MY *educated* OPINION ON BLOGILATES | top tips to avoid diet culture 

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?

I think she became an “influencer” obsessed with looks, and we no longer have the Pilates trainer we used to love.

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.

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. ❤️

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

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...

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! 💜

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.

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 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

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.

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.

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 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 RU-vid recommends me BECAUSE I follow you both.

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?

Blogilates is super problematic and I’m always happy to see folks call this out. Also Harry is a wealth of knowledge!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

Ahhh you and Harry are my ‘go to’ s for anything fitness and uncovering fitness bs! Love your channels both so much 😄❤️

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 😅

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.

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

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 😅).

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.

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!?!??”

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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!

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.

Oooof I could go on and on about blogilates. I first found her videos (about 8 years ago) when I was anorexic and struggling with over exercising. She never outright stated it, but I had a feeling she also had food issues because of some of the comments she’d make in her videos and it kind of fueled my eating disorder and “justified” what I was doing to myself in my mind. Sure enough, a few years later (after I was fully recovered) she made a video about how she in fact DID have food and exercise problems during the time all those videos were made. Then fast forward again another couple years and she did that 90 day challenge she made for herself…and while I didn’t follow it closely it was easy to see she lost a drastic amount of weight to where her long time fans and followers expressed major concern for her. Idk man…I just have always had an “off” feeling about her and her content, I think in her own personal life she struggles off and on with eating disorders and exercise addiction, and I think that because I was the same way so it’s easier for me to spot in others. No hate to her at all, but I wish she would stop making videos for a while and focus on herself because she preaches all these unhealthy habits and such that in the moment, she truly believes are healthy. Anyway, that just scratches the surface. There’s lots of other healthy minded fitness influencers out there I’d rather support like Natache Oceane and FitnessBlender

I wish I would’ve had somebody like you in my life back in my 20s. I am 55 but in and throughout my 20s and part of my 30s I was bulimic. Very body conscious, very obsessed with exercise. Got into teaching Group fitness. As a Christian I’ve learned to balance things out and that God can use everything for our good and his glory. I’m pleased that I clicked on your one video that popped up , where you talk about barre workouts. I am just getting into it, so good talking points. Thank you from someone who isn’t in your generation, and I always appreciate younger people’s insight, especially this topic. Oh, and did follow Cassie often on for the past several years. But not so much anymore.

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

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

ME WATCHING CASSIE EATING 1500 CALORIES ON BULKING WHILE ME EATING 2500+ CALORIES BEING 160 cm 60 kg 😭😭 i feel BAD for her i’m literally crying what is this

Idk about her personal content but her clothing line is amazing!

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 RU-vid 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 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 feel ‘fat loss’ sells but is almost a taboo to call it what it is. Even in society, if I say I’m trying to lose weight, it’s always met with a negative response, so I always call it a cut (which is more appropriate anyway as it’s a planned gain followed by a planned loss.) But when you start to blatantly lie, no. I never stray from my program even if life gets in the way I can shift around because I love weight training that much, if I followed this plan, I’d quit before the end of the week. But teenage me woulda forced herself through the 90 days, get no results and hate fitness for a couple of years.

I need an edit of you wearing a tinfoil hat at 6:25 😂 But in all seriousness, thank you for being a voice of reason in an industry filled with clickbait and misinformation. As a 25 year old who struggles with my own body image, it is so comforting to see positive influences like you who address healthy mindsets as well as provide resources to professionals that can explain in more detail. I used to think I was weak when I couldn’t finish Cassey’s 4 videos per day workout regimens on top of eating her restrictive diets…but ever since I found your channel and learned about functional fitness, I love exercising and moving again ❤️

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.

I used to watch Casey years ago. It’s so difficult to find functional exercises that don’t cause long term damage. I have degenerative disk disease and osteoporosis in my hips. I lift weights mostly for bone density. I had to learn how not to hurt myself further 😑

Love this. Also I love Harry's content. So having you both in one video is perfect. 😁🤭

I absolutely LOVE Harry with TFNL. I love that you are channeling his hats and helping form a healthier view on food and exercise.

