DENISE'S DAILY DOZEN Blog Tour & Giveaway, 5 Winners!

This giveaway is now closed, thank you to everyone who entered! Congratulations to #1 Gonna Be His Mrs. (I know can you believe it random.org came up with #1 I thought that never happened), #12 Tj and Amy, #25 Marilyn, # 46 Michelle M, and #7 Mami2jcn.

I have been a fan of Denise Austin's for a long time, I remember exercising with her and my friends, by watching her television workouts. I also lost weight with her before, using another of her great books. Now that's I'm older and have had a child, I need more help, and who better to turn too!
Publisher Synopsis:

From Denise Austin comes the perfect health book for anyone who wants to live better but just can't seem to find the time. Much more than just another exercise book, Denise's Daily Dozen covers a whole range of health and diet related concepts yet manages it all in a no-stress, time-conscious program of 12's. At it's core, this book contains the minimum daily requirements to keep the reader flexible, strong and trim. Organized simply into seven chapters, which equal the seven days of the week, it covers a full week in daily allotments. Each day will have it's own focus from Monday being "fat burning day" to Sunday's "recharge and rejuvenate."

Denise has created a total body program, including a 7-day balanced meal plan that includes healthy recipes, and a workout that encompasses 12 exercises done in 12 minutes each day. Everyone can take just 12 minutes, at whatever time of the day works for them, and turn it over to these simple and fun exercises. Cardio, toning, yoga and breathing exercises...they're all here but in a way the maximizes effect while minimizing time.

Beyond a dozen exercises for each day of the week this book will include many other of Denise's dozens for each day. My hope had been to tell you how fabulous I was doing, on this stop of the blog tour, but as my regular readers know I've been very sick for the past week. The double ear infection and chest cold, meant that on doctor's orders I had to stop working out, stay in bed, and just focus on healing. So unfortunately, I can't tell you how it's been using the program, but since I had mapped out my plan of action, read, and reread the book several times I still have a lot to say about it.

My Review:

As usual Denise's unfailing cheerfulness and you can do it attitude is all over this book. From the first moment you feel like you've got the peppiest cheerleader on your side. The thing I've always liked about Denise is her ability to breaks things down, into doable increments, usually 12 in this case.

Yes there are twelve exercises that take twelve minutes to do per day, but a need to be active is still stressed in Part One. It's not just twelve minutes per day, doing the exercises for each day. You also have "Your Weekly Dozen Miles" i.e. cardio, a thirty minute interval program is then outlined.

The main part of the program is outlined in the second part and divided by day. Meaning that in Monday's section first you see the 12 daily exercises, followed by week 1's menu, then week 2's, etc. This was both good and bad for me. It's great to have a variety of exercises to do each day, you don't repeat a workout during the week, so you don't get bored.

While it definitely made sense to organize the program by day, it meant that when I was trying to get a feel for the program I had to do a lot of flipping around. Plus it made it confusing for me to make the shopping list. A by week shopping menu is at the end of the book, but I do not eat fish and some of the fruit used is not very good and/or expensive out of season. I made modifications for it to work for me, and ended up writing down the ingredients for the wrong week's meal on Tuesday.

So learn from me and use sticky notes to mark you place on each day. I'll also point out that you'll need to adjust the recipes to reflect your family members too, if they'll be eating the meals, like dinners. Recipes are written for one.

I am very excited to start Denise's Daily Dozen again one week from today, going to give myself a little longer to get completely better. In the meantime, I'll be using the quick and helpful extras, that you can start doing the day you get the book. The "Twelve Favorite Fidgit-cisers" are my favorite and include ways to add exercise during down time, like waiting for your toast to be ready or while sitting on the coach during commerical breaks.

I can also get even more tips from Denise by following her on Twitter and becoming her fan on Facebook. If you've got a few pounds to loose and want to give your lifestyle a jumpstart this year, pick up Denise's Daily Dozen.

Giveaway:

5 of my readers will win a copy of Denise Austin's new book, Denise's Daily Dozen.

To Enter:

Tell me your biggest challenge that prevents you from reaching your weight loss or healthy lifestyle goals.

Extra Entries:

• Publically follow my blog using Google Friends Connect.
• Post my link button.
• Fan me on Facebook.
• Follow me on Twitter, tweet about this giveaway and include @KTnestingspot in it.

Open through February 1st, midnight EST to US and Canadian residents, no PO Boxes.

Disclosure: Thank you to Hachette Book Group for the reviewer's and giveaway copies of this title. This review relates my own personal opinion and experiences with Denise's Daily Dozen and yours may differ.