TA Meta and everything else - Fall / Winter 2023

[ebianco]

TA Meta and everything else - Fall / Winter 2023/2024

We started out as a TA/Meta thread and some have moved to other types of workouts so all welcome. We post sometimes everyday sometimes less often.

So ALL WELCOME!

[ebianco]

Hi everyone,

The earlier part of my week, and personals, was in my 10/1 update on the Spring/Summer thread

Since then, yesterday: I repeated Tonique Femme Fatale Phase 1 like last week, then another Barlates TA workout, I did #7 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8bW...53Nk_A&index=8) because it was on my list to try out and looked to be manageable after a Tonique. And it was tough and fun!

Today: A good mix of youtube cardio starting with this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oapZ...hMXm_p&index=2) from the FitnessHeroes channel, which has the same guy Keoni that has his own channel. They are so smiley and cute! I really liked this one! Then another 20 minutes from single youtube zumba workouts, and I really got my heart rate up. Then, Linda's Calm Barre "Define" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkyU...NQca&index=107) which I really liked but it was at times starting to feel like a bit much for the outer thigh/oblique area. Still, I really enjoyed it! Like her TA series, I like that her Calm Barre series uses a lot of equipment and innovative moves and has a countdown timer. She is using better music choices than she used to, but I'm still playing different music on top of hers LOL. With a stretch it was an 80 minute workout today!

Next week I think I'll be returning to heavy lifting, I think I'll repeat Caroline's Iron series but with some of my own additions. I may try out the total body workouts from Fuel for variety (or may just do my own total body with Firm or Cathe like I did last rotation). Also, I think I'll try doing 2, 15-minute HIIT workouts before the 30 minute Iron two days, instead of the one day of 30-minute HIIT per week. Then on Sundays, I'll do the Iron but I'll add on a Barlates TA so I can still enjoy those.

I hope everyone is doing great and had a great weekend!

[Buzzer]

Ran 1.91 miles... DONE!
Jari Slim and Lean chest presses and deadlifts/rows... DONE!


We are in Australia. It's beautiful! He is literally scooping up sea shells by the handful and showing us. They are perfect and so pretty! We have seen so much. I think since this is actually a walk I am running to, he is showing us more and talking more. He is introducing some running, which has been very interesting. he is giving tips.. like springing off your feet like a kangaroo instead of plodding. I am trying to be more springy!!! it's especially pretty since it's cold and snowy here. ugh.

I went into my workout room and then did chest and back. It was tough but doable! I used 10's, which was more than enough for each muscle group. I can always go heavier on deadlifts, however coupled with the rows, it was good!

Ebianco: So here is more on the sleep study. I am currently going through it again to see if lip taping helps at all. So I would stop breathing for a total of 30 minutes each night. Not all at once, however in intervals, mostly when I'm dreaming. The longest I went without breathing was 52 seconds!! that's just amazing to me. My heart rate is low regularly, ranging from 50 something down to 38ish. However, at one point in my sleep, it went up to 100! He said probably when I wasn't breathing and my body went into fight or flight and my heart rate went up. He said when I wake up and am hot and feel totally awake is probably when I am not breathing and my heart rate is high. All from a small airway and my body not processing oxygen well. I am still taking the beet crystals, although now I have some beet powder and am putting it, some amazing grass vegetable powder, and lemon into some water and drinking it. I like it better than the beet crystals.

Plus I was reading that you can increase your nitric oxide with vegetables, so it can't hurt, that's for sure!

We went to Breckenridge over the weekend, which is like 9600 feet. Just walking from the restaurant to the hotel, which was kinda just up the street, my O2 fell to 89%. As I sat and recovered, it went to 92%. I think DH has been kinda "OK. Whatever. It's just a snoring problem" but after that, he seems like he kinda started to understand and have some sympathy. I told him I used to have trouble doing things, then I would beat myself up for getting old and fat, and apparently out of shape. However now I know it's an actual problem! He started letting LB and I set the pace for walking and doing things after that also, where usually he motors ahead and walks fast while we lag behind. We also went sledding, and usually I would suck it up and walk up the whole hill, no matter how painful it was, and this time I stopped halfway up and took a break. DH was all for it, and even stopped with me. I kinda suddenly feel heard! By him and by myself.

It worries me though, because I know this puts stress on my heart. So after the dentist does his thing, I will probably go and make sure my heart is OK. I think it's been getting pretty strained for a while. I still am running though! It doesn't hurt! I'm just checking my blood oxygen more with my Apple Watch and doing the sleep study. Hopefully by this time next year I'll have more answers and more solutions in place!!!

We had a great time in Breckenridge. saw the dog parade... mostly Bernese mountain dogs. They were so cute though! Our doggies stayed home and had a great time. a neighbor watched them, and she was so attentive to them they were barely excited to see us come home. She did a good job!

So I finish the current sleep study tomorrow. I'll let you know how the lip taping did, if it did anything, and what my next steps are. It's very interesting, and quite scary! I'm glad I am taking steps to fix it!

[eventmom]

yesterday- TA day 9 + meta DC
today - TA day 10 + fitprime dance moves.

ebianco - thanks for starting a new thread! It went right past me how long it's been. the zumba workout looks fun and I'd forgotten about fitness heroes!
buzzer - I hope the lip taping has helped! I tried lip taping but would wake up to take off the tape. probably need to try again. Glad at least that it's given you useful information and you can do a better job of taking care of yourself. 92% is not great oxygenation so I hope everything you are doing helps.

lucie! hi!

[ebianco]

Hi everyone,

Catching up from earlier this week.

Monday and Tuesday were planned rest days but I still walked 45 minutes on the treadmill Monday (shortened time but I had to go into the office so at least it was something) and 60 minutes on the treadmill yesterday.

Today, no office because I went in Monday, so had a little extra time, so did a 10 minute Tonique youtube standing workout (no longer on youtube unfortunately, thank goodness I had downloaded it because I really like it) as a warm up before Iron Day 1 lower body (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCxN...ndex=1&t=2171s) and stretch for 48 minutes (plus the walking). It was tough returning to the heavy lifting today! I was huffing and puffing. But I did do a quickie Tonique first so my heart rate was high. My first thought was "I have time, I'll do Femme Fatale Phase 1 again before Iron!" and then I was like "excuse me? Did you forget how hard Caroline's workouts are?" and turns out I was right (the second me) LOL.

I decided to follow the 6-week Iron program again but with some twists, including trying out all the Fuel series total body workouts instead of Iron. Also, instead of one, 30 minute HIIT day I'm going to break the HIIT up into two days. If it ends up being too much (the Barlates TA and HIIT) then I can aways just do the Iron workout. I am really loving those Barlates TA workouts so I would love to keep them in somehow, even if just once a week.

W-Iron legs (short day for office)
R-Iron upper body + 15 m HIIT
F-Iron glutes + 15 m HIIT
S-Fuel total body + ?? TA Barlates if I can (depends on how much stamina a total body Fuel series will be) or extended stretch
S-Iron arms/core + TA Barlates

Eventmom Yes the Fitness Heroes workout was so fun! And I always forget about those Fitprime compilations but they are also great!

Buzzer Wow that is so interesting about the sleep study. Sleep apnea is so common, a lot of people (myself included) stop breathing several times at night. Isn't that crazy? My husband has it too, undiagnosed, he doesn't even want to bother with a cpap especially after I wasn't able to adapt to it, although he does acknowledge he could benefit from it. So do you think you'll end up getting a cpap?

Well I'm glad your DH is more sympathetic of the oxygen problem! It's good that you're giving yourself breaks too when you need it!

It was good that you kept the doggies safe and away from the parade. I don't know what to think of it. I'm glad your neighbor did such a good job with them!

Lucie waves and we're still thinking of you!

[eventmom]

monday - stretch from 5 parks yoga
yesterday- TA day 1 of this level + fitness heroes 20 min workout
today - TA day 2 + dc 1.2

so our dvd remote sucks. has sucked for years. just doesn't connect. it's old. With TA I have to pause to move around at least arms to abs and abs to lower body. The remote usually won't pause it's a huge hassle. I complain about it nearly daily. So DH found a way to program the universal remote for me. sigh. My other 'huge' workout issue is that I finally realized that I'm 110% sick of the meta music. So I found playlist on youtube. Decided to hook my phone to a speaker it worked for 2 minutes then quit. Also, the youtube list wasn't great. So I post to the FB TA page - yep she does post a spotify list. So I've downloaded spotify and found several playlists for TA. So it was a frustratingly long workout morning (stop to get speaker, get super angry at the remote and having to rewind replay etc etc.) but hopefully tomorrow with my charged speaker, spotify list, and working remote things will be MUCH BETTER.

(yes a little workout rant there)

Ebianco - thanks for reminding me about fitness heroes. They're fun! I actually would love a back up copy of the FP 6 day trainer but the only one I've seen on ebay was $30 which was more than I wanted to pay for a back up. wow! Caroline Girvan + Barlates! You're awesome!

hi buzzer and lucie!

