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!

Bootcamp postponed until 2/3/12

Hello everyone!




Sadly, I need to postpone my boot camp workouts until this Friday.  Certain personal issues have come up and they require my time until then.  I TECHNICALLY started on Friday but then I ended up taking the whole weekend off.  I feel weird restarting today and then taking MORE days off.  I find when I take time off from TAM, when I get back to it I have to do it at the level I began at anyway.  Suckage!


If I am able to start sooner, I will post! I am still keeping a food journal so I am not using this time off as an excuse to pig out. :)


Still working on videos. 




Have a great day!

Bored at Work? Do some TAM!

Hello everyone!!!




Today was a slow, boring, mind numbing day at work, the highlight of my day was typing mundane things and staring at my screen. Then, I remembered an article I saw on Tracy's site about a "desk" workout she made up for doing at the office. 




Work Out in the Office with Tracy Anderson




Don't let the silly pictures fool you.  I did feel a burn after 20 or so reps, especially in the leg moves.  I didn't get a workout done at home but at least I moved at work, and it's something I will definitely do again next time I am at the office.




Tomorrow I am off and hope to get a lot more done!




Have a great day!

So far so good

Hello everyone!!!!

My ankle is slowly getting better- I can walk on it now and it only hurts a little when I point or flex the foot. I'll give it a few more days.

I have also decided I am going to STOP PLANNING STUFF. I keep setting myself up for failure. So. I will make WEEKLY plans instead of 6 months of plans.   Not only does all this planning make me insane, but it also makes me look like an ass when it fails. 

So, I have a plan for my first week back from my injury- I want to do the bootcamp workout, so for the first week back, I will do sequence 1 of the bootcamp workout and 40 minutes of step touch DC from the bootcamp DVD. (I am moderate beginner now, they start out like that) and see how it goes.

That's it for today, have a great Tuesday!

A few words about my eating-

Hello everyone!

I, like so many women who are trying to lose weight, stay in shape, etc have, in the past, been an obsessive counter. Counting calories. Counting weight watchers points. Counting carbs. Counting fat. Whatever. It sucks. And often, Ok, ALL THE TIME, I screw it up, get mad, and quit. 

I also sort of felt trapped, like I couldn't have fun because of numbers.

Have you ever been in this situation?

Your friend asks you to go out to lunch with them at x restaurant. You reply "Oh sorry, I can't eat there. Too many calories."  I've been there. And in retrospect I feel like I look rude and foolish saying this. And maybe a bit psycho. Maybe.

I am being taught a new way of eating (well not NEW but new to me)- PORTION CONTROL. No counting. No obsessing. No real sacrifices aside from the obvious- No sweetened drinks, limit your starches. I am allowed to eat out, even go to McDonalds, as long as I make good choices and not eat too much. Also I am being re-educated that this is NOT A DIET. It is how I should be eating for life.

After ONE DAY- I feel like a weight has been lifted out of my mind.  I CAN EAT. I DON'T HAVE TO LIVE AROUND COUNTING. I hate math, LOL.  I also stopped tracking my food in my iPod app because it shows the calorie counts and it being there will coax out that OCD crazy woman. So, I have reverted to the good old pen and paper approach. I have a little pocketsized notebook that goes in my purse with me everywhere. 

I know that for a lot of people this sounds like common sense but to me I feel like my eyes have been opened after being bombarded by all these crazy fad diets and stuff (including Tracy's!) that did nothing but confuse me, set me up to fail, screw up my metabolism, make my life hell, and  put money in someone else's pocket.  The diet industry is a multibillion dollar business for a reason- the very obese- like me (and even the skinny)- We're often a very desperate, very LAZY folk who want the quickest fix and are willing to shell out the cash to do it. And get let down almost EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.  I am really hoping doing it the simple way will help me get my life back. I really do.

Speaking of which- I will be taking my first measurements and weight tomorrow morning! Very exciting stuff.  I will also be starting to do some exercises tonight-

Examples of what I am to do for now (baby steps!) 

