#IIFWhyI'mNotdoingIt... for now (IIFYM)

It's been almost a year since I stopped logging all food...ALL food (except carbs for a week or so to make sure I was at a decent level for myself).

I had to take a break! I logged for so many years, learning about it in college when learning how to calculate nutrition, and then doing it for muscle building and fat loss over many different phases. A few competitions of calculating and weighing and stressing and playing Tetris with my food (which I actually really found fun most of the time, yes, I'm weird)...I was done.

I logged for a few weeks post-competition because I had accountability to my coach and I didn't want to blow up (...see below!)  but over 3 weeks I began to relax, and my mind wasn't there anymore. I had a 4 year old and a 10 month old, I was traveling for a few weeks, I had 2 holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas no less!) and I just needed to take time off of weighing food and myself. I could feel my body going nuts, my hormones were going out of whack.. I had night sweats, my hair was falling out and my skin was so dry...among other things. I was still nursing but that didn't have anything to do with it because I was fine the rest of the time. It was my cortisol and thyroid, I thought, turned out it was low by blood test, but really I had adrenal fatigue.   I've written about that before... many people who live high stress, busy lives with kids and jobs and friends and family and... (you get the point!) can have it. It's fairly common, and fixable.

I took my doc's advice and paired it with the knowledge I had from my education in nutrition and fitness and got to work. BAM! #StressLessFatLoss was born and 1 year later, I still haven't logged food and I'm in a better place mentally and so much better physically.
** The final picture below is after a 12 week round and then round 2 which incorporates heavy lifting days again..woo hoo!)

Counting macros was so helpful when I was "bulking" and putting on muscle, and it was great for "cutting" rapidly...but for me, a busy mom, I needed to do something different and just be happy with who I am, where my body is and my health.

If you're a regular person, and not a bodybuilder/competitor, then you get this. It's about health first, then looks, or at least it should be. If you work on health first, the fat loss comes SO much EASIER.

1 year of  not weighing a morsel
The best part: not sucking in in the last picture,
sucking in the middle one (see: face)

Went from this to THAT ---> in 2 months

StressLess Fat Loss is a style of fitness and health that I've used with many clients, those with goals that it is similar to. Most of my clients still log food (IIFYM) because it's a WONDERFUL tool to help you learn what to eat, how much and a good balance. Because, let's be honest, many people don't really know WHAT they eat on a weekly basis. But when something that is supposed to be helpful, isn't...there's your sign.

Check out the StressLess FatLoss Program I have online, it's a revolving door so you can start when you can and follow the video workouts in order, using the calendar and the nutrition advice e-book and video and our FB group.  It's all about balancing time, energy and hormones. So Protein and Veggies are the main focus for most of the program with the theory that you will learn to eat the right foods that are NUTRIENT DENSE and you'll fill up. Then over time, cravings for sugary/starchy things will subside and you can go back to eating Protein and veggies while mixing in fun foods on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. But i'm honest here, it takes TIME. Look at how long it took me, and I'm in nutrition and fitness for life. 

YOU CAN DO IT. I'D LOVE TO HELP.

www.stresslessfatloss.com

How we don't gain on vacation....

The crew

IT COMES DOWN TO  what you do every other day of the year....read on:

So I'm back from our 14 day vacation in Bali, it was my sister, her husband and myself and my husband. It was SPECTACULAR. We grew up in Indonesia for a bit so Bali is not unfamiliar territory, but it has been quite a while! I'll include some fun pics...the culture and the company always make a vacation great.

Monkey forest temple

BUT as women we always seem to worry about weight...from losing it to gaining it, and ultimately food stresses us out so then vacation is not fun....

How many times have you heard people say they're losing weight for their upcoming beach getaway...only to come home and say they gained 5-10lbs while on this amazing vacation?

local foods...veggies, meat, rice

Do you ever go on vacation and look forward to (or salivate just planning!) the food and all the different dishes you're going to indulge in because you were so strict before you left? Do you go hog wild on vacation and eat everything and anything because "it's vacation, why not?"?

Why would you want to undo all of the very hard work you put in to get ready? It can take 4 months to get physically changed and take 1 or 2 weeks to put back on quite a bit....That just doesn't seem fair!


SO HOW do we vacation and never put on pounds? I don't step on the scale...lol. It's true.

But for REAL:  First, we love vacationing...I have even been called a vacationing PRO by a client (I'll take that title any day!). I grew up lucky enough to have parents that liked adventure and change, so we got to travel, and learn how to do it right (right according to us at least!).  Vacation is something that is important for your health, even a stay-cation. I'm not talking about only going exotic places...but wherever you do go, make it worthwhile and use it as vacations are intended, to destress and relax (Sound familiar? The first steps in health and fat-loss, right?!), experience and learn.

Second, we eat local. Why? well, it's cheaper! But also....because when you're not in America, you don't get served American sized portions, therefore we eat smaller amounts at meal times. Plus, you may find new, healthier dishes that you never knew you liked. So try new things. Local also means in-season fruits and veggies, staples in anyone's healthy diet. Focus, as always, on veggies and protein and the rest will fall into place naturally while on a vacation.

Local fruit, Salak

Third, we MOVE A LOT! And come prepared. Vacation is not a different lifestyle, it's part of the lifestyle.

EVERY morning we'd get up, make coffee and walk either to town from the resort or along the beach sipping coffee or literally, my husband and I walked around the resort hallways just exploring...we have no time to beat, no clock to live by, just walk. That's the beauty of vacation, you get to go at your own time.

run followed by some SUP

Most places have a gym, but you may not want to be in a gym a lot so....  Some days I'd go for a run then go back to the room and use the resistance bands I brought with me and do a fast circuit to pump up my muscles and get the blood flowing before heading out for the day to lay around and read. The BEST was sprints on the beach at night. Or push-ups while laying around...no one is looking, no one cares. You might even inspire someone to move too.

