TA Meta and everything else - Spring / Summer 2021

[Buzzer]

Firm Volume 4... DONE!

This was so much fun! I have to admit, I don't like Kai much. I've just always kinda gotten the impression she was new to teaching so tried a little too hard, a little bit of a show off and tried too hard to be like the older women, who although formal and sleek, are more polished. In the beginning when they are all warming up (before the workout begins) she does her hand shakes which always seemed weird to me too. She's just way too show off-y for my tastes.

However, the workout is great! She kinda gets into a groove on the steps and the whole workout is fun. Her cues are more stern than Susan's too. I used my 3's, 5's and 10's and actually tried to do pushups on the bench, because I could let my finger drop off the side. They worked out well. At the abs at the end, my arms were actually having trouble holding my head without burning! I kept having to relax them and shake them out! That was a good feeling. Kinda killed the ab focus, but I was happy to have my arms tired out with using the lighter weights. I focused and really tried to contract through the whole movement though!

Overall, I was very happy with my workout! I am working harder on my di*t, doing things like protein drink in the morning with my coffee, since I listen to my nutrition podcast (nutritionists) and they said to not wait to feed your body first thing in the morning, since it slows down your metabolism for the day. Since I was waking up at 4am and not eating until after I worked out (so like 8:30 or 9am) I am working on that. I am drinking more water (I have a 64 ounce bottle I drink and fill twice a day), and cutting even more back on sugar and mindless snacking. I am trying to eat more vegetables, salad for lunch... I also am trying to get more protein in my diet. So far, still look like I don't workout and eat nothing but fast food! But I am working on it!

Plus doing the firm workouts, which worked for me in my 20's and 30's, so of course they will work for me now we will see. At least I am enjoying them.

Oh, in this last workout too I had trouble keeping my ttapp form. I do like that form! so I worked on it throughout the day instead. I love the body alignment idea. However, some of my aches and pains are noticeably gone after stopping ttapp so much. My shoulder still hurts, especially on upright rows, but its getting better too.

So LB did her camp again yesterday. She was up super late the night before, so she was kinda dragging yesterday. After camp we met friends at urban air, and she played from 12:30ish to 6pm!! She crashed last night. Totally crashed. She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow. Today is the last day of camp, and we have a calmer day going to the homeschool conference. So hopefully more of a day of rest for her! I don't have anything planned for tomorrow, so perhaps a really good day of rest.

Eventmom: Volume 1 was my first workout. I thought it was the only workout video out there for a long time! I did it every other day. It got me into great shape! I then found Tamilee Webb, which is why I love those workouts too. Then I remember the day I went into blockbuster video and discovered there were other firm workouts!! I can even remember where I saw them in the store... I saw Volume 2 and 3 and I remember feeling that giddy excited feeling! I only got volume 2, becuase that's all I could afford, but I swore to come back for the rest. And I did. I think that's why I love Volume 2 so much too.

I even recorded vol 1 onto a cassette tape in college and did it in my bedroom in my apartment listening on my walkman. I remember adding in a little mini trampoline I had for the cardio to mix it up, and one day one of the springs popped off and went flying across the room. It freaked me out and I threw away the trampoline.

Oh the Firms! I do wonder what their potential could have been if that guy didn't sue them over money. And if Anna and Mark weren't so stubborn. They ended up losing more than they would have if they would have just settled the suit. I wonder if they would have done things differently if they knew.

How are your migraines? did anything get found out or resolved yet??

Hi Ebianco!

Man, we are melting here. I;m sending LB with a spray bottle, and she went through it twice yesterday. today is supposed to be even hotter. I'm done with summer!!

