Update! JillFit Gal Vanessa Lynn: 6 Months Later

Remember the transformation piece we did on JillFit gal Vanessa Lynn, well, we thought we would check back with her now that’s it’s been 6 months since she started the JillFit program to see how she is doing.  Well, we couldn’t have been more excited to find out that Vanessa has not only taken her fitness to the next level living the Fat Loss Lifestyle (FLL) every day maintaining and improving on her new tight bod, but her passion and success has inspired all of her clients as well as those following her on Facebook and beyond to learn and implement these FLL tactics for themselves and almost all of her clients are shedding fat left and right! How cool! For us at JillFit, this kind of complete transformation and then paying it forward is incredibly rewarding and powerful! Well, we thought we would bring you ‘A Day in the Life’ of Vanessa to see how she does it! Let the inspiration begin :)

So, here I am, 6 months after beginning my journey into the fat-loss lifestyle! I will admit that prior to choosing this route, I didn’t think I “needed” it. After all, I am a certified personal trainer and nutrition counselor—why on earth do I need help getting my health back on track?

You might remember from my initial interview that I was absolutely miserable! I didn’t understand why my working out incessantly (although it’s debatable that the intensity was as great as I convinced myself it was, since I had zero energy) and “awesome” dietary habits weren’t helping me reach my goals. Notice I said “awesome dietary habits”….who really ever thinks that they have horrible eating habits? It’s rare! You ask someone about his or her diet, and you can pretty much count on the same answer: “I eat so healthy all the time; I just don’t get it!” Well, I am here to tell you that even people in the fitness industry fall victim to this skewed mentality. It was tough for me to enlist outside help. Luckily, I was able to throw my pride in the trash, along with my Qdoba burrito (hello bloat!), and hopped on the computer to contact Jill herself.

I completed the 12 week competition prep diet and training with Jill and my amazing coach, Tara. Not only did they create something for me that I was able to follow for 12 weeks (though it was NOT easy!), but they also instilled in me a new-found love for the fat loss lifestyle that I have been able to continue since then! It has also helped me improve the success of my clients 110% because I share with them all of the amazing things I learn on a daily basis.

Many people think that people in the fitness industry have some sort of gene mutation that enables us to function without emotional disturbances, for example: easily resisting food temptation and getting our workout in even though it’s raining and we are tired. Guess what? We are human just like you. We get cravings just like you; we get tired just like you; most of us don’t like cardio just like you (hehe); and we have the same exact 24 hours in our day that you do. So, how do we make it work? We adapt our habits over time and eventually learn that the benefits of daily meal preparation, staying consistent with our workouts, eating on schedule, etc all outweigh the slight annoyance that may initially be caused by making those a priority. It’s the only way to make the fat-loss lifestyle permanent. And I promise, it does get easier!

Here is how my typical day unfolds:

1. Wake up & drink a glass of water with real lemon juice (highly alkalizing!), in addition to my supplements for the day, which include: BCAAs, Fish oil, Raw Multi-vitamin, and enzyme caps. I blend a HUGE detox smoothie (thanks to my awesome friend, Becki, for introducing this to me!) that includes very alkalizing ingredients: kale, spinach, parsley, celery, lemon juice, asparagus, unsweetened cocoa powder, some blueberries, and coconut milk kefir. I believe it is so important to maintain your body’s pH levels, so I strive everyday to include highly alkaline foods into my diet.
2. I pack whatever food I will need to have with me for in between clients. I have learned an extremely important rule for my own unique fat loss formula, and that is that I do best on 3-4 larger meals a day. This controls my insulin the best (no crashing!), and keeps me extremely satisfied and disciplined with my food. I can’t stress enough how important it is to find what works the best for YOU. Some people do great with 6-8 meals a day, and some completely fail. It doesn’t matter what the reason is, but the most important diet for you is the one you can follow everyday! Below is a picture of some of my daily staples:
   
3. I tend to have large gaps in my training schedule, so I try to get in my morning cardio (30-40 mins) in between clients, at least 3x a week. This is a big deal for me to prioritize this because not only does it help me use my time efficiently, it helps me de-stress and get energized for the day. Some days I do intervals for just 20 mins, and other days I do steady-state (slower) cardio. I do any combination of backwards stepper, uphill race bike, treadmill hill sprints or incline walk, stairmaster runs or stair runs. I later come back for my weight training session. Splitting it into two sessions allows me to devote all of my energy to each thing instead of straggling along.
4. I usually have my last meal of the day around 6-7pm, and I am almost always in bed by 930. Since I wake up at 5am everyday, it’s extremely important that I get to bed early. If your sleep patterns are off, your fat loss results will also be off. I can’t tell you how important it is to get 7-8 hrs of sleep every night if you want to improve on your fat loss and keep your hormones balanced. Cortisol is an amazingly powerful hormone (despite what you’ve heard, this hormone is not always bad!), and you can bet that the sleep-deprived people will have big issues with hormonal imbalance.
5. Last but not least, I have learned something else very important throughout this process, and it is this: You must focus on your own individual needs (not someone else’s) for better health. What I mean by this is of course, not only finding your unique fat loss formula, but also identifying things that your body reacts/responds to, and improving your habits accordingly. Just because some people can eat a certain food all the time, and still see great results, doesn’t mean you necessarily can. Just because someone can workout twice a week and stay lean, doesn’t necessarily mean you can. Once I stopped comparing myself to everyone else, I broke out of my rut and finally paid attention to what my body needed. I found out that I have a list of foods that are highly inflammatory for me, make me bloat, and break me out. Instead of being jealous that some people can eat these foods just fine, I just suck it up and eliminate them from my diet. The fat loss lifestyle isn’t easy by any means, but it’s SO worth it. It takes sacrificing, discipline, ridicule (from people who don’t get “it”), and meticulousness. It’s hard work…but then you look in the mirror :)