Sandra Okeke: My Fitness Journey

Hey babes! Sandra here!

So I've been getting lots of emails and messages from girls and guys who don't know how to begin their fitness journey and need that extra push.

It's normal to hesitate. When I started fitness it wasn't easy. You may not be satisfied with your body, and that is okay. It's okay to want to mold yourself into the body you feel comfortable in. It is normal to want to be better, feel better, and look better.

This is why I am going to share with you all my own fitness journey.

The first time I went to the gym was with my best friend. He had been training for so many years and would take me to the gym with him occasionally. I remember I’d just sit around watching him train and one day he was like 'get up and do some squats.' I looked at him like he was crazy. To me it was a waste of time but I did it anyway and my legs were sore for days! I literally couldn’t climb the stairs for a week and I swore never to go back to the gym. 😧😧

Then, I was drawn to Instagram models who had the perfect abs and the perky booties with well defined legs and I wanted to look like them. I never had much body fat so I knew I wasn’t far off but I knew I had to build my body and that would take a lot of hard work. I knew I had to put in the work so I started taking going to the gym more seriously. That’s when my fitness journey began. 

Because of my frame and fast metabolism, I knew I needed to lift weights to make the changes happen. Trust me when I say I did NOT know everything in the beginning. I researched, I watched videos of how to properly do certain exercises so I could get my form right at all times. I researched the best exercises to build a booty, to get abs, to tone! 

My friend helped create a workout schedule for me so I made sure I was hitting at least two muscle groups a day. It took a lot of mental and physical strength, a lot of consistent training days.  Once I realized the gym was therapy for me, I knew I’d never give up on it. 

After three months, I really saw the work start to pay off. I looked way more toned and when I walked all my muscles were tight. I loved it. I went from a 32-inch glute to a 33-inch glute and was just blown away. 😆😆

I started to put my social media to good use, documenting my journey. People were asking me for help, [so] I made an email account and helped people daily for free by giving out meal plans (which I still do), video guides and tips. 

I was constantly working on myself. It took a while to get the hang of the nutritional aspect because I knew- abs are made in the kitchen. I had to cut out a lot of bad foods. I stopped drinking my calories and that helped a lot. 

I’ve only been training for 8 months and I’ve seen the benefits. I train 7 days a week. No short cuts, no excuses. I fell in love with fitness and It’s become a lifestyle. I want other women to see that being strong is still sexy and lifting weights will not make them look like a man. It actually gives you more curves. I believe that whatever you want to achieve can be achieved if only you focus on the goal. ♡♡♡

Training

I train 6-7 days a week. Yes. Monday to Sunday, no rest days. I know you hear a lot of people say you should have rest days so your muscles can re group and though this is partly true but if you want to see real change, you have to hit the gym maximum 6 days a week!

My training routine for the week starts with Leg Day on Monday. On Mondays I train my legs and shoulders. Tuesday’s are for my biceps and my back. Wednesday’s are my triceps and my biceps then I repeat all the days till Saturday. I squat every day. The parts of my body that I want to see the most definition on - my booty and abs- I work on every day. My training sessions range from 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours maximum and I keep my rest periods relatively low.

The Challenge

My biggest challenge was definitely building my upper body strength. As a woman, we generally have a weak upper body because our frame is smaller than most men and we have smaller bone density. I found squatting very easy and I was able to build stronger legs quicker  than I was able to build my upper body strength. Exercises like push ups, bench presses and pull ups were all impossible for me for a while but I kept pushing and practicing and eventually I was able to get to a point where I could go at least 10 each. I love a challenge.

The number one misconception a lot of females have about training is that they don’t need to do upper body exercises and this is so untrue. Your upper body is just as important as your lower so ladies, the same focus you put on getting your booty,  focus on toning  your arms, back, chest as well!

The Payoff

I weighed under 100 pounds for so long, but through strength training I was able to gain extra pounds of mostly muscle. I’m between 120 to 127 pounds these days, currently I weigh 125 pounds which is an equivalent of 58 kilograms. I’m 5”4 (I haven’t grown since high school), my waist is 26 inches, my glutes are   38 inches and my thighs are 22 inches thick. I have gained 6 inches in my hips entirely from lifting! I built my quads and hamstrings which gave my petite figure a ‘slim thick’ look so yes your body goals are  very achievable if you put in the work!

The Nutrition

When I first started lifting weights, the biggest struggle for me was my nutrition for sure. I used to skip meals to stay lean but after some time I noticed I was not only maintaining my abs but I was losing muscle mass. All the leg gains I had worked hard for was slowly fading. So I started taking more protein. I eat protein with every meal. My go to source of protein is fish - tuna, sardines, as well as eggs and chicken.

I focus on foods that keep me lean because just “eating healthy” can cause me to lose my abs. I will admit that I eat a lot of the same things week to week, for example my diet includes noodles, beans and rice but I change how I cook it so that I don’t get bored. I still have a high metabolism so I make sure to eat extremely often. I eat a lot of carrots as a snack. A lot of people believe that cutting off carbs entirely is what they need to keep fit but this is the opposite. Your body needs carbs for energy but the right kind of carbs.

My Tip:

I train because it makes me feel sexy. I like being in the gym where I’m the only girl who goes hard.

Results take time. Change takes time. Don’t give up! Don’t be hard on yourself if the results aren't happening as fast as you want them to. Don’t be discouraged if you're not ‘there’ yet. There’s no such thing as being ‘there’. Self progress never stops.