April 2016: 12 Week Transformation: Vanetza lost 25 pounds and transformed her body. Wanting to be a finalist for a BodyBuiling.com challenge, she shredded her body fat and gained lean muscle. She is the only African American woman in the running as a finalist. She also shared with us what she did to get fit.
What was your motivation? What inspired you?
I entered a 12-week body transformation challenge through BodyBuilding.com My primary reason for doing so was to prove to myself that I could fully commit to one program and actually stick to it to the end while motivating others along the way. I never thought that I could ever get recognized from the thousands who entered the challenge from all over the world. With hard work, dedication, effort, and keeping the faith, to my surprise, I was selected as one of the top 25 finalists from thousands all over the world. Please take the time to check out the link below and vote for me and 4 others to get the top 5 of the finalists!It is an HONOR to be listed as the only sister in the running!! (All you need to have is a valid e-mail address and click on my picture and 4 others).
www.bodybuilding.com/fun/transformation-challenge.html – Contest closed
How did you change your eating habits and what did you stop or start eating?
I carb cycled during the first 6 weeks of my 12-week body transformation and had no carbs during the last 6 weeks. Yes, you read that correctly. No carb intake can really affect a person and at first, you will barely have any energy. My body quickly adapted to no carbs and I was still setting personal records at the gym. To be honest, it was all God’s Strength. During the first half of the challenge, I would eat carbs anywhere between two to four times per week as I was focused on building muscles. During the last half, I pretty much ate the same thing every single day; chicken and vegetables.
What did your workout routines look like?
My workout routine was intense. I worked out every single day and worked out two to three times daily averaging a total of 40 hours per week; yes, just like another full-time job. No, I don’t have a lot of free time, trust me. I am an active duty Soldier and a business owner. I made time and sacrificed so much to workout. I did fasted cardio almost every single day. Fasted cardio is amazing! I’m not saying that fasted cardio is amazing because I love cardio. I prefer to lift weights. Fasted cardio is amazing because your body burns 20% more fat when you do it, because your body uses your body fat as its main source of energy as opposed to food. My morning fasted cardio sessions usually consisted of HIIT (high intensity interval training) cardio, which would include rounds on the stairmaster (my favorite) and walk-run-sprint rounds on the treadmill. I also did a lot of tabata in the morning, which always left me drenched in sweat. I followed 3 professional workouts from BodyBuilding.com: Lee Labrada’s Lean Body as my main, the Dymatize Team’s Transformed and Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size. My afternoon workouts were usually fasted as well, from the intermittent fasting mentioned above, and consisted of variations of exercises from the Transformed program and some from Shortcut to Size, which consisted of weight and ab training. My evening workouts were directly from the Lean Body program and I would sometimes add some exercises from the other programs. Some people thought I was crazy for choosing to do this but I wanted to push myself harder than ever before and go above and beyond; I refused to do average work because I wanted to be amongst the top contestants in the program.
What was your starting weight? What is your current weight?
My stating weight was 175 pounds. I currently weigh 150 pounds. I am 5’9″
How long did your transformation take?
My transformation took 12 weeks
What advice do you have for others who want to lose weight?
The very first piece of advice that I have for others who want to lose weight is that they need to ditch the scale and stop worrying about those numbers. What truly matter is what we see in the mirror. 1 pound of fat weighs the same as 1 pound of muscle. If you lose fat while gaining muscle, which is the ultimate goal, the numbers on the scale may not bulge. Better yet, you may gain 5lbs of muscles and shed 3lbs of fat which will add 2lbs to the scale… do not freak out! As long as you see and feel the changes in your body, that is all that really matters! Too often, I see women freak out because of what the numbers on the scale states!
The second advice I would share is that you must want it bad enough because it’s not easy! Everywhere we look we see BOGOs for fast food, food commercials and the restaurants as we are driving. The temptations are everywhere! It is so easy to get off course but what is harder is having to start back from square one! Stay focused, write down your goals, and keep a journal!
- Set small goals that are necessary to attain to ultimate goal and reward yourself every time you reach those small goals
- Have 1 cheat meal (not day) per week. This will keep you from going insane and will keep you on track.
My Instagram is @MsVsFitnessJourney. I share videos about my training routines, post motivational pictures,and use it as a journal. I also answer any questions that I receive about my transformation journey and I use Instagram to interact with all of you lovely beauties! Let’s keep in touch and let’s connect on Instagram!
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