All posts by Meredith Lynch

Best Weekend Ever!

March 24, 2016General Fitness, Living the Fit LifestyleClean Eating, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

So much to catch you guys up on! Last weekend was AMAZING!!! I had the privilege of attending Nicole Wilkins’ Phat Camp. Best. Weekend. Ever. In case you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know who Nicole is, she’s a 4x Ms. Figure Olympia Champ. Basically that means she’s the best Figure competitor in the world. Also a renowned trainer, Nicole has set the benchmark for Figure competitors worldwide, and has gained a huge following of fans that love her social media and website posts of helpful fitness and nutrition tips and videos. A few weekends a year, she travels to cities here in the U.S. and abroad and hosts Phat Camp, a women-only fitness retreat where ladies at all fitness levels competitors and non-competitors alike can train with her, learn all about nutrition in Q&A seminars, build relationships with each other, and learn from one of the best Figure competitors in the sport of Bodybuilding.

I’ve looked up to Nicole since I started weightlifting a few years ago. Her physique is INCREDIBLE, but she’s also humble, classy, smart, and down to earth. I’m a member of her website, and have learned SO much from her! Needless to say, I had been looking forward to meeting her at Phat Camp since the moment I found out she was coming to Dallas! This weekend absolutely exceeded all of my expectations. Not only was it incredible to meet Nicole in person (she said I was pretty!!!! J) but it was so inspiring to meet so many amazing women who love fitness and nutrition as much as I do! Even though we are all at different places in our fitness journeys, we all worked out together, laughed together, and learned together all weekend long. This weekend just confirmed for me that I really am passionate about this lifestyle, and I love seeing others become encouraged and motivated by that too. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a camp with Nicole GO! This weekend just motivated me to push through the rest of the last few weeks of this prep and do my best at these shows!

It’s hard to believe my first show of the season is just over 3 weeks away! HOLY COW!!!!!!!! I’m feeling really pretty good about my conditioning, and so is my coach, which is good! Still not where I want to be completely, but it takes YEARS to develop a muscular physique like the elite Figure pros have. I am constantly reminding myself of that. I should be proud of how much work I’ve put in so far and the improvements I’ve made since last year. When I constantly compare myself to others (damn Instagram!) it really screws with my head and can be a total buzzkill. That’s when the nerves set in. When I focus on just MY progress, it’s much easier to feel confident and prepared for that stage.

Things are progressing quickly—it’s really the last 5 weeks of a prep where you see the most change. My weight’s still staying pretty stable. I’m at 133 and change now, from 141 when I started, so that’s good! Energy levels are still pretty awesome, and I’m taking things day by day. I’m still not having crazy cravings like I did last year, and I’m not a total zombie on my low-carb days- thank goodness! I don’t feel like I’m missing out on a ton. Sure a glass of wine and a patio, some Mexican food, and a brownie all sound pretty damn good right now, but don’t they always sound good? As far as the game plan goes, Easter is this weekend (and Batman vs. Superman), my photo shoot with Jay Fuertez (YAY!) is next weekend (which coincidentally is also my birthday weekend) so I’m getting everything ready for that, and then it’s PEAK WEEK! So really just two more weeks, plus the week before the show which is a piece of cake. See, it’ll be here before I know it!

That face you make when you see "the line" down your leg! — That face you make when you see “the line” down your leg!

It’s not about winning. I repeat. IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT WINNING. The show itself is a celebration of hard work, discipline, commitment, and accomplishment. Every competitor up there has worked their ass off for their 12 seconds in the spotlight. It takes some serious BALLS to get up there in less than a square foot of fabric!! I have a great support group around me, and regardless of what happens at these 3 shows, I’m already a winner for getting up there.

Till next time,

-Mere

Spring Clean Your Diet!!!

March 11, 2016General Fitness, Living the Fit Lifestyle, Nutrition/ DietClean Eating, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

I don’t know about you, but I love when seasons change, particularly winter into spring and summer into Fall. My allergies might disagree, but Spring for me is a time to bring in freshness, tidiness and renewed energy. The weather gets warmer and bikini season is right around the corner! I thought I’d take some time this week to revisit some ideas on how to bring about freshness and “clean”-liness into your nutrition! It’s time to shed that winter coat and get ready for Summer!

I get asked all the time by acquaintances, gymgoers, strangers, you name it, ways that they can clean up their diet and lose weight. I’ve said it a million times—weight loss starts with nutrition! You simply can’t out train a bad diet. No matter how much you work out or what you’re doing in the gym, what you’re eating will make or break your progress. You don’t have to be a bodybuilding competitor or professional athlete to take steps in the right direction towards better nutrition and health. With Spring here, I encourage you to challenge yourself to really take inventory of what you’re eating. How much are you eating? How healthy are the foods you are eating? Are you making food choices that will help you meet your overall weightloss goals? So many of us have events (a graduation, reunion or wedding, perhaps?) or vacations, or special things coming up over the next few months—why not challenge yourself to take the next 30 or 60 days to make your health and fitness a priority so you can look and feel your best?

Here are some easy tips I thought I’d share on how you can CLEAN-UP your nutrition and diet!