[eventmom]

essentrics flexibility for athletes - I've done this one SO. MANY. TIMES. but it does more for recovery than any other workout I've got.

buzzer - My first VHS were kathy smith - I'd save my special k box tops to get a new one. Eventually I got a collage catalog. My collection grew a small amount. Then I discovered VF - holy ****e. My understanding is the that people who sued them would lose, but since they couldn't pay (court costs would be their problem as they brought the suit) so they kept suing over and over. From what I could tell it wasn't something Anna and her husband were able to get to stop. Migraines not too bad, constant headache is what they are trying to sort out. I haven't heard back about the text I had a week ago (I'm pissed as think getting back to me sort of fell through the cracks).

hi ebianco!

[Buzzer]

Firm Ultimate Calorie Blaster... DONE!

I believe this was the one I did. I am pretty sure. It was "basic" step, but even then it was hard for me to follow. They cued late, so they'd already be changing to their other leg and doing a hesitation repeater or something, then cue it. So it was confusing. They need to cue far enough in advance for my brain to process it and my body to do it! So, needless to say, I did some kicking of the step and light tripping. Nothing major, but nothing fun. I did enjoy it when I finally got the steps. I don't think I understand the value of the incline step, other than to stretch my calves as I step. I used 3 pound weights when they said to add weights. The abs were pretty useless, however they had an 8 minute ab add on, which I did not do.

It overall was a good workout. I did take some of the jumps out of it, and took some of it lower intensity just to save my knees. I am coming off of probably a year of no jumping, so I am cautiously going back into it.

So it was June 1 of last year I started my body beast rotation. I gained muscle, but nothing else. I did about 2 1/2 months of ttapp only. I gained some aches and pains, and some better posture, but nothing else. So now I am on day 17 of my unintentional Firm rotation (I added in a Firm because ebianco did one and it sounded fun! Then I couldn't stop!) and so far no changes. I think I am still gaining weight though, so there's that.

Yesterday LB had her last day of survival camp. She loved it! There's some more coming up, like cooking outside and another I don't remember what she said, and I will for sure sign LB up if we can go. I love that we are getting into a group of homeschoolers who can teach her real life skills, instead of just petting puppies and goats and playing on playgrounds!

Today we are going to a car drag strip, and learning about race cars. Its supposed to be hot, so I am buying a bag of ice before we go. I am gonna put it in the wagon and she can sit on it (on a towel), suck on the ice, and bathe in the water when the ice melts. It's supposed to be super hot today, plus 10-15 degrees hotter in the pits. So ice for sure!

Eventmom: I don't think I knew or remembered all that about the firms! I thought it was an Anna and Mark ego thing. That just makes me more annoyed that one guy took down such a good thing because of his selfish pride. The whole thing was a mess.

Hi ebianco!

[eventmom]

jacquelyn umoff +20 min TA cardio

it's so hot and humid they canceled the horse show this weekend, feel bad for the organizer, she's reschedule 3 times I think.

buzzer - I seem to have picked an action Jacquelyn rotation - she just posted one on youtube that fits her barre series I bought on alo many years ago. Yeah, on the firm, from what I could tell it wasn't Anna and her husband keeping it going but the other person wouldn't/couldn't stop so finally they sold out to get out from under the baseless lawsuits. Of course, that may all be BS but it did appear they were out of options. Weight loss is tough, I keep seeing the pahla b group but I can't seem to get it together to count calories every day. I am doing much better at monitoring my water.

hi ebianco!

[Buzzer]

Firm Maximum Body Shaping... DONE!

This one was fun! It was a compilation workout, mostly Firm Strength. I don't remember of the lady that leads that workout, but I always thought she was so pretty and seemed so gentle. I need to do that workout again. I used 10's as my heaviest, however grabbed 15s for the back rows, just to see if my pinkie was OK. It was. I don't think I could use that weight on bicep curls, but back rows it was fine.

It alternated cardio and weight training, and seemed to be really fun. Not a ton of pushups, which I did on the bench, and just when the cardio was getting enough, it was done. Most of it I knew by heart though!

I am really enjoying another trip through the Firms.