[Buzzer]

Ran 1.7 miles on treadmill....DONE!
Jari Love slim and lean delts and abs...DONE!

I thought about doing pushups on S&L, but decided... nope. I just don't want to!! I know they are good for me, but my wrists hurt after pushups, I have to modify where my hands are on my weight bench, and I just don't feel like I get as much out of them. Plus I know Jari does like a million of them, and I just... don't wanna.

So the delts were good. I used 10's, and it was HEAVY. I did it though! surprisingly my delts are not sore today. Abs were good too, not very intense though. Compared to everything else on S&L, the abs were surprisingly light. However, if I had done the whole workout, I probably would not be saying that!

The run was good. I practiced bouncing instead of plodding, and it was surprisingly good. I didn't get any less of a workout, however it is probably going to help my lower legs in the long run (kinda a pun there). I will continue with that! I am actually running more with these short runs than I did with a long run every other day, which is nice. Still no weight loss or clothes fitting differently... so whatever. I am glad to run.

Ebianco: I can't believe how common sleep apnea is!! I already said "NO" to a cpap. I'm claustrophobic for one, it's loud and we don't have a spare room that I or DH can go sleep in, and I just refuse. I would rather die in my sleep from my own body strangling myself. Seriously. Besides the lip taping, and the lasering of my throat, he is going to give me an orthodontic device that will help me so my jaw and tongue don't fall back into my throat, blocking my airway, and also that will reshape my jaw. It's all supposed to help. I am praying it does! I'm not sure what I do about the small airway other than the laser, which now I'm reading you have to do annually. Last I heard my insurance will cover it once, so annually doesn't seem like a good solution. I'll have to talk to them about that on Wednesday when I go back.

LB's BFF's Dad has a CPAP he off and on uses, and his wife was just telling me about how he is always exhausted, has no energy, is cranky, and depressed. I told her he probably isn't sleeping! All those symptoms were the same as the family up the street, where the man, again, wasn't sleeping well and was snoring VERY loud. So loud that he slept in the guest room in the basement, and when they traveled they got separate hotel rooms. Now that I am going through this, I am realizing and hearing how common it is. So sad!!

The dentist is more of a wholistic dentist (if it's called that? He's more interested in the root cause than the solution to symptoms) and said that jaws are not formed correctly in most people anymore. People don't hold their tongues at the roof of their mouth, where it will form their skull properly. I am working on that one, so is LB! She is on the journey with me, and will hopefully miss out on some of the problems I'm having. DH is worried she will start thinking that when she gets older she will have all of these problems, however I told him that I would rather she see me go through it and see the solutions, rather than go through it and say "My Mom went through this same thing!" and have to find her own solutions. Be the guinea pig and let her reap the rewards. At least she has some information so she can help herself or find the correct help!

Anyhow, I had my sleep study with the lip taping, and they sent me the results. Guess what? It didn't help. sigh. I had hopes it would be an easy fix.

Eventmom: I do remember not enjoying TA's music. I'm glad you are finding solutions to that, hopefully even though it's frustrating now, it'll be less frustrating for future days. However, if I were you I'd go buy a new DVD player now while you can! I am thinking of getting another as a backup. I am reading so much about how DVD's are going by the wayside, it scares me. I need my DVD player!!!

Hi Lucie! I also am thinking of you. I pray your work troubles are coming to an end!

[eventmom]

day 3 this ta level + latin dance 20 min

so got the universal remote working why why why didn't we do this YEARS ago! so that was much better. Got spotify working, got the speaker working. Not loving the first playlist I tried so I'll try another one but overall so much BETTER.


Buzzer - I told my husband maybe we need to buy a back up dvd player.... probable we will. My dh has a mouth device whatever it's called for his mild sleep apnea so they can be very effective. I just couldn't tolerate anything at the time. But keep doing your mouth exercises as I think if I get back to those I might be able to handle one of the devices.

hi ebianco and lucie!

[Buzzer]

Ran 2 miles.. DONE!
Jari Love Slim and Lean triceps and some biceps.. DONE!

I just found that I was getting.... tired? bored? muscles were achey? I don't know. I got through the triceps, which was annoying since it was 3 sets of 8 tricep dips (who does just 8 and complains? That didn't seem very effective), then there was a crap ton of those French presses for the rest of triceps. That was it. I was really tired of French presses by the end. Maybe some variety Jari!!! So biceps, I can't do hammer curls because it irritates my elbow, so I did regular bicep curls with my hands faced inward best I could. Then she started bicep curls with palms up. I was thinking.... I just can't with this. how many bicep curls do I need? So I turned it off. I don't know what was going on, but I just couldn't stand to do it anymore!

