Here is my 30 day Country Heat transformation!! I found myself really enjoying the dances (especially those on disc 2) despite not being very coordinated or really a country music listener. Every day the 30 minutes flew by with constant movement and fun songs.
I love Autumn's training and teaching style and really loved the move breakdowns. This was a walk-through speed without the music so you weren't trying to figure out the moves DURING the workout itself.
I did not miss a workout OR a Shakeology, and was more mindful of my portions, waited a while before wanting 2nds or dessert (and almost all of the time ended up not being hungry enough after waiting), and really felt some changes in my core/waist.
I have gained weight this year due to removing my Mirena in the spring (sorry if that's TMI for you, but I'm being honest) and have struggled seeing that number on the scale increase EVEN THOUGH I know that it's just a number. Doing this low impact cardio workout gave me the results I was hoping for.
This picture may "only" show a 2 pound weight loss but to me it feels like a lot more. I feel shrunken, not starved. Does that even make sense?? lol. I feel so much leaner in my entire torso, and even see more muscle tone in my legs. To achieve that without using weights or killing my hips, knees, and back is amazing.
The picture here also shows more than my stats. It shows a 30 day commitment: to myself, and to my challengers. I don't invite people to my accountability groups to sell them something and leave them to fend for themselves. This stuff changed my LIFE- why wouldn't I want to share my experience with others?! I am there every single day, doing the same things that I ask my challengers to. We've formed a support system and are there for each other every single day.
ANYONE can benefit from improving their nutrition, and the tools in this program make these changes with no guesswork or confusion. I believe this fitness program is the MOST ACCESSIBLE to anyone, regardless of injury or current fitness level. What do YOU have to lose by giving it a try? If this looks fun to you, please reach out to me.
I wanted to share with you some
of my thoughts on Country Heat so far. I missed Monday so today is only my
second day of it, but I did my second
routine today and my skin is glowing and I am dripping and just as sweaty as I
got in 22 Minute Hard Corps. So I'm really surprised- honestly I bought the
program because everyone else in my room at Summit bought it too, and I said,
“okay everyone else is doing it, I guess I'll do it too.” That's kind of how I
felt last year when I bought Cize, which was more of a hip-hop dancing program.
I ended up loving Cize, by the way, and I can already tell that I’ll love this
program, too.
I'm not watching the clock at all during the workout. I
am out of breath when I’m doing it; I don't know how Autumn does the program
and talks the whole time! You don't need a home gym for this, there's no
equipment, there's a girl who doesn't even do the jumping so there's no impact
or anything. I’ve just been using my living room floor: if you can take 2 steps
to the right and 2 steps to the left, forward, and back: that's all the space
you need! I'm really pleasantly surprised! It's fun and it is more of the fun,
upbeat country songs that have been on the radio lately. It's not line dancing
at all; it is cardio.
They're all really simple moves and I think honestly my
favorite part so far is the move breakdown. It's like a 20-minute separate
track where she goes through each move at walking speed, so for me that's
really helpful. I even had to replay a couple, because if you're trying to
learn them as the music is going you're gonna mess up. So I really love the
move breakdown a lot.
There are some moves that I have not gotten the hang out
quite yet since this is only my first or second day doing some of them, and
it's kind of nice that once you do that round of them you're done and you're
onto another move. I've got a few other people doing Country Teat with me in my
group and so far I think that they love it too. The fact that it comes with
Shakeology and the portion control containers just makes it well rounded and
you know that you're getting your nutrition taken care of. I think you're
easily burning 200 calories in each workout at just half an hour.
If you want to join in or learn more information about
Country Heat (or any other program for that matter), please comment below,
email me, or reach out to me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/boeknowscleanliving
Here's a view of me dancing while Addie plays in the living room behind me.
My last blog entry was about my
Cize transformation but I wanted to give a little more background information
on what Cize is about as a program. Shaun T is famous for creating programs
like Insanity and T25, but his background is also in choreography and dance.
