Health & Fitness Week: Favorite Workout DVDs!

Welcome to day 4 of our Health and Fitness week!  Today's Health and Fitness post comes to us from Ash of the blog Ash's Right Direction!

Hello fellow Northeast Bloggers! My name is Ashlee and I blog over at Ash's Right Direction.  I am a mom of a busy toddler, wife to an amazing guy, and a girl trying to get fit and healthy. I am so excited to be doing a guest for for Health & Fitness Week.

I have been working my butt off for a couple years now to get myself into a healthy or "normal" BMI range. I ended up getting pregnant after losing 35 lbs and gained the weight and then some back. I have lost all of the baby weight plus 17 lbs. I feel amazing, but I still have some work to do. Last year, after walking most of the weight off I decided to try some circuit training with Jillian Michaels.

Left is from 2010 at 225 lbs -- Right is from this past Christmas at 175lbs

The decision to mix up my workout routine was the best decision I have ever made. I ended up losing inches and toning my body. I am a big at home workout person. I had a gym membership for a year in the beginning of my journey, but I did not like having to go to the gym and I never used it like I should have. My gym did not have any group classes and I usually went at midnight after work. I am sure a lot of people share my dislike for the gym and would rather do at home workouts. My biggest problem is having a structure routine to follow.

I wanted to share some of my favorite workout DVDs.

Why are they my favorite ones?

• They are all less than 35 minutes which is nice for a mom with a rambunctious toddler
• They are easy to follow with modifications - I like when there are modifiers in the routine because I feel great when I work my way up to the advanced person in the routine. 
• They have a time period. I like having days to mark off on the calendar. 
• Most of the videos I enjoy are less than $10

Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred: (<$10) This was the first workout DVD I tried and actually stuck to. I was addicted to working out with Jillian everyday. I noticed a pretty big difference after 30 days and I was happy. I lost inches and became more toned. You can see my results here. 

Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown: (<$10) I did this program in January and really enjoyed it. I had wanted to try yoga and this was great for a beginner. I enjoyed trying to keep up with the modifier in the beginning and then being in tune with the full workout at the end.

Tony Horton's P90X3: ($120) This one is in the higher price range and I was able to try it because I won a copy. I have always been intrigued with P90X, but the length was too long for me. When this program came out I was intrigued and wanted to give it a try. I had watched a few of the infomercials and was loving the results people were getting. I am in Block 2 of 3 right now and I really like it. I am enjoying the workouts and seeing myself getting better and stronger.

A couple other ones I have tried are Ripped in 30 & Shred it with Weights, I have not finished those though. I want to go back to those at some point and do them all the way through the 30 days.

If you are intimidated by the gym, don't think you have no other options grab a dvd and give it a try. You will need a set of weights - start with 3 lbs if you are just starting and work your way up to 5 lbs.

Do you have a favorite workout DVD or program? 

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Thanks Ash!  Be sure to come back tomorrow for our Health & Fitness themed Friday 5 post and link up your own Friday 5 with us, too!

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