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30 Day Shred: The Follow-up

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Remember back in August, when I blogged about my experience doing Jillian Michaels’s 30 Day Shred? It was never my intention to revisit that post, but in the last couple of weeks, I’ve had so many hits regarding the 30 Day Shred I thought I’d answer some of the questions and offer a little more insight. It’s that time of year when everyone’s resolving to make fitness and losing weight part of their routine.

First: Yes! I am still doing this. I am not always the most consistent in my workouts, but I manage to get in 4 or 5 days of Shredding a week. Sometimes I take one day off and sometimes, I end up taking three days off in a row. I think there was a period of time I took a whole week off because I was tired/cranky/stressed/sick and working out was the last thing on my mind. The most effective workouts are the ones where your head is in the game. So if you’re not willing to put your head in it, it’s best to just skip it. Also, it is crucial to take days off while doing the program. Take at least one day, but two days are fine, too. Your body needs recovery time.

This is the longest I have ever stuck to a fitness routine. I usually peter out a few weeks in, but I’m going on six months now. The 30 Day Shred works for me because it’s short. I am still doing some modifications on stuff, but every time I work out, I get a little stronger and can push a little harder. Some of the advanced stuff I can now do. I love that it’s still a challenge.

I don’t do all of one level in a row. I mix it up. I might do Level 2 for a few days, then go to Level 3. I might do Level 1 then try Level 3. The set up of doing ten days per level is probably more about the marketing than the actual results. For beginners, it’s likely a good evolution through the program. For those who’ve been doing it, well, you do how you need to do the workouts. If it takes you ten days per level, fine. If it’s every day a new level, that’s fine, too.

I never, under any circumstances, do the Shred twice in one day. It’s an intense work out — you do not need to do it twice in a day for it to be effective. If you’re feeling the need to do more after the work out, go for a walk. Do something else. I would think doing it twice in a day would burn you out quickly. I have a friend who does Shred one day and runs the next. Sometimes she does them both the same day. Cross training! It’s never a bad thing. For me? Shredding is more than enough.

Over the course of my six months, I’ve had a ton of progress. First, the weights. I started with two pound hand weights. I did that for a long time, and then I moved up to three pounds. After doing that for a long time, I took the leap for five pounds. That was not easy. This was especially painful in Level 3, circuit 2 of cardio. That’s where you’re punching with the weights, then you’re doing butt kicks, then you’re doing jumping jacks with them. My arms killed. But you know what? After doing it for many weeks, it got easier. I would never say it got EASY, but it became easier.

So after the holidays, I bought six pound weights. I have just implemented them into my Shred and it is not easy. I cannot do Level 3, circuit 2 with them all the way through. I have to modify and go down on the weights. But it’s not a big deal — I keep lighter weights beside me in the event I need to do that. Eventually, I’ll work up to it, but my thought is doing the higher weights with some stuff is still being effective. It’s making the challenge harder.

I think I mentioned previously how important it was to wear shoes and socks with the workout. I still believe that, especially as I’ve run into some ankle issues. I’m so prone to cracking and popping joints (listening to my shoulders during the walk out push ups is incredible — my shoulders pop on the walk out and the walk back) but I get particularly nervous when I hear my ankle crack. And it’s happened a few times. Had I not been wearing good workout shoes? It wouldn’t have just been a crack or a pop. It’d have been a snap or worse. In other words, this is an intense workout, and you need to be prepared for it all the way.

