Exercise Dvd's

Hi A.,

I love Turbo Jam by Chalene Johnson. It's kickboxing to really fun, upbeat music, mixed with funk and hip-hop type moves. I teach her brand of fitness for 24-Hour adn love it!

I know you had said you are looking for dvds to do at home when you can't get to the gym. Is it because your kids are with you?

If that's the case, you might want to try out a free class where you can bring your kids and play with them to get a workout. There's a p.e.-style class called Moms' Gym, for kids ages 18M to 4Y or 3 to 6Y and their parents.

It's really fun because you play with your kids while getting a boot-camp type of workout and you have to bring them in order to get the full benefit of the class.

If you are interested, visit www.moms-gym.com for a list of classes. You are totally welcome to try one out for free.

Thanks and good luck!

M.

Hi A., I only have one son who will turn 2 in two weeks but once he was born, I did not find time to excersise anymore. After being done with breastfeeding I gained so much weight although I thought I am eating healthy. I joined weightwatchers online and it did the trick for me. I do not like the ideas of meetings and stuff but the online program is great. I realized that I did not make always good choices when it came to my food and I ate too much. Now, about 6 month later I have lost 25 pounds and I am still going strong. I feel great and I can eat all the foods I want as I decided to go with their flex plan, which makes you account for all the foods you eat (it is a point system and realy easy to learn). You can try it without charge for the first week. You know, I realized that I ate much more than I thought once I put it in my daily food tracker which is a diary. In addition to watching my diet I used our home excersise machine, so I do not really have an advise on a DVD. Although I used in the past "Slim in 6" by Debbie Siebers as it includes a variety of excersises.
Good luck for your weightloss program. C.

Hi there A.,
I love the Shape exercise videos. I've found that they aren't too demanding, and definitely can be used at your pace. There are often a lot of segments (typically 10-15 minute intervals). These allow for gauging your abilities and not pushing too hard. The ones I have are Shape Pilates Workout: Firm up from head to toe; Shape Toning Workout: Bikini all Year Round and Shape Pilates: Makeover your Abs, Butt and Thighs.
Hope that helps. I love working out at home and have found it very doable and so much better than using my "me" time for going to the gym.
Enjoy!
D.

Hi A. -

I applaud your decision to take care of yourself. You can't take care of all those other people in your life (especially small children who need everything...) unless you take care of yourself first. Make sure you take regular breaks - whether it is a class, or just some alone thinking time-!

I like 'The Firm' dvds - also the Gaiam Pilates dvds for core workouts - yoga is also great.

Exercise is necessary, both physically and mentally, and I know you mentioned you eat quite healthy - but in counseling many people in weight loss over the years, I find that people who think they eat healthy, don't actually eat healthy enough for weight loss. To lose weight, you must eliminate all sugars and white flour - they keep your 'storage system' turned to on - even if you eat well. This means sugar, fruit juice, honey, artificial sweeteners, and anything with it as an ingredient. And this means anything made with refined white flour - pasta, white bread, most processed foods, etc.
The next part of it is to eat at least 50% vegetables, and the other 50% is meat and whole grains (unless you are vegetarian). And the last part is to leave 4 or 5 hours between each meal for your body to work its metabolism properly. No snacking - this flies in the face of a lot of popular diet advice, but it is really important.

Good luck!!