Jumping on the Bandwagon...

I've never really been big on making New Year's resolutions. You know, because you never keep them. I tend to just try out resolutions on and off all year long. This year my resolution started in about July (when Dana got engaged) and I was supposed to be done by the end of February. I wanted to be in pretty good shape by the time Dana gets married on February 27th, 2010 (officially pronounced "twenty-ten"). I traveled a good bit during the month of July, I did okay with it during the month of August, and I even kept up with it a LITTLE after I started my job in September. But I tell you what, when October came and it got a little chillier and a little darker a little earlier and daylight savings time came, it was all over. So basically I haven't worked out since October.

Flash forward to January 1, 2010 and I have about eight weeks til Dana's wedding. January 1st always seems like the perfect time to start over with a resolution. Also, eight weeks is PLENTY of time for Debbie Sieber's Slim in 6. That's right. SIX weeks. Now, I'm no dummy. I know this progam doesn't completely work in six weeks. I know because I also used this in college and I never got "Slim in 6." But I did always enjoy the workout. There are actually 3 different workouts on the DVDs. They of course start from the easiest and go to the hardest. The smart thing to do when you haven't worked out for over 2 months would be to start out easy. However yesterday when it was time to start my Slim in 6, I could only find the third, hardest one, "Ramp it up." No worries, I told myself... How hard could it be?

There are several reasons I like these workouts*:

1. Debbie supposedly used to be overweight. She'll even show you pictures of herself. And her little helpers in the background are supposedly real-life products of Slim in 6. So it should work, right? (oh yes, combined with diet supplements and Beach Body meals for only $19.99/month)
2. It's mostly muscle work/strength training. But she does it so fast that you actually do get a good cardio workout too. I feel like I'm getting both in, although I'm not sure cardio is actually the intent. That's just what kind of shape I'm in.
3. She says motivating things like "This is really targeting your midsection," or "You can feel the pounds just melting away with this one," or "Just picture what your glutes will look like after you do this for six weeks!"
4. There are 11 little buttons down the right side of the screen, and there are two timers going - one counting down the section you are on, and one counting down the overall workout. Every time you finish a section, a button goes away and the countdown starts over for the next section. So you feel like you can see that you're accomplishing something.
5. She also says that you can take a break whenever you need to and not to push yourself too hard.

So take breaks I did. I usually kept up with her on the first 15 lunges with one leg and then she would open her mouth and I assumed she would say "Great job! Time to switch legs!" But that's when she would say "Only 10 more!" and I opted not to do the last 10. Or when we were on the floor doing abs, we were going at a nice steady pace to the beat of the music when Debbie suddenly says "double time!" Instead of double timing it, I would just put my head down and let my sweat soak into the carpet.

But I finished it. "Ramp it up" is an hour long workout, and I did MOSTLY the whole thing and haven't worked out since October. Honestly, that wasn't too smart because now I am unable to do it again today because I am so incredibly sore. Instead I'm sitting here eating chocolates from Christmas. But believe you me, I will be in good shape for Dana's wedding. My goal is to not have much that arm flab stuff that tends to hang over a strapless dress. And I'm telling you all this because my Real Simple magazine this month said that if you make your resolutions public, you're more likely to keep them. So wish my luck, friends. I'm going to need it.

*I actually really do like this workout. If you are looking for an at-home workout, I would really recommend it. Hopefully I'll keep it up during these months where it's cold/windy/snowy to run outside.