Cassey Ho's Blog, page 80

Maintaining, gaining, or losing weight after the 90 days?

Hey guys!

I am currently writing you from Vietnam! I am in a bus (with wifi) on the way to go see my grandparents and my family in the southern part of the country. I have 3 hours to spare, so time to blog!

Many of you have been wondering if I’ve been able to maintain my weight since the end of the 90 day journey. And the answer is – YES! But with fluidity. I’ve lost weight, maintained, and gained – but all within healthy bounds.

Here’s the thing you guys.

The reason why my 90 day journey was successful was because I allowed for flexibility. I learned that I didn’t need to be crazy restrictive with eliminating entire food groups. In the end, it was about not overeating. Simple as that. Logging everything I ate was key.

I’m currently on vacation right now and obviously logging is not easy. Everything I am eating is not being made by me, so I have no idea what’s actually in it. I can only make educated guesses and do the best I can!

Yesterday, I decided I wanted to go hard and try out a highly rated matcha cafe in Ho Chi Minh City called Japanit. Most people were ordering one dessert to share…Sam and I being the Americans that we are, ordered THREE desserts to share! Hahaha.

We got a matcha cheesecake, a matcha crepe cake, and a matcha milkshake boba thing topped with matcha ice cream, corn flakes and a sweet butter wafer. I would love to tell you that this was the best thing I have ever had in my life, but unfortunately, it was meh. SAD TIMES!!!

Look guys – life is fluid, so I like to apply the same philosophy to my food and my workouts. Being too strict will make you break, and will make you want to binge. Being flexible gives you the power to add or subtract a little here or there and not feel bad if something doesn’t go as planned. Why? CUZ YOU’RE EXPERIMENTING!

You’ve got to LISTEN to the signals your body is giving you as you head towards your goals. Remember, absolutely NO JOURNEY goes in a straight line. Ups, downs, and even plateaus are necessary. This is life. This is how it works.

Now, let’s have a look at how I’ve been eating Cassey-style on my trip so far:

This is grilled pork over a bed of salad with peanuts and a side of pickled carrots and daikon. That’s a side of fish sauce. Normally those comes with fried egg rolls and vermicelli noodles, but I omitted that. Good news is that everything still tasted amazing!

These are rice paper rolls stuffed with lettuce, carrots, and beef. I also took out the vermicelli noodles in these.

What’s Vietnam without pho!!?? I ordered Vietnamese beef noodle soup and subbed the noodles for bean sprouts. It was pho-nomenal!!!

I’m a few days into my trip now and will soon be eating grandma’s home cookin’! Excited to see everyone, but I literally do not think they will understand what I am saying AT ALL. My Vietnamese is so bad – it’s like worse than toddler level.

Oh and one more thing before I get off this bus.

Thursday December 5th at 8 AM PST, the new Constellation Collection drops on popflexactive.com!

A little sneak peek for you from my sketch book.

The post Maintaining, gaining, or losing weight after the 90 days? appeared first on Blogilates.

December Workout Calendar + Thanksgiving Recap

Hey guys!

Happy 1 month til 2020!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Before we get into the December workout calendar, let’s recap Thanksgiving real quick shall we?

Sam and I hosted our first Thanksgiving at our new house for over 20 people! It was a really intense few days leading up to the dinner because I tend to make everything a huge deal, even though Sam said to “keep it casual.” Honestly guys, I don’t know the meaning of casual. Everything must be wedding status, or else, did it even happen!????

The morning started with me working out at 7am and then coming home and cooking from 8:15am to 2:30pm. I pushed myself to make 5 dishes:

Coconut sunflower dessert balls
Green beans with sautéed mushrooms and onions
Cauliflower mash
Classic stuffing
Paleo pumpkin pie

Sam asked me why I was so agitated in the morning. Not agitated I told him, just HYPER FOCUSED CASSEY IN THE KITCHEN.

Thank goodness Jackelyn offered to handle the turkey.

Before guests started arriving Jackelyn and I set up candles and centerpieces and yes I know it sounds super extra but YOU GUYS you saw my wedding right? I AM EXTRA.

Here’s a look at the dessert table that I set up!

I AM OBSESSED with how this table looks. I was so happy to bring out some of the wedding gifts Sam and I received – like the beautiful rose gold silverware and the pink ceramic serving trays. Putting food on a pretty plates elevates the whole eating experience exponentially. If you can afford it, I would highly suggest investing in some dinnerware you’re really into. It makes eating at home feel like eating in a restaurant. Plus, it makes you appreciate your food more, which will help you be more conscious of what you’re eating!

Here are my Coconut Sunflower Dessert Balls! I kind of “made this up” as I went, so I cannot tell you the exact measurements, but I can tell you what’s in it!

Sunflower seed butter (you can use any nut butter though)
Coconut flour (I mixed it in until the dough felt more cookie dough like – not too try, not too wet)
Dried apricot pieces, diced (optional)
Raw cane sugar to taste
Coconut flakes for outside (optional)

I wasn’t sure if people would dig them, but they were a hit!!! The only constructive criticism I got back was to make my balls a little smaller! But otherwise, people loved em!!!

My new Paleo Pumpkin Pie passed the Sam test this time. He fully approved, and so did the guests! They didn’t know it was paleo. I used this recipe from Elana’s Pantry.

I kind of overfilled my pie, so that’s why you don’t see a crust, but the crust was SPECTACULAR!!!

Instead of traditional green bean casserole, I made steamed green beans topped with sauteéd onions and mushrooms. I seasoned with a little salt and pepper. This super simple dish was almost gone by the end of the night.

Here’s the masterpiece of a turkey that Jackelyn prepared! The meat was moist and the skin was crispy. The best turkey I’ve ever had! She used the Butterflied Big Bird recipe from our friend Michelle over at Nom Nom Paleo!

Interrupting the recipes for a moment of appreciation for the table settings :)

I TOTALLY forgot to take a pic of the stuffing and the cauli mash! The stuffing was standard so not much to say here, but BOY OH BOY the cauli mash fooled people! They thought it was real potatoes!!!! The consistency, the texture and the taste were like real mashed potatoes!

The cauli mash had only 3 ingredients. I used this recipe from Elana’s Pantry. It’s the first time I’ve ever used her recipes, but I like them cuz they’re super simple. For me, the less ingredients, the better.

My plate above features some zucchini noodles in avocado sauce, cabbage salad, spaghetti squash, cauli mash, turkey, green beans with mushrooms and onions, and a cauliflower egg casserole. Oh and I threw sriracha ALL OVER IT after I took this pic :)

The fam after everyone left. I made Jackelyn, Nick, and Sam do a Tik Tok with me and guys – I think they’re hooked.

View this post on Instagram

 

Sound on for our post-Thanksgiving performance!⁣ Love, ⁣ Our weird little family

A REALLY GOOD Paleo Pumpkin Muffin Recipe!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Today we are going to have a Friendsgiving at work. Everyone made a dish for our lil Blogifam potluck! Currently salivating as I write this. I CAN’T WAIT TO EATTTTTT.

Also, I am proud to tell you that I totally redeemed muffin making disaster from the other night! Look what I made last night!

Isn’t she a beauty!?

And guess what, it tastes GREAT too. As in Sam-approved! Which means a lot because the other day he tasted my healthy pumpkin pie and told me he didn’t like it – I literally almost cried lol.

So here’s my recipe for…

PALEO PUMPKIN MUFFINS!

INGREDIENTS (makes 12):

3 eggs
2 ripe bananas
1/2 canned cup pumpkin puree
1/4 canned coconut milk
2 cups almond flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Line muffin tin with liners.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together all of the ingredients.
Bake for about 30 min or until top looks slightly browned and glazed over.

