A few weeks ago I shared that I found and hired a body building coach and was beginning my training journey. You can read a bit more about it in this post from earlier this month. We’re going strong and, at 3 weeks in, wanted to share an update and more info. You may or may not be interested in this topic – totally understood either way. I’m a professional organizer but the root of this blog began with me sharing a bit more of the personal side to Sam as well. Personally, I’m documenting progress in here for me, so feel free to skip if you wish. But if you do have interest or questions – shoot them my way!

In that post I ran down a long list of points I wanted to cover on this topic…so I’ll answer a few of those and some more in later posts.

WHY?

I should start with why. It’s a very simple reason. I want to challenge myself. Not physically – MENTALLY. Yes, there indeed will be physical changes and will be physically challenged, but the mental challenge is what I’m here for. That mental push is something I’m craving and know it’s going to grow me in countless ways.

So that’s my why.

I decided to start now because I finally found someone I connected with…and why the heck not?? I don’t need a big birthday, big calendar change or anything else significant in order to take the leap.

*october 2022

( leggings | tank | shoes )

MY COACH

When I say I researched coaches for months, I mean it. Months. More accurately is like over a year at this point. I’ve been into fitness and watching bikini competition videos for YEARS. Literally. Each time I find a new competitor, I take a deep dive into their social or YouTube channel to see if I can locate their coach. Most times I am successful in doing so and then I begin to research the coach. I watch their videos, look at other people they’ve coached, review before and after results, and more. I’ve even gone as far as to interview coaches to be a potential client. I’ve researched the pricing and costs associated.

It truly is something I enjoy doing.

What was important was finding the right fit for me…right now. At this phase I’m in. In this moment. I’m not an advanced weight lifter so I don’t need someone super aggressive. Although I’ve been working out hard for years and years, I have a lot more foundational work to accomplish and muscle to build / add. It was important to me that the coach had the experience of competing and if they happened to be a Pro Athlete, even better.

Personality matters! Your coach has to be a good fit to keep you motivated. They must have the skills to be able to keep you on task, keep you motivated, lift you up when you’re down or feel like giving up…have a way of speaking to you that sinks in. And you will be sharing your vulnerable parts. Not only your weekly body check-ins which can be very tough to share…but also your mindset and what is messing with your mind.

And it’s important to have someone who understands proper nutrition – FOR YOU and otherwise. I’m going to share my current workout split and macros…but keep in mind this is FOR ME and MY BODY and MY CURRENT GOALS. It will look different for everyone. Just sharing so you see what I’m up to and I can look back on this one day as well.

My coach, Natasha, is an IFBB Bikini Pro. She’s sweet-natured and lovely! She is also located in my time zone which was important to me. If I’m having a bad day and want to connect after work or before bed, and my coach is on the East Coast…I’d be pretty bummed not to have a response or have the support. Before I hired her, we spoke on the phone for a long time. What sold me were the type of questions she asked. She truly wanted to know where I was, my history, goals and a whole bunch more. Schedule availability, motivation, family stuff, lifestyle factors that could get in the way. All of it. Nothing was off the table and I loved her digging as much as she did. I had to be a good fit for her as well.

She does offer “transformation” type programming, which is what I inquired about. But after our conversation, she encouraged me to go for it. To plan on a mindset of competing…and we would take it as we go each month or every 3 month phase. She also put me on a reverse diet, which should help my metabolism.

MY CURRENT STATS

Not a whole bunch to share here…but I’m currently sitting at 125 pounds and just over 5′ 7″. We haven’t taken a full body fat / composition yet … am hoping to do so soon.

I’ve dropped about 8 pounds this year due to life / personal changes. Natasha thinks I’m too low on weight – based on the class I’d be in for my height – but personally I feel much better having 8 pounds off my frame.

( top | leggings )

I have a FitTrack scale – love this thing! It tracks more than just your weight.

Every week on Wednesday I send Natasha my updated stats: weight, measurements, photos (front, side and back) and I complete a questionnaire. After she reviews, she sends me a video and also lets me know if I need to edit or tweak anything with food or the workouts. She encourages me to keep up the positive progress or where I can improve.

Where I need to improve for sure is tracking my food. It’s hard…more on that below.

MY CURRENT WORKOUTS

My workouts are organized in an app. I choose the workout for that day, it tracks my heart rate and calorie burn (I wear an apple watch to track this), I add in the number of reps and amount of weight. It’s a great tool! Tracking everything shows progress you’re making and any personal bests you hit.

Since it tracks your workouts, you can also view the history of the weight lifted so you can see what you did the week prior.

We are connected on the app messenger so she can send notes about my workouts and otherwise. She’s also sent videos to me through the app.

Currently, this is my split:

Back & Bi’s

Glutes

Chest & Tri’s + Abs

Yoga Day

Legs

Shoulders

Rest Day

I generally stick with this schedule and don’t mess with it. My week begins on Sunday with back & bi’s. Sometimes I swap the rest day for yoga day. Just depends on what is happening with the kids and my availability. But in 3 weeks I have not missed a single workout.

She doesn’t want me to do a ton of cardio, which I was doing. I mentioned in here a few posts ago that I’m on my longest Peloton streak…this week I hit 48 weeks straight. When we first spoke, Natasha was curious to know why I was doing as much cardio…my answer was that I love the sweat. That is true! There’s something amazing in that release. But she challenged me by saying she will make the workouts hard enough to feel as if I had a cardio session and that I will sweat during them. I do in fact! Not as much as I do on a bike ride, but good enough.

Anyway, she’s limited me to 30 minutes of steady state cardio – every day if I want. Nothing high intensity or I’ll risk burning my muscle or losing more weight. So now I’m doing roughly 3 Peloton rides per week and the other days I’m walking the dog or walking alone.

The workouts are challenging – especially when I up the weight. But I will stay in this current split and with this current workout for at least 12 weeks. We’ll adjust or stay the same at that time.

MY CURRENT MACROS

On the scale of easy to hard, the workouts aren’t easy but aren’t too bad…it’s the food that’s the biggest challenge of it all! What you eat affects EVERYTHING. Literally – everything. I knew this going in and knew it would be a challenge. I was pretty excited about the idea of meal prep and organization. You guys know how much I love that! But it’s been hard! I’ll nail it soon but I’m not there yet. It’s a weekly battle.

Honestly, the best way to go is finding a daily meal plan that you won’t get sick of and then just plan to eat the EXACT SAME THING EVERY DAY until you’re sick of it…and then change it up. So that’s my current goal. Honestly, I’m a creature of habit and eat mostly the same things all the time anyway, so that set up would work well for me. Doing so will also help to simplify food tracking. I won’t have to track in the app every day if I already know what I’m eating every day. My goal that day will be to just eat it at the appropriate times. AND get in my gallon of water everyday too.

This requires time management and mental toughness! That gallon of water needs to be scheduled throughout the day because if you don’t, you’ll be downing water before bed.

( glass containers )

I track meals in MyFitnessPal. Natasha arranged my macros in the app and has access to see my progress week to week. I’m not following a specific meal plan…I’m following her specific macros plan she set out for me, my body, my workouts, and goals in this phase.

Every day I need to hit = 125 grams of protein, 155 grams of carbs, 50 grams of fat…and my calorie intake is set at around 1,550 per day. I never hit that number…even on the days I do manage to hit my protein. I always land below that calorie intake…and not because I’m trying. I just don’t eat a lot of food. Well…I do the week leading up to my time of the month, ahem. But anyway…

I pick and choose the meals to hit those daily numbers. The protein goal is the hardest to hit. I never get close to 50 grams of fat and haven’t been able to hit that many carbs in a day, but the protein…that’s my focus because it’s everything in building lean muscle.

I’m working on my list of foods and recipes so I have something to reference throughout all the phases.

*october 2022

( leggings | top )

HOW I’M FEELING RIGHT NOW?

I’m feeling ok. I’d for sure like to be sleeping better. I have a lot of personal and business topics on my mind, which is what’s keeping me up in the middle of the night.

Every day some part on my body is sore, which is a good thing. I like that feeling. Not seeing much progress yet, which is normal. Still motivated. Excited. A little hungrier because I’m lifting a lot of weight.

Overall, feeling fine…looking forward to seeing progress in 3 weeks from now.

HOW DO I FIT THE WORKOUTS INTO MY DAY?

I wanted to answer this question in case you are interested in beginning to add fitness into your daily life. I have fit workouts into my life over the years just based on availability in my schedule or the phases my kids are in. Sometimes I have to do it in the morning. Sometimes mid-day. Right now, I get my cardio done in the morning – I have a Peloton at home or I walk the neighborhood. And my weights are in the afternoon – after a project and before I pick up my kids. My kids are older now and able to be left home alone, so sometimes I go to the gym around 4:30 and then pick up my middle guy from football on the way home. I easily find a picket of time in my day to get it done.

AND then I GET IT DONE. I don’t talk myself out of it. I don’t shorten my workout. It’s that mental toughness piece! As soon as you give yourself an inch, you are caving on the promise you made to yourself…and I’m not breaking a promise to myself. Period.

Important to note, workouts are never more than one hour. If you think a workout needs to be or is more than one hour…or that you need to spend hours upon hours in the gym to see progress…that’s not correct. Some of my weight days are even closer to 40 minutes. Especially if I let people in the gym know I’m focused and can’t talk. I belong to a small gym and it’s like a family in there…everyone knows everyone for the most part.

I put in my airpods, listen to music, follow my app workout and get it done.

Finding 45-60 minutes 5 days a week to lift weights isn’t hard to do.

That’s probably enough info for this post. Look forward to sharing more updates as we progress.

Back soon with more projects and organizing content…OH!…also have some great gift lists I’ve been preparing for the upcoming shopping season. SO many great non-clutter gifts!! Even got my kids involved to share ideas for teen boys and tween girls!

xo,

Sam