To Supplement or Not to Supplement!

Okay, I take supplements and lots of supplements. The day before my competition I had to take a polygraph test, in most natural shows you have to take a polygraph test to ensure that you are not using a banned substance (steroids, diuretics, some fat burners etc). I had to tell the polygraph tester the supplements I taken in the past 5 years. Wow, there were so many supplements I take and had taken, it took a while for me to remember all of them. Some of them included: a multi-vitamin, plus additional vitamin C and E, MSM, glutamine, Omega 3, flax seed oil, apple-cider vinegar, creatine (cycle on and off) and vitamins for my hair.

I have taken supplements for as along as I remember. As a child, my grandmother gave me cod liver oil (yuck) and my mother also gave us vitamins she purchased from the health food store (I think my mother knew of every health food store in the Toronto area, and the owners all knew her). When I was in university, I stopped taking vitamins for a while because I was trying to cut back on expenses, I thought it might be something I may not really need and maybe those doctors who felt that we didn't need supplements were correct. After a few months I started to take my vitamins again because my skin looked better and my energy level was higher when I took them. I should have known better! I was pretty versed on the topic of herbal remedies since I had read several of my mom's herbal remedy books. I guess I believed in supplementation and herbal remedies because I grew up seeing its benefits. I remember as a child that my grandmother had a herbal cure for so many things and that they seemed to work. For example, if I had stomach pain she would make me spearmint tea using fresh spearmint from her backyard. Also, she would make us drink senna tea when she felt we needed a cleansing. BTW, senna tea tastes really, really nasty! I always read and do my research about supplements, and herbal remedies before taking them. 1. I don't want to waste my money (on snake oil supplements). 2. It can be dangerous to take too much supplements. For example, there are some vitamins that are water soluble therefore you can't really have a serious overdose but others are not water soluble and can build up in your system and cause other problems.

Personally, my preference is to take supplements that I believe are good for me particularly if I've witnessed its positive results. I prefer this option than the other option of getting ill than to take prescription drugs that may get rid of my illness (temporarily, since I read somewhere, that the last medicine invented that was a cure was penicillin) but may cause several other side effects.
Live healthy and train hard!

A healthy body is the guest chamber of the soul ~ Francis Bacon

Recently I was in the kitchen at work washing some cherry tomatoes. I found these delicious cherry tomatoes at the grocery store and I have been eating them like grapes. They are really sweet and fresh. I offered some to my coworker, who is at the soda dispenser getting Coke. Her response was “oh no, tomatoes are not good for me because they are too acidic”. My thought, was you have got to be kidding, you are about to drink a Coke, what can be more acidic than Coke? I am often surprised when people say that they cannot eat fruit because it’s too acidic? I eat lots of fruits and vegetables and have never had a problem with acidity but that’s just me! But regarding acidity in food, foods are acid or alkaline forming. A food’s acid or alkaline forming tendency in the body has nothing to do with the actual pH (potential of Hydrogen). For example, lemons are very acidic before digestion but after digestion are alkaline, whereas beef is alkaline before digestion but it leaves acidic residue in the body. I am a bit more concerned about foods leaving acidic residue in my body rather than if it is acidic while I eat it.
It is important that your dietary intake of food acts to balance your body pH because too much acid in the body (acidosis) can cause health problems.
Acidosis can cause such problems as:

Weight gain, obesity and diabetes, aching muscles and lactic acid buildup, mouth and stomach ulcers, excess stomach acid, dull hair with split ends and falls out, dry skin, leg cramps and spasms, etc, etc, etc.

This is why your diet should consist of alkaline forming foods (about 60%) and acid forming foods (40%). Here is a link to an Alkaline Food List:
http://www.betterbones.com/alkaline/articles/chart%20p12.pdf

Is Skinny the New Happy?

A thread was started on the Oxygen forum "Are you happy with your body?". This thread was started by a member because quote "A lot of people I know that are not into fitness usually think I head to the gym every day and make healthy food choices because I suffer from low self-esteem or that I am unhappy with my body." She went on to say that she is happy with her body and she likes to workout!

I, of course stated my opinion on this thread and it was as follows: "I am happy with my body. With that being said, I can still strive to improve it, but that does not mean I am not happy with it. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest and the most happy, I am not at a 10. I would say I am at an 8. There is no one I look at and say "this person has a perfect body" who I would rate a 10, and I would want her body. Now I would say that I wouldn't mind having abs like Gina Aliotti (pro figure competitor), but I would not want her body because I am happy with mine. I think it's just natural to try to be better and improve, whether it's with fitness or other aspects of your life. I think about it as an athlete and my sport is Figure Competitions. I am competing to better myself. Of course I want to win first place, but the sport is so subjective that I am happy when I see from year to year I make improvements. Great athletes like Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps or Michael Jordon don't stop practicing and say "well I am the best and there is no room for improvement".
Maybe it's the people with the low self esteem who feel that they cannot attain a goal (losing weight or whatever) who do give up and then try to make people who are trying to better themselves give up on their goals?
Finally, I love working out, and I feel great after working out, so even if I wasn't competing I would workout. I've workout my entire and I have eaten healthy my entire life and I don't feel that I am missing out on anything!

Several other members responded, and it was alarming to find some women who were not only unhappy with their bodies, but envied the anorexic skinny bodies of celebrities. Someone actually posted that she thought Allegra Versace had a nice figure. I had no idea what Allegra Versace looked liked but for those like me who don't know, I've attached is a pic.

It's unfortunate when someone can see this picture and say that they wouldn't mind looking like that! I've met too many women who have told me that at they had an eating disorder. My mom's friend's daughter died recently of anorexia and it's so sad to see someone die this way.

I am lucky to state that I have never had an eating disorder, I've always appreciated the more athletic physique with muscle tone, maybe one of the reasons is when I was growing up, I hated when people told me I was skinny. I've met several people who when I've mentioned that I lift weights their comments often are "you don't want too much muscles, you will look like a man"! I never known how to respond to this? I have been lifting weights for years (yes more than 5 pound dumbbells), and I don't think I look manly. Isn't it interesting that it's perfectly okay for someone to say "you look too muscular and like a man" yet when someone is so skinny to the point that they look anorexia or obese that no one says a thing to them?

Goal Setting

Now that my competition is over it's time to set a new goal. My new goal will be to gain 10 pounds of lean muscle mass. This isn't easy for me since I don't put on muscle easily (most women don't). I am going to have to increase my calories to at least 2000 calories a day. My basal metabolic rate (BMR) is about 1200 calories. That is the amount of calories I need to eat each day just to maintain my weight. This does not include an additional activity such as working out. Now when I include activity, I figured I will need to be at about 2000 calories to allow me to gain weight. I am going to see if I can gain half a pound a week. The good news is I get to eat lots of food and I very little cardio. I am going to try hard not to gain a lot of fat.

During the last 2 weeks of my competition I was asked some really weird questions. Some of which include:

What are you taking? Mmm, not sure what they are referring to, but if they are referring to steroids that is one of the most ridiculous questions I've ever been asked. Let me tell you, if I was taking any type of steroids or growth hormones I wouldn't look like this, I would be way bigger. Now why do I have to be taking something? There is no magic pill people, just working out and eating the right foods!

Do you workout a lot (like twice a day)? Hell no! Unless I was getting paid in endorsements or something and I had a contract stating that I had to maintain a particular level of fitness, why the heck would anyone want to workout twice a day or more? Nothing else to do? Nope working out once a day is enough and doing a million sit ups isn't necessary either.

Do you eat? I really could not believe that question! I was getting my nails done and the manicurist asked me if I eat. Now, I know I was extremely lean because this was the day before my competition, and I am generally not usually this lean, but what a dumbass question. I mean I don't look anorexic (I hope)!

What happens when you stop? Okay, my sister was asked this question and I am not sure what this person was referring to? Stop what...working out? Not sure. If I was asked this question, I would have said "I don't know, what do you think would happen if you stopped working out?" Actually, I had someone tell me that I shouldn't workout and lift weights because once I stop my muscles will turn into fat! She actually believed that! Muscles do not turn into fat. If I stopped working out, I would most likely lose my muscles (and it doesn't take long), and I would gain weight in the form of fat, instead of lean muscle mass (which is generally my goal when I workout) but muscles do not turn into fat and fat does not turn into muscle.

Enough with the dumb questions!

The Olympia is on September 25 this year and I just added a link with a live web cast. I am really interested in the Figure and Fitness category, of course. I am not as much interested in the Bodybuilding. Those guys/gals are just way too big (my opinion anyway). I want to see if Jenny Lynn will win for the 3rd time in a row. It looks like Monica Brant will not be competing.

I am taking it easy with training this week, I am a bit under the weather, my throat is sore and I really need to rest before I start training towards my next goal. My husband and I joined a new gym, so goodbye to Golds Gym. We are now at Lifetime Fitness. They just opened a brand new club in our neighborhood and all the equipment is new and I can't wait to get started.

The Day After

Well it's a day after my competition and the good new is I had lots of fun but the bad new is I didn't win. I am waiting for pictures from the photographer because although my husband took lots of picture, they didn't come out very well. They were too dark and I tried to photoshop them and it still didn't help. My husband isn't very good at taking pictures.

