Too often we associate the gym as a means of losing weight. But, what about those who want to gain weight? Well as Jennifer Gal discovered, the gym is the place for that too. After trying just about everything to gain weight, Jennifer found that all it really took was taking the first step and signing up for a membership. She hasn’t looked back since!
Slim Start
As a teen, Jennifer really struggled with her weight. At just 95lbs, she couldn’t help but feel too thin. “At first, I felt that my weight problem was too complex because as much as tried to gain weight I couldn’t. My mom is a nurse back in my country Ecuador and she tried to give me as many multivitamins as she could but I never saw results. It got to the point where I didn’t wear any type of shorts, skirts or leggings because I wasn’t comfortable with my legs. By age 20, I started hearing about the gym and I decided to give it a try,” Jennifer says. And what a pivotal step that was in her life.
Currently, Jennifer is in her mid twenties and has never felt better! Not only did she figure out the key to gaining weight, but she has also learned a lot about keeping her life balanced. With such life changing results, it’s no surprise that she now uses her experience as a way to help others find their way to a healthy lifestyle.
Diet
While the gym was the first step for Jennifer, she also expresses how important a healthy diet is. And what’s even more important is learning YOUR body and implicating a diet that works for YOU. “The biggest obstacle that i’ve overcome has to be my diet. It was very hard because I had to stop eating like a “normal” person would. I’ve changed from eating 3 meals a day to 6 meals a day. Most of my meals vary, from consuming more proteins to Complex carbs. In some occasions I’ve had to eat food without any salt including chicken breast which I was never a fan of, but now a days it has become one of my main dishes,” Jennifer explains.
Making a Difference
All in all, Jennifer has completely transformed her life and continues to improve everyday. But what’s more important to her these days in helping others do the same. I was very intrigued to here about some of the impact she has had on others and what advice she has to offer.
“Many times I go to the gym and get asked many questions like, ‘what do you do to look the way you do,’ ‘can you please tell me which exercises are good for this part of my body,’ and ‘I like the way you look or can we train together.’ Many of my friends ask me for advice including my youngest sister who tells me that when she’s older she wants to train like me. That’s something that I feel really great about because I feel that all the effort I have put in all these years have shown some results.
One piece of advice I often tell others is to never give up once you make the decision to take on a healthy lifestyle because it’s something that’s going to increase your self esteem and improve your health. Most of the time we are lazy and don’t have time, but you can create time. Even if it means spending 45-60 minutes per day you are taking a big step,” Jennifer shares.
What are the most overrated and underrated exercises in your opinion?
In my opinion the most overrated exercises are squats, most people say that the most important exercise to obtain growth in glutes is squats and yes it works great but you can’t put all the time into squats, you also have to know how to combine other exercises for glutes and know how to do variations of squats. I also believe that deadlift is an overrated exercise because it’s really good for your legs and it works out about 80% of your body but the growth of your legs don’t only depend on this exercise, there’s also other great exercises like laying-down curls and sitting curls. I have also heard people say that in order to lose weight what you need to do the most is run a lot without knowing that when you do weight lifting you can burn equal to or more calories than when you run.
In my opinion the most underrated exercises is jump-rope because when you’re doing this type of exercise apart from burning so many calories, you are also reshaping your whole body. The other exercises i think is underrated is jump-squats, the enlargement of your legs and glutes don’t only depend on workout equipment but if you were to do a couple of jump-squats you will see a lot results.
What are your go-to snacks?
My go-to snacks when I’m on the run are greek yogurts, small portions of mixed nuts, banana, and tuna fish that comes in small packages.
What advice do you have for someone looking to get into the fitness industry?
One advice i would like to give is to everyone who is interested in the fitness world is ” It doesn’t matter how much you train or how many hours you put into the gym, if you don’t have a good diet and you don’t give your body a break (rest and sleep), you won’t see results.”
