Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

A little about me: I'm not a Beachbody coach and this the first Beachbody product I've purchased. I've joined a Beachbody challenge group and have a coach I ask for advice and support, so if you are a coach looking for more customers, DO NOT contact me. I'm a woman in my mid-40s and haven't exercised in years. I'm overweight and out of shape. I did buy Shakeology (the recommended meal replacement shake) and use it once a day to replace a meal (but added fruit, yogurt, and other things to it to make the taste less boring - so my shake's calories are probably at least double what a shake with just water and ice would be). I did not follow the meal plan but read it over and tried to follow its principles. I have some health restrictions that prevents me from doing high impact workouts (no jumping, running, or anything that pounds the joints a lot). T25 was recommended to me by a cardiologist, but he told me to follow the low impact modifier only. So far I've lost 11 pounds through 8 weeks (started just after Halloween, so this included losing weight over Thanksgiving and Christmas), 3 inches off of my waist, 4 inches off of my hips, 1 inch off each arm, 2 inches off each thigh. I've lost weight every week, though it started slowly. Without changing anything I am doing with the program, every week, I've either lost the same amount of weight as the past week or a little more. The past three weeks, I've lost 1 1/2 pounds every week. Yes, I believe I would have lost more if I had followed their meal plan closely or had been able to do the full workout instead of sticking with the low impact modifier (which is easier than the full program), but I can incorporate this exercise program into my regular routine so I'll continue it after the 10 week program is over and continue to lose weight. About the program: It's a ten week program. The first five weeks are the Alpha round, which should start get you in shape and form the foundation for the rest of the program. The second five weeks are the Beta round. Beta is a little faster and more difficult than Alpha, but not significantly so. All of the videos feature Shaun T and four others doing the workouts. Tania, who stands on the right of the screen, does the low impact modifier moves in all of the discs. The recommendation for people who are out of shape is to follow Tania and then as you get stronger, start following Shaun a little at a time as you can. List of Alpha Workouts Cardio Total body circuit (the toughest workout in Alpha) Lower body focus Ab intervals Speed 1.0 List of Beta Workouts Upper focus Core cardio Speed 2.0 Dynamic Core Rip'T Circuit (the hardest workout in Beta) Time requirements: Monday through Thursday - You complete one 25 minute workout and a cool down (stretch) afterwards that lasts 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes. Friday - You complete two workouts for a total of 50 minutes plus the cool down. Saturday - Record your stats (weight, measurements, etc.). If you did the two workouts on Friday, this is your rest day. If you missed the second workout on Friday, you can do the second Friday workout on Saturday. Sunday - You complete one 25 minute stretch video. Before each video is three minutes of introduction - legal warning and disclaimers, Shakeology commercial, opening title for the disc. I use this time to put on my shoes and get all of my workout area in order so it doesn't bother me. Between the stuff before the video, the workout, and the cool down, the actual time commitment for most days is 35 minutes. My impressions: I love it! I think it is really effective at doing what it says it will do (burn fat, calories, toning). I am burning calories during the workout, but continue burning at a pretty fast rate for awhile after the workout is over. Yes, it is expensive, but I've bought other exercise stuff before that didn't do what it claimed even when I followed their guidance, so I'm thrilled that this one actually does what it says. My recommendations: Definitely take before pictures and measurements. After 5 weeks, I complained to my husband that I wasn't seeing results from all of my hard work. He was surprised because he noticed and others had noticed already. So I took out my before pictures and took a look. Oh yeah. I forgot where I started. There was a definite difference. Get good cross-training shoes. My old running shoes weren't cutting it and made the side to side exercises more difficult so I had to buy new shoes. Drink lots of water. You'll sweat a lot.