Change of Plan~!

Hello everyone!


After careful thought (and dieting a few days and feeling a lot better), I think I will be changing to doing Metamorphosis starting December 3.

I actually wrote an email to the Tracy Anderson team and one of their people, Laurie (who I am familiar with and have corresponded before) wrote back:

Hello, 

We really recommend that you start with the Meta program and do as much as you can each day. You'll build up your strength and endurance so you can work up to keeping up with Tracy. It's really the best way to get started on your journey. 

Please reach out to us with any questions. Have a great day! 

So, I am going to do that- work on building my strength with Metamorphosis and go from there while eating healthier.   Started dieting today and will continue through the weekend to get my body used to it before jumping into working out.

I also have a final paper to work on for next week so I am going to try to bang that out over the weekend as well (one less excuse to not work out on Monday).

Tracy Anderson Pregnancy Project Review

Hello everyone!


I decided to just watch the entire Pregnancy Project and write a review here, for people who want to know how it all goes. 

Each of the workouts IS different, but they do have a lot in common.

What they have in common:

All workouts have a short warm up and cool down stretch, along with Tracy explaining what you may be going through through that specific month. 

The chair is used, but mostly for balance during standing work or some stretching work. 

She is always instructing- she does talk through the whole videos to keep reminding you to keep good form and some words of encouragement. 

There are weighted arms, unweighted arms and leg/butt work in each workout.  There is no floor ab work or standing ab work in any of the workouts.

The workouts are only done in sets of 20, sometimes 10 but it is not common and she will tell you when that will be. She counts all reps aloud most of the time. 

Very nice backdrop, and gentle calm music. Very nice, at least to me. 

I have not watched the advice from the doctors, etc, only the workouts. 

No cardio is included. 


Where they differ- in difficulty and complexity of the moves. Month 1 is a bit more complex than Month 9. It does not get easier, just simpler.  Simpler moves are still effective as the complex ones. 

Do I recommend this? Absolutely.  For the price (49.95) you get 9 workouts. Not bad. 

Pregnancy Project Month 9 Review

Hello everyone!


As promised, I did go ahead and do my first Pregnancy Project workout, which was the month 9 workout.

I'm actually pretty impressed.

She starts out with a gentle but good-feeling stretch session.  Hamstrings get stretched, sides get stretched, and she does a modified (doable) version of one of my least favorite stretches to do- the stretch that involves crouching on one leg and having the other stretched out straight.  In this move, she is kneeling instead of crouching, and using a chair for balance stretches into the straight leg.

Next, she moves on to arms. She does about 10-15 minutes of weighed arms, done slowly and they do burn.  Next comes the standing leg workouts, which are actually very simple but very effective.

The gist of the standing legs is to open the hips even more and get the butt worked. Next, is on to the floor on hands and knees.  She doesn't do much here, she says at this point in the pregnancy (or in my case obesity) you should not be doing too much on hands and knees.  Most of the floor legs involve leaning on an elbow for support as opposed to the hand.  Tracy, my wrists thank you (this was a big complaint I had with Meta- my weight was too much to bear on my wrists).  The floor legs were a bit more challenging for me, Tracy does 20 of each move (standing and floor) but some of the legs on the floor I could barely do ten.  The ones I could do twenty of were very, very challenging and I was really pushing, so no, I am not ready to move down to month 8 yet.  That's not until I get good at this and lose a little more belly.

There are no floor abs or standing abs, but the leg movements and even the arm movements do engage the abs anyway.  Because of my fat belly, floor abs are very difficult for me anyway.

She ends the workout with weightless arms and some more stretching, and then you're done!

The total workout is about 40 minutes long, and while the moves LOOKED easy, I was sweating quite a bit when I was done. 

I wouldn't be surprised if I felt this tomorrow.

Tracy Anderson Pregnancy Project

Hello everyone!


I was very fortunate to be able to get my hands on Tracy's Pregnancy Project!

Why did I get it? I'm not pregnant. However, I have a different idea in mind.

