Cassey Ho's Blog, page 85

A Look Inside the 2020 Fit Planner | 47 of 90

Hey guys!

HAPPY OCTOBER and Happy 2020 Fit Planner Day! So many of you guys bought the planner within seconds of it being listed!

I am so excited for you to experience the new Fit Planner with your very own hands! This is the most beautiful, functional, and thoughtful planner we have EVER EVER EVER created – and I’ve been making planners since 2014! This one is everything your fit girl soul desires AND MORE. We spent nearly an entire YEAR designing the 2020 Fit Planner and we genuinely took all of your reviews, feedback, and criticism to heart. I’m seriously so happy with how this one turned out and I know you’re going to fall in love with how much it’s going to help you with your daily motivation.

Let’s take a look inside, shall we?!!

First off, the 2020 Fit Planner will be delivered in it’s very own custom shipping box to help protect it’s cover and it’s corners. I’ve never designed a box for a product before so this was fun to do! It makes everything so much better huh!?

But get this! Inside each box is a Blogilates keepsake box!!! Double protection! Also, you MUST keep this box and store things inside like photos, jewelry, coins or whatever! It’s so high quality and so pretty that it must never be thrown away! Oh plus, if you end up giving the 2020 Fit Planner as a gift, the presentation is perfect to impress your lucky friend!

If you’re DYING to write in your 2020 Fit Planner immediately, you can! The front pages are all for goal setting! In fact, I encourage you to write in it immediately and envision what you want next year to feel like!

This year, the monthly calendar spread is accompanied by measurement check ins, so you can track your weight and body fat % etc. at the beginning and end of every month. The boxes on the monthly calendar are huge, so you can write in a bunch of important events!

The weekly spread is back and better than ever! First off, you get a weekly grocery list. And yes that is a sriracha inspired sticker!!! Each day of the week has a “gym focus” so you can write in what you want to focus on for workouts that day. And for the weekly appointments area, we decided to take off the time stamps since it felt so constricting and granular. Instead we divided it up into before noon and afternoon. And y0u can write in your own times! Oh and on the bottom, there’s space for writing out your mission of the week, self care of the week, and random thoughts!

Every month begins with your habit tracker. You have 4 habits that you can track and boxes to color in if you do it that day. Also, you get a place to write down your food goals and fitness goals for the month!

On your daily page, you get a mood tracker, water tracker, sleep tracker, meal tracker, a large to do list area, and your workout of the day space! Plus at the beginning of every week, there’s a box for doodles (which I use all the time!). AND!!! You get a challenge to complete EVERY week. So…52 challenges!!!

There are also a bunch of  healthy and delicious recipes sprinkled throughout the 2020 Fit Planner complete with directions, ingredients, and macros!

Now, can we get back to that sriracha bottle??!! Because there he is!!! You guys – check out how cute these stickers are!!! There are 390 stickers in this year’s 2020 Fit Stickers pack and you get a good mix of fun and functional without having to worry about running out!

This year, we wanted to go BIG so we decided to create a matching wall calendar! But that’s not all that’s matching…

There’s also matching pins!!! AHHHH!!!! I’ve never made enamel pins before but decided to just go for it. I mean, it’s 2020 you know!!?? We didn’t make very many of these so get em while you can. I can pretty much guarantee these will be sold out soon.

Each one of the illustrations was drawn by my amazing Lead Graphic Designer Brittney! She poured her entire soul into the artwork and layout of the 2020 Fit Planner. We sat down and discussed every single little detail about the planner for a year. We dissected every aspect of it as the samples started coming back, and we did not stop altering the details until we felt like it was just perfect.

Guys, I am so proud to tell you that the 2020 Fit Planner exceeds all of my expectations and I know they’ll exceed yours too. You will fall in love with it. The 2020 Fit Planner will be your personal trainer, your life coach, your assistant, your accountability partner, your ultimate motivator! I am just head over heels right now. It is SO GOOOOOD. Also, I am currently editing the YouTube video which will walk through all of the details in case you’re into unboxings!!! That video should be up tomorrow.

