Image by Roxana Marroquin.

Did you know that one can have normal body weight and still be fat? BMI can be a good indicator of the risk of developing diseases such as type 2 diabetes, certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases. However, it does not address body fat percentage and waist circumference which are better indicators of health threats related to being overweight. In fact, someone with normal body weight (BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m²) can still have too much body fat which increases one’s risk of developing the abovementioned and other disorders. Acceptable body fat is less than 32% (ideally <25%) for women and less than 25% (ideally <18%) for men. Essential fat for women is 10-13% and 2-5% for men.

Image by nuttakit.

My goal for the last five years has been to build muscle while staying lean. Anyone who has been working out consistently for years will agree that there are times when motivation is lacking or life gets in the way of your workouts e.g. work,school, illness or injury etc. But how do you stay motivated to keep on going? Here are a few tips:

Image by Grant Cochrane.

In preparation for an upcoming fitness shoot I will be eating and working out like I normally have, however I will be consuming less carbohydrates. Why? Well, I want to make sure that I look lean while getting all the nutrients my body needs. As you may know the body needs essential amino acids from protein and essential fatty acids from fat. However, while carbohydrates are important for dietary balance, there is no such thing as essential carbohydrates. This does not imply that I will drastically cut my carbs like some diet plans propose because not all carbs are alike and different types have different health benefits.

Welcome to my world and follow me on  my path to wellness and fitness. My journey began five years ago. I was not a great picture of health despite my skinny appearance. I consumed chocolate bars and soda daily with no regard of the consequences. I exercised sporadically with no goal or real purpose and I had a body I felt was too thin and lacking of strength.

I decided to make a change for the better as I was preparing to enter physical therapy school. This desire was based on  wanting to set a healthy example for my patients and wanting to be able to perform all the physical requirements that the profession demands. So I began setting goals for myself.

In order to reach my goals I knew I had to drastically change my eating habits, exercise regularly and set obtainable benchmarks for each of these aspects. Knowing that if I made a quick switch I would be tempted to fall back to my old ways I decided to gradually phase out the junk food, limiting that type of food to just one day a week, a rule I still follow even to this day. In addition, I began scheduling my workouts, planning out the routines ahead of time so that I was efficient and could get the most out of my time at the gym.