Out with the old, in with the new!

Happy New Year's Eve everyone! (It's already New Year's Day in some parts of the world at the time of this entry!)

Today, even though I am not exercising, that does not mean TAM has been out of my mind.  I am spending some time today to plan out groceries and calendars for my workouts.

My diet- I am not going to stick to the book recipes exactly. I may make a few of the recipes and repeat them, also I am going to exercise strict portion control, more vegetables, more lean meats and more green tea. In the book Tracy does say changing your diet all depends on where you're starting from and to improve based on that. 

I will also be incorporating into my diet more Asian based food, mainly Korean and Japanese style, as well as their general rules for eating- they are some of the thinnest countries for a reason!  

Some of these rules-

1. Eat slowly and enjoy your food!

2. Eat until you are 80 percent full 

3. Red meat portions very small, since I cannot have fish, I will eat chicken more.

4. Lots of vegetables and rice (which is NOT fattening if eaten in proper portions)

5. Little to no sugar or desserts- Fun fact- Japanese people almost never take dessert and if they do, it's usually fruit.

6. More unplanned exercise (Outside of TAM) such as walking to the store, walking to work, etc.

7. More green tea drinking! I got a huge box of really nice green tea bags at Costco.

As for my calendars- I have all the way up until April 2011 planned- Boot camp for January (No rest days), then beginning the 10 day rotations between other workouts I have with Sunday rest days.  I like planning like this, I like to see in the long run how things will go.

As for tonight, since I am not going out or partying, I decided to splurge a little on myself and went to the butcher and got myself a prime grade filet mignon, which I will broil and have with mashed potatoes, asparagus, and a glass of merlot.  Then when it's time, champagne to celebrate the New Year and the future new me!

Almost the end of 2010- short update!

Hello everyone.

I have been going through a lot this week, lots of personal stress, disagreements with friends, and other general chaos. No mood for working out but today mentally, at least, I feel a bit better.  I have a lot to prepare for, boot camp starts Sunday!  

Also, this weekend is New Year's Eve/Day!  This is going to sound horrible but I am going to take a break from dieting up until Saturday because Jan 2 is the big day, and I won't be able to really eat "fun" foods for a while, or take a workout day off. Also what is New Year's without a bit of champagne?

If I don't blog tomorrow, I wish all of you a safe, happy, healthy and fun NY celebration!

Christmas Confessions

Hello everyone!!!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas who celebrated.  Christmas is another time of year when my body seems to think I have a license to eat way too much than I need...

So I have a confession~

I ate so much food over the weekend I almost felt sick to my stomach. And no, it wasn't with family or anything, I actually went out to eat fast food a few times over the weekend with my friend. And exercise? Nope.  Guilty? A little. I'll admit.

However, today I have (so far) been eating much better and watching my calories. Workout soon, planning on doing Mat and at least 20 minutes of DC. Bootcamp starts in a week!

Enough Laziness!!!

Hello!

I am feeling a lot better than when I had my last post. (Turns out Aunt Flo came to visit and she wasn't and STILL isn't happy)

I actually did a morning workout- Mat DVD and not dance cardio, but a long walk. I walked to my workplace to pick up my paycheck (even though it's icy and snowy out) and back- about 40 minutes each way. Tiring, but I feel accomplished!

I am actually excited about Christmas coming, as well as Tracy's next holiday prescription.   She has put out several of these to help us get through the holiday season and still look our best.

Here is her most recent prescription, a raw vegan cleanse (which I haven't tried yet, I am not big on cleanses... yet!) 

Holiday Prescription Dec. 20-25

I admit lately I have been a bit lax still with my workouts and blogs... It's like I mentally want to have a final laziness period before I start boot camp on Jan 2- a little over a week away! I don't like it, to be honest- the laziness and lack of motivation that is.

Just not feeling it today...

Hey everyone.

So last night, I was all gung-ho about getting my workout in today, even went to bed early for it. Then I woke up.

I woke up to 3 more inches of snow on the ground (that I had to get up and shovel) and a complete and total lack of motivation to do anything but sit in  bed in my warm comfy pajamas, feel sad, and eat.

I blame this not only on the season (I tend to become more depressed and moody in the winter) but also other things I am going through.

- Christmas depresses me because I miss my parents, who are sadly no longer with us. 

- My body has apparently decided to give me severe PMS for Christmas. Thanks!!!

- Problems people are apparently having with me, other people's negativity, etc is piling up

And those are just the tip of the iceberg.

As for motivation- Nothing is helping!!!! I went to the facebook groups, watched the YouTube videos and even read other people's blogs. Nothing doing.  I really hate this and I hope it doesn't happen when I start bootcamp in January. 

