A Winner, Regardless of the Competition

I watched with pride and joy as one of my trainees stepped on stage to compete in her first muscle contest.  She has undergone 3 months of rigorous training and dieting in order to drop body fat, gain muscle and take pride in her athletic accomplishment.  The picture below shows her 3-month transformation.  She knows she still has a bit of toning to do in order to be competitive with other fitness models, but she's motivated and excited about taking it to the next level.

Look at the definition in her quads, abs, waistline, hips, arms, calves!  She's around 20% body fat currently.  For her height and age, it should be more like 14-15% to be in the "athlete" category, by medical standards.  Keeping up with her rigorous program and diet, she should lose about 1% body fat per month/month-and-a-half.  That will make her nice and lean and cut for her next competition in October.

Abject or Object?! Can a Female Bodybuilder be Feminine?

I came across this excerpt from a journal article published in 1991: From Abject to Object: Women's Bodybuilding By: Marcia Ian.  Read it and see if you agree, in the context of today's woman.  I wholeheartedly disagree with the sentiment that women's bodybuilding marginalizes women's femininity.  I'm not an object, and it does not seem abject, or vulgar, as described below.

When I'm lifting heavy with my straps or belt, building muscles, competing for "bragging rights" about my muscles, I feel just as feminine as when I'm at an afternoon tea in a frilly dress with girlfriends from church.  I feel different in each setting, but that's part of the majesty of the female brain: we are adaptable self-preservers. 

When we are emotionally healthy, we feel comfortable expressing ourselves, regardless of the perception of others (unless it is a harmful form of self-expression).  We embrace our femininity to suit our surroundings without compromising who we are -- we aren't pandering, just enjoying different settings in different ways, according to our "style" and bent.

Why can't big biceps, traps and shoulders (as well as shapely glutes, quads and hamstrings) appeal to a woman's sense of self-worth and beauty without detracting from her femininity?  In 2014, most women I've interacted with in any context comment, "I'd kill for your arms (or glutes)".  Maybe I'm less bulky than some female bodybuilders, so I appear more fit than huge, but I'm still a bodybuilder.   AND I love wearing sparkles, heels and makeup when I'm in a muscle contest, the now-required uniform for women's bodybuilding competitors.

Popular Culture: From Abject to Object: Women's Bodybuilding

by: Marcia Ian

From: Postmodern Culture
Volume 1, Number 3, May 1991
| 10.1353/pmc.1991.0014

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Do muscles have gender, or are they, on the contrary, ungendered human meat? Other than the few muscles associated with their sexual organs, men and women have the same muscles. Does this make muscles neuter, or perhaps neutral? Is there some "difference" between the biceps of a male and those of a female other than, possibly, that of size? If a woman's biceps, or quadriceps, are bigger than a man's, are hers more masculine than his? In the eyes of most beholders, the more muscle a woman has, the more "masculine" she is. The same, of course, is true for men: the more muscle a man has, the more masculine he is too. Bodybuilding in a sense is a sport dedicated to wiping out "femininity," insofar as femininity has for centuries connoted softness, passivity, non-aggressivity, and physical weakness. Eradicating femininity just may be the purpose of both male and female bodybuilders. Even so, for men to wage war on femininity, whether their own or somebody else's, is nothing new. For women, however, it is. Insofar as women have for centuries obliged cultural expectations by em-bodying femininity as immanent, bodybuilding affords women the opportunity to embody instead a refusal of this embodiment, to cease somewhat to represent man's complementary (and complimentary) other.

At least this is how it seems to this author, who is: a forty-year old, divorced, atheistic Jewish mother of two teenaged girls; an assistant professor of British and American Literature at a the state univerity of New Jersey; a specialist in modernism, psychoanalysis and gender; and a dedicated "gym rat" who has trained hard and heavy without cease (knock on wood) for about eight years now and during graduate school even entered bodybuilding competitions. As such, I confess, I obviously have various axes to grind (pun intended) which intersect "around" the body as uniquely over-determined site of ambivalent psychosocial signification. From this point of view women's bodybuilding appears to be roughly equal parts gender vanguardism and exhibitionistic masochism; men's bodybuilding could in theory be the same, but I have seen no evidence that this is so. Male bodybuilders, on the contrary, seem mainly out to prove that they are conventionally masculine-- hyperbolically, FEROCIOUSLY so.

