Crazy scientist in action......

Level: C1.1.2

Day: 6

Every morning I get up and try to put the pieces of my life together. I try to find a balance. And sometimes I succeed. But very often I don't succeed. I procrastinate a lot and get little done. Or then when I reach the times of lots of deadlines, I get lots and lots done, but get completely exhausted. I sleep 6 hours a day, I stay in the office till 10-11 in the evening. Even on Sunday. And this is sad. Very sad. A person who does that has no personal life. Or at least in my case - personal life which is now on the other side of the globe... And I have not worked out in the past two days.

Today though I woke up and decided - the hell with work, with all the presentations, students, papers waiting for me... with all the emails hanging there in my mailbox to be answered... I decided to work out - even if at least for half an hour. And I did. I did 15 minutes of DC and full MS. Day 6 of level 2 today. It was good, and I feel like I am back on track. 

Tomorrow I have a meeting and a workshop (which I am giving, not taking), I still have to finish preparation for it, so will get up early, but will try to squeeze the workout in - even if only MS and in the evening.

But couple of updates about some of my goals.

1. I have not had any alcohol at all for the past 3 weeks. And to be honest, I was not even tempted. Strangely enough - considering how much I love wine and beer. But my sweetheart is coming back soon, so we will have a nice glass of wine somewhere nice. Mmmmm can't wait!

2. I GOT MY DRIVING LICENSE!!!! I know it is a bit late to do it in my age - but better late than never. It took me 5 long months, 30 hours of theory in German, 60 hours of driving and 2000 Euros... Not the fastest, nor cheapest way, but at least I am with a driving license now - so the goal reached. I still need to have a drink for it ;)

3. I have had no problem eating no red meat recently. But the thing is that I rarely have time to eat at all. That's not good. I survive on salads I get on the way to the office... I buy some tuna steaks, salmon or chicken and at lunch time simply cook them in the microwave (it takes like 2 minutes!) and through together with the salad. No time for cooking, and I have not been eating extremely healthy. But I buy lots of fruit and veg, and eat them all every day. :) I lost a kilo more since I started Continuity, and am now at my lowest low... Last time I was this light I was 16 or something. But really, as soon as my bf will come back and there will be someone to take care of me - the crazy scientist - I will get that kilo back :) So I'm not worried. :)

This is how small I am these days.... Freaky actually :)

That's it for now. Nearly midnight on my side of the globe... I'm exhausted and there is a long day ahead of me tomorrow. In the end of the week I am traveling to Hanover for a conference, so will disappear again for a while. But I am alive, folks :))) Just waaaay too busy.

Ups and dooowns...

Today was a hard day. It still is. First, it's hot. It is 35C (which is about 95F) and you might laugh at me, but I come from the place it rarely goes over 25... At 30 my head starts spinning, at 35 I have to restart the system, 40 can cause a permanent damage... Hey but honestly - jokes aside - it is hard for me! This is one of the BIG reasons I love Bremen so much: it rarely is above 20 in the summer and almost never below -10 in winter... Perfect 30 degrees range I (and my skin) can tolerate (and I don't give a damn about rains). And even still, I will have to shock some people, but sometimes I might prefer -30C to +30C. Of course when I am in a swimming pool or sea, +30C is kinda better... But anyway, 35C today - with little or no breeze, no air-conditioning, no sea, in basically a city... I find that mind-blowing. 

I woke up pretty early in the morning when it was still sort of fresh, but by 11 I had a pounding headache... I did DC, but every jump caused violent attacks on my brain, so I stopped after 15 minutes - and being completely exhausted (mind you I was doing it in nearly sauna!) I did MS, and that went better, but still hard. My thighs and butt were screaming to stop - they were on fire really. But I made it through AND I made a little discovery for myself today. I finally noticed that Omni is actually Omni, i.e. working on everything! Previously I never noticed how much other parts of the body work during leg lifts. Today - I was pretty surprised! I felt them in my legs, butt, abs, arms, back... Perfect!

I actually feel drained, exhausted and sticky the whole day. I do need some rest, hence I am happy just from the thought I will have my rest day tomorrow. I think my headaches are only getting worse from all the work on the computer, but what can I do?! I did work for at least 4 hours today in my favourite place so far - the old fire-station, very spacey and airy, love it!  

And I will have to do 2 more now, but at least I am at home, and not in the heat of the day. And I will go to bed early today - need some sleep. Talking of sleep, I found this great iPhone app - Azumio Sleep Time. It apparently trakcs your movement while you sleep to determine when your sleep is light, deep or REM. You can set it up to wake you in a half hour range in the best time, i.e. when you are in a light phase of sleep - this will help you wake up easier, be more full of energy and not abuse your snooze!!! I tried it today - and you know what, it worked! I even forgot to turn on the sound, so it woke me up just with the vibration - and you have to know I am a very deep sleeper, I rarely hear a very loud alarm. I was surprised! Gonna try it again tonight, and will try to get at least 8-9 hours of sleep. Everyone, very recommended app! (I guess though it is only for those who sleep alone LOL, cos otherwise it would track both people's movements... >_< One positive thing about sleeping alone!)

C1.1.2 killer? or just a new level?

It's official: I started level 2 of Continuity 1.1. And well, I heard lots and lots about this level - that it is tough and really really challenging. Well, to be honest, it is hard, but I didn't find it harder than some of the levels in Meta. It had lots of exercises, it is almost 5 minutes longer than level 1, and yes - the moves are tough. But some similar moves we did in Meta, and I would say they are doable... But that said, I do think I will have some sore muscles tomorrow! During MS I felt like my ass was on fire, and after that I was a bit exhausted. Needed (and still do actually) a nap. 

In two weeks I'm moving to a different office, and there I will have a big fat couch... and you can laugh at me, but I will start taking naps in the middle of the day. And I am afraid I will start living in my office at some point. :)))) Ooops.

OK, so great weekend to you all! I'm going back to work and thinking of a holiday in December. Sigh.

Tracy Anderson C1.1.1 results in numbers

Hey you guys! As I have not uploaded my results in numbers from Meta (yet), I thought to upload the results at least now after level 1 of Continuity... I don't think things changed much since Meta, but overall, I am happy about what I have achieved so far. I don't think from now on there will be much change in the cm/inches or kilos, but more in the way I look, but I am still expecting a little bit of change in things and bikini area. I have to say - this is my problematic zone somewhat, but hey - I am working on it! :) 

So here we are.

Boobs: -3 cm (that is NOT good!)

Under boobs: -5 cm

Waist: -8 cm

Hips: -6 cm

Thighs: -3 cm

Left bikini: -7 cm

Right bikini: -7 cm

Arm: -2 cm

Wight: -5.1 kg

These are the results since the time I started Metamorphosis in February 2012. It is almost exactly 6 months now into the Tracy Anderson method and I am still loving it! Most important things for me - there are no push-ups and exercises like that, and it works for me. What else do you need? If you found something that works for you - don't waste it!!!!

I am happy and satisfied. Today is the first day of level 2. I'm excited! Going to preview it now, then workout, and a long working day for me today. Sigh. I know it's Saturday, but I had a pretty unproductive working week, so busy Saturday for me today.

Cheers y'all! Have nice weekends! Not like me :)

Day 100: it is never easy...

These are the sunny, hot days of the end of the summer...

... and it is so so so hard to workout or work for that matter. I'm trying to concentrate, but it's hard. I work out in the very early morning and then late evening. I simply can not come to working out during the day... At the university we don't have conditioner, so I'm sitting in my office in shorts and T-shirt and sweating like crazy. It's not necessarily bad, but not very pleasant either to be honest...

Level: C1.1.1

Day: 10

So, day 100 today. Yes. Just thought about it. If Meta had 90 days, and I'm finishing the first level of Continuity, then I'm on day 100 now. Reason for a small celebration I think! (Well, to my mind, there is always a reason for a celebration - or at least as often as possible!) The first level was not difficult really. You get used to the balancing moves after 2-3 days, and I have done the MS starting with day 7 with ankle- and wrist-weights. 

I am quite honestly dreading level 2 though... I have not previewed it yet, but will do in the evening. But I heard the first level lets you get used to the new DC and take a breather after level 9, and then the challenges start again. We'll see though won't we?

I still like the DC. More than the Meta one, but then again - it might be because I did Meta DC for much longer. 

