Today marks a huge milestone for me on my body recomposition journey. I’ve struggled with the skinny fat physique for most of my life and have been trying to tackle this problem on my own for well over a year. After many attempts of trying to find my own solution, I finally made the decision 3 months ago to put my trust into a professional and start a fitness program which was built to help address my exact problem. The program was designed to help lose body fat while building lean muscle mass simultaneously. I eagerly started going through all the course material to learn the principles outlined in the program and was excited to get started following the workouts laid out for me. However, the next day after starting my first workout, the COVID-19 pandemic caused my gym to close it’s doors and most of the world went into lockdown.
What was originally a roadblock for me, caused me to act fast and make modifications to ultimately turn the quarantine into a success. Being quarantined at home provided me the opportunity to eliminate all the external factors and temptations of dining out at restaurants and dial in on my calorie intake. It forced me to do larger and less frequent grocery shops and have complete control over the ingredients that went into my meals. I was able to know the exact measurements and calories consumed each day to make sure I stayed on track with my nutrition goals. As for my workouts, I quickly procured two sets of dumbbells – a light pair at 10 lbs each and heavy pair at 35 lbs each. I was also able to get a pull-up bar that I could attach to my door frame to perform body weight exercises. In addition, I continued to accumulate various equipment such as resistance bands, a TRX strap, an ab wheel, and a foam roller. Before I knew it, I had a pretty decent home gym. I determined alternative exercises to perform based on the equipment that I had to still be able to continue full body workouts that I could complete 3 times a week.
I diligently monitored all the calories I consumed each day and kept track of my progress on a spreadsheet. I also recorded my daily weight each morning to monitor the changes over time. I followed a 750 calorie deficit which allowed me to lose on average 1.6 lbs per week and a total of 5% body fat after 4 weeks.
Tracking my progress and comparing my 4-week photo to my first photo made me more motivated than ever to continue with the new fitness and nutrition habits I adopted. I continued to have fun experimenting with different ingredients in the meals I prepared and began getting more accustomed to hitting my daily macronutrient goals. I slowly made modifications to my meals by introducing more low calorie options and whole foods into my diet. A big focus for me was also reducing the amount of gluten and dairy intake as part of my nutrition plan. As for my workouts, I began tweaking my exercises each week transitioning from light to heavy dumbbells to ensure I was continually making progressions with my strength and ability. When I was no longer able to increase the weight of my dumbbells, I added more reps and sets to each exercise. After completing almost 9-weeks of my body recomposition journey, I started to notice changes to my body and overall physique. My clothes started to fit differently and I was finally able to see some ab definition in the mirror.
Continuing into the next few weeks I started to notice that the rate of my fat loss started to slow down and plateau. However, instead of cutting more calories or making drastic changes, I stayed the course with my diet but integrated a bit more physical activity into my days by going for regular walks and runs at nearby parks around the neighborhood. Eventually, as I completed my 12th week and conducted my weekly measurements, I was ecstatic to find out that I finally reached a milestone and achieved my goal of 15% body fat.
Today, I am at my 3-month mark and I couldn’t be happier to have achieved my goal of 15% body fat before my 33rd birthday which I celebrated this past weekend. I feel incredibly grateful to have successfully accomplished a goal that I’ve struggled with for such a long time. The main things I’ve learned throughout this journey so far is staying patient, trusting the process, and being consistent with both fitness and nutrition. I’m excited to continue to challenge myself to be a healthier and fitter version of me on my body recomposition journey.
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