The Power of Friends & My Fav Cardio!

I had a strange day that went from amazing to downhill in a few hours. I had an amazing morning workout, great afternoon with my siblings and then somehow found my self in a bowl of spanish rice and tortilla chips? I don't know that I was just hanging out with it but rather sitting in it almost bathing in spanish rice. This is also after I busted my a- double snakes on the elliptical doing crazy intervals after lifting...glad I just added all those calories I sweat off right back onto my hips. So to the point of this story is I was all depressive and unhappy about what happened and got the PERFECT pick me up. I went on a long walk with one of my very best friends and felt completely re-energized. I can tell him anything from fitness to relationships to teaching and he always gives me a clear focused mind. First off, no one is perfect and I am not inspired by people who claim to be perfect. I like to hear how people turn around a bad day and make it a great day. I love to hear about women with 4 kids who lose 50 pounds and turn into fitness models, or the people on biggest loser that change their lives and lose 200lbs. Do not ignore the power of a good friend, a personal motivator to make you remember who you are and why you do what you are passionate about.

Now..my favorite cardio! I have gotten a lot of messages about ab workouts, etc. First off, all abs are at least 80% made in the kitchen, unless your using illegal supplements or have crazy unfair genetics (i hate you!). I am going to make some videos of my favorite core exercises, but until I can get that done, I'm going to post some of my favorite cardio routines. I've done A LOT of cardio intervals over the past few years and have come up with some great ones that personally work for me, you can modify them to work for you better, but these are cardio routines that i've literally done in the past few weeks. I rotate machines and interval types, but I tend to have a handful that I rotate around and switch up as I need to.

This is a sample of my treadmill cardio. Normally I'm doing this first thing in the morning or right after a lift (so I don't do too much of a warm up-yeah yeah I know that's probably not good, but i'm freaking tired). This will run you about 30 minutes, and then I usually do 15 minutes on the stair master at like a level 7-9, I have a love obsession with the stairs, but that's another story for another day! I will be posting more as I write them out, so happy sweating for now!

happy easter

Happy Easter everyone! I hope everyone else had a great relaxing day regardless of what you were doing. I drove to wilmington for the day to spend time with my amazing family and laughed enough for 100 crunches! I slept in for once, until about 8ish, and had some protein pancakes=yum! I'm always too ready to eat them that I forget to take a picture. I knew we were eating easter dinner at lunchtime haha, so I tried to have a hearty breakfast so I wouldn't be diving into the mixed nuts before lunch. I forgot to take pictures of ...everything! But my fabulous grandmother cooked up a storm. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, baked beans, coleslaw, deviled eggs(which are also my fav) and then my absolute favorite the traditional coconut cake (with coconut dyed green per my request!) I had a little bit of everything without going too overboard and had a slice of the greatest coconut cake you've ever tasted. I only get to eat it twice a year so I do not ever turn it down.

Today was my only rest day from the gym, so I tried to take full advantage of that, but it's so hard! Amy and I took a really nice walk around the neighborhood after lunch/dinner and it was so hot I think I sweat off at least 1/2 of the calories from that cake. I thought about doing a little circuit training once I got back home, but I know I need rest, so i'll just do it! It's going to be a long week so I might as well rest while I can.

I have a quick paper to type on Child Abuse (..such a depressing sad subject) and then I'm going to read the last few pages of my book. It's been such an eye opening book on such a real issue. One of my favorite quotes from Kerry was..

"Not being able to live without someone is not love, it's need"

Tomorrow is monday, is your schedule set, to do list made and goals written out?

turkey YUM

Just a quick post on the way into the shower and out the door! A very good friend of mine ms. jessica bossler shared a meatloaf recipe with that i tweaked around and is AMAZING, thank you jess! Okay, I realize it doesn't look so pretty but when have you ever really seen a "pretty" meatloaf? I didn't bake it in that container, I just sliced it when it cooled and transferred it into some tupperware for 4 tasty meals. So the recipe..

1lb ground turkey (I used 97% and it was plenty moist)

1/4c chopped onions

1/4c chopped celery

1c dry oatmeal

1 whole egg

2TB ketchup

Mix all of that together in a bowl with your hands, then dump it into a non stick loaf pan and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. I sliced it into 4 pieces so that I had 1/4c starch & 4oz protein in each slice! I just ate a slice with a little brocilli and dipped it in mustard, and it was like turkey cake..so moist. I'm already thinking about when I can eat it again, hell i'd eat it again in 3 hours if I didn't want to try and savior it! I'm trying to save some damn calories so I can eat ham and coconut cake on sunday It's a little fam tradition & I don't ever turn down coconut cake..or anything coconut related. I'll have to do meal photography for the whole day just for accountability!

Hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine today! :) xoxox

greek yogurt=happiness.

