Hi all! A lot of you have asked for a follow up video after the 30 day results and I don't feel it's right for me to continue making content about Cassey. But here is a wonderful article that explains how someone could "gain 6 pounds of lean muscle" in one month: www.shesabeast.co/p/blogilates-muscle-building-journey-fact-check?
Came here hoping to find something like this. It’s so discouraging to feel like I’m working my butt off and then hear someone say they put on 6lbs of muscle while also losing fat in 30 days. I’m sorry what?
@@Fitness-qs9dbCassey is money & has been for a long time. Like Blogilates, She is a brand. Imo I wouldn't be surprised if her stakeholders and investors potentially made threats to make this poor lady feel uncomfortable to the point that she will not make any comments/opinions about Blogilates or Cassey.
@@Fitness-qs9dbIt might be because covering the things that Cassie is doing inevitably shows people things that people with/at risk of disordered eating have a risk of picking up on, even if presented in a critical context. Justina speaks about this in the video.
I think one of the reasons why we have memories of Blogilates' content being better in the past, is because the standard for fitness education was way lower in 2014. It makes me think of all the magazines showing me "how to tone up" and I thought they were genius. 2014 was the height of detox waters, skinny teas, and harmful trends. I bought my juicer to do cleanses that made me miserable
Thanks for the info, I didn't know that and now I won't. I just drank a lot of pineapple juice before breakfast to clean my kidneys (doctor recommended)
Man, I bought a juicer back then too after my ex and I listened to some guy giving a speech at a vegan convention. Now I think juicing is a waste of perfectly good fiber.
Excellent analysis. The “6 mins to sexy arms” got me into consistent exercise several years ago when I had been completely sedentary and intimidated by exercise for my entire life (teased/last picked in gym class etc etc). Short videos like that kicked off my confidence to start going to the gym and begin strength training. I still sometimes return to them when I’m in a slump. But you’re absolutely right about her overall body messages being both irresponsible and inconsistent. Thank you for making this!
Yes! She made me feel good while just moving. Now she makes me feel bad about myself, like if she feels fat and in need to burn fat, I need to do it too. And I am an adult. Don't want to know how small girls think.
I followed Cassey for years but recently unfollowed because not only did I realize Pilates was not cutting it for my fitness goals but all she did was whine about online hate, people ripping her body when she lost so much weight! It was almost self serving to get the comments to pump her up and promote her next screw the haters challenge. Really appreciate you calling out this behavior in a respectful way. ❤️
I love Harry’s videos which is probably why I found your channel and I was in the same boat as most comments I’ve read, a chubby 14 year old doing home workouts, then puberty hit me like a truck my wide hips and “thunder” thighs suddenly just became a part of my feminity and the calves I was ashamed of I’m insanely proud of now. As my fitness mindset matured I’ve realized that I want to turn into an absolute unit and I can achieve that veryyyy differently to how blogilates approaches her gains
I must admit one thing. I discovered Cassey in 2012 when I was trying to get back to my normal way of living after an ED. I had no confidence, didn't do much when it came to exercise, did not have any muscles, stamina, knowledge about food and exercise, and hated my body. And thanks to Cassey, I formed a very positive relationship toward exercise, started educating myself on nutrition, toned up, and overall got way more confident in myself. Her exercises may not have been the most effective, but it was exactly what I needed back then :) However, I must admit that since she joined TikTok, her content has gotten very shitty. Very sorry to say that, but 15-second videos about drinking a gallon, so you don't have time for other people's drama? C'moooon. You know better, gurl.
Exact same position as me! She helped me with building my confidence and becoming fitter, but lately she has become so obsessed with appearance and diet culture. It’s really sad and I hope she can talk to someone about it who can help her.
@@roseskye, I am super happy that she helped you! 🤗 I agree. I don't really vibe with what she's doing now either... It kinda seems like she is going down the weightloss rabbit hole, and I genuinely hope that she is doing OK in her private life :)
I actually had a very similar experience with blogilates around 2013/14. Towards the end of 2013 I hit my personal rock bottom where I was unable to work out due to my restrictive eating and that was a big factor in getting a wake-up call to fight my way out, and I was very grateful to have her bubbly videos to get back to moving my body and appreciating it for the work it was doing for me. BUUUUT: Now that I've actually educated myself with a science-based approach on nutrition and movement, I realize how sticking around in the Blogilates space kept me in a kind of in a "gray zone" between ED and recovery. Her programs, her nutrition and workout plans, the lifestyle she modelled -- they still had me convinced for years to come that I needed to work out at least 6 hours a week and eat all the cauliflower in the world if I ever wanted to become truly physically "fit and healthy", that that goal was simply not attainable without great sacrifice.
Thank you for this. Her channel had also been the start of my initial workout journey, but it also triggered the start of a long-winded struggle for me with eating disorder/exercise addiction/body dysmorphia that I'm thankful to be finally out of. Those with a major influencer platform should absolutely be held responsible for what they transmit...
Phenomenal video, Justina! I’ve got a lot of time for you and I’m glad that I’ve been directed to your channel. I agree, the best anything (workout, etc) for you is the one that you can remain most consistent with :) Also, I love the hat!
Every time i see new stuff about Cassie I just remember how years ago she had a video talking about never dieting again because competitions gave her an ED, and it makes me sad for her because her newer content is just ED fuel.
She is a cheerful and fun person to watch but she is obsessed with her body and weight beyond belive. One would think aging gracefully teaches one wisdom about the uncertainty of body changes. I know so many older women slimmer than her and never watch what they eat and live a way happier life than her relationship with food.
It goes to show how not eating enough for years on end/diet culture messes with your brain. She probably *can’t* see her way out of her disordered eating and mind because the thought patterns are burned into her brain. I feel sad for her.
Before both of her 90 day journeys, she posted things along the lines of “who is taking this journey with me?” And she’s selling 90 day journals. Then she turns around and says that people shouldn’t criticise her, because she’s only doing this for her. I used to be a massive fan of hers, and I do hope she’s well-meaning, but I also think she’s letting her very vocal fans drown out any criticism she’s getting
As someone who religiously do Blogilates’ workouts, I actually find it ironic how she says she shouldn’t be criticized bc she only does the 90-day-journey “for herself” when she’s seriously out there selling journals and encouraging people to do the same thing. One minute she claims that she is happier than ever every single time she makes challenges like these for herself, and then another, she will soon realize how “unhappy she is with herself” and it’s really sad. And since I myself already struggle from body dysmorphia, I had to stop doing her workouts because of the contradicting mindset she had…I hope she will find something to make her truly happy in the future
@@JustinaErcole She has an obsession with food and the body. It's actually quite sad and I see people like her struggling out there cutting out every pleasurable food and moving up in size. I keep telling people if you screw with your body, it won't do the stuff you love and will punish you in bizarre ways. I can already predict what Cassey will look like in the next 5 years and she will keep on gaining because it's a constant inner battle. The body should be fed healthy foods as fuel and indulgence here and there but the body does not like abuse and it wants to pack on stubborn weight every time it goes through a war. My 90-year chubby grandma eats 1800 calories to maintain her weight with a heart condition, I can only imagine what Cassey is doing to her metabolism.
Honestly, thank you! I followed Cassey when I was a teenager and doing her workouts on a very regular basis. But the more I educated myself on exercise and nutrition, the more her content felt kinda off if you know what I mean. I don’t follow her anymore since I got sick of all the TikTok content and misinformation und plain attempt to sell a ton of stuff.
I started my fitness journey with Cassie with the intentions of getting abs and getting fit, after about a year I realized I was getting nowhere and luckily discovered Sydney Cummings. Cassie did get my ass of the couch but now I workout for strength and health and not for body image.
My journey was exactly the same! I was doing all the challenges and calendars with Cassie and... yeah, my overall strenght increased, but I didn't visually see any results. I got slimmer, but my body was kinda flabby. Then I found Sydney and boy, oh boy, I could see the effects SO FAST! I gained muscle and strenght, my health improved and my mental health too!
Harry’s videos are logical and have common sense. The source of the “true” influencer spotlight that I have witnessed. He needs more hype for his underrated knowledge.
many of us started with cassie... and thank god many of us outgrew her and found a healthier and more effective ways to continoue our fitness journey! Im just scared that her target is teenage girls the most vulnerable group to EDs :(
I feel like she’s spiraling out of control, and needs help. It’s a shame, like she’s lost. Great video, appreciate the info and explanations you provide!
I know… it’s like she’s trying so desperately hard in each video to defend herself against people who criticize her, or in anticipation of criticism. It must be hard always being on edge like that. I feel bad for her, but I also get why she is getting some criticism. It’d be cool if she could look into why people are upset and maybe address some of those things. I love that she’s using weights in some of her newer videos, but every time I see the weightless arms videos I have to skip them! They’re just not effective and can damage your joints. And I also can’t follow any of her food advice. It’s very unappetizing and restrictive and utilizes a lot of “trendy” ingredients. It’s very disordered. And it feels like it bleeds into her workouts too
I love that you wore a hat to honour Harry. I found your channel through his. I do feel like I’m getting better fitness advice and being more critical of what I watch because of you, him and other creators that UA-cam recommends me BECAUSE I follow you both.
I love that you called out the "muscle weighs more than fat" BS. It's a pet peeve of mine, especially since it gets thrown around a LOT. And I think there's a lot of misconception about how easy it is to just put on muscle. Like someone trying to lose weight will ask reddit (or wherever) why their scale went up in the last week, and people will say "it could be muscle!" as if you can just put a pound of muscle on every week.
I'm very happy about you mentioning the importance of enjoying movement. I, as an example, doesn't really have any fitness-goals. I only want to be happy and healthy. I don't need to workout efficient. I only need to have fun and not hurt myself. I'm happy I know what is efficient and what isn't, but that doesn't mean all of my workouts end up being efficient. Not at all. But almost all of them end up making me motivated to workout again the next day. Thanks for a great video!
i did her meal plans in like 2015 for a week and it was not enough food at all and it left me feeling exhausted, i stopped but it confused me because i couldnt understand why my body couldnt handle a “healthy diet” lmao
New sub here! Loved this take on Blogilates and I completely agree with you. I found Cassey in 2009 and followed her until about 2018, while I was struggling with a severe eating disorder. I was eating less than what she eats in order to maintain a very low body weight. Cassey has mentioned struggling with disordered eating in the past and I don't believe she has fully recovered from that. Maybe it's just a feeling I get from her and the content she creates (ED sufferers can smell their own kind.) I think her original 90 Day Journey put her body below it's natural set point weight and suppressed her metabolism. This is why she maintains weight on less than 1500 calories. My heart goes out to her because I know she probably feels enormous pressure to be lean in the fitness industry. However, I think what she is doing is dishonest and dangerous. Her desire to make money is clouding her ability to create safe and effective fitness and nutrition content. Thanks for making educational content that will actually help people. Love it! 💜
cassey’s messaging has always been inconsistent, from “i love that i break the mold of not looking like a typical fitness coach” to “i’m doing a bodybuilding contest” to “i love my body for whatever it looks like” to “screw the body shamers” to “my goal is to have under 13% body fat” and on and on and on. i find that so concerning from the standpoint of her drawing vulnerable people in with the faux body positivity content then getting real triggering real fast.
Thank you!!! I used to love her but recently it’s all just like inconsistent messages, weird body fads, discussing camel toe and other body parts I was never insecure about before! Not to mention her questionable restrictive diets that she advertises and tries to sell. They are the epitome of diet culture and idk how she just doesn’t see it! She’s always addicted to the challenge! If it’s not how to keep herself on a strict diet, to doing a slim down challenge, then a muscle building challenge. Always getting disappointed in herself by the end… I feel bad but I feel like she never lets herself actually rest and be happy with where she is, because she could always be “better”. It’s led to a lot of success which reinforces it but eventually it’s gonna be too much. I was really disappointed and appalled as well when she joined another bikini competition after speaking out in the past how damaging and toxic they are!
I tried her summer program last year and one day I opened her newsletter and it started with “how is your fit girl journey going? How are you dealing with being hungry all the time?” And I was appalled. Even then at the beginning of my journey I was like, nobody should be going hungry ever to lose weight etc.
Bit confused here. All it said was "How are you deaing with being hungry all the time?", which is something a LOT of fitness influencers joke about as you naturally will feel hungrier when you start burning more calories to lose weight. Most people arent nutritional experts and dont fix their diets immediately, so they feel hunger. Thats not the same as saying people SHOULD be starving and hungry to lose weight? Thats honestly a huge twisting of words, of a common question. Maybe you read the entire paper and she really said ita good to starve and you should be hungry, but my bet is on that not having been said at all.
I haven’t been super die hard for Blogilates, but I’ve used her videos on and off and enjoyed her decently, so I was a little shocked to find Harry’s video saying all this. After watching it, it was very eye opening about not only Blogilates and other fitness influencers. I’m grateful for this knowledge and it leading me to Caroline Girvan who I wouldn’t have come across it if not for his video! I honestly hope Cassie and these other influences can figure everything out, but it was definitely a sign to step back.
Girrrrllll thank you so much for this video! I was a young teen, deep in my eating disorder and found Cassey’s workouts. She did get me into fitness, but I struggled for a long time with body image and restriction, partially inspired by her platform. To this day I still find her content triggering, and I avoid it at all costs. I appreciate educated and positive people who correct her misinformation and validate the folks who followed her programs and suffered for it.