If you want to get the 2020 Fit Planner, head over to popflexactive.com now! There are a bunch of bundle pack options to help you save money! I can’t wait to see what you guys think once you get it! EEEEE!!!!

Yesterday’s Recap:

LUNCH:

24% carbs, 69% fat, 7% protein

538 calories

For lunch, I had cilantro lime cauliflower rice with chanterelle mushrooms, and a whole avocado with sriracha. I totally vegan meal made of whole, natural, unprocessed foods! So delish. I am concerned with how little protein there is in this meal, so may need to switch out the avo for some tofu if I begin to see muscle loss.

By the way, for those of you who want the cilantro lime cauliflower rice recipe (keto, paleo, vegan, low carb), here it is!

CILANTRO LIME RICE RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 packet of frozen cauliflower rice

1 TBS of extra virgin olive oil

Small bunch of fresh cilantro

1 lime

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Onion Salt to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat pan to medium high.
Put 1 TBSP of olive oil on the pan.
Put the frozen cauli rice on the pan and let it sit until you can sautée it around for even cooking. This process takes about 5-7 minutes.
Squeeze fresh lime juice on top of the rice. Mix around.
Season with salt, pepper, and onion salt (optional) until it tastes good to you!
Lastly, chop up some cilantro and toss around for a min. Taste for a final time!

This is what it will end up looking like! The flavor is tangy and slightly salty. It is SO SO good. Try it!

POST LUNCH SNACK:

41% carbs, 30% fat, 29% protein

282 calories

I had some strawberries and made Sam eat all the blackberries. Not a fan!

I made 4 mini tacos with my egg thins. Inside I put my avo chicken dip! Delish!

DINNER:

26% carbs, 54% fat, 20% protein

566 calories

Dinner was cilantro lime cauli rice with mahi mahi and a side of furikake covered shishito peppers! I’m getting better and better at making them!

For dessert I finished the rest of the pumpkie pie dessert hummus. Now what will I eat for dessert!??? Time to go discover some new food!

So, yesterday came in at 27% carbs, 56% fat, and 16% protein and 1,386 calories. I also started my period yesterday, so I am going to be extra conscious of when I am eating emotionally versus when I am actually hungry. So far so good thanks to the tracking. It keeps me honest.

Anyway! When you guys get your Fit Planners, take a pic and post it!!! I need to see your reaction!!!

The post A Look Inside the 2020 Fit Planner | 47 of 90 appeared first on Blogilates.

Your October Workout Calendar! | 46 of 90

You guys. Yesterday I came up with what our family Halloween costume is gonna be for me, Sam and Sir George. I bought all the supplies and I CANNOT WAIT to make it…and wear it!!! AHHHHH!!! It’s gonna be so good. I’m gonna die. You’re gonna die.

What are you gonna be for Halloween?! I can’t believe it is officially fall. Currently wearing cargo pants and a sweater right now because I’m cold. And if you wanna see how pathetic I am, the weather is currently 72 degrees F :P Am I weak…or just spoiled?! Maybe both.

Anyway ready for your October Workout Calendar!!??? Look how cute it is!!!

Click to download hi res cal!

SUNDAY: Ultimate Upper Body

MONDAY: Boo-tiful Booty

TUESDAY: Creepy Cardio

WEDNESDAY: All About Abs

THURSDAY: Terrifying Total Body

FRIDAY: Chill Out

SATURDAY: Lovely Legs

If you’re new to the monthly calendars, this is how it works!

Click on the hi res link to download the calendar and print it out for your wall.
Head over to blogilates.com/calendar and click on the videos of the day. It’ll take you directly to the YouTube video!
Do each video once (unless otherwise stated)
Check off as you go!

If you’re looking for a plan to jumpstart your own 90 day journey, start with this month’s workout calendar! Or if you want to ease into working out, check out my Beginner’s Calendar. It’s a free 4 week program to get you stronger, so that you can join in on the monthlies!