NUTRITION INFO:

149 calories per muffin
10 g carbs
11 g fat
6 g protein

MUCH MUCH MUCH better than the disaster the other night! See guys, never give up. You’ll get it eventually!

Taste wise, it’s super duper moist and the flavor profile is just right. Not overly sweet at all. In my opinion, my ideal muffin. Plus there’s ZERO added sugar in this recipe, which makes me feel very happy. So, this muffin recipe is perfect for anyone who is paleo, Whole30, gluten free, or dairy free.

My recipe was inspired by Seeded at the Table’s Almond Flour Banana Muffins which uses apple sauce instead of pumpkin puree and cinnamon instead of pumpkin pie spice. I love looking up recipes, using them as a base, and then giving them my own twist!

To my Americans, are you ready for Thanksgiving? Will you be cooking, hosting, or just eating ;P ?

Also!! Don’t forget, Black Friday is happening RIGHT NOW on POPFLEX! GO CRAY!!!

 

The post A REALLY GOOD Paleo Pumpkin Muffin Recipe! appeared first on Blogilates.

A most therapeutic weekend!

Hey you guys!

First off, I wanna say THANK YOU to everyone who left kind words on this almost 30 min vlog I uploaded to YouTube!

I was scared that there was going to be major backlash, so I prepared my mind for it. To my surprise however, I didn’t see any of the kind of hate I was receiving on my day 1 announcement. So weird, huh? Where did the haters go???

It was sooooo lovely to read all of your comments saying how much you were proud of me and how much my journey inspired you to start your own! This wasn’t my intention, but I am so happy that my personal journey has fired something up inside of you.

If any of you are about to embark on your own 90 day journey, make sure you grab a copy of my 12 Week Fit Journal! Great news is, the POPFLEX BLACK FRIDAY SALE is happening right now and the ENTIRE STORE is 40% OFF! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! (Minus the 2020 Planner stationery) Just use code “GIMME40” at popflexactive.com and throw in a yoga mat or two while you’re at it :P

Alright, now I wanna do a lil weekend recap because seriously this weekend was one of the most relaxing and therapeutic weekends I’ve had in a LOOOONGGGGG time. I got a deep tissue massage, I bought fresh flowers, went shopping for stockings and dog clothes, made myself some matcha oat milk tea, cleaned, baked, and prepped the house for Thanksgiving. Okay, okay I know that doesn’t sound traditionally relaxing – but any time I get to do things that are NOT work, it’s relaxing :)

Oh and I got this new fuzzy hoodie and shorts set that are my current FAVE. Absolute perfection with my matcha, my avo socks, Sir George in a cable knit sweater, and reading your comments on YouTube. Your words made me smile the whole time.

A cart full of flowers at Trader Joes right after the gym.

DREAM.

Have I ever told you that my ideal morning is working out, then groceries at a farmer’s market or Trader Joes/Whole Foods and then cooking breakfast for me and Sam? I did that. And I LOVED every single second of it. Best part was – Sam went to weight lift with me too! :)

As soon as we got home from Trader Joe’s, I was inspired to make this boba shop level drink for Sam! I’ve been trying to make healthier swaps for him that don’t taste like substitutions. If Sam approves, then I know it will taste good for the masses. Sometimes my weird creations are like “healthy people good” but not “normal people good” if you know what I mean! The bottom is strawberry preserves, the middle is oat milk, and the top is matcha. Sam actually said it tasted like the REAL THING!!!! VICTORY!!!!!

Since Thanksgiving is this Thursday, and we also have a Blogifam Friendsgiving on Wednesday, I needed to test out some pumpkin pie recipes to ensure “fool proofness”.

I tried making a vegan crustless pumpkin pie. Started out all good, but then…

UHHHHHHHHH

WHAT. HAPPENED.

Literally no idea!!!! It was such a disaster. This is why I don’t normally bake! I am more of a sautéer and a boiler!

And the worst part was, it didn’t even taste good. It was so salty! So I took the warm pumpkin pie filling and mixed it in with cream cheese to make a frosting for a cupcake I will try baking later on. That tasted much better. Will keep ya posted on what happens to this.

Finally, I know we’re in the thick of Fall, but I had to slip on a new bikini and appreciate how hard my body has been working! So here’s a shameless cheetah print bikini mirror selfie.

CUZ WHY NOT. (Hi George)

The post A most therapeutic weekend! appeared first on Blogilates.

My Next 90 – Stretching My Limits.

Hey guys!

It’s been so nice not having to stay up super late writing. I’ve enjoyed the break a lot :)

BUT!!! I totally miss writing to you! So here I am! I’m going to come up with a writing schedule for myself because that really helped me blog more consistently. If I tell myself to do it when I “feel like it” – I’m going to push it towards the end of the day and by then, I’ll be too tired to blog.

So, I’m going to try to blog 3 times a week! Let’s say Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for now. I’ll start with that and see how it goes. I am leaving for a 2-week vacation in about a week (OMG FREAKING OUT BECAUSE SO MUCH TO DO), so I don’t think I can commit to this schedule then.

Anyway! This blog post is gonna be all about my “Next 90”! I’ve decided that my focus will be on stretching my limits – in mind, body, and career.

Let’s start it off with some clear goals for my Next 90.

NEXT 90 MIND GOALS:

1. Blog at least 3x a week (except when on vacation) to speak my feelings and clear thoughts

I am so happy that because of my 90 day journey, I now am no longer scared of writing. It feels good to me again. I’m excited that blogilates.com has returned to being my fitness diary. So grateful to be home again.

NEXT 90 BODY GOALS:

1. Front splits with hips closer to floor

2. Middle splits with crotch to the floor (will try really hard but might need more time)

3. Wheel with hands underneath shoulders (will try really hard but might need more time)

4. Pointier feet

I need to SERIOUSLY make stretching a daily thing. Workouts I do pretty much 6x a week as a part of my routine. But stretching – I have not worked up to making that a routine thing yet.

I think I will need to find a new TV show to watch so I can stretch for the entire duration of the episode. That will help me get through it!  Any suggestions on what’s good these days? I love historical dramas and documentaries but I can’t handle anything scary!

NEXT 90 CAREER GOALS:

1. Get ahead. Work towards planning out content and product launches at least 3-6 months in advance. This will create seamless workflow for our team, and time to breathe and achieve, without feeling like I have to keep doing more because I “feel” like I am not doing enough.

Good news is that I’ve already started planning out 2020’s POPFLEX launches and guys, it is going to be an EXCITING YEAR – as long as my entire system works according to plan! There are a lot of people and moving parts involved, so some of it is not 100% in my control.

I have created a 2020 visual calendar of important product launches, marketing campaigns, and events throughout the year and I am feeling really good about how it all is looking. I love seeing my year in front of me. It tells me exactly where I need to go, and now my job is to figure out how to get there. I love it. Feeling really good about this.

Currently, I have not “caught up” to being 3-6 months ahead. I am dying right now, but I will get there, I know it. Just gotta put my head down and work really hard so that I can breathe easier later on. I NEED to get to this place of calmness, or else I will literally die stressed out, feeling like I never caught up.

BEFORE PICS!

Alrighty, here’s where I am right now!

Shoulders are back are SO TIGHT! I want my palms to get under my shoulders! I’ve got like a foot to go! Here George is trying to encourage me!

This is my standing split. Trying my best with that pointed foot, but looks pretty flat! Will need to do my arch stretches.

