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I think its safe to say most of us have a friend that would love to sell us their Shakeology and sign us up for their fit camp, or add us to their accountability Facebook group. The industry is a bit saturated now, but I can totally see why. The selling point, Get paid to get fit and post on Facebook!, that I’ve seen is attractive in and of itself.
But, what I REALLY WANT TO KNOW, is does it work? Is it all hype, or is it a great workout? I saw the advertisement for Beach Body on Demand’s free 14-Day trial, and thought I’d give it a go, and report back to you all with an honest review!
I attempted to report to you in diary-form. So you can get an idea of what it looks like to work out with kids. I took some video footage, but it’s just not uploading like I’d like, so I may have it up on this post at some point in the future. I also wrote another post on activities that I’ve found actually work to keep your kids busy. I tried and tested these my second week of the trial, which went much smoother and is much less interesting to read. If you are in need of activity ideas, check that out!
If you don’t want to read about each day, and want my honest opinion, just scroll to the bottom to see my thoughts, and if I felt like my body changed at all.
Here is my first week diary of each day, with my thoughts on the workout, and how it went with the kids. I worked out about the same time every morning. I work out best in the morning. Come after nap time, about 4pm I’m a totally different person. I like to capitalize on my energy first thing.
My 6-Day Diary of Beach Body On Demand Home Workouts with Kids
DAY 1: I am excited today! I get my laptop out and set up on the kitchen counter. We have a living space/kitchen combo in our South Florida home. We just moved in this spring, so our space is small and lots of remodeling happening. Anyways, the boys have never seen me do a workout video, and Benjamin was very entertained by Shaun T! I chose the Shaun Week because I thought it looked fun and hard at the same time. Can’t go wrong with that.
The Workout: I started with Day 1: Insane Basics. Day 1 is all body weight exercises and cardio. I am a runner at heart, so often times workout videos don’t get me breathing very hard. Shaun did a pretty good job at keeping my heart rate up. I paused about three times, so it took me longer than the 33 minutes to complete the workout, and I skipped the cool down. I can’t cool down when a baby is crying and crawling up my leg.
The Kids: Benjamin is my 4.5-year-old. He tried to do a lot of the moves, then would play a little with his cars, then check back in. Jack is my 2.5-year-old. He’s too little to really do the moves, but he copied Benjamin. They lasted maybe 10 minutes pretending to workout with me, and I did my best to keep them engaged. The baby was not impressed. David is 8 months. I started him with a few snacks in his high-chair. That lasted about the first 10 minutes, then he wanted me to hold him. I stopped the workout, got sippy cups and re-directed the older boys to eat some pancakes. Oh yea, I had pancakes on the stove all while I am working out. Gave the baby a toy, and got back to it. No major fights or whining today.
DAY 2: Pure Cardio. Yassss! I love cardio, and Shaun T did a great job.
The Workout: I was breathing hard and loving it. Lots of burpees, jumping jacks, jump squats…all sorts of high-impact moves for a full 27 minutes. Because I am a cardio person, I wanted to do the video twice. 27 minutes with interruptions doesn’t feel like much of a workout to me.
The Kids: The second day wasn’t so impressive for the kids. They realize that this isn’t fun because mommy isn’t paying attention. I started them with their breakfast earlier this morning. That lasted 7 minutes. Then, I got them coloring books out. That worked for 5 minutes. I told them to play cars or sit at their table and stare out the window. That’s literally what I said. The baby was crawling around and playing, then got fussy. Lots of giving him toys, holding, then finally stopping to nurse him. That helped. That left me with about 9 minutes left, which was full of kids fussing and whining, but it was the last little bit, so I did my best to ignore them.
Day 3: Insane Weights. This day involves some dumbbell weights. I didn’t have them yet, so I opted to do cardio again. Surprised?! Haha.
The kids were not happy. My husband works from home most of the time, and he came in to help. He set the kids up and took the baby to play with him a bit, so I got to get about half way through with no major interruptions. Then the baby got fussy and wanted me. I held him and tried to jog in place. Then nursed him. The boys ran around on our porch where I can see them through our french doors and played with some toys, but I had to stop and referee three fights. About 45 minutes later I finished a 20 minute workout 🙁
Day 4: Abs. I saw that this was abs day. I don’t like abs. And, because I just had a baby, I am very careful with the ab work I do. I am not interested in building those muscles, but rather repairing them. I skipped this video and went straight to Ripsanity, then realized that this one requires weights too. Still no weights. I don’t go to the store with all these kids if I can help it. We also have free grocery delivery near us, so I use that. I did the warm up of this video, then went back to my love, cardio.
The Kids: After all the fighting yesterday, I got the some new Megaformers and legos. I set one child up at their kid table (I have a small learning corner I set up you can see here), and the other on the floor with the Megaformers. I have found these keep them entertained the longest, for the most days. Legos are still a bit difficult for them, so I end up building with those. The Megaformers are easier to put together, and they love it. This really did wonders to keep them occupied! The baby on the other hand was not happy. He kept wanting to take the Megaformers and legos. He was growling in his baby talk at his brothers, then crying at me. So annoying. I held him, tried to give him snacks and nursed him, but nothing was right. That’s where things get really hard if you have three. You finally get two happy, and there is the wild card of the other one. I made it through about 15 minutes of the cardio, and told myself I’d try to get to it again later. I never did.
Day 5: I didn’t work out. We were busy today, and I had to get some errands done, so I didn’t workout in the morning. I thought maybe I’d get to it later in the day, but I always think that’s going to happen, and it doesn’t.
So, day 5 didn’t happen, and the kids were all happy it didn’t. I wasn’t though!
Day 6: I have weights today! I made it to the store yesterday, which was part of the errands I ran yesterday, so I am doing the 2nd day workout that I skipped. Overall, hard! Arms are so difficult for me, so that was great. I found the workouts super good for the whole body, and you work your upper and lower body at the same time on almost all the moves. Shaun does a good job of keeping your heart rate up, which is what I look for in a workout, even on this weight-focused one.
The kids: Today wasn’t so bad. The baby played in a new bouncer chair I got to hang from the door. It’s new, so that kept him happy. I busted out some more stickers and colors for the boys. That lasted about 10 minutes, until I had to get the Megaformers again. Those by far, have been the best form of entertainment for these boys.
Overall Thoughts on Beach Body On Demand:
I was surprised to say that I think it’s totally worth it! Since trying it a couple weeks ago, I went to check out some local gyms. None of them nearby had the type of kid-care I was interested in, so I ruled that thought out. The Beach Body On Demand is super affordable too. Gyms for a family of two adults and three kids is over $100 dollars a month. Beach Body On Demand is $99 for the full year.
The workout videos made me sore, made me sweat and made me feel stronger, which is my goal. I didn’t stick with it long enough to see any major changes in my body, but I am going to. My plan is to commit to either Insanity or P90x if anyone has any suggestions on which one they like better.
I also was more motivated to eat healthy, and I ate more protein to help build the muscle I want. If you’re a breastfeeding mama working on losing the baby weight, check out the clean protein I like. I also have some great food tips to help you keep your supply up while losing the baby weight.
Since this first week, I’ve also found some great activities to keep my boys busier and less needy! I linked it in the beginning, and here it is again if you need some help there.
I also have workouts I love and do on my own, as well as more nutrition help, so click here to read. Let me know if you sign up to give it a shot!
Related:
Get Rid Of Your Mom Butt with These Moves
3 Mind Tricks to Lose The Baby Weight For Good
What You Need To Know About Losing The Baby Weight After Nursing