Don't forget to grab your FREE fitness tips: Why Everything You Know About Getting Lean, Sexy, Six Pack Abs Is Wrong...And How to REALLY Get the Flat Stomach You've Always Wanted! Click here ==>> Daily Fitness Tips
I recently had a chance to interview my friend Monika, who completely changed her life style, dropped about 30 pounds of fat and is getting ready to enter her first fitness competition.
 |
Q: What inspired or motivated you to pursue fitness the way you have?
I have always been very active and into fitness, but the more I worked out, the more I ate junk because I felt that if I worked out, I could eat whatever I wanted.
Well, 30 extra pounds later I realized that this is not going to get me anywhere. I felt tired all the time, I was unhappy, had constant backaches.
I decided to go see one of my friend’s compete in a bodybuilding show, and I got totally addicted.
Seeing so many beautiful, fit, happy people, gave me a whole different outlook on fitness. It motivated me and made me realize that I could do it too.
Q: How long did it take you to get to where you are now, and what would you say to our readers who are already tired and frustrated and just want to finally “get in shape”?
The whole process took me almost 2 years. I worked out frequently, but I was not losing weight because my diet was not good.
I realized that all the work that I put in the gym was useless if I was not eating properly. The first few months were like a trial and error, I would eat clean for a week, and then crash my diet over the next week, and kept telling myself that I will start fresh on Monday.
As I began changing the way I ate, my body started changing too.
At the beginning, it takes a lot of hard work, motivation and commitment, but then it just becomes part of your life.
I actually love eating clean, I feel better and I have more energy. Do not get frustrated if it takes you a while to drop a few pounds of body fat.
Keep in mind your ultimate goal and imagine the way your body will look when you finally get there.
Changes don’t happen over night and NO, there is no magic pill to make you loose weight quickly; it takes time, motivation, commitment, but at the end, it is all SO worth it.
Q: One thing I’d like for you to address because I feel it’s a big one with women, is weight training. Even nowadays, a lot of women shy away from weight training because they don’t want to look like Arnold. If they train at all, it’s with the tiny pink weights and they never even break a sweat.
You’ve developed a gorgeous, sexy, lean hard body and you couldn’t have done it without weights. What do you say to these women to get them to not just train with weights but train hard and make it an important part of their overall program?
Yes, I hear this comment all the time from women. This is one of the biggest misconceptions out there among females. I couldn’t have shaped my body in the way that I have without weights.
Cardio can help you lose weight and make you a smaller “pear/apple”, but weight training is what will shape, sculpt your body so it doesn’t even resemble a” pear or an apple”.
Resistance training has helped me become leaner, stronger, happier, and more confident.
It is impossible for women to build big muscle because we don’t have the amount of testosterone that men do.
If you take steroids and lift heavy, you will probably achieve a very muscular physique. I have been weight training since I was 18, and still don’t have big muscles. I wish it was that easy!
So do not be afraid of lifting weights that are heavy enough that you can do 12-15 reps with them, if you feel like you can do 50 reps with your weight, you are not lifting enough, if you can’t get up to 8, then you are probably lifting too much.
Q: Your forum signature on Body Space is
“This is MY body. And I can do whatever I want to it. I can push it. Study it. Tweak it. Listen to it. Everybody wants to know what I’m on. What am I on? I’m on my bike busting my ass 3 hrs a day. What are YOU on?” – Lance Armstrong
This is an awesome quote! Success doesn’t come without hard work.
What advice would you give to someone who’s brand-new to the fight to get and stay in shape and struggling to stick to a proper nutrition and exercise program?
Yes, this is one of my favorite quotes, it sums it all up. Without hard work and commitment, you can’t get anywhere that is worth going.
My biggest advice to you is taking the first step: “journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step”.
Make a commitment to yourself, don’t do it for someone else, do it for YOU. Start eating 5-6 small meals every 3-4 hrs that include complex carbs, lean protein, and healthy fats.
Keep your body well hydrated, this is very important! Start using weights if you aren’t already, and I’m not talking about the little pink weights.
Listen to your body, imagine what your body will look like when you reach your goal, keep constant motivation around you, and most importantly have fun whatever you are doing.
 |
Q: What’s the biggest mistake you made when you started and how did you correct it?
The biggest mistake was not eating enough when I first started dieting. Your body needs nutrition to function.
Will you get anywhere in your car if you don’t have enough fuel in it? – NO! Same thing with your body!
One or two meals per day will not help you lose weight; it will only slow down your metabolism more and prevent you from losing weight because your body will put itself in a starvation mode.
I eat 5-6 small meals per day that include complex carbohydrates, lean protein, healthy fats, take multivitamins every day and drink about a gallon of water each day.
Q: What do you think is the most important thing or skill you’ve learned with regard to health and fitness?
Proper nutrition is crucial!
Often you hear that diet is about 80% of what you look like, 10 % exercise, about 10 % genetics. This is so true!
If you do not know what to do, talk to dieticians, read about it, educate yourself.
Learning how to eat right has made a huge impact on the way my body looks and my lifestyle.
Especially if you are training for your first show, the best investment you can make is hiring a nutritionist. It will take lots of guessing & stress out of your diet planning.
