Abcentric Metamorphosis Review

Hello everyone!




Here is another promised review- Metamorphosis Abcentric days 1-90 (the starter).  I was watching it last night to prepare myself for Monday and I decided to look ahead to see what was up in my future.

For those who don't know- this is what the packaging looks like!

1. The editing is just fine, it seems.  I haven't heard about editing issues on the first 90 days anyway but I just like to make sure.  


2. Sometimes Tracy DOES do a slightly different variation of the same move when she switches legs. I don't love that, I just stick to the move she did the first time and count to 40 at my own pace (or however many reps she says to do- some moves only 10-20.)


3. Abcentric ladies: If you hate planks, brace yourself. After the first month especially! Planks on the side! Regular Planks! Planks where there shouldn't be! (Joking!) But yeah... If you are core-strength challenged like me then this looks like it will really give us a run for our money. 


4. Level 9 is the same for everyone... But it still scares me. The moves don't look devilish but from what I have heard from people who have done it... Even experienced TAMers who are in shape were hurting (in a good way) the next day. For the whole 10 days.


5. Cardio and Intro are pretty straightforward. Cardio is Tracy dancing around for 30 minutes for us to follow along and the intro is Tracy giving a little talk to you before starting.

Feeling proud of myself

Hello everyone!


I'm about to take on my 6th day of meta, and I am feeling pretty proud that I stuck to it this long.


I am hoping that this keeps up because I am starting to see some results. 


I can't wait until this Friday- I start level 2 and I take my first measurements since starting.  I can already tell there will be a difference- everything is starting to look tighter and smaller. 


One bad thing- I slept on my left shoulder funny AGAIN. I took some ibuprofen (it hurts that bad and massaging it isn't helping) and when that starts working I will carefully do my workout today. I hate when this happens!!!!!!






I'll update on my workout later on today, have a great Sunday!

Day 5 complete!!

Hello everyone!


I finished 5 days of Meta! Today was level 1 day 5 and I am now at 30 reps per leg. It took a longer time today because I think I'm a little tired still.  Cardio was 30 minutes of dancing on the floor. 




Speaking of cardio- I recently emailed the Tracy team because I had a question about the rebounder and if it was appropriate or not.

Hello-

I currently have both the Trampoline workout and Metamorphosis/Continuity Abcentric. 

1. I have never been able to do full on dance cardio like Tracy does on the DVD. 

2. I can do 30 minutes of the dance cardio on the floor STEP TOUCH ONLY and even with that it's pretty challenging.

3. I am overweight and very out of shape (restarting the method after a long break)

To get the most out of my cardio work, should I focus on doing the rebounder first (I can only get through about 5-10 minutes of it at the moment) or focus more on the floor cardio? I am also keeping up with my muscular structure work and eating right. (After restarting Ab Meta days 1-10 I am on day 4 and have lost 5 pounds already)

I really appreciate your help and look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks-

And the next day they replied:

Do as much of the dance cardio doing the step touch as you can on the floor and add in the mini trampoline when you need to or for a change. You're still doing to see the results doing either or both of these modification.

You're doing a great job, keep it up!! 

So for any of you who are in between if you should be doing trampoline or dancing on the floor, they PREFER us to be on the floor so if you can do this, keep with that and use the trampoline on an as-needed basis. (If you get injured, etc)

I hope you all had a great Saturday! Check back soon!

Thinking about taking an early rest day

Hello everyone!


Today was a very hectic, long Friday.  


I woke up at 6 am, worked from 8-5, came home, walked the dog, made dinner and here I am.


I am sitting here, full from dinner, trying to decide if I should take a rest day or not instead of Sunday.




All kinds of thoughts going on now-


I'm sleepy.
I'm tired.
I don't want to exercise.
If I don't exercise, I'll feel guilty.
Do I really want to do anything on Sunday?


And so on.


