Gym vs. Home Workout

This past week I had the opportunity to try a 7 day trial membership to a very prestigious athletic club in the Lansing area. I have to admit I was very impressed with the establishment and all that it offers it members. I took advantage of the trial membership and tried many of the options that they have to offer. But, it only took me a couple of days to realize that the membership to a gym is not for me. A 40 minute workout quickly turned into a hour an a half commitment. How could I resist taking advantage of the hot tub and sauna's before taking a shower? I would get done with work at 5:00 but not get home until after 7:00 or 7:30 PM after working out. That is craziness! I have been using Beachbody home workout programs for the past two years. It is so easy to pop in a 40 minute workout DVD, complete the workout, jump in the shower and be done in less than an hour. When you are working 40 hours a week, it is hard enough to find an hour each day to fit a good workout in. So finding time to workout at a gym and take advantage of the amenities that they offer to justify the monthly price of membership is out of the question for me. I have paid $15 - $120 for the varies Beachbody programs that I have purchased. But, it is a one time purchase price and I own them. I can use and reuse the programs over and over for the rest of my life. Most of the DVD workout programs are a 30, 60 or 90 day programs. Once I complete one I try another. What I like about them is not every day is the same workout. Most of the programs come with several DVD's because there are so many workouts. I use my free WOWY membership to log the programs. Each day before I get ready to workout I go into WOWY and find out what workout I am scheduled to do today. And all from the convenience of my own home. I know some people say they can't do home workout programs because they are not motivated enough to keep doing it every day. My suggestion for that is to find a workout buddy. That buddy doesn't have to be committed to the same program as you, they just need to commit to working out like you. Then keep each other accountable. My workout buddy lives half way around the world. We continue to keep each other accountable simply by asking each other each day about our workouts. If you need a workout buddy I would be glad to help you. Find me on Facebook or leave a comment here.

What is Beachbody?

You will often hear me talk about this great company that I work for, Beachbody. What is Beachbody and how did I get started with this company? Maybe you have seen the infomercials for P90X, Insanity, Turbo Jam, etc.? I know I see them all the time and love to watch them because I have tried the products and know they work. I started with Team Beachbody in January 2010. A friend of mine was a Coach and always talking about Shakeology and the workout programs that she was doing. I finally decided that I needed to get serious about losing weight and saw how well she was doing, so I asked her about Beachbody. I initially signed up to save 25% on products but after several months decided that I wanted to share the opportunity with others. My daughter observed what I was doing and decided that she too would become a Beachbody Coach. We have been doing it together for over a year now and loving it.

I recently ran across a job posting for Beachbody in which they had the following description of the company. "Beachbody was founded in 1998 by Carl Daikeler and Jon Congdon.   The company is based in Santa Monica, California, and is the creator of the nation’s most popular in-home fitness and weight loss solutions including P90X®, Insanity®, Brazil Butt Lift®, Slim in 6®, Turbo Jam®, Hip Hop Abs®, and Power 90® among many others. Beachbody programs combine challenging DVD-based workouts with easy-to-follow diet guidelines, nutritional supplements (including its breakthrough health shake called Shakeology®, AKA “The Healthiest Meal of the Day”), and an unparalleled customer service and peer-support system. In fact, Beachbody has expanded this support system through Team Beachbody.com, which includes a network of thousands of independent “Coach” distributors as well as a dynamic online support and fitness community. The company’s beauty business includes brands Timeless Secret™ and DermExclusive™. The corporate mission is to help people achieve their goals and enjoy healthy, fulfilling lives."

I have been with Team Beachbody for over a year now. I love my job as a "Coach" distributor because I have the pleasure of talking to people about achieving their goals of becoming healthy and physically fit. I work from my home, no time clock to punch. I am my own boss. I am looking for others that would like to join my team. If you are interested in hearing more, send me an email: sally@homefitness4u.com. Let's talk.

Who is Sally Vrooman?

This is my first official Blog. Who would have ever guessed I would be blogging? I've always said I want to write a book, but I could never figure out what to write about. Maybe blogging will inspire me. I plan to use this blog as a personal journal to track my fitness journey. I should have started blogging over a year ago because that is when I started my fitness journey.

Let me start by telling you a little bit about who I am. I am a 52 year old woman that has had three children. With each child I gained 10 pounds that I never lost. I remember when I was 19 years old and in college, I weighed 99 pounds. This memory stays with me because I was on a college swim team and each morning we would weigh in. I was always under 100 pounds and so proud of it. Being on a swim team and working out four hours a day, it was easy to stay slender and physically fit. After college I got married and started to raise my family. I was a stay at home mom for many years, doing child care in my home. Being at home I wore sweat pants and t-shirts every day. I never really worried about my weight, just accepted that gaining weight was a fact of life. Over the years I gradually went from a size 3 to a size 14.

I tried to work on my weight but never put my heart in to it. I purchased all types of workout equipment; Gazelle, BlowFlex, AbCruncher, Wii Fit, and more. I guess I thought if I bought the equipment the weight would magically come off. It became a joke in the family, what had Mom bought now? In January 2010 I decided to sign up to be a Beachbody Coach so I could receive a 25% discount on workout DVD programs. As a Coach I had the opportunity to buy a starter kit that included several workout programs. A friend and coworker had been talking about Beachbody and Shakeology on her Facebook for months and she was losing weight and looking good. I finally asked her to tell me more about Shakeology and the next thing you know I'm signing up. I thought if she can look that good, so can I.

I have to be honest, at first my heart wasn't really in it. I had the workout DVDs and I would put a DVD in, try a couple of workouts but never stuck to any program. Do you see a pattern in my life? I was drinking the Shakeology and enjoying how it made me feel. My daughter had started the P90X program and was pushing play everyday. I kept making excuses and she finally made me feel guilty, so I decided to do it with her. Together we did P90X and both of us were losing weight. Imagine that! After P90X we both did the Insanity 60 Day program. We thought P90X was crazy hard, but Insanity is Insane! We were both officially addicted to working out and well on our way to reaching our fitness goals.

I will continue to blog and share about my fitness journey. Hopefully you will follow me and come back for more. I would love to hear from my readers. Have you struggled to lose weight? Have you fell victim to the exercise equipment gadgets over the years like me? Have you tried exercise DVD's? Gym memberships? What has worked for you?