Front splits. See that hole underneath my hip/crotch area? I want to try to eliminate that hole eventually. I will be practicing over splits to try to get there.

Middle splits. The enemy. It hurts so bad. Goal is to get that crotch to the floor. Can I do it!!?? I better get my crotch to touch the floor ONCE in this lifetime.

Stretching teaches you a lot. About being ok with taking time. About embracing patience. About finding peace in being still. About leaning into the discomfort in order to get better.

I’m excited for this Next 90!!

What’s your 90 day focus?

Like I’ve said before, 90 days is long enough so that you have room for making mistakes and learning from them, but short enough so that you feel the pressure to stay focused. It is truly the perfect amount of time to break bad habits, build good ones, and create a new lifestyle for yourself.

Think about one thing you want to get better at. What’s that one thing you’ve always wanted to do but never got a chance to put energy towards it? What is that?

I want you to write in the comments what that is. Consider it your declaration to the universe!! Now, will you decide to commit to making your dream come true? Or will you leave it as a dream? You decide.

If you’re not sure what you want to do on your next 90, I have an idea for you. Because you guys follow Blogilates, most of you are obviously veteran POPsters! Meaning…you’ve memorized my videos, you know my moves by heart, and you’ve inspired your own family and circle of friends to get fitter with your healthy lifestyle. So…wanna take it a step further?

Have you ever thought of teaching fitness as a side hustle?

Seriously! If you love working out, you could get paid to do it! And get this – most gyms that will hire you, will ALSO give you a free membership, so you never have to pay to go to the gym ever again!

I started teaching when I was a sophomore in college and that decision back then changed the course of my entire life. I mean, I thought it was a cool way to make extra money for textbooks and clothes, plus I enjoyed how good it felt to teach a class. But I had ZERO IDEA how my love for group fitness would lead me to where I am today.

If you’re curious…here’s what I say. Head to a training. It will challenge you to become a stronger, more confident version of who you are right now. It will teach you how to be a leader, and how to teach other people to become stronger, more confident versions of themselves. And you know what? It’s one of the most rewarding feelings in the world.

Right now, we just announced 48 new POP Pilates Trainings! They are all currently 50% for our Black Friday Sale – sooooo, pick one and just go!

Use code “blackfriday19” at checkout to apply the 50% off discount. The trainings are so fun and empowering. You’re going to get so much out of the experience.

If you couldn’t find a training near you, then guess what!!??? You can take the training online! Just sign up for my POP Pilates Online Workshop.

If you have ANY questions about getting certified, please ask me in the comments! I will be browsing through and answering!

The post My Next 90 – Stretching My Limits. appeared first on Blogilates.

My 90 Day Journey Recap – PART 2, the feelings.

Wow, thank you so much celebrating the end of my 90 day journey with me on my last post! I really felt like you guys were my girl friends giving me a big hug at the finish line of a marathon. I truly appreciate you soooooo much! You bring me so much joy!

 

So, part 1 was all the technical stuff. My workouts, my food, my numbers, and my physical, external transformation. Now, it’s time for all the ooey gooey mushy gushy stuff – the feelings…the internal metamorphosis, which to me, is the more important and longer lasting aspect of my 90 day journey. Part 2 is going to be all about the feels.

Why I Needed To Go On A 90 Day Journey

At the end of this past summer, Sam and I had just finished a 3 day retreat, and on our way back to the airport, I broke down and started crying outta nowhere. (I don’t know what it is about retreats but they break you open and make you face things you don’t want to face.)

As Sam was driving, sadness overpowered my entire body and I became overwhelmed when I realized that I was not living the life I truly wanted. I felt lost, I felt stagnant, I felt fake, and I no longer knew who I was. I realized that I was no longer my true authentic self. I had stopped doing the things that REALLY made me happy.

Why?

Cuz I was afraid.

Being in the public eye for over 10 years, I began to say less and less because every time I said something, someone would be upset. When Blogilates started back in 2009, I was pretty much blogging 7 days a week! But as Blogilates got bigger and bigger, I became less and less vocal because I was afraid of making people unhappy. I went from blogging 7 days a week to blogging maybe 7 days a year.

Anytime I shared what I ate, someone would call me a murderer.

Anytime I talked about my body, someone would say I was too fat to be a trainer.

Anytime I talked about my heritage, someone would tell me to take the race out of it.

And the ONE TIME I talked about how happy I was that gay marriage was now legal, I lost 4,000 followers in just a few minutes.

So, overtime, I taught myself to hold back my real thoughts and opinions to keep people peaceful. Unfortunately this caused me to become a slave to other people’s opinions of me…and I ended up molding myself into this vanilla cupcake whose goal was to offend no one. Which is stupid…because it’s impossible.

In doing so, I lost my identity.

After the plane ride home, I took some time to ask myself what I really wanted. And on August 16th, I decided it was time to make a big change. I told Sam that I wanted to go on a 90 day journey to get in the best shape of my life physically and mentally. I told him that I wanted to document the entire journey on my blog in order to keep myself accountable. Blogilates.com would return to what it once was – my safe space and my personal fitness diary.

But, I was hesitant.

I knew a lot of people would be upset at how transparent I was about to get. I knew that for myself, I needed to announce my goal weight and my goal body fat percentage in order to keep myself hyper focused. I personally like using numbers because they keep me honest. Plus they give me something to objectively work towards. BUT I knew that for the people going through body insecurity issues, talk of scales and weight would be upsetting – which I totally understand! I mean, I didn’t step on a scale for a couple years because of the way I would let it control my emotions. But once I realized that I was allowing an inanimate object to have power over my self worth, I saw how ridiculous it was and stopping giving the scale so much control. Instead, I began viewing the scale as just a tool that was there to help me collect data points. That right there is what really helped switch my mindset.

Why I Needed to Announce My Goals

Announcing my goals publicly was important to me because it gave me the accountability I needed to stay on track. If I knew that people were watching, I’d be less likely to give up. So after reviewing my plan with Sam, I made the decision to announce my 90 day journey publicly on August 16th.

The Backlash

In my gut, I knew I was going get some backlash, but…I was not prepared for HOW much backlash I was going to get.

Some people were excited to follow along, some people were genuinely concerned about me relapsing into an eating disorder, but a surprising number of people were just straight up rude, mean spirited, and in some cases derogatory and hateful. The comments being made about my character and my intentions me cry and feel really terrible about myself.

Now that I’ve had 3 months to think about it, here’s my take on why my 90 day journey was received with so much negativity.

You see, it’s weird when you start out teaching Pilates on YouTube with the pure goal of JUST TEACHING PILATES and then people start making rude comments about how fat you are. Then when the media brands you as a “body positive influencer” because you’re “so brave” for teaching Pilates without a six pack, all of a sudden you become a leader of a movement you never intended to be a part of. It’s also important to note that body positivity back in 2013/14 is not what it is today. So then, when you, as a fitness instructor, decide to do something so “heinous” such as – oh you know, maybe like embark on a 90 day journey where you decide to eat cleaner and workout a little more, all of a sudden you’re branded as a “bad role model”, “irresponsible”, “mentally ill”, “too skinny” and “an embarrassment and disappointment to womankind.”

Logically, I can see why the 90 day journey would SEEM like something that would “go against” my perceived brand values. But at the same time, the Blogilates brand value first and foremost is to help people find the joy in exercise. And that mission has never changed.

My Internal Metamorphosis

Before I started my 90 day journey, I felt like a vanilla cupcake with no opinions. I was scared to offend people and I was scared of hurting people feelings, so I let mine get hurt instead. Over time, I felt muted by my own community and I started turning into someone I wasn’t.