Why do you hate her she is very inspiring and helps a lot of people start working out and keep working out

to be fair, around 2014 when the “cheap clean eats” series started, i see that as kinda the beginning of the clickbaity stuff. her old stuff being good to me, refers to like, 2012.

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.

Thank you for this. I’ve really been getting into you, Harry, and Natacha for fitness advice. I can’t afford a PT or dietitian and I always trusted Cassey. I felt like she was safe. I will always have a soft spot for her since she got me into moving my body more, but I acknowledge that she isn’t giving the best information. She doesn’t follow the science; it’s that she’s selling misinformation that upsets me. She wants to look a certain way, which is fine. But she wraps up diet culture in a “body positive” bow and sells it as something it’s not. It’s nice that she says she wants to build muscle, and do it for her, but it seems that’s not what she’s doing. Her actions don’t line up with her words. We don’t know her body, her specific needs, or her mind, but we can make an educated guess on what’s happening here. Plus, if her needs are atypical (I.e damaged metabolism, ect) it’s all the more reason not to broadcast the specifics of this plan to millions of followers. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but not at the expense of my (or anyone else’s) health. What hurts a little bit is that she doesn’t feel safe anymore. I guess it’s taught me to do my own research instead of trusting, which I usually do. But something about her let my defenses down. It’s easy to get taken in when you have limited knowledge on a subject. All that said I do wish her the best and hope she heals. Also…I’m pissed about all those damn, painful arm circles I’ve done that were apparently a waste of time 😭

I love teamforneverlean as well! Anyway, I agree with you that if people enjoy Cassie’s workout. It’s highly likely for them to stick to it. However, most of these people comes in to see “Result” it’s why they do these workouts. Over time, they’ll lose that motivation despite of them enjoying her workout. Then they’ll blame themselves for not getting the result, it’s their genetics or it’s just not in their favor to get that results. In a long run, it’ll damage their self esteem and blame themselves.

Great shout-out, Justina ❤️! Nice that you included Harry also. He commented on Blogilates's workout plan - mentioned similar problems as you did here. I was blessed to find Sydney before I dug deep into Blogilates... Her content seems so triggering 🥺. I am so happy I did not end on that path... I have tendencies of EDs. I still struggle with my body image... So content like Blogolates's can be very sensitive. I saved many of her videos for a later watch a long time ago, but recently decided to remove them. Content like yours and Harry's just confirmed my feelings regarding her... I just hope such content does not affect too many young people. And I hope she gets to understand her impact and also finds her true path. I can tell she has a difficult relationship with her body and herself 🥺 and I know from experience that is not a nice place to be at....

the crossover vid we’ve all been waiting for 😍

either blogilates is just so deep in this "mess" right now that she does not understands how harmful and misleading her content can be for public or she is just doesn't care. lets not even talk about the fact that she cannot take constructive criticisms.

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.

Thankyou for calling her out! I’ve also noticed a lot of her workouts were she talks throughout them she talks about some really disordered things. Like being afraid to eat certain foods because of “high fat content” and exercises that “burn tons of calories” 😬

Thank you so so much for the video! So much new and valuable information for me, I just subscribed! I started following casseys Chanel when I was 14 / 15 and unfortunately it got me into undereating and an unhealthy relationship with food because I followed her channel while being in an unhealthy body shaming environment. In such circumstances it can be so easy for a young girl to fall into false beliefs about body and fitness! I'm so happy to be healthy and fine now😊 I still think Casseys workouts are fun and that she has the best intentions at heart but as you said, she might have some unaddressed issues or beliefs herself that are not safe to be passed on to her followers like that. I don't follow her meal plans or recipes at all anymore but as I said, still love her energy. Found my way into weight lifting and dancing, as I just enjoy both and learned to like my body the way it happens to look after those activities and with a balanced diet including enough calories. I didn't understand at 15 that it was ok to eat more than other girls simply because I'm pretty tall and need the extra energy to get my body fueled 😊 Now finally at 22 my period is coming back regularly and I'm still learning more and more to have a healthy mind and body! Thank you so much for your valuable education! Much love from Germany ❤️

