The first time T-Tapp worked for me - I began doing the T-Tapp video workout in March of 2001. I first heard about it on a Weight Watcher’s discussion board, and got wonderful testimonies from several women. I bought the tapes and did my first bootcamp, fourteen days of doing the instructional videos back to back every day. I lost 14 ½ inches and went from a tight size 12 to a comfortable size 10 in those two weeks! I could hardly believe it, especially because I thought the tapes were really difficult and I was just doing the best I could. I continued with the instructionals until July, and used the Beginner/Rehab tape until December. I was using Weight Watchers as my food plan, and was very faithful to doing a full workout every other day. I attended a T-Tapp Seminar in Washington, DC in December that Teresa Tapp led, and I learned that I was doing several things incorrectly.. specifically, I was not bending my knees deeply enough, and I was not pushing my knees as far out as I needed to. I lost 36 inches before I ever had my form checked! Below are three pictures of me from that time period. The first is one of me and my younger brother at Christmas 2000. I weighed about 185 and was wearing size 14 and 16 skirts and jeans, and XL tops. The second is a picture of me from that same time period only a little bit closer, I think. The third picture was taken in August of 2001, and I was wearing a size 10 dress I bought at a thrift shop in Aberdeen while my family was on holiday there. I weighed somewhere between 155 and 160, and was wearing size 8 jeans and skirts, and medium or large tops. My daughter Grace is modeling the wrap to the dress there next to me. I saw this picture and thought I looked about 5 years younger than pictures taken the previous Christmas!
The second time T-Tapp worked for me - Below is a picture of me taken about 3 days before I found out I was expecting Lily! I weighed 160 and was still wearing those size 8s. My hip pads had finally left, and I was just about as trim and toned as I had ever been. My favorite workout at that time was Maxi Max 2, an advanced video that includes a full standing and full floor workout, lasting just under an hour. Since Grace was napping regularly from 1-3pm every day, I was able to do Maxi Max 2 every other day with no problem. Ah, those were the days!
The next picture is me at 38 weeks!!! Wow! I took my first trimester almost completely off. I was not terribly ill, but I was very exhausted and nauseated. I tried to do PBS and Hoe Downs every day. I started back doing full workouts around 14 weeks, beginning with a 4 day bootcamp. I did about half of the workout the first day, and slowly increased until I completed T-Tapp To Tempo on the 4th day. I made it a goal to do a full workout 2-3 times a week until 32 weeks. After that, I did a core workout of about 6 moves per day, including PBS, Oil Wells, T-Tapp Twist, U-Swings, Runner’s Stretch, and Hoe Downs.
The night before I went into labor, my mom arrived from out of state. She is also a T-tapper. We did the standing portion of Maxi Max 2. I had been walking at the mall and trying a few labor inducing tips here and there, but I figured if an advanced T-Tapp workout didn’t get things going, then I was just going to sit and wait! I did, in fact, go into labor the next afternoon. I did some of the moves from Cat Crossovers while I was in labor, down on all fours and arching my back and flattening during contractions. Engaging my abdominals and tucking my tush really helped with the pain! Lily was born after 3 hours and 50 minutes of labor, at home in a birthing pool with the assistance of a midwife. She dislocated my tailbone as she was born, so I again turned to T-Tapp to help with that! About 48 hours after she was born, I did PBS and T-Tapp Twist. I did them a few times a day for the next few days, and my tailbone pain was completely gone. At 5 days postpartum, I did several T-Tapp moves, and tried to do them every other day. At 3 weeks postpartum I did my first full length standing workout, and was pretty faithful with that until Lily was about 3 months old.
Since then, as she has gotten more active, I have really had to fight for opportunity to do full workouts. I am satisfied with doing about 20 minutes of floorwork per day, first thing in the morning. Later in the day, I try to catch enough time to do basic Plus (all the moves on Instructional tape 1 plus the Hoe Downs move from Instructional tape 2) at some point later in the day. I would say I average 2 full workouts per week and an additional 2 Basic Plus workouts.
Since Lily was born, I have gone from a size 16 to a size 8 in jeans and skirts, and I am wearing large tops. I have lost 45 inches and 45 pounds. Lily nurses, and I try to eat in a healthy way, but have not used Weight Watchers since she was born. I try to do at least the first instructional plus hoe dows (Basic Plus video) every day too, but that doesn't always happen. I'm doing the best I can with small children and two part time jobs, and I do best when I have someone to whom I can be accountable and have regular workouts with! So, there you have it. My T-Tapp journey in a nutshell! Thanks for reading!
Here is a picture of me taken in September at the Safety Harbor Fitness retreat, I will try to get a better one up soon.
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