Have a goal! But make it realistic. Maybe it’s to fit into that dress you haven’t been able to wear in a while. Maybe it’s to feel better in a swimsuit before your cruise, or to look better in pictures with loved ones, or drop the 5 pounds you gained over the holidays. Regardless, set a goal for yourself!
Make it measurable. When I first started working out and eating clean, I tried to keep track of how many times a week I stuck to my workouts. It helped that I had paid for them ahead of time and was less likely to skip out, but I also liked seeing exactly how many times I could log a workout in my calendar over a period of time. It’s pretty motivating! I also logged my food in My Fitness Pal, and could see when I was within my calorie goal. If your goal is to lose weight, keep in mind that a healthy weight to lose for most people is 1-2 pounds per week. Anything drastic where you’re on a liquid diet, or cleanse, or quick fixes like that where you’re losing more than that are not only aren’t very healthy, but they won’t lead to LONG TERM results.
Don’t focus on what you CAN’T eat—a core principle of clean eating is essentially cutting out anything that’s not plant based or animal based, staying away from processed foods and sugars. Instead of moaning and groaning about the wine or cookies or cheese you “can’t” have, focus on all of the fresh, healthy options you have in front of you. The more you think about what you’re cutting out, the more likely you’ll be to succumb to cravings. You can still have the wine and cookies and cheese, just in MODERATION. More on that in a later post.
Keep it easy. Plan to eat 5 small meals a day- Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, and a mid-afternoon and mid-morning snack.
Go grocery shopping! Pro-tip: If you don’t bring crap home, you won’t eat crap. That means that the cookies, chips, candy, and junk don’t make it home with you! Stick to the perimeter of the store, take a shopping list with you, and stock up on healthy options!
Log your food. Research has shown that if you hold yourself accountable to log exactly what you’re eating that it can really help motivate you keep you consistent. Check out the My Fitness Pal app, or the Fitbook (available on Amazon).
Try not to eat out as much. This one is difficult. You can still have a social life and not eat out all the time!! See if you can keep restaurant visits or takeout to once on the weekend, and once during the week.
Challenge yourself just to cut back on alcohol (having just 1-2 drinks per week), soda, and sugar, and to get just 3 30-minute workouts in a week. Do this for just 1 MONTH, and I promise you that you will see results!!! These are all easy things you can do to help get your diet on the right track.

It’s not easy. Even after years into it, I still struggle some days. We all do. If it were easy, everyone would be a lot “skinnier” and the obesity epidemic wouldn’t be as outrageously out of control as it is. I can tell you that with CONSISTENCY and DEDICATION that you will finally get the results you’ve been looking for.

I’m not an expert, and I’m not a trainer, just a girl that loves nutrition and fitness and wants to help others as much as she can. As always though, let me know if you have any questions!!

Till next time,

-Mere

The Secret is in the Routine

February 28, 2016General Fitness, Living the Fit Lifestyle, Nutrition/ Diet, WeightlossClean Eating, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

Hi guys! I cannot believe I’m already halfway through this Prep! Between working full-time, training, eating, and life, it’s been a while since I’ve updated all of you! We posted an older entry as well, but hopefully now that things have settled down a bit I can get back in the habit of updating the blog more frequently!

The secret is definitely in the routine. I love the structure and discipline that comes with Prep. There is so much dedication, focus, and intention around the routine. I still focus on taking things one day, one meal, one workout at a time. I give each one 110% and move through each one each day, and the days slowly turn into weeks, and the results are slowly coming. It’s such an amazing process, but the secret is definitely found in CONSISTENCY in the routine.

Don’t get me wrong, things are still really different this time!!! So far so good, but man, this time just feels a lot more I guess calm?? It’s really weird. First off– I’m slowly seeing changes week by week, but the scale has barely moved! Coach says not to worry though, that I’m right on pace! ….I’ll take it! My diet hasn’t changed all that much from offseason, so the biggest difference I’ve noticed with this prep compared to last year, is that I’m not craving things nearly as much. Honestly, it seems easier!! I guess mainly because this has been a “lifestyle” for me for a whole additional year for me, so it’s really not a big deal. Eating clean and eating six times a day, is just how I eat! It’s been almost six weeks since my last cheat meal, but all I really want is a vodka soda with lime and maybe a cupcake. Hilarious, right? This time since I’m doing so many shows back to back, I’ve been a lot more focused on how I feel—I know now to expect low energy on my low carb days, and have structured my rest day so that it falls on a low carb day, and know to REST!!! My energy levels so far have been pretty on point, up until this week—we upped my fasted morning cardio to 45 minutes (way more than last year! Lol!) and my low carb days, I’m only doing 25g of carbs. A ½ cup of oats in the morning with breakfast, and that’s it for 24 hours! On Tuesdays and Thursdays at least. Needless to say, I’ve learned that low carb day + leg day is a shitty combo, and I won’t make that mistake again! Also now that I’m working from home 100% of the time, it’s been a lot easier to get my cardio and training in than last time. That’s such a blessing—Prep is hard regardless, but it would be so much harder with a demanding job and crazy schedule!! Shane has been amazing as always, encouraging me and supporting me in this journey. I’m so lucky to have him by my side!! I’ve got such an incredible support system of friends and family surrounding me, that I really just want to make everyone proud and enjoy each day as much as I can. As I write this, I’m making a mental note to focus more on this journey as an individual one, instead of constantly comparing it to last year.

Date night--he gets wings, and I get celery! — Date night–he gets wings, and I get celery!