I was on a mostly liquid diet (under strict doctors watch) for about a year and a half cuz I broke my jaw. And let me tell you I was miserable and my body was utterly destroyed. Luckily my jaw is mostly healed and with my doctors help my body was healed. But it is a scary time and a lot of work not just ordering juice from some website. It makes me sad that people promote or promote on accident that diet when I know first hand how hard it is and how terrible it is. I followed Cassie from grade 6 to grade 10 I struggled with an ED during all this time (not blaming her at all) but her videos fed into my ed and allowed me to validate what I was doing.
I thought she had mentioned that she wants to get *away* from overtraining. I felt exhausted just looking at it! Can you imagine how someone would feel on a day when they feel tired? I would look at those workouts and choose to skip them. It’s important to consider the WHOLE picture of yourself - what can you handle when motivation is high, low, energy is high, energy is low, all the things. What can you truly be consistent with in the long-run…not just at the beginning when you’re feeling super pumped?
Thank you so much for this video. It helped put into words why I was getting so upset & getting triggered over things she has been posting. All the comments I read on her videos & posts are so positive, so it’s a huge relief to know that people, educated people, are saying that this stuff is not okay. As someone with a history of an eating disorder, I finally unsubscribed from her. You are right, as someone with that big of a following, she has a responsibility to do better. I worry about the young teenager girls watching her content.
32g of fat?????? I feel like this is more like the "how to completely fuck up your hormones in 90 days“ - challenge. Great video! With the content that Casey puts out I actually question if she really believes the bs or just goes for what will sell best. Bc if she has been in the industry for a decade and doesn’t know better, that’s actually really sad. Really really sad.
@@Kuralai95 waaaaaay to little. Women should at least consume 0,8g of fat/kg of body weight and that’s even low. I would always aim for at least 1g/kg, I noticed that that’s the safest for my hormones and I feel the best that way :)
@@morbidlyxobsessed thank you! It hasn't been long since I started my health journey. Currently I am focusing on cutting down carbs but from your comment I have learned that I am consuming only half of the fats I should be eating. It's kinda hard for me to get my daily macros right cause I am doing OMAD.
@@Kuralai95 since you just started it’s absolutely normal that you don’t know everything right away and make some mistakes. Fats are really important for hormones, carbs are not essential for our body so having lower carbs can’t really do much damage. An easy way to up you fats if you are doing omad would be to add seeds, nuts, nut butter or healthy oils since those have a lot of fats even if you don’t add much. So they won’t bulk up your meals to much regarding volume. I would suggest trying different things, if omad doesn’t work great for you switch things up. Always remember you can have 5 meals, 3, 2 or 1, totally doesn’t matter, what matters is how many calories you consume (regarding weight loss / gain). Obviously what you eat matters in nutrients as well! :) don’t beat yourself up if you have off track days where you eat more / less, less healthy etc. It will get easier week by week, and after some time you'll know a lot more about your body regarding its needs and what works best for you :)
Watching this video and reading through the comments, I’ve had a huge moment of reflection on what Blogilates has been for me. I started using her workout videos back around 2012 (as a middle schooler yikes) and took what she said as the absolute informational truth. I became obsessed with working out to counteract the calories I was consuming, and I developed an ED where I would limit myself to no more than 1200 calories a day. After about a year and a half my family stepped in and got through to me that I had a problem, and in the process of putting weight back on for my own well-being I began to rely on binge eating to cope with my own emotional struggles. Anyways, all these years later I still struggle with body dysmorphia and my relationship with food, and I’m realizing only now that Blogilates and the rabbit hole it led me into were a huge component of that that I still need to heal from. I’m grateful for Cassey and how she helped me develop a passion for working out and putting aside time to move my body, but that’s about the only thing I want to retain any longer. I hope she can work things out for herself and recognize the harm she has (very likely unintentionally) caused so many people with misinformation and promoting unhealthy frames of perception.
Well said, Justina! I also followed Cassey when first exploring fitness options and wish the science-backed and publicly available information both you and Harry provide was available back then. Your videos have helped me unlearn so many disordered ways of looking at food and exercise.
Okay so, I have a lot of thoughts about this. I am so glad you are talking about all of this, I have been waiting for your Blogilates video since I subscribed! I also got into fitness following Cassey as a teenager and, honestly, I had a lot of issues growing up that she did not help with. She has always been problematic and really made it difficult to break out of my own misguided ideas about health anf fitness the longer I watched her. I will always be grateful for starting my journey with her but I also feel like following her advice kinda held me back for years and reinforced a lot of negative ideas I had about myself. In terms of the 90 day plan, I totally agree is looking to sell it eventually. She has always been obsessed with toning and trimming/targeting fat and this is no different. Which is actually insane given her stats right now, in my opinion no fitness influencer needs to advertise "fat" or "weight" loss at 120lbs, she can do what she wants but the idea SHE still thinks she is "fat" at 120 hurt me trying to lose weight growing up. I am sad to see this is still going on. I know influencers do this though, if you are perpetually losing weight, you have a never ending supply of desperate customers. And I can see she will do her "personal" challenge, it will be a success and now that she "tested" it herself she will sell it back to her followers. This is the 28 day reset and PIIT Challenge all over again. I know, cause I bought it, and looking at her "new" and "personalized" meal plan, I have bought THE SAME PLAN like four times for various other challenges, routines or X day journeys before, always in the name of losing weight. It is so blatant and gross and sad that she is willing to take advantage of her followers that trust her and want actual help and guidance. I am so glad someone like you is pointing out how harmful this is and I am so glad I found your channel, your functional, no bullshit approach to fitness really keeps me grounded. Your content is straightforward and knowledgable, now I feel so much more informed when looking into a new routine or adjusting my nutrition needs. Thank you so so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate it and how much of a positive influence you have been on my journey
Let me just say I never comment on anyone's videos. Ever. But after watching some of yours, I feel I need to do it. Thank you for calling out all the bullsh**t in this industry. As a former overweight person in my 30s almost 40s I feel I have been so misinformed by all these people. Anyways, all I want to say is thank you!!! Hugs from Transylvania and please keep doing what you're doing!
YES!!!! Thanks for another great video Justina! I used to do Cassey's workouts with no results and then realized what a click baiter she is. Just because someone has millions of followers does not mean they know what they are doing. I agree 100% with everything you said in this video. Thank you for calling it out, because I feel very sorry for people that take what she says at face value. It is a waste of time and can also be very dangerous to some people. I agree totally that whenever someone calls out another person's misinformation or irresponsible behavior they get called a "hater". Thank you for having the guts to speak out and protect others! Keep it up!!!
Nah, if I were her RD I wouldn't work with her unless she was also seeing a therapist. I discovered her in 2010 and while I do believe her *pilates* content was better (perhaps the bar is too low for her), her food outlook has always been troubling and how she responds to criticism hasn't changed. She hasn't grown at all and has played the victim for years. Thankfully, I outgrew her content very quickly. She was my introduction to fitness, but I feel sorry for those that still follow her and actually take her diet/fitness advice. Especially considering how many educated female influencers we have now compared to back then.
@@tasnimk1442 Natacha Océane is someone I like. In one video, she used science to show the difference between HIIT and Pylometrics and you can find some of her videos with cause and effect, such as what would be the outcome if I eat highly processed foods.
Yes! Harry is excellent. How he keeps a straight face while watching so many crap workouts is awesome! Love that you're both calling out these influencers.
Also I’m sorry, but if one thinks this isn’t going to be the same EXACT thing as her last 90 day journey where “she did it for her”& then she cash grabbed it. Packaged it& sold it for profit. Then perhaps one would be a little naive.
I appreciate this video and both your sensible comments about blogilates. I myself have had mixed emotions about her channel now too. I owe the entire beginning of my fitness journey to blogilates because I was finally able to be more consistent when I followed her calendars. Years later, I joined a CrossFit gym and since then I've been keeping up with weightlifting even with lockdown (thx dumbbells)... All with the consistency I learned from her hard work. But I see how her videos and how she has perpetuated toxic parts of diet/fitness culture, likely because she's also stuck in the culture.
I'm in a similar boat! I also started with her and she got me up and moving. But when I think back to my goals back then, it was just to be as skinny as possible. So i think a lot of her content fed my disordered patterns.
the worst part is she doesn't take any suggestions/feedback/awareness from professional, educated, and experienced trainers and sends out aggressive messages back informing us that she's doing it her way. That's fucked up.
I’ve never done anything Casey has promoted but as someone who’s very into nutrition, science and training she’s working twice as hard to do something she can easily do with a slight bulk and compound movement weight training. I’d be firing that RD if I was given 1500 calories. I’m 5’1” and 105 pounds for reference - I’m working on building muscle and I need over 1800 calories to build. She probably needs closer to 2400-2600 calories with her stats! She’s in a severe deficit and will probably wind up with a worsened relationship with her food and an injury from lack of food/nutrients. Only way to get a flat belly is to work hard in the gym, avoid food intolerances and eat a sustainable diet.
@@sweetembrace6706 all I mean by bulking is consuming more calories than you burn. It doesn’t have to be a large swing to consuming thousands of excess calories. To build muscle you need more calories to fuel that kind of goal. And I understand not everyone wants to lift. Her plan includes it though so that’s why I discussed that specific route to muscle gain. I can respect anyone who just wants to move their body. The best plan is the plan you’ll stick to ❤️
@@sweetembrace6706 1) Who said anything about men? 2) I'm using the term bulk as a technical term regarding her diet. You can be in a cut, maintenance, or bulk. You can really only build muscle in maintenance or bulk. 3) If you want to build muscle, you will need to lift weights. This is non-negotiable for the goal that Cassey stated.
All of her challenges are ridiculous and completely impossible to do unless you have that no pain no gain mentality and you're willing to destroy yourself in the process.
I used to that, not eating for days and yes it works, for a really short time. It really messes with you. Headaches, sleepiness all the time, faint spells, gastritis to the point you're unable to eat or be near food even if you wanted and screwed metabolism. Worse, it's really hard to get out of that mindset. Don't do it, it's NOT worth it.
I feel like this is such a perfect demonstration of where we're actually at in terms of body positivity/acceptance/moving away from diet culture. As you stated - essentially if she was *actually* going to try to gain muscle, especially if she's attempting to see a difference in 90 days, she would have to be in a caloric surplus - meaning, she would have to put on the requisite body fat in order to be building that new muscle tissue. She's never going to willingly do that - and I don't think we're moving towards seeing any influencers actually doing that unless their brand is to be in actual body building competitions where they have to do a real bulk in order to compete. The reason for this? We still, as a society, generally only accept 3 types of bodies - the extreme perfection/idealization/out of reach body, the relatable thin body, or the EXTREME body on the other end of the spectrum. Cassie in may ways, is a reflection of the current state of things, more so than she is influencing the current trends - not to absolve her of all responsibility, but her BUSINESS is her body, and she has to BE what SELLS/is popular. She is reflecting back to us what we want and value. That's capitalism. She has the perfect 'relatable thin' physique and always has. She doesn't have six pack abs and a thigh gap, but she DOES have what is for most people, still an unattainable level of leanness - she isn't 'average' by any stretch of the imagination, and MOST people ARE average. She doesn't feel intimidating because again, she's not on the extreme end of things, but she still represents that attainable aspirational self/body - we can see ourselves becoming her if we just tried a little harder, because she's not THAT extreme right? When again, in reality, most people are never going to look like her, have the access to nutrition that she does, have access to the time to work out the way she does, have access to the other beauty treatments she does and so on. If she were to actually follow a plan that would enable her to put on significant muscle in 90 days, she would have to move herself out of the relatable lean category, closer to the 'normal' or average category - and that just doesn't sell. Even if it's just for a short period of time, it would be terrible for business because at the end of the day, we don't want to see ourselves in our influencers. We want an extreme, or an aspirational better. We don't want a medium. I think this is a big thing. We don't actually wants influencers who look like us, who are like us, who live like us. There's no market for normal. Just my two cents.
@@JustinaErcole AAANNNDD honestly the 1200 calories thing was actually all we needed to know to know this was a fat loss plan - because she's posted what I eat in a day videos and other stories before where she is eating around 2000 calories a day. So unless those were one off days for show, she's not going to be building muscle in a 800 calorie deficit (plus whatever is being expended by her hard workouts). She seems to have been maintaining her weight for the last several years/since her 90 day transformation, so again, she's either actually eating sub 1200 calories on a regular basis in order to maintain her weight and showing those higher calorie days for show - or she's secretly gained a lot of weight and is using some digital wizardry to hide it ;) Again, the numbers just don't really make sense when all things are considered.
I used to do Casseys workouts and they really worked for me, my fitness and my relationship with my body. That’s me personally tho, and I understand differing opinions.
Within the past couple of years I left a fitness influencer community and have been slowly trying to teach myself not to restrict foods that aren't "clean", not avoid high sugar fruit like a banana (for realz) and over exercise to lose weight to win an eight week competition run by the influencer. You don't realize how bad it is when you're happy and losing weight until you take a step back and see what you are doing to yourself and why you are making weird rules for yourself and doing dumb exercise that you hate but the influencer always throws in the workouts. So thank you for speaking on why certain things are bad in the fitness influencer world! It's channels like yours that have helped me try to be healthy again and in a slow, successful way that is doable for life.
With that kind of timetable😱I really think she is being hard on herself. This was brilliant. In fact team fornever lean and yourself are the ones I always go to for advice - I have learnt a lot from both of you.
OMG I'm at an outpatient ED clinic- when I've relapsed is when I've been restricting to 1500 kcal. This is crazy. And absolutely no accountability just brushing others expressed concern off as people being 'haters'.
There is something about her that makes you believe her. I looked at that plan and for a split second i thought i should be doing her 90 day plan. I have to keep watching videos like these and remind myself that this wont be happy or looking the way i want if i follow this. So i think you correct in that she has to understand the gravity of her influence even with disclaimers.
