Nothing has been more exciting in the past few months then receiving an email from my coach with my workouts, macros and feedback of my progress thus far. I think it’s partial validation that in busting my ass in the gym and in the kitchen, but it’s also the excitement of how else I can I challenge myself? What else can my body handle?
Before surgery I was three and a half weeks into my reverse diet post show, during recovery we dropped my macros to adjust to medications and activity. Last week was my first full week back at the gym and today starts my third week of my reverse. As of today, my new macros have surpassed the macros I had been using at three and a half weeks post show. I almost squealed when I saw the changes for this week. As far as workouts, we’re going from zero cardio days to two: one steady for 20 minutes and one interval day at 15 minutes. While I can’t do hard cardio like running or sprinting, I can walk and possiblily stair step; the recumbent bike may come into play if I feel the motion won’t pull. We also increased my macros by 3g of fat and 12g of carbs. I am pushing the 200 club on daily carbohydrate intake and I’m over here counting the cupcakes and oats I can consume.
The science behind macro counting is interesting, the balancing of workouts to nutrition and how much can the body handle continuously surprises me. I know I say that all the time, but it’s true. The body is a weird thing and it makes sense that numbers and balance make it happy.
I am so excited for this week as my exercises stay the same, but with hope that my weights increase slightly. Since cardio is being reintroduced I’m hopeful that my macro increase will be successful and I’ll feel good throughout the day. Aside from my workouts, Alaina always asks how food makes me feel – am I bloated, starving, content, etc. As we’ve been increasing macros, I haven’t had any issues with feeling heavy and any problems with bloating are related to specific foods not the amounts I’m consuming. Even this past week as we increased my fat and carbs, I was able to incorporate foods that have been difficult during recovery, I’ve also been able to have larger servings. We have some fun plans this week for dinners and desserts to keep it interesting. We’re going to try incorporating some of the fruits we bought at the BostonPublic Market yesterday. I’m back at work for my second full week and won’t be eating lunch and mini meals together, but that also means I have some flexibility to eat things that JP isn’t in the mood for or doesn’t like as much as me.
Here’s a recap of some of the things that we were able to fit this week.
It’s going to be a good week and I foresee cupcakes in our future!
❤️ Cristina
