the daily julie

(fitness) sizzlin’ hot for summer, week 2

I don’t really have a good name for this weekly recap. Please feel free to suggest one in the comments.

Hi lovers! I am happy to report that this week was mucho, mucho better on the fitness front. I managed to work out five times. yes! Well, technically the fifth time will be tomorrow, but if I visualize it, it will happen, right? I’m currently on Level 5 of Continuity 1.2. To explain that a little better, I did the first 90 days of Tracy Anderson’s Metamorphosis, which she just calls good ole Metamorphosis. But that was last summer. After Metamorphosis you move on to Continuity which you do for the rest of your life, basically. The first 90 days of Continuity are 1.1, the next 90 are 1.2 and the 90 after that will be 1.3. Then, I’ll go on to 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3. ya dig?

Anwhoziwhatzit, like I said, I’m on Level 5 of 1.2 and I’ve basically been sore since I started it. And, I’m only two workouts in. If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, then you know that I basically think Tracy Anderson is a genius. After a year+ on this loony program, I sort of started to think, “oh yeah, I got this. I’m a pro at this stuff now.” wrong. Just when you think you know everything Tracy knows, bam! she gives you a new level to shake things up. I am contorting and twisting my legs and balancing on one arm in ways I didn’t think possible. And I swear I can see the love jiggle just melting away. Swear. So, that’s pretty awesome. Mind you, it’s also awesomely hard, but at least I feel like all my work is not in vain. I can’t say the same for the hours of spin I used to log at the gym.

Okay, on to food. Half of the time I actually remembered to take pictures of what I ate. The other half I didn’t, but I’m trying to get better. Remember that I promised I’d tell you everything I ate, so that’s what I’m trying to do. I hate those blogs or magazines that talk about food to eat and they are like eat oatmeal for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and lean proteins and veggies for dinner. That’s great and all, but I need to know EXACTLY what to eat. So, I put together an extremely overly detailed recap for you. Bear in mind that I’m doing low carb. Not to be confused with no carb.

Breakfast. I mostly eat eggs for breakfast and if I have an avocado in the house, I’ll chop 1/4 of it up and put it on top of my eggs. Also, I am a creature of habit, so add toast under the eggs and this is exactly what I eat for breakfast 250 days out of the year. I don’t really have any other good ideas for a low carb breakfast. Do you?

Lunch. Salad. That’s it. I didn’t do a good job at the grocery store last weekend (read: I didn’t go), so I’ve had to rely on salad bars and restaraunts which is mostly annoying for me and probably the waiters, too. Also, salads don’t photograph very well on a camera phone and they are pretty disgusting looking anyways, so I’m just warning you.

This is a cobb salad I made at the Whole Foods salad bar. Except there is no avocado because they don’t offer that at the salad bar.

And this is a chicken salad from Chipotle.

Other salads included a taco salad at a Mexican restaurant, a gross salad from a coffee shop (note to self: don’t expect a good salad from a coffee shop), and today’s lunch was a smoothie. I like to change it up every once in a while.

Dinner. Every night was indeed a protein with veggies. And I didn’t photograph any of it. Blerg. So, I guess I really photographed way less than half of my meals. Let’s see if I can remember what I ate. Monday night we had crab cakes that Jason brought back from the coast (or was that Sunday?). Tuesday night we went out to eat and I got fried catfish (low carb, not no carb) with crispy kale and coleslaw. Wednesday I had… oh gosh… what did I have on Wednesday….Oh, grilled chicken with corn and roasted tomato salad. Thursday, I made salmon and attempted to recreate the crispy kale I had in the restaurant on Tuesday but it wasn’t nearly as good as the restaurant version. Tonight, we’ll probably grill something… maybe pork… and I’ll saute a very large zucchini squash I bought at the farmer’s market (which is also where the eggs and kale came from. support your local peeps, y’all).

I weighed myself today and I’m down 1.5 pounds from when I started. Woo hoo! So, I had some froyo to celebrate.

And if I’m being honest, I celebrated on Tuesday and last Sunday, too. Oopsies.

Oh, there were also a couple of bowls of fruit randomly thrown in there when all I really wanted was froyo but was exercising my willpower. It was sort of a good substitute, but not really. I mean, it tasted delicious but was just missing my beloved sweet, creamy and awesome froyo.

(fitness) Summer Weight 2012 - Week 1

hi!

Remember me? I’m that girl who was all gung-ho about working out and eating low carb 9 days ago. Well, here’s a tip: Don’t commit yourself to a workout plan the day before your lady parts visitor comes. This past week, I managed to work out twice. And pretty much every dinner was ice cream or potato chips and wine. definitely wine. It didn’t help that Jason was out of town, so I didn’t really have anyone to suggest I eat more well balanced meals this past week.

Anyways, this is a pretty lame update, but I promised I’d write one each week, so this is it. This coming week will be better. Swear. I’ve stocked up on eggs and vegetables and chicken - my main low carb diet foods.

Anyone else have a better go of it?

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fitness

(fitness) Goals and a Game Plan

Alright, y’all said you wanted to hear about it, so prepare to hear all about my attempts at getting in shape for the summer. I just want to say that I am not a nutritionist or a doctor or a professional trainer. I’m just a girl who is willing to live off sticks and leaves for a little while to catch a case of the skinnies. So, if you decide to do what I say without consulting with any of the above three, you do so at your own risk. Capiche?

Alright, so to get this sweat party started, we need to set some goals and a gameplan, so that’s what this post is going to cover in case you didn’t already figure that out based on the title.

Let’s talk goals first. My “summer weight” is about 6.5 pounds from where I am now. So, that’s what I want to shed, 6.5 el-bees, and that’s my main goal. However, I find it easier to stick to a big goal if I set little goals on the way. These aren’t weight related, but more like little mini summer milestones to keep me focused on my big goal. Here are my ministones (get it?):

Memorial Day. I managed to get through New Orleans without putting a bathing suit on, but I’ll probably not have the same luck on Memorial Day weekend, aka the official start of summer in my book. This is in two weeks.
In June, I’m in my friend Katie’s wedding. Our dresses are strapless and cute and I want to look cute in it. This is 6 weeks away.
July 4^th. We always go to the beach for the 4^th and it’s probably the most important day of the whole year to be skinny. I guess I’d really like to have all 6.5 pounds gone by then. This is in 7.5 weeks.

So, that’s 6.5 pounds in 7.5 weeks. The internet tells me this is doable. Plus, I had a big bathroom visit this morning so I’m pretty sure I’m already down at least 0.5 pounds since I weighed myself when I first woke up. TMI?

Now, we need a game plan. And when I say game plan we need to figure out exercise and diet. Y’all know I love me some Tracy Anderson Metamorphosis and if you want to get serious about getting in shape, I highly suggest you purchase it for yourself and follow it to a tee for the first 90 days.

Since I already did that last summer, I plan to follow a modified version of her plan. I, The Daily Julie, solemnly swear to workout with the Trac-inator for five days per week, one hour per day. Tracy says to work out 6 days, but I prefer to take Mondays and Fridays off. Since I’ve already taken this whole week off (It took me a few days to recover from NOLA. Sorry I’m not sorry), I’m starting back up on Sunday and going from there. I’ll report back on Friday to share my stories.

As for diet, I’m going low carb, y’all. In all my life, I’ve felt the fittest, skinniest, and hottest when I’ve cut out carbs. And I’ve also learned that I can really only cut out one thing at a time. If I were going low carb and low fat you might as well just punch me now because I will be the hangriest (hungriest + angriest) beyotch ever. Plus, and this sounds weird, but I notice that mosquitoes don’t bite me when I’m eating low carb. I don’t know why and I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but it’s true. And since there is a creek behind my house and mosquitoes are everywhere, this is a huge diet perk.

Low carb is not to be confused with no carb and I’m following my own diet plan not Atkins, South Beach or Mediterranean. Basically, I think if it comes from the ground or is raised on the earth it’s okay to consume. This means fruit is a-okay in my book. Here’s what else is okay:

Beer and wine, because duh.
Coffee. Technically I don’t even think coffee has carbs.
Vegetables
Lean proteins and maybe even not so lean ones like bacon
Cheese
Truvia
Fruit. Already said that.
I may try this (click and scroll down) Paleo bread if I’m itching for some carbage down the road. Top it with unsweetened cashew butter and a drizzle of honey and that sounds great.
Honey
Eggs
A piece of cake at my friend’s wedding because wedding cake is the best cake ever and I only eat it like three times a year these days.

And here’s what is not okay to toss down the hatch into the garbage disposal (when I was younger my parents called me a human garbage disposal because I would eat just about anything. true story):

Frozen yogurt. Sigh. This is my summertime weakness.
Steak for every meal. barf.
Bread. This one is really going to be hard. See, you don’t know this but for Christmas I got a bread machine and my Great Uncle Tony has the best bread recipe ever and every weekend I make a fresh loaf of bread that we eat off of during the week. My favorite thing to do is slice a piece of the bread off right when it’s done cooking and is actually too hot to even touch but I touch it anyway and then I slather chocolate-almond butter all over it and gets all melty and is warm and delicious. OMG! I will miss you, hot bread with chocolate-almond butter.
Chocolate-almond butter…. and all chocolate and candy. When I was a teenager I remember eating tons and tons of Skittles all the time because they were “fat free” and therefore “okay.” Oh what little I knew about…erm… anything. Processed sugar is bad and candy has sugar. Sucks for me.
Pasta and rice. duh.
Also, I’m not going to eat those fake sugar bars and candy. I won’t do it. I swear! Though, I do use truvia in my coffee, but it’s the only fake sugar I eat. I promise.

So that about captures what I’m looking at for the next 7.5 weeks, and of course, I’ll blog every stupid detail about every stupid thing I eat and stupid workout I do. I think my plan is doable. Are you with me? What is your goal and ministones? Are you going to do TAM and low carb? Or do you have another tried and true methodology that I need to know about. Even if it’s crazy, I want to know what works for you. I’m seriously serious. For really real.

(fitness) One year later

(look ma! It’s a little exercise angel!)

Sacre bleu! I almost let this day pass me by without documenting that today marks one year since I started Tracy Anderson’s Metamorphosis (TAM) program. I had previously done her boot camp book and worked out with the myriad of YouTube videos available (for free!) but it was May 1, 2011 that I took the plunge into Metamorphosis. Here’s that year by the numbers:

1,435,329: The number of times (I feel like) I have pureed, juiced, blended, and chopped to adhere to Tracy’s dynamic eating plan (ugh).

221: The actual number of times I’ve worked out in the last year. Tracy recommends working out 6 days a week with one rest day. Obviously, I took a few more rest days.

117: The approximate hours of sleep I have lost by getting up at 5:15 in the morning to workout before work. It’s much easier to get up in the morning when the days are longer.

14: The number of various Pandora stations I have to get my groove on while I workout. I had two before: Britney and Christmas.

7: The number of workout bottoms I own.

2: The number of tops that match those bottoms.

0: The number of times I have actually cared what I am wearing while I workout because I don’t need to look cute for anyone while I jump around my basement.

This is the first workout program that I’ve actually stuck with for more than a month. And I can honestly say, I’ll keep doing it as long as Tracy keeps putting out new content. I have not gotten bored once. Sure, sometimes I hate her guts (you want me to twist that how?!?!) but deep down, I really do love her and her masochistic method. Anyone else know what I’m talkin’ bout? Have you tried TAM? What do you think?

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tracy anderson, final recap

I am taking a break from willing all the Missoni for Target goods to be there when I get to Target to bring you my final TAM recap. I finished the program last Saturday, but it’s taken me a few days to get all of my thoughts on it together.

It was an experience. A journey. A reflection. So, without further ado…

Here we are. The end of my Metamorphosis journey. When I started this program, I honestly was not sure that I would make it to the end. But with the help of blogging about it and the amazing peeps that have come out of the woodwork to lend their encouragement and inspiration, I did it! I know many of you are either beginning or thinking about beginning Metamorphosis and to you, I say… you can do it! and you should.

