Hello!
Welcome to my blog, where I will be blogging daily about my quest to lose at least 120 pounds/54 Kg (That's about half of what I weigh now!) using the Tracy Anderson Method. But who am I, who is Tracy Anderson, and what does her method consist of?
About me:
I am a 24 (25 on the 22nd of this month~) year old female college student who has a lot of weight to lose. I was also a dancer when I was young, I did ballet for a few years, and loved every minute of it. During high school/early college I, like Tracy Anderson, experienced a massive weight gain. I have been on all sorts of fad diets, tried Turbo Jam, Tae Bo, P90X, and others like it and either I felt like it did nothing or it made me a firmer, yet same size and heavier than I was when I began. I heard about the Tracy Anderson Method and thought I could give it a shot.
Tracy Anderson is a celebrity trainer, who also was a dancer who gained a lot of weight. She also tried a myriad of exercises and diets, and she couldn't get the weight off either. She ended up developing her own method that can change pretty much anyone into a "teeny tiny dancer type" over the course of about 8-10 years. She trains/has trained Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, Shakira, Courteney Cox, and as tabloid rumors have it, Lady Gaga as well.
What does the method consist of? Tracy recommends doing 40 minutes to an hour of cardio- namely dance cardio- and 40-60 minutes of her own specially designed muscular structure workouts. Most of these toning exercises are done on a yoga mat, the most equipment you need is a dining room chair and a set of 3 pound (for women) or 8 pound (for men) weights. Tracy forbids lifting any weight higher than that, or your muscles will bulk. That light of weight does sound easy, but her tactic is to do a lot of reps with the light weight. Also if you get good at her leg workouts, you can wear 1.5 lb each ankle weights, but not more than that.
On the subject of bulking, let's revert back to where I mentioned she wants her clients to do dance cardio. She forbids running, elliptical or bike because you are doing the same movement over and over which she says causes bulk. With dance cardio, you are not moving the same way constantly, but dancing all over the place, using your muscles in all sorts of different ways.
Sounds great, how do we do this at home?
Tracy has several DVDs out for home use and she has recently come out with more. She also has released webisodes to vary your workouts. She also has a great treadmill option in case you are on the road or cannot do dance cardio easily at home for whatever reason.
Her DVDs can be purchased on her site, http://tracyandersonmethod.com or on amazon. I have all of the DVDs and webisodes she has released so far except for her latest Dance Cardio DVD, which I am not ready for anyway as it is advanced.
Tracy suggests to get good at one DVD for about a month, until you master it. You should be (ideally) doing both the cardio and the muscle structure 4-6 times per week. One of these should be one of the following- Post Pregnancy, Mat Workout, or Perfect Design 1. After you master this, you should change between the rest of the material every 10 days or so, so that you do not become static. Also, if you still feel you need longer than a month to master the basics, do take your time and work at your own pace.
What do you eat? Tracy says that if you do not need to lose much weight, you can eat what you want sensibly. If you do have weight to lose (as I do) you must be strict with yourself. Tracy says those looking to lose weight should avoid processed foods and dairy, and instead eat things like lean meat/fish, vegetables and brown rice. And of course, plenty of water!
My beginning routines to master- Beginner Dance Cardio and Perfect Design 1.
I will be starting tomorrow, July 20th with my starting weight and how my first day went! I hope to see you back!
