Fit To Fat To Fit Q&A: Tasha Answers Your Questions

We’ve all been inundated with so many great questions from people wanting to know what Tasha did on the show to get such great success. Not only did we want to answer them all, we wanted to answer them publicly so that more people could benefit from the answers.

Here are 30 of the most popular questions we’ve collected over the past few days and our answers.

1.   How do you track your activity/calories burned?
I have the Polar M400.

2.   What do you like most about your heart rate monitor/activity tracker?
I can see how many calories I burn in one workout session, I can keep track of my runs, and how it plugs into the computer and you can see your workout broken down for you – when your heart rate is high, and low.

3.   How many calories do you burn in your workout (BCx)?
I usually burn 500 depending on how much cardio is involved.

4.  What was your least favorite exercise?
Least fav would be mary catherines, the bottom half of a burpee (called squat thrusts)

5.   What is your favorite exercise?
I enjoy exercising – like really love to workout. I love sweating. I like to run.

6.   Do you take supplements? If so, what do you use?
Yes, I take a multi vitamin,  Bioten, emergency-c, and a probiotic

7.   Do you do protein shakes?  What is your favorite shake recipe?
No, i do not use protein shakes

8.   What helped you to stay motivated? (person, thing, mantra, picture, etc)
The way my body feels, the self pride, the happiness, the way my family admires me and my new lifestyle has helped me maintain my new lifestyle.

9.   What is your favorite motivational song?
UGH..I have soo many, I LOVE music..all genres – country to Rap

10.  Do you track calories and/or macros or just eat healthy?
I track my calories and macros  I try to use the 33/3/33 method (33% calories coming from each: protein, carbs & fat – that is the entire day macros, not per meal). It has worked wonders for me for losing weight.

11.  How do you track calories?
I use the loseit app.

12.  What is your favorite snack?
I love 100 calorie kettle corn pop corn. You get sweet and salty at the same time.

13.  What is your favorite healthy meal? (it can be breakfast, lunch or dinner)
I enjoy my whole grain english muffins with peanut butter for breakfast. It so feels like a treat. Love peanut butter!

14.  How did you deal with hunger pangs during your weight loss?
Well, first off, I’m human and hunger pangs stink. I drank a lot of coffee and water, and chewed a lot of gum

15.  How do you continue to diet down?
I will get these last 10 pounds off with hard work, weighing everything, no extra anything – even a bite of chicken. JUST sticking to the same strict diet that helped me get where I am – and exercising daily.

16.  How much encouragement and accountability was there daily between trainer to client (& vice versa) after the Fat to Fit transformations were on?)
The Pfiesters still have me under their wings. I am still a work in progress. I think after you build that relationship, it doesn’t just die off. It was a trust relationship unlike any other I have had before with a stranger turned friends.

17.  Are there as many women trainers participating in the show as men?
I know for sure there are 2 women trainers.

18.  I noticed it looked like in the sample diet day that diary and fruit were avoided. I also noticed that she didn’t do smoothies. Do things make a big difference is dairy and fruit something the average person should avoid?
I didn’t do fruit because of the sugars, and as for smoothies. I just chose to eat food (instead of drinking it) usually.

19.  What nutrient balance/ratio was Tasha aiming for? Actual grams would be more helpful than percentages.
My pie for today is 34% fat, which is 45 grams of fat. 33% protein, which is 98 Grams of protein. And, 32% carbs, which is 95g carbs.

20.  Where did Steve and Tasha get those meal portion containers?
TASHA: I used divided containers from the Dollar Tree :)) STEVE: We got ours at Publix.

21.  I would like to know about the arms in the air!
On our first weigh in Steve said, put your arms in the air. I saw it once when I watched a fight on TV. haha Nothing serious with us. From then on, we did it. I am pretty superstitious I guess. If it works, I like to do it again.

22.  Steve mentioned that he kept losing weight after he had gotten back to his ideal to continue encouraging Tasha (left him a little gaunt), but I’ve noticed some differences in the other trainers’ before and after “fit” pics too. Some didn’t seem as vital (in my opinion), some about the same, and some maybe even better. Were the trainers able to get back to their ideal physiques/health levels (and how long did it take?), or did any experience lasting effects (challenges or triumphs) of their weight gain/loss (e.g. body fat percentage, blood component levels [glucose, hydration, hormones, cholesterol], mental state, overall feeling of health, etc.) ?
STEVE: I was a much skinnier fat in the end than my normal weight because I dieted so hard to lose the weight so fast. I’m just now putting the muscle back on. You can’t drastically lose that much weight and gain muscle back that fast. I’m still recovering from the whole year of being out of my normal routine – 4 months to gain, 4 months to lose …and 3 months to relax and enjoy being off camera, off a diet (gain or lose) and just plain off. I’m now preparing for a bodybuilding show and am feeling more normal every day, so I’d say it took me a good 6-7 months to recover (for strength, mental state and physique). However, my health turned around really fast. It was literally days eating clean that I felt a big difference. From time to time, I’m still dealing with the emotional repercussions from last year – everything from self-esteem all the way to redefining what my “normal” is.

23.  Bonnie, Would you have been willing to get fat after watching Steven going through the process?
BONNIE: I don’t think so. I give him BIG kudos for going through that. I don’t know if I could handle putting on that much weight. If I every pack on that much weight, I hope it comes with a baby!

24.  How long at the gym per day?
2.5 -3 hours a day I put in

25.  How much exercise a day does one need to stay fit once they reach their goal? Does it depends on their age?
BONNIE: That depends on their goal. It takes a lot more to maintain a lean muscular physique or to maintain a higher fitness level (like for marathons, etc). However, just to stay healthy and fit, you can maintain a new healthier you with 30 minutes or more of exercise 4 times a week. 3 days of weight training and 3 days of cardio per week would be awesome. Our boot campers who are in maintenance do 3-4 days a week minimum – and then anything over that, they are typically adding in to erase extra calories and treats.

26.  What bad habit(s) did you have before that contributed to weight gain that you didn’t realize?
Snacking, just handfuls of food here and there, and over eating. I didn’t realize how much I was eating even if it was chicken. I never weighed food before. When i weighed my chicken, I was IN SHOCK of how much i was eating before.

27.  Do you measure your food on a food scale at home?
Yes, i weigh my food on a scale at home, before I cook it. I picked one up from Walmart, it’s a Taylor brand one. I didn’t spend too much on it, and it’s digital!!

28. What is one of the easiest healthy things you changed?
I stick to a very easy eating plan, limiting options to only a few items. I choose that because it makes it simple. No guess work – and if I have too many choices i will over eat. If it tastes to good, I will over eat. Keep it simple.

29. What was the hardest change you had to make?

Relating food with having a good time. Holidays – there is food. Family gatherings – there is food. Getting together wtih friends – there is food. I just have to eat before I go, plan ahead and realize not everything revolves around food.

30. What do you drink? 
Water. A gallon a day.

Click HERE if you want to follow the same program Tasha followed at our gym in Vero Beach.