Do you feel like you’ve been working out and putting in the work in the gym and eating healthy, but you don’t actually look like you work out or you’re not as lean or as strong as you really want to be? If you want to lose fat and gain muscle, then read this and click the video at the bottom to really learn how to tone up and blast body fat.
I am going to explain to you how I went from fairly fit, but not super lean to the strongest and leanest I’ve ever been after two babies. As a personal trainer for over 15 years I have learned a lot in the last 15 years about blasting body fat and building lean muscle to appear leaner and stronger. I’m going to break down the three mistakes I was making as a young trainer in the game when I was working hard in the gym to appear leaner, but I was making three mistakes.
The image on a left above is me about 15 years ago and the right is me now, two babies later, the leanest and strongest I’ve ever been. I’m going to show you what I do in order to achieve this figure and stay this way all year round even after two babies. I’m about a year and a half postpartum with my second son and still was able to achieve this body. I’m really hoping this blog is helpful for you and I’m using myself as an example, because I’ve been on the exact same journey as all of you guys over the past 15 years, rediscovering what actually works.
The 3 Mistakes I Was Making To Lose Fat and Gain Muscle
Here are the top three mistakes I was making as a young trainer in the game, fresh out of University with my degree, excited to become a fitness model on the cover of a fitness magazine. I was working so hard, I was pushing myself in the gym, I was eating right, and I was doing all of the things that I thought would help me get lean, but I didn’t necessarily get as lean as I wanted to. And here is why:
FAT LOSS Mistake Number One
First mistake I was making, I was restricting myself way too much. There is no way looking back I was eating enough calories to fuel my body for how much movement and exercise I was doing. I was a personal trainer who was starting my business, so I was on the floor working with clients 8, 10, 12 hours a day sometimes. So, I was burning a whole bunch of calories there and I was also very restricted of my diet as I watched everything I ate. I tracked everything I ate and stayed within a calorie goal, which looking back was way too low for my activity level.
I remember going into Starbucks and seeing all the baked goods and being like, “Ugh, I can’t have that” and I only would drink black coffee as I was very, very, very restrictive of my diet. What I have learned over the past 15 years, and what I’m not doing now is restricting my diet as much as I was back then. I can honestly say that I did not have a good relationship with food. Again, being a young trainer in the game I thought I had to lead by example and I have to eat super healthy and I can’t ever have anything bad.
Back then the goal was to look like a personal trainer and I wanted to look lean and have abs all the time. This literally drove my eating and although I wouldn’t say that I had an eating disorder, I definitely didn’t have a positive relationship with food. The thing that I’ve learned in the past 15 years that I didn’t know back then that I know now is that food is fuel. You are allowed to eat food and everything in moderation is OK following the 80/20 rule.
THE MAIN TAKE AWAY TO LOSE FAT
The main thing to remember when looking to lose fat is calorie deficit, not diet or starving yourself. Most important is knowing the exact amount of calories you can eat and still lose fat, but still eat enough to fuel your body, feel energized, and build muscle. If you are looking to achieve a lean figure but you’re not fuelling your body with enough food, you are not going to be able to build muscle and look leaner because your body is starving and you are not going to be able to push hard in the gym. So that’s the one thing the Michelle 15 years ago didn’t understand is, food is fuel, eating carbs, eating fats, eating proteins is okay in moderation, making sure you hit your protein goal and that calorie deficit.
NOTE: If you are looking to learn more about calorie deficit to help lose fat and gain muscle, you can download my FREE CALORIE DEFICIT GUIDE HERE or check out my YouTube Channel for more videos on this topic.
FAT LOSS MISTAKE NUMBER 2
Mistake number two that I was making that was keeping me from losing body fat and building lean muscle to appear leaner was that I was doing too much cardio. I literally grew up playing sports my entire life as I was an elite athlete playing high level soccer and high level basketball. So, let’s just say cardio was part of my life as a soccer player and basketball player, I was always running, so when I went to the gym on my own, the first thing I went to was the treadmill because I actually really enjoyed running, I enjoyed sprints, and I enjoyed intervals.
So naturally, I thought in order to lose fat I needed to do more cardio
which is a very common misunderstanding out there in the world. Again, the Michelle 15 years later knows that is not the way to do it, but this is what I used to do. I hear from a lot of people, “If I didn’t sweat, if I’m not sore the next day, if I’m not crawling out of the gym, it wasn’t a good workout.” This is wrong and a mistake young trainer Michelle thought. Now 15 years later, new, leaner, stronger Michelle knows that’s not what you have to do.
15 years ago I still did strength training, but I did not prioritize my strength training over my cardio compared to what I do now. The Michelle now strength trains 3-4 times per week and sprinkles some cardio on her off days from lifting heavy (steady state cardio taking my kids for a walk and metabolic Bodyweight HIIT workouts like the ones on my YouTube channel).
So, in conclusion if you are looking to be more effective in losing fat and gaining muscle, you need to prioritize strength training over cardio training in order to build lean muscle to lose fat and appear leaner.
FAT LOSS MISTAKE NUMBER 3
And last but not least the last mistake old Michelle was making, I was not lifting heavy enough and was not following any kind of progressive overload and I wasn’t challenging my body like I really should have been. Again, I was an athlete, a cardio bunny, and I just loved sweating. Coming from my sports background I could push myself for hours and hours on the treadmill, I could do all kinds of crazy sprints, run wind sprints, skipping, rope, and plyometrics as it came naturally to me. Although I learned a lot in my university degree, my certifications, and my mentorships about strength training and heavy lifting, I applied these principles to my clients but when it came to myself for some reason, I just didn’t push myself as much as I should have been.
It is very important to continue to challenge yourself with lifting heavier weights in the same exercises consistently to avoid plateau and to continue to challenge your body in order to grow muscle and get stronger. The average strength program to lose fat and gain muscle should be including compound lifts to follow progressive overload overtime and then include accessory work that you can switch up on a regular basis. If you are lifting the same 15 pound dumbbell for your rowing exercise over and over again for months, then eventually your body will no longer be challenged by that weight. If you are no longer challenging your muscles, they wont grow, which means you wont achieve a lean figure that you want.
IN CONCLUSION
- Eat in a calorie deficit, but do not restrict yourself and do not eat less than 1200 calories a day.
- Make sure you’re hitting your protein goal.
- Make sure you’re not doing too much cardio. Don’t prioritize your cardio over your strength training.
- Make sure you’re getting at least two to three heavy strength training days a week. And then the rest can be cardio workouts on your off days.
- Remember, walking is amazing.
- Make sure you are lifting heavy enough to challenge yourself, progressive overload, and make sure you’re repeating the same exercises on a consistent basis to continue to challenge yourself and increase the weights in those exercises.
I hope this was helpful information to help you lose fat and gain muscle, but if you want more in-depth information check out the video below where I break it all down for you in more detail!
In Good Health,
Michelle
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