The Transformation- Not All About the “LOOK”

What started out as a goal to lose some weight in 2017 to go away the next year for my 25th wedding anniversary turned into a hard lesson on fitness and nutrition. 

Step 1- Sign up for MyFitnessPal and let them calculate calories to lose weight

Step 2- Buy a fitness tracker 

Step 3 - Start exercising by doing a ton of cardio and daily runs

Mistake 1- Follow a 1200 calorie diet to lose weight as per the app (great app but doesn’t know mw enough to customize my nutrition)

Mistake 2- Allow a fitness tracker to drive me to a point of obsessing over steps throughout the day and calories burned (great tool but can make turn into data being more focusing on quantity over quality)

Mistake 3- Do so much cardio that I’ve lost muscle mass and slowed down my metabolism (over exercise can also lead to injury)

This brought me down a slippery slope and had me chasing a number on the scale. It was a losing battle because as important cardio is for our health it can have negative effects if you overdo it or don’t implement it into your training correctly. I had to eat less and less in order to see the number on the scale go down. The loss of body fat and muscle mass truly turned into negative effects.

About 2 years later I was guided and coached to a point of true health and fitness. The change truly began with resistance training! Building muscle! 

Increasing muscle mass can increase your RMR (resting metabolic rate), this means more calories burned while at rest. I still run 2 times a week and truly enjoy it. The other 3 days are my resistance training days. Guess what, no more 1200 calorie diets for me.

I’ve gained physical and mental strength through training this way. 

I’m more functional in my daily activities and feel younger then I did 10 years ago.

I can eat and don’t have to run 7 miles a day.

Although my workouts have helped the “LOOK” of my body this is not what I work towards.

I work towards maintaining strength and getting stronger to benefit my overall health and well being as I age. 

If you shift that mindset from what your body looks like to what your body can do then all rewards of fitness can follow.