Getting back on track!

As you may know from my previous post I was not able to keep the steady workout program. I had to take a very long break and now I'm coming back to the schedule. For those of you who are still trying to figure out which of Tracy's workouts they want to start with I strongly recommend the 30-day Method to begin with! I just realized that it's very hard for me to keep my motivation up, even after all the amazing results I had, and I think that has a lot to do with the length of the Metamorphosis program plus a fact that I had to stop and fell out of my normal rhythm. So for those of you, who aren't very strong willed and know it for a fact about themselves, choose the shorter program. You will see the results fast enough to stay tuned in, but it won't start exhausting you and you won't have to constantly push yourself just to realize you have 70 more days to go. All that being said, I still love Tracy's workouts and I still stick to them, it's just way harder to push myself out of bed now or have a piece of dance cardio done after work.
I haven't seen any change in weight this week, but I definitely see the difference in my muscle tone and skin texture. During that month that I wasn't working out, like I said I didn't gain my weight back, it was stable, but I could tall that I was getting "floppy" so to say, after 2-3 days of Tracy's exercise it's all back together and skin just glows!
I'm thinking of getting on a diet again, I don't like the one that comes with Metamorphosis, even though it allows you a little more freedom. I think that's the reason I don't like it much! With the 30day Method diet it was more like a prescription the doctor gave you. Eat what's prescribed or you'll never get better, that's how it felt to me, so that feeling helped me stick with it and I'm sure was a big part of my success!
I hope all of you who stumble on my blog decide that Tracy's Method is for you and give it a try, because it is a life saver and changer!!! I wish you all success with it! It will change your life and help you get back to your beautiful self!!! Regards.

Starting anew!

So half of my summer I spent in bed with runny nose, scratchy-itchy throat and puffy eyes. When I was on a day 32 of my Metamorphosis I fell sick and wasn't able to workout for over a month! Hence no new posts on my blog. Apologies to my readers! Anyhow, after such along break I decided to start metamorphosis all over again,  instead of continuing on from where I dropped out. That was the best decision I made about this workout! I feel sore all over just like when I just started the TA 30-day Method, my legs and abs are giving me the most trouble. The workout feels as hard as it did on the first day, that's what I like about it, even if you decide to stick with TA Method for life and just rotate the sequences it will always work and feel new and intense!!!
While being sick I didn't gain my weight back, I'm shifting between 153 and 156 lbs now. And my eating wasn't exactly perfect in that time! So everyone who doubts that the results will stay with you, I'm your living proof that they do even if you let yourself take a long break for whatever reason!
Since I didn't have much progress in the past couple months, the promised pics of before and after ME are delayed, sorry. As soon as I get to day 30 again I will update the pictures and share my results with you. Best of luck to all of you trying to stay healthy and happy, stick to your workout and TA Method will not let you down!

Tracy Anderson's Metamorphosis Omincentric program

Hello fellow dieters and fitness enthusiasts! It's been awhile since I wrote a new blog, but you know how it is, there's always something you need to be doing and things get out of hand! So the last time I checked in here, was my week after the Tracy Anderson's 30 day Method, when I was not dieting or exercising much. Now I'm on day 12 of Metamorphosis, which is a new and more advanced program from Tracy Anderson. It is the same principle that she uses. Two levels of workout: cardio and muscular structure plus a diet plan. The diet plan is very similar to that in the 30 Day Method. I decided to not follow the diet and I'm not very happy with my results, my current weight is 157, that means in almost two weeks I lost only 2.5 lbs. I'm reconsidering my decision and thinking about starting the diet again. I know for sure that this is the reason I have such small results. My goal weight is 132lbs, so I have 25 pounds to shed and I was planning to achieve that while doing the 90 day Metamorphosis program.
The workouts are fun as usual. The cardio is definitely harder and faster, a lot of new advanced moves. If this was the program I started with I'm not sure if i would have been able to stick with it. simply because it is so challenging! The muscular structure is like a constant flow of movements all through the arm and abs movements, so that is hard to get used to! I like the music and the way Tracy gives you more choices with background noise. You can choose her voice only, music only or a full audio. It's also more fun and Tracy seems to be more of a personal trainer in these videos, then just a model showing you the moves. It's is definitely more motivational to have the video set up this way! 
So this is my report about the new program that I'm trying, I will keep updating my progress and will post my next comparative pics, in couple weeks. Good luck everyone with your fitness and nutrition search and success!

Post Method week results!

My fellow dieters I'm excited to let you know the results of my weigh-in today! I weigh 158.3 lbs as of today! For those of you who just stumbled on this blog, I just finished the Tracy Anderson 30 day Method, and as of now, I'm taking a week and a half break from boot-camp and doing whatever I like and eating whatever I like! So among the foods consumed were homemade sushi, salads, soups, a lot of apples and celery with peanut butter (I think I finished a whole jar just this week), cupcake, cookies, biscuits with butter and some wine. I only exercised twice this weeks, so it was really a test of Tracy Anderson's claims. She claims that after finishing her program, you can eat whatever you like and if you still exercise, using her method, you'll never gain those pounds back. I didn't really intend to go all lazy and eat so much yummy stuff, but I guess after a long diet and exercise regime, you just want to break loose!!! And imagine my excitement today after I discovered that i lost weight instead of gaining some!!! Very happy!

I also pre-viewed the workout from the Metamorphosis by Tracy Anderson, that I'll be starting next week. I have to say it's more fresh, but I liked the Method better. In the Method DVD and Book every sequence and every set is broken down, so if you need to pause, you can do that. The new DVD will take some getting used to! There's no separate sets for arms and abs, it's just like a constant flow of new moves, so you won't be able to pause it without constantly backing up, which can become annoying and at the same time trying to catch up with everything is frustrating too! I love the new moves though, especially the dance cardio, it's much more challenging and fun. We'll see how this new program will work for us. I haven't decided yet if I will be following the diet Tracy proposes, it's about the same as the one in the Method and I don't really know if I can handle it for 90 days((( I will let you know when I start the workouts. I decided to post once a week for Metamorphosis describing my experience and the new sequences. I also will be taking pictures of myself every 30 days as I go, so we will have 3 sets of before and after pictures during the course of the Metamorphosis trial! Stay tuned!

Final report. Day 27-30 of Tracy Anderson's Method

First I have to mention that the last days didn't go as planned. I couldn't stick to the cleanse menu, all the pureed things were not appetizing to me at all, so instead I just got the ingredients from the meals and ate them the way I could handle it. Also Day 27 turned out to be a day of break from exercise and a diet altogether, because I had a graduation party to attend!)) And it was great! Now that is said and I'm off to telling you my success story!))
  Overall within 30 days of Tracy Anderson's 30-day Method I've lost, drum-roll............... 17 lbs!!!! And 13 1/2 inches combined! So my Wednesday's weigh in was at 159.5 lbs (I weighed again at 159lbs this weekend).
So here are the dimensions Calf started at 16 inches ended 15 inches. Thighs were 25 1/2 in the beginning and 23 3/4 at the end. Hips went from 45 to 41 inches. Waist went from 34 to 30 1/4 inches. Chest was 39 1/2, went down to 37 1/2 inches and the Arm was 12 and is 11 now!!! So here are my before and after pictures:

I also promised you that I would add up all the expenses for food over this month. I spent around $440.60 for my groceries for these 30 days, that makes it about $14 a day. It is way more then I regularly spent, but for some of you I'm sure that will be almost the same if not less. The secret here is not to spent for herbs I think, the fresh herbs were widely used and a lot of times not necessary in my opinion.
My review of the Tracy Anderson's 30-day method is 5 stars!!!! It is awesome, I didn't hope to get results great as these! The workouts were fun and very challenging. The diet was great with certain personal adjustments, that I think each one of us should figure out as we are all different! Considering I was skipping part of the workout sometimes and changing the things on the menu I've got amazing results!
So if you are not sure that this will work for you, I can tell you now with certainty: If you commit to it, it will work for you!
So now the plan for me is to take 1 week and a half break from boot-camp style workout and eating and start Tracy Anderson's Metamorphosis Omnicentric Program! I'm very excited and can't wait! The goal for me is to be 132 lbs by mid-August 2011.

Days 22, 23 ,24, 25, 26 of Tracy Anderson's 30-day Method

The finish line can be so hard to stick to. I'm going through major kicking-myself-to-workout-stage. I skipped the workout on day 24 simply because I felt like I couldn't even lift a finger. And day 25 was only about 20 minutes of cardio, that was all I could handle! I have achieved great results already and this final push is just something I have to go through and I'll be there! Day 22 and 23 went as planned with the whole workout completed. The menu meal swap worked great for me. I was able to stick with the menu and the diet by rearranging some elements here and there. I substituted some meals for the meals I tried before and new I liked them. If some sort of salad was on the menu, that I didn't like before, I tried to find an equivalent from what was my favorite! Today is day 1 of the final 5 day cleanse menu. Tracy includes the cleanse menu at the end so that would accelerate the results. Breakfast was Blueberry Applesause. Yumm!! Tried it before and love it! But after that came sweet potato and corn pudding, even though it sounds good it doesn't really taste good to me. Wouldn't include it in the all time favorite list! There's not much I can do though! Not too many options for substituting here, so i'll have to stick with it for the next few days.
The workout sequence is really hard and I'm usually sweating mid-way through it. A lot of leg work! And some movements engage lower back, or so it feels. Final day is not too far now! I will let you know about my overall experience, my lost weight and inches. I will also sum up my grocery bills, to give you a better idea of what to expect. This last weigh in will be day 30, not the coming Sunday (day 28). I want to see the overall result, so I won't be tempting myself with picking at my weight!

Days 20 and 21 of Tracy Anderson's 30 day Method.

Today was my weigh in and the result is 162.7 lbs and 2 3/4 inches lost overall. The weight lost this week is 1.8 lbs. That would have been much better if not for a friend's birthday party yesterday, where I had 2 glasses of wine and the tiniest piece of cake I ever had in my life)) Even though it didn't seem like much it affected the results I believe. (I did a sneak peak at my weight yesterday before the party and it was 162, so .7 lbs are due to the splurge). I am very happy with overall results, regardless of these tiny mishaps. Overall results so far after 20 days of the 30 Day Method are 13.8 pounds and 11 1/4 inches lost!!! This is great! I've never had results like this before, on any diet and workout plan combination! I was not as determined before, I did 5 days of working out tops instead of 7 now, but I still believe that this program is the best for me.
I've learned to eat better, and exercise better! I know now that once I'm done with a boot-camp style this program applies I will be able to have a normal diet and workout regime and not gain all these pounds back. I will definitely keep this blog and let you know in a year and years to come how my weight is behaving!
So today is day 21 and that means new and last sequence of muscular structure workout. I am about to start it and it looks very challenging. Tracy describes it as "an exciting part of the 30-Day Method. It is when you'll begin to really see your results. It's when unbelievable things start happening." How exciting is that! Even better results!))) I am very determined to finish it at the same pace I started or at least do my best to keep the reps and the time of the workouts stable and not give up to the laziness!))
Tuesday the 17th will be the end of the program. And that is 10 days away! I'm very excited and can't wait to see how awesome I will look!))