That’s how I feel! Even after watching these very informative videos and them honestly making sense, I’ll be like “but she doesn’t SEEM like all that…” she’s good at making you believe her, I suppose
As always love your videos. They ground me in reality. I never followed any crazy diets or meal plans, etc but I know people who do. I have a friend who drinks “spicy water” every morning thinking it will detox her and help her burn fat. I keep my mouth shut but it pisses me off!! I know people who do cleanses too and it’s like mind blowing that they think juicing for a month is healthy!!!! And thank you for pointing out that the only way to detox your body is with a functioning liver and kidneys. NOT thru detox tea, or juicing, or anything else!!! RANT OVER!! Love ya girl
So glad to have come across this video- I started doing Cassey's calendar workouts as a way to build a habit of exercise (I think her pilates workouts are fun!), and then moved into strength training when my gym became available- so it's been kind of wild to see her doing a similar shift, but with a completely different model. I've been doing 3-4 exercises, 4 sets each, 8-10 reps, 4x a week. I keep it as simple as possible- warm up ~10 min very light cardio, 1 min rest between sets, 2 min rest between exercises, and stretch 15 min afterwards. And absolutely no meal plan!! Anything of the sort could easily trigger an eating disorder for me. I try to stick to intuitive eating as much as possible, I'm slowly learning how to honor my hunger and fullness signals. Definitely not functioning at a caloric deficit.... Anyways, I appreciate the time you put into this video, I feel very validated in my approach to strength training now 😅
I love your videos Justina! Thanks to you I found out about Sydney Cummings and I have now been following her daily for about 4 months. You, TFNL and MissFitAndNerdy are my fitness staples for information and tips. Thanks for everything you do ❤️ Edit: omg how could I have forgotten Natacha?? She is also one of the GOATs, alongside you 3 :)
Tbh, idk if it's the age difference but I am currently 23 and started using Cassey's videos when I was 17. I still utilize a lot of her workouts, and her more current ones contain different sized dumbbells. I was never drawn to her older videos, or detoxifying/diet stuff- because it didn't seem too factual to me, tbh. But I still was inspired to eat more whole foods and produce because of her. She always talked about how focusing on the quality of food is important, and in order to see progress with your workouts you need to be eating well. During the videos she would talk about her favorite snacks, like cashew butter and different fruits/smoothies. So to me, she did a very good job of shaping a positive perspective of exercise and just having a healthy lifestyle. Especially since she always mentioned that vanity can be a decent motivator, but the main focus should be having a healthy and strong body. And that helped a lot.
She recently had “experts” weigh in on her website and make their own articles. And I kid you not, I read an article about how to vacation that was pure diet culture fuel!! Talked about taking protein powder with you and squeezing in workouts while on vacation and taking flavored drops with you so you can just order a seltzer with vodka and have a low calorie version of a “cocktail”. My head was spinning!! This wasn’t even written by her but by one of her supposed “expert” friends!! It was so disordered! Like damn!! Go on vacation and just ENJOY!! I feel like the last time she did that was on her honeymoon to Hawaii and she complained about how she gained all this weight when she came back! Then did a three day juice cleanse!! But then she’ll turn around and say it’s not about the weight and appearance but feeling/being strong. She recently went on a mini-moon and said herself in the post she didn’t stop working while on it! Like girl you are going to burn yourself out! And if you are, don’t make that the example for others to follow! I just get so annoyed watching her recently with all her diet “but not a diet” advice
@@JustinaErcole I feel bad criticizing her bc she really got me into working out years ago. And I still do some of her workouts. But with all the constant defensiveness and both diet culture and body critical comments in her videos, it’s hard to not get annoyed. She’s very contradictory in her views. I like how she uses weights in some of her newer videos, but I absolutely despise any of her weightless arms videos (spinning your arms in circles is ineffective and can injure your joints). I also have never been able to take her food content seriously, even back in the day… it’s always been very diet-y, using fad trendy ingredients, and very restrictive! It’s fine if dairy/legumes/grains/gluten don’t agree with your body, but please don’t market that type of diet to other people!! Legumes and grains are powerhouse ingredients for your body, full of fiber and proteins, and it makes me sad that it’s making a whole group of people following her demonize them. I think because it’s not as restrictive as the chicken breast/broccoli diet she did during her pre bikini competition that she thinks it’s healthy, but it’s not. She says an RD helped her create her new recipes. But even then, why are you demonizing entire food groups? She also said she would never do another bikini competition and criticized it in that 90 day muscle post on insta, but then she ended up doing a bikini competition afterwards anyway!
Loved every second of this video. So, I'm a runner, I run a minimum of 40 miles a week, it's my thing. When I saw Cassey was eating 1500 cals and running everyday before strength......um.....good luck girl. I do strength 5× a week, but it's to support my running and for enjoyment (sometimes, lol). While I've built some muscle, it's just not gonna happen even though I eat way more calories than Cassey. I totally agree with you when you say it's a fat loss plan disguised as a strength plan. While I don't have an eating disorder, I do have food issues and find her super detailed plans very triggering. I am 36 years old....so I can't imagine what a 19 year old girl feels like reading her stuff. Cassey is a dang adult, but she has a high school/college age following, what she posts feels irresponsible. Final note, if her workouts are so freakin effective, how come she never includes them in her journeys? Adding an edit: I wanted to add that I absolutely love how you are not afraid to admit that you don't know something, and that you'll respond to questions in the comments by saying you're not certified to answer. Really appreciate it!
I had ED when I was working out with blogilates. She says she doesn't diet but she then does juice diet, no carb etc. Literally promotes body dysmorphia.
full disclosure, i’ve only just started to do the video, but one thing i would like to keep in mind is that a lot of the things she shows (half-push ups as the example) are really nice for getting into exercising more. it’s a lot easier to tell yourself that you’re starting with something small. also, they’re very nice for people who are disabled/mobility-impaired like me. excited to see more of the video! edit: ah yeah, i think the thing about it is that it feels a bit disingenuous the way she talks about it, like implying that it’s just as good as other exercises or even just focused on the muscles she’s talking about. also, in a way, a lot of diet/exercise culture feels like a cult or some kind of religion. hope to everyone in their journey
I will never forget when I was in high school and did one of her ab calendars and one recommendation she had in her blog was to drink water until your pee was clear. Horrific
It's so scary to know someone who clearly has history of disordered mind set (and currently ) can have such a big following and continue to promote it for others. Just like you said, she knows no matter how much she says "this is what works for me, maybe not for you" people will still try if they look up to her. I question if she even has a conscience or if it's not as loud compared to the sound of the money being made. Also if I were the RD she is mentioning, I'd be a bit embarrassed. There's no way those numbers were accurate and I have to question what she really told the RD about what her goals are .
OMG When you talked about putting ideas in someones head while also telling it is a bad idea I immediately thought of when I was around 12 and my best friend at the time was concerned on my eating etc. She told she would be super mad if I would do something that her sister had done. I probably never thought about it until then. It sticked in my head, first I was too afraid for it, but I started to destroy my body with it 4 years later.Took me 8 years to stop. I am not gonna say what is was, because I do not want someone reading this and then going to do the same. Thank you for explaining that so clearly. It does make so much sense, but still never really thought about it that way
she gained a huge following in he beginning of her career because of her bubbly personality and the way she looks. Her skin, her hair, her outfits, and her physique AND the stuff that she designs. So naturally people started adapting to her workout plans and eventually her meal plans. And a lot of her followers wanna look like her-really thin and toned. I'm not sure how she has a bit of muscle definition with those weird exercises but it seems to be working for some people...good for them! Another reason she's able to keep her large following and further grow it is because of her blogicomics on instagram-cute and relatable. And she talks about her Asian upbringing a lot, which makes her relatable to minorities. Being relatable in even ONE thing can grow your following and lead people to be influenced by EVERY single thing you do and post about whether it's the smart thing to do or really dangerous. I totally agree with you about your point about her wanting to make money. Of course she does. This is what she does for a living. She's gonna sell everything she's doing *face palm* I used to be a huge fan of hers and she's the one that made me like pilates. When I got into functional training and saw her new content, I was done with her. I actually tried her lower body workouts on her 90 day journey just out of curiosity without the 30 minute run and it took me an hour. And I had to do less weight than I usually do cuz it's really high volume. Definitely not sticking to that workout plan.
I started doing Casey’s workouts when I began my exercise journey. I was new to fitness and really believed I could build muscle as she was telling me. I quickly got bored of her videos and moved in to other UA-cam creators like Caroline Girvan and now as well Yoga by Adrienne. I also asked others in the industry for the best method to build muscle. But I’m not 18 so maybe I knew to keep asking questions when I didn’t see results. But if I was younger I can see how easy it is to believe what Casey says and think it will work. Thank you for your video. Great video!
I honestly agree with you. I found Blogilates when I was 15 and was just learning about nutrition and weight loss. I was caught up in diet culture and had no idea how it would affect me later in life. I also made her cheap eats recipes thinking "she's so fit and has lots of followers, this has to be legit." I made a healthy wrap using 'healthy' substitutes she bought at Trader Joe's and she was rolling her eyes from how delicious it was...and I thought it was the driest most unsatisfying thing I ever ate. But I ate it because I believed in her and the price for health and nutrition was a trade on taste I guess. I even stopped eating rice because she said herself that she didn't enjoy rice. I couldn't understand why, but my young brain assumed it was due to the carbs. I don't blame her either, she most likely was misinformed about nutrition...but dang. Young me really looked up to her and followed her advice religiously until one day I realized life had way better options. Influencers really need to be careful with what they publish as you say. It can really mess with impressionable kids like I was.
Omg yes! I remember I tried some of her recipes when I was like 15 and I hated them. She acted like it was so delicious when the stuff I ate from her was terrible. The recipes I tried were healthy and simple but they just did not taste good.
Cassey was my introduction to fitness after never enjoying exercise and being terrible at just about every sport all through high school. I did her workouts pretty religiously for about 2 years because they were accessible for the average person who knew nothing about fitness and had no idea how to get started. And honestly, she gave me a great base to work off of when I finally transitioned to bodybuilding, cross-training and CrossFit. But the ideas and mentalities she promoted, ie. the 6 day a week workout calendars with high intensity exercise every day that made you feel guilty if you missed a day - not so good. I think she hasn't moved with the times as exercise science has. She's well intentioned and I am so grateful to her for introducing me to fitness, but she does need to adjust her strategy I think.
I'm so glad people are calling her out. I religiously followed her workout calendars when I was 15. I was doing hour long workouts six days a week, along with "clean" eating. I wasn't eating enough, but also wasn't losing any weight. I was so upset and confused and it had an awful effect on my relationship with food and my body. I've struggled for five years now and I'm still struggling. She totally messed me up. Her content should honestly be age restricted.
Thank you! This was helpful. As someone who just watched her 15 min arm workouts and butt workouts, I didn’t know about all of these other unresponsive videos! I do like her videos mostly because she talks during them all and does them with us live, which really makes the time go by faster. I wish more creators would do this. However, fantastic to learn more about these creators and how they can be problematic
Girl, if you live people who do workouts with you live, you need to try Sydney Cummings. She's great, she's a certified personal trainer. And tough as nails. And pregnant now and still kicking my ass.
I agree with you so much on this especially two specific points. First up I am a Registered Dietitian with a clinical background and I love the fact that you said our kidneys and livers detox for us. Science! Secondly on the whole I tried this but disclaimer don't you try it is so confusing. My current job is with college students and so many of them are confused on what to eat and I don't blame them! I try to break it down for them (based on science) just like I am sure you do. Keep on keeping on Justina!
I’m glad people like you and TFNL and other channels like yours who are working hard to clarify all this misinformation that exists in the fitness industry, literally all the wrong and uneducated people become famous for no reason and its just sad
It was the recent picture of her wearing a dress she could fit in a year before and it completely ripping that did it for me. On a personal level, having gone from having no muscle to gaining 20 lbs really fast (Army) and not fitting into my ‘skinny clothes’ it was traumatic. But Cassie is *intentionally* trying to gain muscle. So she would have to know her old clothes would probably not fit. Seeing someone who is intentionally trying to gain muscle do that seems very...disordered. It also isn’t a very good in promoting effective muscle gain for people, mainly women, who won’t train their muscles because they think they’ll get bulky and not ‘skinny’. But I wasn’t trying to do it.
It's sad - I remember her last 90-day journey, and then she was eating around 1750 calories to LOSE fat. Seeing her calories now is just depressing, especially with her activity level. I hope she realizes that this isn't sustainable.
i love that your *educated* in the title is an understatement ;). Sharing your knowledge is a great blessing for all of us, who are lost in the wrong ideals of the youTube Fitness Industrie. Thanks for bringing some truth into all of this bullsh*** ; its kinda like the only influence of an influencer I appreciate LOL
I gasped out loud at 1500 calories a day!!!! Literally doing my meal prep for the week, have the video on in the background, and my neck snapped around with a huge “GASP!?!??”
After the very last time I did a Blogilates program, I realized that it's honestly mentally difficult to eat as little as she did and do these useless ass workouts. ONLY ONE REST DAY?! She's absolutely gonna charge $100 for people to do this program.
I miss the Cassey that would clap back at the haters for saying she needed to have a 6-pack to be taken seriously as a fitness influencer. She was inspirational to me in overcoming my own body-image issues by helping me realize I did not have to look shredded to be strong and confident in my skin. Now, she's conveying the opposite message. I still love Cassey, but I've had to take a break as this is triggering to a person healing from an ED to see someone selling the idea of fitness meaning molding yourself to a certain size/standard. I appreciate videos like this one pointing out the dangers of what she's promoting while also conveying that we all care about her wellbeing.
i love blogilates but I also really appreciate your opinion on her workouts! I think for the past recent years, her intentions of exercise/training has changed and I'm not a fan of it neither. Thanks for sharing your perspective! Always love your honesty
amazing video that really summarized what the tea has been with cassey lately. like a lot of people in the comments, her videos helped me get back into working out after a long break and her perky attitude pulled me out of the funk i was in that made me stop moving my body to begin with. that being said, her advice and the way she responds to criticism sucks. it just sucks. i had to unfollow for a laundry list of reasons where the tl;dr is how disappointed i was in what everything surrounding her has become: something to sell, and if you disagree you're just a "hater". wtf? a grown woman being like this? and while hhearing through the grapevine that she IS the problem makes me feel justified in my distancing from her content, i'm with you in feeling for her and hoping she knocks it off and sees that the criticism is for a reason. she seems like a nice, fun lady, but i don't think i can blindly follow her and hype up her every move the way her community does. anyway, there are other options for fun, low impact and or strength focused workouts out here and i hope more people know that
I love Harry and I love you JE 🙌 And more than once I’ve thought to myself that Justina and Harry in a video together would be killer 🔥You may not agree on everything but between you, you are enlightening a lot of people because you both bring perspective into the health debate as well as humour. Yay! 🥳🙌♥️ (ps. I agree on the hat by the way 😅).
in the past year and a half i’ve done a lot of work on body image and intuitive eating, and i got back into strength training in april 2021 after taking some time off. i’m not training for any image specific goals but lemme tell ya: the increase in muscle size just from EATING a LOT (but not beyond my body’s cues in any type of forcefeeding bulking way, and also working to prioritize protein and carbs to support my activity) has been wilder than i could have ever dreamed when i was doing bodybuilding style training but was afraid to be in a surplus and afraid to get bigger. 3 months is way too short of a time, in my opinion, to see super meaningful gains since you can ride the newbie gain train for like a year. i’m on month 8-ish of consistent training and i started with a focus in powerlifting, then my training looked closer to functional hypertrophy, and now i’m doing olympic weightlifting training that combines rep schemes all the way from 2-12 reps in different movements. personally, the most dramatic shifts in my body composition have been in the last month or two. i don’t know why this dramatic life altering shift with strength training is supposed to be happening in 3 months with Cassey. that’s like, the time it takes to get into a decent groove and troubleshoot whatever’s been going weird since the start.
I have been working out at home since the beginning of the pandemic and I'm not planning to come back to the fitness club. I still don't know enough about workouts etc., but thanks to you and people like Harry I know I can learn a lot and still take pleasure in working out 😊
I really appreciate this video. I loved Cassey when I was in my early twenties and after some time realized I was fixated on attaining her body structure but I’m not even close to being built like her and it eventually I realized I was fighting a losing battle. I love her personality but her energy and really enjoyed her videos once upon a time but now I’ve started lifting weights and have found it enjoyable to focus on the numbers I can reach while lifting rather than what shows up on the scale. That being said, I got excited to see her 90 day muscle journey and was super stressed to see what she was planning on doing. And the fact that she just keeps pointing the fingers back and bemoaning her haters has made me really concerned for her. I genuinely hope she’s ok but every time I see her stuff now I think she’s just heading to a breakdown. I really hope I’m wrong but it was nice to see someone call it out, honestly didn’t realize anyone had before.
have been eating protein oats with pb every single day for the past 5 years and I don't hate it haha. Not everybody needs "variety" to feel happy and satisfried. If you found few staples you enjoy, there's absolutely no problem with sticking to it. Also not everyone has time to cook different things for every single meal. For me personally meal plans work very well, as they eliminate unneccesary obssesion with tracking and fitting something into my macros. And on weekends when I have time I might come up with some fancy recipe.
Idk if you can compare cassey 10yrs ago to today. She's always been transparent to me. Some of her workout videos are better than others. I dont like the fast reps, so I just go more slow and controlled to really target the muscle. Fast repitions can cause injury as well. Cassey helped me gain core strength and you can tell that woman has unbelievable core strength. I usually have to combine 2-4 of her workouts to get a complete workout. But sometimes a 10min hiit is enough. I got into lifting after and I usually come back to her when I want a light toning day. My biggest complaint is the attention she gives to negative commenters. But we can only have compassion, she obviously has some trauma (as everyone is wanting to comment on her having body image issues, she clearly still has them and doesnt take well to criticism). It's good to point out the limitations of a fitness influencer so that we can make informed decisions, but I'm not so sure this was the way to do it.
You know? I feel for her because I know what it feels like to be miss informed and thinking you are right. I went through my whole fitness/eating disorder stage and I am glad I am not there anymore and that's behind me. I am glad there's people like you and this other guy (not sure of his credentials) that are professionals or certified and letting the rest of us know this is not right. I mean, back when I was a teenager in the 90s, I did so much wrong to my body and I think it's actually unconsciously terrified and traumatized that if I skip a meal or not eat enough or if I eat too much junk food or not drink enough water, or I over eat, I literally get sick, like I star shaking or freak out and get migraines. I mean it could be that I am triggering my migraines through that behavior, but if I was ignorant like I was back then, I would probably try to copy her to lose weight and be skinny. Thank you for pointing out her unhealthy behavior and I hope other teens or ignorant people do not follow it. Thank you for this video😘.
I've done Cassey's workouts off and on for a few years now, but never really followed her diet/food related advice nor actually read her newsletters and blogs. I've only watched a couple of her videos that discuss her personal journey. I do want to say that I really feel for Cassey as an individual. We're talking about a woman who had all positive intentions of bringing free Pilates to a wide audience through positivity and she got massive amounts of hate about how her body looked while she was doing that. There's a lot of time between that and her first 90 day journey where she got just as much or more hate about making her body look the way the haters wanted her to look in the first place. And she's been doing all of that as a woman of color (more hate, I specifically remember from her comment once about being the first Asian American woman on the cover of a particular magazine). I'm not going to defend her food/diet/plan content, but I hope people remember that Cassey is a person too, and one that clearly doesn't seem to be done with her food and fitness journey. I hope that she's able to find her way back to loving her body.
That's totally fair and I also think it's insane how much criticism she has gotten simply on her body. I don't think anyone has the right to comment on what another person looks like. That being said, anyone dealing with their own disordered patterns shouldn't be selling programs or meal plans.
@@JustinaErcole Wow, thanks for the reply! And you're right, and your criticism is totally fair. I just hope people remember she's a person on her own journey as well. Hopefully the RD will/has made appropriate changes to the meal plan that you buy. I've never been interested in paying for stuff like that so I have no idea what's involved with it. I've also been thinking a lot lately about where the line is between posting your own healing journey for catharsis/therapy and being responsible for others when you post things like this. We all used to post the craziest stuff on the internet in the livejournal/xanga days! Obviously, being an influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers is different from posting a blog that you haven't shared or only told close friends and family about, but where is that line? Something we could all think about, I suppose.
Hi Justina!! New viewer here! You did a great review on Casey’s new journey. I was a follower for years because I enjoyed movement and physical activity. Her videos were always cheerful and fun. However in the past 2 years I stopped watching/ following for several reasons. The main being that she continues to struggle with self image and she contraindicates herself self. Her diet and weight journey can often be triggering especially for those who have a history of an ED. When she started her 90 day fat loss journey I felt that this was not coming from a genuine place to self improvement but rather lose weight to look more like other fitness influencers. Now with this new fitness journey she has set out, it confirmed by suspicion that she has yet to deal with her ED past and constantly trying to find ways to mask it. I hope she can find a happy place and get the help she truly needs with body image.
Also to disclose I am a registered dietitian, I strongly dislike meal plans but they can be used as a foundation for those whose struggle with eating adequately or having a specific journey goal. They are not for everyone and definitely not for those with an ED.
“Now it’s not really about you, it’s about public appearance” completely agree! This is something that Harry pointed out that really turned into an eye-opening red flag for me. Another is that she just blocked Harry for his very kind, thoughtful, respectful advice. I sincerely hope she figures herself out, but I agree it’s troubling that she is doing all this when she is fully aware she holds lots of influence, especially over impressionable young women and girls.
I never said I hate her to my knowledge. Feel free to drop a timestamp if I did. And while she can be inspiring, you can also see in the comments how many people she's perpetuated eating disorders and disordered eating for (myself included). It seems like you've completely missed the point of the video.
I’ve been wanting to watch more channels and more perspectives about Cassey because I didn’t want my opinion to be only influenced by Harry; so I really appreciate this video, and how truthful it is. I also appreciate your slightly different approach than Harry. I agree at the end here that I feel for her if she is genuinely confused and I wish her the best. But she NEEDS to be aware (or, if she, she needs to care more) of the harmful information she is spreading, because honestly without these videos and Harry’s, I wouldn’t realize what has been going on.
I use to do Blogilates a few years back. i hit a wall (mentally) and I when I went back to exercise, she was not doing it for me anymore. I was dreading my workouts. Then I found Heather Robertson and I was a little excited but there were a lot of jumps for me. Then I found Sydney Cummings and her workouts and positivity really got me into WANTING to workout and have been following her ever since. I have nothing against Blogilates, it just has a different vibe than it used to, if that makes sense. You hit the the spot when you said about making money. I am sure when she is done she will make a new book to sell about this muscle journey that is "for her". She comes out with a new clothing line every few months too and personally I think its SO pricey. I am just as happy working out in five dollar stretch pants and an oversized tshirt. I think you and Harry should collab on a video and wear your hats :)
Hi all! A lot of you have asked for a follow up video after the 30 day results and I don't feel it's right for me to continue making content about Cassey. But here is a wonderful article that explains how someone could "gain 6 pounds of lean muscle" in one month:
www.shesabeast.co/p/blogilates-muscle-building-journey-fact-check?
Came here hoping to find something like this. It’s so discouraging to feel like I’m working my butt off and then hear someone say they put on 6lbs of muscle while also losing fat in 30 days. I’m sorry what?
@@brightknight1965 w8 what
"I don't feel it's right for me to continue making content about Cassey"... Why?
@@Fitness-qs9dbCassey is money & has been for a long time. Like Blogilates, She is a brand. Imo I wouldn't be surprised if her stakeholders and investors potentially made threats to make this poor lady feel uncomfortable to the point that she will not make any comments/opinions about Blogilates or Cassey.
@@Fitness-qs9dbIt might be because covering the things that Cassie is doing inevitably shows people things that people with/at risk of disordered eating have a risk of picking up on, even if presented in a critical context. Justina speaks about this in the video.
I think one of the reasons why we have memories of Blogilates' content being better in the past, is because the standard for fitness education was way lower in 2014.
It makes me think of all the magazines showing me "how to tone up" and I thought they were genius. 2014 was the height of detox waters, skinny teas, and harmful trends. I bought my juicer to do cleanses that made me miserable
Oh 100%!
Thanks for the info, I didn't know that and now I won't. I just drank a lot of pineapple juice before breakfast to clean my kidneys (doctor recommended)
Man, I bought a juicer back then too after my ex and I listened to some guy giving a speech at a vegan convention.
Now I think juicing is a waste of perfectly good fiber.
Excellent analysis. The “6 mins to sexy arms” got me into consistent exercise several years ago when I had been completely sedentary and intimidated by exercise for my entire life (teased/last picked in gym class etc etc). Short videos like that kicked off my confidence to start going to the gym and begin strength training. I still sometimes return to them when I’m in a slump. But you’re absolutely right about her overall body messages being both irresponsible and inconsistent. Thank you for making this!
I think she became an “influencer” obsessed with looks, and we no longer have the Pilates trainer we used to love.
Agreed
Yes! She made me feel good while just moving. Now she makes me feel bad about myself, like if she feels fat and in need to burn fat, I need to do it too. And I am an adult. Don't want to know how small girls think.
I followed Cassey for years but recently unfollowed because not only did I realize Pilates was not cutting it for my fitness goals but all she did was whine about online hate, people ripping her body when she lost so much weight! It was almost self serving to get the comments to pump her up and promote her next screw the haters challenge. Really appreciate you calling out this behavior in a respectful way. ❤️
Thank you!
Same. I actually found her posts triggering for me and had to stop following her.
Oh my god, she literally only talks about her haters! It's exhausting haha
Same here.
Fun fact, what she does is not really pilates. They talk about her on r/Pilates subreddit, they don't recommend her at all
I love Harry’s videos which is probably why I found your channel and I was in the same boat as most comments I’ve read, a chubby 14 year old doing home workouts, then puberty hit me like a truck my wide hips and “thunder” thighs suddenly just became a part of my feminity and the calves I was ashamed of I’m insanely proud of now. As my fitness mindset matured I’ve realized that I want to turn into an absolute unit and I can achieve that veryyyy differently to how blogilates approaches her gains
An absolute UNIT- YES! I’m obsessed with this mindset
I must admit one thing. I discovered Cassey in 2012 when I was trying to get back to my normal way of living after an ED. I had no confidence, didn't do much when it came to exercise, did not have any muscles, stamina, knowledge about food and exercise, and hated my body. And thanks to Cassey, I formed a very positive relationship toward exercise, started educating myself on nutrition, toned up, and overall got way more confident in myself. Her exercises may not have been the most effective, but it was exactly what I needed back then :) However, I must admit that since she joined TikTok, her content has gotten very shitty. Very sorry to say that, but 15-second videos about drinking a gallon, so you don't have time for other people's drama? C'moooon. You know better, gurl.
I’m so glad that she helped you though!
Exact same position as me! She helped me with building my confidence and becoming fitter, but lately she has become so obsessed with appearance and diet culture. It’s really sad and I hope she can talk to someone about it who can help her.
@@roseskye, I am super happy that she helped you! 🤗 I agree. I don't really vibe with what she's doing now either... It kinda seems like she is going down the weightloss rabbit hole, and I genuinely hope that she is doing OK in her private life :)
I actually had a very similar experience with blogilates around 2013/14. Towards the end of 2013 I hit my personal rock bottom where I was unable to work out due to my restrictive eating and that was a big factor in getting a wake-up call to fight my way out, and I was very grateful to have her bubbly videos to get back to moving my body and appreciating it for the work it was doing for me. BUUUUT: Now that I've actually educated myself with a science-based approach on nutrition and movement, I realize how sticking around in the Blogilates space kept me in a kind of in a "gray zone" between ED and recovery. Her programs, her nutrition and workout plans, the lifestyle she modelled -- they still had me convinced for years to come that I needed to work out at least 6 hours a week and eat all the cauliflower in the world if I ever wanted to become truly physically "fit and healthy", that that goal was simply not attainable without great sacrifice.
I completely agree. I use to enjoy her videos but after she started posting her TikTok’s i really stopped liking her content
Thank you for this. Her channel had also been the start of my initial workout journey, but it also triggered the start of a long-winded struggle for me with eating disorder/exercise addiction/body dysmorphia that I'm thankful to be finally out of. Those with a major influencer platform should absolutely be held responsible for what they transmit...
You’re so welcome :)
This!!! It happened to me too
Phenomenal video, Justina! I’ve got a lot of time for you and I’m glad that I’ve been directed to your channel. I agree, the best anything (workout, etc) for you is the one that you can remain most consistent with :) Also, I love the hat!
Haha I’m honored you approve of the hat choice
What a crossover 🙌🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🔥❤️❤️❤️
Thanks Harry for tolerating Justina's Video:)
Guys… you two should do a Video together 😍👌🏼
Every time i see new stuff about Cassie I just remember how years ago she had a video talking about never dieting again because competitions gave her an ED, and it makes me sad for her because her newer content is just ED fuel.
Yup yup yup
Her old content was ED fuel, too. She's just doing it differently now
She is a cheerful and fun person to watch but she is obsessed with her body and weight beyond belive. One would think aging gracefully teaches one wisdom about the uncertainty of body changes. I know so many older women slimmer than her and never watch what they eat and live a way happier life than her relationship with food.
It goes to show how not eating enough for years on end/diet culture messes with your brain. She probably *can’t* see her way out of her disordered eating and mind because the thought patterns are burned into her brain. I feel sad for her.
Before both of her 90 day journeys, she posted things along the lines of “who is taking this journey with me?” And she’s selling 90 day journals. Then she turns around and says that people shouldn’t criticise her, because she’s only doing this for her. I used to be a massive fan of hers, and I do hope she’s well-meaning, but I also think she’s letting her very vocal fans drown out any criticism she’s getting
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
It's all about $$$. Ie. She doesn't care.
@@Daniea3 exactly it’s always about selling something to her audience
Aren’t her plans free? So there is a strategy to get you to buy her planner but it isn’t pushed as her plan leaves space for you to write notes… no?
That's exactly what I mean about her messaging being contradictory. She's constantly contradicting herself.
As someone who religiously do Blogilates’ workouts, I actually find it ironic how she says she shouldn’t be criticized bc she only does the 90-day-journey “for herself” when she’s seriously out there selling journals and encouraging people to do the same thing. One minute she claims that she is happier than ever every single time she makes challenges like these for herself, and then another, she will soon realize how “unhappy she is with herself” and it’s really sad. And since I myself already struggle from body dysmorphia, I had to stop doing her workouts because of the contradicting mindset she had…I hope she will find something to make her truly happy in the future
She definitely struggles from disordered tendencies, which is why I don’t think she should be selling or coaching to people right now.
@@JustinaErcole She has an obsession with food and the body. It's actually quite sad and I see people like her struggling out there cutting out every pleasurable food and moving up in size. I keep telling people if you screw with your body, it won't do the stuff you love and will punish you in bizarre ways. I can already predict what Cassey will look like in the next 5 years and she will keep on gaining because it's a constant inner battle. The body should be fed healthy foods as fuel and indulgence here and there but the body does not like abuse and it wants to pack on stubborn weight every time it goes through a war. My 90-year chubby grandma eats 1800 calories to maintain her weight with a heart condition, I can only imagine what Cassey is doing to her metabolism.
Honestly, thank you! I followed Cassey when I was a teenager and doing her workouts on a very regular basis. But the more I educated myself on exercise and nutrition, the more her content felt kinda off if you know what I mean. I don’t follow her anymore since I got sick of all the TikTok content and misinformation und plain attempt to sell a ton of stuff.
And thank YOU for watching :)
I always had a weird vibe about her. But are her workouts alright? I mean is there any harm in doing them?
No harm at all! Like I said in the video, if you enjoy them then I encourage you to do movement you enjoy 😊
I started my fitness journey with Cassie with the intentions of getting abs and getting fit, after about a year I realized I was getting nowhere and luckily discovered Sydney Cummings. Cassie did get my ass of the couch but now I workout for strength and health and not for body image.
Sydney is fab ♥️ I work out with her too. Heather Robertson is another great trainer, if you like SC.
Love that you found Sydney!
My journey was exactly the same! I was doing all the challenges and calendars with Cassie and... yeah, my overall strenght increased, but I didn't visually see any results. I got slimmer, but my body was kinda flabby. Then I found Sydney and boy, oh boy, I could see the effects SO FAST! I gained muscle and strenght, my health improved and my mental health too!
Similar story for me only my boyfriend got my into heavy lifting and over the pandemic I found Caroline Girvan.
Sydney is the best!!!!
Harry’s videos are logical and have common sense. The source of the “true” influencer spotlight that I have witnessed. He needs more hype for his underrated knowledge.
Agreed!
many of us started with cassie... and thank god many of us outgrew her and found a healthier and more effective ways to continoue our fitness journey! Im just scared that her target is teenage girls the most vulnerable group to EDs :(
Oh they are. I was one of those anorexic teens worshipping her. It was a mess
I feel like she’s spiraling out of control, and needs help. It’s a shame, like she’s lost.
Great video, appreciate the info and explanations you provide!
Thanks for watching Kelly :)
I know… it’s like she’s trying so desperately hard in each video to defend herself against people who criticize her, or in anticipation of criticism. It must be hard always being on edge like that. I feel bad for her, but I also get why she is getting some criticism. It’d be cool if she could look into why people are upset and maybe address some of those things. I love that she’s using weights in some of her newer videos, but every time I see the weightless arms videos I have to skip them! They’re just not effective and can damage your joints. And I also can’t follow any of her food advice. It’s very unappetizing and restrictive and utilizes a lot of “trendy” ingredients. It’s very disordered. And it feels like it bleeds into her workouts too
Nobody is gonna help her but herself. She wont do it tho, she is way too deep into disordered mind
Blogilates is super problematic and I’m always happy to see folks call this out. Also Harry is a wealth of knowledge!
yes and yes! Thanks for watching Renata :)
Harry is fantastic!
Harry is a doll 🧡
As a dietitian, I agree and wouldn’t recommend her for fitness and health.
How is she problematic???
I love that you wore a hat to honour Harry. I found your channel through his. I do feel like I’m getting better fitness advice and being more critical of what I watch because of you, him and other creators that UA-cam recommends me BECAUSE I follow you both.
Love this, thank you for being here!
I love that you called out the "muscle weighs more than fat" BS. It's a pet peeve of mine, especially since it gets thrown around a LOT. And I think there's a lot of misconception about how easy it is to just put on muscle. Like someone trying to lose weight will ask reddit (or wherever) why their scale went up in the last week, and people will say "it could be muscle!" as if you can just put a pound of muscle on every week.
Haha yeah it’s just a weird misunderstanding
I'm very happy about you mentioning the importance of enjoying movement. I, as an example, doesn't really have any fitness-goals. I only want to be happy and healthy. I don't need to workout efficient. I only need to have fun and not hurt myself. I'm happy I know what is efficient and what isn't, but that doesn't mean all of my workouts end up being efficient. Not at all. But almost all of them end up making me motivated to workout again the next day. Thanks for a great video!
You're so welcome Alice! Glad that hit home for you :)
i did her meal plans in like 2015 for a week and it was not enough food at all and it left me feeling exhausted, i stopped but it confused me because i couldnt understand why my body couldnt handle a “healthy diet” lmao
New sub here! Loved this take on Blogilates and I completely agree with you. I found Cassey in 2009 and followed her until about 2018, while I was struggling with a severe eating disorder. I was eating less than what she eats in order to maintain a very low body weight. Cassey has mentioned struggling with disordered eating in the past and I don't believe she has fully recovered from that. Maybe it's just a feeling I get from her and the content she creates (ED sufferers can smell their own kind.) I think her original 90 Day Journey put her body below it's natural set point weight and suppressed her metabolism. This is why she maintains weight on less than 1500 calories. My heart goes out to her because I know she probably feels enormous pressure to be lean in the fitness industry. However, I think what she is doing is dishonest and dangerous. Her desire to make money is clouding her ability to create safe and effective fitness and nutrition content. Thanks for making educational content that will actually help people. Love it! 💜
Thank you for sharing your insight!
cassey’s messaging has always been inconsistent, from “i love that i break the mold of not looking like a typical fitness coach” to “i’m doing a bodybuilding contest” to “i love my body for whatever it looks like” to “screw the body shamers” to “my goal is to have under 13% body fat” and on and on and on.
i find that so concerning from the standpoint of her drawing vulnerable people in with the faux body positivity content then getting real triggering real fast.
she's allowed to change what she wants for her body
@@priscilatrevino8089 cool! that’s literally not what my comment was talking about.
I totally agree with you!
Thank you!!! I used to love her but recently it’s all just like inconsistent messages, weird body fads, discussing camel toe and other body parts I was never insecure about before! Not to mention her questionable restrictive diets that she advertises and tries to sell. They are the epitome of diet culture and idk how she just doesn’t see it! She’s always addicted to the challenge! If it’s not how to keep herself on a strict diet, to doing a slim down challenge, then a muscle building challenge. Always getting disappointed in herself by the end… I feel bad but I feel like she never lets herself actually rest and be happy with where she is, because she could always be “better”. It’s led to a lot of success which reinforces it but eventually it’s gonna be too much. I was really disappointed and appalled as well when she joined another bikini competition after speaking out in the past how damaging and toxic they are!
Yes! She is so fake, it was already fake 3 years ago but now it's just toxic.
I tried her summer program last year and one day I opened her newsletter and it started with “how is your fit girl journey going? How are you dealing with being hungry all the time?” And I was appalled. Even then at the beginning of my journey I was like, nobody should be going hungry ever to lose weight etc.
Oh YIKES yeah that’s a red flag
oh my god, that’s awful! I’ve spent so long teaching myself that I shouldn’t be hungry all the time, and that would be a terrible message to get!
Bit confused here. All it said was "How are you deaing with being hungry all the time?", which is something a LOT of fitness influencers joke about as you naturally will feel hungrier when you start burning more calories to lose weight. Most people arent nutritional experts and dont fix their diets immediately, so they feel hunger. Thats not the same as saying people SHOULD be starving and hungry to lose weight? Thats honestly a huge twisting of words, of a common question. Maybe you read the entire paper and she really said ita good to starve and you should be hungry, but my bet is on that not having been said at all.
@@yulana990 I read the whole thing and it still made me uncomfortable. Everyone is different. I don’t think she’s a reliable influencer to follow.
@@JustinaErcole I never followed her program and I'm happy I didn't...
I haven’t been super die hard for Blogilates, but I’ve used her videos on and off and enjoyed her decently, so I was a little shocked to find Harry’s video saying all this. After watching it, it was very eye opening about not only Blogilates and other fitness influencers. I’m grateful for this knowledge and it leading me to Caroline Girvan who I wouldn’t have come across it if not for his video! I honestly hope Cassie and these other influences can figure everything out, but it was definitely a sign to step back.
Love that you've found your way to Caroline!
Girrrrllll thank you so much for this video! I was a young teen, deep in my eating disorder and found Cassey’s workouts. She did get me into fitness, but I struggled for a long time with body image and restriction, partially inspired by her platform. To this day I still find her content triggering, and I avoid it at all costs. I appreciate educated and positive people who correct her misinformation and validate the folks who followed her programs and suffered for it.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
I was on a mostly liquid diet (under strict doctors watch) for about a year and a half cuz I broke my jaw. And let me tell you I was miserable and my body was utterly destroyed. Luckily my jaw is mostly healed and with my doctors help my body was healed. But it is a scary time and a lot of work not just ordering juice from some website. It makes me sad that people promote or promote on accident that diet when I know first hand how hard it is and how terrible it is. I followed Cassie from grade 6 to grade 10 I struggled with an ED during all this time (not blaming her at all) but her videos fed into my ed and allowed me to validate what I was doing.
OMG I can't even imagine!
I thought she had mentioned that she wants to get *away* from overtraining. I felt exhausted just looking at it! Can you imagine how someone would feel on a day when they feel tired? I would look at those workouts and choose to skip them. It’s important to consider the WHOLE picture of yourself - what can you handle when motivation is high, low, energy is high, energy is low, all the things. What can you truly be consistent with in the long-run…not just at the beginning when you’re feeling super pumped?
Yes yes yes to all of this Taylor.
It’s a fast way to tear a muscle
Thank you so much for this video. It helped put into words why I was getting so upset & getting triggered over things she has been posting. All the comments I read on her videos & posts are so positive, so it’s a huge relief to know that people, educated people, are saying that this stuff is not okay. As someone with a history of an eating disorder, I finally unsubscribed from her. You are right, as someone with that big of a following, she has a responsibility to do better. I worry about the young teenager girls watching her content.
