Losing weight before our trip?

[MichelleAMouse]

Hey all!

My family is heading to Disney World at the end of November, and I'm hoping to shed a few pounds by then. My brother swears by Beachbody workouts, but he's a real fitness junkie. Any of you average Joes out there have a program from them that worked for you?

I'm looking at their YouV2 program (since it's for beginners):
https://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/you-v2-beginner-workout.do

...but I'm worried I might not shed the weight by then! Any other advice or tips that have worked for you would be greatly appreciated!

 

[amberpi]

I've done similar and its great for toning.

Losing weight is super simple and you CAN do it! Just burn more calories than you consume. Folks try to complicate it and there's no reason at all.

The easiest way for me to maintain weight is to eat non-processed foods, fruits, veggies, etc. Again, not complicated.

You got this!!!

 

[jrmasm]

The simple answer is that you lose weight by changing your diet.

 

[Nickunited]

Walk - or High Intensitiy Cardio and watch your diet.

If you have a gym - try to do a treadmill with an incline - at about 2.8-3.5 speed - whatever you are comfortable...and yes..i do hold on. I used to do that 30 minutse per day and it helps. If no gym, just walk around a local park or whatever 2--3 miles a day.

But - you can not do that and come home and eat a package of cookies...which is something I do when I am not fully disciplined.

Walk....and eat smarter. You will shed.


Oh and PS - i leave for a vacation next Saturday and am doing the same....lol. Have to make room for all the food and drink on vacation Enjoy. Back to Disney in December..can not wait.

 

[loves to dive]

I agree it's all about calories in and calories burned. It's possible to lose it just by diet alone but I'd add some sort of exercise. Walking is easy, you can do it anywhere and don't need to spend money on it. You don't need any equipment and no extreme programs, just walk at a steady to fast pace. Don't get me wrong, I do work out at least 3 days a week, normally 5 and I have a workout room in my basement complete with weight machine (which I haven't used in 5 years) eliptical machine, hand weights, yoga mat, stability balls (or unstability balls as we call them in my house) a TV, a DVD player and about 300 DVDs. But all that isn't necessary, just eat healthy and walk.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Beachbody is great because it's very affordable, especially compared to taking fitness classes (I spend $200/month on Flywheel spin class membership, and $160/year for Beachbody on Demand).

The key with losing weight is nutrition. The great thing about Beachbody is that all of their workouts (you get all workouts with the new Beachbody on Demand - don't let someone sell you one program on a DVD, it's a total rip-off... also, your brother may be willing to share his subscription with you) come with nutrition plans. If you follow the nutrition plan, you will see results!

I'm also a fan of HIIT, so I've really been into the new Beachbody Shift Shop by Chris Downing. You alternate cardio and strength every other day, and build up each week in length and intensity (first week 25 min, 2nd 35 min, 3rd 45 min). I was super impressed by my results - I weighed in the first day at 109 and was at 101 by the end of week 3 (8 lbs is a lot for someone 5' tall!).

Sure, "just eat less calories than you burn" makes sense, but I am an advocate for having a fitness and nutrition plan (also, if you want to really get into it, there are certain macros that you want to be hitting as far as protein/fats/carbs... for example, I could eat two 200 calorie candy bars and call that lunch, but they're full of processed sugars and fats). It's a little bit of work - it might mean meal prepping on Sundays, but if you have all of your meals for the week decided on, and all of your snacks portioned out, then you won't be as tempted to eat junk when you get hungry.

 

[Elleshoodat]

OP, you have plenty of time between now and November; you can lose a fair amount of weight in three months!

I do a combination of walking and dance (YouTube videos) for my cardio, and circuit training and yoga for my strength training. I personally won't pay for a program like Beachbody or Kayla Itsines when there are so many FREE workouts available. I follow several healthy living bloggers who regularly post new workouts, and I'll occasionally do a Pinterest or Google image search for "HIIT workout" or "bodyweight workout" since I don't belong to a gym and don't have much equipment.

It really does come down to diet, though. I work out primarily because I enjoy feeling active and strong, but I also like to eat so I never really lose weight.

 

[Klayfish]

There's no rocket science or fad type workouts needed here. As others have said, it's a simple formula of calories in vs. calories burned. A few suggestions I'd have...

Take a hard and honest look at what you eat each day. Use something like FitDay to track everything you put in your mouth. It can be a lot of work, so you may not want to do it long term, but just take the time to do it for a few days and you'll get a clear picture of what you're actually consuming. Then make adjustments as necessary. Shoot for higher protein, lower (not zero) carb and fat intake. Good foods are pretty simple...fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts, certain cheeses, etc....