At the same time, in my personal life, I was dealing lots of family drama and business mishaps that took a toll on my sleep, my stress levels, and overall quality of life. Things felt very stuck internally. I needed a whole life makeover. So I decided to put my focus back onto myself. And that meant getting fitter externally so that I could get fitter internally. I needed structure, discipline, and extreme focus. Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I didn’t go on this journey because I hated my body. I went on this journey because I loved my body so much that I wanted to dedicate time towards improving myself mentally and physically.

When I embarked on my 90 Day Journey, I thought the hardest part was going to be the food. Workouts have never been a problem because I honestly enjoy exercising. But little did I know food was going to be the least of my worries.

The extra negativity I got externally put a lot of unnecessary stress on my well being. I found myself constantly trying to defend myself against the negativity, which honestly, exhausted me and just made me feel really bad. I don’t know why I put myself through the torture, but I read through all of the comments as they started pouring in. I let them make me cry. I let them hurt my self confidence. I let them deprive me of my happiness when I should have been celebrating small victories. It’s something I still need to work on. I’m not good at not letting people’s opinions of me affect my well being, so it’s a goal of mine to stop caring as much. As an overly empathetic, sensitive, and emotionally aware person who is also a natural people pleaser – I’ve got a lot of internal work to do before I can “stop caring.”

But I will say this. The comments tested me and made me stronger. Yeah, I was hurt and yeah it felt terrible. But here I am, past the 90 days, feeling SO ALIVE, feeling SO MUCH STRONGER, feeling SO MUCH MORE CONFIDENT, and feeling SO MUCH BETTER than when I started. I believe the negativity was a necessary part of my growth. Without it, I would not be as solid as I am right now. So for that, I am grateful.

On another note – people ask me why I read comments if they affect me so much. I’ll tell you why. I want to understand the truth and I want to always face reality. I never want to be delusional or ignorantly blissful. I’d rather have the truth hurt me than a lie make me feel good.

Plus, in between the negativity, there were some genuinely concerned POPsters who wanted to make sure I wasn’t relapsing, and for that I thank you. For those who cheered me on, I want you to know your comments brought a smile to my face. For those who started their own 90 day journeys, I’m sending you my strength and my motivation and I wish you so much success. And for those who left nasty comments, I hope you found the love you needed to heal yourself.

So there you have it guys. From the beginning, I said that this 90 Day Journey was going to be for me, and I kept true to that. Unexpected challenges arose during my journey, but I kept going back to my “why”. I wanted to get in the best shape of my life mentally and physically. And I almost can’t believe it, but I DID IT!!!!

I feel so proud not only because I reached my goals (well most of them), but because I reached them by practicing total self love and compassion.

Finally, I need to give a special shoutout to my Sam. He was the one who encouraged me to go on this 90 day journey and he was there to pick me up and dance silly with me whenever I broke down and ugly cried over the past 3 months – which happened kinda a lot. He sees me in my worst form and still loves me somehow, so for that, I feel so so sooooo lucky.

What’s next?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Food wise, I will keep eating like how I’ve been eating because I feel so energetic eating low carb, mod protein, mod fat. In fact, it doesn’t even feel like a diet. I am full and nourished! I will eat ice cream and treats when I feel like it, but I will be conscious of my portions. That is the biggest thing I have learned on the 90 day journey – I realize that I am a huge overachiever when it comes to eating :P

In terms workouts, I’ll strive to work out about 6x a week and I will DEFINITELY continue to take my heels classes! I hope to get better and start taking pole classes as well. It really helps with making me feel more confident!

In regards to next goals, I’ve already thought about what I want to accomplish for myself in the next 90. I love the length of 90 days because it’s long enough so you have time to make mistakes and learn from them, but also short enough so that you feel the pressure to not get lazy.

So, what’s my next goal?

I’m going to now shift my focus towards something I’ve wanted to accomplish for a long time. It has nothing to do with weight or body fat. It’s time to give that a break and focus instead on my flexibility :) Flexibility is soooooo important – in life, in business, in relationships, and in this case, your body. The more you know how to bend, the less likely you are to break.

So, beginning today I will make stretching a priority because 3 months from now, I want to get closer to doing…

#1. The middle splits! This is going to be so hard. My hips are super tight. I honestly don’t think 3 months is enough time, but hey, gotta start somewhere!

#2. A wheel with palms underneath my shoulders! This will also be hard. My shoulders and back are super tight too – a lot of that coming from stress and just the way I sit at the computer. Again, 3 months will probably not be enough time, but let’s see how far I get!

#3. And just cuz it’s so pretty, I want pointier feet! I have naturally flat-ish feet…soooooo this will be interesting!

Having more flexibility will also help me improve my Pilates practice, so I’m excited to see how my Pilates will enhance. Getting flexible is not just about stretching…it’s about strengthening too. So I’m excited to see how my muscles will change.

With all that said – I’m going to start stretching tonight. 90 days from today will be February 16th, 2020. I’ll need to devise a detailed plan to get towards my goals and I will update you guys with before pics in my next post!

YAY guys thanks for following along!! I can’t wait to embark on the next 90.

If you want to start your own 90 day journey, I’ll help you get started. Here’s a discount code to get 40% off the 12 week Fit Journal! Just use the code 90DAYJOURNEY at checkout on the POPFLEX website! The sale ends tomorrow Tuesday November 19th.

I actually just grabbed another copy for myself so I could track my plans for my 2nd 90 day journey towards flexibility. Excited to begin writing the next chapter of my life.

The post My 90 Day Journey Recap – PART 2, the feelings. appeared first on Blogilates.

My 90 Day Journey Recap – PART 1

DISCLAIMER:

I’d like to start off this blog post by VERY clearly stating that if you are triggered by numbers and transformation photos, PLEASE do not read this post.

I’d also like to VERY VERY clearly state the following:

NO, I do not have an eating disorder.

NO, I do not have a body image disorder.

NO, I do not hate myself.

NO, this journey was not for you.

It was for me.

Are we clear?

Kay good, moving on.

***

Wow! Guys, first off, I CANNOT BELIEVE 90 days flew by SO FAST!!!! WHAT!!!???? It’s insane how when you’re so focused, when you want something so bad, and when you’re genuinely enjoying the process, it does not feel like work. Not once did I ever feel deprived of happiness or of food. With every day that passed, I felt more and more like myself. I shed away the old Cassey who was afraid of other people’s opinion of her and grew into a more confident, happier, stronger, and sassier version of myself.

I LOVE ME Y’ALL!!!

This Part 1 blog post is going to be all about the numbers and the external metamorphosis. We’re going to dive deep into what worked, what didn’t work, and any correlations I saw in regards to weight versus calories, weight versus carbs, weight versus protein, and weight versus fat. Part 2 will be the internal metamorphosis.

Before we go into the numbers, I’d like to step back to day 1 to see where my head was.

My Day 1 Feelings:

“Working out used to be something that I enjoyed quietly as a “regular person”. Blogging used to be a safe place where I could truly spill my honest thoughts. But now – everything that I do, eat, or say is critiqued. Of course 100% by my choice for being a public figure…but…the public judgement of it all has made me a more timid, scared person. I tip toe around sensitive personalities and treat everything like it’s so fragile, but NO MORE. I’m gonna grab life “by the balls” and JUST LIVE LIFE the way I want.

So today is day 1. Of 90.

I said it. And I am not taking it back.

This is a personal journey I want to embark on to get in the best shape of my life – mentally and physically. It begins today August 16th and will end November 14th.”

