You can lose your booty if you're not careful...

Hey all you ladies (and gents) who are what I call, "Booty-Conscious." I have been back to my regular workouts and routine, with the main focus of losing some weight. (Gotta get that bikini-ready body, along with prepping for my wedding!) My gym regimen: Five days a week, cardio, abs, and weight training. I'm losing weight and things are great! Until...

I try on a dress that I was planning on wearing to work the next day. I'm looking in the mirror, examining, turning from side to side... And then I notice... I blink. I stare. I look again. "Where did my butt go??"

I've been very blessed to not ever having to "work out my butt." With all the sports I was involved in since I was young, my glutes were always being activated. Thus: Cute, plump butt.

I didn't even think about the fact that if you can grow a booty... You can lose a booty!

I'm writing this blog to bring awareness.

Watch out for certain cardio exercises. If you're not careful... You'll notice less plump. More frying pan. Yikes!

Here are some tips:
1) If you're running on a treadmill, always run on an incline. When I was getting back into shape, I wasn't worried about the difficulty or challenge that came with running on an incline, but more so the fact that I was running and losing calories. WRONG! The best results come from intervals of sprinting, running, jogging on at least a 6.0 incline.

2) Stairmaster
Oh man. Does this make the booty burn! The more resistance, the better. Even ten minutes on the Stairmaster is better than 30 min on the treadmill.

3) #LegDay
I know, I know. The dreaded leg day. Leg day for me has now become Booty Day. Lunges. Squats. Leg presses. Kick backs. All of the above will grow your booty to be firm, plump and sexy!

4) Carb - cycle:
Carbs are essential to sustain your muscle. It's no secret: You guys know, diet is everything! According to Lean Gains @ ShockingFit.com: Pick three days where it's high carbs. Two days where it's medium carbs. Two days where is low carbs. Keep your protein and fats the same... So it's pretty simple! For instance: Have your high carb days for your high intensive work out days. Or have your high carb days on your leg days because you're working on your booty. What's the math? On a medium carb day, it should be 1.25g of carbs per pound of body weight. Example: If you weigh 100lbs = 125g of carbs. On a high carb day, you should consume 125% of your medium carb intake. Your low carb day is 75% of your medium carb intake.

I hope I have brought awareness to you cardio junkies. Cardio is awesome, but what type of cardio will help you either maintain the booty you already have or help continue to keep it firm! Be booty conscious!