Claire Sweeney - Perfect Fit With Weight Watchers (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Educational Value	Excellent
How good are the presenters?	Good
How good is the content?	Excellent
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Split up into 5 min sections so you don't get bored, Easy for beginners
Disadvantages:	For me, there aren't any !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This dvd is presented by Claire Sweeney and her personal trainer Caroline Sandry. In the background of the exercises she has two real life participants, Lucy and Donna who are a size 14 and a size 16 and have both dropped a stone in 4/5 weeks and inches from their bodies in the same amount of time.

As well as exercises this dvd also has meal plans that can be used just as part of healthy eating or as part of the weight watchers plan. However you do not need to be following weight watchers to use this great dvd. Weight watchers members can get a cheaper version with some extras like interviews with the chef, a resistance band and an extra routine-fit to strip.

The dvd costs about £13-£15 and can be found in places at Woolworths or hmv, or bought on the internet at amazon or even the weight watchers website or for members, at weight watchers meetings.

The exercise bit:
I like this dvd because it separates the exercise into 5 minute sections and it includes cardio, toning and weight training through boxercise, yoga, pilates and other cardio and toning exercises. You can do as little as 10 minutes and as much as 60 minutes and you can choose the routine you'd like to do or have a routine randomly selected for you to suit your time frame. The routine times do not include the warm up and cool down but these are only 5 minutes each and really valuable to help warm up and relax your muscles.

The exercise is not too strenuous but does really work. It focuses on interval training and keeping your heart rate up but doesn't make it so you can't keep up or end up panting for breath with a stitch. Caroline Sandry gives helpful hints and tips while you're doing the exercises so that you can make sure you're doing them properly and get the most out of them.

You have targets to complete and Caroline says that you should notice a real difference in your body and shape in just 4 weeks. I've only been doing it for just over a week so i have no proof but i have noticed that my tummy, legs and lovehandles aren't as flabby and i'm much more toned already.

For week 1 you must complete 18 five minute routines, which is an hour and 30 minutes of exercise for the first week. You can always do more, i went up to 20 because i found it so easy to turn on when i had even just a spare half an hour and if it's always in your dvd player it's so easy to just do it without forcing yourself to get to a gym or something.
In week 2 you should complete 24 routines which is 2 hours and in week 3 it's 27 routines which is 2 hours 15 minutes and in week 4 it's 30 routines which is 2 and a half hours. After this i assume you can set your own goals for yourself judging by how you feel. And you can complete these targets anyway you choose whether you want to do one hour session and a 30 minute session in your first week or six 15 minute sessions. It's completely up to you.

This isn't your typical celeb dvd where they're leading the whole routine and being all hyper active and annoying. Claire's personal trainer leads the routines and Claire follows just like you do and occassionally puts in her own inputs to help you do the exercises better or mentions how much she hates one exercise! It doesn't make you feel like you're a fat lump that can't keep up with the super toned dancers basically!

If you like your exercise dvds to have loud music to exercise to then this might not be your sort of thing as it only has quiet music in the background. However, to me this is an advantage because i can listen to what Caroline is saying and find it easier to concentrate on counting, keeping my stomach pulled in and breathing correctly, because this makes all the difference!

The food bit:
The meal plans are explained by Daniel Green, a weight watchers chef and there are separate sections for Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Being a college student, i don't really fancy the meal plans because i'm rubbish at cooking and am far more into quick and easy snacky things but some of these are still simple and quick to make and they show some good ideas. I've used the exercise part of the dvd more so can't put as much input into the food part.

Overall i think this dvd is really good. It's made me, someone who hates the gym and exercise in general, want to do exercise because i can feel the good it's doing and i can see little changes in my body. Because i can do as little as 10 minutes, it's easier just to turn on for a short exercise stint which makes all the difference to my day. I find this exercise dvd fun and not impossible to do, but can definately still feel it working! I think it'll even be useful for those that do more regular exercise because it gives a nice routine to follow that will make a change to normal exercise habits and shock the system a bit.