His first program through Beachbody was actually Hip Hop Abs. I tried one of
those workouts earlier this year when it was released as part of the member
library for Beachbody On Demand and couldn’t even get through a 20-minute
routine. I have NO coordination and NO dance background. I LOVE music though,
so I’ve always struggled with wanting to dance but not knowing how or not
feeling confident enough to just let loose, be goofy, and have fun.
When I first heard about Cize I
was intrigued but didn’t think that it was for me because it was a dancing program.
Beachbody gave a sample workout on Beachbody On Demand before the entire
program was released and I had fun doing it, but still didn’t think I would buy
the program. It wasn’t until the program was released and I saw how much FUN
everyone was having that I decided to buy it myself. Most workouts can be fun,
or we do them because we know how good we feel for exercising, but Cize is so
different. You are HAVING FUN the WHOLE TIME dancing and not even realizing
that time is passing, you are sweating, and the calories are getting torched.
Shaun builds each routine step by
step and breaks everything down into simple movements that you already do every
day. He says “you move everyday, I’m just putting it to a rhythm.” And he is so
right. When you get a move or short sequence done, you add to it and before you
know it you are ready to “Cize it up” at the end to a complete dance routine. A
really awesome feature of the workouts is that once the routine is over, it
goes to a screen where you can pick from the cooldown, 8 count abs routine, or
“Cize it up” again. Some of the routines are so great that I kept doing the
routine over and over again.
The entire program has 6 routines
on 3 discs, plus a short (but effective!) ab workout. They range from 30-50
minutes and features the following songs:
1."Hands in the
Air" by Timbaland. (It introduces you to the first 8 moves you'll be using
for the whole program.)
2."Treasure" by Bruno Mars
3."Lose
My Breath" by Destiny's Child (I loved this routine and would do the “Cize
it up” chapter over and over again.)
4."Problem"
by Ariana Grande
5."Pass
That Dutch" by Missy Elliot
6."Chandelier"
by Sia. (This was the last routine in the whole program and really took the
emotion and moves to another level where you really were feeling it.)
You can choose from a beginner calendar that takes 6 weeks
(1 routine a week) or an advanced calendar for 4 weeks. I felt like a beginner
but did the advanced calendar instead because I did not think doing 1 routine
for an entire week would hold my interest. Overall I had a great time doing the
program. It is completely based on your effort, so beginners to experts can
have fun and get their heart rate up at the same time.
Wow….all of
this information and I just realized I didn’t touch on the 2nd half
of the program: the nutrition!! I LOVE the nutrition guide for Cize. It is
based off the color-coded portion control containers from the 21 Day Fix, but
you can still use the nutrition guide even if you don’t have the containers.
The “Eat Up!” guide gives you a food directory so you can eat WHAT you want,
but it just shows you HOW MUCH you need. The best part of the book is the meal
builder. It gives examples of simple, staple meals, and all the ways you can
customize and mix it up. There are pages like eggs every day, oatmeal bowl,
yogurt parfait, Shakeology bar, salad bowl, wrap it up, simply grilled, Asian
stir fry, healthy pasta, and snacks on the go. For the wrap it up meal you have
steps to follow for each category/container of food: pick your wrap, pick your
protein, add your veggies, add an “extra”, add dressing, and (optional) add
flavor. You’d think a wrap was easy to make, or maybe so easy you get stuck and
don’t know how to make it interesting. My family doesn’t really eat from
recipes of stuff but we do basics like every Thursday we have a big salad for
our meal. So on Thursdays we go to the salad bowl page and can make a different
one each time.
The Cize
kit also comes with a get started guide, a weekend survival guide, and (if you
order through a coach like me!) a free bonus workout called “Hold Your Own”
that gives you some moves you can use when you’re out no matter what song is
playing.
You can see my whole YouTube playlist of Cize routine progressions here:
bit.ly/kboecizevids
