Gains with Garcia

It's certificate official.

I'm a nutrition coach.

Also an expert on butt stuff. Not certificate official but I read the book cover to cover, completed the beginner program and experimented with advanced methodologies with great results ↪️

If you wanna eat and train for a bigger, stronger, more functional bootay, back that thang up into my DM's 🍑

*t

Somewhere so deep in the mountains my phone became nothing more than a flashlight

When you don't feel like it, do it anyway

Had a long day, husband had a Surprise 24 hour shift, my meal kit didn't get delivered so I don't have food in the house and I did not stick to my meal plan today.

I did not feel like it today

But I got home from work and said 🦆 it, I want to feel strong right now. If I feel weak, I'll just scale back the weight.

Then I got a lifetime shoulder press PR

Progress shows up when you least expect it. It isn't linear and it's not always on your good days.

If you want to see progress

If you want to see the reward for your hard work

If you want to be better

Show up

Every

Day

be flexin on all y'all today

She just finished her first sanctioned powerlifting meet.

Videos coming soon. Just had to have my moment.

*t

Prioritize fun 👩‍🎨🎨

So you started down the path to health and fitness. You're all in, building healthy habits, hitting the gym, getting your steps in, saying no to that cupcake, seeing results and... Feeling like something's missing?

Perhaps in your enthusiasm to embrace this new lifestyle you forgot to leave room for the 3 F's. No I don't mean F-bombs. Friends, family and fun.

It may feel like you don't have room for these things, especially if your friends and family aren't on the same page as you when it comes to health goals but they actually play an important role in your long term success.

If friends and family aren't on board with your new lifestyle, you may have found yourself a fit fam. The people you workout with, plan hiking trips with and share that healthy protein frappuccino recipe with. But sometimes you need a break from thinking about what's the healthiest choice and just live.

So every now and then, turn off, check out and just enjoy. Eat that cupcake, take off the fitness tracker, Netflix and chill. Be with the people that light you up, spark joy and challenge you in a different way. Whether you take a week, a day or carve out a little time every day, leave space for fun. Your brain will thank you.

Getting for Easter

Have you got the time?

The fifth and final component of a SMART goal is that it is time-bound

In our example from week one, we set our timeline to 3 months. This is because goals without an end date can make it difficult to follow through. Most of us are experts at the art of procrastination. If there is no end date, we're likely to put off making the necessary changes to achieve our goals, but when we have a deadline it adds the required pressure to get to work. On the other end of the spectrum if you are working to achieve a more ambitious goal, you may run the risk of burnout. Large calorie deficits and intense training sessions can be utilized in the short term but are not sustainable or healthy for extended periods. By setting an end date for this type of plan you give yourself permission to end this phase whether or not you achieve the goal. If you achieve the goal, awesome. But now it's time to transition to a more sustainable plan. If not, you know that the plan was not Achievable for you at this stage and you need to reevaluate your goal and methods.

And speaking of not reaching our goals, oftentimes when this happens we take one of two routes. We either decide we are a failure and give up or we double down thinking that we just need to work harder.

I'd like to propose a third option. Yeah you guessed it, SMART goals. Remember smart goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound.

If you weren't able to achieve your goal it is likely one or more of these aspects was missing from the initial goal. This is a good time to revise your goal to fit your current situation. Maybe work was busier than you expected and you just didn't have time to get to the gym as often as you had planned and meal prepping went out the window. If time is a limiting factor adjust your goal to reflect that. Opt for home workouts, family hiking and biking trips for cardio and simplifying your meals along with a more modest goal. Look at what challenges keep you from achieving your goal and find ways to overcome them.

This concludes our mini series on how to set SMART goals. Check in every Wednesday for more fitness and lifestyle tips.

Recomposition progress 😊

July 21st -white top, 2 weeks before starting recomp ~26% body fat

vs

August 25 - black top, 2 weeks after starting recomp ~25% body fat

Pardon my derpiness. This is actually my first time doing a photo journal of my progress. I normally just focus on performance goals but in solidarity with my current and future clients I wanted to try something new.

