Muscles With Meags: Progress and Transformation

First let me start off by saying, the journey so far has not been easy - but it's most definitely been rewarding! Let me also start off my saying that if you are just starting to become interested in working on the new and improved you, I'm right there with ya! I still have a long way to go before I meet my ultimate fitness goals, and am really just getting started on my journey. But let me tell you how it all started...

I am a musician and actress at heart. My journey with fitness actually started when I was teaching music internationally at an arts program in beautiful Port Antonio, Jamaica in 2012, when I was 21 years old. I can't wait to tell you more about the Turn Around Project more as this blog progresses!

While there, one of my fellow facilitators brought a burned copy of Shaun T's fitness program INSANITY. And we thought, while we are there, we should start our mornings off right! We did it every morning in the HOT HOT HEAT for three weeks. Back then, we didn't even have the schedule! We just did every work out in order, haha!

Once you have an experience abroad, its a bit of a culture shock coming back to wealthy and capitalist North America. My head was all over the place and I wanted something to take my mind off of things, especially as I entered my final year in university. So as soon as I got back, I bought myself Insanity for my 22nd birthday. I did the workouts on and off in the fall. And made some GREAT progress:

Here is where I started:

I may have appeared small with clothes, I have small arms and legs by genetics, but I carry all of my weight in my midsection. Ladies - we'll work that out together! Don't be ashamed of your before pics!

Here is where I was after 2 months of Insanity without following any real nutrition plan...
Not a bad start! I started feeling a lot more energized, confident, and motivated.

UNFORTUNATELY, nothing kept me accountable after those two months! I thought I was in decent enough shape, and that the tiny bit of muscle I was packing would just stay on forever, even if I started slowing down with my workouts! I was in fourth year studying, and was more interested in keeping my mind fit than keeping my body fit. It took me this long to realize, for me, they are partially intertwined! And LO AND BEHOLD.... I gained almost all the weight back! WORST GIRL EVER.

You might be like me, wanting to make a positive change in your life to feel (not just look) better. You may also be like be, annoyed with yourself for making so much progress and then letting it go to waste. You might feel like a failure for not being able to stick with it.... I know I did. STOP RIGHT THERE.

A failure is only a failure if you don't learn anything from it, right? Anything else is simply a LEARNING EXPERIENCE. And those are good!

I decided to put on my vest and stick out my chest and try round two of Insanity! But at this point I had been doing the same six workouts for a year - I needed to switch it up a bit. And VOILA. I met my FREE (we'll talk about that later) FITNESS COACH, Abby. She really helped to get my booty back on track by touching base with me frequently during the week to see how my workouts were going.

It was then, after much humming and hawing, that I decided to try out a new work out program from Team Beach Body (I was already obsessed with Insanity so I figured anything else put out by TBB would be just as awesome) called the 21 Day Fix. This program was only 21 days, had 1/2 hour work outs and a really keen nutrition guide that focused on simple portion control and meal prepping. I'll post another full blog about that later. With the 21 DF workout and meal plan, as well as drinking Shakeology, to my surprise, as opposed to seeing results in two MONTHS, I started to see results in 2.5 WEEKS....

I guess it's true that abs are made in the kitchen! (Though I still have a ways to go before I see 'dem abs! lol) You HAVE to eat right, and within proper proportions, if you want to get quick and effective results!

After completing a round of the 21 Day Fix and now roughly weeks into Shaun T's T25, I have made some definite progress. But I'm not finished! I cannot wait to see where this journey will take me, and am excited for you to join me on it so that we can support each other. No magic pill, folks! Let's do this.