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! 

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 Stay on Track

Today's post is going to be about how to keep your eye on the price. One of the biggest issues I have had in the past is staying on track. It doesn't matter what your fitness goal is, it could be to compete or to lose weight, or to just be healthier...IT'S HARD. I have struggled in the past with restricted eating habits and would binge eat, which would lead to a whole host of other problems. So I did some introspective work and looked at how I could be better. How could I learn to be happy with me, my life, me me me?!? So I have been thinking about it and here is my list.

1. Create a plan: Have you ever heard "fail to plan, plan to fail". That's exactly true. You want to create a plan. I like a schedule...but different folks, different strokes. Creating a plan should be the first step. This will keep you focused and then you won't be running around like a crazy person. I like creating a dinner menu and then taking leftovers for lunch. I posted my family menu in the last post. Another thing about creating a plan, is that you want to write it down and keep it visible. It's just like a goal, having it written down makes it much more likely to get accomplished.

2. Allow for indulgences: One of the biggest problems people have when trying to be healthier is that they cut all "bad" foods from their life. They say "I'm never going to have another cupcake". A week later they are in a bath tub surrounded by cupcakes :-O. One thing that I learned from competing is that you need to have a "cheat" every once in a while. This is so that you don't binge later. I like giving myself a treat or two a week. Usually after dinner. I try to make healthier choices, like a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich instead of a pint of Ben and Jerry's (but hey if you have control than go for it ;-) ). I am not a huge salty person, I love sweets so I give myself a little something every now and then. I also believe in the 80/20 diet...and if there is cake at a staff meeting you best believe I will be there :-) (I'm literally eating a brownie as I type this!)

3.  Make healthy swaps: Just like a said above, just because you are being healthy doesn't mean you have to eat baked chicken and broccoli every morning/noon/night. Make a list of your favorite foods and take some time to come up with alternative recipes. I love tacos, so I make healthy turkey tacos. I use ground turkey meat, pico de gallo, lettuce, and greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I love being able to be creative and try new things. It doesn't always turn out yummy, but that's how life goes! Another great thing is that you have access to the internet which has a million and one ways to create new and exciting foods!

4. Take it one day at a time: Not everyday is a good day. Remember to be present in the day that you are in. If you start to feel discouraged because you aren't seeing progress, focus yourself in this day. Focus on doing the right thing today. Don't give up because you feel bad. I always try to get to bed time and still feel "ok". If I feel hungry, I eat (I also try to actively decipher between hungry and bored). But I try to set small goals everyday to stay focused in the present. If you focus to much on the future (or the past) you'll miss out on all the wonderful aspects of the present day.

5. If you slip up, move on: Listen...I'm not sure if you're aware, but you are a human being. You will make mistakes...we all make MISTAKES! You will go out to dinner one night and go a little over board....oh well. Start over tomorrow. Now don't go crazy and eat everything in sight...but don't badger yourself. Don't guilt trip yourself. Learn from the mistake. So this night that you went over board, maybe you had a busy day and didn't eat your snack. Maybe you didn't drink enough water. Maybe you ate to fast. LEARN. Be present in the moment in which the mistake happen and use it as a learning tool. And try again. Don't give it. If you have to create a mantra to get over the issue say this to yourself "Oh well, that's life, tomorrow is a new damn day" Boom!

6. Set goals: Similar to the first helpful hint...set a goal. Why be healthy? Do you want to run a race? Do a triathlon? Do a competition? Having a goal will also help you stay focused and help with your overall plan that I said before. It doesn't have to be a profound goal, even something as simple as drinking more water is moving in a positive way.

7. Eat to live not live to eat: I have struggled with food for a long time. I go between saying "F it" and "God why can't I be better". Recently I have focused on eating to live. I don't eat if I'm not hungry, I only eat to feed my body. I also learned that I need to love myself and love my body. When I started reminding myself of that I started to feed my body to fuel it. I started to look at my body as priceless, a perfectly flawed priceless piece of wonderfulness.

