My very first guest blogger. OMG! I am sure sometimes it gets tiring hearing from me, and I want to be sure that this blog reflects lots of different perspectives! Brittany is an amazing recruiter, mother, fitness enthusiast, and lover of fancy drinks.  Check out her blog on common New Year’s Resolution pitfalls!

1. I’m going to wake up at 5:00am every day and work out for an hour before work.

I’ve made this one countless times and each year on January 1^st, I remember how slangry (sleepy + angry) I get when forced to wake up before the sun.  I might stick with it for a week or so, but then I give in to my bed for a day or two and then I just let the whole idea go.  If you’re a morning person, by all means wake up at 5am and take a morning jog while I am still drooling on my pillow.  However, if the thought of voluntarily waking up earlier makes you somewhat homicidal, be realistic with yourself and when the best time in your schedule to work out is.    Make your resolution that you WILL make time to be active though.

2. I’m going to run a marathon this Spring!

Awesome!  I just love those cool 26.2 stickers on cars.  My stepmom has a 26.2 tattoo and every time I see it I convince myself doing a marathon would be super fun and a great goal.   Never mind that in high school I literally tied myself to a friend to avoid having to run the mile.  Every year I tell myself I am going to do a marathon, and every year I head to the track and walk/run two laps and the whole time I am thinking how cold I am, how I can’t breathe, and wondering how anyone can find this enjoyable.  Start slow.  Make your resolution a 5k or simply to set time aside 2-3 times a week to run.  If you decide running isn’t for you, don’t force it!  There are so many workouts out there – don’t waste time forcing yourself to do something you hate.  You will just end up getting discouraged.  Try running!  But also try boxing, yoga, Zumba, weight lifting, and any other activity that makes you feel excited!

3. I’m cutting out all sugar and eating 100% clean.

I had this talk with a co worker last week as she was heating up coffee cake for breakfast and I was making a bagel.  We talked about how January 1^st it was all chia seeds and superfoods.  Buh bye coffee cake, carbs, and champagne!  I’ve only made this one 15 times before, I am sure this will be my year to completely change my eating habits overnight.  Ha!  Set yourself up for success by making small changes.  Don’t make it an overnight revolution.  Start with just starting each day with a healthy breakfast, or cutting out that evening ice cream.  Think of food as fuel, not a reward.

4. I will lose 20, 40, 100 pounds by _____ date.

I have always wanted to be in the 120’s.  For some reason it stuck in my head a long time ago that 120 is the perfect weight for me.  Never mind that I’m 5’9” with “child birthing” hips and a head that easily adds in an extra 5 pounds.  Don’t focus on the number on the scale.  Focus on how you feel and how your clothes fit.  Don’t let yourself get hung up on a certain number.

5. I’m going to spend so much money on cool work out clothes/expensive tennis shoes/an elliptical/personal trainer that I will HAVE to work out!

Totally unrelated, is anyone interested in buying an unused yoga mat, $100 tennis shoes, or a used elliptical I made my husband drag home so I could run every night while watching the Real Housewives of whatever city we’re on?   Spending money on working out will not make you dedicated.  And you will just be upset with yourself when you think about the money you spent.  Buy yourself one great workout outfit you feel confident in or a nice water bottle or headphones, but don’t invest hundreds of dollars until you have found what you really enjoy doing.  After you find your groove, splurge on the tennis shoes for running or Dancing with the Stars workout DVD.  (I also have that for sale if anyone is interested).

Most of all, be kind to yourself!  If you fall off the wagon for a bit, don’t give up and vow to try again in 2018.  Get up and get after it!

“There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path, don’t allow yourself become one of them”

 

About the Author: 

I am a newly thirty year old wife, mama, recruiter, and over thinker.   I’ve been married to my best friend (cliche, but true) for going on 8 years and we have a beautiful, perfect two year old boy.

I love traveling and planning trips (hit me up if you need help planning a budget friendly trip!), trying new foods and drinks, discovering new music to play on repeat, reading, shopping and everything fashion related, and being outdoors.