My views about giving people on the internet a break have changed a lot in the past few years. I always used to believe that the responsibility was on the person watching. However, much like your client you mentioned, I remember clicking on videos about weight loss looking for ideas. It didn’t matter that I knew it was stupid, not healthy, or even if the person said not to do it for any reason, I would still at least THINK about trying it, if not actually doing it. To top that off, if I *failed* one of the stupid ideas, I would get upset with myself for not being as dedicated as whoever I was watching! I think in the earlier days of the internet and RU-vid and whatnot, it was more acceptable to just ‘share your journey’ on the internet, because the internet hadn’t yet become the Mecca for all knowledge. 😅 We still would go to the library and ask friends and relatives or professionals for advice, and the internet was more for fun. However, the internet and the way we use it has changed so much. Now that it is being used as a primary source of information (for the most important to the most mundane), it’s vital the information that gets put out is accurate, because hey, if it’s on the internet, it must be true! There’s no excuse for posting content that obviously is not correct, especially coming from these huge *influencers* who CLEARLY have the resources to know better. I understand that views=money, and building an online presence is difficult, but that’s the job that you signed up to do. If you can’t make quality content that people want to watch without misleading, false, dangerous, etc info, then find a different job. If you put yourself out on the internet, people are going to judge you, especially if you’re wrong. If you don’t want to be called out on your bs, don’t be an influencer. I absolutely understand why you would get heated over this, and I think more people should! The time of misleading and scammy type content should be over. Let’s freaking evolve already. Thank you for adding to the growing number of quality, science based content! 🥰

There's something I'm really curious about. Please don't get me wrong, I trust you and your information. BUT if this woman's style doesn't work 1) why do I feel tension in my targeted area while doing it 2) why do I feel sore the next day 3) why do I look and feel stronger, tighter, more flexible and more muscular in the long run?

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.

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.

One thing that I’ve noticed and haven’t seen anybody mention yet is that a couple of weeks before starting this 90 day muscle building journey she mentioned trying for a baby…maybe she decided against that but this plan is definitely not conducive to that!

you articulated that point about putting ideas in someone's head really well, in a way that I've been trying to for a while now. I see a lot of these videos from non-fitness influencers as well where they're like 'i tried this diet' and in the video they say how miserable hungry weak they feel and why you shouldn't do it. But they're often also like, yeah I lost weight, or they clearly conform to a body standard that many people are trying to achieve, and regardless of how shitty they felt on the diet people will be motivated to try it. It's why I never tell people how much I weighed during my ED or the sneaky little tricks I did because I don't want to inadvertently encourage anyone.

I kind of said the same thing about Cassey, that she was better years ago, but then I saw Harry's video and just realized that I have learned a lot since then. I think the goal Cassey has said she has is great if she really wants to build muscle, but as someone who runs before strength training, I definitely would not be doing it if my goal was muscle growth. If running is the priority, run first. If muscle is, run last. I also cannot imagine that much leg volume after running. My Mondays have an easy run then a strength workout, and I usually pick 3 lower body movements as a part of a full body workout, and my legs are dead at the end, but I can walk the next day.

This was very interesting to watch just wanted to sat Justina as a licensed PTA muscle building is a whole different ball game and does require less reps with heavier weight to increase that muscle building with higher food content. But besides all that I followed her for like 4 years then really got sick and tired of the same old same old... Very interesting to see everyone's thoughts and what is transpiring with all of it.

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.

Honestly, blogilates fucked my body up so much. Because she encouraged all of my workouts to make me look better, and that because it was burning it was good. Nope. My shoulder joints are absolutely pulverized by her weightless arm workouts and my hips literally ROTATED out of place overtime so badly it eill effect me forever..all because of how some of her workouts forms set up and this idea of pushing fast...