As regards to the rest of the things. Hmmm. I am sticking to my anti-alcohol diet. It is actually easy. Sometimes I have a non-alcoholic beer, but that's all. My work is sometimes something like this: 

Laptop, non-alcoholic beer, coffee and sunshine... What else do you need?!

It takes a lot of time, but I am trying hard. Had a few downs in the past couple of weeks in terms of work, but I am not giving up. I know I CAN do it! I am still working on Chapters 5 and 6, but I might be able to finish 5 soon.

I have also been pretty OK with waking up early, but I still procrastinate a lot. I have no idea how to get rid of that. Any ideas? I simply spend hours online, googling things, reading articles - something completely NON-essential for my PhD... But I LOVE the workouts - they give me energy and I feel much better after them.

So level 2 of Continuity tomorrow!

PS Sorry for may be not being as cheerful as I normally am... I am pretty upset today. It was the day when Pussy Riot - if you haven't heard about it check out some info here (btw, I am impressed how fast this was updated by Wiki - the sentence was there already half an hour after its announcement!!! efficient) - were sentenced to two years each for singing in the church punk-protest... I mean, it might have been crossing the border a little bit, but did NOT deserve 2 years in jail for goodness sake!!! May be 2 months public service or a fine... But 2 years??!! in jail??!!

Tracy Anderson Metamorphosis GRAND results: before and after pictures

It is nearly 6 months since I started TAM now. I started in February with a little bit of DC and mat DVD. Then I started Meta on 20th of February. I finished it on July 28th. Yes, it took me waaaay longer than 3 months. 5 to be precise. So Meta took me longer to finish. But I did in the end. I am now on to Continuity, but that is all a different story.

Today I wanted to share with you some of my Meta results. Long promised. Long awaited. As I mentioned before, I was a bit reluctant to post anything, as - well truth be told - I was not eating my best in the past 2 months of Meta. Don't get me wrong, it was mostly healthy (with very very very rare food binges), but it was not really a diet - i.e. it was quite a lot of food in the end. But then, I am addicted to good food. I love it. I cherish it. I can't live without it. So being in Switzerland for a month, I just could NOT not eat cheese cheese and cheese. All the raclettes, fondues, cheese platters... Plus my bf was taking care of me - which he did absolutely amazing, anyone can envy me - but it meant we ate a little more than i normally eat. And he also spoils me like crazy - so I had M&M's and Raffaellos almost every day. Sigh. 

So... well. Bottom line - diet was NOT the best last 2 months. But then it all showed me how much the Meta workouts can do for me to keep up with what I achieved. So obviously I did not lose any weight in the past 2 months (which is fine with me - I already reached the upper boundary of my goal weight). I also think I became less skiny. But then, I also feel I became more shapely in the right places, muscley - also in the right places, but not bulky at all. You can't really see the muscle, but I - I can feel it! Yeay! :) 

All in all, great good Meta did to me. I did not stress too much about missing days at times, and repeating levels when necessary. Meta made me more organised, and hell - now I know I can do it. The first 2 weeks kilos were running away from me - honestly! The energy, the strength, the confidence that I feel now are so great, that even if I did not lose any kilos, I would have still loved it. :) But I did, and I am happy. I also lost at least 1 size in clothes - I'm wearing confident 34 now, and very tight 32. Before it was 36-38. People notice that I lost weight, and tell me so, even though I didn't really need to lose so much. And I think the biggest change happened somewhere mid-way (even though I was already off diet), because even the least observant people noticed the change in me - the main reason for that was that finally my face caught up with the weight loss, and became a bit less round. :)

I love the way i look in a bikini. I bought TONS of new clothes - and what a pleasure it is to buy closes smaller and see them fit you well and nice! I love the new dresses I bought - and coming soon the dirndl! Will show you the pretty little thing I bought for the Oktoberfest I am going to in September. 

So pictures are bellow. :) I am so proud of myself, I can't stop beaming. And today the workout was great, I added wrist and ankle weights for MS, what a pleasure!

The love handles became so much smaller, and now they are kinda cute... Not hanging, but sexy. :) My butt has never looked like that - it is round and out there. I never had a round butt! I'm honest. I thought I would live my life with a flat butt. And here you go: a cute round butt!

All in all I lost around 9 cm in the waist and hips (each), 2 - in arms, around 10 in bikini area, and 8 in thighs. It might not be so visible, but I did have to buy new jeans - all the old ones were hanging on me! I love that I am toned, but not over-muscley. The only thing that I still want to work on is the thigh area,esp inner-thighs. :) Omni Continuity it is :)

Good luck to everyone who are only starting or in the middle and not getting results - you will! I love how TAM works, and am going for now to continue doing it. :)

Bonus arms

Level: C1.1.1

Day: 2

I know, I know... Three posts in one day is kinda crazy, but hey - its Sunday! :) And I forgot to mention something yesterday... 

Bonus arms. Yes, Continuity comes with a bonus - an extra 5 minutes of arms exercises without weights (but with wrist weights as an option). They also change every ten workouts, but actually they repeat in levels 1, 3, and 9 of Continuity I think. Nevertheless, the extra little bits for arms are great! They are designed to get that wonderful lean look in your arms. Mmmmm.

It is also done against the clean white background, and in a position on your knees on the mat. Tracy is sexy as usual, and the pace is relaxed, but the moves are quite fast. Delightful! 

I tried it yesterday without wrist weights, and today - with them on. And I feel quite the difference! I have also tried several different wrist weights, and I found these ones the most convenient: they have a loop for the big finger, so they don't move on your wrist. This is particularly handy for someone like me: I have very small wrists, and narrow hands. So it was really difficult to secure other weights in place. But these ones work great. And I am using only 0.5 kilo weights - I don't want any bulk in my arms, and they seem to get sort of bulky easily. :)

I can't wait for some awesome results!!!

Meta SALE! - SOLD

Hi guys, I am selling my Metamorphosis Omnicentric discs. Need to move on, and I think I am ready to sell the discs now.

They are ALL working - every single one of them. The dick with Introduction and Cardio has a little scratch, but works fine, so just saying - there is one scratch. I ordered them directly from TAM website, so it is in original packaging (as it was sent to Europe, it is NOT in huge box, but in a small envelope).

I am located in Germany, so anywhere around Europe would be faster and easier to send to, but I can also send worldwide. For Europe I will pay for delivery, you just pay for the disks. Outside of Europe, you will have to pay extra for shipment.

Included:

• 4 discs: Intro/Cardio, Transform 1 (levels 1-3), Transform 2 (levels 4-6), Transform 3 (levels 7-9)
• Let's get started guide
• Dynamic Eating Plan
• I want to hear from you pamphlet and a welcome note from Tracy
• Workout Tracker (completely unused - I used the print-outs from the website)
• Tracy's measuring tape

Note: There is NO community log in, hence I reduce the price a little bit.

Price: 70 Euro (I bought the set initially with shipment for 110 Euro) or send your offers to me in a message! Payment via PayPal or bank transfer.

(Pictures below)

Metamorphosis - the BIG summary

Meta is over. I say it with a thrill, but at the same time with a sad smile touching my lips. I am so grateful to it, and all the same so sad it is over. I am not saying bye to you, my readers, as my journey indeed continues. Literally: Continuity is there for me. There will be more yummy foods, more reports… There still will be progressing from one level to another…

But it is sad to say bye to something that changed your life so much. Transformed me and the way I think, the way I do things, the way I think about myrself, about exercise, about healthy lifestyle… For me this was not simply the way towards a small waist – alas, you are witnesses, I never wanted (or needed either) to lose more than 7-10 cm in my waist. It was also not the way towards healthy weight – I was in the range of what is considered healthy for my age and height when I started (well at the edge of it). So, I am fully aware, you might think it all has been easier for me than for many of the older and bigger girls out there. But here comes the truth: it is hard for every single one of us, equally. Because we are not just fighting our weight, getting better looks, we are fighting the lazy and the giving-up side of ourselves – please forgive my rough language – but the looser side of us. Because losing comes from giving up. Losing comes from not bringing something to the end. From not finishing what you start. From cheating – not someone else – but yourself. The hardest job for any of us who are embarking onto this journey for self-improvement – regardless of what method you use and how you exercise – is to say a big fat “NO” to our laziness, set a goal and fight every single day.

Meta didn’t just give me the lean body I love (I have a ‘boy-ish’ complexion, so to be honest, Meta was great for me). Meta didn’t just help me lose the weight I gained leading a sedentary life and overeating… It gave me a habit of working out, of enjoying it, of knowing you are doing it for yourself. It gave me the chance to feel good – physically and psychologically. But still – the most important – it gave me strength. I know – NOW I know! – I do have the backbone. When I do set my mind onto something – I WILL do it. Now I know it.

