90 Day Starter Guide
90 Day Starter Guide
90 Day Starter Guide
COMPLETE
STARTER GUIDE
BY: CASSEY HO
Published by Cassey Ho
All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may
not be re-sold or given away to other people. No part of this ebook may be reproduced or
modified in any form, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
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Table of Contents
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Why Are You Going on a 90 Day Journey?
I want you to think about why you’re holding this meal plan in your hands.
Think about what you hope to get out of this journey, what results you
expect and how you want to feel when these 90 days are over. Most
importantly, I want you to think about your Why. If you’re not exactly sure
what that is, then get ready to deep dive into yourself a little.
Actually, don’t start this journey until you do!
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My 90 Day Journey
F inding M y Why
One day I woke up and decided that I needed to take back the life that I
wanted to live. Working out was once something that I enjoyed quietly as a
“regular person.” Blogging was once a safe place where I could truly spill my
honest thoughts. But that particular day I realized that everything that I did,
ate, or said was being constantly critiqued. Of course, that just comes with
being a public figure, but the public judgement of it all had made me a more
timid, scared person. I realized I was tip-toeing around sensitive personalities
and treating everything like it was so fragile. I started to say less and less, for
fear of offending people. I was losing my sense of self.
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To be completely honest, one of the things that made me realize how lost I
had become was how my weakened emotional state had influenced the way
my body was changing. I stepped on the scale one day and weighed in heavier
than I had ever been. I realized then that I had been eating away at my
emotions - not paying attention to how I was filling my voids with food.
Of course, weight is
just a number.
AUG U ST 2 01 9
However, I just didn’t
feel like myself. Stress
over the years of
running a business,
taking care of other
people and not
having time to take
care of myself had
taken a toll on me. It
showed in the pimples
on my face, the whites
in my hair, and in the
extra weight I had
gained.
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T H E START
Going into this, I did expect some people to question why I felt like I
needed to lose weight. But NEVER did I envision being labeled a
“disappointment”, a “terrible role model”, a “hypocrite”, someone
with a “mental illness” and a “dangerous disorder ” who was a
“disgrace to all women”. Magazines and large online publications wrote
about my “controversial” decision to lose some weight.
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Day 1 was...really rough. I cried and cried and questioned my decision to make
this journey public. Was this a mistake? Did I completely ruin the brand I had
worked so hard to build up over the past decade?
I realized that Day 1 was just the beginning of a series of tests that were
positioned to challenge me mentally, emotionally, and physically. Was my Why
going to be strong enough to pull me past the intense negativity and public
shaming surrounding my 90 Day Journey?
I had to remind myself. You are doing this because you want to find your strength
again. To find YOURSELF again.
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If finding my own personal strength meant losing what I’ve built and the
followers that went with it, so be it. I wasn’t going to sacrifice my
happiness and stunt my potential in order to satisfy other people’s
opinion of me.
Remember this:
if someone is
uncomfortable
You’ve simply
outgrown them!
This mindset was what made the next 89 days of my journey so much
clearer and so much easier to navigate. Like I had stated in my very first
blog post announcing my 90 Day Journey - I was doing this FOR ME - on MY
TERMS.
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H OW I RE AC H ED M Y GOAL
When I started my journey, I wrote out all my stats: the weight, body fat
percentage, and muscle mass percentage that I started at, and where I
wanted to be after 90 days.
After doing years of internal work to realize that numbers had nothing to do
with my self worth, and that they were just data points, I felt ready to step on
the scale again and use it as a tool for measuring numerical progress.
If you’re currently
struggling with the scale,
don’t worry, you don’t need
to use it!
- taking photos
- measuring your body
with a measuring tape
- or trying on a tight
dress or pair of jeans!
to be 100% honest
with yourself.
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Here’s the thing you must realize about progress, especially when it comes to
weight loss progress... IT WILL NOT BE A STRAIGHT LINE.