I 100% agree that Cassie just wants to shed fat and appear more "shredded" as a result of that. There's also one more thing that is very dangerous in this plan. Since watching Harry's video on the subject, I went to Blogilates blog and read the whole original post. At the end of the post, she also talks about her problems with getting pregnant and low fertility hormones. She of course blames it on her sleep schedule but I'm so bewildered that both her RD and her medical team allowed her to proceed with this ridiculous plan if fertility is something she wants to fix. I'm not an expert, but I did suffer from amenorrhea as a result of ED. And from my research and the advice of my doctor, if you want to restore your fertility and hormonal balance, you need to the THE OPPOSITE of what Cassie's doing, i.e. stop any intense exercise regime as it increases your stress hormones. Instead you need to rest, engage only in gentle movement, and increase your calories well above your maintenance so that your body can trust you again. In my *uneducated* opinion, of course Cassie may have some underlying health issues, and lack of sleep is probably not helping, but I wouldn't be surprised if big part of the problem calories restriction and overexercise. Not to mention, troubles with sleep can also be caused by this lifestyle. Eh... what a train wreck on all fronts. P.S. I absolutely adore your channel and your attitude towards fitness, you make it so accessible and not overwhelming. For example, I love what you said about enjoyment and sustainability of movement being the most important. Of course progressive overload is great, but I think that it doesn't have to be a priority for everyone and that's also ok. For me, right now I focus on strength training, but I got into fitness through home workouts. For couple of years I did not really make any significant progress but they kept me moving and having fun, and that's what matters. Sooo... your channel, Team ForNever Lean and Briannah Jewel are basically the only English-speaking fitness channels I watch, you all have slightly different but very educated, science-based and responsible approaches to fitness. Thank you for all your awesome work!

Great video! I love the content both you and Harry/Team fornever lean put out there. Thank you for continuing to share your educated opinions with us and for calling out a lot of the BS that is spread online so irresponsibly by some of these 'fitness influencers'.

My fitness journey began with Fitness Blender and Blogilates, far back in 2012. Now, I only go with Fitness Blender. For some reasons, I just cannot tune in to Cassey'a newer videos. I admire the fitness results that she earned for herself and how she is honest with her past insecurities and stuff, but lately she seems far less approachable with her new goals, and her contents are more self-centered. I do like to come back to 2-3 of her older videos which have always been my favourite, but that's just it. Kelly and Daniel are still my No. 1 fitness partners, and now you are too yay!

Love your knowledge and content! Totally agree with everything you said. I have a lot of friends like Cassie, just have very warped views of diet and fitness. They are not to blame but it is sad!

I love Harry, he is so knowledgeable. I actually recommended that he review your channel because I think he would like it a lot

Hi Justina ! I hope you are well ! As I watch the video, a few comments come to my mind : - Yes, many old videos from Cassey are not great, yet I still remember that part of my core strength/ stability come from her since she made me realise its importance. But I have to say, that I used to pair her videos with FitnessBlender's. - I think she is still under the same mindset years ago that you have to struggle (a suffer a lot) to make a valuable achievement. And Cassey is an overachiever. Also, some (not all!) fitness instructors/registered dietitians are not of good advice. Like the one in my local gym who still think that women have to squat a lot and not to work on other muscle group. - Cassey is really lacks in fitness education (Sorry Cassey ! I love you but this is true). She never completed the required hours of training nor the certification requirements for Pilates. The subreddit of Pilates even have a warning on the right corner about her lack of education. Let alone think about muscle building. And this one plays a lot since fitness is evolving so much this days that skipping education is detrimental. Thank you for the video ☺️

Imagine cassey going through these comments💀

Thank you for this! I have been saying this about her for a long time abs and I felt alone in my feelings. I'm glad others can also see her terrible contribution to diet culture.

I'm a huge fan of Harry and his content at @Team ForNever Lean. Like you he works hard to focus on strength, mental health and non comparison. Not to mention providing science based content. And he's got a great sense of humour

Some moves may not be very efficient, but the truth is that I only did Cassie's videos, and when I joined a ballet class, I have more muscle and strength than the girls that practice ballet since little. Yes, it's not the same as in a gym, but some people can afford that and so Cassie's workouts are the best we have. Besides, my sister lost more than 10 kg (22 pounds) only with these workouts.

9:53 that sentence right there made me pause the video and subscribe to you. I’m so glad I came across your channel Justine, keep up the good work!