I pulled out Chalean Extreme (when is the last time I typed those words?) and will probably look up the rotation and see if there's a way to do short workouts from it. I dunno. I guess right now I am searching for the workout I want to do.

LB has been sick this week. She was super tired on Tuesday, which I just thought was her not being hydrated enough during her blacksmithing class. Then Wednesday she was still punky, and has little red dots in her throat/top of her mouth. I called the Doc, and was told it's probably this virus that is going around. Keep her hydrated, gargle salt water, and rest. Yesterday the red dots had white heads on them, called, was told the same thing. She also told me to test her for covid. However, the remedies for covid or just this virus are the same, so I don't see the value in testing. It won't make a difference. She is feeling fine except for these red dots, so I'm calling it just a virus.

So we skipped all her classes yesterday and did school at home. I gave her a good break this week since she was punky and didn't feel good, so even though she had red dots, she had energy and we did it!! We watched a math video that was part of her curriculum we use, and it was kinda confusing but we both kinda got it. Turns out, it was the 7-8th grade math video! So I am pretty proud of us for kinda getting the 7-8th grade math!!! (I don't know if I told you guys this, but math starting with about algebra was completely over my head. Even now, as we are learning it, I feel sleepy whenever we are learning it. I don't know if it's a mental block, conditioning, or just a reaction!)

Anyhow, I am pretty proud of the fact that we both kinda had a grip on what was going on during the upper class video!!!

Today it's supposed to snow, so that'll help us decide if we go back to karate this evening or not. That and if the red dots are gone. The Doc said it's highly contagious (which is I'm sure why she got it!)

Eventmom: Now I'm thinking of a backup DVD player. I think perhaps I'll put that on my Christmas list. DH had bought me a "device" which was just a plastic mouthguard that would make it easier for me to breathe through my mouth. I used it, it was OK, but now I want to get the professional that can solve the problem not just the symptoms. He is always telling me to go to the dr, and now that I have, he was talking of getting me another device that helped the neighbor (and is fairly expensive). I told him no... I want to see what this guy can do for me and solve the problem. I may end up with a commercial device again, but for now, I want to see what he can do!

Isn't it funny sometimes we have to walk through hell to find heaven? I'm glad you have gotten the universal remote working and that it's made such a wonderful difference in your workout experience! I love it!

Ebianco: I know this will sound weird... however I am starting to wonder if Eugene has had this antibiotic resistant staph infection, and it has been causing the big boils instead of weeds? I mean, when they would do surgery, they never found the weed. He has always had some health issues too. I am wondering if he has had this all along and maybe we finally got it taken care of? I am praying his surgery days are behind him.

I wonder this because I had a severe staph infection that went systemic and had no idea. I had it for years, just like Eugene may have. I finally had a dermatologist, not all the Doctors I went to over the years, a dermatologist diagnose and treat it!!! I was miserable. I was fuzzy headed for most of my 20's, had the boils that kept getting diagnosed as acne (but nothing would help them), low energy even though I kept working out... all sorts of problems. When I was treated, it was like the clouds parted and my life changed. I have some health issues now that I wonder if they stem from having that staph infection for so long. I picked it up in college and carried it unfortunately until I was about in my early 30's.

Anyhow, I am now wondering if Eugene had the same thing. I am praying that it's all over for him now too!!! Just a suspicion, and time will tell. sigh. Why didn't I think of that sooner?

Waves Lucie!

[eventmom]

just a CS episode. so stupidly awesome to have a working remote.

buzzer - a dentist is the way to go for any type of mouth device to treat apnea. The MDs will either give you a CPAP or refer you to a dentist. DH's insurance wouldn't give him a cpap (apnea not that bad) so the sleep center/md referred him to a dentist who could fit him. Honestly, part of my issue with Jari is that she seemed to use the same exercises all the time, every workout. I think they tested them somehow and used the ones that burned the most calories or something like that but the lack of variety. After Joyce who tries to use as many exercises as possible to hit a muscle from all angles. But Jari puts together good workouts other than that my one nit pick. The only reason to test for COVID would be so you know to isolate her and you until she tests negative. Even if her case is mild, it could be more serious for someone else. That staph infection experience sounds dreadful!

hi ebianco and lucie!