Unleashing My Inner Skinnygirl

My last workout video review was of The Tracy Anderson Method DVD.  I first read about it on Gwyneth’s Paltrow’s blog, GOOP, where she raved about her personal success with “the method.”  Not one to second guess Gwyneth, I ordered the unusually expensive DVD, did the workout and reviewed it on the blog.  I have done the workout a total of ONCE since that post because it was torture in that slow boring 7^th period Latin kind of way.  I stared at the DVD timer and felt every minute.  I might consider selling it to you if the price is right.

Couldn’t help it.

I couldn’t let that one bad experience ruin the entire genre of celebrity endorsed workout DVDs, so I’m back with my review of “Body by Bethenny:Unleashing Your Inner Skinnygirl.” Before we begin, let me just say that I love Bethany.  She made me laugh on the Real Housewives of New York as the rose among crazy caddy thorns.  I followed her to her spin-off, Bethenny Getting Married, where the witty New York business mogul forayed into the world of marriage and motherhood.  From that show we learned that she is as deep and honest as she is funny, and far more important than any of those virtues, she was able to bounce back to her pre-pregnancy body in a flash.  Her workout video practically jumped into my Amazon cart all by itself.

In the video, Bethenny is led through the workout by her yogi, Kristin McGee “trainer to the stars.”  Bethany isn’t the one calling the shots since Kristin is the certified fitness instructor.  Kristin is super bendy, but it is nice to see that Bethenny doesn’t do all of the yoga poses perfectly. She offers a real-person modification for some moves and the occasional witty aside.  I am not as familiar with yoga, so I think it will be awhile before I can put the video on mute and get down with my own supplemental soundtrack.  Even with the volume on, the workout went by pretty fast and I felt like it worked, stretched and lengthened my muscles.  My inner skinny girl was unleashing herself.

The workout is 40 minutes and it toned my abs, thighs, glutes, and arms–and after a few times I felt like it had increased my flexibility and balance.  The DVD also has a few bonus features: a focused, 10-minute strength-training segment and a 5-minute “Booty Blast.”  The moves in the bonus segments were totally generic, but I can see myself doing that portion of the video when I need someone famous telling me what to do.

In the video, Bethany assures us that this is all she does for exercise.  Unfortunately, Nancy Drew I noticed full-on gym equipment in her bedroom during an episode of her show.   But don’t tell her I told you because I’m hoping she’ll want to be real-life friends one day.  Outing each other on the internets is no way to start a friendship.

The verdict: I will definitely include this in my winter weather (indoor) workout rotation.  I didn’t sweat—which gets high marks on my ratings scale—but I still felt like I got a solid muscle burning workout.

I wrapped up my homage to Bethenny by cracking open a bottle of Kombucha, a drink she is seen drinking on the show and has mentioned in magazine interviews.  Among other virtues, it claims to support digestion, immune system, liver function, anti-aging, invisible powers and x-ray vision.  I know my BFF Bethenny is a big fan of it, so I assumed I would be too.  I was wrong.  Kombucha is made-up mythical drink language for fermented tea that tastes like mold.  It smells like rot and has live things floating in it.  I got the Cosmic Cranberry variety but I’m guessing that all of the flavors taste the same.  It must be an acquired taste.  The same way drinking Pine-Sol is an acquired taste.

I’ll stick with the video.