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HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND GET IN SHAPE

Bailey Marie Turner Fitness Journey Transformation, before and after

The time has finally come where Zach and I have decided to stop with the excuses and commit to a plan to lose weight and get in shape. For the past few months, we have been super on top of our training and have gotten much stronger, however our physique hasn’t changed much because our nutrition game has been slacking. We both realized that we enable one another and allow each other to overeat and not make the best food choices & we quite frankly have had enough. We are both tired of making excuses for ourselves just because we have a busy lifestyle and a baby. In this blog post, I will be going over what we will be doing the next 12-16 weeks during the duration of our cut in order to lose weight, feel better about ourselves & get in shape! We will also be sharing our top tips for you guys if you also want to lose weight & feel better!

Needing a Change

First off, the most important part is recognizing you need to make a change. For us, we were tired of feeling sluggish, lethargic and low energy. We knew we weren’t making the best food choices and we were eating far too many calories on a consistent basis. For me, I was (still am) breastfeeding. Oftentimes I would find myself making excuses for myself to eat whatever I wanted 24-7 just to maintain my milk supply. In turn, this caused me to maintain the same weight since about 4 weeks PP even though I was working out because I was constantly eating in a surplus. Truthfully, I just got tired of hearing my own excuses & knew it was time to truly prioritize myself for the first time at 5 months PP! I need to take care of ME so that I can feel like ME again!

Once we both recognized we needed to make a change, I knew that I wanted to hire a coach to allow me to be more consistent and to also hold myself accountable to this lifestyle change. Zach wanted to track his macros but didn’t feel the need to hire a full on coach, so I am handing his macros at the moment. I, on the other hand, ended up hiring Alex Bush with Physique Development as my nutrition coach. He handles everything regarding my nutrition/macros, supplementation, cardio & stress management. I really wanted someone who would handle all of this for me so that I wouldn’t have to even think about it – I could just follow and execute a plan and check-ins with a coach each week. Plus, when you are paying for a coach you of course do not want to let them down or waste your hard earned money – so it makes you more likely to stick to it because it is an INVESTMENT! I love how thorough he is with the whole onboarding process and how much data they collect to formulate the best plan possible for me. It definitely inspired me to be a better coach and a better client myself. Not to mention, you can tell he is extremely intelligent and has lots of experience so he truly knows what he is talking about – no BS. Lastly, I love that he truly CARES – I could tell from the first video I got from him that he is not someone that would just take your money and run. He cares about all aspects of your life, not just your physical fitness. He helped me formulate a plan that also addressed my mental well being as well & I couldn’t appreciate that more! So far, I have nothing but amazing things to say about Alex and I would HIGHLY recommend him to anyone needing a coach! Tell him I sent ya! 🙂
Link for physique development coaching

Our Plan to Lose Weight & Get In Shape

Now let’s get into the nitty gritty of what we will be doing the next 14-16 weeks in order to lose fat & get in shape:

Tracking Macros

Both Zach & I will be tracking our macros the next few months and slowly adjusting them as we need to for the duration of our cut. We both are starting out on quite a bit of food – I am at about 2300 cals while Zach is around 3200 cals. The goal is to try to keep cals as high as we can for as long as we can as slowly tapering down. The last thing you want to do is slash calories and then have nowhere to go from there. Slow & steady wins the race – we want this to be sustainable, NOT a quick fix! Anyone can cut calories to an extreme and see insane results super quickly, but that is far from sustainable & healthy.

Training 4x/Week

We are both following our programming that we programmed for the Summer Shred Challenge! We will be strength training 4 days per week following a 2 upper 2 lower day split! We will be implementing progressive overload and really pushing ourselves with weights to ensure we are getting the most out of our sessions. If you need a training program to follow, we have a TON on our site & they are all super affordable, around $20-40! Following a program is super helpful because it takes all of the guesswork out of it for you – all you need to do is show up and put in the work!

10k Steps/Day

Because we are at our computers during the day working, we are making it a priority to get up and get moving throughout the day to break up our day a little bit. Additionally, to make sure we each get quality alone time, we have been both taking a solo long walk every morning after our training sessions. By doing this it not only helps us reach our step goal but allows us to take some alone time for ourselves as well. Aiming for 10k steps a day is also a great & easy way to increase your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) which increases your total daily calorie expenditure (calorie burn).

