A fitness coach has shared exactly what she stopped doing and started instead to get her dream body – and why it took her years to find the right training and nutrition style for her physique.
Sophie Allen, 32, from Sydney, said for a long time she was ‘stuck in unhealthy cycles and mindsets’ that meant she wasn’t seeing results or she would see results and then re-gain the weight.
It was only when she ditched the overly restrictive diets, endless training sessions and all or nothing mindset that Sophie started to see results.
A fitness coach has shared what she stopped doing and started instead to get her dream body – and why it took her years to find the right training and nutrition style (pictured now)
BEFORE AND AFTER: Sophie Allen, 32, from Sydney, said for a long time she was ‘stuck in unhealthy cycles and mindsets’ that meant she wasn’t seeing results or she would see results and then re-gain the weight
Sophie wrote on Instagram: ‘Creating a body that represented strength, health, and trust (yes, because I struggled to trust myself to maintain the results I worked hard for and kept self-sabotaging by overeating) has taken me YEARS.
‘Only in the last few years have I really figured out what works for me and helped women all around the world apply the same approach.’
The 32-year-old said she has stopped overly restricting herself with her diets, training every day, doing bad programs and having an ‘all or nothing mindset’.
Sophie has also ditched thinking there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods, endlessly dieting and tracking her calories.
The 32-year-old said she has stopped overly restricting herself with her diets, training every day, doing bad programs and having an ‘all or nothing mindset’ (pictured now)
Instead, she has replaced it with an ‘inclusive nutrition approach’ that sees her follow the 80/20 approach to eating – whereby she eats healthily 80 per cent of the time and a little of what she loves 20 per cent of the time.
Sophie also follows solid programming, does just five exercises a session and trains just three or maximum four times a week.
She trains ‘closer to failure’ and spends the majority of her year at ‘maintenance’ calories.
As a result, her body has never looked better.
Instead, she has replaced it with an ‘inclusive nutrition approach’ that sees her follow the 80/20 approach to eating (what she has stopped and started doing pictured)
Sophie typically eats around 2,000 calories per day – comprising healthy fats, carbs, fibre and protein.
Sophie said she could never ditch meat from her diet, as it provides her with too many essential nutrients she couldn’t get from elsewhere.
‘People often ask me if I could ever go vegan,’ Sophie wrote on her Instagram page.
‘As someone who has a history of low iron and who focuses heavily on the micronutrient content of food, it’s not something I’d want to do anytime soon.’
Sophie said eating meat – and red meat in particular – comes with a host of nutritional benefits.
Not only does it provide you with essential nutrients including iron, zinc, magnesium and protein – which are hard to get from other non-animal sources – but it’s also good for you, if enjoyed sustainably.
Sophie tries to keep her consumption to the recommended intake of 65 grams per day, or 455 grams per week.
‘To put this into perspective, a portion of steak is typically 250-380 grams raw,’ she added.
‘A good tip with your meat is to buy local.’
What is Sophie’s typical weekly shopping list?
BUDGET: $200 per week
The 30-year-old shared what she buys in a week (pictured)
* PROTEIN: Extra lean organic beef mince, prawns, barramundi, chicken breast, rump cut steak, protein powder, eggs and egg whites.
* CARBOHYDRATES: Gluten-free bread, gluten-free dairy-free brioche buns, pita bread, rice cakes, gluten-free Weetbix, mini rice cakes dipped in chocolate, dark chocolate, sugar and salt-reduced tomato sauce.
* FRUIT AND VEGETABLES: Pineapple, bananas, pumpkin, cauliflower, zucchini, broccolini, tomatoes, basil, cos lettuce, blueberries and strawberries.
* HEALTHY FATS: Peanut butter, almond flour, macadamia nuts, vegan cheese.
Source: Sophie Allen
Sophie previously admitted that her goal with her weight used to be to be ‘skinny’, and so she would starve herself thinking it would give her what she wanted (pictured now)
Sophie previously admitted that her goal with her weight used to be to be ‘skinny’, and so she would starve herself thinking it would give her what she wanted:
‘All I wanted was to be skinny, to shrink parts of myself that I didn’t love,’ she previously wrote on Instagram.
‘Skinny was “in” when I started my fitness journey… then I decided to blow up the ideas I had around beauty and focus on getting STRONG.’
Sophie said she used to prioritise cardio over strength work, and would eat as little as possible – around 1,400 calories per day – only to ‘binge’ on cheat meals at the weekend.
It took her months of researching why she wasn’t seeing the results she wanted to completely change her thinking and her approach.
‘I was chronically under-eating, under-recovered, spinning my wheels, not progressing, burning through any muscle I gained, building no strength or solid technique… no wonder I wasn’t getting anywhere,’ she said.
‘It took me a while to figure out the style, frequency, type, volume and intensity that I was able to recover from in order to get the best results for my goals.
‘Now, I’ve taken my body through building phases to fuel my sessions to build the muscle I was after.’
She added: ‘I rest hard, I eat plenty, I sleep plenty, I lift plenty and I’ve got plenty of a**.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk