If you have been following along you know that a little less than a month ago I signed up for a challenge with Three Kings Athletics and Macros Lab to see who could lose the most body fat %. Well the challenge is over, my results are in and….I’m so proud of myself!
When I signed up for this challenge I was really excited, and thought I can win this! I just had a baby, I have a ton of body fat to lose! I got my initial inbody, set my new macros, and started hitting it hard in the gym. Then hit a bump in the road when my milk supply (I’m breastfeeding a 2 month old) started to dwindle. I quickly realized I needed more calories, specifically more fats and carbs. I made the changes to my macros, stopped eating rest day macros all together, and milk supply increased…which meant happy baby and mama, but weight/fat loss would slow. AND I was/am totally okay with it! I now know that for me, it’s probably going to take another 3 months or more to get back to where I want to be, not a quick 3 week challenge.
I am so glad I did the challenge, and I took away some great successes…
That last point is one I want to elaborate on. So many new moms, that are clients of mine, and myself included, get discouraged when starting back at the gym. Your stamina and strength definitely take a hit from taking time off, and it shows up in our workout performance. I’ve changed my mindset though, and encourage others to do the same (wether you just had a baby or just have taken some time off from working out). Instead of being discouraged that I only squatted 95lbs today, because I’ve squatted over 200lbs in the past, I am excited to have that barbell back in my hands, and that my body is ready to squat with weight again! And then, true story, two weeks later I was already able to squat 150lbs! That is a 55lb increase in just two weeks! (See how much better that mind set is, compared to ugh I still have 55lbs more to go to hit my old PR.) Find joy in the small victories along the way and celebrate them!
At the beginning of the challenge I couldn’t do a single push-up unassisted. My abs just were’t firing after my c-section, and could not support the plank/push-up position. Fast forward three weeks, and I did 14 in a row, without pausing…and went on to complete a workout with 50 push-ups in it! Huge win for me! Making this mind shift and focusing on performance improvements, plus how I feel overall from eating better, has made the process fun for me. I look forward to going to the gym each day, and to see what my body can do. (Instead of spending over 2 hours there focusing on burning as many calories as possible to lose more weight.) Sure it’s going to be a slower process, but I wouldn’t want it the other way around.
So I’m NOT focusing on the fact that I still have 23.8% body fat, and have so much more to lose. Instead I’m proud I dropped 4% in less than 4 weeks! I’m enjoying myself, I feel stronger each week, I’m healthy, I’m nourishing my body with the right foods, I’m feeding a 2 month old…It’s amazing what your body can do for you when you treat it right and listen to it. So for now I am doing exactly that. Slowly and Steadily getting back to a healthy lifestyle.
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Janet Blumling
February 4, 2019 at 9:30 pmGreat job Katelyn and great blog.
katelynmarando
February 4, 2019 at 9:39 pmThank you : )