Tae Bo for Weight Loss & Toning

You can lose weight and tone up on just about any exercise plan, assuming you eat healthy, too. The key is finding something you'll really stick with and that suits any health issues you may have. My husband does P90X religiously and has gone down almost two clothes sizes. However, that program is so hard he starts to vomit with many of the DVDs, even after six months or so on the program doing it daily. To me, I'd give up the first time that happened. I don't want exercise to be so exhausting it literally makes me sick.

I do the Biggest Loser workout DVDs and like that they're short, easy to follow and don't aggravate my plantar fasciitis (foot problem) because they offer examples to follow for those with injuries. I also go to Vinyasa yoga classes twice a week. I knew those classes were great for stress relief but apparently I'm also getting toned from those, too, because a friend of mine wants to take the classes now because she says I look like I've lost 20 lbs. since I started them a couple months ago.

Billy Blanks is like the king of Tae Bo. It's a very aerobic workout. I picked up a DVD for him for a great workout but it was a bit vigorous for me but it was $5.00 at Target.

I agree with others you need to attack this two fold, exercise and what you eat.

If it appeals to you, do it. Make smart choices with your food/beverage intake to fuel your body properly, as well. Weight loss and toning is probably 90% diet, and 10% exercise. You really need both to work together, but you can over eat waaaay more easily than you can exercise the extra calories away.

Any exercise plan that excites you, give it a try. It's better than doing nothing. And most plans, no matter how good they are, if you stay with just that and never mix it up with other things, loses some of its effectiveness, because your body is adaptive and will learn to do the work in the most efficient manner (meaning using less calories to do the same work).

Get started and have fun!

I've been a TaeBo junkie for years. It's still in my rotation these days.
I'd consider myself as Advanced for fitness, and my favorites are still the old school TaeBo Live tapes, which you can only find on VHS these days. I converted mine to DVD.

There were a lot of years where Billy put out a "series", which sucked, honestly, if you're already familiar with TaeBo and form. Amped, Boot Camp, Elite, T3 Total Transformation... he always put out an instructional, beginner, and advanced workout. If you didn't need the first two, you wasted a lot of money.

Lately, he's been back to putting out individual DVDs that are similar to the old original workouts. They're always all the same old moves, no matter how he packages them, so it really doesn't matter what you go with. You're going to get the work workouts, just maybe in a different sequence.

If you're just starting and need the instruction on form and would benefit from the beginner workouts, I'd suggest starting with a series where you get all of them and can work up to the next level.

WOW! I haven't thought about Tae Bo for years! I used to LOVE the activities. I don't have those tapes any more...today I do Zumba on the Wii. I love it. And I partner that with a great nutritional program - which my coach reminded me that "over 80% of weight loss is what you put in your mouth, not how fast your breath comes out of it". It changed my life.

I reccomend getting something that is fun and encouraging. I love the Wii Zumba world tour because I can "go" to different countries and work out on the beach anytime I want!

I like that series, they work you without exhausting you. They are doable, and you can keep at them. Anything you choose and do regularly and consistently will do the trick.

Best,
F. B.

I once worked with a woman that had all of them. She loved them. You may be able to get a few at the library to make sure you will actually do them. No point in spending the money to have them sit beacuse they just are not something you really enjoy.

I like Tony Horton and his 10 minute trainer and the original Power 90 dvds. He pushes you without making you hate him and tells you to do things at your pace until you are more comfortable. My kids lost my dvds or I would be back into it.