Left: 1st day of cut
Right: 1 Month into cut
Those of you who have been following me for awhile know that I'm really into working out and living a healthy lifestyle. I grew up playing sports and was taught to eat healthy at an early age, so being active and caring about the nutrients I put in my body have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I posted my 1 month cut transformation on my Instagram story the other day and got SO MANY questions about my fitness routine, so here I am to answer them all!
So let's begin with my diet...
For the last almost month and a half, I've been counting my macros. Macros stands for Macronutrients and we have three: fats, carbs and proteins. So what this means is I keep track of how many grams of each macro I have per day based on a macro calculator I used. BodyBuilding.com and IIFYM.com both have great calculators you can use to determine what your macros are. Just fill in the information (you'll need to know you body fat %) and it will give you the recommended numbers for each category.
When you calculate your macros you calculate them for one of three reasons: fat loss, muscle gain or maintenance. My macros right now are for fat loss, or for cutting. I've decreased my calories in order to lose fat but also maintain the muscle mass I already have. Once I've reached a desired body fat % or look, I'll increase my calories to a maintenance state (about 500 more cals a day), which means I'll just be maintaining the weight that I'm at.
Another topic I've been asked about a lot is food. What my meals look like, what I eat in a day, cheat meals, etc. The best way for me to track my macros is by meal prepping. I've been meal prepping all my lunches and majority of my dinners. I use my food scale to measure out exactly how much I'm eating in every meal. It's definitely a tedious task, but I wouldn't have made the progress I have without doing it. I use the My Fitness Pal app on my phone to log and track all my food and calories and it is so helpful! As far as what I eat... that's an entire blog post in itself (which i'm working on). Basically I eat to fit my macros and to help my goals. My meals aren't extremely exciting but I'm doing this cut for the results, not the food. A couple rules I started following when I started this cut:
1. No Alcohol for at least a month (I went over a month and a half, it wasn't that hard)
2. No fast food, sodas, sugary snacks
3. Limit eating out
4. Limit dairy and carbs
5. No cheat meals. You can't start a diet with cheat meals being on your mind. You have to embrace a new lifestyle!
Now on to my workouts...
I usually lift weights 4 days a week. I love the look and feeling of being strong and in shape. I have a very athletic build, I always have, so I love embracing it and pushing my body to become stronger every day that I'm in the gym. I actually don't do very much cardio, usually just a 5-10 minute warmup on the stair master or the bike. Once summer gets closer I'll probably add in a couple HIIT workouts to help burn more fat. Here's what my weekly workouts typically look like:
Day 1: Legs. This includes squats, deadlifts, lunges, calf raises, RDLs (Romanian deadlifts)
Day 2: Bi's and Tri's
Day 3: Leg Day Part 2. This one is more glute focused. Glute bridges, resistance bands, deadlifts, sumo squats, etc.
Day 4: Back/shoulders/chest
*Sometimes* Day 5: At home workout or stadium runs.
I also like to have some kind of protein source after my workouts and typically go for muscle milk!
If counting your macros is something you want to start doing then you need to know that it's OK to mess up. It's OK to not hit your goals or to go over your limit. Focus on one day at a time. If you have anymore questions, feel free to shoot me and email or DM. I'm also working on an in-depth meals post for all of you that asked me what my weekly meals look like so be on the lookout for that!
-Kasey