I have also learned that I do have ONLY ONE BODY, and I should take the best care of it.
Seeing so many suffering and sick people in my nursing career made me realize how important it is to take care of what you have.
You can have all the money in the world, but nothing will buy you health. This should be a major motivation to you when you are making goals.
Being overweight increases your risk of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and many other diseases.
For those that are naturally thin and think that they can eat junk all the time and not gain weight, think again: you might trick some of us but you can’t fool your body, it knows what you’ve been fueling it with.
Q: What are some common pitfalls you feel people can stumble upon and how would you help them avoid these obstacles?
Not sticking to your plan and telling yourself that “I will start Monday”, “I will start after New Years” You have to be disciplined.
If you say you are going to do something, do it! Start today! Don’t waste anymore time.
Once you start seeing your body change and feeling awesome, you will NEVER look back. It will be so worth it!!!
Q: Moving forward and knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently with your own journey, if anything?
I would have been more consistent with my clean eating a lot earlier and I would have started all this 10 yrs ago!
But I look at my journey as a learning process, and I am where I am because of my trials and errors.
Q: The most common excuse I hear from people who don’t eat right or train is that they don’t have the time.
What advice do you have for people who use ‘lack of time’ as an excuse to eat poorly and avoid exercise?
If you don’t make time, you will never have time. You have to find time. You have to manage your time and set your priorities.
Being a full time nurse anesthetist student, with a very busy school/work schedule, it’s not easy. I usually get up at 5 am, and don’t get home until 10 pm.
It doesn’t leave much time for studying or other activities.
I make time & set my priorities! I constantly come up with things to help me make more time during the day so I can get the important tasks done and get my workouts in. I record my lectures on my ipod so I can listen to them while driving or doing cardio.
Q: What’s a typical day for you when it comes to training and nutrition?
I usually get up at 5 am, eat breakfast, I get to the operating room by 630 am, then go to class from 1-7 pm, and I usually I don’t get to the gym until 730 or 8 pm.
I do cardio 5-6 times per week, 30-45 min.
Weight train 4-5 times per week, doing different parts each day, and I change my weight lifting routine every 4 weeks.
I eat 5-6 meals a day, incorporating balance of complex carbs, lean protein, and healthy fats in my diet.
Q: How are you able to consistently fit them into your busy schedule?
I get up at 5 am most of the mornings and don’t get home until 9 or 10 pm. I usually cook my meals on Sunday afternoon.
I pack all my meals the night before, so I can just grab them in the morning. I carry a cooler box in my car so my foods stay fresh.
I pack my workout clothe the night before, so I don’t have to drive back home when I get off work, or school.
Again, planning is a key here: if you “fail to plan, you plan to fail”.
Q: What do you think are the keys to becoming successful, whether it’s competing or losing 15 pounds of fat?
Being consistent, keeping yourself motivated, whatever it takes: read motivational quotes/article, talk to people, research, have a support system, put pictures of your favorite fitness models on your refrigerator, keep progress photos of yourself, etc.
As my nutritionist once told me “your body will do what your mind tells it to do”. Keep your mind happy, positive, and it will take you wherever you want to go. Be consistent and stick with it!
Q: What’s one of the things you find most challenging about what you do?
The most challenging thing is finding time and balance between school, training, seeing my family and friends.
Often you have to be willing to sacrifice things like going out with your friends, but at the end it is all worth it. I keep a good healthy balance between my mind, body, and soul.
Q: What are your future fitness plans?
I plan on entering my first figure competition in March 2009. I want to stay fit and healthy, get into fitness modeling, continue to motivate and inspire others, maintain nice toned figure without loosing my feminine curves 
I think it takes a lot of determination and commitment to challenge yourself to compete and actually go through with it.
I think you become a winner if you set this goal and succeed, no matter how you place in the competition.
Thanks, Monika! Great advice. You can learn more about Monika here – Monika’s Body Space
Photo Credits: Photo 1 & 3: Jaroslaw photography, Photo 2: Owtlaw photography
If you really want to succeed with your fitness program and learn more about how to get sexy abs and a lean, flat stomach check out the following information.
- 5 Fat Loss Myths Revealed: Why Long, Slow Boring Cardio is not the Best Fat Loss Program to Increase Your Metabolism and Burn Belly Fat…
- Exclusive Muscle Building Report Reveals: How to Add 11 Pounds of Muscle EVERY 7 Weeks!
- Learn 5 Facts You MUST Understand if You Are Ever Going to Lose Your Belly Fat and Get Six Pack Abs
- Fat Loss Secrets Revealed – FREE Special Report
|
Discover over 27 Unique Metabolism-Boosting Secrets for Getting Rid of Stubborn Belly Fat
Free e-Report for Visiting Today (a $17.95 value) Just enter your first name and email below and the Free report will be instantly emailed to you. Inside, you’ll discover:
Be sure to check your "bulk", "junk", or "spam" folders, as emails occasionally get mistakenly filtered.
I hate SPAM as much as you do and will never rent or sell your email address. |
Related Articles:
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Photo credits: Photo #1 & #3 by Jaroslaw Photography, #2 by Owtlaw Photography. Thank you!
{ 1 trackback }