Back in 2012-2014 I competed in bodybuilding shows. I did the figure category, hence, where my social media name came from. AllieSmithFigure After taking home several first place trophies and three years of torturing myself with tilapia, brown rice, oatmeal, tuna, and broccoli I decided this was not the lifestyle I wanted.
I wanted to have more freedom. I was sick of restricting my diet and excluding myself from social outings. I wanted something that would work for longer than 6 weeks. I wanted something I could sustain. I wanted something where I could feel my best.
This is when I created The Fitness Life. My coaching method built around sustainability, results and badass confidence without sacrificing the life you love.
Part of this journey was learning the scale did not tell you the whole story. I started to focus on muscle mass vs scale weight.
As I am writing this, I currently weight 155 pounds. This is only 5 pounds HEAVIER than when I signed up for my very first 6 week Challenge 12+ years ago. Best part is I look nothing like that girl! (pictures below)
Every time I tell someone how much I weigh, the response is, "Yeah, it's because you have a lot of muscle."
Correct. I built that muscle. Muscle is more dense and takes up less space. So even though I weigh 5 pounds heavier. I'm fitting into smaller pants than when I weighed 150! *side note: also doing a lot less cardio than 12 years ago!
And even when my clients hear this, they still think but Allie, you're different. I can't do that!
Why?
Because you've spent years... years... telling yourself...
"I'm not meant to be smaller"
"I've always been big, that's just how it is."
"I can never lose weight, I love sweets."
Whatever it is, it takes time to re-write the story you've been selling yourself all these years.
Yes you can do this.
What if you didn't try to be smaller. What if we took an approach that builds you up. To make you feel better, confident, worthy of a happier life.
Maybe the problem is you're trying to make yourself less and that's why you quit...
We can only stick to a plan for so long when the main message is "be less".
It's not too late.
Fitness is 90% mental and 10% physical, you need to dig deep and find why you're doing this and never let go of that. Because there will be days when you want to say screw this!