Friday Favorite Quote

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 “Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink.”

Lilly Pulitzer

Have a happy weekend! I'll be going to Eastport a Rockin' with my brother. What are your weekend plans?

LKF

Day 17 of TAM

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I am on Week 3 of the Tracy Anderson Method (TAM)- Metamorphosis Omnicentric. 

I'm over the halfway point of my goal of 30 days!

Here are some updates on the 3 elements of the TAM:

Dance Cardio DVD: No real updates for this. I finally ordered these shoes. Hopefully they will help with some of the knee joint pain I've been experiencing.

Transform DVD: Part 2 (Days 11-20) of the DVD is pretty fast paced. I really like the new arm and ab sequence. The plank leg sequence at the end is killer though.

Food Plan: This is another "Nutrient Boost" week. I am eating 9 mini-meals a day. I feel like I'm constantly eating. The good news is that I'm never hungry and I get to eat the Chocolate pudding again. The bad news is that the food is labor intensive. I've been cooking in bulk to help alleviate that. Our fridge looks like a tupperware and pyrex war zone. lol

The hubby said he can already see a difference - Yay! What's your Summer work out plan?

LKF

Day 11 - Tracy Anderson Method

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Current Stats:

Day: 11 (almost at the halfway mark!)
Down: 8 lbs

Week 2 of the Tracy Anderson Method - Metamorphosis Omnicentric was a lot easier than week 1. I have a lot more energy and I'm feeling very motivated. I still need to buy cross trainers. I slip too much in my running shoes and I'm getting blisters from the side to side movements. I'm thinking these from Nike. I'd prefer to get Under Armour cross trainers to support a local business and a fellow UMD alum but I don't see any on the website. I might check out their new store location in Harbor East this weekend.

Here are some updates on the 3 elements of the Tracy Anderson Method:

Transform DVD: I'm wrapping up my first "Transform 1" dvd today and will be starting "Transform 2" tomorrow. I'm curious to see what the next muscle exhaustion series will entail.

Dance Cardio DVD:  I've actually started looking forward to Dance Cardio. I really like that Tracy doesn't make you memorize a dance routine. It's a lot easier to follow for someone as uncoordinated as myself. I'm definitely getting better at all the moves and that is making it more fun. Geez- I never thought I would say any exercise routine was fun!

Food Plan: I was concerned last week about this week's "Body Reset" plan. It did not seem like enough food to me. I thought I would be starving every day. So far I have not had that problem. The only issue I found was in buying the ThinkThin Bars, Kashi Go Lean Crunchy Bar (discontinued), or the Kashi Go Lean Roll (also discontinued).  I couldn't find the ThinkThink Bars in Giant. A friend told me later in the week to check Whole Foods. I might just order them off of Amazon for week 4. Tracy states you can substitute an under 200 calorie bar with more than 15 grams of protien. That was difficult to find so I've been eating 1.5 South Beach Diet Good to Go Bars. There was minimal prep work for food this week which was a much needed break. Next week is another "Nutrient Boost" week so our fridge will be jam-packed again. I am looking forward to trying some of the other recipes. I haven't found one I haven't liked so far! Also, I've found that I don't miss coffee or diet sodas. I do miss beer though. Dinners on the weekends have been tough. I've been doing my best to stick to the plan during the day and then trying to stick to 1-3 glasses of wine and no carbs/dairy at dinner. So far I've only had three "cheat" dinners which couldn't be avoided. This weekend will be tough again with a friend's wedding shower and a Father's Day dinner. Wish me luck!

How's your work out routine?

LKF

Day 5 - Feeling Good

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A Quick Recap:

Days 2 and 3 of the Tracy Anderson Method- Omnicentric were pretty rough. The dance cardio and transform workouts are difficult. I think I'm getting better at the dance cardio and I'm starting to enjoy it more. The transform video has a lot of reps. It's a bit insane. My only complaint is that I wish Tracy voiced the change to the the next exercise. Sometimes you're paying so much attention to doing the move correctly that you aren't watching the video and you don't know when she switched. You definitely sweat a lot during these workouts.

Days 4 and 5 - I feel really good. I stepped on the scale this morning and I've already lost 5 lbs. Not sure how much of that is water weight but I'll take it. The food is super labor intensive for this "Nutrient Boost Week." I have used every kitchen appliance in my arsenal. My dishwasher runs almost every night - top rack overloaded. We did have to purchase a juicer but it's pretty awesome. The food is delicious- but slightly baby food-ish. I really haven't been missing carbs or dairy like I thought I would. This one recipe has been my savior in not making me feel deprived:

Chocolate Pudding:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 TB peeled and cooked chestnuts (I used Melissa's found at Wegman's)
1 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
4 whole pitted dates
2 TB unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup water

Directions:
Melt the chocolate chips slowly in a double boiler. Puree the rest of the ingredients (except the water) - I used my food processer.  Add the chocolate and pulse until all the ingredients are combined. Add the water and check the consistency - it should be soupy. Divide mixture into two ramekins and put in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or longer. It thickens as it cools.

Makes two 4 oz. servings.

It's seriously good. Even the hubby liked it.

Right now I'm feeling super motivated to keep this going for the full 30 days. I'm looking forward to next week's "Body Reset Week." I'm a little concerned I might be hungry but I get a break in the kitchen. The prep work is minimal. Wish me luck! Is anyone else starting a new diet/workout plan?

LKF

Tracy Anderson Method: Day 1

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Today I started the Tracy Anderson Method: Metamorphosis for Omnicentric. So far I'm feeling really good about it. I'm going to try to stick the diet as best I can but I'm still going to have fun this Summer so there will be some off diet dinners.

Only one epic fail today - I don't own a juicer so it's pretty tough to make the Power Juice that way. I attempted to use the blender - it was laughable. So I bought a juicer online at Best Buy and will be picking it up later.

The food is pretty good so far. I haven't been super hungry. I spent all day yesterday prepping the food. I only had difficulty finding one thing on the grocery list - not sure where I'm going to find whole peeled and cooked chestnuts this time of year. Whole Foods was no dice. The Hubby is checking Wegman's for me on the way home from work today so I can make the Chocolate Pudding.

The Dance cardio video was good. Though I'm super uncoordinated. Hopefully that will be get better with time and practice.

The Transform Day 1 workout was brutal. Not sure how I'm going to do 9 more days of that. I already know I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

 My only complaint with the videos is that I wish Tracy was more vocal about the change in moves.

I really want to challenge myself to do this for 30 days straight so I can look awesome for July 4th weekend. Wish me luck!

LKF