Hey friend, welcome to Effective Fitness for Women!
I’m Rachel, a wife, mom of 6, and registered dietitian who is passionate about weightlifting!
I'm so glad you are here, and today I wanted to talk to you about 3 things.
First, I want to share a little bit of my story, why I wanted to start this podcast to help women with weightlifting.
Second, I want to tell you what YOU are going to get out of this podcast if you stick around with me.
Third, I want to give you one practical tip to work on to get you started on your fitness journey.
To go into my story a bit, I am a pretty average woman physically. Middle of the road you could say. I’ve always exercised in some form and always eaten fairly healthy-I’m a dietitian- but definitely was mostly focused on weight loss all the time.
For exercise I basically focused on cardio. And by focused on cardio I mean forced myself to use the elliptical or go run. Did a few half marathons in my college days, and a lot of running on the treadmill or elliptical after that, or workout videos. If I felt adventurous I would wander in to the machine section at my gym and do a few machines.
The thing that always stumped me was that while I exercised and ate better than most people, I never looked or felt really in shape for the amount of effort I put in. Now I wasn’t overweight, but I wasn’t fit, if you know what I mean.
And exercise was SUCH a chore.
In fact, back in college I reconnected with a high school friend over the phone and we were talking about how I was about to run a half-marathon and she said “oh my goodness, are you super skinny now?” and the thing was, I looked basically the same as I always had🤷🏻♀️.
Fast forward several years, and I was pregnant with my 3rd baby during the pandemic. It was hard. We were in lockdown and I was so sick the whole pregnancy. So I did what every dietitian will tell you not to do when you’re stressed: I ate my feelings. Cookie dough is totally my kryptonite and so yeah…I ate a lot of cookie dough.
After I had my baby I did my usual eat less/move more approach to weight loss that had helped me lose the baby weight in the past. Home workout videos, running, elliptical, lots of cardio basically.
But not matter how hard I tried this time, I just couldn’t shift the last 15 or so lbs. And it was ALL stuck around my midsection, which is where I carry my weight.
You know how they categorize women’s body types by fruit? Apple, pear? Well, your girl's an apple. I carry my fat around my midsection and have skinny little legs. And when I do lose weight, I lose it in my legs not my midsection.
I couldn’t shift the weight, and I started getting really frustrated. I started thinking maybe this is just genetics and getting close to middle age and there’s nothing I can do about it.
I’m not usually someone who gives up easily, so I was looking for solutions one day when I came across this pin on Pinterest while I was watching my kid in the bathtub. He was playing around and I’m scrolling and I see this pin about a girl who did a bikini competition and what she did to train for it.
I didn’t even know what a bikini competition was, but this girl looked how I wanted to so I read the article. Oh, and if you don’t know what a bikini competition is, it’s a division of bodybuilding but it’s the least muscular division. So these girls look really naturally fit and toned, nothing like Arnold Schwarzenegger which is what I usually think of when I think of bodybuilding.
The thing I thought was so cool about how she looked was that she looked so strong! You could see her muscles and although she was lean, she had great shape because her muscles gave her great shape.
I WANTED that! In the article she talked about all the heavy weightlifting she did to prepare for her competition, because that’s how bodybuilders grow their muscles.
After reading the article I had one of those lightbulb moments. You know how in the movies when the main character finds out something super shocking and they realize their whole life is a lie or something? I can’t think of an example right now, but I had one of those moments.
This is what I realized: I want to look and feel lean and strong like this girl on pinterest, but what I thought would get me there, which was lots of cardio and eating less, wasn’t how you achieve that goal. Weightlifting is!
That was the moment that started me on this journey. Through lots and lots of research and trial and error, I learned how to pattern my nutrition and exercise after what the bodybuilders do, but I adapted it for my lifestyle.
I’m not trying to actually compete as a bodybuilder and I definitely don’t have time to spend 2 hours in the gym 6 days a week or anything, so I figured out what exercises to do to get the biggest results out of my workouts and how to leverage what I’m eating to fuel my goals-and its working!
For the first time in my life, through weightlifting I’m losing fat where I actually want to and gaining muscle where I want to as well. I’m now being effective in how I’m spending my time in the gym and how I’m eating, and its producing a result for me that has been consistent.
And, for the first time in my life, I actually enjoy working out! Its no longer this awful chore that has to be done. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been and I’ve never felt better in my life. Who knew you could find your fitness in your thirties?
And that brings me to you! I want to share this information with other women who are maybe in the same boat I was. Not sure what to do or how to eat to get the result they want. Confused because there’s so much conflicting information. Frustrated with wasting time and energy on something they aren’t getting a result from.
Have you been there? Are you tired of it?
What I want you to get from this podcast (and blog) is practical weightlifting and nutrition tips that you can implement NOW.
I’m going to answer questions like: how much should I be lifting? What exercises are most effective? How much protein do I need? I’m also going to give you time management tactics for the gym and kitchen. Its going to be so practical and hands on.
I’ve listened to a few fitness podcasts and they usually fall into 2 camps: fluffy feel-good stuff or super hard-core bro sessions, and I want to take a different approach with this podcast. No fluffy stuff and nothing too science-y ( I love science but sometimes I feel like when you get into the nitty gritty too much, you get bogged down in the details and lose the effectiveness of doing something simple really well).
I want to give you practical tips and tools you can implement now in your fitness journey, wherever you are.
Which brings me to my fitness tip this week.
Are you ready?
Ready for this life-changing, body transforming piece of advice?
Here you go: drink water.
Yep, I'm keeping it simple this week😂. Most of us don’t drink anywhere near enough water daily, and if you are going to train your body to achieve real goals, you need to start here.
So drink water. How much? Depends on where you are starting. If you drink 8 oz a day now, do 16 oz. I drink a gallon and a half a day now -and I need to- but I started small and worked my way up. Keep track of it too, that will help you keep up with it.
So there you have it! I hope this encouraged you and got you excited to try weightlifting.
Next time we are going to be talking about fear of the weight room, that intimidation you feel when you enter a space full of grunting men who can deadlift 400 lbs.
Be sure to subscribe to my site & podcast so you don’t miss it, and leave a review on the podcast if you can! That will help me reach more women so they can start on their journey as well. Talk to you next time!
-Rachel
Comments