Tracy Anderson is Totally Not Kidding: Part 3

So, first of all, I must have jinxed myself raving about the food yesterday, because my dinner was very, very not exciting: Steamed Chicken & Kale. Also, I overcooked the chicken a bit because I was busy making some of the other food for today, so that made it even worse. And today’s breakfast, a veggie omelet roll-up thing, was a total fail. The omelet stuck to the “ungreased nonstick pan” and it turned out like more of a veggie scramble. I cheated and added a tiny bit of salt, because I really didn’t like it at all. (Not a huge fan of eggs to begin with.) On the plus side, I made 3 meals and a snack in 1.5 hrs last night! Also, yesterday I didn’t feel hungry, and actually never even ended up eating my snack. That’s probably bad though. You’re supposed to eat everything so you have the right amount of nutrition. Still, I think having the protein in the morning really helped with hunger throughout the day. Day 2 was much easier than Day 1, except for the exercise, which was harder because I was sore. Day 3 is kind of tough so far, because I didn’t finish my eggs this morning and my Chicken Protein Soup lunch was kind of bland. I am seriously thinking about sneaking in a little salt here and there, just so I don’t give up completely. But later, I get to have applesauce and blueberries, and I can’t wait!

And now, it’s time to tell you about the workouts. Tracy Anderson is adamant that you exercise while dieting, so you don’t end up “skinny fat.” And not just any exercise, specific exercises, and you have to do all of them. There are two exercise components in The Method: Muscle Design and Cardio Complement, and you need to do both. Every day. She says if you do the muscle work, but not the cardio, you’ll end up with a layer of fat on top of the muscle. AND she says if you do the cardio but don’t do the muscle work, you’ll end up with saggy skin! The idea is to do all three, diet, muscle design, and cardio, together.

The Method requires specific kinds muscle work and cardio, and focuses on your “accessory” muscles, instead of the big ones that are used to doing all the work. Tracy wants us to move our muscles in all directions, with our strength coming from variation, as opposed to repetition.

What drew me to Tracy Anderson in the first place, is that she creates bodies that are defined, but not massive. Balanced instead of bulky. Even when I was working out three or four times a week and watching what I ate, I still wasn’t in the shape I felt I should be in. Considering the work I put in, I wanted better results. I’m hoping that this new approach will get me where I want to be. It all makes sense on paper, but only time (and hard work) will tell!

The muscle design segment has three sequences, which you do for ten days each so you don’t plateau. Each sequence is made up of sixteen targeted moves that work your arms, abs, and legs. None of the moves are too complicated, and they seem like they would be easy for any fitness level. The challenge is in the number of reps. The moves are illustrated in the book as well as the video. You DO have to read the book though, or you’ll miss important stuff.

You are supposed to start with twenty reps of each exercise. Since I am still in physical therapy and am only recently free from neck and back pain, I decided to just do ten reps the first day. I was fine, so yesterday I did fifteen, and today I’ll do twenty. Eventually, you’re supposed to do 40-60. I’m planning to take it slowly, because I don’t want to hurt myself. I’m really happy just to be doing ANY exercise these days.

My only problem with the Muscle Design series is that she only does the exercises on one side. So you have to stop the video while you do the other side. I’d prefer just to be able to follow along and not have to fumble with the remote in between.

The Cardio part is a little funny. There are two different ten-minute routines, sort of. I really don’t see much of a difference between them. In fact, when I did the second one, I thought I had accidentally restarted the first. But, no. They are just very, very, VERY similar.

The book explains a bunch of different ways for you to do the cardio, based on your fitness level. That’s all fine and good. But the video itself is kind of weird. She doesn’t tell you what to do. She just does it, and you mirror her. And it’s sort of like she’s just dancing around making a frog face. Or really, JUMPING around (making a frog face). You are essentially hopping the entire time, which is why my calves are so sore! Most of the moves are pretty basic, so it’s not actually that hard to follow along, but then toward the end they start getting tricky with the editing and there is no way you could transition quickly enough. I think it’s okay just to consider this part a free-form dance party, and do whatever you want, as long as you’re sort of doing what she’s doing. Just go with it, it’s kind of your only option.

That said, it’s kind of nice not to have some fake-cheerful instructor barking at you from some overly-colorful studio. This is just Tracy Anderson, in kind of a weird outfit, shot in black and white, pouting on a plain white backdrop.

I really wish she included stretching as part of the videos. I’ve been skimping on that, and I definitely feel it. There are some stretches in the book, but for me, following along to a DVD makes a lot more sense that reading about stretches in a book. Even if there ARE pictures.

I could probably dedicate this blog to The Tracy Anderson Method for the next 27 days (TWENTY. SEVEN. MORE. DAAAYYYS.), but I’m not going to. I’ll post a few updates here and there, but I want to just surrender to it and not think about it so much. I’m hoping that will make it a little easier. Currently, between the exercises, the cooking, the eating, the re-reading, the running to the store to get stuff I ran out of, and the time I spend critiquing and writing about it, it’s like my life revolves around Tracy Anderson. It’s just too much! So tomorrow, it’s back to normal on the blog, with occasional updates as I continue my diet and fitness adventure. For 27 more days. Sigh*