If I DO feel up to working out, you guys will be the first to know.

T-minus 19 days til boot camp! Morning blog~

Hi everyone!

Just want to blurb quickly about my morning. 

I am starting my cardio in the AM and ms in the PM. Otherwise I have no energy to do both and it has a higher chance of both getting done.

Also, I am doing my cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, as per recommendations from friends. Supposedly this gives maximum fat burn, and to be honest, I am more energetic when doing it like that. Food seems to make me sleepier.

I tried doing beginner dance cardio, did combos 1-2 including the learning, thinking that would be it. Nope. After a brief rest, I turned on my ipod, and freestyled it for 11 minutes and boy was I ever able to perform. I feel like I do a LOT better at DC when I am just listening to my own  music and having at it.  I feel like watching the dvd kinda mentally trips me up, and I bumble trying to match what they're doing on screen, and I sweat but not that much.  When I tried freestyling it, (with tracy's moves just at my own music pace and as I feel like it) I was tearing up the living room.  I had to stop because my lungs started hurting a little- my little sign to tell me I did well and high impact.  Looking forward to it tomorrow too! 

Tonight- Mat DVD here I come!

T-minus 20 days til boot camp!

Hi everyone!

Sorry I've been a bit lax about posting- my last day of finals is today, then back to my usual scheduled programming!

Good news-  I lost 4.8 pounds since last week! (about 2 kg)

Last week: 266 lb/121 kg

This morning: 261.4 lb/119 kg

Today is my day off from working out, but today is also my last Monday rest day.

Also, I have been forced to curtail my rebounder exercising due to neighbor complaints. Apparently it sounds like heavy pounding on their ceiling. Bah. So, beginning January 17, I will be hitting the gym and doing my cardio on the treadmill. Also, I will be bringing my book with me to do my MS at the gym. The walls are all mirrors too so that helps! The only thing I worry is that I will be on sequence 2 of boot camp- what would I do about a chair? 

That's about it for now~

12/8/2010 T-minus 25 days til boot camp!

Hello everyone!!!

Ill likely be posting entries here a day after it happens. Just to avoid confusion about when I did something, etc. 

So, Yesterday was dec.8, T-minus 25 days til Jan 2 when I start boot camp with quite a few other lovely people!

My workout yesterday.... Meh. I could have done better. I don't know what was wrong with me but I just felt like a dead brick.

I did my Mat workout, which I can usually do 20 leg reps through without really stopping, but after every section I had to stop, sit down, yawn, lay on my bed, etc... and I was only doing 15 reps. I must have been in some kind of funk, really.  Lately we had our first snow, it's been bitter cold outside, and neither of those makes me want to get up and work out, much less get up to begin with. 

I think I need to slow down with the Tracy rebounder stuff- not ready for her Tel Aviv stuff yet, however, there is a beginnerish version she put out a while back.

So I will start with this and build up from there.  Most (thinner than me) people say it isn't quite as sweat inducing as dancing on the floor, but being bigger, I highly beg to differ. I tire out just regular jumping after a few minutes. Also, wearing my nice new shoes, I have bad foot pain in them.  I think it might be because the sole is thicker. I'll perhaps give it a shot with my Asics Gel Insipre (Funny how both shoes I have are different brands but have the word Inspire as their name.) because I don't want to mess up my feet doing it barefoot. I injured my ankle last September and it hasn't totally been the same since.   I'll let you know!

I'm at work today unexpectedly, so I will see about doing the rebounder again tonight, and for longer. Also if I have time, I will do my MS. I have a term paper due Saturday, so the priority is cardio.

Day 2 pre-BC

Hello everyone!!!

I am simply exhausted.  I just tried doing Tracy's Boot Camp cardio on my rebounder... 10 minutes in and I'm already feeling simply done.  I realize now how weak my legs actually are. However on the plus side- I am feeling more like I actually "worked out", I feel so many muscles burning that I didn't feel burning just step touching on the floor.  So, I realized the trampoline is a good way to efficiently build up my strength for dancing.  

What made me want to get back on the rebounder?  Tracy's recent post on her site-

http://tracyandersonmethod.com/holiday-prescription-dec-6-dec-10/

I am NOT coordinated enough to jump as elaborately as Tracy, even on the boot camp dvd, the one leg moves aren't happening... Yet. However I can do the jumping jacks, side twists, etc. The goal is to build up to an hour on it.

Also I read in the book that Gwyneth even had to start out on the rebounder so I don't feel as bad! Better to build strength than to jump in and destroy my legs. 

