What do you think of Richard Simmons and his plan?

onwarddownward

I love Richard Simmon's committment to help people. I think he is a real go-getter and I love his flamboyance.

I think that he is a person who just exudes caring and hope. I loved the Sweatin' to the Oldies DVD (Vol 1) but I think that the Food Mover is less than accurate. I once had the gold food mover, but I could not stay with it. I didn't think that it related very well to real foods in my life. Now he has an electronic version of the food mover.

What are your thoughts about Richard in general or Richard's plan? Have you ever used it? Did you have a good result?

Jan

quiltlovinlisa

I will always admire his commitment to the morbidly obese, many who have lost hope. Other then some of his old sweatin' to the oldies stuff, I don't have experience with his plans.

When my kids were toddlers, they loved to do the dvd's with me. lol

melindasuefritz

absolutely love richard simons and his videos..............

herblackwings39

Honestly I don't remember his diet plan. I remember doing it with my mom when I was much younger, but I do love his larger than life personality. I wonder if the Sweating to the Oldies workouts made it to dvd yet....

Booksandbeaches

What are your thoughts about Richard in general or Richard's plan?

Kudos to Richard Simmons for motivating so many people to exercise, but I personally find his voice and constant high pitched yelling get on my nerves. His style appeals to people who have certain health issues or prefer a gentler, slower workout. Different strokes for different folks. Not all of us are going to enjoy the same workouts. I find his exercise style boring and slow FOR ME. And his style, which does seem very caring, isn't what motivates ME. He doesn't seem to have that much muscle defintion in his body. I find people who have more muscle definition than me, motivates me. I once asked a similar question of my MFP friends, and there were several who enjoyed his old Sweatin' To the Oldies DVDs.

onwarddownward

Oh yeah, he has a real industry with new videos too, but I think the old ones were so great because they showed real people who had lost SO much weight as they did the cake walk down the aisle at the end of the movie. It always encouraged me. I wonder if they kept it off.

beattie1

I almost wrote "Who?", then thought of Googling to find out. So now I've read up, my question is "Who?"

sunshinestater

I admire the fact that he still gives classes regularly at his studio in LA and poses with every single person who wants a photo at the end, no matter how many are there. I know he's made a lot of money with his videos and other paraphernalia, but I believe his caring is genuine.

RoadsterGirlie

I have never done any of his workouts and don't know anything about his diet plan, but I can see he genuinely cares about people - many of whom otherwise would have given up any hope of having a normal life. I know he has changed lives, and I find that very admirable.

onwarddownward

I almost wrote "Who?", then thought of Googling to find out. So now I've read up, my question is "Who?"

Richard Simmons quotes:

Number one, like yourself. Number two, you have to eat healthy. And number three, you've got to squeeze your buns. That's my formula.

No tricks, gimmicks, special pills, special potions, special equipment. All it takes is desire and will.

I get an abundance of e-mail every day, some say 'dear Richard, can you call my husband, he weighs 400 pounds...' or 'my 14-year-old is 200 pounds...' or 'I just got divorced, no one wants me, I am 500 pounds.' So I pick up the phone and I call people.

Don't DIET -- Live it!

“Touch your toes, there’s a side of fries down there!”

He's funny, he's fabulous and he's a fat fighter. I love the guy!

kimcatus

I love him and love his down to earth advice; he seems genuine and like he really, truly cares about people that feel unlovable because of their weight.

I used to use his "Sweatin' to the Oldies" DVDs but they don't do as much for me anymore; that being said, I would definitely recommend them to someone who was just starting out for sure!

beattie1

I almost wrote "Who?", then thought of Googling to find out. So now I've read up, my question is "Who?"

Richard Simmons quotes:

Number one, like yourself. Number two, you have to eat healthy. And number three, you've got to squeeze your buns. That's my formula.

No tricks, gimmicks, special pills, special potions, special equipment. All it takes is desire and will.

I get an abundance of e-mail every day, some say 'dear Richard, can you call my husband, he weighs 400 pounds...' or 'my 14-year-old is 200 pounds...' or 'I just got divorced, no one wants me, I am 500 pounds.' So I pick up the phone and I call people.

Don't DIET -- Live it!

“Touch your toes, there’s a side of fries down there!”

He's funny, he's fabulous and he's a fat fighter. I love the guy!

Thanks for your reply! Perhaps he hasn't crossed the pond much? He's not on the radar in the UK as far as I'm aware.

