MY FITNESS + HEALTH JOURNEY
I'm going to dedicate this post to my health/fitness journey and progress. This has definitely been one of the most difficult journies I have faced. I was athletic my entire adolescent life from age 5-17 playing soccer, running cross country and track and field. However, all of that changed when I went to college. Those four years were of my overeating, not balancing my diet, eating out every other day, and never exercising at all. By the time I finished college I had very little muscle and weighed about 145 lbs. I probably hit 155 lbs at one point but I honestly never weighed myself too much.
First off I only started using fitness supplements this year. I have been using Women's Best products for all of my weight loss and training. I started off with their slim body shake two times a day for protein and to prevent me from snacking. I only did this for a full week to get my body use to the shakes and shed a few pounds. It is technically a meal replacement but I found that it really just boosts my metabolism. I would get hungry a few hours after finishing a shake. I would drink one of these for breakfast or lunch and replace one of those meals. Now I drink whey protein or have some BCAAs before/during my workouts. I generally eat a very large breakfast and dinner so cutting out a large lunch with the shake made all of the difference. Also, I have noticed drinking the protein shake that my snacking urges were close to gone. Stress eating from work and school was always my areas of weakness.
For the fitness portion, I started by completing my workouts at home. I religiously follow so many fitness gurus online including Chloe Ting, Robin Gallant, Whitney Simmons, Tammy Hembrow and so much more. I would play their youtube videos on my phone or laptop anywhere I went. I made a strict workout program for myself where I dedicated 2-3 gym days a week and 1 day at home work out. However, I am now going around 4 days a week. I am thankful to have friends within the fitness industry so now I am not so clueless at the gym and youtube has saved me for at home workouts.
In the beginning, I would do High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts at the end of each small workout. I felt like these workouts would help me target losing unwanted fats before working on gaining more muscle mass. These are great for those with time limitations. I made it a habit to run at least twice a week at least 2 miles (cardio's great for fat loss). Gymming with friends has made all the difference for me. My real progress came when I started gymming with my friend Fiona. Having that extra someone always helps motivate and push you further. On average I would do these 2-5 times a week (depending on my school/work schedule). Aside from the protein shakes, I would fill my bottle shaker with some BCAAs for when I don't have a protein shake. They're just your aminos/carbs to help with exercise and helps you with soreness.
I think the heaviest I weighed was around 150 lbs. As of last week, I am about 120 lbs now. I am happy with the weight loss but now that I've been more focused on actually training harder to gain endurance. I am expecting my weight to increase due to muscle mass. Overall this experience has helped me mentally and physically improve.
