TRANSFORMATION: FROM SLIM TO FIT

from slim to fit

Opinions and suprised reactions.. when you change your lifestyle and start a journey to get fit and strong you will get them for free. How did and do people react? And how has it effected me? Let me tell you! 

PLAYING DRESS UP

If you are following me around a bit, you know I’m into fitness, getting healthy, fit and stronger. But why? I never got bullied, never told that I was fat. In fact, it was the other way around. I always got told I had the perfect figure, that I was “so tall and slim”. And honestly I can’t blame them. I sure am tall (about 1.78cm). This helps looking skinny. But I also knew how to dress up. Always loved -and still love- to wear black and my legs were never a “problem-zone”.

To get things clear: I don’t think I was fat and I never felt that way. But.. I didn’t feel skinny or comfortable in my own body eighter. Mostly because people told me otherwise. When you always hear people saying “I wish I had your body type” or “you have no right to complain with your figure”, it’s really discouraging when you feel different looking in the mirror bare-naked.

FROM SLIM TO FIT: “YOU DON’T NEED THAT”

When I started the BBG in 2014, which is working out 5-6 times a week, people called me crazy. I got the reactions like said before: “why would you do that?” and “you don’t need that”! Although it might seem discouraging, it made me even more motivated. And when the first results of my fit journey started to show, people changed their reaction too. When I show them the before picture on the left, they have a hard time believing it was me. But yes, that was me. With 17% more body fat. They now understand why I started this, finally! “I thought you were way skinnier?!” Of course, you still have some concerned reactions if I won’t go too far. But don’t worry, wrote about orthorexia here and won’t go that far. Promise! Let me tell you what the biggest change was to go from slim to fit!

BIGGEST CHANGE IN..

FOOD: SNACKING

I felt most uncomfortable when I first start living on my own (with two friends). You might have the same experience: no one to tell you what -and not- to eat or drink. This resulted in a food-party-overload with lots of sweets, desserts and late night snacks. Nothing was too much. I didn’t felt guilty finishing a chocolate bar and potato chips in just one evening. Because, hey, we had fun right?

How different is this now? I still enjoy food and yes, also chocolate and snacks. But I’ve gained some food knowledge too. If you understand what -certain aspects of- food does to your body, you are less likely to stuff yourself with bad, unhealthy food. Next to that: if you’re working for serious progress you don’t want to counteract your hard work by stuffing yourself with junk food after a killer workout, right?

WORKING OUT: BYE CARDIO

If I have done one big change in workout it’s saying goodbye to cardio. Ok, the first step was going to the gym even once a week. In that same student-time, like told above, I didn’t do much physical activities. I played hockey for quite some years, but stopped when I was 16 to play theatre and musical instead. When I noticed I gained weight, I subscribed myself to the gym. Mostly it was just donating money, combined with a group lesson and cardio every now and then. When I felt like working out, I went on the treadmill or bike for 45 minutes and done was my workout.

That didn’t help.. at all! First of all: if you want to lose fat, you should eat healthier too. And if not, you have to run your ass off to see some results. And that’s literally, because you won’t get a pretty round booty by running it all off. Starting this fit journey I started with the, now famous, BBG schedule by Kayla Itsines. These High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) routines, were a perfect start and showed some fast results. By the end of the BBG, I was super happy with the weight loss but wanted to get more definition and toned. Since I started working out with weights, and the personal schedules by Health Advies Breda, the real gains started to show! Gaining some abs and my legs are getting so much more definition!

FIT, BUT MOSTLY HAPPY

I could say that the biggest change in the past years is that I am so happy with my lifestyle at the moment. I know this may sound cheesy, but I never felt this comfortable in my own skin. It’s such a boost to your self-esteem when you feel as good on the inside as on the outside. When people say you look good and you don’t have to fake a reaction. But give a sincere “thank you, I really feel good indeed”! When waking up early, jumping out of bed to go to the gym, instead of being all grumpy and resisting going to the gym. Being super energetic and having more drive & motivation throughout the day.

So, one wise lesson from me to you: listen to your body and yourself only. People will react and it might be a bit discouraging. Remind yourself that it is YOU you are doing it for, and not for them. It might be jealousy, it might be concerns. But if you set yourself a goal, you should go for it! Whatever people are telling you. For me, changing from slim to fit was the best decision I ever made!