In the fall of 2018, I hit a real low. I felt depressed.
I felt like a failure.
I felt stuck.
Despite all my fitness efforts (training constantly and eating “healthy”) I felt like my body was rebelling against me. As a woman in my late 40s heading into menopause, I thought this is where I destined to be – 20 pounds overweight with a tire around my middle.
It just didn’t make sense. I was working out so hard and eating healthy. How could I not be losing weight? I chalked it up to bad genetics.
In late September 2018, I spoke to my YMCA personal training coach, Kelly. “I think all this weight training is making me bulky and fat.”
“Nope, she said with a chuckle. “It’s not the weights. It’s your diet.”
“How can that be?! I eat so healthy!” I exclaimed.
In my confusion, I tearfully asked Kelly if I should see a nutritionist. “Something is wrong with me. I just can’t shake this weight.”
That’s when Kelly turned me onto Fat Loss Lifestyle School. In October 2018, I clicked the button and started my fat loss journey.
Within the first month, I lost five pounds and dropped two inches around my waist and hips. Week after week, month and month, I continued to watch the numbers on the scale drop as well as inches.
But the best feeling was dropping dress sizes and fitting into old clothes!
Eighteen months later, I’m six dresses smaller and I’m still living a fat loss lifestyle by using the tools I learned during the four-week program.
I am no longer stuck.
I feel confident.
I am stronger.
For years, I was constantly training – race after race and I fell into the trap of overtraining and trying to maintain a unsustainable calorie deficit, because I believed running for hours and eating a 1500 calorie, low fat, low carb diet would keep me trim.
Until running didn’t work anymore because I was functioning in a fight or flight cycle by remaining in constant starvation mode, overtraining and not eating enough to sustain the stress I was putting on my body. (Hence, that’s why I felt stuck.)
In the first week of Fat Loss Lifestyle School, I learned how break the overtraining and undereating cycle. The program unravels the “train harder, eat less” mentality that tethered me for over a decade. I also learned to dial down the cardio. WAY DOWN. At the core of this program, we learn to train smarter not harder to regulate our hormones for fat loss. As a result, I no longer spend hours running or spending hours at the gym taking back to classes.
For a lot of woman, reducing the hours of cardio is a tough one because it goes against the message we have be hearing for most of our lives.
Letting go of the “calories in, calories out” mentally lifted a huge weight off of me. By learning how to fuel my body properly for my active lifestyle, I stopped using MyFitnessPal to track my meals. Instead of counting macros and calories and limiting my food intake by cutting out food groups, I filled my plate with fibrous watery veggies, carbs, good fats and lean protein. Sounds so basic, right?
Fat Loss Lifestyle School really is that simple.
Eating for fat loss is truly food freedom. Did I mention I can still enjoy my favorite foods once a week with a treat meal?
Eighteen months later, I’m still happily living a fat loss lifestyle and I am no longer stuck, because the basics of the program work.
What is Fat Loss Lifestyle School?
Fat Loss Lifestyle School drowns out the white noise and filters out all the bad messaging we have been bombarded with for decades in the fitness world.
But more importantly, Fat Loss Lifestyle School is designed and led by women for women. The coaches breakdown everything you need to know to help you reprogram your hormones to work for you, not against you. (No more feeling stuck.)
You will learn the basics for fat loss by learning what foods best fuel you and are necessary for building muscle while feeing satisfied. The foundation of the program teaches you how to keep your HEC (hunger, energy and cravings) in check.
What Fat Loss Lifestyle Is NOT
Fat Loss Lifestyle School is not about deprivation, starvation or restrictions.
No need to save those points or countdown the days until you can enjoy your favorite foods. You learn that if you are eating the foods necessary for fat loss, your HEC should always be in check. If you’re finding your energy levels low or find yourself craving something, you go back to square one to assess the root cause and triggers.
You learn to let go of the food guilt and embrace food freedom. In fact, Fat Loss Lifestyle School teaches the philosophy behind treat meals and why eating the healthy foods you love and enjoy at every meal combined with a once a week treat meal is essentially for fat loss and stick-with-it-ness.
Because let’s face it, if you’re a mom with a pantry full of kid-friendly foods, the temptations are always there. Fat Loss Lifestyle teaches you how to navigate through the temptations. No more white-knuckling your way through each week.
Fat Loss Lifestyle School is not another diet program.
If you are looking for an “eat from this column and that column plan” or a diet program with fancy meal containers, you will not find that in Fat Loss Lifestyle School. You won’t find any shakes or meal replacements, either. Honestly, why would you want that? You’ve already tried that. Like Dr. Phil always said, “How that working for you?”
In fact, Fat Loss Lifestyle School is so much more than a diet program and learning how to eat for fat loss. The coaches teach the importance of reducing your stress and how to avoid the triggers that stress often causes, such as finding your face in a bag of chips or drinking a glass of wine every evening. You learn tools to combat stress, such as walking more or incorporating yoga into your weekly routine.
If you’ve been yo-yo dieting and feeling unsuccessful, many of the diets out there are designed to make you feel like failure. Honey, it’s not you. You are already doing the hard work.
It’s time to make all your hard work work for you.
The next Fat Lifestyle School starts Monday, April 6.
Click here to learn more about Fat Loss Lifestyle School and register.
