30 Day Plan

Quick Tips

Exercise can help lower blood pressure, control diabetes and lower cholesterol.

Move It To Lose It!

Exercise is important to your success - it helps your body eliminate toxins, burn calories, and get toned. You can lose weight without exercise, but you can only get fit by moving your body.

The 38 exercises demonstrated in the Plan include a combination of gentle yoga stretches and core conditioning Pilates exercises to strengthen your abs and back. All these exercises are designed to improve your posture, increase balance and strength (specifically "core" strength to help with back issues) and flexibility. Some of the exercises require minimum, inexpensive equipment. Check out the tabs below for a rundown of what you will need to perform the exercises safely:

Exercise Equipment for the 30 Day Plan

Exercise Mat

Yoga and Pilates floor exercises are introduced in Days 1 to 16 of the Plan. These stretches and core exercises will be much more comfortable if you use an exercise mat. Mats that are labeled as "Yoga Sticky Mats" will work because they are less likely to slide, particularly on carpet. "Pilates" mats are fine too, and quite often are a little thicker which is helpful if you prefer more cushion for your joints. Either way, you will be safer and more comfortable on a mat that doesn't slide. Pilates and yoga mats are easy to store because they roll up and can be found at your local sporting goods store.

Exercise Ball

During Days 17 to 30 of the Plan, the exercise ball is introduced to complement the floor exercises learned in Days 1 to 16. Make sure your ball is the right size for your height to achieve the safest and most effective ball work-out.

Height	Ball Circumference	Color
5' 1" - 5' 6"	55 centimeters	Red
5' 7' - 6' 1"	65 centimeters	Green
6' 2" - 6' 8"	75 centimeters	Blue

Once the ball is inflated, sit on it and make sure your knees and hips are level and when you place your belly on the ball, you are able to reach your knees and hands to the floor.

Resistance Tubing

Resistance tubing is used in Days 17 to 30 of the Plan to target specific muscles groups in the upper body and back. Elastic tubes are usually packaged into light resistance or heavy resistance. If you are new to strength conditioning, start with a light resistance package. It will be helpful (although it's not necessary) if you acquire handles to attach to the ends of the tubing for a better grip.

Clothing

If you have comfortable, nonrestrictive clothing, you are all set. You just want to make sure that what you wear during exercise doesn't restrict your full range of motion.

Athletic Shoes

We strongly recommend walking for cardiovascular fitness and weight loss and all that is required is a good pair of athletic shoes. Make sure your shoes are in good shape and replace if:

They are 6 to 9 months old
Soles are worn on outside and inside wedges (place on flat surface to check this)

We recommend our Walking Booklet and Walking CD to help you walk so that you burn the maximum number of calories and get the most optimal workout possible for this particular exercise. You may want to use a pedometer to add a new dimension to the exercise or just for fun.

Caution: You must check with your physician if you are diabetic, take medications, or have any other metabolic disorder prior to starting any weight loss program.