My Original Goals:

“My physical goals?

Hmm, I’ll make 2 goals:

Weight goal: 120 lbs

Body fat % goal: 20%

(So I can be in the “athlete level” for women, according to the American Council on Exercise)

I can already say right now that 120 lbs is going to take a lot for me to get there. But I’m putting it down on paper right now and I’m going to try everything I can (only healthy ways of course) to make it happen!

My wellness goals:

I will reward myself with 1 self-care thing a week. So that means a deep tissue massage every week!

My blogging goals:

My goal is to blog how I am feeling DAILY. I hope I’m not setting myself up for failure here (as I have not blogged consistently for a few years now), but I’m going to say it out loud: I WILL BLOG EVERY DAY FOR 90 DAYS!!! Even if it means a small paragraph, I need to blog because it will be my way of journaling.”

Now, let’s start analyzing!

The Workouts:

This is the 12 week game plan page from my Fit Journal. I FEEL SO SATISFIED LOOKING AT IT!!!!

On average, I was working out 6 days a week with 1 day of rest. It was a combination of Pilates, HIIT/PIIT28, Dance, and Weightlifting. I was very consistent until the last week and a half of my 90 Day Journey due to travel, rehearsals, and shoots.

The Food:

The first month of my 90 Day Journey I was doing “Lazy Keto“. So high fat, low carb, moderate protein. I wasn’t calculating my macros or calories, but I was very conscious of my carb levels being low and my fat levels being high in comparison to each other. I allowed myself to eat cheese (which I normally don’t eat) so it made going keto super fun and exciting!

(In the photo above, I made a keto pizza. The base is a mixture of egg almond flour mozzarella cheese that I mixed together and put on the pan like a pancake. Then I just added marinara, cheese, and chicken sausage on top!)

Around 1.5 months in, I saw a stagnation so I switched to a more strict form of keto excluding dairy and nuts.

(Above was one of my staple meals…cauli rice with shishito peppers and a lean protein, like scallops.)

But at the start of month 2, I was getting some terrible headaches, I was constantly thirsty, and super fatigued. I realized that these were the symptoms of the “keto flu“. Eventually, it passed, but came back again even worse. So I consulted a keto expert who told me that the reason why I was getting these symptoms wasn’t because I wasn’t having enough salt and I wasn’t taking enough supplements.

Per his advice, I began to eat much saltier foods and I started taking some MCT oil powders, probiotic powders, and exogenous ketones. It definitely helped cure my keto flu! However, after a couple weeks of doing all that, I came to the conclusion that if keto required me to take these extra things to feel balanced, then keto wasn’t for me. I’m a huge believer in letting food be my medicine, and medicine be my food.

So around mid month 2, I began to incorporate in more fruits while lowering my fat intake. My staples were berries and kombucha :) Oh and there was a whole phase of me eating pumpkin pie hummus! I felt sooooooo much more balanced!!! PLUS there were no more headaches, no more fatigue, and no more dry mouth.

But then, things started to stagnate again!

So I decided to get honest with myself. It was time to calorie count. I did not want to do this originally, but I suspected that I was overeating (I am an overachiever when it comes to eating :P), so I wanted to know by how much.

So by the end of month 2 and into month 3, I was tracking all of my food in MyFitnessPal. Originally, I was DREADING the fact that I’d have to do this, but actually, I ended up weirdly enjoying it.

Tracking my food so meticulously relieved a lot of stress from my life. Before tracking, I was always calculating in my head what I was consuming. But the moment I started logging, it immediately relieved my brain of that duty and gave me much needed mental space to breathe. Tracking also allowed me to “make room” for fun things like ice cream :) The one pictured above is my new obession, Oatly vegan ice cream.

Weight Change Graph:

Here is a graph of my weight change every day for the past 90 days. Some people may call daily weighing “obsessive”, but I call it consistent data point collection ;)

As you can see, my 90 day journey was not a straight line down. There were plenty of ups, downs, and plateaus. 3 prominent plateaus in fact.

Plateaus:

And because I wrote down every single thing I ate in my Fit Journal, I can tell you why those plateaus happened.

1st Plateau: I was making great progress doing keto until about 8/21. During this time I was snacking on nuts and cheese quite a bit. I had not started calorie tracking yet, but I was consuming a lot of nuts and cheese simply because it was keto friendly. On 9/6 I decided to stop eating so much dairy. That helped me push past the first plateau.

2nd Plateau: It was the nuts. Instead of snacking on nuts and cheese, I was snacking on nuts, nuts, and more nuts. It was at this point that I decided it was time to get honest with myself about how many calories I was actually consuming – even though they were healthy calories. Clearly I was overeating. So on 9/26 I started logging my food in MyFitnessPal while cutting out the nuts. 9/26 was also the day I started taking my first Heels class and making dance a priority! Why? Cuz dance de-stresses me and makes me happy. This is how I pushed past the second plateau.

3rd Plateau: Food wise, there wasn’t anything I could really pinpoint to this plateau. But in reading through my Fit Journal, it seems that I did not sleep very much during this time period as we had a huge shoot I was prepping for on 10/11. The plateau was probably caused by a severe lack of sleep that increased the levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in my body which made me hold on to more fat during this period.

Weekly Progress Report:

Here’s the chart I filled out every week for 12 and a half weeks. I recorded my weight, body fat % and muscle mass % each week. I actually loved doing this – there was something so satisfying about “weighing in” – no matter if it was a higher or lower number! I felt accountable, and I liked that.

In yellow, you will find my FINAL weigh in numbers.

On my 90th day, Nov. 14th, 2019, I weighed in at 118.6 lbs, 20.8% body fat, and 34.9% muscle mass.

YOU GUYS. I surpassed my weight goal of 120 lbs and nearly made my athlete body fat goal of 20%!!! WHAT!!????!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!

My Before and After Photos:

Front shot. Everything looks a lot tighter and more toned, especially my stomach and my arms.

Side shot. When Sam took the day 90 shot for me, he asked if I was “sucking in” and I told him no. I can’t believe how much my abs have changed! That’s where I hold most of my fat. Also, there seems to be a bit of a booty lift! Like a teeny tiny one, but still, I see it, so it must be mentioned!

Back shot. Back muscles poppin! Big difference in my waist and hips!

OMG. I am shocked. Like, I actually can’t believe this!!!!

MY BODY IS ROCKIN!!!! HECK YAHHHH!!!! And I did it on my own terms!!!!

The only other 2 times in my life when I went on an intentional fat loss journey, I was guided by male personal trainers. I appreciated their guidance and the accountability they gave me to stay on track. However, I did not love the food I ate and I did not truly enjoy my workouts either. It was the same boring food and the same ole weight lifting stuff almost every day. Everything was strict and there was no room for flexibility. As much as I enjoyed the progress I was seeing, I wanted it to be over so bad because I couldn’t see myself sustaining that lifestyle forever.

This time, it was so different. I set my own rules. I allowed flexibility in my diet. And I did a variety of workouts to keep me excited. My 90 day journey was one fueled by nourishing decisions…and unlike the other journeys I’ve been on, I am sad this one is over! I 110% enjoyed the entire process and can definitely see my myself continuing this way of eating and working out in the long run.

The Total Change:

From Day 1 to Day 90, I have lost a total of 17.4 lbs! That is WILD!!! Body fat decreased by 3.6% and overall, I’ve lost 10.75 inches over my entire body! CRAZY!

Over the past several years, I’ve had so much trouble losing weight due to my metabolic damage from the bikini competition in 2012. At that time I was eating about 1,000 calories a day and training 4 hrs a day. Though I was seeing progress, my brain was cloudy, I was terribly moody, and I was never happy with the way I looked, even though I got down to about 113 lbs.