Something I worried about — and yes, this will tread too much information territory, so go ahead and skip down a paragraph if you don’t want it — was a proper workout/sports bra. Here’s the thing: they don’t make real workout bras for ladies who are beyond a certain size. I’ve got an average band size but the cup size is another story all together. Anyone who has this particular challenge knows the options are to double up on cheap bras from a place like Target or to wear an underwire beneath a sports bra. What a pain. It wears out the bras and it isn’t actually supportive and doesn’t allow you to really get the workout you need. So I polled a lot of people about this issue and came back with a few options. I tried three bras: the Hallelujah bra by title nine, the Double Dry by Champion, and the Maia by Moving Comfort. The first one was terrible. It offered no support, had no wire under it, and while it kept everything separate, it was just uncomfortable. The second one, while supportive, squashed everything together and was uncomfortable. Again, no wire. The third one? I love it. I cannot possibly say enough good things about the Maia. It’s supportive. It’s got built-in underwires. It keeps everything separate and squashes everything down. There is nothing moving when working out, and it’s not uncomfortable. It’s held up spectacularly well. I don’t notice it when I’m working out and that is how a really good sports bra should be. Obviously, everyone’s mileage and needs vary, but that’s my experience. I’d buy the Moving Comfort again, and I might have to because the original purchase is now about two sizes too big.

I talked about my results before. As of now, I’ve lost ten pounds and a ton of inches. It’s noticeable in my hips (where I’ve lost almost 10 inches) and my waist (5 inches), in my chest and especially in my shoulder area. My arms are so much smaller than they were before (over three inches in each arm — I still don’t love how my arms look but the difference is super noticeable and that makes me happy). I can definitely see the difference in my face and chin, too. So what I haven’t necessarily seen on the scale in terms of results — though I’m thrilled about ten pounds — doesn’t reflect the actuality. My clothes fit well! I’ve had to buy new, smaller things. But beyond just the actual change in my body size, I’ve noticed a tremendous change in my skin. I’ve always had terrible skin, but since implementing this into my routine, my skin has become so much better. I find, too, when I do put in the workout — I almost always do it in the morning around 6 a.m. — I have so much more energy during the day. I sleep really well at night, too. Other benefits? Well. It’s great to feel healthy. It’s great to know how much you can push yourself and see the change. It’s great to feel confident about your ability to endure hell for 25 minutes and come out alive on the other side.

It’s empowering.

Of course, there are bad days. I’ve had entire workouts feel like failures because I’ve had to take so many breaks or modify everything. But that’s part of the challenge of working out. Somedays you’re on and other days, you’re not. I find for me a lot of it is the issue of not having my head in it all the way. It requires focus.

The workout is not easy. It’s not fun. There are days getting through one circuit — let alone a whole level — sucks. But as Jillian says, the more you push yourself, the better results you get. Sometimes the result is that you made it through the workout, and that is okay. I think it’s very easy to quit this workout. It’s hard, especially if you haven’t worked out in a long time. But that’s why you are doing it. The first few days, even the first few weeks, are awful. Quitting doesn’t make it easier, though. Level one is hard. Level two is hard. Level three is hard. They’re all hard. And they build on each other. Now that I’ve been doing this for a while, I don’t think Level two is harder than Level three, as I did before. They’re hard for different reasons because the focus is on different muscle groups. Level two is arms, shoulders, and chest. There are a lot of plank moves. Level three is abs, low back, quads, and glutes. There is a lot of jumping and squatting.

I don’t think you need to diet for the Shred to be effective, but I don’t know. I eat healthfully as it is, so I haven’t needed to adjust my diet. I’d assume dieting would make it more effective. But I’d also say that trying to change so many things at once will lead to burnout. Your body has to adjust its needs based on the workout to start. From there, I think implementing a diet routine would work. I can’t dish any diet secrets or tips other than saying vegetables are your friend, not your foe. I will say that one thing I learned as a morning workout person is the cravings for food I get in the morning I never did before. I’ve been eating Greek yogurt with oats and honey for a breakfast for a couple years and that’s all. Sometimes a banana, too. But with working out, I find myself starving by 9 or 9:30. So I eat something with peanut butter to supplement my diet with more protein. It helps significantly. Other people may have other food items that help them, but for me, it’s peanut butter.

You get the most out of 30 Day Shred by doing it and sticking to it. Push yourself. Try non-modified versions of moves as you can. You don’t have to do everything. I can’t, for example, do jumping lunges (Level 3, circuit 2 strength) all the way through. I can do three or four, then I am done. I just do the modification. It’s still progress. The 30 Day Shred can be done by beginners as much as it can be done by those who workout all the time. I send the same warning as before: if you have physical restrictions or injuries, modify as you need to. I have weak ankles. I can’t do so much jumping. It’s okay. That’s a minute or two of working out in Level 3 I cannot do. It doesn’t make the other 23 minutes ineffective.

The Shred hurts. When I take a few days off, returning the next day sucks. It’s hard, and I ache afterward. This is not an easy program, but it’s effective. The pain is worth it. Stretch. Cool down. Treat yourself kindly after, especially if you’re hurting so badly. Lying on the couch writhing in pain is sometimes par for the course. Complain if you have someone who will listen. I do not envy anybody on day one. IT STINKS. But you will get through it.

I’ve tried Jillian’s Ripped in 30. I made it through all four levels. While the concept is the same — three minutes of strength, two of cardio, and one of abs in each level — I found the use of three strength moves per circuit, rather than two, one move too many. It’s a minor criticism, but it felt like trying to cram too much into a workout. Rather than feel like I was really progressing in strength, things were mixed up too quickly. I also tried Jillian’s Killer Abs. It was fine, but it was almost entirely abs. Not enough strength stuff for me. My best area is in strength, so not having it for the workout meant I didn’t have enough “feeling awesome” in my workout. Yeah, those small moments of victory matter to me.

What else to say about this? It works for me. Yes, there are times I still whine and vent about how tough it is. Yes, there are days I skip and feel guilty. Yes, there are days I want to punch Jillian in the face. But then I remember how much progress I’ve made and it gets me through. Twenty-five minutes is easy to give.

I think it’s very easy to underestimate yourself if you haven’t had a workout routine in your life. I think this is especially true if you’re overweight and out of shape. It’s easy to continue to tell yourself or listen to other people tell you that because you’re fat (or too thin, it goes both ways) you can’t possibly do it. You CAN do it. No one promises it to be easy. That’d be ridiculous. But if you’re committed to it, it’s possible. Working out is one thing you do for nobody but yourself, so you have to determine how much it matters to you. No one can do that for you.

Do I sound like an infomercial at this point? I’m not going to blog about this anymore, but because of the influx of hits, I thought it was worthwhile to follow up my original review. I like this program. It works for me. But I put in the work to make it happen. It’s not just handed to me.

Want further inspiration? Go to this blog. It helped me through a lot of days. Her progress is much like mine. She lost in a lot of the same ways I have. This is the kind of stuff you look at for inspiration on those crummy days. She’s also done Ripped in 30 and talked about the results.

With that, I have offered every bit of wisdom I have on the Shred. If you’re looking for something to try for a workout, I recommend it highly.

30 Day Shred: All You Ever Wanted to Know*

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CASTLE

* Lest you worry: this is a review of the workout DVD, and because I was asked repeatedly to talk about what I was doing, I thought I’d share my experiences with anyone who might be interested.

Twenty days ago (technically, 21 days ago), I embarked on something I’ve tried to do before and failed mercilessly at multiple times: Jillian Michaels’s 30 Day Shred. If you don’t know who Jillian is, she’s well known for being one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser and has earned a reputation for being, how to say, tough.

That’s one of the nicer words I can think of for her. At least, it was back in the earlier days. Now, I think I kind of love this woman for that very reason.

A friend convinced me to join in with her to do the workout video. As I mentioned before, I’ve failed at doing this numerous times. Usually, I get to day 2 or 3 and say I’m not strong enough, I’m a failure, I’m way too out of shape, [insert other excuse of choice here for why I quit]. But I thought, well, I can try again. I mean, I’ve failed before and I’ve come to accept that as part of how things roll.