8. Emotional eating: Many people use food as a coping skill for their emotions. Think about it, food is used for happy moments, sad moments, depressed moments, anxious moments, ALL sorts of moments. You want to be able to decipher between hungry and emotional eating. There are other coping skills that should be employed when you are experiencing an increase in emotions, eating should not be one of them. I work with substance abusers and one of the things we tell them is about HALT - hungry, angry, lonely, tired. These are the times that people fall back into bad habits. It should be these times you focus on setting good eating habits, but just an alcoholic would not drink, you should not eat.

9. You're not on a diet ANYMORE: I was reading a book about binge eating disorder. And one thing of the many things that stood out to me was an experiment that happened between WWI and WWII. The government was trying to learn how many calories that average, healthy male needs in order to function on the battle field. They took healthy (physically and mentally) young men and had them eat low calorie diets for a certain period over time. The researchers were blown away by their findings. It showed that these men (who previously had no body issues and/or food issues) started having body dysmorphic disorder symptoms. They became obsessed with food. That is all they would talk about, they would do calorie restriction and they binge eat, they had serious mood swings, all sorts of horrible things. Things that most people attribute to a woman just "being a woman". Could it be that society has put women on such a tight line that even from early ages girls worry about weight and food. Its like being on a diet all the time. With this being said, you are no longer on a diet...strip that word from your vocabulary. I like to refer to it as my nutrition, or my lifestyle. I like to eat healthy food, not because I'm on a diet, but because I am trying to be healthy.

10. Enjoy life: Listen, you only get one shot at life...so try to enjoy it. Have some cake, drink some wine. Live people! Everything in moderation!

I hope these 10 tips have helped. It's hard to stay focused, but with these things in mind it may be a little easier. Please leave comments about things that have helped you!

March Food Calendar

So I am unsure about what to write sometimes on here...so I try workouts, random motivational thoughts, and food.

I recently put together a food calendar for my family and I was so impressed with my work that I decided to use it at my house! hahahah. It is so easy to get caught in the same old routine because my boyfriend and I both work and both spend a fair amount of time in the gym. For this reason it is nice to have a schedule of what we are doing.

So over the next couple months I am going to work on taking better pics of the food and the process. I am going to be a pro. But we all start somewhere so here are the first set of meals from March. I'll try to update as I go along!

-One little side note. 1.) I try to be as healthy as possible, but I'm not perfect. I like putting cheese on my tacos, I like having a piece of bread at dinner sometimes. I try to watch portions and get the healthiest possible options available. Its not about being perfect, its about being healthier. 2.) Most of these things can be swapped out for other similar things that you like. (for example I eat ground turkey like its going out of style! But you can use lean ground chicken or beef/ If you don't like shellfish ((HELLO I LIVE IN LOUISIANA I LIVE ON SEAFOOD!!!))/ any veggie you can swap out). 3.) Its about being healthy, not crazy. You want to use quality ingredients and eat things you like. I love tacos, so I get shells that are healthy and yummy! I like cheese so I buy quality cheese. I use food as fuel, and I treat myself like a Ferrari! You should too!


Chicken Enchiladas: Healthy Style

-3-4 chicken breast

-1 can of red enchiladas sauce

-2 bell peppers, 1 onion

-1 low sodium taco seasoning

-whole wheat small soft taco shells

-Mexican cheese – low fat

1.) Cook chicken, whatever way is easiest.

2.) Saute bell pepper, onion, and ½ taco packet

3.) Mix pepper mix, chicken, and rest of taco packet together

4.) Stuff mixture into taco shells, put small amount of cheese and picante sauce inside taco, roll up and place in pan.

**Enjoy**

 


Baked Fish with Cabbage and Garlic Knot
-6 Fillets of fish (pictured tilapia)
-1 head of cabbage
-New York Garlic Knots
1. Wash fillets, dry, season with Mrs. Dash ( I used Garlic and Herb)
2. Cut cabbage, sprinkle with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.
3. Garlic Knots - cook as directed.
(I like garlic knots, I plan for garlic knots to be in my day so I set up my macros accordingly. You could replace with a piece of whole wheat toast with garlic/garlic powder)
**Enjoy**

Here is the calendar that I made. The recipes above are the exact same ones that I use. Being healthy is about balance. It's about finding things that you like and making them healthier. I always look at cooking as a journey to take and try to challenge myself to make new and exciting food.

Tricep and Bicep Workout

Hey Guys!!

