TA Diet controversies...

Everything in the world has its critique. Everything. Everything can be praised and criticised, and in the end of the day - except for may be maths and physics - there is no ultimate truth. So in this post I wanted to raise an issue of TAM and Meta major criticism - its diet.

First and foremost, I have to say I am NO dietician or a doctor, all the statements below are only my own opinions, and what I discovered works for me. In no way am I advising anyone to follow anything I am saying below. 

So... There has been a lot of talk about the evil of TA diet... Recently I ran into this article by Rebecca Wilcox... It is pretty old already - about a year old, but well it does talk about TAM and Meta, and the diet I am currently on. 

Before I get into a long discussion about it all (which I want to try to avoid not to bore you all too much), I have to say I read all of that (the critique I mean) before I started Meta. Meta was not a rushed decision for me, it was not a whim one Sunday evening or an idea that may be I'm lacking some excitement in my life. I am not - and Meta was a choice I made after analysing the scene... I am a PhD student after all: I don't make rushed decisions normally, and I can't afford spending money without some thought behind it. I am careful in making my decisions, and would always investigate and read a lot before starting a new venture. When I needed to buy a new laptop, I actually spent a week on learning about computers, reading about them, and getting to know what characteristics were most important for me - again as a PhD student. I don't rely on advice usually (may be unfortunately - this would have made my life so much easier) and I don't believe commercials. I also don't really care how stars look - they are there and I am here, I have to be realistic and down-to-Earth. I have to understand what is good for me - just for me - and not for some rush towards a "Gwyneth body". And I think this is in a way where it started wrong for the author of the above-mentioned article... She tried to reach something she is not, and didn't listen to herself and her body.

Hence, regardless of what you are starting (school, hobby, training), you have to listen to yourself! When you starting a new workout program or a diet - you have to listen to your body, it won't lie to you. And if you are good at it, you will understand when it is just lazy (i.e. making up excuses for not doing a workout) or when it is actually suffering, or in pain. And the earlier you notice this, the better.

So, coming back to the above mentioned article... The main argument of it was "I did get the Gwynie body, but I starved in the process"... Then there is a lot of evidence from nutritionists, dieticians, doctors, etc., who basically say that this diet is a "pamphlet of patients with anorexia nervosa", that it is only 700 calories a day and lacks calcium, iron, carbohydrates, proteins, salt etc.... Basically, it is hugely imbalanced, and non-nutritive against what it is proclaiming (to the other criticisms I will get in a separate post I think). 

My response to that.... 

Day 1 of Metamorphosis!

Today my journey started. It is hard, but I am positive that I can make it. I woke up after refreshing 7 hours of sleep. The advice is to get at least 8 hours of sleep, so I will try to increase this and will go to bed early in the next days.

As my weight tends to jump within a 2-kilo margin, I decided to weigh at the same time every morning - when I am out of bed and before eating. So I started off today with 56.5 kilos. I know it is not much at all (in the past 3 days my weight ranged between 56 and 57.9), but i don't have that much muscle. What is my goal? Well, I don't have a clear ideal weight. But I checked out this body-fat-calculator (of course it is not as precise as other measures can be, but it seems reasonable enough, and I only need it for a little guidance) to figure out how much would be healthy for me - for my size.

So my calculations are:

• My weight: 56.5 kilos
• My body-fat calculated at 26% - which is not bad at all (for women 25-31 is acceptable as is seen here), but one wants to be in the "fit" range I suppose, so around 20-24. But I think while this is an estimate calculator, it is quite off - I definitely have more than 26%...
• Lean body weight: 42 kg
• Then the minimum I should get to is around 52 - which should still be a healthy and fit weight...

Hence, I will say my goal for the next 4 months is to lose around 4-4.5 kilos, maximum - 6-6.5. But for me the main thing is actually in the measurements. I want to lose 10cm off my waist, 10cm off my but, and tighten up all around. I will keep you posted how this goes.

About the day so far...

Th DC went surprisingly well (in the sense of endurance). I know the general recommendation is that if it is too hard to jump yet, one should step-touch, and then increase slowly the amount of jumping. I was semi-jumping from the beginning to the end, and in the end the last several minutes (the moment when the music is becoming more intense, and Tracy becomes more motivating), was a blast! I was really dancing my ass off in those several minutes. I can't wait to get to the point when I can dance like that the whole cardio, cos it is fun. For now though I am careful in order not to feel any pain or stress in my joints, and not to over-exhaust myself, and have to step-touch from time to time. But I have to say overall, I did feel a bit like a hippo in a skirt (and I was NOT wearing a skirt) - I was so awkward in these sexy dance moves... I managed to fit in the whole dance cardio in the little space I have in my living room: about 2x2 meters probably, so that was good. Kicked my little coffee table though a couple of times. Oh well, as long as I don't hurt myself or my furniture, I consider it all a success... :)

The MS though was much tougher. Arms again are my weak point - no surprise there. I had to shake them off like twice during the arms series. I still LOVE standing abs, but when I got to the floor work - maaan that was painfully embarrassing :) First, my wrists gave up pretty fast... So I did half of the exercises on my knuckles. Second, my supporting legs are killing me when I am doing it (I hope it is because I am learning how to balance...). And third, the leg feel like stopping moving after several reps. Well, to say that I did not expect this is to lie, but I was hoping I would do better in MS than DC, which turned out to be the other way around... MS so far killed me, I hope to get better tomorrow - now that I know what awaits me. Ah.

I will add about diet in a new post.