My Fitness Journey | Faces of Black Fashion: My Fitness Journey

Saturday, November 16, 2013

My Fitness Journey


In June I visited my doctor for my annual check up and realized that I was underweight. As I mentioned in my skinny black girl post, I have always been a small woman and struggled with it for years. I am finally at the point in my life where I am (mostly) happy with my body, but I want to be at a healthy weight. My doctor and I decided that my plan of action to reach my healthy weight goals would include weight training. Thus my fitness journey began.

The past five months of my journey have been great.  I initially thought that  it would be difficult to stick to a gym routine given my busy schedule; however, I've been consistently working out three times a week. On the days that I can't make it to the gym, I workout at home.   I do take a week off to rest every two months. Although I've tweaked my routine at various points over the past couple of months this is what my current routine looks like:


Day 1 - Lower body workout
4 X 8 barbell squat
4 X 8 dead lifts
3 X 10 lounges per leg
4 x 10 calf raises
3 x 8 hamstring curl
3 x 8 leg curls
Ab exercises

Day 2 Upper body (plus light lower body)
3 X 10 bench press
3 X 8 bicep curls
3 X 8 shoulder press
3 X 10 triceps exercise
3 X 10 pushups
3X10 jump squats with light weight
3X10 full leg contraction per leg
calf raises
Ab exercises

Day 3 - full body workout
Do day 1 & 2
Ab exercises


Diet
Since I started weight training,  I've increased my caloric intake by eating healthy snacks between meals such as almonds, yogurt and protein bars. I also drink Designer Whey protein shakes before or after my workouts. 

Progress so far

The beginning (week 3 on left and week 6 on right), I gained muscle mass the fastest in the beginning of my journey.






Month two











Month three





Most recent progress pics, month 5

Thank you for sharing in my journey. I will be checking in periodically to talk about my progress. Let me know if you have any questions and stay tuned for a video post about things I've learned since starting my fitness journey.

Cheers,
~Nika

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Great job! I look forward to lifting soon. I have been doing most of my work outs at home. Right now my tummy is still a troublesome area. Hopefully a little more cardio can do the trick because my strength has already increased dramatically.

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    1. Thank you! Yes I've definitely noticed increased strength since I started lifting.

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  3. You look great! Keep up the hard work!

    xo
    Maggie A
    LOVE MAVIN

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Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts :)