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Note: If you've been a YBCer for a while, you know that I have a hard time writing about body composition mostly because I absolutely loathe the unhealthy yet seriously popular idea that we need to get in shape so we can {be in a bikini, go to the beach, etc}. Instead, I like the idea of getting in shape for the sheer joy of the process and of meeting our fitness goals. So to anyone out there who has struggled with meeting their fitness goals: There is absolutely no shame in whatever your starting point is. You are already wonderful as you are. And I want to make it very clear that I present this info not so that you can "get skinny", but rather, in the hopes that it will help you to feel your best. Because at the end of the day, feeling our best is what matters. It's the place from which we do our best. When we feel our best, we can do our best.
Early this fall, when I signed the book deal, I felt I was in decent shape, but with the photoshoot for the book scheduled for the winter, I wanted to be in great shape. I wanted to build upper body strength to help support my handstands and arm balances, and I wanted to lean out just a little bit. My journey has only been from the middle of October to now - the middle of January, so under three months, but I've been able to meet my goals and what I learned along the way was surprising and left me feeling the absolute best I've ever felt. I'm in the best shape of my life, and - most importantly - feel the best I've ever felt in terms of energy, strength and stress levels.
So I hired a personal trainer who believed in high intensity training and incorporated a lot of Olympic lifts into his strength building regimen for his clients. I worked out with him between two and three times per week, and worked out on my own three to four days a week, giving myself one full rest day per week.
I also hired a nutritionist who also really knew her stuff. She works with elite athletes and was familiar with the GAPS diet I'd been following and was excited to help me figure out what to eat. She suggested I incorporate a protein shake and L-glutamine, as well as topical gaba, which she said would help 'take the edge off' in relation to my stress, and topical magnesium. I rubbed a pump of the gaba and magnesium on my stomach before bed. She also suggested I start every day with a glass of room temperature water, lemon and salt.
Operation Get in the Best Shape of My Life felt like a full time job. I had to be sure I was eating enough, sleeping enough, not stressing out (because that impacts cortisol levels and negatively affected my energy levels and thus, the quality of my workouts). If one thing was off, it was like a domino effect and everything else would be thrown off.
My days went like this:
- 7am wake up, drink water with salt and lemon
- 7am-8am walk the dog
- 8am breakfast (4 eggs)
- 10am snack (yogurt)
- 11:30am - 1pm workout
- 1pm recovery drink (source organics whey with water, salt, splash of pure cranberry, VSL#3, L-glutamine, lemon)
- 2pm lunch (meat, veggie, fermented veggie)
- 3pm - 4pm walk the dog
- 4pm - small meal (meat, veggie, fermented veggie)
- 6pm - dinner (meat, veggie, fermented veggie)
- 7pm - detox bath (epsom salt, lavender oil)
- 11pm - bed
At first, I felt fine. The diet I was eating wasn't too far off from the GAPS diet, which I had just started to transition off from. The GAPS diet, in case you aren't familiar with it, incorporates a lot of meat, veggies and healing foods (bone broth, probiotic foods, etc), and has the follower avoid starchy veggies and grains. I followed it for two years to heal my gut from longterm antibiotic use for lyme disease.
So I was motivated and after a few weeks, was even beginning to see some changes in my body composition. But after about six weeks, I felt like I was beginning to plateau in terms of my gains. I started to feel like I couldn't push as hard as I knew I could go during my training sessions. I felt depleted of energy and at the end of my workouts, I'd lay in a puddle of my own sweat for a solid five minutes until I was sure I could stand up and walk to the locker room. I felt completely drained, which started to stress me out, which only continued my downward spiral because that affected my sleep, which affected my stress levels and my low energy - it was like a vicious cycle.
To top it off, I was traveling a lot - I had to go to Costa Rica for a retreat, where I wasn't going to have access to a gym, and then I had to go to Miami for a photoshoot, where I wound up getting sick, further preventing me from working out. Between the travel, time changes, and lack of consistent gym access, I just tried to do the best that I could and made it a priority not to stress out because if there is one thing I've learned over the past year it's that stress is a killer.
I made healthy choices whenever possible, but I was feeling like my progress had stopped.
I talked with my old friend James, who is a head coach and part owner of a great gym in Miami, and really into fitness. I told him what was going on and he basically said a similar thing happened to him. He was eating clean, avoiding carbs after 2pm, and felt ok but at some point he plateaued, and felt completely drained. So he started eating more carbs, and not only did he feel better, but he noticed that he started to lean out significantly.
He ran some numbers for me, sent me my macros and told me to start eating more to hit those numbers. He suggested downloading My Fitness Pal, this app that keeps track of your intake and breaks down the nutritional value of each food you eat so you can hit your numbers if you're counting macros. Now, I'm not a numbers person. I can't even tell you the last time I weighed myself. I am not a calorie counter, nor someone who wants to start weighing her food every meal because who wants to be that person? Who wants to live by the scale? Not I! When it comes to food, I just want to make good decisions, eat my food and call it a day. On the other hand, however, I wanted to reach my goals, so I put my hesitation aside. I weighed out food for a full day just so I could see if what I was eyeballing was about right (it was). From there, I just started eating more traditional carbs, and eating more food overall so I was sure I was hitting my caloric intake and for the most part, tried to hit the protein count on my macros. The other numbers I didn't get too crazy about. I didn't want to be worrying all the time about every little thing I was eating. If I wanted an avocado but had already hit my fat count, I just ate the damn avocado. Because it's an avocado, and I'm not training for the Olympics. Like, yes, I wanted to meet my goals but life is too short not to eat the avocado, you know?! Guacamole, man. What's better than that?
Anyway, some things I did start cutting back on: my daily dark chocolate pieces, bars (prior, I was eating an exo bar daily because they are delish and easy to grab and go - but I could be eating something healthier so I just replaced it with a smaller meal in the afternoon). My days looked like this:
- 7am wake up, drink water with salt and lemon, meditate.
- 7am-8am walk the dog
- 8am breakfast (4 eggs, 1 piece of sourdough toast, bone broth)
- 10am snack (1/2 cup steel cut oats and handful of berries)
- 11:30am - 1pm workout
- 1pm recovery drink (source organics whey with water, salt, splash of pure cranberry, VSL#3, L-glutamine, lemon)
- 2pm lunch (4oz meat, veggie, fermented veggie, 4oz sweet potato)
- 3pm - 4pm walk the dog
- 4pm - small meal (4oz meat, veggie, fermented veggie, 3oz quinoa)
- 6pm - dinner (4oz meat, veggie, fermented veggie, 3oz regular potatoes)
- 7pm - detox bath (epsom salt, lavender oil)
- 8pm - 1/2 cup homemade yogurt and chia seeds, bone broth
- 10:30pm - meditate, bed (falling asleep right away and sleeping straight through til 7)
I started feeling SO much better!
My energy levels skyrocketed, I started sleeping better - falling asleep right away and sleeping soundly through the night.
I kept my stress levels in check through meditation, and mentally flicking the thought switch off of whatever was irritating me.
Two week difference of sloppily counting macros and eating carbs
After two weeks, I saw a change in my body composition.
And I started making gains in my lifts. And God, how good is life when you can eat some damn carbs?!
Our studio shoot in Vegas was one LONG day. I think I was constantly moving for over ten hours straight, but I felt fantastic, overall. I was tired toward the end, mentally drained, but physically felt so strong, and that, my friends, was my goal. Yes, the new abs were nice, but I was more impressed with how strong and healthy I felt.
In terms of yoga, my upper body strength has helped my handstands, and I also became friends with scorpion pose!
So overall, I'm so pleased with the results of my efforts. The following were key to my gains:
Pin now - how I got into the best shape of my life
- a solid food plan. I don't want to say "diet" because it isn't, in my opinion, a restrictive diet. The plan was important because I knew I was doing a lot of activity and needed to eat more, I just wasn't sure how much to eat nor what to eat. The diet plan James provided me with was vital to my gains.
- a solid workout plan. I told you guys how I was hesitant to work with a personal trainer because certification for personal training is easy and I can't tell you how many times I've seen trainers put their clients through workouts that, in my opinion, were not safe. But the guy I worked with really knew his stuff, always made sure I was safe, and spotted things I was doing in my Olympic lifts that over time would have caused injury. His meticulous planning combined with some workouts from James that I did on my own, were key in helping me build strength and getting me to where I wanted to be.
- low to no stress. If I was traveling and had to eat something I wouldn't normally eat I just ate it and enjoyed it. If I stressed about it, I was just going to cause myself unnecessary anxiety which chemically affects our bodies. My metabolism, quality of sleep, and energy levels are directly affected when I am stressed out, so I had to develop strategies to stay as stress-free as possible.
- enough sleep, and quality sleep. I needed a solid eight to nine hours of sleep in order to feel great the next day in my workout and day to day errands.
- support. I don't have a ton of friends, but the ones I have are seriously the best people. They encouraged me every step of the way, respected my decisions, and never once did I hear someone say, "Oh please, you can have just one little {insert cheat item here}."
Moving forward, I'm going to continue to sloppily count my macros, trying to hit my protein as close as I can and continue to eat dem carbs! I'll also continue to work out hard. I won't be using the trainer anymore (mostly because I'm not that much of a baller that I can afford it!!) but I really enjoy lifting and doing hiit workouts so I'll continue on my own.
Thanks so much for the support you guys showed on instagram and twitter as well! I really appreciate it and feel so grateful for the YBC Community. I'm happy to answer any questions I can, and James has also offered to help anyone who wants to get on board. He charges $100 for two months or $60 for one month and will give you a suggested diet and do your numbers for you. He'll also be at your disposal to answer any questions you have throughout your one or two month period. At the end of your time together, you can rebook if you like and he will redo your numbers (as they usually need to be switched up every so often so the body can stay guessing). He asks that you fill out the form below if you're interested and he'll be in touch.