10:44 AM
Body Effx Lifestyle
I am NSCA-certified personal trainer and I have several group instructor certifications. Started as a Nurse and not knowing where or which way to go with my career and health. I was working at Howard General Hospital as Cardiac Stress test technician and a personal trainer part time.
The major question was I always fit? Yes the real question was I happy and fit to my liking? NO!!!! Was I healthy and did I look good? To the general public yes, according to the doctors NO!!
A few years ago, I shocked my friends and family when I decided to compete in a Bikini competition. Unlike female bodybuilding, Bikini competitors aren't as muscular—they're strong but feminine. But according to most people's standards, they're still pretty ripped. I looked great and was already fit, so you wondered why I wanted to change my body so much. Even though they look like the epitome of fitness, male and female body builders alike do some not-so-healthy things—food restriction, dehydration, overtraining and more. Luckily, I am a smart fit chick who does her research before I jump and an experienced trainer. I am perfectionist and I knew if I wanted to do this right then I better hire someone who can take me there and who has been there. So I hired a Pro Body builder to train me and put my mind in the Zone.
Over the course of several months, I watched as my body transformed, I developed larger, stronger muscles; reduced my body fat; increased my definition; and suffered through some major dietary restrictions. Just to reach my goals became a major deal for me. I'll never forget the night I was asleep and I had my hand on my stomach and woke up saying, "I have abs now; it's kind of disgusting but COOL!" I laughed. After seven months of hard training and diligent dieting, I placed 3rd in my class during my very first competition! Next thing I know I wanted MORE!
I realize that most of you probably don't want to be body builders or land the cover of a muscle magazine. But most of you DO want to drop body fat, increase muscle tone and look better. I think we often compare ourselves to the women on magazine covers and then lament about our fat thighs or belly rolls in comparison. But what does it really take to look like THEM? And more importantly, is looking like that worth the suffering it takes to get there? I decided to just lay out on the table and tell you all about my experience, and keep it real talk, without sugarcoating it, exactly what how hard it was to stick to a strict diet, what my training was and is like, and how I felt about my body before and after my transformation.
A few years ago, I shocked my friends and family when I decided to compete in a Bikini competition. Unlike female bodybuilding, Bikini competitors aren't as muscular—they're strong but feminine. But according to most people's standards, they're still pretty ripped. I looked great and was already fit, so you wondered why I wanted to change my body so much. Even though they look like the epitome of fitness, male and female body builders alike do some not-so-healthy things—food restriction, dehydration, overtraining and more. Luckily, I am a smart fit chick who does her research before I jump and an experienced trainer. I am perfectionist and I knew if I wanted to do this right then I better hire someone who can take me there and who has been there. So I hired a Pro Body builder to train me and put my mind in the Zone.
Over the course of several months, I watched as my body transformed, I developed larger, stronger muscles; reduced my body fat; increased my definition; and suffered through some major dietary restrictions. Just to reach my goals became a major deal for me. I'll never forget the night I was asleep and I had my hand on my stomach and woke up saying, "I have abs now; it's kind of disgusting but COOL!" I laughed. After seven months of hard training and diligent dieting, I placed 3rd in my class during my very first competition! Next thing I know I wanted MORE!
I realize that most of you probably don't want to be body builders or land the cover of a muscle magazine. But most of you DO want to drop body fat, increase muscle tone and look better. I think we often compare ourselves to the women on magazine covers and then lament about our fat thighs or belly rolls in comparison. But what does it really take to look like THEM? And more importantly, is looking like that worth the suffering it takes to get there? I decided to just lay out on the table and tell you all about my experience, and keep it real talk, without sugarcoating it, exactly what how hard it was to stick to a strict diet, what my training was and is like, and how I felt about my body before and after my transformation.
(Notice my words that I am using work out and when I change it to training. There is a difference)
Did I look great before I trained for the Bikini competition? What was my body like "before" and what did my workouts look like?