Yesterday’s Recap:

On Sunday, I had 2 parties. One that I attended and one that I hosted – so things were super crazy. Plus I was kinda late coming back to my own event, so that didn’t help! Food wise, I did the best I could, but you know how it is at events when you’re around friends and fam – you just can’t be as detailed as you normally are! So let’s see how I did!

BREAKFAST:

28% carbs, 65% fat, 7% protein

658 calories

Started off the day with some fresh organic raspberries. Oh and meet my new food scale! Isn’t he cute? Love this little guy. Takes the guessing out of EVERYTHING. I got it on Amazon…prime of course, and it came in a day! How did we ever live without Prime!!??

I had a totally vegan breakfast that BLEW. MY. MIND. Guys. I made cilantro lime cauliflower rice with chanterelle mushrooms seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and also a full avocado. All topped with sriracha. Literally, one of the best meals I have EVER had in my entire life. Today’s post is super long, so I’ll give you the full directions on how to make the cilantro lime rice in my next blog post! But seriously – it is NEXT LEVEL. You’ll want to eat everything with it.

As a brekkie “dessert”, I had some pumpkin pie hummus! I measured it out with my scale this time and turns out I’ve been underestimating how much I’ve actually been eating. Oops. Good thing for the scale! Keeps me honest and accurate.

LUNCH:

12% carbs, 53% fat, 35% protein

533 calories

For lunch, we went to Sam’s family party and I did the best I could. I filled my plate with meat and veggies only. There was a sauce on the chicken and a dressing on the veggies, so I asked Sam’s mom what she put in it so I could log it correctly in MyFitnessPal.

DINNER-ISH:

30% carbs, 44% fat, 26% protein

699 calories

After the lunch gathering, Sam and I rushed home because I needed to prep appetizers for Game Night at our house! We ended up getting home just 15 minutes because people started coming, so I barely had time to even begin the food prep which totally stressed me out! But it’s ok, when the guests came, I delegated, and we all ended up food prepping together! I’m just going to show you the things I ate, but also imagine quesadillas, pizzas, nuts, crackers, breadsticks etc!

Berries. I am personally not a fan of blackberries, so I had some organic strawberries. SO SWEET and so superb!

These were a hit! Cucumber coins topped with cream cheese and lox!

This right here is something I always make for parties. It’s my chicken-avo dip. Totally keto, paleo, gluten free, and dairy free! It’s just 1 can of shredded chicken, drained, and 1 ripe avocado. I mash it all up together, and then I add some seasoning. It could be salt and pepper, or in this case, I added some Nom Nom Paleo Magic Mushroom Powder to taste. It was a total hit!

I made myself 2 coconut wraps filled with chicken avo for dinner. Absolutely amazing!!! Not as filling as the lime cauliflower rice + chicken + egg + avo burrito I made the other night, but still delish!!! These coconut wraps are heaven sent.

I was still feeling munchy, so I made myself a mini bowl of seaweed salad with lox on top. Not bad!

My fun drink of the night? Kombucha!

Game night was really fun! We played Boggle and Codenames. Have you ever played? I love it because it challenges my brain! OH ALSO!!! I need to share a non scale victory with you guys. I won Boggle!!!! I NEVER WIN BOGGLE!!! Usually Sam or our other really smart friend from Yale wins. ANNNNDDDDD our team (which consisted of me, Sam, Drew, and his wife Linda) won Codenames 4-0. So life is pretty good right now :)

Look at this hilarious BTS shot from last night. This was the dynamic of the other team. Hahahhahaha. Caleb, Cameron, Haley, and Annalee want a rematch.

Calories wise, yesterday I went 345 calories above my goal. I consumed 1,939 calories in total and my goal is to hit 1,310 (higher if I work out) in order to lose -1.5 lbs a week, according to MyFitnessPal. 1,310 calories is what I’d need to eat if I were living a regular life without exercise.

Just so everyone is clear, these were my net cals yesterday:

1310 goal – 1939 food + 284 exercise = – 345 remaining

This morning when I weighed in, I definitely saw it on the scale. So, MyFitnessPal has been pretty accurate. On the days when had positive net cals remaining or on days when I pretty much broke even, my weight dropped the next day. Today I got up to 130 lbs, a weight I had not been at since Sept. 16th. I’m guessing I just ate late so everything’s still in my belly, but today I’m being a lot more precise with my food, so let’s see how my body responds tomorrow.