I posted pics last time of my body from about 60 pounds ago, since then I had gained a lot of weight, ESPECIALLY in my belly.  In fact, people often think I am pregnant rather than obese.  That  being said, doing TAM was hard for me because that belly kept getting in my way of doing the moves with proper, effective form.

I want to start doing these workouts in reverse- starting with month 9.  Why? The moves get easier as the months progress, and I want to use these workouts as a build up, to ease back into TAM.  Also, the 7-9th months (especially 9th) make it easier for those with bigger stomachs to do the workouts with good form.

Obese and pregnant people also have some common exercise needs.

1. Neither should do high impact anything. (Obese at least at first)
2. They both need to be careful with their joints
3. They both need to be aware of overheating/heart rate.
4. They both eventually have pretty limited mobility.

While TA's Pregnancy Project does NOT come with cardio, I will be doing low impact cardio- mostly walking and doing Walk Away The Pounds.




These DVDs I have heard are VERY effective and low impact.  

Here's how I plan on progressing with the Tracy Pregnancy workouts.

Start with month 9, when the workout gets easier/I lose some belly, I move to the next month down. 

So, I am going to do my first workout today and I will post how it went and review month 9.

New Year's Resolutions, a Month Early

Hello everyone!

I have started thinking about my new workout plan, etc. and I think I am going to go back to doing the Tracy Anderson Method, starting with the 30 day method book.

I would like to start the boot camp on December 1, 2012.  I have 2 more days of class after that and then I am finito until February.  (By then I would be well into abcentric metamorphosis)

I will not be doing her diet.  Instead, I will be doing the following.

1. Eating the appropriate amount of calories for my body weight/sedentary activity level.
2. Not eliminating any food groups or any of that- with two exceptions.
3. Lactose- free (I am lactose intolerant)
4. Gluten free (I am very gluten sensitive)
5. Making gluten free grains a sometimes food (or a bowl of steel cut oats every morning, they have a lot of protein and they fill me up for a while)
6. Making the healthiest choices I can with what's available. I can't afford to be on her specific diet or do a lot of stuff I've been advised to, so I am going to make do and post about it.


Then, my new years resolution is to complete an entire year of Metamorphosis Abcentric.

Speaking of abcentric, I came across some old pics I took of myself about 80 pounds lighter.

Side View

Front View

As you can see, even lighter, I had a belly more than anything (people always thought I was pregnant instead of overweight) and always had a straighter waist.  My recent thinking I am hourglass shaped is likely because all that excess weight had to go SOMEWHERE.

I would have started my 30 day method tomorrow but this weekend I will be able to go food shopping and I am working on a BIG research paper this week. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and I am excited!

20 habits keeping you fat part 2

Hello everyone~!


A continuation of the previous blog- reasons 11-20 why you may have trouble losing weight!

11. Eating off of large plates.  A study shows that 98.6 percent of obese people (when given the choice) would go for eating off a larger plate. Large plate = more food = more calories

12. Having serving bowls at the table.  Try serving all food from the kitchen instead of on the dinner table.

13. Eating white bread.  People who changed form white grains to whole grains lost more belly fat.

14. Taking big bites.  People who take big bites eat about 50% more food in one sitting than people who chew slowly with smaller bites.

15. Not drinking enough water. In a study, one group of dieters was told to drink 2 glasses of water before eating and they lost 30% more weight than t he non drinkers.

16. Having overweight friends. Research shows that having overweight friends increases the chance of obesity by 57%.

17. Eating late.  People who eat late tend to eat more calories per day without realizing it.

18. Not using the scale.  Researchers had a group of dieters weigh themselves daily, they lost twice as much weight as the group that weighed less frequently.  It could be because seeing your weight reinforces goals.

19. Drinking fruity drinks.  Most fruity drinks are made with sugar syrup rather than actual fresh fruit.

20. Eating when emotional.  A study found that emotional eaters were 13% more likely to be obese.  If you get stressed, try chewing gum or taking a walk instead.

Change in Plan

Hello everyone!



Today is a short post, and I am a bit disappointed. 

I found out that I do in fact, need to change my spring weight loss plan.  Unfortunately, it turns out that I do not, in fact, have the entire spring semester off.  I do have to take a class one day a week for ten weeks starting in February. 

Okay, I guess it isn't that bad, but being off and out of a classroom for an entire semester sounded really, really nice. 

So, here's a little inspirational video that would be pretty useful right now.




Just keep swimming. :)

So I Tried Jane Fonda's Workout...

Hello everyone!


As the title suggests, I finally tried the workout last night.  I probably should have waited to get a better night's sleep but oh well. (Doggie is all better now)

Well as I said, watching the video did not make it look that daunting.  Doing it,  however, was a different story.

There was not a single hard part about it, including the stretching.  I realize now how much flexibility I have lost. (TONS) Bending over straight-legged (which used to be easy for me) I felt my muscles creak.  The arms came next.  That should be easy.  Wrong. Since I have so much extra weight, moving my arms around and stuff was actually quite hard and tiring. There was a brief moment of jogging in place but that wasn't so bad.  I did feel my calves cramp up but it was like, one minute long or so.  I can deal with that.

This move hurts more than it looks like.

Waist exercises weren't HORRIBLE, but I did certainly feel something work.  The true hell was to come when we got on the mat.]]

Abs. Apparently all these Tracy Anderson ab moves I have tried were nothing compared to what I did with Jane.  Crunches were ok, but then came piking (feet straight up in the air) and the dreaded bicycles. When that was done, it was leg time.  Laying on your side and lifting your leg up in the air doesn't sound so bad... but then I tried it.  I couldn't keep up and boy did I feel that burn.  I think my body burned the MOST doing the leg portion.  Lastly, was the butt workout, which was a few moves in bridge position.  Still  burnt. 

One thing I do like is how there is a lot of flexibility work both standing up and on the mat.


I am definitely going to try it again, perhaps at my own pace now that I have the book.  That's right, my Jane Fonda book came today! So excited! I am going to give it a read and review. 

Stress, stress, stress...

Hello everyone!


I keep saying that I am going to get back to working out and such and that hasn't happened yet.  Lately I have been feeling under the weather, not necessarily because I feel sick, but the fact that I have hardly slept this week.

How I feel lately

My poor little dog, Neo, has been sick with diarrhea since Monday after eating a can of wet dog food (he normally eats dry) and cleaning up after him and making sure he's okay has been hard work.  They say having a puppy helps prepare you for human kids... There is definitely truth to that.  

Because of the lack of sleep, I have been feeling achy and horrid all day long for the past few days, therefore, I didn't start working out yet.

However, my puppyboy is showing signs of getting better, so here's to hoping I get a full (or close to it) night's sleep.

Potential Plan

Hello everyone!

As I said before, I plan on starting my Jane Fonda/Reduced Calories stint today.  I've rewatched the beginner workout on the DVD I made and I started thinking.

Based on what I have seen, I am not so sure that I will be doing the beginner workout for very long.  It does look sort of easy.  Of course, I won't know until I try, but in the case that it IS easy, here's what I plan to do.

1. Do the beginner workout every day for the rest of this week to get used to it.
2. Start working on mastering the advanced version next week and work up to the evil 90 minute challenge video I have (that I will cover very soon).

However, if beginner is challenging for me, I will continue to work on it until I am able to move on  up.

Which brings me to my next thought.  After around December 15th (Don't quote me there) I begin my winter break between semesters, and then I have a semester off.  Yep! I am done with all of my general education classes before heading into nursing school!

I am enthused. I swear.

So, I want to really focus on my weight loss during this time off of school.  I will be off for almost a year- December 2012-August 2013.  What I would LIKE to do is "Do Jane" twice a day (at least while I am trying to get into the beginner routine), morning and evening.  The moves are not heavy lifting at all, there is also a lot of stretching throughout.  A side goal of mine is to regain my flexibility, and the toning leg moves and ab moves are, while effective, the kind of moves I do not think one can really do too many of, especially within the half hour workout.

However, that is my thought now, before trying it.  It could end up being pretty tough and make me eat my hat, haha.

Just my thought for today, hope everyone else has a good day too!  The week is almost over~

Kickin' it Old School

Hello everyone!

