So at the beginning when I started my blog this time last year I wrote a post about me going to the gym and how excited I was for the journey.

It’s been a year and I have learned some things that I want to share.

I learned about my body and how I need to exercise. I found out that walking and a lot of cardio makes me lose weight. “Wow, so great!” I hear you cry but y’all… I’m skinny. I don’t need to lose any more weight. I know you’re probably hating me right now but everyone’s body is different and mine, well, that’s how it is.

I realised late though. I was hitting the gym hard, walking to and from the gym but then I noticed I was losing weight and fast and I was like “What is happening?”. Then my co worker was like if you’re doing weight training you should eat afterwards (I ate before). And my cousin was like when he did cardio he lost a lot of weight. He said it was easy for him to lose the weight but hard for him to gain it, as he too is slim, so he spaced out his running more. And when he did that the weight lose stopped happening.

As I listened to him I was like “Hmm interesante, I think I am in the same boat.” So now I space out my cardio too.

Another thing my co worker advised was that if you want to get toned you first have to get rid of the fat and if you still don’t have muscle then you would do the weight training to gain it. But I didn’t want to go hard in the weight training as I didn’t want to get all jacked like a man but he was like that won’t happen. If you train the same way a man does you’ll get muscles but not to the same extent of a man because you’re different, you don’t have as much testosterone. I also read a blog post on the same subject and he said the same thing. Apparently it’s one of the biggest misconceptions we have as women.

If you’re thinking “But I’ve seen some seriously jacked women”. Sure, I have too, but they’re different from you AND they may have had help from steroids. So if you’re not going to use steroids and you just want to get toned then go for, hit the gym and weights like a man would. Which means using lower reps and higher weights.

I would advise as well to pace yourself. Don’t rush the process, the results will come. I’ve changed the way I exercise, I do lower reps and higher weights, less cardio and I eat afterwards, three good healthy portions during the day, and I see the results starting to manifest themselves. It’s cool watching myself get stronger.

However it happens steadily and you need to be consistent. There’s no use if you put all that effort in for two months and then get bored and give up. You’ll have wasted your time. Your muscles need to be active so use them!

If that is your goal anyway. I know not everyone is a fitness junkie.

So since last year I have lost weight but I have gotten stronger and having adjusted my regime I am seeing more results than I have all year.

Who knows by next year I may have reached my fitness goals.

Until next time,

ciao!