Days 7-8 of Metamorphosis

So, days 7 and 8 went well. Both days managed to do the workouts, kept to the diet. I don't seem to progress very fast now, as I can't really increase the number of reps for instance much from day to day, and I am still doing those naughty exercises 3 and 4 very slowly. But I feel great! I feel light, healthy, energetic. Right after the training I am a bit tired of course, but a shower does miracles, and I am back to good mood. Today was tough though. I didn't want to workout for some reason, and it was really hard to even start, to find the strength to do one more minute of DC, then one more... Ah. It felt good though to get over it. I had to say many many many times through sometimes gritted teeth "You CAN do it, Liuba" (yes, I sometimes tend to talk with myself).

The diet... Well, I can't say I am happy with this week. Yesterday (Monday and first week of Week 2) I felt hungry all the time. And I mean it: all the time. It wasn't horrible hunger, but it was always there. Today, however, I don't feel hunger at all and have to convince myself to eat. I just hope, it is not some sort of body adjustment to under-nutrition :)))) Cos that would be bad. I decided to increase the portions just a little bit, so I actually feel NOT hungry after I finished eating - particular for meal 3: make bigger salads, take a piece of chicken a little bigger. Right now my chicken is boiling (yes, I prefer boiled chicken than grilled) and salad is ready (half avocado, some tomatoes and celery - I am addicted to celery these days, so put it in almost everything...).

Dinner:

And the full day diet (it's more than it looks actually...) After the first day, it is enough for me - but then again, my salad is quite big, but I thought I can't harm much with salad. And I added a carrot: I like to chew on something when I work...

Day 6 of Metamorphosis or getting back on track

I decided to count only the days of training. Hence, today was my day 6 with a rest day in between 5 and 6.

I don't know whether it is just the rest day, or a rest day spent in a not such a healthy manner, but it was actually harder to workout today. DC was a killer, and MS a murderer :) DC still gives me a great kick, I like it. I feel my calves' muscles developing from all the jumping, and they look so good already - much more toned, and I feel them sore. I still have not perfected the MS, I still have to stop in between every 10th rep or so (for exercises 3-4 in particular), and I noticed that it is easier for me to do all the exercises on my left leg! That's so odd - cos I have always been right-handed through and through! But all in all even though I went through it, I could not do as good as I did in day 5... And I am back to day 2 weight (:'(), but oh well - I had fun these past two days, and the Chinese dumplings were oh so good! Today I am back to the diet, and all is good (feel much better too, as guilt is not killing me). But the experience of the last 2 days showed how much your progress can be hindered by couple of drinks and a party. Good lesson. :)

I am back on the train though, am training again, going to have salsa training later on, so that's good. As I am past mid-level 1, so I started dreading level 2 already - I read a lot in other blogs and in TA Community, that it is a killer, so let's see. I have some time to get both really scared and really excited :)

Week 2 shopping list

Week 1 is nearly over, and I survived it - even if with some ups and downs... Week 2 is coming, and I have to sort the diet now. 

After week 1 I still have some left-overs (cooked and uncooked). I still have some strawberries I was using for chocolate pudding, some apples (which I bought more than necessary earlier for the blueberry applesause). I still have 2 bell-peppers, a bit of cucumber, some tomatoes, carrots, one celery stick. So, I have much less shopping to do this week. 

Week 2 is a Body Reset Week. As I understand, this is the week, when you really are going to feel you are on diet. :) Oh well, fair enough. But at least it involves more diversity and chewing :)

Meals 1 and 3 consist of one protein option and one veggie/fruit option. Meal 2 is simply a protein bar (under 200 cal, over 15g protein) or you can substitute that with a good protein shake, or Greek yogurt with almonds. 

Meal 1 options are eggs (poached or hard-boiled) or turkey bacon. I chose eggs for all days as a protein option. The fruit options are blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, green apple, kiwi and blueberry, blueberries and vanilla almond milk. As I have some strawberries and apples left, I'm not going to buy anything new for fruit option - simply eat up those.

Meal 3 has protein options of chicken breast, tofu, turkey burger, black beans (or part of the combined meal option - tuna canned in spring water). The veggie options are also diverse - avocado with tomatoes and cucumbers, kale, spinach, a salad (basically). I chose chicken and tuna for the week (to stay on the safe side without running around looking for turkey burger and tofu, and black beans - well don't want to eat it out of a can, and if fresh, they require too much time preparing). Veggies - I decided on diverse salad and avocado-tomato-cucumber options. And as I already have some left-overs, it would be again easy...

