Personal Training
CSF Recap and A Couple Recipes!
Another weekend was spent at the Cathy Savage Fitnessstudios this weekend with an amazing group of women. It’s amazing to see where some of these ladies come from. California, North Dakota, Texas, New Mexico and even Scotland! I am always in awe to see how dedicated and fierce these ladies are. Game faces are ON. For some, they have a show date picked out and just want to get the whole “Savage experience” for others-they signed up for the program and have no idea what they heck they got themselves into! No matter what the purpose or reason for attending Camp Savage the weekend, these women leave with a goal, passion, new found drive and new outlook on their own personal purpose.
What made this camp different and stand apart from any other that I have attended or helped coach was that there was an overarching theme of warped myths and previous training which was not only eye opening for the girls that were involved and had no idea, but for the coaches as well. I had no idea that things were being told and laid out to some of these girls when prepping for a show or simply trying to lead a healthy lifestyle. Some of the stories we were hearing were far from healthy. It hit me; in a very personal, upsetting way. I have never felt more passionate about getting these ladies to see themselves in the most positive of lights. Every single day, you should be thanking your bodies for being able to perform optimally and complimenting that by fueling it properly. We can all get so caught up in Aesthetics that no one even thinks about the importance of HEALTH. Aesthetics means nothing if you aren’t in optimal health.
Many of the stories and personal experiences I heard this past weekend had nothing to do with exercise. We are all animals in the gym—we get in, get out, get it done and move forward. The stories had to do with the ‘show diet’. When prepping for a fitness competition, following a specific diet closer to show time is extremely important so many of us do what we know best—we hire a nutrition coach or we take to the Internet and start perusing forums on Bodybuilding.com or Muscleandstrength.com. There is NOTHING wrong with taking a peek at these forums and I know that there are probably some great tips in there; the problem therein lies that this same person looking at tips from these forums, while at the same time taking tips from their trainer and also looking at what their fellow competitors are doing to prep for THEIR show creates a cluster of craziness. Some of the stories that I heard and that I have heard before were absolutely crazy, truly unbelievable and moreover-extremely dangerous.
–No fruit for 4 months, no carbs for 3 weeks and no water for 1 week?! I have never in my life knew that people actually listened to ‘rules’ like this and followed them thinking this would be beneficial for them? I was literally in complete shock.
When I looked around this past weekend and saw these incredible, healthy, glowing young women and then heard some of the stories that they had gone through or were currently going through literally brought tears to my eyes. Health should be sitting on the highest pedestal in your mind, aesthetics can come secondary to that. This whole idea really hit me hard throughout the weekend due to my own health scare that I experienced at this same exact time last year. It made me appreciate my body, my life and what I am capable of.
Too often we are all looking for a quick fix when it comes to weight loss, fat loss etc that we completely overlook the power of health. Eating food for improved, incredible health. I would love to take a poll to see the last time that someone picked up an article that focused on ‘improving health’ rather than ‘quick weight loss!’ We are all so drawn to ‘weight loss’ that the amazing power of food when it comes to our health and well being gets put on the back burner.
Food is incredible. To hear that someone has cut out fruit for 4 months because a silly trainer told them too makes me so sad. We NEED food for optimum health, optimum weight management, disease prevention and increased vitality. It is incredible that simple foods can aid in all of these categories-no supplements or crazy diets needed
Food provides us with energy. Whole, real, unrefined and unprocessed foods. The more processed a food is, the less nutrients it will have. How many times have you gone on a ‘diet’ and felt lethargic or fatigued throughout the day? The reason for this is most likely due to the lack and imbalance of real food that is going into your body.
The reason I love coaching and working for CSF is simple—it teaches how to incorporate healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle 100% year round so that when it comes time for your show—there is almost no prep involved! Eat, eat, eat and do not take any foods away until it is 100% necessary, and even at that time-it is a temporary elimination for a few days at most.
Close to any physique competition, yes the diet will change but given that you know ‘how’ and what you are eating year round, there is very minimal prepping involved. Right now I am about 4 weeks out from my show and still eating glorious, whole foods such as avocados, chicken, beef, any veggie you can imagine, fruit, good fats, lots of carbs and even some dark chocolate… This is how I prep for my show. This is the only way I know!
The most dangerous of all is that I see too many women follow such a strict diet, training regimen all for that ultimate goal of a chiseled physique and the only thing they end up with is a disordered view on food. Food is GLORIOUS. It does not have power over you. You hold all the power in the world.
Whatever route one chooses on how they prep for a show, just keep in mind there is no need to ever cut food groups out and absolutely no need for cardio 2 hours a day. If you are going on either extreme, something is not right and you are putting your health at risk BIG TIME. If you take anything away from this post it is this: Be thankful for your body that it moves well, can do anything and reward it properly. Please. Please. Please. Life is too short to not eat a yummy cupcake or have a glass of wine! Oh and its my BIRTHDAY on SUNDAY! YAY 🙂
Speaking of FOOD…I made some incredible butternut squash the other night that was so good, It took everything not to eat the whole squash in one sitting!
Cinnamon Coconut Squash
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Butternut squash, skinned and diced in evenly sized pieces
- 1T coconut oil
- 1T cinnamon
- 1/2T nutmeg
Directions:
- Place the diced squash in a large bowl and add in the cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Melt the coconut oil in a small dish (microwave for about 20 seconds) and pour over the squash mixture
- Mix all together and place on a cookie sheet.
- Bake in the oven at 350 for about 35 minutes (flipping a few times) or until golden brown
- ENJOY!
This next breakfast is an awesome ‘make ahead’ meal that you can portion out in the beginning of the week and grab and go each day! Simply heat it up in the microwave or you can eat it cold! Either way, it is packed with protein, veggies complex carbs and good fats. A complete meal on the go? Sign me up!
Sweet Potato Egg Bake
Yields: 5 servings
Ingredients
- 12 egg whites
- 2 medium sized sweet potato’s pre cooked and diced into small pieces
- 2T coconut oil
- Veggies of choice (I love spinach, red pepper and mushrooms) All diced small
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a loaf pan. Set aside
- Crack eggs in a large bowl and whisk well.
- Add in the diced sweet potato and diced veggies
- Melt coconut oil in a small dish (about 20 seconds)
- Add the coconut oil into the egg mixture.
- Combine all ingredients with a spatula and pour everything into the greased loaf pan
- Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until eggs are cooked through
- Let the egg bake cool and cut into 5 evenly sized pieces.
Nutritional Info per serving
Calories: 212
Ccarbohydrates: 12g
Sugar: 4g
Protein: 19.5g
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What are YOUR goals this month?
What new foods have you been enjoying?
Love this post Naomi! I totally know what you mean about comp dieting and the scary things you read/see and hear. Just the other night I met a girl who is competing in three weeks time and she said to me “Oh the only carbs I’m allowed at the moment are blueberries” – but she’s still having cheat meals once a week. Go figure! Scary stuff indeed.