This post is a review of Gilad Express Workouts (or aka 15 Targeted Express Workouts) exercise dvd set.

I always thought Hazelnut would mold herself to my current habits and routines, but instead I am squeezing in bits and pieces of time to myself into her schedule. Like clockwork, my 1 year old would nap for 30 minutes twice a day. As soon as she is contentedly nestled into her nap mat, I have to be ready to exercise. At this stage in my life, I don’t have time for long drawn out workout DVDs.

I love 30 minute exercise videos and Gilad Express Workouts has always been one of my favorites.

Gilad Express Workouts Format

The concept behind Gilad Express Workouts is that you pick segments to create your own workout and duration. There are 2 dvds in the package. There are 8 segments in disc 1 and 7 segments in disc 2. Here is a breakdown of the 15 targeted workouts:

DVD 1:
8:15 Warm-up
8:40 Buns & Thighs
9:40 Hips & Thighs
9:15 Back
9:10 Chest
8:30 Shoulders
9:15 Arms
5:10 Cool-down

DVD 2:
9:00 Dynamic Moves: low impact, standing core workout
9:30 Strength & Balance: similar to yoga
9:00 Cardio 1-Basic: aerobics such as v-steps and grapevines
9:00 Cardio 2- Challenge: similar to kickboxing
7:35 Compound Strength: combines upper and lower body strength exercises at same time.
9:35 Core Foundations
9:40 Core Challenge

Within each segment, you typically do three sets of each exercise and there are approximately 3-4 exercises per segment.

Create 30 minute exercise routines with Gilad Express Workouts.

To create a 30 minute exercise routine, I typically pick the warm-up and two segments from the Gilad Express Workout exercise dvds. I do not exercise when my daughter is awake, but I would cool down when she wakes up from her nap because I am not swinging weights when she is moving around.

For example, I might pick Warm-up, Shoulders, Arms, and Cool-down (approximately 31 minutes total). At this rate, it typically take me an entire week to go through all the segments in this set of exercise DVDs.

I would recommend selecting two segments at a time and in consecutive order as laid out in the exercise dvds if you are looking for 30 minute exercise routines. For example, the workout routines I create would look like this:

Workout 1: warm-up, buns & thighs, hips & thighs, and cool-down
Workout 2: warm-up, back, chest, and cool-down
Workout 3: warm-up, shoulders, arms, and cool-down
Workout 4: warm-up, dynamic moves, strength & balance, and cool-down
Workout 5: warm-up, cardio 1, cardio 2, and cool-down
Workout 6: warm-up, compound strength, core foundations (or core challenge), and cool-down

Why do I group the segments together this way? First, it is easy to remember. I have a 1 year old. I forget to comb my hair before I leave the house sometimes. I just work my way down the segments on the exercise dvd without having to consult a workout chart.

Gilad provided this workout chart here for the Express Workout exercise dvds. There is no way I can remember the exercise routines he set up without consulting the chart and checking off each workout session. And more likely did not, my daughter will probably tear up the chart as soon as she gets her grubby little hands on it (we are going through the destructive phase right now).

Second, it is a good idea to use the same weights on complementary muscle groups. For example, if I use 10 lb dumbbells on my back, it is a good idea to use 10 lb dumbbells on my chest. By putting these two segments into the same workout session, I decrease the chance that I might over train one of the complementary muscle groups.

If I work on my back on Monday and do not get to my chest until Friday, I might forget which weight I used previously and there is the possibility I might use a heavier or lighter weight on Friday depending on how I feel. The back and chest are complementary muscle groups.

You don’t want to cause muscle imbalance by over training just the front or the back of your upper body. I already have a lot of problems with muscle imbalance due to my torn hip labrum.

Is Gilad Express Workouts for beginners?

Yes. The exercises are scalable which means you can use no weights, lighter weights, or heavier weights for the exercises.

In addition, you select the duration of your workout so if you are a beginner and can only exercise for 15 minutes, then you can select two segments to get your 15 minutes of exercise.

I would recommend Gilad Express Workouts to my friends.

Until next time and thanks for stopping by Small Steps to Health. Please share this with your friends if you like what you’re reading.

Ready to by Gilad Express Workouts?

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I finally joined the ranks of iPad bloggers last weekend. The main feature of the new iPad that made me decide to pre-order was the dictation feature. As you know, I normally use Dragon Naturally Speaking (a voice to text software) for most of my typing. I love the new iPad dictation feature!

This post is review of the new ipad dictation software and how the ipad is changing the way I write.

New iPad dictation – no training required!

With Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I had to train the software about 3 times before it recognize the inflection in my voice. With the new iPad, you just press the microphone symbol on the onscreen keyword and start talking at a steady pace. Then, you hit the microphone symbol again for the iPad dictation to convert your voice to text.

To add punctuation, you say "period" or "comma" where you want the punctuation to appear. However, iPad dictation only seems to recognize the common punctuation marks, but these are enough to get the majority of your writing done.

Accuracy of the new iPad dictation

With Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I usually speak for about 2 to 3 sentences at a time before pausing to let the voice-to-text software catch up to my voice. With the new iPad dictation, the longer the speech, the higher the chance that you will end up with a jumble of unusable text.

However, this does not interrupt the flow of my writing. I am a very visual person. I actually prefer to see my last complete sentence on the screen before starting my next sentence. While the dictation on the new iPad it’s not in the +90% range as Dragon NaturallySpeaking for converting speech to text, I say it’s still in the 70% range, which is good enough to help with my productivity.

I had to purchase a high-quality microphone headset for Dragon Naturally Speaking to get my accuracy up to about 90%. Right now I am dictating with the TV on and the new iPad is about 3 inches away from my face. And the iPad only converted 4 words wrong in this entire paragraph.

The new iPad and blogging

Because the iPad is much more mobile than my laptop, I am actually getting a lot more writing done for my two blogs. I did not realize that the shut down and start up process of my laptop is such an impediment to writing. I am able to write a quick paragraph or two in the incremental short blocks of time I have throughout the day with the new iPad.

In case you are interested, I am using Blogsy app for writing and formatting my blog posts. It is worth the $5 because the free WordPress app lacks a lot of features. I am not use to writing my posts in the HTML environment in the WordPress app.

Until next time and thanks for stopping by Small Steps to Health. Please share this with your friends if you like what you’re reading.

Photo by: blakespot.

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• The Flex Diet Review

A new year, a new diet? Like most people this time of year, one of my New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. The only difference is that I am planning to start in May after the birth of my baby and some recovery time rather than start in January like everyone else. But that does not mean I am not interested in the new diet books on the shelves this month.

I am not interested in fad diets that promise you will lose 10 pounds in a week. Since it took me several months to put on the baby weight, I’m giving myself a few months to lose the baby weight.

This post is a book review on The Flex Diet by Dr. James Beckerman. The Flex Diet book caught my eye because it promises to help me design my own weight loss plan rather than just present a one-size-fits-all weight loss plan. The "200 solutions" are basically 200 tips on how to eat healthier, squeeze in more exercise throughout the day, and how to change your environment to avoid overeating. Here is a break down of the chapters in The Flex Diet.

Chapter 1: Start with a single pound

The first chapter gave a brief overview of The Flex Diet. In the Today section (chapter 2) you will spend weeks one and two trying to lose 5 pounds. Then, you will spend weeks three, four, and five trying to lose 10 pounds in the Every Day section (chapter 3). Lastly, you will spend weeks six, seven, eight, and beyond personalizing the rest of your weight loss plan in the Your Way section (chapter 4).

Chapter 2: Today

The "solutions" in this chapter emphasize the concept of mindfulness. The idea is that if you are conscious about the hundreds of lifestyle choices you make throughout the day, then you are more likely to make healthier lifestyle choices. There are 31 "solutions" in this chapter. The theory is that if you implement all 31 solutions during the first two weeks of The Flex Diet plan, you automatically lose 5 pounds.

The "solutions" in this chapter are pretty basic weight loss tips that you will find in blogs and magazines. For example, the first solution is to document the starting point of your weight loss journey by taking a photo of yourself. The second solution is to join a support group such as Weight Watchers.

However, the three most interesting "solutions" are the recommendations to take a daily multivitamin,a fish oil (omega-3), and a probiotic. For the last four years, those are the three supplements I take on a daily basis. Even during my pregnancy now I exchange the daily multivitamin for a daily prenatal vitamin.

Though there are people out there who would argue with me regularly about wasting my money on supplements, I know for a fact that the food I eat do not supply me with the recommended vitamins and minerals I need. If you eat a typical modern diet, there’s no way you’re getting enough vegetables, fruits, and healthy omega-3.

Chapter 3: Every day

Chapter 3 offers another 80 "solutions" to help you lose the next 10 pounds during the next three weeks of your Flex Diet Plan. The solutions emphasize small changes you can make when you eat, drink, exercise, daily activity level, and lifestyle choices.

The solutions under the eating category are pretty good. For example, The Flex Diet recommends you "substitute a vegetable for French fries.” I rarely eat French fries. If you look at the calorie count on a box of French fries then you’ll know that they always have just as much calories as the burger. Just by not eating French fries, you cut half your calories when eating a hamburger meal. I know the price difference between ordering a burger and a drink versus a value meal (which includes a burger, a drink, and a side of fries) is less than a dollar sometimes. And I know we are all bargain hunters. But is it really a bargain to eat another 400 to 500 calories?

The solutions under the drink category basically empathize cutting out the sugary and energy drinks.

The solution under the exercise category emphasize exercises such push-up, chest flies, lateral raises, bent over rows, dips, curls, squats, calf raises, etc. These are basic exercises that you should in an exercise routine.

The solutions under the act category (daily activity level) include taking the stairs and walking as much as possible (i.e. during breaks, after dinner, with your dog).

The solution under the live category (lifestyle choices) include better grocery shopping tips, reading food labels, splitting your meals in half when eating at a restaurant, etc.

Chapter 4: Your way

This chapter offers another 80+ solution to help personalize your Flex Diet plan. The solutions are also divided into the five categories mentioned in chapter 3. Once again these weight loss solutions are not earth shattering, but practical advice that we all forget when living our busy lives. In this chapter, The Flex Diet recommends that you develop at least 10 new lifestyle habits based on the 80+ solutions.

The one solution that I have a problem with in this chapter is "use hand weights while you walk." When walking, hand weights and ankle weights can throw off your stride and lead to walking injuries. If you want to add more intensity to your walk, you’re better off walking faster, walking up an incline, or using a weighted vest.

The most amusing solution in this chapter is "turn off the food channel." I have a friend who watches the food channel every day. She’s not much of a cook. But she is overweight. I believe that watching all this yummy food preparation and the commercials making her snack more often between meals.

Chapter 5: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem

This chapter in The Flex Diet discusses healthy weight ranges and some of the medical complications associated with obesity.

Chapter 6: When solutions are not enough

This brief chapter in The Flex Diet offers a brief discussion on using medical treatment and surgical treatment for obesity.

Chapter 7: What’s your solution?

This chapter on The Flex Diet returns to the idea of your mindset. Before you can lose weight, the idea of trying to get healthier has to come from you first. Remember when I talked about the secret ingredient to exercise motivation? The motivation has to come from you. External forces such as a nagging spouse or a dreaded diagnosis from your doctor are not going to make you put in the effort to lose weight unless you really want to.

Should you read The Flex Diet?

The Flex Diet offers some really practical advice on how to start your own weight loss journey. There are no gimmicks or extreme cutting of calories, carbs, fat, etc. I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to find small steps in changing their lifestyle.

