day-shred DVD was intense and results were amazing after just a week. I
checked it out online, and what do you know?! So many testimonials about Week 1
of the 4-week DVD were raving. No one seemed to mention the other weeks, but
hey! If Week 1 was so great, I COULD ONLY IMAGINE WHAT THE OTHERS WERE LIKE?!?!
So I went to Wal-Mart, and there it was- 30-Day-Shred…..I
reached for it….but wait! Right next to it, for only 16 MORE CENTs….30-Day-Shred
INTENSIFIED. Well oh my Moses, let’s do this! I have motivation! I have
character! She seems like a likeable person! Let us COMMENCE!
Week 1…..she yelled at me a lot during the workout, but it
was great! I was soaked in sweat, but I felt great! I could see why the results
were raving! I’m in the best shape ever! Let’s do week 2!
WHY.
WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT.
I just finished my first day of week 2.
I am soaked. Soaked. Like an orca just dragged me to my
death at the bottom of the killer whale exhibit at Sea World.
I cannot hear anything but muffled sounds right now. I don’t
know if it’s the blood pumping so loudly thoughout my body or because I am deafened
by the “COME ON! GET SOME! I’VE HAD 500 POUND PEOPLE DOING THIS! DO NOT TELL ME
YOU CAN’T! STOP SHOWING UP FOR ONLY HALF OF YOUR LIFE! GET SOME” every four
seconds of the workout.
By minute 27 of her “20-minute-workout” I was dry heaving,
and I’m not going to lie, I was crying a bit while planking.
This is real life. That actually happened. I cried in my
black shorts and favorite “Biker Sunday” t-shirt I frequent.
I still feel great, and I can’t explain why. The lactic acid
overdose caused me to breathe in more oxygen I’ve had since ‘Nam and I’m seeing
some tone in this here Chinese-food-loving Baptist bod.
Sometimes stretching your muscles to the max changes
everything. It makes you better. For the first time yesterday someone at work noticed
that I’d been working out and my waist seemed smaller. In an Oxford t-shirt and
pleated pants, I’ll take that as a compliment any day.
I feel like my faith is a muscle I am constantly trying to
tone. I am so easily stressed by the situations of life, and it’s as if God is
saying, “Keep calm and trust God.” I dry heave and cry, but in the end, He’s
shown Himself, I’m strengthened, and my spiritual health is at its best once I
allow Him to work me out of my comfort zone. God stretches us beyond what we
think we can accomplish and pushes us past what we think we can do because it
isn’t us, it’s Him.
Time to move past Week 1 of your workout with God. Step out
of your comfort zone and see what He can do for you! Maybe He can lift the
weights you just aren’t capable of getting rid of on your own.
Also, I’d highly recommend the workout, but sweet maple
syrup get your tissues ready.