Check out my blog to learn more! 

IDK about everyone else, but it seems like literally EVERYONE I know is sick. I’ve been trying my best to stay healthy this holiday season, which means ensuring I have high amounts of vitamin C and maintain a healthy diet. Believe it or not, getting enough sleep and eating the right foods can be extremely helpful to overall weight loss.  Oh and p.s. I still got sick anyway.

One thing I hear a lot of women say are, “Oh well, I’m starting smoothies.” First off, why? I mean, I can get behind of clean eating post-binge or a day of juice, but SMOOTHIES ALL THE TIME? Second of all, just because something is good for you, doesn’t mean it’s something you should eat or drink it all of the time or should make up ALL of your diet. This is my plea to you New Years Resolutioners, please avoid crash dieting. Did you know that according to an independent study, only 5% of people who lost weight on a crash diet actually kept it off?

Here’s my point:

Fruits and veggies are great to have, but they (especially fruits) ARE NOT VOID of carbs and sugar. For example, one banana has 27 grams of carbohydrates and orange juice has about 12g per 8 oz. That’s 39 grams of carbs with just two ingredients.  You know what? 1 Poptart has 38 grams of carbs. Not to say it’s more nutritionally sound, but think about it. If you’re daily intake of carbs should be  188, then you just jacked a significant portion of your carbs with a smoothie that is HIGH  in carbs and also LOADED with sugar. Now, don’t get me wrong here, veggies and fruits should make up a large portion of your diet, but please don’t think that binging on fruit is the way to be lean!   WATCH THOSE MACROS YO! Another issue with these smoothies, is that often people don’t add protein, and having significant amounts of protein aids in building lean muscle.

You may be thinking “Well that’s great, I’ll just buy a pre-packaged protein drink or juice.” Oh hell nah. Check the sugar on those bad boys. Granted while some of these are OK, be sure you are checking labels for sugar and fat.

Now that I’ve crushed your dreams, I’m going to bring you back.  Smoothies are great to supplement a good diet and when used in moderation.  If you’ve fallen off track, a veggie and fruit loaded smoothie is a great addition to a healthy balanced diet! I like to drink smoothies to get my veggies in because I just hate vegetables. I’m sorry. Fruits also function as immunity boosters and should be part of a healthy diet.

After doing some research, I decided to whip up this little creation to give me some Vitamin C and deliciousness.

Immunity Boosting Protein Smoothie: 

1/2-1 cup spinach (I like mine frozen): benefits include immunity support (Vitamins A and C) and is extremely low in calories. It also contains 4g of fiber per cup.

1/2 c blueberries: One of the highest antioxidant foods in the world, providing immunity support. Also extremely low in sugar and carbs

A few mandarin oranges:  great for vitamin C and E which are great for immunities as well as skin health. (Use sparingly due to sugar)

Orange juice (under 8oz): Vitamin C and covering the taste of spinach. If you don’t have enough liquid, cut with water.

1 scoop Vanilla Whey: Because GAINZ.

Most of these fruits are relatively low in sugar, but serve the function of providing fiber and immunity support. Just add in a blender and blend that bad boy up!!! Use this drink sparingly in your diet. (I do about once a week).

Do you have any great smoothie recipes? Drop them in below!

 

 

I’m not going to lie, this season has left me awfully uninspired.  If you haven’t heard from me, I’ve been a bit off lately. I’m like those last few seasons of LOST, just going through the motions with the occasional WTF moment. I haven’t really wanted to workout and really haven’t felt like eating clean. The holidays are here, and I often find myself being a grinch about the fact that I can’t have EVERYTHING I want, aka….alcohol and food.

I spent most of the afternoon reflecting on why I’m so pissed off. I put on my workout pants that I bought during contest prep, and it looked like a  “People of Walmart meme.” Too tight. Eek. Every time I wear a pair of tight pants it feels like a fucking failure. I’m tough on myself, but then I got to thinking that a lot of people probably feel this way.