It’s cool to experiment with myself to see what works and what doesn’t! Plus since I have a while to work this all out, I love that I don’t feel the pressure to get everything right the first time. Giving yourself the time to create your success is the key here. Do not rush through anything! Desperation and speed without thinking never lead to any good.

The post Your October Workout Calendar! | 46 of 90 appeared first on Blogilates.

Hitting new levels with my fitness | 45 of 90

Starting off today’s blog post with a post workout pic! Me after pretty much any dance class or Pilates session = PURE JOY

Honestly you guys, if you don’t feel joyous, happy, light, and lifted after your workout – don’t give up! Keep searching for “the one”. I promise it is out there. And much like human relationships, you need to explore! Date around. Figure out what you like and what you don’t like. And when you find that person or that workout that you finally fall in love with, just know that even then, there will be good days and bad days. But stick with it, and your love and your commitment will grow stronger!

Oh by the way that pic was shot on my new iPhone 11 Pro! Pretty good huh!!??? It’s basically DSLR quality!

Here’s bad timing between me and Sam, BUT look at that hair. It keeps growing!!! YASSS collagen YASSSS.

Oh and I wanted to show you that in my cardio dance class I burned more calories than in Barry’s Bootcamp or one of my Training Mate circuit training classes! Plus, my heart rate got up to 179 BPM! That is the highest I have EVER seen it go. Which means…that I am willing to push myself more in dance because I am having more fun. And you guys know how much I hate cardio. Proud of this. I wonder if I can get it to 180BPM? I might die. LOL.

Yesterday’s Recap:

Here’s my Fit Journal entry. Weight went down for the 2nd day in a row after food tracking. Let’s see if this still holds true tomorrow. But pretty exciting to see that the tracking is working as of right now!

BREAKFAST:

23% carbs, 77% fat, 0% protein

50 calories

I had MCT oil powder and BHBs in water.

LUNCH:

20% carbs, 46% fat, 34% protein

594 calories

I had one of the most amazing lunches I have ever made! I tried making lime flavored cauliflower rice for the first time and OMG it elevated – I mean ELEVATED my meal. I’ll give you my exact recipe tomorrow once I add in the cilantro.

I had the lime cauli rice with 2 chicken skewers, whole eggs with butter, pico de gallo, and guac.

I also tried making keto egg rolls! These are steamed cabbage leaves filled with ground beef.

EARLY DINNER:

21% carbs, 55% fat, 24% protein

714 calories

I wanted to get in an early dinner before I headed out to my deep tissue massage, so I quickly warmed up some leftovers: 2 of those keto egg rolls (dipped in creamy jalapeño sauce), some lime cauli rice, and ground turkey with bits of paleo sausage and chanterelle mushrooms.

I had some fresh organic strawberries as dessert! YUM. So happy to have fruit back in my life.

LATE DINNER:

20% carbs, 55% fat, 25% protein

498 calories

Since I still had calories “left over”, I decided to make more food for a late dinner. As of right now, I don’t know if it’s better to be in a deficit (will my body go into starvation mode and hold onto everything?) or to eat up to my allotted amount. However, eating my allotted amount probably isn’t helping at all when I am doing it at 10PM! Oh well!

First of all. You guys. These Nuco Coconut Wraps I bought at Whole Foods IS LIFFFEEEEEE. OMG, so good. I had ZERO expectations for this, but still, IT BLEW MY MIND. It tastes better than a regular tortilla!

I wanted to make a mini breakfast burrito, so inside I put some of my lime cauli rice, grilled chicken, avocado, and eggs with chives. I had this with pico de gallo.

Rolled it up (didn’t even have to warm the wrap) and then filled the rest of my plate with more of the inside ingredients.

When I took my first bite of that burrito, I died, went to heaven, and came back just to tell you HOW GOOD IT WAS. Like OHHHH EMMM GEEEE good. You need to go get these wraps.

