3 Week Trim - Day 0

So November is basically upon us, and that means the beginning of my 3 week trim. Now, if you read my intro post, you're probably thinking, didn't she JUST say you fell victim to extreme yo-yo dieting? And the answer is yes, I did say that. But this is different. I am not going to be doing an extreme diet or workout plan, NOR will I be quitting after the 3 weeks is over (although I will be taking a quick break for Thanksgiving and my birthday... Nov 27, hint hint).

In general, a lot people start diet and exercise programs because they are getting ready for something. A wedding, a vacation, a birthday. In those cases, there is a hard deadline to reach whatever their goal is. And because I am a regular human being, for this particular situation, I have a similar goal. While I definitely do value long term overall fitness & health, I also have a 30th birthday and vacation coming up, so that is why 3 weeks is relevant to me.  Like I said, I plan to continue this lifestyle afterward, but for now, let's just get through the 3 weeks, and see what kind of progress we can make!

DIET

I will be following a carb-cycling plan.

What's carb cycling? Varying the levels of carbohydrate intake. I will be doing a high carb day, followed by two low-carb days.

Why carb cycling? On high carb days, I will have a large store of energy, which will be used to fuel my life. Through my low carb days, instead of using carbs to fuel my day and my workouts, my body will start using fat (second in line for burning energy). This is why a lot of low carb diets are popular. Less carbs available, more fat burning. The reason I don't love low to no carb diets is that I personally cannot maintain it, long term, and I don't think it's necessary to remove entire food groups to reach your goals. Plus, when you work out a lot or have an active job and lifestyle, I just don't think that low carb is something that is truly manageable. But that's ME. Many people have found success in Atkins or keto diets, but it's just not for me. Carb cycling is like the best of both worlds. Benefits of low carb, but I still get to eat fruit & bread!

Basic formulas I'll be using for my macros: 

Calories = Weight x 10

Protein = 1g per lb of body weight

High Carb days = 200g

Low Carb days = 60g

Remaining calories will come from healthy fats!

WORKOUTS

I will be following the Burn Bootcamp protocols. Meaning, I will be doing the workouts my clients get (or would be getting if our location was open already lol). Each week, all Burn Bootcamp locations have the same workout protocols, and the trainers have the freedom to write the specific workouts. For instance, Wed, Nov 1 is Lower Body Strength. Every Burn location will undoubtedly do a completely different lower body strength workout, BUT every location will be doing lower body strength. So, I will become my own Burn Bootcamp client.

Check out my YouTube if you prefer watching to reading (Note: I'm long winded)

Follow me @memfitdre on instagram to see summary updates

Follow @burnbootcamp to see my weekly workout schedule

Looking forward to sharing this journey with you all!

Who is MemfitDre?

Hi!

Welcome to my blog! I'm Andrea aka MemfitDre. A little background on myself: I grew up in southern California, now live in Memphis, TN, and I've spent most of my life in cheerleading. I have 3 brothers, and we've all been in sports pretty much our entire lives. I cheered in college at Hawaii Pacific University, where I earned 4 national titles and a Bachelors degree in Health Science.

I've been teaching cheerleading camps since I graduated high school, and have worked for Varsity ever since. My work in the cheerleading industry has been awesome. I get to work with athletes of all ages, teaching and inspiring them to be better athletes and better people. I get to travel the country and world, and I have the luxury of feeling like I don't have a "real job" because my work is so enjoyable.  And while I absolutely love the work I've gotten to do in cheerleading, I've always felt like I was missing out on pursuing my passion for working in fitness. With my 30th birthday approaching, I felt like it was time that I pursue this passion, so I got re-certified to personal train, and got a job at Burn Bootcamp as the Head Trainer.

Despite my athletic background and my interest in fitness & nutrition, I, like many others have struggled with keeping myself at a consistent weight and body composition. I look back at some of my "before" pictures, and wish that I could look like & feel like that! The woes of aging and retiring for sports, I guess.

I work out regularly, and have a clean-ish diet (I love dessert & brunch), but I also fall victim to the quick fix mentality, and have fallen victim to extreme dieting & exercise (body building diet & workout plan), only to relapse with 3x as much junk.  Although I KNOW what I'm supposed to do, sometimes I just get lazy.. OR, I see progress, then tell myself that I earned these donuts I'm having for breakfast...... eek.

But with my new career path, I think it is really important for me, as a leader, to find a balance. I will be leading hundreds of women on a path to self confidence and fitness success, and I think the first step for me to do that is the walk the walk.

I'll be using this blog as a diary of what I'm trying, as well as a source for motivation, tips, tricks, and workouts for anyone who needs those things.

Thanks for reading along!