👋 Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
My name is Kara Corey and I am a Registered Dietitian. I work in a psychiatric center and currently serve the role of business officer.
I started my career at the hospital as a Registered Dietitian but have since moved up the ladder and no longer perform duties related to Dietetics at my main job. But my love for nutrition and helping people has never faded.
To satisfy my love for dietetics I run my own online coaching business helping everyone from all walks of life whereverything is handled over email ([email protected]).
Being a WNBF Bikini pro I train lots of clients for competitions, but I also train the average person just looking to get fit and live a healthier lifestyle. I have a very open approach when it comes to nutrition and I fully acknowledge one specific diet does not fit everyone.
My love for fitness started at a very young age.
I have always been a gym rat and at 18 years old I started to get into long distance running. Since then I have ran over 14 marathons including the Boston Marathon. After the Boston Marathon I changed my goals and that is when I started to get more into bodybuilding.
I have always loved lifting and after doing so many marathons I decided it was time for a change.
When I did my first bikini competition there was no information online regarding posing, suits, tanning etc. This is where my YouTube channel came into play. I wanted to be able to share my experience and knowledge and help others out.
I was the first female to start posting on YouTube about bikini competitions and from there my channel has expanded in content I offer. I am very proud to be the very first one to put myself out there to the world when social media was still in its infancy.
Today one may not see it is that big of a deal but back then I was really putting myself out there.
On my channel today I still cover bikini topics to help others out but the channel has become so much more than that. It has become a community where we can all help each other out. I use my knowledge and education to put out helpful nutrition videos. I share my day to day life to help others relate to issues I may be having.
The past couple years I have started posting fashion hauls as well as fashion has always been a big love of mine. There is something for everyone on the channel and we are a big welcoming family over on Kara Corey Fit Life. We have a very tight-knit community that is free of judgement and we have so much love for eachother.
YouTube has created so many amazing opportunities for me and I have made so many wonderful friends through it.
YouTube is how I obtained all of my sponsors. It first started when Marc Lobliner asked me to become part of MTS Nutrition. This was when the company was first starting out and I jumped at the opportunity.
Marc has become family to myself and my husband. He has created so many opportunities for us I will be eternally grateful.
Since joining MTS Nutrition the brand has skyrocketed. From that Marc made me partners in another one of his brands Per Vitam where I helped formulate multiple supplements such as Fitburn & Regulator just as a couple examples.
Per Vitam is more focused on the healthy lifestyle aspect of fitness. We want to provide high quality affordable supplements that can brighten all aspects of your day to day life.
Fast forward a couple years and I started to do some fitness fashion hauls on my channel. I got a sponsorship with Buffbunny Apparel.
Again YouTube brought me another amazing friend in Heidi Somers. She is one of the sweetest most genuine people you could ever hope to know and I have been blessed to be part of the team. The entire Buffbunny team is filled with love and we lift each other up.
Anytime I get to spend some time with Heidi and the team I come back a better version of myself.
⏱ Describe a typical day of training
Training as of late has been quite different. With the rise of the coronavirus the entire world is experiencing something it never has before. We are truly seeing how delicate and precious life is and how quickly things can be taken away.
I have always been a gym rat and I miss the gym greatly but that has not stopped me from training. I purchased a set of Bowflex dumbbells and some resistance bands. That has kept me going the past 3 weeks with no gym access.
I honestly cannot believe how sore I have been every day! I thought these workouts would be easier and I was very wrong.
I plan on buying a couple other pieces of equipment to train at home as well and I have a trap bar on it’s way as we speak.
No matter if you have a gym or not there is no excuse not to be able to get to the level of fitness you desire. This quarantine has brought a new appreciation for the gym and has forced me to be creative with my workouts.
I am training at home currently 5x a week in the morning before work and I never have a specific length of time I train. The beauty of this is I save so much time not driving 30 min each way to the gym opening up a little more time in my day.
👊 How do you keep going and push harder?
There is nothing wrong feeling a little less motivated to train than normal.
Motivation in life will always be up and down. Everyone can struggle with motivation from time to time even myself. There is nothing wrong feeling a little less motivated to train than normal.
It does not mean I do not train, I am a disciplined person and go train wanting to or not. But luckily for me I have always been a gym rat and motivation is often times more up than down.
When motivation is low for me a couple things can help. Changing up the gym I go to can give me a huge motivation boost. There is something about just being in a different setting that can re-ignite my motivation.
Finding a new album to listen to is another way to light that fire. And then being a lover of fashion a new Buffbunny gym outfit always gets me pumped to lift.
🤕 How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
I have been lucky and have never really suffered any injuries up until this past September. I had a collision with my 150lb dog who was running full speed and the impact fractured my shoulder.
It was quite a long road to recovery and I am still not at 100. I had to take a major step back and just keep telling myself if I do not listen to the Dr and physical therapist it will take even longer to recover. Two weeks after the injury they started me at physical therapy.
I basically could not lift for 2 months. I am not going to sit here and lie……..It was a mental F! It was very hard to deal with mentally. I had all the same struggles anyone would have. I am going to lose muscle, I am going to gain so much weight, I am going to lose all my strength.
The reality is yes I lost strength, yes I lost muscle, but no I did not gain a ton of weight. It has been 7 months since the injury and I still feel it and am still working to get back my upper body strength. It is going slow but it is getting there.
This has been a great learning experience for me as stated before I never suffered an injury up until now.
🍎 How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
Supplement wise I use the basics.
At the moment I am lightly tracking my macros just so I can see where I am at day to day. I am not restrictive nor do I believe in any restrictive dieting. I feel restrictive diets set the majority of people up for long term failure just to have some short term success.
When I am competing that is a different story and I have to be restrictive but that is part of the game.
Food wise I like to eat nutritious whole foods. Don’t get me wrong I love my junk food from time to time just like anybody else. But I truly enjoy healthy home cooked meals.
Supplement wise I use the basics.
For protein I choose between MTS Machine Whey or if I want plant based I go with Ambrosia Planta. Then I also like to add 1 scoop of Per Vitam Collagen protein to my diet daily.
I use MTS Machine Greens to make sure I am getting in some extra vitamins and minerals.
I am a big believer in gut health and created a supplement under Per Vitam called Regulator which is a complete probiotic and use that daily as well.
I do not do pre-workouts that often like I used to but if I do I tend to have MTS Clash.
👍 What has inspired and motivated you?
I am inspired by many things and people. The people I am surrounded by inspire me daily. Hedi Somers and Marc Lobliner both inspire me. Both very successful business people with some of the kindest biggest hearts I know. Wanting to become a better version of myself inspires and motivates me.
As funny as this sounds my dog inspires me. Nothing more uplifting to waking up to a 150lb dog with a teddy bear in his mouth wagging his tail ready to start the day.
🤝 Are you taking on clients right now?
I am always taking new clients but often times I do have a wait list. I work a full time job and I take my clients needs very seriously.
I do not want to short change anyone and I want to assure everyone gets the attention they need and not just a cut and paste answer/response from me. Due to that I keep my client load to a certain amount of people at one time.
📝 Where can we learn more about you?
You can find all of my videos on my YouTube at Kara Corey Fit Life. You can find me over on Instagram @karacoreyfitlife. Also if anyone is interested in coaching they can email me at [email protected]
My website is karacorey.com
