Today I got my free copy of the 8 minute workout in the mail.

I'm overjoyed as I was just beginning to think I wanted to exercise longer than 27 minutes. I had almost considered rewinding into the Basic tape and doing some of it over again.

Anyhow, as we've all been talking shit about Billy and his mumbles, nipples and cronies I've been wondering how everyone is doing. How much progress have you seen? Are you just doing Tae-Bo or is it part of a more complex routine? Are you watching your calories? Fat grams? What moves are your favorite? Least favorite? Do you do the warm up? The cool down?

Have you lost weight? Inches? Limbs?

Let's hear about it!

-- Anonymous, May 03, 1999

Answers

I have lost weight. One thing I haven't done is get on a scale. At all. There just isn't one around. I'd rather go in for my next check-up at the doctor's and it's been six months or so and find out the total amount of weight I've lost rather than check it off little by little. Because that drives me nuts. I just want it all gone right now, you know?

I know that I've lost weight though, in that the shorts I bought last month I'm now pulling up to stay on my hips. My tiny t-shirts that I thought I'd never wear again I'm now wearing with a bit of arm room, and people are telling me that I've lost weight.

Which I think is always different. "Have you lost weight?" implies that they can see something's different about you but they aren't sure. "You've lost a lot of weight" means they were checking you out.

oh, yeah.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 1999

The first month I was really good about just weighing myself once a week. Then I got over-zealous and did the every day thing. Now I've tamed myself down to twice a week. I like a mid-week weigh in to gauge myself. My first month of 'working out' I was doing step aerobics. I lost more that month than since, but I really hated the up and down, up and down monotany (sp?). Not to mention the fact my calves were bulking up. I've lost 20lbs total thus far (since Feb 22) and four inches off my waist. I owe about half that to Tae-Bo and walking (as well as watching what I eat). Still, when I look in the mirror I want to sing "We've Only Just Begun."

-- Anonymous, May 04, 1999

I have lost nearly two pants sizes and I am freaking thrilled about it. That 8 minute tape is pretty good, although when I did it the other day, I felt like I had broken both legs! You have to be careful not to sling yourself out the window - it is going at a pretty high speed!

Here's a tip that I think Pamie also mentioned in Squishy once - drink lots of water. I drink at least 64 ounces a day (that's 8 glasses) and I think that has also made a tremendous difference. Before I joined the water cult - and you have to pretend you are in a cult because you want to drink other stuff soooo bad that you have to hypnotize yourself into drinking just water - I used to drink several Diet Cokes a day. Several.

Then I heard Richard Simmons (big freak) say that he cut all diet sodas from his diet and lost 11 pounds immediately. I believe him - you are pretty much going to pee, non-stop. It takes 10 glasses of water (100 ounces) to get one diet soda out of your system. Isn't that frightening?

Anyway - Tae-Bo and water are the magic combination.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 1999

I think there's gotta be something different between guys that use the tape and girls. Like, for example, our tank-topped pal on the tape. He's a freakin' wreck!! But all the women look pretty good. So I think it takes longer for Tae Bo to affect men, because so far I've noticed a teenie improvement, but not much, and I've been doing it 3-4 times a week for 2 1/2 weeks. But then again, I was exercising and eating well before this, so I may just have hit the plateau. I was in good shape before, but I got Tae Bo in the hopes that I could get zero body fat or something, like one of those Calvin Klein models.

But of course, achieve that through exercise, not puking and cocaine and heroin.

I have noticed better stamina though. So it's something.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 1999

If you were already in pretty good shape, that's probably why you haven't seen anything right away. Just like any amount of diet and exercise if you weigh more you lose more initially. I mean, just from the sweating this thing makes you do alone.

Have you noticed yourself getting stronger?

do you know what I did the other day? I Superman'ed Eric. You know what a Superman is, right? It's where you lie on your back and someone leans on your feet and holds your hands and you hold them in the air while they keep their body stiff?