This morning I woke up at 3:20am. I got a new splint from the physical therapist to wear at night, and apparently at 3:20 I tried to pull up the covers, lost my grip and slammed my hand, including my wonderfully broken finger, into the headboard full force. I haven't been in that much pain since I originally broke it. I couldn't scream or make a noise since LB is asleep not to far away, but its been about 1/2 hour and it still hurts like a %**($*##. The splint is apparently off my finger and somewhere either lost under the bed or around the bed. I am totally annoyed, in pain, and want to cry. Instead, I will check in and drink coffee!!!

Which, by the way, probably isn't a good plan... I was starting my checkin and heard a "yip" of an animal somewhere outside. I couldn't tell if it was close or far, so if I have to go to the bathroom I am kinda afraid right now to go outside and walk to the house! Hopefully when I have to go it'll be enough time passed that I will be better with it

So my biceps and delts aren't sore today, but they are a little tired. I think this firm rotation is good for me. Its a different way of lifting, still getting weights in, and adding cardio. It is feeling good.

Yesterday I went to the physical therapist. My pinkie is still super swollen, my left one was 4 cm in diameter, my right was 5. So lots of swelling still. I had a friend comment "I can't believe it still hurts!" when I told her some of the activities that still hurt it (stirring things on the stove, opening lever door handles) so I am trying not to complain. I was starting to question how much pain it was causing, and thinking maybe I am just super sensitive to it and think its hurting. However, now I feel a bit more like perhaps I do have a reason it still hurts. I thought I was just going crazy and its so minor I should shut up. So I did. Now with todays set back, I am glad I have the follow up with the hand doctor this morning too. This finger is going to be my Achilles heel for a while.

Today is my hand doctor followup, then I might go to the homeschool conference. I will see how tired I am, since I woke up at the crack of before dawn!

Eventmom: Was this the same horse show that was cancelled because of rain? Seems very weather sensitive! We have been around 100 degrees here. Yesterday I got 10 pounds of ice and LB held it on her lap wrapped in a blanket the whole time we were at the drag strip. She stayed cool for sure! We found shade and used the umbrella, so we stayed comfortable anyhow. But man, it sure is hot!

Looks like we both ended up with unintentional rotations! That's funny. So I was watching the Pahla B group also, and wanted to join in, but counting calories is tough for me too. I get tired of trying to figure out how much chicken is not only in the stir fry, but also how much I actually ate. Plus the other ingredients. I could divide by 3, since our food is divided into 3, however LB gets a little less, DH a little more. Plus I don't always finish my food. I have no idea. It was time consuming and tedious. I didn't enjoy it and it wasn't very accurate anyhow. So I think I will just focus on eating better things, like more protein and less carbs. Better for me food and less junk. stuff like that. I am also much better at knowing how much water I've had!

Today I feel super swollen after being out in the heat all morning yesterday. I don't think my body has still caught up with the water I drank afterwards!

Hi Ebianco!

[eventmom]

action jacquelyn youtube full body + christy taylor cardio

rode my horse and fought the thistle battle.

buzzer - this show was rescheduled at least 2 times due to rain - it's all outdoors so if the rain is too heavy we can't show (footing in the ring, not able to get in and park - one venue had it's drive wiped out from the rain so you couldn't get trailers in and out) and now it's so hot it's not safe for the horses also there are air quality issues so that's not good for the horses either. Weather wise it's been a crap year. So sorry about your finger - breaks can be painful. Firm Strength - pam cauthen I think - one of my top 3 firm workouts! love that one. sorry about the animal - i was cutting down thistle and something moved in the weeds nearby who knows what it was, I got that one chopped and took off. Actually, not sure I ever said this but a couple of weeks ago I"m pretty sure I saw a bobcat in my field - it came out of a bunch of trees, saw me and u-turned back into the trees. that was cool, but I was on a horse and bobcats are small so I felt safe. In the weeds today- I was more scared in case it was snake...

hi ebianco!

[Buzzer]

rest day... DONE!
Firm Volume 2... DONE!

I kicked my own booty in this one. I really focused, went into the lunges and squats, used 3 pound weights PLUS my shoes on my legs, however my heaviest was 10 pounds again. However I tried to be all showy like I used to be when I performed the Firms I felt it the rest of the day. Luckily LB and DH had plans together, so I sat out on the deck and read a book for the afternoon. I felt drained though! My upper body was tired and I could tell I worked my legs. I am kinda sad that such low weights are making me feel so worked, and even to some extend overtrained. I used to use 20's as my heavy, and on the anterior delt raises, I used 8-10! PLUS I not only used the same ankle weights I do now, but also added another set of, I think 5's, and my 12 pound weight in my hand, on my thigh.

Oh well. All I can do is work my way to it again, hope I am treating my body right so it doesn't add weight to itself instead of lose it, and do what I do. I just spend a lot of time distracted by how much extra chin is under my chin, how my clothes are getting tighter, and how heavy I look when I look in the mirror. All stuff that is foreign to me still. I was always the in shape, athletic, lower body fat one! At my hand therapy appointment, she was asking about other conditions I may have. She just asked "any other conditions? Diabetes?" and that's the only condition she asked. I thought, man, have I gotten to the point where I look diabetic? crap.

So, I will do what I can. I am eating pretty spot on lately, a few cheats here and there. I have even cleaned up from my cleaner diet I was eating. I am upping my protein, being more conscious of my water intake, and watching snacks. I even hit the "40/30/30" ratio when I logged my food the other day! That was always the magic ratio I had trouble hitting when I log.

I've been firming 20 days, watching my diet more since May 27, and I am still where I was. am I surprised by that? no. however I am still disappointed.

Eventmom: My brain would say "SNAKE!" too! although in our case, it would most likely have been a bunny. we still dont have thistles here! Our grass is growing like a weed again, but I dont see any thistles. This is very weird for us. There have been a ton of bear sightings around here, the bears are very active this year. I have heard of bobcat and mountain lion sightings, but in 15 years I have never seen one. So that is so very cool you may have seen one!!! I would love to see one, just not near my house. We had a guy up the street that left for work very early a few years ago, and he said he used to see one jump our fence at the top of the property occasionally on his way to work. That was a little close for me. I never had any encounters though.

We have had more elk up here this year, which happens every few years. For some reason a herd will meander to our area, spend a year or two, then move on. I dont like deer, but I especially don't like elk. They are MEAN. and big. a bad combination.

We are at an elevation, and "on the cold side of the hill" where we dont get rattlesnakes. we do get bull snakes and common garden snakes, which are supposedly "good" snakes. I dont like snakes period, so you can call them good or bad, I am an equal opportunity fear-er. Hopefully what you saw was a bunny, not a snake! I would have lit out of there quick too, you cut down the thistle though, which I still dont think I would have done. HA! I would have left it for DH.

As much as the wildlife can scare me, people scare me more. So I'd rather hang out up here with wildlife that would kill me than down in town with people that would!

Hi Ebianco! Hope you are having a good week!

we are supposed to be high of 60 degrees tomorrow. after all this hot hot hot weather, I am excited for high of 60!

[eventmom]

Jacquelyn umoff + 25 min up to the beat youtube walk

so I'm on a jacquelyn kick which is sort of odd as she's got tons of youtube content that would be easy to use in taos but no I'll drag my TA dvds with me.

buzzer - bobcats are pretty timid I wouldn't worry about them - this one saw me and took off so fast I'm not 100% it was a bobcat but not sure what else it could be. high of 60 that's great! We'll be like 80 which is amazing after this heat and crap air quality. We seem to be heading into a drought after all that early rain. The people I buy hay from are concerned, the feed store owner is concerned, I'm concerned just looking at my field. Fortunately the people I buy have from have me and one other person on the top of their list for who gets hay so I think I'll be okay. Volume 2 is tough although I think I"ve only done it one or two times!

hi ebianco!

[ebianco]

Hi all! Oops that I closed my tab with this check in, out of sight out of mind! I was really busy this week, but still surprised I got so far behind here. I had a good workout week though!