At 5'9, I weighed about 160 pounds and had 24% body fat. I worked out 5 times a week. I alternated between upper and lower body strength training with a good friend of mine. I would do cardio at least 4 times a week for 45 minutes on when I wanted to bases or so. I also taught fitness classes: Spinning (2 times a week), toning classes (3 times a week) and get with my friends take whatever class on the other days during the week. Although I taught many classes, I never considered them part of my workouts. Including them, I probably exercised more than an hour per day 6-7 days per week. Overall, I was happy with my body I thought. If I wasn't doing competitions, I would have never changed anything. More like it is what is and I look good to everyone else, so I am good!
At 5'9, I weighed about 160 pounds and had 24% body fat. I worked out 5 times a week. I alternated between upper and lower body strength training with a good friend of mine. I would do cardio at least 4 times a week for 45 minutes on when I wanted to bases or so. I also taught fitness classes: Spinning (2 times a week), toning classes (3 times a week) and get with my friends take whatever class on the other days during the week. Although I taught many classes, I never considered them part of my workouts. Including them, I probably exercised more than an hour per day 6-7 days per week. Overall, I was happy with my body I thought. If I wasn't doing competitions, I would have never changed anything. More like it is what is and I look good to everyone else, so I am good!
What was my diet like then? Did I count calories? Did I watch what I ate?
I ate what the average person would think was healthy. Sure, I'd eat ice cream and cookies or whatever, but in moderation. I ate balanced meals, but I didn't count calories or anything. I ate when I was hungry—whatever I felt like eating at the time and let me not forget about my water intake only if I was thirsty and I couldn’t get to anything else that had flavor.
How did I become interested in Bikini Competition?
Since I had been in college, I missed competitive sports (like I played in high school). I did cheerleading, basketball and some track, but I’m not a runner! I like lifting. I collected fitness magazine and kept them for just encase I need to refer back to them purposes. At the age of 40 I wrote out a bucket list and you guessed it Competing was on the list " I already thought I looked toned I thought, but I saw a picture of a female on the front cover of fitness magazine Ava Cowan that change my mind. Did my research become a fan and then it clicked. So, I started to train! I trained for 7 months, trying to gain more muscle, lose body fat and enhance my curves.
What specifically is the type of competition that you did?
In female bodybuilding, there was just three categories. First is body building (when you get extremely muscular and you do all the poses that the male bodybuilders do). Then there's figure, which is step a way but with poise, You're more feminine, and you do all the "manly" poses, but you do quarter turns and a "relaxed" modeling pose. Women on the cover of Oxygen magazine—most of those girls are "figure girls" in real life. You stand there and try to look pretty. Then there's a fitness category, which is like a gymnastics routine, but they also have to do the quarter turns too—it's more in depth than figure, but the body shape is similar. Now for the new category called "Bikini," which is a fit/toned-looking girl without being dehydrated or striated and can show her style. These are more "model" bodies, like on the cover of more mainstream fitness magazines like Shape, Muscle fitness and her’s and now Oxygen (which right now I do).
During the first 4 months of my training, I was in a strength-building phase. What was that like?
I lifted weights 5 days a week, but did hardly any cardio (3 times a week for 45 minutes). I worked on one muscle group per day for no longer than an hour. We were lifting moderate to heavy weights with high reps (15 to 20 reps). The goal was to gain muscle—as much as possible—and because I'm a female, I can't get extremely bulky. It takes a while. I followed the same routine for 2 months, and then changed it for the last 2 months. I left it in my trainers hands (it was easier that way and I trust him)
During the strength phase, My trainer put me on a clean eating diet and up my water intake, but I just ate MORE of those healthy foods. I ate more calories to help my body build muscle and lose body fat. I started to eat oatmeal and eggs in the morning (as most bodybuilders do). I got in a routine of eating every 3 hours, so, 5 meals a day and 2 of them were protein shakes. I didn't have to eat a lot more protein because I naturally ate a lot of protein before. But I did become more conscious of measuring things. And I didn't just eat when I was hungry. I had to eat even when I wasn't hungry!
After 4 months, I gained 10 pounds. I probably gained about 3 pounds of fat and seven pounds of muscle. Probably a lot of it was water though because muscles contain so much water.
Are these results typical?
I think it is if you stick with it. The training was a big part—I never missed a day (no excuse and starts to become your life style).
What came after the strength phase?
