Shaker Bottle Review

Hey Everyone,

Today I am going to review a shaker bottle that both Nate and I love.
The shaker bottle is called Core 150. Read our review on this incredible product.

Then be sure to purchase your own Core150 shaker at the end of the blog with a special Nate and Kate Fitness discount!

Core150 Shaker Cups 

Pros of the Core150 Shaker Cup

• Huge Size 
• The Core150 Shaker Cup is the largest shaker bottle I have ever owned. Unlike the blender bottles that only hold around 28 ounces of water, the Core150 can hold up to a liter of water. I try to drink a minimum of a gallon of water a day. However, carrying a gallon around can be very impractical. There are 3.7 liters in a gallon, so in order to drink a gallon you would only need to refill the cup 4 times. Lets face it, most of us are too lazy to continually refill a water bottle. The sheer size of the Core150 shaker makes it very convenient to get your daily amount of water. 
• 3 Compartment Spaces 

• The actual Core150 Shaker bottle is split in half with 3 compartments that can hold a total of 150g of powder. The compartments actually take up half of the inside of the bottle. This great because you fill one compartment with pre workout, one with protein for post workout, and one with bcaas or whatever supplement you like. You can even fill them will snacks like nuts and dried fruit or whatever else you feel like! 
• Leak proof 
• One of the greatest part of the Core 150 shaker is it is completely leak proof. I have never had any water in any of the 3 compartments, so none of your protein will ever leak out of the compartments and into your water. I have put my car keys and even my headphones in a compartment and they were completely dry when I took them out, that is how much I trust this product. 
• The Core 150 also has a great top. I know this sounds dumb, but there is nothing more annoying then a shaker that you cant even shake your protein or preworkout in without it spilling everywhere. The Core 150 top locks into place, so it will never leak on you. 
• Filter
• The Core150 even have a great filter on top that will allow all your powders to distill through without any lumps in your water. 
• Color 
• We cannot forget to mention that the Core150 comes in 4 great colors: Red, Purple, Green, and Pink. 

Cons of the Core150 Shaker Cup 

• Too large for most cup holders 
• This is a small dislike I have for the Core150. Due to its large size, it cannot fit in a standard cup holder. My car does not have an expandable cup holder, so I merely put the cup on my passenger seat. However, if your car does have an expanable holder then the Core150 would easily fit. 
• Core 150 label seal rubbed off 
• I have one of the older Core150 bottles and the label on the side rubbed off from sweat and water. 
• Luckily, they redesigned the label by heating it with UV light to ensure that it will not rub off. 

Kate with her Core150 Pink Shaker Cup 

Overall Feeling 

• I would give this bottle a 9/10. It does have a few cons as mentioned above. However, this is by far the best shaker I have ever owned. I cannot go anywhere without it, and I will never go back to any other shaker bottle. 

• Purchase your OWN Core150 shaker with an awesome discount! 
• Be sure to purchase the Core150 here with the special Nate and Kate Fitness discount:
• Enter the promo code: core10  at check out to receive an additional 10% off the already discounted $14.99 price!
• But be sure to buy it soon because this discount will expire in 3 weeks!

• PURCHASE YOUR OWN CORE150 SHAKER BOTTLE HERE

• Your input, advice, and support means so much to us! This is just a small way that we can thank all of you. 

Till next week....
-Kate

Kate's First Figure Competition Experience

Hey everyone,

This is certainly a long awaited blog post, but today I'm going to share my first figure competition experience.

Deciding to compete in bodybuilding is an extremely hard decision. There is definitely alot of trial and error. In fact, if bodybuilding has given me anything, it has taught me to have patience!

Throughout the entire year, I stayed around 130 lbs and through an extremely short prep was able to get to 125lb on stage.

However I ran into a road block early in my prep phase. At 8 weeks out, I was a mere 115 lbs! I am 5'4 and I had never weighed this little in my life, and more importantly I did not feel healthy.
My diet contained no fats, so my skin and hair were extremely dry and brittle. My hair was constantly falling out. I looked and felt as if I had an eating disorder. My grades were starting to slip and both my friends and family were nervous for my well being.

(These pictures were at my lowest point in prep) 

 I knew that I needed to make a change. I started to incorporate healthy fats and  more calories into my diet and I actually gained 10 lbs during the last 8 weeks of prep. I showed up on stage feeling strong and beautiful. The huge bonus of it all was that I actually won my first figure show at only 18 years old.

However, It's not about the first place trophy that gave me so much. It was the whole journey, the highs and lows, that made me into a stronger person. It was the sense of accomplishment and empowerment that I want to you all to aspire to achieve in your life time.

In this life, no one will hand you anything. You WILL fail, but its up to you to get back up and overcome all the difficult. So go out there and earn it!

Watch my full figure competition experience right here:

Stayed tuned till next week,

-Kate

3 Easy Changes to help you lose weight fast

Hey everyone! 

Im going to share with you the 3 easy ways you can lose weight. These 3 tips are instant changes you can make in your diet that require no thought! 

• 1. Drink more water

I'm sure you all have heard this so many times before, but I cannot stress how important it is to drink water. 

Many times when you think you are hungry, your body is actually thirsty! 