Get your calorie burn up. I would advise against doing pure cardio. It may get you results on the scale, but not really get you what you want. Put some kind of weights in there. You don't need to go hardcore and lift as hard as you can. But use weights. Muscle burns calories...the more muscle you have, the faster you'll burn calories and the healthier you'll get.

And along with that...don't worry so much about the actual number on the scale. I hate to hear when people are slaves to that. It's more about body fat % and overall health. Eat right, get the right exercise and the number on the scale will be what it will be. The mirror will tell you what you need to know.

 

[PixieT78]

DH and I are also on a mission to lose weight before our December trip. In fact, the trip is a huge carrot for us to keep us focused! We both have a lot to lose, of which we definitely won't lose all before we go (probably not even half), even if we starved ourselves (and we won't b/c I inevitably get HANGRY) but we know that we'll get results if we stay consistent. So right now, we've dropped alcohol and junk food completely. Any take out is sushi and we're super careful with restaurants if we go. Breakfast and lunch tend to be the same (some combination of protein shake, oatmeal, egg on an english muffin and salad with grilled chicken). Dinner is BBQ or stir fry or something from Skinnytaste. And walking. So much walking. Currently it is approximately 30 mins twice a day with longer walks on the weekends. I also try to ensure I get 10,000 steps per day. I figure this will help with getting my feet ready for the parks too! Eventually I do want to add in some strength training and/or yoga and if/when my weight loss stalls, I'll start looking at actually tracking my intake. It can do a bit of a number on my head so I want to hold off as long as I can. Its been two weeks and we've both already lost about 10 lbs. I know it will slow down from here but sure helps the motivation!

 

[rwdavis2]

The most effective thing you can do is change what you eat. If you look up the number of calories burned during various exercises you'll see that a muffin can pretty much make the time on the treadmill a waste of time,

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I love Beachbody. I've done a bunch of programs but for "beginners" 21 day fix is great. It's not only a workout program but a nutrition plan too. They have set containers, a guide on "approved" foods (that is really large) and it shows you portion control. Fat loss/weight loss is 80% about what you eat so I like this program for the nutrition program alone. Then there's 21 day fix extreme. Each program is 3 weeks each but you can keep repeating them. You'll need light weights. I usually use 8 and 10 pound ones for this program since it's based on high reps. I have other programs where I use higher weights, like Hammer and Chisel.

I am not a Beachbody coach or sell the stuff. I just really like the programs.

 

[Klayfish]

DH and I are also on a mission to lose weight before our December trip. In fact, the trip is a huge carrot for us to keep us focused! We both have a lot to lose, of which we definitely won't lose all before we go (probably not even half), even if we starved ourselves (and we won't b/c I inevitably get HANGRY) but we know that we'll get results if we stay consistent. So right now, we've dropped alcohol and junk food completely. Any take out is sushi and we're super careful with restaurants if we go. Breakfast and lunch tend to be the same (some combination of protein shake, oatmeal, egg on an english muffin and salad with grilled chicken). Dinner is BBQ or stir fry or something from Skinnytaste. And walking. So much walking. Currently it is approximately 30 mins twice a day with longer walks on the weekends. I also try to ensure I get 10,000 steps per day. I figure this will help with getting my feet ready for the parks too! Eventually I do want to add in some strength training and/or yoga and if/when my weight loss stalls, I'll start looking at actually tracking my intake. It can do a bit of a number on my head so I want to hold off as long as I can. Its been two weeks and we've both already lost about 10 lbs. I know it will slow down from here but sure helps the motivation!

Congrats on having the resolve to start getting healthier! Just a few thoughts based on what you wrote. As tasty as it is, ditch the BBQ. BBQ sauce is loaded with sugars and other bad stuff. Use proper cuts of meat, if it's chicken, no skin. There is low cal BBQ sauce, we have it. It's honestly nowhere near as tasty as the "real" stuff, but it's 10 calories per serving instead of 70+. Sushi (I don't eat it, I don't like seafood) is often wrapped in white rice...again, not good stuff. Also make sure it's not a fatty fish that's used. Walking is great, if it's part of your exercise, not the sole source. Do some rotation of things...even if you just start with air squats and lifting a broomstick. Good luck!!!

 

[Jennasis]

A few dietary tweaks and I am down 30+ lbs in two years. I bring lunch to work 3 days a week, frozen meals all 250-350 calories. On the days I don't bring my frozen lean cuisine lunch I eat whatever I want for lunch...often fast food but I don't eat breakfast. Drinking lots of water too. We don't have ANY snacks in the house Andy desserts are a rare luxury maybe once per week.

At Disney...on vacation...all bets are off LoL!

