Shredded

Well, I wish I was "shredded" in the way Jillian means. I think the underside of my kneecap might be a little shredded now. I will find out next week when the orthopedist reads the MRI report. He saw a bone spur on the x-ray yesterday and he is guessing that my life-long knee issue is causing problems again. It has been injuried (swelling and pain) three times in the last four and a half months.

I was hoping for another kind of "shredded." No, the doctor didn't say it was shredded but the doctor who did the surgery in 1995 said it looked like crab meat (the technical term is chondromalacia) under my kneecap and this doctor yesterday said it was probably the same way again. The official diagnosis is patellofemoral syndrome.

Working Out
When we moved into our house six years ago this week, we immediately got an elliptical machine. I have to say that is the best money we ever spent. I was never able to consistently go to the gym three times a week after we got married. It took too much time and effort to get dresssed, drive to the gym (or at one point, just walk there), work out and then drive home.

Once the elliptical machine was set up in our basement. I was faithful! I used it three times a week, almost without fail, for almost six years. If I missed a workout it was because I walked outside or we were on vacation. The Tivo also helped with the workouts. When I was pregnant with Wesley I did it four times a week but I didn't have the same energy level during my second pregnancy so I only did it three times a week.

I also lifted weights to improve the look of my arms and to maintain my leg muscle strength to try to prevent the knee problem from happening again.

However, I did nothing for my core. I tried pilates but I didn't love it. My core was very weak, especially after having two babies. I have always been "sway backed" but it got worse. One of my coworkers even asked if I was pregnant with number three. She thought maybe I was because "my pelvis was so anteriorly tilted."

Oh, and my stomach will never be flat so I had given up on situps a long time ago.

Then I read on someone's blog that Jillian was kicking her a** and I decided to try it.

Wow, what a great workout. She should have called it the busy mom workout or rather the lazy mom workout. Because the workout is only 20 minutes (well 27 with a great warm up and so-so cool down). There are three workouts: Level One, Level Two, and Level Three. Each level is made up of three circuits, each circuits is made up of 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, and one minute of abs.


I started the DVD in January. I did level one for four or five days in a row. Level one was a good workout; I felt like I had worked out and I felt great. Level two kicked by butt. Why? Because of:

• walking push-ups- stand up, touch toes, walk out to push up postion, do a push up, touch toes, stand up

• plank jumps - knees in to chest. The plank is like a push up position - you are on your hands and feet.

• plank jacks- jumping jacks, with your legs only, in the plank position.

Because Level two was harder for me, I only did it every other day and it took me about two weeks to sort-of master it. Also around this time, Chris commented that arms looked better and felt more muscular. Now I had been doing basic arm exercises for years but it wasn't like Jillian's workout.

Then I started level three which really kicked my butt. I did it all of February, basically every other day. No, I haven't lost weight. I haven't modified my eating habits at all so I am not surprised that I haven't lost weight but I have toned up! I feel great. My core is strong now! Woo Hoo!

For March I decided to try another DVD from Jillian. It is 40 minutes plus warm-up and cool-down but you don't have to do all seven circuits. I enjoyed all 40 minutes of it on Sunday and thought it was a great workout.

If you are looking for a great workout, try these DVDs. They are awesome!

So, just when I am feeling like I have a great exercise groove going with DVDs (I would have never have thought I would like working out with DVDs) I am sidelined waiting to hear what I should do about my knee. The doctor said I could do yoga which I hate. Today I did Level Two but I didn't do the jumps and I modified all the legs workouts or did moves from the other levels.

No, the workouts aren't causing the knee problem. I was born with poor alignment at my hip, knee, and ankle. I had knee pain my entire childhood. When I was nine years old an orthopedic surgeon told me to lift ankle weights to strengthen my quads and the pain went away as long as lifted the weights. When I was 21, the pain got worse and I had the crabmeat cleaned out and my kneecap repositioned. That worked for 14 1/2 years. Now, I am waiting to see what the MRI says and if the anti-inflammatory will help.