My T-Tapp adventures from the past month! + Reasons to T-Tapp during pregnancy!

I am "full term" on Friday (so I will be 39 weeks). I did some adventurey things in the past month!

 It all started when I shared this photo of myself on the T-Tapp Support page on facebook at the beginning of July.


I was just sharing how thankful I was for having the T-Tapp workout to consistently do during pregnancy. This workout doesn't break your body down, it makes it get stronger without too much muscle ripping. :) (I still get sore and I still lose inches, but my adrenals are not fatigued the next day and I want to do it!)

So I shared it on facebook at the beginning of July, and later that evening, I got a call (on Sunday) from a number I didn't recognize. I thought it was a telemarketer, so I didn't answer, but when I got a voicemail, I obliged and listened to it. It was Teresa Tapp (the creator of the T-Tapp workout) calling me from her cell phone (!), telling me how impressed she was with my progress/results, and that she had a game plan and to call her back. I was shocked and elated.

"Ben! Teresa Tapp just called me!!"
"So call her back!"
"Ok!"

So I called her back and she invited me to come to Florida at the beginning of August to be a part of a  pregnancy-specific T-Tapp workout VIDEO. And to stay for the annual T-Tapp retreat that she held at the local spa hotel.

Wow.

I couldn't believe it.

Ben and I looked at the timing, and originally we thought I would already be 36 weeks and it wasn't going to quite line up. But then. Then! I was Skyping Marie because I was so excited. And she was really encouraging me to make it work and go even though it would be late in my pregnancy. And I looked at the dates again--and I wasn't right-- it was 35 weeks at the beginning of August. So, while Naisa or Yonah talked to Marie, I called Teresa back and said YES I COULD come!

I got my midwife's permission (and blessing!) to fly and then I called my Aunt Rosie and asked her if she wanted to come to be my travel buddy. She said she hadn't planned a vacation and was planning to do so soon and that this was perfect timing.


Then I spend the month of July not getting too excited in case anything would change with my pregnancy. But everything went smoothly! I got a couple emails from Imal, Teresa's publicist, who got my photos and then later emailed me to let me know that I was going to be filmed for the local TV station's T-Tapp Tuesday! So my adventure got even more exciting.

 Look at that photo bomb! On the airplane out

This picture is funny because I am pulling her dress at the waist so it actually has a waist! This is on the way out to the TV studio.

At the end of July Aunt Rosie flew in and the 1st of August, we flew out of our local airport and headed to Tampa Bay! We finally got there around 6:00 and got an Uber to the hotel and went to the cafe and met Teresa and the several people who were also going to be filmed for TV the next day AND the ladies who would be in the pregnancy workout video the next day. It was a big WOW and exciting thing!

The next day (Wednesday) I got up early and had my makeup done.
Then we were off in a limo (!) to the local TV station!

Teresa, Imal (Teresa's publicist), Renee (who had been T-Tapping for 18 years), Alicia (who had lost 40 pounds of menopause weight in four months and kept it off for four years), me (pregnant T-tapp!) and Chantelle, who lost 30 inches in the 60 day challenge and was a Grand Prize Winner, and of course, Aunt Rosie, my personal photographer :).

The interviews went great, we did them all in one take each. And Imal and Aunt Rosie made sure I got to try the maple bacon creme filled donut that was sitting in the green room. (It was quite interesting, and I only had half). We were all super excited/elated/adrenalined by the experience when we got in the limo to head back to the hotel. Of course, when my door unexpectedly swung open when the limo went around a turn, and I casually shut it like it was no big deal, that was quite the surprise as well!

When we got back, we were beginning to prep for the pregnancy workout video! We met the videographers and also did our professional photos for the DVD cover/promos/website promo!
That was fun (and tiring! You really hold it all in when you are doing that!!). Aunt Rosie got me some food during this time (it was lunch time!) and I ate between being needed and also got to chat with Margaret (the pregnant T-Tapp trainer who is the same age as me), Vivian (Margaret's sis in law who t-tapped through her first pregnancy and was part of the first video), and Shannon (Margaret's mom who had seven babies... including the last one at 47.5! and she T-tapped off the baby weight even then!) . They did the instructional workout first, and I took a few pictures and talked with Teresa while they did the workout. Then we started the portions I was a part of-- some with just me and Margaret, and the main workout with Margaret, Shannon, and me. It was long, it was good, we sweated, we giggled, we smiled, and when it was done we were starving and ready for dinner!!

I got the salmon that time, and Margaret and I got a cheese plate! Yum!

Thursday morning, the T-Tapp retreat started! So many enthusiastic people, so much good food. Highlights include
Hanging out with Margaret, Shannon, Dana (one of Margaret's T-Tapp friends), meeting Rebecca,
seeing Aunt Rosie learn to T-Tapp!
working out near trainers who I've only known through facebook,
meeting an Israeli T-tapper and speaking in Hebrew with her (!).
Seeing Teresa give so much love and energy to her students with a full heart.
Seeing a company with the sole goal of helping people better themselves.
Getting a prenatal massage (they had more pregnant security than the airport!)
Getting reflexology on my feetsies.
Getting holy-crap challenged in the standing workouts (I didn't really participate in the floor workouts because I was so pregnant!)
Rocking the Hoedown showdown (and then needing a nap that afternoon)
Losing several inches in my arms, ribs, and hips!
Eating more good food! Loving on people!

Aunt Rosie and I had a great time! it was crazy when Sunday morning arrived. I participated an hour of the morning workout before we got in our Uber to the airport. The security didn't last as long as week expected (we could have waited a little longer). Then we were on our way home. Rosie had to get back checked twice (which was super annoying!), but she made it home just fine, it was just a little overwhelming.