Outside of just pushing myself in my weight training, I’ve also taken up my cardio a notch from last year, incorporating more sprints, running, and track workouts to help lean out my legs. It’s working! We’ve also added a topical fat burner called Vasoburn (like IcyHot without the icy) which is also really helping. That said, though, I’ve only lost 3 pounds since I started this Prep almost 8 weeks ago! WTF. Again, the scale is just a number— progress pics tell so much more. You can see in these two pictures how much difference a year has made. I’m still up about 25 pounds from stage weight last year, so we’ll see how the next 7 weeks go! In terms of muscle mass and added size ALONE, we know I’ve made significant changes to my physique this past year. I’m back to training with my Coach and posing once a week, which helps me stay focused and structured with my routine. Cardio, Eat, Work, Eat, Train, More Cardio, Eat, Sleep, Repeat.

I’ve also realized that I feel more confident in this process and myself and what I can push myself to do than I did last time. Today at least. It’s very easy to look on Instagram at other competitors getting ready for national level shows, or their progress pictures, etc., and become really discouraged. I try to just remind myself to compare me to me. That’s all I can do! When you give your best, and work hard, and do that day in and day out, the results will come.

I wouldn't be @Lipglossandlifting without some cute lipgloss on my way to the gym, right? — I wouldn’t be @Lipglossandlifting without some cute lipgloss on my way to the gym, right?

We booked another photo shoot for two weeks before the first show, which also happens to be my 31^st birthday weekend, and this time it’s with a different photographer which will be fun. My custom suit from Tamee Marie and custom bedazzled, BEAUTIFUL shoes from the Shoe Fairy are coming soon, so the excitement is building!!

On another super exciting note, NICOLE WILKINS (a.k.a. my Figure competitor HERO/IDOL) will be here in Dallas hosting one of her Fitness Phat Camp Bootcamps March 18^th – 20^th and I can’t WAIT to go!!! It will be so fun to learn from her, gain new insights into fitness and nutrition, and meet new Fit Friends!

Stay tuned for more frequent updates!

Till next time,

-Mere

It’s Different This Time.

February 28, 2016Contest PrepBodybuilding, Competition Prep, Contest Prep, NPC, NPC FigureMeredith Lynch

I cannot believe I’m already 11 weeks out! This Prep is flying by!! How is it already almost FEBRUARY?!? I’ve been busy training with my coach once a week, and have started going to posing on Saturday. So far so great! I’m slowly leaning out, and although the scale’s not changing, my appearance definitely is. It’s so exciting to start to see subtle changes in your physique—such a big motivator! I forgot how great it is to see muscles!!! And I’m so glad to see my abs back!! 🙂

My diet hasn’t really changed from off season, other than doing more carb cycling with meals 2 and 4, and carbs with dinner on Sunday. Oh and no more cheat meals, duh. Whomp whomp. Cardio is slowly increasing, but I’m still doing only 30 minutes after training 5 days a week, and then an hour on Sunday. Not bad! Fasted cardio will likely start in another week or two. This isn’t my first rodeo, so I am ready to PUSH!

I gotta say though—the first few weeks of this Prep weren’t as golden. I was still excited, but just not as naïve this time going into it at all. I definitely needed to get out of my own head. We all know we are our own worst critic. As a competitor, it’s so easy to compare yourself to things you see on social media, or other pictures that you’ve taken where you were so much leaner. It can be so discouraging! This time, I feel like I’ve been much harder on myself because I want to do well and I’ve put so much pressure on myself in offseason to GROW. I’ve had to remind myself that this process comes slowly, and that I need to TRUST THE PROCESS. The scale is not always indicative of the changes going on in your body. Being around my competitor friends and teammates the last couple of weekends definitely helped though because you can learn from their experiences and be encouraged by their journeys. No successful competitor does this alone!!! You have to have a support system. I’m so fortunate to have so many amazing, encouraging, supportive people around me, not just competitors, but friends and family as well.

It finally started feeling REAL when I got my suit ordered, and compared progress pictures from 15 weeks out to 11 and 12 weeks out. The process WORKS! Stick to the plan, and the plan will work. My suit is going to be AMAZING!!!!! The incredible Tamee Marie designed my suit last year and I couldn’t imagine trusting anyone else to do a better job, so she will be designing this year’s as well. I went with a gunmetal / dark shimmery gray material, and the stone colors will likely be different shades of pewter and silver, but she hasn’t finalized those yet.

In other news, I’ve done some serious research on getting certified as a Personal Trainer through NASM. I love being able to share my knowledge and experiences with others to help them on their fitness journeys. Being certified would give me the credibility to be able to do that on a larger scale. Ideally I will take the exam later this summer/ early fall, and start doing online training and nutrition/ lifestyle coaching programs. I have a heart for women and ladies who are “scared of the gym” and have no idea where to start with eating clean, because I was one of those girls just a short time ago. I love learning about fitness and nutrition, and feel like getting certified will just further my knowledge. For now I’m focusing on my training and getting ready to rock that stage in just a few weeks!

At the end of the day, this is me competing against myself, to be a better version of myself inside and out. I fell in love with Bodybuilding because at it’s core, it is all about building yourself from the outside in. Stronger physically, stronger emotionally, stronger mentally. Some of my worst days have given me some of my best workouts. Isn’t that cool? I read a quote not too long ago that was something to the effect of” you will have people come and go, good days and bad days, but the iron is consistent, 200 pounds is 200 pounds.” That’s powerful.