Next time you feel like you are hungry, instead of reaching for a snack, pour yourself a nice cold glass of water. 

Studies have shown that if you drink 2 glasses of water before a meal you will eat less throughout the meal. 

If you are not a huge fan of water, here is a great tip: 

Add fruits and veggies into your water! 

Refreshing Fruit/Veggies Water

The fruit and veggies will steep into the water, and give you a cool and refreshing drink perfect for summer. 

I always keep frozen fruit in my house: strawberries, blueberries, and berry blends

So all you have to do is add a few frozen (i prefer frozen because it acts like ice) or your favorite fresh fruit then feel free to add veggies or herbs! Here are some of my favorite combinations: 

-Cantaloupe and Cucumbers 

-Strawberries and silantro 

-Lemons and Mint leaves

Feel free to test out your own combinations, we would love to hear what you come up with!

• 2. Watch your peanut butter! 

Ok so I'm going to be honest, at one point this year I was seriously addicted to peanut butter. There is nothing wrong with getting healthy fats, however nuts are extremely dense in calories, and if your not careful, it is very easy to overdo it. One spoon becomes two and then gets out of control from there. I forced myself to give it up because I just didn't have the self control. 

I knew there must be a way to not cut it completely out of my diet. 

The key here is portion control. I would prepackage myself 15 almonds that I would eat at night. This is seriously the best tip of advice I can give you all! If there is a trigger food (like peanut butter is for me), be honest with yourself, and find a way to portion it out. 

Also I find that if I am on the go and traveling, I love to pack Emerald 100 calorie packs of almonds. They come in a variety of flavors such as natural, coco roast (my favorite), smoked, even different nuts, and with only 1 gram of sugar and 9 grams of fat they will not break your diet. 

They are great if you want a simple and fool proof way to stick to a small portion size without depriving yourself of healthy fats! 

Kate approved mustard



Sriracha = best stuff ever

• 3. Add spices to your foods

I have found that if I feel I am extremely hungry, I will add hot sauce, cayenne pepper, or sriracha sause to my chicken, eggs, and fish (or whenever I can!). Spicy foods will not only boost your metabolism, they will also make you feel full a lot quicker! 

If you are not a fan of spicy, try using mustard instead of ketchup. Studies have shown that mustard helps to make you feel satiated quicker. 

 Mint leaves from my mama's garden

Or if your not a fan of spicy foods or mustard, try incorporating mint after your meals. 

You can do this by eating mint leaves, making mint tea, making mint water (as shown above), chew on a piece of mint gum, breath mint, or even  simply BRUSH YOUR TEETH. Studies have shown that both mustard and mint will help tell your brain that you are full. 

I hope this 3 instant changes will help you like they helped me! 

Learn more about us by checking out our website: http://nateandkatefitness.weebly.com/ 

Send us your questions and feedback there! 

Till Next week, 

-Kate 

4 easy ways to burn more fat in the gym

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is out enjoying the beautiful summer weather. In honor of this, I want to share with you the 4 simple steps you can take to burn more calories in the gym. The best part is that they are simple, EASY, and effective solutions! (I promise)

After only 2 weeks of these tips and nutrition on par!

1) Add more volume to your workout. 
Volume will not only create more muscle hypertrophy (muscle building) it will also help burn more calories.
Switch up your workouts by adding more reps to your exercises.
Add drop sets to your last set to push your muscles to failure.
Or add more sets: try doing 7 sets on your last exercise to completely exhaust the muscle.

2) Decrease rest time between sets.
Keep your rest time to 30-60 sec (at most!)
If you have to time yourself, so be it!
This might be tricky at first, but leave all side conversations till after your done, and make the most of your workout!

3) Do not sit down between sets.
In the minimal time you have STAND UP! You don't have to run around doing burpees or jumping rope, but at least get off the machine. This will help you burn more calories in the long run.

4) Lastly: Get off your phones!
I cannot stress this enough. Yes, most of us listen to music from our smart phones. But don't allow the phone to consume you in between your sets. Think of the 45-60 min you give yourself in the gym as "sacred time". It is truly the small amount of time in the day that you can do something for you!
So go take advantage of it.
I promise this small step will have you more focused and engaged in your workouts.

These small 4 tips will have you burning more calories easily in no time. They are just small adjustments you can make today. Try it out for a week and you will see a huge improvement in your workouts.

PS. We are excited to announce that we are launching our new website!
Check it out and learn more about Nate and Kate fitness and take the next step to achieving your goals. Also stay tuned for our progress and our amazing client success stories.

 http://nateandkatefitness.weebly.com/

-Kate

Strawberry Banana Smoothie!

Great for post workouts

So this is a new one Nate just came up with its simple and easy!

Ingredients:

7 strawberries

2 ripe bananas 

1 cup of low fat greek yogurt (can be flavor of your choice)

1 cup of skim milk or almond milk 

optional 1 scoop of vanilla protein or flavor of your choice.

 

Need a blender of some kind.  

Directions:

Cut up half of the strawberries place them on the bottom then cut up one of the bananas and place it in the middle followed by the rest of the strawberries and the other banana.  Next add the cup of skim milk followed by the cup of greek yogurt! Then Enjoy!

Let us know what you think of the recipe; many more on the way!