Before & After 1 year of Crossfit, Lifting, & Eating Clean!

eevincheezburger · January 2014

tl;dr warning haha. But I figure this will save me a lot of inboxes! One-year update for my loves who have been with me since last year!

Sometimes I get discouraged because I feel like I still have so far to go before I reach my goal. I'm human and I mess up sometimes, have setbacks, and take breaks (Christmas anyone?! Haha). But a couple of days ago I was feeling like I hadn't gotten nearly as far as I'd wanted to this last year. So I compared myself now with where I was January of last year, and it put everything into perspective.

The little things really do add up over time, especially if you do them the right way. Fast weight loss is temporary- but when you build muscle along with it, and lose fat in a safe, healthy way, it is lasting. I realize some of these "flexy" pictures may turn some people off but I really don't care, and you can kindly restrain yourself from commenting. I am healthy and feel great, and that's all that matters to me.

As you can see in some of the other pictures, lifting builds muscle that is also slimming and flattering. "Flexing" pictures aren't what I look like all of the time, obviously (that would be exhausting!). Contrary to the AMAZING rumor that lifting makes women "bulky," this is in fact the complete opposite- lifting slims women down and gives us that sexy definition that running and cardio don't really offer. Plus, feeling strong and capable is pretty boss.

January 2013 vs January 2014
January 2013: 32% body fat, 141 lbs (about)
January 2014: 22% body fat, 130 lbs

I'm 5' 3" and 25 years old

For those of you who are interested: What did I do differently? Without working out, I would have lost fat and whittled down to a skinny-fat mess (been there, done that). Working out gave me strength and motivation, as well as sculpted a physique underneath the fat for when it started to come off. Three days per week is about maintenance for me, but to gain muscle or lose fat, I push that to 5-7 workouts per week. Typically 3 of these workouts will be crossfit (don't care if you dislike crossfit), and the rest will be a mix of HIIT, long runs outside (weather permitting), or strength training my weak spots at the regular gym. This all depended on whether I wanted to gain muscle or lose fat. If losing fat, I added two days of fasted cardio (HIIT) in the mornings, and that made a huge difference.

Diet, for my body, is 95% of fat loss. When gaining muscle I ate about 150-200g of carbs per day, and 1g of protein per pound of body weight. Fat was low priority. For fat loss, I cut my carbs WAY down to keto level (about 30g of carbs per day) and did carb cycling. So 3 days straight I would do low-carb/moderate fats, then on the fourth day I would do high carb/low fats. Now I do high carbs on crossfit days, and the rest of the days are low-carb. I also had to cut my portions by about 10%. I take a multivitamin, biotin, fish oil, iron, calcium (neither of which are in my multi), and raspberry ketones/L-carnitine.

I don't have physique competition goals or anything like that. I just want to be comfortable, confident, strong, and proud of myself. I have more specific goals on my page, but that's the umbrella of it. My wedding is coming up and I want to look bausss.

Again, I am NOT -promoting- that everyone do Crossfit. I'm just telling you what I did. Do whatever works for you! I hope this encourages ladies to lift a bit. I find that most women love the results!

angelbabies89 · January 2014

Good job look awsome

kkmalay · January 2014

you look fricken fantastic, well done!!! great booty too

MellowGa · January 2014

fantastic, CONGRATS well done

knra_grl · January 2014

you look great! congrats!

broox80 · January 2014

I love Crossfit! !! I am still very chunky but my strength has really changed. I have been doing it for about 3 months and love it. I dont go to a box, a local Crossfit trainer comes to my work and does a Crossfit bootcamp group with us social workers! ! Since it is a mobile set up we dont do everything that Crossfit encompasses but it freakin rocks!!!! He does not go easy on us!! I love the pain and sweat and delirium that comes with it!!! I love it so much that a few days out of the week I will make up my own WOD and do it at home!!! You look amazing!!! Great work!!! Faint puke or die

tonytrotter1960 · January 2014

Congratulations!!!! You look great!! You should be very proud of yourself.

Rogiefreida · January 2014

doing great! Love this post, lifting weights does a body good.

