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
Here is my before/after of the Full Out
routine:
