Review: "Denise's Daily Dozen: The Easy, Every Day Program To Lose Up To 12 Pounds in 2 Weeks" by Denise Austin

From fitness guru Denise Austin comes a new book designed to help you incorporate fitness into your life, no matter how busy it is. As a wife, mother, and business woman herself she understands that our days are packed from the time that we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night, and that most of us do not have time for hour long workouts every day. She also understands that most of us have a few pounds that we would like to lose. She's come up with a solution: her daily dozen, 12 minutes worth of exercise that pretty much anyone can incorporate into their schedules. Her workouts are designed to maximize our fat-burning potential, while toning and slimming our bodies. She provides us with 21 days of workouts, cardio suggestions, meal plans, and shopping lists (21 days is approximately the amout of time that it takes to get into a new habit). Denise says that if we follow her instructions to the letter we can lose up to 12 pounds in 2 weeks.

What I loved about Denise's Daily Dozen is that Denise Austin offers us ways to lose weight that can actually be incorporated into our daily schedules. Almost anyone that I know can fit in 12 minutes of exercise a day, whether they get up 12 minutes earlier or go to bed 12 minutes later. There is more to the plan than only 12 minutes a day, as readers are encouraged to do about 12 miles worth of cardio every week in addition to the exercises, but even if all you can fit in is 12 minutes than really that's better than nothing. I love that there are lots of encouraging extras scattered throughout the book, whether it's a dozen tips for healthy food shopping or encouraging stories about those who have lost significant amounts of weight. I especially love the section where Denise describes simple exercises that we can do while talking on the phone, watching TV, or waiting for our toast to pop up. These are all things that I am sure that I can fit into my day with little or no additional effort on my part, but that will eventually show me results.

What I didn't love as much about the book were some of the recipes, which simply weren't to my taste. As the mom to three very picky eaters (and one very picky husband) I just can't see myself cooking one meal for them and another for myself. I simply don't have that much time or energy after a long day. Denise suggests that families can get healthy together by eating these recipes, but I can't see my sons ever eating black beans or sprouts. That being said, I did manage to find a few that I think I can get my family to eat with me, such as "Slim Sloppy Joes", which I do plan on incorporating into our meal rotation.

Quite honestly I don't think that I have the discipline or the determination to follow this plan to the letter, but in an effort to become a healthier version of myself I do plan on incorporating Denise's 12 minute exercise routines into my daily schedule, and I also plan to use a few of the recipes to help my family to eat healthier. I think that there is a lot of pratical, smart advice between these pages and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to lose a few pounds or incorporate fitness into their daily routine.

Thank-you to Anna at the Hachette Book Group for sending me a copy of this for review. If you haven't already, make sure you enter my giveaway to win 1 of 5 copies of this book! It runs until February 5th, so you still have plenty of time to enter. You can also become a fan of Denise on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, or check out her website, http://www.deniseaustin.com/.