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Hey Guys!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!! I took this time over the weekend to do some serious thinking, so I'm going to set this post up with a little story. (haha).

I came home Friday and felt dejected. There was something about my workout that didn't make me feel happy, I was actually really upset about it. I have been on my fitness journey for about 2.5 years now and I don't feel like I am where I want to be. If you would have asked me way back when I would never have dreamt that I would be in this position. I am able to manage my weight, I still go to the gym 4-6 days a week, and I am healthier than I would ever dream possible. Now a lot of this is due to the fact that I have amazing people around me, who constantly help me stay focused (you know who you are and you rock!). But after my workout I was down and I really couldn't put my finger on it. I am sure all (or at least most) of you have been in this position. Without a goal to push us it can feel like we are lost on a road with no directions. So the question is how to we find a "map"?

So Friday night I sat down and talked about what I really wanted. I don't want to lose weight (never thought I'd say that!!) but I do want to be stronger. I don't want to be a power lifter or a bodybuilder. I just want to increase strength. So with some help I have a plan. Remember...whenever you feel stuck think about what it is that you really want...really ask yourself "WHAT DO I WANT". And then go from there!

Now this goal to get stronger might change. And in a month I might want to change it and do another goal, but as of right now this is what I am going to do. I am going to work on increasing strength. So I hope this post helps, if you feel dejected or low right now. Everyone feels that way. All you have to do is re-evaluate and get back up and start moving!!

Monday is a great way to do this (that's why I saved this post until today!). Take time today to think about what it is you really want. Set your goal and go for it!!!! So I am going to share mine, and I hope you share yours with me, your best friend, your family, or the world!!

GOAL 1: Increase Smith Machine Squat: 2-3 reps at 100 lbs on each side
GOAL 2: Increase Shoulder Press: 2-3 reps at 40 lbs (dumbbells)
GOAL 3: Increase Deadlift: 2-3 reps at 50 lbs on each side
GOAL 4: Increase Cable Row: 2-3 reps at 125 lbs
GOAL 5: Increase Chest Press: 2-3 reps at 35 lbs on each side

-Also I am going to try and stay focused on my nutrition. At times I indulge a little to much and I want to learn to use food as fuel more than something to make me feel better in the short term!

So here is how my schedule will work:

So this week I am going to write down the weight that I do in each slot. 3-5 sets everyday. This is to help me on the way to my goals that I wrote about above. I do a bootcamp and cardio class at my gym but I suggest 2-3 other cardio days.

It is also important to think about nutrition, so make sure that you are always trying to have a healthy diet with the correct macros for you and your active level!

Well I hope this helps, and I hope that you set goals this week and we can motivate each other!!!

Upper Body Workout, and CHEESECAKE!

Happy Tuesday!!!

I hope that you all had a famous weekend!! So instead of doing my intense workout on Saturday, I did it on Sunday. This is also when I had my cheat meal. So this is how my day went on Sunday...

Workout:
1. Chest Press (5x10)
2. Bent Row (5x10)
3.Curl w/Kickback (4x12)
4. Cable Fly (3x15)
5. Straight Arm Pulldown (3x15)
6. Skullcrushers w/Barbell Curl
7. Hanging Leg Raise (or Roman Chair) (4x25)

Cheat Meal:
Turkey Cutlets, Brussel Sprouts, Ciabatta Cheese Bread and Chocolate Chip Coconut Cheesecake

....say what?!!? Yes we made Chocolate Chip Coconut Cheesecake. So here's the recipe:

Crust:
- 5 sheet of Graham Crackers
- 2 tbsp. of coconut oil (add a tad bit more if needed)

Filling:
- 1 8 ounce of REDUCED fat cream cheese (not fat free)
- 3/4 cup of plain Greek Yogurt
- 1/2 cup of stevia
- 1 tbs. of vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
- 2 egg whites
- 3/4 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes
- 3/4 cup of chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degress
2a. Crush graham crackers, add oil. Mold mixture in a tin foil lined baked dish (8x8ish)
2b. Bake crust in oven for 8 minutes
2c. Allow crust to cool for 10-15 minutes
3. In a bowl mix: cream cheese, Greek yogurt, vanilla, flour, egg whites (one at a time). Mix until smooth.
4. Fold in coconut flakes
5. Add 1/2 of chocolate chips to the pie crust.
6. Pour liquid mixture over crust
7. Bake for 25 minutes
8. Let cool for 30 minutes at room temperature
9. Move to refrigerator and let set overnight.


