Fitness is confusing isn’t it. One day you’re being told to try this diet, lift this type of weight, do cardio on an empty belly, don’t workout without carbs, do HIIT, don’t lose your gains. Insert crazy-hands-in-the-air emoji here, am I right?! I have a hard time keeping up with all the information and news about fitness and diet, I also read so many myths that make my head spin. I wanted to answer some of the most frequently asked questions that I get and also open up my post to allow YOU to ask questions as well. I will do my best to jump in every day or two to address some of your concerns and questions. Keep in mind, I am not a nutritionist, a personal trainer or certified anything in any field of fitness. I am just your average gym fanatic who also works in the health and wellness industry and has learned a ton over the last five years from being in the gym and being around other athletes and wellness people.

Frequently Asked Questions: an on-going roster

1. I get asked a lot about how to get abs, lose belly fat or anything in the mid section. I feel bad answering bluntly about this but the truth is the only way to get and see abs is to strength train your core muscles, just like any other muscle group, and lose overall body fat. You can’t spot target belly fat, unless you were to do liposuction. That’s just the honest truth. You can’t pick where your body sheds the fat, so the only way to ensure you see abs is to slowly lower your entire body fat percentage
2. Body fat percentage is hard to calculate without using a tool or scale. I use the Escali scale which has an estimated body fat percentage feature. My body fat is between 13-15% year round. While I sometimes want to drop it lower to see more cuts and definition I am already in the “athletic” percentile for body fat. 20-25% is a good healthy average for women. The more you lower your body fat the more likely you will be to lose your period. Many athletes and competitive bodybuilders who go to 10% or lower usually lose their period because as women we need body fat to keep all our hormones/lady stuff functioning.
3. I get asked a lot what I take, meaning supplements and vitamins. To be honest I try a lot of things and am always open to adding new things to my routine. There are a few things that never change, that are my staple daily items. Those include Alive! women’s gummy multivitamin (I take 2, not 3 like it suggest), I take a probiotic, B complex, ZMA at night time before bed, BioSil, turmeric, CLA and hylauronic acid.
4. For workouts I use a pre-workout every time, I do 1 scoop of C4 Ripped because it has no creatine like most pre-workouts do. I also always drink BCAA during my workouts and throughout the day. I love pineapple flavored anything so I like the Amino Energy pineapple and the I.Liv Pineapple BCAAs. Adding BCAA’s is great for recovery and helps with me getting really sore after heavier lifting days
5. Do I follow a workout program? I don’t follow any programs currently. Right now I do upper and lower body splits which means one day I do upper body, the next I do lower body, 3rd day I do another area of upper body and some cardio, day after that I might do cardio and abs, then back to legs, etc. I don’t follow a formal program right now so I just go in knowing what area to do and then make it up as I go.
6. How many sets/reps do I do? If it is the spring and summer I do everything in super sets for 3 sets of 10-12 reps. In the fall and winter I do everything in super sets for 4 sets of 8 reps MAX. In the winter I try to gain muscle and in summer I try to cut body fat to show muscle.
7. Have I ever competed or would I ever consider competing? I have considered it but no I never have and sometimes I get tempted to try it one time to just see how I would do but then I also know that if I compete I will get REALLY hard on myself and that might not be healthy for me. I enjoy working out and changing my body but I think if I had to over analyze myself it might be counter productive for me and mentally I’m not sure I want to put myself in a position to be so critical of my body
8. How do I shoot my workout videos? I do them all on my iPhone when the gym is empty or with only 1 person. I don’t ever like having anyone film me, I don’t know I just feel weird asking anyone to shoot video of me and get very shy about that in the gym. If the gym is crowded I wont shoot anything but if it’s empty I just prop up my iPhone and take shot clips. I then edit them into a longer version for my YouTube channel with iMovie app and then a :60 edit for instgram.
9. I get asked a lot about my use of Sweet Sweat and if it works. I never make claims that anything works or doesn’t because everyone is different. What I will say is it helps me to sweat even more during workouts which helps with overall water weight loss. I use it with a sweat belt and without and use it all over my body. It seems to warm up my muscles and the smell is actually nice so I don’t mind using it. It doesn’t stain or ruin my clothes either.
10. Current diet: I am still following a high fat, moderate protein, low to no carb diet AKA the ketogenic diet. I have been doing this for I think 3-4 months now and love how I feel on it. I eat less than 50g of carbs per day which comes from vegetables mostly. I cut out all pasta, bread, oatmeal, grains and wheat. This has helped with so many things but overall I sleep better, have no bloating issues, less breakouts, less fatigue and feel great.

Make sure to connect with me for more tips, workouts & advice:

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