The Road to Consistency

Let me start by saying — I am not in perfect shape. I don’t have the best bod or eat all the greens. But, I have made a lot of progress and I can now call fitness a part of my life. Not just something I do every now and then and fail at hideously. I hope to eventually share some things I’ve learned along the way that made my journey easier and more successful. And if it helps even one person, then HELL YEAH — because that is my ultimate goal here.

Before I can give any words of wisdom about fitness, I feel like it is absolutely crucial to give you a timeline of my journey to the “fit” lifestyle I have now. I want it to be so abundantly clear to all the women (and maybe guys too!) reading this that this was NOT easy. I’m not some I’ve got it all together “fitspo.” I still drink wine and go to dinners. I live my life in a way that doesn’t feel like I’m missing out.

I have learned a lot about making fitness a lifestyle and I am so much better for it. My starting point and mindset were probably very similar to yours right now. . If you’re going to truly believe any tips or advice I give about fitness, you have to have a transparent understanding of where I started. 

So if you think hey, maybe something this girl says will finally help me make a change, then stick around!

My “fitness journey” (if you want to call it that), starts out pretty much like everyone else’s. I graduated from college in December of 2016 and decided “I’m not in school anymore, I need to officially start giving a crap.” I was lucky that I didn’t really start putting on that freshman 15 until halfway through my senior year of college. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy with my physique. Plus, I had the realization that I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a fruit or vegetable — yikes! I basically lived off bagels, poached eggs, and fast food. I really think the only reason I didn’t gain weight the way I probably should have is because I went out dancing every weekend (oh college, how I miss you!) Anyway, I digress.

With graduation came moving out of my beloved college town (GO NOLES!). I moved to Orlando with my now fiancé Matt. Now, it’s January 2017 and I’ve decided to set new year’s resolutions for the first time in my life. And of course, getting in shape is at the top of the list.

My sister had great results from Beachbody, so I started with their diet plan. If you’re not familiar, it is a colored container system to follow (red= protein green=veggie, etc.). I did some of the at home workouts, and joined a gym where I started lifting weights. I did this extremely inconsistently over the course of 8-ish months. Full disclosure — I credit beachbody for opening my eyes to proper portions of nutritionally dense food. It really works for some people! However, the container system just didn’t work for me, and that’s ok. I made the first steps to trying to get healthy, but ultimately I didn’t see progress or make any lasting changes. 

Then in August, my “the only way I am getting my ass to the gym” partner (AKA, my fiancé), tore his ACL and was laid up for 8 weeks. That brings us right up to October…when I got appendicitis. Yeah, we call this the dark ages. Despite the “injuries” if you will, we also hated living in Orlando. So, we moved to Gainesville in November of 2017 — healing and holidays! My mind was not on fitness.

Now it’s January 2018

This is where my journey to success actually begins. I make my new year’s resolution again (I love a fresh start, sue me!) But this time, my resolution was to stop making excuses and to keep a promise to myself for once. Sounds familiar, right? I was queen of justifying my poor habits. I can’t tell you exactly what switch flipped, but I had to prove to myself I could accomplish this goal.

Because we had just moved cities, I didn’t have a job. I’m sitting on the couch sending in applications and stressing about being jobless while Matt is at work. I turned to the gym to give me some level of productivity to cling too. Admittedly, I was super lucky to have Matt to go with because he was able to teach me the basics of lifting weights and therefore slightly subdue my extreme gym anxiety. 

I started my current job as a social media manager pretty early on in January 2018. It was a job that initially gave me a ton of anxiety. In addition, I work from home and I was getting stir crazy! I turned to the gym as an outlet for some of the stress. We worked out 4-5 times a week consistently for 6 weeks. Seriously y’all, I couldn’t believe I did it. I was officially consistent. 6 weeks is barely a habit, but at the time it felt like I had just climbed a mountain that I had been dreaming of climbing forever! I was the type that couldn’t maintain my diet for an entire day, let alone 6 weeks. It’s sad — but it’s true, and I know plenty of you will feel me on that. 

Time for a little back story…

One of my college roommates had just become a personal trainer at the time. He offered to create plans for Matt and I (for free!) to build up his portfolio. As much as I wanted to take him up on the offer, I couldn’t do it unless I knew I wouldn’t let him down. With 6 weeks under my belt (this did not include any dieting), I felt like I could finally stick to something. Enter the wonderful world of tracking macros and lifting heavy entered my life. 

Tyler set us both up with 6-week weight loss plans. No cleanses, no cardio (yes — you read that right!), a completely livable number of calories, and lifting weights. That’s it. I did it consistently for the entirety of the 6 weeks and then basically continued it with some adjustments to my workouts for the following 6 months! 

Getting my diet in check was crucial in my progress. That being said, I want it to be known that it isn’t scary and unmanageable (like you might be thinking). I don’t eat kale and grilled chicken, and pretend that’s a life worth living. Flexible dieting is the bees knees but I’ll go in to more detail about all of that and more info on Tyler’s plans in the future! 

So now its September…

Aka my birthday month, and I am absolutely a birthday week type of lady. I love to celebrate! From the 25^thof September until New years — yes that’s right, 4 months — I continue working out consistently (but my diet was less than awesome).  I didn’t completely go back to my old ways, but I stopped tracking my macros and calories.

Shortly after my birthday, we got engaged, then the holidays came, and that’s life. And it’s totally okay! I didn’t lose almost any progress at all. In fact, I made huge mental gains. You see, I was making mental progress the whole year. I was creating a better relationship with food and not feeling guilty anymore. So for those 4 months, I didn’t worry and panic — I simply lived — and it was amazing! I celebrated with family, missed workouts, and knew wholeheartedly that I would get back to my normal healthy routine as soon as the holidays were over. This was something I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to do.

This brings us to January 2019!

Matt and I decided we wanted to get back in to a routine and also, we had new physique goals. Both of us want to gain muscle. We invest in 12 week customized plans starting early February. We are now in a calorie surplus, meaning actively trying to gain weight. As I am writing this, we are 5 weeks in. In the beginning, it was difficult to be happy to see the scale go up. But with it, I am now lifting the heaviest I ever have in my whole life. And let me tell you, once you can make this whole fitness thing a lifestyle, strength gains are the absolute coolest. Because now your goals aren’t circled around just the way you look!

If you’re still reading this, you’re either a little nosey (no judgement I totally am too), or you are relating to my journey. If it’s the latter, I hope by reading this long-winded timeline of mine you can see there is light at the end of the tunnel. Because I am just like you and I did it. I made fitness a lifestyle and beyond that, one I actually enjoy. So now, if you read a future blog post about gym tips or easy recipes, you’ll know that it’s coming from someone who was JUST LIKE YOU. I so deeply want to see other women finally accomplish what feels like the hardest goal ever! 

-The Relatable Red