Review: Focus T25

This program goes from easy to hard in 3 months. There are 3 different levels you can choose from.
Alpha is more for people who aren't very active. Beta is a moderate level. Gamma is for people who are already fit. Each different in its own way but you get awesome results. Each workout includes a modifier so you won't have to over do it.

Alpha:

• Cardio- pure 25 minutes of calorie burning cardio.
• Speed 1.0- Low level speed agility for fat burn.
• Total body circuit- focus on strength resistance without lifting weights.
• Ab intervals- Cardio ab workout to work that midsection. 
• Lower focus- focuses on the lower body to burn fat and raise metabolism. 
• Stretch- stretch those tight muscles. 

Beta:

• Core cardio- Get your sweat on! this will surly shred all the calories off. 
• Speed 2.0- A level up from Speed 1.0. All cardio.
• Rip't circuit- focuses on core, legs, arms, and abs. Than you do it all again.
• Dynamic core- this workout you do horizontal and vertical. A little different but helps you focus.
• Upper focus- focuses on the upper body to help build a better, upper body. 
• Stretch- stretch those tired muscles.

Gamma:

• The pyramid- cardio and strength endurance.
• Rip't up- work your arms, back, shoulder, and chest.
• Extreme circuit- build lean muscle and burn fat. You never put the dumbbells down.
• Speed 3.0- more sweat and cardio. More intense than 1.0 and 2.0

"Even if you can't physically see the results in front of you, every single effort is changing your body from the inside. Never get discouraged!"

I decided to do all three workout programs. When I started alpha I wasn't to impressed with it. It was to easy for me. I had just finished Insanity so I was wanted more sweat and cardio. Every workout felt like a warm up to me. I wanted more cardio and that's not what I was getting in this one.
It was like a rest month for me. Although total body circuit is intense and had me sweating every time I was done. Also I did like the lower focus. I liked the moves and how he sculpted my lower body. 

Beta was more enjoyful. I felt like I was getting more and what I wanted when I was done. I really like Rip't circuit and core cardio. Rip't circuit you work a certain body part than when your done with every part you do it all over again. Its great!! Core cardio reminds me of pure cardio from insanity. Upper focus felt like another upper body workout. It reminded me of BBL carnival tank top time. I enjoyed it a lot. Dynamic core was a meh for me. I didn't mind it but I would rather do Rip't circuit.
Gamma was very intense. It felt like I was doing Insanity all over again, but it was 25 minutes instead of 45. Like a speedy version of Insanity. The pyramid was enjoyable but not my favorite. Rip't up was very enjoyable it worked everything that is upper body. It was like doing P90x, but in less time. Extreme circuit I really enjoyed. You literally never put those dumbbells down! your getting in your cardio while working your core. It felt amazing. Speed 3.0 ok this one got me every time. I would have a hard time finishing this one. You think Speed 2.0 was hard, well 3,0 is like it but you go faster and harder. Total sweat fest here.
On one workout ( i cant remember which one, but I think its extreme circuit) Shaun has you do 7 different burpees like 4 times! I hate burpees!! After this one I got use to them. They don't bother me as much and I'm getting much better at doing them.
So during the month of Beta me and my husband went on vacation to Vegas. We stayed for a whole week but I kept my workouts up. We stayed in a really nice condo that had a fancy gym. I would hook up to the wifi and get sweating. I would have a lot of people look at me and when I was done they would ask what that workout was. I would explain what I was doing and where and how I was streaming it.
 They had nice clean towels and fans going to keep me cool during my cardio day. I still was sweating like crazy and catching my breath once in a while. I loved working out where people could see me so they could see how much fun I was having by streaming my workouts online. I could
have also done it in the comfort of our condo room. That's what I love about Beachbody.
At the end of month Beta my herbalist put me on a brain detox. Now that was the longest and hardest 2 week ever. I couldn't do heavy cardio and to do a lot of yoga. I still did this program but modified a lot!. I hated this detox I was ornery, weak, tired and always hungry. Nobody said this was gonna be easy.. It really took a toll on not only my brain but my body too. When I was done with it I felt like a whole new person. I had so much energy. I could go to work, take care of my toddler and husband, cook, clean and workout. Oh I loved it!.
I did this program right during Thanksgiving. Oh boy did I have a lot of temptation to not workout. Guess what I did not use the holidays as an excuse to not workout. I still did it and felt good. On Thanksgiving I didn't over indulge on food. I ate in moderation and controlled my intake.

To 10 signs you're doing T25 

1. You love Shaun T
2. You hate Shaun T
3. You love Tania
4. You sweat more in 25 minutes than you ever have in any workout. 
5. Double down Friday put you in depression
6. Beta is a whole new level of WTF!
7. You front, center, back, center randomly.
8. You started to love Shaun T again
9. The last 10 seconds are your favorite part of the workout
10. You are excited to announce you NAILED IT after every workout!!

