Corporate Woman by Day, Fitness Freak by Night

I live your average, everyday corporate lifestyle between the hours of 8:30 am and 5:00 pm.  During competition prep season, I like to prep my meals for the week on Sunday evening.  I grab my containers, which contains my lunch, snacks, protein shake, another meal, and an extra meal just in case I do not make it home for dinner, and off to work I go.  I usually take up the most room in the refrigerator at work, and I’m ok with that.  I would try to remain inconspicuous and act as if I’m not the owners of all the food containers but, ideally, my initials are conveniently marked on the corners of each container.  My brilliant idea, so no one would suddenly feel the urge to “eat healthy” and snag my food.  Nonetheless, I’m eyeballed each time I step into the kitchen.  No one can understand how someone of my stature, 5’8, 130 lbs, could put away all that food in 8 hours.  “Oh, what ya got there?” “Moving in, are we?”  I avoid the glaring eyes and cute comments and proceed to the refrigerator to stock my food.  I have found that if I tuck my food away in the food crisper drawers, no one notices.  When it’s time to eat, my reminder goes off, and off to the kitchen or my desk drawer I go.  Whenever I’m meeting in someone’s office, my mental clock goes off and I have to ask the time.  If it is feeding time, I politely but hungrily say, “It’s time to feed the beast.  Excuse me.”  And I leave. 

I had a hard time coming to grips with the fact I had to eat every 3 hours, and be ok with it.  I did not eat that much regularly so I wasn’t sure how I would be able to do this during work hours.  I am fairly busy at work and I have been known to skip a meal or two, but I did not think my healthy lifestyle and my work lifestyle could co-exist.  I tried to eat healthy at work, substituting cookies and chips for fruit and veggies, and I thought that was enough.  I was so very wrong.  If I did not eat on a schedule, every 3 hours, it showed in the gym and posing practice, and I could not let that show on stage.  Not to mention the fact I was a bit self-conscious about bringing in so much food and hogging space in the fridge, and also smelling up our kitchen with my fish (I do not microwave my fish), eggs, or vinegar salad dressing.  That changed.  A colleague came to visit our office from another office one day and she confessed to me, after we both shunned the cupcakes and cookies my job had on display in our break room, that she too was a fitness competitor and showed me that she had packed a whole day’s worth of food in her cooler.  I couldn’t believe it.  Not only did she look amazing but she didn’t let her busy schedule or comments from anyone stop her from bringing in her competition prep meals.  I said right then and there I would not be ashamed of bringing in a cooler and truck loads of food into work.  I wouldn’t care how it looked, how awful it smelled, I was going to bring in my food and eat on a schedule. 

After 5:00 pm, it’s beast mode in the gym time.  The makeup, corporate-pleasant attitude and corporate casual attire are stripped.  My hair gets pulled in a pony-tail, covered up by a hat, tights or shorts on, sneakers, and a grizzly bear is before you ready to do some damage.  If I really wanted to be dramatic, I would put some of that black paint under my eyes, but that’s a little extra.  If I’m on schedule, I have my snack or protein shake while I’m there.  If I did not eat, I’m something of a handful with my trainer, or anyone for that matter.  If some of my work associates or even some clients saw me in the gym, they probably would not recognize me or would be very shocked to see hidden under all of the corporate clothes, this “skinny chick” has muscles.  I am extremely focused when working out.  There are times when I “zone out”.  I’m talking no one else is in the room, it’s just me and the weights.  My trainer isn’t even there, just a voice in the distance. 

When I’m focused and on a schedule, I feel much more content.  For those who think you cannot balance work life with a healthy lifestyle, I’m here to tell you that is false.  You can, if you really want to. It takes finding what works for you and setting a strict schedule for yourself, and ultimately sticking to it.  I had a hard time managing stress at work because there were times it would spill over to my workouts.  I found when I eat, take my breaks when I’m supposed to, decompress when I have to, do not skip meals, and work hard in the gym, I’m able to handle things much better.  Try it out and you’ll definitely see it works.

The Bodybuilding Introvert

Many people do not believe me when I tell them this, but I am an introvert.  For the majority of my life, I’ve been fairly shy and quiet, very private and to myself.  I’m still that way to this day, in some regard.  A lot depends on the company around me.  Now, what does this have to do with fitness modeling?  Everything.  Because I am an introvert, it is out of the ordinary that I would choose to associate myself with a sport where I have to expose most of my body and open up to people and swap “prep” stories.  I don’t mind talking and networking with people at all, in fact, I enjoy it.  Sometimes.  I’m not nervous talking to another bikini or figure competitor in the pump up room when we’re getting ready to show our stuff on stage.  I just get to a point where, internally, I ask “what do I have to say remotely interesting to this person that they would want to engage in conversation with me?”  And then I shut down.  But I have to think about who I’m around.  These are men/women that have gone through the same prep that I’ve gone through to get where they are now, in the same place I am.  There is no reason for me not to open up.  Their story may help me, and vice versa. 

The exposing my body portion of it all is somewhat different.  I stopped being shy about my body a long time ago.  I figured because I was working out consistently this would be the perfect way to showcase my rock hard body, dazzling smile and the sparkle in my eye for the lights.  But a small part of me wanted to hold back.  I did not know how I would be perceived.  But I suddenly realized I did not care what anyone thought of me because it was my body.  If I kept up with this introverted “behavior” then I would miss out on a lot of things in life.  So, to the stage I go!

As I’ve stated in earlier posts, fitness modeling is completely out of the box for me.  It is something that I, surprisingly, took naturally too and enjoyed.  While there are those stressful, panic stricken moments of discouragement, fear and lingering thoughts, I have to give myself credit for sticking it out as long as I have and making it work to my advantage.  I do not regard my personality trait as being a character flaw.  I think of it as being that one trait that sets me apart from everyone else.  One may question, what in the world would an introvert be doing body building/fitness modeling competitions for?  Just debunking the myth that you have to be defined and confined to the demarcation of said trait, one competition at a time.

If You're Confident & You Know It, Pose & Smile!

It takes a lot of courage to stand in front of family, friends, fans, and complete strangers, and show off your body that is covered with very little material; very little left to the imagination.  So, going into a competition takes a person with a lot of self-assurance in themselves to make even an effort in entering in this arena.  Not only do you have to be physically strong but you have to be mentally strong as well, as cliché as that sounds. 

My nerves begin jumping a week before a competition, and they do not stop until I approach the stage, smile and pose.   I’ll admit, my very first competition, I was a deer caught in headlights.  Literally, I couldn’t get adjusted to the lights blazing on the center stage and I ended up staring at them the entire show!  I didn’t think I would do so well in that show, my confidence level was at a solid 2.5.  I wasn’t secure mentally or physically.  My pose was a little awkward and my smile was not as shiny and bright as it should have been.  I had several factors working against me.  Ambivalence started to weigh on me, questioning my reason as to why I was subjecting myself to such physical and mental stress.  Naturally, when your confidence feels shattered or at least shaken, you tend to give up.  Not me.  I told myself, for the next show, I would have everything in place, confidence being at the very top of the list.

And I did.  My second show I was more together.  My pose was so spot on my back and legs started hurting, which I didn’t realize until the very end of the show.  My smile was so big my cheeks hurt.  I was told if I was having all of these ailments, I was doing it right.  Confidence level was a whopping 10.  I knew what I had to do to get where I wanted and what I wanted.  My resolve could not be broken at that point.  All I could do was be confident, pose and smile.  And it earned me a 2nd place trophy and qualifier for NPC National shows. 

It hurts, physically and mentally, but that confidence knowing you’ve done everything you are supposed to do to get where you are is the greatest reward.  I say, no matter what it is you’re subjecting yourself to, whether it be a competition, a test in some form, or just challenging yourself to be a better person, you have to have an unwavering, impenetrable confidence that you can look back and say this is what I did to get where I am and nothing can stop me.  Then, just pose and smile, because you’ve got it like that!

Toning...What Does It Really Mean?

At some point, everyone has said or heard this phrase, “I want to tone.”  I’m guilty of saying it to my trainer when I first began training with him.  After I heard myself say it, I couldn’t help but wonder, what did I mean when I said that?  At the time, I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.  I knew I wanted to exercise on a consistent basis and have someone there to push me along.  But where did the toning part come from?  What was I wanting to “tone” and what does that word even mean? 
I had to do some research because it didn’t sit well with me, saying this and not really knowing what it really meant and what I really wanted to do with my body.  I figured because I was already lean and semi-satisfied with my look, all I needed was some tightening in a few areas—stomach, legs.  I wanted some definition in those areas, but I did not want to be overly muscular.  In fact, that wasn’t even a factor--of course, all of this changed when I began competing. 

After reading a few articles and seeing how my own fitness regime was being conducted, I concluded there is no such thing as toning.  Toning is, what I like to call, a filler word for people who want definition and shape to specific areas of their bodies without gaining excessive muscle.  They want the “painted on” look rather than putting in all the work to actually get the definition they want.  Low weight/high reps does not get you the gains.  You’re just moving dust particles around at that point.  You have to actually grind in order to gain muscle.  Fat is replaced with muscle when they are worked.  It doesn’t happen overnight either.  Consistent training will do this, and over time, the muscles and the tightening of them are achieved. 

So, now the cat is out of the bag.  There is no such thing as toning.  Period.  At least in my opinion. I don't allow people to say it in my presence, and if they do, I either politely correct them or ask what do they mean when they say they "tone"?  It’s a word that developed and remained in the gray area between getting lean and gaining muscle.  There is no in between in fitness.  Either you want to lean out (cardio, cardio, cardio) or pack on the muscle (lift, lift, lift).  The choice is yours.  

The Bored Eater

I'm bored. I have nothing to do and nowhere to go. All my friends are busy and I am, essentially, stuck at home, alone. What to do?  Plop on the couch, watch trash T.V. or a good movie and eat, eat, eat.  Pizza sounds good, salty, buttery popcorn is always good, cookies are a great sugary treat, and how about washing it down with a thick milk shake or a soda.  Funny thing is, I’m not really all that hungry…

Sounds typical, right?  Nothing else to do except sit around and eat.  You’re not hungry, you’re just vegetating (no pun intended).  When you're bored you instinctively become what's called a "bored-eater". You fall into this rut where you have nothing to do and you're at home with an abundance of unhealthy foods and snacks.  They’re accessible and available for massive consumption because, let’s face it, you made it that way by purchasing them.  So what’s the reason(s) behind this?  Why eat poorly when you’re bored? Why become a bored-eater?   

I cannot tell a lie, I am guilty of this.  I have done this many times in the past.  I bought the junk food and planned to consume as much of it when I had the time.  When I’m at home watching trash on T.V. or a movie seems as good a time as any to pig out.  The truly sad part about it is I may not even be hungry but because the food is there and my brain says it wouldn’t hurt to eat that quart of cookie dough ice cream I bought on sale for $2.50 (regular price $3.25) I chow down, and in that moment I’m fulfilled.  Not only did I come up on a steal of deal but it’s my favorite ice cream and it’s comforting me.  So then I tell myself, I’m not bored anymore and my imaginary hunger pangs that were never there in the first place are gone.  And this becomes a vicious cycle.  Buy the junk, eat the junk, repeat. 

This pattern had to stop.  If I was going to be more health conscious I needed to think more health conscious.  I had to redo my entire thought process.  Whenever I knew I would be home with nothing to do (because honestly, you have days that are not completely filled and you have down time to yourself) I planned it out.  I stopped buying the junk.  No more ice cream.  Period.  It was my weakness.  I gave it up for Lent one year and I haven’t looked back since.  No pizza unless I’m eating it as a cheat meal.  Hot dogs (Nathans; I’m from New York and there’s no better hot dog in the world) completely off the grocery list.  Chips (unless it’s low sodium and 40% less fat) I cannot purchase.  Fruit (bananas, apples, oranges), nuts (almonds, walnuts), fish (yes, I consider it a snack…tuna, hello?), protein shakes (whey protein), and smoothies (fruit and veggie based not juice based, please) are mainly what I snack on.  And I have a schedule.  I eat every 3 hours.  I eat small meals and snacks in between.  This is to keep me from overeating and feeling as if I need to eat.

It’s simple, if you don’t make it available you won’t eat it.  Moreover, if you reprogram your way of thinking about food—healthy vs. non-healthy, hungry vs. not hungry—your choices and your lifestyle will change immensely.  Worked for me! 

Your Health and Fitness Should Be About You and No One Else

I've mentioned in earlier posts my reason for turning my life over to health and fitness.  For those of you who have not read those posts, let me fill you in.  My mother suffered a major stroke 13 years ago that rendered her somewhat paralyzed on her left side.  I say somewhat because she can still walk and talk but she hardly has any movement in her left arm (she's left-handed) and she walks with a limp. She was able to fight back, however, and even managed to drive and continue living what she deems an active lifestyle; church activities, store runs, attending school events with my niece, etc.  June and July of last year, my mother suffered multiple mini strokes back to back, which affected her speech.  She has days where she sounds clear and other days where she sounds tired and sluggish.  Nonetheless, she's still a fighter.