I’m just so, so excited to see this journey unfold, and am even more excited to share it with all of you. Keep grinding!

Till next time,

-Mere

Let’s Get This Party Started

December 30, 2015Contest PrepBodybuilding, Competition Prep, Contest Prep, NPC, NPC FigureMeredith Lynch

Hey y’all! Hope you all are enjoying the holidays as 2015 comes to an end! Can you believe it?! I hadn’t given an update in a while, so I wanted to catch you all up on what’s been happening in the world of @Lipglossandlifting since my last post.

We’ve picked our first show of the 2016 season! I am officially just over 15 weeks out from the NPC Southwest USA Championships to be held on April 16th here in Arlington. My contest prep has officially started, (as of November 30th), but it’s pretty loose for the next few weeks, at least for now. I just did my last check-in of the year with my coach, and he’s happy with how things are progressing. My upper body has leaned out a bit over the last few weeks—I’m down 3 pounds already! Ideally we’d love to see me lose 20 pounds throughout my prep. That would still be close to 10 pounds of muscle that I had put on in my offseason! Here are a few progress pictures for you:

I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t have anxiety already about this process. Yes it’s fun, yes, it’s rewarding, and yes it’s great to see the end results, but it’s also challenging, emotionally draining, exhausting, and really REALLY hard. This time I’m a little less (or a lot less naïve) and am coming into it knowing what to expect, knowing the hard parts, and being a lot more familiar with the process. That said though, I am just so excited to see what these next several weeks will bring. I just want to come in tighter, more conditioned, and more prepared than I did last time. I’m nervous because I have more fat to lose this time than I did last time, or at least I feel like I do because I’m so much bigger than I was at my show, honestly it’s probably less bodyfat overall. I’m still nervous about my legs—are they conditioned enough? Will it work? Will I get up there and look stupid because I have a killer upper body, arms, and back, but my leg muscles hardly show? From a diet standpoint, I feel prepared and like it’s not a big deal. It’s really not. My schedule is also a lot more flexible now so I am even more able to easily get my fasted cardio in. I also learned my lesson and don’t want to REBOUND after the show. I’m pretty much going to stay on my diet after the first show, because ideally we’d like to do 1-2 more right after the one on the 16th. I won’t be taking any weekend trips or vacations in the next couple of months after the show that will get me off plan. That was my biggest mistake last season.

I’m looking forward to the anticipation (which builds every week!), the suit selection, the training and posing sessions, and friendships that are bound to blossom out of this next contest prep. You can bet I’ll be a lot more consistent with updates and posts now that the train has left the station!

Thank you all again for being part of this journey— I’m so blessed to have such a great support group around me that encourages and motivates me. Hope you all have a very Happy New Year!

Till next time,

-Mere

What’s been going on….

November 18, 2015Contest Prep, General Fitness, Living the Fit LifestyleBodybuilding, Clean Eating, Competition Prep, Contest Prep, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, NPC, NPC Figure, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

Hi Friends!!

Hope this finds you all happy and healthy! Can you believe the holidays are right around the corner?! Boy they got here fast! There’s so much to catch y’all up on since we last talked.

Shane and I went to Florida to visit Universal Studios and Disney World (our FAVORITE place!) for a week and a half last month and had an AMAZING time. It was so nice to spend time together and enjoy ourselves. We had a blast! Work got super busy for me there for a few weeks, and oh, we’re still house hunting. Throw a few social and family events in there… The days turn into weeks and boom, here we are, halfway through November!

Luckily I’ve stayed on track with my diet and my workouts, and things have been business as usual on that end. We’re loving our gym here in Fort Worth, and have made it to Willow Bend for bootcamp a couple of times as well, so things are good! I’m so excited to announce though that we have a gameplan in place! My next show will be the NPC Southwest USA Championships April 16^th here in Dallas. *inserthighpitchedsqueelhere* I am THRILLED to finally have a goal to work towards, and to get back up on that stage! Ideally the plan will be to do the show on the 16^th, followed by another on April 30^th, and depending on how things go, a final one on May 7^th as well. I will NOT be taking any post show birthday trips to New Orleans or anywhere else this time!!! I would love to get Nationally Qualified (i.e., the next step towards getting an IFBB pro card) and then make it to nationals in the fall next year or spring 2017, depending on timing. A lot of this will depend on how well I do in the April shows, obviously. I’m just excited to see the results of my “offseason” work these past 8 months. I’ve put on substantial size—my weight is roughly 25 pounds more now than my stage weight from March. It’s hard to say how much of that is muscle, but we’re hoping for 7-10 pounds. That would be AMAZINNNNNGGGGG! My main goal is to be a better total package than the girl in the picture below. I just want to come in better and stronger than I did at my last show, which has been my only show in case y’all forgot!

Here’s the even more exciting part. My prep will start November 30^th! Which, hello, that’s right after Thanksgiving! That would put me 20 weeks out from the show. Yes, it seems like a long time, but in reality it’s not. This will give us plenty of time to take things very slow and controlled. We don’t know how quickly or slowly I’m going to be able to cut. My prep was SUPER EASY (from a metabolic standpoint at least!) last time, but this time is a whole new ball game, and we don’t know how I’m going to react. I’m praying I don’t have to do oodles of fasted cardio though—please baby Jesus, not a ton of cardio….I will still have Christmas and New Year’s “off”, but I’m already mentally preparing to make the most of these next 20 weeks. Like I’ve told y’all before, when you look at it in terms of workouts, (20 arm workouts, 40 leg workouts, 20 rest days, 20 times to work shoulders) that’s changes your perception on things and you start to see that you really need every bit of those 20 weeks. This takes an incredible amount of discipline, dedication, and focus. Come back as a veteran now is already a little different, but in a good way. I can’t wait to compare progress pics from this prep with my last one.