Also – who else gets a high when they make a new food creation and it tastes so good that you be like “TIME TO OPEN A RESTAURANT!!!!”??? Seriously, if I made this for you, you wouldn’t need to eat anything else ever again. I cannot wait to have this again.

The day’s meals came in at 1,857 calories, 20% carbs, 53% fat and 27% protein.

I’m curious to see how my muscle definition will be affected given that fat is my highest macro, not protein. We shall see! But so far, feeling full and happy!

The post Hitting new levels with my fitness | 45 of 90 appeared first on Blogilates.

Week 6 Weigh-In | 44 of 90

Oh man! I can’t believe we are at the week 6 weigh-in. WHAT!!??? I am officially half way through the 90 day journey! This is going so much faster than I thought. I feel like I am gonna miss it!

Let’s begin this post with my week 6 recap in the Fit Journal:

My BIGGEST accomplishment not only for this week but for the entire journey has been me suddenly picking up dance classes! OMG, I cannot tell you how much joy it has brought into my life. I will continue to do this…way beyond the 90 days for sure.

Friends have been texting and DMing me and asking if they could come and I be like YASSSS COME!!!!! So last night my friends Natalie and Michelle came to a beginner/intermediate heels class and OMG it was sass attack x3.

Here’s a lil video of the routine we learned. It was so hard, but so rewarding once I got the moves. This is only my 2nd class but I feel like I’m moving my body with more ease! So proud of myself :)

 

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It’s Day 2 of Phase 2 of my 90 Day Journey and one of my vows is to dance more! Why? Honestly it’s not even about the calorie burn. Dance bathes me in happy feelings.

Pushing past frustration into a fresh beginning! | 43 of 90

Hello! It may be day 43, but today’s blog post is all about my NEW day 1 in Phase 2 of my 90 Day Journey.

Why the new day 1?

Well, my progress stalled and I wanted to find a way to push past that instead of giving up and getting frustrated. Over the past couple weeks, I struggled with stagnation. BUT, the struggle made me realize that I couldn’t keep doing the same things if I wanted different results. So, here’s how Phase 2 is going to be different!

MY PHASE 2 VOWS:

I vow to make sleep is a priority. 7-8 hours of sleep every night, MINIMUM. 
I will track everything I put into my body via MyFitnessPal, focusing on macros and caloric intake.
I vow to take MORE DANCE CLASSES!!!

SLEEP:

I started getting more serious with my sleep a few days ago, and I actually haven’t taken a morning workout class at all this week. I made it a point to sleep in because I kept going to bed past 12AM. Already, I feel like my body is functioning better.

TRACKING:

Okay, so this is crazy. Between yesterday and today, tracking my food has already helped! I didn’t snack at all. I put away the nuts that I probably ate 1000s of calories of per day, and made sure my meals were satiating enough.

DANCING:

Dance just make me so happy. Dance classes are for cardio, but more importantly – for PURE JOY! This 90 Day Journey is supposed to be about be getting in the best shape of my life physically and mentally – and let me tell you – dance is all mental wellness for me! I don’t know why I ever stopped!

Here’s me taking my 2nd dance class of the week! :D

 

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First time taking Beginner Heels!!!

I didn’t think I’d have to do this. | 41 + 42 of 90

Realness ahead. Don’t read if you think you’ll be triggered.

So, for the past 2 weeks, I’d had some weird digestive issues. My weight and body fat stalled at first, but now everything is steadily climbing up. If I told you that I don’t care and that all is rainbows and unicorns in the Land of 90 Day Journey, I’d be lying.

Now, I don’t want to sound negative, but I do want to share my REAL, honest feelings with you. Most people won’t want to share that side of themselves with you for fear of sounding like they’re “obsessed” or “relapsing” or have “disordered thinking.” I’m telling you the truth – things that I usually only tell my actual friends (aka people who I love and respect and who love and respect me back) – because I want you to know that this journey isn’t easy. Even for a fitness professional like me with over a decade of experience in exercise health – EVEN I have trouble figuring out what works for my body. I want you to see that.

Having a goal, working super hard towards it, seeing immediate results, and then continuing to do the same thing, and then seeing what you’ve worked so hard for unwind right in front of you is FRUSTRATING. And I am not just talking about weight loss or fat loss, this applies to ANY journey. Be it career, academics, a sports competition, or whatever – you just kind of feel exhausted when your hard work doesn’t continue to “pay off”.

Looking in the mirror though, I do see a stronger, more confident, and leaner version of who I was about 5.5 weeks ago! Looking back to where you started is such an important practice for gratitude – without that, you’d never appreciate where you are now.

Anyway, for the past 2 weeks I have not seen any progress, so I’ve been strategizing my next move in order for me to still hopefully hit my goals (in HEALTHY WAYS ONLY!!!)

STATUS OF GOALS:

Starting (August 12): 136 lbs and 24.4% body fat
Current (September 26): 129.4 lbs and 23.3% body fat
For reference, last week I was at 129.2 lbs and 23.2% body fat
And the week before that, I was at 128.8 lbs and 23.3% body fat
Goal (to be hit by Nov 14): 120 lbs and 20% body fat

STATUS OF PROGRESS:

Percent achieved towards weight goal: 41% lost in 42/90 days (47% of timeline )
Percent achieved towards body fat goal: 25% lost in 42/90 days (47% of timeline)

As you can see, my progress is lagging behind the allotted time frame. No I’m not panicking or freaking out, but like I said above, knowing these data points allows me to make a plan.

So here’s the realness. I am hypothesizing that I’m no longer seeing progress because I’m most likely snacking too much. Like all those nuts I eat? I don’t measure them. And to be super honest with you, I eat them throughout the day – not because I am hungry, but for fun.

The first few weeks of the 90 day journey were so motivating because I didn’t have to measure anything and I didn’t have to count anything because my body was shocked by the type of food I was eating that I lost weight and body fat pretty “easily” – well, if you call working out 6x a week and eating low carb easy that is :P But like I mentioned in my first blog post, the first month of any eating plan I follow will allow me lean out by about 5 lbs no matter if it’s vegan, paleo, Whole30, low carb etc. Then after that, it’s a totally different ballgame.

So now, we’re in that 2nd ballgame, still using tactics from the first ballgame. That doesn’t work. Not for my body anyway. It needs more attention. So, after talking to a nutritionist, he advised me that there was no “sexy way” to hit my goals. I would have to track and measure my food to really see what was going on.

Well guys, it’s time to take this 90 day journey to the next level! I just downloaded MyFitnessPal and will be tracking my macros (protein, fat, carbs) for every meal I have. I think this will allow me to be a lot more conscious of my snacking. Also, my friend Drew and the author of Complete Keto, said I should be at around 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs for daily intake. I had only been visually guesstimating here so I am not actually sure how close I had ever been to those percentages. He also advised that I be more focused on hitting my macros instead of worrying about calories.

Tracking food meticulously doesn’t get me excited, but looking back to the two times in my life where my body did change drastically  – once in Boston when I started weight lifting and eating high protein for the first time (healthy amount of calories), and second when I prepped for the bikini competition (unhealthy amount of calories) – the one thing I had in common was that I was tracking my food both of those times. I really wanted to avoid measuring and tracking this time around (it is so tedious and time consuming), but eating when I am hungry and stopping when I am full really doesn’t work when you have a second dessert stomach :P

Anyway, my point is – it’s time to get even more serious. And I’m up for the challenge, no matter how tedious. I have a goal to hit on Nov 14 and I am going to try my best to get there. If I fail, I fail, but at least I will know that I gave it my all.

So, with that said, day 42 is the new day 1 of my 90 Day Journey – Level 2!

PS: Sorry for combining 2 posts in one! Last night I legit fell asleep on my laptop on my couch and thought to myself, sleep is more important than blogging – GO TO BED!!! I was so exhausted. I even slept in today. My body really needed it.

PPS: Also, I decided to skip what I ate in this post because my old food habits are changing as of today, so I want there to be a clean slate for new beginnings!