I wasn't sure how to react or what to be mad at.  My gene pool (my mother's mother suffered a stroke many years ago and died), myself for not knowing what to do to help prevent my mother from having the multiple strokes, or my mother for not slowing down enough and taking care of her health the way she should.  I decided none of the above options were good enough reasons to throw a tantrum and curse the world over, so I decided to take stock in my own life and see what bad habits I've inherited or picked up along the way and how can I change them.

The change would be for me.  It doesn't seem fair to my mother to say I'm changing my life and making it healthier and incorporating an active lifestyle that involves heavy exercising and getting into a sport like body building to keep up appearances, something you were not able to do for me or for yourself.  That's a pretty rotten way of thinking.  I thought I was giving my mother credit by saying her stroke and bad eating habits were the reasons I became more health and fitness conscious, but realized it only highlighted her condition and put her in a negative light.  At least that's what I felt it did.  She may not be a body builder but she's a fighter, and her strength may not be in lifting a 35 lb. bar over her head or doing bent over rows, but it is her willingness to not let this illness drag her down to the depths of despair and inevitably take her life.  She wasn't giving up for herself.  No one or nothing else was a factor in her decision. 

Having learned this, I decided I had to do this health and fitness thing for myself.  Many people do not understand why I'm doing it in the first place, and in actuality, my parents don't either.  For me, that motivates me that much more to push and do it for myself.  No one else will understand what you're doing until they see the end results and eventually it makes sense to them.  Your reason for turning your life over to whatever suits you in a positive way primarily starts with you.  The story behind it and the motivation to keep going is secondary.

Work With Your Immune System, Not Against It

It's that time of year, where germs are spread more than icing on a red velvet cake.  That is why it is imperative to keep your body healthy and to boost your immune system to ward off any illnesses seeking to disrupt your holiday jolly time.  Essentially, your immune system acts as a protector against germs so that your body will not inevitably shut down.  Incorporating healthy eating choices into your diet and generally understanding your body and how your immune system works allows you to develop a more conscious and healthy lifestyle.

We inhale thousands upon thousands of germs each day.  Take a moment to think about that.  Each time you breathe, you are breathing in millions of germs surrounding you, just floating around in the air without a care in the world.  Knowing this, it makes sense to prep your body for illnesses attempting to attack it.  That's why we boost our immune system.  The same way a company gives out incentives to its employers to boost or strengthen the morale within the workplace so that everyone is happy and on the same page, is the same way our immune systems are boosted.  We want our immune system strengthened so that when germs (bacteria and viruses) attempt to enter our body and shut it down, it will serve as a blocker against them.

Ways to boost your immune system:

1. Drink water - we want to flush out the toxins from our bodies.  The way to do that is staying hydrated.  Another benefit is it helps digest food.  A strong digestive system allows nutrition to distribute adequately.
2. Eat smart, eat healthy - eating gobs of hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, pizza, and drinking soda sounds like a good time, and it's an even better time for those germs to slip in and take over because your immune system is not receiving any nutrients from these types of foods.  Citrus fruits loaded with Vitamin C, foods rich in protein (chicken, fish, turkey, lean cuts of beef), quinoa, black beans, spinach, lemon, ginger, garlic, broccoli, kale, sweet potatoes, all are better alternatives for boosting your immune system.
3. Adequate amounts of sleep - it goes without saying; if you do not get enough sleep, your body will shut down on you.  It needs rest to refuel energy levels so that you can do what you did the day before 10 x's better the next day. 
4. Proper hygiene - it is simple; wash your hands, use hand sanitizer, brush your teeth, wash your hair, face and body.  Period.
5. Check ups - it is necessary to make sure your vitals are still vital and your ticker is still ticking. 
6. Exercise - this one is my favorite, naturally.  Maintaining a consistent workout plan throughout your week strengthens your body, while your blood is able to flow easier and pumps rapidly.

In order to stay healthy we have to be healthy.  We have to know what germs are surrounding us and the ways to prevent them from entering our body.  Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday!