This post has been sponsored by Utopia Food & Fitness to bring you this experience. All opinions are 100% our own!
As a homeschooling mom of twins that works from home (in all my spare time), I had gotten in to poor eating habits. And maybe wine. Everything seemed to be in a cyclical habit each day of busy mornings and skipping breakfast. Then I would find myself overeating when I finally had lunch at 1-2 PM. And then drinking a glass or two of wine at night. When moms are in their mom groove, we tend to focus more on our kids and less on ourselves. Which begs the question: how are we suppose to raise these tiny humans if we don’t keep ourselves healthy?
I recently got my rude awakening when I saw some photos of me and an extra chin with a boxy side of muffin top. I decided that I needed to drop about 10-15 lbs. to get back into a healthy body size. I’m not a petite girl, but I know my body fat ratio had been in a clinically obese range since the birth of my boys. Who were almost 7. I also struggle with having no thyroid at all, which is always a fun twist for maintaining a healthy body weight. I’m all for cute in a bathing suit but what really scares me is not being able to actively participate in my kids’ childhood. I needed to make a change. I needed to stop hiding behind carefully planned outfits that flattered my out of shape arms and legs. So here I am. Starting a weigh loss journey with Utopia Food & Fitness.
At a recent physical with my physician, we talked about weight loss and maintenance and the biggest thing he stressed was calories consumed need to equal calories used. Daily. You can work out all you want, but if you are overeating your daily calories, you’d never lose weight in an hour or two work out. I’m not great on figuring out portions, calories, carbs and protein or making myself eat each meal. This is where the genius that is Utopia comes in handy. They calculate all this for you!
For 6 weeks, I took it a step further and ate chef prepared meals tailored just for my caloric needs. My personal fitness plan included 3 meals a day and 2 snacks, with the idea of frequent and small meals. All of it was prepared and portioned and ready to heat and eat. The best thing about Utopia-Food and Fitness is it is all done for you, and all nutritional information is clearly labeled on the food. The portions are quite generous, since their 4-star chef purposely makes the meals tasty *and* filling for a flat belly full feeling. My favorites are the King Ranch Chicken Casserole and all their Asian dishes. Their “not fried rice” is as tasty as the take out around the corner and I never felt like I could not have Mexican food with a starter of chips and salsa or dip.
The Utopia work outs are 20 minutes, twice per week. There is always a trainer on site for you, and I found them all to be helpful with the machines, which can be overwhelming to me. The work out area is well equipped, and I never found the gym to be crowded. One of my favorite things about Utopia is the diversity I saw as I was there for my food pick ups or work outs. There were people of all sizes, shapes and ages. The veteran customers had amazing figures, with some of them in their 60s and 70s. And while I am not a fan of bringing my kids with me to work out (because that is *my* time for myself), I have even worked out with them at Utopia. On a day where childcare was not an option for me, my trainers went and printed out a Transformers color page for the kids to stay quiet for the quick 20 minute work out. Skipping a work out day wasn’t something I had to worry about in a pinch. When I went in to pick up my meals my trainers said “Let’s do this!” so we made it work.
So ready for my results after 6 weeks? I lost 10 lb.s of fat decreasing my body fat percentage down 13.7%. Remember, I was at 32.8% which is clinically obese. Now I am not at a “fitness level” of body fat, but I am at an acceptable percentage of body fat, which has a great impact on energy levels and general health. I also lost 17 inches off my mom bod. Here is me with the amount of fat gone after 6 simple weeks (that is only twelve 20 minute work outs with a trainer) and clean eating. My “muffin top” is going down and I have clear definition in my stomach muscles, which I was pretty sure my twin pregnancy destroyed. My total improvement (fat loss + lean gain) is 29.6 lbs. Since muscle weighs much more than fat, you can’t simply look at the pounds dropped on a scale. Utopia trainers did all sorts of measurements and monitoring during my 6 weeks and gave me a comprehensive body composition analysis. I can tell I have lost a significant amount of weight because I recently went shopping and went from double digit dress sizes to a single digit dress size. A size I haven’t bought in probably 20 years. No exaggeration. My husband actually encouraged me to shop so I have clothes that fit me better.
I feel like I am a body type that gains weight in weird places, like in the form of back rolls, so these photos show more drastic results from my 6 week journey. So embarrassingly, here they are:
I am so excited to see my results and I am so impressed with my progress at Utopia that I have continued well past the 6 week mark and became a member at their facility. I am still grabbing prepped meals and working out regularly. I would encourage any mom stuck in a fitness rut to give them a call and go it to see what it is all about. Not only is Utopia Food & Fitness effective, but it is affordable and on par with what most of my friends spend monthly anyway at a larger gym facility. I’ve also been inspired by Chef Mike and try to make family night meals where my kids help me make healthy food choices so my whole family can learn healthful habits and love the food they eat.
To get more information about how Utopia can help you on your way to health and wellness, check out their website here: http://utopiaff.com/
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