Wednesday-Cathe Push Pull, this was a great workout for a weekday because it was shorter at 45 minutes and definitely not as hard as many of her other workouts. I definitely feel good about doing more classic lifting two days a week and am still having a Cathe renaissance!

Thursday-I was short on time so did ACE HIIT with Chris Freytag, the upper body chapter this week. It was SO hard! Warm up to stretch in just 30 minutes. I subbed in a little lower body to make it more of a total body feel. I really enjoyed it!

Friday-I went to a local park for the first time that touts a .75 mile boardwalk, and the boardwalk was indeed very long, and I walked it back and forth again (it doesn't make a loop) and it took a little while to walk to the boardwalk part, so overall I got in a 50 minute walk and stretched there at the park. I also went for a bonus walk two nights (I think Wednesday and Thursday evenings) with the dogs, I've been trying to get out more and not just let the whole summer blow by like I let it last year!

Saturday-Cathe Power Hour. Second time around on this one from doing it in January. Loved it! The music was fun, and it was more endurance-style lifting but I still got to lift a little heavy, it is not AS hard as Muscle Endurance, but still gave me crazy DOMS today. I don't think the circumference of my arms has really gone down necessarily, but I can definitely feel solid muscle in my arms since lifting with Cathe that I did not have before. In other words I feel stronger, and maybe look slightly more shapely in the arms, which is a tough area for me to see results in. So that's something.

Today-Run/walk outside in the very hot almost 90 and sunny weather, it was more walking but my heart rate was up like I was running then Pure Barre Resistance #3, the easiest one but was still tough today, and Callanetics stretching for a 90 minute workout.

Eventmom I can't believe your horse show was cancelled again! Hopefully 4th time will be a charm??

Buzzer I am really enjoying hearing about all the classic Firms you've been revisiting. I am probably going to revisit Firms on Thursdays when I have a little more time. Work is getting busier but I do really miss the classic Firms! Maybe I will just try shortening them so I can still fit them in. I thought Firm Maximum Body Shaping was the Tracie Long one with the cute orange bra and white top with brown shorts ensemble. I really like that one. It is total body sculpting but more intermediate range. Of course all of the classic volumes are the best Its funny that you describe Kai as "stern" because she definitely is! I haven't done that Firm Ultimate Calorie Blaster, I think a BSS3 with the Transfirmer step? in a long time!

Great job on keeping to your exercise and clean eating!! I've been reading Atomic Habits (the author makes building or even breaking habits seem SO easy) and he says that if you follow your process, then the results will follow. So just a matter of being patient...and keeping to your process, which is a big challenge for me. My eating was pretty good until a few days ago, when it got off the rails...again. Yesterday I had a get together for Father's Day and overate on bloat-inducing bbq food and bloat-inducing cake (and seconds of all the bad foods) but thankfully I got back in line today. But I will probably continue to feel bloated for a few days. As I get older it definitely takes longer to shake the bloat, what used to take 2 days now takes about 4 days. Ugh I have to remember how bad I feel BEFORE I eat the bad food. If I hadn't had seconds though, it would have been fine. I am fine with indulgences but I tend to overdo it when I feel like I've already overdone it (what I have dubbed the "F*** it" mentality, as in the day is already blown, may as well keep blowing it and start over tomorrow), if that makes sense

[eventmom]

Jacquelyn umoff about 40 min + 15 TA beg cardio

ebianco! - you're back! yeah this time she just flat out canceled the horse show I feel sorry for her because the shows make money for her and we lose venues for horse activities all the time. I have my issues with her (the owner) but I still want her to survive and stay in business!

buzzer - it's frustrating to work out consistently and not see results! I'm trying to sort out what is a good eating plan. With my digestive issue and headache issue I feel like I'm just guessing - a small amount of carbs or none? vegetable protein doesn't agree with me so that's out. I'm at the point where I think I've got to adjust my eating because more working out isn't for me, and the shorter workouts or easy workouts are questionable if I'm going to ride and try to do my sport.