It takes a lot of vulnerability to admit that you'd like to make a change and show the world where you started. So let me be the first.

My motto when it comes to weight loss or any other goal focused on body composition and physical appearance is that you have to first love and accept the body you're in. You don't have to love everything but you need to appreciate the good and come from a place of self love and compassion before you commit to a change.

While I don't love the weight I gained in my time off, I do love that my body is strong and capable. I love my curves and my thickness. Along with the muffin top and tummy pooch came strength gains and new muscle. And I love being strong. I thank my body for these gifts.

I also love my body when it is has clear muscle definition. I love flexing. Seeing my quads and biceps pop. I love being ripped. So I started a recomposition diet and training program to get back to that body. But with that comes a temporary loss in strength and less muscular fullness. I don't love these.

My diet and program are temporary. A means to an end. I set an end date, October 15. My goal is to get back to 22% body fat. I can't say with certainty that I will get there in the time I've given myself but I do know that I will make progress if I stick to the program. When the program ends I will thank my body for the hard work and gifts it has given me and gracefully accept the end result. I'll go back to my strength training and focus on my bigger competition goals. I'll give my body the fuel it needs to perform at its best and put aside my composition goals knowing that I can always revisit these in the future.

Come back every Friday to follow my journey to to ripped 💪🦵

Relevance!

Part 4 of our 5 part smart goal series is relevance.

So far we've discussed setting goals that are specific, Measurable and Achievable. Today we'll look at how to make them relevant.

You wouldn't train a powerlifter to run for distance and speed. Nor would you train a marathoner for hypertrophy. Why? Because it's not relevant to their ultimate goals. You might give the power lifter some cardio to improve health markers, manage weight and increase work capacity but that's where the relevance ends. Same with your marathoner. You might program some strength training to prevent injuries, improve running technique and build muscular endurance but hypertrophy serves no purpose for distance running.

To bring this point back to our example client, the busy mother who wants to improve health and lose some weight, we're not going to train her like an athlete or a body builder. She doesn't need a program that promises a dramatic transformation or a better run time. The program that will serve her best will be sustainable and fit her busy lifestyle.

She just wants to look and feel better. Likely her priorities include leading a healthier lifestyle and setting a positive example for her family. So a modest reduction in fat will help her with her physical goals while also helping her set a positive example for her children by demonstrating how to balance work, family and health in a sustainable and healthy manner.

We'll give her a balanced exercise program of resistance and cardio training along with some dietary changes (think adding a serving of vegetables, replacing a couple alcoholic beverages with water and saving the takeout for special occasions) to improve composition and health markers. We'll keep the workouts short and simple and the dietary changes will be small and gradual. For the untrained client these small changes are likely to make a big difference in the long haul. And the best part is, it fits her busy lifestyle so it's something she can stick to and reap benefits from for years to come.

Come by next week for the final installment of the series and start making your goals SMARTer.

Is your goal ACHIEVABLE?

This third competent of a smart is that it is achievable.

Remember our example client from week one: a busy mom who wants to lose 3% body fat in 3 months.

Notice we're not promising our mother a dramatic transformation in a short amount of time with minimal effort? That's because this type of goal is not realistic. Especially considering she is a working mother and probably doesn't have the time or energy needed to spend hours working out and meal prepping that comes with dramatic recomposition goals. However altering body composition by losing fat at a rate of 1% /month using a combination of diet and exercise is. It is healthy and generally Achievable for most people and a good place to start for recomposition and weight loss goals.

The thing to keep in mind is that every BODY is different and will respond differently so it is best to keep short term goals modest in order to stay motivated. By setting an unrealistically high goal we set ourselves up for disappointment when we realize our efforts aren't as effective as we expected. Your long term goal might be more ambitious but paving the way with smaller Achievable milestones will help you stay consistent and motivated. Each time you reach a milestone, you can revaluate your progress and adjust your future plan and expectations accordingly.

Until next week, keep setting SMART goals and being awesome 😎