Hope everything is going well for each and everyone of you! I wanted to let you all know that I have recently started pinning some of my stuff on Pinterest. I have pinned some workouts that I like as well as some other randomness. I hope that you will check it out and let me know what you think!

On to fitness!! Yesterday's workout was Triceps and Biceps. I have talked about this before, but when working out you want to switch muscles during the workout in order to give the muscle some reprieve. For example, you do leg extensions (quad) and then do a leg curl (hamstring). This gives the muscle times to shuttle blood and other nutrients to the muscle to help start the repair process. If you work quad muscle after quad muscle you will never allow time for the muscle to repair, therefore stunting progress.

For arms I have worked it out many different ways. The bicep has two heads and the tricep has three heads, so when I am only working out one of these groups I typically switch between the two or three heads of the muscle. So, sometimes I do back and biceps, when I do this I switch between back and bicep head one, back, bicep head two, etc. Yesterday I switched between bicep and tricep. Whichever way you run the workout is a-ok!

SO (finally!!) here is the workout from yesterday. It should ONLY take 1 hour. Really push yourself to complete in 1 hour.

1. Bicep Curl (dumbbell) w/Kickback (4x10)
-Really focus on the movement here. Go SLOW and create that muscle memory. You don't have to go heavy, but make sure that when you are doing the curl that you feel the bicep contracting and extending, squeeze the tricep when you are doing kickbacks, I promise you will feel it in the morning!
2. 21's w/Bench Dip (3x12)
3. Hammer Curl w/Overhead Extension
-This exercise can be done with dumbbells or on the cable machine. I used the cable machine so that I could really push myself.

Have fun guys! Keep me posted if you do the workout!

Meal Preppin' :-)

It's that time again people...meal prep time!! WooHOOOOOO!!!!!!

So when I meal prep I typically make breakfast, lunch, and snacks. So on the meal for this week:
     1. Egg Muffins w/Whole Wheat Toast
     2. CrockPot Chicken w/BBQ Sauce (Sugar Free)
     3. Chia Wrap w/Cajun Style Turkey
Everyday I have a variety of veggies (cucumbers, sweet peppers, tomatoes, celery, etc.) and a green apple. I like to have whole natural snacks during the day...and fruits and veggies are the best options!!!

-Egg Muffins: I previously posted about these...seriously the easiest things to make...pick your toppings and go!

-CrockPot Chicken - I recently started using the crockpot to make all my chicken. It keeps it tender and makes it super yummy. I add a onions, bell peppers, and some celery in there for seasoning. After it is cooked I can use it for anything. I use some of it for lunches (this week with BBQ sauce) but I love using it in soups for din din!
     **along with the chicken I made mashed cauliflower and green beans. I know you're jealous...because seriously it is delish!

-Chia Wrap w/Cajun Style Turkey - I found these wonderful chia wraps in the grocery that are only 12 grams of carbs!! Woohoo!! I find a low salt, low fat turkey deli meat. I wrap it up with some avocado and lettuce...seriously, DELISH! I usually add the mixed veggies for this meal. This is the meal I usually eat around 3-3:30 as my pre-workout meal.

So today I started meal prepping at 5:30pm and ended at about 8:30. Took a little bit longer because I had to make some egg muffins for the man friend :-P But It generally very easy and very fast. I use cooking and trying new things as a stress reliever. I like to find recipes that I can make healthy.

Eating healthy is NOT boring, it is NOT bland, it is NOT time consuming....seriously get it together people and do your meal prepping! Find a day and time that suits you and make it an appointment with yourself. I use Sunday evenings as my meal prep time. I have worked Sundays, I have babysat on Sundays, I have been sick on Sundays...but I STILL MEAL PREP. If you want to achieve your goals you have to put in the effort!!

-I'll post the workouts for the week later. Have a great start to the week guys!!!!

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: Carbs :-O

Carbohydrates:

When talking about food most people will divide it up into macro and micro nutrients. Macro nutrients include protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Micro nutrients are smaller like vitamins and fiber. It is important to know the significance of all of these nutrients in order to use them effectively. So what I want to focus on first is carbohydrates. I think that carbs get a bad rep because of the way most people consume carbs.

