Day 13 and Final Weigh In Before Cabo

So this will be me and my husband in a few hours, hopefully! Except my hubby hasn't gone grey yet...

I thought I'd check in real quick and give a final update before our little trip. Wednesday went fine. I worked out hard doing Meta Hip 2, double arms and abs, DC 2 combos 1 and 3 twice through and adding in an additional 10 minutes of Meta cardio but had to quit as my achillies tendon started to act up. Good thing I am taking several days off of dance cardio, perfect timing so I can let it heal.

I also want to add that I am sore from this second sequence! I wasn't really in the first one, even though I had trouble completing all the moves. This time I can do all the moves but I am feeling it! Even my arms are sore. They are looking good for me btw. I tend to get really big shoulders and biceps and I think they are leaning out!

I ate pretty good but did snack a bit, mostly fruit, a bit of low fat cheese, couple crackers but also some chocolate...I think I may be through with this low calorie stuff for a minute. It's getting really boring eating the same thing all the time. I'll be eating a lot on vacation while trying to balance it out with cardio at the gym. When I get back I'll probably do a detox to get back on track and then figure out how to eat "normally."

I weighed in Wednesday at 127.6 and this morning at 128. It's not 125, but oh well.

I'm pretty sure my inches are about the same but no time for that now.

I'm happy with this. My ultimate goal is to stay under 125. But for now, I am really pleased. My clothes are loose. My muscles feel tight. I've really never looked so good! I'm trying not to nit pick and just be happy where I am right now. I will not freak out when I've gained a few pounds when I get back! At least that's what I'm trying to tell myself. I feel confident that I've made real changes in my life that I can stick to. And that feels both empowering and hopeful. I mean, it's pretty awesome to have lost about 10 plus solid pounds in the past 6 weeks even with plenty of cheat days thrown in the mix.

I'll post some pics of my trip when I get back. I'm hoping to see some whales and mostly just drink and eat by the pool/ocean. Don't miss me too much while I'm gone! haha!

Day 11 and 12

Had a great day yesterday! Really stuck to the diet, no extra bread. Just a little bit of wine and chocolate in the evening since I have to finish it before we leave for our trip, right! I did all my muscular structure work, loving sequence number 2! And a full on hour of dancing.

Today I weighed in at 128.8, down .8 from yesterday, so making progress. I did my workout this morning but only have time for 30 minutes of dance cardio as today is a work day. I was feeling sluggish when I woke up and it carried on all day. It's my typical PMS story. By Thursday or Friday I should be feeling great and have lost that oh so unsexy bloated feeling.

I was doing so great on my diet as well. I had an extra egg, so 2, with my bacon and toast this morning. Had my turkey burger, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 cucumber and a bell pepper for lunch. 1 bite of coffee cake, because it was staring at me. Some blueberries and 2 strawberries and a Vitamin Water Zero.

Then, I was asked to take the kids to their grandparents house for a birthday party for their cousin. Grandma had made a lovely cake and had other goodies as well. How could I refuse the cake?? It would have been so rude. So I ate it. It was great, chocolate with cream cheese frosting. I also had a small cookie. And one curly giant cheeto. AAAAAHHHHHHHHRRRRRRGGGGGGG!

I am supposed to have a think thin bar for dinner and the last of the wine. I was thinking of skipping it but I don't want my already crazy blood sugar to go any more nuts. I plan to get up early and rock out some extra dance cardio tomorrow. All in all my calories are still pretty low for the day, definitely under 1500, so not bad considering. I got super amped up on the sugar too!

I'm off to get my nails done for my trip and am trying to cut myself some slack. I just am praying the scale doesn't go up tomorrow or else I may cry a tiny bit. Tomorrow is another day and there is no cake or wine involved!

Hope your day went better than mine!

Days 9 and 10, Cheater's Paradise.

Here I am enjoying one of my favorite wines, 2007 Maple Zinfandel at Dutcher Crossing Winery. My husband and I went to the wine club release party and enjoyed some super yummy vegetable pasta, salad with gorgonzola, tomatoes, artichokes and almonds and tiramisu for dessert. I also had a large and delicious turkey sandwich for lunch as well as an amazing dinner at one of my favorite spots, Scopa in Healdsburg. I went a little crazy yesterday, but it was so much fun to let loose and just enjoy myself!

I had a fantastic weekend full of friends, food and wine. I did all my required muscular structure work and did about 1 hour of dance cardio each day to try and balance out the "cheating" I knew would be happening. I also ate pretty good for my non cheating meals and tried not to go too crazy on the portions of non TAM approved foods. That's the good news.

Unfortunately I weighed in at 129.6 this morning. So up 4.2 pounds since Saturday morning. I'm sure it's mostly all water as I was definitely enjoying my wine, salt and carbs! Also I should be getting my monthly visitor any time now, so need to factor in for that as well. Not freaking out, yet!

Today to help get my self back on track I will be sticking to Tracy's diet for week two, which means, 2 slices turkey bacon and 1 egg for breakfast. Almond milk and 1/2 cup blueberries for snack. think thin bar for lunch. And finally a turkey burger, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 cucumber and tomato for dinner.
I started the second sequence of Hip Meta today and really digging it. I also did Dance Cardio 2, Sequences 1 & 3, two times each, plus the breakdown for sequence 4, and then 30 minutes of freestyle dancing. I really went for it today as I won't have much time for cardio the next two days and then I'm getting on a plane to Mexico!

I feeling pretty confident that those 4-5 pounds will be gone by Thursday. I'll report back tomorrow night, let's hope with good news!

Week Two, Day One

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the kind words and encouragement! It means so much to have support from all you fabulous people all over the internet! It gets kind of lonely doing TAM by myself so thanks for being there! One thing that really sucks about doing this whole thing is I've pretty much cut myself off from week day socializing, and that usually means Friday night too. I'm hoping that when I get good at maintaining I'll be able to see my friends more and stay awake past 9:00.

Now on the Diet Week 2:
Oh the joy of not having to juice kale and beets. Seriously. Also very excited about my breakfast!

Two strips of turkey bacon, 1 "poached" egg and 1 slice dry toast. I added in the toast. Yum! Salt and protein and bread!
Mid morning I had 8 ounces, 4 more than prescribed, unsweetened almond milk with 1/2 cup blueberries.

Dinner was really good. Turkey burger, 1/2 avocado, dijon and 1 slice sprouted wheat bread. I added in the bread for dinner as well as the pepper and snap peas in the afternoon. I don't think I would be able to exist on so few calories.

I was pretty hungry by the end of the day and treated myself to 2 glasses of wine to celebrate my hard work and progress. And a bit of chocolate as well. My calories for the day barley hit above 1300. I want to hang around that area for the next few days and see what happens. I don't want to gain any weight but sheesh. A girls got to eat!

Did my Mat routine and then onto cardio in the morning. Did the full BDC workout the breakdown to sequence 3 on DC2 plus the full routines 1 & 3. Feels great to have another combo to throw into the mix. Next week I'll work on mastering Sequence 4.

I weighed in this morning at 125.4. I think it must be the fairy dust or something. How could I loose another 1.6 pounds over night? I weighed myself 3 times and then got out my old manual scale and yup about 125. Maybe the wine dehydrated me a bit? Anyway, not going to get to excited about it.

I am so ready to go to Mexico. It's been pouring rain for the past two days and hasn't even hit 50 degrees, which is SF is freezing! I spent some time yesterday choosing outfits and packing for my trip, even though we don't leave until next Thursday. I'm pretty booked up until then so wanted to get a head start. I hate it when I pack too much!

I am bringing some workout clothes and have big ideas about working out. I'll probably do some regular treadmill and elliptical intervals for cardio and throw in some TAM arms and abs. I will be in the pool a lot to so will take advantage of that as well.

I am heading to a ladies brunch today and plan to have champagne and whatever else I want, within reason. Tomorrow I am going to wine country so will be having more wine and a nice dinner as well. I'll be back on Monday to let you know the damage! Let's hope the extra cardio I'm putting in today and tomorrow help balance things out. Fingers crossed!

Week One Complete, Time for the Results!

Hi all! So I am all finished with pureed foods for a while. Thank goodness! I stayed positive all week but I am ready for some protein.
I am really excited and motivated about my results. These are not the best pictures but I didn't want to take all day. As you can see I am have a quite a muscular build. It's genetics I'm afraid, but it could be worse! I have leaned up a bit since I started doing the TAM in December and hope to some more as I continue to focus on the diet portion.