The weekly training/ posing sessions with my coach will start back up in January, which will be awesome! I’ve already started looking at suits—I’ll need a new once since my back’s grown so much!—and I’m super excited that my shows will be local so my friends and family can come see what this incredible sport is all about.

I can’t wait to share this journey with all of you again! All of your likes, comments, texts, emails, and messages really helped motivate and encourage me every day of those 12 weeks. If I can inspire and motivate anyone on my journey, than that makes this all the sweeter.

Till next time!

-Mere

Hello from Offseason!

September 22, 2015Contest Prep, General Fitness, Living the Fit LifestyleBodybuilding, Clean Eating, Competition Prep, Contest Prep, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, NPC, NPC Figure, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

I’ve been so focused on sharing my fitness and healthy eating tips and tricks, that some of y’all probably forgot about how things are going for me as a Figure Competitor!

Oh man. I AM SO READY TO GET BACK ON THAT STAGE!!! Especially after watching the Olympia this weekend!! That’s the Super Bowl of this sport, and all of the Figure competitors looked amazing! As you know, my last (and only) show was six month ago in March. I did great in that show, and was originally planning to compete again in November. For me to be show-ready in November, I would have started prepping again in AUGUST. Honestly, both me and my coach felt like that just wasn’t enough time for me to GROW! All great competitors take significant time between shows to really focus on growing muscles and changing their physiques. That’s the only way to improve! You cannot grow muscle and stay stage lean year round. Our bodies cannot do both at the same time. End of story. Theoretically speaking it takes about 3 months (12 weeks) to prep for a Contest, and 2-3 months (6-10) weeks for your body to get back to normal after being that lean after a show.

So what have I been up to since our last update? EATING and LIFTING!!!!! I love the freedom and strength I have in the gym. I’ve set some amazing PRs, and have really able to focus more on training and having fun with my workouts! You can always have fun with your training (hell, it SHOULD be fun!) but as you progress through a contest prep you definitely lose your strength and energy, and eventually just use what energy you have to just get through the workout! My coach is very pleased with my progress—I’ve added CONSIDERABLE muscle mass, particularly in my back and shoulders. My quads have grown as well! It took me a few weeks to adjust to the weight gain I had from rebounding so badly after the show (classic rookie mistake!), but I’m feeling more confident in my body now. I’m hovering around 142-143 pounds these days (I’m 5’4) and was roughly 115 on show day. If you do the math, that’s about a 30 pound difference! Things don’t fit like they did a few months ago, and I’m still a little “fluffier” than I’d like to be, but it’s all part of the process. Just like in prep, I take this one day, one meal, one workout at a time. This is a lifestyle! I don’t feel deprived with food thanks to my weekly cheat meals. You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I begged my coach to take some of my carbs away because I was never hungry!! We’ll see how long that lasts!!!

I’ve also been focusing a lot on taking care of my body with preventative/ recovery measures to keep from getting injured and enable my muscles to get the most out of their training. I’m now getting monthly sports massages in addition to my monthly chiropractic adjustments. Massage is important because it helps your muscles grow and aids in the recovery of your muscle tissue. Sports massages aren’t exactly relaxing, but they hurt so good! My chiropractor helps me feel balanced and with neck and back pain I have from a car accident several years ago. I will also be incorporating cryotherapy into my routine as well. My training has remained mostly the same, but I am able to go HEAVY and push myself in every workout. Legs are definitely the area I want to grow the most, and even after all this work and time, I’m still dissatisfied with how slowly they are progressing. I’ve noticed how I’ve always sort of had “issues” with my legs, and my coach and I noticed that one of my hamstrings (my left) is definitely more developed than my right. I was also beginning to experience stiffness and soreness in my left hip, especially after sprints or leg day. He suggested I visit an MAT (muscle activation techniques) specialist in our gym to help facilitate better activation and utilization of my leg and hip muscles. Believe it or not, after only a few muscle tests on my first visit, the MAT therapist said I was maybe getting 50% of my full potential out of my legs. ONLY FIFTY PERCENT!!!!! No wonder I’m not seeing the growth I want to. That was also the reason for the lopsided hammies and hip pain. My lack of muscle activation in my legs is caused by a combination of factors—muscle range of motion, genetics, strength, etc. , but the good news is that it can be fixed! Muscle activation techniques focus on restoring BALANCE between muscles, and retraining your muscles to activate or “fire” the correct way so that they are getting the most out of training. A lot of professional athletes get MAT training right before a game so that they can perform at their best. Think of it like a chiropractor for your muscles. My MAT therapist restructured my leg day workout so that I start with calves, move to hip abductor and adductor exercises, seated leg curl, and then glutes before doing any compound movements like squats, deadlifts, or leg presses. This way my leg muscles are 100% activated and can fully “absorb” the training. So interesting! I’ve just started MAT, and have only had two sessions. After both sessions, I immediately trained legs, and WOAH does it make a huge difference. Performing certain exercises feels totally different after the MAT therapy. It’s hard to explain, but I can already see a difference in my legs in just three weeks. My MAT therapist also prescribed a series of hip flexor exercises and stretches to do every day that will help as well.

