Hannah Lynn Fitness

Hello again! A very popular question is "how do you build muscle?" Almost anyone who starts getting into fitness wants to know this! Whether you are trying to lose weight, get stronger, or change your body composition, building muscle is one of the most important elements (besides nutrition of course!). Let's get right into this! There are three main steps in gaining strength and building bigger muscles: Breakdown Recovery Overcompensation  The first step is muscle breakdown- this happens when you do resistance training such as weightlifting. Your body tries it's hardest to be as efficient as possible, and does not like to expend extra energy. So in order to get stronger, you need to push your body outside of it's comfort zone so it will adapt to a new amount weight it needs to lift. So when you exercise, you are not actually growing your muscles, you are causing micro tears in the tissues. This sounds like a bad thing, but it's not! Overtraining I...

Hello again! I sincerely hope you all have enjoyed your weeks so far! Today I want to share with you how I make my "protein" oatmeal; and no it doesn't have protein powder! If you want to, by all means add a scoop or even just a half scoop of protein powder! But this recipe actually gets it protein boost from- you guessed it- eggs. I know I know this sounds weird, and so many people freak out when they hear this! But hear me out for a second, and you can't even taste it! If you think about it, you add eggs to cake, brownies, pie, etc etc to help with the consistency and rise of the bake. What it does in oatmeal is it not only adds protein, but makes it thicker and gives it a creamier consistency. The way I do this is to "cook" my oats first- I do this in the microwave (45 seconds), but you can make it the old fashioned way in a pot, or even pour hot water on top of your oats. You can use the instant oats, but I use the regular "old fashioned"...

Welcome (back) to my blog! Today's post is all about food- YUM! To tell the truth, I absolutely love chicken. But some people don't, and I don't always make the time to cook up chicken; I also think it's better to switch up your sources of protein throughout the week to get a wider variety of different nutrients. So today I bring you THREE other sources of protein that isn't chicken! Before that however, I want to say that I make what I call "protein bowls" for lunch 95% of the time; it is basically a salad with a lot more protein! They are so delicious, low relatively low in calories, and chock full of nutrients. Sometimes I just throw a handful of spinach and some chicken in a bowl and call it lunch, if I'm running late and didn't pack it the night before. And while leafy greens are one of the best vegetables (and foods overall) to eat, there are other types of vegetables that provide essential nutrients your body needs; hence the phrase ...

Hello again! This past week has been so hectic, but I hope to post a little more frequently even when life gets crazy. I am working on two posts I want to really want to put a lot of effort and research in, but today is a little update on my eating habits :) I use the app Lifesum I think I have spent less than an hour at my house today- I have been going going! I didn't any fruit today, and only two servings of vegetables. So tomorrow, my goal is to intentionally eat 2 servings of fruit and 4 servings of vegetables. I ate a total of 1611 calories so far, and this isn't quite enough for a "bulk." However I am not too concerned, because I chose to start my cut today or tomorrow, so I am counting this as sort of a transition day :) Life happens, and you have to learn to be flexible!  Here is the breakdown for the day: Breakfast: Peach Greek Yogurt (Chobani) and Steak Strips (Kirkland Signature) Lunch: Spinach Wrap with chicken, veggies, zucchini salad, a...

Happy Saturday everyone!! This is my first Full Day of Eating (FDOE) post ever! I am so excited to share this with you :) I was definitely much more conscious about what I ate today, knowing I had to share it with you guys! First I'll give you the break down, then explain how my day went! Breakfast: PB Squared Smoothie (from Booster Juice) Lunch: Chobani Greek Yogurt, Cutie, Angie's Popcorn, Peanut Butter Toast Dinner: Turkey and Veggie Stir Fry Snack: Tortilla Chips and Guacamole, Apple and Peanut Butter I am currently playing church volleyball, and Saturdays we have our games. I was running late this morning and didn't have much time to grab food, but I stopped at Booster Juice to grab a "PB Squared" smoothie . I usually order a medium, and oh my goodness it was SO delicious!! So that was my breakfast, around 9 AM. After I got home, I went into my garage to get a workout in, and afterwards I had a Strawberry Chobani Greek Yogurt . I watched a ...

Happy January 8th!! So first of all I want to clarify that there is nothing wrong with planning to "bulk," however I did basically fail at it. Bulking can be a great success, if you do it right; however I did not execute this well. I spent a lot, and I mean hours, of researching how to bulk and reading articles and watching videos, and yet I still messed up. There is one main reason for this: I ATE TOO MUCH. I calculated the following (for my body and goals) on a myriad of different websites using different calculators: TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure- how many calories you burn in a day, including exercise)  BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate - how many calories you burn at rest in a day, as if you were to lay in bed all day) Body Fat Percentage (how much of your weight is made up of fat) How many calories I would need to intake to lose weight (calorie deficit, under your TDEE), gain weight (calorie surplus, over your TDEE), and also maintain weight (right at your TDE...