Hello World!
My husband and I don't lead a very glamorous life. Not only could we care less about spending our time and money at bars and parties, but even back when we first met, and before we were in the industry it was the last thing you'd find us doing. More often than anything our only venture outside of work and home is the supermarket. Being natural bodybuilders, keeping to our diet means keeping a selection of certain foods available at home. Stopping at fast food places or frozen foods are just not an option, especially when preparing for a show. And seeing as I alone go through nearly a pound of chicken a day, that means that we're frequent visitors to the 3 nearby supermarkets. The rest of our diet consists of vegetables, fruits, lo fat dairy, some cereals, and eggs. So besides the fact that we're eating every 2.5-3.5 hours, all those things go bad within about 5 days - hence the 3x a week trips to the store.
I swear to God it makes my ears bleed when people tell me "I can't eat healthy - it's too expensive." Really? THAT's your only reason? Honestly, that's bull. And you can chalk it up to two things: over eating, and laziness. How many people truly pay attention to a portion size for any given item? A recent study I read showed 90% of Americans pay no attention to the recommended portion size of their food. An entire box of cereal should last you well past a week, and yet most people are through it in 3 days.. There is an amazing disconnect between people's perceptions of what they eat, and what they actually eat. Not to mention that the market is flooded with foods that are not only unhealthy, but readily available and saturated with tasty goodness. And that's where the problem lies. Americans as a whole are addicted to food. Their palates have become overwhelmed by the excessive sweets and salts of their meals that the art of cooking is lost on most of them... Hell, for a while, I even fell in that category. And looking on the bright side of my Celiac, it's forced me once again to eat to live, not live to eat.
I can't tell you how many people tell me that the only reason I'm not heavy is because I eat once a day if at all- WRONG! Or because I only eat vegetables and chicken - WRONG AGAIN! Or because I exercise like a maniac for hours a day- THREE STRIKES YOU'RE OUT! Even worse are the idiots - and I'm sorry but they are - who demand wholeheartedly that it's impossible to be as conditioned as our athletes are naturally. None of those people have ever put themselves through the rigorous diet and training our athletes do, and yet they insist that what they do is impossible. To those people I say I defy you to take 12 months of your life, and give what they do, eat like they do, train like they do, and not see your body transform.
Honestly, being a part of this sport has saved my life on so many levels, and if it weren't for it I'd be much unhealthier, much unhappier, and just plain awful. And it pisses me off that in a country full of the majority of people treating their bodies like landfills, that everyone feels the right to preach how dangerous this lifestyle apparently is. Although I realize I can't change everyone's mind, it really bothers me when people I know, who know how monotonous my life is, who know how healthy I eat, and how hard I work, still doubt me and my fellow competitors. If it were easy everyone would look a lot better, and we wouldn't have the sweeping obesity problem in this country.
We competitors haven't chosen to do this because it's easy. We're each well aware of what we're getting into, and the sacrifices that will be necessary. And I know I speak for most of us when I say I don't expect people to necessarily kiss my ass and tell me I'm awesome, but I really could do without the comments about 'Aren't you too skinny' or 'Why are you doing this to yourself'. Because when it comes down to it, natural bodybuilding competitors are some of the most genuine, hardworking people I know. They've made the choice to stay natural in a world hooked on quick fixes, pill popping for every disorder and disease, and taking the easy way out. We could just as easily put our morals aside, pop some GH, take some steroids and not have to work nearly as hard. But we don't. We've chosen this road because it's the more honorable one, and because we DO very much value our health. And because we all know something that's true about just about everything in life: The people who's opinion really matters will ultimately respect you more for sticking it out and working hard and not taking the easy way to the top. And the ones who just praise you for being at the top, regardless of how you got there?.. Well they really don't matter.
Happy Valentines - Have you hugged a natural bodybuilder today?
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