Make Room for the Meal-Prep Queen

Category : Fitness | Written by : victorinekulier

WRITTEN BY VICTORINE KULIER

 

 

 

Wondering how to rock a smoking hot body while having a full-time job? Let this girl tell you how to do it: our gorgeous and fit ambassador Nessa has got it all covered. She follows her training-plan religiously, meal-preps like there’s no tomorrow and is a successful working girl all at the same time. We know that if you’re trying to get a fit and toned body, it’s about a 70/30 effort in the kitchen and in the work-out department. One just doesn’t work without the other. Theoretically, this sounds just fine. But what does it look like put into practice?

 

The situation is this: we get home from work late, presumably exhausted, and just want to cuddle up on the couch with hubby, a glass of wine and a good meal. Right there with ya.

 

But what happens when we start pressuring ourselves? We try harder and harder to be perfect, but we can’t possibly be, so we’re unhappy. And being unhappy really isn’t going to get us anywhere. Instead, think about this: time management and dedication. 

 

I wake up at 5am every morning and do my gym session. By 8am, I am at my desk, ready to handle my daily task.

 

Nessa is doing one hell of a job incorporating fitness into her extremely busy schedule: the full-time job,  family and friends, and abs made of steel. Not to mention, she’s getting her personal fitness trainer licence on the side. No biggie. If you’re dying to find out how she manages to do all these things and stay sane and motivated, keep reading for a fantastic interview with our fit ambassador.

 P R O F I L E

       Name: Nessa
       Profession: Finance Professional
       Residence: Luxembourg/Germany
       Age: 39
       Actual Weight: 64kg
       Height: 174cm

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• Tell us a little bit about yourself: where are you from, what do you do?

I am a 39-years-old woman, living and working in Luxembourg, enjoying family life, good food (yes, food!) and traveling.

• Was there a specific moment/motivation when you set your mind towards a healthy lifestyle?

My childhood, teenage-years and student life were all about sports. I was playing basketball for nearly 20 years and I used to be a very active person. I could eat whatever I wanted and I didn’t have any problems with my weight. And then I turned 35, I got a very attractive but also very demanding position. I was focused on my job and not on my body.

 

I was making poor food choices and I constantly felt stressed and tired. I couldn’t stick to any fitness program and I was too lazy to go the gym. I was trying a lot of times to get back on a track and I always failed. And then I took a picture of my whole body in bikini and got shocked. I didn’t realize how much my body changed during the time I didn’t care enough about it. I knew it was the time to finally do something.

•  You have a full-time job – how do you manage to squeeze in quality workouts?

It is never easy when you have a full-time job and a family. It has been a struggle for me in the past to go to the gym after my working hours, I was too tired, too stressed or simply too lazy. And then I found out that the only possible way to have my workouts done is to hit the gym before I got to work. I wake up at 5am every morning and do my gym session. By 8am, I am at my desk, ready to handle my daily task. It’s funny but it took me quite a while to find a gym that fits my schedule.

• Keyword time-management: do you plan out your week beforehand?

• What is your current workout routine?

I do:

–  3 heavy lifting session per week: Upper Body, Lower Body and Full Body

–  2 cardio session (resistance workouts or treadmill power walking)

2 HIIT workouts

Good morning! I am a little bit anxious and also excited today as this is my first video coming to you! 🙈😀 I hope you're gonna like it, so I will share more in the future. Today I wanna show you one of the exercises I do while having my Lower Body session. This is a Romanian Deadlift 😍🏋🏼‍♀️ If you want to develop and strenghten your harmstrings and increase the mobility of your hips, you should definitely include Romanian Deadlifts to your exercise list. This exercise also builds stronger and more stable lower back 👍🏼 The move starts from the straight position (unlike the Conventional Deadlift) and you go down and up and this is one rep. I do advise you to take a video to check your form. My 1st attempt in my video was 50kg and I felt quite good about it 💣 But I see also I should more squeeze my glutes when I finish the move. However my back is straight, I push my butt back and I lower the bar down of my legs as far as I can (here even until the bar hits the floor, a little bit too long I believe) 🤗 And then if you see my next attempt with 60kg, this one is not a proper form. My back is not straight and it could cause an injury. You also see that my posture is not stable, the move is not flawless at all and I do not lift with confidence... But it was just a try and this is only my 4th week of lifting, so I am still working on adding more weights and for now I am comfortable only with 55kg 🔥💦🏋🏼‍♀️ I am not an expert, so I am open to a discussion on my form ☺️👆🏼 And please, let me know if you would like to see more videos 😅🙏🏼 Happy Sunday guys! 😘 #fitness #motivation #lifting #deadlift #romaniandeadlift

A video posted by Nessa (@nessasphere) on

• I’m going to go ahead and give you this title: meal prep queen. Any thoughts?

Actually – I love it. Let’s be honest meal prep has been a milestone and a real game changer in my healthy journey. It dramatically pushed my progress forward and created lots of healthy habits in my daily routine. Now I can’t imagine going on without daily meal prep. What’s important – it does not have to be boring or tasteless. My meals are delicious, healthy and colorful and I already heard that some people would love to have a possibility to order them in the restaurant. And remember – I love good food!

• Have you ever gotten strange looks from work colleagues for bringing three lunch boxes? (I think it’s awesome. More food.)

Yes, at the beginning a lot of times. But now they got used to it and no one asks any questions. I even hear lately that the more I eat the slimmer I look. Some people around me even started to follow me on IG, when they saw results.

• What did you eat today?

I started my day with Women’s Best Cookies & Cream Protein Shake just after 5am. Then I hit the gym to do Full Body lifting session. It was followed by protein oatmeal with peanut butter and raspberries at 8am. At 11am I had my first lunch box: basmati rice, chicken thighs baked in hot sauce, broccoli and avocado on side. I ate my second lunch box at 2pm and third one at 5pm (all of the lunch boxes were the same – interesting, it’s important for me to eat same proportions regularly). I had my last meal at 8.30pm and it was a salad with spinach, 2 hard boiled eggs, oil of olive and rice waffles.

• What does your post-workout nutrition and supplementation look like?

I love my whey protein from Women’s Best (Cream&Cookies and Banana flavors are my favorite) and I also drink BCAA during my workouts (it really helps my muscles to recover quickly, you can feel it).

• What’s your favorite hobby you enjoy away from the gym?

Lately I am learning to become a certified fitness personal trainer and this is something I really enjoy doing. Since I started my journey, fitness and nutrition have become my hobbies and I spend all of my free time increasing my knowledge in those two fields.

It changed my life. I created this account to stay accountable and it has become so much more than that. I met (also in my real life) lots of amazing people all over the world sharing the same passion and supporting each other. It has a huge impact on my current lifestyle and it still lets me stay motivated.

• What advice can you give to people looking to get healthy or fit?

The best advice is to go for it. Not to think too much, but just go for it. I get lots of e-mails from girls who struggle all the time and don’t know how to start. I always reply, don’t wait for Monday, don’t wait for the right moment, because it may never come.

Do it today, the sooner the better

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Author:

victorinekulier

Sports and Media Science | English and American Studies | Track and Field Athlete

I’m a total run-fanatic – but I’m easily convinced to try just about any sport there is. I love adventures, traveling and staying fit and want to inspire our readers to discover their own passions!


“Don’t think about it – just do it"