Furthermore, the sport of bodybuilding, as marketed and represented by those enterprises founded by Joe and Ben Weider, including magazines like Flex and Muscle and Fitness(published by "I, Brute Enterprises, Inc.") and contests like the Mr. and Ms. Olympia, as well as various less powerful rival organizations, reproduces ad nauseam all the cliches of masculinism from the barbarous to the sublime. This remains true despite the fact that in recent years the top female competitors have displayed increasing amounts of hard striated muscle. I had hoped to find in the gym a communal laboratory for experimental gender-bending, perhaps a haven for the gender-bent, or at the least a democratic republic biologically based on the universality of human musculature. This laboratory, this haven, this republic, however, remains a utopic and private space, a delusion in effect, because what goes on in the gym, as in bodybuilding competition, remains the violent re-inscription of gender binarism, of difference even where there is none. As Jane Gallop pointed out, in Western culture gender is no "true" binary or antithesis but rather an algorithm of one and zero. Bodybuilding expands the equivalence "male is to female as one is to zero" to include the specious antithesis of muscle and femininity.

That's My Girl!

This coming Saturday, one of my long-term training clients will compete in her first bodybuilding competition. She's a beautiful girl inside and out.  She will be competing against other novices who have worked very hard to lose body fat, gain muscle and redefine their athleticism.

Here's a quick video of a portion of our training session one week away from competition.  Take a look at her leg and shoulder muscles -- through diet and exercise, those muscles have been added to her body over the course of 4 months.  She's lost inches all over, and her shape has changed.  I'm so proud of all the work she's done, but I'm mostly excited that she's grown stronger in her self-confidence and feelings of self-worth through the process.

Sixty-Something and Successful at Slimming

I have a super-fun client who is in her upper-sixties, and when she first came to me she said (almost verbatim), "I eat well and I don't think I need to lose weight.  I just want to get more energy."  Instantly, I could see that she needed to lose fat and gain some lean, healthy muscle, as well as increase her stamina ... and she also needed to gain a more positive outlook on change at this phase of her life.

After the first 2 months of personal training with me (I train her and her daughter together -- the daughter does more weight and longer reps, and they both end up equally worn out after each session), she had lost 6 inches everywhere.  She had not lost weight, but she had put on about 2 pounds of lean muscle.  Her strength and excitement for regular exercise had grown, but she hadn't changed her diet much.  She soon fell ill for a while and backslid on the exercise.  Regardless, she didn't gain fat because her metabolism had been charged up through regular exercise.

It has now been a little over 4 months of training, and she has lost about 12 inches all over her body.  She is lifting heavier weights, maintaining a higher energy level throughout the session, walking faster on her own during the week, and discussing dietary changes with me more often.  Last week I got her to do some barbell work.  She was hesitant to veer away from the normal style of workouts that I had been doing with her.  Yet, now that we have broken through and changed not only her eating habits and exercise habits but her outlook on pushing herself, she eventually accepted the challenge.

My client asked me to film her doing some barbell exercises, so she could brag to all of her friends, and this is what I shot.  Take a look at that smile!

Easy & Warm Winter Meal that's a Better Choice than Pizza

Low-Calorie, Big Portions: Red Pepper and Lentil Bake

(Copied and pasted from "Fitsugar.com", By: Leta Shy)

Note From Alli: A client of mine texted me in a moment of weakness, telling me she was tired and craved pizza. I have those days, especially on lazy Saturday afternoons.  I advised her to try a warm, chewy lentil soup instead -- that's what I do when I'm craving a warm, gummy, carby meal. Below is a recipe for a make-ahead dish that is easy to freeze then thaw in your next "pizza crave". 

INGREDIENTS

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup lentils, such as Puy or green
2 1/2 cups low-sodium, organic vegetable broth
4 red bell peppers, deseeded and chopped
1 large cooking apple such as Granny Smith or McIntosh, peeled, cored, and chopped
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 cup white wine
14 ounces canned chopped tomatoes
1 ounce shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 ounce shredded parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. - Heat the olive oil gently in a large saucepan, add onion and garlic, and fry for five minutes until the onions are translucent.
3. - Add lentils and stir, then add vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
4. - Add the peppers, basil, apple, white wine, and canned tomatoes and mix well.
5. - Transfer the mixture to an oven-proof 9-by-13 baking dish and sprinkle cheese on top. Cook in oven for 30 minutes.
6. - Serve immediately, or freeze remaining portions in individual servings.(Makes 4)

New Year, New You: A Quick "How-To"

Yes, you can change your life in one year.  For better or worse, what you do with your body and your food over the next 12 months can change the course of your life. -- physically, emotionally and spiritually.  As a personal trainer and nutrition counselor, I've been a part of dozens of lives who have changed remarkably since last January: mothers who have learned to value and treat themselves well on new levels; fathers who have admittedly felt more attentive, more alert, more active with their families; writers who have experienced more clarity and vision for their projects; teachers who have become more connected with their students and have made greater impact this year than ever before; and hearts that have been awoken to new hope.

Want a quick "How-To"?  

The following are the 5 W's and How to change your life in 2014:

1.) Who?  Are you going this alone, or do you have a buddy, spouse, significant other or trainer by your side (or all of the above)?  Are you willing to make positive choices/progress for yourself regardless of others' progress, setbacks or belief systems? If your answers are "yes", then you have a great chance of making it long-term.

