Angel Williams | The Importance of a Diet

What got you into fitness and working out?

I joined the military when I was eighteen. I did a few years in the military, and ended up working in the IT field for about fifteen years. I'm a manager of a network operations center so it's a very challenging and fulfilling job. I work at a university, and we have a gym there. About five years ago, I started working out during lunch because I always bring my lunch. That gave me time to have free time in the evenings. that held me accountable as I always had that one hour to work out. I had been working out every day at lunch. About a year ago I joined another gym which is close to my house, LA fitness. Then I started working out in the evenings, so I kind of go back and forth. On Mondays and Wednesdays I work out at lunch, and evenings at the gym by my house on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

How do you find time to balance your career, the gym, meal prep, etc?

The reason why I initially started working out during my lunch was because the gym was near me. However about three years ago I decided to get my Masters degree, so I was working full-time and was also going to classes in the evenings. The only time I was free was during my lunch break, and it acted as a stress reliever and really helped me. It was good to kind of balance my work and family life. I have one son who just turned 19, he's is a sophomore in college. It helped me raising him, my career him and full-filling my second degree. It was something that was me time.

Meal prep is very easy for me because I like to cook. I don't like to eat out a lot, but when I do it's mainly not good things so I minimize the times I eat out. Normally I cook every night, and I bring my lunch and snacks to work. I normally don't eat out for lunch, but when |I do it's on the weekends maybe once a week.

What has been the highlight of your fitness journey, and what are your short and long term goals?

I would have to say the highlight of my fitness journey has been watching my body transform. I was never really into lifting weights until about four years ago. I would lift but wasn't really a lot or lifting heavy. Then when I started getting into weights I didn't even to do cardio anymore. Then when you start to see your progress it becomes addictive, so now I love going to the gym.

What is your favorite muscle to work out and why?

I love working out legs. I'm tall and I wear a lot of dresses so I definitely want to have that definition when I wear heels and I still want to look feminine. I work a lot on my legs because I feel like that's one of the best parts of my body. That's why I look a little bit harder and push myself. I sweat a lot, and I push myself to the limit all the time.

Where do your think your weaknesses lie?

My weakness lies in the fact that I don't take the appropriate rest time in between super sets. I do a lot of super sets, however I don't think that I take the amount of time I should. i go in, hit the muscle group and get out. I can be at the gym for like two hours so it's not like a quick gym session, it's more like I don't take long breaks. I have friends saying that I don't rest a lot and they don't like working out with me. Another weakness is that when I workout by myself which I do quite often I don't think that I push myself a lot. When I say I'm going to do 20 reps, I do 20 reps and that's all. When I'm working out with someone else, we don't really count the reps. Sometimes when I'm fatigued they push me to an extra five reps. I think sometimes even I need a little motivation.

What defines health and healthy to you?

What defines healthy to me is being active, eating non-healthy food in moderation. We don't have to be strict about everything, we have our cheat days, and we have our things that we like that aren't that healthy. I just think that if you eat in moderation, be healthy, take care of your body, limit your stress and finding that balance.

What advice would you give to someone just starting to get into the gym?

I would say educate yourself. Read a lot of material, read about what exercises you should do. Not all exercises work with every person. Don't compare yourself with the next person you see in the gym. You don't know their story or how long they've been working out. When you go to Instagram and things like that and you see fitness models, you just don't know what they did. You don't know if it's superficial or what they're taking in their bodies. Find what works for you, what exercises, what food, and just be the best that you can be.

Most women shy away from working upper body because they don’t want to bulk. What advice would you give these women?

Oh my god, that's like all of my friends. Women have this thing of not wanting to be in the weight room because they feel like they will look like a man, they're going to get huge, and that's not the case. You need to balance yourself. Cardio is fine, but if you just find light weight and do high reps it will give you a little bit of definition. Your overall body will be toned, your core, your arms, your triceps, you'll look very powerful. For women who are afraid to look buff, just don't lift heavy, lift light. You'll look amazing in tank tops, and will have that look.

What do you think is harder gaining muscle or losing weight?

I think that for women losing weight is harder, and for men gaining muscle will be harder. I think that you have to become dedicated to both. I go back and forth on it, but I think losing weight surpasses gaining muscle because it comes down to diet. You can lift weights, and you can lift heavy and see your muscles pop in certain areas. To get rid of the core, that's nothing but eating right. Sometimes you go to the gym for 2-3 hours and come home and eat whatever is available. The easy part is the gym, the hard part is the other hours of the day when you have to battle temptation. So I believe that losing weight can be harder overall.

What does your diet consist of, and if you had the power to make one junk food healthy which would it be?

I don't eat that terrible but I love potatoes. I want it loaded with shrimp, with sour cream, with cheese, and with butter. Oh, and I love french fries. So if I could make any junk food healthy, it would be french fries. That is my weakness.

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