Makin' Groceries :-)

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”

Food prep day - (top) lunches for a week, (bottom) calliope food prep clean up crew, (right) homemade almond butter. :-)

One of the biggest things that I have learned in my prep to be healthy is that you are a lot less likely to cheat if you have worked hard to prepare healthy meals. With that being said, people a lot of times wonder what does healthy meal prep look like. Well I am here to help

1. Make a grocery list. Going to the grocery store can be an exciting time when first starting out and you’ll want to buy everything! Problem is that if you buy to much then a lot will go to waste, not good. So be honest with yourself and make a grocery list of the things you need. I eat about ½ dozen eggs a day, so I will need about 5 dozen to get through a ten day period. I like to make as few grocery trips as possible so I will load up on things that I use everyday as well as things that don’t go bad, like frozen veggies.

2. Make a menu. It is a lot easier to make a grocery list if you have an idea of what you are going to make for meals. I usually like to have two different lunches as well as two different dinners to alternate every other day so I don’t get bored.

3. Stay on the perimeter of the grocery store. I try to avoid the middle isles in stores because that is where the majority of the processed food is located. I once was told that 80% of your grocery cart should be foods that have one ingredient ( i.e. vegetables, fruits, oatmeal, rice, etc.). Going into the middle isles you may be tempted to pick up things like macaroni and cheese or chips, avoid these!!!

4. Have a budget. I remember when I first started eating healthy I would go crazy and buy all this “healthy” food. Unless you’re a millionaire, which I am not, its good to have a budget to stick too. This will also help with not buying things you really don’t need. I will buy some things that are more expensive, like natural peanut butter or Ezekiel bread, but the majority of the stuff I will look for the cheapest brand.

5. Organic vs. Not – this is a personal decision. Some people do not have the ability to buy organic food because it is significantly more expensive. Don’t feel bad! Buy healthy food and if you want some organic apples go ahead. If you can afford organic food go for it! I usually spend more money on things like antibiotic-hormone free meat. Some times we have to make tough decisions but as long as you are trying to be as healthy as possible I applaud you!

6. Pick a day to do all your prep. Prepping for a week is a job. It takes time and not taking the time means you are more likely to not do it correctly or not do it at all. I like to meal prep on Sundays. This is the day where I don’t work and I have the ability to clean my house, do chores, and meal prep.

7. Buy Tupperware! Some people prep in plastic baggies some put it in Tupperware, do what you want but have a system. I like Tupperware because then I can put it easily in my lunch box and come home at night, wash and reuse.

8. Create “staple” items that you must always have. I got through a lot of things on a regular basis (i.e. eggs, peanut butter, turkey bacon, sweet potatoes). These items should always be on your list. Make sure that you have enough to get through a week.

9. Only prep one week at a time. I have tried to prep for two weeks at a time, but by the end of the first week I look at the food and it looks old or I just don’t want to eat it. Changing things up is important, so only prep for a week. I usually alternate between some of my favorite meals. Like week 1 and 3 I’ll make the same dishes and 2 and 4 will be the same. But I do them a week at a time.

10. Have fun! People look at the grocery store as a chore, don’t do this! This should be exciting. I LOVE going to the grocery store. I love creating new foods and trying new spices. The grocery store is where it all begins! So have fun, make it an adventure!

Ok so those are my ten things you need to think about before grocery shopping. So here is my “typical” grocery shopping list. I hope you all have a great time shopping and prepping!!!

Eggs

Avocado

Unsweetened coco powder

Oatmeal

Peanut butter

Splenda/truvia

Turkey bacon

Almonds

Green tea/chamomile tea

Hot sauce

Frozen veggies

Sugar free maple syrup 

Chicken

Rice

Mrs. Dash seasoning 

Ground turkey 

Onion

Fish

Bell peppers

Tomatoes

Sweet potatoes 

The Importance of Nutrition!

Today I am going to focus on nutrition! But…before I do that I want to talk about the difference between a diet and a lifestyle change. Diets have an expiration date, once you reach the goal most go back to the old way of doing things. This is detrimental because you end up right back where you started. Another reason why diets are bad is because most people partake in “crash diets” defined as,

                “A weight-loss diet undertaken with the aim of achieving very rapid results”   

You may be happy that you lost all the weight so quickly, but the majority of people gain it back and then SOME! You also want to be careful when participating in “fad” diets and anything that says you can lose “10 pounds in 10 days”. Losing weight quickly means that you are at such a calorie deficit that your body is actually gone into starvation mode and is burning muscle because it is energy dense, instead of fat burning.

The most important thing that I have learned about diet is that your body needs, requires nourishment! This comes from getting a steady amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. I have been on multiple different diets, and I can say with certainty that I feel my best when I have a balanced diet of protein, carbs, and healthy fats.  Now everyone is different and goals are different so I, nor anyone else, can tell you how many you should get on average. For my competition I am trying to cut (get leaner) while still building muscle, so my protein is high and carbs are lower. Here is a website that you can go to and put in your info and it will tell you what you daily should look like. I know that it is a pain in the butt to calculate the exact amount of food that you need at each meal, but in the end it is worth it I promise. I am three weeks in and can see an amazing difference!

                http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

When I started my fitness journey I knew that I was going to have to make lifestyle changes. No more Taco Bell runs or Kit Kats during the day. I don’t worry so much about calories, as I worry about the “macros” of what I’m eating. One thing that I have learned recently is “macros” and “micros”. Macros are your proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Micros are your vitamins, phytochemicals, salt, etc.

