Oh Hey Everyone :-/

Hey Guys! 

I know that I have been MIA for awhile…life has been pretty busy. I am in the process right now of starting new things and I think that you will all be very excited! So what I thought I would write about today is myths of working out. Since I started working out regularly I have heard some strange things about women working out. Like crazy weird things! :-)

1.       Lifting weights will make you bulky like a man. – WRONG!! The first thing to remember is that men and women are built differently. We all have different muscle structure…just because you start lifting weights doesn’t mean you are going to turn into a female bodybuilding. Lifting weights makes your body make muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat, more fat burning = good

2.       I want to tone – so I’m not going to lift heavy weights. – WRONG!! Sure starting out at 3-5 weights are good. But you can’t stay at those weights forever. In order for the muscle to grow it has to be challenged. You have to slowly increase your weight. 

3.       Eating healthy is boring. – WRONG!! Eating healthy should and CAN be fun. I love try new things. I love trying new recipes. Not all of them are good…not all healthy food is delish. But you find the things that you like and run with it. I love Van’s crackers and hummus, one of my go to healthy snacks…now does that sound boring?!?

4.       You only have to do cardio or weight lifting. – WRONG!! I believe that in any workout routine you need to have a balance. I am not saying that weight lifting is the only thing to do, I am not saying that cardio is the end all be all. I use a combination of both. I vary the intensity of both in order to have a well rounded workout routine. Weight lifting is important for muscle development, cardio is important for heart health. 

5.       I am going “no carb”, “no fat” – WRONG!! I do not believe in elimination diets. When I was doing prep I eliminated a lot of foods and I found that I craved those things. I believe that people process food differently and needed different levels of fat, carbs, protein, lactose, gluten, etc. I always say start with an even diet of proteins, carbs, and fat. See how your body responds and switch things around. No diet works the exact same way for everyone, so find a diet works for you…but steer clear of elimination diets!

6.       Eat less calories to lose weight. – WRONG!! Back in college I would do calorie restriction in order to get ready for spring break, summer, a dance :-O. Calorie restriction sends your body into starvation mode in which the body holds onto fat and water, giving you the appearance of being heavier. Now why would anyone want that?!?!?!? Make sure you get enough calories to support your resting metabolic rate. I need at least 2000 calories on days when I work out and 1500ish when I am resting. 

7.       I worked out today, I can eat anything I want. – WRONG!! You cannot out exercise a bad diet. If you want to change the way you look it starts in the kitchen. You have to feed your body well in order for it to work well. Think about your car, if you put crappy oil, crappy gas, crappy everything in the car it will run like crap. DON’T do that to your body. Feed it what it needs, exercise to help building muscle and cardio endurance, and you will be amazed at how your body responds. 

I am very passionate about exercising and nutrition. I believe that it is the cornerstone to a happy, healthy life. Before starting a workout/nutrition plan make sure you do all your research. I have been working out myself for two years now and I am still learning. I’ll share my gym story. When I was in college I went to a gym with my friend. I literally went once and never went back. I was only familiar with a treadmill and it was the worst thing ever. After graduate school I put on 30 pounds and felt horrible about myself, so I decided I was going to go to the gym and get a trainer. I work with 2 very skilled trainers for a year. They helped me understand fitness, nutrition, supplements. I met people who were “gym rats” and they helped me learn more and more. I moved from doing 3 days (1 weight lifting – with my trainer, 2 cardio days) to 6 days (no trainer, 1 cardio day) a week. I use to be self conscious in the gym, and now I feel like I own the place ;-) I put my music on and rock out. So take all this in…set a plan...and kick butt!

I work hard every day to achieve the body that I desire. But it does not happen overnight. You do not have to be scared of the gym. Go in there…kick a$$...and leave feeling awesome! :-)

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 

WOD: Leg Day :-)

So Monday was leg day, one of my favorite days! Leg day has always been a favorite of mine because I have naturally strong legs. I want to share my leg day workout so that all of you can have fabulous legs and booty :-)

When doing a leg day one must first understand muscle usage. You will get a much better workout if you are thinking about the muscle you are supposed to be using when doing an exercise. For example, I have very strong quads so when I would do a leg curl I would pull with my quads totally defeating the purpose of the exercise. So I found a diagram of the leg muscles that you can look at to make sure that you are using the right muscle. I will also put on the workout what the primary muscle is from the exercise.

(Picture from make-me-strong.com)

I hope this helps, if at any point you have questions feel free to ask!

