I started my fitness journey 17 years ago after the birth of my first daughter. I’m not one of those girls who slips into her skinny jeans leaving the hospital. I’ve gained anywhere from 50 to 70 pounds with each of my daughters. I have done everything From a full marathon to several half marathons, taught combat classes, joined Zumba, CrossFit, and pretty much any other group fitness class you can think of.
I always felt like even though I loved working out; I was never physically getting the results I expected to get. But I also know that nutrition is vast regarding the body complex and achieving your desired goals.
With my third daughter, I gained the most weight. I developed preeclampsia and gained almost 70 pounds at the age of 37 years old! Wow, was I going to be able to lose this weight on my small 5 foot three frame!?
This is when I decided to start training for a bikini competition.
Before having kids, I never really worked out. But I found it to be a huge stress relief and helpful with my anxiety, and I was hooked; even on the days that I don’t want to work out, I know the mental outcome I’ll get if I get it done.
The problem is that it can be discouraging when you love working out but not physically getting the results you want. I felt something was missing, and after my third baby, I decided to train for a bikini competition. The funny thing is I was scared to start this sport because I thought I would get huge and way too muscular, LOL. I found it hard to put on lean muscle.
I went from doing HIIT-style workouts and too much cardio and undereating to slowing down my workouts, lifting weights 4-5 days a week, and eating more. What the hell! I felt like I was doing the opposite and started seeing my body transform.
The tricky thing was I had to let go of the mental buzz you get from a HIT workout or cardio. I had to slow down and go after results. I thought 4 to 5 days a week would make me “bulky,” but here is the secret sauce…
When you lift weights, pick one muscle and focus on that area. You don’t need to work your entire body. This will leave you inflamed, and it will be hard to train the next day. So, for example, here is what my week looks like:
- Monday: one hour of a glute-focused workout. Most women are quad-dominant because this is a more significant muscle. I had to train myself to engage specific muscles to get results. I did this by hiring a personal trainer who specialized in bodybuilding and had done bikini competitions.
- Tuesday: 45 minutes to 1 hour on back.
- Wednesday: 45 minutes cardio.
- Thursday: 45 minutes to 1 hour on shoulders.
- Friday: 1 hour on glutes.
People often think I do abs a lot. However, I never do. One of the things that my trainer taught me is to engage my core while lifting. Also abs are created with a proper diet even I don’t have abs year round, especially during that time of the month. There’s a water retention and bloating so be nice to yourself.
For women, you want a toned core, and this is not an area that you want to add a lot of size to, so I think of it as tightening instead of building.
Depending on how my body feels, I might sneak in one more 45-minute cardio workout on weekends. Before I start a session, I always do 15 minutes of light cardio to warm up.
Let’s talk food!
Before Training for bikini competitions, I would count calories. It seemed like the best way to lose the baby weight. However, when I started trying to put on muscle, it was more than just counting calories.
The hardest thing is snacking and weekends, which is common in most women and men.
If you want to lose weight or cut, you must give up your weekends for a little bit. You can’t diet four days a week and then eat like total crap three days a week; your body won’t change much. Here’s the thing: it doesn’t mean you can’t be social; you must make conscious, smarter decisions.
For example, if I go to dinner with friends, I might even eat my meal prep before and have a skinny cocktail. Or if I’m going to a restaurant I know, I can order something simple like grilled chicken and a veggie. This is usually safe.
This might sound boring but don’t get me wrong. This is only when I’m trying to cut weight. Otherwise, I do enjoy eating a good meal out on the weekends. I try not to take it overboard. My maintenance plan is typically really clean Monday through Thursday, and then over the weekend, I’ll allow myself at least two cheat meals. I don’t consume a lot of sugar, not because I wouldn’t say I like it, but it physically makes me sick. I don’t consume a lot of sugary drinks, and if I’m going to do a cocktail, it’s typically something skinny like a Diet Coke with a shot of tequila, or once in a while, I’ll get a skinny margarita.
All the little things count. I think so many times were quick to say, "Oh, I don’t wanna do that, " but if you make small conscious efforts, it becomes a habit and easier. Building a new pattern or habit is the hard part.
So what do I eat?
I try not to snack. As a mom of four kids, I always have snacks at home. Sometimes, I find myself snacking and forgetting to eat a meal and finding out that my snacks are more calories than just eating my meal, lol. Not only that, but your body will need protein to build muscle. One of the things I had to change in my patterns was making sure I would get my protein in instead of saying I’m not hungry and skipping a meal that didn’t serve me or give me results so that habitual snacker, I would strongly encourage you to prep your protein each day. This will make it less tempting to snack on random things like fruit snacks, chips, a bite of that Crumble cookie, you know what I’m talking about.
Another tip I can give you with food is to be creative with low-calorie seasonings. This makes it less dull. I got pretty good grilling protein based on the seasoning I would pick. I’m also pretty good at cooking vegetables. I can make anything into a yummy salad.
I’ve learned a lot in four years and competed in 4 bikini competitions. My last one was last weekend, and I took first place overall in my age group. I like the mental discipline that this sport requires, and I like having a goal and a target that makes me stick to my diet, which is the most challenging part, especially in the end. Often in life, we say good enough, but when you are wearing a teeny tiny bikini on stage in front of a crowd, I wanted to step on stage as I gave it my all, not just good enough.
All the little changes will help. There is no quick fix or magic pill. There’s no cleanse that will get you to your sustainable goal.
Higher a coach to help keep you accountable and be honest with the coach so that they can help guide and direct you.
Educate yourself along the way; this will make it easier to do social activities because you will understand nutrition and diet. This is when it starts to become a lifestyle
Sometimes, when I post about my transformation on my social media, I’m shocked by some of the negative comments I get. I work hard, but I think everybody can do the same thing, and you shouldn’t judge others based on what you’re unwilling to do.
Let’s cheerlead each other along the way. Regardless of your goals, I would have you consider that anything is possible only thing holding you back is yourself.
I’m proud of the knowledge and person I have become with my physical journey. This is more important than just looking good in a bikini.
Hopefully, this post helps. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I love sharing my journey and experience with others!
Thanks for stopping by!
Danielle K. white