Th e re w ill b e u p s an d
th e re w ill b e d ow n s . You
m u st be p re p are d fo r
th at.
You c a n no t l e t t h e
n u m be r s af fe c t yo ur
m o o d.
You C A N N OT le t a
n u m be r r uin yo ur fo c u s.
You MU ST al low
for e rro r.
The reason why I made my journey 90 days long was because it was enough
time for me to be able to make mistakes, learn from it, test out a new
strategy, and still make progress towards my goal. My ability to constantly test
and tweak is the reason why I ended up not just reaching my goal, but
maintaining it.
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DAY 1 - START
G OA LS
DAY 9 0 - E ND!
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H ow did I do t h i s?
FLEXIBILITY: Don’t be afraid to try new things that may not have
been on your plan originally. It is ok to let your intuition and your
curiosity guide you.
I started out doing keto which was good for the first month but then I
started getting headaches, feeling sluggish and got stuck in a plateau. So
I took out nuts and dairy and started eating more fruits and increasing my
carbohydrate intake. That was good for another month, but then I hit
another plateau. So I focused on sleeping more, which helped move my
progress along, but then I hit another plateau! So I started tracking
my caloric and macronutrient intake, which helped me reach my goals by day
90.
The coolest thing is that you’ll have this new found understanding of your
body.
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Because I journaled everything for 90 days, I now know EXACTLY what foods
bloat me, what I should eat to debloat quickly, how many sleep hours make me
sharp vs. cloudy, how my period affects my cravings, and what I need to eat to
lose fat etc. - I mean, it’s like I unlocked a User ’s Manual on my body! It is
honestly SO POWERFUL to know your body on that level.
I’m excited for you to unlock your personal User ’s Manual too. These next 90
days for you will be transformative in so many ways.
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What You Can Expect From This 90 Day Meal Plan
If you commit to giving the next 90 days everything you’ve got, you can
expect to get in the best shape of your life, mentally and physically. You will
build muscle, endurance and confidence. You’ll feel better than you ever have
before.
Most importantly, you will finally
understand your body. In other
words, you’ll take the time to see
what works for your body and
what doesn’t. I’m always telling
you that all bodies are different,
and what works for one person
may not work for another. Most
people don’t take the time to
figure this out, but it is very
important! After these 90 days,
you’ll get it.
There will be frustrating times. You may not see the results you want, as
quickly as you want. You might mess up a recipe, or forget something at the
grocery store. You might struggle to find a convenient time to workout. You
might dread trying new foods. Maybe you’ll face a learning curve because
you’ve never cooked in your life. No matter who you are, something is probably
going to frustrate you at some point. Expect it, and learn how to work through it.
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Calculating Caloric Needs
First, I want to make one thing clear: calories matter, but our lives should
not revolve around them. It is absolutely helpful to understand how
calories work with weight loss, and it’s important to learn how to figure out
what your body needs. There are several ways to calculate this, and although
some equations are more reliable than others, keep in mind that no
calculation will be perfect.
The most accurate way to estimate calorie needs is with the Mifflin-St. Jeor
equation. To avoid ripping your hair out with math, you can find a calculator
for this online. If you want to try the equation, here it is:
This equation will give you your basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is basically
the number of calories you burn at rest, not engaging in strenuous activity
throughout the day. Once you know your BMR, you can multiply it by an
activity factor to get a more accurate idea of how many calories you burn
every day.
ACTIVITY FACTOR
1.2 - Choose this option if you work a desk job with little to no consistent
exercise each week. If you do squeeze in some exercise, you’re not usually
getting sweaty.
1.375 - Choose this option if you’re lightly active, with 1-3 light workouts per
week, like going on a 30 minute walk or yoga. Your workouts usually make you
break a sweat, but you’re not super sweaty when you’re done.
1.55 - Choose this option if you do moderate workouts 3-5 days per week that
get your heart rate up and leave you pretty sweaty.