If I had to sum up this program in a nutshell, I’d say: I love it. I recommend it to everyone.

It was not without its trials and tribulations. Remember on level 3 when I thought my ankles were going to fall apart or when I just didn’t want to do it any more but then I just kept going. There were days I loved the program and days I loathed the program. There was never(!) an easy day on the program. It was always challenging. It was always up to me to make sure it got done.

And I did it.

And that feels really good.

In fact, as you’re reading this I’m already two days in to Continuity (the next step of Metamorphosis). Can you believe it? I’ve decided to stick with this program for another nine months. That’s how much I love/hate it. Or maybe I’m just crazy. I dunno.

With that said, this will probably be my last blog post dedicated solely to TAM. I will always answer any questions you might have (leave a comment or email me), but I’m not really sure what else there is to say anymore except that the program is awesome and hard and I think that Tracy is one of those crazy genius people. And if she were a chef and not an exercise trainer she would probably mix jelly and peanut butter and come up with chocolate. Basically, she’d do something that people think is impossible and make it possible.

Read on for my overall stats and even more thoughts on the program. I sure am thoughty today.

Overall Stats: And here is the part where I tell you the fruits of my labor. When I started this program, I was hoping to lose 10 pounds. Looking back at that number, that is a lot. And truthfully, probably more than I need(ed) to lose. All in all, by the end of level 9 of Metamorphosis, I had lost half a pound. Not much. Not much at all.

But when I look at the inches I lost, I lost one inch on each of my arms, for a total of two inches there. I lost one inch off my waist. I lost 2.5 inches off my hips and I lost 0.25 inches of each of my thighs for a total of half an inch. So, if you are good at math, you can see that I lost a total of six inches all over.

I am stunned. I’ve dropped a size in jeans and if they have some stretch to them, I can actually go down two sizes from where I started and they still fit fine. I have a dress that I’ve loved for a long time that I haven’t been able to wear because the silk stretches too much over my hips. Not anymore. It fits!

Final thoughts. I think the main reason I love this program is because I feel free. After 90 days, I have learned that if I put in the effort (which for me is one hour per day 5-6 days a week), then I can eat pretty much anything I want and not worry about it.

For once in an exercise program, the work I put into it is exactly proportionate to what I get out of it. I think working out hard core for one hour a day is a lot! And with this program, I can actually tell that I have been working out. Unlike in the past, when I would bust my butt at spin class and pilates and still didn’t see any inkling of the shape I want, I can tell now that I’m on the road to a body that I want and that I will own.

For the first eight weeks, I followed Tracy’s diet plan five days out of the week which largely consisted of protein bars, lean meats and veggies and was very structured. During those eight weeks, I lost at the lowest point, five pounds. But even at five pounds less, I had only lost four inches total. If I had followed the diet for the entire time to a T, I probably would have lost those ten pounds, I have no doubt about that, but if I can enjoy french fries and cheese and pie in moderation and still lose the inches, I’ll take it!

Also, I will never ever again be envious of a celebrity’s body. Sure, they may get Tracy Anderson in person and not in their DVD player, and sure, they may have bookoos of money to hire a chef and get all the finest ingredients delivered to their door, but they still have to put in the work. And getting your butt out of bed an hour earlier and to workout when all you want to do in the whole world is sleep is no easy feat. And neither is saying no to chocolate and ice cream every other time it’s offered to you.

In fact, if you can do that, I think you are 95% there.

Thanks for following me on my TAM journey!

Now, if you’ll excusie moi, I’m off to pat myself on the back.

(p.s. If you missed my previous recaps, check out week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, week 6, week 7, week 8, week 9, week 10, week 11, week 12, free stuff, week 15, week 16 and week 17)

UPDATE: I did want to include a true “after” photo for y’all but my plans to go to the beach over labor day were foiled and even though I’ve lost six inches, I’m pretty sure that no one wants to see my pasty self in a bikini with visible self tanner lines around my upper thigh and shoulders (don’t want to waste my good self tanner cover a tummy and back no one sees, duh!) So, you’ll just have to pretty much stick with this one.

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tracy anderson, i know

Happy Friday, friends!

So, I know I’m supposed to have my final Tracy Anderson recap ready for you today, but I actually have one more workout to do. I got sidetracked from working out on Saturday because it was NCSU football day and then I didn’t work out on Wednesday because I had to hear all the details from my gal who just got engaged. So, real life fun stuff won out over exercise and I now have one more day of level 9 torture to squeeze in and then I will have a full recap complete with my final stats and lots of my thoughts on the program as a whole.

So, can you hold out just a few more days? Pretty please with sugar and cherries and sprinkles and fro-yo on top?

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Tracy Anderson Recap, Week 17

hi! and happy Friday, friends!

This picture can pretty much describe how I feel about the fact that today is Friday and it’s my rest day and Tracy workouts were so good this week. So hard, but so good! But before I get to the nitty gritty details, I have to tell you a quick story because I was so embarrassed and the whole world needs to know.

So, my neighbor’s kids got a cute little jack russell terrier who is 14 weeks old and named Lucy. She comes over to play with Cole all the time. Cole loves small dogs and always is super gentle but still playful with them and Lucy is just cute as can be… she rolls over when Cole comes near and then also playfully paws his nose when Cole wants to just lay down. It’s adorable! Anywho, last night, they were playing in our backyard, per usual, when all of a sudden, Cole cocks his leg to one side and started peeing all over Lucy! She is about 7 pounds to his 70 pounds so you can picture how much pee was spewing all over her… and she just stood there getting her golden shower. Oh emmmm geee!

Thank goodness for the fact that the dogs were next to a tree that blocked the view from my neighbors kid who was out there watching the dogs play so I am the only one that saw the incident. I quickly encouraged both dogs to run around and roll in all the dirt and then told my neighbor’s kid that he would probably want to give Lucy a bath before his mom got home since she got so dirty playing in the dirt. I mean, I couldn’t tell him that my dog peed on his dog because he would have definitely told his mom who is already a little standoffish and I want her to like me. So my plan was to get Lucy as filthy as possible so he had no choice but to bathe her. Then, when my neighbors kid had to run inside for a hot sec and asked me to watch Lucy, I grabbed a big leaf and tried to wipe the pee off of her which just wound up making the pee/dirt mixture grind further into her coat. Which I guess was good for my plan to get her dirty but definitely not what I intended to happen… I actually thought I might get her cleaner. Wrong.

Am I a terrible person/dog owner. What would you have done?

Whew, with that confession out of the way lets get on with this week’s recap. This is a short and sweet one because I’m almost totally done with Metamorphosis (5 workouts to go!), and I will have a super long and complete recap of my thoughts on the whole program for ya next week.

Exercise. This week was level 9. dum dum dummmmmmmm. I would describe level 9 as totally killer, but I think completely murderous would be a better description of it. The first time I did it I couldn’t even stand up straight afterward because my legs would not stop shaking. Somehow I managed 15 minutes of cardio before they would cooperate no more. And oh brother… was I ever sore! Now that I’m halfway through level 9, the quivering has died down to a minimum, but I would venture to say that I am as sweaty and out of breath and the mat work in level 9 as I am after the dance cardio. It is totally killer, but I am seeing some great results. I mean, I think I am. I will take my actual (and final!) measurements next week so I’ll know for sure then.

Food. I’m still sticking with my plan to eat as healthy as I can. I have the occasional indulgence but I try to balance it out. For example, yesterday I forgot to bring my afternoon snack and I was SO hungry at 2:30, so I got a bag of Doritos for the vending machine. But to offset that junk food, I stuck with a sugar snap pea salad (peas, tomato, and avocado) topped with shrimp, lemon juice and rice wine vinegar (no oil). Balance, people, balance.

Overall stats. I’m down one pound from last week. woot woot!

Overall thoughts. I’m saving them up for next week’s grand finale. Tune in, mofrickas!

(p.s. If you missed my previous recaps, check out week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, week 6, week 7, week 8, week 9, week 10, week 11, week 12, free stuff, week 15, and week 16)

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Tracy Anderson Recap, Week 16

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sigh.

I really, really, really did/do not want to write a recap this week. This week was tough on the TAM. I lacked any sort of serious motivation and only worked out four times and skipped cardio twice. And I ate everything and anything I wanted. I swear to holy jeebus that when I peed yesterday it smelled like guacamole. I wish I was kidding.

I finished up level 8 on Wednesday and I have one level to go. I sort of feel like I self sabotage myself a bit toward the end of every level by going on a binge and eating all the things and I feel like that’s kicked into high gear now that I’m almost done with the program. Why I do this to myself I do not know. What is wrong with me? I work so hard at the exercise (with the exception of this week), and then I just stuff my face with everything I can find for a few days on end.

Salty. Sweet. Salty. Sweet. ( me alternating handfuls of food in the pantry)

I really need to set myself straight and finish out this program with a bang. Not sure the hows whens whats or whys that will happen, but it needs to. Suggestions welcome.

I have stats this week, but they really aren’t all that different from the past two levels and I don’t really want to post them today. My weight has not budged any lower (in fact, it has gone up to just half a pound less than when I started. the horror. and I know it’s all my fault.)

I know what I eat is super important but I’ve been finding myself wavering this week between knowing what I’m eating is bad and not caring and knowing what I’m eating is bad and feeling guilty. I’m not really sure what all I’m trying to say here, but this is my lame attempt at a recap this week. I did not follow any diet and I did a mediocre job at following the exercise this week and it showed.

blerg.

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Tracy Anderson Recap, week ? crap! what week are we on?…15!

(bikini body inspiration. the middle one)

Holy smokes. I can’t believe we are on week 15 of the TAM program. And by we, I obviously mean me, since I’m the one who is lit-rally working her booty off.

I know I missed last week’s recap because of the insanity that is real life, but let’s just pick up right where we are today, okay?

I’m halfway through level 8.

Eeeek!

Exercise. There are only nine levels which means I have exactly 15 workouts left, five in level 8 and then the ten in level 9. When I was around level 5, I remember thinking to myself there is just no way this can keep working. Guess who was wrong? Me.

I am continually amazed that the results keep coming. I don’t mean to sound like an infomercial, but it’s legit guys. I swear that my stomach has never been flatter. Never. And my hips… don’t even get me started on how excited I am that my hips are still shrinking! Would you believe me if I told you I am really enjoying level 8, even more than the previous level? Am I nuts? I don’t know. But I like it. It hurts so good.

Food. As for diet these past couple of weeks, I haven’t been following Tracy’s diet. I’ve just been trying to really eat healthy and keep my focus on staying balanced. My meals have largely consisted of the Fitnessista’s breakfast cookie or a smoothie for breakfast. A Kind bar for a mid-morning snack, Oh She Glows protein power bowl for lunch, and something from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook for dinner.

I’ve pretty much reached the point where I’ve also decided to continue the Metamorphosis program with Continuity. It’s the next step after Metamorphosis and is another 9 months of workouts. It basically works out to $29.99 a month which is what I was paying for a gym membership. I cancelled that gym membership and haven’t looked back.

Overall Stats. I’ll have my level 8 measurements for ya next week, okay?

Earlier, I asked you to send in your questions if you had any. Keep reading for my answers!

Hi! I’m on week 1 (day 5) of the TAM, and loving it so far (but hurting OMG so much). I know you made some modifications to the diet…can you elaborate? And…I (like you) plan to cheat on the weekends….do you think that made a huge difference? Thx!

Yes, most of my modifications were substitutions to either save time or because I couldn’t find the ingredients Tracy wanted. For the blueberry applesauce, I bought premade berry applesauce from Trader Joe’s. I also eschewed the power juice after the first week and just bought freshly pressed juices from my local Whole Foods. I used frozen, bagged corn (which I thawed out) in the sweet potato and corn pudding, and I also used tofu in lieu of chestnuts in the chocolate pudding. I also added in an extra snack because I got so hungry mid morning.

I did let myself have free reign on the weekends, but I definitely did not use it as an excuse to eat all the cake I wanted. I still tried to stick to lean proteins and vegetables but I didn’t sweat it if I ate a hot dog and drank a beer at a cookout, I’d just skip the potato salad and opt for the fresh veggies. I don’t think it made too huge of a difference, but I also don’t/didn’t have much weight to lose. I’d adjust how much you cheat to how much of an improvement you’d like to make as I think diet contributes about 75%, if not more, to the success of any fitness program.

Hi Julie! I’ve been very interested in trying TAM and asked for the DVD set for my birthday. Did you stay on a very strict diet or were all your results from just doing TAM?

Oh yay! I hope someone buys it for you and that you love it! I followed the diet about 80% of the time for the first eight weeks. After that, I’ve been just trying to eat healthy but with a lot of variety. I like to cook and I like to try new things so I was getting really bored with the diet! I will say that I’m still seeing and/or maintaining my same results.

You can be the judge when I wrap up this program and post my true “before and afters”!

hey julie — love your blog; you are adorable! i am currently on level 5 abcentric, and i am now CONVINCED that i need to switch to hipcentric — i totally look like a pear right now! do you think i should finish abcentric, then do hipcentric continuity?

Yikes! I am not sure that I’m the best person to answer this since I have zero zilch nada idea what the abcentric workout is like. I will tell you that I think our bodies change in different locations at different rates. A couple levels ago, I was certain I should have gotten abcentric since my pooch was still just hanging out while my hips were a’shrinkin’ away. But, that’s all changed now that I’m on level 8. I feel like my tummy is catching up to the rest of my bod. I think since you are halfway, you should go ahead and finish out abcentric and give it your all before making any decisions. If your experience is anything like mine, you’ll even out by the end. Just think… you’re halfway done right now. If you were a cake baking in the oven, you’d be nice and firm on the edges but still soft and gooey in the middle. So just finish out the 90 days … let it all cook… and I’d be willing to bet that you’ll be firm all over by then.

Does hipcentric also take care of the top of one’s thighs? i used to be super skinny but i feel like they are super jiggly! any opinions from your research? thanks! love, coco

I’m not sure what area counts as the top of your things… like the quads? or the saddlebags? or just the upper region on the side? But I would say yes. all over. As women, that area(s?) will always be a little jiggly (and ask any dude and they’ll probably tell you they like it that way), but I think hipcentric really tones it up as much as it can. I’ve never really seen results there or anywhere on my hips until I started TAM.

(p.s. If you missed my previous recaps, check out week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, week 6, week 7, week 8, week 9, week 10, week 11, week 12 and free stuff)

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Tracy Anderson FREE STUFF

If everything went according to plan, I’m at the lake right now and about to hop on a boat with a cold drink in my hand. So, in lieu of my regular TAM recap, I’d like to share with you this list of every available Tracy Anderson workout that you can currently get for free on the internet.

Tracy is really great about providing tons of content free of charge. Many of these videos, combined with her book, are what got me hooked on her method in the first place.

Complete list after the jump!

Malawi webisode – Abs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64F1dhXFLo8&feature=channel

Malawi webisode – Arms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD1Zz58oILc

Malawi webisode – Butt&thigh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7RDfw0NuZ8&feature=related

Standing abs with Anna (Valentine V)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay2sD6ZWA0Y

HAMPTONS webisode : butt & thighs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNxG2mSZcGc&feature=related

HAMPTONS webisode : abs + arms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKbVQfEe2c4&feature=related

Gwyneth Legs/Iron man workout part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncb8e2Q-d_w&feature=related

Gwyneth Legs/Iron man workout part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtpxhJ1Easg&feature=related

Adidas webisode: butt & thigh, abs + arms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taCiMBFc0sc&feature=related

New Year webisode (whole body 10 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBHFWnsORmQ&feature=related

February webisode (whole body 10 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bya5c-0dv2k&feature=related