01 Mar Steffani LeFevour’s Transformation
BEFORE:
Hi Fearless Lifebookers, I’m excited and READY to join you on this challenge. I’ve been working on my health and fitness a lot over the last 2 years and I’m now ready to really kick it up a notch. I tend to eat clean and workout hard and get to a low lean weight briefly and then the minute I get there I let go and climb up a bit. I realized this must be an upper limit problem and I’m ready to challenge myself to see just how good it can be. I’ve found its easier sometimes to change something that you’re not happy with and really improve it, then it is to really improve on something that you’re already happy with. To go from good to great so to speak. And I want to excel my health and fitness to an excellent category. I plan to do this by eating cleaner, no dairy AT ALL in January and a SUGAR FREE February. (Which I’ve never done before) I’m going to ramp up my workouts even more. And increase my green drinks and smoothies. I’d also love some accountability to meditate more regularly. I go through phases where I do and I don’t and I’d love to make that a DO forever. (Any tips and suggestions I’d love to hear them) So thanks for being on this journey with me. I’m excited to witness all of your progress and use this challenge to propel my life forward. Thanks Damion for doing this! Let’s rock!
AFTER:
Confession… I didn’t want to do this challenge.
I was very comfortable with my health and fitness, with my eating and with my weight. I’m 45 and have 2 young kids and I was in great shape. Better than the ‘average’ person maybe. Definitely in great shape for me. But when I saw all of you posting your photos and your mission with such deep purpose I knew I had to push myself.
Isn’t that what Lifebook is all about?
When I first did Lifebook 4 years ago I realized that I was very comfortable, in my career, my relationship, with my parenting and with my home.
That’s now a dreaded word for me.
When I get comfortable I know I’m pulling back, and I now know that I need to push forward.
So this challenge really challenged me.
I was already doing green smoothies daily, eating pretty clean, working out hard many times a week. How do I improve on that? Well it wasn’t easy.
I had to take this in stages.
First I set some goals. Not to lose weight, but to lose FAT and GAIN muscle. It’s not easy to gain muscle in your 40’s (said my limiting beliefs).
So I started with my thoughts. My new mantra “I’m burning fat and building muscle!” I sang it every morning. Repeated it while on the treadmill. Taught a little dance to my kids. I started with my thoughts. Then moved to my body.
I cleaned up my eating even more. Adding more meals a day. (When I workout hard I tend to under eat). Only powerful carbs. No sugar for the month of February, which was easier than I thought. And for 15 straight days I followed an exact eating plan, 6 protein packed meals a day, gluten free, sugar free, dairy free. It was far from routine, far from normal, and REALLY inspiring. I LOVE eating like this. And I’ll keep it up.
I cleaned up my routine. I added in a 15 minute daily meditation and The 5 Minute Journal every morning and night. Now that feels good. I’ve never gone 60 straight days meditating every day. Tomorrow will be day 60. THANK YOU Lifebookers for that! It has affected my patience, my parenting, my focus, my creativity, my reactions, my love life and my health. Win win win win win!
I power packed my workouts. I committed to 3 times a week Orange Theory workouts. One yoga sculpt class a week. And HIIT weight workouts the other days. For the last 3 weeks of the challenge I worked out 7 DAYS A WEEK. It’s been 24 straight days of workouts. At least 1 – 20 minute HIIT every day, even on off days. And it feels amazing.
The final results…
I went from 128 pounds to 125 pounds. I lost a total of 4 inches over my body. AND I gained 3 pounds of lean muscle. YESI At 45, I gained 3 pounds of lean muscle. WOO HOO! Take that limiting beliefs.
I lost 6% body fat over the 3 months. That’s HUGE for me.
Most importantly I proved to myself that I will NOT BE COMFORTABLE. I will push myself for more. Even in an area that I’m happy with, even at 45, even when it’s challenging.
I can honestly say at 45 years old that I’m in THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE. Thank you again Lifebook and all of you for pushing me into a life I love even more! I’m so grateful. And I will keep this up. Congrats to all of you for making powerful positive changes! This challenge ROCKED!
Steffani LeFevour