I have three more months of growing season, which seems like a lot; but it’s really not! I have just 15 weeks before prep starts again. That’s only 15 workouts per muscle group. See, not a lot—right?! I’m itching to pick a show date (dates haven’t been released for 2016 yet due to some changes with NPC Texas), anxious to start the countdown again, go to posing classes, have discipline and structure, pick out a suit, and get ready to shine! Every time I throw on my heels for check-ins with my coach, it makes me miss the anticipation of getting ready for a show! I’m confident, though, that all of my hard work is going to pay off when I hit that stage in the spring. I can’t wait to show off a totally different version of myself. The best part of bodybuilding is that you are really competing against yourself. It’s a constant, evolving process. Just like life.

Till Next Time,

-Mere

Eat This, Not That—a Fit Girl’s Guide to Eating Out!

September 11, 2015General Fitness, Living the Fit Lifestyle, Nutrition/ Diet, WeightlossClean Eating, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

I’m excited about this post, and I think a lot of you will be too! Let’s face it, as much as we try to meal prep and plan our meals, sometimes we are in a pinch and need to eat a meal on the road or away from home. Maybe you have a job that has a lot of dinners and lunches with clients that you wine and dine, or travel a lot, and that requires a lot of eating out. I thought I’d share some of my favorite tips and tricks for making healthy choices when eating out.

I’ll preface this by saying that when you are really trying to be mindful with your nutrition, lose weight, build muscle, etc., you should avoid eating out as much as you can. Not all restaurant meals are unhealthy, but when you eat out you cannot really control what and how much you are eating as well as you can when you prepare and cook your own meals. With that said, we all like to get out of the house and enjoy a meal out with our friends and loved ones. Live a little!!

Here are the parameters I try to follow when I am out (NOT ON CHEAT MEAL NIGHT!) and looking at what to order:

Stay away from fried anything— fried chicken is certainly delicious, but it’s not healthy!
Salads are a good option, but leave off the croutons and cheese if you can. They are nothing but empty calories. Stick with vinaigrette dressings and always order dressings on the side.
Stick with grilled lean proteins—fish, chicken, etc.
Avoid creamy sauces, cheese, and butter sauces. These usually add hundreds of calories.
Avoid pasta and rice dishes. They are chock full of of added butter and SALT and have way more carbs that you probably need.
Send the chips and bread back.
Look at menus and nutrition facts ahead of time so you are prepared and will be less tempted to order something off your “plan”.
You can always ask for your food to be prepared without butter or ask to have things grilled.
I will almost ALWAYS order a side salad instead of the rice/fries/potato option

I also thought I’d share some of our go-to meals we’ll order when we need to eat on the run:

Chipotle—

Order the burrito bowl with chicken, ½ as much brown rice, or no rice at all. No beans, no cheese, no sour cream. Pico, hot sauce, a tiny bit of corn, and lots of lettuce! Guac on the side.

Chick-Fila—

Grilled nuggets with a side salad. Vinaigrette dressing on the side. Their market salad is a good option too but doesn’t have a lot of protein.

PeiWei—

Did you know you can get ANY of their bowls steamed with the sauce on the side?! I love this option, and will get it with the spicy sauce on the side and use just a tiny bit to dip my veggies in. Watch how much of the rice you eat, though, and order brown or white rice, but not fried rice.

Ghengis Grill—

I can almost eyeball my protein amount and can get a ton of veggies!!! The healthier sauces are usually spicy, but try to avoid the sweeter ones to save calories.

Jason’s Deli—

The Turkey Wrap is your best option outside of the salad bar. The soups are pretty much salt licks, and don’t even look at the nutrition facts for the sandwiches. To save even more calories, order the wrap with no ranch dressing or on the side.

Rock Fish/ Seafood places—

Stick with grilled white fish (no butter) and grilled or steamed veggies with no butter. You can also do boiled shrimp or crab! YUM!!!

Breakfast / Brunch—

Go with egg-white and veggie omelets or scrambles, and plain oatmeal. You can add Splenda and cinnamon to your oatmeal! Avoid biscuits, pancakes, pastries, waffles, bacon, sausage. and pretty much all the good stuff. L Brunch is another one of my favorite cheat meals!!

Mi Cocina/ Mexican Restaurants—

We love the Mico Rico salad from Mi Cocina! Again, leave off the cheese and bacon but otherwise you’re pretty set. Chicken fajitas and chicken fajita salads are probably your best choice if you can’t find grilled options on the menu. Just watch the rice/beans/chips.

Sushi / Asian Restaurants—

Sushi is usually a pretty clean meal, especially if you’re not ordering rolls with sauces or tempura batter. Sashimi is a great option as well. Asian restaurants will usually give you the option to get your entrée steamed, so try that as well.

Pizza—

Seriously, just save this for a cheat meal. Anything else will be disappointing! If y’all have ideas on how to make restaurant pizza a clean meal, let me know, I’m all ears!!

American / Bar Restaurants—

A grilled chicken salad can be found almost anywhere, but again look at the toppings and dressing choices. For example, most of Chili’s salads have a RIDICULOUS number of calories, but appear to be “healthy”. I will sometimes do a grilled fish, or turkey burger as options too.