So here I am contemplating- man the fuck up and try to push through my workout and hope that I can finish, or be a lazy bum tonight and work out on Sunday- meaning 8 straight days without a rest.  That doesn't sound too hot either. Hm.




I will update with the result- Working out- Did I or didn't I? 




Have a good Friday night!

Day 2 done!!!

Hello everyone!


I finished my MS work- 20 reps per leg still but it KILLED. I felt it all over and 20 really was a struggle. I will always try to up my reps but if I can't, I can't.


I have also done 10 minutes of rebounding, still sets my calves (but not my joints) ablaze.


I also had a thought. Since I CAN step touch DC on the floor (but somehow can't make 10 minutes on the trampoline without breaks) I have been thinking of doing the Meta DC step touching and then tack on whatever rebounder stuff I can do to build it up.  I feel like 10 minutes just isn't quite enough cardio no matter how you slice it, especially when you have a lot to lose like myself.  I think that unless I am walking to school (an hour total) I will be doing that extra dancing.  The ultimate goal, of course, is 60 minutes of jumping floor dance. 




But just thought I'd let you guys know I DID work out! Have a great day!!!!!

Bouncing away!

Hello everyone!!!


Well, I just got my workout in.  I did my level 1 day 2 metamorphosis with 20 reps of each leg move.


Now on to the rebounder.




I was surprised at how... unable I was to finish all 30 minutes.  This is my first time on a rebounder in a long while.


First, I tried doing the workout in my shoes. Bad idea. My feet started to really hurt on the sides, probably because they are meant to align overpronating  feet, leaving me with a semi-unstable surface even with the shoes.  Lasted 3 minutes that way.


Took shoes off, felt better.


Lasted another 3 minutes, then my calves really needed a break.


I finally lasted a total of 10 minutes and my legs were just saying they have had enough. 


I also couldn't do all of the fancy moves she does in the workout... Yet.  I spent my 10 minutes just doing basic jumps/jumping jacks and trying to build up my strength. 


Have any of you done any rebounder work, and was it easy the first time?  I will be trying again, of course, tomorrow.  Tonight I will also do some walking to and from class (after a nap!)




Have a great day! Looking forward to tomorrow's workout!

Day 1 Redone.

Hello everyone!




 I. Am. Sore.


This is what happens when I get a real workout in. Last night I kicked ass at my MS- I did level 1 day 1 with 20 reps a leg (upping to 25 today) and I did 30 minutes of cardio.  Today will be my real day 1 since Monday just plain old sucked. 


There is something I have noticed about TAM workouts and me.


I can get sore from MS alone, but the real kicker that leaves me unable to climb/descend stairs/get up from a sitting position is when I do that PLUS cardio. And I don't even really jump- Just step touching and breaking a sweat to the best of your ability will kick your ass. Whatever fitness level you are at, you have to push yourself during both. You don't want to be SO sore that you can't work out the next day, but sore enough that you feel like you did something. 




My diet went well too- stayed within my points range and everything. Also- I had NO soda yesterday! Just tea and water. Trying to kick the diet coke, or at least just have less of it. 




Getting ready to start my day- Upping those reps is gonna kill me one day, hahaha




Have a great day and check back soon!

Day 1, Part 1

Hello Everyone!




I have to say today didn't go quite as planned, But, first things first-


Let's start with my starting weight- (measurements on previous entry) 281.8 pounds. Wow. This isn't good at all, but it's a starting point.


Another thing that started well and turned bad- my eating! I began my day as I should, with my green juice, an orange, and some tea. Then I started getting cravings. My period has also started this morning.  I ended up eating  my dark chocolate mid-morning, and my first sweet potato at around 11 am. The worst part- I ended up raiding the refrigerator and making myself half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a few slices of salami. I know it's not the worst thing I could have done, but I do feel mentally awful being that it's my first day and I blew it. I did end up making the actual tofu protein soup- I did have everything I need on hand.  That's going to be dinner.


