Measurements, Measurements..
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You’ll either look forward to them or dread them! Throughout my reverse diet I became religious in the intaking of my own data. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the leanness I achieved during prep, I may be enjoying the extra calories a wee bit more!  I am loving the feeling of growing, increasing strength and building a stronger foundation!
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Taking progress pics and measurements was always something I avoided for years or I’d start, stop and not be consistent with it. This is now a habit that I am so thankful for developing on this journey over the past few months. It only makes me appreciate the human body even more! Especially my own body.. when I leaned out I really saw a glimpse into what I’m working with.. I also know what I’m working with when I have a little more fluff too.. the areas where I’m more susceptible to gain or lose fat or gain muscle quicker than others. We’re all so different when it comes down to the science and creation of our bodies.. I’m fascinated by how we can shape, reshape and sculpt our bodies (for better or worse, depending on how we nourish them). Whether we know it or not we collect data on so many things throughout the days and years of our life. Why not collect data on the most important thing, you and the body you’re living in! This data intake isn’t an excuse to pick yourself apart or dwell on things you wish you did or didn’t have. It’s an opportunity to learn about yourself. Celebrate and continue building off your strengths and know where to work a little harder in your weak areas. Looking over weeks and months of collecting this data provides the knowledge to guide you towards whatever your goals may be! Fat loss, muscle gain, weight gain etc. This knowledge is power! This data forces you to look at yourself under a different lens.. think of yourself as a scientist analyzing instead of an audience judging!
If you’re having trouble holding yourself accountable (which is a very normal problem to have) start using this as a tool and a guide! My advice, be kind to yourself but don’t bullshit yourself either!

A fresh year is upon us and as tradition would have it, many of us resolve to change our undesired behaviors in the hopes of improving our quality of life in some capacity. Often times, this comes in the form of “New Year’s Resolutions” to lead a “healthier” or “fitter” lifestyle. January 1 st arrives, the diets and cleanses ensue and so do invites to a luncheon or dinner at your favorite restaurant, but a once joyous occasion has now become stress filled. You intend to uphold the promise you made to yourself but are fearful that any outing may derail and halt your progress. Invitations get declined, get-togethers missed and you realize your social life is diminishing at the cost of
a diet. Luckily for our members we don’t want you to choose between having a social life or achieving your goals. We take pleasure in creating a menu that is consistently stocked with healthy and delicious meal options! From locally sourced and seasonally fresh salads and vegetables to quality lean meats and proteins. Our kitchen ensures that you won’t have to sacrifice your social life or deviate from plan!
Although our menu options vary from Season to Season, here are a few healthy staples you can always count on:
Starters:
Colossal Shrimp & Crab Cocktail
Steamed Littleneck Clams (Opt for lemon instead of butter)
Seasonal Oysters on the HalfShell*gf (opt for Raw)
Salads:
Romaine Hearts – Grape tomatoes, red onion, pine nuts, herbed croutons, gorgonzola-sherry vinaigrette.
(Opt for Dressing on the side and no croutons)
Classic Caesar – Romaine hearts, herbed croutons, pecorino fresco.
(Opt for Dressing on the side)
*Don’t forget to add the protein!

In Addition, here are Some Helpful Tips to Stay Aligned with your Goals and Keep Your Dining Experience an Enjoyable One!
 Pre-Plan your meals – look ahead of time at the menu so you can plan what you’re going to have and configure the rest of your meals for the day accordingly.

 Portion Size Awareness – Even a healthy meal with too large a portion can be just as fattening as an “unhealthy” alternative. Be open to sharing a plate with your significant other/friend or box the remaining half for the next day.

 Be Creative – Appetizers and a side salad can be great alternatives to one large meal.

 Fruits & Veggies – Ensure you are consuming enough fruits and vegetables throughout the day by opting for a meal with fresh steamed veggies or side of fruit instead of French Fries or Chips.

 Dressings and Sauces – When possible ask for these to be served on the side. Many times, these can be highly fattening and contain hidden calories. A healthy meal can often become unhealthy with just the addition of a sauce or dressing.
 Protein – Whether you’re plant-based or carnivorous, consuming a sufficient amount of protein in your daily diet is vital to replenishing cells and aiding your body in growth and repair.
Adequate protein consumption can also promote a leaner body composition. Therefore, when choosing a healthy meal, aim for one that contains a substantial protein source suitable to your
diet.
 Carbs – Remember that carbs are not the enemy! Vegetables are carbs and they are always highly encouraged in one’s diet. However, starchy carbs are usually the ones to get a bad rap and are immediately removed from most diets, this doesn’t need to be the case. With that said, being mindful of when and the amount of carbs derived from starch are important principles to keep in mind when ‘fat loss’ is the goal but that does not mean you need to rule them out completely. Often the best times of day to consume these are in the morning or before and
after a workout.

-Chloe Nawrocki
Precision Nutrition Certified

They say, “If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working for it.” That quote had been stuck in my mind for the last two years of my life. Since I began to become more involved with working out about 6 years ago the notion of ever competing in any kind of competition involving showing my body seemed so far off, honestly it wasn’t even a thought that I would spend more than 5 seconds on. However, as I became more immersed in the world of fitness and began a consistent workout routine I learned more about what these competitions entailed. My first experience with knowing someone who actually competed was during my second year training at the boutique cross functional gym I belonged to. An extremely petite and strong girl I knew was training like a beast and preparing for her first “physique” competition. At the time I had no idea there were different categories or what that even meant, all I knew was that it took a special person to compete in one of those and I didn’t know if I’d ever be one of them. Fast forward the next three years and my passion for fitness grew and so did my interest in nutrition. Not only hearing that “80% is nutrition and 20% is exercise” but actually understanding what that meant. Understanding the difference between good fats, bad fats, why carbs are actually good for you, how much protein you should consume, caloric deficits, bulking, gains, macros, water intake etc.., what all used to seem so foreign all of a sudden felt like it was coming together. I think that when you first get into this, you think you understand – you follow something for a month or two and all of a sudden, you’re an expert… one word, naive. Understanding nutrition, how to get it to work for you, knowing what doesn’t work for you and how to transform yourself for better or worse is something that you learn over a long period of time. Through trial and error. I still do not pretend to be an expert on it. However, I’m proud to know as much as I do and to have taken the effort in listening to multiple opinions, understanding multiple approaches and learning by reading and researching from various sources. I didn’t just take one “expert” opinion’s word for it. I experimented to see what worked for me over time. Once I learned, and I mean – truly understood how to eat for your goals and how doing so can literally take you to a place you thought you’d never be, that’s when I knew a competition would be on my horizon, I just didn’t know when.

With the invention of Instagram, the path on how to accomplish this seemed to become clearer. Because of the trends Insta saw in my “likes” and searches, my feed was and still is always cluttered with beautiful chiseled bodies that fill me with so much motivation more and more every time. Not only was it enough to see the finished product but when you go to some of these girl’s pages and realize where they started and how you may have similarities with them be it height, body type, lifestyle etc ., you start to realize that these goddesses are the everyday girl just like you, they just decided to venture further and enter a world of  limitless discipline. For me, seeing this made me say to myself, “ I can do this. If they can, I can!”. And that was it, but still it was a matter of “when?”. With a wedding approaching I knew it was not the time to sign up, prep and train for a competition but I used that as a trial period to see how I deal with self-discipline, limitations and hard-core 6-7 day workouts. With help from friends who use personal nutritionists, I was able to personalize my own little nutrition plan for my wedding day goals. This was a major learning curve and I wouldn’t realize why until after. While I had gotten into the best shape of my life at that time, I still wasn’t completely satisfied with my results… (are we ever? Ha). Months after, once I started to prep for a competition I realized how much I had put myself in a caloric deficit so losing the fat necessary to step on stage was a feat! For months I had not been properly fueling my body, not nearly enough calories I needed to continue building the muscle I was working so hard for and not only that, but my caloric intake on a daily and weekly basis was all across the board and oh carbohydrates, yea they were the arch enemy!

Besides the obvious lessons learned here, the huge takeaway for when I started learning the ins and outs of prep was how true the expression “consistency is key” means and means to fat loss in the body. I basically thought this had always meant working out consistently 6-7 days a week and eating “healthy” you know salad vs. burger. When in all actuality, it goes further than that! This actually meant to be consistently eating wholesome, nutritious meals 5x a day and keeping your calories and macros somewhat consistent so your body knows what nutrients to expect. The importance for your body to be on an eating schedule is immense and dramatically effects how your body absorbs, processes and uses food. This could mean the difference between semi-toned arms or sculpted-cut biceps, toned stomach vs chiseled abs and obliques, a noticeable butt or a rock hard glutes. Needless to say, this young grasshopper had a lot more to learn! Stay tuned for the rest!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton