Summer Cutting Program
After attempting Whole30 (if you haven't read my Whole30 post, go check it out to see why I say "attempting"), I realized how much better I felt eating right. Then I realized that I have lost all of the progress I made last year in the gym and in my kitchen. Looking back at my progress pictures from 2016 I want to kick myself. I was actually getting lean and building muscle - I was on the path to reach my goals. I could be doing handstands and wearing a crop top by now! These realizations motivated me to reach back out to my online coach Melanie. Today is Day 1 of my new 6-week cutting program. Melanie has sent me my new macros (which I haven't tracked in about 10 months) and workout plan. I must say, the workout plan looks pretty killer. I'll be at Gold's Gym 6 days a week, targeting different muscle groups each day with 5 days requiring cardio, steady state and HIIT. If you know me or have read a post before, you know I HATE cardio. Cardio truly is hardio, as they say. One thing I learned last year is that Podcasts can get me through a grueling HIIT cardio workout. To give a quick shout out to my favorite podcasts that I'll be using for this task, I love The Ladygang, The Skinny Confidential, How Things Work, Off the Vine, From the Heart, Mantras and Macros, and The Fat-Burning Man.
Also in my corner is the fact that my boyfriend doesn't mind cardio, he encourages me through it. He actually signed us up for a 5k that we ran yesterday on the Fourth of July. It was surprisingly fun and certainly challenging for me. The course went through fields and woods and up some roads. As far as Virginia weather goes, it was pretty good; not too hot, not too humid. I had 3 goals at the start of the 5k, 2 of which I met:
1) Finish at about 30 mins. I somehow accomplished this when I was overseas Christmas Day 2015 with NO cardio training. I finished at around 40 minutes this go 'round.
2) Beat the lady dressed in pink. She didn't seem overly athletic (not meant as a slight) and had a good pace, I felt I could keep up and I did.
3) Run the first mile without stopping. It was around 0.85mi that I told my boyfriend I needed to walk. He kept encouraging me and got me through the full first mile without walking.
I may have to sign up for some more 5ks...maybe.
Wish me luck in the gym this afternoon and stay tuned for progress pictures. I'll be taking my Day 1 picture tonight (which will surely be my least favorite photo of the year).
Need some coaching? Head to http://melanierjenkins.wixsite.com/mjfitness and start a convo with Melanie to see if she can help you reach your goals. Seriously, something about her program keeps you FOCUSED and DETERMINED.