WOD:

1. Leg Curl Machine (focus - hamstrings)
Sets - 5
Reps - 15, 12, 10, 8, 15 (last set return to lighter weight)

2. Seated Leg Press (focus - quads and glutes)
Sets - 5
Reps - 15, 12, 10, 8, 15 (last set return to lighter weight)

3. Seated Leg Press, Calf Raises (focus - calves)
Sets - 4
Reps - 30, 25, 20, 15

4. Smith Machine Squats (focus - complete leg)
Sets - 4
Reps - 15, 15, 15, 15
**to make this more difficult I use a BOSU ball. I put the ball on the dome part and balance myself. I like this because it forces me to engage my core during the exercise, which is what a lot of people forget to do during squats**

5. Inverted Leg Press (focus - quads, hams, glutes)
Sets - 5
Reps - 15, 12, 10, 8, 15
**towards the end of this workout you may be getting tired, but if you're not I would pulse for as long as you can on the last set to help start the "burnout" process.**

6. Reverse Lunge into Step Up on Bench (focus - hamstrings and glutes)
Sets - 3
Reps - 20, 20, 20 (ten each leg)
**to see an example of this check out my Instagram, I put a video up**

7. Barbell Calf Raises
Sets - 3
Reps - 30, 30, 30

30 minutes of cardio
- For cardio on leg day it depends on how I feel which kind of cardio that I do, steady state or interval. On this leg day I chose to do interval because I didn't feel to terribly bad and wanted to push myself. I change up machines (treadmill, elliptical, bike, stair climber, etc.) that I use and the interval routine. I don't have a specific routine that I like to do, I just mix a bunch of different types of intervals together. So here is a little routine you can try.

3 min warm up (incline 5.0, speed 2.0-2.8)
1 min jog (incline 1.5, speed 5.0-6.0)
1 min walk (incline 1.5, speed 3.5)
30 sec sprint (incline 1.5, speed 8.0+)
30 complete rest
Repeat sprints 5 times total
1 min jog (incline 1.5, speed 5.0-6.0)
1 min walk (incline 1.5, speed 3.5)
1 min walk (incline 10, speed 2.8)
1 min walk (incline 11, speed 2.9)
1 min walk (incline 12, speed 3.0)
1 min walk (incline 13, speed 3.1)
1 min walk (incline 14, speed 3.2)
1 min walk (incline 15, speed 3.3)
2 min cool down (incline 1.5, speed 2.0-2.8)

Total time - 20 minutes

Happy Lifting!!

Workout of the Day: Back and Biceps

Good morning all! 

As promise I am going to try and put up some exercises that you guys can try on your own. Before I do that let's talk about safety! 

If ever you don't know how to do an exercise, google it! I am constantly googling new exercises that I am given to make sure I am doing them right! You can also check out www.bodybuilding.com they are a great resource for exercises! 

When I workout I usually pick two groups of muscles to work out at one time. This is for one main reason, so I can alternate between the two muscle groups. This is important because when you are constantly working the same muscle you don't allow any time for new capillaries to form. Capillaries are small vessels that form to help bring blood to the muscle so that it can start to repair. When you exercise you are literally tearing muscle, so by switching muscle groups you give that muscle time to start repairing! Increased repair time means stronger better muscles!!! So I plan my workouts so that I alternate between muscles. So today it will go back, bicep, back, bicep, etc.

Lastly, please please please think before you do anything! So many people get hurt seriously in the gym because they try to lift heavy right away. DO NOT do this!!!!! Start out with lighter weight, get the form correct and then start to increase weight! 

**I am not a certified personal trainer the workout to follow was created by me from my experience in the gym, always consult a doctor before starting a workout regimen**

Back and Bicep WOD:

Warm up - 5 minutes. 

(Ex. Arm circles, jumping jacks, shoulder rolls)

1. Underhand Lat pull down

Sets - 4

Reps - 15,12,10,8

Rest 30 secs in between sets

2. Dumbbell bicep curl

Sets - 4

Reps- 15,12,10,8

Rest 30 secs in between sets

3. Row in squat position 

Sets - 4

Reps- 15,12,10,8

Rest 30 secs in between sets

4. Push-up (regular) 

Sets - 3

Reps - 10,10,10

5. Hyper extension w/10 lbs. dumbbell Sets- 4

Reps - 15,12,10,8

Rest 30 secs in between sets

6. Hammer curl on stability ball 

Sets- 4

Reps -15,12,10,8

Rest 30 secs in between sets

7. Barbell row (think about hitting your belly button with the bar)

Sets- 4

Reps- 15,12,10,8

Rest 30 secs in between sets

8. Barbell curl (wavy bar...know  as ez bar)

Sets- 4

Reps- 15,12,10,8

Rest 30 secs in between sets

9. Decline push ups (put foot on box or bench)

Sets- 4

Reps- 12,10,8,6

Rest 30 secs in between sets

10. Pull ups, assisted

Sets- 4

Reps- 10,10,10,10

Rest 30 secs in between sets

Cardio - 30 minutes steady pace

-if you have any question about the exercise comment below and I'll try my best to explain! You can also check out YouTube and they have great videos! 

Happy Lifting Y'all! 

(Back progress pic of me and my workout partner!)

**check me out on Instagram @ fitcassie_88**

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