"Though his body says stop, his spirit crys never"

"Hi, my name is casey and i'm a greek yogurt addict." I don't know what I would do without greek yogurt. I think about greek yogurt & egg whites/oatmeal all day long (well i think about peanut butter, ice cream sundaes, mexican food and buffalo wings all day too but thats another story). The funny thing about it is I bought it numerous times and would literally vomit at the thought of eating it and then after throwing enough money out the window MAGICALLY I developed a taste for it, and am in love. Now, the one pictured is Chobani and it's non-fat vanilla flavored which I usually don't buy but my grocery store convientely was out of Oikos non-fat plain and these were on sale, so I didn't complain.

Some of my favorite mix-in's for greek yogurt are :

(obviously not all together)

• 1/4c ezekiel granola
• 1TB coconut oil
• 1TB organic honey
• 1/4-1/2c strawberries or blueberries
• 1 dollup of cool whip lite & 1TB dark chocolate pieces (if you're looking for a dessert fix!)
• cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, or any of your favorite extracts (1/2tsp coconut/almond/vanilla extract)

...seriously you're possibilities are endless and I've barely even gotten started learning all the ways to enjoy it!

As for the rest of the day..

I woke up really late this morning, I don't know why I couldn't sleep last night. So I didn't get into the gym until around 830am, but it's okay because hottie stone cold was there so I had somethign to look at. Ok, Steve Austin really doesn't work out in my gym, but when I first saw this guy I almost asked for his autograph-hell I still might. I trained savage figure for quads and glutes and had to make stuff up as I went along since have the equiptment had the pads removed (for the new ones coming in). I'll be honest, I could care less how pretty the machines look or how nice the paint on the wall is, as long as everything I need is there and in DECENT condition, I'm happy. I don't care about the bathroom fixtures or a fresh pad on the hack squat, cause my sweaty butt is sitting on it and it hurts regardless. So after making my legs feel like jelly I hopped in the shower quick and headed off to teach one of my last math lessons! :) Students are on spring break next week and I'm in desperate need of the break. Love them but I can't wait to not wear dress pants, not hear my name, not see any hands raised, not talk about rounding & geometric figures, and get a little time to catch up! We're starting a fun unit on citizenship when they get back and I need to get a few things finished for that. I'll only be teaching the first week of the unit and then I send them off for the year! I get so excited for my time to end all semester and then the time comes and I miss them all like crazy. I just had some hummus and celery and now i'm off to hop in a spin class! I cannot wait to get some sleepytime tea & my new favorite book "Loose Girl" by Kerry Cohen (i'll talk more about this book later, it's a great memoir) and climb into bed tonight, I need the sleep.

xoxo casey!

before the sun rises..

Hello, Hello! I was happy to get out of bed at 530 this morning. It was not a happy 30 minutes getting to the gym, but I was a happy happy girl at the gym at 6 this morning with no distractions and a FULL tank of energy. I had a quick rice cake with honey (which by the way I just tried for the first time yesterday, and honey may be my new favorite thing-I see problems here already!) Just for accountability purposes, here is proof that I was getting out of the car at 6 this morning, though you don't know that I didn't just run out to the car in my pajamas to take this picture ;).

I had a great morning lift, did savage figure back and rear delts and finally broke through some personal records on a few lifts. Was planning on doing sprints on the treadmill, but my hamstrings were begging me not too, so I did lots of weighted incline and the elliptical instead for my 30 minutes. I kinda missed having no-one to talk too, but I remember why I enjoyed early am lifts, because I was totally in the zone. I got home around 8ish, and decided to give egg beaters a second try since last year I almost gagged trying to eat them. They were so good I was in heaven. Sometimes plain old egg whites gets boring to me, and this was such a treat! I had some salsa on the side and a slice of my favorite ezekiel bread! Carbs=happy casey!

Then I got to catch up on my DVR'd Biggest Loser last night. I couldn't survive without that show seriously. Was anyone else pissed that the commercial diver's wife had to come back, that challenge wasn't fair at all and her AND her husband are idiots. She is all about game play and I hate her. But I am proud of the man that lost 400 pounds on his own at home! FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS! I have to have support just to lose 4 lbs, nevermind 400lbs. I was so impressed, people that go fight for themselves like that prove to me that everyone can make a change whether it's about fitness or not. Just because you're in a lifestyle doesn't mean it's YOUR lifestyle. Make a change to better yourself as a person, rather than just being content. While I was working on some social work homework (which is so depressing and sad btw) I made some oreo fudge brownies for my special ed class tonight! They are not whole wheat nor do they have any nutritional value at all because i LOVE these people, and they are teachers and hell we DESERVE A LITTLE SUGAR! They are mini anyways and super cute. I ate one and they were so rich I was done! I got the recipe from Jessica at How Sweet Eats: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2010/03/24/cookies-and-cream-brownies/
Warning: do not go to her site if you are hungry and don't have self control!

