Breathing Room.

Hey guys,

May is nearly at a close and I'm tired. There's so much that I'd like to share, but each time I sit to draft a post, words fail me. That's an odd experience, but not one that's entirely unfamiliar. For ten years, my go-to form of fitness, wellness, and exercise, was yoga and then one day it seemed I was no longer able to do it. Yoga then, like words now, have abandoned me. Their absence simply force me to grow. I know that.

I'm not sure that I ever fully recovered from all of that holiday binging I did at Christmas. Of course I kicked off the new year with a juice fast that was both beautiful and very painful. But since then, it's felt as if I've been losing a race. Like the finish line has gotten farther and farther away to the point that I'm not certain what that finish line even is.

My body hurts every day. I fully expected that to be the case when I whipped through 8 levels of Muscular Structure with the ball in only one month, and I seemed to be coping. Yet, just under the surface there is a disquieting sense of unease and it's getting harder to ignore.

This past weekend, I decided to try something. I wanted to sit with my body and listen to it.

It had a lot to say. Mostly what it said was that it was tired and I wasn't feeding it spiritually. My body didn't lie. I've been so busy putting it through its paces, racing to keep up with a personal trainer who doesn't know me or my body, counting calories, keeping checks and balances, breaking my body down into separate compartmentalized pieces. I've been tearing it apart, not bringing it together or building it up.

Before my neck injury, I'd taught yoga for seven years. I'd been blessed to study with some of the most incredible teachers, even one or two you may have even heard of. In a past life, (meaning in my twenties) I was a registered massage therapist so I do know a thing or two about bodies. I'm not an expert, but when I sat down and really listened to my heart, I realized that no one knows my body better than me. So (here it comes) I rolled out the old yoga mat yet again.

Without determination or fight, but rather with an attentive ear and a huge helping of compassion, I used up a work-out day for yoga instead. I took a lot of time, I didn't push and I plucked the easiest postures that I'd been currently using in my Tracy cool-downs and stayed with those. I opted for the pre-poses that I taught my beginner students - simple eye exercises, gentle neck stretches - I chose asanas that I'd reserved for my senior students, the ones over sixty who'd not worked out in decades, but instead were smokers and meat-eaters. An hour flew by. There was no sense that I had to "fit this in" to my day - it was my day. It felt wholesome. I was a teacher again. (I loved teaching yoga by the way, more than almost anything) I was a teacher to myself.

Still, sadly the very next day, I could feel something wasn't quite right when I woke up. My neck was killing me. Still is. Add to that all of the aches and pains I was already feeling from tight hamstrings and glutes and everything else under all of that. Like my piriformis - which is a tiny little hip-rotator - one that I'd worked for years to release - feels all bound up again.

I've been keeping track of my measurements and they have not changed in months, not even by a fraction of an inch. My weight has fluctuated by two pounds for the past three months but I can seem to budge it down, not even to my "higher" goal weight. Perhaps I am where I am supposed to be and it's better not to fight that anymore. A few weeks ago, one of the most incredible women on the planet, Amy, asked me "what I wanted that bangin' body for in the first place", I had no answer. Amy, that question lingers still. 

Obviously I am grinding myself into the ground (or at least it feels like that) and my body has simply stopped responding. She's put her foot down and is saying enough, "You've reached your max." If I look in the mirror and ask, can I live with this? The answer is a resounding yes.


I don't have a perfect six pack or a flawless behind, but so what? I can walk around. I can run up a flight of stairs or all the way around Lost Lagoon. I've earned those little wobbly bits. I've enjoyed every single one of those oat fudge bars and brownies and cakes. And I am enjoying my Glowing Green Smoothie everyday too. I wear a size I can live with. Who cares if I don't look like a model in a bikini - who the hell does? Most of the models are photo-shopped anyway. And honestly, how often am I even in a swimsuit for crying out loud?! (Hmm, it would appear that I have found my words again)


The bottom line is this. I have become a little too obsessive for my own comfort. I don't want to play this game anymore. I don't want to talk about, much less write about my weight or my measurements anymore. Those numbers are meaningless if pain wakes me up from a dead sleep each night. It's like I've had a gun to my own head for the better part of this year. It's ridiculous. Have I lost all common sense? Plus WTF? Who can't do yoga? I want to get to the bottom of that. 

I can do other aspects of yoga; I can practice meditation, pranayama (yogic breathing techniques) and savasana. That was always my favorite pose anyway, right? So...

That's something. I love the Method too. I love Tracy, not only for who she seems to be, but also for all the wonderful things she's done for us. She's given us this incredible form of exercise that I am (most of the time) able to do with this neck of mine.

But I need more right now. C2 is fast and hard. And it's crunched into 30 little minutes which means that other things are sacrificed out of necessity. Things like standing arms without weights, standing abs, floor abs - all that is fine - but I want to do something more that 500 leg rotations. I want to breathe into my hips and lower back, I love the burn that only Tracy's standing arm sequences can give me, so I am going to venture off the path for a little while.

I am saving up for Rolfing - which I really want to try - but 10 sessions at between $130-$150 is not in my budget right now - so I am going to go back to my roots - to sitting quietly to determine what my body feels like doing. Some days it will be Muscular Structure, some days it will only be running and still some days it may just be the one posture above - corpse pose.

As May draws to a close and we get into June -- the month that I will learn the fate of my two movie scripts - I need to shift my focus from tracking how many minutes I work out a day and writing down every single calorie obsessively -- and turn my attention within. Attainment is found by looking within. Liberation is only ever found by looking inside of ourselves and digging deep. I need some time off to do that, need a little breathing room. Need to get out from under my own microscope.

That said, even though I may not be posting as much right now, I am always around. You can touch base here or email me. And I have new cardio on the way that I will undoubtedly review. And and and... this is exciting. One of my awesomely cool and lovely readers, Natalia has a friend who's in Vancouver right now so we're going to hang out this week. It always blows my mind at how small out world really is. Awesome.

Lots of love,
Shan 

Knit From Within

Tracy's design has consistently used the smaller muscles to pull those larger more dominant muscles in to create a tighter shape for our bodies. She's often referred to this as knitting us from within. Never has this been more evident than it is here in C2 level 3. I said it in the review and I'll say it again, Tracy has a thing for level three's.

I am feeling muscle aches in a really different way this week. Not the normal - ow I've worked my legs it hurts to stand up from sitting -- it's almost as though she is targeting the origins and insertions of all the tiny little muscles that hold your skeleton together. Is that even possible?

Or maybe when I wasn't looking she actually stuck me with a fat-ass needle like the one above because I'm not sure that ball of wool feels much better than I do at the moment.

The most accurate way to describe it is like an achy joint of sorts, but it's more the soft tissues inside of the joints, and not the typical joints you might feel pain in after a hard workout - not the knees or ankles. I'm feeling it all around my sacrum and in and through the pelvis, bottoms of the ribs and up the spine. All of the balancing and twisting really seems to be activating the deeper muscles that we've not yet gotten to. Who knew there were more?

I don't think I actually look leaner per se, but I sure feel leaner and after another few months of this, who knows? I may even look leaner too. I can't wait for my day off tomorrow!

Have a great weekend.
Shan

Continuity 2.0 L3 - Fast & Furious

Did you know that courage in women was often (and frankly still is) perceived as insanity? Being seen and not heard. Knowing our place. Speaking only when spoken to...

These are things that the great women who have come before us and those who are still blazing the trails have thankfully ignored. Today, it's official! Each and every single one of you has permission to be brave. To stand up for what you believe in. To speak your truth and follow your passion. I'm not giving you permission, that comes from within you. I'm simply here to gently remind you that a great power is welled up inside of you and it's there waiting for you to tap into it.

On that note, lemme tell you about Level 3 of Continuity 2.0. The new mom, Tracy, has a real way with her Level three's. I don't know what it is, but they're always fantastic (and by fantastic I mean challenging and killer and hard and tear-inducing and ass-kicking and gut wrenching).

In these later levels where she no longer narrates you through the sequences, I've taken to watching closely before even attempting the workout. And on first glance of this newest segment I was worried. The workout looked like an episode of a clown class wherein they teach you the art of falling over backwards because that is just exactly what you are expected to do. One one elbow and one knee, you raise your working leg into a hydrant position and carry on lifting it up up up and over until it lands bent on the ground behind you and you more or less fall over. Then you pick it back up, swing it high over the seat of the chair, push yourself into a downward dog, then using the strength of your abs, you lower into a wide-legged plank position before dropping your knees and starting again.

Can you even believe it? And that's not even the hardest one!! 

With some grace, you should end up looking a little bit like this.

Or a little bit more like this (without grace)

But it is possible! I'm proof that it can be taught. 

So the Cliff Notes version is this. Tracy has again forgone both the standing abs and floor abs and instead, has us constantly engaging our abs during the nine different leg moves. Yep nine. The towel is introduced here and on the first go around it's a bit tricky to work with, but once you go through the move a few times, you can work it out easily enough. But the whole thing moves super fast. This is the first level ever where I have had to stop the DVD between every single leg move on both sides so it does take a whole lot longer than a half hour. But it's worth it. You work. You sweat. You curse her name. And in the end you love her for what she's created. She is truly a visionary. Insane? Maybe. Or perhaps she's just brave.

I have to add that she's taken the hardest move from level 1 and the hardest move from level 2... and she's bloody combined them hasn't she. She has created the mother of all evil moves just for level 3! Mean woman.

This level is doable, but I caution you to go at your own pace, at least for the first three or four days because she flies at the speed of light and each sequence feels a little more complicated that the previous one. For me to get the most benefit from it (and not wind up in traction) I go slowly, feeling my way through each movement. There's no way for me to do that if I am trying to keep up with her. But overall -- it's a good one!

Cheers!
Shan

Welcome Penelope!

Congrats to Tracy Anderson and her husband Matt Mogol. 
Our Personal Transformation Guru Tracy gave birth to 5lb 10oz baby Penelope yesterday. Teeny tiny, just like her mama.

We wish you the absolute best.
Love,
Shan

Don't Believe Everything You THINK!

 

Our minds can run away with us. Stress may kick in and get the better of the situation and before we know it, negative thoughts on speed play over and over like a skipping track on an 80s record.

Thoughts like:
I'm too fat
I'm too old
I'm too tired
It's too late for me
I'm ugly
I'm stupid
I'll never get this right
Who do I think I am?
I'm not smart enough
Not young enough
Not creative enough
Not strong enough
Not thin enough
Not sexy enough
I'm too short
too tall
too ethic
Not ethic enough
I'll never have that dream body
Never get to my goal weight
Never be happy...

Do any of these thoughts sound familiar? You're not alone. We all have them. It's as if we're programed from a very young age to feel less-than. To believe that we are somehow inferior.

I'm here to say, please don't believe everything that you think. It's not enough to just not believe the things you read or everything you hear. Negative thinking plays a huge role in us sabotaging our best efforts, not just with fitness, but in everything we do.

Find something about yourself, even if it's just one thing, and be grateful for it right now. Appreciate it RIGHT NOW!
Your beautiful eyes
gleaming smile 
what a terrific mother you are
great cook
fabulous singer
dedicated runner
your awesome hair
great manicure
your ability to tell a funny joke 
hell, your ability to remember a funny joke
how lovely you feel in a certain pair of shoes
the way your bronzer looks when you've applied it just right
your slender neck
your delicate wrist
your shapely calves
your ability to paint
your skill with decorating
your mad table tennis skills
that you're still young enough
that your current weight is close enough (love that one!)
how brilliant you look in blue
or my personal fave...
the way you've worn in your favorite sweat pants just right... whatever it is... say something nice to yourself today. Get really cheeky and say it out loud you brave devil you!