DRINKS—

Sidenote: Alcohol is almost entirely void of any nutritional value. You want to lose weight quickly? Cut out alcohol for two weeks and see what happens. That said, I love the occasional cocktail, so here are my favorite “skinny” options:

Skinny Margarita
Vodka soda (NOT TONIC) with extra lime
Wine
A light beer
Diet Coke with vodka or Malibu and lime
Avoid frozen drinks, craft cocktails (those are my favorite), sweeter cocktails, and blended drinks

Stick to your guns! It’s not easy to start or stick to a lifestyle of clean eating. If it were, everyone would do it. However, I can promise you that every healthy choice you make will give you more confidence and motivation to keep making more of them. Your body will thank you and you won’t feel guilty for sabotaging all of your hard work in the gym. Keep working hard! Remember, I’m always listening and willing to help, so feel free to email me at Lipglossandlifting@gmail.com. I just started a Facebook page, too, so give it a like (search for Lipgloss and Lifting)!

Till next time,

-Mere

I’m in the Gym – Now What?

August 25, 2015General Fitness, WorkoutsExercise, Fitness, Gym, Muscles, WorkoutsMeredith Lynch

One of the questions I get asked most often is how I figured out how to train. How many reps? How many exercises? How often for each body part? How much weight? How will I know if I’m doing it right? Trust me when I say there really is no perfect answer. What I’m learning on my journey is that you really learn as you go. We all are—even the most experienced trainers and bodybuilders I know are still learning, experimenting, and still changing their workouts up. Isn’t that cool? It’s one of my favorite things about training—you’re never an expert, and you can always keep learning and trying new things. Like I’ve mentioned so many times before, it’s important that you try to educate yourself as much as possible. Use different resources. Bodybuilding.com and Oxygen magazine are two of my FAVORITES, and they’re so easy to access. Not sure how to use a piece of equipment? Ask trainers and other fitness professionals in your gym. Health and fitness can be a part of everyone’s life, but not everyone chooses for it to be. I hope that I can give some insight into some of these “how” questions I mentioned earlier so you too can start to structure your own workouts and gain more confidence with all this weight lifting stuff!

How should I structure my workout split each week?

A lot of this really depends on the time you have. Aim for at least 4-5 workouts a week if you want to really build muscle and see results. That should really just be weight training NOT CARDIO. Cardio is a whole other post! Remember that muscle will burn fat, so you want to focus on building muscle. Of course any time in the gym is better than none at all, but I would aim to be there an hour or so. Your major body parts/ muscle groups are: legs, back, chest, arms, and shoulders. Abs and calves need to be thrown in there too, but you can just add those onto whatever other parts you’re training. Depending on where you are lagging and what areas you really want to grow, you can train them as many as 2-3x a week. You ideally want to have 1-2 days of rest between training sessions. Try to just focus on 1 or 2 muscle groups each workout and train them HARD. The idea is to make your muscles do more work, getting to hypertrophy (or muscle failure—we’ll talk more about that in a sec.), so that they repair and grow. Doing so will yield more results than doing a total body workout 4-5x a week , I promise! A good split could work like this—Monday—legs, Tuesday—arms and shoulders, Wednesday—OFF, Thursday—back, Friday—chest and shoulders, Saturday—yoga or a spin class. SUNDAY—off. There are ton of other examples out there though—find what works for you!

How many exercises and how many reps?

Here’s the fun part. You can get creative with this. When I first started, believe it or not I didn’t know that difference between a rep and a set! I’ll share— a repetition or “rep” is how many times you will do each exercise or motion in a “set” which is really just a set of reps. For example, you can do 3 sets of pushups, with 10-15 pushups or (“reps”) each set. You would do 10-15 pushups, rest for a minute or so, another set of 10-15, rest, and then do your least set. For beginners, I would focus on form and technique. Building out higher volume sets into your workout routine will help you get to hypertrophy, but your workout should include a mix of both. I started with using workouts I found online, and would sometimes build out my own. Once I started working with my coach, he designed my workouts during Prep, but now I am back to using those as a framework and getting creative on my own as well. I would shoot for 7-8 exercises each workout, doing 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps each. That will give you a pretty good place to start.

How much weight?

It’s called working out because it takes WORK! Your training sessions should not feel like a walk in the park—you need to push yourself! This is different for everyone. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you can knock out all of your reps easily and not feel your heart rate increase or your breathing change, you need to add more weight. Your last 2-3 reps should be somewhat of a struggle. The key here though is to keep good form. If you lose your form, you can hurt yourself and that’s no bueno. You will need to try different dumbbells and amounts of weight out to see work works for you. A good starting weight for shoulder presses should be around 10-15 pounds for arms, and likely the same for bicep curls, but again see how many you can do. You can do more reps with less weight and fewer reps with more weight. If it’s heavy, you’re doing it right! You will be surprised how quickly your strength increases.

Make sure it's heavy. AND YOU HAVE PROPER FORM! — Make sure it’s heavy. AND YOU HAVE PROPER FORM!

How will I know if I’m doing it right?

If you’re sore (not hurting—just sore!) the next day, that’s a good sign. Sweat is good too! Keep pushing yourself every workout, every day, and eating the right foods, and you will see results. You will know when you’ve pushed yourself. Consistency is key. Make this a priority and it will pay off. We all start somewhere. The great thing is that there are a ton of resources out there that can show you proper form and technique, you just have to seek that information out. I’m here to help too!

Thank you all so much again for your support and interest in my site! I know things aren’t as exciting now that I’m not prepping for a show, but my hope is that this platform can help and encourage others to live a healthy lifestyle. I have a special place in my heart for women who are scared of the gym and clueless as to where to start, because I was one of those girls. You can do this! If I can, anyone can.

Till next time,

-Mere

I’m hungry…I need a snack.

July 30, 2015Living the Fit Lifestyle, Nutrition/ Diet, WeightlossClean Eating, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

We’ve all been there. Those 10:30am stomach gurgles when you’re starving and just can’t wait till lunch. Or worse, 3:30 or so in the afternoon when fatigue or the munchies set in and you head straight to the office vending machine. What do you need? A SNACK!

Believe it or not, snacks are just as important as your 3 square meals a day. Our bodies need fuel, and eating just three times a day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner just isn’t enough. This is particularly true if you are working out or maintaining a high activity level. Your metabolism will burn through your food supply, and you need to keep eating every 2-3 hours to keeping fueling it. More importantly, however, eating in between meals keeps your blood sugar steady, and gives you the energy you need to get through your day. I hoped in today’s post to give a brief overview of what I feel to be some downfalls for snacking habits, and provide you with a few nutritious options. Who doesn’t love a yummy snack?!

Cellucor Red Velvet Whey, literally the best tasting protein that you can buy!

I read an article yesterday (and actually shared it on Facebook) from Bodyrock.tv that talked about 12 so called “healthy” foods that in actuality weren’t healthy or nutritious at all. It fascinates me how food propaganda and marketing screams “healthy” “low calorie” “low fat”, etc. everywhere you look. It should be easy to find “healthy” snacks, but if you read a label closely, these “healthy” foods are leaden with salt, chemicals, and SUGAR. A few usual culprits—granola bars, trail mixes, prepackaged snacks, flavored yogurts, and even PROTEIN DRINKS. Have you checked the label lately on a Kind bar or a Lara bar? Told you, all sugar. Even those Special K protein drinks are loaded with it! What’s a girl to do?!

If you choose wisely, there are lots of healthy snack options.

You all have heard me talk time and time again about the importance of clean eating; eating whole foods that have as few ingredients as possible. When it comes to snacking, you should ideally aim to have one snack mid morning (in between breakfast and lunch, duh) and a second snack mid afternoon (between lunch and dinner). I also typically do a casein protein shake or egg whites as my 6th meal an hour or so before bed. Portion control is HUGE here. A snack should not be the same caloric intake as your meals. Avoid temptation to graze (or eat mindlessly) by portioning out your serving, rather than eating the food directly out of the box or container. Additionally, you should definitely incorporate protein into your snack. Some of my favorite snacks are plain Greek yogurt (flavored with crystal light drops or stevia), whey protein shakes, tuna, and ground turkey lettuce wraps. Try to avoid prepackaged snacks like chips, candy, snack mixes, cookies, etc. Essentially anything on what you’d find on what I call the “lunchbox aisle” of the grocery store. I love goldfish crackers, but they aren’t a very healthy snack choice unless you’re looking to eat a bunch of processed crap and still want to be hungry in 15 minutes. An apple or fruit is a good option, but keep in mind that it still translates as sugar to your body. A protein and fat should keep you satiated and hold you over until your next meal. Good combos include—tuna and avocado, turkey and avocado, yogurt (UNFLAVORED—there’s that darn sugar again) and almonds, you get the idea. Veggies and hummus are another great option. You could also make a dip with greek yogurt and your spices of choice for crudités. And I LOVE Quest Bars. Or hard boiled eggs! Refer back to my earlier posts about protein and fat sources if you need more ideas.

Honestly, just try to avoid foods that have more than 3 ingredients. Really. It’s that simple. If it wasn’t around when your great grandmother was, then it’s probably not real food! Remember to prepare ahead of time and bring snacks/food with you to work, school, or on the road so that you don’t have to rely on a less healthy option in a pinch. I don’t buy junk food at the grocery store so that it’s not in our home to tempt us. I don’t even crave junk food now, but in the beginning of my journey I found it was much easier to avoid it if it wasn’t in the house altogether. If I didn’t have access to plate of brownies on the counter or chips in the pantry, I wasn’t going to eat it, plain and simple.

Quest Bars are amazing. Buy them now. You won't regret it! — Quest Bars are amazing. Buy them now. You won’t regret it!

I should also mention that it is equally important to not skip snacking! If you find yourself starving between meals, you likely aren’t eating enough calories to fuel your body for your respective activity level. Also, if you’re famished come meal time, you are likely to give into cravings or over eat. We all know that can cause some serious damage. I touched earlier on how important it is to watch for added sugar in the foods that you eat. I cannot stress this enough—if you look at one thing on a label, make it the sugar content! I promise you will be surprised. If you have to eat packaged food, aim for those with a sugar content of 5g or less per serving, a low carb, and high fiber content. As you become more accustomed to eating clean foods, you will rely less and less on prepackaged items. Just remember, take it one day, one meal, one workout at a time.

Greek yogurt is a great source of protein.

I hope you all are enjoying the summer! I LOVE answering questions, so feel free to email me at lipglossandlifting@gmail.com.

Till next time,
-Mere