How I Achieved My Pre-Pregnancy Weight
Weight management is something that I have been struggling with since I had kids. I checked out several programs such as IF and Keto but I really have not found anything I could stick with.
I was never really healthy in the past.
For those who know me, I loved fast food, Coke (one can every meal), sitting on my couch the whole day; I didn’t like vegetables, I ate loads of rice (my officemates called me Karen Carpenter – kasi karpentero kumain, LOL) and it was just pork that I mostly consume. My husband used to tell me “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT,” but I never really took that by heart until now.
When experts repeatedly communicated that our only defense against Covid was a healthy lifestyle, I wanted to be healthier. Not only for myself but for my family.
I wanted to go back to my ideal weight so that I won’t feel too sluggish, eat healthier, and of course, have some sort of exercise at home because this whole stay-at-home situation really takes its toll on the body. Also, I wanted to continuously manage my PCOS and my repro-immune disorder because even if I could not get pregnant anymore, its manifestation may still be felt by the body.
(P.S. For moms who have PCOS, one of the things my OB advised me in the past was to lose weight, reduce my carb intake (because this is converted to sugar glucose), and live healthier so I felt that this was something that I needed to do again. When I was on my PCOS workup, I only ate lean meat, had brown rice, stuck to an exercise, etc.)
This was part of my self-overhaul where I felt the need to be aligned in all the things that I do – spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
So I came across The Architect PH in one of the mom groups I am in. I checked out their Instagram and was impressed by the before and after photos that I saw. I got in touch with them to see how they can help me and just try out their services for a month.
Tim, who became my coach, got back to me and asked me if I was willing to do a free assessment.
You see, before The Architect PH can allocate a slot for an interested client, they need to assess the person for free so that they would know how they can help in the best way possible. Tim gave me an idea as to what to expect and see if I was willing to do my part as it was really me who would execute the plan.
So what was my assessment?
Coach Tim told me that my issue wasn’t exactly weight loss but a process he called body recomposition. To quote him,
“… The process would entail minimal weight changes but more emphasis in terms of body fat percentage changes which will manifest mainly in your visuals.”
That was true because while I was not that far from my ideal weight of 100 lbs, I feel that fats are all in the wrong places – my tummy (of course, because of my four pregnancies), my thighs, my arms, and tada — my face! I have been working on this for years to no avail).
We started on October 1 with my weight at 105.4 lbs.
At the start, I really struggled; daily cardio exercise was NEEEVER part of my regimen. The biggest change was eliminating rice from my diet and replacing it with quinoa (which was the biggest struggle because I LOOOOOVE rice). I was also asked to work out 3-4x a week with no equipment needed. I loved this part because my workout plan was not overwhelming at all and it was easy to stick to.
With a bit of skepticism (and a lot of self-doubts), I stuck to the program. There were days that I had some slips but Coach Tim would gently nudge me back to THE PLAN and that really helped me a lot to be consistent.
So without going too much into the details, this is the result of THE PLAN.
After just one month of sticking to my fitness and nutrition plan, I finally reached my goal. The bloat was minimized; I was able to fit into my shorts that I could not fit in in yeeaaars; and more importantly, I had more energy despite a significant decrease in the volume of my main meals. I loved that my arms and things became slimmer (and I think I just need to tone them) and my face, too! YAAAY!
This was not an easy feat because I have been working for this for years but never really found something to stick with. As I said, I tried intermittent fasting and Keto as well but I couldn’t function well so I thought it wasn’t the one for me.
I could not be happier with my results and I just wanted to share this with you as a testament to a really amazing service I received. If you are interested, you can check The Architect PH website and Instagram account, see all other testimonials (because mine might not do a lot of justice, haha).
Take care, loves!
XOXO.