This time, I have loved my body every step of the way, from Day 1. I want to make it clear that I didn’t go on this journey because I hated my body. I went on this journey because I loved my body so much that I wanted to dedicate time towards improving myself – mentally and physically.

Noteworthy Correlations:

Since I collected so much data over the past 90 days, I wanted to spend some time putting together graphs of certain things I recorded in case I might discover something unusual about the way my body reacted to different calories and macro breakdowns. This is what I found.

The lighter colored lines are “trend lines”. Also, the red line graph begins at 9/26 because that’s when I started tracking calories and macros. There is no data before that.

Weight vs. Caloric Intake:

I noticed that in general, the less calories I consumed, the lower my weight became. This would seem pretty obvious, but it’s necessary to point out since there are a lot of theories out there about “starvation mode”.

According to Healthline, Starvation mode is…”your body’s natural response to long-term calorie restriction. It’s your body responding to reduced calorie intake by reducing calorie expenditure to maintain energy balance and prevent starvation.” Technically, it is called “adaptive thermogenesis. Anyway, I did not experience “starvation mode” as the lowest I ever went with calories was around 1,200 – but even so – it was never really that consistent. My calories fluctuated a lot based on what I felt like eating that day!

Weight vs. Protein % Intake:

The more protein I consumed (percentage wise, in comparison to fat and carbs), the lower my weight became.

Weight vs. Fat % Intake:

The less fat I consumed, the lower my weight became.

Weight vs. Carb % Intake:

The more carbs I consumed, the lower my weight became!

What’s interesting to me is that in my Genetic Fit blood test, my reports told me that the best diet for fat loss would be a low carb diet that was about 30% fat, 40% carbs, and 30% protein.

When I got these results back, it was during the time I was experiencing my issues with keto. So it was a no brainer for me to go away from high fat consumption, given my symptoms, the stagnating weight on the scale, AND this test.

It’s clear to me now that keto was NOT the diet for me. As you can see above, the less fat I ate, the more weight I lost. And the more carbs and protein I ate, the more weight I lost. This is the exact opposite of what keto is. I am so happy I tried it though! It for sure helped jumpstart my 90 day journey!

Keto has worked for a ton of people! So if you’re curious, do give it a shot! Maybe it will work better for your body than it did for mine.

Reflecting on my Day 1 goals:

I do not regret ever deciding to embark on my 90 day journey. From the beginning, I said it was going to me for me, and I kept true to that. Unexpected challenges arose during my journey, but I kept going back to my why. I wanted to get in the best shape of my life mentally and physically. I feel so proud for completing my 90 days, and completing it with total love and compassion for myself.

I did it. I can’t believe I did it.

A strong why helped me push through all of the negativity I endured from external factors throughout this journey. But, I’ll save all my feels for PART 2 of my 90 Day Journey Recap. I need some time to digest what has happened and how much it has affected me.

But before I leave you today, I want you guys to know how lucky I am to have a husband like Sam. I remember breaking down in that car ride to the airport telling him how lost and inauthentic I felt to myself. He asked me what I wanted to do about it and I said I wanted to set some personal goals for myself and freakin CRUSH them. I told him that it was probably going to upset a lot of people, but I needed to discover myself again through this 90 day journey. He told me to not be scared and to just go for it, and that no matter how angry people got, at least I would be happy. And isn’t all that matters my happiness, his happiness, and Sir’s happiness? ;)

A thank YOU to you…

Before I leave you today, I want to thank YOU, my blog readers, for being so lovely over the past 90 days. It’s been a a rough journey. The comments on YouTube have been so harsh, but coming to read your comments here gave me a sense of peace and calmness. I enjoyed writing back to you guys and getting to know you.

So, as a thank you, I want to extend a 40%  discount on the 12 Week Fit Journal just for my blog readers! As you know, I’ve been using my fit journal EVERY SINGLE DAY on my 90 day journey and it for sure has kept me accountable, and without a doubt, it is one of the reasons why I crushed my goals.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing in my 12 week Fit Journal daily and reflecting on my goals in my weekly recaps. So, if you’re now INSPIRED to start your own journey, you can grab your own Fit Journal for 40% off using the code 90DAYJOURNEY on popflexactive.com. The code will expire on Tuesday November 19th, 2019! Hurry!

Enjoy! Until then…have a great weekend…I’m gonna go get a massage today and a facial tomorrow to celebrate the end of my 90 Day Journey! And I already did some online shopping damage, so I’m feeling pretty good right now :)

The post My 90 Day Journey Recap – PART 1 appeared first on Blogilates.

My 90 Day Journey Recap (PART 1)

DISCLAIMER:

I’d like to start off this blog post by VERY clearly stating that if you are triggered by numbers and transformation photos, PLEASE do not read this post.

I’d also like to VERY VERY clearly state the following:

NO, I do not have an eating disorder.

NO, I do not have a body image disorder.

NO, I do not hate myself.

NO, this journey was not for you.

It was for me.

Are we clear?

Kay good, moving on.

***

Wow! Guys, first off, I CANNOT BELIEVE 90 days flew by SO FAST!!!! WHAT!!!???? It’s insane how when you’re so focused, when you want something so bad, and when you’re genuinely enjoying the process, it does not feel like work. Not once did I ever feel deprived of happiness or of food. With every day that passed, I felt more and more like myself. I shed away the old Cassey who was afraid of other people’s opinion of her and grew into a more confident, happier, stronger, and sassier version of myself.

I LOVE ME Y’ALL!!!

This Part 1 blog post is going to be all about the numbers and the external metamorphosis. We’re going to dive deep into what worked, what didn’t work, and any correlations I saw in regards to weight versus calories, weight versus carbs, weight versus protein, and weight versus fat. Part 2 will be the internal metamorphosis.

Before we go into the numbers, I’d like to step back to day 1 to see where my head was.

My Day 1 Feelings:

“Working out used to be something that I enjoyed quietly as a “regular person”. Blogging used to be a safe place where I could truly spill my honest thoughts. But now – everything that I do, eat, or say is critiqued. Of course 100% by my choice for being a public figure…but…the public judgement of it all has made me a more timid, scared person. I tip toe around sensitive personalities and treat everything like it’s so fragile, but NO MORE. I’m gonna grab life “by the balls” and JUST LIVE LIFE the way I want.

So today is day 1. Of 90.

I said it. And I am not taking it back.

This is a personal journey I want to embark on to get in the best shape of my life – mentally and physically. It begins today August 16th and will end November 14th.”

My Original Goals:

“My physical goals?

Hmm, I’ll make 2 goals:

Weight goal: 120 lbs

Body fat % goal: 20%

(So I can be in the “athlete level” for women, according to the American Council on Exercise)

I can already say right now that 120 lbs is going to take a lot for me to get there. But I’m putting it down on paper right now and I’m going to try everything I can (only healthy ways of course) to make it happen!

My wellness goals:

I will reward myself with 1 self-care thing a week. So that means a deep tissue massage every week!

My blogging goals:

My goal is to blog how I am feeling DAILY. I hope I’m not setting myself up for failure here (as I have not blogged consistently for a few years now), but I’m going to say it out loud: I WILL BLOG EVERY DAY FOR 90 DAYS!!! Even if it means a small paragraph, I need to blog because it will be my way of journaling.”

Now, let’s start analyzing!

The Workouts:

This is the 12 week game plan page from my Fit Journal. I FEEL SO SATISFIED LOOKING AT IT!!!!

On average, I was working out 6 days a week with 1 day of rest. It was a combination of Pilates, HIIT/PIIT28, Dance, and Weightlifting. I was very consistent until the last week and a half of my 90 Day Journey due to travel, rehearsals, and shoots.

The Food:

The first month of my 90 Day Journey I was doing “Lazy Keto“. So high fat, low carb, moderate protein. I wasn’t calculating my macros or calories, but I was very conscious of my carb levels being low and my fat levels being high in comparison to each other. I allowed myself to eat cheese (which I normally don’t eat) so it made going keto super fun and exciting!

(In the photo above, I made a keto pizza. The base is a mixture of egg almond flour mozzarella cheese that I mixed together and put on the pan like a pancake. Then I just added marinara, cheese, and chicken sausage on top!)

Around 1.5 months in, I saw a stagnation so I switched to a more strict form of keto excluding dairy and nuts.

(Above was one of my staple meals…cauli rice with shishito peppers and a lean protein, like scallops.)

But at the start of month 2, I was getting some terrible headaches, I was constantly thirsty, and super fatigued. I realized that these were the symptoms of the “keto flu“. Eventually, it passed, but came back again even worse. So I consulted a keto expert who told me that the reason why I was getting these symptoms wasn’t because I wasn’t having enough salt and I wasn’t taking enough supplements.

Per his advice, I began to eat much saltier foods and I started taking some MCT oil powders, probiotic powders, and exogenous ketones. It definitely helped cure my keto flu! However, after a couple weeks of doing all that, I came to the conclusion that if keto required me to take these extra things to feel balanced, then keto wasn’t for me. I’m a huge believer in letting food be my medicine, and medicine be my food.

So around mid month 2, I began to incorporate in more fruits while lowering my fat intake. My staples were berries and kombucha :) Oh and there was a whole phase of me eating pumpkin pie hummus! I felt sooooooo much more balanced!!! PLUS there were no more headaches, no more fatigue, and no more dry mouth.

But then, things started to stagnate again!

So I decided to get honest with myself. It was time to calorie count. I did not want to do this originally, but I suspected that I was overeating (I am an overachiever when it comes to eating :P), so I wanted to know by how much.

So by the end of month 2 and into month 3, I was tracking all of my food in MyFitnessPal. Originally, I was DREADING the fact that I’d have to do this, but actually, I ended up weirdly enjoying it.

Tracking my food so meticulously relieved a lot of stress from my life. Before tracking, I was always calculating in my head what I was consuming. But the moment I started logging, it immediately relieved my brain of that duty and gave me much needed mental space to breathe. Tracking also allowed me to “make room” for fun things like ice cream :) The one pictured above is my new obession, Oatly vegan ice cream.

Weight Change Graph:

Here is a graph of my weight change every day for the past 90 days. Some people may call daily weighing “obsessive”, but I call it consistent data point collection ;)

As you can see, my 90 day journey was not a straight line down. There were plenty of ups, downs, and plateaus. 3 prominent plateaus in fact.

Plateaus:

And because I wrote down every single thing I ate in my Fit Journal, I can tell you why those plateaus happened.

1st Plateau: I was making great progress doing keto until about 8/21. During this time I was snacking on nuts and cheese quite a bit. I had not started calorie tracking yet, but I was consuming a lot of nuts and cheese simply because it was keto friendly. On 9/6 I decided to stop eating so much dairy. That helped me push past the first plateau.

2nd Plateau: It was the nuts. Instead of snacking on nuts and cheese, I was snacking on nuts, nuts, and more nuts. It was at this point that I decided it was time to get honest with myself about how many calories I was actually consuming – even though they were healthy calories. Clearly I was overeating. So on 9/26 I started logging my food in MyFitnessPal while cutting out the nuts. 9/26 was also the day I started taking my first Heels class and making dance a priority! Why? Cuz dance de-stresses me and makes me happy. This is how I pushed past the second plateau.

3rd Plateau: Food wise, there wasn’t anything I could really pinpoint to this plateau. But in reading through my Fit Journal, it seems that I did not sleep very much during this time period as we had a huge shoot I was prepping for on 10/11. The plateau was probably caused by a severe lack of sleep that increased the levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in my body which made me hold on to more fat during this period.

Weekly Progress Report:

Here’s the chart I filled out every week for 12 and a half weeks. I recorded my weight, body fat % and muscle mass % each week. I actually loved doing this – there was something so satisfying about “weighing in” – no matter if it was a higher or lower number! I felt accountable, and I liked that.

In yellow, you will find my FINAL weigh in numbers.

On my 90th day, Nov. 14th, 2019, I weighed in at 118.6 lbs, 20.8% body fat, and 34.9% muscle mass.

YOU GUYS. I surpassed my weight goal of 120 lbs and nearly made my athlete body fat goal of 20%!!! WHAT!!????!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!

My Before and After Photos:

Front shot. Everything looks a lot tighter and more toned, especially my stomach and my arms.

Side shot. When Sam took the day 90 shot for me, he asked if I was “sucking in” and I told him no. I can’t believe how much my abs have changed! That’s where I hold most of my fat. Also, there seems to be a bit of a booty lift! Like a teeny tiny one, but still, I see it, so it must be mentioned!

Back shot. Back muscles poppin! Big difference in my waist and hips!

OMG. I am shocked. Like, I actually can’t believe this!!!!

MY BODY IS ROCKIN!!!! HECK YAHHHH!!!! And I did it on my own terms!!!!

The only other 2 times in my life when I went on an intentional fat loss journey, I was guided by male personal trainers. I appreciated their guidance and the accountability they gave me to stay on track. However, I did not love the food I ate and I did not truly enjoy my workouts either. It was the same boring food and the same ole weight lifting stuff almost every day. Everything was strict and there was no room for flexibility. As much as I enjoyed the progress I was seeing, I wanted it to be over so bad because I couldn’t see myself sustaining that lifestyle forever.

This time, it was so different. I set my own rules. I allowed flexibility in my diet. And I did a variety of workouts to keep me excited. My 90 day journey was one fueled by nourishing decisions…and unlike the other journeys I’ve been on, I am sad this one is over! I 110% enjoyed the entire process and can definitely see my myself continuing this way of eating and working out in the long run.

The Total Change:

From Day 1 to Day 90, I have lost a total of 17.4 lbs! That is WILD!!! Body fat decreased by 3.6% and overall, I’ve lost 10.75 inches over my entire body! CRAZY!

Over the past several years, I’ve had so much trouble losing weight due to my metabolic damage from the bikini competition in 2012. At that time I was eating about 1,000 calories a day and training 4 hrs a day. Though I was seeing progress, my brain was cloudy, I was terribly moody, and I was never happy with the way I looked, even though I got down to about 113 lbs.

This time, I have loved my body every step of the way, from Day 1. I want to make it clear that I didn’t go on this journey because I hated my body. I went on this journey because I loved my body so much that I wanted to dedicate time towards improving myself – mentally and physically.

Noteworthy Correlations:

Since I collected so much data over the past 90 days, I wanted to spend some time putting together graphs of certain things I recorded in case I might discover something unusual about the way my body reacted to different calories and macro breakdowns. This is what I found.

The lighter colored lines are “trend lines”. Also, the red line graph begins at 9/26 because that’s when I started tracking calories and macros. There is no data before that.

Weight vs. Caloric Intake:

I noticed that in general, the less calories I consumed, the lower my weight became. This would seem pretty obvious, but it’s necessary to point out since there are a lot of theories out there about “starvation mode”.