Cardio-

Beginning to train to do the full workout-

There are a lot of free webisodes in case any of you want to dabble or take a peek before perhaps buying the full DVD. Terri's official channel is exerciseworld on YouTube. She has a lot of stuff there as well!

Have a great day and I look forward to posting my current measurements.

ART Method by Terri Walsh

Hello everyone!




After hearing lots of great things from TAM exercisers and non TAM exercisers alike, I have decided to give my next 6 weeks to miss Terri Walsh, creator of the ART Method. 


The ART Method is a series of movements based on 4 Active Resistance points (I believe ART stands for Active Resistance Training) and learning to use these can help you in any workout that you do.  


Others who have gone back to TAM have said they feel more connected to their body and are able to perform the exercises more efficiently.


I have been fortunate enough to chat with Terri herself (Lovely woman!) and she has been giving me great advice especially when it comes to eating (More on that later) and hopefully a more personalized prescription as to what workouts to do, and when.


I have her DVD (trailer below) which also comes as an app on iTunes.





I will be going back to Tracy after this 6 weeks is up and I will keep eating according to Terri's guidelines. But more on that later. 


Have a great night, check back soon!

Doing Meta again. Excitement!

Hello everyone!


The past couple of days haven't been the best diet wise. I didn't count my points well yesterday or the day before.


I did do some exercise.  I did the biggest loser DVD on both days.


I have started my preparations for Monday- I have made up my Metamorphosis calendar and I plan to be a bit more stringent on my eating.  I have learned that eating higher point value foods means I will often be hungry even when my points for the day are all eaten up. 


Diet goal #1- eat more vegetables/oatmeal to fill up on less points and not to drink so many of my points.


I am doing Abcentric starting Monday, I might add on Omnicentric as well and just do all the moves with less reps, like 10-15 instead of 20-30 so I don't burn out. I do not plan on doing 2 centrics forever. Just for the first 90 days then hitting the mat for Abcentric continuity.


For those of you new to my blog, this is Metamorphosis- 





Also- not sure if I mentioned this but I am going to approach dance cardio in the following way- 


Level 1- 10 minutes step touching cardio 
Level 2- 20 minutes step touching cardio
Level 3- 30 minutes step touching cardio
Level 4- 40 minutes step touching cardio
Level 5- 10 minutes high impact, 30 minutes step touch
Level 6- 20 minutes high impact, 20 minutes step touch
Level 7- 30 minutes high impact, 10 minutes step touch
Level 8- 40 minutes high impact
Level 9- 50 minutes high impact
Continuity 1- One hour high impact


This is tentative, it depends on how I feel. Last time I did metamorphosis I was able to do 30 minutes of step touching from the get go. I have gained weight since then so this is why I am taking it slow.  Also I will be walking to supplement this. 


Have a great Friday!!!!

New plan- short version!

Hello everyone!

I have come up with a system to get myself in fighting shape for Tracy.  I really am starting to think that it's not QUITE what I need to lose this massive amount of weight I'm carrying.   I am breaking this down into 2 phases.

Phase 1:

Weight watchers

Walking/Jogging

Chalean Extreme

Why Chalean Extreme?  Yes, I am afraid of bulky muscles. However at this point, building more muscle will help get the majority of my excess fat off so that I can do TAM more effectively. 

Phase 2: Metamorphosis by Tracy, continuity, etc. to burn off lard and slim down any bulky muscles I may have built with Chalene. When I am lighter I will be able to do the workout a lot better, and not be too heavy for dance cardio. 

I plan on getting back to TAM when I hit around 200 pounds. Chalean Extreme is a 90 day program also.

I am really excited to be starting this. I will take new before pics (I do look different, at least I think so) and measurements. 

Starting this on Monday, have a great weekend!

Figurerobics Day 1

Hello everyone!!!
As I said before, I did start trying the new Figurerobics workout that I got.  But before I get to that, I will go over the plan that I came up with in more detail as well as my starting weight.
As someone in my previous post commented that I was taking on too much at once (as she had in the past) I really realize now what she means.  I am the kind of person who does tend to take on too much because in my mind, it seems so easy, etc. but when I actually go and do it, it blows up in my face BIG time.
I think with these figurerobics videos I have found something doable.
Each video is 30 minutes, and while it is similar to TAM in some ways (lots of unweighted arm movements that burn like hellfire for example), the pace is a bit slower, but I still feel a HELL of a burn from it.   Also a huge difference in this and Meta- Meta would take me MORE than 30 minutes to do the muscular structure at 20 reps because I would often stop to yawn, stop to rest, stop stop stop.  With this, you keep moving. It's hard but not so hard that I can't keep moving the whole 30 minutes.  It makes the time go by SO much faster and makes it seem less arduous and chorelike.
I am also going to keep the power walk to 30 minutes. Last night I took my first power walk in the evening, I was red and sweaty by the time I got home but not to the point of feeling like dying on the living room floor.
I started my figurerobics rotation with Figure Dance, to watch, click the link below. I will be doing a different video every day, in rotation. Every 4 days I will go back to the first DVD.
http://youtu.be/JZ3KK_uKrDM  part 1
http://youtu.be/CsfQz57ZVd0 part 2
http://youtu.be/OXkX6t7dUn8 part 3
http://youtu.be/eZWWBZhqA_4 part 4
http://youtu.be/udI4EVA_sWA part 5
Yes, she is speaking Korean with Japanese subtitles, however the language barrier shouldn't be TOO much of an issue because the moves are straightforward. (I understand some Korean, most of what she says are counting, and what direction to move your body part that you're working) She does 2 sets of each group of movements.
Now for my starting stats:
Starting weight: 276.6 lb/ 125.73 kg
I have also started eating 5 small meals a day. It's awkward for me as I am not used to eating this many times but it isn't so bad after giving it a try.

A little change of pace...

Hello everyone-










If you haven’t seen it, I posted on one of my other blog, www.roxyloveskorea.blogspot.com about some Korean workout DVDs. I was able to watch them and after doing so, realized that I would like to try them out and give them a review (since there aren’t any in English that I can find.). The name of the workout is Figurerobics by Jung Dayeon.






She created this workout system after once being overweight herself. (Much like Tracy Anderson)

Before….






And after!

And she's in her 40s.




Another reason I want to give her videos a whirl is because I think TA might be a little much for me right now at my current weight. I don’t feel like I am getting the most out of it, to be honest. Being too heavy makes the DC (probably the more CRUCIAL component) difficult. I am going to try the figurerobics videos (there are 8- 4 are regular aerobics/strength, the other 4 are using a balance ball) and walk for 30-60 minutes. Since there are 4 videos that I have, I am going to rotate them out. Still kind of thinking about how to do it, thinking of doing a different one every day and repeat. Walking I will do 7 days a week and keep to a more Asian-like, low calorie diet (about 1200 calories a day)






Will I go back to TAM? Of course. I just want to try something different.






I hope you guys have a great Monday!

Metamorphosis Day 7

Hello everyone!

After the past less-than-stellar weekend, I am happy to say I am back on track!

I did my MS (25 reps, may up to 30 on day 8) and 30 minutes cardio. I also kept to the metamorphosis diet for week 2-

Breakfast: 2 hardboiled eggs, 1 cup vanilla almond milk blended with 1 cup of blueberries (I didn't blend them today, I just mixed it and ate it like it was a bowl of cereal)

Lunch: Lemon Cream Pie Think Thin bar- They do taste a TINY bit artificial but they are nice and moist, (much better than brownie crunch or crunchy peanut butter) and I love lemon so it works out.

Dinner: Grilled tofu with a handful of chopped bell peppers

Doesn't sound like much but I didn't feel too hungry throughout the day. I also drank about 80 ounces of water. The plus side is this week I have protein at every meal, different than last week (which could also explain why I am not that hungry)

Back on the subject of cardio- being obese, I actually have heard from someone that I should be doing 300 minutes of cardio a week to really burn off the fat. That equates to 50 minutes a day, 6 days a week. I think I will give 50 minutes a try starting day 8. That includes the Metamorphosis cardio and both combinations of the book DVD. It all depends on how my body feels. If I feel dead after 30 minutes, then I will end at that. If not, then 40, etc.