Yesterday I posted about how I was looking into Jane Fonda's old workout.


I decided I want to give it a try.  I have actually read some good reviews about women really losing a lot of weight doing it.  As for bulking, I don't see how it would be possible, in the original workout, Jane doesn't touch weights either.

I am going to try the beginner workout which is in the following vids in its entirety-








The total length is about 30 minutes.  There is an advanced (one hour) version that is also on youtube that I want to try when I get good at this.

11/7/2012

Hello everyone!

Day 3 in the bag, although I did not do 100%, more like 90%.

Breakfast:
4 slices of turkey bacon
1 medium apple
1 Tablespoon of coconut oil

Lunch:
Think Thin Caramel Fudge bar
2 bottles of low calorie Gatorade

Dinner:
Chicken breast seasoned with lemon juice and garlic, fat free pan spray
2 cups of steamed broccoli

Dessert:
3 Chinese almond cookies


Lately I have been hearing comments about my diet being too processed, etc.  I am aware that I am not eating 100% whole natural foods.  However, if I were to delve into that cold turkey, I am pretty sure that that is a recipe for failure as I have tried it countless times in the past.  Considering that I am coming from eating an entire pizza in one sitting, this is a vast improvement already.  Also, I honestly am not hungry eating these amounts of food.  For instance, I am not really a breakfast person nor do I usually eat on schedule, so the fact that I am eating breakfast and eating at almost the same time every day (8-8:30 am, noon, 5-7 pm) is saying something.  I have said before and I will say it again, I am taking Adderall (a medicine for ADHD) and it also greatly squashes my appetite.  The cookies were a little treat, took a lot of control to eat only three. 

Now on to my workout- I completed my muscular structure work for level 1 day 3 abcentric. I feel myself getting stronger and easier to keep good form but not easier to execute the moves (that's how it SHOULD be).  I also took a 30 minute walk today.  DC was cut short.  My knee began to bother me today and I also only got 4 hours of sleep the previous night. Therefore, I did do some dance cardio, but not 30 minutes. I actually popped in the DVD that comes with the 30 Day Method book which has 2 combinations that last 10 minutes and are a bit simpler moves than the cardio that comes with Meta.  I highly recommend that DVD for beginners/the injured/the tired who just want to get at least a few minutes in.

I also am sort of active in the community on Tracy's website (that you get access to for buying Meta).  A moderator from the TAM team even gave advice to someone who was having much difficulty with cardio and wanted to forgo it entirely and just do the MS- Do some cardio, even if it is just 5 minutes a day, and push yourself a little more each day. 

So, I made no excuses yesterday (even with a sore knee) and took care of business. 

11/6/2012

Hello everyone!

Second day of Meta complete!

Followed the diet well, (added a little more at lunch) until dinner came.


Breakfast:
4 microwaved (crispy that way!) slices of turkey bacon
Sun Warrior/Berry smoothie

Lunch:
Caramel Fudge Think Thin bar
1 Apple
1 Tablespoon coconut oil (eaten with apple)

Snack:
3 pieces of Apple Pie flavored gum
2 bottles of Neuro Sonic

Dinner:
1 1/2 McDoubles from McDonald's.

Yeah, that dinner wasn't the best choice, but it is better than my usual 4 McDoubles in one sitting. 

Now on to my workout.

Level 1 Day 2 Meta Muscular Structure done~ Also got through 30 mins of cardio (WAY better than last night, for sure. No nausea or tiredness!)  Also walked for a half hour earlier in the day.

More notes:  I know it seems a bit soon to see anything happening, but I am already experiencing noticable change in my body.  My ankle area used to be swollen (I could press my finger into my skin gently and make a dent) and now they are much less.  I also see my belly looking a bit deflated as well as noticable dents in my upper arms.  Also, following the diet plan, I am actually NOT starving, but instead feeling satisfied after eating.  I do not get hungry between meals.  I do not sit around and think about food as much. 

I decided to take my coconut oil midday, with some food to see if my stomach would react like it did last night. Ate it with an apple after my protein bar and no ill effects at all. 

I also felt a lot more energetic during my workout.  Onward to day 3!!!

11/5/2012

Hello everyone!


Yesterday was my first day back to Meta with the diet this time.  It was strange.

I ate the following:

Breakfast:
2 poached eggs
1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior protein with 1 cup berries blended in

Lunch:
Creamy Peanut Butter Think Thin Bar 

Dinner:
Chicken Breast
Steamed broccoli

Extras/supplements:
Kale/Apple juice (homemade)
1 tablespoon of unrefined coconut oil (as a supplement/to get some extra clean calories in)


The mistake and strangeness came from the workout.  My big mistake was doing my workout at 10:30 pm, after I had already begun to fall asleep.  I did my workout, but it was difficult, and extra tiresome, and my body was shaking when I had finished.  As for cardio... I tried. I really did.  After my MS work, I was overcome with such nausea and dizziness that after 5 minutes into the cardio, I deemed it unsafe and impractical to proceed any further and called it quits.  I am still marking off the "cardio" section on my tracker because dammit, I tried.  I did my best without making excuses, and that's what really matters.  Doing a less than stellar workout is better than sitting on the couch.

As for the nausea, I had some tummy troubles and felt really tired pretty early.  I am guessing the food I ate (very clean) had a detoxing effect on me because I have felt awful. I also hear from several TAMers that at first, they had flulike symptoms. Definitely got those going on today. 

This basically sums up how I felt last night.

Did you get your workout in?  Even if you do 5 minutes,  you showed up and didn't make excuses. 

Have a great day everyone and I'll post when day 2 is done!

New Beginning, One Day At a Time

Hello everyone!


Today I will be starting anew.

1.  I am starting Abcentric Metamorphosis again, with the help of

2. Practicing saying nice things about myself and reminding myself that I am, in fact, worth it.


I need to think of working out and losing weight as a way of showing myself that I am worth it.  I only have one body, and it must be treated with love and care.  Feed it nutritious foods, use it to move around, etc.  Too many years I have treated it like a trash can, as my friend puts it.

I also am going to start giving this guided meditation a listen that my friend recommended to me:



HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT WITH MEDITATION from Dr. Michelle Nielsen on Vimeo.

I am going to be following the diet plan that came with Metamorphosis until I become good at the dance cardio (able to jump the whole time).  I am going to be following it modified- no purees, and bigger portions of food when needed.  Listening to my body for sure.  Also going to be doing AMRAP (as many reps as possible) but also keeping count so I can push myself more each time and actually know if I am actually doing so.

I got my food ready, got a decent night's sleep, let's do this!

(Very) Personal Epiphany/Confession

Hello everyone!


I don't often talk about the real personal things that go on in my life, but this is actually relevant, I think.  

I think I may have found the reason why I just can't seem to lose weight, stick to a program, etc. 

Having low self-esteem does a lot of damage to goal achievement, be it weight loss, education, career advancement, etc.  For many years (and I am still struggling with) I have often thought of myself as worthless, no matter what I weighed.  Even when I was a slim teenager, I still had that nagging voice in my head giving me the idea that I was a piece of crap. It was likely caused by a variety of factors.

Fast forward to now, when I have been trying to lose all of this weight I have gained.  I have the drive, I have the desire, I know it's the right thing to do for myself.  But it never happens.  Why?  Because thoughts that go through my head include but definitely are not limited to:

"Even if you do lose weight, nobody will like you any  better."  

"Why bother losing weight when you're still going to be ugly, just in a smaller size of clothes."

"Why do all this hard work when there will ultimately be no real payoff?" 

"I'm not worth the effort, so why bother?"

Just an example of the kinds of thoughts I often think about myself.

Having an all-or-nothing attitude does not help.  Going all or nothing and failing repeatedly just made me feel even worse about myself and so much less hopeful about becoming healthy. 

I am now actively seeking help for this, in hopes that it will, in fact, improve my life.  I already do feel a little better after actually talking about it with my therapist, and now with you.  It was actually very uncomfortable, awkward, and strange to actually express it but at the same time it's quite empowering once you've done it.