Third comment, sue me. “I didn’t even know that was an option until I saw it” just explained basically my entire teen years being on Tumblr

We need a collab. I've told him to reach out. I love your content Justina, keep being fucking awesome!

Amazing video 💕💕 It Is so great to see other professionals having a 360 degrees approach to fitness. It is sooo reassuring that we are heading in the right direction. Only thing that I think Cassie meant muscle weight more than fat for the same volume (she was referring to the specific weight)

I loved this video! Could you look into the Tracy Anderson Method? Many celebrities use her training but when I did the training program it did not work the way I read it would.

I only started following her last year for a 21 day fitness plan. It did keep me accountable to work out (I was severely lacking) but moved away from it after training straight weightlifting because I realised it was doing nothing for me. As you said, I think it’s good when it helps you get into the habit, like a small workout to get you active. But when it becomes problematic and limits you in your goals, then you should move away

Hi Justina, I wanted to say I love your videos! I found your channel a few weeks ago and they have helped me start to improve my relationship with food. I first watched one of your meal plan videos and it helped me realize what I needed to do to make better decisions when it came to my diet. I also love how you point out how young girls look up to a lot of influencers because I'm 16 now but when I was 14 I started my fitness journey after over a year of medical complications. I now make meal plan a part of my Sunday routine so every Sunday night, I pop on a few of your videos and make myself a bunch of options for the week. Anyways, I love your content and I look forward to whats next!

I was also one of the people who comment on his video that her older stuff was much better... I truly do remember her content being better around 2010-2011. But maybe that is because I was just starting to work out and I really didn't know anything about anything 🤔🤣

Cassey was always my "relapse workout" RU-vidr as someone with anorexia because she always talked about "being hungry", which validated my mental illness. I actually can't watch her anymore.

I was a very impressionable teen watching these and I did go down the ED path. I did not get an ED because of her but i did think that i can just drink juice to lose weight. I really looked up to her. I was 12-15, so a 3 year period. Now i only do her videos to do pilates at home, mostly abs. But it isn't my main source of exercise. I dont watch any of her other content because it's triggering after my orthorexia and bulimia. I would have eaten this up in ED and eaten the same or less. This is so bad she's showing her kcal and exact food intake, there is a reason why Fitness bodybuilders dont really like doing this. And currently as a pro dancer, i have naturally a lot of cardio, i have time to go to the gym to build muscle twice per week so I do x9 exercises just because I hit back and arms the same day etc. I never do cardio before gym or try to not do any cardio even the same day as I go and weight train. But I am also used to high volume workouts due to my profession. I think it's crazy she's doing this.

Thank you for this video. It's so important for people to hear this. I followed Cassey's videos from the end of high school until the 1st two years of college. She's really the person who got me into fitness but she's also partially the reason I had a really bad relationship with food (I remember trying her banana pancake recipe and they weren't horrible but also not that good). Thanks to creators like yourself I've found people that actually have good workouts. Again thank you for this video.

Side note: I really like your outfit. Your sweater is super cute! 🌼

Shes the one that kickstarted my ED at age 11 lmao

I also have been following blogilates since I was a teenager, mostly for the community and the stories. Her workouts just don’t make me feel good, physically then mentally when I don’t get the gains I’d thought I’d get. But she was my entry into regular exercise, her personality made me want to be excited about exercise, and so I still keep up with her for the stories, even though I follow other people for health and exercise. Her clothing line is pretty cute, dig the aesthetics, though I don’t think it’s practical for curvier body shapes to do anything beyond light yoga in them (at least from my own experience). Maybe I’m just gullible, but she gives me the impression that she truly believes in the things she says and does, but like in an unreliable narrator way. It feels like she’s gaslit herself into believing that her previous 90 day fat loss journey was for health (mental health included) and not aesthetics, and although she has increased her calorie intake from 1500 to 1800 for the current 90 day plan, her instagram stories sound like she’s mostly trying to convince herself her workout plan is optimal for her “muscle gain” goals. I do hope she is successful in her bulk up plan, but it’d be super disappointing if she ends up selling this one, especially as is.

At this point, I think she needs an intervention and I hope she's going to therapy.