So here are my results:

Height: 5' 4.5"
Starting Weight: 134.4lbs Weight Today: 127.0 lbs         Lost: -7.4 lbs

Starting Thigh:     22.5"       Thigh Today: 21.75"          Lost: -.75"

Starting Waist: 27.75"          Waist Today: 26"
Lost: -1.75

Starting Low Waist: 29"   Low Waist Today: 27.5"
Lost: 1.5"

Starting Hip: 34.5"            Hip Today: 33.5"
Lost: 1"

Starting Butt: 37"             Butt Today: 35.75"
Lost: 1.25"

Starting Bicep: 11"        Bicep Today: 10.75"
Lost: .25"

Starting Calf: 14"          Calf Today: 13.75"
Lost: .25"

Bust and Chest the same.

I am quite pleased with the results so far. I feel like the fat that was covering the Tracy muscles I have been sculpting for the 2.5 months is melting away. I am 2 lbs away from my short term goal and I still have until next Thursday morning to reach it. I can do it!
I feel like this diet is doable for a week or less if you need to drop some weight quickly. I am really motivated to maintain and am okay loosing more slowly in the future. I was very surprised at how easily the weight came off. I literally can't remember ever being 127lbs! My butt has never looked so good and I can't wait to see how things progress in the coming weeks!
I begin Week Two diet today and will be modifying a bit as it is very low calorie and I have two fun events this weekend. I will keep you posted on how things go!
Good luck on your own personal goals!

Day Six!

I thought this was a fitting an inspiring thought to help get me through my second to last day of purees.  We are capable of so much more than we think! Thanks Yogi Ginger Tea for brightening a rather boring and dreary day! It's freezing for us in San Francisco, it even hailed for a little bit! So we've been stuck inside and going stir crazy!

Today went fine. I was hungry. I was tired. But I did everything I was supposed to do. I woke up at 5:00 and did my muscular structure work, doubling up on arms and abs as usual. Did my cardio,  Combination 3 Breakdown from DC2, all of Beginning Dance Cardio and Combination 1 from DC2. I ate all my 7 purees at about 2 hour intervals. I can't wait to eat real food! Soon, so soon!

I weighed in at 128.8lbs this morning! Down another .6lbs. I kind of can't believe it. I'm nervous I will hit a plateau when I start eating real food again, but I guess that's normal. I have not maintained or even really been at this weight since I was in junior high. 135lbs is where I hang out, no matter what. Even when I was running a lot I was around 132-133. I feel much smaller, my clothes fit still but not for much longer. My pants are getting very baggy. I hope my jeggings still fit, they were not cheap! On Friday I will start packing for my trip and I have this super cure romper that I can't wait to wear and show off my legs to my hubby!

Here is the rather delicious and very small portion size of the Veggie Protein Soup. I pureed mine to make sure I get an even amount of ingredients per serving. It's stock, carrot, celery, broccoli, parsley, pepper and a small amount of chicken. It sure is nice to have a warm meal at the end of the day, as I eat everything else cold or room temp.

Also, I totally forgot to take a picture of the pudding! I literally think about it all day as motivation to finish my day strong! It's chocolate, coconut, dates, blueberries, cocoa powder and delicious. It gets me through the night and I think fuels my AM workout. I will really miss it next week. :(

I am excited to weigh in and measure on Friday morning! And that is the next you'll hear from me as I work from 7:30AM-9:30PM tomorrow, so no time for blogging.

Happy Hump Day! And remember, You Do Know, You Are Ready and You Can Do It!

Day Five

I am happy to report that I am surviving so far. I think that the results on the scale are what are really keeping me focused. I'm down another .6 lbs. for a grad total of 5 lbs in 4 days! With a cheat day! Kind of amazing! I am slightly below where I was before I got sick and halfway to my "short term goal." I still have 9 days left to loose another 5 lbs, though I know they are not going to come off as easily as these first five. I'm not fooling myself! Can't wait to take measurements on Friday!

Here are my sweaty and slightly achy legs after 30+ minutes Meta/freestyle cardio. (Added in the Combo 3 Breakdown from DC 2)  Corn makes a sweet ice pack. I'm really hoping that I don't get bad shin splints! Yikes! I plan to do a stretching and strengthening move I read about on the Facebook fan page. You flex your feet hard while sitting down, legs out straight for 5 minutes. It should burn but different than the shin splint. I don't think I have them yet, just don't want to get them! 

Before cardio I did the Hip Meta 1, doubling up on abs and arms. Legs are still tough and I'm really feeling the arms and abs doing them twice. I have 5 more days with this workout so hoping by the end that I will be able to do the whole leg series without stopping. Fingers crossed!

Diet is going well. I'm loving this water from Trader Joes I'm finding it really helps with food cravings and the bubbles feel real nice on my throat that is still a little sore from my cold. 

Today was my first full day back at work, 7:30-5:30, so it's a long one. I packed all my food for the last 3 days of this diet and stored it in their fridge. I'm a nanny by the way. I made the 2 year old a turkey sandwich for lunch and I just wanted to try that bread! I have a ladies brunch planned on Saturday with my bestest girlfriends so I just keep that in mind when I want to cheat. Soon I'll be having an amazing meal with even better company. Just 3 more days...

Here is the gazpacho. It has the longest ingredient list of all the recipes. Lots of herbs, roasted tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, bell pepper, some spices and rice wine vinegar.  

It makes me sweat when I eat it! I have this around 4:00 in the afternoon and it really carries me through until "dinner."

So only 2 more days of this food. I'm a little nervous as it looks pretty sparse. I may have to add in something, not sure what yet...I'm not a robot! I have to care for 3 kiddos! Luckily I have two cheat days this weekend so hopefully those calories will carry me through until next Thursday when I leave for Cabo!

I just wanted to thank anyone who takes the time to check in with me and my little blog. I love the Facebook fan page so much. I get ideas and inspiration all day long from it. I hope I can do the same for someone else!

Day Four Coming To A Close

My workout this morning rocked! Must have been that cherry pie from yesterday! I did Meta Hip level1 with double the arms and abs. I did the Breakdown for Combo 3 on DC2 and plan to every day until Friday hen I should have mastered it! Then I did BDC all the way through and DC2 Combination 1 two times. So 37 minutes rocking out cardio plus the breakdown as a warm up.

I put on a new Pandora station today, La Roux. It's a little slow but I LOVE that type of music so it really had me motivated. I actually genuinely was having fun and felt so fantastic at the end. What music do you like to dance to?

Today was spent mostly in the kitchen. I finished making all my purees except the Protein Soup for the next 4 days. Plus, part of my job as a nanny is that I cook once a week for them and bring it over on Tuesday morning. I made white bean and turkey chili and corn bread. It sure smelled good, too bad I can't have any! I don't know how people do this type of diet and have to cook daily for husbands and kids. Must be really tough! I did have a few tiny bites to make sure the seasoning was okay...

And I had a tiny cup of black coffee at Trader Joes when I was shopping, but I did resisted the STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE they were sampling.

Here is what I was busy doing in the kitchen:

I've got steamed sweet potatoes and raw sweet white corn puree going. I find the hand blender to be so much easier for some of the purees. I highly suggest getting one. So much less clean up then the food processor.

Next we have everyone's favorite (a joke) The Carrot and Parsnip Puree!

Another easy one to use the hand blender.

This one is probably my least favorite, but really not so bad. Just kind of bland and earthy. Sure is a pretty color though!

A lot of people on the TAM Facebook fan page seem to feel like the puree's food idea is gross texture wise. I don't mind it at all, but some people have suggested not pureeing some of the food and eating them whole.

I've been reading people's tweets and seeing all the treats people are having on Facebook for Valentine's Day and I have to say I've been tempted to open some wine or have a treat myself. But, then I remember I get to make Chocolate Pudding very soon and it is really so good!

So I'm off to my last meal of the day and then for my pudding!
Thanks for reading!

A Valentine's Day Treat

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

I had a fantastic day yesterday with my husband. Did my Meta Hip workout, doubling up on abs and arms (feeling the burn, in the best way possible!) and 30 minute Meta cardio to my own playlist, (CSS, La Roux, MIA). Then had my kale/beet juice and got organized and prettified for the day. We went to brunch at this funky and hip Korean restaurant called Namu.  We had a great, non TAM approved meal. Eduardo, my husband had a huge amazing looking burger and with fries. I snagged a 2 fries but I don't eat beef so the burger didn't interest me. Here is what I had:

4 Barrel coffee with a tiny bit of sugar and cream, maybe 3-4 mimosa's but they were small and mostly juice I'm pretty sure. A two egg sandwich, with mayo (I forgot to tell then to hold it! oops!) and a kimchee relish, which is a spicy cabbage slaw. I opted for the side salad instead of fries. It was delicious greens and there was pickled daikon and daikon sprouts as well. yum!
Then things got dangerous.

There is a Russian bakery across the street that started calling our names so we had to get a little treat. I got a cherry pie and Ed got a layered honey cake. So yummy!
But then I started feeling a little guilty.
We went for a long walk in Golden Gate Park, see the top picture, such a beautiful clear day! Tons of people out in the streets as they are closed every Sunday in the park. Lots of people roller skating, bike riding and jogging. Made me miss running a wee bit actually.
We got back home and watched to Grammy red carpet and I ate my Protein Soup and a whole wheat pita pocket.
I was really worried this morning that I gained weight and ruined everything with that damn pie! But no. I was actually down another .2 lbs. So a clean 130 pounds is where I'm at. Hey, I'll take it!
I'll blog later tonight about how today went as I have to work really early tomorrow.
Have a beautiful day!

Day Two Flew On By...

You may be wondering why my blog is titled "Dancing In The Dark?" Let's just say that as soon as I made the commitment to my fitness and to The Tracy Anderson Method I also made to commitment to waking up extra early to fit my workouts in. This is really the only way for me to do it. I just CAN'T do it after 10 hours of nannying. I tired, I want quiet, relaxing me time! I never in all my years thought I'd be able to make the transition to early morning fitness freak, but I tell you it was the best thing I ever did. I feel fantastic when I'm finished and I know I can check off the hardest thing I had to do all day. So I wake up around 4:50 on days I have to be at work at 7:30, which is 3 days per week.  The rest of the week I get up around 6-6:30. I am often dancing in the dark, you see!

Anywho, on to how Day 2 (Saturday) panned out. Fantastic! This morning I am down another 1.2 pounds, so total of 4.2 pounds and only .4 pounds from pre-sickness weight. I did the math and I need to loose a little less that 1/2 a pound a day to meet my goal. I sure am going to try my best! I am feeling much better about my body since before I began Day 1. I can see that the bloat went away and my muscle tone is coming back. What a relief.

I've decided to stick with muscular structure work first then cardio for my exercise. I did the Meta Hip, doubling up on arms and abs and then 30 minutes Dance Cardio, a combo of Beginning Dance Cardio and combination #1 from Dance Cardio 2. On Monday I plan to learn at least one more combo from Dance Cardio 2. Any suggestions which one?? I've read from several people on the facebook fan page that the Meta cardio is giving people shin splints. I've never had a problem with them, so far, but sure don't want to now! I plan to alternate between different Tracy approved cardio to keep safe.
I was really feeling the soreness in my abs and arms today! I am still having a little trouble with the leg work, needing to take breaks, mostly on exercise #4. My non working hip burns like crazy but that means it is working on my biggest trouble spot so am determined to do my best!

As far diet goes, I did well again. I don't mind any of the food at all and really am not that hungry. I didn't have to make anything yesterday, besides my juice so it was nice to have a break from the kitchen. Here is the delicious blueberry applesauce. I split the serving size from the pamphlet as it seemed really big. 2 apples vs. 4 apples per serving seemed more appropriate.

Side note: My husband and I went for a walk and did some shopping. I got myself a new transparent sleeveless white top that opens in the back, sort of like an upside down tulip. I can't wait to wear it with some skinny jeans! I love non-food motivations/rewards!  

Today is our Valentine's Day and we have a special brunch planned and then we will watch the Grammy's later. I am opting out of two of the "high" calorie/sugar foods on the plan today, blueberry applesauce and the beloved chocolate pudding, and will be replacing with Champagne and Brunch! I hope this doesn't throw too big of a wrench in my progress but I'll let you know tomorrow!

Hope you all have a lovely rest of your day and thanks for reading!

Day One Done!

I have to say I am really happy so far with how this whole project is going! I am down 3 whole pounds this morning, so 131.4! Very encouraging!

Yesterday I woke up and did the cardio portion of the Metamorphosis.  I'm used to doing the mat/toning work first and then cardio but Tracy said in the intro portion of the DVD to do cardio first, so I gave it a go. I found it to be okay, I much prefer doing the Beginner Dance Cardio and I've been trying to learn the combos in Dance Cardio 2.
Next was the toning or muscular structure work. I bought the Hip Centric Metamorphosis as I feel that my hips and thighs are my main problem area. I doubled up on the arms and abs for a total of 21 minutes and then did the leg portion. The legs are tough! I think because it goes so quickly, but I'm sure that after a few times I'll be able to complete the whole thing without stopping. That seemed to be how it went through each of the Perfect Design Series DVD's as well.
I felt so great after working out, really missed that endorphin rush and all the "fairy dust" or sweat as us Tracy Anderson fans call it.

Now on to the diet. For this first week we eat the same 7 things every day. Each day I'll give a rundown of one or two of the items. The first is "Power Juice."

As you can see, it's lots of kale, I used dino, a beet, spinach and half an apple all juiced up. Yum! hahaha! I actually like it, but I love beets and all veggies really. I call it Christmas in a cup because of the color, pretty!
The rest of the day consisted of many other veggies and some fruit and even a chocolate pudding, that I will discuss later. I found that in the afternoon I got a little woozy but by evening I was fine. Even when I woke up this morning I wasn't hungry and was able to get through day two's workout just fine.

One more thing before I go. I'd like to include the shopping list for week one's menu, here!

My Metamorphosis is beginning!

Welcome to my new blog! I hope to inspire and encourage others along their path to wellness as some many others have for me!  I am starting out here to find a way to keep myself accountable to my goals as well as a place I can vent, share tips and tricks and just have fun along my journey!

All my adult life I have been active in dance, yoga and running, even running 3 half marathons. But I've never been truly disciplined enough to see real and lasting results. I began really working on my fitness and nutrition goals in the beginning of this year. I have been working our consistently using the Tracy Anderson Method Perfect Design Series and Dance Cardio and doing my best to stick with a healthy diet consisting of lean meats, healthy fats and lots of fruits and veggies with the occasional whole grain. I was even able to have a "cheat meal" on occasion and wine/chocolate a couple times a week. I was doing really well! The scale was shifting, my clothes were fitting loosely and my measurements were the proof I needed that this was working. However, I had a minor set back last week, I got this horrific cold and it totally threw me off my game. I couldn't work out as my head was pounding all the time and my nightly little indulgences got way out of control. I think I was missing my daily endorphin rush from exercise and was trying to get it through food (chocolate) and also my energy was so low I was eating to get through the day.

I am headed to Mexico with my husband for a much needed vacation in 13 days. I finally braved the scale and it was up 4.5 pounds since last week. boo!! I'm trying not to panic and am sure it's some bloating from not exercising and eating crappy for a few day, but it's not making the idea of getting into a swim suit seem at all appealing! I was getting so close, it's tough to have such a set back!

Let's start out with a look at my goals.

Short Term, as in the next two weeks:

1. 30 minutes minimum of dance cardio daily, as much as 60 minutes
2.1 Tracy Anderson's Metamorphosis Hip mat workout daily, switching to next level after 10 days.
2.2 Repeat abdominal and arm exercises 2 times, add in additional arms when time allows
3. Stick to the Meta diet, except for Feb. 13th, 19th and 20th when I have plans, I will make adjustments.
4. Loose 10 pounds. I know that sounds crazy but 4.5 of them should just fall off and the other 5.5 will be sweat and dedication.

I will revisit my goals after I return from my trip to see where I am at and what looks like it needs work.

I am writing this on Saturday but Friday was my first day, and it went well! Here are my starting weight and measurements:
Height: 5' 4.5"
Weight: 134.4
Thigh-22.5
waist-27.75
lower waist- 29
hip-34.5
butt-37
bicep-11
calf-14
bust- 35
under bust- 29

In my next blog I'll discuss how the exercise is going and start discussing the diet Tracy has prescribed.