30 Day Workout Challenge

I actually did use “Wii Fit Plus” for almost 30 days, but I originally wasn't going to talk about it. It's not a real exercise program, right?

Wrong. It is advertised as one and encourages you to use it daily to keep your weight under control. And each time I looked at my weight graph, I saw those first weeks where absolutely nothing was happening, or worse, I was gaining weight in the strangest yo-yo pattern. I finally decided people deserved to know, and a review was needed. I did not do a full 30 days, because it was clearly not working and sticking with it for a few more days would have been pointless.

“Wii Fit” was such a horrendous failure and yet I know when the Wii first came out, “Wii Fit” was a huge seller. It gave people hope that video games could help them lose weight. And while I do think video games can help, I think “Wii Fit” is a poor contender. It's not even suited for someone just getting started and trying to get in the rhythm of exercising. The lack of results of any kind would make anyone in such a position stop trying pretty quickly. Had I been less motivated, I know I would have given up after seeing my weight jump upward despite daily exercise.

P90X is probably the most well-known exercise program on the market due to late night infomercials running for it for what felt like years. It was hard to turn on the TV at night without hearing Tony Horton talking about muscle confusion or a weight loss and muscle building testimonial.

According to the ACE science backs up P90X's effectiveness as a workout program. So after looking into the scientific efficacy of the program, I dove in and started it.

There is a set weekly schedule for P90X. The first 3 weeks are the same so it was easy to get enough in to do a review for each video.

Chest and Back, Plyometrics, Shoulder and Arms, Yoga X, Legs and Back, Kenpo X, Rest

Peripheral Equipment:

Pull-up bar or resistance bands

Resistance bands or free weights

Yoga blocks (optional)

Yoga mat (optional, but I recommend it)

Weight loss/aerobics:

“P90X is not a fast-track weight loss solution like other programs. It's an unprecedented fitness solution designed to give you a stronger, healthier body that will become leaner and perform better over time. It's not designed for weight loss per se. It's designed to increase human performance and improve overall body composition. Trust it.” From Steve Edwards, the Director of Results at Beachbody, in the P90X Extreme Home Fitness Nutritional Planning guide.

I was recently horrified when I had to look up what a tabata was because someone on a fat loss forum told me 'it's the hardest exercise ever so I am burning 800 calories in 4 minutes'. The first link was from Shape so I clicked it. A magazine that is supposed to be helping people lose weight and visualize realistic fitness claimed that a single tabata (4 minutes of exercise) provided more fitness gains than a 60 minute run. In terms of calories, that would be about 700ish calories, perhaps more for an obese person.

At first blush, it actually looked like the person on the weight loss forum was right! And here I am struggling along with P90X at 600ish calories for an entire hour!

Sound too good to be true?

From the second I heard about the BBC doing an autopsy on an obese woman, I have been incredibly excited for it. Morbid curiosity and the desire to know exactly what all the fat I was lugging around for years was doing to my insides.

This US woman, who weighed 'only' 238 Lbs (despite being obese, that is smallfat territory to anyone who is familiar with the Healthy at Any Size movement), and her family graciously donated her body to science so that she could be autopsied on TV. In her death she educated millions about what obesity looks like on the inside, how fat causes the organs to become enlarged and baggy, how fat marbelizes around organs, how fat directly contributes to a poorer quality of life and eventual death.

Orlistat is found in prescription Xenical in 120 mg doses and over-the-counter My Alli in 60 mg doses.

Orlistate has been used in a number of fat control and fat loss studies. Trials which used control groups and used patients with uncomplicated obesity (that is patients who did not have obesity due to untreated medical conditions) showed statistically significant differences between the placebo control group and the orlistat group on who achieved more weight loss. Those using orlistat achieved significantly greater results (5% or greater decrease in body mass on average). It not only resulted in more weight loss, it resulted in a decrease in health complications related to being overweight or obese, such as high blood pressure.

We did a close look at the herbal supplement Forskolin and so now it's time to use LG 365's Forskolin for 30 days and see if it stacks up to its own claims.

Directions: Take one capsule daily with a glass of water. Preferably before a meal.

Claims: Weight loss, 'belly buster', appetite suppressant, increased energy, increased mood, nicer skin

Ease of use: The capsule has only a light odor. It goes down easily with both food and water. I had no issues with it getting caught in my throat.

FDA: No statements made by LG 365 are approved by the FDA.

I cannot see any substantial difference in my weight loss than would be expected from my exercise program. Nor did I feel like I had more energy or an elevated mood. I felt very normal while taking LG 365 Forskolin.