According to Healthline, Starvation mode is…”your body’s natural response to long-term calorie restriction. It’s your body responding to reduced calorie intake by reducing calorie expenditure to maintain energy balance and prevent starvation.” Technically, it is called “adaptive thermogenesis. Anyway, I did not experience “starvation mode” as the lowest I ever went with calories was around 1,200 – but even so – it was never really that consistent. My calories fluctuated a lot based on what I felt like eating that day!

Weight vs. Protein % Intake:

The more protein I consumed (percentage wise, in comparison to fat and carbs), the lower my weight became.

Weight vs. Fat % Intake:

The less fat I consumed, the lower my weight became.

Weight vs. Carb % Intake:

The more carbs I consumed, the lower my weight became!

What’s interesting to me is that in my Genetic Fit blood test, my reports told me that the best diet for fat loss would be a low carb diet that was about 30% fat, 40% carbs, and 30% protein.

When I got these results back, it was during the time I was experiencing my issues with keto. So it was a no brainer for me to go away from high fat consumption, given my symptoms, the stagnating weight on the scale, AND this test.

It’s clear to me now that keto was NOT the diet for me. As you can see above, the less fat I ate, the more weight I lost. And the more carbs and protein I ate, the more weight I lost. This is the exact opposite of what keto is. I am so happy I tried it though! It for sure helped jumpstart my 90 day journey!

Keto has worked for a ton of people! So if you’re curious, do give it a shot! Maybe it will work better for your body than it did for mine.

Reflecting on my Day 1 goals:

I do not regret ever deciding to embark on my 90 day journey. From the beginning, I said it was going to me for me, and I kept true to that. Unexpected challenges arose during my journey, but I kept going back to my why. I wanted to get in the best shape of my life mentally and physically. I feel so proud for completing my 90 days, and completing it with total love and compassion for myself.

I did it. I can’t believe I did it.

A strong why helped me push through all of the negativity I endured from external factors throughout this journey. But, I’ll save all my feels for PART 2 of my 90 Day Journey Recap. I need some time to digest what has happened and how much it has affected me.

But before I leave you today, I want you guys to know how lucky I am to have a husband like Sam. I remember breaking down in that car ride to the airport telling him how lost and inauthentic I felt to myself. He asked me what I wanted to do about it and I said I wanted to set some personal goals for myself and freakin CRUSH them. I told him that it was probably going to upset a lot of people, but I needed to discover myself again through this 90 day journey. He told me to not be scared and to just go for it, and that no matter how angry people got, at least I would be happy. And isn’t all that matters my happiness, his happiness, and Sir’s happiness? ;)

A thank YOU to you…

Before I leave you today, I want to thank YOU, my blog readers, for being so lovely over the past 90 days. It’s been a a rough journey. The comments on YouTube have been so harsh, but coming to read your comments here gave me a sense of peace and calmness. I enjoyed writing back to you guys and getting to know you.

So, as a thank you, I want to extend a 40%  discount on the 12 Week Fit Journal just for my blog readers! As you know, I’ve been using my fit journal EVERY SINGLE DAY on my 90 day journey and it for sure has kept me accountable, and without a doubt, it is one of the reasons why I crushed my goals.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing in my 12 week Fit Journal daily and reflecting on my goals in my weekly recaps. So, if you’re now INSPIRED to start your own journey, you can grab your own Fit Journal for 40% off using the code 90DAYJOURNEY on popflexactive.com. The code will expire on Tuesday November 19th, 2019! Hurry!

Enjoy! Until then…have a great weekend…I’m gonna go get a massage today and a facial tomorrow to celebrate the end of my 90 Day Journey! And I already did some online shopping damage, so I’m feeling pretty good right now :)

The post My 90 Day Journey Recap (PART 1) appeared first on Blogilates.

My last day! But not my last post… | 90 of 90

I am currently on set at our POP 20 shoot with Janell and Alyssa, 2 POP instructors from Hawaii! We’re shooting some choreography for the new year and OMG I AM SOREEEEE. For those wondering what I am talking about – POP releases are choreography made specially for our POP Pilates certified instructors to use for live gym classes!

Have you ever thought of getting certified to teach? Group fitness is a job for people who love movement and who love inspiring people to be their best. If you’re scared of getting up in front of a room, then maybe now is the time to get over that fear once and for all. 2020 is going to be YOUR YEAR to shine. Pick something that terrifies you and excites you all at once! Maybe this is it! It was IT for me when I got certified about 12 years ago!!! CRAZY!!!

Anyway, I wanted to let you guys know that today’s blog post will not be my FULL FINAL recap. That will come towards the end of the week, I think. I need some time to FULLY reflect on this journey. I’m going to give you everything from my weight, to my measurements, to my body fat, to my muscle mass, to my feelings, to my mental health, to my before and after photos, to my graphics to anything else that is going through my mind.

Yesterday’s Recap:

LUNCH:

23% carbs, 54% fat, 23% protein

580 calories

Tuna nicoise salad with capers, tomatoes, potatoes, an egg, and lettuce! Dressing was some type of lemony oily thing! It was delish. This is my fave salad from Tender Greens!

DINNER:

43% carbs, 42% fat, 15% protein

645 calories

This is the keto bowl from Tocaya Organica. It’s spanish cauli rice, sweet bell peppers, vegan pepperjack cheese, avocado, and brussels sprouts. A side of some plaintain chips and guac with pomegranate seeds. YUMMM!

SNACKS:

54% carbs, 40% fat, 6% protein

471 calories

Some peanuts! I was in a snacky mood to I grabbed a few scoops of these peanuts.

Dried mangos! I LOOOVEEEEE this brand. You can find it at Costco. I believe it has extra added sugar or something on top of it, but ya know, once in a while, it’s a lovely treat!

I didn’t take pics, but I also had some sriracha pistachios (remember those?) and some coconut chips. I was in a super snacky mood – but also, rehearsals. I needed that extra energy!

Yesterday, I came in at 1,695 calories and 168g carbs (39%), 86g fat (45%), and 65g protein (16%).

OKAY that is all for now!!!! The next time I blog, I will be back at you with a full length blog post talking about EVERYTHINGGGGGGG. Until then…CONGRATS TO ME!!!! I MADE IT THROUGH 90 DAYS!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

The post My last day! But not my last post… | 90 of 90 appeared first on Blogilates.

1 day left. | 89 of 90

Hey guys!

Wow. Only one more day. ONE!!!!

First off, it is my baby boo Sir George‘s 2nd bday today!!!!! Look how grown and dapper he is!

This was Sir when he first entered our lives and changed it forever:

We didn’t have time to fully celebrate with Sir (work was so crazy – I just got back home and it is 11pm) so we will celebrate hard this weekend! Anyway, need to go to sleep because tomorrow I have to wake up really early again for my POP 20 shoot! Just gotta make it past day 90!! Let’s do this! SO CLOSE!!!

Yesterday’s Recap:

LUNCH:

39% carbs, 35% fat, 26% protein

731 calories

Chicken skewers, mushrooms in olive oil, broc, cauli rice, sriracha, mini sweet bell peppers, and eggplant humus.

DINNER:

24% carbs, 36% fat, 40% protein

544 calories

Takeout. Chicken shawarma and roasted egg plant “salad”. This was so filling and hearty! I loved it!

SNACKS:

53% carbs, 45% fat, 2% protein

222 calories

Kombucha!

Finished my Oatly!!!

Yesterday I came in at 1,497 calories and 134g carbs (35%), 61g fat (37%), and 104g protein (27%).

Okay my eyes are closing. I need to go to bed. See you tomorrow!!!

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