As many of you know, I’m a senior in high school, have a job, and consistently work out six days a week (unless injured/really sick). So how do I do it? I plan. That’s all you really can do! 

Hitting the Gym

Currently, I go to school from 7:30-2:10. When I’m not working, I’ll usually hit the gym anywhere from 3-4:30 and be home around 6:30 at the latest. I’ve found that I won’t be able to do anything productive (like homework) unless I get my workout done early. So once I get home, I’ll have my protein shake then dinner.

If I’m working, I do my best to get to the gym straight after school. Meaning, wearing as much of my workout gear to school as I can (sports bra, running tights/capris or shorts under sweats, running shoes) and keep the rest in my car (notebook, headphones, water bottle, iPhone armband, lifting gloves). However, if I work at 4pm, I don’t have enough time to go to the gym straight after school. In this case, I’ll either make it my scheduled rest day or go right after work (I usually get off around 8pm).

If you are short on time, try super sets (performing two exercises back to back with no rest in between)! It’s an amazing time saver and really kills your muscles…in a good way! ;)

On the weekends, I try to get my workouts done before noon, just so I have time to chill the rest of the day :)

And for those wondering, my gym workouts usually last 1 hour (if just lifting/abs) to 1.5-2 hours (if lifting, cardio, and abs).

Eating Clean

For my meals, I pick a day on the weekend to cook a butt load of tilapia, grilled chicken, brown rice, quinoa, and/or my pasta. I’ve decided that I also want to start making Theresa’s (thefameofhealthandfitness) protein pancakes ahead of time as well, so I can just grab, warm up, and go! :)

So take some time at the beginning of each week to look at your work/social schedule to figure out when you can hit the gym/cook. If your fitness and health are really a priority in your life, you will find time to fit it all in.

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Posted on Wednesday, 25 January 2012.

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Such a great question! I decided to post it on my blog so everyone can see. 

I have a video on this topic on my YouTube page, so go check it out if you have time :)

What is clean eating to Becca? Clean eating for me is eating wholesome foods that will give my body the nutrients it needs to perform at its best. This means no fast food, no junk, and to avoid processed food if possible. I also rarely eat red meat, but that’s just a personal choice. 

The majority of my diet consists of lean meats (fish, chicken/turkey breast), whole grains (quinoa, Ezekiel bread, whole grain pasta, oats), veggies and fruits, and a small amount of dairy (low fat string cheese and greek yogurt). At the moment, I allow one cheat meal per week, but try to not go overboard with it. For this I love California Pizza Kitchen, Jimmy Johns, or Cheesecake Factory. If I’m going to cheat, I want it to be wonderfully delicious. Not crap from a fast food joint.

Clean eating has gotten a bad rep lately, but I think people are just being too strict and uptight about it. A lot of people will look at my diet and think it’s “obsessive”, but I love it! I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything at all. I don’t get migraines or stomach pains like I used to. It’s wonderful :)

When it comes to what I eat, I just try to go as natural as possible. I find yummy foods you might encounter on a farm and use fun recipes to make them taste even better. Once you develop a taste for these foods, you never want to go back to your old ways of drive thrus and donuts.

For a lot of people out there, when they turn to eating clean, they notice changes in their taste buds and their cravings. Now that I’ve been eating clean for a while, I honestly can’t remember the last time I had fast food (not including Panera). I don’t eat and anything fried (except for a few occasions of lightly fried sweet potato fries) or packaged sweets. I’ve noticed that my body has made some positive changes because of this.

You have no idea how your body adapts to its diet. When you eat fast “food” and fried or over sweetened “foods”, your body craves more and more sugar and salt. It almost becomes an addiction because your body develops a taste for these products.

When you eat clean foods though, you realize how much salt and sugar are really added to that…crap (for lack of a better word). My body basically rejects fast food now. I get actual stomach pains from eating McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, etc. Soda makes my throat burn and eyes water. Anytime I go out and order food, even in a somewhat healthy meal such as grilled chicken and veggies, I taste the tons of salt they have added to it. Poptarts, packaged cookies/cakes/brownies, donuts, soda, etc have pretty much lost all their appeal. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’ll think, “Oh god…I could really use a donut right now.” But then I ask myself if I really want it. I’ll think of actually eating a donut and suddenly, the craving is gone.

I don’t want junk anymore. I have no craving (unless PMSing) for it at all.

I am now addicted to clean, natural, whole foods. Even my favorite candy, Reeses, has lost much of its appeal. I think of actually eating it and all I can imagine is dry, fake peanut butter and mediocre milk chocolate.

You might be thinking, “Well jeeze Becca. Live a little!” I appreciate your concern, but if I want something sweet, I want something homemade. Something where I know the ingredients and I can trust what’s in it. I want real ingredients in my “cheats”. Flour, real, unprocessed sugar, real chocolate, vanilla, milk…the whole nine yards! What I don’t want though, is the fake, sugary packaged stuff I used to crave.

