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. Dont 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 cant 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&Ms 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 cant 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 - Im 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 didnt 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 cant 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! Im 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. :)

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A little bit of history and pictures

I used to be very skinny. I dont even think I have pictures of those extremely skinny times, but even 6,5-7 years ago I used to look quite skinny. People still refer to me as skinny and laugh (into my face!!!!) about my "imaginary" problems. And I have to be honest - I do not understand what it is like to be overweight, but I know what it is like to know you might have a problem and people not taking you seriously - because you look "fine". I do not want "fine" however, I want healthy, slim and energetic.

Some pics below.

2005:

Or:

Or:

I was a BA student then. Now I am doing my PhD, sitting in the office almost 9 hours a day - at my computer doing research. I come back home and sit yet more. I have not done sports, or in fact any physical activity for the past 10 years... I dont think I look so much more horrible, and I still wear S and M sizes... I just dont look or feel healthy. I feel like everything on my body is like jelly. Most horrible of all - I have a fat... back... :)

I started salsa dancing. And to continue to excel, I need to get fitter....

So here I come.

As I said previously, the biggest challenge for me in this program is not to give up. 

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Rant Recipe Pictures

Ah!  I cant believe it has already been over a week since Ive last blogged.  I seem to always get on a blogging roll, and then life happens.  Any-who... last week I came down with some very unpleasant stomach bug that caused me to be home stick from work for a day and a half.  I just felt super nauseous for a few days (ginger in club soda helped that a bit), then the second day I had horrible body aches and a mild migraine.  Not fun at all, BUT, compared to the flu that everyone else has been getting that has major symptoms coming out of both ends along with a fever and chills, I consider myself lucky.

To top off the end of being sick, my "lovely" lady time of the month came.  Perfect...  (***Girl rant coming, boys skip to the "Safe Zone" below.  You have been warned!***)  For those of you who have followed my blog for some time, you may remember almost a year ago when I was having major issues with my birth control pills.  I started getting TMJ migraines, I felt constantly tired, and I felt the need to panic about everything, even to the point of causing a panic attack or two.  For anyone who has never had a panic attack before, it feels like you have tunnel vision, you cant breathe but oddly breathe too much, and you sometimes lose feeling to your extremities, including your face.  Its terrifying!  I finally figured out that the hormones in my birth control pill were causing all of these weird symptoms, along with a mild case of anemia.

In the end, I completely went off of the birth control pill to try to get my hormones back to normal and I started taking some iron supplements.  I felt like I was slowly getting better over the summer, and then fall hit.  All of a sudden, my once very regular like-clockwork period was late... or rather, skipped an entire month.  What the french toast!?  After some mild panic crying and several pregnancy tests later, I knew for certain that I wasnt pregnant, but I had to wait an entire month for it to finally come.  Since then my periods have been getting slowly closer together (1 month and 3 weeks, 1 month and 2 week, then this time was 1 month and 1 week).  At this point, I am hoping I will be fully back to normal within a cycle or two.

Why am I telling you this?  Because I think it is important to remember where we have come from and where we are going.  Looking back nearly a year ago, I felt like my health wasnt in my control and that everything that was happening to my body could not be helped.  Now, I feel calm and energized and in control, compared to the sense of panic, perpetual tiredness, and helplessness I felt through much of last year.   Last year made me realize that health is not just a number on a scale, but how you feel during all 24 hours of the day.  I can say that I live my 24 hours a day in 2014 much more fully than I did during most of 2013, and Im truly excited for what this year will bring.

(***Safe Zone, Rant Over***) 

Anyways, I havent had too much time to cook over the last week or two, so no new recipes to report.  Tonight I will be trying a new recipe that I discovered on Whole Foods Markets website.  My husband, Kevin, often likes spicy sausages with hotdog buns for dinner because they are easy enough for him to make and very filling.  Obviously, NOT healthful food, but this last time he ate them, he told me that they gave him an awful gut ache and bathroom consequences later (hmm, wonder why? ;)).  Lately he has been enjoying more meals with beans that I have been making, like teriaki chickpeas and lentil soup, so I thought I might give this recipe a try to replace the spicy sausage in his hotdog buns: Lentil Sloppy Joes.

What has everyone else been making lately?

And here are some fun random pictures:

I feel like all Nutritarians or those who eat a
Plant-Based diet could qualify to wear one of these ;)

My first knitted item for myself in over 6 months!  I got the yarn
 from my mom for Christmas and a pair of beautiful custom made
bamboo knitting needles from my brother and sister-in-law.

I found this at a fancy kitchen gadget store downtown about
a month ago.  It instantly went on my wish list!

Kevin and I got around to hanging up some pictures from our wedding
now that we have some wall space to do it.  This is one of both of our
 favorites when we surprised everyone on our first dance by doing a dance
compilation of Thriller, the Charleston swing, the dance song from
Napolean Dynomite, and Summer Lovin from Grease.

One of my best girlfriends and I sharing a moment while we were out
for our annual Ladys Holiday Evening Out.  This year we called it
"The Night of Sparkles" and dressed up in shimmery cocktail dresses.

I found this killer ab workout that Kevin and I are going to do
tonight at the gym we just joined.  Wish us and our poor abs luck!

Check out this hilarious dinosaur tray.  Love it!

Here is an interesting convo I had with Siri the other day.

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