Most of you follow this blog because you are hoping to find balance between fitness, food, and family. I get it. I was there. I used to have a trainer who would make me feel like shit every time I ate a cookie.  I eventually felt like such a failure that I just stopped trying. And when I say I stopped trying, I just mean in general. I let my appearance go, ate what I wanted, and embraced that crappy feeling. I drank wine at night. I searched job opportunities and didn’t go after them because I felt so crappy.  I’d occasionally get on the elliptical, but I’d watch someone super fit go by and think to myself,

“I’m not going to have that. I don’t look like her.” I wasn’t born with those genetics; that life is just not meant FOR ME. “

It was at the height of my negative self talk phase that I overheard a friend talking to a stranger. We were all swimming, and the woman asked her why I was wearing a one piece bathing suit. This friend replied, “Oh, she just got married and kind of let herself go.” Number one, that person’s role in my life has been changed. Number two, that was not going to be my story.

I’m telling you this incredibly painful story because I know there are some of you sitting there thinking that the life I have is not for you. You might be feeling like you let yourself go.  You are going to get on that elliptical, and think that there is no way you will ever accomplish what you want. I am telling you, you can.  For me, it was all about finding the right program. I found that Sleek Body Method was right for me because it was mainly women and it was a safe space for me to try things that I felt stupid doing. I was not surrounded by haters who told me I “let myself go.”  Understand this, we never let ourselves go, we just get lost sometimes. 

Fitness for me was a domino effect. The more you conquer things you didn’t think you could do, the better you feel. Maybe for you, it’s just getting to the gym. Or maybe it’s hitting that PR on a deadlift. You are going to have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.  Make some goals. Do something scary. I promise you won’t die. You are going to have to invest in learning about dieting, but once you learn it, you’ll be able to have everything you want (in moderation.) When I finally felt better, I went after the job I wanted and it’s literally my dream job. I love what I do and the people I work with. I have a body that I NEVER THOUGHT I would get.  If no one tells you this today, you can totally do this, and if you need help, I can get you to the right people. Set goals and…

CRUSH THEM.

-C

Picture on the left: Doing weight watchers online, counting cheez-its, sneaking pillsbury cookies our of shame. **CRIES INSIDE**

Picture on the right: Doing IIFYM, still eating cheez-its. Eats cookies and owns that sh*t.

When I first decided to lose weight, I signed up for Weight Watchers online. What a cool program. The basis of weight watchers was to assign certain foods “points,” and your only job was to meet your points requirement for the day. Easy.  Not so much. It was easy at first, but I never knew what foods got how many points and so on and so forth. I never really learned why an apple is one point and why a pear is four.  Hello co-dependent dieting? Now I can never quit weight watchers.

I went on other diets, like having trainers write plans for me. 6 chicken breast a day, 5 cups of spinach, and sweet potatoes. Barf. Not sustainable.  This is about the time I learned about IIFYM. If it fits your macros is an awesome program that allows you to eat the foods you want, as long as they meet your “macros,” or macronutrient nutritional goals.  It’s like weight watchers, but rather than logging “points,” you are logging calories. This may seem overwhelming at first, but I promise you, this will not shackle you to an app or make you eat chicken until you die.

So let’s start.

What are macros?

Macros stand for macronutrients. IIFYM is similar to caloric dieting. You know those apps that tell you how many calories to eat per day? Well say I need to eat 1000 calories a day. That means I can eat two pieces of pizza and be done, right? No no no. You need to eat a certain amount of carbs, protein, and fat in order to properly lose weight. IIFYM believes that if you maintain these goals, you will lose weight at slow and predictable pace. Many people believe that IIFYM is “free for all” dieting, but you should remember that 80% of your food should come from clean sources (think the food pyramid, lean protein, veggies, fruit), and 20% is discretionary, meaning whatev.

 How does one begin this process?

It’s A LOT of trial and error my friends. Download an app like mymacros+ (in the app store) and start plugging in the foods you normally eat. My recommendation is to just eat normally and then see where you are falling. Are you eating a ton of carbs and not enough protein? (I was). You may find out you aren’t eating enough at all! Here’s a day when I was eating not quite right.