 

Protein Confetti Cake

Soooo....

One of my biggest issues with staying on track is my LOVE of sweets. Seriously, I would marry a chocolate cake if I could. :-P I try to stay focused and on track but I frequently have a "treat dessert" in my week as well as a "treat meal". This is helpful, but I have been looking for a healthier dessert so that I can indulge without feeling guilty. So last night after a long time of searching Pinterest I found a good recipe!!

So with a little adaptation for a weightlifting queen like myself, here is the recipe! I call this Protein Confetti Cake.
- 3 tbsp of whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp of protein powder
- 1 tbsp of stevia
- sprinkle of cinnamon
- 1/4 cup of milk
- 1 egg white
- splash of vanilla (or extract)

1. Mix all dry ingredient together.
2. In a separate bowl whisk together wet ingredients.
3. Spray another bowl with non-stick spray
4. Mix dry and wet ingredients.
5. Microwave for 50 seconds - 2 minutes (I set mine for 2 minutes and just watched. Everyone's microwave is a little different)

 

One of the great things is that this recipe allows for you to change and make it whatever you want. If you want chocolate cake, add unsweetened chocolate, or chocolate protein. Its simplicity is wonderful! And did I mention that it was delicious?!?!?!???!! Enjoy! 

Weekly Workouts

Hey guys!!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!! I have been super busy since coming back from vacation and being sick, so I apologize for the lack of posts :-(

But have no fear, I am in the process of writing multiple posts that I can post over the next couple of weeks. But while you are anticipating those releases, here are some of my workouts from this week!


Monday:

(Right Click to save to Phone/Computer)

Tuesday:

(Right Click to save to Phone/Computer)

Thursday:

(Right Click to save to Phone/Computer)

Friday:

(Right Click to save to Phone/Computer)

Hope you enjoy the workouts! If you do any tag me on Instagram, I love to connect with you guys!!! :-)

Food Face Off: Coffee Creamers

Ok, so I decided that I had so much fun on my last food face off that I wanted to do more!!! So what I'm hope is to find foods that are "controversial" and put them to the test!!!

Up first is coffee creamers. So many people drink coffee to get the day started, but are they healthy? When I first started trying to have a healthier lifestyle coffee was one of the first things I changed. I had talked with my trainer and we discussed that sugar free is better than fat free, because they tend to add boo-koo sugar to make it taste yummy. So I started get sugar free everything. In general this is probably a good practice. To this day I look at sugar and sodium and I try to get the product with the least amount. So recently I started wondering, is sugar free creamer good for you though? There is a difference between being "better for you" and "healthy". So here is what I learned:

REGULAR COFFEE CREAMER

 -Most (if not all) coffee creamers have partially hydrogenated oils. This is a process that manufactures do to make a semi-solid liquid. This is a mixture of soybean and/or cottonseed oil mixed with a metal (say what?!?). This is then added with flavor (natural and/or artificial) and water to make coffee creamer. The scariest part of this is that partially hydrogenated oils are TRANS FAT - the worst kind of fat. The kind of fat that leads to heart disease and diabetes (say what?!?!).

RULING: NOT HEALTHY

-And just a side note about trans fat: Most people know now that this is the worst kind of fat and although it does occur naturally in some foods, it should never be consumed from artificial sources. Health conscious people read labels and look at the fat content, and if it has trans fat, they throw it on the ground and have elephants stomp on it :-P . Those tricky manufactures though try to sneak trans fat into products unbeknownst to the consumers. They will put <0% , this does not mean that there is no trans fat (people think zero means none...it doesn't). Companies can use <0% and still sneak 0.5% of trans fat! When buying food in the frozen or aisle sections, you always want to look for partially hydrogenated oils, this means trans fat, which means you need to call your herd of elephants!

-Another note, recently (June 2015) the FDA has come out and said that more studies have looked at the effects of trans fat on overall health and have made the move to ban manufactures from using it in foods. When this ban will be put into place is still uncertain, most likely 2016 will be the cutoff and companies will have to stop using partially hydrogenated oils. (awesome sauce!!!)