If you are also feeling "not good enough" to do anything, please do seek help.  As I said, low self esteem destroys (and sadly sometimes ends) lives. 

I really do want to do Metamorphosis again starting on Monday, this time while getting help for the self-hating I do on a regular basis, I am curious about the outcome this time. (Already bought my groceries for the week)

Tracy Anderson with "New" Body After Baby

Hello everyone!


Tracy Anderson has been in the news a lot lately since she had her baby.  A friend of mine took a picture of a mini article from a magazine showing Tracy and her "new curves".

The photo of her on the left is from before she had her baby, on the right is her post baby "curvy" body.  To me she looks curvier on the left, (More defined waist) and on the right she looks noticeably softer. Either way, she looks great, but I think the magazine is exaggerating a bit.


The text reads:  "Fitness trainer Tracy Anderson is known for helping celebs like Jennifer Lopes and Gwyneth Paltrow maintain their super-slim frames.  But after giving birth to daughter Penelope in May, Tracy, 37, tells In Touch that she's embracing her post-baby curves - in fact, they make her feel sexy.  "It's absolutely fine to take your time," explains Tracy, who did muscular exercises throughout her pregnancy but shied away from cardio.  And she admits that like for most women, getting back in the swing of things was a challenge for her. "No matter what shape you're in, it's uncomfortable to get back. I started with 10 minutes of cardio and then 15, and worked up to more.  It's not easy."

Hard to be positive when you read things like this

Hello everyone!


On the subject of negative attitudes toward your workout, I found a scathing review posted by a blogger I usually enjoy reading who goes by the name "The Angry Trainer."

It's one thing to give a bad review on something if you've actually DONE the workout, but to review it solely on just watching the infomercial is very... I can't think of the word but it's not a good one.

"Watching this video was like seeing a Saturday Night Live episode. The “Dance Cardio” portion of the program? It’s a joke and in my opinion actually looks silly. Truthfully Tracy looks like an uncoordinated child jumping around. And the exercises that are shown look equally as useless. I found myself saying “what the heck is that”, or “what’s that doing?” when seeing these absurd “exercises”. I watched many of the program’s movements and from a muscular balance point of view they made me cringe. There’s tons of hip flexor and front shoulder work and body positioning that I think compromises form and exercise integrity and other exercises that in my view simply do NOTHING."

"The weight loss is minimally caused by Tracy’s workouts and has everything to do with what these women are eating…or I should say what they’re NOT eating. Once again I think Tracy’s program is a big fat fail!

The Angry Trainer says: Still Big Promises, Still Full Of BS!"

In the comments are more hateful comments by his readers, although there are some who are like, hey wait a minute, I do the TA Method and it works for me.

The point is, I hear a lot of people talk to me like this guy talks about the method, both by people who  have and haven't done the workout and this is one example. 

My friends hate my workout...

Hello everyone!


This is an odd seeming question, but it's actually something I've both seen happen to others and have experienced myself.

You plan to start a new workout plan (doesn't matter what) but your friends (who do a different workout than you) shit all over your enthusiasm  because they don't like the method  you are choosing, and they have NO problem in telling you so.

Feels pretty bad. Kinda like this.

I have encountered LOTS of negativity of others, especially when it comes to Tracy Anderson.  I've been told not to do it by friends, I have even had my blog invaded and spammed by Crossfit enthusiasts and even been ridiculed on one of their forums. People I do not even know.  Thankfully, I stayed strong and didn't let it get to me, but it wasn't easy.

The most hurtful is when it comes from your friends, family and loved ones.  It's also very demotivating.

How to deal with it?  Well that really depends on the person.  I do my best to block it out, but that may not work for some people.

Have you ever been bashed or "talked to" for your working out/eating habits? What did you do?

EDIT: I do not mean Eating Disorders are allowed to be bashed. I meant to say when people come to someone with an ED and are concerned and give their loved one a talk, and people doing the same when you are not doing anything unsafe (but doing something they just don't like). I did have posted before about eating disorders and I did not mean any harm by it, I worded it wrong and I do apologize if I offended anyone.