Eric is a foot taller than I am.

he didn't think i could do it. i have to tell you i got a bit of a rush proving him wrong.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 1999

Step aerobics build up your calves? Cool, I'm going to have to try that. I have the skinniest calves on the planet, which is a little awkward because my thighs are medium sized. I look like a chicken drumstick. Walking 4-8 miles a day does nice things for my thighs, but my calves just stay the same ... bony, bony, bony.

Pamie has scared me so badly that I won't even watch a Tae-Bo infomercial.

-- Anonymous, May 06, 1999

Yeah, I think you're right, Pamie, about the losing more weight if you weigh more. But we'll see. I believe in Billy...because he believes in me!! :)

I don't think I'm getting stronger yet, but it's because it do some weights, and Tae Bo is more aerobic. But, the thing is, it's increased stamina and probably metabolism, so I should be losing weight quicker. I'll give it more time.

Funny, I Superman'd Eric too the other day.... hahaha..

-- Anonymous, May 08, 1999

Yeah, I think you're right, Pamie, about the losing more weight if you weigh more. But we'll see. I believe in Billy...because he believes in me!! :)

I don't think I'm getting stronger yet, but it's because I do some weights, and Tae Bo is more aerobic. But, the thing is, it's increased stamina and probably metabolism, so I should be losing weight quicker. I'll give it more time.

Funny, I Superman'd Eric too the other day.... hahaha..

-- Anonymous, May 08, 1999

Wel, I just bought the Tae-Bo tapes over the weekend, and did the basic for the second time tonight. I sweat like a bastard, and those double-time roundhouse kicks he does at the the end of the basic workout are crippling. I also can't do the double-time back kicks - my legs flail all over the place (and I extend them too far). So I just do them single time. I am sore, but not as sore as I thought I would be.

What I am confused about is the ab thing. I don't feel many of the kicks in my stomach at all. I try and contract (hold in) my stomach like Billy says to, but it is too hard to do that and keep my balance when I do the side kicks. Where should I be feeling the burn in my abs? Does it burn more in my abs after I get good at balancing on one leg? I try to stand up as straight as I can too, but then I don't bend the leg that I balance on as much. Any suggestions?

-- Anonymous, May 18, 1999

okay, here's what i know about working the abs.

I usually feel it working in my abs on times when you're lifting and kicking your leg. The knee raises work really well, but you've got to concentrate: it's not just a knee raise, it's a stomach crunch while standing.

the benefit being you're working your abs while working the thigh of the leg you're lifting while working the leg and butt of the leg that's standing, while working your arm when pulling (tighten your arm like you're doing a punch).

it works pretty much everywhere and it's exhausting... especially in double time, because then you keep your stomach held, and it's like doing speed crunches.

you should keep the standing leg bent-- then you're working your hamstrings.

the front leg kicks also work the stomach really well. You should also think of these like stomach crunches. If you were lying down, it be a leg-lift-stomach-crunch kind of thing. Keep your stomach tight, and when you squat down to lift the other leg, that's when you go into the crunch. you hold the stomach while you lift the leg and extend-- so you're using your stomach muscles for balance and form and then you get a really good leg extension.

I don't find that the side kicks work my abs so much, except for the ones when you're kicking alternately to both sides. Then you're using your stomach and sides for balance. Hold the muscles in to keep your upper body upright, and then you can look where you're kicking.

"Gotta find your focus point."

does that help?

(the advanced tape has floor work for your stomach, so if you're feeling like you're not doing enough, it might be time to move on.)

-- Anonymous, May 20, 1999

It took me a while to feel it in my abs. The first few weeks I was still trying to figure out how to not fall over. Then I was trying to figure out how to not collapse from exhaustion. (I was really, really out of shape!)

Now that I'm able to do the whole Basic tape fairly easily, I can concentrate on my form a lot more. The first time I did this, I could definitely feel it in my abs. So it may take a while. Towards the end, when I get really tired, I find that my form goes to shit.

And what Pamie said about pretending you are doing crunches. Figuring that out really helped me to remember to hold my stomach in, and not hold my breath.

-- Anonymous, May 21, 1999