1.725 - Choose this option if you are very active, with hard exercise 6-7
days per week. Your workouts are challenging and always leave you nice and
sweaty.
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HE RE ’S AN EXAM P L E:
For a 25 year-old female who is 5’ 5” and weighs 150 pounds, here is what the
equation for BMR would look like:
Let’s say this person walks 3 days per week, but otherwise doesn’t do any other types
of workouts. I’d use the “lightly active” activity factor of 1.375 and multiply that by the
BMR I got in the first equation.
1962 calories is how many calories this person should consume if they want to
maintain their weight while being lightly active 3 days a week.
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Calculating Calories for Weight Loss
Okay, so that’s your calorie target to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose
weight, you’ll want to be in a calorie deficit. Basically that just means you want to eat
fewer calories than you’re burning.
The key here though is to make sure you’re not cutting too many calories. Plan your
calorie deficit to be about 300 to 500 calories less than the calorie needs you just
calculated.
We left off with 1962 calories for weight maintenance. To lose weight, subtract 500
calories from that number to create a deficit.
The number you get with this deficit is the best place to start to lose 1 to 2 lbs per
week. Slow and steady is what we want here! If this seems like a big number of
calories to cut, remember that eating less isn’t the only way to reach that calorie
deficit. If you increase your normal exercise level, the extra calories you’re burning
count towards your deficit too.
If you set a 500-calorie deficit and you’re hungry and tired and grumpy, then it’s
probably not enough calories for you. Adjust your deficit to 300 calories and see how
you feel. You should always feel good, never deprived. These numbers are just
estimates to guide you. Use them, but pay attention to your body too.
Also keep in mind that as you lose weight, your maintenance calorie level and the
number of calories you need to stay in a deficit (if you want to keep losing weight)
will change. There’s not really a time frame for how often to do this. Just adjust as
needed. In other words, if you notice your weight loss slows dramatically or plateaus
altogether, it’s probably time to recalculate these numbers.
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Choosing the Right Activity Level Meal Plan
Now that you have an idea of what your body needs, you can pick the best
meal plan for your journey. You’ll find meal plans for three different energy
levels to choose from. Each level provides a different number of calories to
fit your needs, based on your metabolism and activity level.
ACTIVITY LEVELS:
So, after you choose which plan to start with, I want you to journal like
crazy to see how it’s working for you. Write everything down in your 90
Day Journal. Write about your energy level, your mood, your appetite, your
digestion, and any foods that bother you. Write as much detail as possible,
because this journal will become the road map to figuring out the best plan for
you. There’s a good chance your body may need more or less calories than
you think, or what any calculator may tell you! The calculators are a guide.
Your body will tell the whole story.
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What Plan Do I Use if My Needs
Fall Between Activity Levels?
You have a couple of options here. If your calculated calorie needs are within
100 calories one way or another, you can round up or down accordingly.
So, if you’re the woman in our example, and your needs for a weight loss plan
are 1462 calories a day to lose about 1-2 lbs a week at your current activity
level, then you can safely choose the Activity Level 2 Plan which gives you meal
plans that come out to around 1500 calories a day.
Let’s say you calculate a number that is more like 1800 calories a day. The
Activity Level 2 Plan is too low...and the Activity Level 3 Plan is too high!
What should you do?
Simple! Just pick the Activity Level 2 Plan (~1500 calories) and add a healthy
150-200 calorie snack to your day’s intake.
You can find all of the nutrition information for every meal in your meal plan,
so don’t hesitate to swap things around. Make sure to pay attention to how the
food is making you feel and if you’re getting the results you want. If it’s not
working out, tweak!
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Why No Grains, Dairy, and Added Sugar?
You’ll notice that I omitted grains, dairy, and added sugar from all of the meals
in this plan. That doesn’t mean that this meal plan is low-carb. Trust me, I’ve
got a lot of love for carbs and there are still plenty of them in this meal plan.
My carbs come from fruit, veggies (yes, veggies have carbs), legumes, quinoa
and nuts.