Day 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 of Tracy Anderson's Method

This has been a rather busy week again and I didn't have a chance to  share my experience of the past 4 days. Today is my day 19, that means in two days time i'll start on the last sequence of exercises, and I'm sure it'll be even more challenging.
For those of you who are not familiar with Tracy Anderson's Method, here's a brief description. The method is a combination of muscle structure workout, the dance cardio workout and a diet plan. The muscle structure workout is split in 3 different sequences, first and the easiest one is days 1 through 10, second goes 11 through 20, that's the one I'm currently doing and the last one is days 21 through 30. Her philosophy is that while we have over 600 muscles in our bodies only the large muscle groups are usually engaged in most of the workouts out there. She designed the specific movements to activate the smaller muscles, or what Tracy calls them the "accessory" muscles, that start working and pulling on your bigger muscles therefore creating a leaner body, the body that doesn't look bulky, but toned and lean. Her cardio is designed to work together with the muscle structure workouts and help you burn as much fat as possible so the skin gets more toned. She also claims that doing the combination properly the way she "prescribes" will get you rid of the cellulite, I still have all of mine present, but hey, I'm just half way through this! And last but not least is her diet, which is low-carb, low-fat, no salt or sugar or spices. It's nevertheless very yummy, the only time I felt really hungry adjusting to it was the first 2 days. It's also very nutritious, so you won't be dragging your feet. I have more energy then usually now that I am doing this program (except for one of the days when I skipped my dinner and that threw me completely off balance!).
Now back to my workouts and plan. So this week was busy but I still managed to do all the workouts with a little less reps in muscle structure on one of the days and a little less of cardio on the other. While doing cardio at the end of last week and beginning of this week I had a really hard time jumping along, I thought I pulled a muscle in my calf, it was not very pleasant! So those of you who are reading the book right now and going through the section where Tracy says you have to wear very good sneakers that give you good support, don't go frowning and thinking "I can do without these" it's really important to have a pair! I think the problem with my shoes is they are running shoes and really soft ones so I'll probably get a new pair of the type Tracy recommends!
The workout sequence right now is much more complicated then the first 10 days set, but I was able to up the reps on day 16 already and still try to keep it up now. I've got the 1 pound ankle and wrist weights, but I still didn't try them out. The abs is more challenging in this sequence then anything else for me. This workout needs a chair too, so equipment grows:) now besides the mat and sneakers we need a chair))
The diet! Well it's going good now that I replace the things I know I will have a hard time eating with the ones I've already tried and liked! My absolute favorite for now is "Steamed Turkey Breast with Wilted Kale and Raisins" it's amazing and I'll be definitely having this at least once a week after I'm done with my plan!
So nothing new good or disappointing about a diet now, I'm about to go do my shopping for the weekend and keep you informed about the coming workouts and the weigh-in!

Day 8 & 9 Tracy Anderson's Method

Easter passed really quick and it was actually fun to just have my chicken broccoli salad while everyone else was getting ham and mashed potatoes, corn bread and all the other yummy stuff. It just seems that this diet starts changing my point of view towards food in general and what yummy is! There are things that I love to eat and can't wait to have again, but I have to say my eating plan will never look the same again!
On Easter I allowed myself to have one glass of red wine, and I have a few parties coming up that I plan to do the same on. Monday Day 8 was very hard. I didn't plan out my meals smart enough, so I was starving by the time I got home, that set me back a lot on the workout I got done with it at 10:30 pm and that was without cardio. I had to skip it! Not very pleased with myself, but hey, that's how life is. Today I'm planning to catch up and at least do extra step through cardio.

This is Tracy Anderson, my constant motivator! I am really happy that I stumbled upon her program and I truly believe this will be a life changing experience for me. Not only I will develop this great new habits , but I will also have the health and body I've always wanted! So this is it for now...

Day 5, 6, 7 and a weigh in) Tracy Anderson's 30-day method

First off happy Easter everyone!
I'm so excited today because my weigh in was very successful, much much more successful then anticipated. I started this plan with a weight of 176.5 lb and today 7 days in I weighed in at 166.4 lb!!!!! That's a total loss of 10.1 lb in one week!!!!!! This is incredible and I'm so happy! All my hard work definitely pays off! The primary reason I'm so excited is that I've been trying to move my weight under 170 lbs for over half a year now, counting calories trying different workouts, and switching up my cardio routines, and nothing seemed to be working. So I've had what they call a plateau and nothing was helping, until now!!!! I also measured myself last Sunday and today measured myself again, I've lost 5 inches overall. 2 inches off my hips and another 2 inches off the waist, 1/2 inch off the thighs and 1/2 inch off the forearm!
Day 5 was a Friday, I had a pretty late workout and tried to increase my cardio from 20 minutes jumping to 30 minutes and the 10 mins step, that was really hard. At some point I felt like I just couldn't raise a finger or move, but just as I pushed through it, it got a bit easier! Day 6 I upped my reps in the muscular structure workout to 30 per leg instead of 20 and 30 to 40 reps for arms and stayed at 40 for abs. So I'm trying to follow Tracy's instructions as best I can. The point here I guess is to pretend that she's with you while you are doing your workout, and she keeps encouraging you and helping you push through! Or if you know you are strong willed just push yourself, don't give up! It is very rewarding!!!!
I'm adding some ginger tea to my diet. It is still plain sugarless tea, just with a few slices of ginger in it! I've read that ginger helps with the weight loss and that's actually an ancient remedy for overweight people! So I thought it wouldn't hurt if I added that to my current diet!
Today's workout is still awaiting me. The menu keeps amazing me, there were a few meals that I was not completely in love with and won't be adding them to my regular diet after I'm done, but most of the dishes are incredibly simple and yummy! So here's the report for the weekend! Be persistent and you will succeed!!!

Day 3 & 4 of Tracy Anderson's 30 day Method

The day 3 & 4 fell out on Wednesday and Thursday, that happen to be the busiest days in the week for me. Day 3 was really hard, I finished my muscular structure workout around 9 p.m. and barely pushed myself through 20 minutes of cardio. And only after that I cooked the dinner. By the way on this same day I found one meal that I didn't enjoy, it was the veggie roll-up omelet, I'm pretty sure that I cooked it right, I'll try it again when the time comes. So far this is the only meal I didn't like. On day 4, I got a bit smarter about my workout and split it in two sessions. I completed my muscular structure workout around lunch time and did all 40 minutes of cardio around 9 p.m. when I got home. I know this is not ideal, it has to be done in succession, but I really needed to figure something out to make a complete workout happen on that day.
I am really sore, and not sore only in one particular spot, but all over. Tracy mentions that in her book: Tracy Anderson 30 day Method. I'm pretty tired every time I complete the workout and cardio, but I think it works. Besides if I'm sore all over, that must mean that I'm doing everything right! So that's great!
The food on the menu continues to amaze me and taste great! Yesterday was a really good meal plan, I think I will be bringing at least half if not all of the meals from the book in my regular diet after I'm done with this boot camp program! So day 4 menu was, berry compote for breakfast, chicken protein soup for lunch, kiwi dessert for snack and grilled chicken with mango and scallion for dinner! Even without the recipe for each of these you can imagine how yummy these meals are. This is just to encourage some of you, who are dreading the diets, believe me you will enjoy and love this diet! So this is it for the Day 3 & 4. I'll let you know about my progress soon on Day 7!