Before I explain a whole lot more, here are some things you should know about me. If the average US woman is a size 14, I am slightly larger than that. Over the last couple of years I’ve really changed a lot of my habits in terms of eating and fitness, and as a result, I’ve lost something like 50 pounds (it’s hard to say precisely since I am something like 70 or 80 pounds lower than my highest weight in 2008). I eat fairly healthfully, meaning lots of fruits and vegetables, very little white meat, no red meat at all, little processed food, and I gave up drinking all forms of pop (though I do like a natural pop once in a while and do not tell myself no on it). I talked about how I incorporated a treadmill desk into my routine, and I made a habit of walking on it most days for at least a mile (usually at a 20-25 minute/mile pace). I don’t have any health issues, aside from a pair of weak ankles from injuries way back in the day. The short version: I’m a healthy but shapely lady.

The 30 Day Shred is set up in three different levels, each building upon one another, and each level lasts for 10 days. Each level consists of three circuits, and each circuit is made up of three different sets of work outs. You do 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs in each of the circuits, for a grand total of working out roughly 25 minutes. This includes a warmup, which is essential, and a cool down that I found pretty worthless. Jillian leads the work outs, but she has 2 girls who help her out throughout, one who does modifications to the moves and one who does advanced modifications to the moves (my advice is to ignore her — though she cheats more than once and so that might help with your own self esteem). To do the workout, you should have a pair of hand weights, but they are not essential to the video if you do not have them. I began with 2 pound weights.

Level 1 of Shred looks like this:

  • Warm up: arm crosses, windmills, jumping jacks, hip circles, knee circles, jumping jacks.
  • Circuit one strength (3 minutes): 30 seconds of push ups, 1 minute of squat and press and repeat
  • Circuit one cardio (2 minutes): 30 seconds of jumping jacks, 30 seconds of jump rope, and repeat
  • Circuit one abs (1 minute): 30 seconds crunches, 30 seconds reverse crunches
  • Circuit two strength (3 minutes): 30 seconds dumbell row, 1 minute static lunge with bicept curl, and repeat
  • Circuit two cardio (2 minutes): 30 seconds butt kicks, 30 seconds punches (my favorite!) and repeat
  • Circuit two abs (1 minute): side crunches
  • Circuit three strength (3 minutes): 30 seconds chest flies, 1 minute anterior raises and side lunges, and repeat
  • Circuit three cardio (2 minutes):  30 seconds of each of the previous cardio moves
  • Circuit three abs (1 minute): bicycle crunches

If you want to actually see what it looks like, the video is on youtube, but obviously, I don’t recommend using that as your video (legalities, etc., and really, the thing is $7 on Amazon so just spend the cash).

So while it sounds unintimidating (because come on: jumping jacks, anyone can do those!), I’ll be honest: I did not make it through the entire work out on the first day. I quit at the start of circuit three, feeling like I was going to keel over on the floor and never get up again. I felt awful physically because everything hurt and awful emotionally and mentally because I could not get through the first level. I took it at that, got mad at myself, and put it away for the day. My thinking was that I at least DID a work out, which is more than I was doing before. Even if it sucked.

And then I spent the next day in horrific pain, hardly able to walk, and absolutely dreading day 2 of the work out (which is the same thing). I worried I’d be completely defeated again, unable to get through the workout, and then I’d give in to one of those excuses and quit all together. When I say I could hardly walk, I mean I could hardly walk. I won’t tell you how ugly it was trying to move around the house, let alone getting in and out of chairs. Everything hurt. Every. Thing.

I started day two though, and after talking with a friend about how she modified some of the moves, I decided that rather than feel completely defeated by the things I could not do during the circuits, I was going to make modifications on them and be okay with it. I could not do a pushup for the life of me. Not even a modified one (you know, knees on the ground, only lifting some of your weight). I decided to do wall pushups instead. It’s still an exercise with resistance, but it wasn’t going to require quite as much of me and would make me feel like I was doing something even if it wasn’t quite what they were doing on the video.

