Arielle's BBG Transformation Photos Look Completely Different, but She Only Lost 5 Pounds

"While I grew increasingly frustrated with eating various forms of lettuce and berating myself on the treadmill (which always inevitably led to binging), I started following some girls on Instagram who were doing BBG and could not believe their transformations," Arielle shared.

Her assumption was that they ate 1,000 calories and worked out excessively six days a week. But her curiosity with the program in conjunction with the desperation she felt inspired her to start doing random BBG workouts at home, since she was too self-conscious to do them in the gym.

Within a few weeks, Arielle had a surge of confidence as a result of challenging herself and overcoming challenges with each completed workout. "Mind you, I could barely do a push-up or squat, but I did my best and completed the 28 minutes," Arielle said.

"The physical activity helped to shift my approach to the way I was eating as well; I needed food to fuel my workouts, and I ended up restricting less. This didn't happen overnight but gradually." She completed a round of BBG without losing any weight, but her body looked different, as her composition had completely changed.

About a year into her journey, Arielle began counting macros, and she did so consistently for about three months. "I wouldn't recommend this for everyone, as it can get obsessive, but in my experience, it taught me a lot about portions and appropriate ratios of proteins, carbs, and fats for my body and particular goals," Arielle shared.

"I was shocked at the amount of food I was eating (in a good way) and saw great results." Her macros for fat loss were about 1,800 calories of 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein, and 30 percent fat, although sometimes she followed a 35 percent carb / 30 percent protein / 35 percent fat ratio.

At the beginning of this year, she started a deeper dive into her health and began healing her gut and hormones, which has been an incredibly transformative process. "I learned that no matter how clean we eat or how well we exercise, if there are underlying issues with our body's functions, it can be hard to see and feel results."

For gut health, Arielle initially eliminated gluten, dairy, soy, corn, legumes, and eggs while she underwent food-sensitivity testing. When those results came back, she discovered that she's fine with eggs and some legumes but had other random sensitivities to flax, green beans, kidney beans, and cane sugar. So she adjusted her diet accordingly and feels much better and, as you can see, less bloated.

Aside from adjusting her diet, Arielle also scaled back on high-intensity training and started doing Pilates to reduce stress on her body.

She stopped tracking macros (she'll use it as a tool occasionally if she wants to reset), but she has made nutrition her main focus, avoiding foods that personally don't agree with her. "I eat real, whole foods that stabilize my blood sugar, and my appetite has regulated over time," she said.

First thing: matcha latte with hemp milk, collagen peptides, MCT oil, and manuka honey

Breakfast: bowl with a pan-fried egg, kraut, micro greens, avocado, butternut squash or sweet potato, and occasionally turkey bacon
Snack: Bulletproof Vanilla Collagen Protein Bar
Lunch: grain-free tortilla wrap with tuna, vegetables, and sprouts, with green pea chips on the side
Snack: lots of grain-free crackers with heaps of avocado
Dinner: salmon (or another fish) with vegetables and quinoa; squash or sweet potato; vegetable curry; or quinoa pasta
Dessert (Arielle says she ALWAYS has dessert!): raw chocolate (meaning real cacao) in the form of truffles, a cupcake, cookie, or chocolate bar (check out these yummy recipes on her blog)

"The process is incredibly rewarding," she said. "The major victories I have experienced have been nonscale-related; in fact, from the start to where I am now, my weight has only fluctuated about five pounds. Those victories have been almost entirely in my mindset — how well I treat my body, my newfound patience with the process, and understanding that this is not a race to a finish line."

For Arielle, feeling good has truly become the goal, and doing the things that make her feel best result in physical changes as well. "A lot of us don't realize how good we can feel if we take certain actions," she said.

Her motivation is to continue this journey because it makes her feel her absolute best. "Anything other than that would not be sustainable," Arielle added. "If I am doing all of this to look a certain way, I cannot find motivation. And I know from experience that no matter what, it'll never be enough." Her goal is to feel good, and she does that through nutrition and healthy movement.

In this Instagram caption, Arielle said these wise words: "Oftentimes when we're unhappy with our bodies, our automatic assumption is that we need to lose weight. While for some this is true, for others it's simply a matter of toning up, or a body recomposition! I don't eat less than I did in my before picture, or work out more. In fact I eat more, just better, and move in ways that my body responds to rather than doing endless cardio. MORE restriction, more exercise, is often not the answer. It's time to change that narrative in our heads!"

"Try to be patient," Arielle suggested, and remember that small changes and consistency (and she doesn't mean working out every single day) yield results. "If we try to change everything all at once and practice rigidity, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment and being critical of ourselves for not being perfect." Celebrate yourself at every step on your journey to a stronger, healthier, more vibrant you.