Day 2 Tracy Anderson's 30 day method

I began to realize that exercising at home is more fun and beneficial. Instead of wasting time driving to the gym and back (which usually takes around 30 mins) I can actually have a longer workout now! I always have access to things I forgot, they are just right there; I jump in the shower right away, no waiting (that's a big benefit for those of us who don't like gym shower rooms).
So Day 2, I feel tired again after a workout, but I've noticed that my skin is softer and tighter somehow, ALREADY!!))) That's a plus. I didn't change my regular products, so it is definitely due to the new foods and exercises I've been getting! It's really hard to stick with the whole routine, Tracy's Method is a 3 part combined system. I have to really mentally push myself to do the whole 40 min cardio. For those of you who are just thinking about buying a book/DVD of the Method, here's a bit of a review.
The book is very informative, Tracy does not waste time to jump right in, but she also gives you a bit of her background and explains why she set out on this journey of finding and developing an ultimate workout for fit and healthy body. She also claims that you will be able to keep the weight of forever as long as you keep doing her workouts (that means, if she is right, you can eat anything you like for the rest of your life after these bootcamp type of workouts). The pictures in the book are very clear and the movements are described to be easily understood and performed. Every move is described in detail. There is enough flexibility as well so you can adjust the workout regime to you. For example, I exercise regularly therefore, I am able to start doing the workouts with 20 reps on each leg, 40 abs and 20 to 40 arms and I am doing 20 mins of jumping through cardio and 20 mins of stepping for now, that'll change after day 3. Anyway Tracy gives you this guidelines in how to adjust the program for your fitness readiness! The DVD of the 30 day Method is very helpful too. The cardio is a bit tough to follow, that's why I think it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the DVD before you start the actual program. It'll just be more time-consuming if you try to slowly repeat every move and rewind every 2 minutes.
Overall I enjoyed reading the book and now I am enjoying using it.
A separate note for the foods on the menu. One word. Awesome. Every meal I've tried so far is simple, yet amazing. I like it because it's not very time-consuming. Average cooking time of the meals I've been making is 15-20 mins tops, with preps and cooking time included. Some meals, like snacks are around 5 mins, so it definitely won't take all your time to make this diet happen! Other plus, I find it helpful to have my day's food in black and white, that way I don't have to guess what I can snack on and it really leaves the temptations out. The portions are normal not bird bites)) And if you do feel hungry Tracy allows you to make an extra serving of any of the meals that day, I wouldn't double up on chocolate pudding though)) Yes, there is chocolate pudding on the menu, how much better could a diet get!)))
I will let you know how much I loose this week on Sunday and keep you updated every day!

Day 1 Tracy Anderson's Method

So here is day one review:) It's been good! I enjoyed every meal on the menu, felt pretty hungry the whole day but drinking tea with no sugar or honey helped a lot (just the way Tracy recommends). Besides it's quite natural for a body to take awhile to adjust to new regime in a diet and eating habits change. It is definitely a big change in calorie amount too, so that's part of the reason for being hungry:) The meals are professionally designed and taste pretty amazing!
The workout has taken me 1h and 20 mins all together. 40 mins for the muscle structure workout and 40 mins for cardio. The hardest part for me today was the last sequence in leg exercises and abs. I feel pretty wiped out but very cheerful!:)

I am really looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the week. I decided to do the weigh ins every sunday morning and try to keep track of pounds lost a week.

About to start the test and review of Tracy Anderson's Method...

This is my first post and a first blog! I'm really excited to be sharing my story with you, especially those of you who are experiencing weight problems. Hopefully my posts will be helpful.
I am starting the Tracy Anderson Method program tomorrow. I want to tell you that I already tried some of her muscular workout and cardio elements and I am very hopeful about this program. I am active and am going to gym regularly and run a lot, but these exercises were still a big challenge. I am 176 lb as of today and I hope to drop that down to 132 lb after doing the 30 day Tracy's method and the 90 day Metamorphosis that is next on my list after this. This is the cheapest price for it, that I found: http://www.amazon.com/Tracy-Andersons-30-Day-Method-Weight-Loss/dp/0446562041
or you could also try Tracy's site http://tracyandersonmethod.com/
I wanted to say a few words about the book and DVD included with it. The material is very easy to read and it feels like talking to Tracy one on one, I liked that feeling a lot. Tracy shares her own story and gives you detailed guidelines on how to achieve your healthiest body. The movements in the exercise are a bit awkward and need some getting used to to be done. Pictures are very clear and helpful and the DVD is great. The meal plan is amazing. There are few carbs, mostly produce and fruit and protein. It seems to me it'll also be a fun cooking experience.
So that's about it for my intro post. I will be keeping you up to date with all the changes I will be experiencing while doing this program!