My Body Transformation

Okay guys, here it is!! You all have been asking and asking and I’m finally sharing more from my body transformation. After getting TONS of requests I thought I’d start to do a regular series about how I changed my body, my fitness routine, diet tips, recipes and more. I’m also planning on doing more workout videos so make sure to follow me on Instagram (@oliamajd).

So this is NOT a sponsored post of any kind nor am I promoting anything I don’t truly believe in. So let me just get right to it and start breaking down the topics. Today’s post is mainly going to be about how I found the motivation, what I started with and my before/afters (and to be honest I can’t believe I’m sharing these pics with you all!)

So, what got me motivated to make a change? Well, to be honest it was ME. I had just turned 29 (approaching my 30’s Ahhh) and I had always wanted to be super fit. Okay okay, when I say super fit I don’t mean body builder  or bikini competition ready, I just mean I wanted to be fit, lean and have a little more muscle tone to my body. I’ve always attempted to go to the gym, have a regular routine, do pilates and/or yoga but nothing ever really STUCK. I want to say maybe my head just wasn’t all there and I just wasn’t 100% IN IT. Also, lets be honest, the beginning is the HARDEST and you don’t see the results you want right away so it can be a little bit of a letdown and it’s hard to stay motivated when you don’t see those immediate results, right?

Regardless, my eating habits weren’t 100% right, my fitness routine sucked and I was in a rut ready to make a change. Plus hey, when you start to approach your 30s that good ol metabolism just doesn’t work the way it used to. Anyone with me?

So I made a change. A BIG change.

I actually remember it SO vividly. I remember looking at myself in the mirror and just not being happy and it was just like that that it clicked. I literally hopped in my car at around 7pm at night and was on my way to the gym – no membership, nothing. I called my mom on the way there and was like “Guess what, I’m going to the gym and I’m getting a personal trainer.” I remember her saying, “Ok Olia if it makes you happy do it!”

I walked into the gym that night and just said, “Hi, I want to sign up for a membership and I want a personal trainer.” I practically just gave them my credit card and said charge me. Pretty funny, right? So, that night I signed up and I set up an appointment to meet with a personal trainer a few days later and talked to him about my goals and how fast I want to get there etc. Again I just forked over my credit card and said bill me. LOL.

Okay, so why am I telling you guys this long ass story? Because I have to express to you guys how motivated I was and how much I wanted it. I feel like until you truly want to make a change regardless of what it is in life, it won’t happen. Also, I do want you all to know getting a personal trainer was probably the best decision I’ve ever made. I knew that my past workouts never worked and I wasn’t keeping myself disciplined enough. With this, I was forced to stay accountable for my progress AND more than that, I had scheduled sessions so I pretty much could not bail out last minute. And let’s be honest — I forked over around $1500 so that money was getting to damn good use.

Immediately my trainer explained to me that we need to change the diet and workout routine (which of course I knew but in my head I was thinking — damn, I like food.. a lot). He asked how crazy strict I wanted to be and I said I definitely want to see results but I also don’t want to be psychotically crazy and drive my friends & family I’m around nuts because I’m that girl that can only have chicken and veggies.

Well, I became that girl — only for a little and I swear it wasn’t super duper strict!

Pretty much he had me live by the rule that when I wasn’t working out with him I don’t have any carbs. When I do work out with him (3 days a week) I incorporate carbs into my diet. So basically on the off days I have as much protein and veggies as humanly possible (well as much as I desire anyway) but NO carbs. Meaning no breads, pastas, rice, potatoes — basically all the good stuff, HA.

I promise this gets better.

On the days I worked out I would eat carbs BUT when I say that I don’t mean I ate like a pig. I had good carbs — ezekiel bread, sweet potatoes, brown rice, etc.. Don’t get me wrong the first week SUCKED and on top of it you want to see an immediate change in your body and that just doesn’t happen like that. But I’m going to be 100% honest with you all — it only got easier and easier. I started realizing that the more you eat certain foods the more you crave them. For example, when I was eating lots of breads and pastas, I was actually craving bread and pasta all the time. When I cut it out I no longer was craving carbs. I even remember after I would eat dinner I’d always want a dessert or something sweet and I’d always give in. After starting this and TO THIS DAY, I never crave anything sweet anymore. Of course I’ve had desserts and such since I started working out but I don’t actively CRAVE it, if that makes sense.

So I was in it. I was 110% committed. I stuck to the diet and the regimen to the T and let me tell you, it WORKED.  Now I’m going to share with you all my photos and walk you through them. I actually never thought I’d share the before photos with anyone on my blog but hey, that’s what this community is here for right? So why the hell not.

At the beginning my trainer said I should take photos of myself so that I could see the progression of my body. He said I didn’t have to show anyone but it would be good for myself and I’m soooo glad I did because I probably would have forgotten how far I had come. As you guys can see I was never overweight but I definitely wasn’t toned and definitely not at my goal. I started mid-end of October of 2016 and thanks to that good ol iPhone, I have all the dates of the photos handy.

The second image shows that in only a few weeks I already leaned out a good amount. I would say this is primarily the diet results. I mean, I was working out but I wasn’t to the point where I was developing muscle. We were more working on just leaning out and such.

PS – Did I say, no alcohol? ::sigh::

So here’s the truth — at that 2nd photo is when I got hooked. When I could flip back between my first and second photo and physically SEE a change in my body I started to think OK this is working there’s no stopping now.

In the beginning of November I was on vacation in the Dominican Republic. I will admit, I was EXTREMELY worried that after making so much progress I’d go on vacation and gain it all. Plus, I like wine and pina coladas and lets just say those weren’t exactly diet friendly. But, I bought resistance bands before I went on my trip and decided that although I was on vacation I was going to work out every day or every other day AND I was going to stick to my diet.

To be honest I think when I was on vacation I went a little extreme. I literally stuck to the diet almost more strict than I was at home because I was so paranoid and worried. I even remember when I got back from my trip my trainers’ first reaction was, “whoa you look like you lost weight on vacation!” Truth be told, when I got home I weighed myself and I was definitely a few pounds lighter.

Damn, coulda had a couple croissants LOL.

Fast forward a couple months and I’d say by the New Year, I had reached my goal weight. To move to the next step in the progression he said it would be good to start counting my macros. For those of you who don’t know what that is, basically he would give me the amount of calories, fats, protein, carbs and so on that I should eat daily. There are apps that allow you to input your meals throughout the day and track this. I gave it a try and I realized it just wasn’t for me and explained this to him.

Honestly for me, counting macros and calories is not how I want to live my life. For me to find something that works — I have to find a method that is best for me. I like wine, I like food and I was finally at a point where I could incorporate a little more into my diet and I just didn’t want to live my life entering info about what I ate into an app. For some people it is a method that works but for me, I’m ok with not having the rock hard 8 pack if I can enjoy a glass of wine and some bread & cheese from time to time.

To this day, I work out about 4-5 days a week, three of those days being with my personal trainer. I am probably at the best shape I’ve ever been in my life and could not be happier. I now eat a little more of everything in moderation because I’m no longer trying to lose that weight and lean out. And of COURSE I have cheat days where a burger and fries is all I crave. I mean, common you gotta live!!

Like I said, I may never have the 8 pack that some fitness girls have but I’m OK with that. I’m at a point where I feel I look feminine and fit and MOST IMPORTANTLY I’m so happy with myself and how far I’ve come.

I hope this gave some of you the inspiration you needed and just a little insight on what I do regularly! If any of you are local to the San Diego area and interested in my personal trainer and/or some more information, feel free to send me an email and I will let you know all the details! As usual please keep sending me comments and messages about what you guys want to see more of and I will continue doing it!!

Thank you all for following me in my fitness journey and this whole blog journey as well!! <3