PPPS: Saying this again for anyone new – my focus on numbers is purely for progress tracking. Please do not be concerned that I am “relapsing” into an unhealthy relationship with my body. I have goals I want to hit and the numbers help me gauge if I am getting farther or closer to my goal. Purely simple. That is it! You don’t need to do what I am doing. Do what works for you. This is my own personal journey that I just happen to be blogging about publicly. I am glad that those who are following along are feeling inspired and getting meal ideas!

The post I didn’t think I’d have to do this. | 41 + 42 of 90 appeared first on Blogilates.

Doing things that make your soul smile | 40 of 90

Wow, what a day. I am on a high.

First off, the POPFLEX shoot went so incredibly well! We worked with a few new people I scouted online (it’s always a little scary because you never what you’re gonna get), but I am SO happy to report that they were INCREDIBLE HUMANS. Like full of light, full of positivity, and full of joy. Our POPFLEX shoots are always so fun because everyone is just having a blast, laughing, dancing, singing, and CREATING gorgeous things together.

I literally cannot wait for you to meet the models we partnered with for this next collection. Each one – so beautiful inside and out! You’re gonna LOVE them. We’re actually all planning to take a “heels” class together (that’s a dance class where you wear high heels cuz WHY NOT) because we had so much fun today that we needed a reason to hang out soon again!

Now, speaking of dance – I did a thing.

Today after a long day of shooting, I decided to be crazy and take a dance class at 8:30PM. But not just any class…read below:

 

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Fun fact: when I was in high school, my dream was the be a B-girl. I even took lessons from a breakdancer cuz I was THAT serious!!! I loved how powerful, calm, and in control b-boys and b-girls were of their bodies. I specifically loved popping – the kind of style that makes you look like a gliding robot.

I’m so sleepy… | 39 of 90

Hey guys,

It is 11:57pm on Monday. I am super crazy tired and I should have gone to bed at 10:30pm but today was BONKERS and I wasn’t even able to get onto my computer until a couple hours ago. It was meetings back to back! A bajillion people were at the office!

Anyway, I am prepping the looks for our POPFLEX shoot tomorrow so I don’t have time to do a full blog post today. Wanted to keep you posted because I made a vow to blog every single day for 90 days and didn’t want to break my promise.

Sleep is my priority for the rest of the 90 day journey (and hopefully forever) so I gotta go to bed. Plus, I need fresh, bright eyes and skin for tomorrow’s shoot!

Ok that is all. I hope you’re having a good day or night wherever you are. I can’t wait for you to see this next collection.

Ok it’s 12:01am now. Gotta go.

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Easy egg peeling hack + allowing myself a break… | 38 of 90

Okay first off, THANK YOU GUYS for giving me the egg peeling tip! I tried adding ice to the water and then peeling, and it was like MAGIC. You literally changed my life!!! I even made a video about it!

 

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Omg. I’m an egg-spert at egg peeling!!!!

Week 5 Weigh-In | 37 of 90

I had a terrible start to the day.

I think I told you already that one of my goals was to not let the negative comments personally affect me as much. As a people pleaser and someone who has always been self conscious, this has taken a lot of energy for me to do. Some days I succeed, other days…are like today.

Today, I wasn’t strong enough and I let the negativity infect me. DEEP. It was too much. I let it take over and I let it fill my body with anger and hostility.

I hate when I get like this. It’s not me.

Yeah, maybe it’s my lack of sleep that is increasing my levels of the stress hormone cortisol, making my bloat get more and more uncomfortable. But to be completely honest, that is not the only thing causing me stress. Reading negative comments makes my blood boil. I’m in a terrible mood after I read them. It’s like taking poison or something. I become so upset internally that you can read it right on my face, no matter how hard I try pretend like it doesn’t affect me. I wonder if reading negative comments is contributing to higher levels of cortisol in my body.

A good amount of you guys have suggested that I stop reading the comments. I know. I should. But I’m someone who wants to know if I’m doing something wrong, and I’m not afraid to have someone tell me something I don’t want to hear…

…as long as it helps me be better.