I need to probably come up with a way to replace the Gazpacho. I might suck it up and make it, but I am afraid of a repeat of today happening tomorrow. Or, I might have another sweet potato. Those are filling, the reason for my mini binge was pure hormones.  Also, sweet potatoes cook well in the microwave.  I put a good sized one (poked full of holes and wrapped in a paper towel) in the microwave and hit the "baked potato" button and it came out perfect. 


I have super low energy today- have had it since yesterday actually.  Going to gulp down some water and bang out my workout. I will check in on that when I'm done. :)

Modified Week 1 Nutrient Boost Diet

Hello everyone!


I heard a few good ideas from some of you about modifying the diet to cost less and be easier to prepare and I went with some of them.


The first nutrient boost week is supposed to consist of eating the following every day:


Green juice
Sweet potato corn pudding
Carrot parsnip puree
Gazpacho
Blueberry applesauce
Chicken Protein Soup
Choco Chestnut Pudding


These items sometimes use a lot of ingredients, or they taste nasty (the Gazpacho is nasty to me, yet others love it), or they are a lot of work to prepare. I am making the following modifications-


1. Drinking 8 oz of Naked Green Machine juice in the morning (It has no added sugars and a greater variety of fruits and vegetables mixed in)
2. Skipping out on the Gazpacho (I don't like it and it's the one meal I dread out of all of this)
3. Instead of making chocolate pudding, I am going to have a piece of 85% cocoa dark chocolate instead as my dessert. 
4. Instead of pureeing carrots/parsnips, I will have some carrot sticks or cooked carrots (whatever the mood calls for) or have another sweet potato/other food.
5. I have some applesauce left from before, but instead of applesauce when that is used up, I will have an orange. Oranges are very cheap right now (They're probably in season). 
6. Instead of making Protein Soup, I would eat a few pieces of steamed tofu and some broccoli. I'm not so sure I have space to store the containers of the finished soup.  I do have all of the ingredients to make the actual soup but I am debating, it depends on how much time I have to make it fresh/space to store it.
7. I will not be making sweet potato corn pudding but having a baked sweet potato instead.  Grains bother my stomach, so corn isn't a great idea for me.  However, I have made it with the corn and pureed and it DOES taste good.


Doing it this way also makes it easier on me in terms of refrigerator space.  I share a refrigerator with other people and cluttering up the fridge with a billion little containers isn't happening,


Also, you may be wondering if omitting foods is okay. Of course it is. Tracy says that on the Nutrient Boost weeks, no adding other foods but you can omit/double up on foods except for the chocolate.


Also, if I do not eat all of the food and I am not hungry, then there is no reason to force it down, is there?


Can't wait for next week, it will be a lot simpler. (every other week is a lot simpler, haha) Green juice, a protein and a plant source for 2 meals and a think thin or shake on the last.




I'm excited- Taking updated measurements tomorrow (will post them here) and getting my workout planner ready.




Have a great weekend!

Abcentric Day 2

Hello everyone!




Today is Valentine's day, so you are probably busy doing something nice with your significant other. :) 


However, I did do my workout today but I am not pleased with it. I am also honestly not pleased with yesterday's either.


I am PMSing at the moment (probably why) and I feel like today and yesterday's workouts were shitty. Just walking for cardio and only 15 reps per leg during my meta today. Yuck. Yuck yuck yucccck! I took a very short walk and my back started hurting (it hurt yesterday too but failed to mention). Ughh. 




Do any of you ladies have advice for getting that extra push when your hormones want you in bed?  Post in the comments!  I'd love any help with this!




Have a happy, lovely, Valentine's day!

Last workout-free day for a while

Hello everyone!




Today is the last day before I start Meta tomorrow, and I made sure I enjoyed it, haha. 