The OCB was a huge show, I competed in 2 classes, women over 35, there were 12 women in this class and extremely competitive. Some of the girls had won 1st place in other federations. I also competed in the Novice Short class, also a large group, with 10 women. I think I looked better the night before, my muscles were more full and defined. The show was an extremely well run show. After the show they had chocolate cake with white icing for us backstage. The cake was shaped like the Whitehouse, which was appropriate for the OCB Presidential. I didn't really pig out after the show, my husband and I went to a sushi restaurant and I had a few pieces of sushi but most importantly I ordered the grilled sea bass with sweet potato chips. You would think that I would be sick of sweet potatoes, but it was sweet potatoes chips and they weren't greasy. This restaurant also has great salads so we also shared a tofu salad. I know, most people were going to IHop or places to eat hamburgers, but we had sushi and seafood. Okay, I lived in California for so long that we are sushi lovers and I love fish if it is seasoned properly. Finally, we had to have dessert. We went to Cafe Deluxe and I wanted the Brownie a la mode but they were out so we had the Apple Crisp with ice cream. I really liked it because it wasn't too sweet. I don't like desserts that are so sweet that I get a head rush with all the sweetness.

Here is pic from last yesterday, I will post more as I get them from the photographer.

Tomorrow is almost here - I Believe

Yeah it's my last day and I cannot wait for tomorrow! There are several reasons...the best of all is that I can finally stop eating this boring, no tasting, no flavour food! Generally my theory is if I can put seasonings on food, I can make anything taste good! Seriously, I have every seasoning known to man in my kitchen cabinet, stuff my husband has never even heard of (like cloves, no kidding). This past week, Tony had me stop all my seasonings, even cinnamon. Oatmeal isn't oatmeal without cinnamon, so he allowed me to put cinnamon but not nutmeg! Right now I am eating breakfast and I am extremely happy that I am putting the last bite of chicken breast in my mouth. I wish I had a BBQ because I would put this chicken on the grill to at least get the charcoal flavour.

Tonight I am going to be extremely thankful when I eat my last piece of non-seasoned food. I am also thankful for my sister Ezra. Thanks for all of her support and for all the great Canadian goods she sent to me. Some things you can only get in Canada, eh! I am also thankful for my husband Craig. He has come a long way from the pizza, Popeye chicken eating and junk food eater he has been all his life to actually eating my nutritious and delicious food (and actually saying that it's good). I am really proud of him, he has lost about 50 pounds and has keep it off for almost a year now! This is a true story, last month, Craig decided to buy some chicken from Popeye's and he ate it and all the nasty grease made him sick. I didn't want to laugh but I thought it was funny so I laughed! I am also thankful for Tony, he is a great coach and provided me a lot of support. Finally, thanks to all who visit this Blog and posted supportive comments, to all the DreamBodies Divas! Tomorrow is another day and I Believe!

Day 5 - One Day Closer!

Only 5 days left and I feel good! The next 5 days will be tough mainly because I have to change my meal plan so much. I cannot chew gum along with several more things I have to cut out of my diet. It's only for a few days and then I can look forward to a cheat meal. I never really go crazy with the cheat meals and I think on Sunday I will go to one of my favorite restaurants, The Big Bowl. I'll probably just have the grilled salmon but I plan on having dessert and I have to find somewhere to have chocolate cake or brownies.

I feel better going into this competition than the last one and that was definitely one of my goals. I wanted to see improvements and so far I have. I took pictures in my competition suit today and I need more crystals, so I still have to work on the bra part of my suit. I have a number of things to do to prepare for Saturday, but it's mostly pampering stuff like getting my hair done, manicure, pedicure, waxing. I can't wait! One of craziest things I read was a figure competitor who actually sat on a heating pad because she claimed that it helped melt fat from her butt! I am always amazed that people will do almost anything to lose weight. Needless to say, I will not even think of doing something like that.

Again, I have to say how thankful I am for Tony, my coach. He is the best! I am also thankful for my husband for putting up with me through all this. We haven't been eating out as much at all because he knows I have to stick to the plan! Before I was picky but since this competition I am to the extreme and he understands.

After this competition, I have to decide on what my next goal will be. I am not sure yet!

Day 10 - The Body won't go, where the mind has not gone to first! - Day 10

10 days until the big day. I had a rough week last week. Working out twice a day doesn't cut it for me. Maybe I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to go to work as well. In addition to working out I had to practice my posing which seems like another workout. I really commend those girls who go through this over and over again and some have several shows in one year. I didn't have to do this much cardio for my last competition. I think I was driving my coach, Tony crazy last week. My muscles were looking flat and I was concerned about losing muscle with the increased cardio. I am just a bit paranoid about losing my hard earned muscle and I probably was finding an excuse to not do so much cardio.

I read some interesting information about how important visualization is when working out. I also read that you can visual yourself to lose weight. In the movie The Secret, this woman claimed that she visualized herself to be thin. The reality is not that she thought of herself to be thin and one day she woke up thin. What she actually did was visualize herself thin and started to make better food choices and eliminated junk food from her diet, she also started to go for walks after dinner etc.

There is tremendous power in your thoughts. Remember the old saying: "the body won't go, where the mind has not gone to first"! Most goals people make include some type of visualization. For the next 10 days, I am going to visualize myself on stage and getting that first place trophy!