Eye on the Prize
Caity Jackson to compete in Miss Kentucky USA
BY CLAIRE RAMSAY
If it’s January, it’s time for New Year’s resolutions about health, wellness, and fitness.
Caity Jackson is a 25-year-old Lexington woman who’s given herself a challenge: be fit and ready for this month’s Miss Kentucky USA pageant. Readers will recognize her from her years as an on-air reporter in local news. As an EKU student before that, she even helped to produce a Good Morning America segment with a famous weatherman alum.
Pageants have long been a motivating force for her though. She recalls, “When I first started competing as a teen, I was asked an on stage question — ‘Which celebrity would you have lunch with and why?’ Without hesitating or thinking I blurted out Zac Efron! He’s gorgeous.” The audience laughed at her confession, and, she adds, “the judges thought it was hilarious and I ended up placing second!”
Jackson has always had a healthy lifestyle, but currently she has something that pushes her to stick with her plan and that’s what everyone should find.
The biggest reason people fall a little short or stop altogether is having that discipline. After doing a routine of eating healthy and working out for a few weeks people start to relax and not be as strict on themselves. Life gets in the way. Something pops up to where you lose that one day and it ruins your rhythm.
Jackson tries not to let that get in the way, and advises, “If you get into the habit of eating right and working out, it becomes second nature. Seeing results is always a good motivator.”
Her routine might not be for the faint of heart, however. She says, “In the morning, I drink a cup of coffee with unsalted butter, heavy cream, and MCT oil. It’s actually pretty good!”
After college, Caity was diagnosed with celiac disease. Celiac is an autoimmune gluten sensitivity disorder that usually forces patients to eliminate wheat, barley, and rye.
Once diagnosed, she had to change her way of eating. “It has been a rough patch for the past three years” she said, but with a new Keto diet, she has found a way to eat healthy and eliminate gluten.
Some advice Jackson has for the readers is to create lists or schedules and routines that you know you can stick to because that will help keep you motivated.
Diet is the first step to seeing any significant change. Health and fitness and weight loss all happens in the kitchen before they happen in the gym.
She recommends, “Stay away from sugars and processed food. Sugars cause headaches and inflammation.” If you have a huge sweet tooth, she says there are plenty of Keto recipes that can help alleviate that craving. “Once you become used to not having any of those items in your system, you’ll no longer crave them.”
She feels better now compared to before her path to a healthier life, “I feel like a whole new person. I’m able to get more things done and can walk up the stairs without being out of breath. I used to only be able to spend 10 minutes on the treadmill and feel tired. Now I can run a 12 minute mile and feel great,” she says, adding, “one of the best keys to making sure you stick to your plan is to get enough sleep.” If you don’t get enough at night, you are tired throughout the day, and therefore have no motivation to workout.
It helps to have role models that make you laugh, she says.
“If I could work out with anyone,” Jackson admits, “ it would probably be Richard Simmons. Not only would I have a blast, I would definitely be motivated and I would get abs from laughing so hard. No one can pull off a leotard like him.”
A typical day for Jackson begins with waking up, taking her vitamins, and drinking her butter coffee. She is doing intermittent fasting, so she won’t eat until noon, and then she’ll have one of her prepped meals that she orders from a local chef service.
Her meal consists of high protein and few carbs. An example is an avocado and chicken salad. When she gets off work she’ll take her pre-workout drink and head straight to the gym so she is not tempted to lie down and lose motivation.
She’ll do her rigorous training session for an hour, stretch, ice her body, and go home to take an Epsom salt bath. During her off training days she’ll still work out by doing cardio. She’ll typically run while she’s fasting to burn more fat.
Jackson has found what gives her that drive and she has turned her 90 day challenge into a lifestyle.
Her focus helps her keep an eye on the prize: Miss Kentucky, USA.
You might have a different challenge and a different goal, but if you find that one thing, she believes you’ll find the motivation and discipline that will come with it.
Keep up with Caity’s fitness journey on Instagram.
For more Lexington, KY, Hamburg area news, subscribe to the Hamburg Journal weekly digital newsletter.
To advertise in Hamburg Journal, call 859.268.0945
