My Fitness Update

by | Jun 20, 2018 | The Brat Vault

Hello friends!  I’ve been taking your pulse on social media to see if you’re at all interested in this crazy fitness journey I’ve been on and apparently you are.  So I’m spending the morning sharing my fitness update with you all.

Fitness Update

Fitness Update

The Beginning

If you’ve ever listened to a podcast, you know it takes me a minute to tell a story.  I go all the way back to the beginning to really paint you a picture (a la Bob Ross).  SO, as you may know, I grew up playing soccer and finally hung up my cleats my junior year of college (that story for another time).  When I stopped playing soccer I took a serious hiatus from working out and ballooned up…aka gained weight.

Turns out you can’t eat pizza and drink beer every night and not work out.  Noted.

The following semester I was to study abroad in Spain so my roomie and I used that time to eat healthy, work out and walk all over Europe.  I was shocked at the transformation.  I went from a wise 28 to a size 26 that semester.  It was the smallest I’d ever been.  I was used to eating what I wanted/needed so I could perform on the field.  But I began to scale back on the junk and I actually fell in love with running when it was on my terms and not when someone was yelling to “get on the line.”

Fitness Update

Before

 

Fitness Post-College

I was able to keep working out and keep eating healthy through college and I even lost more weight.  This continued through my 20s and culminated with me being in my best physical shape when I was 27 and living in NYC.  I had a trainer I loved but I also had a super stressful job that forced me to take an hour every day simply to keep my sanity.

I was consistent.  My diet wasn’t perfect.  I ate pizza at 4am, ordered pineapple fried rice to the office and partied my booty off on the weekends.  But my workouts were consistent.  I was getting stronger and in better and better shape.  When I was strict with. my diet and exercise I got down to a size 24.  Now, I don’t think that’s where my body is happiest.  I was between 118-120 and I think my body is healthy between 120-125.

Before

Before

 

Before

Before

Fast Forward

I maintained this fitness level into my 30s.  I moved to Dallas in 2016, when I was 31.  I put on an immediate 5 lbs so I was probably sitting tight around 122/123.  Here’s the heavy part…I thought I wasn’t in shape and even “fat” when I looked in the mirror then.  Crazy, looking back now.  I saw celebs and models and wanted to be super thin but with my athletic build it was impossible to ever get to that goal…thankfully!

I began steadily gaining weight over the last 2 years.  The most I put on was the year I was on birth control but overall the total weight gain was 20 lbs.  That’s a good amount on my 5 foot 4 frame.  I ended up going up 2 pant sizes.

Here’s the difference, it wasn’t muscle, it was fat.  I started to notice cellulite and stubborn fat in areas I’d never had it before.  “Skinny genetics” do not run in either side of my family so I just figured my body was changing but I couldn’t get it out of my mid what I’d been able to achieve before.  The image below are from my birthday trip this year to Hawaii.  I want to be clear that I’m not showing these to shame myself or anyone else, I’m just sharing how my body had changed.

January 2018

January 2018

January 2018

January 2018

How I Got There

Let’s keep this very real.  This didn’t just happen to me.  I stopped working out.  I love running outside, not running outside from May-November in Dallas.  I took more days off than days on.  I also found Tex-Mex and fast food, things I barely touched in my diet before.  I was driving and not walking as much.  I also bought a home where I have a beautiful kitchen so I started baking and cooking and not selecting healthy recipes.

Oh and I fell in love.

The dreaded dating/happy weight.  We were going on dates, drinking bottles of wine, splitting ice cream and ditching the gym to stay in bed on a lazy Sunday morning.  Sounds glorious right?! IT IS! But there is a price to pay and for me it was in my body.

Let’s be real clear, in my 20s I really valued the way I looked.  I thought it was important.  I thought it would make me lovable.  Spoiler alert: it didn’t. In fact, it left me even more broken because I was still lonely and couldn’t attract the right relationship.  I’ve spoken about my 20s before, but boy am I glad I’m not that same girl anymore.

When I gained the weight recently I didn’t care as much.  Sure it frustrated and annoyed me but I didn’t have the same hate for a fat roll on my tummy like I once did.  I’ll call that growth.

What I did realize though, was my mood.  I was less motivated, tired, stressed, anxious and just down.  Not fun.  So when I started getting back into working out last fall, it was more to just feel better than anything else.  But as I kept going and seeing NO results, that’s when I got super frustrated.

Fitness Update

Fitness Update

Now What?!

On a normal, annual visit to my OBGYN in February, we noticed my hormones were out of whack.  It was at that point that I decided I was done with birth control once and for all.  I don’t love medicine in general (I’m glad we have it but don’t like taking it).  I wanted to get my body back to optimal, where it ran properly and therefore, I ran properly.

From February to May I was averaging 3 workouts a week and was trying to make better food choices, while attempting to heal my hormone levels naturally.   The doctor advised that it could take 6-12 months for them to begin to regulate.  That helped with my patience…kinda.  I’m not patient, like at all.  And I knew that when I used to go hard for a week I could easily correct a weekend full of junk food and booze.  That wasn’t the case anymore.  I could not get the scale to budge.

Then one week I accidentally did 4 workouts.  I was invited to an event so in addition to the ones I’d planned, this little guy snuck in.  It was after that week that my clothes fit a little tid bit looser.  It hit me.  If I really wanted to get back close to the shape I was in before, I was going to have to up my workouts.

As I was making this decision, I was also contacted by Flat Tummy Shakes.  They have a 2 week kit to jump start your goals and I figured it was perfect timing and I’m always down for a new shake.  That’s the other thing, I used to be religious about my morning shakes.

Another serendipitous event was that I realized my class pack at Pilates and Tread Barre was about to end so I had like 14 days to do 12 workouts.  I figured I’d just power through them before my trip and maybe see some pay off.  Turns out they were kind enough extend but I stuck with the “workout every day” anyway.

Lastly, I am a part of Fitness Ambassadors and having a community to support me and push me has been HUGE. Talk about accountability!

Fit Fam

Fit Fam (I’ll get there)

The Results

I kicked off last week, so Friday will be the last day in this 2 week program and here are the results.   First and foremost, my energy is amazing.  I feel so much better.  I sleep better and my overall mood is more stable and happy.  Second, I lost 5 lbs.  Yep.

Here is a list of the workouts I did each day:

I had a shake every weekday for one meal and tried to make good choices.  But I had pizza twice in there and ramen. So I was not perfect at all.  I also did Cryo every day.  I go to Katy Trail Cryo and do their normatec as well.

ALSO – I bought a folding treadmill, you can get them for as low as $273 here.  If you have the space, I super recommend one.  When I lack all motivation, I can at least go two feet and start jogging.  I also joined StudioHop so I can try all these new classes.  I’m late to the game but so far I love the variety.  Next on my list to try is Evolve, I hear its so hard!

I’d still like to lose another 10-15 lbs but a lot has changed for me.  I feel like working out is now a treat and habit.  I crave it every day.  I also no longer look at other accounts or celebs and want their body, I want my healthy one back.  It makes it a lot easier when you’re focusing on you and not on trying to be someone else.  I also have decided to just be patient.  When I take the pressure off and I just show up every day, I know things will change. And if they don’t, it’s ok.  My main priority is to be healthy.

I’m happy that I feel healthy, stronger and happier.  It’s scary to share my journey.  My body changes aren’t super drastic to some and maybe to others you’ll see a massive change.  My point in sharing this is just that, to share it.  This is what’s working for me, this is what I’m doing, etc.

Thank you for reading! Have a great rest of the week and I’ll be sure to keep you all posted as I move down my own little fitness journey!

 

Shop our workout looks below: