Abcentric Day 16

Hello everyone-


Day 6 of Level 2 was NOT my best.  It also happened to be the 2nd day of my monthly friend, which for me is almost ALWAYS the worst (and the 3rd day too sometimes). I feel SUPER bloated, like a water balloon with arms, legs and a head.  My weight SKYROCKETED and I look like I did NO exercise this whole time.  I also feel very crampy, clumsy and weak.


However, I at least should get some points for effort.


I did my MS work- got through the arms and abs but had to reduce leg reps to 20. Still sweating like a horse. I felt like there were huge blocks of cement tied to my legs. Horrible.  Due to dizziness, weakness, and clumsiness (for my safety and the safety of the objects in my place) I decided to sit out cardio this time. Will try again after a good night's rest.


I hope you guys had a better workout than I did today. Oh well. It happens. We all have ups and downs, right?


Have a great day!

Abcentric Day 15

Hello everyone!!!!

Day 15 was a tough one. Not because I didn't feel like working out, not because I was tempted by junk food, but because my body wasn't cooperating. I ended up getting my "visitor" yesterday right after work and started really feeling it soon after. It wasn't fun at all but....

My workout DID get done! In fact, I UPPED my reps to 30 and really sweated through it. I think now I have the leg portion of level 2 memorized and the move are, actually, a bit easier to do, hence the increase. I may do 30 reps again for one more day, then 35 the next 2 and 40 the final 2. I think I might really start missing level 2. Tonight or tomorrow I will start previewing level 3. 

Also- cardio DID get done! And I jumped the best I could like always. 30 minutes of good cardio.

Usually around this time I am using my body's disobedience as an excuse to lay around and eat. Not this time. Looking forward to completing day 6 tonight!

Have a great day!

Abcentric Day 14

Hello everyone!

I completed 2 whole weeks of Metamorphosis and dieting!!!! Being the two week anniversary, I would like to take some time and reflect on it. 

Things I am proud of from these past two weeks:

1. Keeping to my diet pretty well- avoiding those grains (except last night but we'll get to that). 

2. Doing SOME form of movement EVERY DAY.

3. A HUGE weight loss

4. Starting to jump around during cardio instead of just step touching the whole thing.

Things I wish I could have done better:

1. More consistency with cardio. There were a few days when I DIDN'T do cardio at all *like this past weekend*.  I really need to do it every time I work out. There's really no excuse for it. My legs aren't broken. 

2. Push myself a LITTLE more with the muscular structure work. If I really wanted to and if I took the time, I CAN do 40 reps per leg. Sure, it would involve a couple of sit breaks between sets of 10-20 but I technically CAN do it.

I am starting to get to thinking about stepping up my game with the cardio but I know in my gut, it's too soon, I cannot jump a whole 30 minutes yet and here my brain is like MOVING FORWARD.  When I am strong enough to jump through the whole 30 minutes I want to start giving her other Cardio DVDs a try. The ones that involve learning combinations. Those are actually harder in the sense that you move your legs in even MORE ways than before. 

Ok let's talk about yesterday.

I kept my Leg reps at 25 again, which burned but something in my head was thinking I should REALLY try to go for 40.  So for day 15 I think I shall.  NO CARDIO AGAIN. I don't know what came over me this weekend but it needs to be nipped in the bud NOW.

As for diet...  Well, last night I had wheat. I had a cheeseburger WITH the bun and something called cheese curds (which are like fried mozzarella sticks except these are smaller pieces of cheddar) which are, of course, BREADED.  When I got home, I felt like I got shot in the ass with a HUGE tranquilizer dart. Not doing THAT again for a LONG time. Feeling like that, honestly, SUCKED. And now I sit here blogging and also a bit bloated (as if PMS bloat wasn't enough, the wheat just added insult to injury).  Today I am cooling it on the starch again, drinking lots of water and plan on sweating it out in a major way tonight.

I hope you guys have a great Monday- get that workout in!

Abcentric Day 13

Hello everyone!