Have a wonderful day and get your workout done!

It's finals time, Black Swan and Ballet

Hello everyone!

It's finals week, and I admit I haven't been as consistent at the method as I wanted to be.  However, I have some good news at least.

I took another hop on the scale- 268.6 lb- a total now of 8.5 lb in the past couple of weeks. Smiles!

After May 11 or 12 (not sure which day my Chem final is on) NO MORE SCHOOL UNTIL JUNE! And after that all my classes will be at night so I can squeeze some time in during the day to work out. I'm working to eliminate as many excuses as I can. Also after this period is over I am going to hit the Junger Elimination diet and finally, finally start my cleanse and boot camp on June 1! 

Over the weekend I saw Black Swan, and that movie was very motivating to me, because of how hard Natalie trained for it.  The workout she did is also available to the rest of us:

www.balletbeautiful.com

I do want to give these workouts a try too, they are also not bulking.  An example of how the moves work:

Also I am going to force myself to make time tonight to do some cardio. 

Have a great Monday!

Day 34 Metamorphosis

Hi everyone!

This is just going to be a quickie post.  Wasn't feeling well today at all,(Thanks Flo and Blisters) stuck in class all day (today it felt like I was being Chinese water tortured. Like they were drilling into my brain but wouldn't let me die)  but still walked. Not as painfully but as long as yesterday.  MS- 15 reps was all that got done because of the cramps. Rewarded myself with a nice long hot soak in the bathtub, comfy pajamas and an early bedtime. Hopefully I get over this soon, this is one of my worst monthlies as of late.

Off to the office with me (oh goody!), I hope everyone has a wonderful friday!!! 

Day 22 Metamorphosis

Hi everyone! 

Yesterday was a really crappy day, at least when it came to class. The short version of the story is that I had to do my weekly lab project with my group, and 2 of my group members just really  made me feel like crap. I was just trying to be friendly and nice, trying to make friendly small talk and one of those little bitches rolled her eyes at me.  Ugh. Just made me feel really ousted and uncomfortable.  Getting put in a different group this late in the semester isn't an option either. Oh well. 

As for the workout, I almost didn't do it because I just felt bad, came home late and just wanted to sleep. I did end up doing it, 20 reps per leg again and 35 minutes of cardio, but the cardio was sort of lackluster, mainly from tiredness. But it's ok, I can do better next time. 

Off to work now, can't wait to knock out day 23 when I get home tonight.

I am still on the hunt for a gym bag, see previous post!

Day 5 report-

Hello everyone!!!

Today was rough, especially when it came to working out.  It's like my mind and body were just trying to say "Nope. F*** it. Don't wanna, no way, no how."  And it almost won.  Almost all day, I just didn't do much until I finally forced myself to work out.  I did 20 minutes of cardio, but less of the MS than normal- just 10 reps.  I know it's low but better than nothing. 

I noticed another thing- I don't think I've been as mindful of my eating as I thought.  I have been looking at my calorie intake and it just looks like too much. 1700ish a day just seems a bit excessive (even though for my weight, the calculator says this is a good range but then again it's also just a guideline)  so I will be lowering it to 1500 max.  I think that's why I'm not seeing too much of a change.  Just thoughts. Also I don't think I have been as diligent as I could have with controlling my portions. I think I am going to try to put my meals on my smaller dessert/bread plates instead of my dinner plates.  I read that it can make a lot of difference subconciously of how much we eat portionwise. (Another Japanese principle I want to apply- they also eat on small dishes)

On another note- this blog is now accessible through a regular domain name: www.teenytinyquest.com

9/29/10

Hello!

Another good day here back in the swing of things.  2 days back in and already I see myself flattening out again and the scale starting to go down. Very motivating!

I had a pretty low cal day today I think.  I don't really count calories anymore, but eat cleaner and keep my portions smallish instead. 

