I've been kind of slack on blogging, but not the gym! I have continued to train regularly and watch my diet. The strictness of both does vary--it's not a big deal if I give myself a week off here and there. But that's the point of this whole journey--finding balance and learning to live a healthy, active lifestyle. I feel like I am prepared for summer when it comes around because I am staying fairly lean. But now that it is cooler I'm not putting pressure on myself to look flawless all the time. I have learned that even fitness models don't don't do that--they "dial it in" for a photo shoot or competition, then they relax a little once those kind of events are over. I figure someone like me who has no plan of competing should not worry about one percentage of body fat--it's about looking good and feeling good overall. I hope I'm making sense here. In the previous post I also mentioned the program I had used to get in better shape. Here's a video review of said program. I think I have something in common with most women: I always want to look my best. This means regular trips to the beauty salon, visiting the dermatologist, trying to dress fashionably, etc. I'm not obsessive about any of these things I've mentioned, but I do want to project confidence--both professionally and socially. I want people to see a young woman who has taken charge of her life and has things together. But there was one missing piece that kept me from feeling 100% comfortable in my own skin: my body. I wanted to be just as confident walking along the beach in a bikini as I was in the boardroom. Once again I want to reiterate that like other aspects of my physical appearance this isn't something I was obsessed with. But I believed I could apply the same discipline to my physical condition as I did to other components of my life. Why not try to build a better body? I looked around online and found a workout that seemed well suited to my goal (you'll see that it even has "bikini" in the name--it's a great program created by Jen Ferruggia). I joined a gym and began the intense training. There are a couple of things I immediately noticed that were different that what I used to do in the gym. First and foremost, I learned that I needed to do some of the basic exercises that the guys do (like squats). I used to be kind of afraid of getting too big if I really got serious about lifting weights. But pictures of Jen kind of eased any fear I had about that. She does squats with more weight than I can use (right now, anyway) but her legs are really nice and lean. It definitely hasn't caused her to look like a man, so no worries there for me. I also noticed that the workouts incorporate what are called "super sets." This means you go straight from one exercise to another with little or no rest in between. The idea is pretty simple: by limiting your rest between sets you maximize the fat burning in every work out. The result is that you end up building a little bit of muscle while losing fat--the perfect kind of training for a bikini body. Training this way was really intense. I remember I was pretty sore for the first week or two, but I eventually adjusted to it. I had to learn to push myself, but I started noticing immediate gains in strength. At first I could only use 10 lb. dumbbells, but now I'm up to using 25's. You may be wondering about cardio (like walking on the treadmill). Jen is actually not a big advocate of "steady state" cardiovascular training. She emphasizes doing high intensity stuff (like hill sprints). I actually like this because I can burn lots of calories in just a few minutes’ worth of training. Here's something that really surprised me: adjusting my diet was really more challenging than going to the gym several days a week. I've talked to quite a women who compete in fitness contest and they told me that diet is really more important than what kind of exercise you do when you are trying to lose fat (training is important, but diet is going to account for at least 90-95% of your fat loss results). I had to really take note of what I was putting in my body in terms of both quality and quantity. I didn't put much thought into this before, but the diet plan helped guide me. I started eating more lean meats and cutting back on processed carbs. I still ate dessert, but not every day. I found that the key for me was balancing being consistent with my diet while being flexible enough to enjoy an occasional splurge. I finally had it together: a healthy lifestyle. I was training a few times a week and eating the type of diet that was conducive to my overall goals. Within a few weeks I had completely adjusted to this new way of living. The way I felt more than made up for any discomfort caused by the change. I have so much energy that I'm more productive in my professional life. These lifestyle changes are showing in my figure! I now have a lean, feminine body that I'm quite proud of. I have achieved my goal of being just as confortable in a bikini as I am in a professional setting. Life is good! This new way of living is even benefitting my friends and my family members. Some of my girlfriends have been asking me what I'm doing to look and feel this good. I've told them that there are no secrets to fitness--just hard work and intelligently designed programs (including the diet). |