RacerX_14 · January 2014

You look amazing!!! Keep up the great work!!!!

HappyNewTamera2014 · January 2014

So beautiful! Congratulations on your success.

Bella9563 · January 2014

Brilliant, well done

MGreensides · January 2014

"Skinny girls look good in clothes, fit girls look good naked"

You look amazing, your hardwork and discipline is paying off. Cheers to feeling strong and healthy.

kelly_e_montana · January 2014

Thank you for posting. My favorite thing about this post is the difference in your confidence and your smile. Your body looks badass, but moreover I am sure it can do lots of things it couldn't a year ago. Thank you for the inspiration!

I agree with you on the CF. I have only been doing it for three months but already people are stopping me and going "Whoa! You have lost so much weight. What have you been doing?" I had actually been lifting heavy and running for a year before I started Crossfit. However, when I started CF I switched to CF 3x per week, lifting 1-2x and swimming 2-3x. The varied components of CF challenged my body so much that it changed it like BOOM! I have not lost any weight, but I keep getting in arguments with people about that because they don't believe me. I took a side-by-side pic of myself in this summer at same weight with one now and was really surprised.

I love that you have lost so little weight and yet your body has changed so dramatically. Very inspiring and totally a testament to what body recompositioning can do. I look forward to following your story and hope I have one half as good to tell in a year. You go girl! :drinker: :flowerforyou:

coral_b · January 2014

You look amazing! The change in a year looks way more "weight lost" than the actual pounds gone. Clearly your routine is working for you! I'm currently at that 140 stage and a similar height. You've really helped my motivation to continue with strength training!

MarlaVSings · January 2014

You look fantastic! I tried crossfit but ended up getting some injuries. Hoping that if I lose some weight I can re-start.

Congratulations to you!

planetjen79 · January 2014

You look amazing! Well done!
I have a similar body type to you, slightly taller though. You've totally just inspired me!

eevincheezburger · January 2014

"Skinny girls look good in clothes, fit girls look good naked"

You look amazing, your hardwork and discipline is paying off. Cheers to feeling strong and healthy.

Love this quote!!

eevincheezburger · January 2014

Thank you for posting. My favorite thing about this post is the difference in your confidence and your smile. Your body looks badass, but moreover I am sure it can do lots of things it couldn't a year ago. Thank you for the inspiration!

I agree with you on the CF. I have only been doing it for three months but already people are stopping me and going "Whoa! You have lost so much weight. What have you been doing?" I had actually been lifting heavy and running for a year before I started Crossfit. However, when I started CF I switched to CF 3x per week, lifting 1-2x and swimming 2-3x. The varied components of CF challenged my body so much that it changed it like BOOM! I have not lost any weight, but I keep getting in arguments with people about that because they don't believe me. I took a side-by-side pic of myself in this summer at same weight with one now and was really surprised.

I love that you have lost so little weight and yet your body has changed so dramatically. Very inspiring and totally a testament to what body recompositioning can do. I look forward to following your story and hope I have one half as good to tell in a year. You go girl! :drinker: :flowerforyou:

Thank you so much! I agree, it challenges me in ways no other workouts ever could. Keeps things interesting and I love the friends/family I've gained in the process!

The smile definitely adds something too, haha! Thanks for noticing

Gwen_B · January 2014

Congratulations!! You look awesome!!! Your hard work has paid off!!

nickylee76 · January 2014

You look great!!!

joybedford · January 2014

You look amazing well done keep up the good work. I hopefully will join a crossfit box later in the year.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics · January 2014

Holy COW look at your shoulders!

You look incredible!

ell_v131 · January 2014

Badass!

and you're gorgeous with no make up on, too !

all4my4girls · January 2014

So wait, you only really lost 9 lbs? That is incredible to me. Goes to show you how important the strength training aspect really is! I am so impressed! I've thought about CF and going to a CF gym, but right now my budget doesn't allow for it, so I will stick with what I got. I'm a long ways off from rocking any kind of hot bod. LOL!

Congrats!!