Monthly Food Calendar! :-)

Look at me....2 post in two days!!! :-P

So today I wanted to share the family calendar for this month. I am working on my calendar for next month and I will make sure to share with you before June!

I really love the idea of a food calendar because it helps you stay focused, you plan ahead, and you get to try new exciting foods. I have time to research new foods and ways of tailoring them to my lifestyle needs. So without further ado, here is the menu!

 So here are some of my pictures from my tasty meals :-)

1. Red Beans and Rice
-I live in New Orleans and Red Beans are a staple. I decided to look at ways of making this typically heavy dish healthier. I used a pack of dry red beans, turkey sausage, birds eye seasoning mix (or onion, green pepper, celery), bay leaves, pinch of thyme. I put it all in a crockpot and went to work. Mixed it with some medley minute rice. Delish!







  
2. Chicken, Mushroom, and Spinach Alfredo
-I love pasta but have struggled to find a recipe that is healthy and doesn't upset my stomach. This recipe was so fast and simple. I created it with a co-worker, so this is a Cassie Original!
Recipe:
-Chicken (diced)
-Frozen Spinach
-1/2 pack of mushrooms (really however much you want)
-1/2 reduced fat cream cheese
-1/2-1 cup of chicken broth
-Italian cheese (shredded)
-garlic, onion
1. In a skillet cook diced chicken
2. In a dutch oven, saute garlic, onion, and Italian seasoning
3. In dutch oven add in 1/2 cream cheese and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Mix under you create a cream. You can add more broth as you go so that you have a creamy sauce and not a paste.
4. Add spinach (I used 1/2 pack) and mushrooms to sauce, stir. Add broth as needed.
5. In another pot boil water, cook noodles.
6. Mix chicken in with sauce.
7. Serve over noodles.
Enjoy!!

On the menu I have dessert nights. I absolutely love Skinny Cow desserts. I have a couple different types, they are all between 100-150 calories. It is the perfect little indulgence after dinner.

Hope you all enjoy the menu and you all will be in for a treat June's calendar!

How to Eat Out and About

So one of the major things that people deal with when starting a new LIFESTYLE (I don't use the word diet) is how to incorporate it into everyday life. So here are some tips that I use to stay on track and have fun!

Going to a Friends:
1. Try to eat whole foods. I like to load my plate with veggies and fruits. SKIP the dips!!
2. Remember PORTION control. It's ok to have macaroni and cheese but no one should have 1 pound of macaroni!
3. Eat a little something before hand. If you don't know what is going to be at the party, it may be safer to have something before so you don't feel starving and over eat at the party.
4. Stay away from sodas and high calorie drinks. I like to just have water when at parties, don't waste calories on liquids.
5. Think before you act, sometimes looking at a food you can know if its good or bad. Just remember to think.

At a Restaurant:
1. If you know where you are going check out the menu before you go, this way you can make sure that you stay on track and don't get side tracked when you see some of the yummy things on the menu. If you don't know where you are going, feel free to take your time looking. Don't rush!
2. Ask to get no butter, salt, oil. Restaurants load stuff up with oils and butter, they can usually make it without that stuff so ask them!
3. Drink a whole glass of water before ordering. This is a tactic that will help later. Water will start to fill your stomach up and by the time you have your food you won't be as hungry.
4. SKIP the appetizers. Most of these are loaded with calories and usually take away from the main course.
5. When in doubt go back to basics. When I don't know what to eat I always go back to chicken or fish and steamed veggies. I know its not glamorous but it keeps me (and you) on track.
6. Remember that restaurants have SUPER large portions. One thing that I do is cut everything in half. Take the rest home and eat it later.

Following these rules will help you stay focused. Remember if you do over eat...or have one to many brownies don't beat yourself up. Just refocus and get back on the grind!

For example - tonight I had a dinner party that I went to at a local restaurant. I was looking at the menu and was thinking about getting some fettuccine alfredo, BUT instead I got some blackened chicken which sweet potato succotash. I passed on the appetizer and drank plenty of water. Was it easy? Not the entire time (I really wanted dessert :-P) but right now I feel pretty good and I don't feel any guilt about eating out. Stay focused...promise the discomfort of passing on junk food will pass!


Have a great week ya'll!!

Hey Everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend! With the holidays coming up I want to focus on staying focused during this time. Remember we all want to have a good time, and no one wants you to not enjoy the holidays. Having cake, pie, stuffing, etc is ok in portions, but its important to stay focused on health and goals. During this time I try to enjoy the things that I like to eat (sweets, sweets, sweets) but I also continue to go to the gym and eat my normal food 90% of the time. Don't let all your hard work go to waste!!

So this is what I am purposing..."No Fat November". This is a plan that is relatively simple and will help us all stay focused. I will be the first to admit that since I got back from vacation it has been hard to stay focused. I want this to be the time of year that I complete my goals and get focused for my future fitness goals.

