Levels 6 and the start of 7

Such a slacker!  I just realized that I have not posted since July 15th which was when I was just finishing Level 5!!  So....level 6...as usual...wow!  The moves begin to really incorporate balance and I love how Tracy starts using the hand weights in the leg section.  I've had a hard time following Tracy's advice to workout in 80 degree temperatured rooms and to not use a fan...at least when I do my cardio.  But I have been doing that after my cardio while I do the muscular structure workout, and the sweat just pours off of me...as if it didn't before, right?!?!  Ha!  So continuing on now with Level 7 which I did my second day today.  I read on the TAM forums that Abcentric's Level 7 was easy I think and that people were skipping over it.  I feel like I read wrong or was going crazy when I was reading those threads.  It was not easy for me!  I started with one lb ankle weights and will probably move up over the weekend to 2 lb weights.  I'm sure I will make it to the 3 lb weights with this level...but in no way, shape or form is it easy!  I'm finding that I need to preview these later levels more than just once before I do them b/c there are more moves per leg than in the earlier levels and the moves are of course more complicated.  LOVING it!!!

I went ahead and watched Level 8 last night, even though I still have 8 days left of Level 8.  So excited to do the kneeling free and weighted arms and to go back to using the hand weights in the leg section in Level 8!!!  But that is still 9 days away still with my rest day in there...or maybe 10...however it works out depending on when my rest days are...so either way, I'm getting way ahead of myself!!!

I leave for vacation one week from Monday....woooohooooo!!!  I will be bring Tracy with me of course :)  My sister just started Level 1, and I will be seeing her for the first time in almost a year while on vacation so I'm excited to do some TAM with her!

And I've gotten two of my co workers involved in Meta too now!  I would love to become an instructor...hmmmm...maybe Tracy will open a studio down here in Florida?!?!?!

Here's me at the beach just last week!

Happy Friday!!!!!!!!!

Last day of Level 5

Today was my last day of level 5...woohoo!!!!!  I was all excited that I did not have to do any more of those side plank leg lifts...until I previewed level 6...haha...no such luck, they are in that level too.  And she adds a straight leg plank to that move this time...omg!!  So as I thought would happen, I was only able to finish out level 5 using the 2 lb ankle weights on each leg.  Those plank kicks were tough!!  But I like being challenged :)  I'm still battling with the fact that Tracy does not do the same thing on each side in the videos, for legs at least.  In level 5, the last move is a leg lift pulse thingy with an arm pull over.  On the right side she does straight leg pulses and then on the left side she does a sort of leg pull instead. So I do 20 of one and then 20 of the other on each leg just to even it out.  I'm thinking that's what I'll continue doing if there are anymore uneven moves in the coming levels.  All in all, level 5 was pretty difficult and challenging!  I liked it a lot!    My only negative thought about the Meta workouts so far is that I'm surprised that they did not edit the videos better with some of the moves and reps.  But in the grand scheme of things, with Tracy doing tens of thousands of moves on film for us....that's no big deal!

Tomorrow bright and early...level 6!  Having previewed it yesterday and today already...hahaha!...can we say "anxious???"  I can already see how the movements are continuing to get faster and faster.  Which I think is awesome!  I worry a little about the affect the straight arm dumbell type swings will have on our shoulders eventually...but I'm not to worried about it.  Just a thought I guess.  The abs in the abcentric level 6 seem like they are much longer...makes sense of course.  And there is an ab exercise mixed into the leg section, which I thought was unique.  We'll see how the transition goes tomorrow with that move.  The leg section has all kinds of new moves with lots of balancing in some of them, like coming down on one arm instead of two and stuff like that.  And Tracy incorporates the 3 lb hand weight into some of the leg moves for the first time in this level.  I'm so interested to see how that will make it more challenging.  Not every move is done for 40 reps either.  There are a few that are only done for 10/15/20.  And there are about 8 or 9 moves per leg instead of the usual 6 that have been in earlier levels.  The very first move, I already noticed that she does it 30 times on the right side and 35 on the left, so I've just decided to go for it and do that move for 40 on each side.  That may change tomorrow when I'm actually trying it for the first time!!  This is all just from previewing it so I'm sure my outlook will be different once I attempt it.

On a side note, I'm not even to Continuity 1.0 yet and I'm excited about Continuity 2.0!!  Everything that Tracy has been posting about what she's been taping sounds amazing and I cannot wait to see how she incorporates the chair and medicine ball into Continuity.  But from my understanding, I think Continuity 1.0 is 9 months worth of workouts, so if that is the case, I still pretty much have a good year or so until I get to 2.0 :)  Patience is a virtue I apparently do not have with TAM!!!

Until next time after I've attempted level 6!

Level 5 - Day 2!!

Soooooo....so much for the "easy" workout that I spoke of in level 4...ha!  For the last 4 days of level 4 I wore 3 lb ankle weights on each leg and it was a struggle. 

I started level 5 yesterday.  As usual, I'm loving it!  I don't have one bad thing to say about it.  I am really happy that all of the arms are getting a bit faster and I like that the laying down abs section is the longest one yet.  I was also pleasantly surprised to see what an increase in difficulty the leg section is on this level.  The plank work addition is outstanding!  Between the free abs, laying down abs and the planks and such in the leg work, I've never worked my abs so much in my life :)  And I love working abs!  So needless to say, once again, I love THIS level as well!  I started with 1 lb ankle weights right off the bat.  Yesterday and today the 1 lb weights have been perfect.  I don't see myself getting above the 2 lb weights for this level.  With all the plank work and the move at the end where you open up into a side plank and do the side kick would be way to hard with anything more than 2 lbs.  But you never know.....

On the progress side of things, I was so super happy to find that I had lost 2 lbs.  Not to be repetitively annoying, but I did not start this journey to lose weight...just wanted a muscular transformation...but here I'm losing weight and toning up more than ever.  I quite honestly was skeptical at the fact that throughout this entire program I would not be using anymore than 3 lb weights for both arms and legs.  But I've never had so many amazing results before.  Once again...I am truly a believer and little miss Tracy knows her stuff :)

I also have noticed my pants are fitting a lot looser.  Last night we went to watch the fireworks on Marco Island and while we were sitting on the beach, my pants would not stay up in the back...LOL.  PJ (my boyfriend) had to cover me up with a jacket from behind, haha!  I see it a lot in the upper thigh area of my pants.  For instance, today I am wearing these white capri that I bought a few months back.  They used to be comfortable when standing but tight on my thighs when sitting and as I sit here at my desk, they are completely comfortable!!

One change I did make to my diet that may be contributing to the 2 lbs I lost, and I may have said I was going to do this in one of my previous posts, was that I stopped eating peanut butter and any nuts excessively like I had been for years.  Since I don't eat a lot of meat, nuts is where I usually get a lot of my protein.  But besides the fact that it was messing with my digestion (don't worry, no details...haha), I also believe it may have also been aiding in me keeping on an extra few pounds in my stomach area.  I always felt bloated and PJ finally told me that nuts definitely do that.  So I'm trying the whole no nuts at all for a few weeks and then I may gradually add some back into my diet...in complete moderation though this time.

Til next time!!!