Monday, June 30, 2014

Move It Monday : Transformation and Going Forward

Last Saturday it was the last weight-in of the 8-week transformation plan Summer Shape Up from the Flex Magazine Holland. Based on the great improvement I had shown during the first month, I cannot deny being a little disappointed with the final result. Still, losing 4.1% body fat is something to be quite proud of.

Now it is time to look back at the things I have learned and set plans for the future.

Move It Monday : Transformation and Going Forward

One of the main reasons for me to join the Summer Shape Up program offered by the Flex Magazine Holland was to be trained by someone local. It is true that Netherlands is not Belgium, but since I started my transformation back in 2012, all the plans I followed had been written by trainers abroad. I was really curious how I could incorporate dietary habits of here in my meal plans.

Why is it important? When I first started with fitness back in Brazil, my diet was very simple. I ate nothing extraordinary and still managed to lose A LOT of fat and build muscle. It is possible, but one has to know how.

I discovered meal combinations that I never thought about before. Who doesn't like to eat pancakes every day? Even though I was hungry here and there, I ate quite a lot, including carbs. This gave me energy for the extra cardio sessions incorporated in the plan.

All-in-all, I am very pleased with the results. My physique has improved and the expectations for the future could not be better.

8-week Transformation

With that said, as from today on, I am on my own again. I will be putting together both meal plan and workouts. I still want to run once a week to keep on improving my pace. However, I will be adding some biking to my routine as well. I still have some stubborn fat to lose, so I need to get those muscles stimulated. In addition, I do want to build overall muscle and get more definition. In other words, I will be doing aerobic exercises, but becoming a cardio queen is absolutely not in my plans.

The mission now is finding the right macro combination that will fuel my workouts and stimulate fat loss. At this point, I will use my weight only as a reference. My focus however is not to weight less. What I want is to build a nice figure. Therefore, I want to keep on lifting as heavy as I can and to go heavier and heavier. 

So what are the concrete plans for now? This week, I will not be doing any cardio. I am going to workout a 5-day split working 2 body parts per day. First of all, I want to see how my body will react after going to a "normal" diet again. Please note that I will not be binging. It is the worst thing that you can do to yourself! I will slightly add some calories to fill in and look fuller. It will not be anything exaggerated because I will not be burning that much anyways. After 5 days, I will review the results.


Where did my guns go? It's time to get them back!

My body gets accustomed to anything very fast, including diet and exercising. Therefore, I will have to keep on changing my plans on a regular basis to push constant improvement. I have not given up my dream of competing in Figure, but for now, it is very important that I focus on developing my physique with the tools I have and doing the things I love.


Do you have fitness goals? How do you track your progress? What plan are you following at the moment?


As from next week on, I will be sharing my workouts with you. Make sure you came back to check them out.


Have a strong week!
#DebbieInShape


* You can also find me on:


No comments: