PSA: Join us in Morocco in August for a yoga retreat that will take you deeper into your personal practice. If online is more your jam, we now have video bundles available for all levels. Don't forget that you'll get a free gift when you screenshot your review of our app to Lauren. And lastly, our book, Namaslay, is available for preorder.
If I'm being honest, I wasn't looking forward to writing this post because I injured my upper trap on May 4th and I haven't been able to do much lifting since then. I took about nine or ten days off straight from the gym over the last six weeks, and the workouts I have been doing have been mostly bodyweight, hiit style workouts. I didn't expect to see any transformation and I was kind of bummed about that.
Recent hiit workout:
But then something happened. I had an apostrophe. Loitning had struck muy brain.
Sorry, got off track there for a second. Anyway! In putting together the photos for this post, I realized I wasn't disappointed at all. In fact, I realized that for the first time in my whole life, I've been consistently happy with how I looked - and more importantly, how I felt for the last six months since I started tracking macros. Yeah, there have been fluctuations - (you'll notice that I was very lean in January because I was trying to lean out for my photoshoot for Namaslay, and then you'll see in February I had put on a little more bodyfat), but overall I have been so happy with the strength I've built, and how easy it is to track my macros and hit the numbers James had given me, and I feel good about how I look, and great about how I feel.
Recent hiit workout:
Back in December, I'd sought help with nutrition because I had zero energy, wasn't sleeping well, my hormones were all out of whack, and I had a feeling I wasn't eating enough for the amount of energy I was expending. When I got the numbers from James, I initially started to just track my caloric intake because I knew I was undereating and the first order of business was to eat enough. I wasn't intentionally undereating, I just didn't know how much I should be eating in order to feel my best. Once I started to get a handle on how much I needed to eat in order to feel good, I started to look more closely at the actual macros (fats, carbs, proteins) and decided to go after hitting those numbers, since I'd heard it's a good way to balance hormones naturally once your gut is healed.
Macros Update
So around March, I really started to dial it in with hitting my macros numbers, and each month since I've noticed more and more of an improvement in my hormones balancing out. My skin is more even. I fall asleep easily and stay asleep for eight hours straight. I wake up feeling energized. I have energy all day long, and I recover quickly from my workouts.
I think I'd developed this mentality that was a little go, go, go. I was so gung ho about, well, life, because when you see and feel progress it's really motivating! But now I am just feeling an overall calm. I'm still motivated to build strength, but I don't know that I want to get much leaner than I am. I personally feel really good where I'm at, and while I love how I looked (and felt!) in January, getting that lean and staying that lean was a full time job and #ain'tnobodygottimeforthat.
With regards to workouts, my next focus will be going back to technique. I'm going to start working out with my old trainer a few times a month to revisit my Olympic lifts and be sure I've got things on point so I don't develop bad habits and injure myself. I need to remember I'm still a relative beginner when it comes to lifting (I only really started most of my Oly lifts in October), so I'm not so much concerned about putting up heavy weight as I am about making sure my technique is right.
James just sent new numbers (you're supposed to switch them up every month or so to keep the body guessing) and he suggested looking into refeeds, so I may explore that a bit too, and of course will keep ya posted here on the blahhhhg. I'll also continue to do the crossfit style hiit workouts James programs because I've come to enjoy them so much and I feel I've finally found a program that works for me and my fitness goals.
I have really, really enjoyed the last few months of focusing on macros and workouts. It's reinforced things I already knew - like that numbers on a scale don't really mean anything (I weigh the most I've ever weighed in my life right now, yet I feel the best I've ever felt, soooo the scale is seriously just a number and I couldn't care less about what it says). It also taught me that I have the strength and dedication to meet my goals. And through the last few months, so many people (friends and totally random people at the gym) have been super supportive, and what's better than feeling like you've got the love and support from those around you?
If you're interested in working with James, 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.
Anyway, because I don't think we'll be seeing much of a month to month difference, I think this will be my last progress pic for a few months. I'll still do a monthly update on my fitness goals and macros, though, so feel free to leave questions and comments and things you'd like me to cover in the comments section below.
I'd love to hear how your fitness journey is going. How do you feel about yourself? How do you feel about your lifestyle, diet, and strength building? Where could you use a little improvement? Where are you proud of yourself?
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