Express Plans... Why They Matter

We just completed a couple new 6-day express test groups, and I am constantly amazed at the motivation people get from the numbers.

It is enlightening to hear someone bragging about losing "ten pounds in 6 days", especially when they fully understand that often much of it is water weight. It's that sense of accomplishing something - anything - that matters. You know you're on the right track when you stick with something and see results, results in both the stats and the way your body feels.

With the rising rate of obesity in the country, finding any traction on a solution that can affect real behavior change toward a healthier lifestyle is nothing short of a breakthrough. Society so easily embraces surgical and drug therapies for weight control. The science and medical industries are blindly entrusted with being the source of "new breakthroughs", and behavioral and psychological factors are largely dismissed.

But at Beachbody we're seeing proof that it's the other way around. When you succeed in the psychological battle, the physical benefits from healthy habits like eating and exercise follow. Not drug therapies. Not surgery. Not short term results this way - with long term maintenance that way.

Many of the people we interview have a lot of weight to lose. But with a dose of early success, they sound energetic, and for once engaged in taking care of themselves. But what is equally encouraging is they are also not fooling themselves. They know to lose more, they need to keep at it. They know they're not going to lose ten pounds every week. But they do see that to get results, they need to get toned and build metabolism-supporting muscle, and they need to continue to put the effort into meal planning to properly fuel the body. It's a snapshot of a healthy reality. Get a small taste of success, and the long term doesn't seem so difficult.

When we first launched the 6 day express concept under Slim in 6, we took a lot of heat from people who felt it was a sell out. But if you ask anyone who struggles with weight, the big hurdle between getting started on a healthy program or not is skepticism that all the effort will really pay off. So the 6 Day Express was the perfect way to launch people into a change of habits, without all the confusion that waits for you at every turn, with almost every click of your mouse.

I mean, just look at all these different diets listed on "AOL's Diet A to Z": 3-Hour Diet, 6-Day Body Makeover, 8 Minutes in the Morning, Abs Diet, Atkins, Blood Type, Body for Life, Cabbage Soup, Jenny Craig, Curves Online, eDiets, Fat Flush, Fit-for-Life, French Women's Diet, Glycemic Index, Grapefruit, Bob Greene Chic, Hamptons, L.A. Shape, LA Weight Loss, Living Low Carb, Nutrisystem, Dean Ornish Moderation!, Dr. Phil, Perricone Promise, Picture Perfect, Pritikin, Scarsdale, Slim-Fast, Step Diet, Solution Low carb, South Beach, Sugar Busters, Suzanne Somers, Weight Watchers, and The Zone.

Are you kidding me? Which one is supposed to be the "right one"? Read that list and one thing is so perfectly clear: Success is just not about a new diet breakthrough. It's about having simple tools to do the one proven thing that will reverse years of body abuse, and staying motivated to stay with it. All you need is a plan to:

1. Space your meals so you eat every three hours or so.
2. Eat enough to preserve your metabolism, but not so much you store more than you burn
3. Choose foods more so you properly fuel your body more than just trying to please your tongue.
4. Exercise with enough intensity that you burn excess calories but maintain muscle mass

And you need to be consistent for enough time to make a difference. That's what we are trying to inspire people to do at Beachbody. In ten days with Turbo Jam, Hollie Shillig lost 19 pounds. In 7 days with Yoga Booty Ballet, Fay Greene lost 7 pounds. With Kathy Smith's Project: YOU! Yuri Lowenthal lost 11 pounds in six days.

The short term results are impressive, but kind of meaningless from a health perspective until you look at how those express results foreshadow the overall success of using a healthy balanced program. Super model Kim Alexis lost 10 pounds in her first 6 days of Slim in 6, and a full 29 pounds by the time she completed the program! So many of the huge weight loss success stories we receive from real customers demonstrate the value of these express programs to the overall results.

So my point here is, an express program is a tool, intended to be an incredibly meaningful motivator when you need a motivator. If you EVER find yourself in need of a boost to get on track, as little as 6 days of focus can get you going. It's not cheating if it is the springboard you need to remind yourself how good it feels when you don't feel bloated, when you feel more energetic, and when you can really see that YOU are in control of your body.

So when the string of big holiday dinners draw to a close, kick yourself back into gear with your own express program, and see how quickly your body - and mind - respond.