Fitness Friday: 5 things that keep me on track

Because I love being healthy and active, I’m going to be incorporating more health and fitness related posts onto Cassidy Lou. I’m not a nutritionist, personal trainer, or anything specific (other than SPIN, CPR, First Aid and AED certified haha) so these are all tips that have worked for me or something I have experience with. I’ll do my best to back information up with reliable articles or studies (when necessary). So, without further ado, here are 5 things that help keep me on track with my goals!

1.) fitbook

I started using fitbooks back in April and am hooked. fitbook is a daily tracking notebook of your food, workout, sleep and water consumption, with spots for journaling how you feel,  and setting quarterly, monthly and weekly goals.

I love keeping track of everything.

I have a spreadsheet with my expenses, a continuous list of blog post ideas and a word document with my current credit card balances and the days I’m making payments, so it only seemed right to log my food & workout goals.

I have actually been keeping a daily food & workout log since probably 2013. For years it was a massive note in my phone, but I got lazy with it and found that it wasn’t helping me stay on track anymore.

With my fitbook I write down everything I eat, and it has definitely helped me to say no to boredom or binge eating. For example, I was at my parent’s house this spring and my sister was having pizza around 1 am – I wasn’t hungry, but pizza sounded good (as it usually does). Before I eating it, I realized I would have to record it in my fitbook, and it wasn’t worth that to me. Making those conscious decisions is imperative to fueling your body with good food.

2.) heart rate monitor

I finally bought an HR monitor in December of 2014 and now very rarely work out without it. I have a very simple one, I only wear it for workouts, and I really like to know where my heart rate is throughout the workout and how many calories I burned after.

It is also a nice reminder to slow down sometimes…like when your heart rate is 189…

 

3.) Quest bars

Sometimes I struggle to meet my daily goal of protein (if you’re curious I shoot for about 125-140g a day) so Quest Bars are my 3pm snack (at least during the workweek). Over the years I have tried numerous types of protein bars and my two favorites are Quest and Think Thin. The one downside to Think Thin is the ingredient maltitol (an artificial sweetener in the sugar alcohol family). After doing some research, reading reviews, and a week straight of eating them I learned that maltitol can cause stomach pain and other issues. I searched online and at GNC through tons of different protein bars, and unfortunately most contain maltitol. Luckily, Quest do not, which is why I now almost exclusively eat them. (goodbye stomach pain!)

They come in tons of different flavors (as you can see below) but the best one is the brand new Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie – the cinnamon in the bar is a game changer!

They aren’t cheap, but GNC always has them buy 3 get 1 free or you can order in bulk online.

4.) awesome gear

I realized recently that I still had some sports bras and Nike pro shorts from 2010-2011. That is WAY too old when you wear them as frequently as I do. With the move I’ve been cleaning out workout gear that’s either permanently smelly, doesn’t fit, or I no longer wear, and picking up a few new items.

Victoria’s Secret recently redid their sport bras (as I mentioned on Instagram) and now their “Player” bra (my favorite) is $15! I love these bras because they are long enough to fit my heart rate monitor under and they don’t stretch out. I have two from December 2014 that I wear once a week and that are STILL TIGHT.

It also doesn’t hurt that my office is across the street from an outlet mall with a Nike outlet. It’s been awesome finding sports bras, socks and shorts for 40-60% regular Nike prices.

VS tank // exact Nike bra (ON SALE!) // VS bra // exact shoes (ON SALE!)

5.) accountability partner

My friend Natalie & I have been working out together since early 2014. Sadly, we now live across the country from each other, but she is always there to motivate & help me! Plus we bounce ideas off each other. Thanks Nat <3

don’t mind our poor quality, makeup free, sweaty post outdoor yoga looks haha.

Tell me, what do you use to keep you on track?

Have a great weekend!

-M