I went over on fats, likely because I added too much peanut butter to my pad thai. Whoops. I will make an adjustment and try again tomorrow. It’s as easy as that.

I want to splurge. How do I plan?

Ah, cheat day. I was just thinking all week about how I practically want to drink my Uncle Lloyd’s chili cheese dip. The good news is, IIFYM allows you to have the foods you want. Although you have a daily goal, you also have a weekly goal. say you accidentally go over one day, just subtract how much you went over from the next day. Think about it like money, if you had a daily budget of $10 and a weekly budget of $70.00, and you accidentally spend $12.00 one day, you just need to use $8.00 the following day to keep you within your weekly budget. I suggest knowing what you want to cheat with in advance and planning around that.

But I love drinking, can I do that?

Yup, you can, but just remember that alcohol does slow progress in any diet. In some cases, I need the wine to deal, so you can calculate it from fat or carbs.  Check out my girl Tracy’s blog post to learn more about how to do this.

This seems like more food than I’ve been eating. Why?

Well, here’s why, although you may be eating a certain amount of calories, you may not be eating the correct macro-nutrients for your lifestyle. Some people slash carbs and are very successful in the short term, but this is not a healthy or optimal long term solution to weight loss. When your body is in starvation mode, your body will begin to eat lean muscle and hold onto fat. Not to mention too few calories can lead to devastating effects like low testosterone levels, decreased energy, and most of all, weight loss plateaus.  Lastly, if you are working out hard, you are likely burning a ton more than you put in.

I want you to know that I certainly am aware of how much work this is. Again, I’ll always direct you to my studio’s online training classes, as I think they are very helpful and can be done from your home.  I want to leave you with some final thoughts though, I want you to understand that changing your life isn’t easy. It is going to be a long road. I didn’t wake up one day and then get in a bikini competition. My success was made up of tiny decisions, day by day, that lead to success.

There will be days that are hard; you will fuck up; you will beat yourself up. But you must love yourself and your body enough to forgive any mistakes, find balance, and get back on track. Our bodies are incredible and the fact that every single part is working the way it is supposed to is a miracle in itself.  Treat yourself well, respect your body, invest in creating a lifestyle, and remember; nothing worth having ever comes easy.

As most of you know, a significant portion of my job requires travel. I love that my job allows me to see new places and visit new people, but let me tell you; business travel can wreak havoc on your system. From gym accessibility, late night dinners, and poor sleep, many travelers find it difficult to “find their groove,” when they are on the road.  When I first started traveling, I felt the challenges hard. I’d go to a hotel to find they had no gym or drive into a town with literally no restaurant. When we’d go to dinner, I’d scramble to figure out what I would eat or order to drink. I meet so many folks who just want some dang balance.  What I realize is that most of my followers are not competitors. You may count macros, or may not, but that shouldn’t stop you from making healthy choices. Here are a few of my go-to travel favorites:

Breakfast in a hotel: 

Concierge Lounge: If you’re fancy and have status, they usually have free breakfast in the “lounge” area. Step away from the pastry table. Opt for a cup of oatmeal and some eggs or an english muffin and eggs.

Room Service: If you are in a hotel and need to order room service, feel free to order off the menu (they love this), but I always go for an English muffin, two cups of egg whites, and a side of fruit. The max cost will be about 13.00, but be careful for gratuity and delivery “surcharge.”

For a Quick Bite: 

If you can, please try not to default to fast food like Taco Bell and McDonalds. If you have to, try to get a grilled chicken sandwich, but ew.

Jimmy Johns Unwich: Beach Club, light avocado, no mayo, light cheese. BUT THE BREAD IS DELICIOUS! Did you know that they also have a thing where they scoop the bread out? You get the taste of bread without the guts. You usually have to call and ask them to “Scoop the bread.” It will add some more carbs but if it’s worth it splurge. They also have one of the fanciest nutrition calcs I’ve seen.

Panera: Greek Chicken Salad with Double Chicken. Dressing on the side. Watch the fat in this bad boy. Also the “modern” greek has nearly 32 grams of fat. That’s my daily intake yo. Kill the Quinoa and extra nuts.

Most chains are pretty easy to navigate. Just google the menu online and make an easy choice.

Dinners Out:  

Remember what I say: Lean protein+clean carb=Winning

Sushi: Spicy Tuna or Salmon Roll. Always. As described by Livestrong.com,” The tuna, rice and vegetables contribute to the carb and protein content of the spicy tuna hand roll. One hand roll contains 9 to 18 grams of carbs, 1 to 2 grams of fiber and 6 to 15 grams of protein. The carbs provide your body with energy, while the protein helps repair body tissue and preserve lean body mass. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate your body cannot digest, and getting more in your diet alleviates constipation and may reduce your risk of heart disease. Up the fiber in your hand roll by replacing the white rice with brown rice.” Stay away from anything that has cream cheese or says things like “crunchy,” or “tempura.”

Seafood: Stick with lean fish like tilapia and veggies. This is an easy one.

Steakhouse: Opt for a small filet and baked potato. Opt for the smallest filet possible (no bigger than 8oz) and swap out potatoes for veggies if you are watching carbs. If you’re post leg day, splurge for the potato with minimal topping. If you’re going to “go hard” on this meal, be sure to scale back earlier meals because this is high in fat.

Mexican: To be honest, usually I mexi-can’t because I freaking love chips so much and I don’t know. how.to.stop. But if you are so inclined, opt for a corn tortilla and chicken tacos. Fairly lean, but watch the toppings like cheese and beans.

Italian: Again. With the bread. Why. Italian is a tough one because it is so so carby. If you can, go for a salad, but if you must with the pasta, stay away from heavy alfredo or fried items like Chicken Parmesan. If they have butternut squash ravioli, Instagram that sh*t and tell me where to get it.

Drinking:

If you are a competitor, you know what I will say. Fun is not allowed. But most of you aren’t and are going to drink anyway. I’m going to switch to business mode for a minute to let you know that in any professional setting, you need to be careful with alcohol. Work drinking has caused many a job loss, and I don’t advise doing it to excess.  I know that peer pressure plays a role in this, but people will talk for a few minutes if you don’t drink with them, but if you are the drunk jerk at the Christmas Party, you will be the stuff of legends. Be careful. Especially if you are a manager of people. Ok, off the soapbox. If you are going to drink, stick to a clear alcohol with water or soda or red wine. No more than two-three over a few hour span.

 

So there you have it, some quick and easy, no-fail tricks for your business travel needs! What are your best strategies? Drop em below!

 

 

 

 

 

I want to tell you all something very honest. I almost didn’t post these.  A few weeks ago I was asked by the lovely David Carolyn to participate in a photo shoot with some adoptable dogs to benefit my favorite charity, Gateway Pet Guardians. I was super excited to do it, but to be honest, I struggled with the fact that I was in off season. I’m eating more food, trying to gain muscle to build on my progress from last year. I spend a lot of time preaching that you can’t be show lean all of the time, but I also seem to not be able to embrace the idea. I’m a fraud.  The second I gain, I immediately fall back on “Oh my god, dial it back, you’re out of control!” Am I really? No.  I’m still working out 6 days a week, enjoying the occasional cheat meal. I was hit with a hard truth by my friend who said, “Some girls don’t understand that in order to get leaner, you need to gain muscle, and sometimes, that means you have to look fluffy.” Oh lawd. Say it ain’t so. Competing is serious, and putting yourself out there to be judged for you body is super hard.

I want you to understand the hardest lesson I’m learning, and well, we’re learning it together: There are peaks and valleys in fitness. You can’t be show lean all the time. The important thing is to focus on progressing, little by little, every day.  Quite honestly, right now I’m enjoying life. I’m still a size 0. No one is dying. I don’t have abs right now and it makes me sad, but what also makes me happy is being able to drink some wine. (which I didn’t do before show) Priorities.

