Katie Crewe: 'I Used To Get Winded Just Running To The Bus'
I grew up dancing and playing soccer, but once I went to university, those activities fell to the wayside. I never really enjoyed going to the gym—mostly because I didn’t know what the heck I was doing—and my eating habits were atrocious.
I’d start the day with a French vanilla cappuccino, and an apple fritter or donut. Then, for lunch, I’d have a sandwich or pizza, with a sugar-y juice instead of water. Later, during my break, I’d snack on a muffin or cookie. For dinner, I’d maybe eat some vegetables or protein, but then I’d snack on cereal throughout the night.
Still, I was thin, so nobody was saying “you’re unhealthy” or pressuring me to change.
One day, I noticed I got winded just running to the bus.
I remember thinking, “How did I get to this point? This is so bad.”
I also noticed my body changing: I was softer in some areas, skinnier in others, and my butt was going south. I remember thinking, “How is my butt getting saggier?!” I was 21 years old. When I went to the doctor, they told me I had high cholesterol, too.
“I would fall asleep at the drop of the hat and always feel exhausted.”
Finally, when I graduated, I decided I needed to get in shape again. Sure, I wanted to make my butt look better—but not being able to jog without getting winded also made me feel disappointed in myself.
I started out just doing cardio, but eventually I made my way to a gym where I started taking classes. In class, I was basically forced to do all the things I usually avoided—like pushups or upper-body exercises, which were such a struggle. But eventually, I started to get better, which fired up my competitive nature, and I started challenging myself to do more weight training.
My first few trips to the weights room were intimidating, but I’d try to go in with a plan to make myself feel more confident. I’d search for workouts and look up videos online, and write them down so I could go in and feel like I knew what I was doing.
Katie Crewe
I didn’t notice changes right away—it probably took six months to a year after I started lifting.
As I gained more muscle, my body weight increased, which freaked me out at first. It finally clicked one day that absolutely nobody else cared about my weight, and that it should not be affecting my happiness. So I just stopped weighing myself.
Instead, I like to focus on the fact that I gained muscle and it enabled me to do all this cool stuff that makes me feel confident. I’m definitely happier with my body now, and there’s a pride in having built it myself.
But when I first started training, I took ‘clean eating’ too far.
When I was 23, I did a fitness competition. I never ate after 7 p.m., and pretty much lived off of produce and protein. Around this same time, I also went months without eating any added sugar, to the point where even almond butter and carrots tasted super-sweet to me.
But I realized that type of lifestyle wasn’t sustainable. I started noticing changes in my mood, and I think my body was trying to tell me, “Bitch, you’re staving, you need to stop doing this.”
Now I count my macros to stay healthy.
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Raspberry banana chia parfait #ohmy 💗. Eating things out of a wine glass makes you fancy #fact. This is so delicious and tastes like summer and is also packed with fibre and antioxidants…also love. Are you sold yet? 😂 – Chia pudding + raspberry banana soft serve + more raspberries. It requires a little bit of forethought to freeze bananas and make a batch of chia pudding but the actual time it takes to make is very minimal. This is a very large serving so half this much is probably ok for most if you’re having it as a dessert, or the whole thing as a meal (which is my preference). – I added protein powder to the chia pudding (because meathead) but it’s not necessary, so omit if ya want. Be careful using a blender if you don’t have a very powerful one. I have a vitamix but would be worried using a less “aggressive” one 😝 – Trying a new way of doing this so you don’t have to search the comments for the recipe. Swipe 👉🏻 dis way.
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I take at least two full rest days a week.
I train in a four-day split, so:
For lower-body days, I’m focused on strength and hypertrophy (muscle growth), so I’m lifting fairly heavy. On upper-body days, I do more bodyweight activies like pushups and pullups. Plus, I always have two full rest days a week—sometimes more.
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Yayyy Monday leg day! This one was more 🍑-focused. I normally start this leg day with squats but because of super busy racks and my quads still being fatigued from my last leg day (that I did a day late 🙇🏼♀️), I moved right onto hip thrusts. I thought I could handle a little more volume so I did some lovely drop sets. Holy. Shoot. 😫🍑🔥 – 🔹Hip thrusts – 3×10 🔹Hip thrusts drop sets – 2x 235×8, 185×8, 135×8 🔹Front rack split squats – 4×8 🔹High box step-ups – 3×8 🔹Side lying hip raises – 4×12 – For the hip thrusts, you can definitely do this with less weight but it’s MUCH harder if you don’t have at least 35 lb plates on the barbell because then you can’t roll it over your legs (hoisting heavy arse weight onto your lap is not a fun time). – I got those side lying hip raises from @bretcontreras1 and maybe it’s just me, but they are deceptively difficult #muchburn #veryoww. – Everything felt hard as heck today but man does it feel good to finish those types of workouts 🙌🏻 #andtheneatcarbs ☺️ – 🎵Lost Kings – Something Good
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I used to think it was normal to feel tired all the time.
I would fall asleep at the drop of the hat and always feel exhausted. Now, I feel so much more vital. I think human beings are meant to move. You don’t have to do what I do, just find something you enjoy.
I also feel so much more confident today. I wouldn’t trade bodies with anyone—I worked really hard for this one, and appreciate what it does for me. I’ve felt a huge increase in my self-worth and confidence, which I think comes with treating your body with respect and working hard.
Need more inspo? It’s Transformations Week on WomensHealthMag.com! For more amazing beauty, fitness, and weight loss transformations, check out the rest of our Transformations Week collection.
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