Grains, dairy, and added sugar are just foods that I decided to leave out during
my own 90 Day Journey because basically, they don’t make me feel my best.
Excessive sugar makes me feel tired and sluggish. And it makes my face break
out almost immediately!
Dairy just doesn’t work well with my body! The biggest things I’ve noticed
with dairy consumption are acne and indigestion, but overall I just feel better
when I stick with alternatives like almond or oat milk.
However, your body may be different. And if for some reason you feel like the
lack of any of these foods is making you NOT feel your best, then by all means,
add it back in! You can easily tweak your recipes by swapping quinoa for brown
rice or coconut yogurt for greek yogurt!
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Don’t think of this as
restrictive, because I
promise you will not feel
restricted or hungry on this
plan if you listen to your
body and follow the most
appropriate meal plan for
your body. Both Breanna
Woods, R.D, (the Registered
Dietitian who co-created,
tested, and approved the
meals in this plan) and I
purposefully omitted
commonly inflammatory
foods out of this meal plan
because we wanted you to
focus on feeding your body
with gut friendly, whole,
natural foods. Our goal is
to help you enjoy the most
nourishing foods with the
most insanely simple and
delicious meals!
You’ll find that you won’t need extra sugar to make things taste sweet. You’ll be
able to actually taste the natural sweetness of your fruits and vegetables!
But once again, it is up to you to take notes, assess, and tweak! If you have a
hunch that you need a little more or less of something - go ahead and
experiment! Your 90 Day Journey is all about testing, trying, and truly
understanding how your body reacts to different foods!
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Is It Okay to Count Calories?
That depends. If you use calorie counting as a tool, then it’s okay. I know it is
very easy to become obsessed with the numbers. And I don’t want you to
become obsessed, but this can easily happen when you’re not in a stable place
mentally and emotionally with numbers and their relationship to your self
worth. For the record... NUMBERS DO NOT DETERMINE YOUR VALUE AS A
HUMAN.
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How Much Water Should I Drink?
M ay b e i t s o u nd s craz y to
l ook at yo u r urin e, b u t
hydrat i o n i s extremely
i mpo r t a n t .
Hydrati o n i mp rove s
you r m ood , h e l p s yo u
sle e p, f l u s h e s o ut
tox i n s, l u b r i c ate s yo ur
join ts , h e l p s yo u r
org a n s f u n c t i o n we ll
a nd ge ts n ut r i e nt s in to
the ce l l s.
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Let’s Talk Sleep and Stress
I f yo u wan t to see you r b od y cha nge, you ne ed to know it ’s not all abo u t
diet a n d exe rci se. You n eed to m a na ge sle ep a nd stre ss too.
Also, d i d you k now sl e e p me sses with your horm ones? It’s true ! Yo u r b o d y
p rod u ce s mo re cortisol w h en yo u la c k sleep. Cortisol is a stress hormo n e
t hat s i g n al s you r b od y to h old o nto ene rgy, m e a ning you won’t burn
c a l o r i e s a s e f f icien tly. In oth er words, skipping sleep is self-sa bota g e. Aim
fo r e i g h t h o u rs of sleep every night.
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What Happens if I Plateau?
Go into this journey expecting some kind of plateau at some point. It’s just
bound to happen! After some time goes by, your body’s calorie needs are
going to change. Your muscles will be stronger, so you’ll need to find ways to
challenge yourself to build more muscle and burn fat. Your body will evolve,
which means your journey needs to evolve. The plateaus are just your signal to
make the necessary changes. Basically what I’m saying is, it’s normal! Use it as
a tool.
If you’re feeling stuck for too long or you notice that your measurements
aren’t changing, dive into your 90 Day Journal and investigate. Look for ways
you’re lacking consistency, or areas where change might be needed.
H e re a re s o me q ue st i o ns to
a s k yo u rs el f.
A n swe r h o n estly:
- A re you n ot sl e e pi n g
e nough?
- A re you n ot dr i n k i n g
e nough wate r ?
- A re you n ot e ati n g e n ou g h
calorie s?
- A re you n ot wor k i n g ou t
e nough?
If you take the time to journal and write down every detail about your food,
your workouts, your moods, your energy levels etc., I am confident that you
WILL figure it out! Although this part of the journey is the most frustrating, it’s
totally necessary in order to learn and understand
your body.
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How the 90 Day Journey Works
Before you start your journey, declare your goals! Big or small,
write them down in your 90 Day Journal. Remember that this
journey is for you and you alone. So, think about what you want
to get out of the next 90 days.
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STEP 2: CHOOSE YOUR
ACTIVITY LEVEL.
The meal plans include nutrition info and macros for each day. Keep
in mind that these numbers are there just for your reference. You
don’t have to do any tracking or counting! Also, these numbers will
most likely vary depending on what brands you use, etc.
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STEP 3: TAKE BEFORE MEASUREMENTS.
• Starting weight
• Starting body fat %
• Starting muscle mass %
• Chest measurement
• Waist measurement
• Hip measurement
• Arm measurements
• Thigh measurements
CHEST
ARMS
WAIST
HIPS
LEGS
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Also, take your Day 1 before pictures:
Keep your before picture outfit around, as you will want to wear
the same thing for your after photo. Make sure you take your Day
90 photo at the same time and same angle as your Day 1 photo.
This will allow you to see the most honest side by side progress
shot possible.
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Step 4: Food. Write it all down.
Write what you eat, how you feel when you eat, and how you feel
after you eat.
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STEP 5: WORKOUTS. YOU MUST HAVE A PLAN.
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STEP 6: CHECK IN WEEKLY.
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Remember to Make This Journey Yours
Read th at a ga i n.
Th is m i n d s e t w i l l ma ke yo ur
jo u r n ey s u stai nab l e.
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Ke e p i n m i n d th at w h ile we d id everything we could to prov ide you w i t h t h e
mo st a ccu rate n u trition in formation in this m e a l pla n, it’s ve ry possi b le t h at
t he n u mb e r s w ill vary a little. Things like produc t types, differe nt bran d s,
e tc . may s l i g htly ch an g e th e n u trition inform ation for a ny given re c ip e.
The se n u m b e rs are th ere to g u ide you a nd it’s best to consider them as
e st i m ate s !
Meal Prep
Yo u c an b u y a b u n ch of
t up p e r ware i n b u lk an d h ave eve ry
b re ak fa st , l u nch , an d d in n er rea dy
to g o s o yo u ’ ll sp en d ZE R O time
d ur i n g t h e we ek cookin g . Some
p e op l e l i ke to stock th eir f rid g e
wi t h p re - p o r tion ed meals in mason
j a r s o r co n t a in ers. It’s a n ice way
to s ave t i m e a n d alleviate stress
t hro u g h o u t t he week.
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WANT SUPPORT
ON YOUR
JOURNEY?
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What Happens After 90 Days?
If yo u ever f i n d yo u r sel f
feel i n g lo st a n d o f f t ra c k
agai n , yo u c a n a l ways
referen ce yo u r 9 0 D ay
Jo u rn al . It ’s yo u r h i sto r y,
yo u r ex per i en ce, yo u r
j o u rn ey! Yo u r bo dy sh o u ld
n o l o n ge r be a so u rce o f
co n fu si on a n d
fru stratio n .
Your 9 0 D ay J ou r n ey wi l l
gif t you th e powe r of
unde rsta n di n g h ow you r
body wo r k s.
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After the 90 days, whether you reach all your goals or just
some of them - one thing is for sure - you will grow on this
journey no matter what. Your growth and your commitment
to 90 days of working on yourself is huge, and not
something a lot of people are willing to do. That being said,
make sure you give yourself a giant hug and plenty of
recognition for every single accomplishment you achieve
along the way, big or small.
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