The Best Fitness Advice I Ever Received....Did I Listen?

You know when you're young and you think you know it all. You think that every adult in the world is out to get you or they just don’t understand because they aren’t young?

Boy do I wish I would’ve listened. Back in 2010 I hired some trainers that helped me get in shape for Miss Florida USA. However, I was a total pain in the a** and always questioned why they didn’t have me doing more cardio. I hated the fact that I wasn’t doing more cardio because I thought I would gain weight. (Mind you I was 120lbs and 5’10”… I was a stick). I had serious body dysmorphia and didn’t even know it. I saw myself as “fat” when I was a twig. Now I look back and think to myself “what were you thinking?”. Anyways, I ignored their advice of doing less cardio and would end up doing it anyway.

I was so naive and stubborn that I missed a prime opportunity to gain muscle. When you are a newbie into weightlifting, the first year is the one where you end up gaining tons of muscle. Then after it stalls and it is much harder to put on muscle (i.e: the story of my life now). I was also eating 1200 calories which is nowhere near enough to build a good amount of tissue.

I wish I would’ve listened to them and not done all the cardio I was doing so that I could’ve gained a good amount of muscle and probably had more chances of winning that crown. I ended up being “too skinny” in the end. That was the last year I competed in pageantry but then I went on to bodybuilding. I hired new coaches for this and they had the opposite mentality of Somi Fitness. Instead, they wanted me to do endless hours of cardio! I was thrilled, until 6 months passed and my body wasn’t responding anymore and I entered a metabolic adaptation.

What is the advice in all of this? As women we believe that cardio is the only way to lose weight and get in shape. All we need to do at the gym is cardio and we will get an amazing body. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Yes cardio is supplemental to losing weight and you will need to do some when you are in a deficit and trying to lose but we shouldn’t be fixated on that! Weightlifting is where true transformation is but I was way too stubborn to listen to any advice  at that time and boy do I wish I would've.

Do you have any fitness advice you wish you would’ve listened to?