You’re so welcome Lindsay ❤️
32g of fat?????? I feel like this is more like the "how to completely fuck up your hormones in 90 days“ - challenge. Great video! With the content that Casey puts out I actually question if she really believes the bs or just goes for what will sell best. Bc if she has been in the industry for a decade and doesn’t know better, that’s actually really sad. Really really sad.
I agree that it’s really sad.
Is that too much or too little?
@@Kuralai95 waaaaaay to little. Women should at least consume 0,8g of fat/kg of body weight and that’s even low. I would always aim for at least 1g/kg, I noticed that that’s the safest for my hormones and I feel the best that way :)
@@morbidlyxobsessed thank you! It hasn't been long since I started my health journey. Currently I am focusing on cutting down carbs but from your comment I have learned that I am consuming only half of the fats I should be eating. It's kinda hard for me to get my daily macros right cause I am doing OMAD.
@@Kuralai95 since you just started it’s absolutely normal that you don’t know everything right away and make some mistakes. Fats are really important for hormones, carbs are not essential for our body so having lower carbs can’t really do much damage. An easy way to up you fats if you are doing omad would be to add seeds, nuts, nut butter or healthy oils since those have a lot of fats even if you don’t add much. So they won’t bulk up your meals to much regarding volume. I would suggest trying different things, if omad doesn’t work great for you switch things up. Always remember you can have 5 meals, 3, 2 or 1, totally doesn’t matter, what matters is how many calories you consume (regarding weight loss / gain). Obviously what you eat matters in nutrients as well! :) don’t beat yourself up if you have off track days where you eat more / less, less healthy etc. It will get easier week by week, and after some time you'll know a lot more about your body regarding its needs and what works best for you :)
Watching this video and reading through the comments, I’ve had a huge moment of reflection on what Blogilates has been for me. I started using her workout videos back around 2012 (as a middle schooler yikes) and took what she said as the absolute informational truth. I became obsessed with working out to counteract the calories I was consuming, and I developed an ED where I would limit myself to no more than 1200 calories a day. After about a year and a half my family stepped in and got through to me that I had a problem, and in the process of putting weight back on for my own well-being I began to rely on binge eating to cope with my own emotional struggles. Anyways, all these years later I still struggle with body dysmorphia and my relationship with food, and I’m realizing only now that Blogilates and the rabbit hole it led me into were a huge component of that that I still need to heal from. I’m grateful for Cassey and how she helped me develop a passion for working out and putting aside time to move my body, but that’s about the only thing I want to retain any longer. I hope she can work things out for herself and recognize the harm she has (very likely unintentionally) caused so many people with misinformation and promoting unhealthy frames of perception.
Well said, Justina! I also followed Cassey when first exploring fitness options and wish the science-backed and publicly available information both you and Harry provide was available back then. Your videos have helped me unlearn so many disordered ways of looking at food and exercise.
Thank you so much Ashley!
Okay so, I have a lot of thoughts about this. I am so glad you are talking about all of this, I have been waiting for your Blogilates video since I subscribed!
I also got into fitness following Cassey as a teenager and, honestly, I had a lot of issues growing up that she did not help with. She has always been problematic and really made it difficult to break out of my own misguided ideas about health anf fitness the longer I watched her. I will always be grateful for starting my journey with her but I also feel like following her advice kinda held me back for years and reinforced a lot of negative ideas I had about myself.
In terms of the 90 day plan, I totally agree is looking to sell it eventually. She has always been obsessed with toning and trimming/targeting fat and this is no different. Which is actually insane given her stats right now, in my opinion no fitness influencer needs to advertise "fat" or "weight" loss at 120lbs, she can do what she wants but the idea SHE still thinks she is "fat" at 120 hurt me trying to lose weight growing up. I am sad to see this is still going on. I know influencers do this though, if you are perpetually losing weight, you have a never ending supply of desperate customers. And I can see she will do her "personal" challenge, it will be a success and now that she "tested" it herself she will sell it back to her followers. This is the 28 day reset and PIIT Challenge all over again. I know, cause I bought it, and looking at her "new" and "personalized" meal plan, I have bought THE SAME PLAN like four times for various other challenges, routines or X day journeys before, always in the name of losing weight. It is so blatant and gross and sad that she is willing to take advantage of her followers that trust her and want actual help and guidance.
I am so glad someone like you is pointing out how harmful this is and I am so glad I found your channel, your functional, no bullshit approach to fitness really keeps me grounded. Your content is straightforward and knowledgable, now I feel so much more informed when looking into a new routine or adjusting my nutrition needs.
Thank you so so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate it and how much of a positive influence you have been on my journey
Thank YOU for sharing your experience!
Let me just say I never comment on anyone's videos. Ever. But after watching some of yours, I feel I need to do it. Thank you for calling out all the bullsh**t in this industry. As a former overweight person in my 30s almost 40s I feel I have been so misinformed by all these people. Anyways, all I want to say is thank you!!! Hugs from Transylvania and please keep doing what you're doing!
Oh my goodness Andra! I'm so happy to have you here Thanks for sharing a bit of your experience :)
YES!!!! Thanks for another great video Justina! I used to do Cassey's workouts with no results and then realized what a click baiter she is. Just because someone has millions of followers does not mean they know what they are doing. I agree 100% with everything you said in this video. Thank you for calling it out, because I feel very sorry for people that take what she says at face value. It is a waste of time and can also be very dangerous to some people. I agree totally that whenever someone calls out another person's misinformation or irresponsible behavior they get called a "hater". Thank you for having the guts to speak out and protect others! Keep it up!!!
Thanks Michelle ❤️
Nah, if I were her RD I wouldn't work with her unless she was also seeing a therapist. I discovered her in 2010 and while I do believe her *pilates* content was better (perhaps the bar is too low for her), her food outlook has always been troubling and how she responds to criticism hasn't changed. She hasn't grown at all and has played the victim for years. Thankfully, I outgrew her content very quickly. She was my introduction to fitness, but I feel sorry for those that still follow her and actually take her diet/fitness advice. Especially considering how many educated female influencers we have now compared to back then.
Agreed!
who are some female influencers you would recommend? :)
@@tasnimk1442 Natacha Océane is someone I like. In one video, she used science to show the difference between HIIT and Pylometrics and you can find some of her videos with cause and effect, such as what would be the outcome if I eat highly processed foods.
She is in her mid thirties and has very little emotional maturity. I think she could benefit from therapy.
@@tasnimk1442 try move with nicole. Her workouts are phenomenal to say the least. And she dosent just keep on blabbering, like cassie
Yes! Harry is excellent. How he keeps a straight face while watching so many crap workouts is awesome! Love that you're both calling out these influencers.
Thanks for watching Amy!
Also I’m sorry, but if one thinks this isn’t going to be the same EXACT thing as her last 90 day journey where “she did it for her”& then she cash grabbed it. Packaged it& sold it for profit. Then perhaps one would be a little naive.
EXACTLY. That's the only reason I kept my mistake in the video. It's obvious what the end game is here.
You right.
I appreciate this video and both your sensible comments about blogilates. I myself have had mixed emotions about her channel now too. I owe the entire beginning of my fitness journey to blogilates because I was finally able to be more consistent when I followed her calendars. Years later, I joined a CrossFit gym and since then I've been keeping up with weightlifting even with lockdown (thx dumbbells)... All with the consistency I learned from her hard work. But I see how her videos and how she has perpetuated toxic parts of diet/fitness culture, likely because she's also stuck in the culture.
I'm in a similar boat! I also started with her and she got me up and moving. But when I think back to my goals back then, it was just to be as skinny as possible. So i think a lot of her content fed my disordered patterns.
the worst part is she doesn't take any suggestions/feedback/awareness from professional, educated, and experienced trainers and sends out aggressive messages back informing us that she's doing it her way. That's fucked up.
Amen
I’ve never done anything Casey has promoted but as someone who’s very into nutrition, science and training she’s working twice as hard to do something she can easily do with a slight bulk and compound movement weight training. I’d be firing that RD if I was given 1500 calories. I’m 5’1” and 105 pounds for reference - I’m working on building muscle and I need over 1800 calories to build. She probably needs closer to 2400-2600 calories with her stats! She’s in a severe deficit and will probably wind up with a worsened relationship with her food and an injury from lack of food/nutrients. Only way to get a flat belly is to work hard in the gym, avoid food intolerances and eat a sustainable diet.
Yes to all of this!
😭😭😭 the food intolerances have me so bloated 🤰🏻
@@sweetembrace6706 all I mean by bulking is consuming more calories than you burn. It doesn’t have to be a large swing to consuming thousands of excess calories. To build muscle you need more calories to fuel that kind of goal. And I understand not everyone wants to lift. Her plan includes it though so that’s why I discussed that specific route to muscle gain. I can respect anyone who just wants to move their body. The best plan is the plan you’ll stick to ❤️
@@sweetembrace6706 1) Who said anything about men? 2) I'm using the term bulk as a technical term regarding her diet. You can be in a cut, maintenance, or bulk. You can really only build muscle in maintenance or bulk. 3) If you want to build muscle, you will need to lift weights. This is non-negotiable for the goal that Cassey stated.
All of her challenges are ridiculous and completely impossible to do unless you have that no pain no gain mentality and you're willing to destroy yourself in the process.
I used to that, not eating for days and yes it works, for a really short time. It really messes with you. Headaches, sleepiness all the time, faint spells, gastritis to the point you're unable to eat or be near food even if you wanted and screwed metabolism. Worse, it's really hard to get out of that mindset. Don't do it, it's NOT worth it.
I feel like this is such a perfect demonstration of where we're actually at in terms of body positivity/acceptance/moving away from diet culture.
As you stated - essentially if she was *actually* going to try to gain muscle, especially if she's attempting to see a difference in 90 days, she would have to be in a caloric surplus - meaning, she would have to put on the requisite body fat in order to be building that new muscle tissue.
She's never going to willingly do that - and I don't think we're moving towards seeing any influencers actually doing that unless their brand is to be in actual body building competitions where they have to do a real bulk in order to compete.
The reason for this? We still, as a society, generally only accept 3 types of bodies - the extreme perfection/idealization/out of reach body, the relatable thin body, or the EXTREME body on the other end of the spectrum.
Cassie in may ways, is a reflection of the current state of things, more so than she is influencing the current trends - not to absolve her of all responsibility, but her BUSINESS is her body, and she has to BE what SELLS/is popular. She is reflecting back to us what we want and value. That's capitalism.
She has the perfect 'relatable thin' physique and always has. She doesn't have six pack abs and a thigh gap, but she DOES have what is for most people, still an unattainable level of leanness - she isn't 'average' by any stretch of the imagination, and MOST people ARE average. She doesn't feel intimidating because again, she's not on the extreme end of things, but she still represents that attainable aspirational self/body - we can see ourselves becoming her if we just tried a little harder, because she's not THAT extreme right? When again, in reality, most people are never going to look like her, have the access to nutrition that she does, have access to the time to work out the way she does, have access to the other beauty treatments she does and so on.
If she were to actually follow a plan that would enable her to put on significant muscle in 90 days, she would have to move herself out of the relatable lean category, closer to the 'normal' or average category - and that just doesn't sell. Even if it's just for a short period of time, it would be terrible for business because at the end of the day, we don't want to see ourselves in our influencers.
We want an extreme, or an aspirational better. We don't want a medium.
I think this is a big thing. We don't actually wants influencers who look like us, who are like us, who live like us. There's no market for normal.
Just my two cents.
Wow this is sooo insightful and interesting to read! Thank you for sharing!
@@JustinaErcole Yeah, Cassie is a brand and a business, and she knows what sells. I don't see her deviating from that, not after this long.
@@JustinaErcole AAANNNDD honestly the 1200 calories thing was actually all we needed to know to know this was a fat loss plan - because she's posted what I eat in a day videos and other stories before where she is eating around 2000 calories a day. So unless those were one off days for show, she's not going to be building muscle in a 800 calorie deficit (plus whatever is being expended by her hard workouts). She seems to have been maintaining her weight for the last several years/since her 90 day transformation, so again, she's either actually eating sub 1200 calories on a regular basis in order to maintain her weight and showing those higher calorie days for show - or she's secretly gained a lot of weight and is using some digital wizardry to hide it ;) Again, the numbers just don't really make sense when all things are considered.
Commenting because this video needs all the support it can get. If I had seen this 8 or 9 years ago my journey could have been so different!
I used to do Casseys workouts and they really worked for me, my fitness and my relationship with my body.
That’s me personally tho, and I understand differing opinions.
That's great! But I think there's a bigger picture here than "what works."
@@JustinaErcole Agreed! And I think it is important that people are being held accountable.
Within the past couple of years I left a fitness influencer community and have been slowly trying to teach myself not to restrict foods that aren't "clean", not avoid high sugar fruit like a banana (for realz) and over exercise to lose weight to win an eight week competition run by the influencer. You don't realize how bad it is when you're happy and losing weight until you take a step back and see what you are doing to yourself and why you are making weird rules for yourself and doing dumb exercise that you hate but the influencer always throws in the workouts. So thank you for speaking on why certain things are bad in the fitness influencer world! It's channels like yours that have helped me try to be healthy again and in a slow, successful way that is doable for life.
Proud of you for doing the work Chelsea!
With that kind of timetable😱I really think she is being hard on herself. This was brilliant. In fact team fornever lean and yourself are the ones I always go to for advice - I have learnt a lot from both of you.
Wow thank you Stella!