It was time to maintain my muscle mass and drop my body fat for the show itself. They say it should be 12%-16% for females, which is pretty low, but it all depends on the person. Some people can look like their body fat is 20% and be 30%. I "held my fat" pretty well, in my opinion. I don't hold it in my stomach—I hold it in my legs and on the lower half of my back, like most women tend to.
My Training changed and started to target certain areas. Time to focus from building muscle to maintaining muscle and dropping fat. We did more reps (20-25) but we still tried to lift heavy weights if not heavier for upper body. On legs, we changed completely—high reps to failure (20-30 reps) of leg exercises, because we didn't want to make our legs bigger. We did cardio 4 times a week for 45 minutes, and that gradually increased every 2 weeks until we reached 60 minutes of cardio 6 times a week on top of our strength training. Just thinking and reading this got me twinge and like agh!
What was my diet like at that time?
Three months before competition, I stopped eating bread. I limited myself to 1,400 calories a day. I would only eat oatmeal (in the morning), eggs, chicken, protein shakes, sweet potatoes, more chicken, broccoli, some flaxseed oil (for healthy fats), tuna or fish and salads (spinach, bell peppers, broccoli, and fat-free dressing with less than 6 grams of sugar). I ate like this for 8 weeks straight and my water intake went up to a gallon a day. You are not supposed to cheat at all—no going out to eat. No sugar. Very few carbs—oatmeal, sweet potato, brown rice—that's it. Did I say That’s it! That’s IT!
I think it is if you stick with it. The training was a big part—I never missed a day (no excuse and starts to become your life style).
What came after the strength phase?
It was time to maintain my muscle mass and drop my body fat for the show itself. They say it should be 12%-16% for females, which is pretty low, but it all depends on the person. Some people can look like their body fat is 20% and be 30%. I "held my fat" pretty well, in my opinion. I don't hold it in my stomach—I hold it in my legs and on the lower half of my back, like most women tend to.
My Training changed and started to target certain areas. Time to focus from building muscle to maintaining muscle and dropping fat. We did more reps (20-25) but we still tried to lift heavy weights if not heavier for upper body. On legs, we changed completely—high reps to failure (20-30 reps) of leg exercises, because we didn't want to make our legs bigger. We did cardio 4 times a week for 45 minutes, and that gradually increased every 2 weeks until we reached 60 minutes of cardio 6 times a week on top of our strength training. Just thinking and reading this got me twinge and like agh!
What was my diet like at that time?
Three months before competition, I stopped eating bread. I limited myself to 1,400 calories a day. I would only eat oatmeal (in the morning), eggs, chicken, protein shakes, sweet potatoes, more chicken, broccoli, some flaxseed oil (for healthy fats), tuna or fish and salads (spinach, bell peppers, broccoli, and fat-free dressing with less than 6 grams of sugar). I ate like this for 8 weeks straight and my water intake went up to a gallon a day. You are not supposed to cheat at all—no going out to eat. No sugar. Very few carbs—oatmeal, sweet potato, brown rice—that's it. Did I say That’s it! That’s IT!
I'm bored just thinking about it…
I would try to spice it up a little bit. I came up with different salads and seasonings. I liked to make my own dressings for all the salads. A girlfriend of mine helped me come up with recipes. I like to cook so I came up with creative ways to enjoy what I was allowed to have. If you're not creative with your meals, it's extremely boring. I was always thinking of new ways to make the foods I could eat.
To be honest, I never cheated in that 8 weeks. When I felt low on carbs, I'd eat a sweet potato for carb and to help me with the my chocolate fix I would add unsweetened coca that satisfied my chocolate craving and gave me more energy. I never ate ice cream. I never ate a cookie. I kept it fun by changing up my meals. I took expensive vitamins, too.
How did my body change after this phase?
My body fat dropped extremely fast. In 8 weeks, it dropped from 24% to 15.8%. I weighed 140. I did get bigger, according to my measurements. My waist went up to 25-1/2 inches during my strength-building phase, but when I was "cutting," it went down to 22 inches. My overall body proportions didn't change a lot. And I don't have much boobs anymore. They went away…and I don't think they're coming back!