 

[PixieT78]

Congrats on having the resolve to start getting healthier! Just a few thoughts based on what you wrote. As tasty as it is, ditch the BBQ. BBQ sauce is loaded with sugars and other bad stuff. Use proper cuts of meat, if it's chicken, no skin. There is low cal BBQ sauce, we have it. It's honestly nowhere near as tasty as the "real" stuff, but it's 10 calories per serving instead of 70+. Sushi (I don't eat it, I don't like seafood) is often wrapped in white rice...again, not good stuff. Also make sure it's not a fatty fish that's used. Walking is great, if it's part of your exercise, not the sole source. Do some rotation of things...even if you just start with air squats and lifting a broomstick. Good luck!!!

Thanks! My definition of BBQ is throwing meat and veg on an outdoor grill and calling it BBQ, not so much the low and slow, slathered in cups of BBQ sauce kind of BBQ, so it's pretty healthy. If we use BBQ sauce at all (and often we don't), it is a small amount. Regarding the sushi, we've cut down on the number of rolls we would have ordered previously, added sashimi (no rice) and frankly I'm not afraid of the healthy fats that are in salmon. I wouldn't eat it on a day where I had oatmeal, for example, but I'll take the hit on the 1/2 a cup of white rice once or twice a month, if it means I'm not ordering pizza or burgers!

 

[Klayfish]

Thanks! My definition of BBQ is throwing meat and veg on an outdoor grill and calling it BBQ, not so much the low and slow, slathered in cups of BBQ sauce kind of BBQ, so it's pretty healthy. If we use BBQ sauce at all (and often we don't), it is a small amount. Regarding the sushi, we've cut down on the number of rolls we would have ordered previously, added sashimi (no rice) and frankly I'm not afraid of the healthy fats that are in salmon. I wouldn't eat it on a day where I had oatmeal, for example, but I'll take the hit on the 1/2 a cup of white rice once or twice a month, if it means I'm not ordering pizza or burgers!

Gotcha. Yes, we do the same thing. We grill boneless/skinless chicken breast whenever we can. Actually, our lives are so crazy, we cook in bulk. On Sunday, I'll grill 6-8lbs of chicken, DW will cook a lot of fish (she eats it, I won't touch it...tilapia...ugh), I'll also grill 4lbs of center cut pork chops and that lasts us all week. We just heat and eat after work.

Totally agree that healthy fats are good. So are carbs, it's just in the right moderation, that's all.

Sounds like you've got a great plan. Definitely nothing wrong with the 1/2 cup of white rice once in a while. Like I said, I do a cheat meal once per week and don't feel the least bit guilty. I'm very lean, and could be totally ripped if I wanted to give up the cheat meal...which I don't.

 

[Marchand63]

I went back to swimming, so far down 23 in 3 months. ITA move more, eat healthier, it won't matter what workout you do.

 

[LJSquishy]

Paleo and Beachbody workouts. Walking isn't going to do much for you. Eat a clean Paleo diet and you will drop weight and feel great.

 

[Capang]

I've done beach body and hated it. I found it to be more of a fad diet. The workouts were ok but they weren't great. After trying every diet you could imagine and dropping/gaining back more than I lost I joined weight watchers. What I learned is mostly portion control, heavy on the veggies, light on the fats and carbs (but don't eliminate those just small portions of those). I've dropped more than 50 pounds by making small changes in what I eat, when I eat, and eating a true portion size. My advice FWIW, is eat healthy and stay away from fad diets unless medically necessary. Exercise with weights a couple times a weeks and cardio a couple times a week. Walking is stellar exercise. Take a small jog if you can. Losing weight is really mind over matter. Apps like lose it or my fitness pal can be used for free and really help you track what you eat. That's also important, track what you eat. Find an activity you love and do it, like swimming, walking, skating, running. Move more.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Slow weight loss is the way to go.
Don't try to lose too much too fast.
Also don't try to go too hardcore on a diet or exercise plan because that easily leads to failure.
What I have been doing since April 2016 is eating fruit for breakfast, veggies for lunch, whatever I want for dinner within reason of course.
Plus I worked my way up from drinking 64oz of water daily to 120oz daily now.
For exercise I just walk about 2.5 miles per day. Takes about 40 minutes.
I lost 50lbs. It took 14 months and I feel great.
Went from size 2X to mostly mediums.

 

[Marchand63]

Slow weight loss is the way to go.
Don't try to lose too much too fast.
Also don't try to go too hardcore on a diet or exercise plan because that easily leads to failure.
What I have been doing since April 2016 is eating fruit for breakfast, veggies for lunch, whatever I want for dinner within reason of course.
Plus I worked my way up from drinking 64oz of water daily to 120oz daily now.
For exercise I just walk about 2.5 miles per day. Takes about 40 minutes.
I lost 50lbs. It took 14 months and I feel great.
Went from size 2X to mostly mediums.

Couldn't agree more, most fads you lose then put it right back on. I am shooting for 8-10 lbs a month or 2.5 a week. Realistic and achievable