None of these brownies will be sleeping over at my house tonight, whatsoever. They were too good and I don't need to be tempted to slather them in ice cream and peanut butter at 10pm tonight.

Now let's chat about my mother. Who you'll hear me talk about all the time, because she means the world to me and is my best friend in the whole entire universe.

Isn't she the most stunning thing you've ever seen? She is the funniest, most inspiring, beautiful woman on the planet to me (and she does a mean bruce springteen impression). I couldn't love her more if I tried and even if we argue like sisters, I wouldn't be half the person I am today without her. She's been through more than I can explain and is a better woman each day because of it. Shes makes me laugh, cry, dance, yell, sing, and overall be a happier person. I never take her advice when she gives it, but she's always right and she could certainly teach some people a few things on life. We don't eat the same way at all, and our training styles are polar opposites-I don't think she's done a plyo move in...well maybe ever? ;) But no matter what happens or what she has to go through she handles all situations with grace and courage and I hope one day I'll be that big of a person. But for now I just try my hardest to follow in her footsteps by listening to all things 80's rock, being a diehard sly stallone fan, living for $4 walmart tank tops, and eating lean ground beef by the pounds. And this picture below may or may not be what she's hiding under that cheap ass walmart tanktop!

"It doesn't get any tougher if you have confidence and believe in yourself"

Also, let me just share this awesome motivational video, I'm such a rocky dork (which is better than admitting to my twilight obsession!) I don't know quite yet how to embed videos so you'll just need to do the link for now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJNp2z9gQNY

good training, good day, good girl.

Good afternoon! I'm just getting used to all of this blogging stuff, so I keep forgetting to take pictures, which I know makes these blogs so much more interesting! Anyone who knows me knows that I complain about living in the south all the time, but how can you miss New England when it's 70 and sunny all week here?

Anyways, I couldn't sleep to save my life last night, so when my alarm went off for 530am cardio, I was quick to hit snooze. I finally rolled out of bed from a horrible dream around 645am. I had one of my favorite breakfasts:

3 egg whites (usually I use 4, but I used protein powder today)

1/4scoop protein powder

1/4tsp baking powder (apparently I'm supposed to use baking soda, but I don't know the difference)

2-3 strawberries (or 1/4c any berries)

cinnamon, lots of cinnamon

blend that all up in the blender, or just whisk it and pour on a hot skillet and make like pancakes! I usually get about 4-5 thin pancakes if I use the blender and 2 hearty pancakes if i just whisk. Then I topped them with

2TB sugar free maple syrup
1/2TB coconut oil (shhh. I'm not supposed to be eating that, but i'm addicted!)

Okay, so after this I scooted off to the gym for a late morning training session, of course after a cup of coffee. If you've never had the cinnamon hazelnut coffee from fresh market you're missing out! My mother kindly picked up a $10/lb bag for me last time she was there!

I got my Savage Figure Training in for the day, which was Hams/Calves/Core, I added in a few more super sets and did a little extra here and there, and needless to say I was dripping with sweat and red in the face 15 minutes into my lift. But my butt is going to say POW, so it's okay. I hit the stairmaster or stair mill whatever the hell that thing is called (i'm exhausted with trying to remember what it's called..i use the REVOLVING staircase) for 20 minutes of intervals at a level 10. Just a side note, that thing goes up to a level 20, and i'm determined to get there. So far the best I've done is level 15 and you're literally sprinting up the stairs, I don't know that I want to see level 20. Then I hopped on the elliptical for 10 minutes of incline intervals with a steady speed & had a little light conversation with my good friend Herm, who will be doing a guest post by the way. I am so blessed to have him in my life to give me training advice and keep me sane, the man is amazing.

Okay, I'm working later, so I've got to get started on a few school things before tomorrow. I have somehow come up with the fabulous idea to make bracelets about the times tables for some struggling students. They are freaking adorable if I do say so myself, but so much work! But I think i'll have some happy students tomorrow! I <3>

Here I Go Again..

Recently, I have been truly inspired/addicted to some healthy lifestyle bloggers. It's no secret that I have struggled with the healthy balance of show dieting/off season binging. I bounce between 116lbs to 132lbs which is obviously not a balance.

Through hearing other peoples stories and my own personal trial and error I feel like I'm on the right track to learning that secret of balance. I spend each day trying to learn how to teach, be a teacher, get my training in, be a girlfriend, be a sister, be a friend, eat clean, and try and let me hair down and have a little fun. Through this blog i'm going to share the good and the bad, the times when I eat a whole tray of brownies by myself and the times when I rock a week of awesome training. I want people (including myself) to learn that you need to set your expectations high for yourself, but don't be unrealistic and don't beat yourself up. Do what you love, BECAUSE you love it. Follow what your passionate about, but do it makes your life sweeter and more meaningful, don't ever do anything that makes you miserable about everything.

So now I..

eat,

lift,

& teach!

xoxox Casey