This is probably the scariest post I've ever put together, but since the photo's are hilarious it's making me feel a little less vulnerable!
Although I haven't completely reached my goals in terms of strength, I'm at a point where I'm excited with my progress and finally happy with my body and my fitness.
I feel the need to add that I have not starved myself for the "after" pics, or gone crazy hard in the gym for the past week. In fact I visited a Vegan fair today before we took the photo's and stuffed my face with a Cajun BBQ soy burger, a fake meat filled bagel, a samosa, onion bhaji's, NY baked cheesecake and a chocolate orange doughnut (haha, go Vegan for minimal bloating!) This is how I look consistently and have done for some time now, I believe that it is my ideal weight.
These "before" pictures were taken way back in 2013, I had no idea about fitness or nutrition and I resorted to eating at most 1200 calories a day and getting in as much cardio as possible. One month in and my abs looked amazing, but I was absolutely starving and the tuna salad's just weren't cutting it anymore *vomit emoji*
Needless to say the low cal diet failed and I ended up going back to my old eating patterns and regaining what had been lost. Society has programmed us to believe that a pattern of dieting followed by a binge is normal and I was in that mindset up until I found Veganism and discovered the high carb, low fat lifestyle.
I know a lot of the HCLF Vegans swear by cycling, but personally I am uncoordinated on my bike and where I live there are no exciting hills to ride nearby.
For me, I have found the perfect exercise in bouldering (rock climbing but without the ropes). It combines cardio and strength for an all over body workout and it is so much fun, meaning going the climbing gym is never a chore or a boring task!
The reason I have mentioned being Vegan is because I was eating the standard Western diet for my first year of bouldering and it wasn't until I dropped the meat, dairy and eggs that my body started to reap the benefits. Of course I'm just speaking from personal experience, but that's what I'm supposed to do on here!
Almost immediately I dropped a stone and since then I have maintained the same weight whilst toning up and building muscle.
Over the last few years I have gone from climbing once a week, to around three or four times. I've never lost motivation or become bored of my routine, I've only become more psyched and excited to improve.
What I'm trying to get across is that bouldering and Veganism combined have meant that I have reached my ideal body without even trying, no difficulty at all, just fun (and alignment of my morals).
In the "before" pic I was tensing my bicep (or lack of) I literally used to have no strength!
Although I've mentioned the HCLF lifestyle, I don't follow it religiously. I eat the odd avocado, have a handful of nuts here and there and sometimes cook using olive oil. However, the majority of the time I am sensible and I dine on bananas, rice, potatoes, rice pasta, beans and all of the other delicious staples of HCLF. I try to hit at least 2200 cals a day, but I don't usually keep track, I'll just eat as much as I want until I'm nice and full.
I'm so happy that I discovered what works best for me and it really is amazing being fit, healthy and strong!
Also I give permission for you to laugh at how miserable I look in the "before" pics and how I used to have the posture of an old woman!
No matter where you are on your fitness journey, I reccomend you try bouldering! If you are in Liverpool come visit The Climbing Hangar and find out for yourself how addictive this sport really is and how awesome the people who climb there are!
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