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…

1. I got a friendly reminder that the scale does NOT tell the whole story! (Even though I preach this to my clients, I needed a reminder myself.) I was actually pretty bummed the morning of my final inbody test, because at home the scale had only gone down 2lbs, so I didn’t think there had been much change…WRONG! I lost just over 5.5lbs of fat and gained almost 3lbs of muscle!! That is why the scale wasn’t moving as much! And my body fat went from 27.8% to 23.8%.
2. I got back into working out! And not only that, but have made it a habit to get to the gym 5 times a week!
3. I updated my macros and started logging my food in MFP. (I haven’t been super strict on hitting my numbers, but pretty good, and hey it’s a start in the right direction.)
4. I’m grocery shopping, cooking much more at home, and meal prepping.
5. I’m celebrating small successes as they happen and enjoying the process.

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.

katelynmarando