Short post today-


Yesterday I did my 3rd day of Level 2, and it is getting a little easier. Not easier as in less burning in my muscles, but easier as in coordination.  The first two days I had a bit of trouble following the floor abs but yesterday I think I handled myself a lot better.  Also, I was able to up my reps in the leg section by 5, so I am at 25 reps per leg now.  I think I will do 25 one more day then increase to 30. 


As for cardio, I had a busy day yesterday and was only really able to get my MS in.  I was going to do my cardio even though it was 1 in the morning, but then I got hit with a wave of tired and decided to just sleep it off and MAYBE do more cardio today. 


Yesterday I splurged a little in my eating.  I ended up having a fairly large dinner, but only with lots of beef, salad and a bite or two of mashed potatoes.  I do like to give myself little protein boosts like this from time to time. 


I hope everyone has a great Sunday- this might be a rest day for some of you but not for me. 

Abcentric Day 12

Hello everyone!!!


So far I am still 12 days strong on the Metamorphosis train! I still only did 20 reps of the leg work again but I think I am used to it now.  And of course, 30 minutes of cardio- really sweating it out!


A word about ab level 2- on the left and right legs she does some of the moves slightly different- I do not know if this is an editing error or she just forgot- What I do is I just repeat exactly what she did the FIRST time on the right side.  


I am so proud of myself so far for 1. sticking to the workouts and 2. keeping my diet very well in check!!! Today is just a quick check in, I will have updated measurements for you in about a week from now but I can still see my body changing even after last measurement!




Have a great weekend and keep up the great work YOU guys are doing too!!!

Abcentric Day 11

Hello everyone!!!


I hope all who celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday had a great happy, healthy time.  Personally, I did not eat a big dinner, I know you're not "supposed" to diet on Thanksgiving but I simply wasn't hungry. Why eat when not hungry? 


Also, I tried level 2 abcentric for the first time, doing 20 reps per leg to learn it.  I felt a considerable jump in difficulty/muscle burn doing level 2- especially in the floor ab work. Arms and abs movements are a little quicker and hit even more angles so I felt areas burn that weren't burning in level 1.  Speaking of burn... I have a little tiny bit of mat burn on my right elbow from trying some of the leg moves for the first time.  Most of the leg work in ab 2 involves laying down on one of your forearms while supporting with the other one straight. Helps hit higher angles in the leg, etc. However, how you situate your forearm is key- Tracy usually has that arm at a slight diagonal with her hand a little in front of her face. I didn't do that with the first half of the moves, I kept my arm horizontally straight. Don't do that. Also if REALLY in doubt, wear elbow pads/tape your elbows to protect them. When I went to the left side of the legs I did move my hand in front of me a little and no burn on that elbow.


Cardio- did 30 minutes with a little more jumping! Yay! There is one annoying side effect of all this high impact cardio- my throat/upper lungs have been feeling pretty dried out/scratchy after. I am also an asthmatic so that could be it, but it's starting to lessen, my body hasn't done major cardio like this in YEARS. Yay for progress!!!


Today I am going to do day 2 level 2 hopefully with my full 30 reps. 


Also, if you are doing your Black Friday shopping (mine got done at midnight) be careful of crazy shoppers!


Have a great day!!!

Abcentric Day 10- and 10 day results!

Hello everyone!


Yesterday I completed my first 10 days of Metamorphosis, meaning on to level 2!  I finished level 1 with a bang- 30 minutes of as sweaty cardio as I could manage without falling over and 30 reps per leg. Today I start level 2 which is when the actual specific Abcentric workouts begin.


Also- It's the 10 day mark, so that means- Measurement time!


Here are my day 1 measurements and weight.


Weight: 284.4 lb
Chest: 48 inches
Waist: 47 inches
Hips: 53 inches
Left arm: 17 inches
Right arm: 16.5 inches
Left thigh: 30.5 inches
Right thigh: 31 inches 
Left bikini: 34 inches
Right bikini: 34 inches




Day 10 measurements:



Weight: 271 lb  -13.4 lb
Chest: 47.5 inches -0.5 inches
Waist: 45 inches  -2 inches
Hips: 52 inches   -1 inch
Left arm: 16,5 inches -0.5 inch
Right arm: 16 inches  -0.5 inch
Left thigh: 29.5 inches -1 inch
Right thigh: 29.5 inches  -1.5 inches
Left bikini: 32.5 inches  -1.5 inches
Right bikini: 32 inches  -2 inches


Total inches lost: 10.5 inches.  Not bad considering my monthly "friend" is on the way and I am a little bloated. Weightwise during the week I was dipping into the mid 260s. I'm sure it's water weight and probably a little built muscle too. 