What I also think is important is that we set goals that are not directly related to the gym. Maybe its eating better, maybe its focusing more at work. I think that it is important to focus on health and wellness, but that does not just incorporate the gym and nutrition. It also includes your mental health and physical well being. So think about something that would help your overall health. This month I am going to try (please bare with me on this) to let you know about the workouts I am doing, as well as food. If ever in doubt, check out my Instagram page, I definitley get more stuff going there.

Here is my workout for today:

-Back and Biceps

1. Seated Row superset Dumbbell Curls (4 sets, 15-10 reps)

2. Dumbbell Row superset 21's (see description below) (3 sets, 15-10 reps)

3. Lat Pulldown superset Hammer Curl (dumbbells or cables) (3 sets, 15-10 reps)

4. Push-up superset Burpee Curl (5 sets, 10 reps)

-Cardio: 30-45 Minutes - Interval Training.

--Descriptions:

1. Dumbbell curls can be done in a variety of different ways. I like to start with my palms facing my outer thighs, and while bring the weight up I turn my wrists to face the ceiling. You can also start with your wrists facing away from you and bring them straight up with no pivot.

2. 21's - using a barbell, 7 full curls, 7 curls where you stop at 90 degrees, 7 curls from 90 degrees to 45 degrees. See my Instagram for a video example.

3. Lat Pulldown's can use a variety of different bars. Make sure which ever bar you are using that you pull with your lats. At times when the weight gets heavier people tend to want to use their arms to help...don't do that. You also want to make sure that your back stays straight during the motion, don't use momentum to bring the weight down either.

4. Burpee Curl - do a modified burpee, when you come up to standing position, instead of jumping you are going to curl. Make sure the weight is relatively light this exercise is very challenging.

Happy Lifting guys! :-)

Motivation...Where do I get some of that?!?!!!

Hey Guys!! I hope you are having a fabulous start to your week. I am feeling good, I am on track with my diet so my energy levels are great, I'm sleeping well, and I am having great workouts! But...this isn't how I feel all the time. Sometimes I think we get caught up in the "hoopla" of other people and become discouraged. We see that "so and so" is always happy, always thin, always motivated and we get angry at ourselves for not feeling this way all the time.

I'm going to be real with you guys...sometimes I just want a big cookie, ice cream, brownies, and a glass of wine and sit my happy butt on the couch! I won't pretend that I have good gym days, or that I don't mess up on my diet at times. I won't pretend that I am always happy, but what I can tell you is that I work for those things constantly. I already talked about my views of happiness...it was a pretty good post if I don't say so myself, go and have a gander.

So the question becomes...how to do I keep my motivation up when I feel it going down. WOW what a GREAT question ;-)

I once had a client ask me about motivation...so I obviously gave them the definition...the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something : the act or process of motivating someone (Merriam-Webster). But what does this actually mean? How can we increase our motivation so we stay focused and on task even when we don't want to...well I'll help you out with a few of mine (and with the help of another blog, you can check it out @ http://zenhabits.net/get-off-your-butt-16-ways-to-get-motivated-when-youre-in-a-slump/).

1. Set one goal - often times we get ahead of ourselves and set lots of goals. Unfortunately the human mind and body rebels against a lot of change at one time. Take one goal and make it your primary focus. For example most people set the goal to get healthy for a New Years Resolution. That's great...but being healthy encompasses a LOT of stuff. So set one goal, maybe get active 3 days a week or eat health 5/7 days, or not eat fast food. Once that becomes a permanent change (2-3 months) create another goal.

2. Find people that inspire you - you can do this is lots of ways. Social media is amazing (and not so amazing) with connecting people of similar mind sets. When I started my fitness journey I followed every fitness model/bikini pro/gym rat I could find...if they were out there I followed them. They helped me with new and different exercises, recipes, and motivation. I eventually weeded out some and only followed people that really inspire me. If you have Instagram, you can follow me @fitcassie_88 you can also look at my page and see the people I follow. :-)

(One of my faves, Amanda Latona is an IFBB Pro Bikini Athlete)

3. Think about it Daily - When you want sometime bad enough you should think about it all the time. Goals are meant to challenge you, that being said you want to find one that you have to think of new and creative ways to crush it. I haven't been doing the same fitness routine for the last two years...I change it up...challenge my body. I read articles and magazines everyday to learn more about fitness and nutrition. I talk with my friends everyday about it...probably to the point that they want to shoot me in the foot :-P But doing this makes it your primary focus.

4. Support - you want to have people around you who inspire and help you through this time. Whatever your goal may be, it will be challenging, you will want to quit, be with people who will force you to stick to it. I have a friend that I talk about prep with...she isn't doing a competition, she doesn't have the same fitness goals, but she pushes me and gives me that nudge when I don't want to do something (cough cough cardio).

5. Start small...super duper small - I know what it is like to have a big dream. Problem with big dreams is that sometimes getting there can be overwhelming and we eventually give up. It's better to start off small (with a larger goal/dream in mind of course) and celebrate small successes. Say you want to lose 25 pounds...wow that's a lot of weight...for anyone. Instead of focusing on the 25 pounds all the time...focus on 1 pound, keeping one pound off, keeping two pounds off...etc. That way you are happy with progress you have made and don't become discouraged by not reaching your 25.

6. Lastly...think about the benefits - being healthy is hard. I won't lie...it was so much easier to be fat and unhealthy. I didn't think about the food I was eating, I didn't care about how much weight I could squat, I didn't really care about calories...problems is I was unhappy...probably bordering on depressed about my weight. I had poor self esteem. Being healthy makes me happy on the inside and outside :-) it has pushed me to try new things. I have made new friends, pushed myself to get a new job, and to get on stage in a tiney tiny bikini in front of hundreds of people!! It may be a pain to weigh/measure all my food and exercise 5-6 days a week...but it's MUCH BETTER than the alternative!

(Progress pics for week 2)

Nutrition 101: Protein

Nutrition 101: Protein

Most people know that you need protein everyday. What most people don't know is the importance of protein. Protein is one of the 3 macro nutrients that your body needs on a regular basis. Proteins are important because they contain amino acids, which are the building blocks of cells. Most people, even I am guilty of this, don't know how much protein to take in or when...which are both SUPER important. Protein intake will depend on your age, sex, and activity level. I will discuss ways to calculate protein intake later on.

So, what is the important information that everyone needs to know about protein? Ok so in the post I will go over the different types of protein as well as supplements for protein. At the end I'll given some info on types of protein as well as some little facts about protein.

1. Different types of protein: complete and incomplete proteins

-----Complete protein is a source that provides a person with all essential amino acids. Essential amino acids cannot be made in the body. These amino acids are important for the body in order to help repair and make muscle, tissue, cells, etc. Basically everything...duh! So you need to make sure that you are getting these types of amino acids in your diet. These amino acids can be found in animal based foods.

-----Incomplete protein are sources of food that provide some amino acids but not all 20 essential aminos. Incomplete proteins can be used together to create a complementary protein in which two or more sources is used to complete the 20 essential aminos.

Now I know this is a lot of information...and you're probably like whatever Cassie, why is this important. Well its important because you need to make sure that you are getting adequate amounts of protein in order for your body to function at its maximum potential! This is especially important for people who do not eat animal based proteins...you need to investigate your food to make sure that you are getting all 20 essential aminos!!

2. Supplements. Lots of people ask me about supplements that I take. Maybe one day I'll blog about that...it depends on the season that I am in and I have differing views about supplements than most I believe. First let me say that supplements are just that...SUPPLEMENTS. They are NOT replacements for regular food. Supplements should be used to supplement your diet to make sure that you are getting everything that you need. I only use protein supplements when ABSOLUTELY needed. And I'll let you know those times in just a little bit!

-----Whey protein: there are three different types of whey protein powder. Whey is a by-product of cheese production that is used because it is a rapid dissolving protein. Whey is great for the beginning of the day and making sure that you have something in your stomach to kick start your metabolism. Whey is also great right AFTER a workout to start the repairing process for your muscles. Right after a workout you need to get (at least) protein in your system within 30 minutes.

    1. Concentrate - higher fat ratio, usually the best tasting protein because it has more fat.

    2. Isolates - remove the most of fat and lactose, taste is mild and similar to milk

    3. Hydrolysates - less fat of the three, higher level of protein, taste is "ok" (remember to think it has less fat and that's the most important part of this). If you have a milk allergy this the whey to try first, less likely to have an allergic reaction.

-----BCAA - branched chain amino acids. You want to take this during your workout and after your workout. Helps aid muscle repair.

-----Glutamine - This is an amino that is in BCAA's as well as whey but in small amounts. This will help prevent muscle soreness if taken during workout and post-workout.

These are the supplements that I take everyday. I usually take whey only once, right after my workout. I take BCAA's and Glutamine during my workout and after to help prevent feeling sore the next time...because that is NO FUN!!!!!!!

3. Protein Intake - depending on age, sex, and activity level your protein level will be different. Most people who workout regularly need at least 1 gram of protein per body weight. One of my post earlier (I think the first) has a link to a calculator that will tell you the amount of macros you need for your goals, age, sex, etc. Use that!!!! If you don't take in enough protein your body will start to breakdown muscle. To much and your body won't process it and its basically wasted.

That is all I have about protein. I hope this helped. Let me know if you have questions...or anything else that is helpful for others!!!