How My Diet and Training Style Has Changed Over the Past Year

As I mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, "My Fitness Journey: Something That Changed My Life Completely" I was a pretty small kid all the way throughout high school and entering my freshman year of college. Once I decided to pay more attention to my diet and started training more frequently, I began adding on weight and muscle. By my junior year of college I had put on over 20 pounds and I wanted to continue to build on that each year. However, it got to the point where I got stuck doing things a certain way for a period of time and I began feeling the effects of some poor eating decisions, and an unbalanced training routine. The combination of these two ended up affecting my energy levels and self confidence drastically. So, I made it a goal that I wanted to lean down, improve my eating habits, and alter my training style to become an overall healthier individual.

Throughout college I had this idea stuck in my head that I shouldn't do as much cardio, because I thought it would make me skinny and I would lose all of my muscle. That thought scared me because I didn't want to go back to being the skinny, weak kid again. Because of this misconception I had, I probably did cardio once a week, and it was extremely minimal (1-2 miles on the treadmill at a slow pace). After educating myself better through some articles, podcasts, and by following other fitness enthusiasts on social media, I learned that it's totally okay to implement cardio workouts into your schedule regularly throughout the week. The key is balance. If you properly balance strength training with cardiovascular exercises you aren't going to lose all of your muscle. Now, if you're going out and running fifty plus miles a week with absolutely no strength training implemented in your routine, then you'll most likely begin to see a decline in your strength and size. But like I said, it's all about finding a good balance between the two. I was solely focused on lifting, and not doing enough to make me a versatile hybrid athlete.

To give you some insight on what my workout schedule currently looks like on a weekly basis, I provided a table below:

To go into a little detail about my workout schedule: I typically go to the gym in the mornings. While there I will complete 15-20 minutes of stretching (foam roller, massage gun, bands, dynamic) straight into one of the light cardio options that I listed above. I like throwing a sweatshirt on to complete these light cardio sessions just to get a nice sweat going into my strength workouts. I've found that this makes my body feel much looser which ultimately helps me get through my long training sessions. After completing my strength workout, I'll complete some core circuits four days of the week, and then three days a week do a longer, more intense cardio session in the evenings. I've loved the progress I've seen over the last four months by using this routine. Your schedule doesn't have to look like mine, you just have to create a routine that works for you, challenges you, and develops you. I encourage you to lay out a weekly schedule like I've done and do a great job of staying disciplined and consistent with it. Keep setting new goals for yourself, and hold yourself accountable to make progress and close in on those goals week after week!

To shift gears now, the area I've improved on most, and where I've seen my biggest gains, is by far from the way I eat. My diet throughout college was a lot more disciplined than it was in my younger years, but as I look back on how clean I eat now, it still doesn't even compare. When I was living up at school, I was eating fast food and going to restaurants three to four times a week due to having limited time to cook at home with my busy schedule with school and baseball. In my mind, I thought that as long as I was eating healthy meals at least three times a week, that it would be good enough. Also, as long as I was consuming a ton of protein that I would be perfectly fine. I was an athlete and I worked out hard every week so I should burn off all that fast food no problem, right? Boy was I wrong. I was never overweight by any means, but it got to a point where I felt a little uncomfortable with my shirt off and I knew something had to change.

Looking back at what I was doing even at the beginning of this year, I wish I would have had the proper knowledge about nutrition and had started my clean, disciplined eating habits before this summer. I enrolled in Nick Bare's "Break the Switch" nutrition course in May and gained a lot of useful knowledge that I didn't know I was missing out on. Before this, I was strictly focused on consuming as much protein as possible while totally disregarding the other important macronutrients. I was eating roughly 3,500-4,000 calories per day and usually up to 350 grams of protein per day. I was so fixated on building as much muscle as I could that I completely neglected the other important factors that make up a healthy, well-rounded diet. I know now that you need a healthy balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, as well as micronutrients in order to see the best results.

There's that word again; balance. Being able to find a healthy balance in both your training and eating habits is the key to success. It doesn't take the new popular fad diet or a secret supplement to give you the results you're looking for. It takes discipline, hard work, and a little sacrifice.

Below, I've added a little transformation photo. The picture on the left is from this past May. I remember first seeing this picture and just feeling unhappy with what I saw. I was so focused on not going back to being super skinny again, so I was just pounding food without paying attention to the quality and quantity of it, while also neglecting important aspects of training. The picture on the right is from just recently. I finally let go of my preconceived notions that cardio results in loss of gains, and that I needed to eat as much as possible to get as big and strong as possible. Now, I eat much better without sacrificing the enjoyment of eating, I do cardio multiple times a week, and I haven't lost one bit of strength, I'm actually seeing it increase every week. My word of advice is to not get stuck in your ways. Open your mind to new ways of doing things, consider ideas you hadn't before, and try things you're uncomfortable with. I went from roughly 205 pounds in the picture on the left to 180 pounds now in the picture on the right. I've never felt happier, stronger, and healthier, and I can't wait to keep pushing myself to new levels and continue to see improvements.

If you're struggling right now with where to start or what to do, please reach out to me! I love talking to others about their fitness journey and goals. I would be more than happy to lend a helping hand and provide some guidance!