Now back to the point:  I’m never going to turn down a chance to get a makeover and play with Gateway dogs. FO FREE (sort of, I paid for my hair and makeup).  These two dogs that showed up are amazing. Their names are Melanie and Little Debbie. Little Debbie and I are soul mates. I’m sure of it. She also represents my love for snacks.

You might be asking yourself why I chose to do this shoot. Well, because I am a firm believer that if you are given a platform, you must use it for good.  No matter how I feel, there are millions of dogs that will spend life on the street this holiday season, and their problems are much bigger than my gainz. Gateway is a very wonderful organization that does a ton for the St. Louis community, from free spay and neuter clinics, to education, to fostering and adoption. If you have funds or supplies to donate this holiday season, please consider them. Also, David is an amazing photographer and is extremely diverse. He’s a good person and donates his time to do this. If you have photography needs, buy them from good people like David.

I hope this blog helps you this holiday season, understand that everything is a balance. Eat the food. Lift Heavy. Adopt all the dogs. Prosper.

Love-

C

 

 

A few weeks ago, I was at a business meeting and I ordered a grilled chicken wrap with fries. It was a cheat meal, but I was also about to go lift heavy AF as well. “YOU are eating THAT,” he proclaimed. Hell to the yeah. I eat IIFYM, which means if it fits my macros (a certain number of carbs, fats, and protein) I can eat it. Granted, when I’m competing macros can get pretty low, so I turn more “bro diet,” but during my offseason, I like to swap ingredients to make delicious creations. A great IIFYM strategy is to make all of your protein at the beginning of the week so that you have it readily available. I wasn’t traveling this week, so Sunday I decided to make pulled pork. Believe it or not, pork tenderloin is pretty damn lean, and also amazing. Here’s what I did:

1.5 lbs pork tenderloin

1 jar of gluten free BBQ sauce (found at schnucks: watch SUGAR and FAT content on these bad boys)

Line a slow cooker with a liner (or don’t but I’m not cleaning that thing). Add pork and sauce and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Pull apart. That wasn’t so hard was it?

Now you’ve got a protein for all week! Here’s a few delicious recipes (some more macro friendly than others) that won’t break the bank.

 

Pulled Pork Tacos

4 oz. pork tenderloin

La Tiara Taco Shells (you can find these at most grocery stores AND these babies only have 4G OF CARBS. WHAT THE WHAT?!)

Lettuce

1 oz Fat Free Cheddar Cheese

1. Cook taco shells for 10 minutes at 200F. Add toppings. Done

Next up is my favorite recipe I’ve made so far:

Pulled Pork Nachos

Let me be clear here, these bad boys are better for a cleaner cheat, but regular nachos half close to triple the fat content.

1 bag Rice and Bean Adzuki chips (can be found in organic aisle)

4 oz pork tenderloin

.25 cup of 2% cheddar cheese

Throw on a plate and cook in the microwave Napoleon Dynamite style. YESSSS.

 

The next one is actually pretty clean:

This is actually an interpretation of one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. If you’re ever in Dallas, stop by the Pecan Lodge in Deep Ellum and get The Hot Mess. It’s a sweet potato loaded with the best pulled pork you’ve ever eaten.  Obviously with brown sugar and other dressings, it’s loaded with calories, so I’ll try to keep it clean 🙂

This place is everything

The Not-So-Hot Mess 

4 oz pulled pork

4 oz sweet potato

1. Cook sweet potato in oven or microwave as you prefer
2. Fill with pulled pork
3. Top as you like

Protein: 25.7

Carbs: 23.6

Fat: 6.1

Obviously there are a ton of other things you can do with your pulled pork, but these are a few creative options when you are feeling like you want to splurge. Add it on a wrap, add it on a bun, or heck, just slap it on some lettuce!

 

The most important lesson here is to know your macros. If you want to learn more about macro’s, check out this class by my trainer Tracy.

Got any other creative ideas? Drop them below!