Funny story while doing this program. Im quoting my instagram post.
Had family stuff going on. Wanted to workout before it started and the beachbody website was down and the internet decided not to work... I had withdrawals and got my rage out on the Facebook group. Apparently I wasn't the only one that was needing an attitude adjustment. I really wanted to tell everyone that I'm not responsible for my actions...I told my mother in law I was going insane ( while shaking slightly like an addict) and needed to workout. Got home website was up, wifi up I was set. Got it in and felt much better. Now I can post this picture while laughing and say to myself " this actually happens".
Having funny moments make great workout memories.


This program is perfect for busy people... especially moms who want to workout and want results in less time. You can't beat 25 minutes a day.


"Everything is hard before it is easy"




Here are my results. I noticed a huge difference in my back and midsection. I loved my results. Thanks Shaun!.

Review: Insanity

Insanity is not for everyone. This program literally is challenging from day one, it is made for the already fit. It's a total cardio body workout without weights.
There is no separate programs for this, its all just one. Before you start you do whats called a " fit test" You do different moves and you keep going till you can't anymore. At the end of month one you do it again and then at the end of the program. It helps you see how far you've come.

Here are the workouts:

• Plyometrics cardio circuit- intense lower body plyo mixed with high cardio. 40 minutes
• Cardio power & resistance- upper body strength training and power moves. 40 minutes
• Pure cardio- extreme non stop cardio workout. 40 minutes
• Recovery- total recovery to get ready for the next round. 35 minutes
• Cardio abs- intensive core workout. 20 minutes.
• Core cardio & balance- Restore tired muscles for month 2. 45 minutes 

Month two:

• Max interval plyo- power plyo leg workout. 50 minutes
• Max recovery- building strength with intense moves and stretches. 50 minutes
• Max cardio conditioning- extreme cardio workout. 50 minutes
• Max interval circuit- intense interval circuit thats more extreme than ever before. 60 minutes

Deluxe edition:

• Fast and furious abs- a 45 minute ab workout shortened into 15 minutes. 
• Sanity check-A not-so-crazy workout that shows you how to perform each of his insane moves safely and effectively, so you can get maximum results. 26 minutes.
• MAX interval sports training- designed for elite athletes. 55 minutes
• Insane abs- intense ab routine. 33 minutes.
• Upper body weight training- Entire upper body-chest, back, arms, and shoulders. 48 minutes.

For the deluxe you would replace cardio abs with insane abs, and core cardio balance with max interval sports training. The others you can replace with whatever you want. I did the upper body weight training one and I really enjoyed it. It was long, but my arms were killing me after. If I ever do it again maybe I'll add all the deluxe workouts edition too.
The upper body weight training workout was one of my favorite upper body workouts. He does a warm up, than 3 or 4 different circuits and you do each circuit 3 or 4 times. You do a couple with weights than at the end of each circuit he add a little cardio.

"Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them, a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill" 
                   -Muhammad Ali

I really enjoyed month one. Cardio abs, core cardio and balance, and pure cardio were my favorites from the whole program. Pure cardio doesn't have a break in it at all. There are a couple days where its double down day. Its mainly cardio abs and pure cardio. 

Cardio abs I could do every day if I could. I think this is one of my top favorite ab workouts. Core cardio and balance is really enjoyable. I love how it recovers your muscles after a hard week. After you finish month one there is an extra week where you do core cardio and balance a whole week to get ready for month two. 

 Month two was very, very hard. There's a reason all the workouts start with the word "MAX".  I would be almost done with max interval plyo and my arms would literally give out. Its mainly from doing so many burpees. After almost every workout I would be dripping in sweat and extremely tired. 

So on the recovery workouts I didn't like them. I felt like I was doing cardio more that recovery. Instead of doing recovery I would just do the core cardio and balance.

"It's not about how fast or how far you have to go. It's about digging deep and pushing yourself to keep moving forward"
                                           -Shaun T

During this program you start to hate Tonya. She is very intense and is non stop in the whole program. She motivates you not to stop or give up. Me and my workout partner would yell at her and try and beat her. You hardly see her take a break unless Shaun lets you. 

There is so much motivation that needs to be put in this program. Having a partner to do it with you will help not only you but your partner. Find a group of people on facebook; the more people the better.

"I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm trying to make you better"
                                    -Shaun T

The second month literally tore my whole body apart. This program has made me realize that cardio is a good thing. I use to hate it with a passion and Insanity has made me enjoy it more.
Now if I don't have a cardio workout at least 3 times a week I go nuts.

At the beginning of every workout there is a opening. He says this (picture to your left) for every opening and every time I would get so pumped. It kinda intimidates you to get prepared and get ready for what Shaun T is bringing and getting ready to "dig deeper" with every move you do.