Day 2, I got through the entire level. I was absolutely dead at the end, but rather than let myself get defeated by something like being unable to do a modified pushup, I just did something I could do. Same went during the first circuit of cardio: although I could do all the jumping jacks and could do the jump rope, I had a very hard time doing them in conjunction with one another. Like, my muscles couldn’t coordinate them right. So rather than be frustrated, I substituted the jogging in place for the jump rope. Much better. Day 2 was still ugly, and the resulting feeling the day after of pain, pain, and more pain didn’t go away. The worst pain on that day was in my quads, followed by intense knee pain. Just so you know where we’re standing at now.

But something clicked about day 3 for me. I think it was the fact that I knew I was in so much pain that quitting would feel like I was in pain for nothing and the fact that I’d given myself permission to tackle things as I needed to tackle them, but day 3, I got through the whole work out. And I even did a couple of pushups on the floor without the wall (not all of them, just a couple!). But that was more than the day before. I also made sure to wear good shoes while working out which helped significantly with the knee and quad pain in subsequent days.

After day 3, the work out got easier for me. It didn’t ever get easy through the next few days of the first level, but I felt immediate differences in my endurance and in the ability I had to get through the things I failed spectacularly on in the first days. Let me repeat this and make it very clear: I was in a lot of pain. This is not an easy work out. A good friend of mine who is a runner said that she prefers running three miles to doing 20 minutes of Shred because it is easier. So contextualize that.

The physical changes though were near immediate for me. I knew going in that I wouldn’t lose much, if any, weight during the program (despite the claims on the box, I have a hard time believing anyone could actually lose 20 pounds on this). But I weighed myself, and then I took measurements on day 2 of the program. I measured my upper arms, my chest, my waist, my hips, and my upper thigh.

At the end of day 5 of the circuit — three days after my initial measuring — I had lost an inch in my arms, one in my chest, half an inch in my waist, one in my hips, and half an inch in my thigh. Not too shabby. For me, taking those measurements was incredibly motivational. I felt my clothes fitting a little bit better, too. But it was at the end of day 10, which is the final day in level 1, where I found myself actually somewhat eager for level 2. I’d lost two inches in my arms, one in my chest, one and a half in my waist, three in my hips (!!) and an inch and a half in my thigh. I had to buy new pants. It was pretty fantastic.

More than that, though, I felt great. I could get through the entire level without dying (it still hurt like hell, but I made it through). My endurance had definitely increased throughout, and I could do all of the pushups (modified on the floor) by the end. Maybe most exciting for me was how awesome my skin looked. I’ve always had less-than-amazing skin, but my skin had a really nice glow to it and was very clear and bright. Talk about a huge ego boost.

I took a day off to rest between levels, and then when I started level 2, I found myself back where I was with level 1: I could hardly make it through. It sucked. It was awful. I felt like all I had done in level 1 was for nothing and I wrote a teary email to more than one person about how I felt like a failure and I wasn’t strong enough.

OF COURSE I WAS, but being thrown back into that insecure, weak place in level 2 was a reminder that there was still a lot I could improve on. But knowing what I knew about how I worked in level 1, I decided that day 2 of level 2, I would be making modifications as needed. I won’t lay out the movements in level 2, but they are significantly more challenging than level 1, and many of them involve plank pose (which if you have weak wrists, well, they’re tough is all I can say). As I made those plans for modifications, though, the other thing I did was set goals for myself. By the end of day 4, I told myself I would be doing 70% of the plank twists (which is the last ab movement in circuit three of level 2). By day 5, I would do them all. Setting those mini goals within the bigger goals motivated me, and I achieved them.

Today is my last day of level 2, and aside from moving up from the two pound weight to the three pound weight in this level, I feel like I learned a lot about how much I can push myself. The pain, I will say, has been non-stop during this level, but it’s an entirely different kind of pain than in level 1. This time, it feels like there is constant tingling in my abs, in my hips, in my thighs and my back.

But the results? As of earlier this week when I measured — and I plan on measuring when I finish day 10 of this level today — I’d lost 3 inches in each arm, 2.5 in my chest, 3 in my waist, 5 (actually, 6, since I did measure there yesterday) in my hips, and 3 in each of my thighs. I guess if you measure that all up, it’s over 24 inches total.

In 20 days.