Even though I had much less inches and weight to lose, don’t underestimate the effort it took and still takes me to exercise!!! Even though I never was overweight, I was not healthy and I am essentially a very lazy person. I had to fight my laziness every day. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And laziness is a funny thing: it finds “reasonable” arguments for you NOT to go on. Like “I don’t have time” or “I am not feeling well” (when you only started feeling unwell when you thought so) or “Nothing would happen if I don’t work out in the morning” (and you end up never finding time to work out later in the day) or “It is a whole hour! I can’t spare so much time!” – whereas the correct thinking would be “This is only half an hour and another half an hour – so little!”

I had a tough time learning how to trick the lazy side of me – or make a deal with it. I would give myself little gifts: a little chocolate, or a new nail polish, or little earrings if I had a good workout. I learnt how to count reps to trick myself – instead of counting from 1 to 40, I would count from 1 to 10 four times, or even better – I would count “1-1-1-1, 2-2-2-2 … 10-10-10-10” (something my best friend taught me) – so in the end it is almost like doing only 10 reps… well 10 reps 4 times each :))))) I argued with myself so many times during DC: my laziness would say “You don’t have time, you have a lot to do”, and my rational and critical self would reply “Ha-ha, right! You will procrastinate anyways for an hour, you might as well work out – it is at least useful!” Oh, so many-many countless days during DC the lazy-me would think

– OK, only 15 minutes, I am not feeling that well.

But with time the backbone-me learnt to counter this thinking when it is 15 minutes into DC.

– C’mon, if you did 15 minutes, you might as well do 20.

– OK, - the laziness would say. – 20 minutes it is.

And after some time:

– Hey, we did 20 minutes!

But the backbone-me would go:

–What is 20 minutes?! You did SO much already, you might as well do 5 more minutes – it’s nothing compared to 20!!!

Around the time the “homestretch” (around minute 24) of DC backbone makes the final strike:

–C’mon! You reached the homestretch, as Tracy calls it. You can’t give up NOW!!!!

At the end – when Tracy says “You made it to the end, I am so proud of you!”, my little lazy ass starts crying like a little girl saying “I was so so so wrong! Of course we could do it!” And the backbone just taps the little lazy girl on her shoulder and says “There, there!” :)

This kind of drama went on in my head almost every other day. Honestly. And if you think it is easy, you are wrong.

So, all in all, it has been a difficult journey. And it still continues. I hope you all will find strength to start a journey for self improvement! And it doesn’t have to be TAM :) This is not what I mean. Find something you always wanted to do, but had problems doing. And DO it. :) Get the strength for it, succeed in it! Overcoming your own weaknesses and imperfections – this is what makes one strong.

I CAN do it! Any bets? :)

Believe in yourself, people, challenge yourself and just go for it! Let yourself be proud of what you accomplish!

Day 91 or a new beginning!

Level: C 1.1.1

Day: 1

Today I started Continuity - finally! 

It took me a week to get back, sort out some administrative issues back in Bremen - like visas, work, meetings, and I finally did the driving theory exam! Passed it right away from first attempt, and now am really really afraid of the practical part - but everything comes in time, so I won't worry about it now.

Continuity. Ah, where do I start?!

1. I LOVE the new DC! There are many good and a few still negative things. Starting with the positives, first, it has a warm-up. The Meta DC was criticized sometimes because in it you just start jumping - off, there you go! Now the DC has a short stretching and warming up and starts with a lower-intensity jumps and moves on to higher intensity, and slows down by the end again.  Second, it has much more interesting moves and actually something similar to simple choreography. So I can now say jump-dancing, not just jumping :) But really, DC in Meta had little to do with dance - it was more of jumping with some movements. Lots of jumping jacks and so on. Now it actually has some hip movement and dancy moves - so important for a woman's body! 

