Push - Review

Push: 30 Days to Turbocharged Habits, a Bangin' Body, and the Life You Deserve!

By: Chalene Johnson

Published: December 20th 2011 by Rodale Books

304 pages

Genre: Nonfiction, Self Help, Health

Source: Personal Library

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Goodreads description--Fitness superstar Chalene Johnson creates a revolutionary 30-day system that will allow readers to transform their bodies, their diets, and their lives!

Chalene Johnson built a fitness empire from the ground up, selling over 6 million DVDs and helping legions of loyal fans shed pounds and transform their lives with her trademark enthusiasm and energy.

PUSH, Chalene’s first book ever, distills the wisdom that has made her a fitness queen into a totally unique 30-day system that will help readers reset their priorities, get their lives together, and lose weight for good.

Chalene gives readers the life-changing tools they need to change their habits with 30 days of practical steps that include pinpointing goals, reverse engineering a course of action to achieve them, and kicking the clutter—whether that means junk food, draining exercise regimens, or toxic relationships. In one month, readers will learn how to create layers of accountability and support so that success is their only option.

Additionally, Chalene shares 30 ridiculously easy and delicious Throw-and-Go recipes that she (a self confessed mess in the kitchen) created herself. And, of course, no book from Chalene would be complete without a workout! Chalene guides readers to find their soul mate workouts—the exercises they’ll love for life and that will never feel like work. Finally, she gives readers the Bangin’ Body Workout: the 30 moves they need for total body fitness—for life!

First things first. This book is not for everyone. This book is only for those people who are willing to PUSH themselves to the next level in their lives, in their fitness journeys, in any aspect they set their minds to. For me this book is worth 5 Stars. But to others, it’s not worth their time.

Before I actually review the book, let me briefly (I hope) give you a breakdown of my fitness journey. My husband (before we got married) owned several Beachbody workout videos. Of those were Tony Horton’s Power Half Hour, Power 90, Debbie Sieber’s Slim in 6, and Chalene Johnson’s Turbo Jam. I started out my weight loss journey with Slim in 6. Not severely overweight, but never “skinny,” I decided while my husband and I were dating that I was going to do just that—get skinny. I wanted to be with my husband at all times during those first few months of dating because he made me feel so good, but that just wasn’t possible (or healthy). I needed something to replace or recreate the feelings of joy and happiness I had when I was away from him. So I started working out. I went from a size 12 to a size 6 in less than a year and only using Slim in 6.

Throughout our relationship my husband kept talking about how his favorite workout program was Turbo Jam by Chalene Johnson. I gave it a try once and told myself that I couldn’t pick up on the moves so I wasn’t going to bother…I’d just get frustrated. When we got married, I, like so many others, put on about 40 pounds, and something had to give. I tried Slim in 6 again, but either I wasn’t into it, or it just wasn’t working. I’m not sure which. Anyway, for the next two years, I was up and down with motivation for weight loss and working out—though never really down in weight. Finally, (I’d seen the program on Beachbody’s website, but just hadn’t taken the step to purchase it) a friend that I work with started talking about this new workout program called Turbo Fire. A friend of hers had lost a good bit of weight and looked great and that’s how her friend said she did it. Because I’d seen it on Beachbody.com already I knew exactly what she was talking about and excitedly joined in the conversation with my friends. The four of us girls that work together all decided to purchase copies of Turbo Fire and help each other stay committed. My husband joined in because of his love of Turbo Jam, and off we set to achieve all our weight loss goals.

While doing Turbo Fire, the 20 week program, I lost 25 pounds. *Note: I also counted my calories using the turbo tracker from Beachbody specifically designed to go with the Turbo Fire program. The turbo tracker had a daily quote from Chalene and that helped keep me inspired and motivated. I created a group on Facebook dedicated to my friends who also have health and fitness goals and made it my purpose to be the encouragement and motivation for the group (though the others encourage and motivate me just as much). I took a brief hiatus from Turbo Fire during the holidays and due to some personal struggles that came up during that time period and committed myself to maintaining my weight loss through the holidays. After the holidays were over, I recommitted to my weight loss—getting healthy—journey and am now in week 5 of my 2nd round of Turbo Fire and am looking forward to completing the program and moving into a hybrid version of Turbo Fire and ChaLEAN Extreme. I love the way that Turbo Fire and Chalene pushes me to do more than I thought was possible and have developed a love for working out that will last me through the rest of my life. I have created a lifestyle change. And I’ve done that with the help and information included in this book.

Push does include health and fitness information, but it doesn’t stop there. Push is about developing the strong, successful habits of highly fit successful people. Yes, it’s about adopting the habits of people that are already fit and successful, but it’s about turning yourself into one of those fit and successful people. It’s about balancing your lives, goals, hopes, dreams, families, friends, eating, exercise, work/careers. It’s about getting a better, healthier, happier life and doing it on purpose. Push is about taking the steps to get your life into balance and be able to fit in all these wonderful ideas you have for yourself and for your life. It gives you the information to be a better you.

If you’re not one of those people who are constantly looking to improve yourself, then this really isn’t the book for you. But if you’re tired of mediocre, and you want to take charge of your life, then this book is just one of the ways you’re going to get there. The first section is a 30 day challenge (most people don’t make it that far—Chalene’s words, not mine though I agree). The second section is on circuit training (strength training—because muscle burns fat—also check out ChaLEAN Extreme). And the third section is a grab and go recipe/food guide. All of this information is beneficial to you if you’re willing to give it a shot. But you have to make the decision to change your life…to create lasting change. You can be a success story.

Go for it, I think you’ll be surprised at what this book can help inspire you to do with your life. But deep down, it’s all up to you. Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Have you read Push? What did you think? Let me know!

Updated: January 31, 2015