SUGAR FREE COFFEE CREAMER  

- As listed above most sugar free coffee creamers contain partially hydrogenated oils, really the only difference is that they use Splenda (sucralose) instead of sugar. In the future I want to do a food face off of sugars, but currently I am still in the process of research, so look for it in the future! Sugar free still has fat, still has calories, still has hydrogenated oils. So in reality it really isn't any better for you than regular creamer.

RULING: STILL NOT HEALTHY

"HEALTHIER" REPLACEMENTS:

-Ok so I imagine that your next questions, is well Cassie, what do I put in my dern coffee?!? So I have some suggestions that would register in the healthier column.
1. Coffee Mate Natural Bliss - this newer coffee mate has no artifical substances and no partially hydrogenated oils!! WooHoo!! It is made with milk, cream, sugar, and carageenan (a natural thickener). Just use it wisely - meaning don't dump the whole thing in yo cup!
2. 1% or Fat Free Milk - this is a great option because you can get calcium and a little extra protein with your daily cup o' joe! Add some stevia for extra sweetness. You can also look at other natural sweeteners like honey.
3. For you dairy free or allergy peeps: Almond or Coconut (unsweetened versions) milk. Add this and a little stevia - viola!

So the ruling, as usual try to consume as much whole, natural foods. My go to rule when buying groceries is to have as few ingredients as possible. So if it has a long list of ingredients that wouldn't go in the cart. It takes time to let this process become the norm, but I promise it's so worth it!!!

Shoulder WOD

So the other day I post some videos on Instagram about the shoulder workout that I did at home. What I love about fitness is that you can do it any where! At times it can be frustrating going to the gym because it is crowded and you are unable to follow through with you plan. That is why I like the option of doing a home workout.

Home workouts can be fun and different. I have done no equipment workouts, HIIT workouts, and some weightlifting workouts. So the workouts that I put on Instagram can be done at the gym, and they can be done at home. I used weights for this particular workout, but it can be modified for no weights. You can add exercises that are more plyo (pushups/dips), you can also use house hold products for weight (milk jug anyone?!?!)

So here is the workout, enjoy!

1. Alternating Dumbbell Press (3x15)
2. Barbell Shoulder Press superset Upright Row (3x10)
3. Lateral Raise (3x10)
4. Behind-the-Neck Press (3x10)
5. Rear Delt Raise (3x10)
6. Arnold Press (3x12)

Simple and fun. I put a timer on for 30 minutes...so no dawdling around!!
 

Health Food Face Off: Ground Turkey vs. Ground Beef

So today during a meeting I was talking about breakfast (imagine...me...talking about breakfast!!) and I was saying that I had some turkey sausage links this morning and he replied, "You know turkey isn't always healthier than beef". At first it kind of took me aback, but then I started thinking...

IS GROUND TURKEY HEALTHIER THAN GROUND BEEF? 

So there are a couple different points in this debate. (1) Nutrition, (2) Price, and (3) Taste.

(1) Nutrition: just with about anything you can find ground turkey and ground beef that have about the same nutritional value. Some of the things that you want to look for in meat products are saturated fat and calories from fat. Cholesterol is also present in meat products and if you are looking to lower your cholesterol than you should look for meat products that are lower in cholesterol. 93% percent turkey/beef means that both products have 7% fat. These are the nutrition facts for the nutrition facts for turkey and beef at 93%:

 (from Myfitnesspal.com database)

So when you compare you can see that both have similar calorie totals, similar fat, cholesterol is lower in ground beef. 


(2) Price: The biggest thing for me personally is price. I buy a large amount of eggs, ground turkey, oatmeal, and anything sugar free. I have noticed in the grocery stores here (New Orleans) ground beef is more pricey than ground turkey. If you have a hometown butcher that can get ground beef cheaply I would say "you go!!". But if you have to buy in bulk (competitor, family, etc.) lean ground turkey may be the healthiest and cheapiest.


(3) Taste: This is a personal thing. I was raised on lean ground beef  but to tell you the truth I can't really taste the different. Burger and meatballs are pretty much the only thing that I can say that probably would be better if it was 85% ground turkey or 90%, more fat helps the meat stay moist. But at the end of the day I look to seasonings and spices to help increase taste. 


At the end of the day it is up to you! I also encourage people to look at other forms of ground meat that can be tasty alternatives (i.e. buffalo, chicken, etc). It is also ALWAYS important to do your research and know what you are doing. Food is no different. Hope this helps and if you have any questions you can leave a comment or send me an email!