***Carbs are extremely important for your diet and need to be consumed daily.***

So why do carbs get a bad rep?? Well because of things like pop-tarts, candy, and white bread. These things are what we call fast digesting carbs and beyond that have very little nutritional value. Carbs can be divided into three different categories; slow, medium, and fast digesting carbs.  Examples of different types of carbs will be later on, don’t you worry :-)

Carbs are important because they are vital for energy produce and muscle replenishment. Different body types will use carbs differently, but mainly carbs are for energy. When you ingest carbs they are converted into sugar (aka glucose), which in turn gives you energy. If you ingest fast digesting carbs you will have an insulin spike which will make your body store that energy as fat. Slow digestive carbs give your body the ability to store those nutrients as energy in your muscles to use later.

When I put together a meal plan I like to make sure I have a well balanced meals. I also like to consume mainly “whole” foods. I think to eat things with very few ingredients, and if it has more than a few I like to make sure that I know what they are. Some of the things people eat these days is crazy, and if you look on the box you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients! So when putting together your meal plan…look for carbs that are as close to whole and natural as possible!!

Examples of Slow/Medium/Fast Digesting Carbs

Slow – sweet potatoes, wild rice, beans, red potatoes, and fruit

Medium – banana, potatoes, brown rice, oranges, orange juice, whole wheat pasta

Fast – white bread, white rice, cold cereals, rice cakes, fruit juices

Carbs are needed in any diet and all of these types of carbs can be used on a regular/semi-regular basis, you just have to know the appropriate times.

 - Slow digesting carbs can be taken in at any time. Good to take in at all three major meals. These carbs are going to keep you fuller longer because they take your body longer to digest.

- Medium digesting carbs can be taken right before a training session. As you work out your carb storage from early will start to deplete, so taking in these carbs right before a session will help maintain a steady blood sugar throughout your workout.

- Fast digesting carbs should be taken immediately after a training session. You always want to make sure that you are refueling you body after working out. Your body is in prime mode to effectively use and storage fuel at this point. Use fast digesting carbs and protein for maximum benefits. These types of carbs do not have to be ingested, one could use medium digesting carbs after a workout…it is simply the best (and only time) to take in these types of carbs.

Examples of carbs for meals – (these are some of my faves :-D)

Breakfast: oatmeal, Ezekiel bread, sweet potato hash

Lunch: brown rice (or wild rice), sweet potatoes, black beans

Post workout: brown rice or sweet potato

Dinner: brown rice, rice pasta, sweet potato

One thing to remember…that veggies are the best carbs! The more and more veggies you eat the better. Veggies not only are low in carbs, they are full of fiber and other micro nutrients that help you feel fuller longer without throwing your diet off a bridge! 

I usually take in about 1/3 cup of any carb and then 1-2 cups of veggies. Some of my favorite veggies are green beans, spinach, and broccoli! 

Look for my nutrition 101 to come! 

HIIT Workout - Outside Addition :-)

Workout Of The Day - 

So yesterday I posted on Instagram that I would be posting an outside workout. I want to do this for a couple of reasons.

 1. Sometimes people do not have access to the gym and want things that they can do at home. I have bought a pair of weights that were inexpensive to use at home.

 2. The weather is so beautiful it sucks to be stuck inside a stuffy…smelly...dim gym. 

 3. Vitamin D is AMAZING for you to get regularly! Being outside in the sun has been shown to increase neurotransmitter release, therefore making the correlation in your brain that exercise is fun! :-) 

So yesterday I went to the gym for a quick arm sesh and then decided to go outside for some sun and cardio! :-) So here is a little workout. (I used bleachers but they are not a necessity) 

Circuit 1 - 

Up and down the stairs (or high knees) for 1 min 

Lunges up bleachers (or lunges on track) for 1 min 

Step up and kickback on bench or elevate surface – 10 each side 

Break for 1-2 minutes (If you have a heart rate monitor, wait until your heart rate has returned to a normal level. If you don’t use your breathing as a monitoring tool. You should be able to breathe “normally” with only slight impairment.) 

Circuit 2 - 

Toe taps on stairs (or fast feet) for 1 min 

      Moving feet one at a time forwards and backwards as fast as you can go 

Up and down the stairs (or high knees) 1 min 

Sprint one length of bleacher x 4 (or spring for 15 secs x4) 

Circuit 3 - 

Run one lap 

Sprint for 35-45 secs 

Walk one lap

This little workout took me about 20 minutes. Remember to rest and get your heart rate back to normal. This is going to help later on with your hormone level, which at night will help with muscle repair. Hope you like this workout. I am going to be posting more I promise!! Life has been so crazy, but I am getting back to my roots ;-)

The Importance of Rest

Hey guys, sorry I have been MIA lately, had a lot going on with Mardi Gras and trying to find time to fit in workouts!

Today I want to talk about the importance of rest. One thing that I have learned most recently is the power of rest. Sometimes the excitement of seeing your body change makes you want to spend more and more time in the gym (trust me I've been there!). But your body needs time to recuperate, repair, and rebuild. 

If you think about it logically, when you are lifting weights regularly you are tearing muscle down, but if you are continuously breaking down the muscle and not resting when does the muscle have time to repair itself? Never is the answer! So the most important thing is to  establishing a routine in which you are able to lifting and rest in order to get stronger.

I was not a strict believer in rest until I started prepping for my show. I started to see that I was more fatigued and getting to the gym was a task, not cool :-( . You don't want the gym to become a chore. The way that fitness becomes a lifestyle is by keeping it something that you like to do, not something you have to do. This happens by treating your body with respect and giving it what it needs. With that being said you need to make sure that you are eating correctly, lifting appropriately, and RESTING!

So you may be like, well Cassie how do you do this?!? Well I'm here to tell you so don't fret! I believe that most people should exercise between 5-6 days a week (it weight loss and fitness are your goal, if not 4-5 days will do). I plan my workouts at the beginning of every week in order to account for my work schedule, what body part I am working, and personal fun time. For example...this week I have worked out Sunday-Friday. I am going to take Saturday off and go to a birthday party for a friend. I am not going to worry about going to the gym or missing that day because my body needs time to recuperate from the work I did all week. I knew at the beginning of the week I had this party to go to so I planned to have my day off be Saturday.

Next is planning what muscle group I am working out each day. I have four lifting days and two cardio days a week. So here was my week: Sunday - legs, Monday - cardio, Tuesday - arms, Wednesday - back, Thursday - chest/shoulders, Friday - cardio. I usually like to take a day off in between my upper body days but this week I just made sure to "check" myself before and make sure that I was able to lift safely. One thing that I do regularly is make shoulders my last upper body day, this is because it is difficult for me to focus on arms or back after because my shoulders are not very strong yet. This is how I plan ahead to make sure that I can lift safely everyday.

So you are probably like, seriously Cassie you haven't even talked about resting yet!!! Resting is not just about not working out. It also includes that time that you sleep at night. Rest includes repairing not only your body but also your mind. Everyday it takes so much energy for your body to function, at night when you rest this is the time your body "replenishes" the energy storage so that you can wake up and do it again. Rest is also importance so that hormones can work their "magic" and make you faster, stronger, smarter, etc. :-) Also, decrease in rest puts your body in a constant state of stress, which increases cortisol, which will increase your body's need to retain water and body fat...that's not cool! Decrease stress, decrease body fat is the goal!

I had a friend tell me one time that I was overtraining. I was fatigued, unable to lift the heavier weights, feeling sluggish at work and the gym, and unable to focus. I was pushing myself going 6-7 days of intense workouts. I thought that if I continued to keep my goal in mind my body would eventually catch up, it didn't! So I took two days off in a row (OMG, seriously horrible) and when I came back to the gym I felt like a different person. I was happy, my workout was AMAZEBALLS and I was lifting heavier than before. This is because I gave my body the opportunity to rest and repair.

You want to make sure that you are getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night. This is the appropriate amount of time that your body needs in order to repair its energy storage so that you can function better. If you find yourself downing redbulls or preworkouts just to get through the day I would suggest taking a few days off, evaluating your rest, and creating a plan or schedule that works for you.

My workout partner just recently decided that she wanted to start doing equal amounts of cardio and weight lifting days. That's great, she is listening to her body and that is what she believes she needs. Listen to your body it is almost always right!