First, I went to my local MAC counter and they did a full face of makeup for me, and I bought a new shadow quad and lipgloss. (I have a beauty blog- www.obeybeauty.blogspot.com and I will elaborate there) Then, I went and got a mani-pedi.  I figured I might as well do something nice for my poor callused feet before they start taking daily DC poundings. Now they're soft, smooth, and French manicured. 


Tonight I am going to give myself a full facial at home, cleansing, toning, moisture, and even do a mask this time before bed.


Now my next dilemma is- when am I going to work out tomorrow?


I am leaving the house about 7 am and coming home about 8:30 pm and I am considering the following-


1. Wake up early, do my MS, come home and do  my DC


2. Try to knock both out at once, hoping to get it done and be able to shower before I go to work.  


Also keep in mind that I only have to do it this way on Mondays and Fridays.  What would you do? Do all of it, or split it up?


Hope you all had a great weekend!

More preparations

Hello Everyone!~


In my second day of preparing for my Meta, I realized I had to give my workout space a very thorough cleaning.  My workout space is in a basement, meaning tons of crap that probably has to be thrown out and dust. Lots and lots of dust. Charming.


I spent about a good few hours cleaning up.  It's not done 100%, but there is a VAST improvement.  While meta cardio TECHNICALLY doesn't require a whole lot of space, there are times I do like to just go crazy and do my own thing freestyling and when I try that in a very small space, I feel very constricted.  I have the feeling that I CAN'T go all out because I am afraid I would bump into things and break them or break myself.


While that may sound like an excuse to some people, I am just one of those people who prefer a bit more room.


If you do Meta and you CAN have a lot of space, then that's wonderful!  I honestly feel that with more space you have less chance of injuring yourself or others in a way, and mentally you can focus more on the movements and really performing rather than being paranoid about crashing into a pile of dusty crap and working out at 50% effort for no reason. 


Tracy also happens to have a video about setting up/working with a small space:





Also, cleaning burns calories! Not only do I feel accomplished getting most of it clean, I probably burned off a little too. Every little bit helps. 


I'm about to go to bed and pass out.  Busy day tomorrow too!

A little preparation

Hello everyone-


I decided that my first day back to meta will be on February 13- this coming Monday.  I have already begun preparations.

My copy of the workout tracker-  not the original.  I am trying to get a printable copy of this up but when I try printing from the PDF the image comes out significantly smaller than it should be.

I also stopped over at Costco today for some food.  I picked up one of my favorites- hummus- over 2 pounds (about 1 kg) for about $5. I also got 2 pounds of carrots and 2 pounds of celery hearts. And yes, all 3 are meant for eating together.  I also picked up a big bag of raw walnuts for snacks.  I still have most of my jar of the shake, so that will be breakfast most likely.  I am still planning on trying the Sun Warrior protein to compare it to the wellness formula. 

Sorry for the late post, today was pretty hectic, and we got a snowstorm on top of that.  I hope the weekend goes better!

Have a great day!

New shoes!!!!

Hello everyone! 




I am contemplating working out (I probably will, Mondays I work all day and have class in the evening), in the meantime, I got my new shoes!

They look a lot like my old ones except the old ones were silver where the black is.  Still hot pink.  I am about to try them on, if they don't fit right then back to Zappos they go for a different size.




You know what? I guess I SHOULD work out, just because it's late at night doesn't mean I get to use it as an excuse. Also, tonight's workout should be pretty short- 20 reps MS and 10 minutes of step touch DC to get me back into it.   


Also, one of my readers gave me an idea, but I haven't decided if I am going to do it- it depends on how able I am to do bootcamp level 2 when I get to it. 


Will share later!




Have a good night, off to try on my shoes and hopefully get a workout in. :)

I hate blisters...

Hello everyone!


I'm upset- I was supposed to start my workouts today, and then a seemingly small thing derailed it.


I got a nasty blister on the bottom of my left foot.  Ok, this doesn't seem so bad. Pop it and it will stop hurting soon, right?