Happy FRI-YAY!!!!


:-)

Stress Less

http://tfosuccess.com/stress-management/

Ok, so this post is going to be a little different than normal. I want to talk about STRESS. Stress is one topic that I don't feel is talked about a whole lot in the fitness industry. Stress effects everything that you do.


So how does stress effect the body? How does it effect your fitness journey? The first thing to note is that stress activates the stress response in the body. The stress response basically tells your body that it is in danger and to protect itself (think fight or flight). In the caveman days the stress response would save caveman from lions and starvation. The stress response releases adrenaline and then cortisol (hormones). The adrenaline helps the caveman get to safety and the cortisol is released later to helps the caveman preserve as much body mass as possible. Cortisol also stores any food taken in as fat tissues, this is helpful later as fast energy. The body will "munch" on muscle because it is nutrient dense tissue and save fat for the very last. This process was very helpful to the caveman, you should thank this process because it's probably why you are here reading this post today! But the stress response is constantly activated in our world today, everything from the alarm clock to your busy day at work activates this system. So its imperative that you work on decreasing stress in order to help your body function at its peak.

So this is all well and good, but what does it have to do with your fitness journey? Well stress can derail your journey in more than one way. How you deal with stress is important, are you an emotional eater? Do you skip the gym because you have to much to do? Do you skip meals or just forget to eat at times? Stress can also derail results, you can be putting in work at the gym and at home, but stress will keep fat tissue and hamper muscle growth. All in all, stress can reek havoc on your journey, that is why it is so important to know what it looks like and how to resolve it.

So what does stress look like?!? Well its different for every person, and somethings that stress me out might not stress you out. Here is a list of possible signs and symptoms from helpguide.org.

Stress Warning Signs and Symptoms
Cognitive Symptoms	Emotional Symptoms
Memory problems Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying	Moodiness Irritability or short temper Agitation, inability to relax Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness and isolation Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms	Behavioral Symptoms
Aches and pains Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heartbeat Loss of sex drive Frequent colds	Eating more or less Sleeping too much or too little Isolating yourself from others Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

Helpguide.org is a super helpful website that has so much information on stress and ways of coping. I suggest everyone go check it out!

Ok, so the last questions is how do I alleviate stress to help me in my fitness journey? Good questions :-) . This can be done is a number of ways. Meditation and self reflection melt my lil social worker soul...so those are good ones for sure. I also like to use exercise (duh!) to help decrease stress. I do this by switching workouts as well as diet style. I also do things that I like in the gym, I'm not a huge fan of cardio so I don't spend hours on a machine. I try to work in cardio with my weight training sessions. I also try not to worry so much about weight that I'm lifting, all I really focus on is getting a good workout in. It's about quality not quantity.

http://lerablog.org/health/useful-stress-management-tips-to-get-a-grip-of-your-life-in-times-of-financial-crisis/

Another way of decreasing stress is by focusing on what you can control. We get all wound up in things that we have no control over. This also goes for things that have happened in the past. I can't change what happened yesterday, so why stress over it? I use it as a learning tool and move on.

The last way that I will suggest (google stress management there are a million ways!) is to get adequate sleep. Sleep helps not only repair you physically but mentally. You need to get a decent amount (somewhere between 6-10 hours) EVERY DAY!!! Decreased sleep has been shown in studies to directly correlate to increase in fat intake (junk food) and decrease in motivation and physical activity. Sleep will help your overall feeling of well-being as well, win-win my friends!!

http://www.kryptonitereport.com/episode-27-beating-stress-before-it-beats-you-and/

Have a wonderful (stress free) day guys!! :-)

FitCassie Workout and Nutrtion Plan

 Hey Guys!

Happy Monday. So I have been working on a workout and nutrition plan that I would like to share with you all. So before I start I want to say a couple things,

1. What works for one person might not work for you, always do your research and find out what methods work for you.
2. The workout is my split. I have things that I want to focus on, you may wish to focus on different things, therefore feel free to change things up!
3. I don't do calories. I try to stick to whole, natural, foods. I worry more about getting all my nutrients. I have also been doing this for good amount of time so I know about how many grams of each nutrient I need. I would also suggest doing research to figure out exactly how much you need.
4. If you do calories, do calories. I won't judge!
5. I put on the nutrition low carb, this doesn't mean no carb or really even low carb. It's a way to make me mindful on days that I don't work out.
6. Also I am doing a program called HIITMAX. In place of this I would suggest doing another HIIT workout. I have some on here that I have posted that you could look at, or you could do sprints!