There are ten days left for me, and I am not going to lie: I’m terrified of what I’ll feel like after the first day of level 3. I am prepared to suck at it, prepared to cry at the end when I feel like I’ve just sucked it up. I’ve already given the heads up to my support folks they’re going to probably hear me whining about how I can’t do it. Except, I know that after doing this for 20 days, I can do it for another ten. I just have to make the modifications I need to make when and where I need to make them because it’s as simple as this: any movement is going to be better than no movement. Moreover, I know that by day 4 or 5, I’ll turn a corner again and by day 10, I’ll feel like I’ve got it. I’ll also measure again and hopefully see some movement, even if it’s simply in the way my clothes fit.

Now the part everyone probably really wants to know. I’ve laid out how I did it, but I have a ton of caveats for anyone who wants to do this:

  • Jillian is tough as hell, but she is ultimately very encouraging. She will tell you she wants you to feel like you are going to die. But she does it because it is MOTIVATING. It is normal to feel like you are going to die. That means it is working.
  • Follow the movements. I previewed the levels before doing them, and I tried out the moves before doing the entire level. This helped ensure I was doing the movements correctly with good form. It would be VERY easy to get hurt if you hurry through things without making sure you are doing them right.
  • This is killer on the knees, on the joints, and on every muscle you can imagine. Be prepared to hurt. Be prepared to pop pain reliever (I found myself taking them before working out, which helped). You will be working things you didn’t know could hurt. That’s normal. But also pay attention to your body’s cues — if you know you’re hurting more than simply workout pain, take it easy on yourself. Don’t kill yourself. Not worth it. Modify, modify, modify, and take a day off here and there if you need to. Take breaks (short ones) during the circuits if you need to.
  • Hydrate. I drank a glass of water before and a glass of water after, and obviously, plenty of water throughout the day. I work out first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, and it works for me. But other people might find themselves feeling ill because of this. If that’s the case, eat.
  • Be motivated by other people’s progress but do not use it as a yardstick. My results are huge. Your results might not be the same in terms of numbers, but you have to find out what it is that will be a measurement of success for you. Is it fitting into smaller clothes? Is it getting through the entire level without dying? Is it simply working out every day? Pick something and use it. Then be surprised and pleased with the other outcomes (like the amazing skin!). Note here: I did not lose a single pound on this work out. In fact, I gained a couple pounds.
  • Choose how hard core you will be. I chose not to diet at all. I chose to eat what it was I wanted to eat, when I wanted to eat it. I have had insane cravings for peanut butter and saltines (which makes sense — the protein and salt). I ate them. You can choose to overhaul your entire diet, too, but for me, that felt more like punishment than a commitment to fitness. Your mileage may vary.
  • Be okay with making modifications. This is insanely important. Do not berate yourself if you have to change things to make them work for you. I am very easily demotivated by things like this. But changing that attitude was key. Also? If you need to stay on a level longer than 10 days, there is nothing wrong with that. If you need to go back to a level since the next one is simply too hard? No shame.
  • Maybe the most important thing is this: have support. I do not know what I would do if there were not other people doing this with me that I could vent to and celebrate with. This is not easy. Jillian will tell you that. But what made the difference for me this time against all of the other times I’ve tried this and failed was that there were people who could cheer me on and tell me I wasn’t a failure when I felt like one. For me, that was enough push to do it the next day and the next day and the next. Of course, if you’re getting support, give it back. I personally find giving pep talks as encouraging, if not more encouraging, than getting it.

I’ve never been public or open about health/fitness-related things, so writing this out and talking about it openly (and even privately via many of those support-related emails) has been incredibly scary. That’s part of why there’s not a picture here openly to show off the differences in my body over the last 20 days. The thing is, being open about it has opened up some incredible discussions with other people, and I have been utterly shocked with how many people want to know what I’m doing and how I am doing it. I hope this helps someone decide to step up and do something — whether it’s Shred or not — because frankly, it has changed me in the last few weeks. I feel incredible, strong, and I feel like I can take on the things that are challenging. Maybe the biggest thing for me is that I don’t feel shame and I’m really coming to accept how I look isn’t as important as how I feel and how much I know I can do. The mental and emotional well-being is as crucial, if not more crucial, to me.