And even though today is Thanksgiving I am still going to work out. Have a great day and a happy holiday!

Abcentric Metamorphosis Day 9

Hello everyone!!




I am done with 9 days of level 1, meaning later today will be my last day of level 1. I am SO happy about that for a couple reasons-


1. I can take measurements
2. I have done the hell out of level 1. SOOO many times that it's really not that challenging anymore if I have enough energy.




For day 9 I had almost no energy to do anything by the time I got home (about 11:20 pm... YUCK.) so I BARELY cranked out 20 reps of level 1. No cardio. Past couple days have been cardio-less because I felt so blah and lethargic- either a long day or having a small bout with a cold.  I am really hoping level 2 is better. 




Now the next topic... Tomorrow in the US it's Thanksgiving day- apparently the average american will consume about 4,500 calories tomorrow at dinner. 


So what do we do when we're trying to lose weight?  Well, you don't have to deprive yourself. Have a little of everything. MAYBE seconds if you're still hungry. DO NOT do thirds.   If you weigh yourself often, you might see yourself having gained a few more pounds after dinner. THIS IS NOT FAT. Your body probably hasn't digested all the food yet, and is also retaining some water from the salts you had (you might feel a little bloated too). Remember- it takes 3,500 extra calories to gain a pound of fat, after burning off the calories you burn from existing, exercising, etc.


All you have to do is go back to your normal eating habits the next day and keep on doing the good work you were doing.  If you are able to/willing to, go ahead, throw in a workout on Thanksgiving day too. I'm going to. Why can't you? 

Abcentric Metamorphosis Day 8

Hello everyone!

Well first a quick post about my workout last night.  I wasn't feeling too well, like I was starting to come down with a cold or something (which I woke up with). All I was able to get through was my MS- 30 reps per leg but it was a HUGE struggle.

Next, I want to update you guys on my 1 week weight results-

On 11/14, I weighed 284.4 pounds, on 11/21 I weighed 268 pounds. That's 16.4 pound weight loss. Yes, you read that right.  And my scale is not tricking me.  I went to the doctor also for something else and they weighed me and it was the same loss AND my blood pressure went down from 138/89 to 120/81. I was shocked that even that little bit made a big difference in blood pressure.

I think that weight loss has a lot to do with 2 things- how I am eating and the fact that I do SOME form of workouts every day.

My diet has changed a lot.  I recently read a book called "Wheat Belly" by William Davis.  In short, the book explains that modern wheat is NOT good for you at all. It is not the same wheat as it was even less than a century ago.  Modern wheat seems to be responsible for a LOT of health problems, especially obesity and the problem is that wheat is in SO MUCH food these days.  It goes into more horrifying detail about all the health problems and stuff but it was enough to make me give up wheat and grains most of the time for good measure.

Check the book out on Amazon here.

I feel physically a lot better eating like this too. And it's not quite as hard as it sounds. Yes it can be challenging, but it IS doable.

Have a great day guys!

Abcentric days 3-7

Hello everyone!

Sorry about the lateness. Also notice I changed back to Abcentric.  I have reasons for it. 

I changed back to ab because after previewing hipcentric future levels I was like.... Blah. It looked really repetitive to me, and only seems to really work the hips (which I don't have much of.).  So, I decided to do the centric I PAID for, which is Ab.

I can pretty much sum up the past few days' workouts in one description.  I did 30 reps of MS (I can't seem to get past that many without being sore as hell) and 30 mins of DC... And this is where it gets better-

I can now start JUMPING in the cardio section. Not the whole 30 minutes but at least like, 20% of the time I can jump along with Tracy.  The first time I did it I wanted to cry. I really didn't think I would even be able to do THAT much this soon.  Also, NO pain. No knee pain, hip pain, ankle pain, etc from jumping. I am now trying to focus on building up my endurance with that. 