Wrong. At least this time.  I got the blister yesterday after walking around for what seemed like forever, getting errands done, taking trains all over the place, etc.  So, I get home, take off my shoes and wonder why my foot is hurting, and I see the blister.


I washed off my foot, wiped the area with alcohol and popped it.  Usually when I have blisters, the water coming out is clear.  This time it looked like it had a little blood in it.  I poured some hydrogen peroxide on it and bandaged it up and waited a little while to get up and try to walk around. 


Ow. It hurt so much to walk that I could barely step on that foot. It didn't seem infected, but the pain was horrible.


Fast forward to today.




I get out of bed, and try to walk to the bathroom and it STILL hurts to walk.  No way am I going to be able to work out (especially the dance cardio) with this infernal blister. 


Speaking of feet, I finally decided my Mizuno Wave Inspire 6s are due to be put to pasture/become my outside shoes.  They're 2 years old and I can feel they just don't have much dance left in them. The pain I had last week was a major clue.  They aren't visibly worn on the bottoms very much but I am pretty sure internally they're on their last leg. 


So, I ordered the next model up- Mizuno Wave Inspire 7s.  They have the 8s out now too but they're more expensive and the 7s are on clearance.  My 6s were silvery and hot pink, I ordered these:


Le New Shoes!!!


$71.99 isn't bad considering that full price they are $105.  $33 off is never something I complain about. 


I had them shipped overnight (free when  you have VIP zappos like I do) so I will have my new babies on Monday!  Hopefully Mister Blister stops hurting so then I can give the new shoes a test drive!

Lazy Sunday Again

Hello everyone-


A short post- I am still SUPER sore today, still hobbling when I walk, etc.  Therefore, I am going to again, take care of my muscles and rest.  I hope you all had a great weekend!

1/28/12- Had to take a rest.

Hello everyone!


As you may have read, yesterday I had a kick ass workout. Perhaps a little TOO kick ass, because today I have been barely able to move in any way without feeling like I got hit by a train.


Thinking about it, I came up with things I could have and SHOULD have done differently.


1. NEVER AGAIN do my cardio without my gel insoles. I took them out because they needed washing, worked out without them and I think that beat up my legs in a no-good way.  My shins were KILLING me and that's never happened with these shoes, even when I was heavier.   So, gel required!


2. Perhaps I should split my cardio into 2 30 minute sessions instead of banging out a whole mediocre hour at once. I made it through 30 minutes pretty well, but the last 30 was just sloppy and painful. 




I had to take a day off of TAM today.  I can barely get up and down the 5 steps to get into my place. There's "I had a good workout" sore and then there's "I waaay overdid it" sore. This was the latter. 


The plan- eat a lot of protein (already done, haha), stretch with the P90X stretch dvd (did it once this morning, going to do it again before bed), take some ibuprofen and hit the hay.  Tomorrow- going to try to hop back on the Tracy horse!




I hope you all had a great Saturday!

Tracy Anderson 30 Day Method- Day 1 of 30

Hello everyone!


After eons of talking about starting bootcamp, being indecisive about bootcamp, etc, I finally took the plunger and just did it!


Some of you might not know what I mean by bootcamp. That's ok, I'll explain it.


If you don't know already, Tracy came out with a book in 2010 called Tracy Anderson's 30 day method.  It works in a very similar way to Metamorphosis- change your workout every 10 days. However, there are a few differences.




1. In the 30 day method, there are NO rest days. Hence, the term "boot camp" which she uses in the book as well.


2. Unlike Meta, the book actually maps out for you how to begin your TAM journey based on your current fitness level. BIG help!


3. You get a lot of background information, tips/tricks, etc in the book that you do not in Meta.




In short, I believe starting out with the book and THEN heading to meta would be a good choice for most people.  There is a lot more instruction with the movements, and you build up strength enough for the next level. It also makes the dance cardio a lot less intimidating, especially for beginners. 




