Week 1 Fitness Challenge // Progress + Update

Alright, loves! It’s go time! As stated in my Challenge Accepted post, I took 2 weeks to hone in on my challenge and started to strictly track my macros again. I have tracked my weight almost daily and have stuck to a new fitness routine. There have been a few hick-ups along the way getting back into the routine. Some mornings I forget to weigh myself and I find myself struggling to get all my water in. Some days I am really hungry and other days I am not, but I think nutrition wise we are on track. This just shows that fitness is a lifestyle. It takes consistent effort and routine is key!

Here are my first round of my fitness progress pics; the good, the bad, and the cellulite, ha! This is my starting point and I am actually pleased with it. I am a good intuitive eater, but a girl knows how to get down and indulge 😉 Which is most definitely what I did over the holiday season! It is nice to get down to business, but it is always nicer to not care and partake with the family! Can I get a Amen?! So here we go…vulnerability at its finest!

I had to change bottoms, the other ones showed a liiiiitle too much donk.

Hehe, had to sneak this one in there 😉 She always does what Mommy does…my little shadow. 

Alright, so definitely not bad but I know I can do better! I have been fluctuating from 125-127 lbs. My stage weight when I compete is about 110 lbs, so only a 15-17 lb gain is not bad in my book! Here are the things I am going to work on in improving in the next 16 weeks:

• Tightening and strengthening my core. When I gain some weight back on and hold onto water, you can definitely see my “mom pudge” more. All this is, is my loose skin more apparent from when I was pregnant with Noelia. I tend to show more due to my diastasis recti, which is that gap you see surrounding my belly button where my abdominal wall never came back to a full close after giving birth. It may never go away, and it is what it is. One of those things that I embrace since it occurred after carrying my daughter. Wouldn’t change it for the world!
• Toning my legs. For the most part, I gain most my weight in my legs. I especially gain in my posterior chain surrounding my butt and under. I have always delt with “sandbags” (always laugh at that), the area on the outside of your thighs. My goal will be to lose that fat and continue to gain muscle in those areas. I would love bigger quads but now that’s just me having a wish list 😉
• Continue to build and tone my upper body. For some reason my upper body is always pretty lean. Probably because it all goes to the donk…;), but I really want to see more definition and lose the fat that most people hold around their armpits (under the shoulder blade).
• Lose about 10 pounds. Let me remind you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a 125 weight! It is a great weight for someone of my size. Like anyone else, I know that I can do better for Summer months and for the simple fact that I want to be my best self.

After changing some things around, here are my starting macros for this challenge:

Training day(Medium)   140pro, 325 carbs, 50 fats= 2310 cals

OFF day(Low)                 140pro, 200 carbs, 50 fats=1810 cals

High Carb day(High)(Tuesday) 140pro, 400 carbs, 40 fats=2520 cals

Vitamin tablet every morning! Vitamin C tablet after every workout. Hit 20g FIBER daily.

If you know nutrition, you know that this is a lot of food to most people trying to lose weight. You have to eat to grow and eat to be successful. It is not about eating less, it is about eating well! Letting your metabolism do the work for you is what it is all about! I did not just magically decide to start at these calories…I know my body and I know my maintenance level.

My weight will be tracked daily and put into a spreadsheet that will calculate my weekly averages. If the averages are staying the same or going up, we know it is time to cut small amounts of food and up the HIIT cardio. I am talking only about 10 grams of carbs, for example. I learned this method from my previous prep coach, John Gorman of Team Gorman and it is GENIUS! HE is genius. Please check him out if you are interested.

These check-ins will be weekly on Vida Noel so be sure to check in every Monday to see the progress!

As always, thank you all for following along and supporting Vida Noel. XO