So I encourage you to switch. At first it might be hard. You’ll be thinking of those chips or that cookie you want to devour. But soon, you’ll see what I mean. You’ll try some greasy chips after not having any for a week or two, thinking you’ll have the same pleasure eating them as you did before, but you won’t. Your taste buds will scream from the overload on salt. So you’ll eat one, realize how gross they are now, and throw the rest away or hand them back to your friend.

Start eating clean, but be kind to yourself about it. Allow a cheat meal or two a week, but make them count. Have a wholesome cheat…homemade pancakes with natural maple syrup for example (that’s my fav ;)). Find yummy recipes and make eating and cooking clean fun! It isn’t boring I promise. For ideas, you can check my recipes page :)

I hope this shed some light on the subject of eating clean. The best of luck to you :)

So I sometimes get questions on how to read my lifting posts, so I’ve decided to answer them all with one explanation :)

For each exercise, I usually do 3-4 sets. What is a set? A set is when you perform an exercise a certain amount of reps.

EXAMPLE: If I write DB Bicep Curls  17.5x15  20x12  20x8 »This means I did 3 sets of the exercise Dumbbell Bicep Curls. For the first set I curled 17.5 pounds for 15 reps, and so on and so forth.

So, simply put, the numbers mean  WEIGHT x # OF REPS.

Hope this clears things up!

full-lifedetox:

You will only regret the workouts you don’t do.

healthy-is-sexy:

Diet Health:

Worlds Fastest Workout Video

Britney Spears Abs

Kim Kardashian Butt

Victoria’s Secret

Erin’s Workout

Selita’s Workout P1 & P2

BODY ROCK

Cardio Exercise

Get Hot…

So I searched “grocery” on my blog, to see if I could find a post that already listed what I buy at the store. Some really old posts came up and I realized that what I buy has changed so much! So since I’ve been asked (and have been needing to do this anyway for you guys), I’m going to give you my list of must have items!

MUST HAVES:

• Eggs
• Egg whites
• Unsweetened Almond Milk (I usually stick to Almond Breeze)
• Skim milk (for when I crave a yummy glass of milk)
• Stevia in the Raw
• Bananas
• Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter (ingredients: peanuts and <%1 of salt)
• Original Shredded Wheat
• Cascadia Farms Organic Honey Nut O’s
• Ezekiel Bread (original and/or cinnamon raisin)
• Greek yogurt (Chobani, Stoneyfield Oikos, or Fage)
• Celery
• Baby carrots
• Whole grain pasta
• Organic marinara
• Tuna
• Frozen chicken breasts
• Frozen tilapia
• Lean ground turkey
• Organic honey
• Slivered almonds (a quieter snack than whole almonds. Haha :))
• Old fashioned oats
• Quinoa

Other items I like to buy, but don’t always get:

• Sargento Low-Fat string cheese
• Raw cane sugar
• Shredded carrot
• Dove Dark Chocolate squares (I’ll have one or two when I’m having major cravings)
• Eggplant 
• Reduced fat Triscuits 
• Kind/Lara bars 
• Shrimp
• Blueberries
• Strawberries

I will add and adjust this list as I think of more items, so don’t forget to check back. I hope this is helpful! :) 

Whey

• 1st Phorm Level-1
• Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey

Casein

• Beverly International Ultimate Muscle Protein 

I am constantly asked this question, so I’m putting this post in my FAQ :) Right now I am using Optimum Nutrition French Vanilla just because it was on sale and is the highest quality for it’s price. 1st Phorm tends to get pricey.

So what’s the difference between whey and casein anyways?

Whey protein is your best bet for building lean muscle mass and promoting fat loss. It digests quickly, making it perfect for post workout protein consumption.

Casein is slow digesting. It can take around 7 hours to digest, making it crucial to take before going to sleep. When we sleep, our bodies are basically fasting. We are supposed to eat every 3-4 hours, but when we sleep, we are going around twice that time without any sort of nutrients. Casein gives your body the protein it needs to maintain muscle mass, even when you’re asleep.

At the moment I don’t have a casein, but I’m looking to purchase some really soon. :)

I thought protein powder made you gain weight/fat?

PROTEIN POWDER WILL NOT MAKE YOU GAIN WEIGHT. Unless it is in muscle or you are consuming more calories than you are burning during your workouts.

I hope this post helps clear up your guys’ questions! :)

Becca’s at Home Ab Routine!

So this was quickly filmed and edited, but I just wanted to get it up for you guys! I am constantly asked about my routine, so I finally made a video showing you guys what I do at home :)

For each exercise:

• Do 15-25 controlled reps
• Tighten your core and use it to do the whole movement
• Don’t forget to breathe! ;)

Repeat this circuit 3 or 4 or how ever many times as you’d like! :)

Try it out!