RaineyLaney

I bought a complete set of his "Sweat'n to the Oldies" and yes they are on DvD (think there is 5 disk in the set) I also love watching the catwalk at the end I never did the meal plan, but am familiar with it, but it has been so many years ago that came out. Is the electronic one the same as the cards were? If so, I would feel it is maybe outdated. Not really sure though

poesch77

I used the Food Mover in my early 20's with great success. Lost about 40lbs in a short amount of time and that was with still drinking a lot of beer! (single days! :drinker: ) I think he is a great motivator also!

onwarddownward

Golly, you ought to google him. He's very funny.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xo9bt2_richard-simmons-sweatin-to-the-oldies-volume-1_music#.UZAcUsqe0Yo

At 40:28 they play the people who lost weight and show how much they lost. It's really neat.

beyondjupiter

LOVE him! He is so sweet and seems like a genuinely caring and sensitive guy. I never followed his food plan but I used to workout to his DVDs. I should probably go get some and start up again. I just love his personality. I think he is very positive and motivating.

ldrosophila

Richard was preaching eat right and exercise long before it was cool. Not only is he a successful maintainer, but all of his diet plans have been sensible, basically the exchange system, and his exercise was appropriate for beggining and intermediate levels.

BrittanyMegan88

Golly, you ought to google him. He's very funny.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xo9bt2_richard-simmons-sweatin-to-the-oldies-volume-1_music#.UZAcUsqe0Yo

At 40:28 they play the people who lost weight and show how much they lost. It's really neat.

Awe, I wanted to check this out but it said the video isn't available in my country.

beyondjupiter

Richard was preaching eat right and exercise long before it was cool. Not only is he a successful maintainer, but all of his diet plans have been sensible, basically the exchange system, and his exercise was appropriate for beggining and intermediate levels.

Love that he always had "real" people in his videos too of all sizes. Even kids sometimes!

ndj1979

richard simmons the guy who started def jam...oh, wait you are not talking about him but THAT richard simmons...LOL I will give simmons credit for motivating seriously obese people; however, I think his "workouts" are not really the kind of work outs that are going to lead to long term life styel change..but that is just my opinion...you would be better off on a program of compound lifts and cardio ..

onwarddownward

LOVE him! He is so sweet and seems like a genuinely caring and sensitive guy. I never followed his food plan but I used to workout to his DVDs. I should probably go get some and start up again. I just love his personality. I think he is very positive and motivating.

Here is the video that goes with that shot.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0-7EfR37Dg

SanteMulberry

I admire the fact that he still gives classes regularly at his studio in LA and poses with every single person who wants a photo at the end, no matter how many are there. I know he's made a lot of money with his videos and other paraphernalia, but I believe his caring is genuine.

Yes--I think so. He was once morbidly obese himself and he wants those people to get their lives back, just the way he did.

megsmom2

I admire his commitment to helping people in such a supportive and nonjudgemental way...but he has always just annoyed me to no end. And this is from someone who normally adores dizzy queens.

zyxst

richard simmons the guy who started def jam...oh, wait you are not talking about him but THAT richard simmons...LOL I will give simmons credit for motivating seriously obese people; however, I think his "workouts" are not really the kind of work outs that are going to lead to long term life styel change..but that is just my opinion...you would be better off on a program of compound lifts and cardio ..

You mean Russell Simmons.

I like Richard Simmons for his enthusiasm and that he's doing what he asks other people to do. He was fat and understands both sides. When the exercise tv crazy happened in the 80s, he was the only person I knew who admitted to being fat and his shows always had regular (all sizes) people doing the workouts.

auroranflash

What in the world is a 'gold food mover'?

onwarddownward

What in the world is a 'gold food mover'?

Simmons sells what he calls the Food Mover. It has come in different colors, depending upon when it came out. Now they have a digital one. It's basically an exchange based system that tracks protein, dairy, etc. You get this plastic thingy with these little windows. You close the windows and when you do, you are done with that portion of your food for the day.

There are cards that slide in the food mover that change depending upon the caloric intake of the card. There is a 1200 card, a 1600 card, etc,

I liked the workout videos because I was able to enjoy them and I have two left feet, but the food mover was not for me. If I want to stick within a certain range, I need to nail it down more than just saying, "Well, I had four ounces of protein."

You can google it.

MizTerry

I don't care for his flamboyance, but he was an exercise genius. The man had a plan to fit everyone and made it work.
Anyone that works as hard as he has deserves praise.

shadow2soul

LOVE him! He is so sweet and seems like a genuinely caring and sensitive guy. I never followed his food plan but I used to workout to his DVDs. I should probably go get some and start up again. I just love his personality. I think he is very positive and motivating.

Here is the video that goes with that shot.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0-7EfR37Dg

That is hilarious :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

wiseeliz

We always have Sweatin' to the Oldies on hand during free time at my girls' leadership camp. It's so ridiculous, but we love it!

iggyboo93

Richard Simmons is a weight loss pioneer. He was never about fads or quick fixes. He was never afraid to show people in his videos people who needed to lose a lot of weight. Billy Blanks did this in some of his Tae Bo videos. His "deal a meal" is a predecessor to the WW points system. He is awesome.

ndj1979

Richard Simmons is a weight loss pioneer. He was never about fads or quick fixes. He was never afraid to show people in his videos people who needed to lose a lot of weight. Billy Blanks did this in some of his Tae Bo videos. His "deal a meal" is a predecessor to the WW points system. He is awesome.

what exactly did he pioneer? I guess if you count a bunch of obese people jumping around to some oldies track as "pioneering" then that would be it....