Category: Fitness

The Struggle is Real

Originally posted December 31, 2014

According to the Urban dictionary, the phrase “The struggle is real”, denotes a situation where the user wishes to express that they are encountering some sort of undesirable difficulty, but dealing with it.  Currently, my undesirable difficulty is food.  I struggle with it on a day-to-day basis.  During the off-season, my goal is to put on more weight.  I have therefore increased my daily caloric intake.  Unfortunately, I have been slack.  I’ve been indulging in my favorite fast food restaurants and eating my favorite candies as though it will not be present tomorrow.  I try to “make up” for it by doing a little extra in the gym.  As most of you know, you can’t out exercise a bad diet.  Maintaining a proper diet during both the on and off-season is important.  It is frustrating to me because I know what I need to do to get back on track.  I am however having difficulty putting it into action.  Each week begins with me setting the goal to get my diet in order.  I approach the week ecstatic about my goals because it’s a new start, a new beginning, a chance to make improvements.  By the end of the week I’m having BoJangles and eating peanut M&M’s.  Unfortunately, what you eat in private, you wear in public.  It’s such a true statement.  My midsection is a clear indicator of what I have been eating in private.

What are my plans for change?  Well, I began writing this post about 2 months ago.  My plans from 2 months ago has definitely changed.  My plans have changed because my goals have changed.  When I began writing this post, I was planning for the upcoming competition season.  Due to scheduling conflicts, I do not foresee any competitions in the new year (sad face).  That of course does not stop my grind.  I continue to train hard because I love it.  I see it as an opportunity to bring a better package when I do step on stage again.  Not participating in competitions does not give me an excuse to have poor eating habits and indulge in all of the junk that I love.  I still plan to keep up with my macros and only indulge in treats sparingly.  What are your fitness goals for the new year?  Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Signing off for 2014.

Happy New Year!

In the Beginning

Originally posted October 28, 2014

  • October 2011
  • July 2014

In the beginning of my fitness journey, I had no clue what I was doing or what I was really getting myself into.  Growing up and into my adult year I was always considered “skinny”.  I thought I could eat what ever I wanted and would not gain weight.  Boy was I wrong!  My reckless eating habits eventually caught up with me.  Initially, I was okay with the extra weight because no one was calling me “skinny”.  Apparently the weight gain was more out of control than I thought.  My mother purchased me a scale for my birthday, then weights with a workout video for Christmas.  Her subtle hints clued me in that I needed to make some major life changes.

Like most people, I thought losing weight meant do lots of cardio and that’s exactly what I did.  For about 2 years, my exercises consisted of the treadmill, running, and Wii fitness programs.  I performed them diligently and I did lose a few pounds, but nothing dramatic to write home about.  Last year I began to watch fitness videos on YouTube.  The young lady I was watching at the time incorporated weights into her routines.  I began to do the same I was following along but I still mostly did cardio workouts.

In January of this year, I made a conscious decision to make attempts to get fit and stay fit.  I immediately began surfing the net for workout programs that would yield the best results.  I came across the Butt Bible by Pauline Nordin.  I followed the program for 6 weeks.  For the first 3 weeks, I only did lower body.  I began to see results!  I continued with the program and also incorporated the upper body workouts into my weekly schedule.  The more I saw results, the hungrier I became, the more I wanted to workout and learn more.  Although I was seeing results, something was still missing.  I learned that I needed to change my diet as well to yield the maximum results.  If you ask me, maintaining the diet is the hardest part.

I eventually hired a trainer and competed in the GK Classic, a non-sanctioned competition held twice a year in March and August.  Thus far, I have only competed in one show, but have plans to compete in other shows along with the GK Classic next year.  I have learned many things along the way and still have lots more to learn.  The journey in the fitness world can be both exciting and exhausting.  The awesome thing is you are always working on a better you!