Breakfast:

2 hard boiled eggs

1 cup of strawberries

1 cup (measured) of orange juice

Lunch:

Romaine mixed salad (a good size bowl, two really big handfuls and a little more)

1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Dinner:

Grilled chicken breast 

1 cup of brown rice

Green beans

I wasn't too hungry today but I made sure to eat when I was.  Also drank 12 cups of water (about 3 liters)

Exercise:

PD1 with 15 reps per leg.  The butt workouts after the arm section KILL me even to do 10. It's always been like that.  I have always had trouble building muscle.  At one point I even tried personal training and lifting weights, and I did so every other day and barely got stronger.  In 4 months I went from curling 15 pounds to 20. And that was a struggle in itself.  I actually took a body type quiz and found out that I am a mix of an endomorphic type and an ectomorph type.  The endomorph causes me to have a slower metabolism, and the ectomorph part keeps me from building muscle to boost it.  Makes perfect sense.  I was slim for a lot of my life until I blew up in my early adult years. 

If interested, the quiz is here:

http://www.mybodymakeover.com/tools_for_success/body_blueprinting_quiz.aspx

As for cardio, this time I wasn't able to do QUITE as much (only 5 minutes, running late for class) but I really put my all into it.  When I enter it into my ipod app, I list it as vigorous rope jumping (At this point I'm doing mostly jumping jacks and jumps because my legs are really weak... Even after 5 minutes I'm on fire!) and it comes up as I burned about 100 calories.  I believe it. :)

Day 43- 9/13/10

Hello!

In case anyone noticed, I haven't blogged since last Thursday.  Why? I have to confess- I fell off the wagon for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I think it might still be hormonal in part.  This month, my period is actually a week late (not preggers, took 3 tests last week) and I am still feeling symptoms like it's about to come any day, including the fatigue, cravings, laziness, etc etc.  Over the weekend I also WAAAAYYYY overindulged.  I made too good of friends with pizza, McDonalds, Taco Bell, etc but today I stopped that nonsense. I also stepped on the scale and was horrified. 

Last week's weight: 249.5 lb

This week..... 257.3 lb... I gained a whole 8 pounds almost. (Some of this is probably PMS bloating but my weekend diet did NOT HELP)

With my newly adjusted weight, I re-calculated my calorie needs for this week. 

Today's goal: 1721

Breakfast-

2 slices of wheat toast- 133 calories

1 bowl of oatmeal- 150 calories

1 Tbsp of butter (some on the toast, some on oatmeal)- 100 calories

1 Tbsp of brown sugar- 45 calories

Midmorning snack-

Protein shake- 140 calories

Lunch-

1 bowl of Korean cold noodle soup (really high in fiber, low in fat) 480 calories

Midafternoon snack-

Caramel rice cakes- 60 calories

Dinner-

6 inch Italian BMT sub from Subway- 550 calories

Dessert-

Caramel rice cakes- 70 calories (I ate a couple more than the other snack)

Total calories for today: 1728- just made it~

Exercise-

Did PD1 and after taking a few days off... Boy does it hurt!!! Had class tonight and was really tired so I didn't do my cardio. I was just starting to get good at 20 reps, but now it hurts more all over again.

Speaking of PD1, I will probably be staying on this DVD for quite a while.  I posted a question to Tracy's people about how I know when I have mastered a DVD to start moving on to the 10 day rotations, and they told me when I am able to do all of the moves and keep up with Tracy in the video, then it's time to start switching it up.  I feel like that's still a while off. Now I am not going to focus on the amount of reps I do, but work on keeping up with her and doing the moves until either she finishes or I can no longer do it in good form.  Tomorrow, my goal is to have cardio in my day.

Day 5~

Hello!




Today I did take a day off of dieting and working out (and I will tomorrow too and Sunday because I am going to be at Lollapalooza!), and I am glad I did.  I have never been this sore from standing and walking in my life... and it was so worth it!


I saw Lady Gaga in concert this evening~ and I have the video to prove it!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SslR5C21F2c




I had a hell of a time! Couldn't get the whole show in, it got way crazy and full of energy! 


I do promise, promise, PROMISE to hop right back on the Tracy wagon (I didn't even really fall off, come to think of it!) on Monday!