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I am super excited to be in a “maintenance” phase with my body. It took me around 8 months to lose the pregnancy weight I gained with Gianluca.

I did things a lot slower than normal because I wanted to keep muscle on my body plus I am just too old to be starving and killing myself doing cardio…

…OKAY, I lack the motivation  — haha!

But I’m glad I did this time around because now I can say YOU CAN DO THIS! It’s not about KILLING yourself, it’s about being smart to not overtrain and set up a system that works for your schedule that you will be more likely to comply too.

I really really had to allow myself to take things one week at a time, one day at a time even.

I started slow after my c-section doing mostly bodyweight. Then I added some light weights, and then advanced from there. 

You can see my entire process Here on the blog:

You see, I am not one to take things easy. I like to push myself, sweat and tell myself that if I want to look better than others, I have to do what others aren’t doing.

That’s all fine and dandy but when you have 2 kids under 2, not sleeping through the night and running a business, YOU CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH!

So here I was seriously lacking the motivation to continue, thinking I wouldn’t have my body back and allowing myself to believe that having 2 c-sections may have destroyed my physical appearance.

Even though I may have seemed motived to you, there were times I struggled so so badly.

I AM JUST LIKE YOU

I cried many times. I cried because I hated my body. I cried because I was tired. I cried because I was taking time away from being with the kids to workout.

Hello mother’s guilt. I had that most of all!

But no matter how much I struggled, I knew what would make me the happiest; getting my body back. Not sure why this is so important to me, but it is.

Whenever I didn’t workout, I felt gross. I felt depressed and I hated it. So I set a plan in motion to workout 5 days a week and as of February of this year, I stuck to it.

It didn’t come over night. It didn’t even come 3 months down the road. It took me five and a half months to get there – eight months since I started working out after the baby.

I learned soooo much about myself, so much about patience, so much about my willpower, my nutrition and exercise. I always learn whenever I lose weight. There are always lessons in life where there is struggle.

So, I can now say, “I Love My Body” and I want you to say that too.

Without further ado, here is my new workout schedule. Don’t be fooled by the word maintenance. I only say maintenance because I am not trying to lose weight. I still have to work hard to keep my body lean but I don’t have to do anything over and above like l shared with you in the last email leading up to my photoshoot.

The only real difference from the last workout regime is the decrease of cardio to 2 days a week and the addition of a cheat meal every week, once a week.

If I start to gain weight, I’ll just add in another cardio session and move the cheat meal to once every 2 weeks until my goal is obtained.

Workouts stay the same(ish).

Thanks for reading and for cheering me on. Let me do the same for you.

New Workout Routine:

Monday: glutes & hams 
Tuesday: back, chest, abs, HIIT
Wednesday: yoga
Thursday: shoulders, abs, cardio
Friday: glutes & quads
Saturday: bi’s, tri’s, abs and HIIT

This should take me into September shredded with abs & muscle 

Note: Cheat day 1x week when goal reached or 1x every 2 weeks until goal obtained

Goal Weight: 113 Ibs with meat on my butt! Right now I am at 116lbs

Day 1: Hams, Glutes & Calves

ExerciseTempoRepsSetsRest (sec)
A1Barbell Squat32108560
B1Powersquat Deadlift22118560
C1Lying Leg Curl301210515
C2Weighted Banded Bridges201241060
D1Leg Press (feet high and wide)311010415
D245* Hip Extension201410460
E1HEAVY Standing Calf Raise toes pointed in10117-9410
E2Seated Calf Raise toes pointed in101615475

Day 2: Chest & Back & HIIT

ExerciseTempoRepsSetsRest (sec)
A1Rope Straight Arm Pullover311110660
B1Overhead Lat Pulldown Machine w/ Underhand Grip311210560
C1Seated Row Overhand Neutral Grip311210515
D1DB Chest Flies Flat Bench311110560
E1Cable Chest Press311210460
F1Barbell Flat Bench Press321110460