See what I mean? Lots of dancing :) 

Third, I found that at least for me Tracy gave encouragement in exactly the right moments... When I needed it - here she comes and says something along the lines "Just jam with it, girl!" It feels really encouraging. Fourth, it simply is more exciting and I guess - new. By the time you get to Continuity, you are so tired of Meta DC you want to vomit :) Now I am happy about some change. That said, the DC still doesn't have the cool-down in the end (though moving slowly into MS after that provides a little bit of a sort of cool-down). Besides, I found the video montage in places badly done - the movement changes and your screen is focusing on feet and not arms, so you don't know what you are SUPPOSED to do with arms. I mostly improvised and did something, but I think this should not happen in a DC - you have to be able to see all moves. 

I mean there is a lot of legs in this one!!!!

But nonetheless, I love the DC! Wohoo!

2. I love the plain white background in Continuity (like above). I mean the design with day-light and sofa and large windows in Meta was cool. But then the moves are so much more visible on the simple white background. And it doesn't distract your mind - you concentrate on Tracy and her moves. Perfection in simplicity!

3. The MS is challenging, and I love getting back into it. It does feel a little bit easier that level 9 of Meta, though the balancing exercises are a killer!!! I am falling mostly while doing those instead of doing them actually :) But I think it will come. Also because of all the balancing you have to do, you feel that all your muscles are engaged. Amazing!

I mean how on earth are you supposed to balance on a weight... with one hand??!!

All in all, I loved my first day of Continuity. It feels good to be back on the train. :) My body was hungry for exercise, and felt so good to start moving again - finally! 

As I mentioned before, I decided to change the schedule of workouts to 3+1 instead of 6+1. This means I will workout for three days in a row and rest one day. This would mean that I will still work out 5-6 times a week at least, but I won't have one specific day for a rest day - it will rotate around the week. It will also be psychologically easier (one of the tricks for the laziness inside us - I will write more about the tricks soon), as you don't have to go on for 5 days in a row, but just 3. Easy-peasy! For this purpose I also created a new tracking calendar (follow the link to a pdf file) - which is convenient, because it starts with first workout day of the 3, and finishes with the rest day, so you can start with the next sheet with no days' skipping and so on, it will just logically flow from one to another. This was something that annoyed me in the tracker on TAM website: it has 5 workout days in the end of the page and then you have to start again with the 6... You know what I mean? Now I don't have such problem (yes, I know I am a bit of a nerd...):

You can use this if you would also like to do 3+1 schedule! Just download and use :)

As to the rest of the goals I set earlier... I am still drinking from time to time - meeting a friend today for instance for a beer. But will quit as promised on the 6th of August. I am still procrastinating... Damn it. But I am one step closer to the driving license - I passed the theory test yesterday. I didn't have any soda, I woke up at 7 several days in the row except for today - after all it is Saturday and I simply can't not rest just a little bit... I haven't gotten too far with my work, but I will tomorrow! Yey! :) I love the energy that the exercise gives me!

Challenge number two

(Results are coming, but still a little later...)

Being done with Meta means that I DID IT! I managed to win my laziness and succeed in the challenge I set for myself. But I am essentially challenging person. This is how I work and succeed: I set challenges for myself, and I do everything I can to succeed, and even if I don’t, I know I did everything I could to achieve the goal. Mostly I do succeed though. :)

These past 5 months I have had one of the most difficult challenge I have ever had. It was tough, and sometimes I did feel horrible, but never did I want to give up. But my goal of healthy lifestyle is not achieved yet. It is a much longer process. So it is time to set some new intermediate goals towards the bigger goal.

Right now I’m travelling, so there isn’t much I can do. But I am back in Bremen on the 1^st of August. This is when my new challenge starts. And I need to set several challenges, and not only for work out. So this is the list of little things that I will try to do for a month (exactly 31 day):

1. Get up every day no later than 7, be in office no later than 9 (or start working at home at 8:30).
2. Go dry: quit drinking ANY alcohol for a month (start date: August 6).
3. Quit red meat – only lean and white meat and fish.
4. Quit any soda (this is going to be quite easy I think).
5. Start Continuity (23 workouts at least: 3+1 schedule).
6. Finish Chapter 5 and 6 – fully.
7. Get the driving license.
8. Record all procrastination, don’t do more than an hour a day.

So. The list is long. I know. And it will be hard, but this is my new challenge for one more month. I will report on all these things. Right now what is important for me is my PhD – so I have to work, I have to concentrate, and the workout should help me on my way, not distract me.

Time for a New Life and New Beginnings! :)