Now then. How did my first day go?


I did my MS work 20 reps each move (every 1st day of a level you are only supposed to do 20) and I did 60 minutes of step touch cardio.  Mind you, you do not have to do this much. I did it because a) I am technically NOT a beginner with this stuff and b) I just felt up to it.  Remember, never go over an hour with your DC. Tracy says that both in the book and in Meta cardio. 




That wasn't the only movement I did today!  I have started taking my puppy out for 2 one-hour long walks a day to tire his butt out and so he gets the exercise a mini poodle needs. (They need at least an hour a day but he has pent up puppy energy he's gotta let go of) 


So yeah... I did quite a bit today.  I also took my weight and measurements.  I prefer to wait until 10 days have passed so I can give you a before and after(ish). 


Vlog should be up soon.  I am not sure if I have the energy to do it tonight, I think I might do them with a delay, like do yesterday's vlog today, etc.  Right now I honestly feel like nosediving into bed.




I hope you guys had a great Friday- and let's work for a productive weekend- at least workout wise!

More random thoughts, and some Tracy news!

Hello everyone!

No actual workouts today, aside from me walking for about 2 hours running errands.  The boot camp starts on Friday so that I can take a rest day on the Sunday after ending it, then starting Meta on a Monday.  I made some more copies of my workout tracker, pics to come as well as my first video blog!  I warn  you- it probably won't be very pretty, but I said it was going to happen so I have to make it so.  Also preparing for another video project- a surprise for later! 

Today, the Tracy team put up some more pics of Continuity filming with Stacey and Maria.  

To be honest, this pic has me saying WTF for a couple reasons:

1. Are they going to be working out in these bikinis??

2. Maria's shoes (she's on the left) look more like they should be worn with pants rather than a bikini. 

Stacey again in pants actually sent to them by a fan, I heard!  They say to look for the pants in Continuity 2.  I think they're cute and I also like the sneakers. 

So, how is our pregnant Teeny Tiny Boss doing?  See for yourself!

This is Tracy filming month 4 of her upcoming Pregnancy Workouts. Not post-pregnancy, but DURING.  I think her baby bump is cute, she is probably more than 4 months along herself, but the workouts are still being filmed.  

Hungry for more cardio?  According to Tracy's twitter, (GoTracy) they're working on getting that out to us too.

 

@Aventuramami Its coming! I just finished an entire collection of new dances!xo

@Aventuramami And the amazing Stacey and Maria are filming the dances FYI don't worry you don't have to work it with my pregnant butt!x

On a last note, lately I have been more active in the Metamorphosis Community on her site (you have to have purchased Meta to get in), and there really are a lot of good people there.  For example, I even found people who are in MY situation with having to lose over 50 pounds, and they are a bunch of very supportive ladies.  So, if you have access and don't use it, I recommend you do. :)  They are the reason I wanted to give meta another go AFTER bootcamp, I heard some great success stories there that really inspired me.

Have a great day and rest of the week! 

Lazy Sunday

Hello everyone!




Quick post again, took another day off today (feeling a little better than yesterday at least) to get some major cleaning done and to prepare for school coming up in the next week.  Thankfully, my classes are in the evenings so that I have more time in the day to get my workout done beforehand, come home from class and just rest for the remainder of the night.  Also, my classes are only twice a week.   Taking a light load this semester because I am *finally* preparing for admission into my nursing program at school.  I missed the deadline for last semester by JUST a little bit. So, I am really hoping this time does it. If not, keep on trying. (Very competitive, unfortunately)




Also- (I forget if I posted about this before)  I have been weighing in on my wii fit, and sadly, I gained some weight (yesterday was horrendous on the dieting level).  


I still have not forgotten about the video blogs.  I am still working out technical issues, and if I am lucky, tomorrow I will at least have something recorded for editing. 




I hope you all had a  great weekend. Let's hope this week is a good one! Boot camp for me, how about you?