Now with all this information we can start to make a meal plan! The best meal plan is one that has six meals spread throughout the day in order to maintain an active metabolism. You want to plan three larger meals; breakfast, lunch, and dinner and three small snacks. You need to think about the times of day that you will be active and plan around those (i.e. I work out at after work so I need to eat a larger dinner to help with the calorie deficit). If you work out in the morning, breakfast should be your biggest meal, etc.  

****Before you read my meal plan please be aware that I am currently cutting for a bikini competition so my diet is very strict, this is not an average diet. Use the macro calculator to find how much you should be taking in daily and use this meal plan as a base****

My basic meal plan…

Breakfast:

4 oz of protein (eggs)

1/3 cup of carb (oatmeal, Ezekiel bread)

Snack 1:

4 oz. of protein

½ oz. of nuts (or 1 tbs. of natural peanut butter)

1/3 cup of carb (brown rice, black beans, sweet potato)

Lunch:

1 cup of green vegetable (broccoli, small salad)

4 oz. of protein

1/3 cup of carb (same as above)

Snack 2:

1 ½ scoop Protein shake (whey protein, yummm)

½ oz of nuts (1 tbs. peanut butter)

Dinner:

5 oz. of protein

1 cup of vegetable (anything green!!!)

1.5 oz of avocado

1/3 cup of carbs (same as above)

Snack 3:

4 oz. of protein

1 oz. of avocado (1 tbs. of peanut butter)

This keeps me full and satisfied all day! I like this meal plan because it gives me the ability to make different kinds of protein (ground turkey, chicken, and fish) that way it doesn’t get boring! I love peanut butter and avocado so I usually eat those instead of nuts (make sure to buy NATURAL peanut butter, more to come on that later!) Once you start a meal plan you may be thinking to yourself “man that’s a lot of food!” Your body becomes accustom to being fed regularly and starts burning fat more effectively. I can actually tell what time it is by the way my body feels. I don’t really have to use an alarm clock anymore because my body knows that at 7:30 am it is time to eat! If you start to see yourself getting hungrier you can always add more vegetables!

Many of you are probably like “ok, we get it food is important but where is the workout?!” The very first thing that I learned in my fitness journey is that food is 90% of losing weight/being healthy. Exercise will help, but it is important to get a good firm grasp on your nutrition first!

First hand experience, I have been eating relatively clean for about 6 months. Stayed the same weight, 136.4 to be exact! I would have a cheat meal once a week and little cheats (like a Kit Kat) throughout the week. Not until I became fully committed to my diet did I start to see SERIOUS changes. My body has changed so much! I promise that workouts are coming soon, but nutrition is by far more important and my favorite thing to talk about! 

If you have any questions leave me a comment!!

Progress Picture of me for my first month of training. Check me out on Instagram, link at the top of my page!

Hi Everyone!!

Hi there everyone!!

Well, this is my first post. I want to first introduce myself and tell you why I decided to get into the “fitness” industry! :-) My name is Cassie and I am a 25 year old from New Orleans. I have moved around a great deal my whole life because my parents were in the military. I came to New Orleans to go to school and now work full time as a social worker.

I started my fitness journey about 1 ½ ago when I noticed that I was unhappy with myself. I have always been a confident person but my activity level changed when I got a desk job, rut ro :-(. I gained about 25 pounds and my self-esteem went in the toilet. So I decided that I needed a change. I told myself that I was going to start going to the gym and actually go! So I signed up and got a trainer to help me in the beginning. To be totally honest I have had multiple memberships at gyms but never stayed because I was intimidated and didn’t know ANYTHING about how to use any of the equipment. I think that the only thing I knew how to use was a treadmill! I was fortunate enough to have a trainer to help push me in gym and teach me about weight lifting, and my life forever changed!

Over time I became more confident in the gym and was able to go without a trainer. The more and more time I spent in the gym the more and more I loved it. I loved the way I looked and the way I was feeling, both mentally and physically. I had trainers at the gym for about a year and they taught me so much about pre-workouts, protein powders, diets, workouts, etc. When personal training ended I was able to create my own workouts and continued to stay fit! I now want to share that information with ya’ll!

To end this little section about me I want to talk about my decision to compete in a fitness competition. While spending time in the gym and meeting people there I learned about the different types of fitness competitions for women. I was intrigued by their dedication to fitness and eating healthy. I added this to my bucket list of things that I wanted to do. I tried for a couple of months to prep on my own but I only had me to be accountable to, and so I cheated a lot! Recently I decided that I needed to get serious and got a competition coach and it has been the best move of my life. Her name is Shannon (#shansations) and she motivates me on a regular basis. My first NPC competition will be in April so I have about 12 weeks to prep! I hope that you follow along on my journey to see me become a bikini competitor!

So the question becomes, why start a blog? Who do you want to read this? I started a blog because when I started I read a lot of information, I couldn’t get enough. I would scroll through Instagram and be motivated by fit, healthy women. I want to be part of that; I want to inspire others to achieve their goals, whatever they may be! Fitness has become a passion of mine and I want to share my journey and knowledge with anyone that wants the information!

Write in the comments any questions or topics you may have about fitness, I would love to know what you guys have questions about!

-Cassie
#shansations2014