May 1st, 2024.
When it comes to meeting your goals, consistency is what matters most.
Often people will want to start off with a complete lifestyle overhaul or fad diet to achieve their goals. Although this can be highly effective in terms of seeing some quick results, many people do not have a plan in place to transition to a more sustainable, long term plan.
Before you start any new lifestyle change you need to ask yourself, is this going to be realistic to maintain the rest of my life? If the answer is no, reconsider or at least put a post-diet transition plan in place.
In 2018 when I decided that I finally needed to start taking my health seriously I signed up for this hardcore diet which had me eating only 1200 calories a day! This was not nearly enough calories for me as I was busy with a toddler and a baby (whom I was also nursing) and was going to the gym 5 times a week. It was great in the sense that I lost 25 lbs in 7 weeks, but I still wasn't quite happy with the way I looked when it was done.
Although I had finally achieved a "healthy" BMI, I didn't look fit. When I measured by body composition, I was still 38% body fat 🤯. It was so catabolic that I had also lost tons of lean skeletal mass too! Some people refer to this as skinny fat which is when one is a "healthy" weight/size, but still has a high body fat percentage.
Confused by this phenomenon, I wondered... was the 7 weeks of chicken breast and only green vegetables really necessary? 🤔
I spent the next 5 years instead focusing on eating a balanced diet that would FUEL me to gain muscle mass. I read a lot about nutrition and started to gradually eat more of the right foods. Honestly it was nothing crazy though- I basically followed a balanced plate approach and showed up to quality gym classes on the regular.
I've GAINED 25 lbs of MUSCLE since then and have lost 25 lbs of body fat. Meaning I'm almost the exact same weight as I was when I finished the 1200 calorie diet, but I'm a totally different body composition.
This was all a result of consistent healthy habits over time, nothing crazy! I didn't become a bodybuilder or anything and I still enjoy wine and pizza. I'm just an average women who ate high-protein, nourishing meals, showed up to the gym, believed in myself and had fun.
Comments