There are ten days left in the program for me, and I’ve been asked what my maintenance plan is when it’s over. Almost as if this is the end of things. But it’s not. I feel so encouraged by my progress that I don’t want to stop at all. I bought Jillian’s Ripped in 30, which is similar to Shred and I plan on tackling that next. Then maybe I’ll move onto one of her other videos. As much as I hated the woman at the beginning of this, I have found her to be the right level of what I need in a video instructor: she’s tough but she pushes because she knows that’s effective. At least for me. I’m motivated by being told I should feel like I’m going to die (there’s something comforting there).

Now that you’ve made it this far, the long and short of it is this: I think it’s worth it. It’s not going to be for everyone, though. It’s tough, and it’s a killer on the body, especially if you have any health/physical limitations. The thing is, if you’re willing to put in the work, even via making modifications, it is absolutely worth it. It’s only 25 minutes of your day.

I say it with utter sincerity: if someone in my shape can do it, I suspect most people can do it. Jillian has worked with people on all sides of the weight and fitness scale. I trust her ability to know what works and what doesn’t, and I never felt like there was something impossible in the work out. Just very challenging and maybe not achievable for me — just yet.

 

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Updates:

 

 

 

DVD dusted off from my shelf at home. 

Going, going… gone.

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Theft is an unavoidable part of being a librarian. I’m amazed at the amount of material that I never see again after it hits the reading room floor. But theft also has its good points – popular items get stolen more (yes, this is an obvious statement). Consequently, I know what I need to buy more of during the next month’s ordering process. This kind of loss is one of the better ways to judge trends in the community. At times, when I’m buying books, I feel like Sisyphus, rolling that boulder up the hill another day. But at least I know that I’m on the right track with my collection development by purchasing such desirable items.

I work at a busy urban branch in an economically depressed area of Los Angeles, so what’s most stolen will not corroborate with branches in other cities. Hey, it doesn’t even corroborate with our closest branches! As a disclaimer, this list was not scientifically compiled in any way. I have no real facts or figures. And despite how many times I ask, I don’t have access to many statistics from the circulation system in our library. This post is just a collection of anecdotes and personal observations from fellow librarians and clerks. I can’t count all of the torn covers we’ve found underneath computers or library bar code stickers balled up and tossed behind the magazine racks. These are some of the items that stand out.

Theft of Naruto has reached epic heights. The Young Adult librarian recently received an additional $2,000 as a prize for winning a competition. She had an amazing shopping spree at Borders, filling out all of the gaps in the Naruto collection. Within a few weeks, the Naruto books in the library were down to 6, despite the catalog showing over 35 books on the shelf.

Troubles for our YA librarian doesn’t end at manga. She also buys skateboarding books, many of which grow legs and walk (skate?) out of the library on a regular basis. This particular volume has been missing since December of 2008. We have a huge skateboarding population; we desperately need more skating books, not to mention a proper skate park. Hopefully a park would also cut down on the number of patrons run over by the droves of kids practicing their tricks outside the entrance.

Evidently it’s tough to read the future with only a three week loan period. This was the most recent addition to the tarot collection, but it’s been missing since March of 2008. Unfortunate, especially because I get asked for tarot books on a regular basis.

People still love Tupac Shakur. He may have died over ten years ago, but he still captures the imagination of this community. We’ve “lost” countless hardcover versions of this book. Even last week, a messenger clerk found a torn cover from a paperback copy stuffed in between cookbooks.


Popular movies have high shrinkage figures, unsurprisingly. Around here, Tyler Perry, Wall-E, and big-budget action movies are the most popular. One of our clerks mentioned Batman Begins as a particularly notable case. It was put out on the shelf, and within the hour, it was gone. I guess Christian Bale has some rabid fans in South Los Angeles!