Tia was tired of being called “the big girl” and finally decided to take things in her control. That’s when she adopted the Ketogenic lifestyle, and realized so many celebrities had embraced this lifestyle, like Halle Berry, Serena Williams, Megan Fox, LeBron James, and recently Beyoncé who has started the Ketogenic diet after having her twins and looks fantastic now, after giving birth.
Lets hear more about her wonderful transformation journey in an exclusive interview with Women Fitness.
Women Fitness:
When did you realize that you needed to lose weight?
Tia:
I realized early on that I needed to lose weight because of my age, compared to my size. I looked like an older woman at the age of 15 and I knew I no longer wanted the title “Big Tia.” Not being able to shop in the juniors department often made me sad and depressed.
Women Fitness:
How has your weight loss journey been? What were the milestones that you had to overcome?
Tia:
My weight loss journey to be quite honest has been super fun this time around because of the community support. We have a BulaFIT group on Facebook and we share recipes, disappointments, successes, and progress photos that keep each other motivated. In addition, because I am not starving myself or weighing foods and limited calories, the program has been extremely easy which makes for more fun. I had to be patient and get through my plateau. One of the reasons I plateaued was because I was not eating enough fat. It was very hard in the beginning of my Ketogenic journey to wrap my brain around eating a ton of fat. You have to understand, when you are told to eat Low Fat or not eat cream cheese or pork bacon and things like that for so long then you find out later in life that eating this way will aide in burning fat, it takes a while to adjust to “non diet foods.” Once I embraced that it was okay to fry up some bacon and pour the bacon grease over my kale I was in Fat loss heaven and turned into a fat burning machine.
Women Fitness:
What is your fitness regime like?
Tia:
My fitness regimen now consists of what I call my “Bula Bobble” workouts which is a 7 min workout depending on how many cycles I do, could take 7 minutes -20 minutes but now I’m not in the gym for 1 and 2 hours at a time, 5 days a week and not seeing the results I was looking for. The Bobble workouts consists of the following workouts:
- 15-20 Squat jumps
- Push-ups to exhaustion
- Side Planks 30 seconds each side
- Mountain Climbers 15-20 each leg
- Side Lateral Raises 10-20
- Alternate Arm/Leg Raises 20 each side
- Walking Lunges 10-12 Each Leg
- Cat Backs 10
I considered myself intermediate so I would do 2-3 sets of this regimen 3-5 days a week. I was consistent with this because my group I was a part of would have 90 Day challenges so I always wanted to look better at the end of every challenge.
Women Fitness:
In a typical day, what do you take for breakfast-lunch-dinner? And what are your go-to healthy snacks?
Tia:
My breakfast consists of Keto Coffee made with Keto Fuel from the founder of Fiji Water which is a 75% Fat-20% Protein-5% Carbohydrate meal replacement shake. If I am on the road and do not have my Keto Fuel with me my Keto coffee consist of Stevia, MTC oil, and a little almond milk. If you are not lactose intolerant then heavy whipping cream in your coffee is your best friend.
Lunchtime I may eat a tuna stuffed avocado or a salad with bacon or avocado and a tablespoon of MCT oil drizzled over my salad mixed in with my salad dressing. The avocado is a good source of good healthy fat. For dinner, I may have Salmon, kale, and Riced Cauliflower with some bacon grease drizzled over it and again if you are not concerned with dairy then on your cauliflower or kale you want to put a ton of butter on your veggies or Salmon to be sure you are getting enough fat in. Yes butter and lots of it, the more the better. My go to snacks are mainly salted macadamia nuts, salted pecans, salted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, fat bombs, veggies with a cream cheese dip, and my favorite baked cheese with guacamole.
Women Fitness:
Who/What do you consider the greatest motivation behind your healthy weight loss journey?
Tia:
The greatest motivation behind my weight loss journey was initially to finally achieve my weight loss goal without going under the knife. It went from that to wanting to be an example for others that have Yoyo dieted as much as I have and was in search of “the way.” A way to actually lose the weight and not worry about it being something that I would not be able to stick with. It was also the camaraderie of starting this Ketogenic lifestyle with a group of people. Having the Facebook group kept me motivated.
Women Fitness:
What is your 2018 New Year Resolution to maintain a healthy & fit lifestyle?
Tia:
I am on a journey to become plant based (I did Keto plant based for 45 days and was successful) and completely gave up meat and dairy. I also am determined to get a four or six pack and have the flattest abs I have never had in my life. I am Keto for life. It is not just the Fat loss I have achieved and maintained but because of the mental clarity and focus that the Ketogenic lifestyle gives. People often say to me you look great and I always respond to them “I feel BETTER than I look!