*HIIT 20 Minutes (Prowler, Stair Climber or Sprints)

Day 3: Shoulders, Abs & Cardio

ExerciseTempoRepsSetsRest (sec)
A1Cable Lateral Raise311110460
B1DB Lateral Raise311110410
B2DB Front Raise311110460
C1DB Shoulder Press211110410
C2DB "L" Lateral Raise211110460
E1High Cable Rear Delt311110460
F1Standing Bent Over Rear Delt With Plates311210410
F2Reverse Machine Pec Dec311210475

Optional Cardio – 30-40 minute run when I feel like taking a run 🙂

** I just added some hip raises and cable crunches during my rest periods for lateral raises.

Day 4: Quads, Glutes & Calves

ExerciseTempoRepsSetsRest (sec)
A1Bulgarian Split Squat30205560
B1Leg Press (Feet Narrow & Low)311010515
B2Banded Bridge201410560
C1Leg Extensions20118415
C2Step Up311110460
C3Walking Lunge111110460
D1Donkey Calf Raise10117-9660

Day 5: Biceps, Triceps, Abs & HIIT

ExerciseTempoRepsSetsRest (sec)
A1DB Seated Biceps Curl211210415
A2Triceps Skull Crusher311110460
B1Standing Biceps Low Cable Curl321210460
B2Staying Bent Over DB Triceps Extension211210460
C1Standing DB Hammer Curl211110415
C2Standing DB Triceps Kickbacks311210460

HIIT 20 Minutes

** Again I just did some Russian twists off the bench during my rest periods after the hammer curls and standing cable side-bend (little weight) after the extensions.

Both my HIIT sessions this week were right after my workouts on the stair climber. I did 45 seconds at the maximum level, rested for 45 seconds. Did that until 20 minutes was reached. 

Join the discussion 7 Comments

  • Cindy Mellow says:

    I’ve followed you for a long time and bought a lot of your programs and cookbook. I value your knowledge and opinion. And btw, great job getting back into shape girl!! You rock!!

    My question is, I’m currently in prep for a figure show at the end of August (in Burlington, Ont). When I’m done what is your suggestion to maintain a weight of 118lbs? My stage weight will be between 110-115lbs, I started out at 134.5lbs. I know I can’t stay as lean as I am right now but I just don’t want to go back to where I was.

    Would you suggest following your program that your doing now? I don’t want to have to be at the gym 7 days a week either. I’m 47

    Thanks!

    • Anna says:

      Hi Cindy,
      I would recommend doing a reverse diet. As your caloric intake is probably low right now, after your show start to increase your intake by about 150 – 250. Monitor your body and don’t continue to increase them if you feel you are gaining too much, but if you are still hungry/feel drained increase them a bit more. It is a lot of trial and error but try to listen to your body. Slowly wean yourself off of cardio too so you’re only doing it about 3 – 4x per week. Following the program Flavia is doing now should work out great! Let us know if you have any other specific questions and best of luck to you in your show!!
      All the best,
      Anna, CPT, FF Specialist

    • Flavia says:

      Hey Cindy — I would for sure track your macros and workouts and see what helps you maintain. This will be different for everyone. I usually find that 2 HIIT days (20 minutes) is enough cardio for maintenance and a cheat day once a week. If I find that I am gaining weight I just add a slow cardio day and/or cut some carbs on my off days.

  • Christa says:

    Thank you so much for sharing your workouts!!! I love them! Is there a printer friendly version I am missing?

    • Anna says:

      Hi Christa,
      We don’t currently have a printer friendly version. You should be able to screenshot them or save the link on your phone or highlight the exercises and copy and paste them into a word document and print them out 🙂
      All the best!
      Anna, CPT, FF Specialist

  • Julie Ann Wilson says:

    Flavia,

    Thanks so much for your workout information. I know about feeling gross when you don’t workout. I get grumpy, tired etc… I will be following you from now on. Do you think you could post a meal plan sometime?

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