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Hey Guys!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So here is how my schedule will work:

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

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

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

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! 

Food Face Off: Coffee Creamers

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

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

REGULAR COFFEE CREAMER

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

RULING: NOT HEALTHY

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

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

SUGAR FREE COFFEE CREAMER  

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

RULING: STILL NOT HEALTHY

"HEALTHIER" REPLACEMENTS:

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

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

Health Food Face Off: Ground Turkey vs. Ground Beef

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

IS GROUND TURKEY HEALTHIER THAN GROUND BEEF? 

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

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

 (from Myfitnesspal.com database)

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


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


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


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


Happy FRI-YAY!!!!


:-)

Stress Less

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!

Goals Goals Goals

Hello everyone!

So yesterday I said that in the month of November we should all set goals. So some facts about goals (I'm going to go all social worker here ;-) ).

1. Writing down goals help commit it to memory. Writing it down also makes it more "real". Write the goal down and put it somewhere that you look everyday that way you can always be reminded of what you are doing.

2. Set specific goals. You want to be as specific as you can be when you write the goal down. Don't allow for any (or as few) loop holes as you can. I promise that at least once during your time you will want to give up, you will want to fore go the whole thing, and creating subconscious loop holes allow you to feel less guilt. For example: "I want to lose weight" - good goal nothing wrong with that...BUT how much weight? in what time frame? what are you going to do to lose weight - not eat, exercise, get plastic surgery??? A better way of setting this goal would be: "I want to lose 25 pounds in 3 months by going to the gym 4-5 times a week, doing at least 15 minutes of cardio each day, eating healthy, whole, natural foods, with one cheat meal a week." This goal is much more specific, you can measure the goal as you progress through the month. You know what you have to do to achieve the goal and you know what not to do.

3. Be honest with yourself. You don't want to set a goal to high that you will not achieve and then be disappointed. Set realistic and achievable goals. Know that weight loss can be tricky and losing on gain pounds is not necessarily the best way to monitor health and fitness. You can set long term and short term goals, that will help you stay more realistic.

Ok so here are some of the things I am going to work on this "No Fat November" :-)

1. Write in blog at least 3 times a week. Include such things as workouts, nutrition information, or recipes.

2. Only get on the scale on Tuesdays. I have a huge problem with getting on the scale too often. YIKES! It can ruin my mood completely. I want to focus on how I feel and how my clothes are fitting.

3. Stick to nutrition plan 90%. I am going to set a plan on Sunday (I'll try to share it with you guys) and then stick to it during the week and allow for 1 cheat meal and 1 cheat dessert. (I have a tendency to overdo it...so hopefully this will help me reign it in a little).

 

WOD:

1. Squats (5 sets, 15-10 reps)

2. Leg Extensions superset Calve Raises (5 sets, 15-10 reps)

3. Leg Curl superset Glute Bridges (5 sets, 15-10 reps)

4. Lunges (5 sets, 15-10 reps)

CARDIO:

--On leg day I like to do cardio that helps relax my legs. The ellipical and the bike are great ways to help move the lactic acid out of your legs. 

--Check out my Instagram for more leg day fun :-)

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! :-)

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)

The Dreaded "C" Word...Cardio

Let’s talk about the dreaded cardio…dun dun dunnnn. I have said it many times and I will say it many more, I am sure, I AM NOT A CARDIO BUNNY. If I could get away with doing no cardio at all that would be the life! Unfortunately I understand the benefits of cardio and why it is needed in a well rounded fitness routine. Some people will tell you that you don’t need to cardio that strength training is all you need. I don’t believe in “cutting” anything out of my fitness routine. This goes for food, cardio, different workouts, etc.

This week my coach increased my cardio to an hour 6 times a week in order to continue to cut body fat. Once your body gets to a point it starts to retain water, fat, etc. in order to stay “healthy”. I am trying to cut fat in order to get ready for a show which means ill have to get down to 12-14% body fat, which is not an everyday body fat percentage. With that being said I had to increase cardio in order to help my body along with this process.

In an effort to make cardio more fun and interesting I have started to do HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts 2-4 times a week. Personally interval training makes cardio more fun and it goes by faster. So why is cardio important?

1. Cardio helps burn calories which will aid in fat loss.

2. Cardio helps build the most important muscle in your body, your heart.

3. Increase in cardio exercise releases endorphins (serotonin, dopamine, etc.) which improve your mood.

4. Cardio decrease stress, mentally and physically.

5. Cardio increases your endurance which will help in strength training.

6. Cardio will help you sleep better; getting a full night sleep will allow your body to repair after intense strength training sessions.