"We don't just call it insanity because these workouts are intense. We call it insanity because in 60 days, you're going to get results that are simply crazy. But don't start this program thinking you can pretend your way through this. We need you to be prepared to dig deeper than ever before. Get ready for a transformation unlike anything you've ever experienced. THIS IS INSANITY."
                                                   -Shaun T

Here are my results;

lost 3 pounds and 1 pant size. I mainly toned and created lean muscle in this program.

Vicks shower pods

These are amazing when it comes to cold and flu season.
Ive seen a lot of sick people and kids and thought this would be a good time to post this.
We have sickness everywhere in the Nielsen house.
Nash has strep with a cough. He coughs because his throat is swollen, some puss and infected. He also had other things.
Husband has the cold or flu.

Baby vicks is 5 bucks at walmart. Regular vicks, you can get at the dollar store. I just bought 3 things of them. I asked the pharmacist about baby vicks and vicks. He says as long as your not rubbing the vicks on the toddler/babies chest and nose you don't have to use the baby vicks. So these pods are just fine for toddler/babies.

I do not take credit for the picture

My poor family... this will help them for sure.

What you'll need:

• 5 tbl vicks ( use baby vicks for a not so strong smell)
• 1/2 c baking soda
• 1 c cornstarch
• add tsp of water if needed
• molding tray. (ice cube or cake pop tray)

What to do:

Add cornstarch ( you can add glitter for girls so they feel like a princess)

Add in vicks and mix till well combined. This will be very strong in smell so if needed wear gloves or open a window. If you add too much vicks it won't melt.

Add baking soda and mix. If you need more add a tsp at a time.

Place mixture in molding tray ( you can use different shapes to make it fun for kids)

Freeze them for 2 hours or more. 

Pop out when done and place in container and put away. 

To use:

Place in shower near drain and it should clear up nasal passage and make you feel amazing. 

I hope this helps you and your little ones with these nasty sicknesses going around. 

Review: Brazil butt lift carnivale

This program is a cardio/ sculpting workout and will sculpt you from head to toe. It is for beginner to intermediate. I actually really enjoyed this one almost more than the original BBL. On the schedule it has 2 double days and 1 rest day. There is only 1 level and its 30 days. I ended up doing 60 days because I felt like I needed more and I really enjoyed it. There is a hybrid calendar with the original BBL that is available.
Here are the workouts:

Get sweaty- Brazilian dance routine that make you sweat. 30 minutes.
It's booty time- helps sculpt your lower body and lift your butt. 35 minutes.
Tank top time- targets the upper body for a great arm workout. 34 minutes.
Sexy & sculpted- sculpts your entire body. 34 minutes.
15 minute abs- flattens, tightens and tones your abs. 15 minutes.

I really enjoyed all of the workouts. Each one was unique and worked different parts of the body.
 Get sweaty is so much fun, you dance your booty off and learn a lot of dance moves. 
It's booty time works your butt in every place and every muscle you have. 
Tank top time uses weights and works your arms and shoulders. You also get some good cardio in it too. On this one I recorded myself to show others what it was like. Ya I did a play back and wow I could not believe it. The whole time it was go go go and I've never noticed. 
Sexy and sculpted mainly just sculpts and has cardio too. 
15 minute abs... ok so I wasn't a huge fan of this one. I would rather do the ab ripper X on P90X than this one. I felt like I wasn't feeling the burn long enough. 

During this program I was on a detox. It took so much energy out of me. That's why I did this for 2 months instead of 1. I felt like I needed more because I was on a detox. 
After finishing this one I feel more comfortable in shorts and I felt like my legs were more firm. I also noticed that my cellulite was disappearing. During this program I started noticing that my abs were showing up.... I was so proud of myself. 
This one was a little bit easier than the original BBL. Although I had a lot more fun with this one. 
Sometimes during this one my son will come and lift weight with me and we would listen to the Frozen soundtrack. He motivated me a lot when I needed it. 

The most noticeable thing that popped out was my shoulders. I was doing some weights and looked over to see if  I was doing it right and boom! toned shoulders. I was so surprised. Yes some of it was from P90x and P90x3 but the rest of it came from this program. 
After some of these workouts I had such a hard time walking and using my arms. It felt like arm day and leg day at the same time. 
While doing this program beachbody did a contest. You pick a certain program and finish it by summer and you get a shirt and more. You also join a support group for that program. Well my program was obviously BBL carnivale. I loved my support group. To make it even better all the backup girls on the videos joined and would interact with people. Even Leandro himself would comment on peoples posts... Including mine!! It was so awsome! He would comment and support and motivate us and answer our questions. One of the girls was very active and she was extremely nice and very pretty. 
The bad thing is that once the event was over than you couldn't post anymore on the group. I was sad... but I made so many friends. 
I would recommend this program to anyone looking to tone their whole body including shoulders, back, and abs. This shrunk my waist line and tightened everything.






Here are my results. Not a huge difference. Its not what you see its what you feel.... right. 
Before on top 
after on bottom

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"Don't settle for less"