In this case though, I feel like these comments are just making me so negative. So maybe I should stop. But the thing is – I don’t want to live in a blissfully ignorant imagination. One of my biggest fears is to be told only things people think I want to hear, and be blinded from reality. I don’t want to be delusional. I don’t want to be out of touch with you guys and how you are actually feeling.

Anyway, I won’t to go into detail about what happened. I’ve already given it so much of my attention already today.

So…let’s move on to my week 5 weigh in!

This is the first week I have gained weight and body fat since I started. I think it’s the water retention from my week of bloating. But I’m going to incorporate minimum 7-8 hours of sleep per night to see if that helps! Hopefully this is the case and I can report back next week with better results!

If I am to still hit my goal in 7 weeks (which in the beginning I already said was going to be a challenge but still something I could work towards) my rate of weight loss should be around 1.3 lbs a week, up from 1.05 lbs a week. Let’s see how things go this week. I’m thinking I may need more time to get to my goal, and that’s ok. I’m in no rush, but I did want to put a date on my goal so it wasn’t some arbitrary dream without a specific timeline.

By the way, since you’ve been with me for 5 weeks now, you know that part of my progress tracking is numerical. But for those who are just joining, if you’re uncomfortable with numbers, there’s absolutely no need for you to track the way I do. It’s just how I do it. You can use clothes or a measuring tape on your journey!

Yesterday’s recap:

Fit journal entry! I noticed that most of this week I’ve been coloring in part of the happy face and part of the bleh face. The discomfort in my stomach has been making me not feel my best. So I hope I can figure this out soon and return to my normal self!

After my weight lifting class, I made myself some bacon with butter lettuce and cauli rice. I’m starting to feel weird about eating meat with so much fat on it. I actually stripped most of the bacon fat off for this meal and tried to just eat the “lean” part. I never really ate bacon before going lazy keto, but thought it’d be fun to try on the journey.

But seeing that I am not actually passionate about bacon (the way so many others are) I think I’m going to stop. I just feel weird about all the animal fat…like it’s going to clog my arteries or something!

For lunch, we ordered from a sushi and teriyaki place! I started off my meal with some edamame! YUM!

I love soup. No matter how hot it is, I can always have it! Even if I am sweating. With my meal, I had some miso soup.

Chicken salad for lunch with some avocado. This was delish.

Felt snacky and finished off this bag of seaweed crunch! YUMMM.

Felt snacky again and had some spicy peanuts. Not my fave, so I think I’ll stop with these.

For dinner, I had chicken salad again! But no avo this time because my avo’s aren’t ripe yet!

Because of my weird bloat issues, I decided to have a kombucha to integrate some healthy bacteria or probiotics into my gut. 1 bottle has 12g of carbs but whatever, right now it is more important for me to heal my gut than to be in ketosis.

Oh and side note – didn’t take pics but also had an advanced probiotic stick, MCT oil and BHB exogenous ketones throughout the day. Again, not really sure if this is helping, but it tastes good. Supposedly, one side effect of the ketones is that it’s supposed to naturally suppress my appetite, but I feel like I’ve been snacking more since taking it. So umm…not sure what’s going on, but it’s not doing what it’s “supposed to do.” I don’t feel extra mental clarity either. I feel the same. Actually, I feel sleepy earlier. Not sure if that’s related.

Anyway, I’ll try it out for a bit more because maybe it takes a while for my body to respond? Although…I feel like my body would respond quickest the first time I take it…

My fave page in the Fit Journal. My game plan page is getting filled UP and it feels so satisfying!!! I can’t wait to get to week 12 so I can see ALL THE BOXES filled in!

Goals for next week. All non scale related.

#1. Start sleeping more! 7-8 hrs a night MINIMUM. I am going to make this a priority.

#2. Stop reading the negative comments and taking everything to heart. It’s too hurtful and actually bad for my mental health and physical health.

Also, I want to be able to fill in the happy face at the end of next week’s recap. No more of this bleh face stuff. Let’s start week 6 fresh. New attitude. New mindset. New strategies. Let’s do this.

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