I just recently added 25-40min of extra cardio daily. I got a Stamina Mini Stepper - it squeaks but you canāt hear it if you have headphones on and it is a TINY piece of equipment so itās nyc apartment friendly! This past week Iāve felt a big energy boost so I wasnāt afraid to add some extra calories.
In addition to that, I do a daily minimum of 10K steps (yay dog and 5yr old that I try to drain of energy) plus 25-35min of pilates. On top of that i got lucky that my Krav Maga instructor is bored out of his mind in isolation so heās been doing Zoom classes M-F 2x a day for an hour. I do that 4x a week or so plus shadow boxing on days off.
I feel like if I gave up Sour Patch Kids Iād be ripped at this point but I refuse!
@johnacola Iām 5ā2ā 120lbs and while I like being this weight for the strength, this definitely gives me motivation to lose the body fat. Maybe I can do a slight cut to 115 and work on building muscle on a clean bulk back to 120.
@johnacola Holy shit, you look so incredible. Thank you for sharing your progress! What are your plans post-cut?
I'm 110lb and 5'3 and I'd say my condition is similar to your week 4, and I'm trying out a lean gaining period with my coach. Currently in a 200kcal surplus. This is what I hope to look like should I ever do some kind of cleaning up of my diet/small deficit!
@sheesheeg Hi! Thanks! So my cardio on the weekends I like to get out of the way first thing in the AM, so those are usually fasted. During weekdays, I break my fast at noon for lunch and then I train after work around 5 or 6PM. I have my BCAAs during and then dinner afterwards.
@johnacola As a 5'3" woman, this resonates with me SO much, especially the part about smaller people not having as much leeway regarding caloric intake. I'm happy with my body as-is, but what I'm getting out of it is that my intermittent fasting, cutting out almost all alcohol, and my mostly Mediterranean diet is on the right track.
P.S. What brand is that bra in the before shred pictures? It's really cute!
@johnacola Thank you so much for sharing, you look amazing and itās awesome to hear you feel amazing too!
Iām 5ā2ā and am always looking for inspiration from other women around my size.
Your pic at 124lbs is where I was hovering at for a bit (~120lbs) my heaviest as well. I finally got down the first few pounds to 117lbs with cardio and CICO.
@johnacola You look fantastic! Seriously, itās much harder to see results when youāre already lean so this is phenomenal. If my cut goes half as well as this Iāll be thrilled. You should be very proud - happy birthday!
@johnacola Holy moly amazing results! Super inspirational, thanks for sharing. I have 7 weeks before my summer vacation and this motivates me to start a pre-vacay cut, like, right now. You look absolutely gorgeous, way to go.
@johnacola Happy Birthday! What an awesome gift to yourself! I did so much work on my body and then being home I lost motivation, and I donāt have gym equipment here. But time will go by regardless. I still have small weights, a bike, and a backyard. Thanks for this bit of motivation!
@jaz2001 We haven't had it in the house for the entirety of my shred (bless my husband who gave it up with me for support). HOWEVER, yesterday he went out to get "birthday provisions" and our fridge now has wine and Blue Moon and champagne... eeeek. I don't plan to cut it out completely from here, but definitely will be reserving it for more special occasions.
@johnacola I think my alcohol calories are fairly moderate in of themselves, since I prefer dry wine or vodka/sodas and Iām usually gardening or dancing when drinking. The worst part is how it destroys my willpower and I want to eat every salty carb in existence!
we don't have those here in the netherlands. I miss them!