Sounds great doesn’t it?! Well all these things don’t mean cardio still doesn’t suck! I have recent done research on HIIT workouts and sprints. Take some time and look at pictures of sprinters, they are built! HIIT has become my new form of go to cardio so I will share some of the workouts that I do.

-HIIT can be done in many different ways. The way that I like to do it is by setting up an exercise for each muscle group and doing that exercise for 30 seconds and then a rest period. Some people do exercises that will increase heart rate but not use weighted exercises. This is totally up to you. Look up some HIIT example workouts, try a few and see which ones you like best.

HIIT Workout (Full body workout)

Shoulders

-Squat Press

-Bicycle Crunches

-Jumping Jacks

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Chest

-Steering wheels with plate

-Reverse crunches on BOSU or bench

-High Knees

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Back

-Bent Over Row with Barbell

-Plank

-Mountain Climbers

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Hamstrings

-Deadlifts

-Situps

-Side to Side on BOSU ball

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Quads

-Squat with Barbell

-Glute Bridges

-Box Jumps

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Calves

-Calf Raise with Barbell

-Oblique Plank Twists

-Jump Squats

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Biceps

-Bicep curls

-Leg Lifts

-Jumping Jacks

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Triceps

-Triceps Extension

-Russian Twists

-Box Taps

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

My workout partner and I did this last week and it was killer!! Takes about an hour but it flies!

-I put up a treadmill sprint workout in my leg day post so be sure to check that out if you want to give sprints a try. I’ll be putting up more cardio workouts as I go into this week as well in order to help you guys along!

(Me after my hour cardio day yesterday)

I WAS RUNNING AND RUNNING AND RUNNING….AND THEN FIT CASSIE HAPPENED. INTRO TO GUEST BLOGGER TEE:

Hi there! My name is Theresa, and I am +Cassie Block 's BFF, PNC, workout buddy and roomie! I am super excited to be a part of her fitness journey and a guest writer on her blog. I mean, what are friends for? To be supportive, accepting, challenging, and present! Since I will be sharing my thoughts with you from time to time I guess I will tell you a little bit about me. 

I've been a neonatal RN for 7 years and I love my career (notice I said career and not "job" lol). Basically,  I care for newborn babies in a hospital setting immediately after they are born until they go home. Very rewarding, yet very stressful as is any job in the health care industry at this time.

Speaking of stress… this would be an excellent transition into how I became a lover of exercise (notice I say exercise and not fitness). I will explain shortly. My very first "ah ha" moment with exercise was during my Senior year in high school when I decided I no longer wanted to be overweight and uncomfortable in my clothes. I  did not play sports as a young person, and was an anxious and somewhat of an introvert at this time in my life. Therefor, I really had no idea where to even begin. All I know is that a very good friend who sat behind me in a few classes asked me if I wanted to start running with her after school to get in shape, lose weight, feel better etc. I hesitantly agreed, but I felt comfortable enough with her to try (knowing I could barely even walk the 1 mile we were required to complete in P.E. on Fridays) Long story short-I ran with her. Everyday. I pushed myself though the initial shame of being so out of shape, through the cramps, through the frustration of wanting to do be able to run without stopping. And then suddenly I was running 5 miles with her on the levee everyday. Over just a few weeks I had conditioned myself to run and for me it was the catalyst I needed to find my confidence and something I was passionate about. I will never forget when my pants were falling off and my legs looked amazing and my tummy actually was flat and had pretty definition near my hips. I was hooked. And for 10 years cardio became my confidence, my weight control, my STRESS relief and the only thing I did…but I wasn't FIT. And it wasn't until I met CASSIE that I realized that there is SO much more than running/cardio. Once again, at a new chapter in my life, I have been lucky enough to find a friend that is bringing me to an even better level of fitness and overall well being. In just a few months I have gone from that girl that only runs on the treadmill at the gym to someone lifting weights, meal prepping, and learning to let go of the number on the scale!!!! I love my stronger body, and I love the way it feels to eat healthy. And I couldn't be more grateful to have a best friend and workout buddy that is just as dedicated to a healthy lifestyle as me. Having a friend to do this with makes it SO MUCH EASIER!!!!

Well i think that is enough for now. I cannot wait to share more stories and experiences with you.

Until next time,

Theresa