I am not going to sit here and tell you that I am doing 100% with rest. This is one thing in my prep that I really need to work on. I have a lot going on, I work full time and a second job, I am doing competition prep, cooking/cleaning, friends, my dog...life is busy. But that is never a reason to skimp on the sleep/rest! If you have any questions about rest or ways to help sleep better leave a comment and I will be more than happy to help out!

Happy Lifting! :-)

Getting stronger is the goal, just rememember...resting is just as important as lifting! :-)

Music and Exercise

One of the things that I love most about going to the gym is getting to rock out with my music! A good song can do a lot for you in the gym, it can help push you through a set or help you get through that last 5 minutes of cardio. I would say that I have an eclectic taste in music so when I am lifting I like to listen to a hip hop mix and for cardio I LOVE the Ke$ha station:-) But music has actually been show to do more than just give you something to listen to while at the gym.

There have been studies that show that music can increase endorphins which help you push yourself during your workout. It has also been shown that listening to music can help mental processing after your workout. Have you ever been tired and then heard your new favorite song and push out that last set no problem? Well…its because music signals endorphins to release in your brain that make you happy! A good song can also increase your heart rate which will help burn calories and create cardio endurance...AWESOME right?!?

It doesn’t matter what kind of music you listen to, hey if you want to rock out to Disney classics or Beethoven that is up to you! But listen to whatever is going to help motivate you in the gym!! I like to make playlists every now and then so that I can add new music and get rid of the older songs. I also like to randomly go through all of my songs and make playlists out of music that I haven’t heard in a long time!

Here are a couple songs from my playlist that you can (and should!!!) add to yours to help get your gym groove on!!

Bass Down Low – The Cataracs

Bootylicious – Destiny’s Child

Crazy Beautiful Life – Ke$ha

Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira

In the Dark – Dev

The Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga

Pump it – Black Eyed Peas

Turn Down for What – DJ Snake & Lil John

Gas Petal – Sage the Gemini

E.T. – Katy Perry

Happy Lifting Y’all!

Workout of the Day: Chest and Triceps

Workout of the Day: Chest and Triceps

In honor of “International chest day” being yesterday I thought I would post a helpful little blog about chest exercises! :-) I know that men work out chest a good deal, but women are hesitant to work it out. Why you ask? Well I believe the answer is that women don’t want to appear “bulky” and think that working out chest will give them huge pec muscles like men. 

****with that being said lets blow one myth out of the water, women DO NOT have the same muscle structure as men, therefore working chest or legs or whatever WILL NOT make you look manly****

Whew, I’m glad that’s out of the way! Haha. I will not lie, when I first started working out in the gym I thought that only men should do weights. Later, after copious amounts of reading, I learned that women benefit a great deal from weight lifting. Did you know that muscle burns more calories than fat?! SOOO having more muscle means more fat loss! So ladies, jump off that cardio machine and hit this chest/triceps workout to build those muscles!

-Super Quick Anatomy Lesson-

-Chest

Two major muscles in the chest area, the pectoralis major and minor. The major is the muscle that is on top and minor is below it and they both cover part of the rib cage. It is important for women to work these muscles because it “lifts” the breast and gets rid of that “side armpit boob”. :-)

-Triceps

There are three “heads” on the triceps; the long head, lateral head, and medial head. The triceps compose 60% of the arm but most people work out only their biceps. It is important to do exercises that hit all these heads in order to give the arm a lean shape. 

Workout:

-Warm up – (arm circles, seal jacks, shoulder rolls, etc) 5 mins

1. Push-ups

- Sets – 5

- Reps – 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

2. Barbell Incline Bench Press

- Sets – 4

- Reps – 15, 12, 10, 8

3. Rope Tricep Extension

- Sets – 4

- Reps – 18, 15, 12, 10

4. Machine Flye

- Sets – 4

- Reps – 18, 15, 12, 10

5. Dumbbell Kickbacks

- Sets – 4

- Reps - 15, 12, 10, 8

6. Cable Cross Over

- Set – 3

- Reps – 12, 10, 8

7. Dips (unassisted or assisted) **I usually do half and half**

- Sets –5

- Reps – 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Happy Lifting Ya'll! :-)

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