FEEL THE BURN!

I tried out my Tracy Anderson exercises for the first time today and I love them!  Well, I also hate them because they are hard going!  But I can see how they would really work if you stick at them. 

First I did the arms routine I found on youtube, and  it is T.A. herself doing the work-out.  This one is great because it's only 5 minutes and the moves are simple so it's easy to follow.  The wee video is just the same minute-and-a-half routine repeated four times but by the end of it I was really feeling the burn!

I also did the legs and bum routine from the Marie Claire website that I linked in a previous post.  It was simple too, and I can feel myself using bum muscles that feel like they haven't been used ever!

T.A. is all about using the small muscles that usually get ignored (hello, side bum muscles), because you use the big muscles in day to day life (walking, lifting, standing & sitting...) but by using the smaller ones you get more toned without being bulky (T.A. is the person who reversed the Madonna Man Arms into something a bit more normal...til Madge fell out with her and now she's back on the body-builder track).  Apparently, the smaller muscles also lift and support the big ones, thus giving you an awesome arse and killer arms and shoulders.

Gwyneth Paltrow is the most famous product of the Tracy Anderson method, but because she's always been tall and skinny, I never really noticed much of a change in her.  However, I recently saw a pic of J-Lo, who went to T.A. before the Golden Globes, and I couldn't take my eyes off her thigh muscles!  Weird, I know, but here's a pic all the same. 

I hate workout DVDs, I hate doing exercises out of fitness books and I hate complicated routines that require tonnes of coordination.  But I enjoyed these vids, so if you feel the same as me, I'd recommend giving them a go.  When I go to the gym I sometimes feel like although I'm working and doing weights etc, I'm not sure exactly what muscles I'm targeting, so I think that's what I liked about these wee routines.

Erm, I feel I should point out that I'm in no way getting commission for bigging up the Tracy Anderson method, although after this post I feel like I should be!

Dresses and exercise!

In light of being unemployed and actually not having all that much money to throw about on new clothes (not that you can really tell, to be fair), this blog has started give me my fashion fix.  I really like putting up pics of new bargins, rediscovered gems and generally fash-forward outfits, so that's why I've changed the title of my blog up there.  I also feel that my dreams of London aren't exactly off to a running start, so the name was a bit misleading anyway.

Glad you all seem to like the turban, I love it and wore it all day and night, even when I was just sitting in the house.  My granny also loves it and that, as we know, is enough to cement the style status of any item.

After Tenerife, the next thing on the Clara agenda is MM's birthday cocktail party.  I am starting to get very excited about this for three reasons, all under one roof: 
1. My amigas
2. A chance, nay, a command, to get dressed up to the nines and
3. Cocktails.

With this in mind, I've been musing over which dress to wear.  Although you might have thought that I'd be champing at the bit (weird expresson, where did I get it from?) to buy something new, in actual fact I have several lovely dresses that are too formal for everyday use and don't often get to see the light of day.  Or the disco lights of a good party.  So, I love a chance like this to dust one of them off and let it know it's still loved.  I have made a final decision, and I just tried it on to make sure.  Still love it, and I think it's perfect, so I've found a winner.

I pranced about my room in it for about 10 mins, just because.  If you go to all the trouble of putting it on, you might as well enjoy it for a few minutes, right?  I even have a pair of shoes that are the ideal height for it, though the colour isn't the best match.  Still, in the name of being cheap 'n' chic, I think I'll just wear them.

I should really head to bed, I'm up early tomorrow to go to a meeting in the Glasgow Women's Library, I'm going to be helping to organise some events with the Glasgow Feminist Network, so I'm really looking forward to it.  I'm already a member but I'm well chuffed at being able to get more involved in it!

After the meeting I'm going to hit the gym, too.  Gotta keep going with the arms routine!  I can see a small bit of definition in my upper arms now, though I accept that it's probably invisible to everyone else.  But I'm determined to stick with it anyway!  I'd love to be able to do the Tracy Anderson Method, but I don't feel like splashing out on the DVDs and books and stuff, to be honest.

Anyone got any good tips for toning up the shoulders and back?   There's a machine in the gym that I know how to use (kind of) but I'm not sure which muscles it actually targets.  Might do a bit of online research and see what I come up with.

I just did e quick Googling, and stumbled across this wee set of exercises by Tracy Anderson for Marie Claire.  They look bloody tough!  I'm not sure I'd even get through one set but I'll give it a go anyway!  If anyone else has a shot, let me know how you get on!