2018 Summer Shred!

It’s finally spring weather!! That means one thing – it’s Summer Shred time! I’ve done this shred for the past 4 years and every year I learn and improve for the next. Last year, I really got it right so I’m going to mimic what I did and tweak the workouts to be more functional, in accordance to what my body can actually do.

In 2014, I embarked on a 4-week shred and Mission: Hot Body challenge. I mimicked the very strict & regimented diet and workouts of bikini competitors. Super clean eating , 2-a-day workouts…you name it, I did it. It was crazy hard…but I got it done. After 4 weeks of extremely hard work, I had abs and was the leanest & most cut I’ve ever been. The problem was that as soon as the challenge ended, it was my birthday and with it came ice cream cake & plenty of drinks throughout the weekend. To top that off, just one month later I ended up seriously injuring my shoulder…which I have since had surgery to correct. Within two months, all of that hard work seemed to be for nothing. The next two years, I did slimdowns but couldn’t get it quite right. I still worked out and I continued to eat fairly well, but my body would only look how I wanted it to for a short time. Last year, that changed. Now, a certified nutritionist, I have combined my life experience and added a lot more knowledge to the bank. Last year, I did a 6-week shred that was strict…but didn’t totally eliminate things. I limited dairy and sugar. I upped my protein and kept my carbs early in the day. I lost about 10% body fat and about 10-15 lbs in that time span. My workouts were done with a fellow trainer (who is my magical ART guy as well), so while they were intense they were monitored. I killed it and looked great for my birthday…and throughout the summer.

However, the end of summer & end of year didn’t go well for me. Life events and health issues transpired causing a lot less workouts and a lot less motivation.

So here we go again. 4 weeks until my birthday…so a 4-week shred shall begin. I’m going to follow the same plan as last year for my diet (shopping list is below). My workouts will vary based on how I feel health-wise and injury-wise. There will likely be a lot more cardio along with some lower impact resistance training worked into the mix. I’ll post everyday for the first week, as I did last year, to give anyone following along a good gauge on what I’m doing.

In general, I eat pretty well…I’m just not super strict. For the next 4 weeks, I will be cutting out most sugar, alcohol, and limiting my caffeine & dairy intake. The food scale will also come back. Along with MFP, I found the food scale to be extremely helpful in keeping myself on track and accountable.

My ultimate goal with this shred, like every other, is to lose fat while gaining my lean muscle…and motivation…back. I’ve been pretty sick so I’m starting a little later than I planned but we begin TODAY (April 24) and go until May 23 (my birthday). You can continue the rest of that week if you choose, but since that’s my birthday…that’s when mine will end.

This is a list of the foods that I will be sticking to throughout the next 4 weeks, in case you want to reference it for food shopping:

• Oats
• Egg whites
• Tuna
• Brown Rice
• Avocado
• Lettuce
• Chickpeas
• Mushrooms
• Sweet potato
• Quinoa
• Chicken
• Ground Turkey
• Veggies (kale, asparagus, string beans, zucchini, brussels, cauliflower, peppers, butternut squash)
• Shrimp
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Cottage cheese
• PB
• Rice cakes
• Frozen blueberries
• RX Bars/Quest Bars
• Unsweetened cashew milk/almond milk

**Not listed here are my kitchen staples (balsamic vinegar, spray/oil, hot sauce, mustard, spices, etc.) as well as my protein powder /BCAAs.**

I’m happy to help you with your own customized macros, meal plan & workout guide! Email me at TheFight2BeFit@gmail.com for more information. If you just want to follow along with me & be accountability buddies, that’s cool too! Shoot me a message so we can help each other out! Let’s get beach body ready & Fight to be Fit together!

-Gina

Adventures in YouTube Land

Well, folks…the day has finally come. I’ve teamed up with the gym that I manage to create workout videos! It’s something that people have been asking about for a while so when my boss suggested it…I ran with the idea. As great of an opportunity as it is, the venture itself into videoland hasn’t been all roses & sunshine.

I love taking pictures and posing for them. Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve had a camera in my hand basically everyday since I was 5 or 6 years old…and I was a ham for the camera long before then. BUT there’s a very big difference between a still photo and a video. That may seem like an obvious statement but let me elaborate.