As for MS- might do Mat tonight... I feel pretty tired now so not sure. I may also give the bouncing another go!

Day 1 of pre-bootcamp training- Morning Edition!

Good morning everyone!

Today is my first day of operation Old Year Resolutions!   Being that today is Monday, it is my day off of exercising. (I have work and class today- and a final exam! Need my energy!)  However it is NOT a diet "cheat day".  Still watching those calories. Speaking of, I found out how many I need per day here:

http://www.shapefit.com/calorie-intake-calculator.html

I weighed in this morning- about 266 pounds/121 kg, I'm 5 feet 5 inches/165 cm tall and 25 years old. Added that in the calculator.  For activity level, I selected "Little to no exercise/desk job", to be safe. (Didn't want to overestimate calories and I think by exercise level, I think they really mean are you active during the day, which I generally am not other than TAM) I am following the "extreme fat loss" section, which allows me 1437 calories a day on average.  Now there is a link below that that says "7 day calorie cycle (zig-zag)" I clicked that, and I am shown how to vary my calories throughout the week.

Why would I do this?  Supposedly it is supposed to keep the body guessing, to prevent plateauing, just like how TA says to vary your muscle work every 10 days.  I will also re-calculate my calorie needs every week, especially if I lose significantly.  I will also be following this method of dieting when I begin Boot Camp on Jan 2, 2011. 

That's it for now, still waking up! Have a great day everyone!

Boot Camp on a Budget!

Hi guys!!!

A common complaint I hear about Tracy's bootcamp diet is that it's expensive, time consuming, etc. Well, generally, yeah, they're kinda right!   I decided to take a quick look through the recipes again to see if there was anything that can be made without finding really exclusive, expensive ingredients and I did find quite a few!

Now to do bootcamp on a budget, the key is to make meals like these (or if there are other ones you like that are convenient and affordable for you) and eat them more often.  Repeating meals instead, in my opinion, can help make the diet portion of the Boot Camp easier and possibly more bearable taste wise.

Off the top of my head, here are some that seem fairly wallet friendly:

Chicken Protein Soup

Balsamic Chicken Salad

Pepper Onion Egg Wrap

French Chicken and Braised Leek

Grilled Chicken with broccoli/endive (skip the endive possible)

Grilled Flank Steak

Baked Sweet Potato

Corn and Sweet Peppers

Pea Mash

Roasted Root Vegetables

Roasted Vegetables

Steamed Broccoli

Roasted Carrots (if you can't find the purple/white ones, I'd just use orange carrots)

Steamed veggie plate

Apple with peanut/almond butter

Again this is just a general list, if you do it this way, your choices may be different!  Starting the Old Year Resolutions Monday! 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Old-Year Resolutions!

Hey everyone-

Feeling a little depressed today.  Looking back, this week, I have been less than great about my workouts. Even the small goals (like working out 4 times a week) seem to be just slacked off.  I need to stop this!!!! I also need to really re-evaluate what I eat, it seems when  I count calories, then the weight seems to budge. When I don't, nothing happens or I blow out like a Goodyear blimp.

On a side note about my health, a friend of mine suggested I may have hypothyroidism, which is also making my weight gain harder, as well as other symptoms. Going to the doctor soon to get that investigated. Will update later. 

I really need to make a change- I need to train up to be able to do Boot Camp again (hopefully for January to kick off the new year!)

I also think this winter weather really affects my motivation to do anything.  I've been sleeping in a lot, which ruins my day because then I don't have time to do anything. 

So the goals- which I really have NO EXCUSES not to do because I am at home most of the time-are:

1. Cardio 6 times a week. Deciding to mix it up depending on my mood between boot camp and Beginner DC.  

2. Mat Workout 4-6 times a week, before the cardio, aim for 5 more reps on legs each time I do it.  Gotta push all that stuff to the surface to be melted away!

3. Calorie limit- 1000-1300 calories a day, lower on days I do less exercise.  This has worked well for me in the past.

4. Mondays will be the new days off until winter break starts for me (no work, and no class during this time, where it will be reverted back to Sunday) since I currently have 2 big obligations on Mondays. 

5. Be more consistent with my  blogging.  I see I've been slacking a bit lately.  Sorry guys!!!

I call these my Old-Year Resolutions. It's the last month of the year, hence the name. Boot Camp will be the New Year kickoff! So excited. I think that if I keep up the Old-Year goals, I should be strong enough physically to do the boot camp. (Of course it will still be hard!)

Do you guys have any old-year resolutions?  What would you do to change before the new year starts?