We'd leave the hotel and WALK to lunch, and later walk to dinner, saying "no" to every taxi driver along the way...
Besides walking you can do lunges down the hallway, you can snorkel, you can swim for 20 minutes, you can do water aerobics in the ocean...the options are endless.    But we did make sure to do something EVERY DAY.


By why do so many people plan vacation around the food, or get excited when the cruise has unlimited buffets 24 hours a day?  Probably because they're not living a balanced life during normal times. They're so restrictive that when you get to a special place, all you can think about is food. It doesn't have to be that way!  Food is fun, food is delicious and you can anticipate a great meal...but living to eat 4 burritos a day while in mexico, simply because you're there, is not the best way to approach a vacation. It's the best way to put on a lot of weight and get some serious heartburn!

If you live a balanced and active lifestyle before vacation, once you get to vacation you will still live actively. You won't feel the need to OVER indulge, or OVER splurge.... you can just regular indulge and regular splurge...it is vacation after all!

Take this workout with you sometime:

Where's my body after baby?

It's been 4 months since I had my 2nd baby, Yay!,  but I haven't lost anything after the initial 20lbs most moms tend to lose right out of the hospital. "What?!" you say.  A Personal Trainer who hasn't lost baby-weight and who doesn't look PERFECT and back to normal mere months after a baby? I'm so guilty of scrolling through newsfeeds and seeing these fitness people who've had babies around the time I did and they are SO lean, and skinny and bounced right back...or worked super hard to get there, buckling down right out of the hospital.  Well, I didn't....and it's for a few good reasons....  (besides the fact that I'm human!) ((My "before" is at the bottom,,,if you're wondering))  Here are my reasons:

1) Healthy adrenals/thyroid. I had adrenal fatigue just over year ago...right before I got pregnant, and that can come from stress on the body. Having a baby is stressful on the body enough, but pressure to lose weight is stressful emotionally, and eating in a caloric deficit (to lose weight) is a stressor on the body. I want to keep a healthy body, hormones and mind and not "dieting" is the best way to do that for me.

2) Milk supply. I had a great milk supply last time and I do this time too but I'd like to keep it that way. So eating in a healthy range, and in a surplus of calories can help that. It's usually established by 6 months, about the time I'll start "cutting" fat.

I'm using those last two as reasons for this one-

3) Building muscle. You cannot build a lot of muscle if you're trying to lose weight (and many will say you can't do it at all while losing body fat, but I'm not here to debate this). I am already a "hard gainer" when it comes to muscle, so that means I need to eat a lot to gain some muscle. I figured, why not use the excess energy I have stored from pregnancy in addition to the excess calories I want to eat, to stay happy and healthy and to build some great muscle going into my next competition...it works out perfectly!

Top is 1 month PP, bottom is 4 months PP

 NOT trying to lose weight after having a baby is such a weird thing... it's always in our heads, in our faces and in our fat cells  that we need to lose it fast and bounce back and get our pre-baby body back.   What about this; how many moms do you know that have thyroid problems? or adrenal fatigue (linked to thyroid or eventual thyroid issues)?..... What if it's not only the stress of a pregnancy, labor and delivery, recovery, a baby, work, life, husband and on top of that we have to look PERFECT in 3 -6 months ...that is leading to the thyroid issues many moms have?  But this is a whole 'nother blog post, I'll get to sometime.

I am at my heaviest I've ever been...I'm lucky and I'm a genetically naturally thin person, but I also can gain weight...just ask my pics from the days I lived in Europe! (over-indulgence anyone?).
         I did lose weight initially, like most do, but then when I began on my goal of building muscle I gained some weight...as happens sometimes because you increase your calories to build muscle.
Mine also went up because I'm nursing and that's what my body does (it did it last time too...6 months later I was way bigger than 6 weeks postpartum :( ). I gain weight when breastfeeding and, guess what, so do many others! They just don't tell you that...it's a secret...you might gain weight when breastfeeding...I did, Google it, you'll find you are in the company of many here.   That, too, is a whole 'nother blog post.

       Anyways, I'm here to say that it is frustrating to have not gotten back to my normal walking around weight by 4 months simply because I know people are watching for it. When I'm getting dressed and I have zero pants that fit it's maddening. When I have no underwear that's comfortable it's sad (tmi??.. sorry.) But then my loving husband says "You know why it's like that, you have GOALS...you'll be back to YOU in just a few months." And I love that he understands. And that he takes me shopping while on vacation at the beach to get all new summer clothes :) (now that's love! Or that's him trying to get me to stop whining about my jeans...)

This is where I started, my "walking around"

             And he also is a realist, he reminds me that I made this choice to do it this way and I can't complain...he's so right... and really, I'm not that much far off from where I began, I'm in a place many would love to be. But I'm gaining muscle (love those GIANZ coach!) and I'm eating, not dieting, not stressing and having fun postpartum rather than restricting and I'm enjoying my baby and family. I still eat on "plan" according to what's healthy and what my macros are for my current goals and body but they are HAPPY macros (thanks to my coach from All or Nothing Fitness!)...because I get to eat and fit in all that I want to. So here's to being postpartum...and being happy with whatever place in life you're in.

In the end, don't compare yourself to me, or any other pregnant or postpartum woman out there. You are you, you have your own genetics and your own life to live.

*cheers* to all us moms out there.

Be happy and healthy friends!