120 oz H2O/day

In order to feel our best, recover well & optimize our digestion we are prioritizing our water intake! We will be aiming to drink at least 120 oz every single day. Truthfully, everything seems SO much better when I am on top of my water game. On top of that, whenever I am prioritizing my hydration, I notice that I crave less junk and my appetite isn’t out of control.

Prioritize Sleep – 7-8 hours/night

Not gonna lie, this is a tough one especially with a baby, but we are doing our best. In order to prioritize this, we are going to bed around 9-9:30. Which for me means that I need to pump before then, which is a commitment in itself lol! However, I do feel 100000x better when I go to bed early and wake up early. My productivity, my energy, my recovery, my workouts and my mood all are positively impacted by prioritizing sleep.

No Phones Past 8pm

This is something Alex recommended me doing as part of my protocol to manage my stress. Now, I will be honest in saying I have tried this before and haven’t been successful. However, I feel like this time will be different because I have a coach that is holding me accountable and I am also making Zach do it with me. Some days it can be really hard for me to get off my phone or computer. I find myself answering emails or scrolling mindlessly on social media til 10-11 and then I get so upset with myself for not taking time for ME to unwind and relax after we put Marlow to bed. I truthfully NEVER feel better after mindlessly scrolling, yet I do it time and time again when I am bored. This is something that I have noticed has such a big impact on my mental health and also our marriage. It is so important for us to take uninterrupted time for one another & also take a break from work/our phones. This is definitely not easy, but necessary & I feel like more people should try to do this!

Cooking All Meals At Home

We are HUGE foodies. We love going out to eat. However, we started to notice we were doing it far too often & it was becoming a bad habit and was costing us lots of money! In order to make sure we stay on track, we plan on cooking our meals from home and limiting how much we go out to eat. Not only will this help us with our nutrition goals because we can track everything we are intaking, but it will also help us save money!

Tips for You

Now here are some top tips for you guys to follow in case you want to lose weight and get in shape yourself!

Start Small

Don’t try to change everything all at once! You will get overwhelmed and quit! Small changes lead to big results!

Move More

Whatever that looks like for you: weight training, running, walking, yoga, etc – do something that requires you to move that you enjoy! The more you enjoy it, the higher the chance is that you will actually stick to it!

Track Your Food Intake

If you have NO IDEA how much food you are consuming, track for a week without changing any diet habits and you will be quite surprised at how much you are probably eating! In order to see changes, you have to be eating in a deficit! Take the calories that you have been eating and subtract 10-15% from those to start in a slight deficit! Then in myfitnesspal you can do 30% protein, 45% carbs and 25% fats as your macro breakdown! If you need further assistance, I would recommend hiring a coach!

Eat High Volume Foods

If you feel like you are constantly hungry in a deficit, look at how you are “spending” your calories. If the majority of your diet is coming from processed high calorie foods, you will never feel full or satisfied! Try to add more fruits, veggies, fiber and protein into your diet to allow yourself to eat MORE for LESS calories!

Prioritize Protein

Aim for 0.8-1.1g of protein per pound of bodyweight! So for example, if you weigh 150 lbs – you would want to aim for 120-165g of protein! By filling up on protein, you will feel more satiated and satisfied, plus your recovery will improve!

Drink More Water

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Water fixes all life problems (kinda) haha! In order to optimize recovery, digestion, and satiety – you must drink your water! If you have been only drinking 30-40 oz a day, start by increasing to 50-64 then the next week increase again to maybe 80 oz until you are around 100-120 oz a day! You will feel SO much better as you improve your water intake.

Remember You’re in Control

Ultimately, to make a change, you have to recognize your excuses and be tired of them. You have to take control of your life and make a change. No one can do it for you!

Be Patient

Results won’t happen overnight. Results are an accumulation of what you do in the long run. It takes time to see progress, do NOT give up!
We hope this helps! We are excited to continue to take you along with us on our journey to get our booties back in shape! We will update you guys every couple of weeks on our blog and podcast! Stay tuned!

Our programs & guides: bodyfitbalance.com

Our podcast: Turner Talks Podcast

For nutrition assistance email Bailey: Bailey@bodyfitbalance.com

For training assistance email Zach: Zach@bodyfitbalance.com

Best,

Bailey & Zach

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