Hi guys! Since I’ve been posting more fitness and nutrition tips, I wanted to give you all more insight on my own personal fitness goals, what I’m doing to accomplish them, and how it’s going for me.
For most of my fitness journey, my goals have always been a combination of aesthetics and athleticism. I want to do amazing things while looking great doing them! I was never physically talented growing up so my goals were to become stronger and have an amazing body. Although I was always lean, I never really felt comfortable in my own skin. I was definitely smaller than the average and was teased for being too small and seeming physically weak. It made me feel inadequate. Lifting and working out empowered me and made me physically and mentally stronger! It helped me feel more comfortable and confident in my body! Over time, I went from having horrible coordination and minimal strength, to lifting well over my weight, doing pull ups, snatching and swinging kettlebells, and doing Animal Flow!
Now that I’ve achieved my goals of becoming stronger and looking great, I wanted to challenge myself further. I know I’m disciplined enough to do whatever it takes to get to my goals. Ultimately, I’d love to be at 19% body fat. I want to see how lean I can get while maintaining as much muscle and strength as possible. The general idea is I basically want to be toned, tan, fit and ready (more specifically festival/summer ready.) I’ve played around with the idea of competing in bikini competitions, but I really can’t be strict with my food. I love it too much and crave balance. Kudos to those who compete! It takes immense discipline and strength to do what you do. For me, I want to be more dialed in with what I eat so I can look and feel even better! I want to improve myself and become the best version of myself for myself! At first I was very much externally motivated – with a goal of looking leaner in time for my friend’s bachelorette party mid/late April. Now that I’m about 3 weeks in, I feel a little leaner and feel better because I’ve been meal prepping more and eating tons more vegetables and lean proteins.
So for my journey, it started the last week of February. I asked my fellow trainer and friend Taylor from Fit Health Collective to help me with my nutrition. The first week he had me log my food. There was no calorie goal. He just wanted me to focus on logging what I was eating so we can see where I can improve. The second week we looked over what I was eating and what habit I can work on for that week. I definitely ate well over my calorie goal and ate a lot of granola and protein bars. Sure, the macros on there can be great, but for my goals of cutting and leaning out, it wasn’t helping. It added a little too much and put me over my caloric goal. (For a cut it’s generally 1200 to 1500 calories.) My habit was to consume less bars and eat more whole foods – it would keep me fuller longer and have even more nutrients than the bars. Currently I’m in my third week, and I’ve consumed less processed foods and meal prepped more, from salad to cauliflower stir fry to sole to eggs and egg whites. I am more conscious of what and how much I eat. I feel as if I’m not only really pursuing my goals, but also taking care of my body and feeding it more nutritious foods.
Logging my food has also made me realize that I exhibit obsessive behavior regarding food. There were days where I would feel guilty for going over my caloric intake and be really hard on myself. This is where I realized I need to be patient and that this is a habit I’m still trying to form so it’s better to be gentle on myself. Punishing or criticizing myself only made me feel worse, and it wasn’t even worth doing. We’re not perfect, and this journey isn’t going to be perfect. It’s about consistency, learning, and being patient.
As for my workouts, I’ve been doing a lot of StrongFirst prep workouts with Taylor. Kettlebells are so much fun, and they satisfy my craving of performing a cool athletic activity. Generally you would consume more calories and food to fuel these kinds of workouts so doing them while in a caloric deficit has been pretty challenging. My cleans, snatches, and swings have improved significantly and my strength has increased too. I definitely feel bad ass while working out with kettlebells. Neither of us are testing out for the certification right now, but it’s nice to have a program to follow and see the progress along the way.
It’s only been a few weeks, but I’m really enjoying the challenge and changes so far! I feel leaner and stronger. I definitely feel healthier with the more vegetables and greens I’ve been consuming as well as not eating mindlessly into a caloric surplus. I’m appreciating my body more and being mindful of what I put into my body. We’ll have our bodies for the rest of our lives so let’s take care of it as much as it takes care of us!