Also I think my diet is playing a HUGE role in this, but another post on that later.

Just trying to catch up a bit here. Can't WAIT to start Ab 2 because I am so sick and tired of level 1. Really.

Have a great day!

Hipcentric Day 1 and 2

Hello everyone!




I'm a little late in posting but so far I have completed hipcentric days 1 and 2 out of 90.  I also did something different on day 2.


Day 1 I did my 30 minutes of cardio, and level 1 MS, with 20 reps a leg. Nothing special.


Day 2- I did my MS with 25 reps a leg (increasing by 5 a day until I hit 40 and can stick with it) no cardio because it was REALLY late at night, and I did  my special new thing-


Some of you  may be familiar with the fact that continuity has bonus arms, which is like unweighted arms with 1 pound wrist weights involved.  The light bulb went off in my head that I know of another arm section- The TA Connect/Malawi Arms webisode.





She starts out unweighted then adds in the 3 lb weights. I didn't do this. Instead, I put on my 1 pound wrist weights and went through all the motions following Tracy (she doesn't use the 3 lb weights at all, her trainers do) and boy did that hurt. In a good way! I worked up a good sweat doing that  before starting my Meta MS.  I think I am going to keep it up this way, my arms can always use the extra help. 


Have a great day!!

Tracy's Shake Taste Test

Hello everyone!

Just want to let you guys know I did try the shake this morning for breakfast.

It's pretty thick, even when using a full 12 ounces of water. 

For mixing, it does mix well in a shaker cup. I have what they call a "blender bottle" which is a shaker cup with a whisk ball in it.

http://www.blenderbottle.com/

The amount of powder used per shake is pretty sizeable, the scoop is pretty big and you're supposed to use 2.

And the most important thing you all want to know- How does the stuff taste????

Well, it's no Slim Fast. Slim fast tastes like liquid candy. This stuff tastes like they put the bare minimum of sweeteners in to make it taste somewhat like chocolate.  There is also a somewhat bitter aftertaste but it's drinkable.

Shakes like this SHOULDN'T taste like candy anyway, that means more junk in it.  I think the main junk culprit in this shake is the evaporated cane juice but I don't think there's that much of it in there based on taste.  Eventually I do want to try Sun Warrior which is actually a lot cheaper and has NO sugar whatsoever, and is also raw vegan. 

The bottom line- if taste is really that important to you- maybe this isn't the best thing to get (although I have heard of people blending berries and such into it for added sweetness).  I do also feel somewhat satisfied in terms of hunger, but I am also the queen of "I'm not hungry in the morning".

I will be posting later after my first workout. Have a great day!

Ready, Set... Go!

Hello everyone!!


Tomorrow I am going to start my  body transformation according to how Tracy herself said I should.  In a previous post I posted word for word what I was told to do, but here's a summary-


1. Yes, I am correct about being abcentric.
2. Tracy wants me to do hipcentric meta because my abs are too weak to do abcentric meta yet. (Probably too much fat on my abs)
3. Diet- drink her shake in the morning, and a healthy lunch and dinner.


I wrote back for what to do about continuity, since I already have round 1 of ab. Have yet to hear back, but they probably have THOUSANDS of emails to go through and I'm ways away from that point anyhow.




This time, on my journey I will be keeping a journal- I have a pretty spiral-bound journal I am going to use to put stuff in- I want to take and print out before pictures and tape them in there too.  I might, when appropriate,  provide scans/snapshots of  parts of my journal, at this time no before pics until the 30 day point.


Taking measurements tonight and will work on making my excel sheet downloadable for you guys.  I like it better than wasting paper on calendars.  I am working on putting a little graph in it too, so you can see your progress in a more visual manner.


Looking forward to starting tomorrow!

The shake mix has arrived!!!

Hello everyone!




My Tracy shake powder has arrived today!  This entry will be pics of the bottle, and a list of what's in it.  I have not tasted it yet, I wanna wait until Monday morning to have it for breakfast and see how I feel, etc.


Took some pictures of the bottle. If you got the 14 day shake, you will get one bottle, if you ordered the 28 day like I did, you get 2.

I ordered the chocolate flavor but it also comes in vanilla. It DOES have its own measuring scoop in the can, and each shake is 2 scoops. 


Here is the full ingredient list (it's not on the main webpage for the shakes, unless I'm missing something)


(Proprietary blend of Rice protein isolate concentrate and pea protein isolate, Aminogen (an enzyme that helps protein absorption), L-Glutamine, Glycine, and Taurine), Evaporated cane juice (this ingredient might be a no no to some people because yes, it is a form of sugar), cocoa powder, fiber complex (Inulin, Beta Glucans, Oat fiber), Sunflower oil, IgG 2500 (in short, a blend of immunity boosting enzymes), Natural flavors, Medium chain triglycerides, Arabinogalactan, Broccoli seed extract, sodium chloride, xanthan gum, guar gum, potassium citrate, sodium citrate, stevia leaf extract.


How does it taste? Don't know yet, going to start having it for breakfast on Monday morning when I start hipcentric, or I might try it in the morning tomorrow. Not sure.  


The pricing is 69.95$ for 14 days, 120$ for 28 days (28 days is autoshipped and has free UPS shipping, so I guess you do save a little money with that.)


Going to do some workouts today too, this morning I already did my webisodes.  Have a great Friday and to my military readers- Happy Veteran's Day!

Weight loss tips that supposedly work...

Hello everyone!

My Tracy shakes are supposed to be here tomorrow, meaning I am starting Hipcentric on Monday with it.  Yesterday I did the TA connect webisodes (there is one for abs, arms, and legs) and also brought out an old buddy- P90X stretch. That one is the only good DVD in the set for me- it's a full hour of really good stretches meant to do on your rest day of that program. I want to start doing it a few times a week at least. 

I don't have a lot going on here, but I found an interesting article- weird weight loss tips that seem to actually work-

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/5-bizarre-weight-loss-tricks-that-work-2607467.html

Have a great day everyone!

Updates Galore!

Hello everyone!




I have some updates for you! 


Over the next week or so, the blog might start looking different. I am playing around with different designs and such to make it a little prettier around here. I think the old way is boring, needs a change, don't you think?  There may be times when the site is down, or looks crazy. No worries- it's being worked on!  I might also delete some old posts, they're cluttery to me. 




If you have not read my last post, I will be starting Hipcentric as of tomorrow.  Tracy and her team have an email set up specifically to help figure out your body type and what kind of workout/diet to do for best results for you personally.  The long story short- Yes, I am Abcentric like I thought, however she wants me to do Hipcentric for 90 days and then do Abcentric Meta.  This is because my abs are too weak to do the Abcentric stuff without higher risk of injury.


As for diet- I am quite relieved in that I do not have to follow the plan that came with meta.  They told me specifically to just watch my eating for 90 days.  I was told to drink the shake in the morning and have a healthy meal for lunch and dinner. Easy! I would like to make those two meals mostly low carb, gluten/wheat-free and even more ideally, vegan. However, some meat here and there won't kill me.  It's mostly wheat and starch I really want to avoid- ESPECIALLY wheat.  Wheat these days is nothing like wheat was 100 years ago.


I did order the shake for a month's supply just to try and taste it, see how I feel, etc. Yes, it does have some evaporated cane juice in it- but that is a FAR cry from the nutritional hell I normally drink- diet coke, coffee with all kinds of stuff in it, things of that nature.  I do like how Tracy's shake is vegan and gluten free. Big plus. As I said before, I will try it for a couple weeks and review it.  If I like it, and see results, etc, then I will keep on the shake and eating plan until I drop more weight.


I have also again been a very bad, bad, naughty girl and missed a few workouts and ate horribly.  I don't know what I was thinking and there's really no excuse for it. I am hitting the mat again tomorrow, fresh and new. 


Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Starting over but NOT for the reason you might think!

Hello everyone!