Will you actually lose 5 pounds during the first two weeks and 10 pounds during next three weeks when following the "solutions" in The Flex Diet? Depending on how much weight you need to lose and how sedentary you are, it is possible to lose the weight since the "solutions" ask you to cut out sugary drinks, include some physical activity, and small lifestyle changes. For someone who regularly exercise, eat sensibly, and only have a small amount of weight to lose, I would not see this kind of weight loss from just following the weight loss tips in The Flex Diet.

The only thing I find disappointing about The Flex Diet is the bare minimum coverage of exercise. For the majority of people, making changes to your diet will have the greatest impact on your weight. However, I believe that once you start exercising regularly you will notice a positive paradigm shift in how view your health and weight loss. If you want to include exercise into your Flex Diet weight-loss plan, I recommend you read the New Rules of the Lifting for Women.

Ready to buy The Flex Diet?

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This post is a review of the voice to text software called Dragon Naturally Speaking.

I’m sure that my regular readers notice a decrease in my blogging frequency in the last couple of months.  One of the symptoms that I developed early on from my pregnancy is mild carpal tunnel on my right wrist.  Since I make my living from my day job, it was easier (though less satisfying) to reduce the amount of typing I do by decreasing the posting frequency on this blog.

Recently I purchase a copy of the voice to text software called Dragon Naturally Speaking.  I’ve used Dragon Naturally Speaking before (it was probably version 4.0 or something like that) years ago.  I was not impressed with the voice to text software then.  A few people had positive mentions of the new version of Dragon Naturally Speaking in a forum that I frequented, so I decided it wouldn’t hurt to take this new version for a test drive.  I didn’t want to lose the growth momentum on my site since Google upgraded my site to a PR4 because I couldn’t type from an aching wrist.

What is Dragon Naturally Speaking?

Dragon Naturally Speaking is a voice to text software.  Basically I talk into a microphone headset and the software converts my voice to text on whatever program I want.  For blogging, I usually use Microsoft Word.  The voice to text software works on WordPad, Notepad, or even on a web browser (anywhere you can write text).

When the software is loaded, it adds a menu bar to your desktop screen (in my case, the menu bar is on the top of my screen).  Once the microphone headset is activated, I can tell the software to “open Microsoft Word.” Once Microsoft Word is loaded, then I just start talking.

The voice to text software converts my speech to text on the screen.  I just need to remember to tell Dragon Naturally Speaking to add punctuation marks in my sentences such as “add comma” or “add period” after a pause in my sentence.  If I do not pause, the Dragon software assumes the “add comma” phase is part of the text for my sentence and will actually type those two words.

I purchased Dragon Naturally Speaking Home edition. Though it is not have all the fancy bells and whistles of the other editions, it is sufficient for my needs (i.e. blogging) and it is also the cheapest edition.

How accurate is the voice to text software at voice recognition?

The packaging claims that the Dragon software is 90% accurate out of the box.  When I tried using the voice to text software out of the box, it was not as accurate as it claims to be (probably about 60%).  However, after two training sessions with the Dragon software, the accuracy rate went up to about 80%.  You “train” Dragon Naturally Speaking by reading text in training mode so that the software can learn to recognize your voice and speech patterns.

In addition, as I use the Dragon software more often (my last few posts are written using Dragon Naturally Speaking), the voice recognition accuracy rate improves.  After writing three 1000 word postings and four training sessions, the software is close to giving me a 90% accuracy rate.

Factors that probably contributed to my initial low accuracy rate with the Dragon software are:

English is my second language.

Thought I do not have a noticeable accent, there are a few words that I have difficulty pronouncing.  In this situation, I use the “spell” command and spell out the word.  After a few attempts at spelling the same word, Dragon “magically” learns to recognize that is how I pronounce that particular problem word. And from then on, I usually do not have problems with the word.

I talk too fast.

When I slow down my speech pattern and pronounce each word concisely, the voice to text software has no problems.  But when I talk too fast, which I tend to do when excited, Dragon has some difficulty with figuring out when one word ends and the next word begins.  You need to be able to talk in a calm and normal voice in order to improve your voice recognition accuracy.

I am using the cheap microphone headset included with the software.

From what I could find on the Internet, higher quality microphone headsets are better at distinguishing speech and background noises. If I really want to improve the voice recognition accuracy, I could spend a little bit more money to purchase a higher quality microphone headset. However, the included cheap microphone headset is sufficient for my needs and I don’t want to spend any more money.

Who should buy Dragon Naturally Speaking?

Obviously, if you are someone like me with some carpal tunnel symptoms, you would find this voice to text software helpful with your writing.  The Dragon software is also beneficial if you are generating a lot of writing (ie. writer, blogger, etc).  I notice that I “write” faster since using the software.

However, if you do not spend a lot of time writing, Dragon Naturally Speaking might be something nice to have, but not something that significantly improve your productivity.

Until next time and thanks for stopping by Small Steps to Health.

Ready to buy Dragon Naturally Speaking?

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This post is a review of the Melt it Off program by Olympic gold medalist Mitch Gaylord.  I received a free copy of the exercise program for this review.

What is included in the exercise program?

The package I received included a 2 pound G-ball (exercise ball about 8 inches in diameter), 1 CD case with 2 dvds (CD 1 includes the workouts and CD 2 is a motivational CD), a measuring tape, and some booklets about the exercise program.

Burn and Sculpt is approximately 45 minutes long.  The only equipment you need is the G-ball.  The exercises focus mainly on body weight exercises such as squats, lunges, pushups while holding the G-ball.

High Calorie Melt is approximately 60 minutes long with alternating intervals of higher and lower intensity.  Sizzling Abs is 23 minutes long.

There are two 7-day meal plans included with the exercise program – one for women and one for men.  It appears that the plan is exactly the same, except for the higher protein listed in the men’s meal plan.  The difference is approximately 1 or 2 oz of extra protein each day for the men.  Not being a nutritionist, but this in inline with some of the other nutritional stuff I read.

The exercise program schedule

Please note that I did not follow the schedule for the 1 month period for this review.  I only used the exercise dvds for one week.

What I like about the Melt if Off program

Melt it Off gets your heart rate up for both the strength and cardio portions.  It is more of an aerobic weight training style of exercise program where you use light weights to do many reps in a set.  It mostly uses a 1-2 count for each rep which helps keep your heart rate up.

Aerobic weight training will generally work well for people trying to lose weight because you are burning a lot more calories during the strength training when you are using lighter weights for 16-20 reps for 2-3 sets compare to using heavier weight for 8-10 reps for 1-2 sets.

The exercises are very interesting, different from your typical exercise dvd program.  You are still doing lunges, but you are passing the G-ball between your legs (think basketball drills).  It is a little challenging for me because I am still trying to master the hand-eye spatial coordination thing (I have a tendency to trip over my own feet and bump into walls and furniture.  It is embarrassing.  But I am a natural klutz).

What I dislike about the exercise program

There are not enough modifications for the true beginner in this exercise program.  It does not show low impact options for jumping jacks or doing pushups on the floor while the instructor is doing pushups on the G-ball.  The instructor talked about modifications, but without an actual exerciser doing the modifications, it would be hard for a beginner to understand what to do.

Another thing that I dislike is that some of the exercise require more than the basic hand, feet, and eye coordination.  In one exercise, you are supposed to jump over the G-ball with the inner leg tapping the ball when you land.  The instructor did warn the audience to pay attention to the ball when jumping.  Well, the ball started rolling and I landed flat on my butt.  After the second attempt and a throbbing ankle, I just jump over an “invincible ball.”  And of course, the exercise dvd does not show any modifications for this.

Who should buy the Melt it Off exercise program

Melt it Off is not a beginner exercise program.  It is more of a beginner/intermediate exercise program.  If you have exercised in the past, this might be a fun program to get back into the swing of things again.  It has some really interesting sport drills that my husband likes, but does not appeal to me (it’s the klutz thing).  So this is a mix review – yes I like it, but it is not my cup of tea.

Until next time and thanks for stopping by Small Steps to Health.

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