2.) What?  Set a tangible goal.  Do you want to lose weight, find a significant other, move on from bad habits/bad relationships, heal your relationship with God and/or family members?  Write it out, blog about it, tell a friend or counselor/pastor, etc.  Put it out there!

3.) When?  Set a timeline.  If your goal is to lose "x" number of pounds, calculate how long you think it will take you -- even with the most strict diet and exercise plan, you will generally lose up to 2 pounds per week (after the initial water and waste loss of about 5-6 pounds).

4.) Where?  Set a place where you are most comfortable implementing changes.  Do you like the gym atmosphere, or do you like being outside for exercise?  Which is the most convenient, motivating and practical at first?  For mommies with young children, you can go to pretty much any major gym in town, like Crunch Burbank, and get excellent child care while you work out, sauna and shower for 2 hours, or you can go walking/jogging the hilly streets of town with your stroller if you have children who sit still for longer periods of time.

5.) Why?  Find your true motivation.  Why do you want to devote so much time, energy and emotion into meeting your goal?  Why now?  Who is telling you this is what you want: you or someone else/society pressure/your doctor?  Write this down, also, and keep it somewhere readily available when you fall victim to self-doubt or pressure.

6.) How?  If your goal is weight loss, do you plan to diet, exercise more or do both?  Studies have shown that those who believe that increasing their exercise will speed up their weight loss have poorer results than those who believe in changing their eating habits.  Your nutrition is 70-80% of your weight loss success.  Exercise is super important for overall health, but it only complements your healthy food habits, when it comes to weight loss.


Bottom Line: Get out a paper and pen or your fast-typing fingers and make a list from 1-6, following the above outline.  Find joy in the process of envisioning a new YOU this year ... and make it happen!  It is possible.

Non-Fat? Not for Me! -- How to Avoid Weight Gain Over the Holidays

The hubby, kids and I went to Yogurtland in Downtown Burbank after dinner, and I was excited to have some dessert that is a little bit less guilt-inducing.  As I strolled down the line, I looked for a sugar-free option, but the best I could find was "non-fat" New York Style Cheesecake flavor.  I laughed at the description because it said it was a good alternative if you're trying to watch your waistline.

In case you haven't heard, the "non-fat" revolution is over!  We fought the war over which is better for you: "non-fat" or "sugar-free", and "sugar-free" won (in most cases).  Unless you are on a severely calorie-restricted diet, you don't need to worry as much about the fat content in your food as the sugar content... as long as you're not eating ribeye steak, bacon or sausage as your meat option every meal.

So why all the hype about "non-fat" (desserts are the most highly attractive for this kind of advertising)?  Because most non-fat foods have lower calories than foods with fat in them.  Nutritionists agree that if you want to lose weight, you should reduce the number of calories you take in and increase your exercise -- the goal is to burn more calories than you eat.  However, the non-fat foods still have loads of sugar.  Unless it is a manufactured "diet food", like those put out by the "Atkins" or "South Beach Diet" companies, the "non-fat" food probably has 2-3 times the amount of sugar in one serving than your body can burn.

Too much sugar leads to well-fed, happy fat cells that want to stick around in your body (most often in your waistline).  It can also lead to insulin-resistance, which causes inability to focus, weight gain, diabetes, bloating, increased blood pressure, and more!  Furthermore, sugar rushes have been proven to make you crash and crave within about 30 minutes, whereas sugar-free foods with protein and some fat have been proven to stave off hunger and have not shown an increase in overall weight gain in recent studies (International Journal of Obesity, April 2012).

As a fitness model and bodybuilding competitor, I stay well under the AHA's recommendation of 24g of sugar per day for a highly active female 30-45 years old.  It is very difficult unless I read every label carefully and check each restaurant's nutrition guide.  It gets cumbersome, but I would rather not revert to my old habits of overeating the wrong stuff (lots of fruits and smoothies, non-fat ice cream and non-fat milk, all of which sound "healthy").  Simply by cutting out as much sugar as possible, I lost 10 pounds in one week, then I tweaked other parts of my diet and exercise plan and lost 40 more pounds.

Bottom line: don't be fooled by the "non-fat" label, look at the amount of sugar that's added to make it bulky or tasty.  Try to stay below 20g of sugar every day, the American Heart Assoc.'s guideline for moderately active females 30-45 years old.  And if you're trying to make a healthier meal for the holidays, cut the sugar down (or cut it out by using Stevia or other natural sugar-alternative) and choose leaner cuts of meat.  Skip the cookies, unless you are at a party or special event or plan on burning off those calories and more at the gym that day.  Try some of the new, and quite tasty, sugar-free candies out on the market.