This video was sooooo satisfying. I can’t believe she’s really making this stuff public
Thank you for watching!
OMG I'm at an outpatient ED clinic- when I've relapsed is when I've been restricting to 1500 kcal. This is crazy. And absolutely no accountability just brushing others expressed concern off as people being 'haters'.
The lack of accountability is insane to me.
Stop watching her, ever thought of that? She’s not for everyone, she also doesn’t have to change to fit your mold.
@@quelquun2018 To say you've missed the point is an understatement.
There is something about her that makes you believe her.
I looked at that plan and for a split second i thought i should be doing her 90 day plan. I have to keep watching videos like these and remind myself that this wont be happy or looking the way i want if i follow this. So i think you correct in that she has to understand the gravity of her influence even with disclaimers.
100%. When someone has a large following it's hard to figure out if they actually know what they're talking about or not.
That’s how I feel! Even after watching these very informative videos and them honestly making sense, I’ll be like “but she doesn’t SEEM like all that…” she’s good at making you believe her, I suppose
As always love your videos. They ground me in reality. I never followed any crazy diets or meal plans, etc but I know people who do. I have a friend who drinks “spicy water” every morning thinking it will detox her and help her burn fat. I keep my mouth shut but it pisses me off!! I know people who do cleanses too and it’s like mind blowing that they think juicing for a month is healthy!!!! And thank you for pointing out that the only way to detox your body is with a functioning liver and kidneys. NOT thru detox tea, or juicing, or anything else!!! RANT OVER!! Love ya girl
Love you too Kelly!
Ahhh you and Harry are my ‘go to’ s for anything fitness and uncovering fitness bs! Love your channels both so much 😄❤️
Thanks Grace!
So glad to have come across this video- I started doing Cassey's calendar workouts as a way to build a habit of exercise (I think her pilates workouts are fun!), and then moved into strength training when my gym became available- so it's been kind of wild to see her doing a similar shift, but with a completely different model. I've been doing 3-4 exercises, 4 sets each, 8-10 reps, 4x a week. I keep it as simple as possible- warm up ~10 min very light cardio, 1 min rest between sets, 2 min rest between exercises, and stretch 15 min afterwards. And absolutely no meal plan!! Anything of the sort could easily trigger an eating disorder for me. I try to stick to intuitive eating as much as possible, I'm slowly learning how to honor my hunger and fullness signals. Definitely not functioning at a caloric deficit....
Anyways, I appreciate the time you put into this video, I feel very validated in my approach to strength training now 😅
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Idk about her personal content but her clothing line is amazing!
It is! Unfortunately I can’t support her so I don’t buy anything.
I love your videos Justina! Thanks to you I found out about Sydney Cummings and I have now been following her daily for about 4 months. You, TFNL and MissFitAndNerdy are my fitness staples for information and tips. Thanks for everything you do ❤️
Edit: omg how could I have forgotten Natacha?? She is also one of the GOATs, alongside you 3 :)
Wow I'm in great company because I love all three of those creators!
Tbh, idk if it's the age difference but I am currently 23 and started using Cassey's videos when I was 17. I still utilize a lot of her workouts, and her more current ones contain different sized dumbbells. I was never drawn to her older videos, or detoxifying/diet stuff- because it didn't seem too factual to me, tbh. But I still was inspired to eat more whole foods and produce because of her. She always talked about how focusing on the quality of food is important, and in order to see progress with your workouts you need to be eating well. During the videos she would talk about her favorite snacks, like cashew butter and different fruits/smoothies. So to me, she did a very good job of shaping a positive perspective of exercise and just having a healthy lifestyle. Especially since she always mentioned that vanity can be a decent motivator, but the main focus should be having a healthy and strong body. And that helped a lot.
I love his videos! He’s always so polite and considerate.
He's really lovely to watch and so insightful!
She recently had “experts” weigh in on her website and make their own articles. And I kid you not, I read an article about how to vacation that was pure diet culture fuel!! Talked about taking protein powder with you and squeezing in workouts while on vacation and taking flavored drops with you so you can just order a seltzer with vodka and have a low calorie version of a “cocktail”. My head was spinning!! This wasn’t even written by her but by one of her supposed “expert” friends!! It was so disordered! Like damn!! Go on vacation and just ENJOY!! I feel like the last time she did that was on her honeymoon to Hawaii and she complained about how she gained all this weight when she came back! Then did a three day juice cleanse!! But then she’ll turn around and say it’s not about the weight and appearance but feeling/being strong. She recently went on a mini-moon and said herself in the post she didn’t stop working while on it! Like girl you are going to burn yourself out! And if you are, don’t make that the example for others to follow! I just get so annoyed watching her recently with all her diet “but not a diet” advice
Oh YIKES!
@@JustinaErcole I feel bad criticizing her bc she really got me into working out years ago. And I still do some of her workouts. But with all the constant defensiveness and both diet culture and body critical comments in her videos, it’s hard to not get annoyed. She’s very contradictory in her views. I like how she uses weights in some of her newer videos, but I absolutely despise any of her weightless arms videos (spinning your arms in circles is ineffective and can injure your joints). I also have never been able to take her food content seriously, even back in the day… it’s always been very diet-y, using fad trendy ingredients, and very restrictive! It’s fine if dairy/legumes/grains/gluten don’t agree with your body, but please don’t market that type of diet to other people!! Legumes and grains are powerhouse ingredients for your body, full of fiber and proteins, and it makes me sad that it’s making a whole group of people following her demonize them. I think because it’s not as restrictive as the chicken breast/broccoli diet she did during her pre bikini competition that she thinks it’s healthy, but it’s not. She says an RD helped her create her new recipes. But even then, why are you demonizing entire food groups? She also said she would never do another bikini competition and criticized it in that 90 day muscle post on insta, but then she ended up doing a bikini competition afterwards anyway!
As someone who has suffered with an ED my whole life, Cassie's blog posts, to me, SCREAM "ana accountability."
I steer clear of her content 😵💫
Smart thinking Natasha :) you got this!
@Emodaddy I could be wrong, cause I am slow, but I think it stands for anorexia nervosa? I think??
Loved every second of this video.
So, I'm a runner, I run a minimum of 40 miles a week, it's my thing. When I saw Cassey was eating 1500 cals and running everyday before strength......um.....good luck girl. I do strength 5× a week, but it's to support my running and for enjoyment (sometimes, lol). While I've built some muscle, it's just not gonna happen even though I eat way more calories than Cassey. I totally agree with you when you say it's a fat loss plan disguised as a strength plan.
While I don't have an eating disorder, I do have food issues and find her super detailed plans very triggering. I am 36 years old....so I can't imagine what a 19 year old girl feels like reading her stuff. Cassey is a dang adult, but she has a high school/college age following, what she posts feels irresponsible.
Final note, if her workouts are so freakin effective, how come she never includes them in her journeys?
Adding an edit: I wanted to add that I absolutely love how you are not afraid to admit that you don't know something, and that you'll respond to questions in the comments by saying you're not certified to answer. Really appreciate it!
Thank you so much for watching and sharing your experience!
I had ED when I was working out with blogilates. She says she doesn't diet but she then does juice diet, no carb etc. Literally promotes body dysmorphia.
YUP
full disclosure, i’ve only just started to do the video, but one thing i would like to keep in mind is that a lot of the things she shows (half-push ups as the example) are really nice for getting into exercising more. it’s a lot easier to tell yourself that you’re starting with something small.
also, they’re very nice for people who are disabled/mobility-impaired like me.
excited to see more of the video!
edit: ah yeah, i think the thing about it is that it feels a bit disingenuous the way she talks about it, like implying that it’s just as good as other exercises or even just focused on the muscles she’s talking about.
also, in a way, a lot of diet/exercise culture feels like a cult or some kind of religion. hope to everyone in their journey
Thank you so much for watching and sharing your thoughts :)
Subscribed solely because you recognize that you need an RD credential to sell meal plans/give nutrition advice. THANK YOU!!!!!
You’re so welcome!
the crossover vid we’ve all been waiting for 😍
haha happy you enjoyed!
Thanks for the analysis! I feel a little more justified as to why some of her content was making my ED flare up and I thought it was maybe just me.
Oh yeah, I feel that. I’m in a very good place now but it’s still tough for me to watch her stuff.
@@JustinaErcole Yess! So true. Happy your better 😊
I will never forget when I was in high school and did one of her ab calendars and one recommendation she had in her blog was to drink water until your pee was clear. Horrific
It's so scary to know someone who clearly has history of disordered mind set (and currently ) can have such a big following and continue to promote it for others. Just like you said, she knows no matter how much she says "this is what works for me, maybe not for you" people will still try if they look up to her.
I question if she even has a conscience or if it's not as loud compared to the sound of the money being made.
Also if I were the RD she is mentioning, I'd be a bit embarrassed. There's no way those numbers were accurate and I have to question what she really told the RD about what her goals are .
Yeah I looked at the RD’s info online and she seems pretty harmless and level headed. Not sure how much Cassey is paying her to endorse these choices.
OMG When you talked about putting ideas in someones head while also telling it is a bad idea I immediately thought of when I was around 12 and my best friend at the time was concerned on my eating etc. She told she would be super mad if I would do something that her sister had done. I probably never thought about it until then. It sticked in my head, first I was too afraid for it, but I started to destroy my body with it 4 years later.Took me 8 years to stop. I am not gonna say what is was, because I do not want someone reading this and then going to do the same. Thank you for explaining that so clearly. It does make so much sense, but still never really thought about it that way
So glad that clicked with you too!
she gained a huge following in he beginning of her career because of her bubbly personality and the way she looks. Her skin, her hair, her outfits, and her physique AND the stuff that she designs. So naturally people started adapting to her workout plans and eventually her meal plans. And a lot of her followers wanna look like her-really thin and toned. I'm not sure how she has a bit of muscle definition with those weird exercises but it seems to be working for some people...good for them!
Another reason she's able to keep her large following and further grow it is because of her blogicomics on instagram-cute and relatable. And she talks about her Asian upbringing a lot, which makes her relatable to minorities. Being relatable in even ONE thing can grow your following and lead people to be influenced by EVERY single thing you do and post about whether it's the smart thing to do or really dangerous. I totally agree with you about your point about her wanting to make money. Of course she does. This is what she does for a living. She's gonna sell everything she's doing *face palm*
I used to be a huge fan of hers and she's the one that made me like pilates. When I got into functional training and saw her new content, I was done with her. I actually tried her lower body workouts on her 90 day journey just out of curiosity without the 30 minute run and it took me an hour. And I had to do less weight than I usually do cuz it's really high volume. Definitely not sticking to that workout plan.
Thank you for sharing your insight!
I started doing Casey’s workouts when I began my exercise journey. I was new to fitness and really believed I could build muscle as she was telling me. I quickly got bored of her videos and moved in to other UA-cam creators like Caroline Girvan and now as well Yoga by Adrienne. I also asked others in the industry for the best method to build muscle. But I’m not 18 so maybe I knew to keep asking questions when I didn’t see results. But if I was younger I can see how easy it is to believe what Casey says and think it will work. Thank you for your video. Great video!
Thank you!
I honestly agree with you. I found Blogilates when I was 15 and was just learning about nutrition and weight loss. I was caught up in diet culture and had no idea how it would affect me later in life. I also made her cheap eats recipes thinking "she's so fit and has lots of followers, this has to be legit." I made a healthy wrap using 'healthy' substitutes she bought at Trader Joe's and she was rolling her eyes from how delicious it was...and I thought it was the driest most unsatisfying thing I ever ate. But I ate it because I believed in her and the price for health and nutrition was a trade on taste I guess. I even stopped eating rice because she said herself that she didn't enjoy rice. I couldn't understand why, but my young brain assumed it was due to the carbs. I don't blame her either, she most likely was misinformed about nutrition...but dang. Young me really looked up to her and followed her advice religiously until one day I realized life had way better options. Influencers really need to be careful with what they publish as you say. It can really mess with impressionable kids like I was.
100%! You are one of the reasons I make videos like this. I hope you've sorted out some of that disordered thinking :)
Omg yes! I remember I tried some of her recipes when I was like 15 and I hated them. She acted like it was so delicious when the stuff I ate from her was terrible. The recipes I tried were healthy and simple but they just did not taste good.
Cassey was my introduction to fitness after never enjoying exercise and being terrible at just about every sport all through high school. I did her workouts pretty religiously for about 2 years because they were accessible for the average person who knew nothing about fitness and had no idea how to get started. And honestly, she gave me a great base to work off of when I finally transitioned to bodybuilding, cross-training and CrossFit. But the ideas and mentalities she promoted, ie. the 6 day a week workout calendars with high intensity exercise every day that made you feel guilty if you missed a day - not so good. I think she hasn't moved with the times as exercise science has. She's well intentioned and I am so grateful to her for introducing me to fitness, but she does need to adjust her strategy I think.
I'm so glad people are calling her out. I religiously followed her workout calendars when I was 15. I was doing hour long workouts six days a week, along with "clean" eating. I wasn't eating enough, but also wasn't losing any weight. I was so upset and confused and it had an awful effect on my relationship with food and my body. I've struggled for five years now and I'm still struggling. She totally messed me up. Her content should honestly be age restricted.
OMG YES "clean" eating - like what does that even mean lol
@@JustinaErcole I knoow right ? So toxic 🥴😅
Thank you! This was helpful. As someone who just watched her 15 min arm workouts and butt workouts, I didn’t know about all of these other unresponsive videos! I do like her videos mostly because she talks during them all and does them with us live, which really makes the time go by faster. I wish more creators would do this. However, fantastic to learn more about these creators and how they can be problematic
I also love a coached workout and fully respect her in that sense :)
Girl, if you live people who do workouts with you live, you need to try Sydney Cummings. She's great, she's a certified personal trainer. And tough as nails. And pregnant now and still kicking my ass.
