Weight Watchers & Tai Cheng Journey - Phase 3 Complete

I've made it to the 16 week mark with Weight Watchers! Another charm to add to my ring.  When everything is all said and done I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these charms.  Fellow Weight Watchers meetings members, what are you doing with your charms?

WW 16 Weeks Charm

I was up .4 lbs this week and mostly attribute that to the weather.  This daily rain keeps me from my gardening so I'm not getting in that extra little bit of exercise.  I did try riding the exercise bike but only lasted about 5 minutes; my heart pounded so much when I was exerting so little.

Finally convinced Benny to buy the romaine lettuce.  It's SO much better than iceberg!  No aftertaste whatsoever so I'm not burping up romaine all day like I did with iceberg.  Benny can keep the iceberg for himself; I'm sticking with romaine.

Workout Weeks 7-9

Every time a phase is complete I wonder what challenges await me on the next Neural Reboot.  Each time Dr. Cheng introduces a new area of foam rolling.  Since the last time we started the rotator cuff I'm assuming it'll be another upper body location.  I still barely feel any pressure on my shoulder blade.  I have had issues when I twist a certain way but those pains have been at the top not the back.

DVDs 7-9

One side of me isn't as balanced as the other.  I noticed during Sequence 3 I'd wobble a little during the rolling kick.  The wobble seemed to alternate legs each day so I couldn't say which truly had this problem.  I'll have to monitor this more closely when doing this sequence again in week 11.

This next phase is different than the previous ones.  First of all there are 4 weeks instead of 3.  Secondly, no more static moves; I'll strictly be working on the sequences.  I'm so ready for these sequences to be together so everything will be one fluid motion.

This next phase also marks decision time.  What program should I try next?  It's crunch time and I must make a decision over the next month.  If you have any recommendations please leave a comment; I'll see if the library has the program and will check it out.

I watched the first DVD from Slim in 6 and it doesn't look too bad.  Since I don't have all the extras checking the DVDs out from the library I'm just not sure what the schedule is supposed to be between the three speeds - Start, Ramp, & Burn.  I looked at the auto-schedule on the Team Beachbody's Supergym but it didn't really make sense to me.  "Start It Up!" is only used for Day 1.  The rest of the first two weeks is "Ramp It Up!".  The last four weeks is "Burn It Up!".  No where does the schedule mention the other two portions on each DVD - "Slim & 6-Pack" and "Slim & Limber".  I thought it would be 2 weeks of each speed with the other two tossed in.  I'm thinking that with this schedule I'll get bored.

I've also checked out a couple of Shaun T's DVDs from the library - "Hip Hop Abs: Hips, Buns, & Thighs" and "Rockin' Body".  I'm still way down on the list to get "Hip Hop Abs: Fat Burning Cardio; Ab Sculpt; Total Body Burn; Secrets to Flat Abs".  Just watching clips of Shaun T's various programs exhausts me so I'm sort of afraid of these workouts.

Tai Cheng Week 7 Eased on By

This was exercise?  It's starting to not be so tough to do any moves.  Yes, I'm still shaky in some positions but I'm still doing them.

The funny thing Dr. Cheng says with Neural Reboot 3 is, "It's posture, posture, posture, not pasta, pasta, pasta."  Some days I think, "Now he's making me hungry with all this pasta talk!" LOL

I managed to do the pike/plank in the regular version every day but I couldn't ninja back and forth.  My arms shake too much holding me up.  It still surprises me that I can even hold myself up this little bit since I have no upper body strength.

There's a new rolling kick in the Neural Reboot 3.  When I first saw it I thought that it'd be difficult but actually found it rather simple.  When I was showing my coworker it was a little awkward with my shoes on.  Something about the added weight of the shoes.

Your base foot is placed at a 45° angle on the floor.  Then you lift your other leg and put it in front of your knee with your toes dorsiflexed.  You almost look like these African bushmen (but your foot doesn't actually touch your knee).
 

 

While standing on one leg you "roll" the elevated leg around to the other side, lowering it to the ground.  Your feet end up about shoulder width apart and somehow stay at the 45° angle (at least mine do).  You then shift your weight on the foot that was just lowered and repeat this whole process back and forth a few times.

 

Dr. Cheng introduced the third area of foam rolling - the rotator cuff.  You lay on the floor with the roller in your armpit and your arm stretched out.  First you rock back and forth to hit the base of these muscles on your shoulder blade.  Then, while leaning back a little you roll up and down a few inches.  I don't actually feel much of anything doing this but I'm sure someone with rotator issues would.

 

The last 6 Tai Cheng moves seem to be the most complicated of them all.  There's even a little bit of a rolling kick.  Despite the complexity it doesn't feel difficult.

 

Motions are becoming more fluid.  I'm nowhere near as flexible as I was in high school but I'm getting there.  I don't think I'll ever do a back flip or any gymnastics as that's not my goal.  I just want to be healthy not an athlete.