Redditor Kellilendman, in a post to Reddit’s fitness subreddit, says she had struggled with her weight her entire life. “I was overweight from when I was about 8-14 years old, until I decided to sporadically crash diet throughout high school, my lowest weight reaching 125 lb.” At 5’9” that put Kellilendman’s BMI in the “underweight” category, however after realizing that constantly gaining and losing weight all throughout high school was not healthy, she decided to make a change:
With the help of my boyfriend who had already been lifting for 4+ years at the time, I made the transition from no exercise to weight lifting. It has been a little over 2 years since I’ve decided to make this lifestyle change, and I could not be happier with how I feel about myself. I go to the gym and lift weights 5-6 times per week, and work in at least 3-4 15 minute sessions of HITT on the stairmaster in addition to the weights.
Kellilendman currently weighs between 140-145, however she hopes to lose another 5-7 pounds since she’s now on a cut.
Oh, and if you were thinking her workout routine is easier just because she’s a girl, you’d be sadly mistaken:
I lift as heavy as I can 5-6 days a week. Most recently I have been trying to squeeze in 2-3 leg days a week since that is what I have been trying to improve on the most. For leg days I will do a variation of about 5 of these exercises: leg press, squats, deadlifts, straight leg deadlifts, smith machine lunges, hamstring curls, single leg press, calf raises. The other days I’ll work upper body, and I’ve been splitting it between arms and shoulders and chest and back. Again for these I do the basics: bicep curls, tricep pulldowns, bench press, lat pulldowns. Nothing too out of the ordinary.
Cardio routine: I try to do cardio the days I don’t work legs at the gym, because obviously my legs are too dead after to get on the stairmaster. But on the stairs I do 15 minutes of 30 second intervals, alternating between level 18 and level 1. It has taken me a long time to build up to this, and whenever it gets “easier” I will bump it up a level.
Caloric intake: I eat anywhere around 1500-1600 calories a day, and am following a macro diet. I try to eat as many whole foods as I can, but I do eat processed things here and there. I also eat some form of protein with every meal. Once a week cheat meal including dessert.
We’re no experts by any means, but if her progress photos are to be belived then Kellilendman has done PHENOMENAL work on herself:
[Via Reddit]