Ok so here it all is!

 Ok below are the workouts and nutrition broken down a little more. I like to be able to write the weight that I am using during workouts. For nutrition, to keep myself on track I am giving myself a percentage of how I did at each meal. This will help me be more accountable to getting all my meals in and staying on track!

Below I have a link to the PDF file of the above workout and nutrition. This is my first time inserting a PDF into a blog, so please let me know if you can't get it. Or something went wrong. I am not super amazing at getting all this in, so I'm praying this works!!


FitCassie Workout and Nutrition      (<----this is the link for the PDF) :-)

Breakfast Burrito

Ok, so I know that I post a lot of workouts. But one of my favorite things to do (besides lift obviously!) is to cook. I find it so exciting to put together new recipes that are delicious and nutritious! So this week I thought I would share my "Breakfast Burrito" recipe with you.

I stumbled onto these a couple weeks ago when I was trying to find a healthy breakfast option. I LOVE BREAKFAST! Like most breakfast dishes you can customize this recipe however you want...you want extra protein, more veggies, sweet, savory, this burrito can do it all! So the recipe I did is a little plain but delicious nonetheless. I have put the macros at the end for those of you who want to fit this is your macros!

Breakfast Burrito

-15 eggs (5 whole eggs, 10 egg whites)
-5 turkey sausage patties
-1/4 cup of habenaro jack cheese
-Mission "Carb Balance" Burritos
-Picante Salsa

Other things that I have seen are sweet potatoes, onions, bell pepper, turkey bacon, etc. For the salsa I put a a tablespoon in a Tupperware and put that on as you eat this glorious entree!

Here are the macros from my burrito. Now don't be alarmed...this burrito is stocked full of healthy carbs, fats, and proteins. I try not to worry to much about calories, more about the content. I used burritos that had higher carbs (note the dietary fibers = good carbds), but if you are trying to do lower carbs you can get a different type of burrito!!


Happy Eating :-)

Shoulder and Back Workout!

Hey Guys!!!!

Ok so yesterday was one of my favorite days, Shoulders and Back!! One of the main reasons I like this day is because working out these two areas are challenging and make me feel stronger! Another good reason to focus on these two areas is because it can create the illusion of an hourglass figure. If your shoulders and lat muscles are well defined than that makes your waist look smaller. Uh, can anyone say win...WIN?!?! :-)



So here we go...

1. Dumbbell Shoulder Press (4x15/12/10/10)
2. Dumbbell Row (4x15/12/10/10)
3. Dumbbell Front Raise (Over head) (3x15)
4. Lat Pulldown (3x15)
5. Leaning Lateral Raise (3x15)
6. Seated Row (3x10)
7. Shoulder Push-Ups (3x10)
8. Reverse Grip Row (5x10)
9. Shoulder Circles (5x10)

-Run - 1 mile





-When doing the first set warm up with a lighter weight, and then move up. One of the things that I do is write down the weight while doing the exercises (in your phone, in a journal, etc.). This is so that you can work on increasing weight in later weeks. Remember the muscles won't grow unless they are challenged.

-With front raises over head, use a dumbbell and start with palms touching your upper leg. Lift dumbbell with front delts. DO NOT ROCK (use momentum) to get the weight up. If you want to try a more advance version of this exercise try using a barbell. It seriously an intense delt burn!!!

-Leaning lateral raises are a fun way on a typical delt exercise. I typically do these when I am near the cables. Place one arm on the cable pole, place feet at the base of the pole, lean (duh!), and then raise the other arm to the side and make a funky looking "T".

http://www.bodyweighttraininghq.com/handstand-push-ups/

-To do a shoulder push-up, place feet on a bench (I am going to use the seated row bench), your body should be in pike position, arms straight, then do a push-up. This should really hit the shoulders. Try not to use your back muscles.

-Reverse Grip Row - you can use a barbell or a smith machine for this exercise. Place your hands the opposite way of a bent row (palms up).

-As far as cardio, I am going to run 1 mile. But you could really do any form of cardio for 10-20 minutes.

I just put up a video on Instagram of my shoulder exercises from yesterday. Also look for more exercises on my Instagram!!