We had received these two huge tote bags of goodies from companies who had sent samples to T-Tapp for the retreat. Becuase I had already packed pretty light, I just decided to really smash my stuff in my bag and check the one with liquids (it turned out to be cheaper than shipping it).

That bag of goodies was gone in a week (save some toiletry items, some hot sauces, and some stevia). And every day I look for them in the snack cabinet because they were SO GOOD. But they saved me money on breakfast and snacks on the plane. And I don't eat that much snacky food, so I enjoyed it!

It was crazy coming home! Benjamen and the kids managed without me. He, in fact, upped the bar for going to the park every day! The kids said almost every day and still occasionally say, "mom, we're glad you came home on the airplane." They said it yesterday when I showed them the TV segment I was in. :)


Reasons to use T-Tapp during pregnancy!
I am now almost 39 weeks pregnant, I am still T-Tapping! It was been a wonderful workout for the entire pregnancy. I am still doing portions of workouts when I feel like it, and yesterday I did a full workout because I felt like it!)

- It has given me great posture (and if not, great knowledge of posture),
- stronger back muscles (I have not had back fat this pregnancy!),
- a WAAAY stronger core (I have subtle oblique lines on either side of my belly!),
- the only time I needed my support belt was when I was having issues with an umbilical hernia in the first and second trimesters),
- I have had NO balance issues (with my second, I had to sit in the last trimester so I wouldn't tumble over putting on shoes),
- I have a method to control my back pain (due to baby's positioning) (it's T-Tapp!!)
- I only started experiencing swelling in the past week (!) and I am also managing it! (Epsom salt baths, pregnancy tea)
- My weight gain has been much more controlled!
- I have had little to no aches and pains this pregnancy and can only complain about the challenge of getting out of bed because my belly is so large. It doesn't hurt, it's just BIG.
- My blood pressure has been ON POINT this entire pregnancy (save the one day I wasn't feeling well, and it was 130/80). I think that's related to my great workout routine!
- I have been able to lie on my back without feeling like I can't breathe. I don't do it for long periods, but it's not uncomfortable unless I put my legs in the air. I contribute this to stronger muscles in my back and abdomen.

Where I have come from: Health and Exercise-wise

My name is Grace, and I was in Weight Watchers in middle school. My Aunt Rachel had lost 100 pounds on Weight Watchers and had reached her goal the summer before I went into seventh grade, and the Art Teacher that I volunteered for had also joined Weight Watchers and was an example for me as I was very overweight for a twelve year old. I joined Weight Watchers at the end of October in 2003, and after a year of staying with the program and writing everything down that I ate, with a couple of relapses and plateaus, I lost a little more than 45 pounds and was considered healthy on the BMI scale. I made Lifetime membership with Weight Watchers and could attend the meetings free as long as I stayed within two pounds of my goal.
High school came around and though I made sure that I exercised, I slacked on the writing down of what I ate, and put on a little bit of weight. Then I would exercise and eat right for a little while and then lose five to ten pounds. But then I'd be happy again--probably a new boyfriend or down a size in clothes, and I'd slack off and gain a little bit of weight again. This whole situation would then rinse and repeat.
There were a couple habits I picked up on the way. On Weight Watchers, there is a points system, and depending on your weight and the amount of activity your normal lifestyle includes, you get a certain amount of points. Vegetables are mostly 0 points, thus a free food, and thus I would/do/will eat large portions of vegetables, and now it's habitual that I eat a lot of veggies to fill up my stomach.
I discovered Splenda. At first it was just supposed to be an ingredient in Weight Watchers recipes that we'd copy down each week at the meetings, and then I started using it in my milkshakes I made for breakfast, and then in oatmeal, and then I started to have a habitual addiction to my homemade hot chocolate water (which is cocoa powder, Splenda, mostly hot water and a little bit of cold milk).
When I started going to University of Akron, I'd buy a diet Mountain Dew, or a low carb energy drink, and by the end of the two years I commuted there, I was drinking two diet Mountain Dews, or other carbonated drinks each day--I really had no self control in the area of drinking these drinks.
Then my friend Wendy and I started going to Dunkin' Donuts to get iced coffee--it started with those coupons for free drinks. We branched out to the local Starbucks, and then we would hang out at Target. When Pulp showed up in town, we'd go get smoothies. They were amazing. I was pretty much addicted to the sweet drinks. I somehow exercised enough to make it okay, and maintained my weight.
I've been eating whole wheat and whole grain, natural sugars, and anything that is an alternative to an unhealthy option. But my motives were all wrong. This past semester, I realized why I should eat healthy, and that reason was not to be sexy. Although eating righteously does have a certain appeal...
I eat local food to support local economy, I know where it comes from, and I know that people are taking care of the plants and animals--it's not in a factory. I buy food at a co-op because I know it supports those it is surrounded by, and even though it's more expensive, it's better for the world long term. I avoid high fructose corn syrup because they derive it from corn. Which is a vegetable. I don't eat meat because I know that the meat was produced using excessive amounts of water, and that the cows were in pens that were squeezed tight and were suffering their entire lives. I buy fair trade chocolate and coffee because I know that the people in the other countries were not slaves in their own trade.
That's why I eat healthy. I exercise, not to lose weight, but to meet people. I walk places to become familiar with the community, and to take my time with life. I run to communicate with others. I move to get places. It's not about losing weight or being thin, or having a six pack. It's about finding a healthy routine in life that benefits me in the long run, so that I can live long and prosper with what life is about.