Tracy Anderson’s 30-Day Method: The Weight-Loss Kick-Start that Makes Perfection Possible
Disclaimer: I am in no way a certified professional to offer advice. These are my own opinions taken from my own experiences and beliefs.
For a Review of the Book check out this post here.
I have decided to review the actual “method” in the book Tracy Anderson’s 30-Day Method. For the next week, I will be following the Tracy Anderson 30-Day Method and posting updates about my progress. I will be posting what I ate, what exercises I did, as well as my thoughts and feelings throughout the week. As for what the method is and what it promises please see my review of the book. For these posts, I’m going to stick to my progress.
So let’s begin with the exercise since I’m trying to knock that out first thing each day. The goal is to eventually do 40 minutes of cardio dancing and then the muscle design workout for the correct day.
30-DAY cardio workout
I managed to do both cardio sessions which I believe lasted 10 minutes each. I was expecting them to each last 20 minutes so you will have to repeat them to get in a full 40. I’m going to time them exactly tomorrow. I also did not notice a difference in the moves between the two sessions. Twenty was about all I could get in today of the cardio dancing.
My cardio workout thoughts
Cardio dancing is a true heart-pumping cardio exercise. Tracy Anderson is a dancer and she moves like one. The companion DVD that comes with the book is just a simple put-together DVD of what you are to do. No bells or whistles, a white screen with Tracy doing the cardio dancing. No problem here as I did not purchase an instructional DVD. You have to go into the cardio workout with an open mind and know you are not going to be able to follow every move the first time. The moves are quick and change within a matter of seconds. You are dancing but with purposeful moves. Usually, I get irritated when I can’t follow along but with this, I figured let’s just dance and keep up the best we can. In her book, she tells you to use mirrors to watch yourself but I admit I did not go to that length. She also mentions you may want your own playlist while doing the cardio dancing. There are no instructions or talking during the workout. She is shown on the screen and she begins the routine you jump in and follow the best you can. Get ready for some high-impact cardio. She is jumping and dancing throughout the entire video. You will sweat and you will get tired but overall it was much more fun than I thought it was going to be. I did my best to mimic her moves and when she was too fast for me I just danced to keep up. Tomorrow I’m going to try to use my own music.
30-DAY METHOD muscle design workout
You follow a muscle design workout designed by Tracy to work what she calls your accessory muscles (the smaller muscles). After 10 days she switches up the routine so your muscles do not get used to the routine. As I was flipping through the book for the purpose of this review I realized I totally skipped the stretching sequence so I will have to do that first tomorrow. When I was reading the book and looking at the exercises my first thought was there should be a DVD included to show you how to do them. It wasn’t until later in the book I learned there was a DVD and it included instructions for each. Once you have the exercises down it would be best to move to the book and skip the video as her intentions are to get you to 40 reps with ankle weights and the video gives you time for about 20 and does not repeat on the other side. The video is simply a tool to show you how to do each exercise.
My muscle design workout THOUGHTS
I really enjoyed the workout, no weights that got too heavy only heavy body parts, like my arms. Her instructions were easy to follow and I enjoyed doing moves that I had not done before. By the end of the muscle design workout, I could tell I was getting a little tired and I slacked a little in the arm routine. Tomorrow I plan to start with arms first then move on from there. Overall I enjoyed the muscle design workout.
30-Day method meal plan
This was probably the hardest thing for me to commit to because I already enjoy the way I eat. However, I really wanted to give this method my 100% effort. The first drawback to the meal plan for me was the cost. I spent a good extra $50 this week buying groceries. I wanted to get the fresh basil, mint, thyme, etc because I’ve heard things taste so much better when you buy fresh. There are a few things I was able to freeze as well as some things that will last me into next week so it is possible that the upfront cost is a little high but over a month will even out. I also had to take a trip to our local Whole Foods store for a few items that I could not find in the grocery store. Each day is a different meal and each meal has a recipe to be found in the back of the book.
meal plan thoughts
Breakfast: Strawberry Mint Salad. At a glance, my thoughts about this meal are that there is no protein and not much fiber, and she does not have a snack between breakfast and lunch. I’m a little worried about how it will sustain me. I also wondered when I made this meal what the benefits of mint are so I took the time to look it up. This quote is taken from this site.
Mint contains a number of vitamins and minerals, which are vital to maintain a healthy body. Mint is rich in Vitamins A and C and also contains smaller amounts of Vitamin B2. Vitamin C is an important antioxidant and may help to decrease the risk of certain cancers such as colon and rectal cancer. Although mint may be consumed in small quantities, the vital nutrients obtained are still beneficial to one’s health.
Mint also contains a wide range of essential minerals such as manganese, copper, iron, potassium and calcium.
Lunch: Tomato Minestrone Soup. Ok, I’m going to start off by saying I don’t like tomatoes but I did use to eat tomato soup as a child so I decided to stick to the plan as much as possible and cooked up the soup. It cooks more than you need for the one meal so I froze the extra. At a glance, my thoughts about this meal are it again does not have much protein however is full of leafy veggies which are very good for you.
Snack: Choco Chestnut Pudding. Doesn’t sound too bad. I find myself always craving something sweet in the afternoon so we will see how this one tastes and works for me.
Dinner: Poached Cod and Roasted Asparagus. This by far looks like the best meal of the day and to me seems the most well-balanced. It follows how I eat now with a low-carb evening meal.
As you can see with my busy schedule I have to prepare my food the night before. I will tell you that I spent a good two hours preparing meals for both Monday and Tuesday. My son has soccer practice both nights and I knew in order to make this work I needed both nights taken care of. The time it took me to prepare was a little bit more than I would like to see in a meal plan but then again I was making 6 different meals. Also, the meals are not repeated during the week which in my opinion is less cost and time-effective than if you were to eat the same thing for dinner say Monday and Thursday.
Tomorrow I will post about how I feel from my exercise routine how I made it through the day with the food, and how well it tastes. Hope you will join me in my progress!
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