From as far back as I can remember I have always looked skinny and for me as long as I kept looking this way, I considered myself to be healthy and in great shape. Boy was I wrong about that! My body type is such that it has this ‘toned appearance’ especially my legs in leggings.
My story begins in this way; I had just entered university and an acquaintance and I was just out of one of our sporadic gym session and we were in the locker room. She looked at my legs and went “Omg! Your legs are so toned!” Of course, following that statement she immediately proceeded to touch them and exclaimed “My God…they are soft”. Upon hearing this I felt a little embarrassed, but I just brushed it off, laughed and explained to her that, that’s just how my legs were. Fast-forward to a year later to the very first time the term skinny fat was coined in to describe me, it was by a very good friend who played varsity basketball and I was very much offended by his description of my appearance. Upon reflection, it occurred to me that he was trying to be helpful…but at the time I felt very hurt that he would say that I was “skinny fat”. We had a huge row about it, after which I proceeded to take my ‘workout regime’, which only consisted of cardio ‘very seriously’. Now, at the time I had never bothered doing any research about exercise, I only knew that cardio made you healthy and got rid of the offending fat. Keep in mind that, that all while diligently doing my cardio, I would eat whatever I wanted and I was particularly partial to all things sweet, especially chocolate and ice-cream. As a result of my dieting strategy, I got slimmer while retaining some of the fat. It was all so very frustrating because I didn’t understand why my body wasn’t getting toned up (you know all of my hard work and nothing to show for it🙄🙃). Anyways, I continued this approach for a while and little by little I became demotivated and lackadaisical. Well whatever, I told myself, it’s wasn’t like I was fat or unhealthy😶 and that was that.
My boyfriend tried to encourage me to do weightlifting, to which I vehemently refused on the grounds that I did not want to look like a man😳! (See there…so much misinformation on my part😓).
About three years ago I stumbled upon Blogilates (whose founder is Cassey Ho). I was immediately hooked; I enjoyed her workouts so much. They were fun, sassy and full of energy. While I did that I begun to research (ahhah… and she finally sees the light aye💡) and accumulate this vast knowledge about fitness and I begun to understand my mistakes. One of which was my horrible eating habits. And so I began this new chapter, which consisted of blogilates and healthy eating. Lo and behold my body started to change. The coveted muscle definition started to make an appearance. My entire body began taking shape. My abs were getting a little definition, my legs started feeling toned and my bum had lifted a little. I was super impressed by the improvements and I begun to be more motivated to do and to learn more. I began to incorporate some running (which I love) into my workout regime. After only 4 months of this, the changes I saw in my body were remarkable. I did not have to waste my money on gimmicks to look better (no magic teas and no weird machines). Casey’s workouts were totally free. I only had to adjust my eating habits so that I consumed less junk and consume more real, unprocessed food, which would nourish my body and make it thrive.
After those initial four months I noticed that my body was becoming very slim and I didn’t particularly care for that. So I begun lessening on the amount of days that I ran, which was about 4 times a week to just one, but I still did HIIT workouts from Blogilates. What I really wanted was to get some more muscle definition and from my research I found that my caloric intake of (1400-1600) was way too low, as I am 5’6”. So in addition to Blogilates, I took up yoga, which I fell in love with immediately. I loved that my flexibility improved drastically and I was enjoying my journey and reaping all of the awesome benefits.
Now… for the most shocking bit, remember how I explained earlier that I had refused to do weightlifting🙅🏽? Ah hah…well two year ago I was convinced that I should try it💡. Now I am hooked on that as well. The muscle definition that I see when I flex a body part is just amazing. You don’t even understand the joy I feel. Never, ever in my life have I ever had this much definition…flexed or not, I am not even joking! With weightlifting my caloric intake went up to about 2600 calories. I know…your jaw probably hit the floor right😱? A few months ago mine would’ve too, but not today. My research and my results prove that it’s effective. I have been at it for 2 years now and the improvements are amazing. Actually my problem right now is that my metabolism is so very high, that I have to try to eat more, to gain a little more weight. Mostly my waist is shrinking so my beloved leggings don’t fit snuggly on the waist anymore (it’s very annoying to have to keep pulling them up all the time).
Presently, my regime includes a mixture of healthy eating, yoga, weightlifting and I am very happy with myself. I don’t weigh myself, I don’t measure my calories anymore, I eat, sleep well and train.
Lovies, people out there will judge you, insult you, try to dissuade you from your chosen path, trust me, I went through it all. Especially being slim, people automatically felt like I should not workout, because ‘I already looked good’😑. I tried to explain that it was not all about looking good but about becoming healthy. Some people didn’t believe me, so I brushed it off. I am doing this for me not them! I know that it’s very hard to lose weight and to be healthy but you can do it! No questions about it! The key to your success is to maintain your focus and to motivate yourself. You alone know how badly you want it! It’s not about restricting yourself; I still eat alot, but I eat healthy meals. Now, don’t think for one second that I don’t eat junk food, every Friday I have one Yolo meal, which includes all the junk I have been wanting (which absolutely must include fries). It’s about disciplining yourself and I absolutely refuse to let my body down by eating junk every day. I’ll tell you right now, it’s not a picnic or a walk in the park, but you can do it! We all have so much potential and strength that’s just waiting to be tapped. You will stumble, you will fall; it’s all part of the process but it doesn’t mean you have failed or you should give up. Just do it, do it now and never give up!
XOXO💋