@@xjingify thank you!!! ❤️ will do.
I agree with you so much on this especially two specific points. First up I am a Registered Dietitian with a clinical background and I love the fact that you said our kidneys and livers detox for us. Science! Secondly on the whole I tried this but disclaimer don't you try it is so confusing. My current job is with college students and so many of them are confused on what to eat and I don't blame them! I try to break it down for them (based on science) just like I am sure you do. Keep on keeping on Justina!
Nicole! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise here. I really appreciate it ❤️
I’m glad people like you and TFNL and other channels like yours who are working hard to clarify all this misinformation that exists in the fitness industry, literally all the wrong and uneducated people become famous for no reason and its just sad
Thank you for being here Janice :)
It was the recent picture of her wearing a dress she could fit in a year before and it completely ripping that did it for me. On a personal level, having gone from having no muscle to gaining 20 lbs really fast (Army) and not fitting into my ‘skinny clothes’ it was traumatic.
But Cassie is *intentionally* trying to gain muscle. So she would have to know her old clothes would probably not fit. Seeing someone who is intentionally trying to gain muscle do that seems very...disordered. It also isn’t a very good in promoting effective muscle gain for people, mainly women, who won’t train their muscles because they think they’ll get bulky and not ‘skinny’. But I wasn’t trying to do it.
It seems like she has a lot of her own mindset work to do before sharing and selling online.
I love this video because it's a good reminder that it's ok to change your mind about a person, an idea, a lifestyle etc. It's ok.
So true!
It's sad - I remember her last 90-day journey, and then she was eating around 1750 calories to LOSE fat. Seeing her calories now is just depressing, especially with her activity level. I hope she realizes that this isn't sustainable.
I don't think she cares about sustainability. I think she cares about quick results and proving everyone "wrong."
i love that your *educated* in the title is an understatement ;). Sharing your knowledge is a great blessing for all of us, who are lost in the wrong ideals of the youTube Fitness Industrie. Thanks for bringing some truth into all of this bullsh*** ; its kinda like the only influence of an influencer I appreciate LOL
Thank you so much for watching!
I gasped out loud at 1500 calories a day!!!! Literally doing my meal prep for the week, have the video on in the background, and my neck snapped around with a huge “GASP!?!??”
hahahaha omg Julia I would pay for video footage of that
For muscle building I was eating 2500 a day and I'm definitely shorter than Cassey. She really does NOT give her body the fuel it needs :(
For muscle building I was eating 2500 a day and I'm definitely shorter than Cassey. She really does NOT give her body the fuel it needs :(
After the very last time I did a Blogilates program, I realized that it's honestly mentally difficult to eat as little as she did and do these useless ass workouts. ONLY ONE REST DAY?! She's absolutely gonna charge $100 for people to do this program.
Right?!
I miss the Cassey that would clap back at the haters for saying she needed to have a 6-pack to be taken seriously as a fitness influencer. She was inspirational to me in overcoming my own body-image issues by helping me realize I did not have to look shredded to be strong and confident in my skin. Now, she's conveying the opposite message. I still love Cassey, but I've had to take a break as this is triggering to a person healing from an ED to see someone selling the idea of fitness meaning molding yourself to a certain size/standard. I appreciate videos like this one pointing out the dangers of what she's promoting while also conveying that we all care about her wellbeing.
Ooh yes this is some solid insight. Thank you for watching Lauren!
i love blogilates but I also really appreciate your opinion on her workouts! I think for the past recent years, her intentions of exercise/training has changed and I'm not a fan of it neither. Thanks for sharing your perspective! Always love your honesty
Thanks for watching!
amazing video that really summarized what the tea has been with cassey lately. like a lot of people in the comments, her videos helped me get back into working out after a long break and her perky attitude pulled me out of the funk i was in that made me stop moving my body to begin with. that being said, her advice and the way she responds to criticism sucks. it just sucks. i had to unfollow for a laundry list of reasons where the tl;dr is how disappointed i was in what everything surrounding her has become: something to sell, and if you disagree you're just a "hater". wtf? a grown woman being like this? and while hhearing through the grapevine that she IS the problem makes me feel justified in my distancing from her content, i'm with you in feeling for her and hoping she knocks it off and sees that the criticism is for a reason. she seems like a nice, fun lady, but i don't think i can blindly follow her and hype up her every move the way her community does. anyway, there are other options for fun, low impact and or strength focused workouts out here and i hope more people know that
Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts :)
I do agree with you. The change from start to now is vast-- and not in a good way!!!! Thanks for your honesty!!
You are so welcome!
I love Harry and I love you JE 🙌 And more than once I’ve thought to myself that Justina and Harry in a video together would be killer 🔥You may not agree on everything but between you, you are enlightening a lot of people because you both bring perspective into the health debate as well as humour. Yay! 🥳🙌♥️ (ps. I agree on the hat by the way 😅).
Thank you so much Katja! This means a lot to me :)
in the past year and a half i’ve done a lot of work on body image and intuitive eating, and i got back into strength training in april 2021 after taking some time off. i’m not training for any image specific goals but lemme tell ya: the increase in muscle size just from EATING a LOT (but not beyond my body’s cues in any type of forcefeeding bulking way, and also working to prioritize protein and carbs to support my activity) has been wilder than i could have ever dreamed when i was doing bodybuilding style training but was afraid to be in a surplus and afraid to get bigger.
3 months is way too short of a time, in my opinion, to see super meaningful gains since you can ride the newbie gain train for like a year. i’m on month 8-ish of consistent training and i started with a focus in powerlifting, then my training looked closer to functional hypertrophy, and now i’m doing olympic weightlifting training that combines rep schemes all the way from 2-12 reps in different movements. personally, the most dramatic shifts in my body composition have been in the last month or two. i don’t know why this dramatic life altering shift with strength training is supposed to be happening in 3 months with Cassey. that’s like, the time it takes to get into a decent groove and troubleshoot whatever’s been going weird since the start.
I have been working out at home since the beginning of the pandemic and I'm not planning to come back to the fitness club. I still don't know enough about workouts etc., but thanks to you and people like Harry I know I can learn a lot and still take pleasure in working out 😊
So happy you’re learning a lot!
I really appreciate this video. I loved Cassey when I was in my early twenties and after some time realized I was fixated on attaining her body structure but I’m not even close to being built like her and it eventually I realized I was fighting a losing battle. I love her personality but her energy and really enjoyed her videos once upon a time but now I’ve started lifting weights and have found it enjoyable to focus on the numbers I can reach while lifting rather than what shows up on the scale. That being said, I got excited to see her 90 day muscle journey and was super stressed to see what she was planning on doing. And the fact that she just keeps pointing the fingers back and bemoaning her haters has made me really concerned for her. I genuinely hope she’s ok but every time I see her stuff now I think she’s just heading to a breakdown. I really hope I’m wrong but it was nice to see someone call it out, honestly didn’t realize anyone had before.
So glad you've found some goals that work better for you Krista :)
have been eating protein oats with pb every single day for the past 5 years and I don't hate it haha. Not everybody needs "variety" to feel happy and satisfried. If you found few staples you enjoy, there's absolutely no problem with sticking to it. Also not everyone has time to cook different things for every single meal. For me personally meal plans work very well, as they eliminate unneccesary obssesion with tracking and fitting something into my macros. And on weekends when I have time I might come up with some fancy recipe.
Idk if you can compare cassey 10yrs ago to today. She's always been transparent to me. Some of her workout videos are better than others. I dont like the fast reps, so I just go more slow and controlled to really target the muscle. Fast repitions can cause injury as well. Cassey helped me gain core strength and you can tell that woman has unbelievable core strength. I usually have to combine 2-4 of her workouts to get a complete workout. But sometimes a 10min hiit is enough.
I got into lifting after and I usually come back to her when I want a light toning day.
My biggest complaint is the attention she gives to negative commenters. But we can only have compassion, she obviously has some trauma (as everyone is wanting to comment on her having body image issues, she clearly still has them and doesnt take well to criticism).
It's good to point out the limitations of a fitness influencer so that we can make informed decisions, but I'm not so sure this was the way to do it.
You know? I feel for her because I know what it feels like to be miss informed and thinking you are right. I went through my whole fitness/eating disorder stage and I am glad I am not there anymore and that's behind me. I am glad there's people like you and this other guy (not sure of his credentials) that are professionals or certified and letting the rest of us know this is not right. I mean, back when I was a teenager in the 90s, I did so much wrong to my body and I think it's actually unconsciously terrified and traumatized that if I skip a meal or not eat enough or if I eat too much junk food or not drink enough water, or I over eat, I literally get sick, like I star shaking or freak out and get migraines. I mean it could be that I am triggering my migraines through that behavior, but if I was ignorant like I was back then, I would probably try to copy her to lose weight and be skinny. Thank you for pointing out her unhealthy behavior and I hope other teens or ignorant people do not follow it. Thank you for this video😘.
Thank you for sharing your experience Laura!
I've done Cassey's workouts off and on for a few years now, but never really followed her diet/food related advice nor actually read her newsletters and blogs. I've only watched a couple of her videos that discuss her personal journey. I do want to say that I really feel for Cassey as an individual. We're talking about a woman who had all positive intentions of bringing free Pilates to a wide audience through positivity and she got massive amounts of hate about how her body looked while she was doing that. There's a lot of time between that and her first 90 day journey where she got just as much or more hate about making her body look the way the haters wanted her to look in the first place. And she's been doing all of that as a woman of color (more hate, I specifically remember from her comment once about being the first Asian American woman on the cover of a particular magazine).
I'm not going to defend her food/diet/plan content, but I hope people remember that Cassey is a person too, and one that clearly doesn't seem to be done with her food and fitness journey. I hope that she's able to find her way back to loving her body.
That's totally fair and I also think it's insane how much criticism she has gotten simply on her body. I don't think anyone has the right to comment on what another person looks like. That being said, anyone dealing with their own disordered patterns shouldn't be selling programs or meal plans.
@@JustinaErcole Wow, thanks for the reply! And you're right, and your criticism is totally fair. I just hope people remember she's a person on her own journey as well.
Hopefully the RD will/has made appropriate changes to the meal plan that you buy. I've never been interested in paying for stuff like that so I have no idea what's involved with it.
I've also been thinking a lot lately about where the line is between posting your own healing journey for catharsis/therapy and being responsible for others when you post things like this. We all used to post the craziest stuff on the internet in the livejournal/xanga days! Obviously, being an influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers is different from posting a blog that you haven't shared or only told close friends and family about, but where is that line? Something we could all think about, I suppose.
Hi Justina!! New viewer here! You did a great review on Casey’s new journey. I was a follower for years because I enjoyed movement and physical activity. Her videos were always cheerful and fun. However in the past 2 years I stopped watching/ following for several reasons. The main being that she continues to struggle with self image and she contraindicates herself self. Her diet and weight journey can often be triggering especially for those who have a history of an ED. When she started her 90 day fat loss journey I felt that this was not coming from a genuine place to self improvement but rather lose weight to look more like other fitness influencers.
Now with this new fitness journey she has set out, it confirmed by suspicion that she has yet to deal with her ED past and constantly trying to find ways to mask it. I hope she can find a happy place and get the help she truly needs with body image.
Also to disclose I am a registered dietitian, I strongly dislike meal plans but they can be used as a foundation for those whose struggle with eating adequately or having a specific journey goal. They are not for everyone and definitely not for those with an ED.
Thanks for sharing your insight Hillary!
Abbey sharp just reviewed her new plan and it’s very insightful. Strongly recommend to see her insight .
“Now it’s not really about you, it’s about public appearance” completely agree! This is something that Harry pointed out that really turned into an eye-opening red flag for me. Another is that she just blocked Harry for his very kind, thoughtful, respectful advice. I sincerely hope she figures herself out, but I agree it’s troubling that she is doing all this when she is fully aware she holds lots of influence, especially over impressionable young women and girls.
Unfortunately I don't think she will listen to anyone telling her that she's doing harm.
Why do you hate her she is very inspiring and helps a lot of people start working out and keep working out
I never said I hate her to my knowledge. Feel free to drop a timestamp if I did. And while she can be inspiring, you can also see in the comments how many people she's perpetuated eating disorders and disordered eating for (myself included). It seems like you've completely missed the point of the video.
I’ve been wanting to watch more channels and more perspectives about Cassey because I didn’t want my opinion to be only influenced by Harry; so I really appreciate this video, and how truthful it is. I also appreciate your slightly different approach than Harry. I agree at the end here that I feel for her if she is genuinely confused and I wish her the best. But she NEEDS to be aware (or, if she, she needs to care more) of the harmful information she is spreading, because honestly without these videos and Harry’s, I wouldn’t realize what has been going on.
So happy you found your way over to me! Thanks for watching and sharing your experience :)
I use to do Blogilates a few years back. i hit a wall (mentally) and I when I went back to exercise, she was not doing it for me anymore. I was dreading my workouts. Then I found Heather Robertson and I was a little excited but there were a lot of jumps for me. Then I found Sydney Cummings and her workouts and positivity really got me into WANTING to workout and have been following her ever since. I have nothing against Blogilates, it just has a different vibe than it used to, if that makes sense. You hit the the spot when you said about making money. I am sure when she is done she will make a new book to sell about this muscle journey that is "for her". She comes out with a new clothing line every few months too and personally I think its SO pricey. I am just as happy working out in five dollar stretch pants and an oversized tshirt. I think you and Harry should collab on a video and wear your hats :)
Haha would love that collab!