Despite being heavy on and off my entire life, I still loved taking pictures. I learned how to pose to avoid double chins and look as small as possible. Let’s just say Tyra (and ANTM) taught me very well. I also love taking pictures and capturing memories of pretty much everything and everyone I’m around. It’s always been a big hobby of mine. This new venture…on the internet no less…is an entirely different animal.

I try to be honest about my struggles and this video business has definitely been one. Mentally, that is. Every week we film and as I sit down to edit…I cringe. I love being in front of a camera but when I watch the action shots back, I die a little. I work very hard to be where I am. So when I see rolls on my stomach or a double chin or some sort of flashbacks to fatness staring back at me…it’s like none of that hard work matters. Now, the rolls and whatnot are likely due to my bad posture and discomfort shooting in front of certain people…but it’s still really hard to watch. When you are in a video, you can’t pose. You’re doing some sort of motion, in this case exercising. It’s great when it’s just you talking – you can stand a certain way, get a good angle….but when you are moving around it’s about the action not so much how you look. When I shoot my talking pieces, I have someone behind the camera who I’m very comfortable with and who seemingly calms my nerves, while helping me sort out what to say. It adds more work and more time to the project but it definitely turns out much better this way.

I’m no fitness model. I work really hard to maintain my size 2/4 and keep my weight in the 130s. I found balance with food, where I can enjoy beer & various treat meals without a ton of guilt afterwards. However, I still struggle with body image issues. I have loose skin and suffer from mystery stomach problems…which together can sometimes mean my body doesn’t look like it should. Still, I manage to push all of these internal conflicts aside and I post my videos weekly anyway. I’m not perfect but I know my story is one that many people can relate to…and hopefully my workouts can help someone get started on their journey…just like certain videos helped me. The people watching likely aren’t nitpicking like I am. They are watching the workout and seeing a girl who has struggled her entire life DO IT. So while I may nitpick over some stomach rolls or weird faces., I find comfort in knowing that there may be a girl out there just like me who will watch my video and get motivated to jumpstart their own journey.

I may still struggle mentally…especially with this nagging shoulder rehab…but deep down I know that I’m not the same 210lb girl I used to be. Mentally or physically. While I can’t do many of the things that I want to do or that I used to do, I’m learning to adapt. The old Gina would’ve given up the minute she got hurt…and probably gained all of the weight back. This Gina has finally figured it out. It’s not easy. Every single day is a struggle but I try my best to put one foot in front of the other to keep going. I’m not the girl I used to be – and I’m so much better for it.

If you want to check out my Fight to be Fit video playlist, you can find it here. I welcome any & all feedback!

Stay strong & stay in the fight!

-Gina

Fighting to be Fit…3 Years later!!

 

I’m about a week late but…Happy 3-year Blogiversary to all of us!! Thank you all for your continued support as we Fight to be Fit!

I had big plans for this little blog last year but life had different ideas. 2016 was a rough year for most of us…and I was no exception. I suffered a major setback with my health, in the form of severe chronic fatigue and the reappearance of my PCOS symptoms. On top of that, my shoulder finally gave out on me & I had no choice but to undergo surgery. It’s been a really long road…but I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

For starters, I’m officially 3-months post op! Although I still have pain, I’m 1000% better than I was before. My range of motion isn’t perfect but it’s definitely improved. I’m finally able to raise my arms above my head without pain, which is something I haven’t been able to do in over two years! Despite my progress, I get in my head a lot. I think about how hard I worked and where I was before this injury happened. My workouts have resumed but they are nothing like they once were. It’s a huge adjustment mentally but I’m trying my very best to focus on the positives. I may not be able to lift heavy or do the exercises I once loved, but I will be able to soon. Deep down I know that if I push myself too far too soon, I will only make matters worse…and set myself back even further.

As far as my health goes, I have good and bad days. My chronic fatigue has gotten much better, which I believe is due in large part to a supplement called Adrenal Restore. That shit is magic. I wrote a whole review about it last year…and everything still holds true today. My PCOS symptoms have been horrible. I’ve developed pretty debilitating migraines, which sent me to the ER earlier in the year. All things considered though, that’s been mostly under control and since that episode have rarely happened.

The surgery mixed with my health issues definitely set me back with my weight loss. I gained back a good 20lbs over the last year….and it definitely wasn’t muscle. I went from weighing over 200lbs to getting myself ripped to something in the middle.

I won’t pretend that I’m happy about the setbacks or that I’m proud of where I’m at. However, despite my physical setbacks I learned that mentally I’m stronger than ever. Sure I have bad days like everyone else…but rather than get discouraged by the bad I’m using it as motivation. I know if I keep working hard and stick to a (mostly) clean diet, I will see great results. Hell, I’m already seeing some drastic improvements!

November 2016 >> December 2016

Being on a weight loss journey really teaches you the art of patience…and about yourself. We are all much stronger than we know and it’s not until we are truly put to the test that we realize our full potential. That being said, I won’t make any elusive promises or grand gestures as we go into our 4th year. My goal is simple: continue to inspire all of you reading and give you all hope that no matter how hard life gets or what obstacles you face, it IS possible. After all, nothing worth having comes easy 🙂

Let’s all continue this Fight to be Fit together throughout 2017…& beyond!

Stay strong & stay in the fight!

Gina

 

Staying True to ME

It’s been a long time since I wrote anything here. Truthfully, I took a step back. The goal of this blog is and always has been to share my story and hopefully inspire others with similar struggles. Somehow that has gotten away from me. I got really caught up in low viewership and rather than stick to my original purpose, I became defeated. We live in an age driven by likes on social media and often we get away from the truest forms of ourselves. Well, I noticed that happening and decided to re-evaluate everything.

I am taking this back to where it should have gone. Now that I’m a certified personal trainer and am working on my nutrition certification as well, I’ve decided to clean this blog up a bit. As I look back on my posts I realize they seem to read like a diary. So that’s where the change will happen. I will still post some of my experiences along with the occasional product review but I want to stick to posting about nutritional advice and various workout/training tips. It will still be my own spin on things because the advice and tips I give will be, in large part, driven from my own experience(s). After all, what separates me from other trainers isn’t so much my knowledge but my lifetime of experience. None of us are reinventing the wheel but I’ve been there…and sometimes I still am there. So, this blog will continue to be about just that…minus the dear diary moments. I’ve said in the past I wanted to be more consistent but this time I will stick to it…and there WILL be a post every week. I want to help as many people as possible so I hope that by sharing my story and including some education, someone out there can say that I really have inspired them.

Lastly, I will be including some of my personal training/online coaching specials on here, in order to create a broader outreach. I promise to not turn this into a sales page however I do want to share the offers (which are presently on social media) with my blog viewers. This is the current special that I’m running for the summer:

For questions regarding anything on this blog including training or coaching, you can email me at TheFight2BeFit@gmail.com.

Until next week, stay strong & stay in the fight!

Gina

 

2 Years & Still Going Strong!!

You guys…this week marked my 2 year blogiversary! I can’t believe it’s been so long – where the hell has time gone?!? First and foremost, I want to take the time to thank everyone who has supported me and read any of my posts. This really has been the little engine that could but I am truly grateful for you all. My goal with this blog has always been to share my journey in the hopes of inspiring or motivating someone else who may be struggling on their own journey. Hopefully, I have achieved that goal and some of you see that if I can do it, so can you! I truly appreciate all of you sticking with me…and I promise you even bigger and better things in 2016!

With that out of the way, I want to get into some of the updates and plans that I have in mind for this year. For starters, I am very proud to announce that I have FINALLY become a certified personal trainer! After years of being miserable in Corporate America, it feels amazing to be able to pursue such a life changing profession…and I can’t wait to get started!

As far as fitness goes, one of my biggest ideas/plans for this year is to create a free, outdoor boot camp. I want to share my knowledge and experience with you all…and the best way to do that is to practice what I preach. Ideally, this will happen in the spring…so as the warm weather approaches, more details will follow.

Another thing in the works involves an amazing supplement company, 1st Phorm. They have an incredible weight loss transphormation challenge going on now. In addition to that, I have been working on my own weight loss challenge that will, in a way, piggyback off of it. I’m very excited to share that with you all – so stay tuned for that in the next couple of weeks!!

As far as this blog goes, my overall plan is to post much more often and perhaps switch this whole thing up a bit. I post pretty regularly on Instagram but the plan is to add a lot more workouts and recipes on here…while still giving my same motivational posts.

There are so many exciting things to come this year and it’s only just begun! Thanks for sticking with me over the last two years – I promise that the best is yet to come!

Stay strong & stay in the fight!

Gina
TheFight2BeFit@gmail.com