Giving Birth To A Better Body — The Belly-Banishing Fitness Plan

Vital Stats

Name: Suzanne Michelle Reinhold


Before: Age: 36 Height: 5'2" Weight: 196 lbs	After: Age: 36 Height: 5'2" Weight: 148 lbs

Why I Got Started

After the birth of my fourth son, and I knew I wasn't going to have any more children, so I set a goal for myself to lose all the weight I had gained during my pregnancies and to tone up my body.

I was fed up with being a fat and unhealthy mom, I was tired of being tired and cranky all the time. I was always depressed, my self-esteem was incredibly low as was my self-worth!

I never wanted to do anything, never wanted to go anywhere, life just sucked. There just had to be more to life than what I was living. That's why in October of 2010 (3 months after the birth of my 4th son) I made a pact with myself to become healthy and fit and to live my life to the fullest every single day.

I realized that I deserved to be healthy and happy, and my children deserved to have a happy, energetic and healthy mom too. I found Bodybuilding.com, read some of the other members stories and saw their transformations, and I thought "This is just the site for me!"

So, I became a member and created my BodySpace account.

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I realized that I deserved to be healthy and happy, and my children deserved to have a happy, energetic and healthy mom too.

How I Did It

Well, first I started by joining the YMCA. A new location had just opened up in my small town in November of 2010. Then, slowly but surely I started changing my eating habits and what types of food I ate. I didn't go gung-ho though. I just focused on one thing at a time.

I didn't want to go crazy and start changing everything at once because I would have set myself up for disaster and failure. So, I slowly started cutting out really bad and worthless carbs (bread, cereal, white rice, potatoes, starches, sweets, pastries, etc). I started eating more veggies (which I love) and eating them more often throughout the day.

I also eliminated Diet Coke and started drinking more water. I've never been a water drinker…so this was a challenge for me. However, I purchased a water bottle from Bodybuilding.com and started filling it up several times a day … and NOW I never leave home without it.

I wasn't familiar with the machines at the Y and how to use them, so I was a little apprehensive and "shy" at first. I just kind of watched everyone else and just followed along aimlessly. It wasn't until December 2010 that I signed up to meet with a personal trainer. That was probably one of the BEST things I ever did!

My personal trainer explained everything to me (weight loss, muscle building, cardio, etc.). When I told him I wanted to burn fat, gain nice lean muscle and tone he went right to work. He came up with a specialized program geared just for me. He helped me find out what my 1 RM was and how to use that to challenge myself further.

Then, with my new knowledge, I decided to join the Bodybuilding.com $100,000 Body Transformation Competition on December 29th. This day was the changing point in my life, this is the day that I really became serious about my weight and wanting to lose it.

With the program my personal trainer came up with for me, I was able to shed almost 30 pounds and a lot of inches within 8 weeks. I work out 6 nights a week, taking off one day for rest.

Once I set my mind to be fit and healthy, everything else just fell into place. I work a full time job during the day and have 4 children to take care of when I come home.

So, most of the time I don't get to the gym until 8 p.m. and don't get back home until 10 p.m. Yes, I'm exhausted…but my determination is so strong that I push through the exhaustion to keep going.

Now that I see I can literally change my life and my body, I don't ever want to go back to living the way I did in the past. So, I just keep moving forward!

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Once I set my mind to be fit and healthy, everything else just fell into place.

Supplements

Diet

Meal 1:

2 scoops Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey
2 tsp organic peanut butter

Meal 2:

1 Protein Bar

Meal 3:

3 oz grilled chicken
7.5 oz salad (greens, tomatoes, carrot shavings, cabbage, spinach, etc)

Meal 4:

7.5 oz fresh fruit or raw veggies (raw snap peas, celery and carrots or grapes, melons and pineapple)

Meal 5:

3-4 oz lean meat (chicken or turkey)
3-4 oz veggies

Meal 6:

1 Protein Bar

2 scoops Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey

Daily:

1 gallon water

Training

My training is based on the Prilepin's Table (training volume). In addition to resting the specific time between sets, I also rest the same amount between each rep.

Day 1: Heavy Upper Body (all exercises 85% 1 RM, 2 min rest)

Cardio

Exercises

Cardio

Day 2: Light Lower Body/Abs (all exercises 65% 1 RM, 30-60 sec rest)

Warm Up

Exercises

Cardio

Day 3: Medium Upper Body (all exercises 75% 1 RM, 90 sec rest)

Warm Up

Exercises

Cardio

Day 4: Heavy Lower Body/Abs (all exercises 85% 1 RM, 2 min rest)

Cardio

Exercises

Cardio

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: Light Upper Body (all exercises 65% 1 RM, 30-60 sec rest)

Cardio

Exercises

Cardio

Day 7: Medium Lower Body/Abs (all exercises 75% 1 RM, 90 sec rest)

Cardio

Exercises

Cardio

Suggestions for Others

My suggestion to others is don't give up! There have been so many times I just wanted to give up and say forget it. But, I kept going and now I'm amazed at how far I've come and how much I have accomplished. If this is what I can do in just 12 weeks, imagine what I can do in another 12 weeks.

Keep your head up. Read other success stories on Bodybuilding.com. You will truly be inspired and so incredibly motivated to get up, get moving and keep going. Don't give into excuses! There are so many excuses I could have used (I'm tired, I have 4 kids and don't have time, I don't feel like it, it's not helping because I don't see results) but I crushed them, put them out of my head and just decided to get up and go to the gym.

I felt so much better afterward and was glad I went instead of staying home and being a couch potato. Start off slow at first and work yourself up.

Don't try to eliminate all your bad habits at once. Start with one bad habit (i.e. unhealthy eating, or becoming more active) and work on that. Once you've accomplished kicking that bad habit, move onto the next one.

Use the power of positive thinking. Tell yourself everyday that you are worth it, you are beautiful, you are strong, you are amazing, you are healthy, you're losing weight and becoming healthy. It really works.

The mind is a powerful thing and when you start reprogramming it with positive thoughts instead of negative thoughts everything in your life will be more positive!

Giving Birth To A Better Body — The Belly-Banishing Fitness Plan

Vital Stats

Why I Got Started

How I Did It

Supplements

With First & Last Meals:

Morning & Afternoon:

Afternoon With Lunch:

Diet

Meal 1:

Meal 2:

Meal 3:

Meal 4:

Meal 5:

Meal 6:

Daily:

Training

Day 1: Heavy Upper Body (all exercises 85% 1 RM, 2 min rest)

Day 2: Light Lower Body/Abs (all exercises 65% 1 RM, 30-60 sec rest)

Day 3: Medium Upper Body (all exercises 75% 1 RM, 90 sec rest)

Day 4: Heavy Lower Body/Abs (all exercises 85% 1 RM, 2 min rest)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: Light Upper Body (all exercises 65% 1 RM, 30-60 sec rest)

Day 7: Medium Lower Body/Abs (all exercises 75% 1 RM, 90 sec rest)

Suggestions for Others

About The Author

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