Saturday, November 29, 2008

Inch Loss versus Weight Loss





Conventional wisdom says weight loss, a number on a scale, is the ultimate measure of success with a fitness program. This past year, this idea has been challenged in my mind by Teresa Tapp, the creator of the amazing T-Tapp workouts.

With my last pregnancy, I gained sixty pounds, and was very sedentary. SIXTY POUNDS! Yes, you read that right. And I didn't have twins. Just one baby. Because I had been moderately successful in losing weight after previous pregnancies, I was more careless than I should have been with my eating. Unfortunately, most of my past postpartum weight loss success came through restricting the types of foods I ate, and not primarily through exercise. After six pregnancies, and little exercise, my muscles were very weak, especially my abs and back muscles.

I had first read about T-Tapp in the Spring of 2007 on one of my favorite blogs, "Large Family Logistics." It's author, Kim Brenneman, called T-Tapp her favorite brand of workout videos. That caused me to spend some time looking up the T-Tapp website. When I saw the price of the DVDs, and learned that Teresa spoke during each entire workout, without music, I was a bit put off. I was very skeptical about whether I would like this type of workout, and had a hard time believing that it could be that much better than many of the workout videos I already owned.

But then in January, I learned that one of the new ladies at our church sold T-Tapp DVDs on ebay (her ebay user id is "mexmarr," and I highly recommend her as an excellent source for T-Tapp products). I asked her how she liked them. She gushed about the results she had with T-Tapp, and before I knew it, she showed up at church with a copy of the Basic Workout Plus for me to borrow. It took me a while to actually get around to trying it, but once I started, I realized that this short, 15 minute workout was not only providing me with the stretching I needed for my back to heal, but it also was building strength in my stomach and back, strength that was absolutely crucial for keeping up with my six young children.


I was hooked. I knew I needed to take my measurements and follow the program as directed by Teresa Tapp. So I did. She said to ignore the numbers on the scale, and instead focus on inch loss. I had hoped I could do both, lose inches and weight, but decided to listen to what she said, and relax about what the scale said. Boy, am I glad I did. Though I have lost only about 10 pounds so far this year, I have lost over 41 inches! Clothing that I could wear when I was about 20 -25 pounds lighter, fits me again!


What about you? Is this the first you've heard of T-Tapp, or have you been using it yourself? If you do use T-Tapp, how long have you used it, and which workouts are your favorite? Leave a comment and tell us your experience!