So, my shopping list for this week (I have not done the shopping yet, so will have to go shopping first thing in the morning tomoro):

14 eggs (or 10+6)
7 Protein Bars (Rossmann, <200 calories, >15g protein)
3-4 Chicken breasts
1 avocado
1 cucumber
1 pack tomatoes
2 cans of tuna in spring water
1 pack of celery

What is great about this week is that it is not too expensive, and I can actually eat out somewhere - just getting a chicken breast and some small salad would do the trick. However, I have to say, this week will also be interrupted - on Saturday as well, as I am planning to finally celebrate my bday... So may be we will go somewhere for a dinner, but I will try to stick either with chicken, or simple grilled stuff with fresh salad. 

Days 5 of Metamorphosis or how things can go wrong

So, a bumpy ride on days 5 and 6. Day 5 was good till I went out with friends - then everything started to go all the wrong way. 

Day 5 was a big day in many respects. I definitely did something right in my workout, as I was feeling an amazing feeling of burning - not the usual one, but somehow different, deeper and more pleasant. So, the MS went great (though I still have problems with the pace, and oh so many other things, but I am going through it). I counted how many reps Tracy does - about 40 each exercise on each leg. I managed to bring 1st and 2nd to 40 reps on Day 5, and to about 25-30 the 3rd and 4th exercises. Which I think is good. 

In the evening I was invited to a friend's house for her wonderful risotto and girl-talk :) But I brought my own food (some sweet potato corn and carrot-parsnip), and tried only a little spoon of risotto. But after two glasses of wine, the girls managed to convince me to come to a party with them. Oh well, that's where things went a little out of hand. We had some beers in a bar, and then went to a club. So I was home only by 4 am or so. I had like 4 beers, and danced for like 3 hours. So, no, drink is not good, but at least I danced. Surprise surprise: I woke up the next morning with a horrible hangover and one kilo less of me (my scales actually showed 54.0!!!). All that dancing paid off, but then the drink also let my body know that it was not the best night fir it. Argh!

So in the end day 6 was a rest day. Now it will be Saturdays then - I just was not able to move today. :( I feel guilty, but really there is not much I can do. So, I am working out on Sundays now.

What is worse, I had one more dinner - today! And then I actually had some Chinese dumplings and maaan were they good!!! But oh well I think in terms of weight I now fell to about where I started. But oh well, I had a good day and it would have been really impolite not to eat there (friend of mine is leaving Bremen, and went for all the trouble cooking for all of us...)

So, off to a greater tomorrow. Will get some sound sleep now, so that I can start well and fresh tomorrow. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!!

This is the cartoon from my childhood, that I loved - about "I think I can" - the part I am referring to starts around 1:10 :)

Day 4 of Metamorphosis or how to deal with bad mood...

Today is the day when I kicked ass, and my ass was kicked too.

Well, after the initial big weight drop, soreness in the muscles, this is the day when the challenge actually starts. I woke up with no energy, in bad mood and weak. While the first three days my butt was somewhat painful to sit on, no muscles were sore any more... An unpleasant surprise I have to say: I love the muscle soreness. I dragged myself to the kitchen to prepare the Blueberry Applesauce (with which I start my lovely days) and could barely move my hands and arms. It was not because of the exercise, no. It was simply because sometimes I am like that, particularly when I don't get enough sleep. Yop, here is the lesson to be learnt: you have to get enough sleep and even more - you body needs it!!! So, you can imagine I had no mood to do the workouts at all. I procrastinated a little instead of lunging into it... Surfed Internet... Read some emails... Then looked at my calendar, where I have been filling in all the workouts I've done and weight, and went to change for my sportswear... I just couldn't ignore it. 

I scrambled myself off this laziness attack, moved the furniture for the workout, prepared water, got my weights close and started with DC. In the beginning I could barely step-touch... As minutes passed, my body warmed up, toned, and slowly but steadily the mood started to creep up. Wow! By 5-minute mark (she mentions it) I was already jumping with a huge smile on my face, breathing hard like an elephant. And - surprise - today was the first time when during DC I did not pause to look at the time: how much more do I have left. At some point I was very very tempted, but instead I simply concentrated on TA dancing it off and my own movements. I had to slow down a couple of times, and by the end I was definitely not in my best shape, but the last several minutes - they add a spin to the whole workout I think, cos in them I love to jam - and amazingly enough, I find strength for it. My arms are still all over the place, I still can't repeat so many fast little leg-crossed jumps, but oh well, I continue jumping and smiling.

I rocked the MS as well. I was more concentrated, I tried to do as much as I can. And as I didn't have the sore butt any more, I actually started feeling the exercises in other muscles: on my back and side thigh and hip for instance. Empowering feeling. But, after I took a shower, while I still was in good spirits, I felt "Ohhh my poor muscles" - my legs in particular felt like clay - you know that modelling clay kids play with? So, you can put it in shape, but it's so soft, it can fall pretty fast... This is how I feel today - especially in my legs. They feel a little like shaking, but oh well. Work can't wait. But I am doing it with a smile. All the laziness is gone, I smile and even don't get annoyed with colleagues, and go through the day with head up and happy.

All in all, even though I am a little exhausted today the rest of the day, but I found a great way for improving the mood - even if it is not the best day when you wake up:

1. Keep smiling!
2. Do the workout and keep smiling!
3. Sleep well and enough (everyone needs different amount of time, I know that if I sleep less than 8-9 hours, I'm dead throughout the day)

PS As I expected, not much of a weight decrease today: went down to 55.0 (-100 grams or so)

Day 3 of Metamorphosis

Well, I know I know, I promised not to write every day, but well I need it. Cos another surprise: -0.6kg (1.3lbs) this morning (55.1kg/121.2lbs). This is like the lowest I have been for at least a year. When I reach 52 kg mark, it will be the lowest in like 5 years I think... :)

DC was good today, but yet again, I tried to increase intensity - do it a little more energetic. There is still a LONG way for improvement of course, but today I was sweating like a pig on slaughter :) I can't say I like sweating (and even though Tracy is asking to start liking it), but I was never a much sweating type, so for me it is simply uncomfortable for now. But knowing that with that sweat the inches are going makes me like it a little more. But I have to say I will stick with this intensity without increasing for the next couple days, as I felt like dying by about 20 minute mark, and one of my legs started hurting a little - from all the jumping, I'm not sure. But I will take it easy. Joints and muscles have to get used to jumping.

MS was as excruciating as ever. It gets only slightly easier, but not really. I tried to concentrate on the movements, the angles, all the comments that Tracy gives to make all the exercises correct. And that paid off - one of the moves is actually much more difficult than I originally did it :) HAHA Found some more pain for myself :) But at least I am doing it correct. I still have problems with wrists - they hurt a lot, so I have to change their position often. But all in all, very fulfilling workout and I start to really love it. I was sweating even then (not like pig anymore, but still quite substantially...).

So, the diet is still kicking, and there is no way I'm gonna give up now after losing so much in water and bloating in just 2 days. I get invited to dinners, but I feel fine with that - I can just bring my doggie bag with my TA food and may be introduce others to the yummy pudding - it tastes delicious for anyone :) And so far I have no problems refusing to go to lunch with colleagues and so on - I have my food, my diet, and I am proud I am doing it. Though of course, this is only day 3, but I think I can do it. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Results of day 3: So far I lost about 1.4 kilos (around 3lbs) out of the max 7 I want to lose (and I know it would slow down starting tomoro or the day after - I am now losing a lot of liquids and bloating), I love the way I feel, I can FEEL I am lighter and slimmer when I touch my tummy, I get out of bed and right away feel smaller :) That's a great feeling. I feel energetic throughout the day and even have energy to still do some salsa in the evenings sometimes. Yey!

DVD's

As I heard a lot of talk about the problem with DVD's - particularly with the 3rd disk (for transform 4-6), for example crazilittledi on Youtube, whom I have been following to know more opinions about Meta) has a couple of videos on that... Also many people complained in the TAM Community, and it seems that the biggest problem is with Omni DVD's. 

So, the advice one can give you:

• Make sure that Omni is your correct body type (may be it is better to get Hip or Glute - depending on your tendencies).
• If you are sure Omni are the disks you need, make sure you check them as soon as you get them (this means not just checking the surface, but playing them - each of the transform videos - at least in fast-forward and stopping in some places)!  If they are damaged (not playing, etc), you should write the services right away, because (especially if like me you are living outside of States) shipment will take some time (though I think I got mine quite fast: only 14 working days). 

I checked mine and seems like I lucked out: all DVD's work, and each transform video works. Phew. :)

Day 2 of Metamorphosis

I am not going to write every day's progress and experiences, I promise, but today... Well, today was a bit of a surprise for me, so I thought it would be good to share it.

To be honest, considering I don't have that much weight to lose (if any at all), I have not and will not expect rapid declines in my weight (if I lose 5 kilos by the end of the program, that's gonna be great). Moreover, after all the food yesterday - all in total I ate like 1.7l of food (not counting the juice) - I was not thinking I was on diet anymore. In the evening before going to bed, I simply sighed and thought "Oh well, who cares if I don't lose weight, I'm still within the normal range for my height" (163cm). So in the morning I simply step on the scales to record the weight of today, no expectations. And after I saw the weight, I had to step back off, look at it in wonder till the blinking number disappeared and just step back up... And again the electric scales show the same 55.7. Same time, same clothes (=no clothes), exactly 24 hours after the previous measure... 0.8kg off? nearly a kilo? 

I mean, I understand, it is not permanent, it is probably all the water and all... And tomorrow I will be back to my 56.5, but hey - I have NOT been under 56 in the past half a year!!! When my scales showed 56.0 were the  happy days. So, whatever it is, it is the first day in the past 6 months or so i actually went under 56, and I am happy about that. 

I walked quite dazed away from the scales, into the kitchen to prepare some Blueberry Applesauce for breakfast... I think I am still surprised, but, boy, it is encouraging. I started my workout like I have the last chance to dance in this life time :)

So, DC went OK, though as I was dancing like crazy, I got pretty tired after 15 minutes, so had to bring it down a notch. Then again jammed in the last 3 minutes or so. I still feel like a hippo a little, heavy and uncoordinated, but better than yday. Still can't follow all the arms motions, but I'm trying. Some movements feel a bit weird, but I will get to it. I am not a very sweating type when I do sports (I'm more like a face-reddening-type), but jeez I was sweating like hell.

MS killed me even more today. I guess because I was pumped from the scales' revelations, so I was really into it. I switched legs today - doing left first, and right second. And I thought my left leg would fall off somewhere in the middle, and I would have to get to emergency... I was really struggling even with right leg (which is so obviously stronger) - exercises 3 and 4 are excruciating (funny but I know this word after reading Harry Potter). But went through it, slower than Tracy does (hence - less reps), but at least I did it  all, with only minor little breaks. I have to say, it was the first time in my life I was swearing in full voice... All the advice on how to deal with struggling (like trying to distract your mind by thinking of something pleasant, planning the day, planning what you would write later in the blog - that actually helped me, watch at the shadows on the wall....) - is weeeeell forgotten when you start to really struggle.

Result after two days: minus 0.8kg, I feel great, as if I am flying (I don't take drugs!), I feel lightness in my whole body, my back and shoulder muscles are extremely sore and glute muscles are aching to sit on. The feeling is welcome though and I can't wait to train them again tomorrow. I still feel my muscles awakened even much later after the training. Ah, good day (I even squeezed in laundry for the time I work out)!

Week 1 diet

There are only two words describing week 1 diet: LIQUID and HARD! I know this is kinda funny, but very true. It is mostly puree-based (so if you like something crunchy and going to do this diet, you might as well forget about crunchy every other week...) - hence liquid; and I can't say it is so little food, but it is hard to fit in 7 servings of food a day, which are not such a nice 'consistency' (to be very honest, I am not very fond of purees ever since I had to recover from wisdom teeth surgery) - hence hard. 

So below all the meals (the menu) - not in order I ate or they are present, but in random order more or less, with pics. Then some tips on cooking them. Then the reflections of each day.

THE MENU


Gazpacho - a portion. I forgot about chives and didn't have cilantro or rice vinegar, I also overdid it a little with cayenne pepper (I have very low tolerance for hot-spicy food), but oh well. But it more reminded me of a processed salad than a real Spanish gazpacho, but still OK (if you like fresh salads and don't mind them in a puree form :D). Extremely easy to make: just dump everything in the processor and press "play" :)

Sweet Potato Corn Pudding - it turned out to be less like a pudding, more like porridge, but still good. I actually liked the taste and was positively surprised with that. Never ate sweet potatoes before, so this is a first. I didn't steam the potatoes though, but simply backed them till tender in the oven - I still don't have a steamer. Next time I will try to blend the ingredients to get a more 'pudding' texture. This is a bit more difficult/long to prepare, but I figured I would prepare lots (3-4 at a time) to save time. I then got 2 portions in the freezer (can unfreeze and warm them up in couple days and they would still be fresh) and 2 portions left in the fridge.

Blueberry Applesauce - really yummy, but it turned out too much. 4 apples (I baked them) and 100 gram blueberries ended up to be almost 400-500 ml, rather than 230... But at least it was a good start of the day - sweet and juicy. One advice though - eat it fresh! Apples don't keep so long after you cut or blend them (they change colour into this horrific poop-like brown...), and if you prepare apples (steam or bake them) the night before, it is not such a hard thing to prepare the sauce for breakfast for example. But it tastes so so so much better fresh. But I might try fresh apples next time...

Veggie Protein Soup is so far my absolute favourite on the menu in week 1. It is also liquid, but at least it is a soup - it is the consistency I am used to in soups. And I love chicken. I have to admit, I took a bit more chicken than there was in the recipe, but well it's not like I'm adding ham or something... The soup is also very easy to make, and I think I would even continue making it outside of diet. :) So I just took two small carrots, grated them; one and a half celery stalks - chopped them in the food processor, cut the frozen chicken into cubes (frozen so that it doesn't spoil, I put it in the freezer), dumped all of it in light chicken broth. While it was seaming, I chopped handful of broccoli and added to the soup too (almost right away), then some parsley in another 10 min, and voila!  In the process of making:

Final result:

Carrot Parsnip Puree is probably my least favourite on the menu for week 1, but it's not too much of it, so I can bear it (I noticed, it is much nicer cold than hot/warm - at least for me). The soup makes it possible to survive the rest :) For a bit of a taste I also added a little bit of parsley into the mix. This is a box of 3 portions:

Chocolate Pudding - God! It is good. I had a great desert with my tea. I used strawberries instead of chestnuts (I have not been able to find them) as Tracy suggests in the Eating Plan - and I found that absolutely yummy. Dates were kinda rough, so they had some problems to mix with the test of the ingredients. But all in all it turned out to be great. Also a recipe to remember for other occasions. :) This is a box (sorry - not so nice-looking) of two portions:

Power Juice - the only part of the diet I have not tried, as a) I don't have a juicer, and b) even though Grünkohl (Kale) is traditional (North) German cuisine, I was not able to find it now. So, decided not to bother. And in general it is a lot of food as it is. May be the next Nutrient Boost Week. :)

About drinks. As I am a tea addict, I drink tons of it a day. Mostly different herb tea mixtures. To keep me warm and cozy.


SOME TIPS ON COOKING

Equipment

• Food processor!!! Do get a food processor if you don't have one already. It is nearly impossible to cook all this without it.
• Blender (if not combined with food processor, and sometimes a hand-blender might be useful as well)
• Juicer (multi-juicers are always good!)
• Steamer (electric or simply one to use in pots) 
• Water boiler / electric kettle - would save your time when you need to boil something, normally it boils water pretty fast
• Chopping boards, knife, some bowls, etc.
• Vegetable peeler
• Apple cutter is a really useful gadget - especially when you have 4 apples to dice and fast!

• Tupperware - any containers: choose appropriate sizes. I prefer to go for portion-sized containers, so you can easily take one or two with you to work.

Preparation - this is essential! Try to find time to prepare: do your homework.

• You need to get a shopping list ready (NB! Mistake in the groceries list on TA community website: it lacks broccoli on the list and adds garlic, which you don't need in week 1). 
• Do your groceries a little in advance - so you are sure you have everything. Get an extra on each (e.g. carrot, onion, etc.) - if your onion is bad and you have only one, there is nothing you can do.
• Plan to find 2-3 hours on cooking to prepare the meals for at least a couple days - that would save your time over the week. I would not go for cooking food for the whole week, as there is a danger things might spoil till day 7, unless frozen... But again, fresh is always better than not!

Cooking

• Power juice is definitely the thing which should be drunk fresh!
• Blueberry Applesauce is also nicer fresh, so either start a day with it (I do) or the other way around, have it as a snack before bed. Do not overdo cinnamon in it, unless you are a fan of it.
• Do several/all recipes at the same time.
• Try to think of efficiency and how you can reduce the time on cooking. Multitasking is essential!
• Calculate how much ingredients you need. Most of the recipes are for two portions, so it is really easy to prepare them twice as much for four days.
• Start with all the prep needed: 
• put the sweet potato/es to steam/bake
• (you can also bake/steam apples for then preparing the Blueberry Applesauce at the same time)
• put water to boil in kettle for boiling carrots and parsnip for the Carrot Parsnip Puree, in the meantime peel and large cut carrots and parsnip, and when water is boiled, put them to boil (I added light stock, which intensified the taste a little)
• if you did not find roasted tomatoes, you might need to roast them yourself (simply bake tomatoes, cut in halves and seeded on a tray open side up for 25-40 min depending on the size of tomatoes)

• While everything above is preparing, start with Gazpacho
• as I written above, just dump all the ingredients in the food processor, and pulse. This should take around 10 minutes or so (if you already have roasted tomatoes). You want a puree consistency, so leave it in there for some time. Then separate into containers.
• By this time the carrots and parsnip should be ready, take the cooking stock into a separate bowl, blend the vegies right there in the pot, adding some of their cooking stock till it is of the desired consistency. I also added some parsley for taste - was really good. Separate into containers.
• Now you can start on the Veggie Protein Soup 
• put the required amount of stock to boil (this can easily be done for the whole week and then frozen)
• chop carrots, celery (in food processor this would take seconds), chicken - put into the stock
• now take the corn off the cob - this is NOT for this meal, but for the Sweet Potato Corn Pudding
• then chop the broccoli and dump into your soup.
• Take the (by then cooked) sweet potatoes and corn, puree in the food processor, separate into containers.
• Your soup should be ready by now too - so separate into containers (and freeze if you want).
• Start with your Chocolate Pudding 
• melt chocolate - on slow heat
• in the meantime put the strawberries (I took them instead of chestnuts, easier and tastier for me, but blueberries and raspberries would do too), pitted dates (I chop them in small pieces, as they are a bit too rough and take some time), coconut flakes, and cacao powder in the blender and blend (I add some water right away too)
• add chocolate, blend and it is ready.
• You then you would only have Blueberry Applesauce to cook (but I do it fresh every morning and using an apple cutter, it really takes only 10 minutes) and Power Juice (again fresh every morning)

REFLECTIONS


Day 1. After day 1 of TAM diet, I have to say, I am feeling good. I don't particularly like the Carrot Parsnip Puree (it is primarily cos I simply don't like boiled carrots), but all the rest is manageable, and the soup and choco pudding are magnificent (and I feel kinda guilty eating all the chocolate and coconut - I don't even eat sweet stuff every day in my normal diet...). I actually feel like I am actually gaining weight. I am not hungry at all. It is honestly hard to find time to eat so many times and so much food. :) Is this really a diet?... I calculated - we are supposed to eat about 1.5 liters of food (I am not counting juice). I know it is low fat and all, but that's a lot... I think I had a bit more even.

Day 2. Still food is enough, though feels much less than the first day. Or may be I made mistakes calculating portions, so make sure you make even portions.

Day 3. This is when cravings start to come in. I simply want some diversity, not anything unhealthy... So I allowed myself to crunch on a carrot and an apple separately. I guess, that's not so bad.

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.

Pre-Day 1 Preparations...

I received the DVD's last week. I got the food processor. I got the sports shoes. I got the mat. I bought all the groceries. This means, there is no way back. I am starting the journey tomorrow.

Before the start of the programme, I decided I need to eat my favourite foods, as I won't be able to for some time. I also had a couple of beers, and some Baileys - as I don't really want to drink in the next couple of weeks. Or may be only some wine occasionally.

Today I have spent two hours preparing some food... (I use the little sticky notes to remind me how many portions are in each container, so I don't eat too much... though it seems a lot of food, I don't think I will have a problem eating too little :D)

And to be honest, I had couple of problems

1. Portion sizes. I honestly do not know what size the apples are in States, but 4 steamed apples + 1/2 cup of blueberries does NOT make 8 oz (about 230 gr) portion (I ended up having twice as much actually!). I mean, it's not bad - I did follow the recipe, and if the portion is bigger - oh well. Better for me, I won't survive on too little food anyway.

2. The food does take some time to prepare, so it is far better to leave some time for it, and not leave it to the last minute. Even though it seems easy: put it in the food processor and voila! But it still took me 2 hours to prepare 3 meals (out of 7) for 4 days. I also made Blueberry Applesauce 1 portion for tomorrow. But this means, that a) I will have to cook the rest 2 meals tomoro and b) spend another 2-3 hours cooking up for the rest of the week on Wednesday or Thursday. Oh well. It was me, who got myself into it. But main note: if you want to succeed, don't leave it up to chance, leave enough time for cooking.

OK, so I'm off to bed, and gonna start my day off with Tracy - 6am up, then food (Blueberry Applesauce), then DC and MS (decided to do the MS second to keep it pumping through my body), then shower and then I have Maths course from 9 till 5pm. Crazy I know, but I am bringing my little boxes with my purees tomorrow.

Anyhoo, will update you later on my BIG START!

Week 1 Shopping list

As I decided to do it all and follow the diet as well - at least in the beginning, and I need to organise myself, here is my shopping list for week 1. It does take some time to arrange this all (the list on Tracy's community web-site helps, I just need to adjust it a little to me and the measuring system I am used to) but it is better than spend 3 hours in the supermarket trying to figure out how much of this and that you need - and actually NOT to forget anything.

I will try to update these every week - that is if I will stay with the diet. Will also keep you posted on how is the diet. So far, it seems quite a lot of food, so I have the hope that it is manageable. But seriously, in my calculations it makes almost 5 apples a day!!! That's freaking a lot of apples!

See the list below....

So, week 1 is the Nutrient Boost week - supposed to be nutrient dense diet, good for cleansing, and you can't eat anything else. I also read that if the calories are not enough, you should try to make slightly bigger portions, rather than eating something else, and particularly - God forbid - sweets and bread. This week we have to eat every day each of these:

1. Power Juice
2. Blueberry Applesauce
3. Sweet Potato Corn Pudding
4. Carrot Parsnip Puree
5. Gazpacho
6. Veggie Protein Soup
7. Chocolate Pudding

So, all together it is 7 small meals a day... This doesn't seem so bad. One problem though: most of the foods are practically liquids... or purees... So, it is definitely not going to be easy. I remember when I had my wisdom teeth taken out, it was quite bad and I had to eat purreed food for about 5 days. And to be honest, all I wanted was some crunchy carrots and celery - so in the end for me it was not so much about the unhealthy food, but about "crunchiness" and the consistency of the food that scares me... Anyway...

This is a shopping list for week 1 

I have adapted it to European (basically metric) measuring system. Some of the things you just have to get more - i.e. spices and vinegar, I also included salt in the list (as this is the full list of ALL necessary groceries for week 1) - but of course I already have it so "check" :) I am also going to buy some herb teas which I love and a bottle of (red dry - supposed to be the best) wine. Tracy recommends not to add any additional seasonings, oils, salt, etc. to her recipes. I will see how that will work for me, may be a little fresh - like garlic would not be so bad to add. Generally though I love fresh food, so hope it will be OK.

NB! I will update it after the shopping - to make sure the amounts are correct - and with a budget - a bit later.

Groceries - Tracy	Groceries - Germany	Substitute	How much you need for a week
Kale	Grünkohl		1 pack
Spinach	Gemüsespinat		1 pack
Beet	Rübe	Some other leaves	1 pack
Apples	Apfel		32 apples =~5kg(!!!)
Blueberry	Blaubeere		4 cups=800 g (0.8 kg)
Sweet potato	Süßkartoffel		4 potatoes
Fresh white corn	Weiß Maiz		4 cobs
Carrot	Karotte		8-10 carrots
Parsnip	Pastinake		4 parsnips
Roasted tomatoes		Fresh tomatoes or a mix of fresh and sun-dried	5.25 cups = 1 kg
Parsley	Petersilie		2 Bunches
Chive	Schittlauch		1 pack
Cilantro	Koriander		Bunch
Lemon	Zitrone		2 lemons
Red onion	Rote Zwiebel		1 onion
Bell peppers - mixed	Paprika gemischt		1 kg
English cucumber	Englische Gurke	Normal cucumber	1 cucumber
Celery stalk	Sellerie		400 g
Chicken breast	Hühnerbrust	Tofu	250 g
Chicken broth (low-sodium)	Hühnerbrühe	Vegetable broth	1 l
Broccoli	Brokkoli		500 g / one big broccoli
Chocolate chips (semi-sweet)			2 cups=400 g
Chestnuts	Kastanie	Strawberries or blueberries	7 tbsp = 100 g
Cacao powder (unsweetened)	Kakao		1 pack
Date	Dattel финик		1 pack of at least 14
Coconut flakes (unsweetened)	Kokos Flocke		1 pack
Cinnamon (powder)
Rice vinegar
Paprika
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper
Salt

Here you can see the full file in pdf.