Thursday, July 30, 2020

UPDATE: Took me 2 kids to look the way I always envisioned myself. (Dammit, it's another long one)

Hi everyone,

I was here 6 months ago where I posted a history of my weightloss. It can be found here if you're interested with pics and all that.

TLDR: Lost all the weight by doing CICO and without exercise, progress photos in previous thread. Kept diet the same and added in 100% bodyweight workout regimen and later jogging, and completely transformed. Pics below

2 months after I posted my original progress, the world turned upside down. It's quarantine time and I got 2 kids at home, one of whom is a remote learning Kindergartner and the other is a toddler. I have to work from home while managing them and the household, and my husband continues to go into work. It was not ideal by any means (I learned that I am a shit teacher, motivator, and seriously remote learning can go straight to hell), BUT, I also found myself without having to commute, get ready for anything (which gave me an extra 3 hours I didn't have before). With proper planning, an hour of quiet time when the toddler naps and my older daughter needs a break, I found my opportunity to finally dedicate to some fitness goals. I had nothing particular in mind, I just wanted to stop being so mushy everywhere.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I started noticing an emergence of at home, minimal/no equipment (later, the no equipment portion completely exploded) workouts on Instagram. This was right up my alley! I remember from my CrossFit days where interval/cross training was a big part of, I did not need a lot of time to get the heart rate

I aimed at 20-30 minute routines, scaled where I needed to (but made sure I'm always challenged), used only my body. My goal was to get to 5 workouts a week (3 on 1 off, 2 on 1 off), but it felt so good to get my body after being sedentary for so long, I stopped relying on a schedule and just listened to my body. I only take rest days if I feel run down or like I need one. (I took 4 this month so far) After about a month, I added jogging as well (originally, the jogs started off as walks to make sure I get 10K steps that day, but then I realized jogging would get me those steps faster haha). I started jogging several times a week and sometimes I would do 2 workouts a day - I really enjoy them!

In 4 months time, I completely transformed my body and only lost about 5lbs of fat. Crazy. I do not recognize myself at all. I have never looked like this and I never imagined that I could. To have a visible 6 pack and sculpted arms? Especially as a mom of 2.

More importantly, there's been a huge shift within me, where moving my body and working through those hard reps no longer became something I am forced to do. I used to think that I NEEDED to do CrossFit (or any structured class), because if I didn't have someone cheering me on or make me do the workout then I wouldn't do it. It's funny because about roughly a month leading up to me finally starting, I was plagued with indecision and fear about not working out the 'right way' or using the 'wrong muscle groups' until I finally just stopped planning for it and started doing it. One day led to the next and I just kept finding new workouts to keep things interesting and it became part of my day.

Showing up for myself in this way made me so much happier. Yes, the physical changes I saw constantly (newbie gains are fast/easy) were validating, but more importantly, I realized that I'm happier because for the first time I was really keeping the promises I made to myself. And the reason my weight loss/fitness issues before were so big was because it was a physical symptom of me giving up on myself and not doing the thing that I said I would do. I will not let it happen again.

Next steps would be to add weights to my routine. I think I'd like to build more muscle and get a toned lower body look. I know that the only way to do that is to build muscle. My lower body has more fat in it and while I'm not sure I "need" to lose more fat, I know for sure building muscle will recomp my body more. Overall, I'm happy with my results so far. I am also very realistic about my body - I'm 37, I have two kids and some loose skin as well as more fat in my butt and thighs, so I think I can only take myself so far without plastic surgery. And I'm perfectly ok with that too :)

4 month recomposition, only 5lbs total fat loss month to month progress Day 1 of a fitness competition I entered 3 weeks ago 10 years in the making

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/339KN7E

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