It might sound corny, but the moment that I let up on the goal weight -- only shifting it by three little pounds (seems so insignificant really) my whole perspective seems to be changing. I love my body more and feel somehow more comfortable in my own skin. Perfection is no longer dogging me. 


I was nicer to myself, did myself a favor and I feel better for it. What favor can you do for yourself today?


By adding a positive thought, it makes less room for a negative one and it offers more time for things like this...

Now doesn't that look like a much nicer place to be? Hope your week blossoms into something beautiful, ladies.

Love,
Shan

HSH

HSH stands for Heath Starts Here, a program for lifelong health developed by Whole Foods Market. For those of you that have known about this for years and are like, where've you been sistah, I say... I'm the remedial student. It takes me a bit. But without a doubt, I can officially say...

One of my favorite things about our move from the isolation of the Island to the busy West End of Vancouver is our proximity to Whole Foods Market. I mean, are you kidding me? All this beautiful produce and product under one roof?

  

Each time I enter the store, I find something more fabulous than the last time. Since picking up Kimberly Snyder's book, The Beauty Detox Solution, I've been spending more time than ever in the produce department, oohing and awing over delightful organic produce.

 
  











But yesterday I had the desire to be just a little bit naughty as I am wont to do, so I found myself in the bakery section. 

Whoa, it's my new favorite place. Everything from that fresh bakery fragrance to the textures and colors and shapes of their incredible homemade desserts. I wanted it all.

But then I came across an item that was labeled HSH - closer examination lead me to the Health Starts Here logo and to the fact that the dessert in my hand was not in fact a HASH Brownie with a typo  - but rather a whole and delicious dessert made from nuts and dates with a bit of cocoa. Maybe not as interesting and note-worthy as "Hey guess what, guys? Whole Foods now sells hash-brownies!" but pretty damned cool nonetheless.

Once home and of course after devouring my delish and healthy treat, I hopped online to learn more about their HSH. Turns out that Whole Foods has a "four pillars of healthy eating" thing that's very much in line with my new Beauty Detox way of feeding myself. Gotta love it when a plan really comes together.


These four pillars are:
Eat whole unprocessed foods. Check!
Eat a colorful variety of plants. Check!
Eat healthy fats. (like avocado, my latest addiction) Check!
Eat nutrient dense foods. Check!


Is this not exactly what Ms. Snyder and others like Tosca Reno have been saying? Check and check!

Hey I know that it's not rocket science but it's nice to know that I am on the right track (finally) and that there's a whole entire super market there to back me up. Not only to they provide all of the fresh organic produce that I could ever want or need, but they have all the odd bits that I've never heard of like the fermented cabbage, as well as a wide variety of supplements. (no hash or medical marijuana though, sorry) But, when I'm in the mood to indulge my sweet tooth, they've even gone to the trouble to label the things that are the better choice so I can have my cake and eat it too.

I heart Whole Foods! If you're interested in knowing more about their HSH program, check it out here. Have a great weekend.


Love,
Shan

Continuity 2.0 Level Deux

Hey guys!

I've been away for a few days. 

The past four months have been fraught with rewrites as more people become attached to my projects in the Package and Polish phase of film making, which is where two of my scripts currently find themselves. Not a bad place to be because it gives hope that at least one of them will go to camera this fall.


As everyone comes to the table with an opinion and a desire to leave their mark on the project, the story starts to belong to them and I relish the time I can come here and tell my own story with nary a producer, director, editor or distributor in sight.


So why have I been absent?  ... check it out...

I'm breaking a new story. 

I love love love this part! It's just me in my room at my desk with a whole freaking world of possibility - I can cast any actor - I have absolutely no cap on the budget so I can have any number of locations, crazy stunts, lots of action - anything can happen - it's my favorite part of being a screenwriter! Actually, I guess it's a privilege that Novelists have every single day. Hmm, never thought about it that way before. Damn film really is limiting. Anyhoo -- I have my new shiny play-thing - it's the equivalent of a new puppy -- it pulls focus.

But I haven't stopped working out and did mention that I'd share my thoughts on level 2 of Continuity 2.0.

I never know if you really want to know about it. It's so subjective and I'm a total wimp so secretly I believe it's always harder for me than the rest of you Amazon Goddesses out there. Is it boring to get a review? You'd tell me... wouldn't you? I suppose you could just skip over the post but... then what's the point of writing it?

OMG - my neurotic writer persona is rearing her wildly obsessive and anxious head. My apologies. It happens when I spend more time in my head than out in the real world.

Shall I just get on with it? 

Level 2 is a challenge but not as "can't wait to get on the mat" as level 1 was. Tracy introduces the chair during the warm-up and we jump straight into a vigorous but tiny bit repetitive weighted arm sequence. She brings back the floor abs so we're therefore back to only six leg moves -- which has been the norm for the duration of Metamorphosis and Continuity thus far.

That said, I like the abs and think they're worth it. Hello Abcentric, remember? Need all the help I can get, but did quite enjoy the extra legs on the previous level.

The first three moves involve kneeling on the chair which I so prefer over being on my knees on the floor. The upper body is placed in three very different angles and the balance demanded becomes increasingly more difficult - as mentioned in an earlier post -- so glad I didn't skip over the Ball workouts despite doing them on speed. Ms. Anderson has Method to her Madness as usual, the girl knows what she is doing.

From there we get into some hard-core plank moves -- for me -- I mean they are very hard on my body with my wrist issues and my neck pain. One move I can only manage about 15 reps and I am done. In fact today I can hardly turn my head so am going to have to scale it back and adapt it to my limitations. With that in mind, on the recommendation of the lovely Miss Bombshell Lolita - I have sought out a Structural Integration Therapist (Rolfing) and will see her for the first time next week. 

I have worked with a Chiropractor, with my witch doctor Acupuncturist and plenty of RMT's, but nothing has ever fixed me and since the go-to exercise for injury  - Yoga - is the thing that started this whole issue in the first place - I really am after healing. Maybe this will be it? Who knows. I'll keep you posted. But I digress.


Finally, the session rounds out with a move that feels like a crunch but it involves the legs working inner and outer thighs in addition to enlisting the help of the hamstring on the opposite leg. It's a very well balanced series that I'm happy to be in, and it has me looking forward to level three. 


On a final note, while I still don't have it all figured out, I do finally feel like I'm no longer on a "diet". The Beauty Detox Solution totally feels like what the title implies - a solution. Who knew? I'll know more at the end of the month after I've stuck with it for a couple of weeks. Let's see if a few of those stubborn last pounds come off. So far my weight's holding steady, but my belly seems to have deflated somewhat. I'll take it!


Love you lots,
Shan

Glowing Green Smoothie!

Guys!!! It's a love day! Yesterday kicked off Level 2 of Continuity 2.0 and I have a huge confession... you know all that ball stuff I hated? Yeah well, good thing I did it (okay I did it on speed, but still), if I hadn't worked out how to balance on the ball, I don't think that I'd be able to pull off the balance moves Tracy's got going on with the chair in this level! Yowzers!

I will give you a rundown of it, but not today. 

Today is a love day of a whole 'nother sort. It's a love day for the Glowing Green Smoothie - okay -- can I just be the first one to say it? I totally think Tracy and Kimberly need to get together and hang out if they're not doing that already. Tracy has clearly come up with the perfect workout, do we love it? We love it!! But Kimberly... OMG Kimberly has come up with the perfect fuel for that workout. As we cruise into the weekend, do yourself a favor and give this smoothie a go.

I know, I know, it might feel a bit band-wagony, but just trust me on this one. I've been drinking it everyday this week and I really do feel good, physically and mentally (and that's rare, ha). I'm not suggesting you change up your whole eating routine or your diet or even your lifestyle, I've never once said that anybody had to practice the Method, but I'd love for you all to try this drink for breakfast. If you have a blender like mine (cheapo) go ahead and give yourself a smile in the mirror as soon as you've finished drinking -- or better yet while you're drinking it -- It's like you've just been out in the yard mowing the lawn with your teeth! Hilarious. And for you first timers, it might feel a little bit like you're drinking the lawn, but I swear it grows on you. (Add pineapple, you'll be fine you big babies!) 

So here is - not only the recipe ripped straight off of Kimberly's website -- but also the most awesome video that just may make you want to run straight out and blow $600 on a Vitamix. Okay well not entirely, but Susie Castillo is tres fun and she's now got me singing "Pretty In Pink" and pouting my lips every time I make my smoothie! Love it!

Kimberly's Glowing Green Smoothie

Ingredients (64 ounces / 2-4 servings)

• 1 ½- 2 cups very cold, filtered water
• 6 cups spinach, chopped
• 5 cups organic romaine lettuce, chopped
• 2 stalks of organic celery
• 1 organic apple, cored and chopped
• 1 organic pear, cored and chopped
• 1 organic banana
• 1–2 Tbs. fresh organic lemon juice

Optional Ingredients

• Ice cubes (the extra coldness can help newbies with the taste)
• 1/2 cup of organic cilantro
• 1/2 cup of organic parsley

Directions

Add water, spinach and chopped romaine to the blender. Starting the blender on a low speed; mix until smooth.
 

Gradually move to higher speeds and add the herbs, celery, pear, and apple. Add the banana and lemon juice last.

This makes enough for two - so either share it, or put a tight lid on it and drink the other half tomorrow.  *For 1 serving, cut out one of the fruits and the celery.

Have a great weekend, girlies. Hope you're all glowing by Monday!

Love,
Shan

Metamorphosis - The Four Centrics.

By now, most of you know about the Four Centrics of Metamorphosis, there is one for each different body type as illustrated below.

You may know hands down which type you are, me? I'm Abcentric, no question. Or you may not be totally clear so you've taken the Body Type Calculator test and now have a better idea... but did you ever wonder what the difference might actually be?

Well ladies.... guess what? Guess what? Guess what??? Eeeee, I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. We have a very esteemed and totally kick-ass member of our community, one of my very favoritest readers ever in the world, V, who's done all four and guess what? She's agreed to answer a couple of questions about her journey down all four paths. And I mean to tell you... she is absolutely gorgeous and in amazing shape, her abs... I'll let her photos speak for themselves. She rocks.

Here's her story and her take on the Four Centrics.

I've always worked out, always ran & I have always tried to eat really well. But my working out & running always made my legs bigger.  I try to eat healthy - but I keep tweaking & changing what healthy might be.

Also, with each pregnancy I ate when I was hungry & tried to nourish my body.  In the end I ended up 40 pounds heavier (after 4 kids), but I also had healthy babies & no regrets.  That is just how it worked for me. 

It had been 2 years since my youngest was born.  I had been running, and doing all sorts of resistance training, and I was just getting bigger.  

I was talking to a dear friend on the phone, wondering "would I ever get my body back," and she said she just saw an interview on Oprah with Gwyneth Paltrow.  She said, you should do what she is doing, that would help ANY body.  I said what is it?  She said Tracy Anderson, and the rest is history!

What path did you take into the different body types? I started with Omnicentric. I dropped 26 pounds (my overall goal was 40).  I lost 3 1/4 inches in the chest, 7 inches in the waist, 3 1/4 inches in the hips, 3 1/4 in the thighs, 1 in the arms.  Like I say, I was basically eating lean proteins & green veggies, and fruit alone on an empty stomach.

Then I did Hipcentric.  On Hipcentric all my measurements stayed the same except I lost 2 more inches on the hips, and about 4 more pounds.

Hipcentric was followed by Abcentric, and finally Glutecentric.  I would say I was eating clean on both of those programs (Tocas Reno's eat clean diet) but  I maintained pretty much everything.

Abcentric didn't seem to help me at all really (but that might just be because my 10 pounds of fat still looks like 10 pounds of fat?).  

On Glutecentric I really noticed more ab improvement and glute improvement.

In your opinion, what’s the main difference between the four centrics?

The main difference between them is hard to answer; I think the angles were always a bit different.

For each centric I did do every single workout.  So probably the biggest thing I can say after trying everything is that each program really does, in my opinion, work where it says it is going to work. 

They all felt somewhat the same to me, in that it feels like I'm practicing the same Method - which I am.  I wouldn't say there is much difference, but that on each centric I did always feel the work in whatever area was the target of the centric.  Honestly.

Which one did you feel was the most difficult centric for you?  

Again, it was probably the first one I did, which was Omnicentric - just because it was new & challenging.  But, I do remember thinking Hipcentric was quite challenging too.

What was your favorite centric?  

I think it was probably glute.  I don't know if that was because it was the 4th & final one, or if I had gotten so good at everything by that point the whole centric was a love day (as you would put it), or just because I truly enjoyed all of the moves.  But glute was my favorite.  

I plan to do Continuity with omni, but every once in awhile I might call & change to glute.  I even did the whole 90 days of glute with ankle weights, and pretty much each day was great!

If you had it to do over, would you do all four again?  

I just had to!  I was so curious as to what the difference would be.  I wasn't sure Omnicentric would be good enough - and since I needed help all over - I didn't want to miss a chance to improve my abs, or hips, or glutes.  I'd definitely do it all over again.  However - I did not realize that once I hit Continuity, I could change my shipments.  So maybe a better way would have been to just change each centric throughout Continuity.

What did you learn most about yourself & the Method by doing all four?  

Well, I did learn a lot about myself.  I've got four kids, and in the beginning (when I did the boot camp), I was getting up at 4:30 to get all my stuff done before the kids got up & needed to get ready for school.  

I learned that I could do that, and that I did want to do something totally awesome for me.  I learned how to become a morning person, and my husband still can't believe I get up earlier then him now.  That is unheard of.  

I learned that I can do anything, honestly.  I learned that I love and crave the levels, and the constant change.  I learned that I love this workout, because I got smaller instead of my muscles getting bulky & bigger, which is what they always did when I worked out for any amount of time.  I love the Method.  Love it.

Speaking to someone who has never done the Method, do you have any advice for them? And what do you know now that you wish you’d known before?  

It would be the same answer to both.

I wish I'd known that nutrition is really important.  I think I kind of gave up for awhile after the first 90 days, figuring if I couldn't lose all the weight in that time, I never would.  But - it can take as long as it takes, because I am just going to keep working on it!  It was hard for me to hear of people reaching all their goals in 90 days, and then I felt bad about myself.  

But, who cares how long it takes.  We should stop comparing ourselves to others!!!!

The Method works, but I know it works best with a great eating plan.  Do not overlook nutrition.

I had to ask, what do you think about the Cardio? 

Ah, the cardio.  I've got a lot of thoughts on the cardio.  It is not my favorite.  I have spent hours & months trying to learn some of her dance cardio routines, and there came a point when I decided to just put that down for a while. 

My most favorite day ever was when I discovered her Tel Aviv Trampoline Workout, and that became my go to cardio for a long time.  Then I found her treadmill cardio workout, and would change it up during the week, and would switch between the two of them. 

At this point I take whatever cardio she throws my way and modify it a little for the trampoline.  That is how I love to do the cardio, and I'd rather do it that way, then not do it at all.  So that was the modification I had to make. 

On a rare day I'll do it on the floor, but not very often.  As summer approaches I'm starting to like the idea of a bit of running.  It was always my love, and I gave it up to follow TAM strictly, but I kind of miss my love!

But at this point, my conclusion is - the workouts will help me maintain, but I've got to tweak my eating.  I don't just want to do the dynamic eating plan, because I really want something that is forever! 

I want to improve my body's nutrition! I am now starting my journey on continuity.  I have been feeling challenged with omni continuity, and am ready to keep moving forward!

As I started to regain my confidence, and as I started to see this was something that actually would give me the results I was wanting - my whole life changed. 

I wasn't just losing weight, I was losing negative thoughts about myself & everyone else.  As I kept getting to a better place, my life kept getting better.  I would see more things to be happy about, and the more things I'd be thankful for, the more wonderful things kept happening.  Everything about my life was being challenged, and I'd venture to say, everything about it has changed. 

My relationships have gotten better, and I just start tackling everything one by one.  A cleaner, more organized house;  a budget for my financial life.  Just everything.  Because I believe ANYTHING is possible!!!! For me, this was about body in the beginning, but it became about way more than body. Much much more. And is really my biggest message. It is about more than body. It's about seeing progress (with your body & every part of life) and living & loving each moment!!

The picture in the jeans is my favorite pair of jeans from before I began this journey.  In jeans I've gone from a 12 to a size 4.

The after is "current, after doing bootcamp & 4 centrics, and about 10 pounds away from my original goal" I think you can just see in the stomach area what I'm working on, even though abcentric doesn't seem to be me.

I want to try Glute now, look at her abs!! 

V you have been so amazing to share your journey and to shed a little bit of light on the Four Centrics. It's good to know that each one is actually working the area is says it will.


I think my favorite part of all is your message - That it takes as long as it takes, stop comparing yourself to others! I love that. You look amazing and your positive outlook is contagious. Thanks so much!


Warmly,
Shan

Time to Rebuild!

Hey everybody! I have an exciting announcement to make - One of my all-time favorite readers, Morgan (oh, are we not supposed to have faves? I didn't get the memo, shut it, I love every bleedin' one of you) got married last week!!! 

Yeah!!!! Congratulations Morgan! 

She's been here with us for the past year, and like so many of us has had her ups and downs with trying to stick with the program. We're all doing our very best but sometimes we just forget and get lost or sidetracked by that old critic in our heads. I wasn't the only one that related to Bee's story in True Beauty, it hit home for Morgan too - I wanted to make sure you all read her comment so have put it here - front and centre - because it's awesome!

As you may know, I started doing this when I got engaged last year. Well, one thing and another (and another, etc)and I got most excersize climbing on and off the wagon. I found that with moving, changing jobs, buying a home, moving again, and planning an out-of-state wedding, most times I wasn't doing all I had planned in terms of health. I spent my time beating myself up a lot when I went a day or a week "not being perfect". "People will laugh at me at my own wedding! It's too late to start now! It doesn't matter what I do so I might as well do nothing!" It all sounds so silly now! About a week before the wedding I hit my breaking point and saw that I was being mean to myself and losing sight of the things that were important. I got a life-changing massage and gave myself the ok to relax and care for me. I spent the days before my wedding not messing with my hair or staring at my arms with hate, but really trying to be in the moment and soaking up all of the love that surrounded us, and being so greatful for our friends and family--and all the vendors and such.

Loooong story short--the day was perfect and I felt more beautiful than I ever thought possible every second! And since that day last week, I've been trying to hold onto that feeling. I feel so much more calm and centered, and actually, all of those "good" things I was supposed to be doing and didn't and felt bad about, all of a sudden they're just happening. Now that I don't feel this weird pressure (all put on by myself, btw), it's fun to do the MS and DC. I'm craving the whole fresh food. Sleeping better. Appreciating everyone arround me. Feeling comfortable is the best cosmetic--who knew?

Thanks Morgan! She also had a consult with with Kimberly Snyder, you can check out her full comment on yesterday's post. Tres cool.


And speaking of Kimberly, after reading her book, The Beauty Detox Solution...

Something seems to be shifting within me. I can't say what it is. I still have my little love handles and a ponchie belly, I'm a few pounds away from where I want to be, but somehow it seems... less desperate... less urgent...

Over the past two years working with the Tracy Anderson Method to help repair my broken body, I've slowly been incorporating a few yoga asanas into the end of my practice each day and I can feel myself growing stronger from within.

All of this diet talk, the quest for the six-pack and the perfect size had me, at times, feeling a real hate-on for my limitations. My focus was misplaced. 

Rather than shedding the weight, slashing the spare tire, and lacerating the love-handles - I think it's time for a greater shift towards building my body up. To supporting it through proper nutrition and healthy digestion. To loving it through every lap around Lost Lagoon, every leg-lift, plie and plank position.

When we're trying to get in shape it can sometimes feel like a bloody battle, but the Ancient Sages claim that "what we resist persists..." and perhaps rather than waging war with ourselves, we might be better served to love and appreciate the strengths we do have, the accomplishments we have made and do this Crazy Ass Method of Tracy's because we want to, because it makes us feel good, and then I think looking and feeling good with be a natural by-product.

"Attainment truly is an act of reaching inward rather than outward." We're gettin' it girls!

Love,
Shan

What happens when the diet ends???

That's the million dollar question isn't it? This has been the ongoing struggle for so very many of us; How do we maintain? I have written a lot about my continued struggles with food on this blog, it's a regular theme -- damn it's almost a weekly bloody feature! If you're as tired of it as I am, then you have my full permission to skip out on this post. And before I go any further, I have two things to say.

1) this whole counting calories thing and keeping track of what I've been eating has been a huge help to me. it's working. but I don't want to do it for the rest of my life. it's nauseating.

2) this post is going to be long. it may not change your life, but I do believe it is the beginning of changing mine.

Alrighty then! Here we go. (Leah, I promised you this post last week, but work obligations dominated. My sincerest and humblest apologies.)

When we are free from constant worry about our physical appearance, we can direct our unlimited power toward accomplishing all of our personal, professional and spiritual goals...

Kimberly Snyder

Think about that for a moment... if we set a goal for ourselves and through diet and exercise we reached it and were able to maintain that, instead of yo-yo'ing... we'd be free. 

Some of you have done it. You've found the path through your preferences and lifestyles that works for you. I admire and applaud you. Your methods are as varied as you are. For some, it's veggies and protein, others eat carbs but only once a day, others stick to soups and smoothies during the day and eat a full meal at night (I believe GP is of this variety), some choose to eat raw, others are vegan, some eat absolutely everything but have masterful control over portion size, and still others keep track counting calories -- this is not a one size fits all -- but we know that. 

I do not fit into any of the above. No point in going into detail about why, I would just be whinging. (Hey I finally got the right spelling on whinge, my all-time favorite "British" word)

So many of you have reached out and shared, you have the most generous spirit of any community of which I have had the privilege of being a part of. And one of you may be entirely responsible for leading me toward a real game-changer. For the life of me I couldn't remember your name -- so I scoured old posts and poured over comments looking for you so that I could give you due credit until I found you -- here -- and found that you were anonymous. In any case, you know who you are, and I owe you a debt of gratitude. You may be wondering what it is that she's done. Well... my Anonymous Benefactor recommended a book - the very book that the above quote comes from. It's called THE BEAUTY DETOX SOLUTION, by Kimberly Snyder, C.N.

Around the same time, Dr. Alejandro Junger's book, CLEAN was recommended by M, and she was about the 4th or 5th person to do so since I did my new year's cleanse - so I took the plunge and bought both books. (It went against my frugalista nature I don't mind telling you.)

I like doing cleanses and detoxes, I do them a couple of times a year. January was my first Juice cleanse and it won't be my last, but I was in no way interested in doing a cleanse right now, not in the middle of my 8-week Dynamic Eating Plan by Tracy... so why these two books? Why now? I dunno. I've never claimed to have all the answers, I just followed my gut. I made a plan to read both, contrast and compare and see if I could find enough between them to figure out a plan. (The old Bandwagon) remember? Always jumping on the next one and I didn't want to be running off on another tangent.

The Beauty Detox Solution, contrary to its title, it isn't a temporary "program", it's a way of eating everyday forever and for always. You should also know that once I read Kimberly's book, I did a little experiment. I followed her recommendations for two days and then followed my Body Reset regular plan for two days (and made 'He who shall not be named' do it too), and we both noticed a huge difference in how we felt. While this is not definitive proof that the principals are perfectly sound and will work for everyone, it was enough for me to give myself a little challenge. In the same way that I took the vegan challenge for 4 weeks after reading The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone - I am going to do the same here. Mostly because I believe it will be somewhat effortless for me because it fits MY lifestyle. (Something won't be right for everyone, but everything is right for someone.)

This bloody post is running on so much longer than even I anticipated - so I will get on with it as quickly as I can.

Snyder and Junger agree that most of our problems with weight gain and a variety of other issues (lack of energy, bloating, cancer, heart disease - you get the idea -- everything) is caused because our body's PH is out of balance. We do best when we are alkaline and suffer when acidic. 

Acid forming foods include stuff like alcohol,  medications, nicotine, caffeine, dairy, refined sugar and animal products - so these are things we should limit, avoid or eliminate if we can.

Alkaline foods include all the good stuff like ripe fruits, greens, sprouts and most veggies other than the starchy variety.

Now some of what I am going to tell you might seem radical or contrary to popular belief, but I am asking you to suspend disbelief for the moment, okay? In order for our bodies to function optimally, we need to balance the use of energy and digestion is a huge consumer of energy. So much so that if our bodies spend all their time trying to break down the food we've eaten, they haven't much time for anything else, like fighting disease, repairing collagen, building bones etc so we get old and sick and fat and die.

You know the old adage, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and at that first meal you should eat like a king, lunch you should eat like a prince and at dinner eat like a pauper? Turns out maybe not. Think of your digestive track as a winding mountain road. If you put the huge Semi Truck at the front, traffic will get backed up for miles. But if you lead with your race car, then the SUV and finally the Semi, traffic will flow.

This comes back to food combinations but not in the way that I have always looked at food combining (as complicated) it's simple. Fruit is a race car - it zips through your body in no time. Veggies are the SUV's on the road. They're pretty fast, but would still slow up your Porsche. Your carbs and proteins then become that huge eighteen wheeler - they take for ever. Add to that, when you put them together, traffic all but stops.

Here's the good news. If you save those heavier foods for your evening meal (we're told not to do that generally) and allow for 12 hours between dinner that night and breakfast the next day, you give your body a chance to break that stuff down over night.

Here's where Junger comes into play. He says that it takes a full 8 hours for your body's detox signal to kick in. So in other words if you're constantly grazing, the digestion is constantly working and the body has very little time to do anything else. But if you don't stuff your pie hole for a whole 8 hours, what happens then? The actual process of cleaning takes another 4 hours to complete. In other words - that 12 hours over night between meals allows you to break down everything and get rid of it. (ever wonder why you wake up with fairy poo in the corners of your eyes? or that white coating on your tongue? detox in action baby)

What Kimberly goes on to say is that if you eat really lightly in the morning and light-ish through lunch, you're able to lengthen that cleansing process and are therefore able to be continually detoxing, rather than letting the crap build up and then trying to scrape it out once or twice a year. Makes sense. After just two days of this, my stomach sort of flattened and I had to consider that perhaps there is a possibility that I don't have a fat stomach, maybe it's just overworked.

Both authors take it further by saying that you can't simply get rid of all this stuff and do nothing else, rather you need to be supporting the liver and other organs while doing this - so you'll want to start your day with warm water and freshly squeezed lemon, take probiotics and other supplements. And the cornerstone to Kim's plan is her Glowing Green Smoothie - not unlike Joe Crosses Mean Green Juice among others. But this is supposed to be a simple post not the entire book so for that I am going to redirect you to her website for more info.

To sum up, here's a brief outline.
Avoid the following: dairy, gluten (wheat, rye, barley), refined sugars and starch (white bread, white rice), artificial sweeteners, canned food, packaged food, bottled juices, salt, and fried foods. (Just like the Clean Diet - we want to be consuming only whole foods)

Try to eat properly combined meals - so steak and potatoes, eggs on toast, beans and rice - all those are poor combinations, don't eat them for breakfast or lunch, and limit your intake of these food combos to once or twice a week --- however!!! if you are going to eat them, do it at the last meal of the day so you don't cause a traffic jam. In addition, you should be limiting your animal products to a maximum of three times a week.

Give yourself at least 12 hours between dinner the night before and breakfast the next day.

Eat fruit alone and at breakfast. Try to eat more greens and raw foods in the day, save your cooked stuff for dinner.

Don't eat breakfast until you are actually hungry and start your day with lemon water.

These simple rules are a godsend for a vegetarian like me. I know that I still have a long way to go to curb my sugar addiction and have more portion control, but this is a great place to start. I feel really hopeful and plan to carry on with my calorie counting and once a week cheat days (on that day I'll have my fried breakfast at dinner time instead,) but I may have just found a path that works for me long term - thanks to You my Anonymous Benefactor, and these two authors.

In closing here are a couple of other resources you might find handy - they are all more or less saying the same thing.

The Clean Program 
The Beauty Detox 
The Ash Center 
Reboot 

Whew - that's a lot and I didn't even get to tell you all of what I'd hoped to.

I am going to leave you with a final thought that speaks to my last post about True Beauty. 

We all want our idea of a perfect body and sometimes when we reach what we thought was perfection, we fear we've somehow fallen short because we look around and feel like we still somehow don't measure up. When I look back at my after photos, I think -- I don't look as imperfect as I thought I did at the time. As a 40-year-old, if I could go back to my 20-something self, I'd tell her to chill, she's beautiful and has the glow of youth on her side. By that logic, I know my 60-year old self would come back to me today and say the same. 

So I am putting a stop to feeling "less than" right now. My amazing, insightful and beautiful reader Amy asked: "What do you want to do with that bangin' body anyway? Is it for show? Is it to achieve a goal like completing a marathon?" You should read Amy's full comment on the previous post, it's brilliant and it made me stop and think --

I am upping my idea of my perfect weight by a few pounds. It's a goal that will be easier to get to and to maintain in the long run. Everyday I am going to find something to appreciate about myself and to just practice gratitude toward my body. 

And finally to fully believe that "Attainment is an act of reaching inward, not outward." Astrologist Stephanie Azaria said that, and I believe her. 

Our true beauty comes from within and from this point forward I want to nourish myself instead of depriving myself. I think the Beauty Detox Solution is a giant step in the right direction.

All my best,
Shan 

True Beauty.

How do you define beauty? I don't mean in the general sense, I mean you, as an individual woman living in the world. Whether you're twenty-five or eighty-five, you must have some idea in your head of what or who you think is beautiful. Do you have a vision of perfection, believing that if you some day reach that benchmark then you'll truly be happy? You'll somehow just know that you've arrived and suddenly as if sprinkled by magical fairy dust you'll feel good in your own skin? Or maybe you've already reached that point. Your jeans fit perfectly, everything you try on looks good, the scale reflects that elusive number that you worked so hard to get to... but now you're after a lower number, a smaller size. If only my abs were a little more toned, you might think, or if I could just shave another inch or two from my bottom, then I'd feel amazing.

You might look at a model in a magazine, see a film star in a movie, or catch a glimpse of the ideal on a fitness website and think if only... So many of you have commented on my photos and said very kind things. At the time when I got to my goal weight and took those photos, my thoughts back to you were - thanks but, it's prob'ly just the light, or the angle, or the cut of my track pants, or or or. I had a hard time accepting the compliment. It felt great being able to get into my skinny jeans again, but it wasn't the high I'd expected. Soon I was navigating the diet world again, I gained ten pounds and felt pretty rotten. I looked back on those pictures and wondered why I didn't fully appreciate my appearance, what was it that kept me striving, that drove me to the point of near obsession? Was it the thought of perfection, that deep rooted feeling of not being good enough?

I don't know. But what I have come to learn is that I am not the only one who's felt that way. I want you to take a look at this woman.
 

When I look at her I think not only is she very stylie, but she has lovely toned arms and shoulders, her waist curves in, her hips are narrow, she just looks so good. Nothing is out of balance on her body and she is very obviously fit.


This dear friends is the lovely, the gorgeous, and ever so brave reader Bee. She's allowed me to share part of her journey with you today. And that photo above, that's Bee's before picture! Can you believe it? Here's what she told me:

The “Before” picture was taken in 2009; I was in the midst of getting my Masters while working full time but I still made time for some gym sessions.   


Um getting her Masters and working full time, plus working out? Wow right? She's a super hero! Now check out her after photos.

Look at those arms people! That tiny cannot pinch an inch waist! Seriously OMG!

If I had those abs I think I'd be running around in crop tops all day long. To me, Bee looks perfect. But I am not Bee. Here's more of her story:


The “after” pictures are from October last year, about a year and half after Tracy.  I had just finished the 30 day Bootcamp, sans diet (although I was eating pretty clean) and was working out about 2.5 hours a day (1.5 hours MS and 45-60 mins cardio).  Since then, I dropped to my previous 45min MS and 45 Cardio and still kept my results.  

Then I started on Meta but was terrified that dropping to 30 mins each of MS and Cardio would mean sacrificing my results.  At this point, I was under the impression I could eat anything and still maintain and was mostly “good” during the week whilst binging on the weekends.  I was still doing 45mins of Meta (adding extra legs and arms) and 40-45 mins cardio but TAM became a chore that I was beginning to resent.  It took up all my time and I was simply SICK of the DC.

I now have a very unhealthy relationship with food and exercise and am trying to find some sort of balance.  I think I’ve gained about 2-3 kilos but I don’t know for sure as I have not weighed myself for about 5 years (I become too obsessive with the scale).  All I know is that I feel chunkier and I certainly don’t like it.  It’s funny, I look at the “After” photos now and think that I’d be happy looking like that again but I clearly recall that I wasn’t even satisfied when those photos were taken; I hated my thighs (and still do).  I don’t know if I’ll ever be satisfied with the way I look and I know in my heart that reaching a certain weight (or having Giuliana Rancic’s thighs) is not going to make me happy, as much as my mind tells me it is.  I will always compare myself to others and find someone else who I’d prefer to look like.
 


I think hers is an important story to share because, not only do I totally relate, but it brings me back to that question that my girl Janice asked a while back. "Is the quality of our lives improving by what we are doing, or are we driving ourselves mad?" At what point can we ever stop and just be accepting and loving of ourselves? What is it that we are trying to live up to? Sure we could all maintain super skinny bodies if we drank nothing but juice all day long, don't get me wrong I love me my juice, but I derive so much pleasure out of dining that I want to believe that there can be a balance, but it starts with self-love and acceptance. For us a women that can be a super tall order. Bee concluded her message to me with the following:


I’m also trying to chuck the guilt – so what if I don’t get my 5 cardio sessions in?  I’ve been for walks instead and it has been good for my soul.  Getting into the sunshine after work is so much more refreshing than being in front of a TV for 2 hours, battling through my workout.  I’m also getting to spend some time with my husband which I couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do because of my hectic work and exercise schedule.  I’m trying to find what works for me and this may mean I’ll continue with the MS and find some other cardio that gets me excited and doesn’t hurt my body so much.  Can you believe that I had to take pain killers before each workout so as to not feel the impact the cardio had on my damaged calves and ankles during my workout??
 
As for my diet, I’m working on that too. I am working on being more present and Gina Lake’s “Radical Happiness: A guide to Awakening” is helping.
 
Bee gives me hope. 

Being present and practicing gratitude need to become our priorities over worrying about pant sizes and scale numbers.


It's no secret that I've been wrestling over how to eat since this whole journey began. So far my plan has been working with keeping track, cutting out processed foods, and skimming back excessive portions, but I too continue to have to work to find that balance.


Perhaps our new motto should be -- balance before perfection. In any case, I want to thank Bee so much for her warm and generous spirit and for being courageous enough to share her story with us. Together, we're definitely better!


Warmly, 
Shan