I am very excited about this post.  As you can see, I am starting Meta over- but NOT because I slipped up, "failed" or anything like that.  I actually got a personalized prescription from the boss lady herself! 

How did this happen? How can you get one too? 

A couple of weeks ago, Tracy posted on the Metamorphosis community page the following:

"Hello community!! First of all I want to thank all of you for the amazing letters of support for my pregnancy! Wow! What amazing women we have here. I am so excited and will be filming pregnancy videos as well as spending most of my time on further research and development for all of you. I have such an amazing staff that I work very closely with everyday. Maria Kelling and Stacey McDermott who you all have probably seen on qvc with me are my right hand girls. They have been at the top working beside me where no one else has been for many years now. You will get to see more of them in continuity! Which will be very exciting. I have filmed the first year and the first 90 days of the second year already. I have created the entire second year as well and its going to be great to have Maria and Stacey execute it because we are going to be able to not have as many edits as the first few continuities had. Continuity is SO important to your transformation and results. I can’t stress it enough. It creates miracles! I loved my time on the community so much I am now making more time for it. No one can answer your questions about what centric you are except for me and my prescription team. So we have created an email centric@tracyandersonmethod.com so that you can email us your photos and we will tell you if you are on the right program or when you might need to switch during continuity. The prescription process is key to your results and takes years to understand. You are how you move and designing bodies isn’t easy so please reach out to us. We are here for you and we are so proud of you! We have such an exciting and empowering journey laid out for you! Love, Tracy"

So, out of curiosity, I took down that centric email and shot over an email with some front and side view pictures.

It took about a week, but I got a reply!

"Hi Roxanne, 

Thank you so much for your photos!  Tracy said you are abcentric (you are right!), however, you are too weak in the abs to start abcentric, so go to Hipcentric for 3 months and then start Abcentric Level 1.  She also wants you to do our wellness shake (found on our website) and watch your food for those 3 months, while on Hipcentric.  

Shake in the AM and continue with what you would eat for lunch, dinner, etc.  If you would like some advice on this, feel free to email me!  

You're doing an amazing job!!  Please let me know if you have any questions and keep us posted!"

 

Well well. Turns out I was correct about being abcentric! The shocking thing is that she wants me to do Hip first (which I am borrowing from a friend).  I can actually see how that could work.

1. Because it's weakness, Hip and Omni are identical on all the odd numbered levels. So in a way she is strengthening up my WHOLE body on those odd levels.  I also have little saddlebags on my hips, so the Hipcentric unique levels (the even numbers) can work on those.  I actually have very tight, weak hips. I LOATHE lifting my legs to the side.

2. Probably because my abs aren't fully awake yet at all, she doesn't want me to injure myself by rushing in too quickly.

Yes, she is telling me to use her shake. (I hear a lot of people say how she's always trying to push it on people) However, from what I have seen she has not been telling that to EVERYONE.   Also she only wants me on the shake for 3 months, and for breakfast with 2 solid meals for lunch and dinner.  No mention of purees, or any of that insanity.  This saves me a whole lot of time in the kitchen!  She also says feel free to ask any questions- I will be holding her up to that. 

I have already asked if by Ab level 1 she means Meta or Continuity (I am pretty sure she means Meta, waiting for response), and also advice on what kinds of foods would make a good lunch and dinner.  A shake for breakfast and solids for lunch and dinner seems pretty reasonable actually.  I don't really have huge hunger in the mornings anyway.  I will also be sending them MORE pictures after I have done Hip and Ab Metas to see where to go from there. I pray she says to go with Ab continuity. I will be putting my second round of ab continuity on hold until I get close to that point. No sense in paying for more things I won't use.

I will be trying the shake for at least one month, to see how it tastes, how I feel, etc and I will be writing a review on it.   It probably won't be right away after I receive it, but after I've used it for at least two weeks.

I will still be working out while waiting for the shakes to arrive (I haven't ordered yet) but I will not be doing meta. Instead I will be flirting with Mat, learning some choreographed cardio, Webisodes, etc. just to keep me active while I wait.

If you haven't bought any Metamorphosis stuff yet, send your pics to the email before you do! It's worth the wait!

Have a wonderful day!